From nyvoices at indypress.org Wed Sep 24 10:40:55 2003 From: nyvoices at indypress.org (Rehan Ansari) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 22:10:55 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] Voices 75 Message-ID: <013301c3825a$85b31740$6501a8c0@herman> This Week's Voices That Must Be Heard By IPA-New York, a sponsored project of the Independent Press Association Edition 75: 24 July 2003. Advisory Editor: Kendra Hurley, editor Represent, an IPA member publication NEWS ITEMS: Police claim that Zhang Qua was a special case by Yik-wei Zhang, Sing Tao Daily, 15 July 2003. Translated from Chinese by Connie Kong. Zhang Qua, undocumented but not a suspect in any crime, was handed over to Homeland Security by the police. Fingerpointing at Bloomberg Executive Order by Chinatown community. MORE. Looking for work through a street job market in Williamsburg by Marek Tomaszewski, Nowy Dziennik / Polish Daily News, 17 July 2003. Translated from Polish by Anna Milewska . With a majority of potential employers gone for the summer the job market is very hard. The lucky women offered one are usually hired for only four to five hours. That means earning $40 per day. MORE. Tidying up domestic workers' rights by Juana Ponce de León, Siempre, 24 July 2003. Translated from Spanish by Juana Ponce de León. Carmen, a native of Tehuacan, Puebla in Mexico, traveled more than an hour from her home in the Bronx to stand at this corner in Williamsburg, hoping one of the many Hassidic Jewish men or women who seek domestic workers will give her work. "Generally, the white women are hired first. After they are gone, then we get jobs," she explained. MORE. Fight is joined on Bush cuts by James D. Besser, Jewish Week, 27 June 2003. English language. In a dramatic reversal, a leading Jewish group took the first step towards outright opposition to Bush administration tax and budget policies that are forcing sweeping cuts in health and human service programs. MORE. Caribbean Casserole by Jean-Francois Macollvie, Haitian Times, 22 July 2003. English language. Immigrants learn to mix with each other in U.S. melting pot. MORE. BRIEFS: FBI probes gruesome murder of Pakistani students as hate crime by Kausar Javed, Pakistan Post, 23 July 2003. Translated from Urdu by Rehan Ansari. Sunset Park's internet café a den of ill repute, say neighbors by Jin-san Yu, World Journal, 15 July 2003. Translated from Chinese by Connie Kong. Haitians meet with Councilman Stewart in aftermath of distressing statement by Macollvie Jean-Francois, Haitian Times, 22 July 2003. English language. Why Korean students do not attend school by Chong-hoon Kim, Korea Daily News, 20 July 2003. Translated from Korean by Sun-yong Reinish. Fewer Immigrants after September 11, Nowy Dziennik / Polish Daily News, 16 July 2003. Translated from Polish by Anna Milewska . Peace making in the parking wars between cab companies of Flushing by Yu-Guan Cheng, Sing Tao Daily, 15 July 2003. Translated from Chinese by Connie Kong. EDITORIALS: The jewels of Bayridge.com by Antoine Faisal, Aramica, 25 July 2003. English language. "I think Arabs pollute our city... they have a certain resentment toward freedom and diversity," is an example of a message on a community message board in Bayridge. MORE. Africa beware! by Badia Jacobs, Caribbean Life, 15 July 2003. English language. Africans weary of Americans bearing gifts MORE. Mute Congress by Marcin Wlosek, Nowy Dziennik / Polish Daily News, 17 July 2003. Translated from Polish by Anna Milewska . The parliament is an imperfect institution, just as democracy itself, but the U.S. Congress has added new dimensions to the meaning of imperfection. MORE. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030923/d7e429e0/attachment.html From aiindex at mnet.fr Mon Sep 1 04:39:38 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 00:09:38 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Suvir Kaul: Srinagar, Four Years Later Message-ID: The Telegraph [India] September 01, 2003 SRINAGAR, FOUR YEARS LATER Suvir Kaul returns to his homeland and finds that Kashmir's multi-religious, syncretic culture might be impossible to restore The author is professor of English, University of Pennsylvania All the calendars in our home in Srinagar stood frozen at October 1999, which is the last month my parents lived in their house there. We feared great damage in the intervening years, but were relieved to find only enormous volumes of dust, and the detritus of pigeons nesting in the attic and the balcony, encouraged by the easy access provided by broken window-panes. As we cleaned - the hard work being done by two neighbourhood caretakers called Abdul Gaffar and Raghunath - it was tempting to think of the restoration of this home as a metaphor for a restored Srinagar, and a Kashmir, and a return to a multi-religious, syncretic culture. That restoration, however, is going to be much harder, and even perhaps impossible, to achieve. The brutal history of the past fourteen years cannot be wished away, and a people ground down under the military might of the state and the violence of well-armed militants, cannot but wonder at what might have been, or indeed what the future might hold. But there are other important reasons why the state of siege in the valley will not be lifted soon: too many people have enriched themselves in the last decade, and they know exactly what they will lose if the conflict in Kashmir de- escalates. Stories are rife of the wealth accrued by the leaders of each political faction (and there are many). Similar stories circulate about bureaucrats, officers of army units and of each paramilitary force (these too are multiple, and their acronyms - BSF, CRPF, SSB, JKP, RR, STF - have become the new idiom of Kashmiri). People talk at length of the money that has circulated in the valley via each of these groups and their counterparts in Pakistan, and of how much the politico-military elite on both sides of the border has benefited from the state of affairs in Kashmir. Money to be made is arguably the most powerful local vested interest, but there is also the heady power of this elite bull-dozing its way in elaborate convoys past locals who have learnt to step aside or be assaulted. Recently, the local papers described a woman professor whose car failed to give way quickly enough being dragged out by her hair and beaten. When officers or their families go shopping on Residency Road or Lambert Lane, trucks of soldiers deploy on either side, all in addition to the forces permanently on patrol there. Local Kashmiris have learned to ignore such activities as the antics of a powerful elite, but for the likes of us visiting Kashmiris, every day offered ugly instances of the ways of a superior occupying force. The boulevard that fringes the Dal Lake is alive with people, but no one can take free passage for granted, for at a moment's notice the road is blocked and civilians must detour. Perhaps most egregious of all is the fact that local, non-upper class Kashmiris are turned away from the springs at Chashmashahi, while outsiders are granted access. Nowhere is the remaking of an older Kashmir into the soulless forms of a modern India more visible than in the paramilitary take-over (which can also of course be styled the "preservation") of the old Hindu shrines of Kashmir. Kheer Bhawani (Tulla Mulla) and the Shankaracharya temple that overlook Srinagar have lost whatever ancient sanctity they once possessed. They are now armed camps, festooned with the bright colours and signboards so beloved of military officers. Commanding officers of units stationed at these sites have turned them into advertisements for themselves - now you can only get to the Devi via CRPF yellow and red, and by walking past large tin placards that rewrite Kashmiri belief into the vocabulary of a more "mainstream" Hinduism. When we visited, bhajans that blare from jagrans in Delhi were playing loudly - only the wonderful old chinars suggested all that was once distinctively Kashmiri about Tulla Mulla. A Ram Mandir is being built at the site of the ancient sun temple at Martand (Mattan). This is not simply an addition to what is already there - it is a deliberate refashioning of Kashmiri Hindu worship to obey the dictates of Hindutva practice. But worst of all are the excessive displays put on ostensibly for the benefit of the Amarnath yatris, but which actually function as a warning to local Kashmiris: all along the route past Pahalgam, and to some extent on the Baltal route, banners and wall-slogans sponsored by the CRPF and the BSF (and occasionally, the Jammu and Kashmir police) welcome the yatris. These units also make available tea and snacks, and announce them as prasad. There is no constitutional separation of temple and state to be found here - the yatris, and those who guard them, are equally, and aggressively, Hindu. Most surprising for the visitor, however, is the great prosperity of Srinagar, where new homes are ever larger and the air impressively polluted by the thousands of cars and buses bought recently. Stores are stocked with the goods sold in the fancy shops of south Delhi. The handicrafts for which Kashmir has long been famous are plentiful, and the situation in the valley has meant that enterprising dealers have developed outlets for them across the country. The electricity supply has improved considerably - there are power cuts, but they operate according to a schedule, and the voltage is no longer miserable. Outside Srinagar, however, it is a different story. Villagers talk of a time, twenty years ago, when they knew electricity, and wish for doctors and teachers, who, like piped water, are a scarce resource. But there is change in the air, and everywhere in the valley people are celebrating their opportunity to travel to places that they have not dared to visit for years. An entire generation has been deprived of civic life and of the joys of Kashmir, and they are aware of this deprivation. Schoolchildren now flood Pahalgam and Gulmarg, and the Mughal Gardens are full of local visitors. No one knows how long this lull will last, with the result that locals are moved by a near-hysterical urge to wander, to picnic, to talk of the future. This is a moment of hope then, of young people wishing for a life different from that they have suffered so far, of conversations in which plans are made for a Kashmir in which ideas can flourish, the mind can be without fear, and the head can be held high. I invoke Tagore's great nationalist poem deliberately, for its aspirations - as true for Kashmiris as for Indians more generally - might well be those of a group of young college students and lecturers I met. They gather on Sundays to discuss a life of ideas outside of the machinations of international politics, paramilitary strategies, and the self-aggrandizement of those who rule Kashmir. Their hope, like Tagore's, is to build a heaven of freedom into which Kashmir, and India, might one day awake. -- From vidya at breakthrough.tv Mon Sep 1 11:43:17 2003 From: vidya at breakthrough.tv (vidya shah) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 11:43:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: ayodhya Message-ID: <002b01c37050$2a2888e0$a5ed41db@abc> ----- Original Message ----- From: Parthiv Shah To: vidya at breakthrough.tv Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2003 6:53 PM Subject: Fwd: ayodhya Statement on THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA'S REPORT ON AYODHYA The report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) submitted to the Ramajanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Bench of the Allahabad High Court, Lucknow, on 22 September and released on 25 September 2003, is an absolutely unprofessional document, full of gross omissions, one-sided presentations of evidence, fraudulent falsifications and motivated inferences. Its only aim is to so ignore and twist the evidence as to make it suit its "conclusions" tailored to support the fictions of the Sangh Parivar about the previous existence of a temple. The following is a list of the ASI's major acts of omission and commission: FORGETTING THE BONES One decisive piece of evidence, which entirely negates the possibility of a temple, is that of animal bones. Bone fragments with cut marks are a sure sign of animals being eaten at the site, and, therefore, rule out a temple existing at the site at the time. The Report in its "Summary of Results" admits that "animal bones have been recovered from various levels of different periods" (Report, p.270). Any serious archaeological report would have tabulated the bones, by periods, levels and trenches, and identified the species of the animals (which in bulk seem to be of sheep and goats). There should, indeed, have been a chapter devoted to animal remains. But despite the statement in its "Summary", there is no word about the animal bones in the main text. This astonishing omission is patently due to the ASI's fear of the fatal implications held out by the animal bone evidence for the temple theory. GLAZED WARE The glazed ware, often called "Muslim" glazed ware, constitutes an equally definite piece of evidence, which militates against the presence or construction of a temple, since such glazed ware was not at all used in temples. The ware is all-pervasive till much below the level of "Floor No.4", that is falsely ascribed in the Report to the "huge" structure of a temple allegedly built in the 11th-12th centuries. The Report tells us that the glazed ware sherds only "make their appearance" "in the last phase of the (sic) period VII" (p.270). Here we directly encounter the "Period Fraud" of the Report (see below). On this page (270), Period VII is called "Medieval Sultanate", dated 12th-16th century A.D. But on 1 p.40 "Medieval-Sultanate" is the name for Period VI, dated 10th and 11th centuries. In Chapter V (Pottery), there is no statement made at all to the effect that the glazed ware appears in "the last phase of Period VII" as is asserted in the Summary. Rather, it is there definitely stated that "the pottery of Medieval-Sultanate, Mughal and Late-and-Post Mughal period (Periods VII to IX)... indicates that there is not much difference in pottery wares and shapes" and that "the distinctive pottery of the periods is glazed ware" (p.108). How the "Summary" obtained its "last phase" can only be guessed at: perhaps at some stage it had been conceded that the glazed ware was also found in Period VI (also "Medieval -Sultanate") and was then prudently put in its "last phase", because otherwise it would militate against a temple being built in that period. All this gross manipulation has been possible because not a single item of glazed pottery is attributed to its trench and stratum in the select list of 21 (out of hundreds of items actually obtained) items of glazed ware on pages 109-111. Seeing the importance of glazed ware as a factor for elementary dating (pre-or post-Muslim habitation at the site), a tabulation of all recorded glazed-ware sherds according to trench and stratum was essential. That this has been entirely disregarded shows that the glazed-ware evidence being totally incompatible with any temple construction activity in Period VI, could not simply be provided. Even as the Report stands (going not by its "Summary", but by the description in the main text, p.108), the presence of Glazed Ware throughout Period VII (Medieval, 12th-16th centuries) rules out what is asserted on page 41, that a "column-based structure" - the alleged 50-pillar temple - was built in this period. How could Muslims have been using glazed ware inside a temple? THE "PERIOD" FRAUD The ASI's Report is so lacking in elementary integrity that it tries to achieve its object by manipulating nomenclature. In Chapter III, "Stratigraphy and Chronology" it has names for Periods VI and VII that are coolly altered in the other Chapters in order simply to transfer inconvenient material of Period VI to Period VII and thus make Period VI levels purely "Hindu". On pages 30-41, the nomenclature for Periods V, VI and VII is given as follows: Period V: Post-Gupta-Rajput, 7th to 10th Century Period VI: Medieval -Sultanate, 11th-12th Century Period VII: Medieval, 12th-16th Century Now let us turn to "Summary of Results" (pp.268-9). Here the nomenclature is altered as follows:- Period V: Post-Gupta-Rajput, 7th-10th century AD Period VI: Early medieval, 11th-12th century Period VII: Medieval-Sultanate, 12th-16th century This transference of "Medieval-Sultanate" from Period VI to Period VII has the advantage of ignoring Islamic-period materials like Glazed ware or lime-mortar bonding by removing them arbitrarily from Period VI levels to those of Period VII so that their actual presence in those levels need not embarrass the ASI in its 2 placing the construction of a "massive" or "huge" temple in Period VI. The device is nothing but a manipulative fraud. THE "MASSIVE" FANTASY While digging up the Babri Masjid, the excavators found four floors were found, numbered, upper to lower, as Nos.1, 2, 3 and 4, Floor No.4 being the lowest and so the oldest. Floor No.3 is linked to the foundation walls of the Babri Masjid - the ASI's "demolished" or "disputed structure" - built in 1528. Floor No.4 is described by the Report as "a floor of lime mixed with fine clay and brick crush", i.e. a typically Muslim style surkhi and lime-mortar bonded floor. It is obviously the floor of an earlier mosque (qanati or open mosque or an idgah); and a mihrab and taq were also found in the associated foundation wall (not, of course, mentioned in the ASI's report). Such a floor, totally Muslim on "stylistic grounds" (a favourite formula in the Report), is turned by the ASI into a temple floor, "over which a column-based structure was built". (On this latter assertion, see below: "Pillar-less Pillar Bases.") No single example is offered by the ASI of any temple of pre-Mughal times having such a lime-mortar surkhi floor, though one would think that this is an essential requirement when a purely Muslim structure is being appropriated as a Hindu one. Once this appropriation has occurred (page 41), we are then asked to imagine a "Massive Structure Below the Disputed Structure", the massive structure being a temple. It is supposed to have stood upon 50 pillars, and by fanciful drawings (Figures 23, 23A and 23B), it has been "reconstructed". (Though one may still feel that it was hardly "massive" when one compares Figure 23 (showing Babri Masjid before demolition) and Figure 23B (showing the reconstructed temple with 50 imaginary pillars!) Now, according to the ASI's Report, this massive structure with 46 of its alleged 50 pillars was built in Period VII, the Period of the Delhi Sultans, Sharqi rulers and Lodi Sultans (1206-1526): This attribution of the Grand Temple, to the "Muslim" period is not by choice, but because of the presence of "Muslim" style materials and techniques all through. This, given the Sangh's view of medieval Indian history, must have been a bitter pill for the ASI's mentors to accept; and, therefore, there is all the more reason for them to imagine a still earlier structure assignable to an earlier time. Of this structure, however, only four alleged "pillar bases", with "foundations" below Floor 4, have been found; and it is astonishing that this should be sufficient to ascribe them to 10th -11th century and to assume that they all belong to one structure. That structure is proclaimed as "huge", extending nearly 50 metres separate the pillar-bases at the extremes. Four "pillar bases" can hardly have held such a long roof; and if any one tried it on them it is not surprising that the result was "short-lived" (p.269). All of this seems a part of the VHP kind of propagandist archaeology than a report from a body called the Archaeological Survey of India. Before we leave this matter, a small point. The four alleged pillar bases dated to 11th-12th centuries are said "to belong to this level with a brick crush floor". 3 Really! Surkhi in Gahadavala times! Any examples, please? None! Now one can see why it had been necessary to call this period (Period V) "Medieval -Sultanate" (p.40) though it is actually pre-Sultanate, being dated 11th-12th century. By clubbing together the Gahadavalas with the Sultanate, the surkhi is sought to be explained; but if so, the "huge" structure too must come to a time after 1206, for, apparently unknown to ASI, the Delhi Sultanate was only established in that year. And so the earlier allegedly "huge" temple too must have been built when the Sultans ruled! Since the entire basis of the supposed "huge" and "massive" temple-structures preceding the demolished mosque lies in the alleged "pillar bases" it is time to consider what these really are and what they imply. PILLAR-LESS "PILLAR BASES" One must first remember that what are said by the ASI to be pillar bases are one or more calcrete stones resting upon brickbats, bonded with mud or just heaped up. In many the calcrete stones are not found at all. As one can see from the descriptive table on pages 56-67 of the Report not a single one of these supposed "pillar bases" has been found in association with any pillar or even a fragment of it; and there are no marks or indentation or hollows on any of the calcrete stones to show that any pillar had rested on them. The ASI Report nowhere attempts to answer the questions (1) why brickbats and not bricks were used at the base, and (2) how mud-bonded brickbats could have possibly withstood the weight of roof-supporting pillars without themselves falling apart. Despite the claims of these "pillar bases" being in alignment and their being so shown in fancy drawings (Figures 23, 23A and 23B), the Report is curiously chary of giving a detailed grided plan showing each base in relation to a set of others on a scale sufficient for one to check whether their positions are in alignment. This was especially important since there were objections raised that the ASI was ignoring calcrete-topped brickbat heaps where these were not found in appropriate positions and selected only such brickbat heaps as were not too far-off from its imaginary grids. But the most astonishing thing that the ASI so casually brushes aside relates to the varying levels at which the "pillar-bases" stand. Even if we go by the ASI's own descriptive table, as many as seven of these 50 "bases" are definitely above Floor 2, and one is level with it. At least six rest on Floor 3, and one rests partly on Floor 3 and 4. Since these are undisputedly floors of the Mosque, how come that so many pillars were erected after they had been laid out --- in order to sustain a temple structure over them! More, as many as nine "pillar bases" are shown as cutting through Floor No.3. So, are we to understand that when the Mosque floor was laid out, the pillar bases were not floored over? It is thus clear that what we have are simply not "pillar bases" at all, but some kind of loosely-bonded brickbat deposits, which continued to be laid right from Floors 4 to Floor 1. Dr Ashok Dutta of Kolkata University, an archaeologist, who was among those who volunteered to watch the doings of the ASI during the excavations, has given 4 an explanation for these brick-bat deposits, which offers a clear and elegant explanation. When the surkhi- lime mortar bonded Floor No.4 was being laid out over the mound sometime during the Sultanate period, its builders must have had to level the mound properly. The hollows and depressions then had to be filled by brickbats topped by calcrete stones (often bonded with lime mortar) to fill them and enable the floor to be laid. When in time Floor 4 went out of repair, its holes had similarly to be filled up in order to lay out Floor 3. And so again when Floor 3 decayed, similar deposits of brickbats had to be made to fill the holes in order to lay out Floor 2 (or, indeed, just to have a level surface). This explains why the "pillar bases" appear to "cut through" both Floors 3 and 4, at some places, and at others "cut through" Floor 3 or Floor 4 only. They are mere deposits to fill up holes in the floors. Since such repairs were needed in time all over the floors, these brickbat deposits are widely dispersed. Had not the ASI been so struck by the necessity of finding pillars and "pillar bases" to please its masters, which had to be in a proper alignment, it could have found scattered over the ground not just fifty but perhaps over a hundred or more such deposits of brickbats. A real embarrassment of riches of "pillar bases", that is - only they are not pillar bases. THE CIRCULAR ILLUSION Much is made in the ASI's Report of the "Circular Shrine" (pages 70-71), again with fanciful figured interpretations of the existing debris (Figs.24 and 24A). Comparisons with circular Shaivite and Vaishnavite shrines (Fig.18) are immediately made. The ASI had no thought, of course, of comparing it with circular walls and buildings of Muslim construction - a very suggestive omission. The surviving wall, even in ASI's own drawing makes only a quarter of circle, and such shapes are fairly popular in walls of Muslim construction. And then there are Muslim-built domed circular buildings. But even if we forget the curiously one-eyed nature of ASI's investigations, let us first consider the size of the alleged "shrine". Though there is no reason to complete the circle as the ASI does, the circular shrine, given the scale of the Plan (Figure 17 in the Report), would have an internal diameter of just160 cms. or barely 5½ feet! Such a small "shrine" can hardly be worth writing home about. It goes without saying that, as admitted by the ASI itself, nothing has been found in the structure that can justify it being called a shrine. STRAY "TEMPLE" FINDS No Vaishnavite images have been found. All finds are stray ones or, as with the black schist pillar, visible within it when the Masjid had stood but broken by the Karsevaks (who says they love temple remains!) and buried in the Masjid debris in 1992. Whatever little in stone has come out (as one decorated stone or inscribed slab-used in a wall), like stones with "foliage patterns, amalaka, kapotapadi door jamb with semi-circular pilaster, lotus motif," (p.271), are in total very few, and all easily explicable as belonging to ruins elsewhere and 5 brought for re-use. The extremely short list that the ASI is able to compile shows that they did not come from any "massive" temple at the site, but brought randomly from different earlier ruins. SAFFRONISED ARCHAEOLOGY The bias, partisanship and saffronised outlook of the ASI's Report takes one's breath away. In almost everything the lack of elementary archaeological controls is manifest. The one-page carbon-date report, without any description of material, strata and comments by the laboratory, is meaningless, and open to much misuse. There has been no thermoluminescence (TL) dating of the pottery; no carbon-dating of the animal or human bones. No care has been exercised in chronology, and Period I "Northern Black Polished Ware" has been pushed back to 1000 BC in the "Summary of Results" (page 268), when even in Chapter II "Stratigraphy and Chronology", the earlier limit of the period is rightly placed at 6th century B.C. (page 38). The urge is obviously to provide the maximum antiquity to habitation at Ayodhya, however absurd the claim. Quite obviously saffronization and professional integrity cannot go together. What all well-wishers of Indian Archaeology have to consider is how, with a Report of the calibre we have examined, there can be any credibility left in the Archaeological Survey of India, an organisation that has had such a distinguished past. Today there is no professional head of the ASI; a civil servant, completely subject to the desires of the Government of the day is in charge as Director-General. It cannot be overlooked that the occupant of the office of Director-General was changed almost simultaneously with the High Court's direction to the ASI to begin the excavations in early March. The signal given thereby was obvious; and the present Report should come as no surprise. Politicians gloating over it are precisely those who have got it written. National honour was deeply compromised when the Babri Masjid was demolished. Now the good repute of the Archaeological Survey of India has also suffered an irremediable blow. When will the list of Saffronization's victims end? 6 SAHMAT 8, Vithalbhai Patel House Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110001 Tel-23711276/ 23351424 e-mail: sahmat at vsnl.com 29.8.2003 The Ayodhya Excavation 2002-3 The excavation was ordered to find out if there existed any Hindu temple below the BabriMasjid. The GPR survey was also ordered to help find if there were anomalies indicating the possibility of architectural remains below the mosque. The GPR survey could have made the excavation economical both in time and money. But the excavation undertaken from 12th March, 2003 came out to be an area excavation. The excavation has distorted the Mughal levels allover leaving no scope for cross checking the evidence collected by the present excavation or for taking up excavation in future with improved techniques and with better perspective. To that extent it is a loss to our cultural heritage. The report on the present excavation has also been submitted. It is infact a report on the total data collected and not specific to the problem at hand. It practically abides by the perspective of 'Rewriting of history' School. In doing so the date of the NBPW Period ( Early historic era) has been pushed back to at least 1000 B.C., (three to four centuries earlier than the established date). Secondly, it has tried to highlight in its attempt at periodisation the Sunga Period, Rajput Period etc. for no sound reason. Besides this, it has used the data selectively and ignored some crucial facts relating to the Babri masjid complex, the massive burnt brick structure found below the mosque (assumed to be a temple of the 10th-11th centuries) and the base (for woodenposts) having bearing on the problem. It is well known that the temples are characterised by its architectural type i.e. its plan and the superstructure, etc. , the objects associated with its function and placed in their original position inside the temple. Important temples in the past were known for their styles. The Nagar style as known form the famous Khajuraho temples,became popular in North India between the 9th and 12th centuries. The excavation report has come out with a thesis that there have been found remains of an Early Medieval temple constructed in the 11th-12th century which continued to exist until the early 16th century (when the Babri Masjid was constructed over this complex). This thesis is based on the following assumptions: 1. that the 'massive' burnt brick structure was constructed in the 11th-12th centuries. 2. that there have been found at least 50 Pillar-bases associated with this structure, particularly with its last floor. 3. that a circular depression ( Ghata shaped), in due east of the centre of the central dome of the Babri Masjid and the central point of the western wall of the preceding 'massive' burnt brick structure, was cut into a brick pavement. 4. that the site excavated was not inhabited after the Gupta period. It was put to public use only, thereby implying its use for religious purposes. The ASI has claimed the existence of a 'massive' burnt brick structure below the Babri Masjid complex or the existence of some genuine circular, rectangular or squarish constructions of brickbats or of stones termed in the report as 'pillar bases'. But the report has willfully ignored crucial evidence from the Ayodhya excavation. This is briefly discussed as under : 1. The alleged alleged 'massive' burnt brick structure belongs to the Sultanate Period and not to the early medieval period ( 11th-12th centuries) as its floor as well as the plaster on the wall, are made of lime and surkhi mortar, used in the Sultanate and Mughal Periods. Lime mortar has also been used in the construction of the so called pillar bases assumed to be associated only with this structure. Moreover, an arch, 'Mehrab' so typical of the medieval period, was noticed by me on the inner face of the 'massive' burnt brick structure to the south of the make-shift temple when I visited the site in June. 2. The plan of the alleged 'massive' burnt brick structure tallies with that of the Babri Masjid complex in its extent and construction of the central dome exactly over the central point of the western wall of the former and not with Burnt brick structure of the Post-Gupta period. Secondly the southern chamber of the Babri Masjid overlies the remnants of this pre-Babri Masjid burnt brick structure. 3. The 'massive' burnt brick structure was not a Hindu temple complex is clear from the fact that it does not correspond with the typical by Hindu Nagar style of temple of the early medieval period. Secondly, the foundation of the western wall of the 'massive' burnt brick structure has in it sculptured stones (like those found used in the temples) The Hindus immerse the temple remains ( when out of use) in water. They do not bury these under the earth or in the foundation walls. The southern hall of this 'massive' structure is nearly as large as that of the mosque. Temples of the past neither had such large square halls nor a plan similar to it. No artifacts used in the temples such as the icons, conch shell, Aarti lamps, dhoopdan etc. were found inside this chamber or in any other context within the alleged massive structure. The above facts clearly points out that the 'massive' burnt brick structure belonged to the Sultanate period ( 1206-1526) and not to the 11th-12th centuries: Secondly, its plan and architectural features exposed so far helps to infer that it was a mosque and not a temple. It is unfortunate that the report has not made us wiser on the problem. Rather it has stood behind the Hindutava viewpoint. Prof. Suraj Bhan __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Access Hotmail from your mobile now. Click here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030901/89af8301/attachment.html From info at amneheskandari.com Mon Sep 1 13:31:12 2003 From: info at amneheskandari.com (info at amneheskandari.com) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 10:01:12 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 2, Issue 2 References: <20030901150541.0317328E3BD@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <001a01c3705f$37a6fb00$ab8c4051@noos.fr> ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 5:05 PM Subject: reader-list Digest, Vol 2, Issue 2 > Send reader-list mailing list submissions to > reader-list at mail.sarai.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mail.sarai.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > reader-list-request at mail.sarai.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > reader-list-owner at mail.sarai.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of reader-list digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Fw: ayodhya (vidya shah) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 11:43:17 +0530 > From: "vidya shah" > Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: ayodhya > To: , , "Pimple Minar" > , "Shirin Khan" , > "rohini mukherjee" , "tgoenka" > > Message-ID: <002b01c37050$2a2888e0$a5ed41db at abc> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Parthiv Shah > To: vidya at breakthrough.tv > Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2003 6:53 PM > Subject: Fwd: ayodhya > > > > > > > Statement on > THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA'S > REPORT ON AYODHYA > The report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) > submitted to the Ramajanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Bench of > the Allahabad High Court, Lucknow, on 22 September and > released on 25 September 2003, is an absolutely > unprofessional document, full of gross omissions, > one-sided presentations of evidence, fraudulent > falsifications and motivated inferences. Its only aim > is to so ignore and twist the evidence as to make it > suit its "conclusions" tailored to support the > fictions of the Sangh Parivar about the previous > existence of a temple. The following is a list of the > ASI's major acts of omission and commission: > FORGETTING THE BONES > One decisive piece of evidence, which entirely negates > the possibility of a temple, is that of animal bones. > Bone fragments with cut marks are a sure sign of > animals being eaten at the site, and, therefore, rule > out a temple existing at the site at the time. The > Report in its "Summary of Results" admits that "animal > bones have been recovered from various levels of > different periods" (Report, p.270). Any serious > archaeological report would have tabulated the bones, > by periods, levels and trenches, and identified the > species of the animals (which in bulk seem to be of > sheep and goats). There should, indeed, have been a > chapter devoted to animal remains. But despite the > statement in its "Summary", there is no word about the > animal bones in the main text. This astonishing > omission is patently due to the ASI's fear of the > fatal implications held out by the animal bone > evidence for the temple theory. > GLAZED WARE > The glazed ware, often called "Muslim" glazed ware, > constitutes an equally definite piece of evidence, > which militates against the presence or construction > of a temple, since such glazed ware was not at all > used in temples. The ware is all-pervasive till much > below the level of "Floor No.4", that is falsely > ascribed in the Report to the "huge" structure of a > temple allegedly built in the 11th-12th centuries. The > Report tells us that the glazed ware sherds only "make > their appearance" "in the last phase of the (sic) > period VII" (p.270). Here we directly encounter the > "Period Fraud" of the Report (see below). On this page > (270), Period VII is called "Medieval Sultanate", > dated 12th-16th century A.D. But on > 1 > p.40 "Medieval-Sultanate" is the name for Period VI, > dated 10th and 11th > centuries. In Chapter V (Pottery), there is no > statement made at all to the effect that the glazed > ware appears in "the last phase of Period VII" as is > asserted in the Summary. Rather, it is there > definitely stated that "the pottery of > Medieval-Sultanate, Mughal and Late-and-Post Mughal > period (Periods VII to IX)... indicates that there is > not much difference in pottery wares and shapes" and > that "the distinctive pottery of the periods is glazed > ware" (p.108). How the "Summary" obtained its "last > phase" can only be guessed at: perhaps at some stage > it had been conceded that the glazed ware was also > found in Period VI (also "Medieval -Sultanate") and > was then prudently put in its "last phase", because > otherwise it would militate against a temple being > built in that period. All this gross manipulation has > been possible because not a single item of glazed > pottery is attributed to its trench and stratum in the > select list of 21 (out of hundreds of items actually > obtained) items of glazed ware on pages 109-111. > Seeing the importance of glazed ware as a factor for > elementary dating (pre-or post-Muslim habitation at > the site), a tabulation of all recorded glazed-ware > sherds according to trench and stratum was essential. > That this has been entirely disregarded shows that the > glazed-ware evidence being totally incompatible with > any temple construction activity in Period VI, could > not simply be provided. > Even as the Report stands (going not by its "Summary", > but by the description in the main text, p.108), the > presence of Glazed Ware throughout Period VII > (Medieval, 12th-16th centuries) rules out what is > asserted on page 41, that a "column-based structure" - > the alleged 50-pillar temple - was built in this > period. How could Muslims have been using glazed ware > inside a temple? > THE "PERIOD" FRAUD > The ASI's Report is so lacking in elementary integrity > that it tries to achieve its object by manipulating > nomenclature. In Chapter III, "Stratigraphy and > Chronology" it has names for Periods VI and VII that > are coolly altered in the other Chapters in order > simply to transfer inconvenient material of Period VI > to Period VII and thus make Period VI levels purely > "Hindu". On pages 30-41, the nomenclature for Periods > V, VI and VII is given as follows: > Period V: Post-Gupta-Rajput, 7th to 10th Century > Period VI: Medieval -Sultanate, 11th-12th Century > Period VII: Medieval, 12th-16th Century > Now let us turn to "Summary of Results" (pp.268-9). > Here the nomenclature is altered as follows:- > Period V: Post-Gupta-Rajput, 7th-10th century AD > Period VI: Early medieval, 11th-12th century > Period VII: Medieval-Sultanate, 12th-16th century > This transference of "Medieval-Sultanate" from Period > VI to Period VII has the advantage of ignoring > Islamic-period materials like Glazed ware or > lime-mortar bonding by removing them arbitrarily from > Period VI levels to those of Period VII so that their > actual presence in those levels need not embarrass the > ASI in its > 2 > placing the construction of a "massive" or "huge" > temple in Period VI. The device is nothing but a > manipulative fraud. > THE "MASSIVE" FANTASY > While digging up the Babri Masjid, the excavators > found four floors were found, numbered, upper to > lower, as Nos.1, 2, 3 and 4, Floor No.4 being the > lowest and so the oldest. Floor No.3 is linked to the > foundation walls of the Babri Masjid - the ASI's > "demolished" or "disputed structure" - built in 1528. > Floor No.4 is described by the Report as "a floor of > lime mixed with fine clay and brick crush", i.e. a > typically Muslim style surkhi and lime-mortar bonded > floor. It is obviously the floor of an earlier mosque > (qanati or open mosque or an idgah); and a mihrab and > taq were also found in the associated foundation wall > (not, of course, mentioned in the ASI's report). Such > a floor, totally Muslim on "stylistic grounds" (a > favourite formula in the Report), is turned by the ASI > into a temple floor, "over which a column-based > structure was built". (On this latter assertion, see > below: "Pillar-less Pillar Bases.") No single example > is offered by the ASI of any temple of pre-Mughal > times having such a lime-mortar surkhi floor, though > one would think that this is an essential requirement > when a purely Muslim structure is being appropriated > as a Hindu one. Once this appropriation has occurred > (page 41), we are then asked to imagine a "Massive > Structure Below the Disputed Structure", the massive > structure being a temple. It is supposed to have stood > upon 50 pillars, and by fanciful drawings (Figures 23, > 23A and 23B), it has been "reconstructed". (Though one > may still feel that it was hardly "massive" when one > compares Figure 23 (showing Babri Masjid before > demolition) and Figure 23B (showing the reconstructed > temple with 50 imaginary pillars!) Now, according to > the ASI's Report, this massive structure with 46 of > its alleged 50 pillars was built in Period VII, the > Period of the Delhi Sultans, Sharqi rulers and Lodi > Sultans (1206-1526): This attribution of the Grand > Temple, to the "Muslim" period is not by choice, but > because of the presence of "Muslim" style materials > and techniques all through. This, given the Sangh's > view of medieval Indian history, must have been a > bitter pill for the ASI's mentors to accept; and, > therefore, there is all the more reason for them to > imagine a still earlier structure assignable to an > earlier time. Of this structure, however, only four > alleged "pillar bases", with "foundations" below Floor > 4, have been found; and it is astonishing that this > should be sufficient to ascribe them to 10th -11th > century and to assume that they all belong to one > structure. That structure is proclaimed as "huge", > extending nearly 50 metres separate the pillar-bases > at the extremes. Four "pillar bases" can hardly have > held such a long roof; and if any one tried it on them > it is not surprising that the result was "short-lived" > (p.269). All of this seems a part of the VHP kind of > propagandist archaeology than a report from a body > called the Archaeological Survey of India. > Before we leave this matter, a small point. The four > alleged pillar bases dated to 11th-12th centuries are > said "to belong to this level with a brick crush > floor". > 3 > Really! Surkhi in Gahadavala times! Any examples, > please? None! Now one can see why it had been > necessary to call this period (Period V) "Medieval > -Sultanate" (p.40) though it is actually > pre-Sultanate, being dated 11th-12th century. By > clubbing together the Gahadavalas with the Sultanate, > the surkhi is sought to be explained; but if so, the > "huge" structure too must come to a time after 1206, > for, apparently unknown to ASI, the Delhi Sultanate > was only established in that year. And so the earlier > allegedly "huge" temple too must have been built when > the Sultans ruled! > Since the entire basis of the supposed "huge" and > "massive" temple-structures preceding the demolished > mosque lies in the alleged "pillar bases" it is time > to consider what these really are and what they imply. > PILLAR-LESS "PILLAR BASES" > One must first remember that what are said by the ASI > to be pillar bases are one or more calcrete stones > resting upon brickbats, bonded with mud or just heaped > up. In many the calcrete stones are not found at all. > As one can see from the descriptive table on pages > 56-67 of the Report not a single one of these supposed > "pillar bases" has been found in association with any > pillar or even a fragment of it; and there are no > marks or indentation or hollows on any of the calcrete > stones to show that any pillar had rested on them. The > ASI Report nowhere attempts to answer the questions > (1) why brickbats and not bricks were used at the > base, and (2) how mud-bonded brickbats could have > possibly withstood the weight of roof-supporting > pillars without themselves falling apart. > Despite the claims of these "pillar bases" being in > alignment and their being so shown in fancy drawings > (Figures 23, 23A and 23B), the Report is curiously > chary of giving a detailed grided plan showing each > base in relation to a set of others on a scale > sufficient for one to check whether their positions > are in alignment. This was especially important since > there were objections raised that the ASI was ignoring > calcrete-topped brickbat heaps where these were not > found in appropriate positions and selected only such > brickbat heaps as were not too far-off from its > imaginary grids. > But the most astonishing thing that the ASI so > casually brushes aside relates to the varying levels > at which the "pillar-bases" stand. Even if we go by > the ASI's own descriptive table, as many as seven of > these 50 "bases" are definitely above Floor 2, and one > is level with it. At least six rest on Floor 3, and > one rests partly on Floor 3 and 4. Since these are > undisputedly floors of the Mosque, how come that so > many pillars were erected after they had been laid out > --- in order to sustain a temple structure over them! > More, as many as nine "pillar bases" are shown as > cutting through Floor No.3. So, are we to understand > that when the Mosque floor was laid out, the pillar > bases were not floored over? It is thus clear that > what we have are simply not "pillar bases" at all, but > some kind of loosely-bonded brickbat deposits, which > continued to be laid right from Floors 4 to Floor 1. > Dr Ashok Dutta of Kolkata University, an > archaeologist, who was among those who volunteered to > watch the doings of the ASI during the excavations, > has given > 4 > an explanation for these brick-bat deposits, which > offers a clear and elegant explanation. When the > surkhi- lime mortar bonded Floor No.4 was being laid > out over the mound sometime during the Sultanate > period, its builders must have had to level the mound > properly. The hollows and depressions then had to be > filled by brickbats topped by calcrete stones (often > bonded with lime mortar) to fill them and enable the > floor to be laid. When in time Floor 4 went out of > repair, its holes had similarly to be filled up in > order to lay out Floor 3. And so again when Floor 3 > decayed, similar deposits of brickbats had to be made > to fill the holes in order to lay out Floor 2 (or, > indeed, just to have a level surface). This explains > why the "pillar bases" appear to "cut through" both > Floors 3 and 4, at some places, and at others "cut > through" Floor 3 or Floor 4 only. They are mere > deposits to fill up holes in the floors. Since such > repairs were needed in time all over the floors, these > brickbat deposits are widely dispersed. Had not the > ASI been so struck by the necessity of finding pillars > and "pillar bases" to please its masters, which had to > be in a proper alignment, it could have found > scattered over the ground not just fifty but perhaps > over a hundred or more such deposits of brickbats. A > real embarrassment of riches of "pillar bases", that > is - only they are not pillar bases. > THE CIRCULAR ILLUSION > Much is made in the ASI's Report of the "Circular > Shrine" (pages 70-71), again with fanciful figured > interpretations of the existing debris (Figs.24 and > 24A). Comparisons with circular Shaivite and > Vaishnavite shrines (Fig.18) are immediately made. The > ASI had no thought, of course, of comparing it with > circular walls and buildings of Muslim construction - > a very suggestive omission. The surviving wall, even > in ASI's own drawing makes only a quarter of circle, > and such shapes are fairly popular in walls of Muslim > construction. And then there are Muslim-built domed > circular buildings. But even if we forget the > curiously one-eyed nature of ASI's investigations, let > us first consider the size of the alleged "shrine". > Though there is no reason to complete the circle as > the ASI does, the circular shrine, given the scale of > the Plan (Figure 17 in the Report), would have an > internal diameter of just160 cms. or barely 5½ feet! > Such a small "shrine" can hardly be worth writing home > about. It goes without saying that, as admitted by the > ASI itself, nothing has been found in the structure > that can justify it being called a shrine. > STRAY "TEMPLE" FINDS > No Vaishnavite images have been found. All finds are > stray ones or, as with the black schist pillar, > visible within it when the Masjid had stood but broken > by the Karsevaks (who says they love temple remains!) > and buried in the Masjid debris in 1992. Whatever > little in stone has come out (as one decorated stone > or inscribed slab-used in a wall), like stones with > "foliage patterns, amalaka, kapotapadi door jamb with > semi-circular pilaster, lotus motif," (p.271), are in > total very few, and all easily explicable as belonging > to ruins elsewhere and > 5 > brought for re-use. The extremely short list that the > ASI is able to compile shows that they did not come > from any "massive" temple at the site, but brought > randomly from different earlier ruins. > SAFFRONISED ARCHAEOLOGY > The bias, partisanship and saffronised outlook of the > ASI's Report takes one's breath away. In almost > everything the lack of elementary archaeological > controls is manifest. The one-page carbon-date report, > without any description of material, strata and > comments by the laboratory, is meaningless, and open > to much misuse. There has been no thermoluminescence > (TL) dating of the pottery; no carbon-dating of the > animal or human bones. No care has been exercised in > chronology, and Period I "Northern Black Polished > Ware" has been pushed back to 1000 BC in the "Summary > of Results" (page 268), when even in Chapter II > "Stratigraphy and Chronology", the earlier limit of > the period is rightly placed at 6th century B.C. (page > 38). The urge is obviously to provide the maximum > antiquity to habitation at Ayodhya, however absurd the > claim. > Quite obviously saffronization and professional > integrity cannot go together. What all well-wishers of > Indian Archaeology have to consider is how, with a > Report of the calibre we have examined, there can be > any credibility left in the Archaeological Survey of > India, an organisation that has had such a > distinguished past. Today there is no professional > head of the ASI; a civil servant, completely subject > to the desires of the Government of the day is in > charge as Director-General. It cannot be overlooked > that the occupant of the office of Director-General > was changed almost simultaneously with the High > Court's direction to the ASI to begin the excavations > in early March. The signal given thereby was obvious; > and the present Report should come as no surprise. > Politicians gloating over it are precisely those who > have got it written. > National honour was deeply compromised when the Babri > Masjid was demolished. Now the good repute of the > Archaeological Survey of India has also suffered an > irremediable blow. When will the list of > Saffronization's victims end? > 6 > SAHMAT > 8, Vithalbhai Patel House > Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110001 > Tel-23711276/ 23351424 > e-mail: sahmat at vsnl.com > 29.8.2003 > The Ayodhya Excavation 2002-3 > The excavation was ordered to find out if there > existed any Hindu temple below the BabriMasjid. The > GPR survey was also ordered to help find if there were > anomalies indicating the possibility of architectural > remains below the mosque. The GPR survey could have > made the excavation economical both in time and money. > But the excavation undertaken from 12th March, 2003 > came out to be an area excavation. The excavation has > distorted the Mughal levels allover leaving no scope > for cross checking the evidence collected by the > present excavation or for taking up excavation in > future with improved techniques and with better > perspective. To that extent it is a loss to our > cultural heritage. > The report on the present excavation has also been > submitted. It is infact a report on the total data > collected and not specific to the problem at hand. It > practically abides by the perspective of 'Rewriting of > history' School. In doing so the date of the NBPW > Period ( Early historic era) has been pushed back to > at least 1000 B.C., (three to four centuries earlier > than the established date). Secondly, it has tried to > highlight in its attempt at periodisation the Sunga > Period, Rajput Period etc. for no sound reason. > Besides this, it has used the data selectively and > ignored some crucial facts relating to the Babri > masjid complex, the massive burnt brick structure > found below the mosque (assumed to be a temple of the > 10th-11th centuries) and the base (for woodenposts) > having bearing on the problem. > It is well known that the temples are characterised by > its architectural type i.e. its plan and the > superstructure, etc. , the objects associated with its > function and placed in their original position inside > the temple. Important temples in the past were known > for their styles. The Nagar style as known form the > famous Khajuraho temples,became popular in North India > between the 9th and 12th centuries. > The excavation report has come out with a thesis that > there have been found remains of an Early Medieval > temple constructed in the 11th-12th century which > continued to exist until the early 16th century (when > the Babri Masjid was constructed over this complex). > This thesis is based on the following assumptions: > 1. that the 'massive' burnt brick structure was > constructed in the 11th-12th centuries. > 2. that there have been found at least 50 > Pillar-bases associated with this structure, > particularly with its last floor. > 3. that a circular depression ( Ghata shaped), in due > east of the centre of the central dome of the Babri > Masjid and the central point of the western wall of > the preceding 'massive' burnt brick structure, was cut > into a brick pavement. > 4. that the site excavated was not inhabited after the > Gupta period. It was put to public use only, thereby > implying its use for religious purposes. > The ASI has claimed the existence of a 'massive' burnt > brick structure below the Babri Masjid complex or the > existence of some genuine circular, rectangular or > squarish constructions of brickbats or of stones > termed in the report as 'pillar bases'. But the report > has willfully ignored crucial evidence from the > Ayodhya excavation. This is briefly discussed as under > : > 1. The alleged alleged 'massive' burnt brick structure > belongs to the Sultanate Period and not to the early > medieval period ( 11th-12th centuries) as its floor > as well as the plaster on the wall, are made of lime > and surkhi mortar, used in the Sultanate and Mughal > Periods. Lime mortar has also been used in the > construction of the so called pillar bases assumed to > be associated only with this structure. Moreover, an > arch, 'Mehrab' so typical of the medieval period, was > noticed by me on the inner face of the 'massive' burnt > brick structure to the south of the make-shift temple > when I visited the site in June. > 2. The plan of the alleged 'massive' burnt brick > structure tallies with that of the Babri Masjid > complex in its extent and construction of the central > dome exactly over the central point of the western > wall of the former and not with Burnt brick structure > of the Post-Gupta period. Secondly the southern > chamber of the Babri Masjid overlies the remnants of > this pre-Babri Masjid burnt brick structure. > 3. The 'massive' burnt brick structure was not a > Hindu temple complex is clear from the fact that it > does not correspond with the typical by Hindu Nagar > style of temple of the early medieval period. > Secondly, the foundation of the western wall of the > 'massive' burnt brick structure has in it sculptured > stones (like those found used in the temples) The > Hindus immerse the temple remains ( when out of use) > in water. They do not bury these under the earth or in > the foundation walls. The southern hall of this > 'massive' structure is nearly as large as that of the > mosque. Temples of the past neither had such large > square halls nor a plan similar to it. No artifacts > used in the temples such as the icons, conch shell, > Aarti lamps, dhoopdan etc. were found inside this > chamber or in any other context within the alleged > massive structure. > The above facts clearly points out that the 'massive' > burnt brick structure belonged to the Sultanate period > ( 1206-1526) and not to the 11th-12th centuries: > Secondly, its plan and architectural features exposed > so far helps to infer that it was a mosque and not a > temple. It is unfortunate that the report has not made > us wiser on the problem. Rather it has stood behind > the Hindutava viewpoint. > Prof. Suraj Bhan > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ > Access Hotmail from your mobile now. Click here. > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030901/89af8301/at tachment.htm > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > reader-list mailing list > reader-list at mail.sarai.net > http://mail.sarai.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > End of reader-list Digest, Vol 2, Issue 2 > ***************************************** > > From monica at sarai.net Mon Sep 1 14:19:00 2003 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:19:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Contributions to Sarai Reader 04 : Crisis/Media Message-ID: Call for Contributions to Sarai Reader 04 : Crisis/Media I. Introducing the Sarai Reader Sarai, (www.sarai.net) an interdisciplinary research and practice programme on the city and the media, at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies invites contributions (texts and images) to Sarai Reader 04: Crisis/Media We also invite proposals to initiate and moderate discussions on the themes of the Sarai Reader 04 on the Reader List (http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list) with a view to the moderator(s) editing the transcripts of these discussions for publication in the Sarai Reader 04. For an outline of the themes and concerns of Sarai Reader 04, see concept outline below. To know about the format of the articles that we invite, see 'Guidelines for Submissions' below. The Sarai Reader is an annual publication produced by Sarai/CSDS(Delhi). The contents of the Sarai Readers are available for free download from the Sarai website (see urls below) Previous Readers have included: 'The Public Domain': Sarai Reader 01, 2001 (http://www.sarai.net/journal/reader1.html) 'The Cities of Everyday Life': Sarai Reader 02, 2002, (http://www.sarai.net/journal/reader2.html). And 'Shaping Technologies': Sarai Reader 03, 2003 (http://www.sarai.net/journal/reader3.html) The Sarai Reader series aims at bringing together original, thoughtful, critical, reflective, well-researched and provocative texts and essays by theorists, practitioners and activists, grouped under a core theme that expresses the interests of the Sarai in issues that relate media, information and society in the contemporary world. The Sarai Readers have a wide international readership. Sarai Reader 04 will be partly based on the presentations made at a workshop jointly organized by Sarai - CSDS and the Waag Society - "Crisis/Media: The Uncertain States of Reportage". The workshop was held at Sarai-CSDS, Delhi in March 2003. For more details of the contents of this workshop, see http://www.sarai.net/events/crisis_media/crisis_media.htm Editorial Collective for Sarai Reader 04: Ravi Vasudevan, Ravi Sundaram, Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula & Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Sarai, Delhi) and Geert Lovink (Media Theorist & Internet Critic, Brisbane) II. Crisis/Media: Concepts & Themes From the very beginning of this century we have hurtled on as if from crisis to crisis. As if all the ghosts of the 19th and the 20th centuries, decades of war, colonial plunder, totalitarian repression and the hardening of sectarian animosity had suddenly decided to come home to roost in a frenzied attempt at revisiting on the present all the accumulated tragedies of the past that we had thought we had left behind us as we gingerly made our way into our times. The images of planes crashing into skyscrapers, of entire cities being bombed into submission from the air, of occupying armies and fleeing civilians, of suicide bombers, ethnic cleansing and riot police assaulting unarmed demonstrators have branded themselves on to our consciousness with mounting frequency. These are the substance of the meditations of all our mornings, as we pick up the day's newspaper, switch on the radio in the kitchen, or the television in the living room, or log on to the internet, We have witnessed flash floods, epidemics, economic collapse, mass migrations and an intensification of the regimes of surveillance and control on a near global scale. Our newspapers, our television sets, our radios, our websites and our minds have become prisoners of war, and there seems to be no sign of a ceasefire in sight, at least as of now. The world we live in has also witnessed an enormous increase in the scale and complexity of communicative possibilities. An explosion of the means of delivering news, comment and images at rapid speed over diverse media has meant dispersal as well as amplification of the dynamics of any event or process, anywhere in the world. Satellite communications, a new telecom revolution, cheap electronic devices, computers and the Internet ensure that no moment goes un-reported. There is no moment that is not potentially global anymore. These are times for sober reflection, and that, precisely, is what we often find missing, as we open the newspaper, listen to the radio, or television. Yet, a variety of different, dissident, passionate and sane voices are also making themselves heard, through combinations of new and old media, as never before. The 'Paid For' news of the mainstream media is often exposed for what it is, even before it appears, by an increasingly vigilant network of independent local-global media initiatives. The numbers that turn out on the streets of the world's major capitals to protest against war seem to suggest that despite huge propaganda efforts, 'the spin' isn't working, at least not all of the time. We live, as the Chinese curse has it, in 'interesting times'. This accumulation of situations of crisis in the first three years of our century, and their rapid, almost real time dissemination in the media, have no doubt precipitated new opportunities for communicative action and global reflection, just as they have signalled an onset of a severe crisis within the media - a crisis of over-stimulation and under-statement, of exaggeration and exhaustion, of censorship and spin-doctoring, of fear and favour. More than at any other time before, the power and reach of the media, the potential of the usage of technologies of information and communication for control or for freedom, and the several intertwined professional, cognitive and ethical dilemmas that media practitioners face on a daily basis. All these require us to pause and take stock of the fact that the crises reported in the media have a bearing on the crisis of reporting in the media - That the media and the crisis that media require to be themselves today can no longer be seen as distinct categories, hence - CRISIS/MEDIA. We are interested in recognizing the fact that media today are located precisely along the intersections and fault lines that connect and divide representations (media events and processes) and structural problems. The Reader aims to excavate the relationships between these structures and the representations that accompany them. Crisis Media respond as much to wars and ongoing ethnic conflicts as they do to environmental crises or the AIDS epidemic and the SARS panic. Given this situation, how can Crisis/Media go beyond their historically framed task of 'correcting' mainstream opinions and actually experiment with other narratives? How can the global rise of mobile devices be utilized to 'receive, transmit and broadcast' peoples' stories as they occur, and by doing so, break the separation between reporters and the reported? Further, is it possible for us to begin to debate and problematize the whole notion of 'representation' itself, positing more immediate forms of testimony that resist mediatization? These are open questions, with no satisfactory and coherent answers, but Sarai Reader 04 would like to take them on, so as to map new territories of thought about media practice. A Preliminary List of Themes (these are not chapter or section headings, but point to areas of interest) could include: The Political Economy of Contemporary Media Forms Media Wars and Media in times of War: Weapons of Mass Distraction? Taking Sides and Speaking Truth: The Reportage of Ethnic Conflict and Civil Unrest Surveillance, Intelligence, Reportage: The Journalist and the Informer Brand Disloyalty: Critiques and Analyses of Immaterial Capital in the Information Age Aliens and Others: Media and Migration Reporting the Crises of Everyday Life Re imagining Tactical Media Evaluating Independent Media Strategies in the time of Globalization Mobile Maverick Media: the Technology and Politics of Dispersed and Mobile Media Forms Viral Media Communicable Diseases: Epidemics as Information The Body as Data Crises of Representation: Ethics, Epistemics, Aesthetics The Space for Free Speech Sarai Reader 04: Crisis/Media seeks to engage with this situation by inviting a series of reflections by media practitioners (journalists, independent media activists, filmmakers, photographers, artists, commentators and editors) and thinkers, writers, scholars, activists and critics. We are looking for incisive analysis, as well as passionate writing, for scholarly and theoretical rigour as well as for critical and imaginative depth. We invite essays, reportage, diaries and memoirs, entries from weblogs, edited compilations of online discussions, photo essays, image-text collages and interpretations of found visual material. We are interested in testimonies from all theatres of global conflict - be they New York, London, Baghdad or Kabul, in reports from continuing crisis situations - in Kinshasa, Ahmedabad, Ramallah, and in essays and reflections that address the world from Delhi, Belgrade, Karachi, Beijing, Buenos Aires and Tehran. We are interested in anything from anywhere at all that makes for intelligent, provocative and critical encounters with the world we all live in. Contributors can also consider the structural, technological, rhetorical and aesthetic dimensions of understanding, interpreting and expressing aspects of what they see as situations of crisis. They can reflect on ecological crises, crisis within social institutions and the many unreported and unexamined crises of everyday life that be-devil the contemporary moment. Hate speech and unreflective testimonies of victim-hood, however, are not welcome. The Sarai Reader 4, like the previous Sarai Readers, will be international in scope and content, while retaining a special emphasis on reflection about and from areas that normally lie outside the domain of mainstream discourses. We are particularly interested in cutting edge writing and contributions from South Asia, South and Central America, South East Asia, China, Tibet and Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Australia. This is not an expression of a 'regional' or 'third world' bias; rather it is an affirmation of the fact that some of the most exciting emergent voices are located in these regions. We of course welcome innovative and critical contributions from Europe, North America and Japan. We are especially keen to shape the Reader in response to events such as the Next Five Minutes 4 Conference, and hope that some of the ideas that get generated in such events can find their way into the debates that the Reader hopes to embody. If you feel these issues and questions are of interest to you. If your practice, thought, curiosities, research or creative activity has impelled you to think about some of these issues, we invite you to contribute to Sarai Reader 04: Crisis/Media. III. Guidelines for Submissions Word Limit: 1500 - 4000 words 1. Submissions may be scholarly, journalistic, or literary - or a mix of these, in the form of essays, papers, interviews, online discussions ordinary entries. All submission, unless specifically solicited, must be in English only. 2. Submissions must be sent by email in as text, or as rtf, or as word document or star office/open office attachments. Articles may be accompanied by black and white photographs or drawings submitted in the tiff format. 3. We urge all writers, to follow the Chicago Manual of Style, (CMS) in terms of footnotes, annotations and references. For more details about the CMS and an updated list of Frequently Asked Questions, see http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html For a 'Quick Reference Guide to the Chicago Manual of Style' - especially relevant for citation style, see - http://www.library.wwu.edu/ref/Refhome/chicago.html 4. All contributions should be accompanied by a three/four line text introducing the author. 5. All submissions will be read by the editorial collective of the Sarai Reader 04 before the final selection is made. The editorial collective reserves the right not to publish any material sent to it for publication in the Sarai Reader on stylistic or editorial grounds. All contributors will be informed of the final decisions of the editorial collective vis a vis their contribution. 6. Copyright for all accepted contributions will remain with the authors, but Sarai reserves indefinitely the right to place any of the material accepted for publication on the public domain in print or electronic forms, and on the Internet. 7. Accepted submissions will not be paid for, but authors are guaranteed a wide international readership. The Reader will be published in print, distributed in India and internationally, and will also be uploaded in a pdf form on to the Sarai website. All contributors whose work has been accepted for publication will receive two copies of the Reader. IV. Where and When to send your Contributions Last date for submission - December 1st 2003. (But please write as soon as possible to the editorial collective with a brief outline/abstract, not more than one page, of what you want to write about - this helps in designing the content of the reader). We expect to have the reader published by mid-February 2004. Please send in your outlines and abstracts, and images/graphic material to - 1. For articles, to Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Co Ordinator, Sarai Reader 04 (shuddha at sarai.net) 2. For proposals to moderate online discussions on the Reader List, to Monica Narula, List Administrator, the Reader List (monica at sarai.net) 3. For images and/or graphic material, to Monica Narula, Co Ordinator, Media Lab (monica at sarai.net) The Sarai Programme Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 Tel: (+91) 11 23960040 (+91) 11 23942199, ext 307 Fax: (+91) 11 23943450 www.sarai.net -- Monica Narula Sarai:The New Media Initiative 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 www.sarai.net From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 21:01:06 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 08:31:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] PUBLIC INTEREST ALERT: Delhi Times promotes pornography & alcoholism Message-ID: <20030901153106.73999.qmail@web20906.mail.yahoo.com> Dear Friends in a disturbing development, many Indians-parents, readers and adolescents have displayed their concern over the sexually demeaning and semi pornographic content of the Times of India colour supplement, Delhi Times. This is the largest read daily in Delhi- and oneof the largest readerships (Top three ) papers in the country. This paper is read by children and adults alike � and is the quentessential �National� and �family� daily. 1. The Bizarre sex Column: On TOP of the front page- next to title - DELHI TIMES. It is on bizarre sexual practices: Examples from editions from Aug. 25 2003- Aug 31 2003 - Woman breaks record for having intercourse with 1400 men:( a 10 yr old child asked me: What is intercourse)-picture of woman in underwear with spreadeagled legs. - Woman has sex with ghost - Woman revs up sex life - Man drives into river while having sex: Qoute: The man and sex worker in the car did not laugh.. but then being in deep water while being in top gear doesn�t tickle the funny bone. Unqoute 2. Since the last month they have run stories to promote alcoholism and the sex industry. The FRONT PAGE HEADline stories are - Why bar drinking in public after midnight- Delhiites should get 24 hr alcohol! Bars and license should be given to very subzi wala, shopkeer, retailer ( like in the West- sic)- and alcohol should be served 24 hrs a day- 'like in the West'. NO data is given to substantiate the ludicrous claim the alcohol is served 24 hrs a day in the UK and the US. ( the 11 pm deadline in the UK is well known)- as is thats a justification! IN a country like India where arrack lobbies, sexual violence, drunk drivers abound- what does promoting this kind of behaviour amount to..?? 3. Increase speed limits to 100 miles p h for Delhi cars- again the justification is the autobahns of Germany and that it is annoying to drive 'foreign' cars at speeds less than 80 mph!! ( July 2003)- we cannot use 5th gears in our Mercs- says a commuter, quoted in the city edition ( Delhi is yet to recover from the BMW massacre- where more than 5 people were killed by the speeding BMW of a drunken driver � belonging to an industrial house) 4. Legalise prostitution: While pretending to take the sex worker cause line - the article was essentially in tune with the other stories preceding it. Bars and sex workers go together, thus they should be encouraged legally. More women will feel encouraged to enter the flesh trade if it offers lucrative career options. - yes at the end of the article, one comes away feeling that it is encouraging the flesh trade. and not taking up any cause- surrounded as it was by titillating pictures of semi nude women. They also advertise call girl phone sex lines. This amounts to carrying illegal ads for commerical sex activity in a National daily. IS this legal in India? Can we take this up? Is happening ( illegally so) in other any other country, is at all?? 4. Playboy bunnies and semi nude actresses next to national headline in the main paper- this has become a policy matter since the FDI in print was allowed last yr. the Delhi times Daily carries an average of 10 naked and semi naked women EVERYDAY. (majority of the pics are underwear clad women- Hollywood starlets and explicit downloads of Britney spears etc). It is read by age groups between 10 -75. Would the New York Times or the Guardian carry playboy bunnies in their front pages- and their supplements- and that WIHTOUT any note/ warning etc.? It is completely justified for citizens to demand that exposing and literally dumping sexually explicit material for pre teen age groups is a phenomenon unparalleled anywhere else in the world. The excuse of free speech doesnt gel as sexuality as a responsible phenomenon is being destroyed by this behaviour. The lobbies may take the much abused �Khujaraho� line, but that is nowhere an issue in this case. Neither are readers, majority of whom read the paper with their morning cup of tea, informed that sexually explicit material is inside. They can then CHOOSE to read to leave it. But there is no choice allowed. As a woman it demeans me to see semi clad women peeing out the paper every morning, with sexually discriminatory ads flooding the rest of it-majority being underwear and marriage jewlers ads, call girl phone lines etc. This is a gender discrimination at it highest order. We have answered innumerable young children on questions about dildos, sex life of an actress etc. which are front page columns in the Delhi Times. It is tragic that the National paper of the stature of the Times of India is stooping to such a level- and displaying itself underhandedly as a pornographic �playboy� boys magazine. This phenomenon is in tune with the semi pornographic videos which are flooding the market. While no one is objecting to a healthy awareness of sexuality- more cirtical in this age of HIV/AIDS, this infiltration of commodified and pornogprahic sex into every channel with unregulated 24 hrs access - is dangerous. Any film which tries a progressive line on sexuality like Water and others is 'censored' even before it is made- but lewd and semi pornographic material is flooding evry quarter of the media- and exposing unaware chidlren to sexuality in a completely unhealthy and anti-women way. Sexual violence and dowry death have increased 20 fold in Delhi in the last 10 yrs. While the West at least monitors what its children watch on its own shores, why is pressure there in India to expose its children to the sex industry and the commodification of women? And in any case, should we really ape the West in everything anyway? Also, �Adult rated� American films which are not shown before 12 am in the US, are easily available on Indian channels 24 hrs a day. There are no ratings or timings for these channels in India. Thus, it is obvious that sheer advantage is being taken to flood a �developing� country like India- and thus export the sex industry to the South- which has a na� and sexually repressed populace- and easily procurable government/ media lobbies. The current govt. is responsible for this phenomenon- which parrots a fundamentalist and regressive line on one end - promotes the comodification of women on the other. The though police of the current regime found the real life plight of Indian widows objectionable- and vandalised the sets of the film Water. ( Its Rajya Sabha MP, Hema Mailini has been the Editor of the Indian edition of the American magazine New woman- which also promotes this kind of commodified 'sexualised' new woman) - it overlooks rapes of marginalised women - and is thus destroying the rights of Indian womne in every quarter. The 1986 Indecent representation of Women act is a powerful tool which can be invoked in this caseand even a PIL filed for this issue. Also, letters to the Editor must be written: edit at timesgroup.com delhitimes at indiatimes.com Please feel free to contact the local women�s organizations to take up is issue on larger scale. aidwa at ndb.vsnl.net.in saheliwomen at hotmail.com jagori at del3.vsnl.net.in __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From abirbazaz at rediffmail.com Tue Sep 2 00:33:33 2003 From: abirbazaz at rediffmail.com (abir bazaz) Date: 1 Sep 2003 19:03:33 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Alain Badiou in an interview... Message-ID: <20030901190333.11070.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> Alain Badiou in an interview with Christoph Cox and Molly Whalen: My position...First, liberal capitalism is not at all the Good of humanity. Quite the contrary; it is the vehicle of savage, destructive nihilism. Second, the Communist revolutions of the 20th century have represented grandiose efforts to create a completely different historical and political universe. Politics is not the management of the power of the State. Politics is first the invention and the exercise of an absolutely new and concrete reality. Politics is the creation of thought. The Lenin who wrote What is to be Done?, the Trotsky who wrote History of the Russian Revolution, and the Mao Zedong who wrote On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People are intellectual geniuses, comparable to Freud or Einstein. Certainly, the politics of emancipation, or egalitarian politics, have not, thus far, been able to resolve the problem of the power of the State. They have exercised a terror that is finally useless. But that should encourage us to pick up the question where they left it off, rather than to rally to the capitalist, imperialist enemy. Third, the category “totalitarianism” is intellectually very weak. There is, on the side of Communism, a universal desire for emancipation, while on the side of Fascism, there is a national and racial desire. These are two radically opposed projects. The war between the two has indeed been the war between the idea of a universal politics and the idea of racial domination. Fourth, the use of terror in revolutionary circumstances or civil war does not at all mean that the leaders and militants are insane, or that they express the possibility of internal Evil. Terror is a political tool that has been in use as long as human societies have existed. It should therefore be judged as a political tool, and not submitted to infantilizing moral judgment. It should be added that there are different types of terror. Our liberal countries know how to use it perfectly. The colossal American army exerts terrorist blackmail on a global scale, and prisons and executions exert an interior blackmail no less violent. Fifth, the only coherent theory of the subject (mine, I might add, in jest!) does not recognize in it any particular disposition toward Evil. ___________________________________________________ Meet your old school or college friends from 1 Million + database... Click here to reunite www.batchmates.com/rediff.asp From menso at r4k.net Tue Sep 2 12:35:27 2003 From: menso at r4k.net (Menso Heus) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 09:05:27 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] PUBLIC INTEREST ALERT: Delhi Times promotes pornography & alcoholism In-Reply-To: <20030901153106.73999.qmail@web20906.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20030901153106.73999.qmail@web20906.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20030902070527.GP57271@r4k.net> Dear Lehar, I have read your message which has left me quite surprised. There seems to be a lot of material that you object to going around in your country, and you seem to be afraid about young people getting exposed to this material for a big part. What I find interesting is that you seem to have the idea that it is the governments job to protect your children from exposure to this material, by censorship and legislation. It seems to me that if your newspaper of choice is filling up with content you disprove of, perhaps it's time to move on to another newspaper. If you don't want kids to read the material then it's up to the parent to do the parenting, not the censor- ship board or the government. Below I respond to some more of you message in detail. On Mon, Sep 01, 2003 at 08:31:06AM -0700, Lehar .. wrote: > 2. Since the last month they have run stories to > promote alcoholism and the > sex industry. The FRONT PAGE HEADline stories are > - Why bar drinking in public after midnight- Delhiites > should get 24 hr > alcohol! > Bars and license should be given to very subzi wala, > shopkeer, retailer ( > like in the West- sic)- and alcohol should be served > 24 hrs a day- 'like in > the West'. NO data is given to substantiate the > ludicrous claim the alcohol > is served 24 hrs a day in the UK and the US. ( the 11 > pm deadline in the UK > is well known)- as is thats a justification! You're mixing up 'serving in bars' and licenses to sell it 24 hours a day. I think most places in Europe (with perhaps exception of England) have clubs and bars that are open till 4 to 5 AM. It's possible to buy beer etc at 24h gasstations. > 4. Legalise prostitution: While pretending to take the > sex worker cause line > - the article was essentially in tune with the other > stories preceding it. > Bars and sex workers go together, thus they should be > encouraged legally. > More women will feel encouraged to enter the flesh > trade if it offers > lucrative career options. - yes at the end of the > article, one comes away > feeling that it is encouraging the flesh trade. and > not taking up any cause- > surrounded as it was by titillating pictures of semi > nude women. > They also advertise call girl phone sex lines. This > amounts to carrying > illegal ads for commerical sex activity in a National > daily. > IS this legal in India? Can we take this up? > Is happening ( illegally so) in other any other > country, is at all?? I'm from Holland and we've legalized prostitution a while ago. The result: the prostitutes now work in their own parts (usually on the edge) of town, which has done a great deal of good to minimize the trouble across cities that were crowded with prositution before. The prostitutes are a lot happier, the customers are a lot happier (and I imagine the government is a lot happier since legalisation meant the prostitutes had to start paying taxes too). > 4. Playboy bunnies and semi nude actresses next to > national headline in the > main paper- this has become a policy matter since the > FDI in print was > allowed last yr. the Delhi times Daily carries an > average of 10 naked and > semi naked women EVERYDAY. (majority of the pics are > underwear clad women- > Hollywood starlets and explicit downloads of Britney > spears etc). > It is read by age groups between 10 -75. > > Would the New York Times or the Guardian carry playboy > bunnies in their > front pages- and their supplements- and that WIHTOUT > any note/ warning etc.? I'm quite sure that those newspapers wouldn't mind if it would make sense to the story. Though judging by what you say I think the NYT and Guardian are in quite a different league to begin with. Aren't there several newspapers in the UK that thrive on the fact they publish a different naked girl every day? > It is completely justified for citizens to demand that > exposing and > literally dumping sexually explicit material for pre > teen age groups is a > phenomenon unparalleled anywhere else in the world. I don't believe it's justified simply because I think this is not what's happening. First of all, nobody is dumping anything in your lap, you chose to buy that particular paper and you allow your kids to watch those movies. Secondly, I think that 'pre teen age' groups are generally not considered to be readers of newspapers. In the Netherlands people start reading papers generally around the age of 12-15 and by that time, they've had all the sexual education they need in school. > Neither are readers, majority of whom read the paper > with their morning cup > of tea, informed that sexually explicit material is > inside. They can then > CHOOSE to read to leave it. But there is no choice > allowed. You HAVE that choice already, if the paper is turning into the playboy magazine you describe, then why bother reading it at all? What's next, a warning message to people that it might contain articles that describe violence for all the people that find that hard to stomach in the morning? > As a woman it demeans me to see semi clad women peeing > out the paper every > morning, with sexually discriminatory ads flooding the > rest of it-majority > being underwear and marriage jewlers ads, call girl > phone lines etc. > This is a gender discrimination at it highest order. I don't see the link between underwear ads and escort ads and sexual discrimination. I'm sure the paper would not object to placing advertisements of men in their underwear... > We have answered innumerable young children on > questions about dildos, sex > life of an actress etc. which are front page columns > in the Delhi Times. Good for you! > It is tragic that the National paper of the stature of > the Times of India is > stooping to such a level- and displaying itself > underhandedly as a > pornographic ?playboy? boys magazine. Time to switch to a newspaper that doesn't! > This phenomenon is in tune with the semi pornographic > videos which are > flooding the market. > While no one is objecting to a healthy awareness of > sexuality- more cirtical > in this age of HIV/AIDS, this infiltration of > commodified and pornogprahic > sex into every channel with unregulated 24 hrs access > - is dangerous. Any > film which tries a progressive line on sexuality like > Water and others is > 'censored' even before it is made- but lewd and semi > pornographic material > is flooding evry quarter of the media- and exposing > unaware chidlren to > sexuality in a completely unhealthy and anti-women > way. Who exposes the children? The filmmakers or the parents that allow them to watch such films? Perhaps more importantly, why are the children unaware? > Sexual violence and dowry death have increased 20 fold > in Delhi in the last > 10 yrs. > While the West at least monitors what its children > watch on its own shores, The parents do, yes. In Holland access to pornography is easy, instead of pointing to the government and saying "You take care of my kids" parents that find that their kids should not see this sort of material keep them from accessing it. > Thus, it is obvious that sheer advantage is being > taken to flood a > ?developing? country like India- and thus export the > sex industry to the > South- which has a na?ve and sexually repressed > populace- You don't want people to know and read about sex and yet you complain about them being sexually naive... can you see the relationship there? > ( Its Rajya Sabha MP, Hema Mailini has been the Editor > of the Indian edition > of the American magazine New woman- which also > promotes this kind of > commodified 'sexualised' new woman) - it overlooks > rapes of marginalised > women - and is thus destroying the rights of Indian > womne in every quarter. That there are women that want to give expression to their sexuality through ways of clothing and on the other hand there are women raped are two seperated issues in my opinion. Just as sexy clothing is no reason for being raped, the fact that there are women being raped should be no reason to ban sexy clothing or magazines that promote that. > The 1986 Indecent representation of Women act is a > powerful tool which can > be invoked in this caseand even a PIL filed for this > issue. Is it indecent? Do the models that pose feel they are doing indecent things? It seems to be that the main problem lies quite differently from where you put it. You worry about ten year olds reading sexual related material in the newspaper and seeing it on tv. You blame a whole bunch of people for this, instead of the parents that allow their kids to watch this material. If the parents think their kids should not have access to such content, *they* should be the ones to make sure they don't, not the government. I remain highly amazed by the amount of people that think it's ok for kids to see the most violent news images and movies yet as soon as there's a scantly clad woman or nipple involved somewhere, they should be protected at all costs. 'Yes but the news is really happening' is an often heard argument... well, guess what, so is sex. Kind regards, Menso -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many a man has fallen in love with a girl in a light so dim he would not have chosen a suit by it. -- Maurice Chevalier -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From shuddha at sarai.net Tue Sep 2 14:18:46 2003 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 14:18:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PUBLIC INTEREST ALERT: Delhi Times promotes pornography & alcoholism In-Reply-To: <20030902070527.GP57271@r4k.net> References: <20030901153106.73999.qmail@web20906.mail.yahoo.com> <20030902070527.GP57271@r4k.net> Message-ID: <03090214184600.01108@sweety.sarai.kit> Dear all, Here is a list of a few other things that I personally feel depraves and corrupts young minds in every newspaper that I see in India, I also think that they do violence to my sensibilities as a human being, they disgust me and make me angry. I don't think that these issues are less serious than the sexualised representation of men or women.in fact I think that the sexualised representation of men or women is several degrees healthier than what i am listing below, this is my personal opinion, and i really feel concerned about the millions of young people fed patriotic bilge in the media, and I am worried about what these young people are going to grow up into. So here is the list - 1. DAVP (govt. of India's department of advertising and visual publicity) paid for ads that advertise the Indian state's militarist prowess for occasions like republic day 2. The entire sports page (commodification of bodies on a scale that is unquestioned and unimagined, and a cult of competetive success) 4. every matrimonial page in every newspaper ( for something that really continues to justify casteist, racist, classist, and sexist prejudices, read any matrimonial ad spread)) 5. the horoscope section (which promotes the view that young people really have no control over their own destinies) 6. every piece of paranoia about terrorism and illegal aliens that makes young peoples minds sick with fear (see a series of ads by the Delhi Police instructing people how to identify 'suspicious persons', of which more in some other posting) 7. ads promoting careers in the armed forces, the indian administrative services and the police force (inducements to serve the state - an institution I find deeply offensive to my dignity and to the dignity of young impressionable readers) 8) unquestioning obeisance to the cult of expertise, be it in science, religion or social questions 9) generally unrestrained homophobia I think however, that all of the above, reflect realities that exist in our social life, and i for one, notwithstanding my concern for the sanity of young people, would not like to live in a world where they do not have the opportunity to make up their minds about what they read, see and hear. My anger about the above does not make me jump to the high moral ground from which I can call for censorship. If I am really offended (as I have been by the Times of India's generally third rate journalism which really rips me off for the money I am asked to pay for the newspaper, I switch to a somewhat less worse option, in another paper, or look for news and analysis in forums and platforms that I feel assure me of better quality.) I would totally agree here with what Menso has to say, if you (Lehar) feel offended, or if you feel that you don't want your children to be exposed to this kind of material, or to be exposed to it uncritically, then the onus is on you, to either read something else, or, to annotate the reading of the children around you with your criticism of what they read, see and hear, so that they, as intelligent young people, can balance what they get from the media that you find offensive, with the views that you hold, and make up their own minds about what they want and endorse. On the occasions when I have come across young people I know reading or being exposed to patriotic propaganda which offends me (or any of the 9 kinds of representation i have listed above) as much as the sexualised depiction of men and women offends you, this is what I have chosen to do. Then it is up to the young person concerned to make their own judgement. This is what I remember doing as a child and as a teenager and this is what I hope every young person can have the confidence and the freedom to do for himself or herself. Finally, I find Lehar's comments about sex work offensive. While the circumstances under which a large number of women,children or men enter the sex industry may indeed be deeply exploitative and violent, I see no reason to believe that this is more so than any other form of work. Forced or violent agricultural labour is just as abhorrent as the kind of sex work which denies ther sex worker their basic rights to a safe working environment, health check ups and lack of control over their bodies or the wealth generated from their labour. I find the kind of agriculural or industrial labour that denies human beings their dignity and does violence to their bodies offensive, but it would be somewhat absurd to take a position against industrial or agricultural work per se, on the grounds that is work that involves agricultural or industrial materials, similarly the violence done to people in vast swathes of the sex industry is indeed offensive, but it somehow seems quite natural for people to take a position against sex work per se, on the basis that it is work with and about one's sex. A position that questions the commodification of human labour power would have to take a stand against that form of commodification no matter in what context, or which form of human activity it were to occur. Why should sex work be considered worse, or better, than any other form of labour. If some of us are concerned about what young people read, see and hear, it may be worth our while to produce the kind of cultural content that we feel can actually attract their attention, and work hard at producing contexts in which these efforts do not become meaningless or futile because of their self absorbed marginality. regards Shuddha From kanti.kumar at oneworld.net Mon Sep 1 15:19:03 2003 From: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net (Kanti Kumar) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 14:49:03 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Special Coverage of WSIS at Digital Opportunity Channel Message-ID: <49220-220039119193443@oneworld.net> -- Apologies for cross-postings -- DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY CHANNEL LAUNCHES SPECIAL COVERAGE OF WSIS Digital Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org) has created a special coverage section at its Website dedicated to the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society. The resource will feature news and analysis about the summit from a civil society perspective - especially NGOs based in the developing world. See the special coverage at http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/4732 It also features an online discussion about the summit entitled 'Information Society: Voices from the South', moderated by Partha Pratim Sarker of BytesForAll.org. You can join the discussion here: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/frontpage/308/4726 The channel, edited by OneWorld South Asia in New Delhi and the Benton Foundation's Digital Divide Network in Washington, DC, focuses on the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in global development and strategies for bridging the digital divide internationally. To keep updated about trends and developments in ICT for development, subscribe to our weekly newsletter. To receive the newsletter, you have to register as a member (registration is free of cost) of Digital Opportunity Channel. You can join the channel here: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/user/userwithaddress/new/?RedirectU RL=/article/archive/4685 Kanti Kumar Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel www.digitalopportunity.org OneWorld South Asia Email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net From avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in Tue Sep 2 03:41:52 2003 From: avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Avishek=20Ganguly?=) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 23:11:52 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fight in Iraq - get a Green Card! Message-ID: <20030901221152.66744.qmail@web8005.mail.in.yahoo.com> <> http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/GlobalNews/US+attacked+over+green+card+soldiers.htm US attacked over green card soldiers by James Gooder Sunday 31 August 2003 9:45 PM GMT Nearly 40,000 of America's frontline soldiers are not US citizens. Many of the troops on duty in Iraq do not count English as their first language and would prefer to take orders in their native tongue ... usually Spanish. The revelation has prompted British MP George Galloway, one of the fiercest critics of the invasion of Iraq, to accuse the US of using its "green card" troops as cannon fodder. Galloway went on to attack the US policy of putting its poor minorities and non-citizens in the frontline of its foreign wars. In an exclusive interview he told Aljazeera.net that it was part of a long US tradition of using its underclass as cannon fodder. The statistics, buried by White House spin doctors, reveal that a significant minority of troops fighting under the US banner are not in fact US citizens but residents hoping to speed up their citizenship. Galloway said that this was typical of a government used to having the marginalised fight its battles. "Nothing has changed since that last failed attempt to invade and determine the future of another country, Vietnam," he told Aljazeera.net from his holiday villa in Portugal. "The proportion of blacks in the army was 40%, while in the US population the number of blacks was a quarter of that," he said "Of course the underclass has now become increasingly more Hispanic than black." Disproportionate casualties This explains why a disproportionate number of the so-called US casualties in the invasion and occupation of Iraq have borne Latino names. "The people who made the decisions never sent their sons to get hot, bloody and dirty on the battlefield" Galloway says that on a weekly Atlanta radio show in which he participates, the callers have repeatedly claimed that Blacks and Hispanics are the fodder army recruiters are after. The Pentagon says that there are 37,401 non-US citizens on active duty, and that joining up has a special incentive for them - an American passport. "The military services have processes and programmes in place to help service members expedite their citizenship," says a US Department of Defence spokesperson. "The estimated time for the application is about six months." Citizenship has been especially hard to come by due to the draconian immigration rules imposed by the US Department of Homeland Security since the 11 September 2001 attacks. It can take several years to gain citizenship, for those lucky enough to get it. Signing up to the army can speed this up, provided the GI comes home alive. Promises Other incentives under the Montgomery GI Bill include the promises of a college fund of up to $50,000, post service employment and training. But activist Carlos Mendes of the Latinos Against the War in Iraq coalition says that many soldiers have told him that these promises often fail to materialise. The US military relies on volunteers, the Pentagon argues, and there is no official draft, therefore no pressure on anyone to sign up. Yet in a country where further education is prohibitively expensive, and medical care privatised, these incentives deliberately target America's poor minorities, as well as those desperate for citizenship, freeing the sons and daughters of those with money and influence from service. "The people who made the decisions never sent their sons to get hot, bloody and dirty on the battlefield," he said. Even when there was a draft, the decision-makers stayed out of trouble. "The white sons of the rulers of America, including a certain George W Bush, have always found ways around the draft, in his case through his bogus service in the air auxiliary, while Dick Cheney took one course after another at university," he said. Outspoken critic Galloway, the Glasgow Kelvin MP who has consistently criticised US and British policy on Iraq, famously called Bush and Blair "wolves" over their war-like rhetoric leading up to the invasion. He opposed UN sanctions imposed after the last Gulf War complaining that they inflicted huge suffering on ordinary Iraqis. Mr Galloway has visited Iraq on numerous occasions and met the country's former president and major figures in the Baathist government. But he was also a vigorous campaigner during the Thatcher years, picketing the Iraqi embassy in London, when the Conservative government supplied arms to Saddam Hussein. Aljazeera By James Gooder _________________________________________________________________ "In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault Win TVs, Bikes, DVD players and more!Click onYahoo! India Promos -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030901/3be1866d/attachment.html From lawrenceliang at vsnl.net Wed Sep 3 04:38:09 2003 From: lawrenceliang at vsnl.net (lawrenceliang at vsnl.net) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 18:08:09 -0500 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Cal for researchers in Intellectual Property Message-ID: <200309022308.h82N89g21847@webmail2.vsnl.net> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030902/1ae5740a/attachment.pl From shohini at nda.vsnl.net.in Wed Sep 3 07:45:22 2003 From: shohini at nda.vsnl.net.in (shohini) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 07:45:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Sex Work is Different from Trafficking References: Message-ID: <000101c371c1$e2b8e220$aee141db@shohini> Dear Lehar: I think sex work and trafficking are two entirely different things. The moral brigade in India and abroad have conveniently collapsed issues of coercion and consent. Force and coercian in any profession is a violation of human rights but it is important to understand (and accept) that not all sex work is forced. I think Shuddha's comparison with forced agricultural labour is a good one. There will be a debate on whether Prostitution should become legal in JNU on September 5 at 5:30pm. I will be speaking in favour of "decriminalization". The phrase "legalization of prostitution" is wrong - because prostitution happens to be legal in India. In fact, the use of this phrase is an indication of how clueless people are about this issue. Only certain aspects of sex work according to the law on "immoral Trafficking" are criminalized. Confusing issues of consent and coercion will only lead to women losing autonomy over their bodies because the crucial distinction between sexism and sexual explicitness will be lost. It is time that sexuality in India gets debated within a framework of "sexual rights" instead of an alarmist context of "sexual wrongs", violence, abuse and atrocity. Warmly Shohini ----- Original Message ----- From: Lehar sethi zaidi Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 1:29 PM Subject: [schoolworkshop] TOI Alert: Disturbing Data on the sex industry in Asia > Dear friends > Thanks for your fdback on this issue..attached below are some emails on this > issue..and people's overwhelming concern at this regressive phenomenon.. > > tomorrow NDTV has taken up TOI debate and they are having a programme on > 'should prostitution be legalised in India?' > The effort is on to open the sex industry market in this country.. a la > Thailand..Asian women being in 'demand' etc. > DATA from the UN, and Australian and US govts: > > The United Nations has estimated that trafficking in the global sex industry > generates a US$5 billion to US$7 billion profit annually.(13) > > In any market there are demand and supply forces at work. Some argue that > the commercialisation of sex on the Internet and satellite television have > increased the demand for women and children from the developing world to be > trafficked into these new sexual entertainment industries in the western > world.(14) Rather than organised criminal syndicates being at the centre of > the growth of trafficking in women and children, according to some experts, > the key players in the international sex industry in the 21st century are > more likely to be entrepreneurs operating in a liberalised global > market.(15) These entrepreneurs offer products in high demand by consumers > prepared to pay substantial sums of money for the commercial sex services > they offer.(16) > ( Mary Sullivan and Sheila Jeffreys, 'Legalisation of Sex work: The > Australian Experience', Violence Against Women, vol. 8, no. 9, 2002, p. > 1145.) > > On the supply side, the rise in displaced persons during the 1990s and > decreasing opportunity for regular migration are other factors contributing > to the international growth of people trafficking. Refugee camps for > displaced persons provide a ready pool of vulnerable women and children to > be recruited into the global sex industry.(17) According to the United > Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are currently 19 783 > 100 persons of concern in the world. For a large number of displaced women > and children, this displacement 'ends in sexual exploitation and debt > bondage'.(18) > > Estimates of the number of people trafficked around the world annually for > sexual exploitation and other forms of exploitation vary from 700 000 to 4 > million.(19) In Europe the figure has been put at somewhere between 200 000 > and 500 000 women and children.(20) In any one year it is estimated that > around 50 000 women and children are trafficked into the United States, by > lure, force, deception or coercion to work in the commercial sex > industry.(21) Many believe they are migrating across international borders > to work as domestic workers, waitresses, or models for the fashion industry > not the sex industry. Some women aware they are going to work as sex > workers, are deceived about the conditions of work and find themselves in > debt bondage, servitude or slavery. > > ----- > Other references > Transnational Prostitution: Changing Patterns in a Global Context > > Ian Taylor and Ruth Jamieson, 'Sex Trafficking and the Mainstream of Market > Culture', Crime, Law & Social Change, vol. 32, 1999, p. 257; Donna Hughes, > 'Humanitarian Sexploitation', The Weekly Standard, Washington, 24 February > 2003; Susan Thorbek and Bandana Pattanaik (eds), Transnational Prostitution: > Changing Patterns in a Global Context, Zed Books, London, 2002, p. 1; Linda > Meaker, 'A social response to transnational prostitution in Queensland, > Australia', in Susan Thorbek and Bandana Pattanaik, (eds), Transnational > Prostitution: Changing Patterns in a Global Context, Zed Books, London, > 2002, p. 57. > --- > > - The commercial sex industry in South-east Asia has grown into a key > economic sector that accounts for anywhere between 2 to 14 percent of Gross > Domestic Product (GDP), says a new study by the International Labour > Organisation (ILO). > And Asia's economic slowdown, which is throwing many workers out of jobs, is > bound to swell the ranks of sex workers further, says Lin Lean Lim, the > report's author and director of women's concerns for the Geneva-based ILO. > > Based on research done in 1992 and 1993 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and > the Philippines, the ILO study launched here says the region's sex industry > shows little sign of waning. > > "The scale of prostitution has been enlarged to an extent where we can > justifiably speak of a commercial sex sector that is integrated into the > economic, social and political life of these countries," Lim wrote in the > study, 'The Sex Sector: The Economic and Social Bases of Prostitution in > South-east Asia'. > > "The sex business has assumed the dimensions of an industry and has directly > or indirectly contributed in no small measure to employment, national income > and economic growth," she added. > > Researchers' estimates show that the sex industry's contribution to the GDP > of the four countries range from more than 2 percent in Indonesia to 14 > percent in Thailand -- the high-end estimates for those countries. > > Trafficking Sexual Labour: A Trans-national Crime > The globalisation of the world economy has provided new and lucrative > opportunities for criminal entrepreneurs to be relatively free from > detection and prosecution.(1) With the compression of time and distance, > alongside the rapid development of information technologies, criminal > syndicates operate in a global village criss-crossing national borders.(2) > Yet the majority of the policy and legislative instruments and resources for > responding, prosecuting and preventing crime tend to be limited by the > boundaries of nation states. As such, single countries are strategically > disadvantaged in curbing trans-national crimes involving fraud, money > laundering, tax evasion, drug importation, firearms smuggling, terrorism, > sex tourism, cyber-crime, people trafficking and the like. By operating > outside the boundaries of the legal regulation of nation states, > trans-national crime syndicates have been effective in evading law > enforcement activities.(3) Consequently their regulation poses a > particularly difficult challenge for the 21st century.(4) > > http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/CIB/2002-03/03cib28.htm > ------ > > Asia's Sex Industry Is Growing Rapidly, Threatening AIDS Efforts, WHO Says" > David Thurber, Associated Press (08.13.01) > > [AEGIS] CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update 08/13/01 > > In a report prepared for a conference promoting government condom programs, > the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that Asia's sex trade is > making efforts to control AIDS more difficult. While Asia has managed to > greatly reduce AIDS with prevention programs encouraging condom use, the sex > trade's move away from traditional districts and into bars, karaoke parlors > and restaurants has made condom distribution more difficult. > > Asia's sex trade is expanding because of rising income disparities as the > region develops; poverty among women; the increased mobility of people; and > an increase in consumerism, the report said > > > The report cites estimates that Thai women sex workers in the cities remit > nearly 300 million U.S. dollars annually to families in rural areas. In > Thailand, prostitution produced between 22.5 and 27 billion dollars income > from 1993 to 1995. > > In Indonesia, where there are brothel complexes tolerated by officials, the > yearly income produced by the sex sector ranges from 1.2 to 3.3 billion > dollars a year. This accounts for between 0.8 and 2.4 percent of the > country's GDP, the ILO study says. > > The ILO report estimates that the number of sex workers ranges anywhere from > 0.25 percent to 1.5 percent of the total female population in the four > countries. > > The report cites estimates of the number of sex workers, mainly women, made > in 1993 and 1994. It puts the figure at 140,000 to 230,000 in Indonesia, > 43,000 to 142,000 in Malaysia. The Thai ministry of public health recorded > 65,000 sex workers in 1997, but ILO cites unofficial figures of 200,000 to > 300,000. > > Rene Ofreneo of the University of the Philippines, a co-author of the > chapter on the Philippines, says the estimated 400,000 to 500,000 > prostitutes in the country approximated the number of its manufacturing > workers. > > But the number of South-east Asians earning a living directly or indirectly > from prostitution -- including waitresses, security guards, escort services, > tour agencies -- could easily reach "several millions", the ILO report > explains. The commercial sex industry, which grew during Asia's boom years, > also operates with increasingly international networks, uses modern > technology and has become a highly organised business. > > But for all the economic impact of the sex industry, many governments do not > have policies on it and do not even concede it exists. "A major hurdle, to > date, is that policymakers have shied away from directly dealing with > prostitution as an economic sector," the ILO report said. > > She added that figures relating to the sex industry "are not in labour > statistics or in development plans" though they impact heavily on human > rights, the work force, crime, and health issues like the transmission of > HIV/AIDS. The extensive reach and deep economic and social roots of the > commercial sex industry make it imperative that governments do not simply > close their eyes to it, especially now that unemployment figures are rising > in South-east Asia. > > While the ILO study was made before the Asian crisis, Lim says evidence in > the Asian slowdown of the eighties show that "those who lost their jobs, > like in factories, were drawn into the sex sector". > > Often, they did so not just to earn money for themselves but to continue > supporting their families, many in rural areas, that rely on their income. > Lim also expressed fears that as more and more children drop out of school, > many would end up in sex work to earn money. "With the rising number of > children not in school, there is danger that the number of child prostitutes > will rise," she pointed out. > > "In countries without social safety nets, people have to find a way to > survive. The danger (of ending up in sex work) is much greater," Lim added. > Poverty rates in the region have been soaring since the Asian crisis struck > last year, with poverty incidence in Indonesia hitting 40 percent of its 220 > million people. > > The ILO study argues that governments need to approach the sex industry in > all its aspects, whether in human rights, health, or as an economic > activity. Definitely, Lim says, "it is not just a question of morality" and > "it is not a case of absolute poverty solely driving the sector". > > "Any meaningful approach to the sex sector cannot focus only on individual > prostitutes," she said. "An effective response really requires measures > directed at economic and social bases." > > She suggests that governments start by making a distinction between child > prostitution -- a violation of human rights -- and adult sex work. With that > distinction made, government will find it much easier to deal with adults > who are forced into it or those who choose to go into sex work, Lim > explains. For those forced into the sex industry, governments should work on > breaking up networks of forced recruitment or trafficking into prostitution > and rehabilitate its victims, the study said. > > Conceded Lim: "Because of the sensitivities, it is very hard to come up with > clear or single perspectives on this". The ILO is not suggesting that states > decriminalise or legalise sex work, but is laying out their options, Lim > says. > > ----- > > So is India next on the line after Thailand? IF the Delhi tiems ahs its way, > definitely. > > After the 'modelling'revolution, its the sex indusry.. the ultimate > commodification of women. > IF it prostutionis legailised many of the headaches will go.. esp it makes > traficking easier and gives 'added incentives'to women to join the sex > trade- considering that entire tribal villages have been uprooted and forced > to enter the flesh trade, many oppressed castes have become 'prostitues' for > the upper caste village headmen etc. in this era of urbanisationand > globaisation. This move is simply aiding ina further consumerisation of this > expoloiation. > Times of INdia has a mala fide intent.I would have nderstood it if some > women;s group had made therequest.. and even then.. > > Please wriote innto the TOI and also to feedback at ndtv.com > NDTV invited me and some other colleagues as audience..would you be > interested in coming for this programme and making ur views heard..? they > still need more voices. > please let me know on 98684 36944 > best > Lehar. > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- > An al Haqq- I am the Truth > Mansoor al Hallaj, Sufi saint, 932 AD > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Meet Virgo. Fall in love. http://server1.msn.co.in/features/virgo03/ With > perfection! > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > schoolworkshop-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > From sayantoni at rediffmail.com Wed Sep 3 12:57:11 2003 From: sayantoni at rediffmail.com (sayantoni datta) Date: 3 Sep 2003 07:27:11 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Sex Work is Different from Trafficking Message-ID: <20030903072711.32718.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/15387b84/attachment.pl From sayantoni at rediffmail.com Wed Sep 3 12:58:55 2003 From: sayantoni at rediffmail.com (sayantoni datta) Date: 3 Sep 2003 07:28:55 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Send artwork, writing, scribbles for larzish festival catalogue! Message-ID: <20030903072855.2098.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/2d3d0083/attachment.pl From l_murthy at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 13:33:28 2003 From: l_murthy at yahoo.com (Laxmi Murthy) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 01:03:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Response to Lehar from Saheli In-Reply-To: <20030903072711.32718.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <20030903080328.38031.qmail@web40612.mail.yahoo.com> Dear Friends, Although there have been several timely and well-argued responses to Lehar�s �Public Interest Alert� we at Saheli would like to respond to some points. We were surprised to find our name at the end of the mail which suggests that we endorse her rather strong viewpoints. Checking with our views and experience before doing so would have clarified this. Lehar has raised very important concerns relating to violence against women, but unfortunately, the conflating of sex work with trafficking, consuming alcohol with alcoholism, sexually explicit material with pornography is problematic and tends to confuse issues. Such conservatism being projected under the banner of women�s rights can be dangerous, particularly in the present context of ascendant right wing orthodoxy. Certainly, the continuous projection of women's bodies along with all that caters to male constructs of sex appeal is disturbing as is its impact on women in general. Yet moralistic positions, endorsements or indeed exhortations of censorship and arming the government with more powers to �censor and ban� are more than likely to backfire on us. Women�s groups have more often found legal interventions to be inadequate, and in fact promoting a retrogressive image of women, rather than enhancing women�s rights. Lehar�s faith in The Indecent Representation of Women Act is at best misplaced (The nomenclature of the Act itself should be telling, rooted as it is in notions of �decency�/�indecency�). Current debates about prostitution � decriminalization, licensing, zoning etc, among prostitutes' collectives and unions, as well as human rights' and women�s organizations are well-nuanced, demanding far more complex interventions than those suggested by Lehar. Clearly, the issues compel more informed engagement, and constant challenging of our own understandings responses and strategies. In general, many media representations -- of women, war, patriotism, community, religion and �normalcy� are worrisome. These, and deteriorating standards of journalism, the decline of media ethics, the selling of news space in leading dailies, flying journalists to Paris for the launch of a drug which finds �mention� in the op-ed of TOI � are most certainly concerns that face a newspaper reading public. Yet, pleading for more heavy handedness can only lead to more authoritarianism. The ease with which the blame for all evils is laid on "the West" is also disturbing. Perhaps we need to critically examine such depiction of women from a feminist lens, rather than parade the convenient and tired scapegoat of the "foreign hand". Only then can we even consider how/whether an alternative feminist culture can too be promoted by institutions like the media. In solidarity, Saheli, Delhi --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/0bf15a05/attachment.html From fred at bytesforall.org Wed Sep 3 13:42:30 2003 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 13:42:30 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Teacher Plus... an interesting mag from Hyderabad Message-ID: ********************************************************************* TEACHER PLUS Vol I No 4 * July/Aug 2003 Rs 15 Submissions to teacherplus01 at yahoo.co.in Subscription Rs 70 per year. Overseas Rs 630. olmailco at hd2.dot.net.in ********************************************************************* Consumer clubs in school: Consumer Affairs Ministry will grant Rs 10,000 to set up consumer awareness clubs in schools. Channel to energise science education plnned in India by 2005 Magsaysay award for prof Shanta Sinha, of UoHyderabad, who's behind the MV Foundation, working to get all children in the end mainstream. AP government's schooling statistics in dispute. Disaster management has been introduced as part of the social sciences curriculum for Class VIII from this year, which will be extended up to Class X by 2005. A new book, *Together Towards Safer India*, has been prepared for the course in collaboration with the disaster management division of the Home Ministry and the UNDP. ON TEACHING GEOGRAPHY: I put up the world map on teh wall. I took a pointer and took my teachers on a 'trip' to part of Europe. Before starting, various travel details (passport, visa, accommodation) were discussed.... My wards were so happy with the trip, they didn't want to come back!!! --Girija Karthikeyan EDITORIAL: Just when we thought that corporal punishment in schools was a thing of the past, it seems to be resurfacing with renewed vigour. LET'S CLEAN UP! Cleanliness of one's surroundings as well as one's own body is very important to good health, and therefore to what one is and one does. Like most habits, hygiene too is a habit picked up and most easily in childhood. Here are a few ways in which to help little children pick up clean habits, writes Sheel. PEG MATHS WITH EASE: The pegboard is a familiar piece of preschool equipment on which little children learn number work. This little board can be used to great effect through all of primary and middle school, and even in high school. K Rajalaxmi, principal of the Chirec Public School in Hyderabad describes how. WHY DO CHILDREN LIE? Lying is one of the challenges parents and teachers alike face when dealing with children. Given the responsibility of ensuring that a child is coping not only academically but also socially and emotionally, it becomes important to know the possible causes of untruth, and how to deal with it with sensitivity, says Charru Sharma, lecturer in family and child development MORE THAN JUST BUZZING AROUND: Climbing on the wings of a little insect can sometimes take you on a voyage of discovery. This project presents some ways in which you can take your students on that voyage, with the honeybee. The bee, like the ant, has often been described as a model of community living. There are many other aspects of the bee's life cycle that have lessons for us -- lessons that take us beyond the pages of a textbook and outside the boundaries of a subject, writes M S Shobha. MATHS FOR COMMUNICATION: Maths is a subject with a wide applicability in almost every area of life. That it is undeniably a part of our daily lives, and thus an easy subject to grasp, is something that children can learn to appreciate, thus getting over their inhibitions about the subject. P R Guruprasad, a Chennai-based education consultant involved in curriculum and teacher-development shares his experiences of using Maths as a medium of communication. ELEMENTARY ORGANISATION: The priodic table of elements is one of those necessary but often boring chapters in the seventh or eighth class syllabus. We rush through it stoically, making sure our students are familiar enough with the logic of its organisation to help them understand the rest of high school chemistry. Here are some added insights on the periodic table that might help you make it a little more interesting for your students, says Usha Raman. FREEING COMPUTERS IN SCHOOLS: Computers are used in many schools these days, as a teaching/training tool as well as for administrative purposes. Most schools, however, use expensive software that not only takes away a huge chunk of the school budget, but also limits the number of teaching/learning tools that can be used in school. This article discusses Free Software and why Free Software makes sense in education. CRAZY -- OR CREATIVE -- ANSWERS? As teachers of young children, most of us wade through loads and loads of answer books. Normally a strain, the answers that children sometimes come up with (in their confusion or their eagerness to answer) can bring a smile to your face and a chuckle upon your lips in the most stressful times. Some tickers and howlers... (Example: "Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battle-fields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: "Tee hee, Brutus.") ********************************************************************* TEACHER PLUS is published by Girish S Mondkar for Orient Longman Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad and is compiled by Spark-India, 3-5-820 Hyderguda, Hyderabad29. ********************************************************************* From sarang at flomerics.com Wed Sep 3 16:42:02 2003 From: sarang at flomerics.com (Sarang Shidore) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 16:42:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ** Book on Rwandan genocide makes waves ** Message-ID: A Deep Crisis, Shallow Roots By JOHN SHATTUCK THE GREAT LAKES OF AFRICA Two Thousand Years of History By Jean-Pierre ChrŽtien Translated by Scott Straus Zone Books, 503 pages. $36.Ê In central Africa, a genocidal war has raged for nearly a decade, costing more than four million lives in Rwanda, Burundi and Congo and precipitating the worst humanitarian crisis in more than half a century. Central Africa shares this gruesome recent past with southeastern Europe, where in the 1990's the Balkans were swept by a wave of killing and "ethnic cleansing." In both cases, genocide was widely misunderstood to be the inevitable product of "ancient hatreds." Jean-Pierre ChrŽtien, a French historian with vast experience in the Great Lakes region of Africa, has undertaken the formidable task of tracing the roots of the region's violence and exposing the ideological myths on which the ancient-hatreds theory rests. In a monumental study that marches through two millenniums before approaching central Africa's contemporary agony, Mr. ChrŽtien punctures the sense of inevitability that permeates our thinking about the Rwandan genocide. Along the way, he illuminates the responsibility of a wide range of actors from the colonial period through the present. As warlords continue today to compete for power in a thoroughly ravaged Congo, Mr. ChrŽtien helps us understand how this all came about and why it matters that we know. The story begins with the geography of the central African highlands. Despite its equatorial location, Mr. ChrŽtien says, "the region is blessed with good climate, is rich with diverse soils and plants, and has prospered thanks to some strong basic techniques: the association of cattle keeping and agriculture; the diffusion of the banana a millennium ago; and the mastery of iron metallurgy two millennia ago." In this healthy environment, complex social structures evolved in which the idea of kingship and strong central authority took hold and flourished for more than 300 years before the arrival of colonial powers in the mid-19th century. The fertile lands around the Great Lakes were settled by indigenous Hutu cultivators, while the more mountainous areas were used for the raising of cattle by Tutsi pastoralists. In the early kingdoms of the region, agricultural and pastoral systems were integrated because they controlled complementary ecological zones and served mutually beneficial economic interests. As Mr. ChrŽtien argues convincingly, nowhere at this time could the "social dialectic be reduced" to a Hutu-Tutsi cleavage. That began to change in the 19th century. As social structures became more complex, the success of the central African kingdoms depended increasingly on territorial expansion through raiding, colonizing and annexing of neighboring lands. At the same time, Tutsi cattle raisers in search of more land began to emerge as a new elite and a driving force behind expansion. The kingdoms of Rwanda and Uganda were particularly expansionist, but were soon thwarted by the arrival of colonial powers. The immediate effect of colonialism was to reorient the stratified and dynamic societies of the Great Lakes around competing poles of collaboration with, and resistance to, the new foreign occupiers. Since these remote societies had been untouched by the slave trade that ravaged Africa's coastal regions, they presented the Europeans with a range of robust aristocracies and royal courts to win over. At this crucial point, the issue of race entered the picture. Obsessed by their theories of racial classification, 19th- and early-20th-century Europeans rewrote the history of central Africa. Imposing their own racist projection of superiority on Tutsi "Hamito-Semites" and a corresponding inferiority on Hutu "Bantu Negroes," missionary and colonial historians began to attribute the rise of the Great Lakes kingdoms to the arrival of a superior race of "black Europeans" from the north. Mr. ChrŽtien quotes many examples of this toxic "scientific ethnicism," which the Belgians purveyed to their central African colonies until just before independence. A typical example from a colonial school newspaper in Burundi in 1948 states that "the preponderance of the Caucasian type is deeply marked" among the Tutsi, making them "worthy of the title that the explorers gave them: aristocratic Negroes." Anointed by the Belgians as their administrators and collaborators in Rwanda and Burundi, the Tutsis, who never constituted more than 18 percent of the population, were presented with a poisoned chalice combining ethnic elitism with economic favoritism. In educating their chosen elites, the Belgians were relentlessly racist. Starting in 1928, all primary schools in Rwanda were segregated, while at the secondary-school level Rwandan (and later Burundian) Tutsis were three to four times better represented than Hutus. Not surprisingly, the majority Hutu population chafed at this discrimination, and in the late 1950's a Hutu counter-elite began calling for the end of "Tutsi feudalism." On the eve of independence, the growing Hutu rebellion was backed, in a catastrophic reversal, by the Roman Catholic Church and the colonial administration, which now claimed that the Hutu majority represented "democratic values." The outcome, as Mr. ChrŽtien shows, was that "the new Rwanda declared its national past `Tutsi' and thus despicable." The post-colonial period was marked by a zero-sum ethnic fundamentalism that destroyed the social fabric. Mr. ChrŽtien argues that "the generation catapulted to the top of the former kingdoms thus squandered the opportunity offered by independence." The deep ethnic insecurities created by European rewriting of African history made the competing ethnic groups far more concerned about their own survival than about the task of nation-building. As a result, he writes, the elites were "haunted by a passion - which some admitted and others covered up - about the supremacy of their ethnic group." In Rwanda, the Hutu revolution led to a series of pogroms against the Tutsi minority, culminating in the 1994 genocide. Thus, modern hatreds, not ancient ones, destroyed Rwanda. Far from being inbred in the country's ancient social structures, these destructive animosities were created during its recent colonial past. Even then, it took the manipulation of ethnic identity by the country's new elites to produce the atmosphere of fear and recrimination that expanded through the Rwandan countryside and later into vast reaches of Congo in the genocidal war that has gripped the region for nearly a decade. In this respect, the Rwandans were no different from Slobodan Milosevic, Franjo Tudjman and the other authors of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. But the world has so far done far less to confront them, and Mr. ChrŽtien's extraordinary book prompts one to wonder whether the reason is rooted in the racism reflected in the violent rewriting of central African history. From shohini at nda.vsnl.net.in Thu Sep 4 04:49:37 2003 From: shohini at nda.vsnl.net.in (shohini) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 04:49:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Sex Work is Different from Trafficking References: <20030903072711.32718.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <000301c37275$a5fbf980$60e141db@shohini> Dear Sayantoni: Thanks for raising so many interesting points. First, about "sexual rights" and "choices". You are absolutely right to suggest that both are connected. Everytime we raise the issue of Sex worker's choosing sexwork, we are confronted with the issue of "false choices". Implicit in this argument (and I am not suggesting that you are making this point) is the notion that sexwork is so obviously an offensive choice that nobody ever makes it unless they are forced or misled. The fact is, that no choice emerges in a pure and unfettered space. Choices are always made from the options available and the range of options always differ depending on various factors. Class, caste, gender, mobility, social privileges, circumstances all contribute to the context within which choices are made. In the unorganized and informal sector, these choices are always limited. Many sex workers I know have chosen sex work because they believe its economically a smarter choice than other options available to them. As sex workers organize themselves, they adopt different strategies. In Calcutta, the women of Durbar Mahila Samwyaya Committee (DMSC) emphasize labour whereas, the sexworkers of Sangli don't. Yet both groups are fighting for "sexual rights". The nature of sex work is intrinsically tied to both "sex" and "work". In fact, the work is considered bad because it is related to sex. Sex workers are marginalized not because certain aspects of their profession are criminalized but also because they confront social stigma that is related to manner in which they have chosen to deploy sex. That's why a sexworkers allegation of being raped is usually met with responses like "how can whores be raped?" Similarly, a rape trial still involves the discrediting of a woman's testimony on the basis of her sexual history. Empowerment of sexworkers are therefore inseparable from the demand for sexual rights. You say that "their clients have the full freedom and empowerment to sexually express themselves." Sex workers movements all over the world are asking for this equation to be changed. S/he must have the power to negotiate and say "no". You will be surprised at how discriminating sex workers can be and how often they fob off clients they don't like! I am not sure why you feel that with greater freedom to express our sexual selves, the value of sex work will diminish. Do we stop eating out because we have a kitchen at home and the freedom to cook what we like? Sexual desires are complex and as people feel free to express their sexual selves, it is likely that the `industry' will diversify. Demystification of issues around sex and sexuality will also, hopefully, lead to an erosion of `moral reservations' and sexphobia. Greater awareness around "sexual rights" will mean not apologizing for the sexual choices we make regardless of whether we see sex as commercial, informal, labour, leisure or recreation. Warmly Shohini ----- Original Message ----- From: sayantoni datta To: shohini Cc: Sarai Reader List ; Shuddhabrata Sengupta ; Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 12:57 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Sex Work is Different from Trafficking > Dear Lehar and Shohini > > Both your emails clarified a lot of confusions for me.However > would ask you both on the following areas of discomfort. > > When you speak of "sexual rights", I assume that underlain in it > are "choices".Don't you think that sometimes the choices we make > are not choices at all, but based on an illusion of the same.While > we may have rights with regard to our sexual selves, how much of > those rights do we forsake, say for money,marriage or a better > life. Don't you think that "sex work" is different from "sex" > itself(leave alone trafficking)....and at the end of the day while > it is a labour issue for sex workers...it cannot be confused with > their sexual rights. I don't think sex workers have much sexual > rights in their profession.While their clients have the full > freedom and empowerment to sexually express themselves. Like > agricultural labourers have no land rights for instance. > > In a world where sexual norms are exploding, and with a greater > fight towards establishing sexual rights and ensuring the fact > that everyone has the freedom to express their sexual selves, the > value of sex work should really be slowly dimishing rather than > increasing don't you think? Its because we "mystify" sex so much, > that it comes as a "shady good" to be consumed in whore houses, > and tiny brothels and elitest and expensive hotel rooms.or is sex > to be completely commercialised and are we then to fight for > consumer rights and labour rights(including minimum wages) rather > than sexual rights. > > What do you think? > > Warm Regards > Sayantoni > > On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 shohini wrote : > >Dear Lehar: > > > >I think sex work and trafficking are two entirely different > >things. The > >moral brigade in India and abroad have conveniently collapsed > >issues of > >coercion and consent. Force and coercian in any profession is a > >violation of > >human rights but it is important to understand (and accept) that > >not all sex > >work is forced. I think Shuddha's comparison with forced > >agricultural > >labour is a good one. > > > > There will be a debate on whether Prostitution should become > >legal in JNU > >on September 5 at 5:30pm. I will be speaking in favour of > >"decriminalization". The phrase "legalization of prostitution" is > >wrong - > >because prostitution happens to be legal in India. In fact, the > >use of this > >phrase is an indication of how clueless people are about this > >issue. Only > >certain aspects of sex work according to the law on "immoral > >Trafficking" > >are criminalized. Confusing issues of consent and coercion will > >only lead to > >women losing autonomy over their bodies because the crucial > >distinction > >between sexism and sexual explicitness will be lost. It is time > >that > >sexuality in India gets debated within a framework of "sexual > >rights" > >instead of an alarmist context of "sexual wrongs", violence, > >abuse and > >atrocity. > > > >Warmly > >Shohini > > > >----- Original Message ----- > > From: Lehar sethi zaidi > >Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 1:29 PM > >Subject: [schoolworkshop] TOI Alert: Disturbing Data on the sex > >industry in > >Asia > > > > > > > Dear friends > > > Thanks for your fdback on this issue..attached below are some > >emails on > >this > > > issue..and people's overwhelming concern at this regressive > >phenomenon.. > > > > > > tomorrow NDTV has taken up TOI debate and they are having a > >programme on > > > 'should prostitution be legalised in India?' > > > The effort is on to open the sex industry market in this > >country.. a la > > > Thailand..Asian women being in 'demand' etc. > > > DATA from the UN, and Australian and US govts: > > > > > > The United Nations has estimated that trafficking in the > >global sex > >industry > > > generates a US$5 billion to US$7 billion profit > >annually.(13) > > > > > > In any market there are demand and supply forces at work. Some > >argue that > > > the commercialisation of sex on the Internet and satellite > >television have > > > increased the demand for women and children from the > >developing world to > >be > > > trafficked into these new sexual entertainment industries in > >the western > > > world.(14) Rather than organised criminal syndicates being at > >the centre > >of > > > the growth of trafficking in women and children, according to > >some > >experts, > > > the key players in the international sex industry in the 21st > >century are > > > more likely to be entrepreneurs operating in a liberalised > >global > > > market.(15) These entrepreneurs offer products in high demand > >by consumers > > > prepared to pay substantial sums of money for the commercial > >sex services > > > they offer.(16) > > > ( Mary Sullivan and Sheila Jeffreys, 'Legalisation of Sex > >work: The > > > Australian Experience', Violence Against Women, vol. 8, no. 9, > >2002, p. > > > 1145.) > > > > > > On the supply side, the rise in displaced persons during the > >1990s and > > > decreasing opportunity for regular migration are other > >factors > >contributing > > > to the international growth of people trafficking. Refugee > >camps for > > > displaced persons provide a ready pool of vulnerable women and > >children to > > > be recruited into the global sex industry.(17) According to > >the United > > > Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are > >currently 19 783 > > > 100 persons of concern in the world. For a large number of > >displaced women > > > and children, this displacement 'ends in sexual exploitation > >and debt > > > bondage'.(18) > > > > > > Estimates of the number of people trafficked around the world > >annually for > > > sexual exploitation and other forms of exploitation vary from > >700 000 to 4 > > > million.(19) In Europe the figure has been put at somewhere > >between 200 > >000 > > > and 500 000 women and children.(20) In any one year it is > >estimated that > > > around 50 000 women and children are trafficked into the > >United States, by > > > lure, force, deception or coercion to work in the commercial > >sex > > > industry.(21) Many believe they are migrating across > >international borders > > > to work as domestic workers, waitresses, or models for the > >fashion > >industry > > > not the sex industry. Some women aware they are going to work > >as sex > > > workers, are deceived about the conditions of work and find > >themselves in > > > debt bondage, servitude or slavery. > > > > > > ----- > > > Other references > > > Transnational Prostitution: Changing Patterns in a Global > >Context > > > > > > Ian Taylor and Ruth Jamieson, 'Sex Trafficking and the > >Mainstream of > >Market > > > Culture', Crime, Law & Social Change, vol. 32, 1999, p. 257; > >Donna Hughes, > > > 'Humanitarian Sexploitation', The Weekly Standard, Washington, > >24 February > > > 2003; Susan Thorbek and Bandana Pattanaik (eds), > >Transnational > >Prostitution: > > > Changing Patterns in a Global Context, Zed Books, London, > >2002, p. 1; > >Linda > > > Meaker, 'A social response to transnational prostitution in > >Queensland, > > > Australia', in Susan Thorbek and Bandana Pattanaik, (eds), > >Transnational > > > Prostitution: Changing Patterns in a Global Context, Zed > >Books, London, > > > 2002, p. 57. > > > --- > > > > > > - The commercial sex industry in South-east Asia has grown > >into a key > > > economic sector that accounts for anywhere between 2 to 14 > >percent of > >Gross > > > Domestic Product (GDP), says a new study by the International > >Labour > > > Organisation (ILO). > > > And Asia's economic slowdown, which is throwing many workers > >out of jobs, > >is > > > bound to swell the ranks of sex workers further, says Lin Lean > >Lim, the > > > report's author and director of women's concerns for the > >Geneva-based ILO. > > > > > > Based on research done in 1992 and 1993 in Indonesia, > >Malaysia, Thailand > >and > > > the Philippines, the ILO study launched here says the region's > >sex > >industry > > > shows little sign of waning. > > > > > > "The scale of prostitution has been enlarged to an extent > >where we can > > > justifiably speak of a commercial sex sector that is > >integrated into the > > > economic, social and political life of these countries," Lim > >wrote in the > > > study, 'The Sex Sector: The Economic and Social Bases of > >Prostitution in > > > South-east Asia'. > > > > > > "The sex business has assumed the dimensions of an industry > >and has > >directly > > > or indirectly contributed in no small measure to employment, > >national > >income > > > and economic growth," she added. > > > > > > Researchers' estimates show that the sex industry's > >contribution to the > >GDP > > > of the four countries range from more than 2 percent in > >Indonesia to 14 > > > percent in Thailand -- the high-end estimates for those > >countries. > > > > > > Trafficking Sexual Labour: A Trans-national Crime > > > The globalisation of the world economy has provided new and > >lucrative > > > opportunities for criminal entrepreneurs to be relatively free > > from > > > detection and prosecution.(1) With the compression of time and > >distance, > > > alongside the rapid development of information technologies, > >criminal > > > syndicates operate in a global village criss-crossing national > >borders.(2) > > > Yet the majority of the policy and legislative instruments and > >resources > >for > > > responding, prosecuting and preventing crime tend to be > >limited by the > > > boundaries of nation states. As such, single countries are > >strategically > > > disadvantaged in curbing trans-national crimes involving > >fraud, money > > > laundering, tax evasion, drug importation, firearms smuggling, > >terrorism, > > > sex tourism, cyber-crime, people trafficking and the like. By > >operating > > > outside the boundaries of the legal regulation of nation > >states, > > > trans-national crime syndicates have been effective in evading > >law > > > enforcement activities.(3) Consequently their regulation poses > >a > > > particularly difficult challenge for the 21st century.(4) > > > > > > http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/CIB/2002-03/03cib28.htm > > > ------ > > > > > > Asia's Sex Industry Is Growing Rapidly, Threatening AIDS > >Efforts, WHO > >Says" > > > David Thurber, Associated Press (08.13.01) > > > > > > [AEGIS] CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update 08/13/01 > > > > > > In a report prepared for a conference promoting government > >condom > >programs, > > > the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that Asia's sex > >trade is > > > making efforts to control AIDS more difficult. While Asia has > >managed to > > > greatly reduce AIDS with prevention programs encouraging > >condom use, the > >sex > > > trade's move away from traditional districts and into bars, > >karaoke > >parlors > > > and restaurants has made condom distribution more difficult. > > > > > > Asia's sex trade is expanding because of rising income > >disparities as the > > > region develops; poverty among women; the increased mobility > >of people; > >and > > > an increase in consumerism, the report said > > > > > > > > > The report cites estimates that Thai women sex workers in the > >cities remit > > > nearly 300 million U.S. dollars annually to families in rural > >areas. In > > > Thailand, prostitution produced between 22.5 and 27 billion > >dollars income > > > from 1993 to 1995. > > > > > > In Indonesia, where there are brothel complexes tolerated by > >officials, > >the > > > yearly income produced by the sex sector ranges from 1.2 to > >3.3 billion > > > dollars a year. This accounts for between 0.8 and 2.4 percent > >of the > > > country's GDP, the ILO study says. > > > > > > The ILO report estimates that the number of sex workers ranges > >anywhere > > from > > > 0.25 percent to 1.5 percent of the total female population in > >the four > > > countries. > > > > > > The report cites estimates of the number of sex workers, > >mainly women, > >made > > > in 1993 and 1994. It puts the figure at 140,000 to 230,000 in > >Indonesia, > > > 43,000 to 142,000 in Malaysia. The Thai ministry of public > >health recorded > > > 65,000 sex workers in 1997, but ILO cites unofficial figures > >of 200,000 to > > > 300,000. > > > > > > Rene Ofreneo of the University of the Philippines, a co-author > >of the > > > chapter on the Philippines, says the estimated 400,000 to > >500,000 > > > prostitutes in the country approximated the number of its > >manufacturing > > > workers. > > > > > > But the number of South-east Asians earning a living directly > >or > >indirectly > > > from prostitution -- including waitresses, security guards, > >escort > >services, > > > tour agencies -- could easily reach "several millions", the > >ILO report > > > explains. The commercial sex industry, which grew during > >Asia's boom > >years, > > > also operates with increasingly international networks, uses > >modern > > > technology and has become a highly organised business. > > > > > > But for all the economic impact of the sex industry, many > >governments do > >not > > > have policies on it and do not even concede it exists. "A > >major hurdle, to > > > date, is that policymakers have shied away from directly > >dealing with > > > prostitution as an economic sector," the ILO report said. > > > > > > She added that figures relating to the sex industry "are not > >in labour > > > statistics or in development plans" though they impact heavily > >on human > > > rights, the work force, crime, and health issues like the > >transmission of > > > HIV/AIDS. The extensive reach and deep economic and social > >roots of the > > > commercial sex industry make it imperative that governments do > >not simply > > > close their eyes to it, especially now that unemployment > >figures are > >rising > > > in South-east Asia. > > > > > > While the ILO study was made before the Asian crisis, Lim says > >evidence in > > > the Asian slowdown of the eighties show that "those who lost > >their jobs, > > > like in factories, were drawn into the sex sector". > > > > > > Often, they did so not just to earn money for themselves but > >to continue > > > supporting their families, many in rural areas, that rely on > >their income. > > > Lim also expressed fears that as more and more children drop > >out of > >school, > > > many would end up in sex work to earn money. "With the rising > >number of > > > children not in school, there is danger that the number of > >child > >prostitutes > > > will rise," she pointed out. > > > > > > "In countries without social safety nets, people have to find > >a way to > > > survive. The danger (of ending up in sex work) is much > >greater," Lim > >added. > > > Poverty rates in the region have been soaring since the Asian > >crisis > >struck > > > last year, with poverty incidence in Indonesia hitting 40 > >percent of its > >220 > > > million people. > > > > > > The ILO study argues that governments need to approach the sex > >industry in > > > all its aspects, whether in human rights, health, or as an > >economic > > > activity. Definitely, Lim says, "it is not just a question of > >morality" > >and > > > "it is not a case of absolute poverty solely driving the > >sector". > > > > > > "Any meaningful approach to the sex sector cannot focus only > >on individual > > > prostitutes," she said. "An effective response really requires > >measures > > > directed at economic and social bases." > > > > > > She suggests that governments start by making a distinction > >between child > > > prostitution -- a violation of human rights -- and adult sex > >work. With > >that > > > distinction made, government will find it much easier to deal > >with adults > > > who are forced into it or those who choose to go into sex > >work, Lim > > > explains. For those forced into the sex industry, governments > >should work > >on > > > breaking up networks of forced recruitment or trafficking > >into > >prostitution > > > and rehabilitate its victims, the study said. > > > > > > Conceded Lim: "Because of the sensitivities, it is very hard > >to come up > >with > > > clear or single perspectives on this". The ILO is not > >suggesting that > >states > > > decriminalise or legalise sex work, but is laying out their > >options, Lim > > > says. > > > > > > ----- > > > > > > So is India next on the line after Thailand? IF the Delhi > >tiems ahs its > >way, > > > definitely. > > > > > > After the 'modelling'revolution, its the sex indusry.. the > >ultimate > > > commodification of women. > > > IF it prostutionis legailised many of the headaches will go.. > >esp it makes > > > traficking easier and gives 'added incentives'to women to join > >the sex > > > trade- considering that entire tribal villages have been > >uprooted and > >forced > > > to enter the flesh trade, many oppressed castes have become > >'prostitues' > >for > > > the upper caste village headmen etc. in this era of > >urbanisationand > > > globaisation. This move is simply aiding ina further > >consumerisation of > >this > > > expoloiation. > > > Times of INdia has a mala fide intent.I would have nderstood > >it if some > > > women;s group had made therequest.. and even then.. > > > > > > Please wriote innto the TOI and also to feedback at ndtv.com > > > NDTV invited me and some other colleagues as audience..would > >you be > > > interested in coming for this programme and making ur views > >heard..? they > > > still need more voices. > > > please let me know on 98684 36944 > > > best > > > Lehar. > > > > > > > > > > > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >-------------------------------------- > > > An al Haqq- I am the Truth > > > Mansoor al Hallaj, Sufi saint, 932 AD > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ > > > Meet Virgo. Fall in love. > >http://server1.msn.co.in/features/virgo03/ With > > > perfection! > > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > > schoolworkshop-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > > > > > > > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > >http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > > > > > > > > >_________________________________________ > >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > >Critiques & Collaborations > >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > >subscribe in the subject header. > >List archive: > > ___________________________________________________ > Meet your old school or college friends from > 1 Million + database... > Click here to reunite www.batchmates.com/rediff.asp > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: From nyvoices at indypress.org Thu Sep 4 04:46:01 2003 From: nyvoices at indypress.org (Rehan Ansari) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 19:16:01 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] V 81 Message-ID: <022201c37271$a2638d50$6501a8c0@herman> This Week's Voices That Must Be Heard By IPA-New York, a sponsored project of the Independent Press Association Edition 81: 3 September 2003. NEWS ITEMS: Workers wanted, for heavy and dirty work by Min-soo Lee, Korea Times New York, 29 August 2003. Translated from Korean by Sun-yong Reinish. Korean businesses lack South and Central American labor post 9/11 MORE. Give (non-citizen) taxpayers the vote? Chinese Americans hold two extreme views by Dan-Wei Luo, World Journal, 28 August 2003. Translated from Chinese by Connie Kong. Should people who hold green cards, but not U.S. citizenship, have the right to vote? MORE. Jewish organizations absent at civil rights rally by Daniel Treiman, Forward, 29 August 2003. English language. The event's sole speaker representing a Jewish group was a figure far removed from the leading national Jewish organizations: Rabbi Arthur Waskow, the director of the left-wing, Philadelphia-based Shalom Center. Consistent with the overall tone of the event, Waskow, drawing on a Passover analogy, compared the Bush administration to Pharaoh. MORE. Cracked heads, many rats, crumbling buildings and empty pockets by Edward Pariyants, V Novom Svete, 28 August 2003. Translated from Russian by Marian Bassett. What housing in New York has become for Section Eight residents MORE. BRIEFS: Who gets city contracts? by Claudia Zequeira, El Diario / La Prensa, 20 August 2003. Translated from Spanish by Hirsh Sawhney. New York City physician joins rights groups in challenging Patriot Act clause by Arthur J. Pais, India Abroad, 29 August 2003. English language. Saks decidedly unplush towards workers, says union by Ana Ledo, El Diario / La Prensa, 22 August 2003. Translated from Spanish by Hirsh Sawhney. The first Bangladeshi Christian Conference, Bangla Patrika, 23 August 2003. Translated from Bangla by Moinuddin Naser. EDITORIALS: For illegals with love (from Texas) by Anna Salamon, Super Express, 31 July 2003. Translated from Polish by Ania Milewska. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) has proposed a bill which would grant illegal workers in the United States a chance to obtain working visas. MORE. As always we welcome questions, suggestions, corrections and letters to the editor. Rehan Ansari Editor, Independent Press Association - New York nyvoices at indypress.org* 212/279-1442 * 143 West 29th St., 901, New York City, 10001 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/d33ceedd/attachment.html From anilbhatia at indiatimes.com Wed Sep 3 19:20:23 2003 From: anilbhatia at indiatimes.com (anilbhatia) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 19:20:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Differences between now and the 1993 bomb blasts Message-ID: <200309031334.TAA08856@WS0005.indiatimes.com> The Rediff Special/Rakesh Maria September 02, 2003 I was in my office at the Crime Branch [at the Mumbai police headquarters near Crawford Market, south Mumbai] when I heard of the twin blasts [on August 25]. It was shocking. My second thought was that now, once again, the police will be severely criticized. Though we have arrested 23 people in past bomb blast cases and charge-sheeted them, people will point fingers at us. Once more it will be trying times. The investigation of previous cases and our intelligence work had all been erased by these blasts. The first thing I did was alert all 12 units of the Crime Branch, three crime intelligence units, and one anti-extortion cell in Mumbai to talk to their informants and get some clues as to who did it, how and why? Next we alerted our local police stations to be prepared for communal riots. Simultaneously I sent teams to both spots. One expected only a few deaths. But the control room told me in a few minutes that 38 had died. We understood that the challenge had arrived. It was going to be either us or them. That same day, at 7.30pm, I called all the unit leaders and senior officers to my office from all over Mumbai. Since communal riots had not broken out, they could come. Taxi driver [Shivnarayan Vasudev] Pande provided many clues to begin the investigation. We already knew that in the BEST bus blast on route number 340, the bomb was planted by a woman in a burkha and carrying a small child. Pande's description was similar to that given by the BEST bus driver. I spoke to Pande. What he had seen we understood well. How the criminals were walking, their looks, etc. By midnight our artist had made the sketches. Strict instructions were issued not to release the sketches to the public or the press. At the evening meeting, all our officers showed exemplary readiness to fight it out. "Hamari bhi izzat ka sawal hai [Our honour is at stake]" was the mood. We will be called useless if we don't do something. There was hardly any need to motivate them because they understood the gravity of the situation. On day two we were looking for eyewitnesses to come forward. In Chimanpada area we were looking for the combination of four members of a family -- husband, wife, 18-year-old daughter and three-year-old daughter. We could not publicise the sketches because we did not want the family to change their get-up. That day, on August 26, our boys came with a heap of information. Very important, but not relevant to this case. The second day almost passed without a real lead. Pata lagao... aur pata lagao [find out more] was our demand. On day three, my officer called me from Andheri and said they had one eyewitness who claimed to have seen a couple similar to the sketch. He knew a guy who was with this couple. The first ray of hope had emerged. Every hour we were kept informed. My officer kept telling me, "Sir, he looks reliable." In such circumstances people do try to settle scores by fixing their enemies. We thought it would be a fiasco if that man planted someone on us. On the morning of August 28, at a secret hideout without revealing my identity, I personally met the informant. That was when I became confident that we were on the right track. The man knew Arshad [Shafique Ansari] and his home. We kept watch on the place round the clock. He also led us to Hanif and Fahmida. Our patience was tested here. When our men went to Hanif's home they found a huge crowd there. A neighbour had died. We decided to hold back and not arrest the couple. It was a risk. Woh bhag gaya to?! [What if they escaped?] We were relieved on Sunday when we got it right. Once more this case has highlighted the fact that the anonymity that a city like Mumbai affords people gives protection to criminals. Somebody who is least expected to be involved in crime could be a ruthless operator. We are trying to tell Mumbaikars to keep watch on their neighbourhoods. Be alert and share information. Imagine what Hanif and Fahmida's neighbours must be thinking today. A lady with whom they shared things and watched television together was a criminal who planted bombs in buses and taxis! I would also like to tell people that there are many differences between now and the 1993 bomb blasts. Then, such people were involved who already had criminal records or an underworld connection. Most of them were uneducated. Many accused told us that "bhai ne kaha, so kiya [the boss told us, so we did it]". They did it for small amounts of money. They had no ideological commitment for their act. Now it is not so. Our investigation of the blasts that have taken place since December 2002 has revealed that out of 23 main accused, five are engineers, three are doctors, two are graduates, one is an MBA, and the rest are all SSC pass. None, I repeat none, did it for money. Except Saquib Nachen, hardly any of them had a criminal record. Many have SIMI connections, but none had even been involved in a stabbing case. This is frightening. We can't comment much on this. It is not our job. But the public and politicians must think and debate this. This trend also makes intelligence gathering more difficult. Just imagine the state of mind of Fahmida, who is sitting in a taxi with a teenaged daughter and a three-year-old, and a time bomb. This shows the level of commitment and successful indoctrination. Her family was willingly getting into it and they chose Mumbai as their target. We are looking into such modules in our city. She and Hanif are mentally strong. The public should think why a section of educated youth is getting into these activities. Even though they are educated, the thought of senseless deaths is not affecting some of them. The thought that why should I kill a poor man is not keeping them away. We are still investigating the Gujarat angle. We can't say anything now. Investigation is a slow, long-drawn process. Today I know for certain that the Ghatkopar blast and the twin blasts were executed by this couple and Arshad and two other chaps, who are absconding. They did it because some guys in Dubai told them. I'll not reveal their names. So far the underworld connection has not come out. But the Pakistan connection is most expected. Our regret is that we have picked up just one module of the ISI in the city. Today, terrorism has no geographical boundaries. It is planned in one city, material is supplied from some other sources, logistics is provided by a group sitting in some other country, and the act is executed elsewhere. It is so easy for a terrorist brain to reconnoitre our society, help people first with their problems, and get them in their fold. There never was greater urgency for the entire country to come together and fight this menace. In this case the money and instructions came from Dubai, but eventually it will turn out that Pakistanis are behind it. Additional Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria (above, right) spoke to Sheela Bhatt on Monday evening. Get Your Private, Free E-mail from Indiatimes at http://email.indiatimes.com Buy The Best In BOOKS at http://www.bestsellers.indiatimes.com Bid for Air Tickets on Air Sahara Flights at Prices Lower Than Before. Just log on to http://airsahara.indiatimes.com and Bid Now ! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/9f245325/attachment.html From sarang_shidore at yahoo.com Thu Sep 4 11:42:59 2003 From: sarang_shidore at yahoo.com (Sarang Shidore) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 23:12:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Damascus Dispatch In-Reply-To: <000301c37275$a5fbf980$60e141db@shohini> Message-ID: <20030904061259.91780.qmail@web41415.mail.yahoo.com> Is Syria Next?Charles Glass Amid the squat concrete towers and traffic bridges of the new and expanding Damascus, a few mud-brick houses endure like Palaeolithic mammals resisting the inevitability of extinction. Massive apartment blocks modelled on those of the Soviet Union and hotels straight from the American Midwest are transforming the Syrian capital into an Occidental artefact. Oriental structures, struggling under the weight of satellite receivers large enough for families to sleep in, survive on sufferance. Most stand in a state of near destruction, a wall down here, doors falling from hinges there, prisoners shaved for execution. Posterity can lay the blame on Syria's modern rulers: the French, who between 1920 and 1946 cleared acres of labyrinthine quarters to make room for cannon and tanks to control the natives; the few elected and many military regimes who succeeded them; and, latterly, the Baath Party/Army/ Intelligence Service junta that has been in place since 1970. Only in a small corner of today's Damascus, demarcated by the broad stone walls of the Old City, are ancient houses being restored and gentrified after generations of neglect. Syrians who for years avoided the dilapidated bazaars are revisiting the charm of mud and wood, stone and marble, running fountains and cobbled paths too narrow for cars. A few landlords are turning their empty palaces into hotels, restaurants and bars where the young stay late into the night in jasmine-scented courtyards to savour water pipes as their ancestors did in Ottoman times. Many young people in Damascus look and act like Americans, sitting in caf�s, holding hands when they stroll with their girlfriends or boyfriends, buying jeans and trainers and hip-hop CDs. Others have chosen the women's headscarves, the asceticism and the ethos of the desert, of religion, which they believe lends them a more authentic Arab and Muslim identity. You see both types of children in a single family. In any group of teenage girls, there are as many bare midriffs as dark veils. At the Pit Stop Caf�, one of Damascus's trendier new meeting places, they mingle over espresso and Turkish coffee, Marlboros and nargilehs, hamburgers and hummus. The Baathist motto - 'Unity, Socialism, Progress' - doesn't mean anything to them. A new music video by Shakira - a sexy Lebanese-Colombian rock star whose lyrics reunite Spanish and Arabic - does. This should be a time of hope in Syria. When the old President died three years ago, Syrians sensed the possibility of escape from the deadening, if steady, hand with which he had governed most aspects of their lives. Power in what many deride as a 'hereditary republic' passed to his son, Bashar Assad, without civil war, sectarian violence or a military coup d'�tat. There was a brief 'Damascus spring' when the new, 34-year-old President encouraged citizens to speak out. A country in which owning a fax machine required security clearance suddenly found itself awash with mobile phones and Internet connections. The first private newspaper since the declaration of martial law in 1963 began publishing, and hundreds of civil society groups met in houses and public auditoria. They demanded change: an end to the state of emergency, genuine elections and a stop to the corruption that has enriched senior officials and their families. Beware, the old President's inner circle advised the son. Rushing towards a Syrian perestroika would jeopardise his father's work and lead to chaos. The police arrested scores of activists, including two MPs. Glorious spring reverted to familiar winter. Survival is a preoccupation in Syria, as much among the conservationists who lobby to defend ancient monuments as within the governing elite who seek to protect themselves. Everyone in Syria senses that, following its invasion of Iraq, the US is turning to Damascus. Iran - a higher profile target in recent weeks - is unlikely to divert American attention from Syria. Washington has made it clear that it intends to deal with both regimes at once. When Colin Powell visited Bashar Assad after the conquest of Baghdad it was to name the price of Baathism's survival in Syria: ending support for Hizbollah in Lebanon, closing the Damascus offices of Palestinian guerrilla organisations and deporting their leaders. He told President Assad not to allow Palestinian spokesmen in Syria to speak to journalists. Years ago, it was the regime of Bashar's father, Hafez Assad, that did not want Palestinians to talk. Bassam Abu Sharif, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's spokesman in the early 1980s, met me secretly at his Damascus flat and spoke in whispers while letting water run into the sink to conceal our voices from the Syrians' electronic eavesdroppers. He referred to Syria as 'Alaska', just in case. Alaska, frozen in the political rhetoric of a 1960s Soviet client, is now surrounded. Jordan, Israel and Turkey host American forces and are formidable foes in their own right. All three are in dispute with Syria over water rights, while Syria claims that both Israel and Turkey occupy part of the land allotted to it under the post-First World War French Mandate. Iraq has become an American protectorate, and America has told Syria that it must, like a rare breed of bird, adapt to the new environment or die. The Syrian Army and Intelligence Services are playing their own imperial game in Lebanon, but their presence there has become as vulnerable to American subversion as America's forces are to indigenous resistance - with or without Syrian and Iranian encouragement - in Iraq. Syria's precarious military position is matched by its economic weakness. Assad Senior, master strategist in foreign affairs and local intrigue, presided for thirty years over financial incompetence that successive dei ex machina disguised but failed to correct: Syria survived on Soviet subsidies, hand-outs from Arab oil states which wouldn't confront Israel themselves and remittances from workers in Lebanon. As the country approached bankruptcy in the early 1980s, deliverance came with the discovery of oil near its border with Iraq. Deals with Iraq followed in the 1990s, when Saddam Hussein gave Syria 150,000 barrels of free oil every day and allowed Syrian businesses to sell Iraqis about $1 billion worth of goods. When the US assumed control of the Iraqi side of the frontier in April, the oil and the trade stopped. Syria's economy was in trouble. 'By 2010,' says Nabil Sukkar, an American-educated former World Bank economist in Damascus, 'we will be net importers of oil.' Half the population is under the age of 20. Unemployment is already 25 per cent, and the job market is not absorbing the 300,000 young people joining it each year. 'Children are our only export,' lamented a businesswoman whose sons have moved to Canada. I met her at a lunch in Sednaya, a Christian village outside Damascus whose summer villas sport the vast lawns and lush gardens seen in other arid resorts like Palm Springs. There were about a dozen well-off Syrians, mostly professionals and business people, as well as foreign diplomats, at a collection of outdoor tables. I had known one of the guests, Jacques Hakim, for more than twenty years. He was almost the only Syrian there whose grown-up children were staying in the country. One daughter is an architect; the other daughter and the son are, like him, lawyers. 'I took my son to make his first appearance in the Supreme Court,' he said. 'He looked at the portraits of the old judges and there he saw his grandfather.' Youssef Hakim, Jacques's father, had been an Ottoman-trained jurist who served on the Court during the country's brief moment of independence under King Faisal in 1920. Later, he wrote a book on the French Mandate that robbed Syria of its independence. Jacques said that his family could not just walk away from all this. Things were getting better in Syria, he believed, but he feared that American interference would reverse tentative steps towards liberalisation. Syria - encircled, broke and threatened by America and Israel - has been down before. In 1967, a few days of fighting against Israel cost it the Golan Heights, the prestige of its military dictatorship and a large part of its Armed Forces. Humiliation led to regime change the old-fashioned way: a coup by brother officers against the losers of the war. The Air Force commander, Hafez Assad, emerged as overall victor among the Baath Party militarists in November 1970. Although Assad gave Syrians a longer period of continuity at the top than any since Ottoman times, he suffered a defeat of his own in Lebanon. The Israeli invasion of 1982, undertaken to expel the PLO and install a puppet regime in Beirut, pushed Assad's forces out of the southern half of the country and destroyed the Air Force, his personal fiefdom. Almost every Syrian jet that went into the sky fell to an Israeli missile or fighter, and for the next year Syria had no air protection. Israel occupied most of Lebanon, and the Americans - towing the British, French and Italians behind - set up in Beirut as multinational peacekeepers. Assad seemed to be finished. His health suffered, and his brother Rifaat attempted a palace coup. But he recovered, threw out his brother, bided his time and rebuilt the military. The Lebanese guerrilla operations he sponsored against the US, France and Israel forced an American evacuation early in 1984. Assad lived just long enough to witness the total Israeli retreat from Lebanon in May 2000. He was probably the only Arab leader to earn America and Israel's respect, having inflicted defeats on both. And he left a son to prolong his legacy. For the men who came to rule the United States with the inauguration of George W. Bush, the Syrian menace was nothing new. Some of them had long wanted to wage war against Iraq as a way of containing Syria. 'Israel can shape its strategic environment, in co-operation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing and even rolling back Syria,' a Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy advised Benjamin Netanyahu when he assumed office in 1996. This group's paper, 'A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm', suggested that efforts should 'focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq - an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right - as a means of foiling Syria's regional ambitions'. Did the United States invade Iraq with this objective in mind? The leader of the study group was Richard Perle, who became head - now, after press disclosure of a conflict of interest, he is a mere member - of the Defense Policy Board under Donald Rumsfeld. Another member of the study group was Douglas Feith, now the Pentagon's Under Secretary for Policy. The advice that Perle, Feith and other American friends of Israel's Likud irredentists gave Netanyahu in 1996 became the Bush Administration's policy in 2003. The reasons stated in public for invading Iraq - sometimes Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, occasionally his mythical collusion with Osama bin Laden, often his brutality - never included 'foiling Syria'. However desirable to the Likud Government, this would not have struck American public opinion as a plausible casus belli. (Did anyone tell Tony Blair about the Syrian objective?) After the toppling of Saddam's statues in Baghdad in April, however, the Bush Administration turned its attention to perhaps the real objective of the war: Syria. With American forces in Baghdad, Perle continued his rhetorical assault on Syria. He told Graham Turner, whose three-part article, 'An American Odyssey', appeared in the Daily Telegraph in June: 'Somehow, we've got to isolate Assad and make him realise that there's very little benefit in playing host to these people' - i.e. Hizbollah and Palestinian groups. His neoconservative comrade at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Ledeen, was more explicit in conversation with Turner: 'Iraq is not what it's all about. We have been at war for twenty years with a terror network supported by Iraq, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia . . . Now, like it or not, we're in a regional war, and we can't opt out of it. We have to bring down these regimes and produce free governments in all these countries . . . Undermining the governments of other countries? No big deal.' After Bush's election in 2000, a Presidential Study Group published 'Navigating through Turbulence: America and the Middle East in a New Century'. 'The two main targets,' the group advised the incoming President, 'should be Syria and Iraq.' The authors of the report were 'guided', they said, 'by the wisdom and insight of a distinguished Steering Group that included . . . Alexander Haig Jr, Max Kampelman, Anthony Lake, Samuel Lewis, Joseph Lieberman, Paul Wolfowitz and Mortimer Zuckerman'. Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld's Deputy Secretary of Defense, is, along with Perle, best known as an architect of the regime change in Iraq. ('Regime destruction' may be a more accurate term.) The report noted: 'Almost exactly a decade after the Gulf War left the Middle East under a virtual Pax Americana, the region seemed to have become a very inhospitable place for Americans.' The authors offered neither diagnosis nor cure for the Arabs' inexplicable and uncharacteristic lack of hospitality. The US, they seemed certain, could have the Israeli cake and still eat Arab oil. 'Maintaining a strong alliance with Israel' has not prevented 'every state on Israel's border, except Syria, from accepting America as their principal source of military aid and mat�riel'. The Syrian exception, however, needed prodding. 'Specifically, the United States should clarify to Assad that the key indicators of his intentions are policy toward Lebanon and terrorism.' (The italics are, for some reason, in the original.) The report's recommendations are remarkably similar to the demands Powell made during his meeting with Assad: Important benchmarks would include permitting the deployment of Lebanese troops to the border with Israel, the closing down of terrorist training camps in the Bekaa Valley, the expulsion from the Bekaa of remaining Iranian revolutionary guards, the termination of Iranian flights into Damascus carrying arms for Hizbollah, the redeployment of armed Hizbollah personnel from the Lebanon-Israel frontier zone, the disarming of Hizbollah, especially its long-range rockets, and eventually the phase-out and withdrawal of Syria's troop and military intelligence presence in Lebanon. These recommendations, like Powell's demands, furthered Israeli interests more than they did any direct interest of the US. Eliminating Hizbollah, the guerrilla organisation that fought a successful war against the Israeli forces occupying Lebanon, was an obvious example of this. Requiring Syria to withdraw from Lebanon seemed to contradict the objectives of previous American administrations, however much General Sharon would like it to happen. Only the express approval of Henry Kissinger, the then Secretary of State, had allowed the Syrian Army to enter Lebanon in 1976. Syria expanded its military dominance to Lebanon's Christian heartland in 1991, with the approval of Kissinger's successor, James Baker - a quid pro quo for Syrian participation in the American war to expel Iraq from Kuwait in 1991. When I reminded an American diplomat in Damascus that the US had given a double benediction to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, he said: 'That mandate just ran out.' We were arguing at dinner in a European-style restaurant, when he suddenly asked: 'What are the ground rules here? Off the record, right?' I agreed to keep his name to myself, but during our second bottle of Lebanese wine it became evident that he was trying to convince the Syrians that Washington was deadly serious about each and every demand it was making. There was no room here for the subtleties of diplomacy. America may use all sorts of coercion - economic sanctions, Israeli attacks on Syrian forces in Lebanon and in Syria itself, American military action and destabilisation in Lebanon - to goad Syria into obedience or to change the regime. But the incentives it is willing to dangle in front of Damascus are paltry. The Presidential Study Group suggested 'perhaps the establishment of a Peace Corps programme in Syria or the set up of a special Internet Training Institute . . . even to actually promoting Syria as a place where US companies - especially in telecommunications, oil/gas exploration and high-tech - should pursue business'. American companies already work in the Syrian oil industry, and Syria has allowed European telecommunications companies to do business there. As for the T-shirted youths of the Peace Corps, would they teach the world's oldest mercantile society to weave carpets? A year after that report, in September 2001, the Project for the New American Century wrote an open letter to Bush, headed 'Lead the World to Victory'. Perle, along with forty other high priests of the neoconservative creed, put his name to the demand that 'Syria and Iran immediately cease all military, financial and political support for Hizbollah and its operations. Should Iran and Syria refuse to comply, the Administration should consider appropriate measures of retaliation against these known state sponsors of terrorism.' As with Iraq, accusations of sponsoring terrorism may not be sufficient to win public support for action. On 6 May 2002, John Bolton, the Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, filled the gap by accusing Syria of developing chemical and biological weapons and acquiring hundreds of Scud missiles. He warned that Damascus was a step away from inclusion in the 'axis of evil' with Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Two weeks later, for the eighth year in a row, the State Department declared Syria a sponsor of terrorism. Members of the US Congress introduced the Syria Accountability Bill to make nearly all dealings with the country illegal. Syria's response was, by and large, to give in to American pressure. After 11 September Damascus apprehended al-Qaida suspects and handed them over to the Americans. It voted for America's UN Security Council Resolution 1441 to pressure Iraq to display its elusive weapons of mass destruction. When the US proclaimed victory in Iraq, Assad ordered Iraqi exiles from Saddam Hussein's regime back home and expelled many other Iraqis. He closed the offices of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as those of the Popular Front General Command, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, some of whose leaders have quietly left the country. Some went to Cairo to sign up to a Palestinian Authority ceasefire with Israel. Hizbollah ceased actions against Israel from South Lebanon, but so far Syria has neither disarmed Hizbollah nor compelled it to abandon its bases in the South. An American Administration whose style is diplomacy by diktat has no interest in listening to a rehearsal of Syria's case: that the Palestinians are waging a legitimate, legal struggle to end military occupation; that the Syrian people, like Arabs elsewhere, believe in Palestinian national rights; that Hizbollah is a legal political party in Lebanon with nine elected members of parliament; that Israel has far more weapons of mass destruction, including at least 250 nuclear warheads, than Syria has or could afford to acquire; that the Syrian Government, far from aiding Islamic fundamentalists, waged war against them twenty years before 11 September, notably in Aleppo and Hama; that an abrupt Syrian departure from Lebanon could free Sunni Muslim fundamentalists, who are not unreceptive to the call of Osama bin Laden, from any effective control and reignite the Lebanese civil war. 'W 'What can we do?' Boutheina Shaaban of the Syrian Foreign Ministry asked. 'If we say yes, they will ask for something else. They don't understand the issue of dignity here.' When I went to see Dr Shaaban last month, I walked into the wrong office and saw an ethereal portrait of the Assad family, arranged like the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Golden light emanated from the father, Hafez, as if from an icon in a Syrian Christian church. Seated beside him on a throne was the son, Bashar. The spirit of the older son, Basil, floated above them. Basil had been the designated heir, but after he was killed in a car accident near Damascus airport in 1994, Bashar replaced him as the father's chosen vicar on earth. Portraits of Presidents - the late one, the one who should have been and the one who is - were as common in Syrian offices as bureaucratic lethargy. The story went that, if you worked for the Government, all you did was go to your ministry, leave your jacket on the chair behind your desk, go out to a caf� and return at the end of the working day to retrieve your jacket. The Ministry of Information was notorious, and still is, for lazy, unco-operative officials. A friend of mine called them slurpers, because their only job appeared to be slurping tea and coffee. It was far easier for them to answer requests with a 'no' than to risk criticism from above by saying 'yes'. Censors said no to the publications of books they did not understand, no to visas for journalists they did not know, no to requests for interviews with senior officials and no to anything else a visitor might ask. Across the corridor, where I found the right office, young, serious civil servants of a kind I have not often encountered in Damascus were tapping computer keyboards, sending faxes, answering telephones in three or four languages and passing documents from one desk to another. The men and women were not afraid of their boss, in a country where fear of those higher up the hierarchy of power rivals corporate America's. While Boutheina Shaaban and I spoke, a young man made notes until she told him not to bother. Then he took part in the discussion. Boutheina Shaaban graduated in English literature at Damascus University and went on to Warwick. She met her husband in England and wrote a thesis on Shelley and the Chartist Movement. Her book on Arab women novelists will be published by Syracuse University Press later this year. She joined the Ministry in 1988 as an interpreter. 'I got involved in the political scene,' she recalled. She took part in the peace process in Madrid and Washington and became an interpreter for President Assad. I had often wondered, watching Hafez speak through interpreters whose English he occasionally corrected, how well he spoke any language other than Arabic. 'He understood English, French and Russian,' she said. 'But he believed that, as a president, he should speak his national language.' American diplomats said that Colin Powell had read Bashar the riot act when the two met in May, but that was not how she remembered it. 'The Secretary said: "We are going to discuss the issues of the region . . . We are giving our perspective and are ready to hear yours." He gave us his perspective, and it's very far from reality. He said the US had no ambitions in Iraq.' Powell told Bashar what America wanted Syria to do. 'These were not presented as demands,' she told me. 'The Secretary stressed that. He said we were conducting a dialogue.' And Bashar's reaction? 'The President said that these demands have nothing to do with the United States.' Before the visit, Sharon had announced publicly seven or eight points that the US should raise with Syria, and Sharon's points and Powell's were the same, she said. What did she make of that? 'This is my own analysis,' she said - Syrian officials don't often offer their own analyses. 'There are countries that are looking at this force as vehement and unstoppable - Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. They say: "Let's try and be in their good books." Syria, with its history and its pan-Arabism, does not want to be the country that risks the anger of the United States. But, in the meantime, it does not want to compromise its consistent position in line with UN resolutions. I wonder if there isn't room for a margin between those principles and this force.' As far as Washington is concerned, there is no margin and there can be no half-measures. Syria meanwhile waits to see how long the US will continue to tolerate casualties in Iraq before turning the whole mess over to the United Nations. US defeat in Iraq would, though no Syrian official will say so, be in Syria's interest. But Damascus cannot afford to be seen helping the Iraqis attack US troops, as it helped Lebanese Muslims in 1983. There are now uncertainties in Syria that Bashar's father wouldn't have countenanced. Divisions between the old guard and the reformers have paralysed the system. For example, when the US invaded Iraq, state television, in common with the rest of the Arab world, concentrated on the Iraqi dead. Until 8 April, newsreaders were comparing Baghdad's heroic resistance to Stalingrad's. Then, when Baghdad was falling, Syrian television stopped showing news. For four days, nothing but drama, sport, archaeology, weather and soap operas. Young technicians and journalists said that the station's director and Adnan Omran, the Minister of Information - an old-guard politician and a former Ambassador to Britain - simply went home without issuing instructions. The journalists dared not transmit anything for which they might be called to account later. At another crucial juncture - when the US proposed the UN resolution legalising its occupation of Iraq - the Syrian Ambassador did not attend the Security Council. There were rumours that Syria would vote against the resolution, but it didn't vote at all. Government sources in Damascus said that the hardliners, notably the Vice-President, Abdel Halim Khaddam, and the Foreign Minister, Farouq al-Sharaa, were demanding that Syria vote against the measure. By the time the President had sided with the 'yes' faction, the votes had been counted in New York. A few days later, Syria quietly cast its vote in favour of the resolution. The effect was to antagonise the United States by not voting immediately, while showing the Syrian public that the Government would not honour the pan-Arab principles on which the Baath Party bases its legitimacy. Something else happened afterwards that would never have taken place under Hafez Assad. A former Minister of Information, Mohammed Salman, admitted on Lebanese television that the Government's delay over the UN vote was a mistake. In the old days, there were no mistakes. Arguments between defenders of the old Baathist faith and partisans of Syrian membership in the brave new world of American imperium delay decisions at all levels. At the Damascus Conservatory of Music, a beautiful new building in the style of the Ottoman hospices that surround it, auditions were underway for the Divan Orchestra that Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said founded to bring Arab and Israeli musicians together each year in Seville. Young Syrian musicians were playing for judges from the Berlin State Opera. Those chosen to go to Seville will have international exposure and may be taken up by orchestras in Vienna, Paris or London. There was one difficulty: the Syrian Government had yet to grant them permission to play with Israelis. But it hadn't forbidden them either. The violinists and pianists did not know if anything would come of their efforts. The conservatory's director, Nabil al-Lao, studied in France for ten years and Italy for two and a half. Would his students go to Seville? 'It's a little delicate,' he said. A few years ago, the bureaucracy would have vetoed any involvement with Israelis. And no one would have bothered to put in a request. Now, there was a chance, however slight. 'For reasons you know,' Lao said, 'there is no decision from the Ministry of Culture to take part. This is for political reasons.' At a time of serious questioning in Syria, artists have been in the forefront of the demands for change, but their work has not. It remains censored, while their declarations appear freely in the Arab press beyond Syria's borders. In 1987, the film director and actor Duraid Lahham made a movie that was critical of the bureaucracy. Al-Taqrir ('The Report') is the story of a government official dismissed because of his honesty. He spends the rest of the film compiling evidence of the corruption that is destroying his society. Most of his evidence is funny and obvious: the official who takes bribes, the minister who uses government money to pay prostitutes while beggars go hungry, and so on. The film was a success in every Arab country, where audiences responded to the little Chaplin-like hero who is eventually trampled to death in the football stadium where he goes to deliver his report to the public. When I met him in the late 1980s, Lahham believed that cinema had the power to put an end to government abuse. Now, aged 69, he has stopped making movies. 'Nothing affects me anymore,' he said. 'As you get older, you think what you did was not up to it. Events are moving so quickly that there is no time to mature any ideas. For example, many poets were ready to write a satire on the resistance to the Americans in Baghdad. But it happened so quickly that they didn't do anything.' Was anyone else in Syria making political films? No, he said. Why not? He answered obliquely: 'A major leader in an Arab country said to me, "You say what you want, and I'll do what I want."' The public senses the weakening of the old order. There have been demonstrations that the Government hasn't authorised - something unknown under Hafez Assad. More than a hundred Kurds from the illegal Yakiti Party protested last December at the Parliament in Damascus. The police didn't stop them, although some of the Kurds were detained a few days later. (Damascus fears nothing as much as external manipulation of its delicate sectarian and ethnic balance. All its communities - the Sunni Muslim Arab majority and the Alawi, Ismaili, Christian and Kurdish minorities - are vulnerable to calls from outside.) A friend who lives near the Republican Palace, the President's official residence, told me he had parked his car on the pavement while he posted some letters. 'I parked as you park in Damascus,' he said. But no one used to park like that near the Republican Palace, which is surrounded by Presidential Guards in suits. For the first time, he knew he could get away with ignoring the Guards. One of them told him to move the car, but politely. 'He started pleading with me, saying he would get in trouble if he let me stay,' my friend recalled. 'I don't know why I decided to say no. You see? There is both a change in us and a change in them.' In September 2000, 99 members of Syria's intelligentsia - writers, teachers, lawyers, engineers, film-makers - published a letter in the London-based Arabic daily al-Hayat declaring a kind of war on the Government. Called Charter 99, it demanded an end to the 1963 state of emergency, the release of political prisoners, the return of political exiles, freedom of the press and the right to hold public meetings. Two months later, Assad freed about six hundred political prisoners and closed Damascus's notorious Mezzeh prison, where political dissidents have been mistreated ever since it was built by the French. (The much harsher Tadmor prison in the eastern desert is still in use.) A month later, the Government issued a licence for al-Domari (the 'Lamplighter'), the country's only privately owned newspaper. Meanwhile, more civil society networks were forming, and more declarations were being issued. Although the government press in Syria ignored them, Lebanese newspapers reported their activities and published their statements. Some of their pamphlets circulated as samizdat in universities and schools. On 3 June this year, 287 'Syrian citizens' published an appeal to Bashar in the Lebanese daily as-Safir. The petition warned that Syria faced two enemies, Israel and the United States, and was too weak to defend itself against either. While making the usual demand for an end to martial law and the release of political prisoners, it also argued for something more fundamental. 'The authorities have no remedy for our ills,' the petition stated. 'There is a real cure, which is national reform.' Rather than appeal to America to deliver democracy in Syria, the signatories appealed directly to Bashar. What is happening in Iraq and in Palestine is just the beginning of what America calls the new era. The characteristic of this era is the use of force by America and Israel. We should stop them from achieving their goals by repairing our society and making our country strong. The way to do this is to have a free people. The masses have been ignored and excluded from public life. You should let them come back and use their power to protect the country. One of the signatories was Sadek al-Azm, a recently retired professor of philosophy. A participant in civil society groups that include both Marxists and Islamists, he spoke to me about the message of the American war in Iraq for Syria. 'In meetings, we asked ourselves: suppose this happened here? Who would go out and fight for the regime? No one said: "I would." The strength of civil society is to tell the regime to be legitimate. There is a difference between defending the regime and defending the country.' He said the Syrian dissidents who drew up the al-Hayat petition have studied the political process in Turkey. 'When Erdogan said: "I have to submit to Parliament," the Americans could not tell him to go to hell. What Arab leader could say that without the Americans laughing him off the stage?' Syrian democrats are not waiting for democracy as a care package from the American Armed Forces so much as wanting to seize it themselves as a weapon with which to confront the American empire. Bashar Assad's regime is experimenting with a tactic his father wouldn't have bothered with: explaining itself to the population. Vice-President Khaddam justified government repression to an audience at Damascus University in 2001: 'We will not allow Syria to become another Algeria or Yugoslavia.' One of the country's Intelligence chiefs, Majid Suleiman, who is said to be close to Bashar, published an article in as-Safir on 15 May. In 'Syria and the American Threats', he declared that Syria would acquiesce in any arrangement the Palestinians reached with Israel. It was an important change. Until then, Syrian policy, laid down twenty years ago, had been to reject any arrangement that compromised Palestinian rights, even if the Palestinians accepted it. Suleiman insisted that the US still needed the Syrian presence in Lebanon. Only the Syrian Army could maintain surveillance of Hizbollah, the Palestinians and the Sunni Islamists. Without Syria, he wrote, violence might well break out in South Lebanon and provoke another Israeli invasion. His argument cast Syria in the role of guardian, rather than opponent, of American interests in Lebanon. (That was also Hafez's line with Kissinger and Baker.) As for Syria itself, his view was that those who were against the regime were a 'loyal opposition'. He believed the opposition in Iraq, by contrast, had been American agents. Surprisingly, Suleiman praised Riad Turk, a Communist leader who had been imprisoned by the regime for twenty years, for remaining loyal to the country. Turk, nonetheless, was awaiting trial for his criticisms of the Government. 'This was the first time ever,' Sadek al-Azm remarked, 'that they deigned to discuss problems openly without resorting to the language of bombast and attacking their enemies with the old slogans.' Does the United States really want democracy for Syria and the rest of the Arab world? Should it? Since 1949, when the CIA staged the first of the Arab world's many military coups in Syria, America has helped to suppress democratic movements throughout the Middle East. I remember interviewing one of the founders of the Syrian Baath, a former Cabinet minister who had long since left the Party and gone into silent opposition. Dr Hafiz Jemalli was in his eighties when we met fifteen years ago in Damascus. 'If we are democratic,' he said, 'we will be unified.' He was thinking of pre-colonial Syria, which the British and French turned into the statelets of little Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel/Palestine. 'If we are unified, we will be a danger to Israel.' Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and the rest of the coterie who gave America its Iraq war are not interested in changing regimes only to see them become a danger to Israel. Will the US really allow Arab electorates to choose to resist Israel's colonisation of territories occupied in 1967, American control of their oil and the imposition of American military bases in their countries? Or will American rule in the Middle East founder on the contradiction of a 'democratisation' that ignores the people? Charles Glass is the author of Tribes with Flags and Money for Old Rope, a collection of despatches on the Middle East. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/2378a54b/attachment.html From mklayman at leonardo.info Thu Sep 4 00:00:37 2003 From: mklayman at leonardo.info (Melinda Klayman) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 11:30:37 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Olats News n =?iso-8859-1?q?=B0?= 4 - Art & Zero Gravity Symposium In-Reply-To: <645F17C5F3C0F84483E55264B761A33B4F2A3B@deepspace9.ssl.berkeley.edu> Message-ID: Leonardo Alert >From Roger Malina ___ Dear Leonardo Colleagues I would like to bring to your attention this event co sponsored by Leonado/OLATS LEONARDO:OLATS CO-SPONSORS SYMPOSIUM ON ZERO GRAVITY ART IN PARIS, FRANCE OCT 4, 5 2003 > Symposium Art and Zero Gravity > http://www.olats.org > > Visibility ­ Legibility of Space Art. > Art and Zero Gravity: The Experience of Parabolic Flights > > October 4th and 5th 2003 > > International Festival @rt Outsiders > Maison Européenne de la Photographie > 5/7 rue de Fourcy > 75004 Paris > Métro : Saint-Paul > > Curated by Annick Bureaud, the Visibility ­ Legibility of Space Art. > Art and Zero Gravity: The Experience of Parabolic Flights symposium is a > joint project between the @rt Outsiders International Festival > (http://www.art-outsiders.com) and Leonardo/Olats (http://www.olats.org). > > The Visibility ­ Legibility of Space Art. Art and Zero Gravity: The > Experience of Parabolic Flights symposium proposes to: > > - present the details of parabolic flights and consider the main issues > outside of their spectacular nature; > - specify their different roles within the creative process. Often > perceived as the space where creation takes place (site of performance > and exhibition), parabolic flights are first and foremost the space of > experimentation (a ³studio² or creative workshop) as well as the > material for creation; > - conduct a preliminary aesthetic analysis of the works: what is their > form, what do they say, how do they relate to contemporary art and to > techno-scientific art in general, in what way are they ³informed² by > weightlessness and the environment that constitutes the flight? etc.; > - highlight the importance of these works within a broader artistic process; > - raise questions regarding the ³visibility² and ³legibility² of the > work, to question art critic. > > This symposium gathers artists, theorists as well as parabolic flight > specialists. > Alex Adriaansens, director V2, Rotterdam > Marcel.li Antunez Roca, artist, Barcelona > Kitsou Dubois, artist, Paris > Kodwo Eshun, Anjalika Sagar, Richard Couzins, artists, London > Vadim Fishkin, artist, Ljubljana/Moscow > Flow Motion (Anna Piva & Edward George), artists, London > Jean-Pierre Haigneré, spationaut, Paris > Nicola Triscott & Rob LaFrenais, Arts Catalyst, London > Roger Malina, astronomer, director of Leonardo, Marseille > Takuro Osaka, artist, Tokyo > Marko Peljhan, artist, director Projekt Atol, Ljubjana > Frank Pietronigro, artist, San Francisco > Thierry Pozzo, researcher, Dijon > Mikhail Ryklin, philosopher, Moscow, > Denis Thierion, parabolic flight director, CNES, Toulouse > Louise K. Wilson, artist, London > > > Whether it is in the scientific, commercial or artistic field, space > exploration introduces extremely diverse practices. This year, the @rt > Outsiders International Festival 2003 proposes to investigate some of > these practices within the world of contemporary art. > > The sensation of weightlessness, of ³floating,² ³flying,² ³freely² in > three dimensions, of ³holding still² without support and without fear of > falling, is one of the more tenacious dreams, desires ­ fantasies? ­ and > surely one of the chief reasons human beings succumb to the urge to > venture outside of their native planet. For many artists, creating work > in, with, for, or about this condition of ³zero gravity² is an artistic > re-examination > extending far beyond the dream. > > With the exception of a few cosmonauts or astronauts who are also > painters, such as the Russian Alexei Leonov, to this day no artist has > been able to ³live² weightlessness in a durable fashion aboard a space > station or the American shuttle. On Earth, the parabolic flight remains > the sole means of experiencing this unique condition. > > In a parabolic flight, a specially equipped plane describes a series of > parabolas in the air (bell-shaped curves with a 45° angle). In the > ³climbing² phase, gravity goes from 1 G. (normal terrestrial gravity) to > 2 G. for 20 seconds before attaining the weightless phase at the ³top of > the curve² for approximately 25 seconds. During the ³descent² phase of > the flight, the plane returns to the 2 G. phase for roughly 20 seconds. > The cycle is repeated. > Thus, the parabolic flight can be described as a succession of very > short periods (2 G. - 0 G. - 2 G. - 1 G) constituting a rather > exceptional environment, where the experience of weightlessness is > ³framed² by moments of 2 G. > > Although access to parabolic flights remains a challenge for artists, to > date 22 have been able to work with and within their unique environment. > Thus, we have a very diverse body of work and projects at our disposal > (ranging from dance to performance, sculpture, painting, sound/music, > video, etc.) by artists from different artistic horizons and diverse > cultures (France, Japan, Spain, Russia, United States, Great Britain, etcŠ). > > Within the category of space art, creation during parabolic flights > constitutes a comprehensive subgroup that defines a ³common base² from > which to conduct an artistic and aesthetic analysis of these practices. > This is the challenge of this symposium. > > ------ End of Forwarded Message -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030903/27ede098/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aiindex at mnet.fr Fri Sep 5 04:07:59 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 23:37:59 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Bangladesh: Move on to tap phone calls, bust e-mails Message-ID: The Daily Star [Dhaka, Bangladesh] September 04, 2003 Move on to tap phone calls, bust e-mails Mustak Hossain A move is underway to amend the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001, allowing intelligence agencies to breach privacy of individuals by tapping telephone calls and busting e-mails, sources said. A leading intelligence agency backed by others has initiated the move and convinced the relevant ministries to amend the act, paving the way for gross breach of privacy, sources said. The agencies also want access to the subscribers' database of all fixed phone and cellular phone service providers and the Internet service providers (ISPs). The telecoms act stipulates that breaching individual privacy by eavesdropping on telephone conversations between two persons is a punishable offence as it infringes on civil rights. Although security agencies cannot legally eavesdrop on telephone conversations, allegations have long been there that they monitor and tap telephone calls illegally. But at present, they cannot use the information derived by such means as evidence in a court of law. However, after its amendment, the intelligence agencies will be able to manoeuvre freely to listen to individual telephone calls, read e-mails and produce tapped and e-mailed messages before the court as evidence. Section 71 of the telecoms act describes penalty for eavesdropping on telephone conversations: "A person commits an offence, if he intentionally listens to a telephone conversation between two other persons, and for such offence, he shall be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding 50 thousand taka or both." Sources said security agencies have been able to persuade the Prime Minister's Office to bring changes to the telecoms act, citing the rise of terrorist activities in Bangladesh and September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, US. The agencies also convinced the Ministry of Post and Telecommu-nications (MoPT) to bring some changes to the telecoms law. The ministry recently held a series of meetings with the Ministry of Law and Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission (BTRC). The BTRC has already prepared a draft outlining changes asked for by the security agencies on instruction of the law ministry. The agencies want a change in the subsection of Section 30 of the telecoms act, which deals with protection of privacy of telecommunications, by incorporating the words, put here in italics: "to ensure protection of the privacy of telecommunications; subject to the national security laws". "In fact, the telecoms ministry and telecoms watchdog are under pressure from the security agencies, which are pressing for the changes in the name of state security," a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. The security agencies have also asked for an amendment to Section 5. According to them, it should read, "Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of any other law, subject to the provisions of national security law, the provisions of this Act shall have effect", instead of "Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of any other law, the provisions of this act shall have effect." "Providing such opportunity to intelligence agencies means putting them above law," said Barrister Tanjibul Alam of Dr Kamal Hossain & Associates, a law firm. Tanjibul is one of the solicitors to have prepared the original act as consultant. "There will be no privacy of individuals if the law is amended according to the desire of the security agencies," a civil society activist said. A civil rights activist said if the secret agencies have the amendments they want in place "this will make the country a police state". The proposed amendments are in violation of the independence of the BTRC, Tanjibul observed. Most of the protection of privacy under Section 30 of the telecommunications act will be curtailed in the name of national security, which is a vague term, said Tanjibul. It will also undermine the purpose of the telecoms act, which was envisaged establishing an independent commission for development and efficient regulation of telecoms system and telecoms services in Bangladesh and for the transfer of the powers and functions of the post and telecommunications ministry to the BTRC. The telecoms policy was enacted in parliament in 1998 and the telecoms act was passed in 2001. From geert at desk.nl Sat Sep 6 06:38:26 2003 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 11:08:26 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] forum on the art of collaboration References: Message-ID: <155401c37413$62f993f0$f601a8c0@geert> For April 2004 we, Trebor Scholz and Geert Lovink, are organizing a conference at the State University of New York at Buffalo (upstate New York) about the art of collaboration, models of critical web-based art, and the role media technologies play in the making of social networks. If you are interested in these topics please send a short introduction to your interests and background to our listserv after subscribing to it at collaboration-subscribe at topica.com Because of the nature of the topic we would like to invite those interested in the topic of (online) collaboration, free cooperation, models of critical web-based art, and the role media technologies play in the making of social networks to join us in an online forum/mailing list where we will discuss related issues. Please feel free to join us, even if you think you won't be able to make it to Buffalo next year. This event is very much about experimenting with different forms of presentation and debate. /\\/\//\//\//\//\\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\//\ http://freecooperation.org From aiindex at mnet.fr Sat Sep 6 14:19:20 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 09:49:20 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] On the record Message-ID: Le Monde Diplomatique August 2003 On the record By Ignacio Ramonet "Big Brother is watching you" George Orwell, 1984 If you were thinking of taking your summer holidays in the United States this year you might like to know that, under an agreement between the European Commission and the US federal authorities, items of personal information will be communicated, without your consent, by the airline company with which you travel to the US Customs. Even before you board the plane the US authorities will already know your surname, first name, age, address, passport number, credit card number, state of health, food preferences (which could indicate your religion) and your previous travels. All this information will be fed into a data- processing system known as CAPPS (computer-assisted passenger pre-screening system) to help identify suspect people. By checking the identity of every traveller and cross-checking it with information available from the police, the State Department, the Department of Justice and the banks, CAPPS will evaluate the degree of danger passengers pose and will colour-code them accordingly: green for harmless, yellow for doubtful and red for those to be prevented from boarding. If the visitor is Muslim, or from the Middle East, a yellow code will be assigned automatically. The Border Security programme authorises customs officers to photograph the yellow-coded and take their fingerprints. Latin Americans are also being watched. We now know that 65 million Mexicans, 31 million Colombians and 18 million citizens of Central America have files on them in the US, without their knowledge. Each file has their date and place of birth, gender, names of their parents, a physical description, their marriage status, the number of their passport and their stated profession. Often the files include confidential information such as personal addresses, phone numbers, bank account details, car registration numbers and fingerprints. It seems that the entire population of Latin America is gradually being put on file by Washington. James Lee, spokesman for ChoicePoint, the company that buys these files to re-sell them to the US government, explained the process: "Our whole purpose in life is to sell data to make the world a safer place.What risks do people coming into our country represent?" (1). It should be noted that in the US it is against the law to stockpile personal data. But there is no law preventing a private company from collecting data on behalf of the US government. ChoicePoint, with its headquarters near Atlanta, Georgia, is a familiar name from the recent past. In Florida, during the US presidential elections in 2000, its subsidiary Database Technologies was hired by the state to reorganise its electoral lists. The result was that thousands of Floridians were deprived of their right to vote, which then affected the result of the election: it was won by George Bush by a mere 537 votes, a victory that put him into the White House (2). Foreigners are not the only people subjected to increased surveillance. Americans themselves are suffering from the current paranoia. New controls, authorised by the USA Patriot Act, are threatening personal privacy and secrecy of correspondence. Authorisation is no longer required for telephone tapping. Inquiring authorities can now access personal information without needing a search warrant. For example, the FBI is currently asking libraries to provide them with lists of the books and internet sites consulted by their members as a way of building "intellectual profiles" of individual readers (3). The scariest of all the projects of illegal state surveillance is the one being created by the Pentagon under the codename Total Information Awareness (4), a system for total data surveillance that has been entrusted to the care of Admiral John Poindexter, a man who was sentenced in the 1980s for having been the instigator of the Iran-Contra affair. The project proposes collecting an average 40 pages of information on each of the 6 billion inhabitants of this planet and entering them into a supercomputer. By processing all available personal data - credit card payments, media subscriptions, banking activities, phone calls, website visits, email, police files, insurance details, medical and social security information - the Pentagon is hoping to establish a tracker profile of every adult alive. As in Steven Spielberg's film Minority Report, the US authorities imagine that this will enable them to prevent crimes before they are committed. John Petersen, president of the Arlington Institute [which calls itself a "future-oriented research institute"], claims that there will be less privacy but more security. "We will be able to anticipate the future, thanks to the interconnection of all information to do with you. Tomorrow we shall know everything about you" (5). One step on from Big Brother. From aiindex at mnet.fr Sat Sep 6 14:41:43 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 10:11:43 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: SACW | 6 Sept. 2003 Message-ID: >Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 01:42:28 +0100 >To: sacw at insaf.net >From: Harsh Kapoor >Subject: SACW | 6 Sept. 2003 > >South Asia Citizens Wire | 6 September, 2003 > >====================================================================== > >[1] Pakistan: A strange kind of nationalism (Aqil Shah) >[2] India: State renames 'Women's Studies Center as 'Women's and >Family Studies Center' (Rochona Majumdar) >[3] India: Protect Gujarat Activists Now (Human Rights Watch) >+ HRW Open Letter to India's Deputy Prime Minister to Protect Human >Rights Defenders >[5] India: Shaheed Niyogi Memorial Award For Journalism - 2003 >[6] India: PUBLIC NOTICE - Review of Use of POTA (advertisement in >Sunday Times of India) > > >-------------- > >[1.] > > >Dawn, 05 September 2003 > >A strange kind of nationalism >By Aqil Shah > >For days, Pakistanis watched in a state of suspended disbelief as >the government and cable operators locked horns over the ban on >Indian channels. Even as the two sides wrangled bitterly, their >one-upmanship was couched in calculated appeals to nationalist >sentiments. >The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) argued >forcefully that it was acting in the best national interest by >reinforcing a ban on vulgar Indian channels. Cable operators, >initially nonplussed by the contradictory behaviour of a government >ostensibly engaged in a normalization process with its eastern >neighbour, fought back by saying they had always supported the >official ban on Indian channels and were only demanding >"international entertainment channels". >Whether PEMRA's original motivation was financial or ideological is >a moot point. In the tussle that ensued, an otherwise important >debate about the legitimate need for freeing electronic media was >once again drowned in a sea of ideological righteousness. Also sunk >were claims by the government that it was committed to a free flow >of information. Wholly frivolous in itself, the ban has focused >renewed attention on the deeply controversial parameters of our >cultural and social mores. >Moral policing is nothing new in an authoritarian state steeped in >the tradition of intellectual and literary inquisition. But where >does it all end? Through frequent notifications, for instance, PEMRA >has been instructing cable operators to block out this or that >foreign channel because of its 'obscenity'. >Silent on the question of the suffocating state control over >Pakistan Television and Radio, the arbitrary Ordinance (and rules) >that govern its conduct empower PEMRA to simply prohibit broadcasts >that are supposedly against 'the ideology of Pakistan' or 'endanger >national security'. >These euphemisms for draconian censorship practically preclude >independent news and analysis. Programmes against 'good taste or >decency' are also proscribed. Just whose standard of decency, no one >knows. And who is to decide? Appointed PEMRA bureaucrats now acting >as guardians of our social morality. >While the recent cabinet decision to allow more private media >channels is welcome, it is hard not to be cynical. PEMRA can mandate >private broadcasters to telecast programmes in the "public >interest". Unless Pakistan was Alice's Wonderland, could there be a >cruder device to recruit them for state propaganda? Ironically, the >government doesn't really need to commission these channels. Though >better presented and covering a wider array of issues, news >bulletins on private channels rarely go beyond the received wisdom >on national security issues. >Often, they mirror state propaganda on Kashmir. While there is much >to write home about, ideological overloading is also commonplace in >prime time programming with self-proclaimed Islamic jurists evoking >divine authority to settle contentions public issues. Each time, >though, they open a new can of worms that adds to our unresolved >cultural and ideological confusion. >Pakistan is destined to become another Madina, proclaimed retired >General Hameed Gul in unison with a talk show host recently, >drowning out any hope that a reasoned debate on the origins of >Pakistan was possible. >Current affairs experts are mostly right-wing generals, retired >diplomats or pro-military intellectuals. As they generously dismiss >the establishment's foreign and domestic blunders as minor >miscalculations, any potential debate on the urgent need to rethink >or re-evaluate flawed state policies is also conveniently swept >under the carpet. >Mindless anti-India propaganda spewed through scores of officially >sponsored videos is relayed endlessly. Sung by the country's most >popular rock stars, the Pakistan army's souped up bravado is mixed >with state-of-the-art special effects to drive home the bestiality >of the enemy who kills indiscriminately. Even if the excuse is that >the Indians do it too, this hyper nationalism remains at odds with >Islamabad's declared intent of normalizing relations with India. >Equally mystifying are attempts by some military-run entities to >make up for their gross inefficiency through appeals to the people's >patriotic instincts. >My favourite is a dramatic rendition extolling the war-like >readiness of Wapda. With national flags fluttering and a stern, >uniformed Gen Musharraf saluting in the background, the song spins >the fiction that Wapda is about to revolutionize our lives. Who >foots the bill for all this crude propaganda? The Pakistani >taxpayer, of course. >According to Antonio Gramsci, the state's hegemony rests not only on >material and coercive power but also on a measure of "consent, >cooperation and collaboration" that comes from cultural and >ideological support of civil society. >In Pakistan, civil society has been manipulated and coerced to >extract this cultural and ideological compliance for reasons of >state. The unsurprising result has been the subservience of all >other priorities of civil life to the narrow national security >concerns of an "Islamic" state pitched against a "Hindu" India. >In adhering to the notions of an ambiguous religious ideology, the >country's civil-military elite has projected Islam as the primary >basis for state legitimacy. In the process, they have played with >religion to accommodate and manipulate the religious lobby. The >mullahs reaction, by and large, has been ever more boldly and >violently to push their demands while refusing in most cases to >abide by the rule of law. Just who is using whom has not always been >clear, however. Compare the MMA's crusade against cable TV in the >NWFP and the state's resort to regulatory mechanisms to curb what it >deems immoral. A right-wing establishment, naturally, sits pretty at >the table with the mullas. >Governments around the world often concern themselves with >manufacturing consent to protect themselves against the enemies of >the state. As the Nazi spin-doctor Joseph Goebels had famously >remarked: a lie told often enough ultimately becomes the truth. In >Pakistan, principal forms of socialisation (history textbooks, >state-run electronic media) are thus infused with an undying sense >of militaristic nationalism. >Despite all that, and more, why is it that over 90 per cent of cable >TV viewers still demand Indian channels? Simple answer: They are not >the dimwits the establishment considers them to be. Pakistanis can >well differentiate between harmful propaganda and harmless >entertainment. There is much that is wrong with Indian TV channels, >and ours for that matter. >But that is no excuse for PEMRA or any other government agency to >resort to tactics of thought control. The unbelievable condescension >with which some PEMRA officials have been publicly speaking for the >"millions of illiterate and impressionable Pakistanis", who are not >yet ready to make "free choices", is an insult to the dignity of the >whole nation. >Informed observers say memories of the aggressive media blitzkrieg >by private Indian channels during the Kargil conflict was still >fresh in Islamabad's corridors of power when the Indians slapped a >ban on PTV in early 2002. Though localized and short-lived, that ban >only provided the pretext for a decision the Pakistani establishment >would have liked to make anyway. >For some, the government's plea of "stabilizing" Pakistani private >channels and continuing the ban on Indian channels, therefore, >smacks of foul play. Don't blame these cynics for casting aspersions >on the government's oft-repeated desire for regional peace. From the >way they conduct themselves in the 21st century, the abiding motto >of Pakistan's ruling elite could well be: Ignorance is strength. > > >_____ > > >[2.] > >http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20030905&fname=rochona&sid=1&pn=3 >outlookindia.com >Web | Sep 05, 2003 >OPINION > >What's In A Name? >Recently the 'Women's Studies Center' at the University of Pune was >renamed as the 'Women's and Family Studies Center'. So what's the >big deal about it all? A critical look. > >ROCHONA MAJUMDAR > >In the wake of the textbook controversy that is still roiling >academic circles countrywide, comes another significant intervention >into national academia by the Union minister for Human Resource >Development, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi. Recently Mr. Joshi renamed the >Women's Studies Center at the University of Pune as the "Women's and >Family Studies Center." The renaming of the Pune center, according >to the UGC, which comes under Mr. Joshi's sphere of influence, will >be followed by the same move for the twenty or so centers across the >country. > >This latest move by one of more visible faces of the BJP leadership >has evoked strong protests from feminist academics all over the >country. Petitions have been sent to the University Grants >Commission urging for a reversal of the decision and feminist >scholars have been extremely vocal in expressing consternation about >the said proposal. Yet, in a country torn apart by bomb blasts, >natural disasters and terrorist threats, such disquiet over the mere >renaming of a handful of women's studies units may well seem to the >ordinary citizen as an exercise in academic vanity. > >Before we write off the significance of this seemingly >inconsequential gesture by the state, let us take a moment's pause >and ask ourselves a few questions. Why, for instance, was it >important for the government to introduce the words 'family studies' >into the nomenclature of the women's studies units? Assuming that no >such decision is made without the back up of a professional thinking >machinery, we may well wonder as to who/what will henceforth be >excluded from the arena of scholarship when the site where this >scholarship is conducted has been renamed through a rather >restrictive qualifier. And finally what are the implications of such >exclusion(s)? > >At the risk of being accused of idealistic mind reading or, worse >still, of being a paranoid conspiracy theorist who smells disaster >at small gestures made by the government, let me say that my fear >about actions such as Mr. Joshi's are confirmed as I look back into >the present government's records on gender issues. It is crucial >that we contextualize the renaming of the women's studies units >countrywide. For only then will the regressive implications of >Joshi's maneuver become clear and it will be apparent that what at >the outset seemed insignificant is actually a deed with boundless >ideological potential. But, first a background on what constitutes >women's studies and a brief history of this kind of institution >building in India. > >Women's Studies > >The 1960s were a tumultuous decade in the history of human rights >that globally inspired a series of social movements. From this >period onward, social scientists and humanists became interested in >the role played by socially marginalized groups in the histories of >nation building and sought to incorporate peoples that had hitherto >been excluded from the realm of social science research into the >ambit of their studies. The legacy of these movements and the >awareness they generated may be found in the "histories from below" >written by historians like E. P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm who >turned the focus of historical research on industrial workers, urban >laborers, and peasants. > >In a similar move there were efforts made in the United States to >understand the historical causes behind the inferior social position >accorded to African Americans in social and political life. And it >was as part of this general awareness and questioning about human >rights that feminists all over the world became vocal in what came >to be known as "second wave" feminism. They queried the reasons >behind women's absence from most histories written about the >formation of nation-states and their subjugation to men in both the >private and public spheres. >In a report published by the Government of India in 1975 entitled >Towards Equality, feminist social scientists laid down the results >of their investigation on the position of women in Indian society. >The report prepared by a committee chaired by Phulrenu Guha was part >of a project undertaken by the ministry of education and social >welfare. It documented in detail the slights and humiliation that >are part and parcel of a woman's everyday existence in this country. > >Between the 1970s - 90s a number of research units were established >all over India, which devoted their energies into studying the >condition of Indian women, inquiring into the historical roots of >their subservient position in society and devising programs for >improving the status and condition of women. Collectively, one of >the most significant outcomes of research by women's studies units >has been to demonstrate that not only were women significant actors >in national history, but their roles spanned as widely as men's. > >Even recognizing these facts entailed throwing a certain challenge >to male power. Power became an extremely important category in >understanding and eventually ameliorating women's conditions in >various arenas of social life. Since the 1970s, there have been >innumerable studies on the condition of women workers in the jute >and cotton textile industries from the colonial period onward, into >the role played by female labor in the unorganized agricultural >sector, in politics, medicine, the performing arts, the birth >control movement, and sports. > >Clearly then, the scope of women's studies spilled over from the >domain of the family into the world at large. > >The Family > >The family no doubt remained, and still remains, an important unit >of study. Comprehending the dynamic of the family is essential to >any project that seeks to understand not only women but men too. To >imagine otherwise would be both naïve and ahistorical. This >awareness has led to scholarly inquiries into the study and >constitution of "masculinity" and "childhood." Feminist historians, >sociologists and anthropologists have written and debated >extensively on why certain familial norms in this country have >endured/ changed and what implications these have had for the social >position of men and women. > >The joint family system, polygamy, female feticide, sati, widow >remarriage, child marriage, dowry have been the subject of numerous >historical monographs all of which have focused on the comparative >position of both sexes within the family. But to say that these >studies have been concerned with the family and family alone is >ridiculous. In fact the point behind most of these studies have been >to demonstrate the ways in which larger social forces alter or are >themselves shaped by the family and to point in directions of >progressive social change. > >So Why This Move? > >Against this background it remains puzzling as to why a man of Mr. >Joshi's perspicacity would resort to renaming "Women's Studies" >centers as "Women's and Family Studies". Especially when feminists >themselves are now questioning the categorizing of their discipline >as "women's" studies and are increasingly resorting to terms such as >"gender" or "queer" studies to designate their disciplinary >affiliation. > >Their reason for doing so was adumbrated above - for how can women >be studied in isolation from men? Many have questioned the efficacy >of the label woman arguing that womanhood itself is a variegated >entity where sexual preference, social factors and finally biology >play a part. > >Given the complexity of the subject matter of what constitutes the >field of "women's studies" what then are the ramifications of Mr. >Joshi's pronouncement? As the feminist historian Tanika Sarkar >succinctly put it, "it re-embeds women within the family," ignoring >their role in vast web of complex social relations. > >Eunuchs and Sex-Workers > >Let us close this discussion by considering the impact of such >renaming upon studies that are conducted on two important social >groups in India - eunuchs and sex-workers. In what University >department do we now shift ongoing research on eunuchs in India? >Surely there is no doubt that socially and politically they >constitute an important section of the country's population. And I >am sure it would be irresponsible and unethical to subsume this >important social group under the category "women" for that would be >simplifying the complexities of the gender experiences of this >varied social group. > >Second, what do we do with women whose professional identity as sex >workers is at odds with the norm of a family? It is unclear what >vision of family was envisaged in the renaming decision. Unless we >seek to radically redefine the scope of what we mean by family, such >renaming, as the above examples demonstrate, runs the risk of >becoming an exclusionary move. > >To take a few examples, we have to acknowledge single >mothers/fathers bringing up children as family, our notion of family >cannot remain heteronormative, nor can marriage be the sole basis of >a familial unit. While such redefining can be undertaken under the >aegis of the numerous women's studies units countrywide, it will >require a degree of autonomy. > >One of the preconditions of good research is an atmosphere of >openness and debate. Will the decision to rename be accompanied or >followed by a solid guarantee of such autonomy? Can the renaming be >debated? Will women's studies centers have the right to reject the >new name? >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Rochona Majumdar is Collegiate Assistant Professor and Harper >Fellow, University of Chicago. > > > >_____ > >[3.] > > >http://hrw.org/press/2003/09/india090503.htm >Human Rights Watch > >India: Protect Gujarat Activists Now >(New York, Sept. 5, 2003) - The Indian government must protect three >activists harassed and intimidated for their efforts to protect >witnesses to last year's massacres in Gujarat, Human Rights Watch >wrote in a letter to the Indian government today. > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >"The Indian government must demonstrate that it's on the side of >justice, not those who organized this massacre. These three >activists are trying to stand up to a state government that has done >little to bring about accountability for thousands of victims and >now they themselves are targets." > >Brad Adams >Executive Director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > "The Indian government must demonstrate that it's on the >side of justice, not those who organized this massacre," said Brad >Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights >Watch. "These three activists are trying to stand up to a state >government that has done little to bring about accountability for >thousands of victims and now they themselves are targets." > >Teesta Setalvad, Rais Khan Azeezkhan Pathan and Suhel Tirmizi have >received anonymous telephone calls threatening their lives if they >continue their work. On August 29, Pathan was threatened by a group >of Hindu nationalists as he escorted witnesses to an official >inquiry into the massacres. > >The communal violence in Gujarat began on February 27, 2002, over >allegations that a Muslim mob in the town of Godhra had attacked and >set fire to two carriages of a train carrying Hindu activists. >Fifty-eight people were killed. > >Over the next three days, a retaliatory killing spree by Hindus left >hundreds dead and tens of thousands homeless in Gujarat. A Human >Rights Watch report on the violence (We Have No Orders to Save You) >concluded that Gujarat state officials were directly involved in the >killings and engaged in a massive cover-up. > >A follow-up report by Human Rights Watch (Compounding Injustice: The >Government's Failure to Redress Massacres in Gujarat), published in >July 2003, concluded that the massacre's ringleaders were still at >large. Human Rights Watch has asked the Indian federal government to >take over investigations in cases where the state government has >hampered litigation. > >Although the Indian government initially boasted of thousands of >arrests following the attacks, most of those arrested have since >been acquitted, released on bail with no further action taken, or >simply let go. Even when cases have reached trial, Muslim victims >faced biased prosecutors and judges, harassment and intimidation. In >one case, 14 people were set on fire and killed in the Best Bakery >in Vadodara, Gujarat. A Gujarat state court acquitted 21 people >accused of the killings after witnesses withdrew statements they had >given to the police identifying the attackers. > >A prime witness in that case, Zahira Sheikh, told India's National >Human Rights Commission she was forced to change her testimony as a >result of threats against her during the trial. Setalvad, Pathan, >and Tirmizi have provided protection and legal assistance to Sheikh >and her family members, including moving them to a secure location >in Mumbai. > >On August 20, the three human rights defenders requested police >protection from Gujarat's chief secretary and director general of >police and the police commissioner of Ahmedabad. There has been no >response to date. The defenders also filed an application for >protection before the Supreme Court of India on September 1. > >In the letter, addressed to Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Human >Rights Watch called on the Indian government to: > >o Immediately provide proper and adequate protection to Teesta >Setalvad, Rais Khan Azeezkhan Pathan, and Suhel Tirmizi; > >o Ensure a retrial of the Best Bakery case outside Gujarat and >provide adequate protection for witnesses in the case; > >o Direct federal authorities to take over cases of serious, >large-scale human rights violations where the state government has >hampered investigations, including the Godhra, Naroda Patia, and >Gulbarg Society massacre cases. > >______ > >[RELATED MATERIAL] >http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/09/india090503-ltr.htm >HRW Open Letter, September 05, 2003 >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Advani: Protect Human Rights Defenders >(September 05, 2003) > >Dear Deputy Prime Minister Shri L.K. Advani, > >We write to express our serious concern about the safety of three >human rights defenders facing escalating intimidation because they >have tried to ensure accountability for the communal violence in >Gujarat. Teesta Setalvad, Rais Khan Azeezkhan Pathan, and Suhel >Tirmizi have faced increasing verbal and physical threats in >response to their efforts to protect witnesses and preserve evidence >about the massacres that took place in Gujarat in February and March >2002. > >As members of the civil-society organization Citizens for Justice >and Peace, the three defenders have helped document and expose the >participation of the police and other government officials during >the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat. They have also assisted the >National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its inquiry into the >massacres, in particular the so-called "Best Bakery" case. As you >are aware, in that incident fourteen people were set on fire and >killed in a bakery in Vadodara, Gujarat at the height of the >violence. > >In the ensuing litigation, a Gujarat state court acquitted >twenty-one people accused of the killings after witnesses withdrew >statements they had given to the police identifying the attackers. A >prime witness in the case, Zahira Sheikh, has detailed how she was >forced to change her testimony as a result of threats against her >during the trial. She spoke before the NHRC on July 11, 2003, >accompanied by Teesta Setalvad. Following Sheikh's testimony, the >NHRC filed a special petition before the Supreme Court asking for a >retrial of the Best Bakery case outside of Gujarat, and for a >transfer of nine other key cases arising from the massacres to >venues outside Gujarat. > >Setalvad, Pathan, and Tirmizi have provided protection and legal >assistance to Sheikh and her family members, including moving them >to a secure location in Mumbai. In response, they have received a >number of threats by telephone from anonymous callers threatening >their lives if they continue their work. On August 29, Pathan was >surrounded and physically threatened by a group of Hindu nationalist >supporters while he was escorting witnesses of the Gulbarg Society >massacre to a hearing of the Commission of Inquiry into the violence >in Gujarat. > >The three human rights defenders requested police protection from >the chief secretary, the director general of police, and the >commissioner of police in Ahmedabad, on August 20. To date, there >has been no response from the Gujarat government. On September 1 the >three human rights defenders filed an application for protection >before the Supreme Court of India. > >We call on the Indian government to: > >o Immediately provide proper and adequate protection to Teesta >Setalvad, Rais Khan Azeezkhan Pathan, and Suhel Tirmizi; > >o Ensure a retrial of the Best Bakery case outside Gujarat and >provide adequate protection for witnesses in the case; > >o Direct federal authorities to take over cases of serious, >large-scale human rights violations where the state government has >hampered investigations, including the Godhra, Naroda Patia, and >Gulbarg Society massacre cases. > >The increasingly strident tone of those attempting to obstruct the >course of justice in Gujarat requires an immediate and strong >response from the Indian government. We look forward to your >leadership on this important matter. > >Yours sincerely, > > >Brad Adams >Executive Director >Asia Division >Human Rights Watch > > >cc: >Shri Narendra Modi >Chief Minister of Gujarat > >Justice A.S. Anand >Chairperson >National Human Rights Commission > > >______ > > >[...] > >______ > > >[5.] > >Shaheed Niyogi Memorial Award For Journalism - 2003 > >The Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha in collaboration with Chhattisgarh >Labour Institute has set up the Shaheed Niyogi Memorial Award for >Journalism for writings on labour issues & worker's movement. >Com. Shaheed Shankar Guha Niyogi was a fire brand labour leader who >made a unique contribution to the people's struggles by successfully >combining the trade union movement with social reforms. He not only >organized the workers of Chhattisgarh, but also played a positive >role in the movement for the creation of a New Chhattisgarh for a >New India based on socialism, secularism and democracy. He generated >an ideological basis of 'Sangarsh & Nirman' (Struggles & >Reconstruction), which has over the years acted as catalyst & >guiding force for both the industrial workers and peasants in the >country. Unfortunately, he was assassinated on 28th September 1991 >by the industrial mafia. >This award was started a few years back to recognize the >contribution of journalists in upholding the legacy of Shaheed >Niyogi. Mr. Anand Swaroop Verma, a senior human right journalist >associated with the Samkaleen Teesri Duniya, was the first recipient >of this award. Due to financial and organizational constraints, this >award could not be continued. But it is being revived this year on >the Shaheed Niyogi Diwas to be observed on 28th September 2003 in >Chhattisgarh. >Journalists, individuals and organizations can nominate journalists >who have been consistently writing on labour issues and worker's >movement. The last day for submitting the nominations along with the >select writings is 20th September 2003 at the following addresses - > >Mr. Anand Swaroop Verma Mr. Akshay Sail >Q-63, Chhattisgarh Labour Institute >SECTOR - 12, N-7 Anupam Nagar, Raipur >NOIDA - 201301 Chhattisgarh >e-mail: award2003 at rediffmail.com > >If the articles are in a language other than Hindi or English then >either translation or summary of the articles in English or Hindi >must also be submitted. The winners will be announced on 25th >September 2003 and the award will be given on 28th September 2003 in >Chhattisgarh (the exact venue to be announced later). The award >consists of first prize of Rs.25, 000, second prize of Rs. 15,000 >and 5 prizes of Rs.5,000 each. >Mr. Kuldeep Nayar, senior journalist & Ex-MP, New Delhi, Mr. Anand >Swaroop Verma, Editor of Samkaleen Teesri Duniya, New Delhi and Ms. >Meena Menon, free lance journalist, Mumbai have kindly consented to >be on the Panel of Judges for this year's Award. >We expect your help and co-operation in our venture to pay tribute >to Shaheed Shankar Guha Niyogi, whose life and works have motivated >many to face the challenges of creating a new society based on >justice, freedom, peace, equality, and human dignity. > >______ > > >[6.] > >REVIEW OF USE OF POTA > >PUBLIC NOTICE > >Government of India has constituted a Review Committee under Section >60 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) headed by Mr >Justice Arun B Saharya, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana >High Court with Dr M U Rahman, former Secretary to the Government >of India and Shri Arvind S Imandar, former Advisor to the >Government of Uttar Pradesh as its members vide notification >No.S.O.404(E) dated 04.04.2003. The terms of reference of the >Review Committee are as under: > >i) The Review Committee shall take a comprehensive view of the use >of the said Act in various States and shall be empowered to >entertain complaints or grievances with regard and suggestions for >removing the shortcomings, if any, in the implementation of the >said Act, and > >ii) The Review Committee shall suggest measures to ensure that the >provisions of the said Act are invoked for combating terrorism only. > >In order to examine the enforcement/implementation of POTA, and give >suggestions to the Government for removal of shortcomings, if any, >the Review Committee hereby invites the public at large and such >Organizations as may be interested in the subject, to send >complaints, grievances and suggestions, if any, with material in >support, if available. The same may be sent by post at an early >date latest by 22nd of September, 2003 to the Secretariat of the >Review Committee in Room No. 246, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, New Delhi >or by E.mail at potacommittee at nic.in > >V P Bhatia >Secretary to the Review Committee >August, 2003 > >REVIEW COMMITTEE ON POTA >(Constituted under Section 60 of Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002) >Room No. 246, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, New Delhi > >This advertisement appeared in Sunday Times of India, August 24, 2003, pg. > > >_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > >Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on matters of peace >and democratisation in South Asia. SACW is an independent & >non-profit citizens wire service run since 1998 by South Asia >Citizens Web (www.mnet.fr/aiindex). >The complete SACW archive is available at: http://sacw.insaf.net > >DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not >necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers. > >-- > -- From kmadhuresh at hotmail.com Sat Sep 6 14:45:40 2003 From: kmadhuresh at hotmail.com (Madhuresh) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 14:45:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] The Open Space Seminar Series on the World Social Forum - Programme for September 2003 Message-ID: Please feel free to circulate this message widely ! And please excuse cross-posting.. September 6 2003 Are Other Worlds Possible ? Cultures of Politics and the World Social Forum Dear friends We are very pleased to announce and invite you to the Open Space Seminar Series on the above theme at the University of Delhi, which started on August 19 and will continue through more or less every ten days till December 19. The World Social Forum, initiated in Brazil in January 2001 as a challenge to the World Economic Forum, is now widely seen as being a highly significant initiative towards democratising economics and politics on a world scale. The motto the WSF has coined for itself is nothing less than : 'Another World Is Possible !'. The next world meeting of the Forum - analysis, debate, protest, celebration, and positing alternative ways of living and being - is scheduled to be held in Mumbai between January 16-21 2004. But the Forum is as yet hardly known in India, especially the interesting culture of politics it promises to offer, the culture of 'open space'. THE OPEN SPACE SERIES is designed to address this gap, leading up to the world meeting. It is organised in two inter-weaving streams, one 'Exploring the Forum and its politics' and the other 'Confronting Empires : The World Social Forum'. The first stream, alternating with the second will attempt to explore the relationship of the Forum with the Empires that attempt to bind us, the Empires that the Forum has decided to confront, while grappling simultaneously with the evolving culture of politics and the 'other worlds' that the WSF promises to offer. The second stream will deal with the structural issues the WSF has been concerned with - economic globalisation and militarisation and war - as also with the new themes that have been added to this vocabulary : Religious fundamentalism and communalism, caste, and patriarchy. This series is being organised by The History Society Ramjas College. The effort is to hold the seminars in different colleges of Delhi University. Each session begins at around 12 noon. Plays, music, book displays and poetry are also being woven into the Open Space. A Reader on the World Social Forum has been prepared (and is available at each session or from us here), and towards the end a booklet may emerge, made up of reports on the various sessions. Let's see. We give below the proposed programme for the series. The dates are fixed, the locations for all the seminars till the end of September are now finalised, and the list of panellists and venues for all the remaining sessions is being finalised. We hope you will definitely make it a point to join us. Please feel free to circulate this message widely and to encourage your associates and friends to also come. With warm greetings in welcome, Mukul Mangalik Jai Sen Madhuresh Kumar Contact details for more information : Madhuresh Kumar and/or Jai Sen A-3 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024 Ph 011/5155 1521, 2433 2451 Eml openspaceseries at hotmail.com cc jai.sen at vsnl.com For further information on the World Social Forum: World Social Forum http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/home.asp World Social Forum India www.wsfindia.org WSF India Secretariat wsfindia at vsnl.net European Social Forum (Paris, November 12-16 2003) www.fse-esf.org _____________________________________________________________________________ OPEN SPACE SERIES : PROPOSED SCHEDULE - EACH SESSION AT ~ NOON August 19, Tuesday : Cultures of Politics : The Idea of the World Social Forum Venue : Seminar Room, Ramjas College, University of Delhi (North Campus), Delhi 110 007 Panellists : Veena Das, Professor, University of Delhi and The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US Nivedita Menon, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi Jai Sen, independent researcher and civil actor, New Delhi [Some 200 people came, and after a long discussion, we screened Amar Kanwar's film 'Nights of Prophecy'.] August 29, Friday : Empire 1 : Globalisation - Questions of Capital, Labour, and Sustainability Venue : Seminar Room, Ramjas College, University of Delhi (North Campus), Delhi 110 007 Panellists : Praful Bidwai, journalist and commentator, New Delhi Jean Drze, Delhi School of Economics Jayati Ghosh, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University Mahesh Rangarajan, Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru Museum and Library [Again, some 200 people came; and after the discussion, we screened the film 'Jari Mari'.] NEXT SESSION : September 9, Tuesday : The WSF and Old vs New Politics : Parties, social movements, and civil groups Venue : Room 22, Arts Faculty, University of Delhi (North Campus) Time : 12 noon Expected panellists : Mary John, Jawaharlal Nehru University Vinod Raina, Eklavya, Jubilee South, and All India People's Science Network Kavita Srivastava, PUCL, Jaipur Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and perhaps one other panellist, + with Aditya Nigam, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, as Moderator After the discussion, we will be screening Amar Kanwar's film 'Freedom'. 55 min. September 19, Friday : Empire 2 : Authoritarianism, Militarisation, & Nuclearisation : Questions of War, Peace, and Terror Venue : Auditorium, I P College, University of Delhi (North Campus) Time : 12 noon Invited panellists : Rohini Hensman, journalist, activist, Sri Lanka Ashis Nandi, author, commentator, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi Achin Vanaik, journalist, commentator, and anti-nuclear activist, New Delhi September 26 Friday : Contested Space ? The Forum as Space, the Forum as Movement Venue : Gargi College, University of Delhi (South Campus) Time : 12 noon Invited panellists : Dinesh Abrol, Delhi Science Forum, Member WSF India Organising Committee, former convenor, WSF India Programme Committee for Asian Social Forum (2002-3) Ashok Bharti, Convenor, National Coordinator, National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR), and Member, Member WSF India Organising Committee Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok and Bangalore Jai Sen, independent researcher and civil actor, New Delhi + with Razia Ismail Abbasi, India Alliance for Child Rights & Women's Coalition Programme Centre, as Moderator [DUSSEHRA BREAK] October 21, Tuesday : Empire 3 : Caste and Race : Questions of Identity and Exclusion October 31, Friday : The Politics of Boundary : The Question of the WSF and (Non)Violence November 11, Tuesday : Empire 4 : Fundamentalism, Communalism, and Nationalism November 25, Tuesday : The WSF and New Internationalisms : The Culture and politics of Cyberspace December 2, Tuesday : Empire 5 : Patriarchy, Sexuality, and Questions of Openness December 12, Friday : How Open ? Is Socialism the Only Possible Other World ? December 19, Friday : Cultures of Politics : The University as Open Space ? Please feel free to circulate this message widely ! And please excuse cross-posting.. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 15:16:04 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 02:46:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Response to Lehar from Saheli, Delhi In-Reply-To: <20030903055124.88056.qmail@web40603.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20030908094604.26601.qmail@web20901.mail.yahoo.com> thanks for the bouquest and brickbats and the sobriquet of'conservatism'..:) i do not have much to add to this.. except that I clearly see the forces of globalisation/ mcdoanaldisation at play here..on top of a regressive caste, patriarchy ridden society.. having spent the last 6 years in the US and Uk one of the reasons I gave up living there was the sexual violence which loomed in the air.. esp in the UK. the constant threat of sexual vioelnce as a single woman, incidnets of being waylaid on tube stations, accostation by the drunk men outside the dense network of pubs across the city of London and the midlands.. and the constant refrain.. to 'dont go out alone.' asian women are mkore vulnerable.. blew my lil feminist bubble of the West as a haven for women.. it is no more or no less safe for women..probably better than India in some ways..but the idealisation of the feminist movements making perfect strides deflated there.. the widespread incorporation/ backlash by the westrn media- a la TOi.. and the impact it has on young womne is horrendous to as to speak. I work in the areas of sexuality and reproductive health..the last thing I can be accused of is conservatism..however i would like to add that I recently presented aan article on Sexual vioelnce- which also referred to the book; 'Reviving Ophelia: saving the selves of adolescent girls in the US.. a shcking book by a a well known acitvist and psychotherapsit..Mary Pipher.. the book contains hundreds of case studies and cites the media represenation of women has THE manin factor which exarberates the emergency level situation.. having looked at the issue of adolscent pregancies,teenage rapes, drug abuse etc. and responbile sexual behaviour,I can see the signs. and there is nothing conservative about it. Its fine to sit in Dlehi and read greer and Faludi..the shock hits you hard when u land in the west and weep at how the feminist movement has been appropiated by the britney Spears culture.. which simply refuses to abte..dont you think the feminist there are conecnred abot it? its now increasing its market size..ask me.. in my golden days in the corporate sector, I came across reports on increasing the mkt penetration for hair colours/ dyes..Miss world happned a few months after.. L'Oreal has one of its biggest peroxide markets in India? the onset of menstruation has reduced to 10 years in India..one of the reasons being the early sexualisation of chldren.. so we ban child marriage but it makes no difference.. The commodification of sexuality is what concerns me. I am currently working on script on indegenous sexuality and healing in the subcontinent - looking at tantra and baul sects and how they provide marginalised women across the borders, a space to express their sexuality and spiritualty..which I belive are fundamentally connected.. the repression of sexuality( by caste and patriachy) and its consequent commodification are the real issues. protesting its commericialisation is only one end..the roots lie elsewhere.. What's anti femnist about not wanting to dye my hairlike a wanna be blonde? is the girl on the DTC special with bealched hair and chooras in her hand really 'free'? c'mon.. Peronsally even if they werent, there is no reason why we here cannot evolve an independent feminist view of our own..whether the other feminists endorse it first or nor.. unfortunately the problem with the progressives is that we agree to disagree.. which the right wing makes its forays into TV and the print media.. selling saas bahus and pujas on hand ..and bars and strip joints on the other.. if you criticise any one of them.. you are accused of being a 'pseudo' secularist or a conservative. Which is the real tragedy. --- Laxmi Murthy wrote: > > Dear Friends, > > Although there have been several timely and > well-argued responses to Lehar�s �Public Interest > Alert� we at Saheli would like to respond to some > points. We were surprised to find our name at the > end of the mail which suggests that we endorse her > rather strong viewpoints. Checking with our views > and experience before doing so would have clarified > this. > > Lehar has raised very important concerns relating to > violence against women, but unfortunately, the > conflating of sex work with trafficking, consuming > alcohol with alcoholism, sexually explicit material > with pornography is problematic and tends to confuse > issues. Such conservatism being projected under the > banner of women�s rights can be dangerous, > particularly in the present context of ascendant > right wing orthodoxy. > > Certainly, the continuous projection of women's > bodies along with all that caters to male constructs > of sex appeal is disturbing as is its impact on > women in general. Yet moralistic positions, > endorsements or indeed exhortations of censorship > and arming the government with more powers to > �censor and ban� are more than likely to backfire on > us. Women�s groups have more often found legal > interventions to be inadequate, and in fact > promoting a retrogressive image of women, rather > than enhancing women�s rights. Lehar�s faith in The > Indecent Representation of Women Act is at best > misplaced (The nomenclature of the Act itself should > be telling, rooted as it is in notions of > �decency�/�indecency�). > > Current debates about prostitution � > decriminalization, licensing, zoning etc, among > prostitutes' collectives and unions, as well as > human rights' and women�s organizations are > well-nuanced, demanding far more complex > interventions than those suggested by Lehar. > > Clearly, the issues compel more informed engagement, > and constant challenging of our own understandings > responses and strategies. > > In general, many media representations -- of women, > war, patriotism, community, religion and �normalcy� > are worrisome. These, and deteriorating standards of > journalism, the decline of media ethics, the selling > of news space in leading dailies, flying journalists > to Paris for the launch of a drug which finds > �mention� in the op-ed of TOI � are most certainly > concerns that face a newspaper reading public. Yet, > pleading for more heavy handedness can only lead to > more authoritarianism. > > The ease with which the blame for all evils is laid > on "the West" is also disturbing. Perhaps we need to > critically examine such depiction of women from a > feminist lens, rather than parade the convenient and > tired scapegoat of the "foreign hand". Only then can > we even consider how/whether an alternative feminist > culture can be promoted by institutions like the > media. > > In solidarity, > > Saheli, Delhi > > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site > design software __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 15:27:25 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 02:57:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Delhi: The City of Itrs Message-ID: <20030908095725.47724.qmail@web20911.mail.yahoo.com> fyi..a recent piece.. --- Phool walon ka shaher: The City of Itrs by Lehar Delhi, the oldest of cities knows the power of flowers.. Phool khile bagiyan mein.. Flowers bloom in the garden.. The harvest of spring is here.. - Hazrat Amir Khusro, saint poet of Delhi. At beginning of a sultry September, Delhi will soon be filled with the fragrance of the phoolwalon ki sair..the procession of the flower people..albeit muted under the weight of its dusty roads and CNG buses. I can smell their itrs.. and they trigger a seeking of their roots and this rite. The rite of thousands of Delhi walahs carrying flowers from the Red fort, all the way to Mehrauli- to shrine of Hazrat Qutubuddin Kaki and the Yoga Maya Mandir, 32 kms in all. As we travel with the flowers, I realise that the sair had to be in Delhi, the city of the phoolwalahs/ the flower people. The term long invented before the 1960s�. For Dilli is indeed like one of its itrs, distilled and blended over centuries. No one could said it better than her own, Ghalib: 'In this city, is a festival called the flower men's festival. Everyone from the nobles to the artisans goes off to the Qutub Minar. All the shops in the city of Muslims and Hindus alike stay closed throughout this time'. Another eminent Delhi wallah echoed him: The tableau of Delhi depicts phool walon ki sair with a procession of people guided by Shehnai and drum players. It is accompanied by beautiful floral 'Pankhas', fresh flowers and garlands..heading to the dargah of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtyar Kaki and the Yogmaya temple next to it. Devotees offer silk Chadars at the Temple and floral Chadars at the dargah.� How did it all begin? A Mughal noblewoman�s gratitude at the shrine of a Sufi saint became an pilgrimage and celebration for the entire city, transcending all barriers. For 200 years from the time of Akbar Shah II to Bahadur Shah Zafar - till the British banned it in1857, every King of Delhi went to the tomb of Khwaja Bakhtiyar and to the Jog Maya Mandir The Devi and the Dervish. Yogini Maya and Hazrat Qutubuddin Kaki. He was Guru of Baba Farid of Lahore, whose is the first bani in the Guru Granth Saheb. Baba Farid was the Guru of Hazrat Nizamuddin, the patron saint of Delhi. She is the unknown primordial power..the Great Mother.. ancient as the Universe and the source of Delhi herself.. An astounding alchemy. And this alchemy hovers.. breathes in us.. When the Indian PM speaks from the ramparts of the Red Fort, he/she is only paying tribute it..For in the same glance the Indian PM can see the Gauri Shankar temple, the Gurudwara Sheesh Ganj and the Sunehri masjid, next to the Jain Mandir, Beside the St. James church. Near Sarmad�s red coloured dargah. It is the circle of itrs.. the heart of Chandni Chowk, where one of the country�s oldest alchemists/itrwalahs dwells. Remember see Shyam benegal�s Junoon? Who can forget Naseeruddin Shah�s freedom fighter Sarfaraz Khan riding alongside his Hindu comrade.. Saffron and green flags in hand as they charged toward the British army with the cries of Allaho Akbar and Har Har Mahadev..martyred together for Delhi.. Where the roots of the tricolour lie. She knows the secret of blending. Look up to the Red fort.. and see it flying up there. --- We can read Delhi�s soul in this journey of 32 kms from Chandni Chowk to Mehrauli. All the way along this highway are scattered, life giving baolis and sarais quenching the thirst of travellers..built by kings and commoners.. an act of piety. Arab ki sarai.. Qutub ki sarai... Parsi Meher/ fire temple ki sarai..Yogi ki sarai.. Sheikh ki sarai..Kale khan ki sarai.. Badli-ki-Sarai.. Bade Khan Chotte Khan, Jamaali Kamaali, the Sufi and his beloved.. Badli ki Sarai is on G.T. Road, it means the sarai of clouds...It was here that a big battle was fought on June 8,1857 between the Indian sepoys and the Gordon Highlanders. Just imagine Scottish Highlanders fighting in Delhi during the hot scorching months of June! Maybe that�s why they called it cloudy.. Coming back to the start, Chandni Chowk is the most historic street in the world, say scholars. It is here that Dara Shikoh, Sanskrit scholar and the future King of India was dragged in rags through thronging crowds ..who loved him..so much so that one of them cursed his throne grabbing brother, Aurangzeb to leave Delhi forever ..and Aurangzeb never returned(He is buried in the Deccan) It is here that Sarmad, the digambar (nude/ skyclad) Sufi fell in love with Abhay Chand, the Hindu merchant�s son.. and renounced the world. It is here that Aurangzeb ordered his execution.. apparently for �insulting Islam�, but essentially for befriending Dara and influencing the masses of Delhi with his blending message.. Three executioners tried unsuccessfully to behead him.. till Sarmad himself handed Abhay Chand the sword..singing� Come my beloved, in whatsoever garb thou come, I recognise thee well�..His severed head walked the steps of the Jama Masjid before thousands of Dilliwalas and had to be restrained from destroying the whole city..the legend says. He was followed by the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, who he and Dara Shikoh loved dearly- beheaded at Gurudwara Sheesh(Head) Ganj, again in the heart of Chandni Chowk. The Mughals were never to regain their glory..and Dara�s grave was never found. But then, this is Dilli.. But we are digressing.. and are back in in Chandni chowk, street of moonlight, origin of the sair ..where the itrs are made. ------- �Gulabsingh Johrimal: Itr Manufacturers & Exporters. Estd. 1816�, Chandni Chowk. He is the oldest surviving itr maker in the city of Delhi. Ram Singh Gundhi, (i.e. fragrance) is the descendant of the original Gulab Singh and recounts a tale of his grandfather�s times.. Of the Nehr-e-Bahisht (River of Paradise) which flowed down Chandni Chowk, watered by an underground aqueduct. Covered by the Brits in 1916. Chandni Chowk was built by Princess Jahanara, the Sufi daughter of Shahjahan, who also practised Kali worship and Christianity, like her eclectic elder brother, Dara Shikoh. Jahanara was forbidden to marry by an unwritten rule for Mughal princesses.. and spent her life in prayer and exploring different religions. And building schools, sarais and astronomical observatories. She is recounted to have swept the floor of the Hazrat Nizamuddin�s dargah with her own hair and inspired her mourning father Shah Jahan to continue his �karma yoga as King� by recounting the Bhagwad Gita. She even inspired Aurangzeb�s scholar daughter Zebunnisa to build an astronomical observatory.. near the current St. Stephens college.. gathering Persian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Hindu and Armenian scholars from all over the world..in the tradition of her liberal family..where the likes of Aurangzeb were always a misfit.. He was a misfit even in Delhi. When he banned mehfils of music, Shia processions, Sufi mehfils and ordered Muslim men to grow their beards 4 inches long, along with his other regressive practises..Accounts record Dilliwalahs carrying the bier(or janaza) of music past his palace..wailing in mock despair..a tradition of sarcasm and wit carried on by the likes of Ghalib.. and our very own, Khushwant Singhjee.( Dilli lover..) ---- Something similar happened in the shop of Gulab Singh Johrimal. His recounts the time when the people of Delhi, Hindus and Muslims alike, blended in the sair crowds like itrs. When the daughters of Akbar Shah, the founder of the phoolwalon ki sair came down in palkis to buy itrs. Nobles - nawabs, rajahs, subedars, Hindus and Muslims alike ..sat around, sniffing and choosing the perfect blend. But now things are different he says. The market for itrs began to decline five years ago..as the younger generation drifted away to fake western scents.. As did the market for many things Indian.. So what are these itrs? We ask.. Says a text: �It is held by all races from the beginning of time that Flowers hold the secret power.. the al chemie.( Arabic word from which �chemistry� is derived). It is the Great Work of nature that perfects chaotic matter, from metals to our souls. � Another brochure says: Itrs are sought after as the centuries-old Indian art of blending fragrances.. They are evocative of a time of grandeur and No chemicals are used in them. They are pure scent, distilled from fresh flowers. The flowers must be plucked at dawn and used before sun rise..� Other Ancients speak of the myraid flowers used in ittars: the roses, bela, malti, champa, maulasree, Hinna, khus and ketaki.. names of maidens..blended with the roots of vetiver and ginger. The Oils in their base are powerful healers. Three drops of sweet marjoren with jaggery cure migraines and hangovers.. petitgren oil controls nausea and vomiting. Try Rubbing chameli on your wrists, bottled in cut glass decanters, smelling of a summer evening. The most expensive one of them all is the Rooh gulab, 'soul of roses' Rs. 3,500 for a tiny vial. It was discovered by Queen Noorjehan, floating in her morning bath above the rose petals. Ittars are not just classified according to their content but also the time of the year. The spicy Hina, a blend of saffron and green musk, smells different on each wrist. Ghalib dabbed it on while going to meet his beloved during the winters. Champa, chameli gulab.. jhoom rahe daar.. Champa jasmine rose.. bloom on every branch.. Come.. Dear one ..swaying..Come.. Khusro�s reached his Beloved�s door.. ***** My beloved never ceases to amaze.. Khusro sings..beloved disciple of Delhi�s patron saint.. As we walk along 32 kms of the sair, Delhi�s continues to reveal her many faces.. Where else can you find a place called Majnu ka Tila (Majnu�s hillock) or Bhooli Bhatiyari ka mahal? Majnu ka tila is a Sufi�s hermitage, who was blessed by Guru Nanak with the name �Majnu�( Mad for God) and has a lovely Gurudwara. Or Mirza Chappati near Adarsh Nagar, where tandoori rotis are made to qawwalis and served by a dwarf? Burhiya's mosque is in Mori Gate. James Skinner's house is in Ganda Nala Bazar, Kashmiri Gate. Bu Halima�s doorway is in Humayun�s tomb . The Moghul period mandirs are to the south of Rao Tula Rao Marg and are occupied by the Indian Navy. And the Kharbuze ka Gumbad is in Sheikh Sarai, Phase 1 �shaped like a melon. No wonder the Victorian Brits had a culture shock and redid the whole place...cleansed of crazy things like itrs, Majnus and love struck Pathans. Imagine, poor Sir Metcalfe comes to this place and goes slightly Majnu himself.. he built Metcalfe's Folly - a lighthouse in the middle of the Aravalis. They did have a jolly tough time getting used to Dilli. Going about their business, trying to unmingle itrs. Quite impossible old chap, without breaking the bottle. Delhi was badly bruised in this process. Thousands of her citizens wiped out.. and Hindoo and Muslim became two distinct entities for the first time..with separate taxes to pay..and mixed rituals getting banned.. including the sair. 'For the Hindoo Mohameddan communal amity; is a dangerous threat to our interest in the India subcontinent� said Lord Lithinglow(?) in 1857. The sair was thus banned. And not held for the next 90 years till 1947 and the Indian govt. restarted it. By then, the damage had been done. The Brits couldn�t really help it. It was a rather dangerous proposition, imagine another Sepoy Mutiny rising from its ranks and likes of Sarfaraz Khan and his Hindoo pals. The flower sellers fair was a threat to National security. So they banned it. And unbanned cow slaughter at the same time, which the Mughals had outlawed in deference to Hindoo sentiments. And the jinns began to come out of the bottle.. ************ They say Delhi never dies- she renews herself again and again. For above hover her djinns..devs... who love Her much. Ask William Dalrymple, another Delhi lover, author of the city of djinns.. The Brits tried the TNT (two nation theory) bottle breaking experiment to unmingle the itrs.. round about the Chandni Chowk Jhandewalan area..at the height of their rule in the 1920s. It culminated in the grand bottle breaking of 1947. Now of course things are out of hand..saffron and green djinns have escaped out of the bottle and unleashed havoc.. Hindus Punjabis from Lahore have come..leaving behind verandah-ed homes, record players on Mall road and memories of Amrita Shergill.. You can recognise them in a second..those eyes which have never left Lahore- 50 years after.. They built the refugee city.. In Malcha Marg did Mr. Bahl, A stately pleasure dome decree.. Reads a popular poem..on the bizarre architecture of post independence Delhi. Scattered like birds, Sikhs from their Frontier homeland are here too. And out there in Karachi.. they have roads named on Delhi poets and Sufis. A Khusro road..a Dara Shikoh boulevard. The mohajirs (�Pakistan�s Delhi refugees�) pickle like fermented lemons in her angst and live under the mullahs they loved to mock. But the phoolwallahs know, This is Just What Happens when itrs are unmingled. So they continue to preserve them, each time they take out the sair. Preserving itrs is more than healing. Flowers have a power, which if not respected can anger the djinns.. and they don�t like being brought out of the bottles. But, the phoolwallahs say.. it ultimately doesn�t matter. For whoever tried to break the bottle, didn�t last. From the Kauravas to the Tughlaqs who troubled the Sufis.. to Aurangzeb and his head chopping sprees.. to Brits who moved to Delhi from Calcutta and hung its citizens from its trees.. To 1984.. and Gujarat 2002. And the Mongols.. Dilliwallas attribute the sudden retreat of the Mongols to the prayers of Saint Nizamuddin Chisti. There are several stories about the miracles performed by the saint including one in which he commanded the Yamuna to behave itself when the river flooded half of Delhi.. He continues to be the Mehboob e Elahi(Beloved of God)..and protector of Delhi.. of Hindus and Muslims alike.. while the worldly kings come and go.. His darbar still resounds with the sound of qawwalis and the fragrance of itrs..800 years after. So the flower wallahs say when they reach Nizamuddin . and many of their itrs are sold near the saints doors..They rest here for a while and move..despite the Media not covering them- for the want of masala like film stars weddings et al.. The fragrance hovers above the earth..As the master itr wallah..Gulab Singh says: Itrs are truly like flowers - as old as them but as fresh as tomorrow's dew drops.. He distills Delhi�s in these words.. blended over centuries, where the Nehr e Bahisht flows..and the saffron and green hina itr rises.. By the time you reach Mehrauli via Nizamuddin.. you can almost hear a voice humming like a thousand bumble bees, of the Chandogya Upanishad: As bees suck nectar from many a flower And make their honey one, so that no drop Can say, 'I am from this flower or that,' All creatures, though many know not they are One... --- The phoolwalas do. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 15:19:06 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 02:49:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Tehelka, for a Free & Fearless media: please subscribe Message-ID: <20030908094906.3497.qmail@web20903.mail.yahoo.com> Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Lehar sethi zaidi" Subject: Fwd: Tehelka, for a Free & Fearless media: please subscribe Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 19:44:52 +0530 Size: 69166 Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030908/f247852c/attachment.mht From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 15:20:44 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 02:50:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: woman sufi from Uzbekistan Message-ID: <20030908095044.3627.qmail@web20903.mail.yahoo.com> Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Lehar sethi zaidi" Subject: Fwd: woman sufi from Uzbekistan Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 23:11:30 +0530 Size: 2032 Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030908/ade17e3c/attachment.mht From yazad_j at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 14:50:00 2003 From: yazad_j at yahoo.com (Yazad Jal) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 14:50:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] On the record References: Message-ID: <005d01c375ea$c27a5520$26d558ca@hathway> Many fascinating articles are posted here on the Sarai Reader List. I have a small request. Could those who post articles, also post the URL of the piece? This piece for example has endnotes which are not in the email. If the URL was posted, I could check it myself. Thank you. -yazad www.yazadjal.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harsh Kapoor" To: Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 2:19 PM Subject: [Reader-list] On the record > Le Monde Diplomatique > August 2003 > > On the record > > By Ignacio Ramonet > > "Big Brother is watching you" George Orwell, 1984 > > If you were thinking of taking your summer holidays in the United States > this year you might like to know that, under an agreement between the > European Commission and the US federal authorities, items of personal > information will be communicated, without your consent, by the airline > company with which you travel to the US Customs. Even before you board the > plane the US authorities will already know your surname, first name, age, > address, passport number, credit card number, state of health, food > preferences (which could indicate your religion) and your previous travels. > From shveta at sarai.net Mon Sep 8 09:48:04 2003 From: shveta at sarai.net (shveta) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 04:18:04 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Cybermohalla Publication, 2003 Message-ID: <200309080418.04945.shveta@sarai.net> Dear All, Cybermohalla/Sarai is happy to announce the release of the Cybermohalla [1] Publication, 2003 - A Book Box with ten booklets, a CD and postcards. Booklets (Bilingual - Hindi/English): The booklets - 1. What is it that everything needs? 2. Before coming here, had you thought of a place like this? 3. What does every word carry with it? 4. If we were to stand in front of a crowd, what would the eyes of the crowd say to us? 5. To think I am alone would be gross injustice. 6. What is it that flows between us? 7. Conversations in questions and answers & conversations without questions and answers 8. Method is that heavy thing which makes everything light? 9. Sometimes some questions betray us. 10.What is in this? The everyday? Thought? And...? http://www.sarai.net/community/cybermohalla/book02/booklets.htm [2] CD: Animations, Video+Text Film, Software Animations: Surfaces are friendly, hospitable to narratives. They invite, cajole, contain, hold. Walls as you walk along the streets, table tops in classrooms and cafes, the insides of buses and trams, margins of pages in books, palms of your hand. They contain markings of location, of experiences, gestures, practices. Surfaces don't have insides and outsides, but textures and edges. Stories travel to surfaces and rest, waiting to be picked up and be carried to different destinations, to find themselves in different biographies, to be in circulation. Inscribe a surface with a scratch, a scribble, a sketch, a snippet, a phrase, a snatch of reality. And watch as strangers are drawn to stop by, to add their stories to yours. These acts of inscription are centrifugal acts - a play of unravelling and revealing, that is accretive. Surfaces are such palimpsests of meanings and signs, layered over time. Peel off the layers one by one, and be connected with a map of co-travellers. This tapestry of animations is one such surface of the enigmatic inner worlds of stories and rhythms. Within it, each individual animation an overlapping of layers of meaning that are held together through movement over time. What does the surface reveal? Before coming here, had you thought of a place like this? Film: The Zoo Text+Sound Video 05:48 min A whimsical soundrack introduces what could be an equally whimsical conversation during a visit to a zoo. Almost immediately, however, the conversation (an almost socratic dialogue on the nature of 'insult') transforms whimsy into a brief, evocative look at social relations, interactions and the construction and perception of self. Credits: Texts, Photographs, Recordings, Drawings, Animations by: Media Lab @ Lok Mayak Jai Prakash Colony: Azra Tabassum, Babli Rai, Bobby Khan, Shahana Qureshi, Shamsher Ali, Sultana, Suraj Rai, Manoj Kumar, Masooma Ansari, Mehrunnisa, Naseem Bano, Neelofar, Rabiya, Yashoda Media Lab @ Dakshinpuri: Dhirender Pratap Singh, Kiran Verma, Kulvinder Kor, Lakhmi Chand Kohli, Love Anand, Nisha Kaushal, Polina, Raju Singh Malyal, Rakesh Kumar, Sangeeta Kumari. Designed and produced at the Sarai Media Lab, Sara, CSDS, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi -110054, www.sarai.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] The Cybermohalla (Cyber Neighbourhood) Project is a community of young practitioners who share each others' thoughts, ideas and creative energies in media labs located in working class areas of Delhi. The young people who come to these media labs are between the ages of 15 to 23. At the lab, they work with media forms (photography, animation, sound recordings, online discussion lists and text) to create cross media works, texts, collages, posters and wall magazines. Their writings and images can be seen as a rich database of narrative, comment, observation, imaginative play and reflection on the contested circumstances of life in the sprawling urban metropolis of Delhi. The project has been developed collaboratively by Sarai, a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and Ankur - Society for Alternatives in Education. The Cybermohalla Project addresses the interface between information technology and creativity in the lives of young people who live in a highly unequal society. http://www.sarai.net/community/saraincomm.htm cybermohalla at sarai.net [2] For Cybermohalla Publication, 2002, Galiyon se / by lanes, please see http://www.sarai.net/community/cybermohalla/book01/bylanes.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ best Shveta From faizan at sarai.net Tue Sep 9 13:56:38 2003 From: faizan at sarai.net (Faizan Ahmed) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 13:56:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [AMUNetwork] Welcome Mr. Sharon Message-ID: <200309091356.38263.faizan@sarai.net> Please read the following........ Faizan ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: [AMUNetwork] Welcome Mr. Sharon Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 08:16:29 +0000 From: "osama sajid" To: AMUNetwork at yahoogroups.com Welcome Mr. Sharon.. teach India (read Sangh Parivar) how to deal with terrorists and make our peaceful land like yours.. full of violence, killings and deaths. One thing which you can surely teach our army is how to kill innocent children and women in their houses in name of 'fight against terror' and self defense. You may also enlighten us on how to organize 'sabra and shatila' massacres which u engineered. Technology, agriculture and other exports are secondary, first teach us how to bomb civilians and finish off their infrastructure, schools, hospitals and jobs. Tell us how to make things so bad for a section of populace that only company hiring is Hamas and Islamic Jihad.. because there would be no other employer left. Of course India needs help from such a great harbinger of peace. Warm Welcome Mr. Messenger of Peace. -Osama sajid (MCA-97) Pune, India HomePage: http://osamasajid.tripod.com _________________________________________________________________ Over 6,70,000 brides and grooms. http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/cgi-bin/bmclicks1.cgi?74 Click here to join for free. - ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/sUXolB/TM - ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> When posting a message please include the Subject heading and your full name, highest degree from Aligarh, year of graduation, and present location. Messages without this information will not be approved and no further reminders will be sent. Visit us at: http://www.aligs.org Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ - ------------------------------------------------------- From aiindex at mnet.fr Wed Sep 10 06:12:38 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 01:42:38 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] India: Privacy fears before telemedicine debut Message-ID: The Telegraph [India] September 10, 2003 Privacy fears before telemedicine debut M. RAJENDRAN New Delhi, Sept. 9: India took an ambitious step towards the practice of telemedicine amid fears that the data collected from citizens could be misused in the absence of a law to protect it. The information and technology ministry, which is working on a telemedicine project in collaboration with the Calcutta-based School of Tropical Medicine, today submitted a draft to the communications and information technology ministry. It will be discussed with the health ministry and state governments before implementation of the telemedicine project. "We have set up a project in association with the School of Tropical Medicine in Calcutta. This hospital is connected with three health centres at Cooch Behar and Howrah through a high-speed network. Patients can be checked by doctors from the school and get prescriptions at a normal fee to be charged by the service provider," said B.S. Bedi, senior director in the department of information and technology, ministry of communications and information technology. A special project for the Northeast in association with the Naga Hospital at Kohima has been proposed. Among the suggestions is a network with a data speed of 384 kilobytes per second for telemedicine. At this speed, doctors at a specialised hospital anywhere in the country can examine patients even in far-flung areas of the Northeast or Jammu and Kashmir and prescribe medicines within a short span. Another recommendation for "minimum data sets" - health records that an individual may not like to be made public for fear of commercial or security risk, but is absolutely essential for the practice of telemedicine - could stir a hornet's nest. Sources in the IT ministry committee that submitted the draft said: "We had problems in finalising the details of minimum data sets. It is a controversial issue, as has been witnessed in the US and other European countries where telemedicine and health record keeping are at an advanced stage." The key problem in India is the lack of a data protection law. "In India, we do not have any data protection law. There is need for such a law as the data would be of immense commercial value to companies and the government. It is a sad situation where the Information Technology Act, 2000, defines the word 'data', but is silent on data protection," said Pavan Duggal, advocate and an expert on cyber law. A minimum data set is a widely accepted set of terms and definitions making up the core of data acquired for medical records. The panel has suggested that they should be based on two formats - one, common for all diseases and another, specific to some diseases. In the first format, the data collected is standard across all diseases and conditions such as referrals and demographics. Referral information includes details such as source of referral, referrer's code, while demographic information will contain one's family name, surname, permanent address, literary status, annual income and so on. In the second, the data collected would be for specific diseases and conditions such as disease assessment, disease stage, risk factors, complications, treatment and outcomes. Personal data is a very delicate issue and can be misused by anybody, like narrow religious outfits or by fly-by-night operators. Sensitive data can be classified as identification of racial and ethnic origin of an individual, political opinions, religious beliefs, membership of a trade union, physical or mental health conditions, sex life, criminal offences, criminal proceedings and convictions. Communications and information technology minister Arun Shourie recently said: "We have formulated a draft on data protection and it would be circulated to the ministries concerned. We do not wish to hurry up as this is being examined by many countries in Europe." In the US, the Enactment of Data Protection Act, 1978, and the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act, 1996, not only stipulate the way for standardisation of format to maintain health records, but also lay down penalties for those misusing the data. From kanthimurthy at yahoo.com Wed Sep 10 07:38:31 2003 From: kanthimurthy at yahoo.com (kanthi krishnamurthy) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 19:08:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Protest Sharon's visit Message-ID: <20030910020831.24373.qmail@web11408.mail.yahoo.com> Protest Against Sharon's Visit Today at: Hutatma Chowk Bombay 4pm, Sept 10 Please spread the word ===== "I love the rain, It washes the memories off the sidewalk of life." --Woody Allen __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From benjamin_lists at typedown.com Wed Sep 10 18:10:36 2003 From: benjamin_lists at typedown.com (Benjamin Fischer) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 14:40:36 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Entries: (5 Days left) 17th Stuttgart Filmwinter =?iso-8859-1?q?=AD?= Festival for Expanded Media Message-ID: Stuttgart Filmwinter ­ Festival for Expanded Media ------------------------------------------------- + Deadline for submissions: September 15, 2003. + ------------------------------------------------- Target Blank - the 17th edition of the Stuttgart Filmwinter is looking for innovative, critical, and unknown posititions in media art and film culture. After the record of 1300 submissions at the last festival the organizer Wand 5 cordially invites filmmakers, media producers, and artists to submit their work. Productions in the field of film, video, internet/www, CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, installation, and performance are very welcome. Internet projects can be submitted online. For further information and entry forms please refer to our web site: http://www.filmwinter.de Besides the competiton with prizes amounting 11.000 Euros the Filmwinter offers various special programmes, lectures and performances. contact: Wand 5 im Filmhaus Friedrichstr. 23 A D ­ 70174 Stuttgart Germany Telephone: +49-711-226 91 60 Fax: +49-711-226 91 61 mail: wanda at wand5.de URL: http://www.wand5.de From sadan at sarai.net Sat Sep 13 00:28:07 2003 From: sadan at sarai.net (sadan) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:58:07 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] dalit feminism as a Right Message-ID: <200309121458.07739.sadan@sarai.net> Dear all, Find below information about a seminar sent to me by the coordinator of the seminar. sadan alisamma Research Center & Human Rights Programme, Dept. of Political Science, University of Hyderabad Cordially invites you to a One-Day Seminar on “dalit feminism as a Right” on Friday, 12th September, 2003 at 10.00 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Ambedkar Lecture Hall Complex (LHC) University of Hyderabad First Session (10 a.m to 1. 15p.m.) Welcome & Introduction Soujanya Raman (Research Scholar, Dept. of Political Science, University of Hyderabad) Chair Adv. Bojja Tharakam Gogu Syamala (Editor, nallapoddu) “nallapoddu : Research Experiences” Dr. B.Vijayabharathi (One of the writers in nallapoddu) “Demonized Dalit Women Roles in Hindu Scriptures” Tea Break (11. 30 to 11.45 a.m.) Prof. G.Haragopal (Dept. of Political Science, University of Hyderabad) “Re-reading nallapoddu from Class Perspective” Velisela Ratna (Research Scholar, Dept. of History, University of Hyderabad) “Segregated womanhood: University Experiences” Lunch (1.15 to 2.15 p.m.) Second Session (2.15 to 5 p.m.) Vasantha Kannabiran (Asmitha) “On Dalit Women’s Writings” Prof. Kancha Ilaiah (Head, Dept. of Political Science, Osmania University) “Knowledge & Culture : Relocating History” Tea Break (3.30 to 3.45 p.m.) Adv. Bojja Tharakam (Legal Activist) “Necessity of Dalit Feminism” Maya Devi (Research Scholar, Dept. of Hindi, University of Hyderabad) “Dalit Feminist Voice: A Journey from Submission to Assertion” G. Kalyan Rao (author of Antarani Vasantham) “Locating Dalit Women in Politics” Vote of Thanks Coordinator Jalli Indira, Research Scholar, Dept. of Political Science, University of Hyderabad. From dbase at mindless.com Tue Sep 9 19:06:51 2003 From: dbase at mindless.com (D base) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 08:36:51 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] party: )dbase( @ OXYGEN (Vasant Vihar) on Wed 10 Sep Message-ID: <20030909133651.7794.qmail@mail.com> )dbase( is playing drum n bass & psy trance at OXYGEN (D-10 Poorvi Marg Comm. Complex, Vasant Vihar Ph.26154760/70/80) 9:00 pm onwards. on Wednesday Sep 10 The night will be started off with some chill dnb which will later lead to jumpier and harder tunes in the post midnight session. followed by psy tunes into the morning. Music by ravana +ish +psySuck you can forward this mail to your friends or call 9818455338(ish) for more info. bhole nath sabke sath ish -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job search http://corp.mail.com/careers From nyvoices at indypress.org Thu Sep 11 04:56:20 2003 From: nyvoices at indypress.org (Rehan Ansari) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 19:26:20 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Voices Edition 82: 10 September 2003. Message-ID: <01f601c377f3$3f6640d0$6501a8c0@herman> This Week's Voices That Must Be Heard By IPA-New York, a sponsored project of the Independent Press Association Edition 82: 10 September 2003. Advisory editor Williams Cole, of Brooklyn Rail, an IPA member publication. NEWS ITEMS: More U.S. Poles vote in Polish elections than Greenpoint's by Tomasz Deptula, Nowy Dziennik / Polish Daily News, 2 September 2003. Translated from Polish by Ania Milewska. The impact of Polish immigrants' votes on Poland's political system is minimal, while the power of their votes in the United States could have decisive power in the most urgent local issues. MORE. It's not that the FBI agent is looking for casual encounters by Hai-Jie Wong, World Journal, 4 September 2003. Translated from Chinese by Connie Kong. The FBI confirmed that the bureau had a specialist scanning Chinese newspapers each day for ads and any clue related to any crime. MORE. The new lords of Flatbush by Macollvie Jean-François, Haitian Times, 2 September 2003. English language. About five years ago, Patrice, 19, joined the Crips for the reason that most teenage gang members do: His best friend was in it. MORE. The back of the bus is no place for a man with a turban by Satnam Singh Ratainda, Punjab Express, 29 August 2003. Translated from Punjabi by Partha Banerjee. "Hey, you son of Bin Laden." Singh recalls the taunt. "You're Bin Laden, aren't you?" The bus was crowded and a number of passengers sitting nearby started laughing. MORE. BRIEFS: No signs of understanding by Dan-Qui Luo, World Journal, 3 September 2003. Translated from Chinese by Connie Kong. Cup ramyon, mandu noodles, and Bacchus drink featured at 7-Eleven and WalMart by Eun-sook Im, Korea Daily News, 5 September 2003. Translated from Korean by Sunyong Reinish. Being without food in New York, or thinking about it, Hoy, 3 September 2003. Translated from Spanish by Nicole Lisa. U.S. reaction to Gujarat pogrom in India was not strong enough by Aziz Haniffa, India Abroad, 5 September 2003. English language. EDITORIALS: Husband fears deportation threats from his wife by Kwadwo A. Opuku, Esq., African Abroad, 15 August 2003. English language. Just do the right thing and do not resort to violence in a domestic dispute. If you are of African descent and the police come to your house, you would rather that you were deported. MORE. As always we welcome questions, suggestions, corrections and letters to the editor. Rehan Ansari Editor, Independent Press Association - New York nyvoices at indypress.org* 212/279-1442 * 143 West 29th St., 901, New York City, 10001 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030910/21223724/attachment.html From kanti.kumar at oneworld.net Thu Sep 11 12:43:34 2003 From: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net (Kanti Kumar) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 12:13:34 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] What's new at Digital Opportunity Channel Message-ID: <154130-22003941164334968@oneworld.net> Please see at the bottom information on how to subscribe to this weekly newsletter Apologies for cross-posting ------------------------------ What's New at Digital Opportunity Channel http://www.digitalopportunity.org + ---------------------------------------------------- + For all the news and analysis about the WSIS summit from a civil society perspective, please visit our Special Coverage section at: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/section/dochannel/wsis + ---------------------------------------------------- + ********************************* Latest News http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1138 ********************************* UN LAUNCHES HUMANITARIAN INFORMATION CENTRE IN LIBERIA ------------------------------------------------------ The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has set up a humanitarian information centre for relief workers in Liberia in the capital Monrovia. The centre provides free Internet access to relief workers and maintains a Web-based help desk service offering practical information and advice on the Liberian crisis. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67699/1138/ 369 NEW ISSUE OF 'I4D' JOURNAL ON VIABILITY OF ICTS IN RURAL AREAS -------------------------------------------------------------- The second issue of i4d - a journal published in both print and on the Web - is now available. Published by the Centre for Spatial Database Management & Solutions in India, the journal in the current issue attempts to critically take up the problem of the viability of ICTs in rural environment. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67698/1138/ 369 MOBILE TELECENTRE PROJECT IN GHANA WINS BANK'S SUPPORT ------------------------------------------------------ Barclays bank Ghana has donated �21,000 to UNDP for its Mobile Telecentre To Go (MTTG) project that seeks to make available the power of ICT to rural populations. The project uses a vehicle equipped with wireless Internet access to impart distance education and train children, teachers, and local activists. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67695/1138/ 369 CAMBODIA DEVELOPING NATIONAL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY PLAN ---------------------------------------------------- Cambodia is preparing its first national information and communications technology (ICT) plan, with support from UNDP. Cambodia has made progress in satellite, mobile, fixed, and Internet connectivity since two decades of conflict ended in the early 1990s. But rural areas are still underserved and prices for Internet access are among in the highest in the region. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67593/1138/ 369 AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES JOIN HANDS TO DEVELOP DIGITAL THESES --------------------------------------------------------- A South African university will collaborate with an Ethiopian university on a UNESCO project for electronic production and publication of theses and dissertations. This is expected to improve graduate education by allowing students to produce electronic documents and to use digital libraries. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67592/1138/ 369 TRAINING HELPS KENYA'S WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS LEARN IT SKILLS ---------------------------------------------------------- More than 60 women entrepreneurs in Kenya's eastern and northeastern provinces are getting a chance to join in the technological revolution through exposure to computers. A two-week computer and Internet appreciation course was recently held in Embu in eastern Kenya and another has been started in Garissa in the northeast. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67513/1138/ 369 BALANCING ACT NEWSLETTER ON MALI'S TELECOM TRAUMA ------------------------------------------------- Even small African markets like Mali are beginning to experience the impact of competition in the telecommunications industry. It is slow and uneven but it is beginning to happen. Balancing Act Africa focussed on developments in Mali's ICT sector in a recent issue of its newsletter. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67512/1138/ 369 EDUCATIONAL TV LAUNCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA AMID SCEPTICISM ------------------------------------------------------- A South African satellite television network has launched an educational TV channel, which focuses on mathematics, science, English and an educator development programme. The channel is targeting learners, educators and schools, but educationists are sceptical of its success. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67511/1138/ 369 RADIO PRODUCTION COURSE FOR UNEMPLOYED UK YOUTH ----------------------------------------------- Earshot is offering a free course for unemployed people aged 16-26 in the UK, in which they will learn how to make and present professional radio programmes and gain general media skills. The aim is to raise their employment prospects by improving their ICT, teamwork, time and project-management, research, marketing and general workplace skills. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67415/1138/ 369 AFGHAN NGO EMPOWERS RURAL WOMEN THROUGH RADIO --------------------------------------------- The Afghan Women's Network (AWN) is using radio programmes to reach rural women information about their rights under the new constitution. AWN plans to make the programmes available on community radio stations and government-owned stations throughout Afghanistan. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67413/1138/ 369 ********************************* Analysis http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1134 ********************************* DIGITAL ACTIVISM, THE WTO AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE RULES ------------------------------------------------------- Campaigners have used almost every technique the Internet offers to raise awareness of the injustices that the present global trade regime perpetuates and to organize action to resist corporate globalization that places profit before people. Glen Tarman of the Trade Justice Movement traces the growth of online activism around trade issues. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67349/1134/ 369 UNZIPPING THE WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY ----------------------------------------------------- The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has already attracted the attention of the critical media community. In this paper, Alan Toner of Autonomedia and New York's Information Law Institute examines what is at stake at the summit and how its agenda reflects changes in the post-industrial location of power. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67334/1134/ 369 ********************************* Get Involved http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1112 ********************************* SANGONET'S NEXT FORUM ON FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ------------------------------------------------------ SANGONeT is organising its next Thetha (ICT discussion forums) on the theme of "Free and Open Source Software: Benefits & Challenges to Civil Society". Speakers will introduce the concept of free and open source software (OSS), discuss its relevance to civil society, and explore business and government positions on the issue. A practical demonstration of OSS will also be held. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67509/1112/ 369 DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE FOR AGRICULTURAL PROFESSIONALS ------------------------------------------------------- The Asia Pacific Regional Technology Centre is organising a distance learning course to improve "digital literacy" of agricultural professionals. Designed to teach the professionals in the Asia Pacific how to take advantage of resources available through the Internet, it will be offered between September 15 and October 24, 2003. Scholarships are also available. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67508/1112/ 369 ********************************* Events http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/frontpage/309/4686 ********************************* 15 SEPT - 24 OCT: DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE ON DIGITAL LITERACY FOR AGRICULTURAL PROFESSIONALS --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- online activity http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67276/4743/ 369 23 SEPT-4 OCT: COURSE ON IEC MATERIALS PRODUCTION AND USE --------------------------------------------------------- http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67275/4743/ 369 15-26 SEPT: PREPCOM-3 --------------------- Geneva, Switzerland http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/66878/4743/ 369 13 SEPT: WSIS GENDER CAUCUS ORIENTATION SESSION ----------------------------------------------- Geneva, Switzerland http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/66876/4743/ 369 28 SEPT-OCT 1: 2003 RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONGRESS ----------------------------------------------------- Washington, DC http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/66218/4743/ 369 14 OCT: ICTS IN ASIA - DO WE KNOW ENOUGH? ----------------------------------------- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67285/4744/ 369 23-24 OCT: CYBERCITIES AND THE NETWORK SOCIETY ---------------------------------------------- Sao Paolo, Brazil http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67283/4744/ 369 2 OCT: LIVING WITH THE TECHNOLOGIES OF REMOTE COMMUNICATION ----------------------------------------------------------- Oxford, England http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67278/4744/ 369 24-25 OCT: GHANA NATIONAL YOUTH FORUM ------------------------------------- Accra, Ghana http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/66881/4744/ 369 5 NOV-12 DEC: MEDIA PRODUCTION COURSE FOR UNEMPLOYED YOUTH ---------------------------------------------------------- Sussex, England http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67274/4745/ 369 3-4 NOV: LIBRARIES @ THE HEART OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY --------------------------------------------------------- Geneva, Switzerland http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/66882/4745/ 369 You can manage your email digest subscriptions with Digital Opportunity Channel and OneWorld by visiting: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/bulkmail/subscriptionlist/ You will need to log in with your nickname and password, or register for (free) OneWorld/Digital Opportunity Channel membership. Kanti Kumar Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel www.digitalopportunity.org OneWorld South Asia Email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net From kanti.kumar at oneworld.net Fri Sep 12 21:55:42 2003 From: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net (Kanti Kumar) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 21:25:42 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] New Gender & ICT online forum from Digital Opportunity Channel Message-ID: <171510-220039512155542805@oneworld.net> Dear Friends, We invite you to join the new discussion list on 'Gender & ICT: Issues, Implications & Opportunities'. Digital Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org ) of OneWorld South Asia is launching this email-based discussion forum in partnership with i4d (information for development) (www.i4donline.net ), an ICT initiative of the Centre for Spatial Database Management & Solutions based in India. The economic and political marginalization of women, especially in developing countries, is leading to their stunted growth. Gender discrimination in the access to information is hampering sustainable development. It has been substantiated that information and communication technologies (ICT) have a major role to play in bridging this gap. But the gender gap in the 'digital divide' itself is now an increasing concern. How ICT can support gender empowerment is something that still needs to be discussed and understood. If access to and use of the new technologies is directly linked to social and economic development, then it is essential to ensure that women in developing countries understand the significance of these technologies and use them. If not, lack of access to ICT becomes a significant factor in their further marginalization from the economic, social and political mainstream - both within their countries and in the world. Without equal and full participation in ICT use, women will be left out from participating in the global world of the 21st century. Several conferences and summits held on gender, in particular, the UN World Conferneces on Women, Beijing and Beijing +5, have reaffirmed the need to focus on gender equality issues through ICT use. We will move ahead with their aims and objectives in our discussion, and attempt to provide concrete inputs to the upcoming WSIS 2003. If you want to join the ongoing debate of a digital gender divide, this is the right place to bring in your perspectives and ideas. This platform will attempt to increase awareness, raise concerns and make our commitments to give a gender perspective to policies and design of development tools. It will circulate information on resources, practices and events on how women globally are being empowered by ICT. WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE? We aim to: - Help stakeholders in the fields of gender and ICT issues exchange ideas and debate issues about the gender issues and implications of ICT applications in development and the opportunities that they offer. - Provide them with a platform to take their voices to policymakers in order to influence national, regional and global strategies. In real terms, this would mean that, - It would be a time-bound, topics-based, objective-oriented discussion channel. - Each month we would select a topic and that topic would be critically analyzed, would be featured with examples and best practices, would be discussed with challenges and opportunities and would be highlighted with policy implications, preconditions, successes and failures. - All the discussions will be streamlined in a summary report each month and would be presented to concerned authorities and at various events where agendas are being discussed in the context of gender and ICT, so that these can influence national, regional and global strategies. WHAT WILL WE DISCUSS? Among the questions the forum is expected to debate are: 1. Does ICT facilitate gender equality or create a gender bias? 2. What are the progress and challenges in transforming the gender relations in ICT arena? 3. How can the current uneven and unaffordable access to information by women be improved through ICT? 4. How can ICT enhance women's participation in socio-economic and political development leading to a knowledge society? 5. What is the impact of ICT and globalisation on women's work and lives? 6. How will ICT bring in employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for women? 7. What role can NGOs, civil society organizations and other networks play to create equality for women and to disseminate gender-related information? 8. What are the steps to ensure gender concerns in national ICT policies? IS THERE ANY SCHEDLUE? The discussions will continue until December 2003 and will be broken into time-bound thematic modules. To begin with, we will focus on the following three themes: - Access to ICTs and their use - Gender implications of ICTs - Capacity building & entrepreneurship Future themes for discussion will be announced subsequently in the forum. HOW TO JOIN? Joining this discussion list is very easy! Just visit the Join page of this forum and submit your email address OR, send a blank email to: join-GenderICT at dgroups.org On successful sign-up, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Please follow the instructions in the email to activate your subscription. This is a security measure to prevent you from being signed up by someone else. Once you activate your subscription, you will start receiving mails posted to the discussion list. You can fully participate in the list through emails itself, or through this site. WHERE TO CONTACT? Moderator & contact details This discussion list is being moderated by Anuradha Dhar, Research Associate, i4d. If you face any subscription problem, please contact Anuradha at dharanuradha at rediffmail.com or Kanti Kumar, Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel at kanti.kumar at oneworld.net. For more information about the forum, visit http://www.dgroups.org/groups/GenderICT/ We look forward to your active participation in this discussion list. Kanti Kumar, Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel Anuradha Dhar, Research Associate, i4d ABOUT i4donline.net I4d is a bi-monthly magazine published by India-based Centre for Spatial Database Management & Solutions and available both in print and on the Web (www.i4donline.net ). The i4d print magazine is one of its kind that utilizes the strength and potential of print media to provide a much needed platform for exchange of information, ideas, opinion, experiences both inside and outside the ICT4D sector. ABOUT Digital Opportunity Channel Digital Opportunity Channel is a joint endeavor of OneWorld (www.oneworld.net ) and the Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork.org ), dedicated to ICT for development issues. From ranita at sarai.net Wed Sep 10 20:59:32 2003 From: ranita at sarai.net (ranita) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 20:59:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Short Term Independent Research Fellowship Message-ID: <200309102059.32242.ranita@sarai.net> Proposals Invited for Short Term Independent Research Fellowship The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi What is Sarai? Sarai is a public initiative of media practitioners and scholars looking at media cultures and urban life. Sarai's interests are in the field of old and new media, information and communication technologies, free software, cinema, and urban space - its politics, built form, ecology, culture and history, with a strong commitment to making knowledge available in the public domain. It is a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. For more information visit www.sarai.net Who Can Apply? Sarai invites independent researchers, media practitioners, software designers and programmers, urbanists, architects, artists and writers, as well as students (post graduate level and above) and university and college faculty to apply for support to research driven projects. Why Research? What do we mean by Research? Sarai is committed to generating public knowledge and creativity through research. Hence the support for research driven projects and processes. The fellowships are in the nature of small grants in order to emphasize the initiation and founding of projects that would otherwise go unsupported Here, by research we mean both archival and field research, and forays into theoretical work as well as any process or activity of an experimental or creative nature - for instance in the audiovisual media, as well as in journalism or the humanities and social sciences, or in computing and architecture. The Experience of Previous Years: This is the third year in which Sarai has called for proposals for such fellowships. We would like to spell out the way in which the process worked in the previous years, as an indication of what applicants should expect. The first year saw the selection of twenty proposals, in the second year thirty six proposals were selected. These included work towards projects based on investigative reportage of urban issues; essays on everyday life; a history of urban Dalit performance traditions; soundscapes of the city; a graphic novel about Delhi; a documentation of the free software movement in India; research on displacement and rehabilitation in cities; interpretative catalogues of wall writings and public signages; histories of cinema halls and studios in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata; a study of the world of popular fiction and many others. Successful applicants included freelance researchers, academics, media practitioners, writers, journalists and activists. For a detailed list of the proposals click on http://www.sarai.net/community/fellow.htm The projects were submitted in English, Hindi or a combination of the two languages. We have seen that projects that set important but practical and modest goals were usually successful, whereas those that may have been conceptually sound but lacked sufficient motivation to actually pursue a research objective on the field, usually did not take off beyond the interim stage. Sarai interacted closely with the researcher over the period of the fellowship and the independent fellows made monthly postings on a public list as well as a final presentation at Sarai. This enabled us to trace the development of work during the grant period and the fellows to obtain structured but informal feedback from us at Sarai in stages during the course of their work. Submissions at the end of the fellowship period included written reports and essays, photographs, tape recordings, audio CDs, pamphlets, maps, drawings and html presentations. What we are Looking For: As in the past, this year too we are looking for proposals that are imaginatively articulated, experimental and methodogically innovative, but which are pragmatic and backed up by a well argued work plan which sets out a time table for the project, as well as suggests how the support will help with specific resources (human and material) that the project needs. Suggested Themes: Sarai's interests lie in the city and in media. Broadly speaking any proposal that looks at the urban condition, or at media, is eligible. More specifically, themes may be as diverse as habitation, sexuality, labour, social/digital interfaces, urban violence, street life, technologies of urban control, health and the city, the political economy of media forms, histories of particular media practices, intellectual property law, migration, transportation, or anything that the applicants feel will resonate with the philosophy and interests that motivate Sarai's work. Sarai supports innovative and inventive modes of rendering work into the Public Domain. Proposals, which pay attention to this, will be particularly valued. Preferred Approaches: Innovative and interdisciplinary methodologies, that combine research, practice, and delivery or rendition methods will be especially welcome. Conditions: Applicants should be resident in India, and should have an account in any bank operating in India. The research fellowship would be available for up to six months and for a maximum amount of Rs. 60,000. The fellowships do not require an every day presence at Sarai. These are support fellowships and fellowship holders will be free to pursue their primary occupations, if any. What you need to send? There are no application forms. Simply post (snail mail) your - Proposal (not more than1000 words) - A brief workplan (not more than one page) - An updated CV (not more than two pages) - Work samples (maximum two. Work samples need not necessarily be in the same area as the proposed project) - Envelopes should be marked - "Attention : Short Term Independent Research Fellowship 2003" [Email proposals will not be entertained]. Proposals may be sent in English or Hindi. Mail these to: Ranita Chatterjee, Coordinator, Programmes, Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054, India. Enquires: dak at sarai.net Last date for submission: October 20, 2003. Note: Proposals from teams, partnerships, collectives, faculty are welcome, so long as the grant amount is administered by a single individual, and the funds are deposited in a single bank account in the name of an individual. Applicants who apply to other institutions for support for the same proposal will not be disqualified, provided they inform Sarai that support is being sought (or has been obtained) from another institution. The applicants should inform Sarai about the identity of the other institution. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aghosh at drew.edu Thu Sep 11 07:44:27 2003 From: aghosh at drew.edu (Amrita Ghosh) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 22:14:27 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Submissions Message-ID: <003401c3780a$6dae6e60$6401a8c0@shiva> Dear all, Cerebration - an inter-continental webzine is calling for submissions for columns, essays, poetry, fiction and more. Cerebration is guided by an eminent advisory board consisting of leading intellectuals and journalists from across continents. Cerebration exists to bridge the gap between academia and non-academic circles and strives to initiate a critical-creative dialogue trans-culturally. Visit Cerebration at- http://www.geocities.com/ourcerebra Thanks, Amrita Amrita Ghosh Dept. of English Drew University Madison, NJ 07940. Co- Founder Editor- Cerebration Send submissions to: ourchiaro at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- ***** NOTE: An attachment named winmail.dat was deleted from this message because it possibly contained a windows executable or other potentially dangerous file type. Contact root at sarai.net for more information. From bulle_shah at hotmail.com Sat Sep 13 23:14:01 2003 From: bulle_shah at hotmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 23:14:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] love; death; 9; 11 Message-ID: For a little while, a few nights ago, I sat in a room with a blind dog, as it bumped against walls. He was an old dog, new to the space. So old that he had inoperable cataracts in both eyes. and he'd been in the room for only a couple of days. A few days before that, the only person around to take care of him had been murdered. By the time her body was found it had started decomposing. Her friends decided to take care of the dog, and brought it to their place. Where they also held a party, on what would have ben her birthday, becuase that's the way she would have wanted it. Which is how i happened to be in the room with the dog for a little while. As i sat in the room with the dog, while the party continued outside, I had a profundly banal revealation. For there was no reason that doddering, old, blind dog shouldn't have died years ago; except, it fells strange writing this, the humanity of those who took care of it. Isn't it the desire to preserve the most fragile, the most delicate, the most, well, useless thing; that makes us human? It could have been so easy for her to put the dog to sleep... but she didn't. And there were many other lives she touched, with the same humanity, the same care for fragile things; she was a counsellor and a designer; and now perhaps it's not so hard to see the links between them. She wanted to open a chocolate shop. It would have been so easy, perhaps, for those whose lives she had touched to turn to thoughts of revenge and retribution, of fear; and maybe they did. But they also came together to celebrate her birthday so shortly after her violent death. Chocolate was eaten, and wine was drunk; and despite all the sadness, there was much laughter, too. Her violent death had reminded us all of our own fragility; and perhaps, briefly, made us more human. The dog too, eventually, fell asleep. XXX What were you doing on 9/11 before the TV switched on? Before I started jumping up and down in front of the TV set yelling 'Long Live the Revolution'? That evening I was in love, and had been with a person I deeply cared for; new love is such a fragile thing. And then there I was exultant, jubilant; with what i can only think of now as... bloodlust. The logic of death falling from the skies onto the heart of murderous Empire was a logic that I totally subscribed to. The logic of spectacular, violent revenge. Even though I knew then, didn't we all, what was about to come? The relationship, the love that had been so new then; was limping by the time September 11 came around next; it had disintegrated completely and in a spectacular WTC fashion, by a couple of months ago. And it would be so easy to blame 9/11 and all that has followed; the zeitgeist that haunts us all... But does everyone else conduct their love-lives like American foreign policy? when the slightest hurt, the slightest misunderstanding, the faintest sign of a disagreement, is met with a rage and deep hurt of truly epic proportions; the B-52s raining bombs from the sky before the heavy artillery kicks in, and what happens to the other person is collateral damage... Much of what I have written and filmed since 9/11 has been, in essence, mourning for what the juggernaut of violence unleashed has, and can, do to to our fragile lives, and to those of people around the world. And yet, rage, like violence, is a performative act; Shiv's taandav is very astute mythology. I have perversely enjoyed the spectacle and power that rage brings; the power to just blow the other person away. my creative mourning has often seemed to be both premonition and hypocrisy. XXX There are other ways of dealing with hurt. With much more grievous hurt, with much more terrible loss. it took me a death, a party, and a frantic blind dog to realise that. to forego revenge and retaliation and instead, to weave together again the fragile web that binds us together; to raise a toast to 'cherry, wherever she is'; to not 'be strong'. ... That night i wished to be fragile; I was fragile. I did not wish for armed guards, I did not fear the dark, not becuase I could fight whatever came at me, but becuase I knew that I existed not becuase I was strong. What kept me alive, all of us alive, are the fragile ties that bind us and crisscross our lives; and act as trampolines when we fall... we are all the blind dog. I cannot change the past - 9/11, Baghdad, or Cherry's murder. i cannot change the future. what i can do, perhaps, is to be gentler with the world and with myself; and especially with the ones I love. in the words of lucky ali, 'kar kya sakta hoon, de sakta hoon main thoda pyaar yahaan par, jitni hasisiyat hai meri...' I think Cherry would have approved. Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030913/bdad8a05/attachment.html From monica at sarai.net Sun Sep 14 00:46:21 2003 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 00:46:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] dalit feminism as a Right In-Reply-To: <200309121458.07739.sadan@sarai.net> References: <200309121458.07739.sadan@sarai.net> Message-ID: hi sadan i have already sent a mail on internal to request that such mails be sent to announcements at sarai.net. They will still reach the reader-list. if people from sarai wont do this, who else will??!! best M At 2:58 pm -0400 12/9/03, sadan wrote: >Dear all, >Find below information about a seminar sent to me by the coordinator of the >seminar. >sadan > >alisamma Research Center >& >Human Rights Programme, Dept. of Political Science, University of Hyderabad > >Cordially invites you to a One-Day Seminar on > From amitbasu55 at hotmail.com Sun Sep 14 10:32:19 2003 From: amitbasu55 at hotmail.com (Amit R Basu) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 05:02:19 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030914/4fe9acb1/attachment.html From menso at r4k.net Sun Sep 14 22:08:50 2003 From: menso at r4k.net (Menso Heus) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:38:50 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Art Of Resistance - Bush Mosaic Message-ID: <20030914163850.GZ87142@r4k.net> Hi all, Came across this on the net and wanted to share with you: http://www.artofresistance.org/bush_mosaic/ Please note that persons easily offended should perhaps not visit this site :) Menso -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "As the catterpiller chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys" - William Blake -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From aiindex at mnet.fr Mon Sep 15 07:16:10 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 02:46:10 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] India: Call For Boycott of Mumbai International Film Festival 2004 Message-ID: CAMPAIGN AGAINST CENSORSHIP AT MIFF PRESS RELEASE - MOST URGENT - 15 SEPTEMBER 2003 CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF MIFF 2004 One hundred and seventy five of the leading documentary filmmakers of the country, having come together under the banner of a campaign against censorship at Miff2004, hereby announce a boycott of the Mumbai International Film Festival to be held in Mumbai in February 2004. This follows a decision by the organisers of the festival, Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to introduce a clause which requires Indian documentaries entered for the festival to be censored. It should be noted that foreign films entered at the festival do not need to be censored. Since giving notice to Films Division and the Ministry over a month ago, the Campaign has tried it's best to keep channels of communications open with them. However, except for one meeting of filmmakers with the Joint Secretary (films) and a few stray remarks by the Minister, there has neither been any progress on this nor any communication to us. As such, we have no choice but to boycott Miff2004. This is a shame because the festival was meant to promote the best of Indian documentaries and it can hardly claim to do this while it is simultaneously trying to muzzle the voice of the Indian documentary. It is an accepted practice world-wide that film festivals are arenas of uninhibited and creative expression. No international festival of repute censors films. It is strange that Miff 2004 now wants to do this while it managed seven previous editions of MIFF without this regulation. It is even stranger that the Minster for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the recently concluded PSBT-UNESCO film festival at Delhi where Indian as well as foreign films were screened without censorship certificates (or censorship exemptions), but the same terms cannot be applied to MIFF. A question was also raised in the Parliament following which many parliamentarians have also protested the Miff regulations to the Ministry. However, the Ministry has not acted even on their representation. As a follow up to the boycott call, we will undertake the following steps: We will write immediately to leading international filmmakers worldwide asking them not to participate in the festival. Since this is a cause they all support, we see no problem in their supporting the campaign. 1. We will also write to all the international film festivals abroad asking for their support in condemning the Miff action. 2. We will seek support from different sections of civil society. Women's groups from all over the country are supporting our campaign and we will release a joint statement of these groups in the coming days. We are also in the process of gathering support from media organisations, civil liberties and democratic rights groups. We will soon also announce many other measures to promote the screening of documentaries in the country, and to encourage the growth of a healthier culture of public screenings. We request you to please give due coverage to this release. Yours sincerely, Pankaj Butalia and Saba Dewan 91-11-26961065,26854839 26515161, (0)9810395589 with Amar Kanwar - 91-11-26516088,26513556,(0)9810216088 Rahul Roy - 91-11-26515161 & (0)9810395589 Sameera Jain - 91-11-26220224 & (0)9810525985 Sanjay Kak - 91-11-26893893 & (0)9811229952 on behalf of Campaign Against Censorship At MIFF B-26 Gulmohar Park New Delhi 110049 Email - List of Signatories 1. Aanchal Kapur, New Delhi 2. Aarti Bhasin, Mumbai 3. Abir Bazaz, Noida 4. Aditya Seth, Mumbai 5. Ajay Bhardwaj, Delhi 6. Ajay Noronha, Mumbai 7. Ajay Raina, Mumbai (Golden Conch winner at MIFF) 8. Amar Kanwar, New Delhi. (Golden Conch winner at MIFF) 9. Ambarien Al Qadar, New Delhi 10. Anand Patwardhan, Mumbai (Golden Conch winner at MIFF) 11. Ananya Chatterjee, Kolkata 12. Anjali Gupta, New Delhi 13. Anjali Monterio, Mumbai (Certificate of Merit at two MIFF's) 14. Anjali Panjabi, Mumbai. (Silver Conch winner at MIFF) 15. Anupama Srinivasan, New Delhi 16. Anuradha Chandra, New Delhi 17. Aparna Sanyal, New Delhi 18. Arvind Sinha, Kolkata 19. Arun Chadha, New Delhi 20. Asheesh Pandya, Gurgaon, Haryana 21. Ashok Maridas, Bangalore 22. Ashwini Malik, Mumbai. 23. Batul Mukhtiar, Mumbai 24. Bela Negi, Mumbai 25. Berkley Sanjay, Los Angeles, California, USA 26. Bishakha Datta, Mumbai 27. Chandita Mukherjee, Mumbai 28. Charu Gargi, Mumbai. 29. Charudutt Acharya, Mumbai 30. Christopher Rego 31. Daisy Hasan, Shillong 32. Daljit Ami, Chandigarh 33. Darshan Trivedi, Ahmedabad 34. Deepa Dhanraj, Bangalore 35. Deepti Seshadri, Bangalore 36. Deepu, Bangalore 37. Deepanjali D Pandey, Manila, Phillipines 38. Dhiraj Kumar, New Delhi 39. Dilip Varma, Paris, France 40. E.K. Santha, Chennai 41. Eddy Singh 42. Gargi Sen, New Delhi 43. Gauhar Raza, New Delhi 44. Gautam Sonti, Bangalore 45. Hansa Thapliyal, Mumbai 46. I.K. Shukla, Delhi 47. Jabeen Merchant, Mumbai 48. Jeebesh Bagchi, Delhi 49. Jyotsna Murthy, Bangalore 50. KP Sasi, Bangalore 51. Kapil Suravaram, Hyderabad 52. Kavita Joshi, Delhi 53. Kirtana Kumar, Bangalore 54. Konarak Reddy, Bangalore 55. KP Jayshankar, Mumbai. (Certificates of Merit at MIFF) 56. Kuttyrevathy, Chennai 57. Lalit Vachani, New Delhi 58. Leena Manimekalai, Chennai 59. Lille, Paris, France 60. Lokesh Jain, Delhi 61. Manjira Datta, New Delhi 62. Meenu Gaur, Noida 63. Meghnath, Ranchi 64. Merajur Rahman Baruah, New Delhi 65. Miriam Chandy Menacherry, Mumbai 66. Monica Bhasin, New Delhi 67. Monica Narula, Delhi 68. Namarata Tandon, New Delhi 69. Nandan Kudhyadi, Pune 70. Nandini Bedi, Mumbai, 71. Navroze Contracter, Bangalore 72. Nina Subramani, Delhi 73. Nirmal Chander 74. Oisika Chakrabarti, New York, USA 75. Pankaj Butalia, New Delhi. (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) 76. Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Mumbai 77. Paromita Vohra, Mumbai 78. Parvez Imam, Bangalore 79. Pawan Sony, New Delhi 80. Prem Aman, Hyderabad 81. Preeti Chandriani, Mumbai 82. Priya Sen, New Delhi 83. Radhika Menon, Delhi 84. Rahman M A, Kerala 85. Rahul Ranadive, Delhi 86. Rahul Roy, New Delhi 87. Rajashree 88. Rajul Mehta, Mumbai 89. Rajiv Mehrotra, New Delhi 90. Rakesh S Katarey, Manipal 91. Rakesh Sharma, Mumbai 92. Rajani Mani, Delhi 93. Ramachandra Babu, Trivandrum 94. Ranjan De, New Delhi 95. Ranjan Palit, Kolkata. (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) 96. Ranjani Mazumdar, Delhi 97. Rappai Poothokaren 98. Raza Haider, New Delhi 99. Reena Mohan, New Delhi (Best First Film Award at MIFF) 100. Rita Banerjee, Delhi 101. Ritu Kapur, New Delhi 102. Rosa Basanti, Delhi 103. RR Srinivasan, Chennai 104. Ruchir Joshi, Calcutta 105. Rupashree Nanda, Jaipur 106. RV Ramani, Chennai 107. S.K.Das Mollick, 108. Saba Dewan, New Delhi. (Certificate of Merit at MIFF) 109. Sabeena Gadihoke, Delhi (Certificate of Merit at MIFF) 110. Sabina Kidwai, New Delhi 111. Sachin Singh, Delhi 112. Sagari Chhabra, Delhi 113. Sahir Raza, New Delhi 114. Sameera Jain. New Delhi. (Certificate of Merit at MIFF) 115. Samina Mishra, New Delhi 116. Sanjana , Bangalore 117. Sanjay Kak. New Delhi 118. Sanjit Narwekar, Mumbai 119. Sanjiv Shah, Ahmedabad 120. Santosh Samuel , Delhi 121. Sarada Vishnubhatla, New Delhi 122. Satyajit Pande, Mumbai 123. Sehjo Singh, New Delhi (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) 124. Shabnam Sukhdev 125. Shabnam Virmani, Bangalore 126. Shammi Nanda, Jaipur 127. Shashin Tiwari 128. Shikha Jhingan, Delh 129. Shilpi Sharma, Delhi 130. Shohini Ghosh, Delhi 131. Shoma Chatterjee, Kolkata 132. Shriprakash Prakash, Ranchi 133. Shrish Dobhal, New Delhi 134. Shuddhabrata Sengupta., Delhi 135. Simantini Dhuru, Mumbai 136. Smriti Nevatia, Mumbai 137. Sridala Swami, Hyderabad 138. Sridhar Rangayan 139. Stalin K., Ahmedabad (Silver Conch Winner at MIFF) 140. Subasri Krishnan, Delhi 141. Subhamoy Sengupta, Mumbai 142. Sudheer Gupta, New Delhi 143. Sudhir Aggarwal , Delhi 144. Sudheer Palsane, Mumbai 145. Sujit Ghosh, Lucknow 146. Sulekh, New Delhi 147. Suma Josson, Mumbai 148. Sumit Kumar 149. Sunanda Bhat, Bangalore 150. Sunil Bhatia, Mumbai , (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) 151. Sunil Shanbag, Mumbai 152. Supavitra Babul, New Delhi 153. Supriyo Sen , Kolkata 154. Surabhi Sharma, Bangalore 155. Surajit Sarkar, New Delhi 156. Swagat Sen, Delhi 157. Uma Magal, Bangalore 158. Uma Devi Tanaku, Pune 159. Usha , Bangalore 160. Uvraj, Bangalore 161. V.Krishna Ananth, Chennai 162. Vandana Mohindra, New Delhi 163. Vani Subramanian, New Delhi 164. Vasudha Joshi, Kolkata (Golden and Silver Conch Winner at MIFF) 165. Veena Bakshi, Mumbai 166. Vijay , Bangalore 167. Vijay S. Jodha, New Delhi 168. Vijay Shanker, Hyderabad 169. Vinod Ganatra, Mumbai 170. Vinod Raja, Bangalore 171. Vipin Vijay, Trivandrum (Jury Award Winner at MIFF) 172. Virender Grewal 173. Yirmiyan Arthur, New Delhi 174. Yousuf Saeed, New Delhi 175. Zaheer A Bagh, Ladakh From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Sep 15 05:57:27 2003 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 05:57:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Press Release - Call for Boycott Message-ID: <200309150557.27164.jeebesh@sarai.net> Subject: Press Release - Call for Boycott Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:39:34 +0530 From: MIFF CAMPAIGN To: MIFF_CAMPAIGN at rediffmail.com CAMPAIGN AGAINST CENSORSHIP AT MIFF PRESS RELEASE - MOST URGENT - 15 SEPTEMBER 2003 One hundred and seventy five of the leading documentary filmmakers of the country, having come together under the banner of a campaign against censorship at Miff2004, hereby announce a boycott of the Mumbai International Film Festival to be held in Mumbai in February 2004. This follows a decision by the organisers of the festival, Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to introduce a clause which requires Indian documentaries entered for the festival to be censored. It should be noted that foreign films entered at the festival do not need to be censored. Since giving notice to Films Division and the Ministry over a month ago, the Campaign has tried it's best to keep channels of communications open with them. However, except for one meeting of filmmakers with the Joint Secretary (films) and a few stray remarks by the Minister, there has neither been any progress on this nor any communication to us. As such, we have no choice but to boycott Miff2004. This is a shame because the festival was meant to promote the best of Indian documentaries and it can hardly claim to do this while it is simultaneously trying to muzzle the voice of the Indian documentary. It is an accepted practice world-wide that film festivals are arenas of uninhibited and creative expression. No international festival of repute censors films. It is strange that Miff 2004 now wants to do this while it managed seven previous editions of MIFF without this regulation. It is even stranger that the Minster for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the recently concluded PSBT-UNESCO film festival at Delhi where Indian as well as foreign films were screened without censorship certificates (or censorship exemptions), but the same terms cannot be applied to MIFF. A question was also raised in the Parliament following which many parliamentarians have also protested the Miff regulations to the Ministry. However, the Ministry has not acted even on their representation. As a follow up to the boycott call, we will undertake the following steps: We will write immediately to leading international filmmakers worldwide asking them not to participate in the festival. Since this is a cause they all support, we see no problem in their supporting the campaign. 1.. We will also write to all the international film festivals abroad asking for their support in condemning the Miff action. 2.. We will seek support from different sections of civil society. Women's groups from all over the country are supporting our campaign and we will release a joint statement of these groups in the coming days. We are also in the process of gathering support from media organisations, civil liberties and democratic rights groups. We will soon also announce many other measures to promote the screening of documentaries in the country, and to encourage the growth of a healthier culture of public screenings. We request you to please give due coverage to this release. Yours sincerely, Pankaj Butalia and Saba Dewan 91-11-26961065,26854839 26515161, (0)9810395589 with Amar Kanwar - 91-11-26516088,26513556,(0)9810216088 Rahul Roy - 91-11-26515161 & (0)9810395589 Sameera Jain - 91-11-26220224 & (0)9810525985 Sanjay Kak - 91-11-26893893 & (0)9811229952 on behalf of Campaign Against Censorship At MIFF B-26 Gulmohar Park New Delhi 110049 Email - miff_campaign at rediffmail.com List of Signatories a.. Aanchal Kapur, New Delhi b.. Aarti Bhasin, Mumbai c.. Abir Bazaz, Noida d.. Aditya Seth, Mumbai e.. Ajay Bhardwaj, Delhi f.. Ajay Noronha, Mumbai g.. Ajay Raina, Mumbai (Golden Conch winner at MIFF) h.. Amar Kanwar, New Delhi. (Golden Conch winner at MIFF) i.. Ambarien Al Qadar, New Delhi j.. Anand Patwardhan, Mumbai (Golden Conch winner at MIFF) k.. Ananya Chatterjee, Kolkata l.. Anjali Gupta, New Delhi m.. Anjali Monterio, Mumbai (Certificate of Merit at two MIFF's) n.. Anjali Panjabi, Mumbai. (Silver Conch winner at MIFF) o.. Anupama Srinivasan, New Delhi p.. Anuradha Chandra, New Delhi q.. Aparna Sanyal, New Delhi r.. Arvind Sinha, Kolkata s.. Arun Chadha, New Delhi t.. Asheesh Pandya, Gurgaon, Haryana u.. Ashok Maridas, Bangalore v.. Ashwini Malik, Mumbai. w.. Batul Mukhtiar, Mumbai x.. Bela Negi, Mumbai y.. Berkley Sanjay, Los Angeles, California, USA z.. Bishakha Datta, Mumbai aa.. Chandita Mukherjee, Mumbai ab.. Charu Gargi, Mumbai. ac.. Charudutt Acharya, Mumbai ad.. Christopher Rego ae.. Daisy Hasan, Shillong af.. Daljit Ami, Chandigarh ag.. Darshan Trivedi, Ahmedabad ah.. Deepa Dhanraj, Bangalore ai.. Deepti Seshadri, Bangalore aj.. Deepu, Bangalore ak.. Deepanjali D Pandey, Manila, Phillipines al.. Dhiraj Kumar, New Delhi am.. Dilip Varma, Paris, France an.. E.K. Santha, Chennai ao.. Eddy Singh ap.. Gargi Sen, New Delhi aq.. Gauhar Raza, New Delhi ar.. Gautam Sonti, Bangalore as.. Hansa Thapliyal, Mumbai at.. I.K. Shukla, Delhi au.. Jabeen Merchant, Mumbai av.. Jeebesh Bagchi, Delhi aw.. Jyotsna Murthy, Bangalore ax.. KP Sasi, Bangalore ay.. Kapil Suravaram, Hyderabad az.. Kavita Joshi, Delhi ba.. Kirtana Kumar, Bangalore bb.. Konarak Reddy, Bangalore bc.. KP Jayshankar, Mumbai. (Certificates of Merit at MIFF) bd.. Kuttyrevathy, Chennai be.. Lalit Vachani, New Delhi bf.. Leena Manimekalai, Chennai bg.. Lille, Paris, France bh.. Lokesh Jain, Delhi bi.. Manjira Datta, New Delhi bj.. Meenu Gaur, Noida bk.. Meghnath, Ranchi bl.. Merajur Rahman Baruah, New Delhi bm.. Miriam Chandy Menacherry, Mumbai bn.. Monica Bhasin, New Delhi bo.. Monica Narula, Delhi bp.. Namarata Tandon, New Delhi bq.. Nandan Kudhyadi, Pune br.. Nandini Bedi, Mumbai, bs.. Navroze Contracter, Bangalore bt.. Nina Subramani, Delhi bu.. Nirmal Chander bv.. Oisika Chakrabarti, New York, USA bw.. Pankaj Butalia, New Delhi. (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) bx.. Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Mumbai by.. Paromita Vohra, Mumbai bz.. Parvez Imam, Bangalore ca.. Pawan Sony, New Delhi cb.. Prem Aman, Hyderabad cc.. Preeti Chandriani, Mumbai cd.. Priya Sen, New Delhi ce.. Radhika Menon, Delhi cf.. Rahman M A, Kerala cg.. Rahul Ranadive, Delhi ch.. Rahul Roy, New Delhi ci.. Rajashree cj.. Rajul Mehta, Mumbai ck.. Rajiv Mehrotra, New Delhi cl.. Rakesh S Katarey, Manipal cm.. Rakesh Sharma, Mumbai cn.. Rajani Mani, Delhi co.. Ramachandra Babu, Trivandrum cp.. Ranjan De, New Delhi cq.. Ranjan Palit, Kolkata. (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) cr.. Ranjani Mazumdar, Delhi cs.. Rappai Poothokaren ct.. Raza Haider, New Delhi cu.. Reena Mohan, New Delhi (Best First Film Award at MIFF) cv.. Rita Banerjee, Delhi cw.. Ritu Kapur, New Delhi cx.. Rosa Basanti, Delhi cy.. RR Srinivasan, Chennai cz.. Ruchir Joshi, Calcutta da.. Rupashree Nanda, Jaipur db.. RV Ramani, Chennai dc.. S.K.Das Mollick, dd.. Saba Dewan, New Delhi. (Certificate of Merit at MIFF) de.. Sabeena Gadihoke, Delhi (Certificate of Merit at MIFF) df.. Sabina Kidwai, New Delhi dg.. Sachin Singh, Delhi dh.. Sagari Chhabra, Delhi di.. Sahir Raza, New Delhi dj.. Sameera Jain. New Delhi. (Certificate of Merit at MIFF) dk.. Samina Mishra, New Delhi dl.. Sanjana , Bangalore dm.. Sanjay Kak. New Delhi dn.. Sanjit Narwekar, Mumbai do.. Sanjiv Shah, Ahmedabad dp.. Santosh Samuel , Delhi dq.. Sarada Vishnubhatla, New Delhi dr.. Satyajit Pande, Mumbai ds.. Sehjo Singh, New Delhi (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) dt.. Shabnam Sukhdev du.. Shabnam Virmani, Bangalore dv.. Shammi Nanda, Jaipur dw.. Shashin Tiwari dx.. Shikha Jhingan, Delh dy.. Shilpi Sharma, Delhi dz.. Shohini Ghosh, Delhi ea.. Shoma Chatterjee, Kolkata eb.. Shriprakash Prakash, Ranchi ec.. Shrish Dobhal, New Delhi ed.. Shuddhabrata Sengupta., Delhi ee.. Simantini Dhuru, Mumbai ef.. Smriti Nevatia, Mumbai eg.. Sridala Swami, Hyderabad eh.. Sridhar Rangayan ei.. Stalin K., Ahmedabad (Silver Conch Winner at MIFF) ej.. Subasri Krishnan, Delhi ek.. Subhamoy Sengupta, Mumbai el.. Sudheer Gupta, New Delhi em.. Sudhir Aggarwal , Delhi en.. Sudheer Palsane, Mumbai eo.. Sujit Ghosh, Lucknow ep.. Sulekh, New Delhi eq.. Suma Josson, Mumbai er.. Sumit Kumar es.. Sunanda Bhat, Bangalore et.. Sunil Bhatia, Mumbai , (Golden Conch Winner at MIFF) eu.. Sunil Shanbag, Mumbai ev.. Supavitra Babul, New Delhi ew.. Supriyo Sen , Kolkata ex.. Surabhi Sharma, Bangalore ey.. Surajit Sarkar, New Delhi ez.. Swagat Sen, Delhi fa.. Uma Magal, Bangalore fb.. Uma Devi Tanaku, Pune fc.. Usha , Bangalore fd.. Uvraj, Bangalore fe.. V.Krishna Ananth, Chennai ff.. Vandana Mohindra, New Delhi fg.. Vani Subramanian, New Delhi fh.. Vasudha Joshi, Kolkata (Golden and Silver Conch Winner at MIFF) fi.. Veena Bakshi, Mumbai fj.. Vijay , Bangalore fk.. Vijay S. Jodha, New Delhi fl.. Vijay Shanker, Hyderabad fm.. Vinod Ganatra, Mumbai fn.. Vinod Raja, Bangalore fo.. Vipin Vijay, Trivandrum (Jury Award Winner at MIFF) fp.. Virender Grewal fq.. Yirmiyan Arthur, New Delhi fr.. Yousuf Saeed, New Delhi fs.. Zaheer A Bagh, Ladakh ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- From abshi at vsnl.com Sat Sep 13 15:24:10 2003 From: abshi at vsnl.com (Shilpa Phadke) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 14:54:10 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: URGENT: government response to Section 377 In-Reply-To: <20030907100005.9E4ED28E38D@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.20030913145410.00a26b70@pop3.norton.antivirus> ----- Original Message ----- >From: "PRISM New Delhi" >Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:52:13 +0530 >Subject: Fw: URGENT: government response to Section 377 > Dear friends, > > The Union Government, on the 9th of September, finally > responded to the petition filed in the Delhi High > Court by Naz Foundation (India) Trust, in 2001. Naz > has been represented in the case by the Lawyers > Collective. The government's response is cause for > grave concern. It has drawn upon familiar notions of > `Indianness' and morality, denied violations of human > rights and looked at law reform in an extremely > regressive manner. An open letter (pasted at the > bottom of this email), to be sent to newspapers, has > been drafted by PRISM and CREA, which seeks to respond > to the position taken by the State on behalf of > individuals and organizations. This effort is > important to publicly counter what the government has > said, as part of the larger objective of opposing > criminalization of adult consensual sexual activity > and raising awareness about issues relating to > same-sex sexualities. We hope that you will add your > name to the letter. Please forward the letter to > other individuals and groups. Since there is an > urgency about responding to the government's > statement, we hope that you will respond latest by > 12noon tomorrow, 16th September 2003. (We have given > below sections of the government's response). > > There is a meeting of all concerned groups on Tuesday, > 16th of September, at 5pm at the Saheli office, above > Deez Biryani, in the Defence Colony Flyover Market. We > hope that you will be able to send a representative to > this urgent meeting, where we plan to discuss what can > further be done to counter the government's assertions > and create public opinion in support of the rights of > sexuality minorities. > > In solidarity, > > PRISM > > QUOTES FROM THE GOVERNMENT'S AFFIDAVIT > > Quoting the 42nd report of the Law Commission, the > government claims that "Indian society by and large > disapproves of homosexuality and disapproval was > strong enough to justify it being treated as a > criminal offence even where the adults indulge in it > in private." > > The proposed changes in law, the Centre said, "can > well open the flood gates of delinquent behavior and > be construed as providing unbridled license for the > same". > > Justifying Section 377, the centre said: ''The purpose > of section 377 of IPC is to provide a healthy > environment in the society by criminalising unnatural > sexual activities.'' > > Replying to the petitioner's allegations that Section > 377 violated the right to equality (Article 14), right > to freedom (Art 19) and right to personal liberty (Art > 21), the Centre said "none of these rights were > infringed" and that each of them were subject to > reasonable restrictions. > > The Government claimed that Section 377 of IPC has > been basically used to punish child sexual abuse and > to complement lacunae in rape laws and that it has > rarely been used to punish homosexual behavior. > > The Government also questioned the NGO's locus standi > to approach the court on this issue, saying "no one > except those whose rights are directly affected by the > law can raise the question of its constitutionality". > > > > Open Letter > > On 9th September, 2003, the Union Government filed an > affidavit in response to a petition filed by the Naz > Foundation (India) Trust before the Delhi High Court, > asking the court to decriminalise private, consensual > adult sexual behavior. The Government's response is > cause for grave concern - its position is in > contravention to its role as the upholder of the > fundamental rights of all citizens. > > The government affidavit supports Section 377 of the > Indian Penal Code, which states that 'whosoever > voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order > of nature with any man, woman, or animal, shall be > punished with imprisonment for life or 10 years'. > With respect to the arguments presented by the State, > we, as concerned citizens and representatives of > women's groups, child rights groups, human rights > organisations, sexual minorities groups, and NGOs seek > to clarify that: > > a) The State cannot deny that Section 377 violates the > rights of Indian citizens. Section 377, in its present > form, denies the right of sexual expression. Other > than same-sex sexual acts, non-procreative > heterosexual acts including oral and anal sex also > fall under the purview of this law. Moreover, Section > 377 violates the right to life and liberty, the right > to health and the right to equality before the law and > freedom from discrimination for many sections of > society such as gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender > people and hijras. These people are affected by > Section 377 on a day to day basis. The stigmatisation > attached to their choices is so severe that they are > disowned by their families, subjected to shock therapy > by doctors, are brutally harassed by the police, and > are unable to avail of legal redress against > discrimination. Section 377 is also used by the police > to threaten NGO workers who distribute condoms and > impart safe sex education amongst, for instance, men > who have sex with men - communities extremely > vulnerable to the transmission of the HIV virus - with > charges of abetment of and attempt to commit Section > 377. > > b) By speaking the language of moral panic, the State > is to seeking to draw attention away from these > tangible human rights violations. It is a > fundamentally flawed logic that the government is > using when it argues that legal reform cannot take > place because `Indian society by and large disapproves > of homosexuality'. The government cannot impinge upon > the rights of citizens who fall outside its ideas of > 'Indianness'. Indian culture is not monolithic; it > cannot be used as an excuse for discrimination. > Diverse sexual expression is a well-recorded part of > India's history and of her culture. Moreover, our > laws are meant to enshrine principles of justice that > Indian society should abide by. If all laws were > drafted on the basis of popular opinion, progressive > legislations such as the anti-Sati and anti-dowry laws > would not have been possible. > > (c) The deliberate and repeated assertion by the > government that this petition will prevent the court > from being able to protect children from sexual abuse > is patently false. The petition is not seeking a > repeal of Section 377, but merely a decriminalisation > of consensual, private, adult sexual behaviour. Should > the petition succeed, the state's ability to use > Section 377 in child sexual abuse cases remains > unaffected. > > As individuals and groups that support and affirm the > rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, hijra, and > transgendered people, we demand that the government > enable the protection by the law of all citizens, > without discrimination based on gender or sexual > orientation. Towards this end, there is an urgent need > to decriminalise sex between consenting adults. It is > not the business of government to decide what people > choose to do with complete consent without infringing > on the rights of any other citizen. It is the business > of the government, however, to frame effective laws > that prosecute heinous crimes such as child sexual > abuse. > > The government has stated in its affidavit each of the > fundamental rights are subject to 'reasonable > restrictions'. Restricting the access of millions of > citizens to proper health care, failing to address > rampant discrimination on the basis of their sexual > preference, failing to protect them from harassment by > the police and criminalising their consensual sexual > acts while hiding behind the fig leaf of protecting > Indian culture, are not reasonable restrictions by any > standards. We urge the government to reconsider its > position, bringing it in line with the requirements of > the Constitution of India with regard to Fundamental > Rights of every citizen and with the Universal > Declaration of Human Rights. > From shuddha at sarai.net Mon Sep 15 17:10:53 2003 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:10:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Censorship from an (Un)usual Quarter Message-ID: <03091517105301.01362@sweety.sarai.kit> Dear All on the List, we have recently had some amount of discussion on the issue of censorship on this and some other neighbouring lists. This has been focused on documentary films, and sexually explicit material in the media. In both cases, the censor is either the state, or there is an appeal (whihc is then countered) to the state or quasi state bodies to act as a censor. I think that it is also important for us realize that other kinds of bodies can also act as very lethal censorship agencies. Not just the state, not just the far right. Not just the usual suspects. That the VHP and other Hindu far right bodies physically obstruct performances and exhibitions (the latest instance being the obstruction of performances of Habib Tanvir's play "Ponga Pandit" by the Naya Theatre in MP ) is common knowledge.They did this with Husain's paintings, they did this with Sahmat exhibitions, they did this with Deepa Mehta's "Fire", and of course they are doing it with the NCERT history syllabus. We know all that. What people are not as well aware of is the very lethal censorship carried out by other ends of the political spectrum as well (not just the HIndu far right) - whether it was the CPI (M) in West Bengal and its campaign against what was called "Apa Sanskriti" (Perverted Culture) in the eighties, the Catholic church demanding bans on "The Last Temptation of Christ", or Gandhians calling for a ban on a play on Nathuram Godse and Gandhi, or eminent secularist liberals (and Muslim fundamentalists)calling for bans on Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses", feminist groups calling for censorship on all sorts of films, or Kashmiri or ULFA separatists enforcing bans on Bollyewood cinema, or Bollywood stars calling for strict police action against 'Piracy", or the Ramakrishan Mission calling for bans on a scholarly biography of G.C. Chatterjee written from a queer perespective. No one in the entire social, cultural and political spectrum in India, has had an absolute monopoly on the anxiety about free speech. Everyone has been equally hostile to the idea of the freedom of expression, its just that people have sought to ban different things. One of the most effective forms of banning is the appropriation and destruction of the means of expression. Below is a forward of a posting that appeared recently on the Bytes for All list. It documents the sad story of the PWG's (Peoples War Group's) forced seizure and destruction of the audio video equipment of an NGO working in Cchatisgarh in the area of community radio. The PWG is a Maoist insurgent group active in Andhra Pradesh, Madya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and lately in Bihar and West Bengal, where it teams up with the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). The killing, detention and torture of PWG activists, or of organizations linked to the PWG, by state security forces, and the general state terror excercised by government agencies has excercised the attention of some civil liberty advocacy groups for quite some time. (And rightly so, there can be no justification for any form of state terror). But does this mean that an explicit and loud silence about the repression meted out by the PWG itself is unquestionable? Can one build an ethical framework for talking about freedom when we criticize assaults when they come from one corner, and become silent when they come from other quarters? Is such a politics morally consistent? Can a self styled 'radical' documentary filmmaker for instance, publicly protest against the pre-censorship of documentaries at film festivals, and at the same time, and in the same breath demand the censorship of what he considers to be right wing or fundamentalist or anti national propaganda, because he thinks that is 'reasonable'.Can a civil liberties activist protest against enocounters and extra judicial killings by the state and at the same time remain silent about the assasinations carried out by 'militants'. In my book, you cant do one if you also do the other. You cant have your freedom, and enforce repression on those you dont like. In some ways, a moth eaten, half truth of freedom is a greater lie than the brutal frankness of an out and out totalitarian state. Because those complicit in the lie are those who speak in the name of freedom. Had this (the destruction of the equipment in this case) been carried out by a far right group, the news of this act of violence and censorship would have spread far and wide by now, letters would have been written to editors, press conferences, and even a dharna or two would have been organized by civil liberterians. This time, the villain happens to be the Peoples War Group, a band of thugs just as ruthless or venal as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Lashkar e Tayyaba, or the Democratic Youth Federation of Inida, the Vidyarthi Sena , the Youth Congress, or the Provincial Armed Constabulary, or the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, ( a few other well organized and armed groups that often issue diktats about what may or may not be permitted in their areas of influence). Its just that, because they are not the state, but constitute in effect, a shadow state, (with a mirror apparatus of armies, militias, levies, axes and administrators) that groups like the PWG seem to fall outside the ambit of what might be seen as threats to freedom. At the end of the day, if I have audio equipment and a low power transmitter, and it gets seized and burnt down, it would make little difference to me if the people who seized the equipment did it wearing saffron bands or waving red flags. All I would see would be the whites of their jubilant censor's eyes. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Emailing: communityradio2 Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 20:54:23 -0700 From: "Sunanda Kumar" To: COMMUNITY RADIO - THREAT FROM UNEXPECTED CORNER K.S. Sunanda Alternative For India Development has established its work in the most remote pockets of Jharkhand for nearing two decades. Among its vast network among the tribals and dalits in the region, it has been carrying forward various concentisation and development works on education,health,watershed,microcredit groups,community technical colleges. One of its significant achievements have been in airing of the community radio program in Palamau region of Jharkhand state. "Chalo Ho Goan Mein" ( Come lets go to the village) is aired twice in FM station of All India Radio - Daltonganj for the past two years. This program is aired in local dialect of Maghi and is entirely devised and played by the community with full technical support from AID. The cutting across issue in all episodes is on the corruption at the various level. The community are now boldly expressing their opinions and also giving practical insights to corruptions involved and how they are affected. The focus of the entire program is on the social issues of dowry, feudalism, bonded labour, child labour, alcoholism, non-development in the region, schools non-functioning, non-functioning of the health centers. Interviews are also taken from the concerned authorities and on the same issue the peoples' voices and concerns are focused. This programme has become very popular and its reach-out is now to the neighbouring districts in Jharkahnd and the adjoining states of Chattisgarh and UP as well. Thus this programs reach-out is far beyond Jharkhand. As this programs hits the nerves of the authorities , AID has long anticipated that we would be summoned and asked to stop the program forthwith. We also expected that AIR would object to the raw presentations of the people. But fortunately we have not got any reprimands from both the ends. WE have got threatening from unexpected corner. The extremists units Peoples War Group (PWG) functioning in the region has threatened the organization to stop the program forthwith. They feel that people who are now boldly and openly expressing their dissatisfaction with the non-functioning of the government programs may soon raise their tide against the armed extremists in the region as well. The area where the community radio operates is one of the most extremist prone region and people are crushed on one side with the non-development and on the other side by the intimidation tactics of the extremist groups. If the police corner any extremists - the extremists consider that the community informed the police and they beat them up and sometimes kill them as well. On the other hand the police also intimidate the community to tell them about the whereabouts of the extremists groups. Thus the people are caught in a precarious situation and either way they are affected. In this background and scenario AID had successfully completed 110 episodes of the program Chala Ho gaon Mein in the region. Previously it was aired once a week and due to popular demand now two episodes are aired in a week. While it is popular among the community, it has irked the extremists groups. Certain ghastly incidents took place in the region in last week of July 2003. On 19th July 2003 a cultural event involving the school students took place in Lesliganj in Palamau district of Jharkhand . After the closure of the event few school children were escorted back to their village in the AID van ( Audio-video campaign van) . After the school children were dropped along with the local school teacher the van was returning back to Lesliganj. The van was waylaid by group of 20 armed naxalites and all of them got into the van. The village leaders pleaded with them to disembark and allow the organization vehicle to go back. But the armed naxalites refused to listen. As the vehicle did not return to the office past the midnight, the members of AID went to the village to find out about the whereabouts of the vehicle. It was understood from the villagers about the episode and they had hijacked the van along with the driver, teacher and watchman of AID to undisclosed destination. The AID personnel went in search of them throughout Lesliganj and Panki blocks. In Panki jungles they could identify the team and the vehicle was parked elsewhere in the jungle. They snatched the two motorcycles of the people of AID as well who went in search of them. After long deliberations and arguments they finally gave back the two motorcycles but refused to release the van. But they released the AID personnel who were in the van. They argued that AID can carry on health and education program but AID should refrain from organizing the masses and carry on any development activities. Further they were threatened that they would burn the vehicle if we gave any information to the police on this incident. In fact there have been long pending issues in the region between the extremists groups and the AID. The main grudge for the groups is that AID is able to organize the masses on the issues and they are forced to organize the masses at gun point. AID has been active in the region in the formation of Gram Sabhas ( Village committees) so that the people can take direct responsibility for development work and the issues in their villages. Last year through the Gram Sabhas certain irrigation points ( Ahars ) were constructed in which the focus was on shramdaan ( voluntary labour). This made the naxalites to beat up the Gram pradhan ( Village head) and they tried to stop the work but the work went on. The reason being the similar work if carried out by the government department or any contractor then they would have shelved out lot of money to the naxalites . This has been made impossible with the people's direct participation. For any development work in the region, the contractors have to pay heavy tax ( illegally and it the local parlance it is called levy) to the groups to enable them to carry on any development work in the region. This levy varies between 20 to 30% of the construction cost. For laying of any roads, wells, dams and any other construction work, for selling the forest produce the middle men , contractors including many NGO's pay levy to the groups. With AID they have not directly demanded levy but they want this money. We have refused to budge and always talk to them on ideological levels. Earlier also several times they have beaten up the AID personnel and also snatched away a motor cycle as well . They always want AID to dialogue with them and explain the sources of funds . In spite of several dialogues they are never satisfied as basically they are not interested in dialogue but want to use intimidation tactics and overthrow the organization from the region. As several rounds of talks on the days of 20,21 July failed for retrieval of vehicle, an FIR was lodged with the local police station. A discussion was also held with the SP of Palamau. They assured to take appropriate action . It was also discussed to deal with the matter tactfully as we have to work in the same villages and any retaliatory action of the police will have lot of repercussions on the activities of AID as well. On 26th July night the PWG armed extremists set the van on fire and it was entirely gutted along with the audio video equipments and portable generator in the van. The van is now in the custody of the Police station in Panki. This van was mainly used for narrow casting of the Chala Ho gaon Mein program and as well educative video shows were arranged for the school children and the women group members. Incidentally this region is deprived of not only roads but there is no electricity in any of the villages and the show used to run on batteries or portable generator. Several rounds of meetings are now taking place at the village level with various community representatives on the future course of action to be adopted to continue the work in the region. These retaliatory measures were long expected by AID and now it has happened. Though psychologically it has been a blow to us but it is temporary and we are sure that we will emerge out victorious from this. But it is true that lot of us have to put our lives in peril to work in the region. IT needs strong motivation, courage and morale boosting to work in the region. With the mass peoples support we are confident that we will steer ahead the activities. We are also making counter strategies to ensure that the programs in the region will address this grave issue of extremism in the region. As it is clear that these groups who vouch for ideology are nothing but bunch of criminals who have no ideology and are anti-development and anti-poor. It is a blot on ideology as they are never working for the poor. The poor are intimidated a lot and are in pincers jaws. On one end there is extreme poverty and no development and on the other end the people have to face the violent situations and are under constant intimidation from these groups. The long term solution would be possible only when the state and district administration wakes up to this long pressing issue of non-development, takes people into confidence and charts out multi pronged approaches. Further there is less political will as most of the influential political persons are having closer links with the extremists groups for their survival and security. Now they have threatened us to take away the program of the community radio Chalo Ho goan mein from air as it has become one of the popular programs in the region. They have also warned the NGO of dire consequences earlier as well if we continue with this program. We always felt the threat perception from the vested interest groups of middlemen, contractors, government authorities and never apprehended that it would hit the unexpected corners of the extremists groups. But we are determined to continue and may be we will one day make their fear true - the people who are opposing tooth and nail against non-development will also oppose against the extremists in the region. They are surpressed under the gun power and thus people are hesitant to openly oppose the extremist groups lest they would be singularly targeted and wiped away. The group has now focused its ire entirely on the NGO and it may build up pressure among the community also not to participate in the program and it may target AIR Kendra in Daltonganj also for airing the program. The threat perception is looming large. It is most unfortunate that a people's oriented program is targeted in such a ghastly manner. The extremist's outfits which vouch for propoor policies are actually anit-poor and anti-development. The ideology of propoor is once again being used as an excuse to intimidate the poor . Probably they refuse to understand that the community is non-supportive to its initiatives but forced to listen as they are afraid of its strong arm and life threatening tactics. They should not mistake the people's fear to following their blotted and blotched ideology. But will the wisdom draw upon them ?? From aiindex at mnet.fr Tue Sep 16 18:57:19 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 14:27:19 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Naga curbs on history research In-Reply-To: <03091517105301.01362@sweety.sarai.kit> References: <03091517105301.01362@sweety.sarai.kit> Message-ID: [Following up on a recent post by Shuddha on censorship, here is something else. xxx H.] o o o Frontline Volume 20 - Issue 19, September 13 - 26, 2003 Objects of history M.S. PRABHAKARA On the politics of the Naga Students' Federation's warning against any academic research into the Naga people's history without its permission. QUESTIONS about the ownership of a people's history have always exercised the passions and imagination of people, especially those who for various reasons have become objects of history instead of being in control of their history. The description fits the majority of the people. The same is the case with the felt passions too, though these are not always articulated cogently. [Photo] N.SRINIVASAN [Caption] In Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. Historically, the Naga people are divided into various tribal communities whose numbers as well as nomenclatures have undergone interesting changes over the years. Recently, the Naga Students' Federation (NSF), a body whose support to Naga nationalistic aspirations and Naga sovereignty is well known, issued a directive and a warning requiring non-Naga scholars to secure its permission and clearance before undertaking any academic research pertaining to the Naga people, in particular their history. Maintaining that the history of the Naga people had been distorted by such research by non-Naga scholars, the president of the NSF said that `people from outside the Naga community' would not be allowed to undertake any research on Naga history without the organisation's permission. The immediate provocation for this directive is, apparently, the `genome project' that has been undertaken at Nagaland University. The project, initiated by some scholars of the university, both Naga and non-Naga, has been going on for the last two years. Among other things, the project requires the collection of blood samples from every Naga tribe. The purpose of such research, with its obvious bearing on aspects of the physical anthropology of the objects of the research, it was felt, could well be to establish - if there is any need to do so - that the various Naga people of Nagaland (and of neighbouring States) who claim historic memories of being one people and who, as both the cause and consequence of the Naga insurgency, are in the process of constructing themselves into Naga, transcending all tribal divisions, are actually discreet and separate people, not one `nation' that Naga nationalist discourse insists they are. Historically, the Naga people are divided into various tribal communities (the expression tribe and derivatives thereof have not yet become politically incorrect usage in these parts, though they will doubtless become so soon) whose numbers as well as nomenclatures have undergone some interesting changes over the years. Official records of the State government at present identify 14 separate tribal groups; however, there can be no finality about this number. At least one of these, the Zeliang-Kuki, is a self-evidently artificial construct, while another, the Chakesang, is a sort of portmanteau construct whose members were not so long ago categorised under three different denominations. Such a process of deconstruction of communities with seeming internal coherence to reconstruct other identities is not, after all, a unique phenomenon. The concern about `genome research', such as it is (which is how sceptical scholars in the region view the programme), though perhaps ill-informed, is understandable. Those espousing Naga nationalistic aspirations and Naga sovereignty are at present on a high, having got the Government of India to get off its high horse and engage in talks with the leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) on terms laid down by the latter. So, any research at this stage, whose implications might be to provide legitimacy to what Naga nationalists maintain were `colonialist constructs', the atomisation of the Naga people into mutually antagonistic tribes, is automatically suspect and could well be seen as a setback to the gains made by the Naga nationalists. While such suspicions might appear utterly ahistorical in any dispassionate consideration of the `Naga national question', the fact is that in these harsh times, history has more or less lost any claims - if indeed it had at any time - of being a detached study of a people's past and present. Other recent NSF directives that are in fact renewals of initiatives undertaken periodically earlier are stricter enforcement of the existing Inner Line Regulations and warnings to non-Naga men residing in the State not to acquire immovable assets or marry Naga women. Interestingly, admonishments against Naga men marrying non-Naga women are seldom issued, consistent with the cultural norms in the rest of the country as well that sees a woman as the custodian of a people's history and heritage and whose `purity' has to be maintained. In the immediate context, however, the injunction against non-Naga men marrying Naga girls is related to the widely held conviction that many illegal migrants in the State, overwhelmingly male, have entered into such marriages of convenience with a view to legitimising their status as permanent residents. On the face of it, such directives that are not enforceable except through coercion appear rather silly. For instance, the growth of Dimapur, the ancient capital of the Dimasa kings and now the largest city in Nagaland where the Inner Line Regulations do not apply, has been influenced by considerations that have little to do with Naga nationalism, non-Naga men marrying Naga girls or things like that. Indeed, the very ownership of the city is contested by Dimasa nationalist organisations fighting for a separate Dimasaland (Dimaraji), whose envisaged territory, as always, has claims across existing State/district boundaries. But then, this is not the first initiative of its kind by the NSF, or indeed by other self-appointed guardians of a people's history, heritage and culture, terms that can be interpreted elastically. One recalls that during the height of the Assam agitation against foreign nationals, there were calls that Assamese women, in particular students in colleges and universities, should wear only the traditional Assamese dress, strikingly beautiful (and quite expensive) but hardly the most practical kind of dress that a young woman could wear every day to work and study. Again, interestingly, corresponding directives were never issued in respect of the male Assamese youth simply because, as leaders of the anti-foreigner agitation, clad in trousers and safari suits and jeans and such accoutrements, it was they who issued such prescriptions and proscriptions. These norms, and the underlying romanticisation and fear of and anxieties about female sexuality, continue even to this day, evident in any public function where the mandatory opening song is sung by a chorus of boys and girls, the girls all dressed in traditional finery while the boys are more casually dressed. Given its origins, which are deeply rooted in the very beginnings of the Naga nationalist struggle, the NSF clearly considers itself as having rather more legitimacy in claiming the ownership of history and issuing more directives than many other corresponding `student' organisations in the region. Indeed, disapproval of, if not outright ban upon, research by `outsiders' on tribal societies of the northeastern region is becoming the norm. While structures calling for such an exclusion or outright ban are yet in no position to enforce the proscription, they can certainly be an inhibiting factor. "We will study our societies ourselves, we will not allow outsiders to study them", is now a fairly commonplace sentiment among many tribal groups. However, while such a self-appointed gatekeeping role in respect of academic research (or modes of social conduct) by student organisations is rather laughable and certainly deserves to be condemned - who gave the authority to the NSF to lay down the law, one may question with all the indignation one can muster - one also has to admit that these new censors have modelled themselves after very respectable and powerful precedents - states and governments with greater legitimacy. One laughs at (or quails over) such diktats depending on the muscle that those who issue such orders muster. But academic gatekeeping as a method to control free intellectual activity has perfectly legitimate precedents. The point hardly needs to be pressed in respect of academic research, or even the much less exalted profession of journalism, the routine reporting and analysis of news and events, in northeast India. Several `sensitive' areas of study and, in some cases, whole physical spaces, have been demarcated as out of bounds, not solely to foreign scholars but to locals as well. Foreign scholars interested in the region are required to submit details of their proposed research before they get a visa to travel to India - not to speak of the further hurdles, like the Restricted Area Permit and the Inner Line Permit, they have to cross if they have to visit the area of their study in the region. Their host institutions in the region too sometimes come under scrutiny. The rationale for such restrictions and monitoring is that India is now viewed by those in authority as a besieged state; that much of the academic research by foreign scholars and their Indian collaborators relating to the problems in the northeastern region, very broadly issues of ethnicity, insurgency and unresolved national questions though much criminality too masquerades under such high-sounding problematique, is driven not by academic interest or democratic instincts but by more malignant considerations. Perhaps the kind of restrictions imposed by the Indian state is not unique. Even more likely, they are not being strictly implemented, given the huge internal contradictions that affect every aspect of governance in India, including issues of national security. And what has one to make of the reports of stricter monitoring in the United States and other prosperous Western countries of research into `sensitive areas' with a bearing on national security by scholars of the Third World, certainly by Arab and Muslim scholars, following the attack on symbols of American authority and power on September 11, 2001? Indeed, even journalists from the Third World whose passports clearly identify their profession, are finding it hard to get a visa across the counter; applications for visas that would allow one to work, as different from tourist visas, will in many cases have to be cleared by the authorities in the capital of the country that one plans to visit as part of one's work. In other words, suspicion and disapproval of `foreign' influences on the subjects of history while those tasked with shaping that history revel in absorbing every aspect of that very same pernicious `foreign' culture is a near universal phenomenon. For instance, the `traditional kings and princes' and `traditional leaders' in South Africa, some of whom are among the richest and most Westernised South Africans, nevertheless mobilise their supporters on the most parochial issues, demand the most feudal of loyalties, routinely admonishing them against succumbing to corrupt Western influence, in the process demarcating vast areas as their exclusive fiefdoms where no political challenge is allowed. Coming closer home, those leaders of the freedom movement in India who had the advantages of a Western education and were highly Westernised in their lifestyles routinely pandered to and promoted `traditional' values for their adoring followers, though not for their own progeny. There is no need to press the point about the advantages that such prohibitions and admonitions have brought to the owners of history. From dbase at mindless.com Mon Sep 15 18:12:37 2003 From: dbase at mindless.com (D base) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:42:37 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] party: )dbase( @ OXYGEN (Vasant Vihar) on Wed 17 Sep Message-ID: <20030915124238.27922.qmail@mail.com> )dbase( is playing drum n bass & psy trance at OXYGEN (D-10 Poorvi Marg Comm. Complex, Vasant Vihar Ph.26154760/70/80) 9:00 pm onwards. on Wednesday Sep 17 The night will be started off with some chill dnb which will later lead to jumpier and harder tunes in the post midnight session. followed by psy tunes into the morning. Music by ravana +ish you can forward this mail to your friends or call 9818455338(ish) for more info or sms the given number for invites. bhole nath sabke sath ish -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job search http://corp.mail.com/careers From nkarani at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 03:11:12 2003 From: nkarani at hotmail.com (Nitin Karani) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:11:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Mid-day report: Mumbai gays against Centre's stance Message-ID: http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/september/63897.htm Mumbai gays against Centre's stance By: Shibu Thomas September 15, 2003 The Central Government's stand supporting Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that makes homosexuality a criminal offence has come in for vociferous criticism from the lesbian and gay community in the city. They feel the government's open support may lead to increasing harassment and victimisation of the community. "The government's stand makes gay men vulnerable to extortion, abuse and violence," said gay activist Ashok Row Kavi at a meeting in Santacruz that was convened to evolve a counter to the government's stand. According to Section 377, whoever voluntarily has sex against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal will be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years. On September 8, in response to a public interest litigation filed by Naz Foundation, the centre told the Delhi High Court that homosexuality cannot be legalised in India as society disapproves of such behaviour. The government said "deletion of the said section can well open the flood gates of delinquent behaviour and be construed as providing unbridled licence for the same". Tejal, a member of LABIA (Lesbian And Bisexual Women in Action), is concerned about the government affidavit bringing lesbian women under the purview of the Act. "It is scary, and translates into the government sending out a message that it will prosecute homosexual men and women. The government has effectively said that its own notions of culture overrides human rights," said Tejal. R Sridhar, a filmmaker who was present at the meeting, believes that "society's non-acceptance" argument is not valid. "Society has never accepted widow remarriage, ban on sati and child marriage," argued Sridhar. His immediate concerns, however, are whether the government can prosecute two gay men who are living together. Ernest Noronha, who works with gay organisation Humsafar, believes the law can come in the way of HIV prevention campaigns "What will stop the police from now booking outreach workers in the area of HIV/AIDS intervention?" he asked. Row Kavi said Humsafar might intervene in the case, since the government has questioned Naz's locus standi (the right of a party to appear and be heard before a court). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030916/e0f925f7/attachment.html From ravikant at sarai.net Tue Sep 16 17:00:07 2003 From: ravikant at sarai.net (ravikant) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 17:00:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fwd: for those in Delhi on 20th Sept Message-ID: <200309161700.07543.ravikant@sarai.net> Dear All, This is to invite you to the third Dr. Arvind Narayan Das Foundation lecture at IIC on sept. 20 2003, at 6.15 pm. The lecture will be delivered by famous historian and novelist Dr. William Dalrymple, author of books such as The Age Of Kali, City of Djinns, Xanadu, At the Court of the Fish Eyed Goddess,White Moghuls among others. We look forward to seeing you on Sept 20. regards Dr. Manoshi Mitra das Managing Trustee, ANDFOUND. _________________________________________________________________ Formula 1 fan? This is for you! http://server1.msn.co.in/sp03/formula2003/photogallery/gallery/gal3.asp Best pics of the year. ------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From thankst at rediffmail.com Tue Sep 16 13:55:01 2003 From: thankst at rediffmail.com (vikram) Date: 16 Sep 2003 08:25:01 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Lucknow Message-ID: <20030916082501.26373.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> any taker for 32/5'10'' 75 kgs botom slave in lucknow just revert On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 Nitin Karani wrote : >http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/september/63897.htm > >Mumbai gays against Centre's stance > By: Shibu Thomas > September 15, 2003 > The Central Government's stand supporting Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that makes homosexuality a criminal offence has come in for vociferous criticism from the lesbian and gay community in the city. They feel the government's open support may lead to increasing harassment and victimisation of the community. > > "The government's stand makes gay men vulnerable to extortion, abuse and violence," said gay activist Ashok Row Kavi at a meeting in Santacruz that was convened to evolve a counter to the government's stand. > > According to Section 377, whoever voluntarily has sex against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal will be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years. > > On September 8, in response to a public interest litigation filed by Naz Foundation, the centre told the Delhi High Court that homosexuality cannot be legalised in India as society disapproves of such behaviour. > > The government said "deletion of the said section can well open the flood gates of delinquent behaviour and be construed as providing unbridled licence for the same". > > Tejal, a member of LABIA (Lesbian And Bisexual Women in Action), is concerned about the government affidavit bringing lesbian women under the purview of the Act. > > "It is scary, and translates into the government sending out a message that it will prosecute homosexual men and women. The government has effectively said that its own notions of culture overrides human rights," said Tejal. > > R Sridhar, a filmmaker who was present at the meeting, believes that "society's non-acceptance" argument is not valid. "Society has never accepted widow remarriage, ban on sati and child marriage," argued Sridhar. His immediate concerns, however, are whether the government can prosecute two gay men who are living together. > > Ernest Noronha, who works with gay organisation Humsafar, believes the law can come in the way of HIV prevention campaigns "What will stop the police from now booking outreach workers in the area of HIV/AIDS intervention?" he asked. Row Kavi said Humsafar might intervene in the case, since the government has questioned Naz's locus standi (the right of a party to appear and be heard before a court). > > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >------------------------ Yahoo! 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Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ___________________________________________________ Meet your old school or college friends from 1 Million + database... Click here to reunite www.batchmates.com/rediff.asp From aiindex at mnet.fr Tue Sep 16 21:55:04 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 17:25:04 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Call For Filmmakers, Video Artists Etc... Message-ID: [FYI. xxx H.] o o o From: "majlis" Subject: pls circulate to all film/video makers Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 19:51:05 +0530 CALL FOR FILMMAKERS, VIDEO ARTISTS, MEDIA PROFESSIONALS, COMPUTER BUGS, CAMERA BUFFS.... BE PART OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM... SEND A LETTER TO 100,000 PEOPLE WHO ARE GATHERING IN MUMBAI,INDIA TO MAKE ANOTHER WORLD POSSIBLE In the three years since its inception the World Social Forum has become an international landmark. In an era where corporate globalisation is presented as an inevitability, where the neo-liberal notion of development increasingly pervades most governments and undermines traditional cultures, thousands of activists, artists, academics, economists, writers, students, farmers, workers and many others will gather to protest this domination of capital over humanity, with vitality, wit and vision and to celebrate an alternative view of democracy and development because ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE. In 2004 the World Social Forum will take place in Mumbai, India from 16th-21st January. AT THE CONFERENCE GROUNDS A VIDEO TUNNEL OF HALF A KILOMETER WILL SHOWCASE SCREEN IMAGE WORKS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. LET ONE OF THEM BE YOURS - IT CAN BE A FILM, AN ANIMATION, A CD-ROM OR ANY OTHER VISUAL FORM YOU IMAGINE! THEME: Letter to WSF: Another world is possible. Let's build it. REGULATION: The duration should be no more than 3 minutes. It should be preferably be silent. (Placing sound projects together could be a problem.) FORMAT: The works may be created on any format but should come to us on any of the following formats. DV, DVD, VHS or VCD (preferably in PAL) DEADLINE: Write to us and let us know the scheme of your letter by the 30th of October. The videoletter can reach us by 30th of November. APOLOGY: We shall not be able to pay for the production cost. But if you inform us in advance we will provide Fedex service. CLAIM: We guarantee good screening conditions. ENQUIRIES: Please write to majlis at vsnl.com FOR MORE ABOUT WSF, 2004 - www.wsfindia.org From aiindex at mnet.fr Wed Sep 17 04:52:56 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 00:22:56 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] On the Hindi film ban in N. East India Message-ID: The Statesman [ Calcutta] September 17 2003 Hindi film ban draws furious reaction By Nava Thakuria A PROPOSED ban on Hindi films in the North East by an alliance of armed groups has drawn furious reaction from prominent filmmakers. Cinema hall owners, too, have voiced their displeasure, though on a more cautious note. The reaction comes in the wake of public outrage against militant Naga factions in which at least three cadres from both major groups were killed in separate incidents and the NSCN (K) forced to move out of its established headquarters at Mokokchung as a result. Dada Saheb Phalke awardee and Assamese legend Bhupen Hazarika described the ban as illogical because people must have the freedom of choice. "After all, Hindi cinema has its own beauty," he said. "If the people of the North East want to enjoy Hindi movies, they should not be prevented." Jnanpith award winner and popular Assamese novelist, Indira Goswami, said that choices should not be dictated. "I don't believe that all Hindi movies are of good quality, but there may be some worthy ones. Judgment should not clouded by another's dictates." Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon blasted the pro-ban lobby as a "bunch of gun-totting villains" for trying to impose its views. Tandon, who won a national award for her performance in Daman, a film based on an Assamese family, had some advice for the insurgents: they should go to the villages and do something for the rural people. The groups that have put forward the demand include the United Liberation Front of Asom, the Peoples Liberation Army and the United National Liberation Front of Manipur as well as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. Significantly, the most powerful of these groups, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, that is holding peace talks with New Delhi, is not on the list. Charu Kamal Hazarika, a senior filmmaker, remarked that television serials were more harmful than Hindi films. "Bollywood feature films are not generally taken seriously; the people consider them only as a source of entertainment, " he said. "But the serials have more exposure." "It's ridiculous," snapped Santwana Bordoloi, director of Adajya, a national award winner. A film society activist said that no one could claim that only Hindi films are bad and not the Assamese or Bengali or other regional productions. "If a bad film is to banned, we must consider the quality, not the language." Cinema hall owners are in a quandary. If they comply with the demand of the militants, they run the risk of facing legal action from the government. This is not the first time that there have been plans to ban Hindi films in the region. Insurgent groups in Manipur had banned Bollywood movies in 2001. The ban continues but many people watch these films in the privacy of their homes. Although the North East is primarily a non-Hindi belt, Hindi films have always been popular and have had large markets. There are around 200 cinema halls in the region, with about 150 of them in Assam alone. "Most shows in those commercial auditoriums are primarily of Bollywood movies. So the ban, if implemented, will greatly affect the collection of cinema halls," said P Sharma, an office bearer of the Eastern India Motion Picture Association. (The author is a Guwahati-based journalist.) From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Sep 17 09:49:09 2003 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:49:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Censorship from an (Un)usual Quarter In-Reply-To: <03091517105301.01362@sweety.sarai.kit> References: <03091517105301.01362@sweety.sarai.kit> Message-ID: <200309170949.09430.jeebesh@sarai.net> On Monday 15 September 2003 05:10 pm, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear All on the List, A few comments from a list member on Shuddha's posting on censorship: If i get it correct Shuddha's argument are not based on a constitutionalist understanding of `free speech`. He is against the constitutional limits to free speech posed by the holy trinity of national security, public order and public morality. His examples clearly shows that. Then what are his ground for defense of free speech? I would think that it is based on ideas of recognition of difference and human dignity. He will i think agree that a defense of free speech needs to acknowledge that `votaries of limited speech` are also articulating an intellectual position and be part of any engagement, and be given the same recognition and dignity. It is here, that i have a problem in the posting with virulent and prejorative naming of opponents of `free speech`. This culture of `naming` to my understanding is not a creative way of arguing for free speech. The posting catalouges very accurately all the various `censorship` drives by various political or social organisations and conglomerates. But, it fails to go beyond that. All political and social bodies are part of an intense conflict and contest over control of domains of knowledge, representation, production and surplus. This contest will accelerate and so will manifest attacks on `speech`. Can an argument for `free speech` be grounded without engaging with this control over domains and understanding the dense architecture of `conditionalities of speech` in society. Free speech to my mind cannot be understood as a `sui generis` concept that needs to be conformed to. It is an practice and an idea that evolved over a long and tortuous passsage of time. The survival chance of this idea is very slim given the rise of survalliance societies, national security states and intellectual property regimes. As an idea, it can only be cultivated through practice and building creative resources to ground in a rich terrains of earlier practices. A flame war will not help this process. Salaam Jeebesh From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Sep 17 10:39:18 2003 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:39:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Censorship from an (Un)usual Quarter Message-ID: <200309171039.18245.jeebesh@sarai.net> On Monday 15 September 2003 05:10 pm, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear All on the List, A few comments from a list member on Shuddha's posting on censorship: If i get it correct Shuddha's argument are not based on a constitutionalist understanding of `free speech`. He is against the constitutional limits to free speech posed by the holy trinity of national security, public order and public morality. His examples clearly shows that. Then what are his ground for defense of free speech? I would think that it is based on ideas of recognition of difference and human dignity. He will i think agree that a defense of free speech needs to acknowledge that `votaries of limited speech` are also articulating an intellectual position and be part of any engagement, and be given the same recognition and dignity. It is here, that i have a problem in the posting with virulent and prejorative naming of opponents of `free speech`. This culture of `naming` to my understanding is not a creative way of arguing for free speech. The posting catalouges very accurately all the various `censorship` drives by various political or social organisations and conglomerates. But, it fails to go beyond that. All political and social bodies are part of an intense conflict and contest over control of domains of knowledge, representation, production and surplus. This contest will accelerate and so will manifest attacks on `speech`. Can an argument for `free speech` be grounded without engaging with this control over domains and understanding the dense architecture of `conditionalities of speech` in society. Free speech to my mind cannot be understood as a `sui generis` concept that needs to be conformed to. It is an practice and an idea that evolved over a long and tortuous passsage of time. The survival chance of this idea is very slim given the rise of survalliance societies, national security states and intellectual property regimes. As an idea, it can only be cultivated through practice and building creative resources to ground in a rich terrains of earlier practices. A flame war will not help this process. Salaam Jeebesh ------------------------------------------------------- From shuddha at sarai.net Wed Sep 17 15:48:32 2003 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 15:48:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Censorship from an (Un)usual Quarter In-Reply-To: <200309170949.09430.jeebesh@sarai.net> References: <03091517105301.01362@sweety.sarai.kit> <200309170949.09430.jeebesh@sarai.net> Message-ID: <03091715483200.01412@sweety.sarai.kit> Sir, point taken, Name calling is not in order. However, I would still insist that there is a world of a difference between the speech act that is anti free speech, and the act that is more than a speech act. If, for instance, the PWG were to conduct a militant public campaign against the NGO running a radio programme, by staging public meetings, displaying posters, printing pamphlets, or even setting up their own radio station - that would be an interesting instance of the contestation of two kinds of speech. One for a particular radio programme, and the other against, with arguments and counter arguments. I would then totally agree that it is the merit of the arguments on either side that would demand attention. Then, I wouldn't have reason to call the PWGs action 'Thuggery', I might have been satisfied with talking about plain and simple bloody mindedness. However, their (the PWGs in this case) modus operandi has a very different kind of concreteness. It is not an argument, rather it is a violent act that forecloses the possibility of the development of an argument. When you kidnap people and destory their equipment and threaten to do violence to them, you step outside the line of an argument about the nature of what constitutes free speech. You lay claim to being the 'legitimate' instrument of violence, of having recourse to your own sense of 'constitutional propriety' in what you claim is your 'Liberated Zone'. Its just that the terms and conditions of this kind of propriety have a somewhat different emphasis. Now 'Thuggery' has a kind of lineage, it involves the organized actions of secret societies through much of central and eastern india, who used a combination of deciet, violence and subterfuge to achieve clear ends of informally exercised domination. In their own times, Thugs may have had as much reason to waylay travellers as the PWG does today, in the name of some higher cause. Perhaps, on the other hand it is too far fetched a comparison, too weak a metaphor. Maybe 'Thuggery' is too broad, too imprecise, what about - 'Extortion', 'Arson', 'Intimidation' and 'Abduction'. I am not name calling here, merely searching for words that are precise enough to be able to describe the methods that the PWG, or other state and non state or para state agencies use to achieve their very specific purposes when their anxieties go riding into the forest, looking for audio video equipment, generators and micro transmitters. After all, the PWG could simply have 'Appropriated' the equipment and done something with it for their own ends. That might have been an interesting situation, pointing towards a conflict about 'who will speak freely'., and a struggle to acquire the 'means of free speech'. Instead what we witness is a fear of 'free speech' as such, a deep suspicion of the discursive. That it chose not to do so, but to destroy the equipment instead, points I think to deeper and more fundamental anxiety. From nck at ifrance.com Wed Sep 17 15:35:43 2003 From: nck at ifrance.com (nck) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:05:43 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] wireless art: Walter Benjamin vs Marcel Duchamp Message-ID: <00d401c37d03$66bd4600$4fa44051@z> ----------------------------------------------------------- excuse me for x-mailing press release / communiqué presse / comunicat de premsa + jpg information ----------------------------------------------------------- Walter Benjamin / Marcel Duchamp During a trip to Barcelona in 1997, a railway workers' strike blocked off the French-Spanish border to me. This chance situation enabled me to explore two border villages at the feet of the Eastern Pyrenees. Two significant structures caught my attention: the Walter Benjamin memorial in Port Bou on the Spanish side called "Passage" by Dani Karavan, and, on the French side, the Hôtel Belvédère du Rayon Vert built by Léon Baille, the Perpignan architect. On one side there is this memorial to Walter Benjamin who committed suicide on 26 September 1940, and on the other a building in the boat style of the 1930s containing a former cinema and theatre, listed as a 20th-century heritage building, whose name, for me, is immediately synonymous with Marcel Duchamp. I would have to wait until the electronic projection of 23 November 2002 at the convent of La Tourette (built by Le Corbusier and Xenakis) to be able to question artistic and aesthetic boundaries in a more direct manner, in order to find out the necessary information for a search that has enabled me to talk today about these two locations in Catalogne. Benjamin's thought and Duchamp's art are scheduled to be brought into play during the weekend of 27 September 2003 at this Franco-Spanish border location, and this is seen as an imaginary and symbolic meeting. It is a result of, and follows, the mark that these two great figures have left behind them which has totally transformed artistic and aesthetic boundaries in the 20th century. This production will cross physical boundaries and will link the two locations of Port Bou and Cerbère. In other words, the Walter Benjamin memorial in Spain and the Hôtel du Rayon vert in France. The event will attempt to mark the boundaries of the art disciplines and will be mainly held in the Hôtel's theatre auditorium where our audiovisual reception will be held. These days, it is almost considered to be an essential requirement that this comparison will use new technologies. It will therefore be through the use of wifi wireless network, together with interactive software, that we will travel beyond the physical boundary. Our journey through and between these two locations reconnects a whole set of different information: - The fictional novel "Traité d'abrégé de littérature portative" (Abridged Treatise on Portable Literature) by Enrique Vila Mata and published in 1985, and which depicts Duchamp and Benjamin in Port Bou as part of a secret society linked to the number 27, - The "Rayon Vert" laser created by Dani Karavan for the Electra exhibition in 1983 which linked the Musée d'Art Moderne (Modern Art Museum) of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, and the Assur Tower located in the Défense quarter, - The photograph entitled "Rayon Vert" by Denise Bellon for Duchamp, which was given to the set designer Frederick Kiesler, for the superstition room at the surrealist exhibition, held in Paris in 1947, the same year that "Music for Duchamp" was composed by John Cage. Convergence points of the universe that have hitherto been parallel, and overlooked links, will appear at this event. This fake dimension will, however, can give another meaning to a trip, appropriate to our world, which is henceforth informational and chaotic. This gathering consequently offers you a short-lived journey across a virtual world of concepts. It will extend the enquiry into the notion of the decline of the "aura" in the wake of computing technology, and serves as homage to Walter Benjamin. F.A. --------------------------------------------- Walter Benjamin / Marcel Duchamp En 1997, j'ai été bloqué à la frontière franco-espagnole par une grève des transports ferroviaires lors d'un voyage vers Barcelone. Cet imprévu me permit de découvrir deux villages frontaliers aux pieds des Pyrénées Orientales. Deux importantes constructions ont alors suscité mon intérêt : en Espagne à Port Bou le mémorial Walter Benjamin, "Passage" de Dani Karavan et en France à Cerbère, l'hôtel Belvédère du Rayon Vert construit par l' architecte perpignanais Léon Baille. D'un côté, la mémoire de Walter Benjamin qui se donna la mort en ce lieu le 26 septembre 1940 et de l'autre un bâtiment au style bateau des années 30, doté d'une ancienne salle de cinéma et de théâtre, classé patrimoine architectural du 20ième siècle, dont le nom évoqua tout de suite pour moi Marcel Duchamp. Il m'aura fallu attendre l'occasion de questionner concrètement les frontières artistiques et esthétiques lors de la projection électronique du 23 novembre 2002 au couvent de La Tourette (construit par Le Corbusier et Xenakis) pour trouver les éléments d'une recherche me permettant aujourd'hui d'intervenir sur ces deux sites en Catalogne. La mise en jeu de la pensée de Benjamin et de l'art de Duchamp qui sera proposée à ce point de la frontière le samedi 27 septembre 2003 agit comme une rencontre fictive et symbolique. Elle est créée à partir des traces laissées par ces deux personnalités du 20ième siècle qui ont totalement transfiguré les frontières, artistique et esthétique. De même, cette réalisation tente de délimiter les disciplines artistiques. Elle traversera les frontières physiques et reliera deux lieux, Port Bou et Cerbère. Autrement dit, le mémorial Walter Benjamin en Espagne à l'Hôtel du Rayon Vert en France. La manifestation se déroulera principalement dans la salle de théâtre de l'hôtel où seront présentées et diffusées, en temps réel, réceptions visuelle et sonore. L'usage des nouvelles technologies semblant incontournable dans cette confrontation. Un réseau de connexion radio wifi qui survolera la frontière physique sera utilisé, complété d'un logiciel interactif. La navigation entre ces deux sites reconnecte un ensemble d'informations : - la fiction romanesque "Traité d'abrégé de littérature portative" d'Enrique Vila Mata en 1985 évoquant Duchamp et Benjamin à Port Bou dans une société secrète liée au chiffre 27, - le laser "Rayon Vert" réalisé par Dani Karavan en 1983 pour l'exposition Electra qui avait connecté le Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, la Tour Eiffel et la Tour Assur du quartier de la Défense, - la photo "Rayon Vert" de Denise Bellon pour Duchamp confiée au scénographe Frederick Kiesler, pour la salle des superstitions à l'exposition surréaliste de Paris en 1947, année qui vit naître également la "Music for Duchamp" de John Cage. Cet événement mettra en exergue des lignes de convergence entre des univers jusqu'alors parallèles et aux liens méconnus. Cette dimension prétend pourtant pouvoir redonner du sens à une déambulation, à l'image de notre monde désormais informationnel et chaotique. Ce rendez-vous offre ainsi un passage éphémère à travers une virtualité de données. Il prolongera un questionnement sur la notion du déclin de " l'aura " face au numérique, en hommage à Walter Benjamin. F.A. french contact -> franck.ancel at wanadoo.fr ----------------------------------------------------------------- Walter Benjamin / Marcel Duchamp El 1997 vaig quedar-me bloquejat a la frontera franco-espanyola a causa d' una vaga de transports ferroviaris durant un viatge a Barcelona. Aquest imprevist em permeté de descobrir dos pobles fronterers als peus dels Pirineus Orientals. Dues importants construccions suscitaren aleshores el meu interès: a Portbou, a Espanya, el memorial Walter Benjamin de Dani Karavan, Passagen; i a Cerbère, a França, l'Hotel Belvédère du Rayon Vert, construït per l'arquitecte de Perpinyà Léon Baille. D'una banda, la memòria de Walter Benjamin, que se suïcidà en aquest indret el 26 de setembre de 1940; i de l'altra, un edifici d'estil vaixell dels anys 30, dotat d'una antiga sala de cinema i de teatre, declarat patrimoni arquitectònic del segle XX, el nom del qual m'evocà de seguida Marcel Duchamp. Calgué esperar l'ocasió de qüestionar concretament les fronteres artístiques i estètiques en ocasió de la projecció electrònica del 23 de novembre de 2002 al convent de La Tourette (construït per Le Corbusier i Xenakis) per trobar els elements d'una recerca que m'ha permès d'intervenir avui en aquests dos emplaçaments a Catalunya. L'exposició del pensament de Benjamin i de l'art de Duchamp que serà proposada en aquest punt just de la frontera dissabte 27 de setembre de 2003 funciona com una trobada fictícia i simbòlica. Es crea a partir de les empremtes deixades per aquestes dues personalitats del segle XX que transfiguraren totalment les fronteres artística i estètica. De la mateixa manera, aquesta realització intenta delimitar les disciplines artístiques. Traspassarà les fronteres físiques i enllaçarà dos llocs, Portbou i Cerbère. Dit d'una altra manera, el memorial Walter Benjamin a Espanya i l'Hotel du Rayon Vert a França. La manifestació tindrà lloc principalment a la sala de teatre de l'hotel, on es presentaran i difondran, en temps real, imatges i recepcions visuals i sonores. La utilització de les noves tecnologies semblava ser ineludible en aquesta confrontació. S'utilitzarà una xarxa de connexió de ràdio basada en l' estàndard wifi que sobrevolarà la frontera física, completada per un programa interactiu. La navegació entre ambdós espais posa en relació un conjunt d'informacions: - la ficció novel.lesca Història abreujada de la literatura portàtil d'Enrique Vila Mata de 1985, on s'evoquen Duchamp i Benjamin a Portbou en una societat secreta lligada al número 27, - el làser Rayon Vert realitzat per Dani Karavan el 1983 per a l' exposició Electra, que va connectar el Museu d'Art Modern de París, la Torre Eiffel i la Tour Assur del barri de la Défense, - la foto Rayon Vert de Denise Bellon per a Duchamp confiada a l' escenògraf Frederick Kiesler, per a la sala de les supersticions a l' exposició surrealista de París del 1947, any que veié també néixer la Music for Duchamp de John Cage. Aquest esdeveniment posarà de relleu línies de convergència entre universos fins aleshores paral.lels però amb uns vincles desconeguts. Aquesta dimensió pretén tanmateix poder donar sentit de nou a un passeig, a la imatge del nostre món d'ara endavant informacional i caòtic. Aquesta cita ofereix així un passatge efímer a través d'un seguit de dades virtuals. Perllongarà el qüestionament sobre la noció del declivi de "l'aura" de cara a l'era digital, en homenatge a Walter Benjamin. F.A. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: flyer WB - MD.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 106540 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030917/02a6a0b6/attachment.jpg From amc at autonomous.org Wed Sep 17 23:47:16 2003 From: amc at autonomous.org (amc) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:17:16 +0300 Subject: [Reader-list] ISEA2004 - deadline for submission fast approaching!! Message-ID: ************************************************************ ISEA2004: The 12th International Symposium on Electronic Art ************************************************************ CALL FOR PROPOSALS ************************************************************ +++ Deadline extended to 20 September, 2003 +++ ************************************************************ http://www.isea2004.net - Stockholm - Tallinn - Helsinki - August 14 - 22, 2004 new media art - media culture research - electronic music - art and science - cultural and social applications for new media - New media meets art, science, research, and popular culture at ISEA2004 in Stockholm - Tallinn - Helsinki. For the first time an event of this scale is being organised between three cities and on the ferry travelling between these three Baltic countries. International participants and local audiences attend thematic conferences, exhibitions, live performances, screenings, satellite events, concerts and clubs. Many events are also interfaced via television, radio, broadband Internet, and mobile networks. We are encouraging: Socially, critically and ecologically engaging work; Projects that bring the creative media to the streets; Projects that are worn on or inside people; Context sensitive work in the museums; Projects that float, dock or sail; Screen based media as it appears in 2004; Sea Fair: technological gizmos for ferry travellers and future media archaeologists to discover; Bridges between club scenes and art venues; Most engaging works from performing arts that engage new media, users, and audiences; Networks to network... Key themes for the event include: Networked experience (Stockholm) Wearable experience (Tallinn) Wireless experience (Helsinki) Histories of the new: media arts, media cultures, media technologies - all cities Additional themes include: Open source and software as culture (Helsinki) Critical interaction design (Helsinki) Geopolitics of media (Tallinn) Interfacing sound (Helsinki and on the Ferry - in collaboration with Koneisto - check out http://www.koneisto.com for details of this year's Koneisto Festival 24-26 July 2003) We are currently inviting proposals for projects and papers for the exhibitions, conferences and associated programs during ISEA2004. Projects might include: works for exhibition in a gallery; workshops; installations in public spaces; live performance; interfaced screenings; games or shared environments; projects which encourage remote participation - etc. Proposals for the conference can include papers and panels but we are equally interested in workshops and roundtables: discussion formats that encourage participation and exchange of ideas. We are also working with a range of local organisations who may be able to host short and medium term residencies or workshops for artists who are keen to spend a longer time working with local artists and organisations. Information on these opportunities will be regularly added to the web site, so do register to receive updates. ISEA2004 will be an exciting week long event, but we are also interested in providing a space to build long term, sustainable exchange and collaboration. The time on the Ferry will provide a space for less formal dialogue and social intercourse, so feel free to propose workshops and meetings for the exchange of information and ideas. Our over all aim for ISEA2004 is to create an event which is thematically and critically coherent and provides new insight. Please note that ISEA2004 is a forum for artistic, academic, and culturally or socially relevant work that has not previously been presented in international forums (you may have showed/presented it in your local context). All submissions are done via our website using a web form and stored into a database. This procedure allows us to have the proposals reviewed by International Programme Committee (IPC) members. We very much look forward to hearing your ideas! For further information: http://www.isea2004.net info at isea2004.net Our partners for the event are: MAIN ORGANISER: m-cult, centre for media culture in finland http://www.m-cult.org HELSINKI: Exhibition: The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma http://www.kiasma.fi Conference: Media Centre Lume (University of Art and Design) http://www.lume.fi Electronic music: Koneisto (Festival for electronic music and arts) http://www.koneisto.com STOCKHOLM: Coordinator: CRAC, Creative Room for Art and Computing http://www.crac.org Conference: Moderna Museet http://www.modernamuseet.se and Royal University College of Fine Arts (Stockholm) http://www.kkh.se Exhibition: Färgfabriken http://www.fargfabriken.se Electronic music: Fylkingen http://www.fylkingen.se TALLINN: Coordinator + conference: Estonian Academy of Arts http://artun.ee Exhibition: Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia at The Art Museum of Estonia http://www.cca.ee ISEA2004 is produced in collaboration with ISEA Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts http://www.isea-web.org -- For further information: http://www.isea2004.net info at isea2004.net From aiindex at mnet.fr Thu Sep 18 04:35:13 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 00:05:13 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Community Radio Message-ID: The Washington Post Wednesday, September 17, 2003; Page A17 Community Radio Gives India's Villagers a Voice Officials Worry Local Stations May Foment Unrest By Rama Lakshmi Special to The Washington Post BOODIKOTE, India -- Crushed under the weight of three years of drought, the villagers lost their patience when the public water pipes dried up last June. For eight days, there was no water for cooking, cleaning or washing. There were murmurs of protest everywhere. Women came out of their homes with empty pots demanding that the old pipes be fixed and new wells dug. Men stood at street corners and debated angrily. The village chief made promises, but nothing happened. Then, a young man ran over to the village radio station and picked up a recorder. "Women complained and shouted into the mike and vented their anger at the village chief's indifference. There was chaos everywhere. But I recorded everything," said Nagaraj Govindappa, 22, a jobless villager. He played the tape that evening on the small community radio station called Namma Dhwani, or Our Voices. The embarrassed village chief ordered the pipes repaired. Within days, water was gushing again. India's first independent community radio initiative is in this millet- and tomato-growing village in the southern state of Karnataka. It is a cable radio service because India forbids communities to use the airwaves. A media advocacy group, with the help of U.N. funds, laid cables, sold subsidized radios with cable jacks to villagers and trained young people to run the station. "The power of community radio as a tool of social change is enormous in a country that is poor, illiterate and has a daunting diversity of languages and cultures," said Ashish Sen, director of Voices, the advocacy group. Emboldened by a Supreme Court ruling in 1995 declaring airwaves to be public property, citizens groups and activists began pushing for legislation that would free the airwaves from government control. Two years ago, India auctioned its FM stations to private businesses to air entertainment programs. And late last year, India allowed some elite colleges to set up and run campus radio stations. By keeping the airwaves restricted, activists complain, the Indian government lags behind such South Asian neighbors as Nepal and Sri Lanka. Nepal launched South Asia's first community radio station in 1995 and today has at least five independent stations across the country that address people's complaints and act as hubs of information in times of strife. In Sri Lanka, Kothmale Radio has been an integral part of the Kothmale community for 14 years. Last December, Sri Lanka issued a broadcasting license to the formerly clandestine radio station run by the Tamil Tiger rebels, Voice of Tigers. The decision was made to strengthen the peace process underway after nearly two decades of war and to bring the radio transmissions under Sri Lankan law. Radiophony, an Indian lobby group for community radio, claims that villagers can set up a low-powered, do-it-yourself radio station -- with a half-watt transmitter, a microphone, antenna and a cassette player -- for approximately $25. The group says such a station can reach about a third of a mile and cover a small village. Last year, the group supplied a low-wattage transmitter to a World Bank-supported women's group in Oravakal, a village in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Mana Radio, or Our Radio, ran for five months before officials from the communications ministry seized the equipment and shut down the broadcast in February. "We have to tread very cautiously when it comes to community radio," said Pavan Chopra, secretary of India's ministry of information and broadcasting. "As of today we don't think that villagers are equipped to run radio stations. People are unprepared, and it could become a platform to air provocative, political content that doesn't serve any purpose except to divide people. It is fraught with danger." The ministry runs the All India Radio service that covers the country and has more than 200 stations. Chopra said communities can buy time from the radio service and run their programs under state supervision. Since 1999, two groups of villagers, one in the western state of Gujarat and the other in the northern state of Jharkhand, have used time slots on All India Radio to run programs in their local dialects. But activists say that the central principle of community radio is to own and run a radio station freely. "Community radio in India is not about playing alternative rock music," said Seema Nair, who helps the villagers run the station at Boodikote. "It is a new source of strength for poor people because it addresses their most basic development needs." Since it began broadcasting in March, Our Voices community radio has crackled with the sounds of schoolchildren singing songs and giggling to jokes; of young girls talking fearlessly about the evils of dowry and admonishing boys for teasing them at school; of women giving out recipes and teaching others how to open a bank account; and of farmers debating the vagaries of the weather and fluctuating crop prices. "This radio station is ours because it speaks about us -- in our language and in our accent. When I turn it on, I hear the voices of people I know," said Triveni Narayanswamy, 28, as she twirled the dial of her tiny transistor radio. Narayanswamy sold milk until her only cow died three months ago. "But when I went to claim insurance money for my cow, the agent tried to cheat me. He said he owed me no money," she said. "I went up and down his office at least a dozen times in vain. Then I spoke about my problem on Namma Dhwani radio. The next day, the agent gave me the insurance amount." She said it was about $240. "Our radio is more powerful than the corrupt and inefficient village council," she said proudly. "They hold secret meetings and don't spend the money on our welfare. I want the proceedings of such meetings to be recorded. We all have a right to know what happens to the money that comes in." © 2003 The Washington Post Company From aiindex at mnet.fr Thu Sep 18 06:42:04 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:12:04 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Indymedia: Between Passion and Pragmatism Message-ID: AlterNet September 17, 2003 Indymedia: Between Passion and Pragmatism By Gal Beckerman, Columbia Journalism Review Who wants to be design coordinator this week?" The question comes from Nandor, a red-bearded trollish man moderating an evening meeting of New York City's all-volunteer Independent Media Center. He is composing the table of contents for the next issue of the collective's biweekly newspaper, the Indypendent. A pair of fans swish warm air around in the low-ceilinged Manhattan loft. The thirty members of the print committee sit in a circle beneath an upside-down American flag and pass around a packet of trail mix. Someone named Jed, not present at the meeting, is finally nominated to be design coordinator, partly because no one else seems to want to do it: "What about Jed? He's unemployed, isn't he?" The meeting lasts one hour and five minutes; Nandor clocks it on his watch. Like all things at the center, the process has been precarious, democracy teetering on the edge of anarchy. There are some rules - people raise their hand to speak - but the collective believes everyone should have his or her say. Tony wants to report on union labor and summer fashions. Someone else knows a columnist who has a piece to contribute "It's about the deportations, but it's really funny." Don, in his seventies and by a few decades the oldest member of the collective, has an idea for a historical piece about the Spanish-American War. "It's about how we have been misled into past wars," he says. Everything makes it in. There is no editor to say otherwise. At least not yet. Meetings like this one, experiments in democratic media, have been taking place all over the world in increasing numbers. New York City's Independent Media Center is just one piece of the rapidly expanding Indymedia movement, a four-year-old phenomenon that grew out of the trade protests of the late 1990s, and now encompasses a constellation of about 120 local collectives from Boston to Bombay. Each collective has a diverse palette of mediums it uses, including radio, video, print, and the Internet. Each is driven by political passions its volunteers don't find in the mainstream press, and each struggles to make the process of covering news as inclusive and empowering as possible for the community in which it exists. Although the individual collectives have their political and cultural idiosyncrasies, they are united through their Web sites. To join the worldwide collective, a new Independent Media Center must have an online presence. This is the kernel of the experiment, the clearest expression of the movement's vision. The concerns and interests of these activist-journalists are immediately apparent on any of the local Indymedia sites. Go to the Melbourne, Australia, site, for example, for an article about aboriginal elders protesting the dumping of nuclear waste on their land; or to the Washington, D.C., site to read about the USA Patriot Act's many alleged violations of the Bill of Rights; or to the United Kingdom site for a piece titled, "New EU Constitution Threatens Free Education." The sites all have a similar format and feature a newswire that employs a technology called open publishing. This allows a writer to post a story directly to the newswire from his or her own computer, without going through an editor. Using a simple form on the site, you merely paste in your file, click "Publish," and immediately see a link to your article appear at the top of the Web site's wire. The open wire usually appears on the right side of the homepage of the local sites, while the center column is reserved for particularly relevant stories off the wire that a committee of volunteers has decided to highlight. The network of collectives also maintains a global site (www.indymedia.org) that pulls content from all the local sites. More than any other element of Indymedia, the accessibility of open publishing has allowed activists from Brazil to Italy to Israel to Los Angeles to answer the revolutionary demand that inspired this grass-roots movement: Don't hate the media. Be the media. But Indymedia volunteers are also learning that being the media is not so simple. An open, representative form of media may be a worthy ideal, but in reality is often a messy thing. As the collective evolves, the volunteers are faced with difficult decisions many members never contemplated - about their Web site's usefulness, about editorial policy, about money. Whether they thrive or fade into irrelevance will ultimately depend on how well they keep their most extreme tendencies at bay. It won't be easy. Pure democracy can be chaotic, spontaneity can tip into incoherence, absolute independence might just mean poverty. At their best, Indymedia Web sites serve as a sort of activist bulletin board and a space to report on and support a wide range of left-leaning causes from environmental extremism and anarchism to fair-trade advocacy and universal health care. One IMC in Urbana, Illinois, for example, relentlessly reported about the detention of a local pro-Palestinian activist, Ahmed Bensouda, who was being held by the Immigration and Naturalization Service after 9/11 for a minor violation. After a few weeks of constant attention, he was released. Because each posting can be followed by potentially endless comments, Indymedia sites have also facilitated difficult debates within the activist community. A graphic photograph posted on the Prague IMC site of riot police being hit with a Molotov cocktail during that city's September 2000 International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting inspired a contentious online discussion about whether violence was an acceptable form of resistance. Indymedia's reporter-activists believe that no journalism is without bias. They criticize the mainstream media not simply because, in their eyes, the networks and newspapers work to maintain the status quo, but because they believe the mainstream's claims to neutrality mask these biases. Indymedia journalists say they are not afraid to admit their own bias: journalism in the service of upending the status quo. They make the argument that this unabashed commitment does not conflict with fairness and accuracy. At many collectives, Indymedia reporters are advised not to participate in direct action at protests they are covering. But as a whole, this journalism is argumentative, angry, and often written without the basic journalistic concessions to attribution and balance. A recent issue of the Indypendent, for example, was headlined "Liar!" next to a photo of President Bush. "The majority of IMC people I know don't believe in objectivity," says Chris Anderson, twenty-six, a volunteer at the New York City collective. "They think everyone should have an opinion and make it known. In this way, Indymedia goes back to the partisan press of the nineteenth century." Indymedia first went online amid the tear gas and tumult of the Seattle World Trade Organization protests in 1999. The belief that the mainstream media were never going to explore deeply the downside of globalization, and the story of the various groups trying to fight it, had taken root throughout the mid-'90s. Activists concluded that if they wanted their story told with nuance and depth, they would have to do it themselves. Early inspiration came from deep within the jungles of the Chiapas region in southern Mexico, where Subcomandante Marcos, the ski-masked leader of the Zapatista movement, articulated the case for an independent alternative media. In a videotaped message to a 1997 gathering called the Media and Democracy Congress, he made the argument that would have the greatest influence on the founders of Indymedia. "The world of contemporary news is a world that exists for the VIPs, the very important people," Marcos said. "Their everyday lives are what is important: if they get married, if they divorce, if they eat, what clothes they wear and what clothes they take off these major movie stars and big politicians. But common people only appear for a moment when they kill someone, or when they die." Instead of simply conforming to this reality or becoming paralyzed with cynicism, Marcos proposed a third option. "To construct a different way to show the world what is really happening, to have a critical world view, and to become interested in the truth of what happens to the people who inhabit every corner of this world." As the WTO meeting neared, a group of Seattle activists began building this "different way" in a 2,500-square-foot space that was donated to the group by a local nonprofit housing advocacy group. It became the first Independent Media Center, a place where reporters could bring their articles, as well as video and radio reports, to be uploaded to a central Web site. The activist community in Seattle coalesced around this center. Unlike previous efforts to coordinate the often fractious groups, the IMC became an energetic hub of collaboration. "It was like we were high," says Sheri Herndon, forty-three, one of the founding members of Indymedia. "The right people came and we plugged them in. And one of the things that was pretty powerful is that we weren't really fazed about working together. We had a short-term common goal. The smaller differences, you just let them go." The use of open publishing made the Seattle Indymedia experiment revolutionary, even though the original motivation for the technology was practical. It would take too long to upload all the reporters' accounts manually in one location. The solution came from an Australian computer programmer involved with Indymedia who, three weeks before the protests, adapted an open-source code that enabled the activists to use any computer to simply post accounts or photographs of what was happening on the streets. "With open publishing, your experience of the news is different," says Jay Sand, thirty-one, another of Indymedia's early volunteers. "You really feel like you were there, even more so than TV. On TV, you are seeing one image at a time. Real life is more confusing and this comes through on the IMC site." The result was a street-level collage of text and image: a photograph of a legion of police in riot gear. An account of a protester whose nose had just been broken. A video of the anarchist group Black Bloc smashing the windows of a Nike store. An analysis of the trade talks over fishing rights happening that day inside the convention hall. An explanation of the cause that drove activists to dress up like sea turtles. Unwittingly, the Indymedia organizers had found a technology that fit philosophically with their ideas about how to transform the media. Everyone was now empowered to contribute to the creation of the news. In the four years since the Seattle protests, it wouldn't be farfetched to say that Indymedia has become a brand, although that might not be the word activists would choose. From the time the first Web site was set up, Independent Media Centers have proliferated at a rapid pace, about one new one every eleven days. It soon became clear that the Indymedia format was attractive to activists around the world, not just as a way to cover protests but as a day-to-day accounting of the local and global concerns of social-justice and antiglobalization advocates. Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the crucial "tech geeks" of the Indymedia network, has seen Indymedia grow from the Seattle collective to a universal prototype that can now be found even in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he is temporarily living. "It blows my mind sometimes how much Indymedia has spread," Henshaw-Plath says. "In every place I have gone to present Indymedia, it's not been something I have ever had to convince somebody of. The first thing people say is, 'We want to start one.'" The ideal of creating a media source that would be totally inclusive has had to endure tremendous tests. Open publishing, the purest form of the idea, has become, in some instances, Indymedia's greatest liability. The New York City IMC is typical. It was started in the spring of 2000 in anticipation of that fall's UN Millennium Summit for the world's heads of state. A space in midtown Manhattan was donated to the group. In the three years since its founding, the print committee has been dominant, putting out the 10,000-circulation Indypendent. And the collective has grown exponentially. Financially, it scrapes by, as most collectives do, by putting on benefits and selling merchandise like T-shirts and U.S. maps featuring nuclear power plants and army bases, what the volunteers call the United States' "infrastructure of terror." The volunteers are also typical of American IMCs. As John Tarleton, thirty-four, one of the founders of the New York IMC, who supports himself by picking blueberries during the summer, says, "Volunteers are mostly in their twenties and thirties, unmarried yet largely college educated, predominantly white, struggling to make ends meet, underemployed or unemployed." The Web site (www.nyc.indymedia.org) became a place were the city's diverse activist community could inform itself about coming protests and events. Stories about police brutality or unfair housing laws appeared side-by-side with leftist political analyses of the war on terrorism. But the site was also deluged with posts that had nothing to do with the people's struggle; anti-Semitic rants, racist caricatures, and pornography all competed, democratically, for space on the wire. Although an editorial board of volunteers decided what stories to highlight in the center column, the wire itself became almost unusable. "That wasn't what Indymedia was set up for," Tarleton says. "Many people stopped using us as a place to post." Because the network had grown so fast, there was no process or editorial principle to mediate what went on the newswire. "Personally, I started out as a total free-speech libertarian," says Chris Anderson. "My thoughts were that people were smart enough to know what's trash and what's not. Is it our business to tell them what is acceptable? Two years later, I was the one pushing for more moderation of the wire. So I guess there was an evolution, which does mirror the evolution of the movement." In response, the collective came up with a compromise of sorts - a hidden folder where all unacceptable posts could be dumped without being erased. Eventually, a policy emerged that defined what was prohibited. This was a painful process, since it seemed to highlight the tension at the heart of the Indymedia experiment: Was the site a place for free speech or was it a place to express the views of the antiglobalization movement? "It is maybe a slippery slope when you start hiding posts," says Tarleton. "But we are already heading down a slippery slope when we turn our newswire over to crackpots." In the end, a piece of the democratic ideal had to be discarded to save the rest. But it is a shift that many watching Indymedia from the sidelines saw as inevitable. Robert McChesney, author of "Rich Media, Poor Democracy," says he always believed that "the Indymedia movement is not obliged to be a movement for every viewpoint under the sun. They need to make tough editorial decisions, and that's not something to be despondent about. The problem is not that you have to make decisions. The important thing is that you make them based on principles that are transparent." A similar clash of values came in the middle of 2002, when the global Indymedia network, desperate for funds to maintain aging equipment and to help local collectives pay rent, was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Ford Foundation in response to a proposal submitted by a few volunteers. What should have been a boon to a struggling organization was a cause for consternation among Indymedia activists. There was no process yet for reaching a consensus on whether to accept the money and, if it was to be accepted, how to distribute it. To some extent, the global network - run by a committee composed of at least one volunteer from each collective, who communicate via list-servers in more than a dozen languages - had outgrown its founders. As with the creation of the "hidden folder," process generally followed crisis. Now the network was on the verge of receiving much-needed resources, and the only decision-making method available was one of passive consensus, where if no one disagrees, it is assumed everyone agrees. Suddenly, the democracy so treasured by the network - now grown to at least 5,000 volunteers - became its greatest handicap. A number of IMCs outside the United States, including Brazil, Italy, and Argentina, were opposed to taking money from the corporate world. Although many of the American volunteers thought the collective should take the money as long as no strings were attached, the bitter arguments became too much for the network to bear. In the end the grant had to be returned because no consensus could be reached and the debate threatened, as Sascha Meinrath, a volunteer at the Urbana-Champagne IMC, put it, to "create fissures in the network that would take years to fix." Slowly and carefully, Indymedia organizers are beginning to deal with the internal tensions that made this crisis inevitable. A consensus seems to be building that Indymedia will survive and grow only if it becomes more organized, efficient, and useful for the activist community. In the sticky domain of financial issues, Meinrath has helped form fund-raising group called the Tactical Media Fund, independent from Indymedia and able to make decisions without a network-wide consensus. For the newswire, new technology is being developed by the tech geeks to make it easier to sift through the information and find the news a reader is looking for. Instead of deciding which posts are acceptable and which are not, Indymedia volunteers can be librarians, categorizing posts so that at a click one can find everything having to do with bioengineering, for example. The idea is to make the sites easier to use. The next step is to create themed Indymedia sites (about the economy, Israel-Palestine conflict, environment, etc.) that would include all related stories funneled from local sites. There is a surprising amount of talk about the need to expand the rules and processes and guidelines that govern Indymedia. "The ideal has not been abandoned," Chris Anderson insists. "But the great thing about Indymedia people is that they are not ideologues, they are pragmatists, not hung up on things. They have ideals but are also very practical." This flexibility will be necessary to confront the challenges that lie ahead. IMCs continue to multiply. A group of young Iraqis are trying to set up one in Baghdad. They have begun work on publishing a newspaper, and British activists are helping the Iraqis with their Web site. A radio station in Amman, Jordan, has sent people to get them started in that medium. All this would have been impossible a few years ago But to build something truly alternative and useful will require discipline along with the creative joy that was so manifest that winter in Seattle. Sheri Herndon, who has observed Indymedia's evolution, was referring to the content as much as the attitude that drives the network when she said, "Ultimately, it's not enough for us to talk about what we are against. We have to articulate what we are for. It's not enough to slow the rate of destruction. We have to increase the rate of creation." Gal Beckerman is an assistant editor at CJR. From abshi at vsnl.com Tue Sep 16 12:10:43 2003 From: abshi at vsnl.com (Shilpa Phadke) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 11:40:43 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] The PUKAR-NGMA SCREENINGS In-Reply-To: <20030918080203.1874228E393@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.20030916114043.009f8290@pop3.norton.antivirus> Dear Friends, As part of the National Gallery of Modern Art - Mumbai's annual exhibition, "Ideas and Images" (September 10th to October 19th 2003) PUKAR has organized a screening of several documentary films on Mumbai. Four films will be screened at the NGMA auditorium (dates and time given in the schedule below) and eight of them will be kept - in a VHS format - on two "video tables" outside the auditorium for viewing on the monitor provided. The curator for the series is PUKAR Associate, film-maker and writer Paromita Vohra. Details: The PUKAR-NGMA SCREENINGS Venue: The NGMA Auditorium and its Foyer, NGMA, Kala Ghoda, South Mumbai. Note: The exhibition is closed on Mondays. ABOUT THE SCREENINGS Nothing says Bombay if not movies. The spirit of Bombay has fascinated filmmakers for decades and spawned a rich popular culture in its film industry. However, there is another, alternative kind of art where Bombay is documented and imagined with equal vitality and urgency - documentary films. With the coming of video, the melee of images, the layers in the cities chaos, the colliding worlds of communities, politics, money and culture and the intensity of desire and aspirations which are Mumbai have found newer and more varied expression in non-fiction films. This proposed film component of the NGMA annual show presents a range of non-fiction films which capture different aspects of life in the city - both in overarching narratives of changes in the city as well as more detailed portraits of everyday life on the street. Rather than merely present a survey of issues, the program aims to encapsulate the sights and sounds unique to Bombay. The program will have two distinct sections - a table of video films and a set of screenings in the auditorium. VIDEO FILM TABLES The video film tables are predicated on a design of interactive viewing - their will be four videos on each table along with a TV, a video and an attendant. A card provides a brief synopsis of the videos. Visitors can choose which film they want to watch and it will be played for them. The films are chosen to present the richness of the many types of people and institutions in the city as well as the quintessential spirit of Bombay as the city which never sleeps, where dreams come true, many cultures merge and nothing is permanent except change. AUDITORIUM SCREENINGS Four films that have been made on an epic scale and originally shot on film - 16 mm or 35 mm - will be screened at a weekly screening. Filmmakers will be present for interaction with the audiences. The films look at two themes - Art and Living. While the two films under Art explore popular and political culture of this city through the forms of cinema and poetry, the films on Living look at how notions of development change the contours of the city and observe who the shifting map includes and excludes. Auditorium Screenings 24th September, 2003 - Fearless-The Hunterwali Story - Riyad Vince Wadia 25th September, 2003 - Narayan Gangaram Surve - Arun Khoplar 8th October, 2003 - Bombay - Our City - Anand Patwardhan 10th October, 2003 - New Empire - Kurush Canteenwala Video Tables TABLE 1 Name Director Aur Irani Chai Wilson College Students Living With the Dead Students of Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic Sambhawami Yuge Yuge Madhushree Dutta Phantoms Tushar Joag TABLE 2 Name Director Occupation Mill Worker Anand Patwardhan Crystal Students of Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic Circadian Cycle Mahesh Mathai I Ranu Gayen Shyamal Karmarkar About the Films: AUDITORIUM SCREENINGS 1. SEPTEMBER 24, WEDNESDAY, 6 p.m. FEARLESS - THE HUNTERWALI STORY 62mins/ English language (part Hindi)/ 35mm/1993 A feature documentary on the life and films of stunt queen Fearless Nadia and the maverick Wadia Brothers. Using rare archival footage from the Wadia Movietone collection and mixing these with interviews with Fearless Nadia, John Cawas, Homi Wadia, Nari Ghadiali, Shyam Benegal, etc. and with a narration by author Shobha De this documentary gives a breezy insight into the pioneering world of Indian cinema of the 1930's and 40's. The film has been widely screened at over 150 festivals including London, Berlin, Toronto, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Cape Town etc. The film had a theatrical release in Australia and has had television premieres in most major countries and territories. Directed by- Riyad Vinci Wadia Riyad Vinci Wadia is a filmmaker living in Bombay. His other films include Bom-gay and A Mermaid Called Aida. 2. SEPTEMBER 25, Thursday, 6 p.m. NARAYAN GANGARAM SURVE 45 minutes, Marathi (with English subtitles) 35 mm. / 2003 This eponymous film aims at depicting the life and poetry of a famous Marathi poet, Narayan Gangaram Surve. Surve was a foundling. He became an outstanding poet of Marathi. Our film deals with some landmark events of his life and a number of his outstanding poems.Using an artful play between real interviews and an actor playing the poet, and a backdrop of the working class movement of the last 40 years, the film attempts to re-invent the rhythms of Narayan Surve's poetry forged out of everyday speech of the common men and women of Bombay. The film tries to make audible its underlying sounds and to make visible the textures of his richly peopled world: mill sirens, machine and vehicle sounds, footsteps ringing on deserted pavements, hands and feet cracked with toil, faces with deep lines of suffering, sounds of giant cranes in the harbour, waves crashing, walls with their peeling colours, objects worn out with sweat and use, human beings and machines interlocked with each other. Naranyan Gangaram Surve has won a National Award - the Golden Lotus for Best Film, 2003. Directed by - Arun Khopkar Arun Khopkar is a filmmaker working in Bombay, whose films have been screened at various festivals and won several awards. His films include Figures of Thought, Colours of Absence,Sanchari, Rasikpriya and Lokpriya. 3. OCTOBER 8, Wednesday, 6 p.m. BOMBAY OUR CITY/ HUMARA SHAHAR 82mins. Colour, 16mm, 1985 This moving verite film follows the travails and triumphs in the daily battle for survival of Bombay's slumdwellers, as they face, demolitions, monsoons, death and life. The film questions the politics of urban development and in an uncompromising and sharply juxtapositional style. According to a review in the Sunday Observer - "The film holds a mirror to all our deepest prejudices. It is one of the most screened Indian documentaries. It has won the National Award, Best Non-fiction, India, 1986, Filmfare Award, Best Documentary, India, 1986 and Special Jury Prize, Cinema du Reel, France, 1986 Directed by - Anand Patwardhan Anand Patwardhan is a pioneering documentary filmmaker living and working in Bombay. His films include, Waves of Revolution, Prisoners of Conscience, A Time to Rise, Occupation: Mill Worker, In the Name of God, Father, Son and Holy War and War and Peace. 4. OCTOBER 10 October, Friday 6 p.m. NEW EMPIRE 37 minutes, 2002 New Empire is a visually impressionistic, non-fiction film that attempts to chronicle personal encounter with new colonialism and the accompanying loss of an indigenous way of urban being. The encounter is set around a uniquely Bombay-style Irani restaurant, at the epicenter of downtown Bombay -New Empire Restaurant and Bakery. The restaurant is now a McDonald's. The film explores this change through conversations with a group of old friends for whom New Empire was once a hang-out. Directed By Kurush Canteenwala Kurush Canteenwala was born and raised in Bombay. After his graduation form Bombay Univ. he completed his Masters of Fine Arts in Cinema from Southern lllinois Univ., US and is currently a Visiting Asst Professor of Film Production and Film Aesthetics there. His previous work includes "a note with a bang up in the sky", which premiered at the Asian American Film Festival in New York City. VIDEO TABLES: TABLE I 1. AUR IRANI CHAI 20 minutes, DV, 2000 Aur Irani Chai is made by a group of undergraduates from Wilson College, who were part of the PUKAR Neighbourhood project during 2000 -2001. As these students photographed and wrote about the varied localities they live in - mostly around Wilson College - a smaller group adventurously decided to make this documentary about their favorite hangout joint; the Irani cafe. The film converses with Irani cafeŽ owners who studied at Wilson college, queries into the specific histories of a couple of famous establishments and explores the personal relationships that embodied by these spaces. Memories of migrations that make up much of Mumbai's collective memory emerge as key moments in the film. Stories about grand movements across the sub-continent from within and outside India reveal how an exploration of a such a familiar local space can dramatically widen one's canvas in very unexpected ways. Directed by Vikas Sharma, Berson Irani and other students from Wilson College. 2. I SHALL BE RECYCLED AGAIN (Sambhawami Yuge Yuge) 3.5 minutes, Mini-DV, 2003 A tongue-in-cheek take on Comrade Amitabh Bachchan and his mother in folk tales of the city. A playful short film about our tallest pop icon. Directed by Madhushree Dutta Madhusree Dutta, is a filmmaker working on areas related to gender, identity and marginalization. Her films which have been widely screened in festivals around the world are, I Live in Behrampada, Memories of Fear, Kya Apko Pata Hai, Sundari: an actor prepares, Ailo Bailo Sailo, Scribbles on Akka and Made in India. She is the executive director of Majlis, a centre for multi-cultural initiative in India.. 3. PHANTOMS 3.5 minutes, Mini DV, 2003 Moving from a Bombay local to an auction of the filmmaker's personal history, this powerfully insistent video attempts to grasp the manner in which the emotion of hate operates through some biographical instances and to understand its relationship to the politics of hate which we see surrounding us today. Directed by Tushar Joag. Tushar Joag is an artist living and working in Bombay. He studied at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay and M.S.U. Baroda. He has exhibited his work frequently and is a Founder Member of the artists initiative Open Circle Arts Trust, Bombay 4. LIVING WITH THE DEAD 5 minutes, Mini DV, 2001 Gravediggers live on the fringes of society. Like the sweeper who cleans the road every morning, the gravedigger, too, goes unnoticed - invisible to the naked eye. Who are these people who face death everyday for a living? Where do they come from? Are they scared of death? Do they believe in the supernatural?The five-minute film takes a peek into the lives of gravediggers and talks to them about their lives, their work, their beliefs and philosophies. Directed by Madhu Bhatia, Pranjali Bhave,Sandhay a Lal, Richa Pathak, Smita Polite, Rupa Raman, Sadaf Siddique, T Madhavi, Karishma Tandan (Students at the Social Communications Media Course at Sophia Polytechni)c. TABLE II 1. OCCUPATION MILL WORKER 22 mins, Hi-8, 1995 Once Bombay's millworkers were the backbone of its economy. Today as real estate prices soar, "mill-sickness" has become an epidemic. The film documents an attempt by workers to forcibly occupy and restart a closed textile mill after a four year lock-out by management. Directed by: Anand Patwardhan Anand Patwardhan is a pioneering documentary filmmaker living and working in Bombay. His films include, Waves of Revolution, Prisoners of Conscience, A Time to Rise, Bombay- Our City, In the Name of God, Father, Son and Holy War and War and Peace. 2. CRYSTAL 5 min.. mini-DV, 2003 Amidst the bustle of Marine Drive and the glitz of its multlcuisine eateries stands Crystal a little canteen serving North Indian food. In Crystal, you would find a calendar which is outdated, antiquated table fans, an old clock which adorns the wall - long after its hands have stopped moving and old film songs by Suraiya - the proprietor, Mr Khanna's favourite actress. Even the waiters have not changed - some have been serving for more than 30 years! However, it is not only nostalgic clients that dot Crystal's rustic chairs. New regulars continue to grow. The film tries to affectionately capture the essence of this Bombay landmark. Directed by - Class of 2002, Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic. 3. CIRCADIAN CYCLE 5 min., Video, 1995 Taking its name, Circadian Cycles from the repetitive cycles of eating, drinking and sleeping, this film looks at the city as a living being and is a tribute to the multi-cultural, resilient nature of the city and its people. An eavesdropping telephone linesman, conversations between an ad-guru and his client, a stockbroker and investor, two lovers, some friends - the riots of 1092-93, their sadness, the city changing, the city returning to "normal" - Bombay as the filmmaker knows it. This film was made as part of a series of films commissioned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Mid-day group of publications. Directed by - Mahesh Mathai Mahesh Mathai is a well known director of advertisement films and music videos, including the videos for Lucky Ali's music. He has directed the feature film Bhopal Express. 4. I RANU GAYEN 9 min., mini DV, 2002 This is a post-modern yet surreal account of an urban woman, Ranu Gayen, within a crumbling space defined by four walls. An over-sized ugly fish, her favorite petŠin a small bowl Ša phone, keeps her in touch with the outer world. Suddenly the bowl topplesŠleaving the fish gasping for oxygen Šwhen there is no water around except a couple of frozen mineral water bottles! She has to save her fishŠ Directed by - Shyamal Karmakar Shyamal Karmakar is a graduate of the FTII Pune (1987). He is the director, writer and editor of Ranu an award winning Bengali feature, and I, Ranu Gayen and Kimvadantuyan, and Editor of the feature films, Tepantorer Maath, and Raasta as well as the documentaries, This Is My Country, Scribbles on Akka, and Colours Black. He has also been active in the small magazine in West Bengal. From faizan at sarai.net Thu Sep 18 13:35:43 2003 From: faizan at sarai.net (Faizan Ahmed) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 13:35:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] War, Propaganda, Empire - IRAQ ETC. Message-ID: <200309181335.43878.faizan@sarai.net> Hi, Here is another Great Presentation from Mr. P. Sainath, presented at a Public Forum, "Media and the War on Iraq" , organsied by Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives, Hong Kong - and Indians will find many shocking truths which Mr. Sainath has well researched and presented - covering a span of atleast half a century: Best Faizan ========================================================= War, Propaganda, Empire P. SAINATH Presented at a public forum, ‘Media and the War on Iraq’ orgainsed by Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives, Hong Kong My topic really is war propaganda and empire. Before I get into the history of it, I would like to say something. Embedded journalism is a state of the mind. You don’t have to be traveling with an army to be an embedded journalist. Between 1965 and 1975, there were 5,000 American journalists in Saigon, and they still didn’t get the story right. Not one of these unembedded guys managed to tell the true story of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident for about a decade. So ‘embeddedness’ is a state of mind, you can sit right next to your PC in your office in Oklahoma or wherever and be an embedded journalist. I don’t know if the existing media networks or conglomerates would ever allow for instance Al Jazeera to be shown in their countries in the name of free flow. I’d like to see it happen, I‘d like Al Jazeera to be available to all viewers on that continent. When the heck is it going to happen? The word "embedded" in terms of embedded journalism, it’s a fascinating term, we’ll come back to it. But you have in this very country, in Hong Kong in 1975, a lecture made by Barry Zorthian who was the head of JUSPAO, the Joint US Public Affairs Office that ran the Vietnam war propaganda, and he complained that some of the "embedded" journalists of that time were so dumb that they could not take signals when something was going wrong. And Barry Zorthian was pretty disgusted, so he gave up his job at JUSPAO -- where he had an equal ranking with the CIA Station Chief and General Westmoreland in terms of hierarchy in propaganda -- and went back to his old job as Vice-President of Time Magazine. Now my own presentation. 88 years ago, 8,500 Indian troops died in a single battle. In one single battle. That too was in Iraq, and that too took place in the name of regime change. Then too they had to be sacrificed because of the various problems the regime that wanted to do the changing was facing. The battle was the Battle of Kut, it was fought between the end of 1915 and the early part of 1916. The British Empire had taken a pasting in Gallipoli, and the War Office desperately needed some propaganda for back home to explain to mothers why their children had to die in so many millions. Chemical weapons and poison gas were being freely used by the civilized nations on the green fields of France. So the War Office sent an order to the 6th British Indian Army Division to take Baghdad. They were in no position to take Baghdad, they didn’t have a chance in hell of taking Baghdad, but they had to take Baghdad to reduce the propaganda pressure on the War Office at home because they had been defeated at Gallipoli, there was growing demoralization at home, a victory had to be produced. And it was thought that by changing the regime in Baghdad, at that time Mesopotamia… the British were actually fighting the Turks at the time, not the regime in Baghdad, but there was a small hackneyed gang holed up in Baghdad. The Indian army division tried doing what it could not do, it lost 8,000 people in a single battle at Kut. 88 years later, India and Pakistan are both being asked to send troops to support the regime change in Iraq that has taken place already so that we can lose a few thousand more soldiers there. This is the mindset of empire. As long as somebody else’s soldiers are dying, it doesn’t really matter You know, if you listen even to the presentations of the embeds… I don’t think the problem with the war was the logistics, or the costs, or that things were going wrong, or that things were not going the way the military said. The problem with the war was the war! That was the problem, the war itself was immoral, unjustified, had no basis in international law. So the sympathy that builds up looking at the problems of "ordinary folks", "ordinary GI Joes" because he or she was battered at home or whatever, is not looking at the miseries and sufferings inflicted on the Iraqi people. Which was what the war was about. And that’s really one of the problems of embedded journalism, Iraqis are blacked out- even the sorrows and emotions and sadness that we experience are those of good old GI Joe and Jane. It’s too much of a problem for me. But let’s get back to Gallipoli. The defeat in Gallipoli was later painted as a propaganda victory, like Dunkirk. The Indian army and other conscripts from colonies were sacrificed not in their hundreds but in their tens of thousands on the battlefields of Iraq for the next two years, The mind of empire does not end with one war, it does not end with war, it does not end with Iraq. Immediately after the war in 1919, and this is of interest to you considering the propaganda you have been exposed to in this war, Britain systematically, deliberately, explicitly used chemical weapons against the people of Iraq. And now they are looking for WMDs and chemical weapons in Iraq. They probably will find traces of their own stuff! They certainly will find the graves of tens of thousands of people who died from the poison gas they used in Iraq, with the following words from Winston Churchill: "I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilized tribes. The moral effects should be good, and it would spread a lively terror." The difference then as with now is that they were a little more honest about it, they were more open about it, and since the natives were anyway sub-humans, and we all know they are sub-humans, so how the hell does it matter if you use poison gas? Today you take an individual and demonize him so you can take over the rest of the people and show nothing, because your embedded journalists are not in interaction with those people. So nothing very different happens, according to me, in war propaganda, it just happens in different places. But it happens in different eras. When it happens in our era, it happens in an era when the media is more concentrated than ever before, in the hands of half a dozen conglomerates essentially. Therefore the capacity to deceive is far greater than your intent to deceive. I might have the intent to deceive, I might print in a newspaper ‘Little Green Men From Mars Landed Outside My Window Yesterday’, but it doesn’t matter if my newspaper has a circulation of 5 and a print order of 100. But if it happens to be Rupert Murdoch’s son you can cause panic in the streets with that kind of story, because your capacity to deceive is far greater when you’re presiding over an empire, in print alone, of 6 billion words daily, as he does. So what’s changed is that things are unfolding in a very different media environment, at a time of a collapse on restraint of global corporations, at a time of really, really ferocious neoliberal market fundamentalism where everything can be justified on a particular kind of terms. Let’s get back to Iraq. I don’t know how many of you saw one of the first Rumsfeld press conferences, where all journalists sat there and… oh, by the way, I remember Tommy Franks’ press conference, I don’t know if any of you saw this, where the props were a US$250,000 set designed in Hollywood. So even the damn press conference props, from where these guys address the world, are designed in Hollywood, you can get the intent -- you design a Hollywood set to have a press conference on the war, you can tell what the content is going to be. Anyway, here’s what Rumsfeld said at the other press conference, I have this verbatim: "It looks like the bombing of a city, but it isn’t." The bombing has been so precise, he told the embeds and the empty-heads and everybody else, the altitude and angles of bombing, he suggested had been so well calculated as to minimize human damage, loss of human life. This at a time when 2,000 pound and 5,000 pound bombs were falling on people in Baghdad. Now this, as I said, is in itself not a new thing. In 1945, Brigadier General Thomas Farrell -- Deputy Director of the Manhattan Project that had made those two bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- addressing the first international media circus in Tokyo after the bombing of Hiroshima, this General Thomas Farrell said, and I quote verbatim: "The atomic bombs were exploded at a specifically calculated altitude to exclude any possibility of residual radioactivity." They managed to control the altitude, you know, they just shoved a damn bomb out of a plane, but they managed to control the altitude at which it would burst. This was followed up with the great embedded loyalty of that wonderful newspaper the New York Times that reported a few days later in a banner headline: "No radioactivity in the ruins of Hiroshima." A few days later, the United States government felt so emboldened by such embedded loyalty it declared the most fantastic thing of all which has now been hushed up and buried. They actually came out with a statement saying "radioactivity not harmful". Official statement, radioactivity is not harmful. You don’t even have to go so far back, in 1965 in the war against Vietnam that 5,000 journalists couldn’t get it right, Time Magazine August 5 1965 reports the use of gas against Vietnamese civilians and soldiers, poison gas, as "non-lethal gas warfare." Now "warfare" and "non-lethal" are contradictory terms! By the way, it was the great Peter Arnett who first used those words, "non-lethal gas warfare." He was then with the Associated Press. And Time Magazine gave its own take on the use of gas against "uncivilized tribes", as Winston Churchill so honestly put it. Time Magazine said that compared to bombs like napalm-- it didn’t mention that napalm was also a US weapon, it wasn’t being used by the Vietnamese — compared to napalm, these "temporarily disabling gases are positively more humane than horrible." That was Time reporting in 1965 on the use of gas on the "uncivilized tribes" of Vietnam. From Churchill to George Bush, the attitude of empire towards the "uncivilized tribes" has remained essentially unchanged, but a lot of other things have changed. The politics in the world have changed, the structure of propaganda has changed, the ways in which things are done have changed. The language, the debasement of language right through by military structures and empire is fantastic. How easily all of us have accepted into our lexicons the use of words like WMDs, you know, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Little acronyms for various things. ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’, ‘War on Terror’, every one of these is a totally questionable term… Right through the 70s and the 80s, two of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy were information and armaments. And the growing integration between these two sectors, the rapid integration between the sectors of information and armaments, had and has very obvious implications for the content of information that we get, for the kind of media environment that we live in. These huge conglomerates, these little oligarchies, about 6 of them, whether you are taking Time-Warner or Disney… just take Time Warner. Its market value is equal to the combined GDP of say Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and half a dozen other countries. The kind of clout it gives these guys is something enormous and astonishing. And this whole business about "giving the public what it wants" is essentially an attitude of enormous disrespect for the public. It’s not what the public wants, the idea that the public wants something and they are being given it is very misleading. It’s what I want to give the public, which my advertisers want to give the public, which my sponsors want to give the public, and the public, if it has very few choices, will take. That’s why you have a situation, and one thing that the United States media proves comprehensively, is that it is possible to have the world’s largest media and the world’s least informed public. Where else in the world did 55% of the people believe that Saddam was tied to al Qaida, and 42% believe that he was behind the WTC attacks? Because they have no media alternatives. They have the same bunch of gangsters raining propaganda at them in a very, very, blanketing, saturating level, and not much can be done about it. So just as patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, blaming the public for what it wants is a bit of an escape, there are very real forces controlling the media that may not be able to do all that the public does not want, but will do a hell of a lot that the public never asked for. Sure, public attitudes and culture can also be shaped over a period of time, but a lot of public would like a lot of plain information which was not coloured the way it was. In conclusion I think that what you have today is, one, empire plus neoliberalism plus concentration and more concentration of media equals disaster. That’s the first point I’d like to make. Second, there’s something sad and yet worth learning. In war, the hypocrisy of media sometimes stands naked, so we are all ready to condemn and criticize. However, the same media does that and much worse during peace as well. It does so when it covers the WTO, when it covers the disputes over economics, when it covers markets and market fundamentalism and neoliberal ideologies, when it covers so-called "success stories". You know, Mexico is a "success-story" then Mexico is down the drain, then Argentina is a "success story" then you have to look for it with a telescope down the tube. They cover all these the same way, but it doesn’t provoke our indignation in the same way. It’s the same package, it’s the same mindset, the same ideological package. And you’d better get accustomed to the idea, it’s not just that the stumbled on the issue of war. It’s an integrated package… On the issue of alternative media, I was fascinated to hear the example [of Korea], there are two or three others that I am personally aware of I think, by the way, nobody here or anywhere has a right to complain about the mainstream media if you are not subscribing to at least two alternative media experiments. If you don’t subscribe to those and you don’t put your money where your mouth is, don’t whine. I don’t want to hear it. So that’s one thing. The second thing is, however much I might support, and I hope all of you support, alternative media experiments, I am not willing to give up my space in the mainstream media. I think that has got to be liberated from the embedded hierarchies of neocolonialism. And to liberate the media from the embedded structures of the global conglomerates, we need public action. We need to assert that public space has to be respected in the private fora, we need to assert that public interest must prevail over private profit, I think we have to recover the public space that the conglomerates have taken over in the media. If you cannot stop the march of monopoly, you will find it very difficult to liberate yourself from embedded propaganda. There’s one final thing which gives us a lot of hope. The fantastic thing is that the limit of this propaganda was also reached in the Iraq war. The most fantastic thing is that the media have never been more concentrated that they were in this war, they have never been more powerful than they were at this time. And yet, there was a divergence between what they said and what 85% of the world’s public believed and marched for. Governments and media were on one side, the public were on the other. The Indian government did its best to bootlick the Americans on sending troops to Iraq, but couldn’t do it because of the opposition of the Indian public, despite major newspapers like the Times of India writing editorials saying "get ready to go and take care of Baghdad." They couldn’t do it because of public opposition despite the media’s position. In Spain, New Europe, the government supported the American war on Iraq, 85% of the Spanish people opposed it. So this divergence: I think it opens up a window, it allows us to explore what are the possibilities for breaking this monopoly over the mind. And I think that has come not from mindless herds that want something so Murdoch gives it to them. Have respect for the ordinary people of the world, they showed you that they are not willing to buy into this propaganda. That opens up a space, that opens up hope. You do not adjust to empire, you end it ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy quality ink cartridges & refill kit. Remanufactured & Refills for: HP $8-20, Epson $3-9, Canon $5-15. FREE shipping over $50 (US & Canada). http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=6347 http://us.click.yahoo.com/lB7L3D/k5uGAA/qnsNAA/sUXolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> When posting a message please include the Subject heading and your full name, highest degree from Aligarh, year of graduation, and present location. Messages without this information will not be approved and no further reminders will be sent. Visit us at: http://www.aligs.org Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------------------------------------- From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 14:36:42 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:06:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Zebunnisa's tear Message-ID: <20030918090642.1623.qmail@web20903.mail.yahoo.com> here is a gem.. from a woman all but fogotten..bearing lessons more powerful than words.. ---- Subject: Zebunnisa's tear She was the progressive Sufi daughter of the conservative Aurangzeb.. Zeb-un-Nissa studied not only Arabic but also Persian, mathematics, and astronomy, under the chief scholars of the realm. She was closer to her Sufi aunt Jahanara, who dispapproved of her father.. and wrote some exquisite verse..in Persian..She is the reminder of a time when Indian women were accopmlsihed in the arts and sciences and lived relatively independent lives, regradless of the intrigues at court..Zeb was unfortunate enough to be born at the the coutrt of the most conservative Mughal ruler..she retains her indepedence regardless of it all.. When Zeb-un-Nissa was 21 years old, her father seized the throne from his father, Shah Jahan. Zeb-un-Nissa never married, although some tradition gives her an unwanted engagement and various love affairs. She had her own court, to which scholars and poets came; at least some of her own poetry---in Persian and in Arabic---appears to be from this earlier period of her life. She established a library and had classical Arabic and Sanskrit texts translated into Persian. She also built numerous astronomical observatories, schools and sarais. Aurangzeb was a conservative Sunni and, once in power, became increasingly severe in his requirements for the observance of his interprattions of Islamic law. However, his eldest sister Jahanra was a Sufi, a Moslem who gave less emphasis to religious ritual and more to a personal devotion to Allah. Perhaps through the influence of her aunt, Zeb-un-Nissa eventually also chose the path of devotion. The Sufis held only a marginal place in Aurangzeb's society, but unless they allied themselves with Aurangzeb's opponents, they were tolerated. Her poetry, written under the pen-name "Makhfi" ("the hidden one") circulated among her contemporaries; 22 years after her death over 400 poems were collected and published in Persian as the Diwan-i-Makhfi. Most of the poems are ghazals, the poetic form used to declare human love. there are many legends about how aurganzeb tried to stop her poetry and astronomy.. but to no avail.. "I bow before the image of my Love," -------------------------------------------- [Here love rejects both Moslem and Hindu convention:] No Muslim I, But an idolater, I bow before the image of my Love, And worship Her. No Brahman I, My sacred thread I cast away, for round my neck I wear Her plaited hair instead. [p.22] ---- Zubeunnisa's tear Aurangzeb grew weary of her fame and renown through the land and decided to teach her a lesson. He invited Nasser ALi, a handsome Persian noble to his court a contest with his daughter. Ali was one of the most Arden suitors of Zebunnisa..and one of the best poets in the land. but he decided to take the challenge.( he was later brutally murdered at Auranngzeb�s behest due to his love for Zeb) The challenge was that Ali would recite the first misra/line of a sher.. and Zeb would have to complete it within three days.. if she failed she would have to renounce her poetry forever. Aurangzeb had instructed Ali to compose such a difficult sher that no one in the kingdom could complete it. Ali went ahead and composed the follwing sher: Durre ablaq kase kam deeda maujud Rare it is to find a black and white pearl.. When Zeb heard this she was distressed.. no one seemed to able to help her .. indeed ..where would one find a black and white pearl, let alone compose a sher on it.. She felt humiliated and crushed.. a poet as accomplished as her not being able to complete one sher.. At the end of three days.. and still no sher..She preferred to die than give up her poetry, so she prepared for her last moments by calling her best friend. a beautiful kaneez girl (some sources say she a Hindu girl she was in love with) to her quarters. As Zeb prepared to eat her own diamond ring, her beautiful friend clung to her and wept profuse tears of distress.. As she was wept, Zeb began to smile..and clasped to her breast and said.. Weep no more, dear one.. for I have found the second misra of the sher. She summoned Aurangzeb immediately to her palace.. he came rushing, expecting to see a defeated and forlorn Zeb . I have your sher Majesty, she said: and recited recited Durre ablaq kase kam deeda maujud Rare it is to find a black and white pearl.. and then.. Bajus ashqe butane surma aabud Except the surma mingled tear of a beauty Needless to say, she never gave up her poetry.. --- Zeb's mirror Zebunnissa was the daughter of the Moghul Emperor Aurangazeb. She was not only beautiful and charming but a great scholar and a poetess. She was an ardent lover of Indian Culture. Once, Aurangazeb gave her a beautiful mirror as a birthday gift. Zebunnissa loved the mirror very much. One day her maid was holding the mirror to her while Zebunnissa was combing her hair after her bath. The mirror just slipped from the hand of the maid and broke into pieces. The maid was mortally afraid. She knew that the mirror was a precious gift, given to the princess and how much she loved the mirror. The maid was prepared to accept any punishment her princess may give her. She fell at her feet. But the princess very calmly said with a smile. "Get up. I am glad the instrument of flattery is broken. Why worry over the broken mirror? Even this body to which all these articles cater is liable to damage and destruction". Is this not a lesson in detachment? Source: Chinna Katha II, 208 http://www.tl.infi.net/~ddisse/zebunn.html#anchor148244 Many of Zeb-un-Nissa's poems are clearly expressions of her Sufi belief, expressing personal praise of and devotion to Allah. With others it is difficult to tell whether the love described is human or divine or a mixture of both. Only a fraction of her poetry has yet been translated into English, but what we have reveals her vision of love---of whatever kind. d) "When from my cheek," adaptated Sarojini Naidu to Zeb-un-nissa's lines THE SONG OF PRINCESS ZEB-UN-NISSA IN PRAISE OF HER OWN BEAUTY (From the Persian) WHEN from my cheek I lift my veil, The roses turn with envy pale, And from their pierced hearts, rich with pain, Send forth their fragrance like a wail. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=NaiGold.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=26&division=div2 ---- Today's Beautiful Gem: `Things of Love' by Zeb-un-Nissa Makhfi (1638-1702), translated by Willis Barnstone. "Though I am Laila of Persian romance, my heart loves like ferocious Majnun. I want to go to the desert but modesty is chains on my feet. A nightingale came to the flower garden because she was my pupil. I am an expert in things of love. Even the moth is my disciple!" NOte from transaltor: one has two close relatives as poets in the immediate family, one would consider himself very fortunate and even blessed. But, not so in the case of Emperor Aurangazeb! He branded his brother Dara Shikoh as a heretic and got him executed. He did not approve of his daughter Zeb-un-Nissa's love towards a court noble and got him too executed. As for Zeb-un-Nissa, he didn't kill her, but he imprisoned her. She was a talented poet among the women of her time and wrote lyrical songs and ghazals. ---- She had a gargen at Lahore. She had great love for Lahore. Addressing the waterfall in the Shalimar Garden she sang: �O waterfall why are you lamenting, And what grief wrinkles your face? What was your pain, that all through the night You were striking your head on the rocks and crying?� Some of her poems have been rendered into English and published in the �Wisdom of the East� series. The editors also tell that Zeb-un-Nissa died in 1689 at Lahore and was buried at Nawankot, Lahore. Jadu Nath Sarkar has shown that Zeb-un-Nissa died at Delhi on 26th May 1702 and was buried in the garden of �Thirty Thousand Trees� outside the Kabuli gate. When the railway line was laid out at Delhi her tomb was demolished, and the cofflin and the inscribed tombstone were shifted to Akbar�s mausoleum at Sikandara, Agra. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Sep 18 10:35:38 2003 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 10:35:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Censorship from an (Un)usual Quarter Message-ID: <200309181035.38703.jeebesh@sarai.net> A posting in continuation of the freedom of speech thread...j http://news.indiainfo.com/2003/07/21/21simi.html SIMI activists get 5 yrs under POTA, 7 for sedition Monday, July 21 2003 21:24 Hrs (IST) New Delhi: Two Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists, including a US national, were on July 21 sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for sedition and five years imprisonment under Prevention of terrorism Act (POTA) for being members of the banned outfit. Designated judge S N Dhingra also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on Mohammad Yasin Patel alias Falahi, a US national of Indian descent, and Mohammad Ashraf Jaffery, observing that they deserved no leniency in view of their actions "aimed at destroying Indian nationalism". As the court pronounced the sentence, an unrepentant Patel told the judge, "This will strengthen our mission." The duo was arrested by the Delhi police special cell from Jamia Nagar area in South Delhi on May 27, 2002 while they were pasting provocative posters on the wall of Jamia Millia Islamia University library. The posters proclaimed "destroy nationalism, establish Khilafat". Police had also recovered 35 such posters from their possession. They, police claimed, wanted to take up the cause after the attack on Muslims in Gujarat. The Union Home Ministry by an order dated September 27, 2001 declared SIMI an unlawful organisation and banned it under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967. PTI From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 17:07:43 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 04:37:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Zebunnisa's tear In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030919113743.18065.qmail@web20912.mail.yahoo.com> are you saying that the naqshbandis were antagonistic to the qadaris( dara's silsila) to the poitn of taking their lives..? and also.. are u implicating the naqshabandis in communal conflict.. whatever one has read of aurangzeb, he was extrmelt criticla ofthe sufis..including sarmad You are qouting well known Sangh historian David Frawley, known as the saffron angrez..who has spent a fortune and a large amount of his life working with the RSS and Murli Manohar Joshi to implicate the Sufis. incidentallym, the first hit for searching naqshbandis and aurangzeb is dr. fraudley ..( as he is popularly known as).. read Gita Hariharans briallint book In Times fo Siege on the same her is qoute on one more conservative naqshbandi of the time People of note in Delhi 1701 - 1800 Shah Wali Ullah 1703 � 1762 � lived in Delhi. Sufi of Naqshbandi order. Aim to check the spiritual and political decline of Islam in India. "Translated the Quran into Persian, wrote Quranic commentaries and works on theology and jurisprudence. Attempted to show that Sufism was in accord with Islam. No influence in his own time but became important source of Islamic social and political thought in 19th and 20th centuries in India and Pakistan." The conservative Shaikh Ahmad Sirdhindi regarded the Sufis as more dangerous than the ulama and sought to disprove the very foundation of SUfism and tasaawuf as mere illusion.. Therefore, Shaikh Ahmad set himself to disprove the philosophy of Ibn Arabi and put forward the contention that the mystic experience of the unity of God and the world is an illusion. He affirmed the existence of the world as a separate entity which is the shadow of a Real Being. This philosophy was directed against the pantheistic ideas of the Sufis, which were influenced by Ibn Arabi and oter Sufis.. Ref: Kenneth W. Morgan is Professor of history and comparative religions at Colgate University. Published by The Ronald Press Company, New York 1958. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. so he really wasnt a Sufi..? why are you balimg the sufis for someone who was against them.. aurangzeb can hardly be called a scholar.. his treatment of his own children, let alone dara does not find sacntion with any Ulema or Sufi..howevr conseravtive.. aurangzeb is god's gift to the sangh parivar..:) as the sangh will be to future generations which want to demean 'hinduism'.. the tragedy/ game goes on.. links on proving how bad bad all thse sufis were.. frankly my dears, they dont give a damn about poor dara shikoh --- Sukhbir Garewal wrote: --------------------------------- It is not just a matter of historical trivia that Aurangzeb himself was deeply beholden to and, indeed, influenced by the (Indian) Naqshbandi silsila of Sufism. In fact, his adherence to this order of Sufism created not a little problem for others including Dara Shikoh. >From: "Lehar .." >To: reader-list at sarai.net >CC: Ishtiaq.Ahmed at statsvet.su.se >Subject: [Reader-list] Zebunnisa's tear >Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:06:42 -0700 (PDT) > >here is a gem.. from a woman all but fogotten..bearing >lessons more powerful than words.. > >---- >Subject: Zebunnisa's tear > >She was the progressive Sufi daughter of the >conservative Aurangzeb.. >Zeb-un-Nissa studied not only Arabic but also Persian, >mathematics, and >astronomy, under the chief scholars of the realm. She >was closer to her Sufi >aunt Jahanara, who dispapproved of her father.. >and wrote some exquisite verse..in Persian..She is the >reminder of a time >when Indian women were accopmlsihed in the arts and >sciences and lived >relatively independent lives, regradless of the >intrigues at court..Zeb was >unfortunate enough to be born at the the coutrt of the >most conservative >Mughal ruler..she retains her indepedence regardless >of it all.. > >When Zeb-un-Nissa was 21 years old, her father seized >the throne from his >father, Shah Jahan. Zeb-un-Nissa never married, >although some tradition >gives her an unwanted engagement and various love >affairs. She had her own >court, to which scholars and poets came; at least some >of her own >poetry---in Persian and in Arabic---appears to be from >this earlier period >of her life. She established a library and had >classical Arabic and Sanskrit >texts translated into Persian. She also built numerous >astronomical >observatories, schools and sarais. > >Aurangzeb was a conservative Sunni and, once in power, >became increasingly >severe in his requirements for the observance of his >interprattions of >Islamic law. However, his eldest sister Jahanra was a >Sufi, a Moslem who >gave less emphasis to religious ritual and more to a >personal devotion to >Allah. Perhaps through the influence of her aunt, >Zeb-un-Nissa eventually >also chose the path of devotion. The Sufis held only a >marginal place in >Aurangzeb's society, but unless they allied themselves >with Aurangzeb's >opponents, they were tolerated. >Her poetry, written under the pen-name "Makhfi" ("the >hidden one") >circulated among her contemporaries; 22 years after >her death over 400 poems >were collected and published in Persian as the >Diwan-i-Makhfi. Most of the >poems are ghazals, the poetic form used to declare >human love. > >there are many legends about how aurganzeb tried to >stop her poetry and >astronomy.. but to no avail.. > >"I bow before the image of my Love," >-------------------------------------------- > >[Here love rejects both Moslem and Hindu convention:] > >No Muslim I, >But an idolater, >I bow before the image of my Love, >And worship Her. > >No Brahman I, >My sacred thread >I cast away, for round my neck I wear >Her plaited hair instead. [p.22] > >---- >Zubeunnisa's tear >Aurangzeb grew weary of her fame and renown through >the land and decided to >teach her a lesson. >He invited Nasser ALi, a handsome Persian noble to his >court a contest with >his daughter. Ali was one of the most Arden suitors of >Zebunnisa..and one of >the best poets in the land. but he decided to take the >challenge.( he was >later brutally murdered at Auranngzeb�s behest due to >his love for Zeb) >The challenge was that Ali would recite the first >misra/line of a sher.. and >Zeb would have to complete it within three days.. if >she failed she would >have to renounce her poetry forever. >Aurangzeb had instructed Ali to compose such a >difficult sher that no one in >the kingdom could complete it. Ali went ahead and >composed the follwing >sher: > >Durre ablaq kase kam deeda maujud >Rare it is to find a black and white pearl.. > >When Zeb heard this she was distressed.. no one seemed >to able to help her >.. indeed ..where would one find a black and white >pearl, let alone compose >a sher on it.. >She felt humiliated and crushed.. a poet as >accomplished as her not being >able to complete one sher.. >At the end of three days.. and still no sher..She >preferred to die than give >up her poetry, so she prepared for her last moments by >calling her best >friend. a beautiful kaneez girl (some sources say she >a Hindu girl she was >in love with) to her quarters. >As Zeb prepared to eat her own diamond ring, her >beautiful friend clung to >her and wept profuse tears of distress.. >As she was wept, Zeb began to smile..and clasped to >her breast and said.. >Weep no more, dear one.. for I have found the second >misra of the sher. >She summoned Aurangzeb immediately to her palace.. he >came rushing, >expecting to see a defeated and forlorn Zeb . >I have your sher Majesty, she said: and recited >recited >Durre ablaq kase kam deeda maujud >Rare it is to find a black and white pearl.. >and then.. >Bajus ashqe butane surma aabud >Except the surma mingled tear of a beauty > >Needless to say, she never gave up her poetry.. > >--- >Zeb's mirror > >Zebunnissa was the daughter of the Moghul Emperor >Aurangazeb. She was not >only beautiful and charming but a great scholar and a >poetess. She was an >ardent lover of Indian Culture. > >Once, Aurangazeb gave her a beautiful mirror as a >birthday gift. Zebunnissa >loved the mirror very much. One day her maid was >holding the mirror to her >while Zebunnissa was combing her hair after her bath. >The mirror just >slipped from the hand of the maid and broke into >pieces. The maid was >mortally afraid. She knew that the mirror was a >precious gift, given to the >princess and how much she loved the mirror. The maid >was prepared to accept >any punishment her princess may give her. She fell at >her feet. But the >princess very calmly said with a smile. "Get up. I am >glad the instrument of >flattery is broken. Why worry over the broken mirror? >Even this body to >which all these articles cater is liable to damage and >destruction". Is this >not a lesson in detachment? > >Source: Chinna Katha II, 208 > >http://www.tl.infi.net/~ddisse/zebunn.html#anchor148244 > >Many of Zeb-un-Nissa's poems are clearly expressions >of her Sufi belief, >expressing personal praise of and devotion to Allah. >With others it is >difficult to tell whether the love described is human >or divine or a mixture >of both. Only a fraction of her poetry has yet been >translated into English, >but what we have reveals her vision of love---of >whatever kind. > >d) "When from my cheek," adaptated Sarojini Naidu to >Zeb-un-nissa's lines >THE SONG OF PRINCESS ZEB-UN-NISSA IN PRAISE OF HER OWN >BEAUTY >(From the Persian) > >WHEN from my cheek I lift my veil, >The roses turn with envy pale, >And from their pierced hearts, rich with pain, >Send forth their fragrance like a wail. > >http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=NaiGold.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=26&division=div2 > >---- >Today's Beautiful Gem: `Things of Love' by >Zeb-un-Nissa Makhfi (1638-1702), >translated by Willis Barnstone. > >"Though I am Laila of Persian romance, >my heart loves like ferocious Majnun. >I want to go to the desert >but modesty is chains on my feet. >A nightingale came to the flower garden >because she was my pupil. >I am an expert in things of love. >Even the moth is my disciple!" > > >NOte from transaltor: >one has two close relatives as poets in the immediate >family, >one would consider himself very fortunate and even >blessed. But, >not so in the case of Emperor Aurangazeb! He branded >his brother >Dara Shikoh as a heretic and got him executed. He did >not approve >of his daughter Zeb-un-Nissa's love towards a court >noble and got >him too executed. As for Zeb-un-Nissa, he didn't kill >her, but he >imprisoned her. She was a talented poet among the >women of her >time and wrote lyrical songs and ghazals. > > >---- >She had a gargen at Lahore. She had great love for >Lahore. Addressing the >waterfall in the Shalimar Garden she sang: > >�O waterfall why are you lamenting, > > And what grief wrinkles your face? > > What was your pain, that all through the >night > > You were striking your head on the rocks >and crying?� > > > >Some of her poems have been rendered into English and >published in the >�Wisdom of the East� series. The editors also tell >that Zeb-un-Nissa died >in 1689 at Lahore and was buried at Nawankot, Lahore. >Jadu Nath Sarkar has >shown that Zeb-un-Nissa died at Delhi on 26th May 1702 >and was buried in the >garden of �Thirty Thousand Trees� outside the Kabuli >gate. When the railway >line was laid out at Delhi her tomb was demolished, >and the cofflin and the >inscribed tombstone were shifted to Akbar�s mausoleum >at Sikandara, Agra. > > > > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software >http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: --------------------------------- A chance to meet Aishwarya Rai. Win lucky prizes. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From aiindex at mnet.fr Sat Sep 20 04:52:56 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 00:22:56 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Update on Indian film makers campaign against censorship Message-ID: [Posted below is the latest news re the Indian film makers campaign to protest censorship at the upcoming Bombay film festival....xxx H.] CAMPAIGN AGAINST CENSORSHIP AT MIFF 19/09/03 Dear Friends, Most of you would have seen the newspaper reports today about the Minister's comments on the withdrawal of the Censorship requirements at MIFF2004. This is really good news. No formal letter or notification has of course been issued, neither by the Ministry, or Films Division, and there is some reason therefore to be cautious in accepting the newspaper reports as the final word on the issue. We have sent a letter to the Ministry stating that for the Campaign Against Censorship to any take any further decision on the boycott call we would need a formal communication from them. We will keep you posted as and when a formal letter or notice is issued. Until then celebrate, but with scepticism! Meanwhile our list of signatories has increased to over 200 and the Campaign has been getting several letters of solidarity from the international film community as well. The press coverage all over India has also been extensive. We will shortly be sending out to everyone a digest with a compilation of some of the letters of support. In solidarity, Amar Kanwar, Pankaj Butalia, Rahul Roy, Saba Dewan, Sameera Jain, Sanjay Kak "MIFF CAMPAIGN" o o o o [For those who havent seen the press coverage on the Ministers comments re withdrawal of censorship from MIFF. Here goes: ] http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=31831 The Indian Express, September 19, 2003 Prasad says no censor for docus Express News Service New Delhi, September 18: Faced with the prospect of 175 leading documentary filmmakers boycotting the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2004, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that there will no censorship of films. As reported in The Indian Express, 175 documentary filmmakers had come together to campaign against censorship at MIFF 2004 for introducing a clause which requires Indian documentaries entering the festival to be censored. However, the foreign films entering the festival did not have to go through the censorship. After giving notice to Films Division and the Ministry over a month ago, the campaign gathered steam forcing the Government to revise its rules. Prasad said, the filmmakers will be given time to send in their entries to participate in the festival. ''Indian documentary filmmakers should not be disadvantaged in any manner and I have directed officials to find another alternative to obtaining certification from the Censor Board,'' Prasad said. The filmmakers had argued that film festivals are arenas of uninhibited and creative expression. No international festival of repute censors films. It is strange that MIFF 2004 now wants to do this while it managed seven previous editions of MIFF without this regulation, they argued. o o o The Times of India, September 19, 2003 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com:80/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=189174 Docu-makers are MIFFed no more TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 11:36:46 PM ] NEW DELHI: The controversy over the boycott of the eighth Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) announced by Indian documentary filmmakers ended on Thursday with information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announcing that their entries would not be subjected to any form of pre-censorship. The minister told reporters that he had decided on this since there were "apprehensions" and that he did not want the Indian competitors to be at a disadvantage in an international event. With this announcement, what was widely perceived as a fallout of the Gujarat riots of last year has been set at rest. From eye at ranadasgupta.com Sat Sep 20 05:16:21 2003 From: eye at ranadasgupta.com (Rana Dasgupta) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 05:16:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] US imitates Israel's computer war games Message-ID: Article about how the knowledge that Israel has built up during its occupation of Palestinian territories is being shared with other would-be occupiers - such as the US. R U.S. May Study Israel Occupation Tactics Thu Sep 18, 6:00 PM ET By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, Associated Press Writer JERUSALEM - In an apparent search for pointers on how to police a hostile population, the U.S. military that's trying to bring security to Iraq is showing interest in Israeli software instructing soldiers on how to behave in the West Bank and Gaza, an Israeli military official said Thursday. Using animated graphics and clips from movies like "Apocalypse Now," the software outlines a "code of conduct" for avoiding abuse of civilians while manning roadblocks, searching homes and conducting other activities, said Lt. Col. Amos Guiora, head of the School of Military Law. Israeli troops have frequently faced criticism from Palestinian and human rights groups. Two weeks ago, Amnesty International said in a report that Israeli military checkpoints and curfews violate Palestinians' human rights. U.S. soldiers have also faced criticism in Iraq, where they have been accused of using excessive force. In a reflection of tensions in Iraq, guerrillas ambushed two U.S. military convoys Thursday, wounding two soldiers. And a nervous American patrol shot at a wedding party late Wednesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding six other people after mistaking celebratory gunfire for an attack, witnesses said. Guiora told The Associated Press that U.S. military officials had recently seen the software, which was developed this year, and expressed interest. As a result, he said, the military is now working on an English version for them. A U.S. official with the Embassy in Tel Aviv would say only that American officers have seen the Israeli software and considered it useful. Guiora said the software was developed after military lawyers found themselves giving dry lectures to disinterested audiences of troops. "There are complicated issues. The fact that this (software) is so user-friendly, that it has the movie clips, the sounds, the animation — we felt this was the best way," he said. Israel's military has set up dozens of roadblocks in the West Bank and Gaza to keep suicide bombers out of Israel. But Palestinians say the travel restrictions unfairly make life a misery for millions. In some cases, sick Palestinians heading to hospitals have died at roadblocks. Human rights groups have also accused troops of using excessive force and said soldiers are often confused about the rules-of-engagement. The "code of conduct" includes principles such as not shooting at anyone who is surrendering, showing respect for religious and cultural artifacts and providing medical care to anyone injured — conditions permitting. Guiora said the software, which is currently being distributed to junior commanders in military, also includes scenarios often encountered by troops. In one, he said, two soldiers drive up to a pile of rocks blocking the road and are told it may be mined. What to do — call mine-clearing experts, remove the rocks themselves, or get some Palestinians to do it? Anyone choosing the last option is disabused by the program. From sugrewal at hotmail.com Sat Sep 20 08:41:45 2003 From: sugrewal at hotmail.com (Sukhbir Garewal) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 03:11:45 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Zebunnisa's tear Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030920/85b801a0/attachment.html From rafael at csi.com Sun Sep 21 00:05:42 2003 From: rafael at csi.com (Rafael Lozano-Hemmer) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 14:35:42 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] cfp: Life 6.0 awards Message-ID: LIFE 6.0 International Competition - Call for Participation Announcing the fifth edition of the competition on "art and artificial life" sponsored by the Telefonica Foundation in Madrid. We are looking for outstanding electronic art projects employing techniques such as digital genetics, autonomous robotics, recursive chaotic algorithms, knowbots, computer viruses, embodied artificial intelligence, avatars, evolving behaviours and virtual ecosystems. An international jury --Daniel Canogar, Chris Csikszentmihalyi, Machiko Kusahara, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Jane Prophet and Nell Tenhaaf-- will grant four cash awards totaling 20,000 Euros. The competition's website at http://www.vidalife.org has the guidelines, application form, and information on the previous award-winners, including texts, videos, images and links. Deadline: Friday, October 31, 2003. For further information, please visit http://www.vidalife.org For questions concerning eligibility of entries: Nell Tenhaaf, Artistic Director From aiindex at mnet.fr Sun Sep 21 07:42:46 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 03:12:46 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Wide Angle Transcript : Arundhati Roy discusses discusses India's dams Message-ID: Wide Angle on PBS Programme Transcript for 'The Dammed', broadcast on September 18, 2003 Arundhati Roy discusses the Sardar Sarovar dam with host Mishal Husain. Mishal Husain: Arundhati Roy, welcome to WIDE ANGLE. Arundhati Roy: Thank you. Mishal Husain: Now you've come to be very much identified with the issues that we've seen in the film. Why was it that you chose to get involved? Arundhati Roy: Because I think that the story of the Narmada Valley is the story of modern India -- and not just modern India, but the story of the powerful against the powerless and the whole world, really. And it isn't a story that works itself into the conventional divisions of the left and the right and the working class and the bourgeoisie and so on. It's a story that somehow is so complex that it involves the river, the ecology, the caste system in India, the class system, too. [ItÕs] sort of a peg, or a keyhole, to use to open a very big lock, you know? I thought this was that story. And in 1999, when the Supreme Court lifted its stay on the construction of the dam after six and a half years, that decision was what pushed me into the valley. Because suddenly it appeared that this fight that we thought had been won -- the Bank had been pushed out, [which was] unprecedented in the history of the bank, and the six year stay given by the Supreme Court seemed to point in the direction of a victory -- and, suddenly, it was all reversed. Mishal Husain: The history of dams in India is a very long one. I mean, this is a well-established way that India's pursued development. Arundhati Roy: Absolutely. Dams are the temples of secular India and almost worshipped. I keep saying they are huge, wet cement flags that wave in our minds. They're the symbol of nationalism to many. And if there were an Olympics in dams, India would have a bronze. It's the third largest dam builder in the world; and perhaps the most committed because we have built 3,300 dams in the 50 years after independence. And today another 650 [are] under construction. Forty percent of all the big dams being built in the world are being built in India. And so there's this, until recently, unshaken faith in these completely obsolete things. But hopefully, the faith has been shaken a little. I don't know. Mishal Husain: But they've been a source of pride for successive Indian governments-- a symbol of achievement? Arundhati Roy: Well, certainly it started off that way. I think it would be unfair to say that in the late '40s and '50s, when Nehru was the champion of big dams, that it was a cynical enterprise because they really believed that these were going to be the solution to the famines and hunger in India. But the point is that 50 years down the line, they have proved otherwise. We have 3,300 big dams, but the drought prone and flood prone areas in the country have actually increased. And from being a dream, they've become a very cynical corrupt enterprise; a way of letting governments lay their hands on huge sums of money; a way of centralizing resources; a way of snatching rivers away from the poor and giving them to the rich. And so in a sense they've become monuments to corruption. Mishal Husain: But, obviously, there have been benefits because successive governments don't build over 3,000 dams unless at least some of the benefits are tangible. Arundhati Roy: You can argue that about anything. Colonialism didn't have benefits. Surely, it did. The issue is not that they don't have benefits. The issue is: who does it benefit and how sustainable are those benefits? And you see when a dam is built, forgetting about the issue of displacement, even ecologically, it takes many years for the destruction to set in. So in a place like Punjab, which was the cradle of the Green Revolution and really the heart, the rice bowl of India, today all those lands are getting waterlogged, salinized. They don't know what to do with the salt water. And that destruction, once it sets in, can't be reversed. Mishal Husain: Let's just talk for a moment about the area that we saw in the film, the Narmada Valley, an area you now know quite well. Describe to us what it's like from your perspective. Arundhati Roy: You mean aesthetically? Well, I guess, if you go soon after the monsoon, it's beautiful. It's like Scotland... misty and green and lush and idyllic in some way. And in the plains, perhaps the richest soil in Asia, where every kind of crop can grow. And so when you're there, you keep thinking the ideal had all been flooded, and you keep thinking of all that under water: all that life, all that culture, uninterrupted civilizations from, I don't know, the Paleolithic Age or something. All those temples, everything just gone, and for what? The argument is always posited as though you can either have irrigation and electricity because of dams or you can go back to the Stone Age, whereas that isn't what the NBA is saying. [They are] simply saying that there are better, more efficient, more sustainable ways of irrigation and producing electricity than these big dams. Mishal Husain: But what would you say to the argument that everyone has to start somewhere and the government is trying to do something pro-actively to meet these really pressing needs that India has? I mean, water is such a precious resource and India's demand for it is going to double in the next 20 years or so. Arundhati Roy: Precisely. And that's why the dams are the wrong thing. Just take the case of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. You know, of course it's been projected as the solution to the problem of Gujarat drought regions of Kutch and Sarashtra. If you actually look at the government's own plans, it's going to irrigate 1.6 percent of Kutch's agricultural land and 9 percent of Sarastra. The rest of it is going to already water rich areas where the big farmers grow sugar and so on. And what it has done over the years? This huge project? It has soaked up almost Gujarat's entire irrigation budget. And with that amount of money, using more local water harvesting schemes, you could have brought water to every single drought prone village in Gujarat. Mishal Husain: Do you think exactly the same potential benefits could have been met in other ways? Arundhati Roy: Not exactly the same. Ten times more. And the question is never asked about why are those areas drought prone? Why are they becoming increasingly more drought prone? Because of this completely random exploitation of ground water or because of the destruction of the mangrove forest as an ingress of salt water from the sea. There's no question asked about why environmentally destructive projects have been allowed to proceed. And you take the case of Gujarat. I think it has the second largest number of big dams in India, and still it's drought prone. Mishal Husain: Why then would the Indian government spend all of this money? After all, India is bearing the entire cost of this huge project alone after international donors pulled out. Why would it spend all this money if the benefits are as questionable as you say they are? Arundhati Roy: Because for one, a potential dam is more important politically than an actual dam. So when the Sardar Sarovar is coming up, in the election campaigns in Gujarat --of course until this Hindu fundamentalism became the chief issue -- the benefits of this dam are trumpeted. It's complete propaganda. But theyÕre told, it can serve you breakfast in bed, it will solve your daughter's wedding. The campaign makes it sound like some magical thing. Eventually when the dam is built, as the Bargi Dam was built, the benefits are never what they say they are. So a lot of it has to do with propaganda and people's unquestioning belief in big dams, which have never been questioned before. Why are they so terrified of the argument? They don't let it be made. The World Commission of Dams was threatened with arrest when it was going into Gujarat because they don't want to question it. They don't want to say maybe there's a different way of doing it. Mishal Husain: But these are tried and tested. I mean, for instance, the United States is water sufficient largely because of some dams over the years. The Hoover Dam is the most notable example. I mean, these are tried and tested ways that countries have become sufficient in water. This particular project might be flawed, but are you against the principle of dams, per se? Arundhati Roy: Yes, I am, actually, after much thought. And in America, if you ask Bruce Babbitt, they're blowing up big dams. They're decommissioning them. In California, there are huge problems because of dams. I'm against big dams, per se, because I think that they are economically unfeasible. They're ecologically unsustainable. And they're hugely undemocratic. And even if you look at America and look at India, they're two very different kinds of countries, you know? Of course when they built big dams in America, they dunked the American Indian into reservoirs. In India, you're talking about a kind of model of development that has displaced between 35 and 50 million people. On what basis can it be justified? WeÕre been talking about what big dams have done for India. In fact, there's not a single study done by the government that says that big dams are the reason that India is now food self-sufficient. Mishal Husain: No, but the government and-- there are other analyses that have been produced -- is that this particular dam will displace about 250,000 people. Now obviously that's a huge number, but the potential benefits will reach 40 million. Somewhere that arithmetic also works. Arundhati Roy: It doesn't, does it? I mean, isn't that a flawed argument when, firstly, the number of people it's going to displace is 400,000 because there's a very clever way in which they decide who is officially counted as project affected and who is not. And then if you posit the fact that it's going to benefit 40 million, first of all, if you read the essay I've written, you'll see how arbitrary that figure has been arrived at --A. B -- who are those 40 million people? It's absolutely untrue that this is going to be the case. But secondly, the assumption is that either you displace these 400,000 people and you bring water to 40 million or nothing. But what we're saying is that there are more sustainable ways of bringing water to those 40 million people. Mishal Husain: How would you do it? How would you meet India's water needs? Arundhati Roy: If you go to Gujarat today, you'll see that in Gujarat, there are villages who now know that this rhetoric about the Sardar Sarovar and Narmada water's coming is simply untrue. And you see the fantastic ways in which local water harvesting schemes have really been producing two and three crops a year in areas which we've been told are drought prone. Mishal Husain: Can that really keep up with the projected increased demands? There's the fact that the demand for water is going to double in India in 20 years. Arundhati Roy: Well, today India produces, I think, 50 times more electricity than it did in 1947. So this is marked as a symbol of progress. But 65 percent of rural households don't have electricity. So by saying that the demand is going to double, so therefore we need to produce more and more electricity, or because the demand for water is going to double, we need to build more and more big dams -- doesn't address the issue of how do you use properly the projects that have already been done. How do you minimize transmission and distribution? How do you conserve the kinds of uses of water that you already have? None of this is being addressed. And often, you have one reason to justify these projects and then the benefits go to somebody else altogether, either the sugar farmers or to the big cities. Whereas when you actually make the projection for why you need this project, the reasons you give are something else altogether. Mishal Husain: One of the things we saw in the film were some of the drought stricken villages in Gujarat which are completely dependent on water arriving by tanker, which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. Now wouldn't life in those villages be transformed by even a limited water supply from a project like Narmada? In Kutch, when some of the water from the Narmada Valley started to rise, people were celebrating. Arundhati Roy: They were celebrating. And the point is that if you look at that particular thing, people ask me, "So, you said the water would never go to Kutch, but it has gone to Kutch." If a particular government decides to make a political point of something, you can take red wine by pipe to Kutch if you like, but is that sustainable? Make a huge project like this and then when the dam is empty and the hype that it's supposed to be at where water would reach Kutch if you like, but is that sustainable? If they do it for one month or two months, make it to the papers and then forget about it, that's a kind of charade that was carried out this year by the Modi government. But the point is what are you going to do with the rest of the 99.4 percent of agricultural land in Kutch? Water from the Narmada is not going to go there. Mishal Husain: But they're going to do something ... Arundhati Roy: No. What I'm saying is that you need to have sustainable local schemes. If you look at what was happening-- not this year because there's a huge monsoon this year, but last year and the year before, you have, say, three villages next to each other which are drought prone; one village where there's been local people getting together, using their initiative to do a rainwater harvesting scheme. And in that village, life is completely different from the next one and the next one, which are waiting for the government to do something for them. Mishal Husain: But can schemes like that really cope with the very extreme conditions that exist in so many parts of India, where people are alternatively in different seasons coping with drought and then with flooding? That's something that a dam could address. That kind of control. Arundhati Roy: No. That's something that, in fact, dams and embankments have made worse. If you look at a state like Bihar, you know, where traditionally the Gunga overflows during the monsoon and it floods huge areas. And then the water comes back and you have these plains of silt which are temporarily cultivated by farmers. So the government decided that oh, we need to prevent this flooding. And so they're going to build embankments along the river. And those embankments have created hell for people because what happens is that the water floods over, but it can't come back in because of the embankments. So the flood is permanent, you know, and the bottom of the river bed rises because the silt can't go out. It's only the water that goes out. So the floods are not even fertile. The silt is very fertile. And so you have these mass areas where people are just marooned all the year round. So the point is that you must try something. If it doesn't work, then be flexible enough to change instead of just pushing something that has created so much pain, that is so degrading to the environment. I mean, if you look at what is happening in the Punjab now, it's shocking. It's shocking. Mishal Husain: Let's just talk for a moment about displacement, something that's a key issue of what's happening in the Narmada Valley. Something that Luharia and his family are facing. It's heartbreaking to see people leaving their homes which they've lived in for centuries. But if you face reality, this is something which is not unique to the developing world. It happens in the West all the time when roads are built. there has been genocide. Mishal Husain: But there's always a price for progress. Arundhati Roy: Well, but it's negotiable, you know? You're not saying that because Luharia has to move his hut from here to there, we mustn't have the dam. That's only one of the arguments. And you're not talking about one or two people. You're not talking about even 400,000 people. YouÕre talking about 35 million people. So you're talking about a kind of internal displacement that is on a massive scale. And therefore, you must look at alternatives. Mishal Husain: Isn't this a reality, something that one just has to face in the world that we live in? Arundhati Roy: Yes, but what kind of an argument is that? That's like you can say, oh, but for years in the history of the world, Mishal Husain: If the compensation scheme, if the resettlement was better, would you feel differently about the dam and the displacement? Arundhati Roy: Well, as I've said on many a time, displacement as far as I'm concerned is only one of the issues. Even if all the displaced people were given air-conditioned houses in the poshest colony in Delhi, I would still say the dams are inherently flawed and a very bad idea because of what they do to the ecosystem, the fact that they slowly made the command area completely unsustainable. So when I was telling you why I got interested in them, it was because of this -- not just one issue. You see the displacement has become a political issue because it's a motive issue. But the fact is that this is a very, very bad idea for 100 different reasons. Mishal Husain: But on the human level, when one looks at the human cost versus the human benefits and one looks at the numbers, as we've done, if the deal that was being offered to Luharia and other people in his community was better, would you feel a little less against the dam? Arundhati Roy: I don't know how to answer that because, you know, as I said, it's not something that I think is a good idea. The middle class in India often ask this question to you theoretically and you say, "But you know, the point is that it hasn't happened. It isn't possible. There isn't the land. This community cannot be resettled as a community." So what can I say to that? Theoretically, if everybody had been resettled as a community and if everything was perfect, and there was a God in heaven, everything would be okay. But they are playful questions, because ultimately like yesterday, you know, someone was asking me, "But you know, colonialism wasn't entirely bad." Of course there are benefits. There are, you know. But at the end, you balance things up and you decide whether to say yes or no and you decide which side you're on. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't think that big dams are a good idea at all, not even for the demands of a developing country because I think they destroy rivers in ways which eventually are totally unsustainable for a growing population like this. Mishal Husain: Do you think that Luharia's community, the Adivasis community, is easier to displace, easier to move around, or to play around with their lives? Arundhati Roy: Of course. Traditionally the Adivasis have been pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed until they found their places up in the hills. And they are the poorest and the poorest are the most vulnerable always at all times. put it crudely. And they are fishermen, sand miners and people who don't really count as project affected because they don't have land. But they depend on the river for their livelihoods. So, in actual fact, of the 400,000 people who have been displaced, I think 57 percent are Dalits and Adivasis who are the poorest communities in India. And on the other side of the dam, the people who are displaced by the canals, the fishermen and so on, don't count as project affected at all. Many of them are also fisher folk an Mishal Husain: Who are the people who are most affected by the building of the dam? Arundhati Roy: Do you mean the Sardar Sarovar? Mishal Husain: Yes, in the Narmada Valley. Arundhati Roy: Well, the hilly parts that have been submerged, inhabited by Adivasis communities. And in the plains, it is more upper crust farmers, big farmers actually. And also Dalits who are known as the untouchable castes to d Adivasis who have been pushed out of forests to make wildlife sanctuaries and so on. Mishal Husain: So, both of these groups, would traditionally be those who are not that well represented in India? Arundhati Roy: Yes, the Adivasis and Dalits who are traditionally the victims of big dams are a very powerless and poor community. Mishal Husain: Would you say that-- that makes it easier to displace them? Arundhati Roy: Of course it does. I mean they are the easiest to push around. So, as I keep saying, it's almost as if you have an expense account. Somebody else pays the bills. And so it's much easier justify. And in India, the fact is that there are no sort of vertical social bolts that connect Adivasis and Dalits to, let's say, the communities that will be deciding to make or design projects like this. So, there's no social connection. They just slough off into the sea. It doesn't really matter. You don't really know them. They don't have names or faces or anything. Mishal Husain: And yet the government would say it's very committed to resettling them. They're being offered compensation. They're being offered land elsewhere. Do you not accept any of those arguments? Arundhati Roy: Well, you'll have to go and see the re-settlement colonies. You have to see the fact that when the Supreme Court gave its final judgment in 2000, the Madhya Pradesh government itself said that it had no land to give. Not a single acre of agricultural land has been given to a displaced person in Madhya Pradesh where 80 percent of the displaced people are. And it's against the decision of the Narmada tribunal that you should give cash compensation. It's illegal, because the deal is land for land. And here you have an affidavit by the Madhya Pradesh government in court saying we have no land. It was a decision by the tribunal that communities should be resettled as communities. Nineteen of the villages in Gujarat have been scattered in 175 locations. Mishal Husain: What would you consider then a fair deal for the Adivasi, for Luharia's community? Arundhati Roy: Well, it's interesting that in November 2000 the World Commission in Dansk came out with a report which suggested a set of guidelines for the building of dams which included policies on re-settlement, land for land, consulting affected people and so on. And I said, look, what if we were to say that let's take these guidelines and let's implement them in projects that are half-finished, in projects that have been finished. Let's just say resettle those who have already been displaced before you start building another dam. Wouldn't you think that was a reasonable proposition? It was shouted down as being absurd and radical and all over on this learning curve. So, we're always on a learning curve. And it's already a theoretical question, what will be the fair deal. Do you think if resettlement were possible, it would be good? The fact is that if resettlement is possible, then why not resettle the millions of people who've already been displaced before we move ahead? Let's try it. Let's implement that much before we move on. But, no, it's always this theoretical question, which is painful after a while to even begin to answer, because it just hasn't worked. It hasn't worked for years, and people have been destroyed by it. So at least let's put that right before we start the next thing. Mishal Husain: What would you say to the argument that India doesn't have the luxury of being a welfare state. It's a developing country. And that the government has to make choices which are very hard and are painful. Arundhati Roy: Okay, tell me something. Supposing theoretically you have a project which is supposed to benefit 40 million people and is only displacing 400,000 people. Why is it so hard, if really you're gonna benefit 40 million to accommodation these 400,000? Why? Why is it difficult? Mathematically, it should be so easy, should it not? You just could just say instead of 40 million, you are benefiting 40 million and 400,000. Why is it? Because it's not true. It doesn't happen like that. Take the case of the Bargi Dam. You know? They built it. Ten years ago it was ready. It irrigates 5 percent of the land they said it would irrigate. It displaced -- instead of 70,000 people -- 114,000 who were just driven from their homes. It cost, I think, ten times more than it said it would. Each of one of these projects according to the World Commission on Dams costs almost double what they say it will cost, and even then the costs are not really factored in. You know. So, it's a sort of industry that's based on half-truths and lies and broken promises and it just motors ahead. Mishal Husain: Well, what do you think the future holds for Luharia? At the end of the film, we see him moving his house to a higher point in his village. Do you think he's going to be forced to give up eventually? Arundhati Roy: Well, look, the villages that have been submerged ahead of Jalsindhi like Manubali and all these places, people have been forced to give up. People have been slowly ground down and broken. People do live in the slums in Jabalpur and Punjab and Delhi now. And so, today, to me, the debate in all this connects up to a very much bigger question in the world which is that here you have a movement, 15 years of the most spectacular non-violent resistance movement in a country like India. The NBA has used every single democratic institution it could. It has put forward the most reasoned, moderate arguments that you can find, and it's been just thrown aside like garbage, even by an institution like the Supreme Court of India, even in the face of evidence that you cannot argue with. So, I keep saying this that if we don't respect non-violence, then violence becomes the only option for people. If governments do not show themselves to respect reasoned, non-violent resistance then by default they respect violence. Mishal Husain: But don't you have to respect the rule of law? I mean this is something the Supreme Court, the highest court in India, has now ruled upon? Arundhati Roy: I don't accept that kind of institutional rule of law unquestioning. That's another story of course. But what is Luharia going to do? What is Luharia and the other millions like him going to do or think or say? In a democracy you must have the ability to keep questioning. And when that stops and when you come up against a wall, then societies break up. Societies dissolve into things. It's not that everybody's going to rise up in some kind of noble insurrection. But already in India around the Narmada Valley, insurgents have taken over masses of land. The government can't go in. All over Bihar, all over Madhya Pradesh. This is what is happening, because you don't respect the dignity of the ordinary citizen. At the end of the day supposing we keep on talking about is it all right for 400,000 people to pay for the benefit of 40 million. You tell me. If the government today were to say, "Okay, we're going to freeze the bank accounts of 400,000 of India's richest industrialists and richest people and take that money and re-distribute it to the poor," what will happen? There'd be, "Oh, democracy has broken down." "This is you know a terrible thing." "Anarchy--" So, it's all about who's being pushed around. Mishal Husain: The dam is clearly a reality. It's height is growing all the time. How do you face failure? You're part of a movement which ultimately has failed. Arundhati Roy: Absolutely. It's a terrible, terrible question that one has to ask oneself all the time. And as I say, the big, deep question is it's not just that the dam is going up, but it's the failure of non-violence that bothers me. It's the failure of being able to use that as a weapon that bothers me and disturbs me, because I don't know what to think then. I don't know what to say. What do you say to Luharia? What do you say to people who have struggled for 15 years? And it is a failure that we must accept, and it is a failure that we must think deeply about. And this is not to say that the movement hasn't had successes -- which is that it has questioned and shaken the foundation of the belief in this religion of big dams. People are asking questions, which is a big thing, because they were pristine before. They are not now. Remember that there are 3000 dams being built on the Narmada -- we're talking about one of them. The next dam up, the Mihishwa Dam, which was also a struggle by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) the first privatized dam in India, construction has stopped, because of a movement which took a different shape and a different form. And so far construction on that dam has stopped. So it's not all kind of unmitigated defeat. But certainly, it throws up big questions on the nature of resistance, on the nature of democracy, on the role that institutions in democracies play, on the role that the media plays and in the ways in which questions and the debate is posited in the mainstream. Mishal Husain: How do you feel about the fact though that in India your arguments haven't met with as much support as they have in parts of the West? That somehow you haven't managed to convince many Indians. People say that your arguments are emotional, and that they don't accept the pressing needs and the challenges that India has to face. Arundhati Roy: Well, my arguments are emotional, but those emotions are based on fact. And I refuse to accept that there's a sort of duality between fact and emotion. If we were to lose the ability to be emotional, if we were to lose the ability to be angry, to be outraged, we would be robots. And I refuse that. And partly, the reason that they say the arguments are emotional is because they don't want to face the facts. And there isn't a single fact about big dams, about irrigation efficiencies, about salinization, drainage, displacement, any technical argument that isn't in the argument that the MBA has made or that I have made. So our emotions and our outrage are based on an unrelenting collection of facts and technology and politics. Obviously, it's easier for the West to accept this argument than for India, because in India it comes up right up against the establishment, right up against the powers that want this. So, obviously, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. And the fact is that it has questioned the basis of development. And today, forgetting just the Narmada issue, dispossession is taking place on a barbaric scale, because the major priorities I think in government are the privatization of electricity and water. And so the name of that debate is suddenly going to leap-frog into the center of a big movement that's taking place all across India in a very, very serious way. Mishal Husain: Do you think that development is something then that's optional? Arundhati Roy: I don't understand. Mishal Husain: Do you think that these villages basically should be left as they are and that development and progress in the way that we understand it, whether it's schools or hospitals or better housing or whatever is something that isn't necessarily a good thing? Arundhati Roy: No, no. I think -- You know what? Again, I think this is a kind of spin that often the government wants to put on people who are protesting a particular type of development to say, "Oh, you're anti-development, or you're neo-Ludites." Of course, that's not the case. The case is development for whom? Who pays? Who profits and where do you begin? Everybody can't have the life of a normal, average American person in India, they can't. So, it's about egalitarianism. It's about sharing things more equally. It's about access to natural resources. It's about those things. About the model of development. I'd say quite simply if I were asked to put my position on the table that what we're fighting for is to decrease or eliminate the distance between those that make decisions and those that have to suffer them. Because eventually it doesn't matter how beautiful the language is in your resettlement policy. The fact is that the more beautiful it is the more sure we are that it's not going to be implemented. So how do you reduce that distance between the powerful and the powerless? Mishal Husain: But don't the people in the drought-stricken villages, some of which we saw, have an equal right to their way of life being preserved in those villages which now have no water as Luharia does to his way of living? Arundhati Roy: Yes, they do. And so they should be fighting the processes that create that drought in their villages, which is contractors clear-felling mangrove forests which is the chaotic exploitation of ground water. The fact that there are rivers so much closer to Kutch and Sarashtra than the Narmada and their waters have been dammed and taken elsewhere. So Luharia must pay the price for that? And the other thing is you take a state like Rajasthan, it is a desert state. It is a state which has a civilization that has been used to living in that ecology. Suddenly you take the India/Gandhi Canal there and say, "Now, you can grow rice." You're destroying something there, and then saying, you have an equal right to grow rice in Rajasthan as the people in Kerala have to go grow rice there. Is that true? We have learned to live within our ecologies and within our eco-systems. So it's not just that the Indian government built big dams, but also destroyed traditional water-housing systems. Mishal Husain: But in that way, you sound as if you are anti-development and that you want the status quo in all these places to remain? Arundhati Roy: No, I don't. But I'm just saying that when it comes to the poorest people, when it comes to Luharia, you're prepared to say that Luharia must pay the price for people in Kutch to have water. But you're not prepared to say that Bilash should give up all his money and distribute it for water-housing systems in Kutch or that Reliance should clean its bank account and distribute it to the drought-prone areas in Sarashtra... Mishal Husain: The big industrialists. Arundhati Roy: Yes, you're not prepared to say that. But when it comes to the poorest people, yes, of course, they must pay the price for the greater common good, you know? Mishal Husain: Some of the critics of the movement that you're a part of have said that activists like yourself have forgotten the famine that India suffered in the 40s and the problems that India had in food security and that dams are a way to safeguard India's future and to make sure that it never suffers like that again. Arundhati Roy: Well, you know, I would buy that argument, if I could find a single study that supported it. And I would have thought that given that it was such a controversial subject and there's been such a big movement, there will be something to back that up. But in fact, there isn't a study that tells you that it is indeed big dams that have made India food self-sufficient. How much of that food comes from the mechanical exploitation of ground water, use of hybrid seeds, of chemical fertilizers? The only study that I know of was done by someone called Himanshu Patkar and presented to the World Commission on Dams. And it worked out that 12 percent of India's food grain production came from irrigation from big dams -- and 90 percent of the beg dams in India are irrigation dams. And oddly enough, the Ministry of Food and Civil Supply says that 10 percent of India's stock of food grain is eaten every year by rats, which is a non-statistic. So, the point is if this were not true or if this were contested, I would imagine that it's the government's responsibility to at least make that case. And even still, we're still talking about the fact that there are other alternative forms of irrigation. Like, say, in the Punjab, there was a canal system put in by the British well before the Bakra Dam was built. And you don't know what the Bakra contributed and what those canals contributed and of course the fact that the whole lot is water-logged or getting water-logged now. Mishal Husain: If we look at the reality of this situation of Luharia and his community, clearly there are big issues with the quality of lands that they would receive in compensation. What do you think of cash compensation? Is that something that you think could be adequate? Arundhati Roy: Well, look, the issue of land for land is something that even the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal specified in its rehabilitation policy -- that you must give them land for land. Now the point is if you're not going to give them land for land, then the government is trying to distribute cash to some people, especially in order to break the movement, to some and not to others and so on. And obviously now if the choice is between giving nothing and getting cash, it's better to get cash. But it isn't right. It isn't fair. And especially in the case of the Adivasi community, we must remember that the Adivasis, it's not like the women own the land. So, what happens is that the cash compensation is given to the men. The women are left with nothing. These are not communities that live in a market economy. Within a year, that money is drunk away in some squatter settlement in the edge of some big city. And it's over. So, is that a fair deal? I don't know. Maybe it's better to drink yourself into oblivion for a year than not. I don't know. Mishal Husain: But the government's argument would be if that money is going to be misspent, that's not the government's fault. Arundhati Roy: Yes, it isn't. But you know the point is that it is the government's policy to give land for land primarily is because this is not a community that traditionally deals with money. And on what basis are you giving that money to the men or to the head of the family? It's a way of destroying a community. Now, the government can argue what it wants. They know that this is the way and this is what will happen. So, for us to sit and discuss whether it's fair or not is irrelevant in a way. I mean presumably it's better that they get some money than they just get kicked out with nothing at all. But you know it's illegal. The point is that the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal is on power par with the Supreme Court, and it is illegal, what is being done. Mishal Husain: Now, you rose to fame as a writer of fiction, as a novelist. And today, you speak out on a range of political issues. How does that balance feel to you? The difference between being an artist and now in effect being a political figure? Arundhati Roy: Oh, precarious and difficult. I've often said that the fiction dances out of me, and the political writing is wrenched out by what I think is a world in turmoil right now and a world where something in me seeks to intervene urgently and the noise in my head doesn't stop. But I hope that it won't be a permanent condition. Mishal Husain: Clearly, you have immense power when you choose to become involved with issues and in terms of the attention they then receive. Are there responsibilities that go along with that? Arundhati Roy: Well, I guess the responsibility is to know what you're doing. The responsibility is to understand that I'm not an actress or a football star that's endorsing a cause. I'm a player. I'm making the argument. And I better know it -- otherwise it would be damaging, if I didn't. If I was going there as a bleeding heart endorsing some cause that I didn't fully understand, I could do more harm than good. So, I suppose that is a kind of responsibility. And beyond that, does art have a responsibility, an inherent responsibility. But part of it is to remain a free-thinker, to remain somebody who says what they believe in and who's prepared to conceded a point if you think that it should be conceded and to stick to your guns if you think you should do that. Mishal Husain: And why this cause? Arundhati Roy: Which one? Mishal Husain: This Narmada cause. Arundhati Roy: Like I said, I think it is the key to understanding the modern world in all its complexity. So I think to me it-- it formed the bedrock of understanding much of the tumultuous politics of the world today. Mishal Husain: Someone say that you have a slightly romanticized vision of the issue, of keeping all of that intact. Arundhati Roy: The one thing that I can't be accused of is having a romanticized notion of village life. Because I grew up in a village and I'm fully aware of the brutality of village life in India. I dreamed of escaping. I prayed every day that I wouldn't be stuck there. So that I am in no doubt about. And you know, if I have romanticized anything it's the anonymity of a big city. For an Indian woman certainly it provides shelter. No, I have nothing against romance. I believe that we must hold on to the right to dream and to be romantic. But an Indian village is not something that I would romanticize that easily. Mishal Husain: Is it not possible then that the next generation, say Luharia's children, might have a better life if they do end up in an urban area. Arundhati Roy: They might. They might not. But that has nothing to do with putting a gun to his head and saying, "We're going to drown you." Nobody drowned me out of my village. There's a difference between forced displacement and migration. Mishal Husain: Are you going to stay involved with the cause of the Narmada Valley? Arundhati Roy: I don't look at these things as something as huge as this as a cause. For me, it's a kind of politics. It's a way of seeing the world. And when I go to the valley, I often say, look, it's not my land or my farm that's being drowned. But if a farmer has land, a writer has a world view, and that's what's being submerged. So, it's not a cause or a badge that I wear on my coat. Obviously, it's a kind of politics. It's a kind of way of seeing. And you know it was a way of seeing that evolved from long ago and will continue to evolve and mature, I hope, as one goes on. So it's not like you pick this cause up and then chuck it and pick another one and then chuck it. It's not like that. It informs everything that one does and the way one thinks. And it informs everything about me. Mishal Husain: Arundhati, thanks very much for joining us. Arundhati Roy: You're welcome. From sarang_shidore at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 20:50:36 2003 From: sarang_shidore at yahoo.com (Sarang Shidore) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 08:20:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Censorship from an (Un)usual Quarter In-Reply-To: <200309171039.18245.jeebesh@sarai.net> Message-ID: <20030917152036.91542.qmail@web41406.mail.yahoo.com> Jeebesh - The idea of free speech may be under attack from all quarters, but to me that makes it imperative that the idea be defended even more energetically. I agree with you that using pejorative language may not be the most rational way of dissecting and understanding an issue - whether the language is used to characterize acts of the "far right" or the "far left" or whoever. But we are still left with the basic problem that, all too often, those who claim to speak on behalf of "the people" are themselves attempting to impose an orthodoxy. The orthodoxy may be different from that practiced by the state, but it is an orthodoxy nevertheless, and like all orthodoxies demands absolute compliance, or else... History is littered with revolutionary movements that degenerated into mechanisms of coercive conformity. From the Sendero Luminoso in Peru to the Khalistani militants and the PWG in India to the Al-Gama'aiya-Al-Islamiya in Egypt, such movements simply mirror the extreme and repressive actions of the agencies of the state. Surely one can make the argument that in many cases, it is the failure of the state that is at the root of the despair. Still, there is no doubt in my mind that were such entities to come to power, their vision of the new order would not be terribly different from the contorted ideas propagated by those they had displaced. There will be a huge cost in blood and treasure, and the cost is usually paid by "the people". It will not lead us to Nirvana but something much darker. I suppose I am saying that the means are as important as the ends. It is an old argument. Now even if one accepts that free speech is not a derived and ephemeral slogan, but a fundamental human value, then one can still ask the question as to whether there can be limits to free speech. As someone once said, you do not have the right to shout "fire" in a crowded theater. Many societies also have laws against slander and libel that effectively restrict some forms of speech or expression. This is an involved area of debate, and my instinctive answer is - yes, nothing is absolute. However, when in doubt I would rather err on the side of unrestricted expression than the alternative. More later. Sarang Jeebesh Bagchi wrote: On Monday 15 September 2003 05:10 pm, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear All on the List, A few comments from a list member on Shuddha's posting on censorship: If i get it correct Shuddha's argument are not based on a constitutionalist understanding of `free speech`. He is against the constitutional limits to free speech posed by the holy trinity of national security, public order and public morality. His examples clearly shows that. Then what are his ground for defense of free speech? I would think that it is based on ideas of recognition of difference and human dignity. He will i think agree that a defense of free speech needs to acknowledge that `votaries of limited speech` are also articulating an intellectual position and be part of any engagement, and be given the same recognition and dignity. It is here, that i have a problem in the posting with virulent and prejorative naming of opponents of `free speech`. This culture of `naming` to my understanding is not a creative way of arguing for free speech. The posting catalouges very accurately all the various `censorship` drives by various political or social organisations and conglomerates. But, it fails to go beyond that. All political and social bodies are part of an intense conflict and contest over control of domains of knowledge, representation, production and surplus. This contest will accelerate and so will manifest attacks on `speech`. Can an argument for `free speech` be grounded without engaging with this control over domains and understanding the dense architecture of `conditionalities of speech` in society. Free speech to my mind cannot be understood as a `sui generis` concept that needs to be conformed to. It is an practice and an idea that evolved over a long and tortuous passsage of time. The survival chance of this idea is very slim given the rise of survalliance societies, national security states and intellectual property regimes. As an idea, it can only be cultivated through practice and building creative resources to ground in a rich terrains of earlier practices. A flame war will not help this process. Salaam Jeebesh ------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030917/c7aee5e4/attachment.html From shuddha at sarai.net Thu Sep 18 15:40:33 2003 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 15:40:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Call for filmmakers, video activists, media professionals, camerabuffs ... Message-ID: <03091815403301.01327@sweety.sarai.kit> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: [Unlikely] Call for filmmakers, video activists, media professionals, camerabuffs ... Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 21:21:11 +0200 From: Doro Wiese To: Unlikely Encounter CALL FOR FILMMAKERS, VIDEO ARTISTS, MEDIA PROFESSIONALS, COMPUTER BUGS, CAMERA BUFFS.... BE PART OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM... SEND A LETTER TO 100,000 PEOPLE WHO ARE GATHERING IN MUMBAI,INDIA TO MAKE ANOTHER WORLD POSSIBLE In the three years since its inception the World Social Forum has become an international landmark. In an era where corporate globalisation is presented as an inevitability, where the neo-liberal notion of development increasingly pervades most governments and undermines traditional cultures, thousands of activists, artists, academics, economists, writers, students, farmers, workers and many others will gather to protest this domination of capital over humanity, with vitality, wit and vision and to celebrate an alternative view of democracy and development because ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE. In 2004 the World Social Forum will take place in Mumbai, India from 16th-21st January. AT THE CONFERENCE GROUNDS A VIDEO TUNNEL OF HALF A KILOMETER WILL SHOWCASE SCREEN IMAGE WORKS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. LET ONE OF THEM BE YOURS – IT CAN BE A FILM, AN ANIMATION, A CD-ROM OR ANY OTHER VISUAL FORM YOU IMAGINE! THEME: Letter to WSF: Another world is possible. Let’s build it. REGULATION: The duration should be no more than 3 minutes. It should be preferably be silent. (Placing sound projects together could be a problem.) FORMAT: The works may be created on any format but should come to us on any of the following formats. DV, DVD, VHS or VCD (preferably in PAL) DEADLINE: Write to us and let us know the scheme of your letter by the 30th of October. The videoletter can reach us by 30th of November. APOLOGY: We shall not be able to pay for the production cost. But if you inform us in advance we will provide Fedex service. CLAIM: We guarantee good screening conditions. ENQUIRIES: Please write to majlis at vsnl.com FOR MORE ABOUT WSF, 2004 – www.wsfindia.org _______________________________________________ Unlikely mailing list Unlikely at lists.nadir.org https://lists.nadir.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unlikely ------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From gerry_clara at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 10:54:47 2003 From: gerry_clara at yahoo.com (gerry clara) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 22:24:47 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] urban embodiments Message-ID: <000801c37da5$2d3d8c30$487ec850@gerry3wbodcy7u> shown : in a sequense of changing groups of photographs by : Gerry Clara on : the human being and the being of the urban, the interaction between man and his urban environment, his body and the body of the city, his mind in the urban, and the urban in his mind at : www.unpromisedwork.org when : ongoing -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030917/51776305/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From zest_india at yahoo.co.in Sat Sep 20 14:37:06 2003 From: zest_india at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Zest=20Reading=20Group?=) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 10:07:06 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Borders and Boundaries in Partition Literature Message-ID: <20030920090706.63334.qmail@web8205.mail.in.yahoo.com> Borders and Boundaries in Partition Literature A paper presented on 12 September 2003 by SHIVAM VIJ BA English I, St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi Such was the magnitude of the devastation wrecked by the Partition of undivided India that it was, and is a mammoth task for writers to deal with it. Historians, for one, talked in aggregates: ten million refugees, two million of them dead, seventy-five thousand women raped and so on and so forth. These statistics fail to impart even a fraction of the enormity of the tragedy that was the Partition. Statistics do not tell us how women must have felt while drowning themselves in wells lest they be abducted by men of the other community. Statistics fail to tell us how for most people the deciding factor in choosing India or Pakistan was not politics or religion but insecurity. Statistics fail to even hint at the trauma of husbands and wives, sons and mothers separated by the Radcliffe line. And the last thing that statistics or historical narratives can ever do is to reflect on identity crises of innocent individuals at a time when identity can be altered by loot and rioting. Identity The Pakistani poet Harris Khalique is a Kashmiri, but his identity crisis is that he does not fit what he calls the "Kashmiri stereotype" — "No pink cheeks or blue eyes, the only brother even darker than I am and the family hardly able to make out the difference between Pahari and Kashmiri." His friends often ask him derisively, "Sir, why don't you mediate between Pakistan and India? Kashmir is your land after all." Khalique's reply is that every town in the subcontinent is to him what Toba Tek Singh was to Bishen Singh. "I cannot mediate between India and Pakistan," he writes, "I am an unresolved business of Partition myself. You are right. I am not Kashmiri. I am Kashmir." Another Kashmiri, Saadat Hassan Manto, was so aggrieved by a similar identity crisis that it was, partially if not wholly, responsible for his alcoholism and eventual death about eight years after the Partition. Communal tensions in Bombay and persuasion by his family made him migrate to Pakistan in 1948. By this time, in a life full of ups and downs, he had achieved considerable acclaim and some prosperity for his short stories, radio plays, film scripts and dialogues and as the editor of two Urdu magazines. In Lahore, however, Manto found himself completely disoriented, rootless and, perhaps most of all, unemployed. In the eight years that he lived there, he failed to get a single regular job. Manto had earlier written against communal conflict, and his choice of migrating to Pakistan was impulsive; he must never have thought the Partition would ruin him just when his life seemed to have achieved some stability. No wonder then that his post-'48 stories often question the idea of nationality ("Toba Tek Singh" ) and the effects of the Partition on individuals ("Black Margins" ). "Toba Tek Singh" is an outstanding work of Manto that poignantly describes the individual's identity crisis. Set in a madhouse the story uses madness as a metaphor for sanity. The ambiguity of nationhood is expressed when we are told that one madman got "caught up in this whole confusion of Pakistan and Hindustan and Hindustan and Pakistan that he ended up considerably madder than before". The madmen in the Lahore asylum are a microcosm of society, through them all sections of society are satirised, and amidst them is Bishen Singh, who wants to live in neither Hindustan nor Pakistan. Hindustan and Pakistan are identities that have been deliberately created and constructed and Bishen Singh successfully resists all attempts for any such identity to be thrust upon him. He wants to go back to Toba Tek Singh, the village where he was born, which is his natural identity. Manto therefore is questioning not just the two-nation theory but also the very idea of nationhood as the pivotal basis of identity. Bishen Singh would rather die in no man's land than make a choice between Hindustan and Pakistan. Arjun Mahey, in his paper "Partition Narratives: Some Observations" says that "Taba Tek Singh" is not a short story but a fable. It is perhaps the fable-like quality of this story that makes the idea of Toba Tek Singh somewhat sentimental — unlike most of Manto's works. Gulzar, for instance, was so moved by the story so as to write a poem on it: Toba Tek Singh I've to go and meet Toba Tek Singh's Bishan at Wagah! I'm told he still stands on his swollen feet Where Manto had left him, He still mutters: Opad di gud gud di moong di dal di laltain I've to locate that mad fellow Who used to speak up from a branch high above: "He's god — He alone has to decide — whose village to whose side." When will he move down that branch — He is to be told: "There are some more - left still Who are being divided, made into pieces — There are some more Partitions to be done That Partition was only the first one." I've to go and meet Toba Tek Singh's Bishan at Wagah, His friend Afzal has to be informed — Lahna Singh, Wadhwa Singh, Bheen Amrit Had arrived here butchered — Their heads were looted with the luggage on the way behind. Slay that "Bhuri", none will come to claim her now. That girl who grew one finger every twelve months, Now shortens one phalanx each year. It's to be told that all the mad ones haven't yet reached their destinations — There are many on that side And many on this. Toba Tek Singh's Bishan beckons me often to say: "Opad di gud gud di moong di dal di laltain di Hindustan te Pakistan di dur fitey munh." Another story of Manto that looks at the question of identity is "The Dog of Tetwal" , one that is a harsher critique of militant nationalism than "Toba Tek Singh". The plot revolves around a stray dog caught between two frontier posts of the Indian and Pakistani armies at a time of cease-fire. The story is an allegory which, through its simple plot, manages to satirise several aspects of the act of the Partition. The most obvious effect is evident in the statement that "even dogs will now have to be either Hindustani or Pakistani!" This is how far armies can go, not sparing even stray dogs, Manto seems to be saying, once borders and boundaries have been demarcated. The dog of course symbolises Partition refugees — like Manto — who felt like playthings in the hands of politicians. The absurdity and black humour are heightened when one realises how borders are drawn — by simply holding on to an army post on a mountain. Ravikant and Tarun K. Saint have remarked on this story that Manto is trying to show how troops that were "formerly comrades-in-arms now belonged to different national armies" and now that the British enemy was gone, they found enemies in each other . Manto therefore has proved to be prophetic. The Indo-Pakistani dispute in Kahsmir, and its relentless violence that Kashmiris face, is indeed a "Dog of Tetwal" kind of situation. The dog runs helter-skelter for safety even as the two armies shoot at it, eventually killing it, making it a martyr for one side and an object of pity for the other. This is what borders and boundaries do to individuals. The question of identity has been pondered over by several other writers too, although in far more sentimental tones that Manto. Krishna Sobti's story "Sikka Badal Gayaa" or "The New Regime" tells the story of a village matriarch, Shahni, who had looked after village folk, both Hindu and Muslim, as though they had been her children. But today she is going to `India' because of the Partition and her `children' are only too happy because they will partake of her property left behind. The story tells of the social transformation wrought by the Partition, how even deep-rooted communal harmony was torn apart. When somebody says it's getting late, Shahni reflects: Getting late? In her own house?... She was the queen of this big house dating back to her ancestors. How could they be so audacious as to pounce upon her own victuals? The Partition changed for millions of people the very idea of `home'. People who had never been out of their insulated villages for generations were suddenly forced to choose a country, and this also changed for them the idea of a `nation'. Perhaps for many, nationhood became a conscious fact only because of the Partition, when friends became foes because they were of the other community and compelled them to flee to a land far away. Kamleshwar's story "Kitnay Pakistan?" ("How Many Pakistans?") is a tale of unrequited love in the backdrop of the Partition. The Hindu protagonist is in love with a Muslim girl but the socio-political circumstances of the day do not allow their union. For the protagonist the word "Pakistan" is a metaphor for all that came in their way, for all the ways in which the Partition affected his life. Mangal was sent out of Bhiwandi and Bano is married to a Muslim; sometime later Mangal tries to return to Bhiwandi which is now in the grip of riots. His grandfather loses an arm and Bano's newborn child dies, both bcause of the riots. As Mangal, whose loss is emotional not physical, eventually tries to forget Bano and Bhiwandi, ending up in a brothel in Bombay, he is confronted by a prostitute asking for customers, "Anyone else?" The pathos of the story reaches its zenith when the prostitute turns out to be Bano. Mangal eventually has to accept defeat in his attempt to escape from the past. He ponders: Where should I go now? Which place, which town, which city? Where should I hide? Moving from place to place, could I ultimately land up somewhere away from Pakistan? A place where I could live in the fullness of life, with all my longings and desires But that is not to be, Bano. I discover a Pakistan at every step. Bano, it plunges a knife in your body and mine. We bleed and feel so betrayed and humiliated. But it continues to be. The question of identity assumes a different angle when stories focus on `return'. Refugees who left their land to facilitate the identity- formation of nations, undergo an identity transformation themselves. They return to their old land in the other country a few years later: this provides a vantage point to see how the `refugee' has changed and how his old land has changed. The problem of identity, therefore, is not just the problem of individuals but also that of entire mohallas, colonies, cities and countries. Such nostalgia of `return' also insists that people lived in absolute communal peace and `harmony', and the monster called the Partition changed it all. Historical research proves this assumption wrong: there were undercurrents of communal conflict in all the places that burned. Violence "How Many Pakistans?" is also remarkable for its depiction of violence in contrast with the romantic world of Mangal the dervish or the drillmaster-poet who was Bano's father. There is no escaping violence in Partition literature: there are undercurrents of it even in purely political stories such as "Toba Tek Singh". For some narratives the depiction of violence is an end in itself. This is certainly the case with parts of "Black Margins". Such was Manto's initial shock and astonishment with his new surroundings called Pakistan that he could not write for several months. And when he finally did write, "Siyâh hâshiye" or "Black Margins" was one of his first works. This is a series of twenty-eight narratives, some of them as long as two lines, that was hardly noticed at the time. Written in the most unemotional and unsentimental tone, "Black Margins" stands out for its shock value, accentuated with the use of pun and clever turn of phrase. An example: HOSPITALITY DELAYED Kasri-Nafsi Rioters brought the running train to a halt. People belonging to the other community were pulled out and slaughtered with swords and bullets. The rest of the passengers were treated to halwa, fruits and milk. The chief assassin made a farewell speech before the train pulled out of the station: "Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies. News of this train's arrival was delayed. That is why we have not been able to entertain you lavishly — the way we wanted to." At the first instance, the tone seems journalistic. There is no auctorial intervention or delineation of characters, or any context provided, leave alone a comment. Manto is simply reporting an anecdote, telling it like it is. Unlike other writers of Partition literature, his aim is not to move the readers through sentiment or emotion. Such was the enormity and inhumanity of the Partition riots, that they cannot be expressed in sentiments. By juxtaposing massacre with feast in the above example, he is using irony to communicate the extent of social breakdown that the riots entailed. This is also evident in his dedication of "Black Margins" to "the man who, in the course of narrating his bloody exploits, conceded: `When I killed an old woman only then did I feel that I had committed murder.' " These narratives do not tell us that these individuals are behaving in this way because of the Partition; there is no attempt to justify their animalism. Manto is, therefore, outlining human depravity. Some of the narratives in "Black Margins" are also humorous, like the one in which a man helps rioters loot his own house, repeatedly warning them to loot in a civilised manner. What we are seeing here is the use of black humour. Black humour is the humorous treatment of the horrific and macabre. This modern literary device conveys extreme despair. This seems to be only one step behind the pessimistic genre of War literature that commented not only on the futility of War but also of life. "Black Margins" is a somewhat controversial work, Describing it as an "intellectual joke", Leslie A. Flemming says that in his "first shocked reaction to Partition the only way Manto could deal with it was to divest them of all possible emotion and laugh at them " Flemming says that the presence of sarcasm, anger and compassion in his later stories show a maturity in his response to the Partition. There can, however, be a different way of looking at "Black Margins". The above characteristics are conspicuous by their absence, which is what makes "Black Margins" more effective in achieving its aim than any number of clichéd and sentimental Partition narratives. Representations of violence in Partition literature depend for their impact on the inherent power of violence to stir the reader's conscience. If there is one single symbol of the Partition riots, it is that of trains arriving at their destinations with their passengers massacred on the way. The singularity of the running train is the story's driving factor in Khushwant Singh's debut novel, Train to Pakistan. It is the arrival of this train with dead bodies that disturbs the communal peace of a village. (It is interesting how so many of these narratives are set in the village despite most of the violence having taken place in the cities. This could be because India was not as urbanised then as it is now, and many of these writers had their roots in villages where they may never have seen communal conflict take a violent turn.) In Agyeya's story "Muslim-Muslim Bhai-Bhai", Muslim women wanting to escape potential violence from Hindu neighbourhoods are waiting for a train to take them to the newly formed Pakistan. They are, however, not allowed to board the train because it is already full of upper- class Muslim women also travelling to Pakistan. The irony is not only that class for them was more important than a religion on whose basis their new country was formed, but also that they may meet the same fate on the train as the women they left back on the platform. Bhisham Sahni's story "We Have Arrived in Amritsar" is set in a moving train whose passengers learn of the riots during their journey. The environment inside becomes tense but is under control. A feeble Hindu, however, is enraged enough to kill a Muslim trying to get on the train. The transformation of this character is a comment on how the madness of the times made murderers out of ordinary men. This is also reflected in the character of Ranvir in Sahni's novel Tamas, who, having once killed a cock, can kill any human being without remorse. Gender is a secondary theme of "How Many Pakistans?" Rajinder Singh Bedi's "Lajwanti" , however, is a heart-wrenching portrayal of the gender aspect of the Partition. Thousands of women faced sexual violence during the Partition riots. This included not just rape but also other forms of violence such as parading women naked, some times with their private parts mutilated or their bodies tattooed with symbols of the other religion. Sexual violence against women of the `other' community was a way of asserting the `superiority' of one's own community. Many were forced to drown themselves in wells lest they fall prey to such violence and destroy the `honour' of the family. Yet another aspect was that women of the `other' community were abducted, forced to convert and marry. Two years later the governments of India and Pakistan decided to heal some wounds by tracing abducted women on both sides and returning them to their homes. They did not realise that they could be creating another problem: many of these women may be married with children and may have resigned to their fate when they are asked to re-live the trauma of the Partition. In any case, the greatest problem for them was whether their families `back home' would accept them now that they had been `polluted'. This was the story of Lajwanti, Sunder Lal's wife. The story presents a very realistic picture of gender roles when we are told that Sunder Lal like all men was a wife-beater, and that Lajwanti would consider this a part and parcel of being a wife. But now that she had been abducted into Pakistan, Sunder Lal's views of husband-wife relationships underwent a sea-change. He longs for his Lajo to return and he persuades other men to accept their abducted women. It was, however, a particular picture of Lajwanti that Sunder Lal had in mind, and when she does return she is completely changed — and not just because of her Muslim dress. Sunder Lal had to reluctantly accept her — partly because he could not reject her now after being a leading activist of the cause of abducted women. However, he withdraws from Lajo by raising her to the pedestal of a goddess. Silence The silence between Sunder Lal and Lajwanti could not really be broken, which brings us to the issue of silence. Such was the trauma of the Partition that many didn't want to even think about it. There was a feeling that the Partition has to be forgotten as an aberration and we have to move on. This was reflected in literature: it took several years before many authors could look back and reflect on the Partition. Urvashi Butalia's book The Other Side of Silence is an investigation of what lay beneath this silence. Beginning with her own family's traumatic experience with the Partition, Butalia interviewed dozens of people about what they went through and she found that many of them were relating their experiences for the first time. It proved to be a cathartic experience for many, although Butalia was conscious that she could renew old wounds and end up disturbing the calm of people who had made their peace with the tragedy of the Partition. Butalia's book looks especially at how women, children and Dalits coped with the madness of 1947 In the past decade or so this silence has almost been turned on its head. More and more research on this subject, its depiction in literature and cinema, seems to be suggesting an outburst of catharsis. When the novel Tamas was televised, there was an upsurge that it should not be shown. There is a view that we should not remember the Partition because it's no use remembering the gore and dementia of a day and age gone by. This does not seem to be a valid argument given that `Partition' has never ended; it lives on as communal violence rears its ugly head every now and then. Communal violence in 1947-48 was often sparked by a trainload of dead bodies — not very different from what happened in Gijarat last year. A poem circulating on the Internet after 9/11 compels the reader to wonder if `Partition' will ever end: For Papa August 14th 1947. Firozepur, Punjab. You — eighteen years old sit alone and wait for news of your parents. When they arrive days later My grandfather, grandmother, and her brother offer no explanation, no report, no narrative of how they ended up alive in a train from Lahore, Pakistan Their arrival simply becomes a fact — a fact that even the children — my brother and I Learn never to question. November 1st 1984, Delhi. You wait again. This time with your parents, My mother, my brother, and I. Murdering mobs parade the streets, announcing their arrival by rattling street lights. My grandfather sitting in front of the house Reads the newspaper, pretending oblivion. The neighbours demand he go inside. "I left once," he says, "where am I to go now?" You — I know, are afraid But refuse to remove your turban or cut your hair— as some neighbours and so-called friends suggest. You, who would not enter a temple mock religion and even God Say that you are a teacher And do not wish to teach submission to fascism. September 11, 2001 — to date. Delhi, India and Carbondale, U.S.A You wait there And I — here My brother who is visiting me Finds again that wearing a turban invites the name "terrorist". And, just as in 1984, he wants to be on the street. I wait here For news of American bombs on Afghanistan, While the successors of Gandhi's assassins Rule his birthplace, Drowning in blood the hopes of 1947 Sowing land mines into the line your parents had crossed But one they would not let cross their hearts Years later in 1972, My grandmother would visit that border again Pick up a handful of dirt and call it "home". My brother and I would joke That our grandmother created nations wherever she went. Born in Burma she was twice a refugee, Once in Pakistan, then India. Children know That if not this history there would be another. But if not for those who labour to make this children's belief come true, The only drops to fall on this desolate drought-stricken earth would be blood. Today — As I imagine you eighteen years old, I long to take your hands into my grown hands, And walk into refugee camps where children still get born. Tarun K. Saint remarks, "It has taken years for the psychic numbness that refugees experienced to give way to a new kind of communication between generations that the poem alludes to." But is such communication always healthy? Recalling Gulzar's comment, "There are many more Partitions to be done/ That Partition was only the first one," it is impossible to deny the function of Partition literature as a moral warning about what another Partition can do to us. Yet, as another side of the coin, such warnings can have an invert effect: they can actually provoke more violence. The above poem, for instance, could help another Bhrindanwale in his political ambitions. The extremely gory violence in Kamal Hasan's film Hey Ram, did not prevent a blatantly communal response to the film in theatres across India. Crowds were clapping and jeering when Gandhi was being ridiculed. Right-wing intellectuals have off and on called Bhishm Sahni communal, wondering why his stories show Hindus in a specially bad light, suggesting they were more responsible for the violence than Muslims. Given the sensitivity of the subjects we are dealing with here, we must recognise that some subtlety, if not silence, is warranted. This is what gives credence to the viewpoint that the best way to deal with Partition is not to deal with at all. This, however, has its own absurdities: how can anyone dictate a writer not to make a literary inquiry into such a major event in Indian history, an event that Indian history writing doesn't tell us much about. Amidst these complexities, two things are clear. Firstly, the use of violence could be controlled and suggestive. No one can say that "Toba Tek Singh" or "Tetwal ka Kutta" can be misused by communalists. Secondly, the transformation of text into celluloid should be done with special responsibility considering that celluloid can have a tremendous public impact. Otherwise Partition literature may end up exacerbating the very borders and boundaries that it seeks to question. *** Shivam Vij is moderator of the Zest Reading Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zest-india. Email: shivamvij at hotmail.com Subscribe to zest-india [input] [input] Powered by groups.yahoo.com Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner online.Post your profile. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030920/05109a59/attachment.html From monica at sarai.net Sun Sep 21 19:03:00 2003 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 19:03:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] bite-sized info Message-ID: from adbusters magazine, sept-oct 2003 "On June 30, the highest appeals court in the US decided that editors of one of the few remaining DIY outlets - web logs, or blogs - cant be held responsible for libel for information they post. For a medium that, to borrow from Marx's lexicon, seizes the means of information production, such production will keep a small portion of the internet from corporate oversight. A 2001 study by Jupiter Media Metrix showed that there's not much independence left on the net: 14 companies controlled 60 percent of online users' time, down from 110 companies in 1999." From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Mon Sep 22 13:35:37 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 01:05:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Ankara street named after Tagore Message-ID: <20030922080537.33341.qmail@web20901.mail.yahoo.com> fyi... Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 15:17:52 +0530 From: Dinkar Sitaram Rant that summarizes some concerns that have been floating around about the Internet and the attitude of it's users for a ewhile quite nicely. Esthetically pleasing 'slide' version: http://www.internetisshit.org Print version: http://www.internetisshit.org/print.html Quote: "I can name 20 people from my old school class who aren't in Google. I can walk into any public library, no matter how tiny and underfunded, and find facts, stories, amazing information I would never touch in a month of webcrawling. I can go into a bar and hear stories Usenet hasn't come close to in its 22 years of waffle. "Oh but what about the stuff you CAN get on the web?" the netheads say. But they're missing the point." enjoy, Menso -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry without a certain unsoundness of mind. -- Thomas Macaulay -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From program at chicagodocfestival.org Mon Sep 22 03:00:33 2003 From: program at chicagodocfestival.org (Documentary Festival) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 16:30:33 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Documentary Festival, $15,000+ in awards money Message-ID: Dear Colleague: Please consider submitting your documentaries to the Society for Arts’ Chicago International Documentary Festival. A few relevant facts: - The festival awards over $15,000 in awards money - The 2002 edition presented 119 films at five venues in the Chicago area. See the program online here: http://www.chicagodocfestival.org/schedule.html - The festival is presented by the Society for Arts, an organization with more than fifteen years experience presenting film and fine art in Chicago and beyond. The entry form is online here: http://www.chicagodocfestival.org/form.htm Thank you. We hope to see your films. The Society for Arts’ Chicago International Documentary Festival From aiindex at mnet.fr Tue Sep 23 03:33:10 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 23:03:10 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] India: Govt blocks e-group Message-ID: [ * The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) produced its Fortnightly Newsletter named "The Voice" starting 30th September 2002. This was available on a yahoo group. The details are: Group name on Yahoo: kynhun · Bri U Hynniewtrep: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kynhun/ ] o o o The Hindustan Times, September 23, 2003 Govt blocks e-group but can't prevent access Siddharth Zarabi (New Delhi, September 22) For the first time since its inception four months ago, India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued orders for blocking an obscure e-group on Yahoo.com for "promoting anti-national news and containing material against the government of India and the state government of Meghalaya". In response, the department of telecom (DoT) ordered around 200 Indian Internet service providers (ISPs) to block the 'Kynhun' [*] discussion group last week. The link is an online forum that acts as a message board for a secessionist outfit spread over the seven states in the Northeast. The group seeks to form an independent country - Hynniewtrep. State-owned BSNL, Tata-owned VSNL and Sify have conveyed to the DoT verbally that they will comply with the order. A February 2003 notification empowers CERT-In to block websites that promote hate content, defamation and child porn and other objectionable material. Many ISPs have told the DoT that selective blocking could interfere with other legitimate online discussion groups. HT failed to access the link using a government-owned ISP. However, such a block is futile. A Google search for the offending material gets you access to the group, and you can download cached content from this group. About reports that it has refused to block the group, a Yahoo India spokesperson said: "We have not been approached. The content is hosted on Yahoo.com's US server and whatever content rests on it is not under Yahoo India's jurisdiction." ***************** Net nanny ** Who's banned what? India's Computer Emergency Response Team has asked ISPs to block a discussion group started on Yahoo by Meghalaya secessionists ** Will the ban work? Most surfers in India can't access the group as around 200 ISPs have been asked to block it. Some have complied ** But... You can access cached material via web search. Link can be accessed via sites like anonymizer.com. The group can abandon link and start a new discussion group easily From aiindex at mnet.fr Tue Sep 23 04:00:06 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 23:30:06 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Another report India: Govt blocks e-group Message-ID: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/09/23/stories/2003092312761100.htm The Hindu, September 23, 2003 Bid to block anti-India website affects users By Sandeep Dikshit NEW DELHI SEPT. 23. The Government's first attempt to block the website of an allegedly anti-India group has inconvenienced lakhs of Internet users who are questioning the utility, process and procedure relating to blocking. While all Indian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have agreed to comply with the Government's first-ever blocking directive taken under the Information Technology Act, the U.S.-based host of this website — Yahoo — has refused. As the ISPs lack the technical finesse to block one sub-group, they have blocked all Yahoo groups or URLs inconveniencing the users. This website, belonging to a militant group espousing the cause of Meghalaya's Khasi tribe, can still be accessed by ISPs outside India or those who have not yet complied with the directive. Official sources today said that orders were issued by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the Department of Information Technology as the website "contained material against the Government of India and the State Government of Meghalaya". The absence of any explicit provision in the IT Act for blocking of websites was because this action was seen by civil society as amounting to censorship, they explained. In this case, the blocking was to ensure "balanced flow of information" and not censorship, they added. The process of blocking is surrounded by several legal controversies, since the power to block itself does not exist under the IT Act. Through a notification in February this year, the Government designated CERT-In as the authority for blocking of websites. Another notification five months later listed the officials who can order blocking and the grounds under which this can be done. "The inherent sovereign power of the Government to block can hardly ever be denied. However, when the Government embarks upon the process of blocking, it is absolutely imperative that it must follow those procedures and norms that cause least discomfort or harm to the entire netizen community. This appears to be the first case where blocking of a particular website or sub-group has had the ramification of causing inconvenience to the netizens in the sense of depriving them of access to legal groups, other than the blocked URL," observes cyberlaw expert, Pawan Duggal. "It is hoped that with the passage of time the Government does come up with appropriate norms and procedures that can create a smart balance between the requirements of the sovereign powers to block and the relative inconvenience, harm and anxiety caused to the netizen in terms of blocking of legitimate websites." Mr. Duggal says that legally speaking; there are a couple of grey areas. The February notification setting up CERT-In has been issued under Section 67 and Section 88. Neither Section empowers the Government to create such an authority. Therefore, the constitution of CERT-In is of no legal significance and may not be upheld in a court of law. "I am not saying that the Government does not have the power at all to block or create CERT-In. However, surely the power does not lie in these provisions." The Government may succeed in blocking some websites in some cases but "the problem is that this provision may be misused by political powers in the regime to silence political dissent, criticism and debate. The phenomenon of mirror sites and emerging technologies along with intelligent minds of netizens are likely to rensure that India's blocking adventure starts its march on a losing note." From treborscholz at earthlink.net Wed Sep 24 02:10:05 2003 From: treborscholz at earthlink.net (Discordia Collective) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 16:40:05 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Discordia Wants You Message-ID: From: www.discordia.us wants you! Discordia, the collaborative weblog on new media arts and culture, opened in June. The project has left its beta phase and is ready to kick off. Already a few hundred users have registered and started posting. What does Discordia have on the burner this fall? Now taking reservations October 2003 to January 2004: Become a guest star for a week! Or share the spotlight by inviting a correspondent to guest host along with you! Some possible topics: --world summit on the information society --p2p projects --taxonomies of online media culture projects --report from the October conference of Internet researchers in Toronto --discuss your critical online project --issues in media arts --issues in media arts education --film/ politics/ social visions --collaboration / cooperation --difference and diversity beyond tokenism --issues in software culture --rise and demise of Internet --the spectacle of elections/ democracy as mass entertainment --ups and downs of collaborative weblogs --read and debate a book together Or suggest a topic of your own. And remember - Discordia welcomes posts in a variety of languages. Discordia also looks for permanent members of its editiorial team. So far the founders had to deal with a lot of technical issues, but we would like to move on from there and focus more on critical debates and essays. Send us the dates of the week for which you propose, the topic(s), and optionally, name of your correspondent to: http://www.discordia.us/scoop/special/feedback From avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 24 08:57:16 2003 From: avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Avishek=20Ganguly?=) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 04:27:16 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] URGENT: protest letter against vajpayee visit at columbia In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030924032716.11411.qmail@web8001.mail.in.yahoo.com> hi people, the following is a last-minute letter/petition being initiated by some people on the 'foil' list. it is to be submitted to the president of columbia university, new york in order to register a protest against his/their inviting the indian prime mininter shri atal behari vajpayee to come and deliver the world leader's forum address tomorrow (9/24, wed) at 4:45 pm (EST) at the university. endorsment by attaching and e-mailing your names to the letter needs to be completed by 10:30 am (EST) on wed day. it'll be great if you could pls circulate/turn up/simply sign the letter! cheers! avishek _________________________________________ Folks: We heard late yesterday that Prime Minister Vajpayee is giving a talk at the Earth Institute at Columbia University on September 24th at 4:45pm as part of a World Leaders Forum Lecture. The event is by invitation only. In the past few hours, some of us have been organizing to respond to this legitimization of Vajpayee by Columbia University. Here are a few suggested actions: 1. Any Columbia students and faculty that would be available to flyer at the event (between 4:30pm-6:30pm), please show up at Roone Arledge Auditorium, Alfred Lerner Hall located at Broadway at 115th street. Look for Sekhar (917-692-5261). 2. Since we are really short of time, we have drafted a letter to be sent to Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the Earth Institute (which is hosting the event) and to Dr. Lee Bollinger, the President of the University (who invited Vajpayee). The letter appears below. Please let us know if you wish to add your name to the letter latest by 10:30 am tomorrow morning. If you can, please email your endorsement to jimmyjib at rediffmail.com. If you prefer to call, please contact either Biju (this evening until 4am) at 917-232-8437 or me (ash) tomorrow morning between 7:30-10:30 am at 917-279-4923. It will be great if you can speak with a few folks in your area and can get their endorsements as well. 3. We plan to send the letter to Jeffrey Sachs by 11am, so please send in your endorsements by 10:30am. If you can, please modify the letter and send it to 1. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (fax: 212 854-8702; e-mail: sachs at columbia.edu) 2. Dr. Lee Bollinger (fax: 212.854.9973; email: bollinger at columbia.edu) Thanks, Ash ************************ September 24, 2003 To Dr. Lee Bollinger President, Columbia University or Dr. Jeffrey Sachs Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University We are writing to protest the invitation of Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee to the World Leaders Forum Lecture at the Earth Institute at Columbia University on September 24, 2003. The undersigned represent a range of liberal and progressive South Asian organizations in North America. As you may know, Mr. Vajpayee, by his own admission, is a member of The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, or the Sangh, literally, the National Volunteers Corps) which is the core organization of the neo-fascist Hindutva movement. The Hindutva movement is a violent sectarian movement seeking to create an ethnically 'pure' Hindu Nation in India. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of which Mr. Vajpayee is a leader, is the parliamentary wing of the RSS. The neo-fascist Hindu Nationalist movement that Mr. Vajpayee belongs to is the most fundamental threat to secular, democratic, and judicial institutions in India today. Systematic Violence against Minority Populations The RSS and its affiliate organizations have been implicated in the systematic pogrom unleashed on the minority Muslim population in the western state of Gujarat in March-April 2002. The pogrom was well planned with extensive participation and support of the BJP-led state apparatus (Human Rights Watch reports Vol.14, No.3, April 2002 and Vol. 15, No.3, July 2003) resulting in the massacre of more than 2000 Muslim citizens. None of the criminals belonging to the RSS and its affiliate organizations, including the BJP Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat (Narendra Modi), have been charged with any crime. On the contrary, Mr. Vajpayee has distinguished himself with consistent and unrelenting support to those responsible for the pogrom. Most recently, Mr. Vajpayee continues to support the BJP led government in Gujarat despite a Supreme Court censure that noted that the state government was doing everything in its might to scuttle justice. The genocidal violence left more than one hundred thousand Muslims in makeshift rehabilitation camps while the government failed to provide adequate humanitarian assistance. Since the BJP assumed power in 1998, violence against the Christian minorities has also escalated. The violence has specifically targeted Christian missionaries, priests, nuns, schools, churches including the brutal murder of Graham Staines and his two children by an RSS mob (South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center Report, Aug 28, 2000). Policy of Non-sustainable Development · Soon after assuming power, the government, lead by Mr. Vajpayee, conducted nuclear tests and declared itself a nuclear state thus committing the entire subcontinent down the nuclear path. With a large percentage of the population below the poverty line, the government's nuclear policy flies in the face of any notion of sustainable humanitarian development. · The Vajpayee government (like other predessesor governments) has consistently spearheaded non-sustainable development policies. The Enron contract and the Sardar Sarovar Project are two of the most well known examples of the government's policies. Against Legitimizing Political Criminals As a leader in the neo-fascist movement that has committed several crimes against humanity, Mr. Vajpayee should not be given the honor of speaking at a World Leaders meeting. We are unable to understand how institutions such as Columbia University, and in particular, institutes such as the Earth Institute, can participate in such a process of legitimization. As concerned citizens and organizations that have been working for justice in Gujarat, we demand an explanation from you, cancellation of the program itself or at a minimum, an intervention during the program that highlights these crimes. Sincerely, ===== _________________________________________________________________ "In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner online. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From kanti.kumar at oneworld.net Wed Sep 24 16:24:49 2003 From: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net (Kanti Kumar) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 15:54:49 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Digital Opportunity Channel- this week's newsletter Message-ID: <151530-220039324102449273@oneworld.net> Please find subscription information at the bottom of the newsletter. With apologies for any cross-posting. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New at Digital Opportunity Channel http://www.digitalopportunity.org + ---------------------------------------------------- + For all the news and analysis about the WSIS summit from a civil society perspective, please visit our Special Coverage section at: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/section/dochannel/wsis + ---------------------------------------------------- + ********************************* Latest News http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1138 ********************************* HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA EXCLUDED FROM WSIS ---------------------------------------- Human Rights in China (HRIC), the only organisation devoted exclusively to human rights issues in China, has been denied accreditation to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) scheduled for Geneva in December. HRIC feels rejection of its application to attend WSIS raises serious concerns about transparency and legitimacy of this multilateral process. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68617/1138/433 SYNTHESIS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY DEBATES NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE ------------------------------------------------------------- The World Forum on Community Networking (WFCN) has published the 2nd issue of Mosaic, a newsletter presenting a synthesis of civil society debates on the information society. Published in English, French and Spanish, it summarizes discussions held on a number of lists and sites from different cultural and linguistic perspectives. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68616/1138/433 INTERNET CREATES A NEW CLASS OF USERS IN AFRICA ----------------------------------------------- Even critics of massive spending on computer and Internet technology in Africa - at what they fear is at the expense of poverty alleviation efforts - are conceding that so-called �new media� are helping Africans economically. Computers linked to the worldwide information Web via the Internet are also helping efforts to promote democratisation and gender empowerment. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68505/1138/433 CISCO TO FUND VOICE MAIL FOR POOR IN THE US ------------------------------------------- Community Voice Mail, a Seattle-based nonprofit, provides free voice mail for the homeless, poor and jobless around the US. A Cisco grant will more than double the number of people Community Voice Mail assists nationwide, from 25,000 to 65,000 by the end of 2007. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68502/1138/433 TELECENTRES HELP LATIN AMERICANS TO BE CONNECTED ------------------------------------------------ Several Latin American governments are setting up telecentres where people can surf the Internet, often free of charge, in an attempt to narrow the digital divide within their societies, which is perhaps larger than the gap that separates them from the industrialised world. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68386/1138/433 DIGITAL POWER HELPS INDIA'S DISTRICTS PREPARE FOR DISASTERS ----------------------------------------------------------- When cyclones, earthquakes or other calamities next strike in India, district officials in many areas can go online and quickly mobilize support for evacuation, search and rescue, medical aid and other relief priorities. The India Disaster Resource Network - a nationwide inventory of resources - was recently launched for emergency response to disasters. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68385/1138/433 SOMALIA'S TELECOM INDUSTRY SHINES IN SEA OF POVERTY --------------------------------------------------- Somalia is home to some of the world's poorest people. Yet, amidst all the anarchy of a country reduced to ruins by civil war and over 12 years of protracted power struggles between warlords, some things still shine bright: it has one of the best and cheapest telecommunications systems in Africa. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68384/1138/433 WORLD FORUM ON COMMUNICATION RIGHTS DURING WSIS ----------------------------------------------- The Communication Rights in the Information Society campaign (CRIS) will hold the World Forum on Communication Rights, a one-day event, alongside the WSIS. The forum is an independent civil society-led initiative, aimed to demonstrate and document the importance of communication rights for people and communities in an emerging information society. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68302/1138/433 BLACK EQUITY ISSUE SPLITS SOUTH AFRICA'S ICT SECTOR --------------------------------------------------- Battle lines that could prove tough to breach have been drawn in the debate over whether multinational IT firms must place some equity in black hands in South Africa to comply with empowerment criteria. A split in opinion quickly emerged at a workshop, where members of the ICT sector hoped to draw up a charter setting out clear black empowerment targets. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68301/1138/433 SCIENTISTS TAP GLOBAL COMPUTER POWER TO PROBE CLIMATE CHANGE ------------------------------------------------------------ British scientists have launched a new program, climateprediction.net, that will draw on the input of thousands of personal computer users around the world to track climate change and provide comprehensive forecasts. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68300/1138/433 ********************************* Success Stories http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1136 ********************************* SOUTH AFRICA: TAKING TECHNOLOGY TO RURAL LIMPOPO ------------------------------------------------ Until a year ago, some villagers in deep rural Limpopo had never seen a computer. Now their fingers fly across the keyboard. They are the members of the Mogalakwena Hewlett Packard i-community where villagers are being exposed to technology in a project initiated at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) a year ago. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68387/1136/433 ********************************* Get Involved http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/1112 ********************************* JOIN OUR NEW FORUM ON GENDER & ICT ISSUES --------------------------------------------- Are women increasingly getting even access to information technologies and services? Is unequal power relations in our societies contribute to differential access for men and women in information society? How can the situation be improved through ICT? These are some of the issues that our new Gender & ICT forum aims to address. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68410/1112/433 ********************************* Partner News http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/archive/4678 ********************************* MAHITI BUILDING ONLINE DONATION CHANNEL FOR INDIAN COMMUNITIES -------------------------------------------------------------- Mahiti from India provides simple and affordable information and communication technology services to the civil sector. It specialises in multi-platform, multi-lingual Web, intranet, multimedia and kiosk applications. Mahiti is building an online donation channel on a portal called ICICI Communities, in collaboration with Give Foundation and Murray Culshaw Advisory Services. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/68759/4678/433 NEW VERSION OF KABISSA'S 'TIME TO GET ONLINE' TOOLKIT ----------------------------------------------------- Kabissa has come out with an updated version of its highly successful 'Time to Get Online' self-learning materials for African civil society organisations. The materials help civil society activists and organisers to get online, learn the essential steps to success on the Internet and to integrate the Internet into their work. The toolkit is available online for free download and in print and CD-ROM version at a nominal cost. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/67590/4678/433 Digital Opportunity Channel http://www.digitalopportunity.org Promoting Digital Opportunities for All Editor: Kanti Kumar Email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net You can manage your email digest subscriptions with Digital Opportunity Channel and OneWorld by visiting: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/bulkmail/subscriptionlist/ You will need to log in with your nickname and password, or register for (free) OneWorld/Digital Opportunity Channel membership. From secretariat at pukar.org.in Wed Sep 24 11:46:24 2003 From: secretariat at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 11:46:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] PUKAR-NGMA Film Screenings Message-ID: Dear Friends, As part of the National Gallery of Modern Art - Mumbai's annual exhibition, "Ideas and Images" (September 10th to October 19th 2003) PUKAR has organized a screening of several documentary films on Mumbai. Four films will be screened at the NGMA auditorium (dates and time given in the schedule below) and eight of them will be kept - in a VHS format - on two "video tables" outside the auditorium for viewing on the monitor provided. The curator for the series is PUKAR Associate, film-maker and writer Paromita Vohra. Details: The PUKAR-NGMA SCREENINGS Venue: The NGMA Auditorium and its Foyer, NGMA, Kala Ghoda, South Mumbai. Note: The exhibition is closed on Mondays. ABOUT THE SCREENINGS Nothing says Bombay if not movies. The spirit of Bombay has fascinated filmmakers for decades and spawned a rich popular culture in its film industry. However, there is another, alternative kind of art where Bombay is documented and imagined with equal vitality and urgency - documentary films. With the coming of video, the melee of images, the layers in the cities chaos, the colliding worlds of communities, politics, money and culture and the intensity of desire and aspirations which are Mumbai have found newer and more varied expression in non-fiction films. This proposed film component of the NGMA annual show presents a range of non-fiction films which capture different aspects of life in the city - both in overarching narratives of changes in the city as well as more detailed portraits of everyday life on the street. Rather than merely present a survey of issues, the program aims to encapsulate the sights and sounds unique to Bombay. The program will have two distinct sections - a table of video films and a set of screenings in the auditorium. VIDEO FILM TABLES The video film tables are predicated on a design of interactive viewing - their will be four videos on each table along with a TV, a video and an attendant. A card provides a brief synopsis of the videos. Visitors can choose which film they want to watch and it will be played for them. The films are chosen to present the richness of the many types of people and institutions in the city as well as the quintessential spirit of Bombay as the city which never sleeps, where dreams come true, many cultures merge and nothing is permanent except change. AUDITORIUM SCREENINGS Four films that have been made on an epic scale and originally shot on film - 16 mm or 35 mm - will be screened at a weekly screening. Filmmakers will be present for interaction with the audiences. The films look at two themes - Art and Living. While the two films under Art explore popular and political culture of this city through the forms of cinema and poetry, the films on Living look at how notions of development change the contours of the city and observe who the shifting map includes and excludes. Auditorium Screenings 24th September, 2003 - Fearless-The Hunterwali Story - Riyad Vinci Wadia 25th September, 2003 - Narayan Gangaram Surve - Arun Khopkar 8th October, 2003 - Bombay - Our City - Anand Patwardhan 10th October, 2003 - New Empire - Kurush Canteenwala Video Tables TABLE 1 Name and Director Aur Irani Chai: Wilson College Students Living With the Dead: Students of Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic Sambhawami Yuge Yuge: Madhushree Dutta Phantoms: Tushar Joag TABLE 2 Name and Director Occupation Mill Worker: Anand Patwardhan Crystal: Students of Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic Circadian Cycle: Mahesh Mathai I Ranu Gayen: Shyamal Karmarkar About the Films: AUDITORIUM SCREENINGS 1. SEPTEMBER 24, WEDNESDAY, 6 p.m. FEARLESS - THE HUNTERWALI STORY 62mins/ English language (part Hindi)/ 35mm/1993 A feature documentary on the life and films of stunt queen Fearless Nadia and the maverick Wadia Brothers. Using rare archival footage from the Wadia Movietone collection and mixing these with interviews with Fearless Nadia, John Cawas, Homi Wadia, Nari Ghadiali, Shyam Benegal, etc. and with a narration by author Shobha De this documentary gives a breezy insight into the pioneering world of Indian cinema of the 1930's and 40's. The film has been widely screened at over 150 festivals including London, Berlin, Toronto, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Cape Town etc. The film had a theatrical release in Australia and has had television premieres in most major countries and territories. Directed by- Riyad Vinci Wadia Riyad Vinci Wadia is a filmmaker living in Bombay. His other films include Bom-gay and A Mermaid Called Aida. 2. SEPTEMBER 25, Thursday, 6 p.m. NARAYAN GANGARAM SURVE 45 minutes, Marathi (with English subtitles) 35 mm. / 2003 This eponymous film aims at depicting the life and poetry of a famous Marathi poet, Narayan Gangaram Surve. Surve was a foundling. He became an outstanding poet of Marathi. Our film deals with some landmark events of his life and a number of his outstanding poems.Using an artful play between real interviews and an actor playing the poet, and a backdrop of the working class movement of the last 40 years, the film attempts to re-invent the rhythms of Narayan Surve's poetry forged out of everyday speech of the common men and women of Bombay. The film tries to make audible its underlying sounds and to make visible the textures of his richly peopled world: mill sirens, machine and vehicle sounds, footsteps ringing on deserted pavements, hands and feet cracked with toil, faces with deep lines of suffering, sounds of giant cranes in the harbour, waves crashing, walls with their peeling colours, objects worn out with sweat and use, human beings and machines interlocked with each other. Naranyan Gangaram Surve has won a National Award - the Golden Lotus for Best Film, 2003. Directed by - Arun Khopkar Arun Khopkar is a filmmaker working in Bombay, whose films have been screened at various festivals and won several awards. His films include Figures of Thought, Colours of Absence,Sanchari, Rasikpriya and Lokpriya. 3. OCTOBER 8, Wednesday, 6 p.m. BOMBAY OUR CITY/ HUMARA SHAHAR 82mins. Colour, 16mm, 1985 This moving verite film follows the travails and triumphs in the daily battle for survival of Bombay's slumdwellers, as they face, demolitions, monsoons, death and life. The film questions the politics of urban development and in an uncompromising and sharply juxtapositional style. According to a review in the Sunday Observer - "The film holds a mirror to all our deepest prejudices. It is one of the most screened Indian documentaries. It has won the National Award, Best Non-fiction, India, 1986, Filmfare Award, Best Documentary, India, 1986 and Special Jury Prize, Cinema du Reel, France, 1986 Directed by - Anand Patwardhan Anand Patwardhan is a pioneering documentary filmmaker living and working in Bombay. His films include, Waves of Revolution, Prisoners of Conscience, A Time to Rise, Occupation: Mill Worker, In the Name of God, Father, Son and Holy War and War and Peace. 4. OCTOBER 10 October, Friday 6 p.m. NEW EMPIRE 37 minutes, 2002 New Empire is a visually impressionistic, non-fiction film that attempts to chronicle personal encounter with new colonialism and the accompanying loss of an indigenous way of urban being. The encounter is set around a uniquely Bombay-style Irani restaurant, at the epicenter of downtown Bombay -New Empire Restaurant and Bakery. The restaurant is now a McDonald's. The film explores this change through conversations with a group of old friends for whom New Empire was once a hang-out. Directed By Kurush Canteenwala Kurush Canteenwala was born and raised in Bombay. After his graduation form Bombay Univ. he completed his Masters of Fine Arts in Cinema from Southern lllinois Univ., US and is currently a Visiting Asst Professor of Film Production and Film Aesthetics there. His previous work includes "a note with a bang up in the sky", which premiered at the Asian American Film Festival in New York City. VIDEO TABLES: TABLE I 1. AUR IRANI CHAI 20 minutes, DV, 2000 Aur Irani Chai is made by a group of undergraduates from Wilson College, who were part of the PUKAR Neighbourhood project during 2000 -2001. As these students photographed and wrote about the varied localities they live in - mostly around Wilson College - a smaller group adventurously decided to make this documentary about their favorite hangout joint; the Irani cafe. The film converses with Irani cafeŽ owners who studied at Wilson college, queries into the specific histories of a couple of famous establishments and explores the personal relationships that embodied by these spaces. Memories of migrations that make up much of Mumbai's collective memory emerge as key moments in the film. Stories about grand movements across the sub-continent from within and outside India reveal how an exploration of a such a familiar local space can dramatically widen one's canvas in very unexpected ways. Directed by Vikas Sharma, Berson Irani and other students from Wilson College. 2. I SHALL BE RECYCLED AGAIN (Sambhawami Yuge Yuge) 3.5 minutes, Mini-DV, 2003 A tongue-in-cheek take on Comrade Amitabh Bachchan and his mother in folk tales of the city. A playful short film about our tallest pop icon. Directed by Madhushree Dutta Madhusree Dutta, is a filmmaker working on areas related to gender, identity and marginalization. Her films which have been widely screened in festivals around the world are, I Live in Behrampada, Memories of Fear, Kya Apko Pata Hai, Sundari: an actor prepares, Ailo Bailo Sailo, Scribbles on Akka and Made in India. She is the executive director of Majlis, a centre for multi-cultural initiative in India.. 3. PHANTOMS 3.5 minutes, Mini DV, 2003 Moving from a Bombay local to an auction of the filmmaker's personal history, this powerfully insistent video attempts to grasp the manner in which the emotion of hate operates through some biographical instances and to understand its relationship to the politics of hate which we see surrounding us today. Directed by Tushar Joag. Tushar Joag is an artist living and working in Bombay. He studied at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay and M.S.U. Baroda. He has exhibited his work frequently and is a Founder Member of the artists initiative Open Circle Arts Trust, Bombay 4. LIVING WITH THE DEAD 5 minutes, Mini DV, 2001 Gravediggers live on the fringes of society. Like the sweeper who cleans the road every morning, the gravedigger, too, goes unnoticed - invisible to the naked eye. Who are these people who face death everyday for a living? Where do they come from? Are they scared of death? Do they believe in the supernatural?The five-minute film takes a peek into the lives of gravediggers and talks to them about their lives, their work, their beliefs and philosophies. Directed by Madhu Bhatia, Pranjali Bhave,Sandhay a Lal, Richa Pathak, Smita Polite, Rupa Raman, Sadaf Siddique, T Madhavi, Karishma Tandan (Students at the Social Communications Media Course at Sophia Polytechni)c. TABLE II 1. OCCUPATION MILL WORKER 22 mins, Hi-8, 1995 Once Bombay's millworkers were the backbone of its economy. Today as real estate prices soar, "mill-sickness" has become an epidemic. The film documents an attempt by workers to forcibly occupy and restart a closed textile mill after a four year lock-out by management. Directed by: Anand Patwardhan Anand Patwardhan is a pioneering documentary filmmaker living and working in Bombay. His films include, Waves of Revolution, Prisoners of Conscience, A Time to Rise, Bombay- Our City, In the Name of God, Father, Son and Holy War and War and Peace. 2. CRYSTAL 5 min.. mini-DV, 2003 Amidst the bustle of Marine Drive and the glitz of its multlcuisine eateries stands Crystal a little canteen serving North Indian food. In Crystal, you would find a calendar which is outdated, antiquated table fans, an old clock which adorns the wall - long after its hands have stopped moving and old film songs by Suraiya - the proprietor, Mr Khanna's favourite actress. Even the waiters have not changed - some have been serving for more than 30 years! However, it is not only nostalgic clients that dot Crystal's rustic chairs. New regulars continue to grow. The film tries to affectionately capture the essence of this Bombay landmark. Directed by - Class of 2002, Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic. 3. CIRCADIAN CYCLE 5 min., Video, 1995 Taking its name, Circadian Cycles from the repetitive cycles of eating, drinking and sleeping, this film looks at the city as a living being and is a tribute to the multi-cultural, resilient nature of the city and its people. An eavesdropping telephone linesman, conversations between an ad-guru and his client, a stockbroker and investor, two lovers, some friends - the riots of 1092-93, their sadness, the city changing, the city returning to "normal" - Bombay as the filmmaker knows it. This film was made as part of a series of films commissioned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Mid-day group of publications. Directed by - Mahesh Mathai Mahesh Mathai is a well known director of advertisement films and music videos, including the videos for Lucky Ali's music. He has directed the feature film Bhopal Express. 4. I RANU GAYEN 9 min., mini DV, 2002 This is a post-modern yet surreal account of an urban woman, Ranu Gayen, within a crumbling space defined by four walls. An over-sized ugly fish, her favorite petŠin a small bowl Ša phone, keeps her in touch with the outer world. Suddenly the bowl topplesŠleaving the fish gasping for oxygen Šwhen there is no water around except a couple of frozen mineral water bottles! She has to save her fishŠ Directed by - Shyamal Karmakar Shyamal Karmakar is a graduate of the FTII Pune (1987). He is the director, writer and editor of Ranu an award winning Bengali feature, and I, Ranu Gayen and Kimvadantuyan, and Editor of the feature films, Tepantorer Maath, and Raasta as well as the documentaries, This Is My Country, Scribbles on Akka, and Colours Black. He has also been active in the small magazine in West Bengal. _____ PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research) Mumbai. E-Mail Phone +91 (022) 2207 7779, +91 98204 04010 Web Site http://www.pukar.org.in _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From raviv at sarai.net Tue Sep 23 09:43:24 2003 From: raviv at sarai.net (Ravi S. Vasudevan) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 09:43:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] belinale talent campus Message-ID: <5.2.1.1.0.20030923094257.00a735a8@mail.sarai.net> Von: Daedelow, Jana Gesendet: Freitag, 1. August 2003 16:46 An: KBB.Alle Betreff: newsletter BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS #1 BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS NEWSLETTER #1 - BERLIN, August 1st, 2003 Please forward this newsletter to all film professionals. LET'S GET PASSIONATE ABOUT FILM DEAR FRIENDS OF FILM, We would like to invite you and/or your colleagues to apply for the BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS #2. Emerging filmmakers from all over the globe will again be given the chance of a lifetime at the BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS 2004 from February 7-12. The crème de la crème of the international film industry will be on hand to share their knowledge, experience and provide advice on getting geared for success according to our motto "Let's get passionate about film!" The BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS builds on the success of the inaugural year in 2003. Tutors in 2003 included Ken Adam, Stephen Frears, Dennis Hopper, Spike Lee, Lia van Leer, Anthony Minghella, Tom Tykwer and Wim Wenders. ThE APPLICATION PHASE FOR THE CAMPUS 2004 HAS STARTED NOW. The Campus application can be found online only at http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de. Eligible are: young screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, directors, actors and, for the first time, film music composers, sound designers and film editors. A key part of the application is the submission of a one minute film. Film music composers and sound designers may submit a sound sample and screenwriters may submit a writing sample in place of the film. The application deadline is October 10th, 2003. Selected talents will be notified no later than December 27th, 2003. Successful applicants who are not German citizens and who do not live in Germany will receive free accommodation and a contribution towards their travel expenses. Talents who took part in the Talent Campus 2003 are welcome to apply. However, preference will be given to talents applying for the first time. If selected to participate for a second time in 2004, no travel expenses and accomodation costs will be reimbursed. WHAT'S THE PROGRAMME IN 2004? The six day programme will again explore the five stages of creating film: Philosophy, Preproduction, Production, Postproduction and Promotion. Such elements as "Sounds", "Visions", "Action", "Turning Points" and the "Climax" will be considered throughout the lectures, case studies and workshops. The programme will concentrate on the practical aspects of filmmaking and international prospects. The new theme "The Sound and Music" will enrich the spectrum of talent to include sound designers, composers and film editors. Another new Campus focus is the "Working Campus", which will give talents the chance to gain practical experience in small work groups. These talents will work together throughout the whole week and present the results of their cooperation, such as a short film. INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS KEEP THE CAMPUS INDEPENDENT Festival director Dieter Kosslick said the BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS "is an extremely important building block as far as the future of the Berlin International Film Festival is concerned. I am delighted that our partners share our vision for Campus. Their core funding enables Campus to remain financially independent of the Berlin International Film Festival." That means the Campus will once again be run in collaboration with the Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the UK Film Council and the House of World Cultures. Volkswagen has also joined the partner team and supports the film music and sound design focus of this year's programme. The Campus team is 'getting passionate' about international film talent meeting in Berlin from February 7-12, 2004. Help us spread the word! Please forward this newsletter to all potential talents. For more information, visit our website at www.berlinale-talentcampus.de Keep in touch! Your BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS Team ________________________________________________________________________ An initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, in co-operation with Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, UK Film Council, House of World Cultures and Volkswagen. Berlinale Talent Campus Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin ein Geschäftsbereich der Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH Potsdamer Strasse 5 10785 Berlin fon.: +49 (0)30 259 20 515 fax.: +49 (0)30 259 20 199 info at berlinale-talentcampus.de www.berlinale-talentcampus.de Ravi Vasudevan The Sarai Programme: City/Media/Public Domain Senior Fellow Centre for the Study of Developing Societies Delhi 110054 Tel: 2394-2199 x330 Fax: 2394-3450 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030923/7da1ccfa/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From fred at bytesforall.org Thu Sep 25 10:25:45 2003 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:25:45 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Internet Censorship in India : Yahoo Groups Remains Blocked (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- INTERNET CENSORSHIP IN INDIA : Blocking of Yahoo groups continues Posted below are URL's to most news reports about a draconian move by the Indian state to specifically block a specific online news group on yahoo. The targeted Group's name on Yahoo is: kynhun Bri U Hynniewtrep. URL: groups.yahoo.com/group/kynhun/. Blocking of a near invisible web site ordered by Indian agencies in the name off national security, is reprehensible enough, but the blocking of an entire domain, (groups.yahoo.com) is criminal. It seems that when Yahoo refused to comply with request from Indian authorities to delete the 'kynhun' yahoo group in question, and the consequence was that the entire groups.yahoo.com domain has become inaccessible to India based users for the last 4 days or so. There are literally thousands of yahoo groups sites related to and/or based in India (if you do search on yahoogroups with the term India, it gives you figure of 12503). This is not the first time the Indian government has tried to block web sites, during the Kargil war of 1999, the web site of the prominent Pakistan daily was blocked, this was very vigorously fought by many in the media in India and some activists abroad. In 1998 a law suit was filed by online activist Arun Mehta to challenge other moves by the Indian state to block some commercial websites. This current move to block internet content for thousands off users, is a grave violation of freedom of expression and sets a very dangerous precedent of censorship and control of the internet in India. Human rights groups in India, South Asia and around the world need to take note and express concern. Addresses of the officials and bodies to whom people may write to protest or seeking their intervention re this latest instance of Internet censorship in India: Minister (Communications & Information Technology & Disinvestment) Ist Floor,Electronics Niketan, Lodhi Road,New Delhi Email : ashourie at nic.in Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad (Minister of Information and Broadcasting) E-Mail: ravis at sansad.nic.in Phone: (91) 23384340, 23384782 Fax : (91) 23782118 Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) http://www.mit.gov.in/cert/ India's Department of Telecom http://www.dotindia.com/ ddgir at sancharnet.in The Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) http://www.ispai.com/ Yahoo! India Web Services Ltd; 386, Veer Savarkar Marg Opp. Siddhivinayak Temple Mumbai 400025 Phone: +91-22-56622222 Fax: +91-22-56622244 Delhi Office: Yahoo! India Web Services Ltd; Ground Floor, First India Place, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road Gurgaon [Haryana]- 122002 Phone: +91-0124-5061888/9 (from Delhi 95124-5061888/9) Fax: +91-0124-2560057 http://solutions.yahoo.co.in/contact.html [* India's Official Human rights watch dog] National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) http://nhrc.nic.in/contact.htm Please write to any or all of the above, write to the press and contact human rights groups to take this up. I would particularly recommend that activists who have in the past vigorously fought against censorship on the internet in India [1] should be involved and some legal action should be initiated right away, if this ban persists this week. In the meantime users in India wanting to urgently access the groups.yahoo.com domain based sites despite this unofficial ban should attempt to beat the ban by browsing via: www.anonymizer.com or may want to visit www.proxy4free.com/ [this second option may require some figuring out changing settings] I also propose the formation of a campaign group consisting of individuals moderating and managing groups on the groups.yahoo.com domain to challenge the India government, this ban lasts any further. Harsh Kapoor (South Asia Citizens Web) E-mail: NEWS REPORTS: Economic Times, Is the government right in blocking all Yahoo groups? http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=199990 o o o Mid Day, September 24, 2003 http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/september/64623.htm o o o Sify (Pioneer) September 24, 2003 'Govt has no right to block Yahoo group' http://sify.com/news/pioneer/fullstory.php?id=13259504&vsv=71 o o o http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/industry/0,39001143,39152163,00.htm Cnet Asia, Sept. 24, 2003 India blocks Yahoo web site By Staff, CNETAsia o o o Newindpress, September 24, 2003 Yahoo refuses to remove anti-India content, site blocked This is the first time a website has been blocked under Cert-IN since it came into being in July this year. Representatives of Yahoo in India had been http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEH20030923005101&Title=Top+Stories&rLink=0 o o o Editorial, Hindustan Times, September 24, 2003 No net gain for Big Brother http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_387920,0012.htm o o o News Today, September 24, 2003 Yahoo Groups continue to be blocked http://newstodaynet.com/23sep/ld1.htm o o o Rediff, September 24, 2003 Government bans Yahoo! group http://www.rediff.com/netguide/2003/sep/23yahoo.htm o o o The Hindu,September 23, 2003 Bid to block anti-India website affects users By Sandeep Dikshit http://www.thehindu.com/2003/09/23/stories/2003092312761100.htm o o o The Register [UK] India blocks Yahoo! Groups By Andrew Orlowski Posted: 23/09/2003 at 16:21 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32983.html o o o Business Week, September 23, 2003 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/cnet/stories/5081021.htm o o o The Times of India., September 23 2003 Yahoo website blocked http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com:80/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=196169 o o o The Hindustan Times, September 23, 2003 Govt blocks e-group but can't prevent access Siddharth Zarabi http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/230903/detFRO04.shtml o o o Business Line, India - 20 Sep 2003 Govt issues orders to ISPs - ` Block separatist outfit's e - ... http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/09/20/stories/2003092002890100.htm o o o [Read Postings and to post a Message on the Ministry of Information Technology Discussion fora ] http://www.mit.gov.in/discussionforum/ BACKGROUND RESOURCES ON OTHER INSTANCES OF GOVT CENSORSHIP: [1] http://guide.vsnl.net.in/tcpip/columns/censorship/cc04.html Indian Government Ban of Net Access to Pakistani News Broken July 5, 1999 http://www.rediff.com/computer/1999/jul/05dawn.htm From nyvoices at indypress.org Thu Sep 25 06:16:06 2003 From: nyvoices at indypress.org (Rehan Ansari) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 20:46:06 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Edition 83: 25 September 2003. Message-ID: <010f01c382fe$b3a51370$6501a8c0@herman> This Week's Voices That Must Be Heard By IPA-New York, a sponsored project of the Independent Press Association Edition 83: 25 September 2003. Advisory editor Antoine Faisal, of Aramica, an IPA member publication. NEWS ITEMS: Mayor signs Executive Order 41 by Claudia Zequeira, El Diario / La Prensa, 18 September 2003. Translated from Spanish by Hirsh Sawhney. A triumph for immigrants and one of the most liberal and revolutionary laws in the country. MORE. Central Queens has more than 416 Korean businesses by Jun-yong Ahn, Korea Daily News, 19 September 2003. Translated from Korean by Sunyong Reinish. Community puts together a Korean business directory on the 100th anniversary celebration of Korean-American immigration. MORE. Globalization's Underside" Sex Trafficking in Brooklyn by Claire Hoffman, Brooklyn Rail, 1 September 2003. English language. Customers are typically admitted by race or ethnic background-for example, only Chinese men are allowed into brothels with Chinese women. The distinctions are so tightly made that even a Puerto Rican undercover agent would not be able to go to a brothel with Mexican women. MORE. Caribbean countries disappointed, but not bewildered, as global trade talks collapse by Tony Best, Caribnews, 23 September 2003. English language. Poor countries walk away from U.S. Europe and Japan MORE. BRIEFS: We shall overcome, again by Anna Salamon, Super Express, 19 September 2003. Translated from Polish by Super Express. 29 percent of Silicon Valley businesses owned by Chinese and Indians by Raju Chebium, Indian Express, 19 September 2003. English language. Ali Baba Ashcroft is stealing our civil rights by Adrienne Haywood-James, Muslims, 12 September 2003. English language. EDITORIALS: Downlow in Central Brooklyn by David Mark Greaves, Our Time Press, 1 September 2003. English language. Men who have unsafe sex with men in prison continue their high-risk sexual activity endangering their wives and girlfriends. MORE. Arabs danced on 9/11? by Lynne Vittorio, Aramica, 20 September 2003. English language. How do you prove it did not happen? MORE. As always we welcome questions, suggestions, corrections and letters to the editor. Rehan Ansari Editor, Independent Press Association - New York nyvoices at indypress.org* 212/279-1442 * 143 West 29th St., 901, New York City, 10001 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030924/c7e39ab2/attachment.html From secretariat at pukar.org.in Thu Sep 25 11:32:36 2003 From: secretariat at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 11:32:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Film Screening today at NGMA Message-ID: Dear Friends, As part of the National Gallery of Modern Art - Mumbai's annual exhibition, "Ideas and Images" (September 10th to October 19th 2003) PUKAR has organized a screening of several documentary films on Mumbai. Today's screening (September 25th) is of the award winning film, NARAYAN GANGARAM SURVE This eponymous film aims at depicting the life and poetry of a famous Marathi poet, Narayan Gangaram Surve. Surve was a foundling. He became an outstanding poet of Marathi. Our film deals with some landmark events of his life and a number of his outstanding poems.Using an artful play between real interviews and an actor playing the poet, and a backdrop of the working class movement of the last 40 years, the film attempts to re-invent the rhythms of Narayan Surve's poetry forged out of everyday speech of the common men and women of Bombay. The film tries to make audible its underlying sounds and to make visible the textures of his richly peopled world: mill sirens, machine and vehicle sounds, footsteps ringing on deserted pavements, hands and feet cracked with toil, faces with deep lines of suffering, sounds of giant cranes in the harbour, waves crashing, walls with their peeling colours, objects worn out with sweat and use, human beings and machines interlocked with each other. Narayan Gangaram Surve has won a National Award - the Golden Lotus for Best Film, 2003. Directed by - Arun Khopkar Arun Khopkar is a filmmaker working in Bombay, whose films have been screened at various festivals and won several awards. His films include Figures of Thought, Colours of Absence,Sanchari, Rasikpriya and Lokpriya. Venue: The NGMA Auditorium, NGMA, Kala Ghoda, South Mumbai. Time: 6:00 p.m. _____ PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research) Mumbai. E-Mail Phone +91 (022) 2207 7779, +91 98204 04010 Web Site http://www.pukar.org.in From kanti.kumar at oneworld.net Thu Sep 25 13:48:43 2003 From: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net (Kanti Kumar) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:48:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Workshop for women journalists in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India Message-ID: Hi This is an announcement call for nominations for women development journalists in Sri Lanka, Maldives and India. One World South Asia and its media partners are organizing a 7-day workshop for women journalists working in the field of environment and human rights in Bangalore from November 8- 14, 2003. This is the second in a series of workshops meant for women journalists in South Asia. Many journalists use the Internet and other web-based technology very cursorily in their work. This has led to a huge under-utilisation of this very powerful technology. The workshop is to familiarise women journalists with the utility of Internet based technologies with a view to improving their skills. There are two aspects to the workshop. The first is communicating more effectively using web-based technology through websites, mailing lists, discussion forums, web radio and video by producing content for these media. The second is to use the Internet more effectively as a research tool that looks at better use of the existing search engines, news groups and mailing lists. We will send you a schedule of the workshop and the topics that we will cover shortly. You could apply or nominate a suitable candidate from your organization for the workshop. The last day for nominations is October 8, 2003. Please ensure that the nominations are complete in all respects in order to help us decide better. We also require a CV of the nominee and an undertaking by her on publishing 3 articles on how the workshop has helped her perform better at work. These publications should take place within 4 months of the nominee returning to work after the workshop. We will pay for travel by economy airfare to and from Bangalore and also provide food and accommodation during the workshop. We will pay ONLY for the room rent and not for other incidental expenses such as telephone calls, laundry, food, etc. Nomination criteria 1. The nominee needs to have reported consistently on topics related to human rights and sustainable development including, but not limited to, environment, children, education, gender issues, population, poverty, refugees, water and sanitation, wildlife, biodiversity, climate change, forests, genetics, pollution, energy, AIDS and other diseases, narcotics, civil liberties, media freedom and ownership, ethics and value systems, law, crime, corruption, conflict and conflict resolution, nuclear issues, peace and terrorism. 2. The nominee needs to have reported over the last three or four years on these topics and should have evidence of this, either online, in print or in radio/TV. If you or people you know of, fit the bill, please contact Anu Kumar at anu.kumar at oneworld.net and we will send her/them the form. Do not want to burden the list with an attachment. Kanti Kumar Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel www.digitalopportunity.org email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030925/a3a2e65f/attachment.html From menso at r4k.net Thu Sep 25 15:22:29 2003 From: menso at r4k.net (Menso Heus) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 11:52:29 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Combine and conquer - Mark Leonard Message-ID: <20030925095229.GF89182@r4k.net> Hi all, The current AdBusters has an article by Mark Leonard (reprint from Wired 2003 June issue) which I thought might be of interest to some of you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMBINE AND CONQUER Euro space: a state of mind The European Union's obsession with legislation is usually taken as a sign of weakness - a foil to the pyrotechnic might of the US military machine. But take a closer look: The bureaucrats in Brussels have been busy creating a new political space that has the power to make the 21st century the European century. The EU's geographical expansion to 25 countries, which will grow to include a dozen smaller ones and maybe even Russia, is nothing compared with its increasing legal and moral reach. The 80,000 pages of laws the EU has developed since the common market was formed in 1957 - influencing everything from genetic labeling to human rights - have made Europe the world's first viral political space, spreading its authority in three innovative ways. First, it spreads by stealth. Although the EU legislates up to half of its member states' laws, most of their trade, and many policy decisions - from agriculture to economics - it's practically invisible. Take Britain. There are no European courts, legislative chambers, or business regulations on display in London. Instead, just as a virus takes over a healthy cell, the EU operates through the shell of traditional political structures. The British House of Commons, British Law Courts, and British civil servants are still there, but they have all become covert agents of the EU. This is no accident. By creating common standards that are implemented through national institutions, Europe can take over the world without becoming a target for hostility. While every US company, embassy, and military base is a terrorist target, Europe's invisibility allows it to spread its influence without provocation. Put bluntly, even if there were people angry enough to want to fly planes into European buildings, there is no World Trade Center to target. Second, the EU thrives on diversity. The former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once complained that Europe doesn't have a single telephone number. When there's a crisis, Americans don't know who to turn to as the authentic voice of opinion. This is because Europe possesses many centers of power. Even the splits between new and old, and the accidental good cop/bad cop routine played by Britain and France, can be seen as a sign of the EU's strength. The ultimate failure of diplomacy leading up to the war on Iraq shows that the EU is less powerful when it doesn't share a common vision of the world, but even so, the multi-headed nature of the union did force the US to take its case to the UN. The best way to understand how Europe functions is to look at a globally networked business like Visa. By sharing control widely, and by making it impossible for any single faction or institution to dominate, a networked business can combine its global presence with innovation and diversity to gain the kind of edge normally reserved for smaller entities. Visa, though it represents the largest single block of consumer spending power in the world ($362.4 trillion annually), is a skeletal organization with just a few thousand employees. The fact that Europe does not have one leader - but rather a network of centers of power united by common policies and goals - means that it can expand to accommodate ever-greater numbers of countries without collapsing, and continue to provide its members with the benefits of being the largest market in the world. Third, Europe "syndicates" its legislation and values, often by threatening others with economic isolation. Many governments outside the continent have adopted Europe's regulations to get access to its market. Even US companies have been forced to follow European regulations in at least three spheres: M&A, GM foods, and data privacy. But this model of passive aggression has had its most dramatic effect in the EU's backyard. Consider some of the dangers faced by both Europe and the US: drug trafficking, large flows of migrants across hard-to-police borders, transnational criminal networks. Europe encourages political and economic reform by holding out the possibility of integration into the EU, and this strategy has had more success than the swift military interventions of the Monroe Doctrine. While the EU is deeply involved in Serbia's reconstruction and supports its desire to be "rehabilitated" as a European state, the US offers Colombia no such hope of integration through multilateral institutions or structural funds, only the temporary "assistance" of American military training missions and aid, and the raw freedom of the US market. This new type of power means that Europe effects change from the inside out. By contrast, when the US engages other countries, it does so through the prism of geopolitics. Talks with Russia focus on nuclear weapons, NATO expansion, and civilian control of the military. Talks with Colombia look at the flow of drugs across its borders. Europeans start from the other end of the spectrum: What values underpin the state? What are its constitutional and regulatory frameworks? Turkey renounced the death penalty to further its chance of admission into the EU; Britain rescinded its ban on gays in the military; and Italy reformed its profligate economic ways to meet EU standards. Europe's obsession with legal frameworks means that it can completely transform the countries it comes into contact with, instead of just skimming the surface. The US might have changed the regime in Afghanistan, but Europe is changing all of Polish society, from its economic policies and property laws to its treatment of minorities and what gets served on the nation's tables. The overblown rhetoric directed at the "American Empire" misses the fact that the US reach is shallow and narrow. The lonely superpower can bribe, bully, or impose its will almost anywhere in the world - but when its back is turned, its potency wanes. The strength of the EU, conversely, is broad and deep: Once sucked into its sphere of influence, countries are changed forever. Europe is a state of mind that cannot be contained by traditional boundaries. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Empire is on the move, and Democracy is its sly new war cry" - Arundhati Roy -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From aiindex at mnet.fr Thu Sep 25 21:45:37 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 17:15:37 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Edward Said passes away. He will live on with many of us Message-ID: Edward Said passed away this morning, Thurs. Sept. 25th, 2003 around 7am New York time due to Pancreatic cancer. http://www.edwardsaid.org/ From penguinhead at linux-delhi.org Fri Sep 26 00:24:54 2003 From: penguinhead at linux-delhi.org (Spoonman) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:24:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Michael Geist's column on VeriSign's domain name redirection Message-ID: <20030925185454.GA877@serpent> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 hi Here's News.com's archive on the VeriSign SiteFinder change: http://news.search.com/search?q=verisign+sitefinder The column examines the controversy over VeriSign's Site Finder service. The column argues that there has been a general lack of enthusiasm for Internet governance issues but when it finally mattered - the moment VeriSign hit the switch - the Internet community learned how powerless it has become as ICANN and national governments did little to protect the public interest. While VeriSign may eventually drop the service, the column concludes that the Internet community will look back on the day that Internet governance mattered and remember that they didn't. - -- all the things we keep inside, are the things that really matter, the face puts on its best disguise, and all is well, until the heart betrays. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/czn+7v3NbZTFJeIRAmiZAJ96lDGxWzZj5lzaICU6Ihoc5Cua0wCg3ERr W/vrxhfZ/in3OClbATipvug= =KjML -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From penguinhead at linux-delhi.org Fri Sep 26 00:27:23 2003 From: penguinhead at linux-delhi.org (Spoonman) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:27:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Michael Geist's column on VeriSign's domain name redirection In-Reply-To: <20030925185454.GA877@serpent> References: <20030925185454.GA877@serpent> Message-ID: <20030925185723.GB877@serpent> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 oops, The link to the column was misssing in my last post. here it is. http://shorl.com/gavefifukudu On Fri, Sep 26, 2003 at 12:24:54AM +0530, Spoonman wrote: Spoonman>hi Spoonman> Spoonman>Here's News.com's archive on the VeriSign SiteFinder change: Spoonman>http://news.search.com/search?q=verisign+sitefinder Spoonman> Spoonman>The column examines the controversy over VeriSign's Site Finder service. - ---end quoted text--- - -- all the things we keep inside, are the things that really matter, the face puts on its best disguise, and all is well, until the heart betrays. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/czqT7v3NbZTFJeIRAtEFAJ0fLAYXaSLHeqPimJTqhqvss5mJygCgj4fr OY1AcmvZU56AGAx3Tb22F8I= =3Kv+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From aiindex at mnet.fr Fri Sep 26 01:38:25 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 21:08:25 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Webcast of Edward Said lecture in berkeley Message-ID: Professor Edward Said: "Memory, Inequality and Power: Palestine and the Universality of Human Rights" Webcast of this recent lecture in Berkeley, dated February 19, 2003 is available for all : http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events/details.html?event_id=46 From benjamin_lists at typedown.com Fri Sep 26 01:41:56 2003 From: benjamin_lists at typedown.com (Benjamin Fischer) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:11:56 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] media-space 03: media in space/space in media Message-ID: 29e8f7b9e05404f3eb1884e1cd9f7bd4_MID29_t139 (English version see below) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEDIA-SPACE 03: MEDIEN IM RAUM/RAUM IN MEDIEN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.-12. Oktober 2003 im Filmhaus Stuttgart media-space Programm jetzt online verfügbar unter www.media-space.org Am 10. Oktober 2003 startet die dritte Ausgabe der transdisziplinären Plattform media-space, die sich in Vorträgen, Panels und Performances mit den Schwerpunkten Architektur, Robotik und Pop Culture auseinandersetzen wird. Internationale Referenten und Künstler wie Ian Anderson (Designers Republic, Sheffield), der Architekturtheoritiker Andrew Benjamin (Sydney), die Musikerin Angie Reed (Berlin) oder Patrik Schumacher von Zaha Hadid Architects (London) werden erwartet. Insgesamt werden mehr als 30 Referenten erwartet. Das Programm wird durch Filmvorführungen und Konzerte ergänzt. Detaillierte Informationen zu Programm, Anmeldung und Gebühren finden sich auf der media-space Website: www.media-space.org Kontakt: Wand 5 im Filmhaus Friedrichstr. 23 A 70174 Stuttgart Telefon: 0711-226 91 60 Fax: 0711-226 91 61 Mail: media-space at wand5.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEDIA-SPACE 03: MEDIA IN SPACE/SPACE IN MEDIA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- October, 10-12, 2003 at Stuttgart Filmhaus The complete media-space programme now available online: www.media-space.org the third edition of the transdisciplinary platform media-space will start on the 10th of October. the programme is online with detailed information. International experts and artists will deal with the topics architecture, robotics, and pop culture. Guests and lectureres are e.g. Ian Anderson from Designers Republic (Sheffield), the architecture theorist Andrew Benjamin from Sydney, the Berlin based musician Angie Reed and Patrik Schuhmacher from Zaha Hadid Architects (London). More than 30 speakers will attend media-space 03. The programme will be completed by film screenings and concerts. All necessary information on programme, registration, and fees are available on the media-space website: www.media-space.org contact: Wand 5 im Filmhaus Friedrichstr. 23 A 70174 Stuttgart Germany Telephone: 0711-226 91 60 Fax: 0711-226 91 61 Mail: media-space at wand5.de -- Benjamin Fischer | benjamin[at]typedown.com | http://www.typedown.com/?RDCT=af17e7cefd78c4147f08 From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 19:23:35 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 06:53:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Edward Said, Rest in Peace In-Reply-To: <000601c3800e$4e8396d0$6400a8c0@xp2> Message-ID: <20030926135335.26063.qmail@web20901.mail.yahoo.com> another giant falls.. the man who opened our eyes.. coined the terms Orientalism and cultural Imperialism.. Prof. Edward Said, Prof at Columbia University, renowned intellectual and a beacon for progressives is no more. born a palestinian christian.. all the dispossessed.. Thank you. For being there. Prof. Said, May you rest in Peace. ------ A condolence Letter from Niloufer Bhagwat Dear friends, I break my silence and my personal reverie, to share with you the sorrow that one more brilliant meteor , a proud son of Palestine and the Arab World , Professor Edward Said of Columbia University is no more. The legacy that he has left to the people of Palestine , to the Arab, African, American, Asian people and to all of us the world over is his universal work -"Culture and Imperialism " . and Orientalism.. One of the most outstanding books I have read ; incisive, analytical , poignant written with great depth and understanding of the Arab , African , Asian people without which our own perspective of Imperialism, a system which still devours humanity , would have been incomplete. I recall the searing pain that swept through me when I read it and the beautiful literary references ,English and French ,that he referred to advance the thesis. Last night I sat through the interview which he gave to the BBC on the eve of the military aggression against Iraq which was replayed. His vehement opposition to what had happened at Oslo. Of course immediately after Oslo he had castigated those who negotiated for what rightly held to be a position not in the interests of the Palestinian people and I recall reading the pain and logic of his view point. And as I watched him in that interview , taking in every word every gesture , every movement as I knew that it would be the last that I would see of him , a person I had never met and yet known ; a man so close to his homeland of Palestine even in far away America , representing Palestine with elegance , passion , the personification of refinement even in a period of acute struggle ,which is the mark civilization .......I wondered whether in the last two days he had been conscious and whether someone had informed him that the State of Palestine would soon no longer be a dream for all exiles ......and that 27 courageous pilots in Israel had decided that they would no longer obey illegal orders amounting to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity and fly on Assassination Missions .And that democratic sections of the Jewish people , rabbis, professors soldiers , workers all over the world were beginning to question as to why the Palestinian people and the Jewish people , both Semitic people, were being pitted against each other in a dance of death and whose purpose did this serve .Had not both peoples suffered enough and unjustly both under fascism and Imperialism ......... I wonder whether someone told him that there had been a rally of thousands in Israel against the Settlements ....... You see friends , Brecht told us that "Soldiers Can think " and in the weeks and months ahead Soldiers of more than one country will be deep in thought about whether their duty lies in protecting humanity or killing humanity, and where does the true honour and dignity of a military uniform lie . Turning the pages of Professor Edward Said 's book to-day what struck me was his quotation from Aime Cesaire 's poem "For it is not true that the work of man is done that we have no business being on earth that we parasite the world that it is enough for us to heel to the world whereas the work has only just begun and man still must overcome all the interdictions wedged in the recesses of his fervour and no race has a monopoly on beauty , on intelligence on strength........ ............and we know that the sun turns around our earth lighting the parcel designated by our will alone and that every star falls from sky to earth at our omnipotent command ............." We are in a critical phase yet the world is changing slowly but very surely and I wonder if Professor Said realized that liberation was ahead even though the last climb before the Summit is always the toughest. Let us see who is stronger those with a passion to unite the people of the world , to creat to build or those with the passion to steal and destroy ........... Niloufer __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com From avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in Thu Sep 25 19:31:59 2003 From: avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Avishek=20Ganguly?=) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:01:59 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Edward Said Message-ID: <20030925140159.18622.qmail@web8002.mail.in.yahoo.com> hi everyone, I'm deeply saddened to share with you the news that Prof Edward Said passed away late-yesterday in New York, after his gruelling twelve year old battle with cancer. --avishek _________________________________________________________________ "In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner online.Post your profile. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030925/c6c7f1de/attachment.html From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 20:07:03 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:37:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: CONCERT for Peace Message-ID: <20030926143703.24537.qmail@web20904.mail.yahoo.com> fyi.. Note: forwarded message attached. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Lehar sethi zaidi" Subject: Fwd: CONCERT for Peace Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:06:48 +0530 Size: 4123 Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030926/45c6e5f9/attachment.mht From info at nmartproject.net Thu Sep 25 17:17:34 2003 From: info at nmartproject.net (NewMediaArtProjectNetwork) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:47:34 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Call for papers Message-ID: <005f01c3835a$cfdb58e0$0200a8c0@meuvchen> Violence Online Festival www.newmediafest.org/violence/ is looking for proposals: papers to included in the coming project versions of this successful New Media environment. Currently, more than 300 artists from 40 countries reflect the phenomenon of violence from their artistic view. The requested papers should go down to following topics connected to "violence": Society, psychology, philosophy, science, media, culture, art. Other topics, if expressively indicated, are welcome, as well. The accepted languages are English, French, Spanish and German. There is no specific restriction concerning the lenght of the papers. Please use only these digital formats for submitting: a) plain email text b) RTF (Rich Text Format) c) .txt d. html (webpage) Academic, scientific papers are welcome, as well as articles and private reflections. It is intended to show the subject of "violence" from most different views. The submitter/author must hold all rights on the paper(s) to be submitted. Violence Online Festival is a free and independant cultural production and will not be able to pay any fee. The selected papers will be published online exclusively on the Violence Online Festival site and will include the copyright note of the author. Deadlines: 28 October 2003 28 November 2003 28 December 2003 28 January 2004 All serious papers will be reviewed as soon as they arrive. ******************************************** The submitting author has to fill in this form and send it together with the file containing the paper to violence at newmediafest.org a) Author 1. Name/first name 2. complete address (only for internal use) 3. email/URL b) Paper 1. Title and number of words 2. Topic 3. submitted text format 4. Year of origin 5. if published already, when and where c) Authorisation I (name of author), hold all rights on the submitted paper and authorize Violence Online Festival to publish the text on Violence Online Festival site until revoke. *********************************************** Violence Online Festival www.newmediafest.org violence at newmediafest.org is corporate member of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork] :||cologne - the experimental platform for net based art - operating from Cologne/Germany. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aiindex at mnet.fr Sat Sep 27 01:48:02 2003 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 21:18:02 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Delhi film school students detained for filming near American centre Message-ID: [2 reports below ] http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=64196 Delhi New Line September 26, 2003 Jamia media students grilled in CP Express News Service New Delhi, September 25: Three students of mass communications at Jamia Milia Islamia were detained by the Connaught Place police this afternoon and interrogated by a joint team of Special Cell and IB. Their crime: Allegedly filming the American Centre without valid permission. They were released about two-and-a-half hours later but only after being photographed like common criminals. The incident has left the three shaken. They had been simply filming on Kasturba Gandhi Marg for their final year masters project for the Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia. ''I am from Kashmir, and my classmates - a boy and girl - are from Bihar and Manipur. It's a deadly combination. We kept trying to explain to the police that we were just filming for a project but they refused to listen to us. This despite the fact that we showed the police our footage,'' says 24-year-old Ruhail Amin, adding, ''They harassed us for no reason''. He said the shots were basically ''cutaways to be used in their project on the Indian legal system. We were shooting buses and people, that's all''. The police asked the three, including their driver, engineer and light man, to come with them to the CP police station. ''The IB and Special Cell officers asked us about everything but our footage. They asked us about our families and homes. They kept asking us if we were from SIMI. They asked me where I was from in Kashmir. I think the fact that I was from Kashmir gave them strange ideas. Though they did not lay a finger on us, the entire thing was torturous,'' says Amin. ''They were not involved in anything. There was nothing suspicious. It was just a mistake,'' the New Delhi district police was explaining later. ''One needs permission to shoot in New Delhi district because it's a sensitive area. They were unaware of this. We do not want to give their names because it could spoil their careers,'' said a senior police officer, somewhat ominously. Amin says their interrogators believed them only when their teachers arrived. ''We even showed them a letter from our department addressed to 'whomsoever it would concern' but they were not interested,'' he says. But what he is really worried about are the photographs. ''Just before leaving, we were asked to stand with a slate in front of us so that they could take photographs. We kept asking them why, but they said it was procedure. Now they can do whatever they want with the photos. We are really worried,'' he said adding, ''We have now requested the university authorities to help us. And give a letter stating that nothing was found on us.'' o o o Detained communication students contemplate legal action From Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Three students who were detained by police for several hours while filming near the heavily guarded American Centre building here are contemplating legal action and complaining to India's top rights body. The students were picked up by police personnel from Kasturba Gandhi Marg, the road on which the American Centre is located, Thursday at around 1.15 p.m and questioned for several hours and let off in the evening. The three second-year students of mass communication -- Rohail, Shahabuddin and Sharvanti Rai -- at the Jamia Millia Islamia University, said they were filming for a college project, but the American Centre had not figured in any footage shot by them. "We didn't even shoot any footage of the American Centre. All we filmed was people passing by on K.G. Marg," Rohail told IANS. Police officials had claimed Thursday that footage of the American Centre could compromise the security of the protected building. University administrator Abdul Fahim said the authorities were planning to write to the National Human Rights Commission about the matter. Rohail, who belongs to Jammu and Kashmir, said the students were harassed for several hours and interrogated by sleuths from Delhi Police and the Intelligence Bureau. He said police denied them any access to lawyers or college authorities who could have proved their identity. The police, however, denied his claim. "They never asked us for making any such phone calls to lawyers or college authorities," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Manoj Lall. Lall said the students were neither detained nor arrested and had been "only stopped for questioning". "The diplomatic security force of the American Centre informed us of the filming unit and we are obligated under the Vienna Convention to provide them diplomatic protection," Lall said. Rohail said at least six officials interrogated them and most of them were interested in his Kashmiri background. "The most humiliating part was when all three of us were forced to get our photographs taken like criminals," Rohail said. "When we were asked to accompany the policemen they told us the matter would be sorted out in 10 minutes. But we were let off only at 6 p.m." From CoffinCapital at hotmail.com Sat Sep 27 10:34:24 2003 From: CoffinCapital at hotmail.com (Coffin Capital) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 22:04:24 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] Webcast of Edward Said lecture in berkeley In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Thanks for that. Readers may also be interested in a webcast of one of his last major addresses (June 2003) at http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/26/1533258. Both audio or video streams are available, and the site includes a transcript of the speech. Here's the website description, fyi - "Professor Edward Said: Scholar, Activist, Palestinian 1935 - 2003 Renowned scholar, activist and intellectual, Professor Edward W. Said, 67, died Thursday morning after a decade-long battle with leukemia. His death comes just days before the third anniversary of the Palestinian Intifada, or uprising. He had been diagnosed with cancer during the Persian Gulf War. The past decade he fought tirelessly against both the cancer and the war. Said, a Palestinian-American, was known throughout the world as a leading thinker, and there are few fields of intellectual endeavor that have been untouched by his contributions. He was a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and the author of over a dozen books, including Peace and its Discontents: Essays on Palestine in the Middle East Peace Process, Culture and Imperialism and Orientalism. His writings have been translated into 26 languages. He was a frequent guest on Democracy Now! and other Pacifica programs and a great fighter for voiceless victims around the world. [Includes transcript] Said was born in Jerusalem on November 1, 1935, when it was under British control. He grew up in Cairo. At the age of 17, he was sent to the United States as a student. He received a bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1957 and a master's and Ph.D. from Harvard, in 1960 and 1964. The 1967 Arab-Israeli war stirred him to political activism. When Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir infamously declared in 1969, "There are no Palestinians," Said decided to take on "the slightly preposterous challenge of disproving her, of beginning to articulate a history of loss and dispossession that had to be extricated, minute by minute, word by word, inch by inch." He was an eloquent voice for justice throughout the Palestinian struggle and noted as one of the foremost intellectuals on the Middle East and colonialism. Because of his advocacy for Palestinian self-determination and his membership in the Palestine National Council, Said was not allowed by Israel to visit Palestine until several years ago. A prolific scholar and intellectual, Said was also an acomplished concert pianist and music critic and was fluent in Arabic and French. Today we spend the hour listening to Edward Said in his own words. We play a speech he gave on June 15, at the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's annual conference. It was one of his last major addresses. - David Barsamian, director of Alternative Radio. He is the author of Culture and Resistance: Conversations With Edward W. Said and The Pen and the Sword. - Edward Said, speaking at the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's annual conference on June 15, 2003." -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at mail.sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at mail.sarai.net] On Behalf Of Harsh Kapoor Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 1:08 PM To: reader-list at sarai.net Subject: [Reader-list] Webcast of Edward Said lecture in berkeley Importance: High Professor Edward Said: "Memory, Inequality and Power: Palestine and the Universality of Human Rights" Webcast of this recent lecture in Berkeley, dated February 19, 2003 is available for all : http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events/details.html?event_id=46 _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: From bulle_shah at hotmail.com Sat Sep 27 10:07:16 2003 From: bulle_shah at hotmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 10:07:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] the american center incident - the need for protest. Message-ID: On the day Edward Said died, three students from The Mass Comm Research Centre, Jamia, were taken into custody by the Delhi Police; harassed and interrogated, for taking cutaway shots of the American Centre without permission. If the linkage implied in the in the previous sentence makes little sense - Edward Said and the Delhi Police; what do you make of this? Ruhail is a Kashmiri Muslim, Shihabuddin is from Bihar, Rita is from Manipur. The had an official letter with them from MCRC,'to whomsoever it may concern', they had an official 'Government of India' car, a driver and an engineer along with them. Despite all of this, and despite the American Centre authorities being satisfied once they had erased the footage on the spot, the police took them into custody and subjected them to interrogation by the Intelligence Bureau, and harassment. "The IB and Special Cell officers asked us about everything but our footage. they asked us about our families and homes. They kept asking us if we were from SIMI." They weren't allowed to answer their phones. When a girl phoned Rita, the police called her back, to ask for her name and her address. Mug-shots were taken of the three of them, which is 'procedure', but only in the registration of criminal cases. The ordeal ended, but only after the video faculty of MCRC, the director of the Institute, and the Provost from Jamia all went to the Police Station. In Jamia, of course, there is a feeling that the incident is over, that it should be forgotten. IN MCRC, all of us, Ruhail, Rita and Shihabuddin's batchmates are busy running around for our final films, so it is very hard to catch people long enough to gauge their feelings about the issue. But I do/did get the sense that a lot of people would rather forget this. I also got the feeling, and briefly harboured it, the terrible commonsense, that somewhere Ruhail was asking for it; that he probably over-reacted when the police started questioning them, and the rest was inevitable. But that's a common-sense that works on the cynical assumption that it's okay for our freedoms to be circumscribed; that somewhere the police are right in hauling people off on the most baseless of suspicions; that shooting in the middle of Connaught Place in broad daylight, openly, is somehow stupid and suicidal. It is, now, but why should it be? '"One needs permisssion to shoot in the New Delhi district becuase it's a sensitive area. They were unaware of this. We do not want to give their names because it could spoil their careers, " said a senior police officer, somewhat ominously.' About four months ago, at the end of May, I was taken into police custody in the Connaught Place thana. I had been shooting stills of buildings with my two actors in the foreground, for a production I was about to do in a week. One of the actors was American. The beat constable along with a plain-clothes 'spy' stopped us from shooting, called the Police Station, and we were hauled off to the station. The report that went along/ahead of us was, 'Three people were taking photographs of buildings on Barakhamba Road. One of them is a foreigner.' Our names, addresses and phone numbers were taken, before we were told that what we'd done was a crime, but we were let off in less than half an hour, and given chai before we left. I think it helped that two of us had Hindu, Punjabi, Upper Caste names; and the other one was a white American. How suspect could we be? On the other hand, " I am from Kashmir, and my classmates -a boy and girl - are from Bihar and Manipur. it's a deadly combination..." You don't know New delhi district is a photographically sensitive area till you start shooting. The police hasn't exactly gone out of their way to highlight the fact, till you have encounters of the sort that at least four students from MCRC have had. There are hundreds of white and Japanese tourists in and around CP on any given day, with cameras of all descriptions. I doubt if any of them have been made aware of the 'sensitivity' of the New Delhi area in quite the same fashion. it is when we locals/natives/ 'not-tourists' start taking photos, even slightly outside the tourist zones of the Inner Circle and Jantar Mantar, that the troubles begin. your own nationality, your ability to argue with the cops in their own language, becomes dangerous. one of the reasons that we attracted attention back in May, was that I was taking the photos, and not my American friend. If you're not a tourist, you have to be a terrorist. Thanks to the paranoia of the past couple of years, the Delhi Police is using this simplistic, racist logic; to harass those who want to film their own city. If you're Kashmiri Muslim, you don't have a hope. What scares me is the ease with which this could have become something else. For example, if they did not have cell-phones, and hadn't been able to get back to the faculty at MCRC; the next day the newspapers would have carried reports of a terrorist nexus between Kasmir and the North-East. it could have happened so easily. This is ridiculous. Here we are, supposedly students of the premier film-making institute in the city, and three of us get treated worse than common criminals. all the official backing that an Institute gives to students becomes meaningless because the police writes us off as their version of 'Jamia' - which is a breeding ground for 'Islamic terror'. Someone neds to tell the police that this sort of idiotic communalism and harassment won't stand. Someone needs to tell them that 'terrorists' are probably the last people in the world likely to openly shoot images on a crowded street in broad daylight. We need to reclaim our freedom to shoot the spaces of the city. I don't know how to go about this, but maybe we at MCRC, need to join up with film-makers in Delhi (at least) and formulate how to protest this. And soon. The independent film-making community in India has recently been successful against the State's attempted repression and censorship at MIFF. Can the community come together with us film students to, at the very least, get a public apology out of the Delhi Police? And some assurance that the police doesn't make 'mistakes' like this anymore? Anand ps - all quotes are from The Indian Express, Express Newsline Delhi edition, Friday, 26th September, 2003. Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030927/a3ee7bf9/attachment.html From marnoldm at du.edu Sat Sep 27 04:10:28 2003 From: marnoldm at du.edu (Michael Arnold Mages) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 16:40:28 -0600 (MDT) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] October on -Empyre- Anamorph/Semiomorph:Playspace/Playlife Message-ID: Anamorphosis. from Greek, from anamorphoun to transform, from morphe form, shape] aB an image or drawing distorted in such a way that it becomes recognizable only when viewed in a specified manner or through a special device bB the process by which such images or drawings are produced 2B the evolution of one type of organism from another by a series of gradual changes Two artists play through the possibilities in the next discussion on Empyre. Please join Eugenie Shinkle (CA/UK) and Troy Innocent (AU) [ http://www.subtle.net/empyre ] beginning October 1 Empyre is pleased to host Eugenie and Troy in connection with Plaything Symposium, Sydney, October 10-12, 2003 http://www.dlux.org.au/ presented in partnership with, Sydney College of the Arts and the Media and Communications Faculty at the University of Sydney. Eugenie ponders affect and anamorphic in the rave-like world of touch based computer games where Cartesian space loses ground to special devices of touch and vision; and imagines an entranced VR that takes on the materiality of the technology of vision, and the affectivity of looking.' Troy explores 'semiotic morphism, a "systematic translation between sign systems" in which signified messages can be mapped onto various signifiers, multiplying and mutating instances of semiosis. The term captures the shape-shifting plasticity of relationships between sound, image, text, and users in virtual worlds; the interactions through which meaning is made, transformed and remade dynamically and synaesthetically in real time.' Troy Innocent has been exploring new aesthetics enabled by computers since 1989. Trained as a designer and practising as an artist,Innocent is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Multimedia & Digital Arts at Monash University, Melbourne. He is currently producing lifeSigns, an eco-system of signs and symbols. Other recent works include Semiomorph (ISEA02, Nagoya, Japan) and Iconica; trans'forms (Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, Australia) Eugenie Shinkle, PhD lectures on in photographic theory and criticism in the School of Media, Arts and Design at Westminster University, London, UK. A former civil engineer, Eugenie worked as a waterflow control systems designer before dedicating herself to art practice and scholarship in photography and video a photographer and video artist since 1991. http://www.fineartforum.org/Backissues/Vol_17/faf_v17_n08/reviews/reviews_index.html -- -empyre- is a soft space dedicated to an open, ongoing conversation on media arts and culture. Subscribe to -empyre- at: http://www.subtle.net/empyre -- -- Michael Arnold Mages mailto:marnoldm at du.edu -- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at mail.sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From lehar_hind at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 00:07:58 2003 From: lehar_hind at yahoo.com (Lehar ..) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 18:37:58 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Promise of India Programme In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030929104530.20892.qmail@web20913.mail.yahoo.com> friends fyi.. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > An al Haqq- I am the Truth > Mansoor al Hallaj, Sufi saint, 932 AD > > > > > > > >From: "Zahir Janmohamed" > > > >Subject: [yidream] Promise of India > >Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 00:03:18 -0400 > > > >Please Join Us for the Launch of > > > > > > > >"Promise of India" > > > > > > > >A World-wide Campaign to Show Our Support for a > Democratic, Secular, > >Pluralistic, and United India > > > > > > > >And > > > > > > > >To Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's 134th Birthday > > > > > > > >When > > > >Saturday, October 4th, 2003 > > > >2 PM - 4 PM > > > > > > > >Where > > > >India Community Center > > > >555 Los Coches St. > >Milpitas, CA 95035 > > > >www.IndiaCC.org > > > > > > > >What > > > >Promise of India is a coalition of US-based Indian > non-profit organizations > >who have come together to strengthen the > democratic, secular, and > >pluralistic fabric of Indian society. The campaign > will be officially > >launched on this day and information about the > various programs to be > >organized by the coalition will be announced. > Representatives from the > >sponsoring organizations will be present to sign > the Promise of India > >Appeal, an urgent call to the people and the > government of India to restore > >communal harmony. > > > > > > > >Program > > > >Gandhi Bhajans by Asha Ramesh and Shabi Farooq > > > >The Promise of India Campaign and Appeal > > > >Kathak Performance by Farah Yasmeen Shaikh, from > Chitresh Das Dance Company > > > >National Anthems > > > >Public Signature campaign begins > > > > > > > >Who > > > >Promise of India is sponsored by AID (Bay Area > Chapter), AIF, ASHA, CAC, > >ICA, ICC, PrajaNet and TiE. Additional sponsors > will join in the coming > >weeks. This event is free > > > > > > > > >Contact Information: > > > >Raju Rajagopal 510-559-1049 > > > >Netika Raval 650-278-9668 > > > >India Community Center 408-934-1130 > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get Married! > http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/cgi-bin/bmclicks1.cgi?74 > Search > from 7 lakh Brides & Grooms. > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com From avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in Sun Sep 28 13:00:55 2003 From: avishek_ganguly at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Avishek=20Ganguly?=) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 07:30:55 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Condolences, Donations and Memorials for the Late Prof. Said In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030927233816.58172.qmail@web8007.mail.in.yahoo.com> in case any of us were planning to do/send something: ______________________________________ ADC Update: > Condolences, Donations and Memorials for the Late Prof. Said > > MEMORIALS: > Edward Said’s family has announced that his funeral will be a private matter for family and friends. Memorials are being planned, and will be announced in the near future. > > DONATIONS IN LIEU OF FLOWERS: > Prof.Said’s family has asked that,in lieu of flowers,donations be sent to: > Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia Research Fund, LIJMC > Attention: Dr. Kanti Rai > New Hyde Park, NY 11040 > > The Friends of Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC), > Inc > PO Box 450554 > Atlanta GA, 31145 > > National Conservatory of Music > Birzeit University Fund > c/o Fred Ajluni, J.D. > K&S Mall, 1800 West 14 Mile Road, Suite C > Royal Oak, Michigan 48073 > > CONDOLENCES: > Condolences may be sent to: > Columbia University English Department > 508 Philosophy Hall > New York, NY 10027 > or faxed to: > 212 854-5788 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Avishek Ganguly Dept of English and Comparative Literature Columbia University, New York "In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault _________________________________________________________________ "In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner online.Post your profile. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030928/20caf1de/attachment.html From shohini at nda.vsnl.net.in Sun Sep 28 20:16:59 2003 From: shohini at nda.vsnl.net.in (shohini) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 14:46:59 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Press release from Faculty and Staff of MCRC Message-ID: <000201c385f3$413efce0$6fe141db@shohini> PRESS RELEASE We, the faculty and staff of the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre (AJK MCRC), Jamia Millia Islamia, strongly condemn the forceful detention and interrogation of three of our students, Ruhail Amin, Rita Namban and Shahabuddin. The students were picked up from Connought Place on grounds that they had been shooting in the vicinity of the American Centre. When the police viewed the footage it was confirmed that the students had only been shooting the traffic in front of the Hindustan Times Building. The police took the students and the accompanying crewmembers of the AJK MCRC to the Rajiv Chowk police station despite been shown an official letter from the University and told that they were shooting with equipment and transport that belonged to the MCRC. Ignoring repeated requests from the students, the police refused to contact the University authorities. They also prevented the students from doing so by taking away their mobiles phones. The three students were subject to interrogation by the Special Branch and Intelligence Bureau and were finally released when their teachers along with the Proctor of the University went and intervened on their behalf. Despite protests, the police insisted on photographing them with nameplates held against their chest. Moreover, the police had taken the liberty of calling the press even as the students and teachers were in the premises of the Rajiv Chowk police station. One TV channel lost no time in telecasting that "the terrorists who had been caught in front of the American Centre had turned out to be students of Jamia University." We are shocked and distressed at how some national newspapers have carried similar stories without once speaking to the University authorities or verifying the claims made by the Delhi police. In these reports, the ambivalence that the students could possibly be "terrorists" is heightened by identifying one of the students as being from Kashmir. If anything, the students were only guilty of being unaware of possible regulations pertaining to the shooting in New Delhi District. This action does not tantamount to any violation that could justify the actions of the police and the subsequent reporting by some sections of the press. We strongly protest against the arbitrary actions of the police and demand that any documentation (photographs, statements and observations) undertaken by the police station be made available to the students so that their record is not adversely prejudiced. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030928/8c7cff6b/attachment.html From kanti.kumar at oneworld.net Tue Sep 30 01:41:56 2003 From: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net (Kanti Kumar) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 20:11:56 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] CHANGE OF DATES: Workshop for women journalists in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Dear all, Please note that the workshop dates have been advanced to November 2-8 due to some unavoidable circumstances. All other specifics remain unchanged, including the last date for submitting nominations. Best wishes. Kanti Kumar Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel www.digitalopportunity.org email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net -----Original Message----- From: Kanti Kumar [mailto:kanti.kumar at oneworld.net] Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 1:49 PM To: reader-list at sarai.net Subject: Workshop for women journalists in Sri Lanka, Maldives, India Hi This is an announcement call for nominations for women development journalists in Sri Lanka, Maldives and India. One World South Asia and its media partners are organizing a 7-day workshop for women journalists working in the field of environment and human rights in Bangalore from November 8- 14, 2003. This is the second in a series of workshops meant for women journalists in South Asia. Many journalists use the Internet and other web-based technology very cursorily in their work. This has led to a huge under-utilisation of this very powerful technology. The workshop is to familiarise women journalists with the utility of Internet based technologies with a view to improving their skills. There are two aspects to the workshop. The first is communicating more effectively using web-based technology through websites, mailing lists, discussion forums, web radio and video by producing content for these media. The second is to use the Internet more effectively as a research tool that looks at better use of the existing search engines, news groups and mailing lists. We will send you a schedule of the workshop and the topics that we will cover shortly. You could apply or nominate a suitable candidate from your organization for the workshop. The last day for nominations is October 8, 2003. Please ensure that the nominations are complete in all respects in order to help us decide better. We also require a CV of the nominee and an undertaking by her on publishing 3 articles on how the workshop has helped her perform better at work. These publications should take place within 4 months of the nominee returning to work after the workshop. We will pay for travel by economy airfare to and from Bangalore and also provide food and accommodation during the workshop. We will pay ONLY for the room rent and not for other incidental expenses such as telephone calls, laundry, food, etc. Nomination criteria 1. The nominee needs to have reported consistently on topics related to human rights and sustainable development including, but not limited to, environment, children, education, gender issues, population, poverty, refugees, water and sanitation, wildlife, biodiversity, climate change, forests, genetics, pollution, energy, AIDS and other diseases, narcotics, civil liberties, media freedom and ownership, ethics and value systems, law, crime, corruption, conflict and conflict resolution, nuclear issues, peace and terrorism. 2. The nominee needs to have reported over the last three or four years on these topics and should have evidence of this, either online, in print or in radio/TV. If you or people you know of, fit the bill, please contact Anu Kumar at anu.kumar at oneworld.net and we will send her/them the form. Do not want to burden the list with an attachment. Kanti Kumar Editor, Digital Opportunity Channel www.digitalopportunity.org email: kanti.kumar at oneworld.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20030929/2c1c0037/attachment.html From jl at dinki.se Tue Sep 30 10:40:34 2003 From: jl at dinki.se (Jonas Lindberg) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 05:10:34 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Third Place Gallery Awards Message-ID: PlayStation2 rewards new digital artists. Deadline: 15 November www.thirdplacegallery.org