From taraprakash at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 00:58:02 2009 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (taraprakash) Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:28:02 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2DDECA2C71D34CC0A155CAC728BE2593@tara> I wonder which ones you mean by "such activities" But Are public funds being used in the research about Krishna? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rakesh Iyer" To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "sarai list" Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 9:36 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist > Dear Kshamendra > > I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, as I > include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger issues to > be > solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public funds > on > such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these things, > as > this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a > crunch, > and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of other > such > issues. > > Rakesh > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From taraprakash at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 01:19:52 2009 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (taraprakash) Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:49:52 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d00908310902l43d70096ibdc017eb636f9658@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> Hello all and Anupam. Your hatred towards anything to do with Hindus is clear, but not understandable. Whether Krishna's existence was a fact, as this scientist suggests with a reasoning, or whether it was myth, as you are claiming without actually substantiating your claim, can be proved with research. It may not be decissive but if someone wants to do a research on it, what's wrong in it? Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for negotiation about his position? Finally if we all were to become wary of things that would offer skeletons from the closet, would there be any investigation in to massacres, there would actually be no teaching of history. ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" To: "sarai list" Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 12:02 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist >I am wary of anthropological investigations because they always render > skeletons from the closet. Here the scientists are just touching the tip > of > the iceberg in form astrological positions. My expertise in astrology is > as > juvenile as the claim that a character called Krishna existed because > there > was a real planetary position. It certainly is a matter of immense > importance to have more interesting data about the authors of these texts > namely Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the sense, a certain way of locating > fictitious event and to make it seem real, locate the event with real star > positions. If the aryan feudal battles were recorded with the star > positions, that also is important contribution to the history writing. > Would > be interested to know more about this project rather than basing my > opinion > on a news report. This would be an important revelation and I look forward > to it. > > After reading this news report, it take me back to a phase when I was > fascinated with Erick Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, and then > ... suddenly someone told me about a bunch of people committing > suicide thinking about of the some kind of superior race of aliens > hovering above this planet waiting to take them to heaven. > > -anupam > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:06 PM, Rakesh Iyer > wrote: > >> Dear Kshamendra >> >> I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, as I >> include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger issues to >> be >> solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public funds >> on >> such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these things, >> as >> this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a >> crunch, >> and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of other >> such >> issues. >> >> Rakesh >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 10:49:11 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 10:49:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist In-Reply-To: <3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d00908310902l43d70096ibdc017eb636f9658@mail.gmail.com> <3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> Message-ID: <341380d00908312219x4e56f3eeu3ad3ccef2bf7dacc@mail.gmail.com> Dear Taraprakash, You may be partially right about my hatred towards all such Hindus who are desperate to prove their insecurities by finding something with reasoning (just to be in that same league of solomon's treasure hunters) which the scriptures itself have said that only prajna or moving beyond reasoning towards a purer belief (untouched by their insecurities) can lead to knowledge about the God. Looks like you dont read my mails. I have never said such research is not welcome. I would be happy if someone proves that there was Krishna, and fairies, and Yeti, and That there were UFOs who actually helped Egyptians to build pyramids. however, some how rationality, reasoning and research would keep showing otherwise. Thank you for calling me a bully. I cant stop smiling at this comment. It goes on my blog :) "Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for negotiation about his position?" -Anupam On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: > > Hello all and Anupam. Your hatred towards anything to do with Hindus is > clear, but not understandable. Whether Krishna's existence was a fact, as > this scientist suggests with a reasoning, or whether it was myth, as you are > claiming without actually substantiating your claim, can be proved with > research. It may not be decissive but if someone wants to do a research on > it, what's wrong in it? Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to > prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who > knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for > negotiation about his position? > > Finally if we all were to become wary of things that would offer skeletons > from the closet, would there be any investigation in to massacres, there > would actually be no teaching of history. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < > c.anupam at gmail.com> > To: "sarai list" > Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 12:02 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are > wrong':says nuclear scientist > > > I am wary of anthropological investigations because they always render >> skeletons from the closet. Here the scientists are just touching the tip >> of >> the iceberg in form astrological positions. My expertise in astrology is >> as >> juvenile as the claim that a character called Krishna existed because >> there >> was a real planetary position. It certainly is a matter of immense >> importance to have more interesting data about the authors of these texts >> namely Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the sense, a certain way of locating >> fictitious event and to make it seem real, locate the event with real star >> positions. If the aryan feudal battles were recorded with the star >> positions, that also is important contribution to the history writing. >> Would >> be interested to know more about this project rather than basing my >> opinion >> on a news report. This would be an important revelation and I look forward >> to it. >> >> After reading this news report, it take me back to a phase when I was >> fascinated with Erick Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, and then >> ... suddenly someone told me about a bunch of people committing >> suicide thinking about of the some kind of superior race of aliens >> hovering above this planet waiting to take them to heaven. >> >> -anupam >> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:06 PM, Rakesh Iyer >> wrote: >> >> Dear Kshamendra >>> >>> I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, as I >>> include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger issues to >>> be >>> solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public funds >>> on >>> such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these things, >>> as >>> this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a >>> crunch, >>> and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of other >>> such >>> issues. >>> >>> Rakesh >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > > From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 11:26:42 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 11:26:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Your views on the book "Satya Darshini" by christian missionaries In-Reply-To: <4eab87870908310032k2cf00763kcf8e259e145ab9b8@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870908282309k74a25493j6c623300850cb014@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908290523x71015f30vfeed5166689b749a@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870908301724x727a4014uacb83feac6af550e@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870908310032k2cf00763kcf8e259e145ab9b8@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00908312256y4acf7f56w97dbb1e9bb9fd60a@mail.gmail.com> I am glad you are pointing this out..sex as a tool for conversion. infact Asaram Bapu cult, Ashok Jadeja are stalwarts. Will keep updating your list Murali, stay assured. -anupam On 8/31/09, Murali V wrote: > > As regards conversions, I can give a whole list of documentation where > seduction is the main method. > > Regards, > V Murali > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Rakesh Iyer > wrote: > > Dear Murali > > > > I may counter this point, to a certain extent. The idea of monotheism in > God > > was basically an articulation of the elitist position, which the priests > and > > those considered 'respectful' as per religious tradition, being elders. > What > > the people followed in their lives may not be necessarily the same as > that > > which was observed by the elites. > > > > Secondly, it was under the British rule that Sanskrit and religious texts > > were studied back for research into Indian philosophy (this was done even > > under Mughal rule but the Mughals didn't distinguish themselves > necessarily > > from the natives of the land), it was then that certain reformers like > Ram > > Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Vivekananda and others realized the need to reform > > their religion, for being western-educated and seeing what they thought > were > > 'ills' in the society, they couldn't bear to see the real instances of > sati > > and other kinds of discrimination, as well as polytheism. > > > > In order to give a 'modernist' look in the religion, they decided to > adapt > > the theme of monotheism. While Roy advocated that people should only > worship > > one God, Vivekananda said what you have put as the main point in your > mail. > > However, as I have said, Vivekananda and Roy are not the only Hindus. > Each > > person has got the right to interpret and decide for himself/herself what > it > > means to be a Hindu, and the same freedom does and should exist for what > it > > means to be a Christian or a Muslim. Unnecessary constraints being > invented > > or developed by society is not the right path to define these identities. > > > > I think we have also diverted significantly in measure from the subject > > under which I am writing this mail. The topic basically deals with > regarding > > whether such texts should be published at all, and why aren't they being > > criticized. > > > > The texts shouldn't be banned, so also Varun Gandhi's and Modi's speeches > > (vitriolic as they have been in different contexts). Each person has got > the > > right to express his/her view, and even as a citizen of the Indian state, > > it's no obligation on a citizen who is a non-Muslim, to trust a Muslim. > That > > is an individual freedom and therefore, views expressed in accordance > with > > that are fine. > > > > The larger problem of conversions has two other aspects to look at. First > is > > how come these conversions are taking place, and secondly, as to why > these > > conversions are taking place. If somebody wants, please take up research > on > > it. But don't just blame missionaries for conversion, for if I don't wish > to > > convert, how come a Christian missionary or a Muslim mulla can convert me > > against my own will? > > > > Regards > > > > Rakesh > > > From rashneek at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 12:07:49 2009 From: rashneek at gmail.com (rashneek kher) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:07:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?In_Valley=2C_gunmen_take_to_moral_?= =?windows-1252?q?policing=3A_=91enforce_hijab_in_college=92?= In-Reply-To: <6CEBC489-68B1-4B74-9335-A89741DA4949@sarai.net> References: <13df7c120908272056k4ed3121cmc8c3524c5786b032@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908272337y4bd4e8cau1809b5cbda7e47d9@mail.gmail.com> <13df7c120908280010t6bd3be56l70dce803a7f54001@mail.gmail.com> <8F24A412-58FC-4B68-8B07-1AC9B16298E5@sarai.net> <13df7c120908302110q1a7f50f9i6d601f55de255b60@mail.gmail.com> <6CEBC489-68B1-4B74-9335-A89741DA4949@sarai.net> Message-ID: <13df7c120908312337y3f32c89k2db229b87023696e@mail.gmail.com> Dear All,shuddha, I have never ever said that their havent been the Sufi's of highest order in Kashmir though I always have had my love for those who were born in Kashmir rather than the ones who came from elsewhere,Iran included. If a link to that needs to be provided I shall be glad to provide that as a support of my statement. But as far as spread of Islam is concerned I firmly maintain that Islam was spread in Kashmir through forcible means.Incidentally I am these days translating a Persian text called Tohfatul Ahbab by Shmasdin Araqi and it records with great pride how the so called sufi forcibly put an end to "infidel practices" like dance,festivities,singing and wine making. Here i how it is recorded *“He baton charged the dancing amd singing women,the musicians and the drumbeaters till they ran away.Wine and liquor assemblies had been set up around and he closed them down.Pitchers of wine were broken and in this way the black customs of the infidels were put an end to.All this was done on the day of the Spring Festival.The festivities were taking place at the foothills of the Hari Parbat.On the following day he ascended the heights of Koh-i-Maran(Hari Parbat).Together all of them destroyed even the minutest remains of the idol house and scattered even the bits of the idols.”* So Shuddha while I have great regard and respect for ShamS Faqir,ahmed Batwari,Rahim saeb,Ahmed Dar,swoche kral, Ahad azad saeb,Wahab khar,Shah Gafoor ,Shah Kalandar,Samad Mir,Santosh and my Guru Ayub Betab and many such real great sufis I cannot by any means draw myself to accept what is not truth and truth that I know or have read from original texts myself thankfully. So let us stay in the realm of reality and accept truth as it is. With that hopefuly we can end this discussion I say to you Chalo ab shiddate narazgee mehdood karte hain chalo aut bhi aao,chalo main maan jaata hoon. Best Regards Rashneek On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear all, > I did not find the names of Sikandar Butshikan and Syed Hamadani in the > sentence from my posting quoted so kindly by Rashneek Kher in support of his > argument. > > "It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a part of South Asia where the > rise of Islam > > *did not accompany a military invasion, but occurred largely due to the > example set by missionaries and religious divines."* > > > If anyone does find them I would be grateful if they could help me locate > them. > Nor do i find it necessary to digress too far in pointing out that the > meaning of the word 'divines' as used here (indicating religious adepts) is > quite different from the sense of anything being 'divinely ordained' (or > commanded by god). Whosoever should wish to educate themselves on the > semantic distinction between these two instances of usage could consult a > standard dictionary of the English language. But let us leave that aside for > now. > > I find Rashneek's second assertion that 'even a kid in Kashmir' would know > that the process of bringing Islam to Kashmir was spearheaded by Sikandar > 'Butshikan' and Syed Hamadani entertaining. And this is where the meat of > his contention lies. > > Because, 'every kid' in Kashmir, and a few adults elsewhere, would also > know that these two names were not the only ones on whose backs Islam came > to Kashmir. Islam came to Kashmir from diverse sources, and if we do not > want to dissimulate, we must remember that some of these sources were > different from, and contrary to those represented by Sikandar 'Butshikan' > and even, Syed Hamadani. Some of these strains were distinctly heterodox, > for instance, Sheikh Yaqub of the Kubrawi order, also credited with the > spread of Islam in Kashmir, was often disparaged as a 'but-parast' (and idol > lover) and he in fact challenged the ulema of his time to find fault with > this finding truth in the altars of icons. The history of Islam in Kashmir, > as 'every child' knows, is a testament to its doctrinal diversity. > > How else do we account for figures like Bulbul Shah (who is said to have > carried out the first conversions) Sheikh Nooruddin Wali (or Nund Rishi - of > the entirely Kashmiri indigenous sufi order of the 'Rishis'). Apart from > the inflence of the entirely local 'Rishi' order, the rise of early Islam in > Kashmir was marked by the influences of the Nakshbandi, Suhrawardy, and > heterodox Qadiri and Kubrawi orders, besides several different strains of > Shia Islam, and of course the presence of canonical, orthodox Sunni Islam. > To say that this variety of beliefs and practices amounted to one thing is > to be totally oblivious to the enormous variety in the cultural and > religious landscape of early Islam in Kashmir > > Here, for instance is one of Nooruddin Wali/Nund Rishi's 'vaks'/ > utterances. Incidentally, Nooruddin is affectionately referred to as the > 'Alamdar-e-Kashmir' or the 'standard bearer'. This is what he has to say. > > *"We belong to the same parents. > Then why this difference? > Let Hindus and Muslims(together) > Worship God alone. > We came to this world like partners. > We should have shared our joys > and sorrows together." > *** > > This was written in the explicit context of the persecution of non muslims > and dissenting muslims that Sheikh Nooruddin was witness to in the reign of > Sultan Sikandar and some of his immediate successors. This clearly > demonstrates that there were competing strains of tolerance and intolerance > within Islam in Kashmir. This is normal, it happens in the history of every > religious tradition in the world. To claim that intolerance alone marks the > history of any religious tradition, anywhere, is to pander to prejudice. > > The trouble is, I think that someone like Rashneek knows exactly what I am > talking about. He is not, in my opinion, unlike many others, a hysterical > bigot. He knows that the history of Islam in Kashmir is not marked by hatred > of other ways of life or intolerance alone, but, and this is what is most > disturbing, he still chooses to present a one-sided picture to score a cheap > polemical point. The knowing dissimulator, in my opinion. is far more > disturbing than the ignorant bigot. > > best > > Shuddha > > On 31-Aug-09, at 9:40 AM, rashneek kher wrote: > > dear all, > > i just hope Shudda's gives the right links,however i dont think even this > forum can teach him that,otherwise he would have learnt it by now > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011033.html > > I will not let the readers have the trouble of clicking the link.Here is > what our friend Shuddha writes. > > *"It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a part of South Asia where > the rise of Islam > did not accompany a military invasion, but occurred largely due to the > example set by missionaries and religious divines."* > > and who were these people who spearheaded the conversion of Kashmir or let > us say "rise of islam"(even a kid in Kashmir will us these two > names-Butshikan and Syed hamdani),and what were the examples of these > "missionaries and religous divines"... > > Iconoclasm and imposition of "true" Sharia through all means...which are > enumerated here > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-December/014758.html > > > So here we are.....Shudda's shoots himself in the foot again.... > > Best Regards > > Rashneek > > > > > On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > wrote: > >> Dear All, >> >> Rashneek says - "there is a history on this network here is a history on >> this >> >> network where people have called barbarians like Sikander Butshikan and >> Syed >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and incidentally these are people >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist ideologies." >> >> >> This is a very interesting statement. I am not a Maoist (I consider Maoism >> to be yet another variety of degenerate third worldist nationalism - ) but I >> am persuaded by critical strains within Marxism, (among other things) and >> have never concealed that fact. I also happen to have mentioned Sikandar >> 'Butshikan' and Hamadani in one of my set of postings - >> https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011030.html >> Annotations to the History of Iconoclasm in Kashmir - I (posted on >> November 9, 2007) written, incidentally in response to Rashneek Kher's >> postings on the subject of iconoclasm. >> >> I have trawled through the Reader List archives, and the only reference to >> Hamadani that I could find made by anyone who could even remotely be >> described as a 'Marxist' (even by a stretch of imagination) occurs in this >> posting. So, I take it, that the gesture is made in my general direction. >> Hence this clarification. >> >> Nowhere in this posting do I deny that either Sikandar 'Butshikan' or >> Hamadani were not in fact iconoclasts. I merely make the point that the >> history of iconoclasm in Kashmir does not have a solely 'Islamic' >> provenance. And that just as there were many non-muslim iconcolastic rulers >> in pre-Islamicate Kashmir, there were also several muslim rulers in Kashmir >> who protected non-muslim places of worship. >> >> More importantly, never, in any posting, have I characterized either >> Sikandar 'Butshikan' or Hamadani as 'divinely ordained dervishes'. Shah >> Sikandar is a king, and that is how I have described him, and Hamadani is a >> religious leader, which is exactly what I have called him. Neither of these >> two descriptions amounts to what it means when one says 'divinely ordained'. >> For that to obtain, I would have first of all to believe in the notion of a >> 'divnity' which I don't. And secondly, believe that such a 'divinity' >> ordains the destruction of architecture and images, which, logically, >> following from the first, i don't either. I have viewed all acts of >> iconoclasm in the history of Kashmir, regardless of who caused them to >> occur, as acts of violence. And have never said any thing that can be read >> to the contrary. >> >> I think, yet again, Rashneek, in his haste to score a weak point, has been >> a little too generous in his interpretation of the textual substance of the >> archive of this list. As always, I would urge him, and everyone else to >> buttress their easily brandished opinions with a modicum of evidence. The >> point I made about Nadeem Paracha's loosely articulated polemic against Roy, >> which inititated this exchange, seems, to me to be strengthened by this. I >> do however, remain hopeful, that this list will eventually teach Rashneek to >> be more careful with his words. >> >> best >> >> Shuddha >> >> I >> On 28-Aug-09, at 12:40 PM, rashneek kher wrote: >> >> Dear Anupam, >> >> Well I am not confusing anything with anything.There is a history on this >> network where people have called barbarians like Sikander Butshikan and >> Syed >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and incidentally these are people >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist ideologies. >> >> Thanks >> >> Rashneek >> >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:07 PM, anupam chakravartty > >wrote: >> >> Dear Rashneek, >> "They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants and >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops >> divinely ordained dervishes." >> >> I think you are confusing Talibanisation with Marxism and Maoism. If the >> so-called "armed" gunmen threatened the college principal, as the reports >> stated, to which he opposed and said: "he would not be cowed by the >> threat >> and would continue to do his work at the college" and also the fact he is >> a >> specialist in greatest Islamic revivalist of our times, Sayyid Qutb (who >> the >> neo-liberal sorts think that because of his criticism of the American way >> of >> life has helped in shaping of al-qaeda) then there is an inherent >> contradiction in your claims about dervishes. here we have someone who is >> specialist, who is opposed to imposition of hijab. i think i would >> appreciate the principal's stand. >> - thanks >> anupam >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM, rashneek kher >> wrote: >> >> Dear All, >> >> A story done by Indian Express on the Islamist Icons(Robin Hoods of our >> friends) imposing Hijab and threating Prinicipals of Colleges by burning >> their cars. >> How I wonder would Taliban control the land that once infidelds lived >> in.They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants >> >> and >> >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops >> divinely ordained dervishes.Their divine powers derived from mediveal >> obscrutanist religiou practices-soon flogging,killing in football grounds >> and burning of girls schools would be the order of day.And our Marxist >> demi-icons would sing paeans to the piety of the new age dervishes. >> It may also be worthwhile to mention that the leaders of the "azadi" >> >> today >> >> have done exactly this when they "were a part of the armed struggle".For >> the >> proponents of jihad and their supporters...from Riyaz Wani >> >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’ >> >> >> >> In the first such incident in the Valley since the decline of >> militancy >> started two years ago, masked gunmen waylaid the principal of a North >> Kashmir college, destroyed his car, and gave him a three-day ultimatum to >> ensure the 3,000 girl students in his institution began wearing the >> >> hijab. >> >> >> The principal, Muhammad Ashraf, a respected Islamic scholar, told The >> Indian Express today that he would not be cowed by the threat and would >> continue to do his work at the college. >> >> Ashraf said seven men stopped his car — in which he was riding with his >> son >> and a local acquaintance — near his village at Dangiwacha, and >> >> commandeered >> >> the vehicle over a dirt track into a thicket of bushes. “They wore masks >> and >> dark glasses and were heavily armed with Kalashnikovs, pistols and >> grenades,” Ashraf said. >> >> According to the principal, the men appeared to know a lot about him: >> >> that >> >> he was a specialist on Sayyid Qutb — the Egyptian Islamist political >> theorist and leading intellectual of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 50s >> >> and >> >> 60s who is thought to be one of the philosophical progenitors of Al Qaeda >> >> — >> >> and that he had been trying to enforce discipline in his college. >> >> “You have taken some really good steps in the college like banning >> >> smoking >> >> and cellphones. Now, you must do something that we want you to do. >> >> Enforce >> >> an Islamic dress code for girl students,” Ashraf said the men told him. >> They >> gave him three days to carry out their diktat, failing which they would >> “act”, they said. >> >> Ashraf’s college, Degree College, Sopore, has around 7,000 students on >> >> its >> >> rolls, 3,000 of whom are girls. It is among the largest colleges in the >> state. >> >> “They told me that they had picked me to send a message to all other >> schools >> and colleges in the Valley in which girls study,” Ashraf said. >> >> Perhaps to rattle the principal and send the message that they meant >> business, the gunmen set his vehicle on fire. Ashraf and his companions >> were >> released after about two hours in captivity. >> >> The Dangiwacha police have filed a case, and are looking at all angles, >> including one unrelated to militancy. “We are exploring the possible >> dimension of college rivalry,” said a senior officer who did not want to >> >> be >> >> named. >> >> No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incident. The >> separatists too have been silent, and are perhaps trying to ascertain if >> militant groups were involved. >> >> Senior Superintendent of Police Viplav Kumar said a hunt was on for the >> gunmen. “We are trying our best. Hopefully, we will crack the case soon,” >> he >> said. >> >> >> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-valley-gunmen-take-to-moral-policing-enforce-hijab-in-college/507208/0 >> >> >> best >> >> -- >> Rashneek Kher >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Rashneek Kher >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> Shuddhabrata Sengupta >> The Sarai Programme at CSDS >> Raqs Media Collective >> shuddha at sarai.net >> www.sarai.net >> www.raqsmediacollective.net >> >> >> > > > -- > Rashneek Kher > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > > -- Rashneek Kher http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 12:25:22 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:25:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist In-Reply-To: <2DDECA2C71D34CC0A155CAC728BE2593@tara> References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <2DDECA2C71D34CC0A155CAC728BE2593@tara> Message-ID: Dear Taraprakash "Such activities" in this case constitutes simply research on subjects which will not have any significant impact on the lives of people, the significance being measured in terms of well-being of the people. Some part of this significance is measurable in terms of health care available, literacy rates, infant mortality rate and so on. Some part of it is related to happiness, which can be varying for different people. I do agree that certain people may say that if the existence of Krishna was proved, people may be happy, but happiness can't be the sole evaluative measure of well-being. Moreover, there are so many poor who are happy and take their life with all the struggles in the best way they can, so again it can't be the sole source, though in some quantity is important. But again, the measure of happiness is something which depends upon individuals, and I believe for most of the individuals it would hardly be a concern whether Krishna existed or not. Of course, you are free to refuse to accept it. Regarding public funds, what I meant is that public funds should be spent based on a public discussion and understanding the costs and benefits associated with such research, also including costs of not spending the money on other areas as well. It's like an economist's method of calculating costs, not an accountant's method. I am not sure it has been used or not uptil now. What I mean to say is that I believe it shouldn't be used at a personal level, but if say a choice comes, let there be public discussion on the subject with arguments from all sides before making an 'informed' decision. Regards Rakesh From rashneek at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 12:31:46 2009 From: rashneek at gmail.com (rashneek kher) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:31:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Muslims help perform last rites of a Pandit in Kashmir In-Reply-To: References: <338451.76780.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <13df7c120909010001j42d1141cxcf5daab36b43068f@mail.gmail.com> Dear Juniad, Many thanks for telling us that "actually the Islamization of kashmir took place in 14th century".We are enlightened. I was in a progamme organised by GK wherein AG Noorani said the same thing as you have said which is that most of lower caste of Kashmiri's converted to Islam and he was almost shouted down for saying so by an audience which was predominantly Muslim.The audience there told him to co-relate surnames like kaw,Kotur,Pandit,Raina,Shawl and many others to prove that it was Brahmins that they were.Poor Noorani had to beat a retreat. Now if you are against the mainstream thought of your own community who feel pride of their brahmin ancesstery ,it is your position and I respect it. As far the question of Deshbhakti is concrend Junaid bhai Kashmir is our desh,,,,yours and mine Now can you tell me what deshbhakti is it when you guys use a foriegn calender and throw the kashmiri one in a dustbin, when the language that you use is a sub-dialect of Persian and not indigeneous kashmiri...Is gharoobe aftab kashmiri ...,when you welcome foreigners to fight for you what is indigenous about it. Whether Pandits are indigenous or not whether Muslims are indigeneous or not are useless in the present contxt.whoever now lives there(those forcibly exiled as well) is a son of the soil. That Kashmir is predominantly Islamic is as much a reality as my exile.How can I forget it? Brother it is time for a truth and reconciliation wherein the killers can be punished and people of the land even if it has be divided live peacefully.Even if one life is lost no cause is worth a human life. In hope of peace Rashneek On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:30 PM, Junaid wrote: > Actually the "Islamisation" of Kashmir took place in the 14th century, > when a majority of lower-castes of Kashmiri Hindus, with a > choice/promise to escape the rigid caste structure of Hinduism, > converted to Islam. Only the Brahmins/Pandits didn't convert--that is > why the typical Brahmin proportion of population of 3 to 5 percent in > the Hindu societies continued to remain the same, while others > mass-converted, in the new Muslim society. > > It is a different matter that Pandits continued to enjoy their social > position even after this Islamisation--probably apart from some little > breaks--during Sikander's time and later under Afghans, which was > miserable for Muslims as well. During Zainul Abidin's rule or under > Chaks, and Mughals, and of course under Sikhs and Dogras they enjoyed > a high social position. Incidentally this constitutes the most of the > history since "Islamisation" of Kashmir. The present-day Pandits, > however, construct their history as exclusively having been marked by > Islamic oppression. This kind of "history" writing among Pandits began > around the time Muslims became politically conscious, and is therefore > understandable. > > Many Pandits continued to treat Muslims as undercastes, largely seeing > them as unclean, a practice that I have seen with my own eyes. Pandits > wouldn't let Muslims enter their kitchens or eat with them. But > somehow neither I nor anyone else seemed to be so bothered about it. > > This whole thing about Pandits being "indigenous" is theoretically and > historically untenable. One cannot find clean lines of transmission > from past to the present, where cultures have remained > hermetically-sealed from the outside influences and that an active > flow of people, ideas and material hasn't happened. Neither is > Hinduism indigenous to Kashmir nor is Islam, in the sense that it grew > up on its own and without any touch with the outside world. > Historically there have been other religions practiced in Kashmir > before the Hinduism that the present day Pandits now claim to follow; > the later somehow includes Desh-bhakti which I am sure wasn't present > among the repertoire of traditional Bhaktis in Kashmir at least not > the Indian deshbhakti. > > And, really, is 700 years of Islam in Kashmir just an undesirable, > forgettable, foreign footnote in the history of Kashmir, tomes and > tomes of which Mr. Pawan Durrani and others have been dreaming up and > dishing out here? > > Islam is a reality in Kashmir, you just cannot deny its existence. You > may bury your head in the sand and try to cover up its existence by > coming up with the "Shalla Daleelah" of good ol' Hindu times, but you > will realise soon that Kashmiris no longer worry about the myths and > stories that used to bind them into servitude. They think about the > present and the future. They don't ignore the past, but they are > sure-footed about their own social and political history as a society > and a nation. They would not accept your present day mythology as a > concrete historic reality, a mythology in which you and your facts > have become inextricably wound up. A mythology which somehow resembles > the tale of Ramayan--with Muslims as the evil Rakshas/Ravan, the > Pandits as Ram in Banwas, with Kashmir as Sita abducted by Ravana, and > Indian troops as Hanuman who justifiably sets the entire Muslim > Kashmir on fire to make way for Ram. > > It is not going to happen. > > Junaid > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:51 AM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: > > > > "There was nobody to perform the funeral." > > > > It is a commentary on the Islamisation of Kashmir under garb of "Aazadi" > > that led to creating of a situation which forced almost all of the > > Non-Muslims out of Kashmir. > > > > It is a commentary on the near erasure and extinction of a unique > > socio-cultural-religious group that was indigenous to and rooted in > Kashmir. > > > > Kshmendra > > --- On Sun, 8/30/09, Junaid wrote: > > > > From: Junaid > > Subject: [Reader-list] Muslims help perform last rites of a Pandit in > > Kashmir > > To: reader-list at sarai.net > > Date: Sunday, August 30, 2009, 12:48 AM > > > > Does this fit into any debate here? > > > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Kashmiri-Muslims-perform-funeral-of-Hindu-man-/articleshow/4948967.cms > > > > Kashmiri Muslims perform last rites of a Kashmiri Pandit > > > > SRINAGAR: In a unique display of communal harmony, Muslims neighbours > > here performed the last rites of a Hindu man who stayed back when most > > of the Pandit families fled during the early 1990s when Islamist > > insurgency erupted in Jammu and Kashmir. > > > > Bhola Nath Kachroo of Srinagar, who was living with his wife and a > > daughter here, died Friday after an illness and had nobody to perform > > his funeral. > > > > The family was devastated when Kachroo, who his neighbour said was > > "very old", passed away. There was no other Pandit family nearby to > > help them. > > > > But, Muslims in the area helped the family in performing the last > > rites of Kachroo. They made arrangements for the last rites and also > > erected tents for Kachroo's friends and relatives who had gathered to > > mourn the death. > > > > "There was nobody to perform the funeral. We were equally saddened to > > lose an elderly person in our neighbourhood. We gathered and performed > > the last rites without considering what faith we follow," said Ghulam > > Mohammed Bhat, secretary of the Muslim Welfare Society. > > > > Most of the Hindu families migrated from the Kashmir Valley in the > > wake of insurgency fuelled by Islamic fundamentalists, but Kachroo and > > his family stayed back. > > > > "We came as humans to help our mourning neighbours. They didn't leave > > when other Pandits fled and we owe responsibilities to this family," > > said Ali Mohammed, another neighbour. > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Rashneek Kher http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com From murali.chalam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 13:49:08 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 13:49:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are wrong':says nuclear scientist In-Reply-To: References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <2DDECA2C71D34CC0A155CAC728BE2593@tara> Message-ID: <4eab87870909010119y17e942c3pe7276650d20da764@mail.gmail.com> The final outcome would atleast bring peace of mind to the waring parties. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 12:25 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Taraprakash > > "Such activities" in this case constitutes simply research on subjects which > will not have any significant impact on the lives of people, the > significance being measured in terms of well-being of the people. Some part > of this significance is measurable in terms of health care available, > literacy rates, infant mortality rate and so on. Some part of it is related > to happiness, which can be varying for different people. I do agree that > certain people may say that if the existence of Krishna was proved, people > may be happy, but happiness can't be the sole evaluative measure of > well-being. Moreover, there are so many poor who are happy and take their > life with all the struggles in the best way they can, so again it can't be > the sole source, though in some quantity is important. > > But again, the measure of happiness is something which depends upon > individuals, and I believe for most of the individuals it would hardly be a > concern whether Krishna existed or not. Of course, you are free to refuse to > accept it. > > Regarding public funds, what I meant is that public funds should be spent > based on a public discussion and understanding the costs and benefits > associated with such research, also including costs of not spending the > money on other areas as well. It's like an economist's method of calculating > costs, not an accountant's method. > > I am not sure it has been used or not uptil now. What I mean to say is that > I believe it shouldn't be used at a personal level, but if say a choice > comes, let there be public discussion on the subject with arguments from all > sides before making an 'informed' decision. > > Regards > > Rakesh > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From phadkeshilpa at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 14:37:40 2009 From: phadkeshilpa at gmail.com (Shilpa Phadke) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 14:37:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi Message-ID: There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: shabnam hashmi Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM Subject: stop the award To: shabnam hashmi The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI Asian Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally Displaced Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter of great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of Pearson PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is Marjorie Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which ironically gives out peace grants. The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly and focuses on the business of globalisation. The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney Fingar, [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner tomorrow. Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or write to her directly. shabnam hashmi - -- From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 14:42:53 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 14:42:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7271ec560909010212n671268c0hb3849a58d41933d@mail.gmail.com> Oh, Shilpa, where is your concern for the 60,000 families living in camps at Delhi, displaced from their homes in Kasmir, should we not extend rewards and awards to rahul maino, Sonia Maino for the live in relationship of Rahul with international enterprise of Venezuela.?And Sonia richly deserves for the award for joint rule of kashmir with once Mehbooba next with Omar, but least concerned about the displaced humans.! Regards, Rajen. On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke wrote: > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. > > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: shabnam hashmi > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM > Subject: stop the award > To: shabnam hashmi > > > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI Asian > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally Displaced > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter of > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of Pearson > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is Marjorie > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which ironically > gives out peace grants. > > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly and > focuses on the business of globalisation. > > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney > Fingar, > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. > > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner tomorrow. > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or > write > to her directly. > > shabnam hashmi > > > - > > > -- > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Rajen. From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 14:51:43 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 14:51:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Your views on the book "Satya Darshini" by christian missionaries In-Reply-To: <341380d00908312256y4acf7f56w97dbb1e9bb9fd60a@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870908282309k74a25493j6c623300850cb014@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908290523x71015f30vfeed5166689b749a@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870908301724x727a4014uacb83feac6af550e@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870908310032k2cf00763kcf8e259e145ab9b8@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908312256y4acf7f56w97dbb1e9bb9fd60a@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7271ec560909010221s34bd62acvd09db3315f68915e@mail.gmail.com> Anupam, have you overlooked the killing of Sister Abhaya in a seminary by two "fathers" and a "mother" just because she saw them in coitus.? Or that a chief justice of of high court of karnataka tried his best to derail the process of investigation, tried to save these accused holy men and women of god.? Or to that matter, this judge is now sitting in supreme court of India, and next to go to supreme court is the present judge of karnataka for favourable judgements of saving graces.?All of these belong to one faith, one region.! Karnataka had unique judges who spent time in a resort with three lady lawyers and were detained by police, later whole issue was hushed up, judges used contempt stick to beat truthful media.! Regards, Rajen. By the way, the chief justice has created a record of sorts, by delivering 66 judgements in 50 minutes on the last day of his work, before going to Delhi from karnataka.! On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 11:26 AM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > I am glad you are pointing this out..sex as a tool for conversion. infact > Asaram Bapu cult, Ashok Jadeja are stalwarts. > > Will keep updating your list Murali, stay assured. > -anupam > > > On 8/31/09, Murali V wrote: > > > > As regards conversions, I can give a whole list of documentation where > > seduction is the main method. > > > > Regards, > > V Murali > > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Rakesh Iyer > > wrote: > > > Dear Murali > > > > > > I may counter this point, to a certain extent. The idea of monotheism > in > > God > > > was basically an articulation of the elitist position, which the > priests > > and > > > those considered 'respectful' as per religious tradition, being elders. > > What > > > the people followed in their lives may not be necessarily the same as > > that > > > which was observed by the elites. > > > > > > Secondly, it was under the British rule that Sanskrit and religious > texts > > > were studied back for research into Indian philosophy (this was done > even > > > under Mughal rule but the Mughals didn't distinguish themselves > > necessarily > > > from the natives of the land), it was then that certain reformers like > > Ram > > > Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Vivekananda and others realized the need to > reform > > > their religion, for being western-educated and seeing what they thought > > were > > > 'ills' in the society, they couldn't bear to see the real instances of > > sati > > > and other kinds of discrimination, as well as polytheism. > > > > > > In order to give a 'modernist' look in the religion, they decided to > > adapt > > > the theme of monotheism. While Roy advocated that people should only > > worship > > > one God, Vivekananda said what you have put as the main point in your > > mail. > > > However, as I have said, Vivekananda and Roy are not the only Hindus. > > Each > > > person has got the right to interpret and decide for himself/herself > what > > it > > > means to be a Hindu, and the same freedom does and should exist for > what > > it > > > means to be a Christian or a Muslim. Unnecessary constraints being > > invented > > > or developed by society is not the right path to define these > identities. > > > > > > I think we have also diverted significantly in measure from the subject > > > under which I am writing this mail. The topic basically deals with > > regarding > > > whether such texts should be published at all, and why aren't they > being > > > criticized. > > > > > > The texts shouldn't be banned, so also Varun Gandhi's and Modi's > speeches > > > (vitriolic as they have been in different contexts). Each person has > got > > the > > > right to express his/her view, and even as a citizen of the Indian > state, > > > it's no obligation on a citizen who is a non-Muslim, to trust a Muslim. > > That > > > is an individual freedom and therefore, views expressed in accordance > > with > > > that are fine. > > > > > > The larger problem of conversions has two other aspects to look at. > First > > is > > > how come these conversions are taking place, and secondly, as to why > > these > > > conversions are taking place. If somebody wants, please take up > research > > on > > > it. But don't just blame missionaries for conversion, for if I don't > wish > > to > > > convert, how come a Christian missionary or a Muslim mulla can convert > me > > > against my own will? > > > > > > Regards > > > > > > Rakesh > > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > -- Rajen. From murali.chalam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 14:54:57 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 14:54:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold, which evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India and the Indian people. She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian Constitution. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke wrote: > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. > > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: shabnam hashmi > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM > Subject: stop the award > To: shabnam hashmi > > > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI Asian > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally Displaced > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter of > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of Pearson > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is Marjorie > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which ironically > gives out peace grants. > > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly and > focuses on the business of globalisation. > > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney Fingar, > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. > > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner tomorrow. > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk)  and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or write > to her directly. > > shabnam hashmi > > > - > > > -- > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kaksanjay at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 15:54:58 2009 From: kaksanjay at gmail.com (Sanjay Kak) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 15:54:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] How Bill Gates Blew $258 million in India's HIV Corridor Message-ID: <5c5369880909010324k4c13ccb5q3d4e820d9b3fe64e@mail.gmail.com> Following in the footsteps of the Lancet magazine assesment of the Gates Foundation's impact on HIV prevention (in short: not much) here is another more journalistic review. Quite illuminating. Best Sanjay ------------------------------------------------ How Bill Gates Blew $258 million in India's HIV Corridor Elizabeth Flock Jun 5, 2009 http://business.in.com/article/cross-border/how-bill-gates-blew-$258-million-in-indias-hiv-corridor/852/1 The purpose was noble, the money generous. But the software mogul's charity for HIV prevention in India has failed to make a lasting impact On a humid afternoon, former sex worker Fathima (name changed) welcomes a group of illiterate women - still in the trade and needing protection from HIV - into the Mukta clinic in Pune. As a "peer educator," it's her job to convey to them the message of safety. But the visitors shuffle tentatively as expensive-looking posters in English paper the walls around them. Why would a clinic serving illiterate visitors use more English than Indian languages? The answer lies in where that money comes from. The Pune clinic is part of a network one hundred-plus non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working under the umbrella of Avahan, India's largest HIV prevention initiative. Avahan, or "call to action," is a brain child of the world's largest philanthropist: Bill Gates. Gates had announced the 10-year, $100-million initiative to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in India during his much heralded visit to the country in November 2002. This was to be the largest of its kind for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The timing couldn't have been more appropriate. After nearly two decades of piecemeal efforts to counter HIV, India was hurtling towards an AIDS epidemic. Millions of poor people exposed themselves to the dreaded virus due to a lack of awareness. Government agencies and NGOs didn't have the money to preach safety or treat the infected. Gates showed his seriousness by later raising the budget to $258 million. Seven years later, back at the Pune clinic, Fathima has counselled the women, given them the sheaths of safety and sent them back. It is time to worry about the future. The bad news is Avahan is ready to pack and go; and Fathima is set to lose her income. She doesn't want to slip back into prostitution. At the age of 45, she doesn't have much of a career there anyway. When it started on the ground in 2003, Avahan set for itself three goals: Arrest the spread of HIV/AIDS in India, expand the programme from the initial six states to across the nation, and develop a model that the government can adopt and sustain so that the project could be passed on to it. More than five years later, Avahan hasn't achieved any of these goals. Doubtless, the initiative has made a dent into the HIV/AIDS problem, but the impact is marginal for a bill of $258 million. And now Avahan is leaving, handing over the reins to the government-run National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which doesn't want to inherit it. It is too expensive for the budget-starved establishment that is as nimble as a sloth. If NACO takes over, it will try to prune the costs of the programme. Salaries for peer educators will go. A Five-Star Initiative When Gates Foundation got down to work in India, the priority was clear. It decided to hire the best minds in business to run its initiatives using sound principles of management. Avahan was ready to spend what it takes to get the best bosses and started its search at McKinsey, the consulting powerhouse. The recruiters zeroed in on Ashok Alexander, who had spent 17 years turning Indian businesses into global challengers. "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Alexander recalls, sitting at his plush office in New Delhi. "I liked the ambitious arch of the HIV/AIDS programme and it was a chance for me to do something new." Soon, the 15-member team was in place. Ten of them had come from a private-sector background. The team members tackled HIV/AIDS much as they would a problem at McKinsey. Alexander's office is papered with data and maps containing hundreds of coloured dots plotting the disease across the country. The argot is sheer B-school: Avahan is a "venture," its HIV/AIDS prevention programme a "franchise," the sex worker the "consumer." The classical business principles helped Avahan start on a big scale in six states simultaneously. But the lack of public health experience also led to a compromise on quality. Tejaswi Sevekari, director at Saheli, a sex workers' collective for HIV/AIDS in Pune, remembers observing the kinks during her stint at Pathfinder International, an NGO that works with Avahan. Data collection and reporting were entirely in English and had no pictures. Five years later, the scene is the same; the project hasn't fully given up on English though no "consumer" understands the language. Avahan operated in a pyramid, with Alexander and his team overseeing the work of more than 100 NGOs. The lack of practical experience at the top manifested itself in different ways. When Avahan introduced sleek mobile vans to bring clinics directly to the brothels, the expensive-looking vehicles were sometimes met with intense suspicion. At the Mukta clinic, Dr. Laxmi Mali says sex workers initially thought the van was from the police or the government. They refused help. False Moves The early missteps are largely anecdotal. But in 2005, an internal evaluation showed a big portion of Avahan's efforts had gone to waste. As many as 31,000 community members had been contacted by Avahan's outreach programme, but only 11,000 actually visited the clinics. The Avahan executives had assumed the peer educators would already know what the prevention services were without explanation; the reality was they didn't. Avahan's craving for scale also meant it overshot quite a bit. It started with a bang in six states, with 50 sites for truckers in the south. But by mid-2005, only 12 percent of truck drivers were even aware of their services, and only 7 percent took advantage of them. This forced Avahan to reduce the sites to 20. For similar reasons, Avahan's 6,000 sexually transmitted infection (STI) centers were brought down to just 800. Alexander's team tried to fix the glitches. For example, Avahan tried to allay the fears of sex workers (such as those who had met the mobile van with suspicion) by hiring them to act as intermediaries between the programme and communities. An insider could be more persuasive. Good idea, but Avahan's decision to pay them a salary has come in for criticism, because other NGOs can't recruit sex workers as volunteers. A series of evaluations published in the AIDS Journal in 2008 show that the jury is still out on the programme's impact. The evaluations, funded by the Gates Foundation, were mostly on the methods of data collection. One study, which sought to determine whether Avahan was responsible for the decline in HIV prevalence in Karnataka, failed to prove that it played a key role. Where Has All the Money Gone? At the core of Avahan's failure to make a serious difference to India's fight against AIDS is the way it spent money. It was an expensive operation, never tired of throwing money at the problem. In a country where a branded condom sells for just 10 cents, what did Avahan spend on? It's difficult to say because Avahan's finances are largely opaque. Avahan's outlets sell five million condoms a month and distribute another 10 million. Asked how so much could be spent on condoms, Alexander laughs, saying, "It's a bit more complicated than that." Probed further, Alexander says he doesn't know the financials off-hand, nor can he give them later. Travel would have been one drain. Jonty Rajagopalan, Avahan programme officer from 2006 to 2008, says she would take flights every month from her base in Hyderabad to her focus areas in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, instead of being based in a focus area. Another large chunk: salaries. Alexander's annual package is $424,894, the second-highest in the foundation globally, not including the presidents and operating officers. Avahan's targeting intervention (TI) officers are also paid three or four times what a typical NACO TI officer is paid. Avahan's marketing was done in style too. Eldred Tellis, head of Sankalp, an HIV/AIDS-focussed Mumbai NGO that has worked with Avahan, says he has seen a lot of money go into fancy publications on high-quality paper, reporting the programme's work. Very little went to the people on the ground. Vijay Mahajan, chairman, Basix, a microfinance institution, comments on Avahan: "There is too much money and too many really smart people with too little coming out." An Uncertain Torchbearer Knowing that it would have to inherit the project, NACO sent out evaluation teams to sites in four states to get some clarity on costs. NACO's head, Dr. Sujatha Rao, says the evaluation threw up one clear message: Large parts of the programme are not sustainable by NACO. "We told them you can't create a huge number of assets and then just leave and expect the government to take over everything," says Rao. But Alexander disagrees. "We are not perpetual funders. We try to be catalytic," he says, ebulliently confident that the HIV/AIDS epidemic will soon be contained, with or without the foundation. Either way, it will have to be - Avahan is now repositioning, focussing on maternal and newborn health. Ashok Row Kavi, consultant for UNAIDS and chairman of Humsafar Trust for gay and transgender health, says Avahan's expectations were unrealistic. "They wanted HIV to disappear in five years. For that to happen, a lot of people would have to die." NACO's annual budget is Rs. 1,100 crore ($225 million), none of it spent on Avahan currently. Rao just can't find enough money to continue the project. "We can never offer a replicable model. And if we are unable to sustain the programme, all of their effort will be for naught," she says, shaking her head. When probed about the difficulties of handing over the massive programme to the government, Alexander says the transfer is going just fine. Kavi differs; he says that the transfer discussions between NACO and Gates Foundation are "running into a brick wall right now. Costs need to be brought down, but they can't figure out how." He also fears Avahan's now-experienced MBA-graduate TIs, facing shrinking salaries, will depart. The question of running air-conditioned clinics like Avahan doesn't even arise. The biggest hole in quality will arise where it can hurt most. Hussain Makandar, HIV counsellor at the Mukta clinic, is worried about condoms; the ones from Avahan lubricate; the ones from NACO break and the sex workers stop using them. Alexander insists that only a 10th of the project will transfer to the government this year and the rest will happen slowly over the next five. "We're doing a transition programme. We're not saying, 'here's the programme, and we're off.'" But NACO and Mukta officials, among others, are confused over the timeframe. So, the final report card on Avahan: Goal 3: Develop a model for HIV prevention that can be implemented by the government sustainably. NACO's resounding vote: Not achieved. Goal 2: Expand the programme nationwide. Avahan could not go beyond the six states it started with. Not achieved. Goal 1: Arrest the spread of the disease. The number of Indians living with HIV/AIDS has been officially corrected from 5.1 million to 2.4 million. This was a statistical change, not an improvement in health. Impact not known. Back in the great Indian sex bazaar, prostitution is a growth industry and condom an exception. "New faces keep coming in every month (to the brothels)," says Dr. Mali. "Twenty percent of the people we now see are infected, the same as when we started." From waliarifi3 at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 15:59:29 2009 From: waliarifi3 at gmail.com (Wali Arifi) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 15:59:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?In_Valley=2C_gunmen_take_to_moral_?= =?windows-1252?q?policing=3A_=91enforce_hijab_in_college=92?= In-Reply-To: <13df7c120908312337y3f32c89k2db229b87023696e@mail.gmail.com> References: <13df7c120908272056k4ed3121cmc8c3524c5786b032@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908272337y4bd4e8cau1809b5cbda7e47d9@mail.gmail.com> <13df7c120908280010t6bd3be56l70dce803a7f54001@mail.gmail.com> <8F24A412-58FC-4B68-8B07-1AC9B16298E5@sarai.net> <13df7c120908302110q1a7f50f9i6d601f55de255b60@mail.gmail.com> <6CEBC489-68B1-4B74-9335-A89741DA4949@sarai.net> <13df7c120908312337y3f32c89k2db229b87023696e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4fcaee300909010329s33b7608fs11b95c838003a415@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, The Indian Express report just mentions “gunmen” in the story. And gunmen in Kashmir mean anybody holding a gun --- from state or non-state. It’s appalling the champions of e-activism just pounce on anything that comes their way, without even scrutinizing the reported facts. How does Indian Express story only mean that militants have done it? Why can’t be it army? Any paramilitary unit, or for that matter the police? After all, they are also ‘gunmen’! The point is when it comes to Kashmir everybody tends to stick to the statist position and our e-warriors have mastered this art of twisting semi-facts into suitable arguments to their fixated positions. This incident, as reported by the principal, happens not more than two kilometers from the nearest massive army camp. Police categorically rule out any possibility of presence of armed six or seven militants in the area where incident occurred. They say there are operational hazards for militants to carry out such an action in the area as it has all the possibility of “rendering huge sacrifice (in the form of lives) for achieving a small goal (of enforcing dress code!).” The police officials say the action defies logic, particularly in the current scenario when militants are constantly on run and also have tremendously polished their operational capabilities. They say there has been almost no sighting of more than three militants in a group for last many years now for multiple reasons. So who are these ‘gunmen’? Either the college principal is misleading or they are gunmen from some state agency? Kashmir has witnessed strange incidents related to morality post Shopian rape and murder of two young women. In many strange incidents, which the Indian mainstream press has conveniently ignored to report, the Mualvis and respected elders in various areas have been humiliated and thrashed by strange-looking gunmen. These incidents have particularly occurred in those country side areas where anti-India protests have been more intense. There have been concerted efforts to paint people in Kashmir as "fundamentalists out there to malign" the central armed forces in whatever they do. The fact is that many journalists who live on "information" fed to them by the intelligence establishment have tried this even in Shopian in an attempt to neutralize embarrassment to the state. What is most appalling about this skewed and motivated e-activism in the name of journalism is that the law that the state employs to violate a people are never even commented upon let alone scrutinized. Media reportage alone about a place like Kashmir should never be allowed to form opinions and inform positions on disputed political entities. It is good to know the ground than to exist in an orbit tied to a statist or nationalist string, far removed from the center of gravity. Best, Wali On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM, rashneek kher wrote: > Dear All,shuddha, > > I have never ever said that their havent been the Sufi's of highest order > in > Kashmir though I always have had my love for those who were born in Kashmir > rather than the ones who came from elsewhere,Iran included. > If a link to that needs to be provided I shall be glad to provide that as a > support of my statement. > But as far as spread of Islam is concerned I firmly maintain that Islam was > spread in Kashmir through forcible means.Incidentally I am these days > translating a Persian text called Tohfatul Ahbab by Shmasdin Araqi and it > records with great pride how the so called sufi forcibly put an end to > "infidel practices" like dance,festivities,singing and wine making. > Here i how it is recorded > > > *“He baton charged the dancing amd singing women,the musicians and the > drumbeaters till they ran away.Wine and liquor assemblies had been set up > around and he closed them down.Pitchers of wine were broken and in this way > the black customs of the infidels were put an end to.All this was done on > the day of the Spring Festival.The festivities were taking place at the > foothills of the Hari Parbat.On the following day he ascended the heights > of Koh-i-Maran(Hari Parbat).Together all of them destroyed even the > minutest > remains of the idol house and scattered even the bits of the idols.”* > So Shuddha while I have great regard and respect for ShamS Faqir,ahmed > Batwari,Rahim saeb,Ahmed Dar,swoche kral, Ahad azad saeb,Wahab khar,Shah > Gafoor ,Shah Kalandar,Samad Mir,Santosh and my Guru Ayub Betab and many > such > real great sufis I cannot by any means draw myself to accept what is not > truth and truth that I know or have read from original texts myself > thankfully. > So let us stay in the realm of reality and accept truth as it is. > With that hopefuly we can end this discussion > > I say to you > > Chalo ab shiddate narazgee mehdood karte hain > chalo aut bhi aao,chalo main maan jaata hoon. > > Best Regards > > Rashneek > > > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta >wrote: > > > Dear all, > > I did not find the names of Sikandar Butshikan and Syed Hamadani in the > > sentence from my posting quoted so kindly by Rashneek Kher in support of > his > > argument. > > > > "It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a part of South Asia where > the > > rise of Islam > > > > *did not accompany a military invasion, but occurred largely due to the > > example set by missionaries and religious divines."* > > > > > > If anyone does find them I would be grateful if they could help me locate > > them. > > Nor do i find it necessary to digress too far in pointing out that the > > meaning of the word 'divines' as used here (indicating religious adepts) > is > > quite different from the sense of anything being 'divinely ordained' (or > > commanded by god). Whosoever should wish to educate themselves on the > > semantic distinction between these two instances of usage could consult a > > standard dictionary of the English language. But let us leave that aside > for > > now. > > > > I find Rashneek's second assertion that 'even a kid in Kashmir' would > know > > that the process of bringing Islam to Kashmir was spearheaded by Sikandar > > 'Butshikan' and Syed Hamadani entertaining. And this is where the meat of > > his contention lies. > > > > Because, 'every kid' in Kashmir, and a few adults elsewhere, would also > > know that these two names were not the only ones on whose backs Islam > came > > to Kashmir. Islam came to Kashmir from diverse sources, and if we do not > > want to dissimulate, we must remember that some of these sources were > > different from, and contrary to those represented by Sikandar 'Butshikan' > > and even, Syed Hamadani. Some of these strains were distinctly heterodox, > > for instance, Sheikh Yaqub of the Kubrawi order, also credited with the > > spread of Islam in Kashmir, was often disparaged as a 'but-parast' (and > idol > > lover) and he in fact challenged the ulema of his time to find fault with > > this finding truth in the altars of icons. The history of Islam in > Kashmir, > > as 'every child' knows, is a testament to its doctrinal diversity. > > > > How else do we account for figures like Bulbul Shah (who is said to have > > carried out the first conversions) Sheikh Nooruddin Wali (or Nund Rishi - > of > > the entirely Kashmiri indigenous sufi order of the 'Rishis'). Apart from > > the inflence of the entirely local 'Rishi' order, the rise of early Islam > in > > Kashmir was marked by the influences of the Nakshbandi, Suhrawardy, and > > heterodox Qadiri and Kubrawi orders, besides several different strains of > > Shia Islam, and of course the presence of canonical, orthodox Sunni > Islam. > > To say that this variety of beliefs and practices amounted to one thing > is > > to be totally oblivious to the enormous variety in the cultural and > > religious landscape of early Islam in Kashmir > > > > Here, for instance is one of Nooruddin Wali/Nund Rishi's 'vaks'/ > > utterances. Incidentally, Nooruddin is affectionately referred to as the > > 'Alamdar-e-Kashmir' or the 'standard bearer'. This is what he has to say. > > > > *"We belong to the same parents. > > Then why this difference? > > Let Hindus and Muslims(together) > > Worship God alone. > > We came to this world like partners. > > We should have shared our joys > > and sorrows together." > > *** > > > > This was written in the explicit context of the persecution of non > muslims > > and dissenting muslims that Sheikh Nooruddin was witness to in the reign > of > > Sultan Sikandar and some of his immediate successors. This clearly > > demonstrates that there were competing strains of tolerance and > intolerance > > within Islam in Kashmir. This is normal, it happens in the history of > every > > religious tradition in the world. To claim that intolerance alone marks > the > > history of any religious tradition, anywhere, is to pander to prejudice. > > > > The trouble is, I think that someone like Rashneek knows exactly what I > am > > talking about. He is not, in my opinion, unlike many others, a hysterical > > bigot. He knows that the history of Islam in Kashmir is not marked by > hatred > > of other ways of life or intolerance alone, but, and this is what is most > > disturbing, he still chooses to present a one-sided picture to score a > cheap > > polemical point. The knowing dissimulator, in my opinion. is far more > > disturbing than the ignorant bigot. > > > > best > > > > Shuddha > > > > On 31-Aug-09, at 9:40 AM, rashneek kher wrote: > > > > dear all, > > > > i just hope Shudda's gives the right links,however i dont think even this > > forum can teach him that,otherwise he would have learnt it by now > > > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011033.html > > > > I will not let the readers have the trouble of clicking the link.Here is > > what our friend Shuddha writes. > > > > *"It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a part of South Asia where > > the rise of Islam > > did not accompany a military invasion, but occurred largely due to the > > example set by missionaries and religious divines."* > > > > and who were these people who spearheaded the conversion of Kashmir or > let > > us say "rise of islam"(even a kid in Kashmir will us these two > > names-Butshikan and Syed hamdani),and what were the examples of these > > "missionaries and religous divines"... > > > > Iconoclasm and imposition of "true" Sharia through all means...which are > > enumerated here > > > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-December/014758.html > > > > > > So here we are.....Shudda's shoots himself in the foot again.... > > > > Best Regards > > > > Rashneek > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta < > shuddha at sarai.net > > > wrote: > > > >> Dear All, > >> > >> Rashneek says - "there is a history on this network here is a history > on > >> this > >> > >> network where people have called barbarians like Sikander Butshikan and > >> Syed > >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and incidentally these are > people > >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist ideologies." > >> > >> > >> This is a very interesting statement. I am not a Maoist (I consider > Maoism > >> to be yet another variety of degenerate third worldist nationalism - ) > but I > >> am persuaded by critical strains within Marxism, (among other things) > and > >> have never concealed that fact. I also happen to have mentioned > Sikandar > >> 'Butshikan' and Hamadani in one of my set of postings - > >> https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011030.html > >> Annotations to the History of Iconoclasm in Kashmir - I (posted on > >> November 9, 2007) written, incidentally in response to Rashneek Kher's > >> postings on the subject of iconoclasm. > >> > >> I have trawled through the Reader List archives, and the only reference > to > >> Hamadani that I could find made by anyone who could even remotely be > >> described as a 'Marxist' (even by a stretch of imagination) occurs in > this > >> posting. So, I take it, that the gesture is made in my general > direction. > >> Hence this clarification. > >> > >> Nowhere in this posting do I deny that either Sikandar 'Butshikan' or > >> Hamadani were not in fact iconoclasts. I merely make the point that the > >> history of iconoclasm in Kashmir does not have a solely 'Islamic' > >> provenance. And that just as there were many non-muslim iconcolastic > rulers > >> in pre-Islamicate Kashmir, there were also several muslim rulers in > Kashmir > >> who protected non-muslim places of worship. > >> > >> More importantly, never, in any posting, have I characterized either > >> Sikandar 'Butshikan' or Hamadani as 'divinely ordained dervishes'. Shah > >> Sikandar is a king, and that is how I have described him, and Hamadani > is a > >> religious leader, which is exactly what I have called him. Neither of > these > >> two descriptions amounts to what it means when one says 'divinely > ordained'. > >> For that to obtain, I would have first of all to believe in the notion > of a > >> 'divnity' which I don't. And secondly, believe that such a 'divinity' > >> ordains the destruction of architecture and images, which, logically, > >> following from the first, i don't either. I have viewed all acts of > >> iconoclasm in the history of Kashmir, regardless of who caused them to > >> occur, as acts of violence. And have never said any thing that can be > read > >> to the contrary. > >> > >> I think, yet again, Rashneek, in his haste to score a weak point, has > been > >> a little too generous in his interpretation of the textual substance of > the > >> archive of this list. As always, I would urge him, and everyone else to > >> buttress their easily brandished opinions with a modicum of evidence. > The > >> point I made about Nadeem Paracha's loosely articulated polemic against > Roy, > >> which inititated this exchange, seems, to me to be strengthened by this. > I > >> do however, remain hopeful, that this list will eventually teach > Rashneek to > >> be more careful with his words. > >> > >> best > >> > >> Shuddha > >> > >> I > >> On 28-Aug-09, at 12:40 PM, rashneek kher wrote: > >> > >> Dear Anupam, > >> > >> Well I am not confusing anything with anything.There is a history on > this > >> network where people have called barbarians like Sikander Butshikan and > >> Syed > >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and incidentally these are > people > >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist ideologies. > >> > >> Thanks > >> > >> Rashneek > >> > >> > >> > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:07 PM, anupam chakravartty < > c.anupam at gmail.com > >> >wrote: > >> > >> Dear Rashneek, > >> "They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants > and > >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops > >> divinely ordained dervishes." > >> > >> I think you are confusing Talibanisation with Marxism and Maoism. If the > >> so-called "armed" gunmen threatened the college principal, as the > reports > >> stated, to which he opposed and said: "he would not be cowed by the > >> threat > >> and would continue to do his work at the college" and also the fact he > is > >> a > >> specialist in greatest Islamic revivalist of our times, Sayyid Qutb (who > >> the > >> neo-liberal sorts think that because of his criticism of the American > way > >> of > >> life has helped in shaping of al-qaeda) then there is an inherent > >> contradiction in your claims about dervishes. here we have someone who > is > >> specialist, who is opposed to imposition of hijab. i think i would > >> appreciate the principal's stand. > >> - thanks > >> anupam > >> > >> > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM, rashneek kher > >> wrote: > >> > >> Dear All, > >> > >> A story done by Indian Express on the Islamist Icons(Robin Hoods of our > >> friends) imposing Hijab and threating Prinicipals of Colleges by burning > >> their cars. > >> How I wonder would Taliban control the land that once infidelds lived > >> in.They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants > >> > >> and > >> > >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops > >> divinely ordained dervishes.Their divine powers derived from mediveal > >> obscrutanist religiou practices-soon flogging,killing in football > grounds > >> and burning of girls schools would be the order of day.And our Marxist > >> demi-icons would sing paeans to the piety of the new age dervishes. > >> It may also be worthwhile to mention that the leaders of the "azadi" > >> > >> today > >> > >> have done exactly this when they "were a part of the armed struggle".For > >> the > >> proponents of jihad and their supporters...from Riyaz Wani > >> > >> > >> > >> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> > >> In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’ > >> > >> > >> > >> In the first such incident in the Valley since the decline of > >> militancy > >> started two years ago, masked gunmen waylaid the principal of a North > >> Kashmir college, destroyed his car, and gave him a three-day ultimatum > to > >> ensure the 3,000 girl students in his institution began wearing the > >> > >> hijab. > >> > >> > >> The principal, Muhammad Ashraf, a respected Islamic scholar, told The > >> Indian Express today that he would not be cowed by the threat and would > >> continue to do his work at the college. > >> > >> Ashraf said seven men stopped his car — in which he was riding with his > >> son > >> and a local acquaintance — near his village at Dangiwacha, and > >> > >> commandeered > >> > >> the vehicle over a dirt track into a thicket of bushes. “They wore masks > >> and > >> dark glasses and were heavily armed with Kalashnikovs, pistols and > >> grenades,” Ashraf said. > >> > >> According to the principal, the men appeared to know a lot about him: > >> > >> that > >> > >> he was a specialist on Sayyid Qutb — the Egyptian Islamist political > >> theorist and leading intellectual of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 50s > >> > >> and > >> > >> 60s who is thought to be one of the philosophical progenitors of Al > Qaeda > >> > >> — > >> > >> and that he had been trying to enforce discipline in his college. > >> > >> “You have taken some really good steps in the college like banning > >> > >> smoking > >> > >> and cellphones. Now, you must do something that we want you to do. > >> > >> Enforce > >> > >> an Islamic dress code for girl students,” Ashraf said the men told him. > >> They > >> gave him three days to carry out their diktat, failing which they would > >> “act”, they said. > >> > >> Ashraf’s college, Degree College, Sopore, has around 7,000 students on > >> > >> its > >> > >> rolls, 3,000 of whom are girls. It is among the largest colleges in the > >> state. > >> > >> “They told me that they had picked me to send a message to all other > >> schools > >> and colleges in the Valley in which girls study,” Ashraf said. > >> > >> Perhaps to rattle the principal and send the message that they meant > >> business, the gunmen set his vehicle on fire. Ashraf and his companions > >> were > >> released after about two hours in captivity. > >> > >> The Dangiwacha police have filed a case, and are looking at all angles, > >> including one unrelated to militancy. “We are exploring the possible > >> dimension of college rivalry,” said a senior officer who did not want to > >> > >> be > >> > >> named. > >> > >> No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incident. The > >> separatists too have been silent, and are perhaps trying to ascertain if > >> militant groups were involved. > >> > >> Senior Superintendent of Police Viplav Kumar said a hunt was on for the > >> gunmen. “We are trying our best. Hopefully, we will crack the case > soon,” > >> he > >> said. > >> > >> > >> > >> > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-valley-gunmen-take-to-moral-policing-enforce-hijab-in-college/507208/0 > >> > >> > >> best > >> > >> -- > >> Rashneek Kher > >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Rashneek Kher > >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> > >> > >> Shuddhabrata Sengupta > >> The Sarai Programme at CSDS > >> Raqs Media Collective > >> shuddha at sarai.net > >> www.sarai.net > >> www.raqsmediacollective.net > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > -- > > Rashneek Kher > > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com > > > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > Raqs Media Collective > > shuddha at sarai.net > > www.sarai.net > > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > > > > > > > > -- > Rashneek Kher > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 17:31:04 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 17:31:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Your views on the book "Satya Darshini" by christian missionaries In-Reply-To: <7271ec560909010221s34bd62acvd09db3315f68915e@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870908282309k74a25493j6c623300850cb014@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908290523x71015f30vfeed5166689b749a@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870908301724x727a4014uacb83feac6af550e@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870908310032k2cf00763kcf8e259e145ab9b8@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908312256y4acf7f56w97dbb1e9bb9fd60a@mail.gmail.com> <7271ec560909010221s34bd62acvd09db3315f68915e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909010501g7a0f3073l5523791eeebb40f0@mail.gmail.com> Dear Rajen, What are exactly you trying to prove here? Me overlooking something or people getting seduced to conversions. If it is the former, then i would like to say again that i am contributing to Murali's list having known things about these two stalwarts. If you are talking about Sister Abhaya to be included in this list then it she is murdered by the persons who are similar to Hindutva zealots and rioters insecure about their faiths. -Anupam On 9/1/09, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi wrote: > > Anupam, have you overlooked the killing of Sister Abhaya in a > seminary by two "fathers" and a "mother" just because she saw them in > coitus.? Or that a chief justice of of high court of karnataka tried his > best to derail the process of investigation, tried to save these accused > holy men and women of god.? Or to that matter, this judge is now sitting in > supreme court of India, and next to go to supreme court is the present judge > of karnataka for favourable judgements of saving graces.?All of these belong > to one faith, one region.! > > > Karnataka had unique judges who spent time in a resort with three lady > lawyers and were detained by police, later whole issue was hushed up, judges > used contempt stick to beat truthful media.! > > > Regards, > > > Rajen. > > > By the way, the chief justice has created a record of sorts, by delivering > 66 judgements in 50 minutes on the last day of his work, before going to > Delhi from karnataka.! > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 11:26 AM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > >> I am glad you are pointing this out..sex as a tool for conversion. infact >> Asaram Bapu cult, Ashok Jadeja are stalwarts. >> >> Will keep updating your list Murali, stay assured. >> -anupam >> >> >> On 8/31/09, Murali V wrote: >> > >> > As regards conversions, I can give a whole list of documentation where >> > seduction is the main method. >> > >> > Regards, >> > V Murali >> > >> > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Rakesh Iyer >> > wrote: >> > > Dear Murali >> > > >> > > I may counter this point, to a certain extent. The idea of monotheism >> in >> > God >> > > was basically an articulation of the elitist position, which the >> priests >> > and >> > > those considered 'respectful' as per religious tradition, being >> elders. >> > What >> > > the people followed in their lives may not be necessarily the same as >> > that >> > > which was observed by the elites. >> > > >> > > Secondly, it was under the British rule that Sanskrit and religious >> texts >> > > were studied back for research into Indian philosophy (this was done >> even >> > > under Mughal rule but the Mughals didn't distinguish themselves >> > necessarily >> > > from the natives of the land), it was then that certain reformers like >> > Ram >> > > Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Vivekananda and others realized the need to >> reform >> > > their religion, for being western-educated and seeing what they >> thought >> > were >> > > 'ills' in the society, they couldn't bear to see the real instances of >> > sati >> > > and other kinds of discrimination, as well as polytheism. >> > > >> > > In order to give a 'modernist' look in the religion, they decided to >> > adapt >> > > the theme of monotheism. While Roy advocated that people should only >> > worship >> > > one God, Vivekananda said what you have put as the main point in your >> > mail. >> > > However, as I have said, Vivekananda and Roy are not the only Hindus. >> > Each >> > > person has got the right to interpret and decide for himself/herself >> what >> > it >> > > means to be a Hindu, and the same freedom does and should exist for >> what >> > it >> > > means to be a Christian or a Muslim. Unnecessary constraints being >> > invented >> > > or developed by society is not the right path to define these >> identities. >> > > >> > > I think we have also diverted significantly in measure from the >> subject >> > > under which I am writing this mail. The topic basically deals with >> > regarding >> > > whether such texts should be published at all, and why aren't they >> being >> > > criticized. >> > > >> > > The texts shouldn't be banned, so also Varun Gandhi's and Modi's >> speeches >> > > (vitriolic as they have been in different contexts). Each person has >> got >> > the >> > > right to express his/her view, and even as a citizen of the Indian >> state, >> > > it's no obligation on a citizen who is a non-Muslim, to trust a >> Muslim. >> > That >> > > is an individual freedom and therefore, views expressed in accordance >> > with >> > > that are fine. >> > > >> > > The larger problem of conversions has two other aspects to look at. >> First >> > is >> > > how come these conversions are taking place, and secondly, as to why >> > these >> > > conversions are taking place. If somebody wants, please take up >> research >> > on >> > > it. But don't just blame missionaries for conversion, for if I don't >> wish >> > to >> > > convert, how come a Christian missionary or a Muslim mulla can convert >> me >> > > against my own will? >> > > >> > > Regards >> > > >> > > Rakesh >> > > >> > >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > > > > -- > Rajen. > > > From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 17:39:20 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 17:39:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> Dear Murali and Rajen, Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, for which you do have any proof or even an argument. -anupam On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: > > What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold, which > evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in > Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). > > By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in > November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India > and the Indian people. She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian > Constitution. > > Regards, > V Murali > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke > wrote: > > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. > > > > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ > > > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > From: shabnam hashmi > > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM > > Subject: stop the award > > To: shabnam hashmi > > > > > > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI Asian > > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and > > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was > > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that > > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence > > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally Displaced > > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation > > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the > > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter of > > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of > Pearson > > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is > Marjorie > > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which > ironically > > gives out peace grants. > > > > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, > > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly > and > > focuses on the business of globalisation. > > > > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney > Fingar, > > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. > > > > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner > tomorrow. > > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* > > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or > write > > to her directly. > > > > shabnam hashmi > > > > > > - > > > > > > -- > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From murali.chalam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 17:56:28 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 17:56:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known fact. By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is against the constitution of INdia. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Dear Murali and Rajen, > > Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, for > which you do have any proof or even an argument. > > -anupam > > On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: >> >> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold,  which >> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in >> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). >> >> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in >> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India >> and the Indian people.  She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian >> Constitution. >> >> Regards, >> V Murali >> >> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke >> wrote: >> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. >> > >> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ >> > >> > >> > >> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> > From: shabnam hashmi >> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM >> > Subject: stop the award >> > To: shabnam hashmi >> > >> > >> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI Asian >> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and >> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was >> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that >> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence >> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally Displaced >> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation >> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the >> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter of >> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of >> Pearson >> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is >> Marjorie >> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which >> ironically >> > gives out peace grants. >> > >> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, >> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly >> and >> > focuses on the business of globalisation. >> > >> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney >> Fingar, >> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. >> > >> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner >> tomorrow. >> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* >> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk)  and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or >> write >> > to her directly. >> > >> > shabnam hashmi >> > >> > >> > - >> > >> > >> > -- >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From indersalim at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 18:20:52 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 18:20:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Muslims help perform last rites of a Pandit in Kashmir In-Reply-To: <13df7c120909010001j42d1141cxcf5daab36b43068f@mail.gmail.com> References: <338451.76780.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <13df7c120909010001j42d1141cxcf5daab36b43068f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909010550o72f4ddfcyea14855db2b62f1d@mail.gmail.com> Dear Juniad/Rashneek please click to see http://www.ionoxfordtube.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/magritte-pipe.jpg this is not a pipe is by celebrated artist Rene Magritte. Earlier i had little idea how to see this image, but now i really appreciate it after reading about it....may be you know this image, but it is interesting for me to connect that understanding with the Kashmir discussion. Imagine, the image of pipe and the text underneath are two different stars of two different glaxies with a distance of millions of light years in between, but are seen with a naked eye from this planet earth as twin stars sitting on a single sofa. I am not saying that the things should not be seen from earth, but sometimes our perespectives can become narrower if we remain stationary/stagnat about our views/view points. We are free to see things diffrently, So, are we really used to see Islam and Kashmir issue as two stars sitting in a single sofa ? but may be they are two far from each other, Similarly we are unfortunately used to see thigs from the perespective of our respective communities and threfore remain ignorant about the other. it is true that in the past Kashmiri Pandits never liked to share their food with their Muslim friends. and similarly Muslims would really detest if a girl from their community decides to marry someone from outside her community, but usually celebrate if a non-muslim girl marries to someone from their own community. Communiites do have merits,but if there is a desire to know something about the higher state of mind then we need departures from our fixed notion of identies and our respective religions even. Finally we want some freedom, which is existentially the only truth, if there is one. Truths based on communties are limited and are likely to nourish false gods. for example, There are communities within muslims and Hindus in kashmir who dont appreicite inter-marraiges and social interactions between the two. we know other exmples Communities develop ghosts over the period of time, and only poets, philosophers, sufis, musicians, artists and good intellecutals dare to exorcize them with their powers, but alas, there is little patience around to listen to the saner voices. We, quickly become obstinate and when violence hits us deeply, we regret. Ironically, it is the simple minded who is driven to hysteria by the very intellligent cream of the society. People, workers generally are too immersed in their own phychological complexities, and rarely come to know about the hidden nuance embedded in the grand narraive of our known poltical stage. It is not easy to celebrate politics based on peoples demands. Understanding of History is too complex, but departure from that too is possible if we look at what people really want. Kashmiris will really face the biggest problem on earth once they achieve freedom. It is not easy to sleep with this ever demanding muse. Most of the outspoken votaries of freedom struggle will feel shy once they look into the eyes of freedom. what happened to Kashmir. sad what is happenning in kashmir is the debate. Kashmir is a political issue, irrespective of its Muslim character, and Indians/Indian Govt. should not hesitate to endorese it. Kashmrii Muslims on the other hand will benefit from this given understanding if they know how to embrace 'this present' of our colective beings, not only globally, but in kashmir as well. There is no one single muslim identity in kashmir. Muslims too have their own dalits. No religion on earth has come on earth to celebrate freedom of man, but they are essentially about their desire to hold on to power structures. people, by and large know this fact, but cling to it because of fear, which is unknown often. The common past between the two ( hindus and muslims ) can be overooked, or ignored, or even preserved for future.But what is vital is a return to the moral, simplicity and space for fun with a paticipatory goodness, intact, Kashmiri pandits may return or not, but the remaining lot in kashmir need to change, their understanding of the present, which is about the understanding of their devasted environment and a corruption, Indian Govt can not keep of reciting the Non-violence mantra, while transforming the entire Kashmir into a fort like thing, branding every kashmir muslim as terrorist. and similarly Mulsims too can not keep on counting virutes of their religon, while practizing differently. perhaps, The new politics will emerge only if we know how to see the hidden distance between the perespectives which we conventionally see inseperable. with love inder salim On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 12:31 PM, rashneek kher wrote: > Dear Juniad, > > Many thanks for telling us that "actually the Islamization of kashmir took > place in 14th century".We are enlightened. > > I was in a progamme organised by GK wherein AG Noorani said the same thing > as you have said which is that most of lower caste of Kashmiri's converted > to Islam and he was almost shouted down for saying so by an audience which > was predominantly Muslim.The audience there told him to co-relate surnames > like kaw,Kotur,Pandit,Raina,Shawl and many others to prove that it was > Brahmins that they were.Poor  Noorani had to beat a retreat. > Now if you are against the mainstream thought of your own community who feel > pride of their brahmin ancesstery ,it is your position and I respect it. > As far the question of Deshbhakti is concrend Junaid bhai Kashmir is our > desh,,,,yours and mine > Now can you tell me what deshbhakti is it when you guys use a foriegn > calender and throw the kashmiri one in a dustbin, when the language that you > use is a sub-dialect of Persian and not indigeneous kashmiri...Is gharoobe > aftab kashmiri ...,when you welcome foreigners to fight for you what is > indigenous about it. > Whether Pandits are indigenous or not whether Muslims are indigeneous or not > are useless in the present contxt.whoever now lives there(those forcibly > exiled as well) is a son of the soil. > That Kashmir is predominantly Islamic is as much a reality as my exile.How > can I forget it? > Brother it is time for a truth and reconciliation wherein the killers can be > punished and people of the land even if it has be divided live > peacefully.Even if one life is lost no cause is worth a human life. > > In hope of peace > > Rashneek > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:30 PM, Junaid wrote: > >> Actually the "Islamisation" of Kashmir took place in the 14th century, >> when a majority of lower-castes of Kashmiri Hindus, with a >> choice/promise to escape the rigid caste structure of Hinduism, >> converted to Islam. Only the Brahmins/Pandits didn't convert--that is >> why the typical Brahmin proportion of population of 3 to 5 percent in >> the Hindu societies continued to remain the same, while others >> mass-converted, in the new Muslim society. >> >> It is a different matter that Pandits continued to enjoy their social >> position even after this Islamisation--probably apart from some little >> breaks--during Sikander's time and later under Afghans, which was >> miserable for Muslims as well.  During Zainul Abidin's rule or under >> Chaks, and Mughals, and of course under Sikhs and Dogras they enjoyed >> a high social position. Incidentally this constitutes the most of the >> history since "Islamisation" of Kashmir. The present-day Pandits, >> however, construct their history as exclusively having been marked by >> Islamic oppression. This kind of "history" writing among Pandits began >> around the time Muslims became politically conscious, and is therefore >> understandable. >> >> Many Pandits continued to treat Muslims as undercastes, largely seeing >> them as unclean, a practice that I have seen with my own eyes. Pandits >> wouldn't let Muslims enter their kitchens or eat with them. But >> somehow neither I nor anyone else seemed to be so bothered about it. >> >> This whole thing about Pandits being "indigenous" is theoretically and >> historically untenable. One cannot find clean lines of transmission >> from past to the present, where cultures have remained >> hermetically-sealed from the outside influences and that an active >> flow of people, ideas and material hasn't happened. Neither is >> Hinduism indigenous to Kashmir nor is Islam, in the sense that it grew >> up on its own and without any touch with the outside world. >> Historically there have been other religions practiced in Kashmir >> before the Hinduism that the present day Pandits now claim to follow; >> the later somehow includes Desh-bhakti which I am sure wasn't present >> among the repertoire of traditional Bhaktis in Kashmir at least not >> the Indian deshbhakti. >> >> And, really, is 700 years of Islam in Kashmir just an undesirable, >> forgettable, foreign footnote in the history of Kashmir, tomes and >> tomes of which Mr. Pawan Durrani and others have been dreaming up and >> dishing out here? >> >> Islam is a reality in Kashmir, you just cannot deny its existence. You >> may bury your head in the sand and try to cover up its existence by >> coming up with the "Shalla Daleelah" of good ol' Hindu times, but you >> will realise soon that Kashmiris no longer worry about the myths and >> stories that used to bind them into servitude. They think about the >> present and the future. They don't ignore the past, but they are >> sure-footed about their own social and political history as a society >> and a nation. They would not accept your present day mythology as a >> concrete historic reality, a mythology in which you and your facts >> have become inextricably wound up. A mythology which somehow resembles >> the tale of Ramayan--with Muslims as the evil Rakshas/Ravan, the >> Pandits as Ram in Banwas, with Kashmir as Sita abducted by Ravana, and >> Indian troops as Hanuman who justifiably sets the entire Muslim >> Kashmir on fire to make way for Ram. >> >> It is not going to happen. >> >> Junaid >> >> >> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:51 AM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >> > >> > "There was nobody to perform the funeral." >> > >> > It is a commentary on the Islamisation of Kashmir under garb of "Aazadi" >> > that led to creating of a situation which forced almost all of the >> > Non-Muslims out of Kashmir. >> > >> > It is a commentary on the near erasure and extinction of a unique >> > socio-cultural-religious group that was indigenous to and rooted in >> Kashmir. >> > >> > Kshmendra >> > --- On Sun, 8/30/09, Junaid wrote: >> > >> > From: Junaid >> > Subject: [Reader-list] Muslims help perform last rites of a Pandit in >> > Kashmir >> > To: reader-list at sarai.net >> > Date: Sunday, August 30, 2009, 12:48 AM >> > >> > Does this fit into any debate here? >> > >> > >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Kashmiri-Muslims-perform-funeral-of-Hindu-man-/articleshow/4948967.cms >> > >> > Kashmiri Muslims perform last rites of a Kashmiri Pandit >> > >> > SRINAGAR: In a unique display of communal harmony, Muslims neighbours >> > here performed the last rites of a Hindu man who stayed back when most >> > of the Pandit families fled during the early 1990s when Islamist >> > insurgency erupted in Jammu and Kashmir. >> > >> > Bhola Nath Kachroo of Srinagar, who was living with his wife and a >> > daughter here, died Friday after an illness and had nobody to perform >> > his funeral. >> > >> > The family was devastated when Kachroo, who his neighbour said was >> > "very old", passed away. There was no other Pandit family nearby to >> > help them. >> > >> > But, Muslims in the area helped the family in performing the last >> > rites of Kachroo. They made arrangements for the last rites and also >> > erected tents for Kachroo's friends and relatives who had gathered to >> > mourn the death. >> > >> > "There was nobody to perform the funeral. We were equally saddened to >> > lose an elderly person in our neighbourhood. We gathered and performed >> > the last rites without considering what faith we follow," said Ghulam >> > Mohammed Bhat, secretary of the Muslim Welfare Society. >> > >> > Most of the Hindu families migrated from the Kashmir Valley in the >> > wake of insurgency fuelled by Islamic fundamentalists, but Kachroo and >> > his family stayed back. >> > >> > "We came as humans to help our mourning neighbours. They didn't leave >> > when other Pandits fled and we owe responsibilities to this family," >> > said Ali Mohammed, another neighbour. >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > -- > Rashneek Kher > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 18:39:42 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 18:39:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> Oh congratulations Murali you have such vast knowledge about African history. thanks for enlightening us. what do you know about the recent happenings in your neighbourhood? looks like immediate past is something elusive for u and you can recall very well from the history books. some ability i must say to cite this example twice. Modi's own party members are regretting the fact that why he was not sacked after the post-godhra riots. what do u have to say to them? how do u accomodate Vajpayee's sleepless nights during the mass murders in Gujarat? If Sonia Gandhi is to be blamed for accepting Leopold's order, this man who is not only responsible for the most deadly riots of my time, has also managed to advertise the MoUs of the industries which have backed out of the investments in Gujarat. what do u have to say about that? there are zillions of proof against his government fudging the actual investment figures of the vibrant gujarat and use it as an advertisement to promote gujarat as an industrial hub. worse, the golden corridor for chemical industries (districts such as Valsad and Bharuch) is so polluted that the government has stopped any kind of expansion. the common and final effluent treatment plants in all the industrial estates have not been following the Gujarat Pollution Control Board norms since the day it started functioning. where are the safeties to set up anything in Gujarat? or is he being awarded because most of the industrialisation is unregulated with Environmental Assessment Report not being prepared and you say industries popping out of now where? I frankly do not mind our leaders being awarded. its an honour but at least in the past people who were really worthy of making changes in our society have been awarded by various organisations. - anupam Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known fact. By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is against the constitution of INdia. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Dear Murali and Rajen, > > Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, for > which you do have any proof or even an argument. > > -anupam > > On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: >> >> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold, which >> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in >> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). >> >> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in >> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India >> and the Indian people. She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian >> Constitution. >> >> Regards, >> V Murali >> >> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke >> wrote: >> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. >> > >> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ >> > >> > >> > >> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> > From: shabnam hashmi >> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM >> > Subject: stop the award >> > To: shabnam hashmi >> > >> > >> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI Asian >> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and >> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was >> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that >> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence >> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally Displaced >> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation >> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the >> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter of >> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of >> Pearson >> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is >> Marjorie >> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which >> ironically >> > gives out peace grants. >> > >> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, >> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly >> and >> > focuses on the business of globalisation. >> > >> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney >> Fingar, >> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. >> > >> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner >> tomorrow. >> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* >> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or >> write >> > to her directly. >> > >> > shabnam hashmi >> > >> > >> > - >> > >> > >> > -- >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 18:41:17 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 18:41:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Murali and Rajen Listening or reading to your arguments, it would seem you wish to say thi: "Two wrongs do make a right." The arguments you have presented are wrong and should be unacceptable. Just because Pandits are living in exile or because some Hindu temple was destroyed some 500 years back does not mean that we should tolerate injustices of today or forget about them. According to that explanation, even what the Lashkar and Al-Qaeda do is fine because they are taking a revenge for what they see as wrong. And if that is the case, why should I believe you and not them? About Sonia, you have your disagreements and that is fine with me. As far as Modi winning the award is concerned, he certainly deserves it. After all, he was the CM who ensured that revenge of Godhra was made possible. Actually, he was the CM who ensured Godhra actually took place. A proper intelligence department (assuming it's a terrorist attack, as was claimed by Gujarat BJP then) would have averted it, but then that would not have given the chance to teach Muslims a lesson for once and for all, right? Who can forget that Ehsan Jaferi, an ex-MP was not able to save himself, under the Modi reign? We should commend Modi after all that he ensured that for the first time, in the history of India, in the words of Prahlad Shastri, (A VHP official in Pavagadh district, as he is shown saying on the documentary 'The Final Solution'): 'Hindus have batted for the first time in the last 50 years'. Till now they were probably only doing fielding, with Muslims having a blast probably raping Hindu women, kidnapping them and forcing them to marry at will, right? He then proved his mettle as the best Asian by conducting an election campaign, the viciousness of which can be deemed great as well. What's more, Modi was then famous for his 'Mian Musharraf' speeches in Gujarat elections. I didn't know that Pakistan's President will be the major issue in a provincial election in India. I didn't know that Muslims will be referred to as 'diseases', 'mosquitoes', 'traitors' and so on by members of the same Parivar during the election campaign. After all, if Jinnah can be great, is not Modi great? Of course, he is. The only difference lies in their scales. Jinnah changed history to create a nation, Modi has shown the path to create a Hindu Rashtra in India. He has shown that only Hindus can be secular, not the rest of us. He has shown that the way to deal with terrorists is to shoot them in fake encounters, along with their wives if possible, and if somebody attacks it, then how to justify is also shown through his speeches. He deserves not only this but many awards. By the way, is anybody thinking about a mausoleum for Modi, on the lines for one in Jinnah? Even Mahatma Gandhi pales in comparison with Modi ji, isn't it? Regards Rakesh From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 19:31:23 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 19:31:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Tata seeks compensation over Nano Message-ID: <341380d00909010701s32690b7dja49b2dd29c6360e2@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, Tata seeks compensation over Nano http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8231972.stm "We are hit by the economic downturn. If the state government has lined up something, we will hand over the land." When asked whether he was aware that Indian railway minister Mamata Banerjee wanted a locomotive plant to be built at Singur, Mr Tata refused to comment. -thanks Anupam From indersalim at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 20:25:26 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 20:25:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?In_Valley=2C_gunmen_take_to_moral_?= =?windows-1252?q?policing=3A_=91enforce_hijab_in_college=92?= In-Reply-To: <4fcaee300909010329s33b7608fs11b95c838003a415@mail.gmail.com> References: <13df7c120908272056k4ed3121cmc8c3524c5786b032@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00908272337y4bd4e8cau1809b5cbda7e47d9@mail.gmail.com> <13df7c120908280010t6bd3be56l70dce803a7f54001@mail.gmail.com> <8F24A412-58FC-4B68-8B07-1AC9B16298E5@sarai.net> <13df7c120908302110q1a7f50f9i6d601f55de255b60@mail.gmail.com> <6CEBC489-68B1-4B74-9335-A89741DA4949@sarai.net> <13df7c120908312337y3f32c89k2db229b87023696e@mail.gmail.com> <4fcaee300909010329s33b7608fs11b95c838003a415@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909010755k20d9502el56ca33f183138e76@mail.gmail.com> thanks dear Wali for this piece what is good about this to know is the fact that the nature of political situation is kashmir is very strange we are free to suspect everything, and that is what it should be that is how people should know exactly what suits them, not greedily, but truely that is how people can build a hope in kashmir. not only to settle the dispute, but also with a new way of looking at it the conflict is within also, and the war like situation in kashmir will render those conflcts to the backgorund. unfortunately, the vital issues like freedom of the intellect has taken a beating during all these years of Maharaja rule and Indian rule in kashmir. A pakistani rule might be been equally disastrous, i believe. if kashmiris are fundamentalist now, it is also because Indian position has pushed them to become hostile l to their own good ways of living. for example, implementation of Urdu as official language instead of Kashmiri happened only because of political urgency to keep the jammu and leh connected to Kashmir. and again, , freedom to women, and the possiblities to uplift her status in society was immense in the valley dominated by Sufis and rishis culture ( reshi vaar ) but with oonly politics and hate for other, all we have is short sighted journalism, and burka politics. there is a way out, always love inder salim On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 3:59 PM, Wali Arifi wrote: > Dear all, > > > > The Indian Express report just mentions “gunmen” in the story. And gunmen in > Kashmir mean anybody holding a gun --- from state or non-state. It’s > appalling the champions of e-activism just pounce on anything that comes > their way, without even scrutinizing the reported facts. > > > > How does Indian Express story only mean that militants have done it? Why > can’t be it army? Any paramilitary unit, or for that matter the police? > After all, they are also ‘gunmen’! > > > > The point is when it comes to Kashmir everybody tends to stick to the > statist position and our e-warriors have mastered this art of twisting > semi-facts into suitable arguments to their fixated positions. > > > > This incident, as reported by the principal, happens not more than two > kilometers from the nearest massive army camp. Police categorically rule out > any possibility of presence of armed six or seven militants in the area > where incident occurred. They say there are operational hazards for > militants to carry out such an action in the area as it has all the > possibility of “rendering huge sacrifice (in the form of lives) for > achieving a small goal (of enforcing dress code!).” The police officials say > the action defies logic, particularly in the current scenario when militants > are constantly on run and also have tremendously polished their operational > capabilities. They say there has been almost no sighting of more than three > militants in a group for last many years now for multiple reasons. > > > > So who are these ‘gunmen’? Either the college principal is misleading or > they are gunmen from some state agency? > > > > Kashmir has witnessed strange incidents related to morality post Shopian > rape and murder of two young women. In many strange incidents, which the > Indian mainstream press has conveniently ignored to report, the Mualvis and > respected elders in various areas have been humiliated and thrashed by > strange-looking gunmen. These incidents have particularly occurred in those > country side areas where anti-India protests have been more intense. > > > > There have been concerted efforts to paint people in Kashmir as > "fundamentalists out there to malign" the central armed forces in whatever > they do. The fact is that many journalists who live on "information" fed to > them by the intelligence establishment have tried this even in Shopian in an > attempt to neutralize embarrassment to the state. > > > > What is most appalling about this skewed and motivated e-activism in the > name of journalism is that the law that the state employs to violate a > people are never even commented upon let alone scrutinized. Media reportage > alone about a place like Kashmir should never be allowed to form opinions > and inform positions on disputed political entities. It is good to know the > ground than to exist in an orbit tied to a statist or nationalist string, > far removed from the center of gravity. > > > > Best, > > Wali > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM, rashneek kher wrote: > >> Dear All,shuddha, >> >> I have never ever said that their havent been the Sufi's of highest order >> in >> Kashmir though I always have had my love for those who were born in Kashmir >> rather than the ones who came from elsewhere,Iran included. >> If a link to that needs to be provided I shall be glad to provide that as a >> support of my statement. >> But as far as spread of Islam is concerned I firmly maintain that Islam was >> spread in Kashmir through forcible means.Incidentally I am these days >> translating a Persian text called Tohfatul Ahbab by Shmasdin Araqi and it >> records with great pride how the so called sufi forcibly put an end to >> "infidel practices" like dance,festivities,singing and wine making. >> Here i how it is recorded >> >> >> *“He baton charged the dancing amd singing women,the musicians and the >> drumbeaters till they ran away.Wine and liquor assemblies had been set up >> around and he closed them down.Pitchers of wine were broken and in this way >> the black customs of the infidels were put an end to.All this was done on >> the day of the Spring Festival.The festivities were taking place at the >> foothills of the Hari Parbat.On the following day he ascended the  heights >> of Koh-i-Maran(Hari Parbat).Together all of them destroyed even the >> minutest >> remains of the idol house and scattered even the bits of the idols.”* >> So Shuddha while I have great regard and respect for ShamS Faqir,ahmed >> Batwari,Rahim saeb,Ahmed Dar,swoche kral, Ahad azad saeb,Wahab khar,Shah >> Gafoor ,Shah Kalandar,Samad Mir,Santosh and my Guru Ayub Betab and many >> such >> real great sufis I cannot by any means draw myself to accept what is not >> truth and truth that I know or have read from original texts myself >> thankfully. >> So let us stay in the realm of reality and accept truth as it is. >> With that hopefuly we can end this discussion >> >> I say to you >> >> Chalo ab shiddate narazgee mehdood karte hain >> chalo aut bhi aao,chalo main maan jaata hoon. >> >> Best Regards >> >> Rashneek >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > >wrote: >> >> > Dear all, >> > I did not find the names of Sikandar Butshikan and Syed Hamadani in the >> > sentence from my posting quoted so kindly by Rashneek Kher in support of >> his >> > argument. >> > >> > "It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a part of South Asia where >> the >> > rise of Islam >> > >> > *did not accompany a military invasion, but occurred largely due to the >> > example set by missionaries and religious divines."* >> > >> > >> > If anyone does find them I would be grateful if they could help me locate >> > them. >> > Nor do i find it necessary to digress too far in pointing out that the >> > meaning of the word 'divines' as used here (indicating religious adepts) >> is >> > quite different from the sense of anything being 'divinely ordained' (or >> > commanded by god). Whosoever should wish to educate themselves on the >> > semantic distinction between these two instances of usage could consult a >> > standard dictionary of the English language. But let us leave that aside >> for >> > now. >> > >> > I find Rashneek's second assertion that 'even a kid in Kashmir' would >> know >> > that the process of bringing Islam to Kashmir was spearheaded by Sikandar >> > 'Butshikan' and Syed Hamadani entertaining. And this is where the meat of >> > his contention lies. >> > >> > Because, 'every kid' in Kashmir, and a few adults elsewhere, would also >> > know that these two names were not the only ones on whose backs Islam >> came >> > to Kashmir. Islam came to Kashmir from diverse sources, and if we do not >> > want to dissimulate, we must remember that some of these sources were >> > different from, and contrary to those represented by Sikandar 'Butshikan' >> > and even, Syed Hamadani. Some of these strains were distinctly heterodox, >> > for instance, Sheikh Yaqub of the Kubrawi order, also credited with the >> > spread of Islam in Kashmir, was often disparaged as a 'but-parast' (and >> idol >> > lover) and he in fact challenged the ulema of his time to find fault with >> > this finding truth in the altars of icons. The history of Islam in >> Kashmir, >> > as 'every child' knows, is a testament to its doctrinal diversity. >> > >> > How else do we account for figures like Bulbul Shah (who is said to have >> > carried out the first conversions) Sheikh Nooruddin Wali (or Nund Rishi - >> of >> > the entirely Kashmiri indigenous sufi order of the 'Rishis').  Apart from >> > the inflence of the entirely local 'Rishi' order, the rise of early Islam >> in >> > Kashmir was marked by the influences of the Nakshbandi, Suhrawardy, and >> > heterodox Qadiri and Kubrawi orders, besides several different strains of >> > Shia Islam, and of course the presence of canonical, orthodox Sunni >> Islam. >> > To say that this variety of beliefs and practices amounted to one thing >> is >> > to be totally oblivious to the enormous variety in the cultural and >> > religious landscape of early Islam in Kashmir >> > >> > Here, for instance is one of Nooruddin Wali/Nund Rishi's 'vaks'/ >> > utterances. Incidentally, Nooruddin is affectionately referred to as the >> > 'Alamdar-e-Kashmir' or the 'standard bearer'. This is what he has to say. >> > >> > *"We belong to the same parents. >> > Then why this difference? >> > Let Hindus and Muslims(together) >> > Worship God alone. >> > We came to this world like partners. >> > We should have shared our joys >> > and sorrows together." >> > *** >> > >> > This was written in the explicit context of the persecution of non >> muslims >> > and dissenting muslims that Sheikh Nooruddin was witness to in the reign >> of >> > Sultan Sikandar and some of his immediate successors. This clearly >> > demonstrates that there were competing strains of tolerance and >> intolerance >> > within Islam in Kashmir. This is normal, it happens in the history of >> every >> > religious tradition in the world. To claim that intolerance alone marks >> the >> > history of any religious tradition, anywhere, is to pander to prejudice. >> > >> > The trouble is, I think that someone like Rashneek knows exactly what I >> am >> > talking about. He is not, in my opinion, unlike many others, a hysterical >> > bigot. He knows that the history of Islam in Kashmir is not marked by >> hatred >> > of other ways of life or intolerance alone, but, and this is what is most >> > disturbing, he still chooses to present a one-sided picture to score a >> cheap >> > polemical point. The knowing dissimulator, in my opinion. is far more >> > disturbing than the ignorant bigot. >> > >> > best >> > >> > Shuddha >> > >> > On 31-Aug-09, at 9:40 AM, rashneek kher wrote: >> > >> >  dear all, >> > >> > i just hope Shudda's gives the right links,however i dont think even this >> > forum can teach him that,otherwise he would have learnt it by now >> > >> > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011033.html >> > >> > I will not let the readers have the trouble of clicking the link.Here is >> > what our friend Shuddha writes. >> > >> > *"It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a part of South Asia where >> > the rise of Islam >> > did not accompany a military invasion, but occurred largely due to the >> > example set by missionaries and religious divines."* >> > >> > and who were these people who spearheaded the conversion of Kashmir or >>  let >> > us say "rise of islam"(even a kid in Kashmir will us these two >> > names-Butshikan and Syed hamdani),and what were the examples of these >> > "missionaries and religous divines"... >> > >> > Iconoclasm and imposition of "true" Sharia through all means...which are >> > enumerated here >> > >> > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-December/014758.html >> > >> > >> > So here we are.....Shudda's shoots himself in the foot again.... >> > >> > Best Regards >> > >> > Rashneek >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta < >> shuddha at sarai.net >> > > wrote: >> > >> >>  Dear All, >> >> >> >> Rashneek says  -  "there is a history on this network here is a history >> on >> >> this >> >> >> >> network where people have called barbarians like Sikander Butshikan and >> >> Syed >> >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and incidentally these are >> people >> >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist ideologies." >> >> >> >> >> >> This is a very interesting statement. I am not a Maoist (I consider >> Maoism >> >> to be yet another variety of degenerate third worldist nationalism - ) >> but I >> >> am persuaded by critical strains within Marxism, (among other things) >> and >> >> have never concealed that fact.  I also happen to have mentioned >> Sikandar >> >> 'Butshikan' and Hamadani in one of my set of postings - >> >> https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011030.html >> >> Annotations to the History of Iconoclasm in Kashmir - I (posted on >> >> November 9, 2007) written, incidentally in response to Rashneek Kher's >> >> postings on the subject of iconoclasm. >> >> >> >> I have trawled through the Reader List archives, and the only reference >> to >> >> Hamadani that I could find made by anyone who could even remotely be >> >> described as a 'Marxist' (even by a stretch of imagination) occurs in >> this >> >> posting. So, I take it, that the gesture is made in my general >> direction. >> >> Hence this clarification. >> >> >> >> Nowhere in this posting do I deny that either Sikandar 'Butshikan' or >> >> Hamadani were not in fact iconoclasts. I merely make the point that the >> >> history of iconoclasm in Kashmir does not have a solely 'Islamic' >> >> provenance. And that just as there were many non-muslim iconcolastic >> rulers >> >> in pre-Islamicate Kashmir, there were also several muslim rulers in >> Kashmir >> >> who protected non-muslim places of worship. >> >> >> >> More importantly, never, in any posting, have I characterized either >> >> Sikandar 'Butshikan' or Hamadani as 'divinely ordained dervishes'. Shah >> >> Sikandar is a king, and that is how I have described him, and Hamadani >> is a >> >> religious leader, which is exactly what I have called him. Neither of >> these >> >> two descriptions amounts to what it means when one says 'divinely >> ordained'. >> >> For that to obtain, I would have first of all to believe in the notion >> of a >> >> 'divnity' which I don't. And secondly, believe that such a 'divinity' >> >> ordains the destruction of architecture and images, which, logically, >> >> following from the first, i don't either. I have viewed all acts of >> >> iconoclasm in the history of Kashmir, regardless of who caused them to >> >> occur, as acts of violence. And have never said any thing that can be >> read >> >> to the contrary. >> >> >> >> I think, yet again, Rashneek, in his haste to score a weak point, has >> been >> >> a little too generous in his interpretation of the textual substance of >> the >> >> archive of this list. As always, I would urge him, and everyone else to >> >> buttress their easily brandished opinions with a modicum of evidence. >> The >> >> point I made about Nadeem Paracha's loosely articulated polemic against >> Roy, >> >> which inititated this exchange, seems, to me to be strengthened by this. >> I >> >> do however, remain hopeful, that this list will eventually teach >> Rashneek to >> >> be more careful with his words. >> >> >> >> best >> >> >> >> Shuddha >> >> >> >> I >> >>  On 28-Aug-09, at 12:40 PM, rashneek kher wrote: >> >> >> >>  Dear Anupam, >> >> >> >> Well I am not confusing anything with anything.There is a history on >> this >> >> network where people have called barbarians like Sikander Butshikan and >> >> Syed >> >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and incidentally these are >> people >> >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist ideologies. >> >> >> >> Thanks >> >> >> >> Rashneek >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:07 PM, anupam chakravartty < >> c.anupam at gmail.com >> >> >wrote: >> >> >> >>   Dear Rashneek, >> >> "They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants >> and >> >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops >> >> divinely ordained dervishes." >> >> >> >> I think you are confusing Talibanisation with Marxism and Maoism. If the >> >> so-called "armed" gunmen threatened the college principal, as the >> reports >> >> stated, to which he opposed and said:  "he would not be cowed by the >> >> threat >> >> and would continue to do his work at the college" and also the fact he >> is >> >> a >> >> specialist in greatest Islamic revivalist of our times, Sayyid Qutb (who >> >> the >> >> neo-liberal sorts think that because of his criticism of the American >> way >> >> of >> >> life has helped in shaping of al-qaeda) then there is an inherent >> >> contradiction in your claims about dervishes. here we have someone who >> is >> >> specialist, who is opposed to imposition of hijab. i think i would >> >> appreciate the principal's stand. >> >> - thanks >> >> anupam >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM, rashneek kher >> >> wrote: >> >> >> >>  Dear All, >> >> >> >> A story done by Indian Express on the Islamist Icons(Robin Hoods of our >> >> friends) imposing Hijab and threating Prinicipals of Colleges by burning >> >> their cars. >> >> How I wonder would Taliban control the land that once infidelds lived >> >> in.They would cleanse the society by imposing purity on the inhabitants >> >> >> >> and >> >> >> >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and call them dervishes oops >> >> divinely ordained dervishes.Their divine powers derived from mediveal >> >> obscrutanist religiou practices-soon flogging,killing in football >> grounds >> >> and burning of girls schools would be the order of day.And our Marxist >> >> demi-icons would sing paeans to the piety of the new age dervishes. >> >> It may also be worthwhile to mention that the leaders of the "azadi" >> >> >> >> today >> >> >> >> have done exactly this when they "were a part of the armed struggle".For >> >> the >> >> proponents of jihad and their supporters...from Riyaz Wani >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> >> >>  In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’ >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>    In the first such incident in the Valley since the decline of >> >> militancy >> >> started two years ago, masked gunmen waylaid the principal of a North >> >> Kashmir college, destroyed his car, and gave him a three-day ultimatum >> to >> >> ensure the 3,000 girl students in his institution began wearing the >> >> >> >>   hijab. >> >> >> >> >> >>  The principal, Muhammad Ashraf, a respected Islamic scholar, told The >> >> Indian Express today that he would not be cowed by the threat and would >> >> continue to do his work at the college. >> >> >> >>  Ashraf said seven men stopped his car — in which he was riding with his >> >> son >> >> and a local acquaintance — near his village at Dangiwacha, and >> >> >> >> commandeered >> >> >> >> the vehicle over a dirt track into a thicket of bushes. “They wore masks >> >> and >> >> dark glasses and were heavily armed with Kalashnikovs, pistols and >> >> grenades,” Ashraf said. >> >> >> >>  According to the principal, the men appeared to know a lot about him: >> >> >> >> that >> >> >> >> he was a specialist on Sayyid Qutb — the Egyptian Islamist political >> >> theorist and leading intellectual of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 50s >> >> >> >> and >> >> >> >> 60s who is thought to be one of the philosophical progenitors of Al >> Qaeda >> >> >> >> — >> >> >> >> and that he had been trying to enforce discipline in his college. >> >> >> >> “You have taken some really good steps in the college like banning >> >> >> >> smoking >> >> >> >> and cellphones. Now, you must do something that we want you to do. >> >> >> >> Enforce >> >> >> >> an Islamic dress code for girl students,” Ashraf said the men told him. >> >> They >> >> gave him three days to carry out their diktat, failing which they would >> >> “act”, they said. >> >> >> >> Ashraf’s college, Degree College, Sopore, has around 7,000 students on >> >> >> >> its >> >> >> >> rolls, 3,000 of whom are girls. It is among the largest colleges in the >> >> state. >> >> >> >> “They told me that they had picked me to send a message to all other >> >> schools >> >> and colleges in the Valley in which girls study,” Ashraf said. >> >> >> >> Perhaps to rattle the principal and send the message that they meant >> >> business, the gunmen set his vehicle on fire. Ashraf and his companions >> >> were >> >> released after about two hours in captivity. >> >> >> >> The Dangiwacha police have filed a case, and are looking at all angles, >> >> including one unrelated to militancy. “We are exploring the possible >> >> dimension of college rivalry,” said a senior officer who did not want to >> >> >> >> be >> >> >> >>   named. >> >> >> >> No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incident. The >> >> separatists too have been silent, and are perhaps trying to ascertain if >> >> militant groups were involved. >> >> >> >> Senior Superintendent of Police Viplav Kumar said a hunt was on for the >> >> gunmen. “We are trying our best. Hopefully, we will crack the case >> soon,” >> >> he >> >> said. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-valley-gunmen-take-to-moral-policing-enforce-hijab-in-college/507208/0 >> >> >> >> >> >> best >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Rashneek Kher >> >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >>  _________________________________________ >> >> 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. >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >>  Rashneek Kher >> >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >> >> >>  Shuddhabrata Sengupta >> >> The Sarai Programme at CSDS >> >> Raqs Media Collective >> >> shuddha at sarai.net >> >> www.sarai.net >> >> www.raqsmediacollective.net >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Rashneek Kher >> > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com >> > >> > >> >  Shuddhabrata Sengupta >> > The Sarai Programme at CSDS >> > Raqs Media Collective >> > shuddha at sarai.net >> > www.sarai.net >> > www.raqsmediacollective.net >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> -- >>  Rashneek Kher >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 1 21:13:50 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 08:43:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?In_Valley=2C_gunmen_take_to_moral_policin?= =?utf-8?b?Zzog4oCYZW5mb3JjZSBoaWphYiBpbiBjb2xsZWdl4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <4fcaee300909010329s33b7608fs11b95c838003a415@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <919571.32120.qm@web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Well Sir, in case these were military or paramilitary unit persons, Mehbooba would have created a ruckus in the State. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 9/1/09, Wali Arifi wrote: > From: Wali Arifi > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’ > To: "Sarai" > Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 3:59 PM > Dear all, > > > > The Indian Express report just mentions “gunmen” in the > story. And gunmen in > Kashmir mean anybody holding a gun --- from state or > non-state. It’s > appalling the champions of e-activism just pounce on > anything that comes > their way, without even scrutinizing the reported facts. > > > > How does Indian Express story only mean that militants have > done it? Why > can’t be it army? Any paramilitary unit, or for that > matter the police? > After all, they are also ‘gunmen’! > > > > The point is when it comes to Kashmir everybody tends to > stick to the > statist position and our e-warriors have mastered this art > of twisting > semi-facts into suitable arguments to their fixated > positions. > > > > This incident, as reported by the principal, happens not > more than two > kilometers from the nearest massive army camp. Police > categorically rule out > any possibility of presence of armed six or seven militants > in the area > where incident occurred. They say there are operational > hazards for > militants to carry out such an action in the area as it has > all the > possibility of “rendering huge sacrifice (in the form of > lives) for > achieving a small goal (of enforcing dress code!).” The > police officials say > the action defies logic, particularly in the current > scenario when militants > are constantly on run and also have tremendously polished > their operational > capabilities. They say there has been almost no sighting of > more than three > militants in a group for last many years now for multiple > reasons. > > > > So who are these ‘gunmen’? Either the college principal > is misleading or > they are gunmen from some state agency? > > > > Kashmir has witnessed strange incidents related to morality > post Shopian > rape and murder of two young women. In many strange > incidents, which the > Indian mainstream press has conveniently ignored to report, > the Mualvis and > respected elders in various areas have been humiliated and > thrashed by > strange-looking gunmen. These incidents have particularly > occurred in those > country side areas where anti-India protests have been more > intense. > > > > There have been concerted efforts to paint people in > Kashmir as > "fundamentalists out there to malign" the central armed > forces in whatever > they do. The fact is that many journalists who live on > "information" fed to > them by the intelligence establishment have tried this even > in Shopian in an > attempt to neutralize embarrassment to the state. > > > > What is most appalling about this skewed and motivated > e-activism in the > name of journalism is that the law that the state employs > to violate a > people are never even commented upon let alone scrutinized. > Media reportage > alone about a place like Kashmir should never be allowed to > form opinions > and inform positions on disputed political entities. It is > good to know the > ground than to exist in an orbit tied to a statist or > nationalist string, > far removed from the center of gravity. > > > > Best, > > Wali > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM, rashneek kher > wrote: > > > Dear All,shuddha, > > > > I have never ever said that their havent been the > Sufi's of highest order > > in > > Kashmir though I always have had my love for those who > were born in Kashmir > > rather than the ones who came from elsewhere,Iran > included. > > If a link to that needs to be provided I shall be glad > to provide that as a > > support of my statement. > > But as far as spread of Islam is concerned I firmly > maintain that Islam was > > spread in Kashmir through forcible means.Incidentally > I am these days > > translating a Persian text called Tohfatul Ahbab by > Shmasdin Araqi and it > > records with great pride how the so called sufi > forcibly put an end to > > "infidel practices" like dance,festivities,singing and > wine making. > > Here i how it is recorded > > > > > > *“He baton charged the dancing amd singing women,the > musicians and the > > drumbeaters till they ran away.Wine and liquor > assemblies had been set up > > around and he closed them down.Pitchers of wine were > broken and in this way > > the black customs of the infidels were put an end > to.All this was done on > > the day of the Spring Festival.The festivities were > taking place at the > > foothills of the Hari Parbat.On the following day he > ascended the  heights > > of Koh-i-Maran(Hari Parbat).Together all of them > destroyed even the > > minutest > > remains of the idol house and scattered even the bits > of the idols.”* > > So Shuddha while I have great regard and respect for > ShamS Faqir,ahmed > > Batwari,Rahim saeb,Ahmed Dar,swoche kral, Ahad azad > saeb,Wahab khar,Shah > > Gafoor ,Shah Kalandar,Samad Mir,Santosh and my Guru > Ayub Betab and many > > such > > real great sufis I cannot by any means draw myself to > accept what is not > > truth and truth that I know or have read from original > texts myself > > thankfully. > > So let us stay in the realm of reality and accept > truth as it is. > > With that hopefuly we can end this discussion > > > > I say to you > > > > Chalo ab shiddate narazgee mehdood karte hain > > chalo aut bhi aao,chalo main maan jaata hoon. > > > > Best Regards > > > > Rashneek > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > >wrote: > > > > > Dear all, > > > I did not find the names of Sikandar Butshikan > and Syed Hamadani in the > > > sentence from my posting quoted so kindly by > Rashneek Kher in support of > > his > > > argument. > > > > > > "It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a > part of South Asia where > > the > > > rise of Islam > > > > > > *did not accompany a military invasion, but > occurred largely due to the > > > example set by missionaries and religious > divines."* > > > > > > > > > If anyone does find them I would be grateful if > they could help me locate > > > them. > > > Nor do i find it necessary to digress too far in > pointing out that the > > > meaning of the word 'divines' as used here > (indicating religious adepts) > > is > > > quite different from the sense of anything being > 'divinely ordained' (or > > > commanded by god). Whosoever should wish to > educate themselves on the > > > semantic distinction between these two instances > of usage could consult a > > > standard dictionary of the English language. But > let us leave that aside > > for > > > now. > > > > > > I find Rashneek's second assertion that 'even a > kid in Kashmir' would > > know > > > that the process of bringing Islam to Kashmir was > spearheaded by Sikandar > > > 'Butshikan' and Syed Hamadani entertaining. And > this is where the meat of > > > his contention lies. > > > > > > Because, 'every kid' in Kashmir, and a few adults > elsewhere, would also > > > know that these two names were not the only ones > on whose backs Islam > > came > > > to Kashmir. Islam came to Kashmir from diverse > sources, and if we do not > > > want to dissimulate, we must remember that some > of these sources were > > > different from, and contrary to those represented > by Sikandar 'Butshikan' > > > and even, Syed Hamadani. Some of these strains > were distinctly heterodox, > > > for instance, Sheikh Yaqub of the Kubrawi order, > also credited with the > > > spread of Islam in Kashmir, was often disparaged > as a 'but-parast' (and > > idol > > > lover) and he in fact challenged the ulema of his > time to find fault with > > > this finding truth in the altars of icons. The > history of Islam in > > Kashmir, > > > as 'every child' knows, is a testament to its > doctrinal diversity. > > > > > > How else do we account for figures like Bulbul > Shah (who is said to have > > > carried out the first conversions) Sheikh > Nooruddin Wali (or Nund Rishi - > > of > > > the entirely Kashmiri indigenous sufi order of > the 'Rishis').  Apart from > > > the inflence of the entirely local 'Rishi' order, > the rise of early Islam > > in > > > Kashmir was marked by the influences of the > Nakshbandi, Suhrawardy, and > > > heterodox Qadiri and Kubrawi orders, besides > several different strains of > > > Shia Islam, and of course the presence of > canonical, orthodox Sunni > > Islam. > > > To say that this variety of beliefs and practices > amounted to one thing > > is > > > to be totally oblivious to the enormous variety > in the cultural and > > > religious landscape of early Islam in Kashmir > > > > > > Here, for instance is one of Nooruddin Wali/Nund > Rishi's 'vaks'/ > > > utterances. Incidentally, Nooruddin is > affectionately referred to as the > > > 'Alamdar-e-Kashmir' or the 'standard bearer'. > This is what he has to say. > > > > > > *"We belong to the same parents. > > > Then why this difference? > > > Let Hindus and Muslims(together) > > > Worship God alone. > > > We came to this world like partners. > > > We should have shared our joys > > > and sorrows together." > > > *** > > > > > > This was written in the explicit context of the > persecution of non > > muslims > > > and dissenting muslims that Sheikh Nooruddin was > witness to in the reign > > of > > > Sultan Sikandar and some of his immediate > successors. This clearly > > > demonstrates that there were competing strains of > tolerance and > > intolerance > > > within Islam in Kashmir. This is normal, it > happens in the history of > > every > > > religious tradition in the world. To claim that > intolerance alone marks > > the > > > history of any religious tradition, anywhere, is > to pander to prejudice. > > > > > > The trouble is, I think that someone like > Rashneek knows exactly what I > > am > > > talking about. He is not, in my opinion, unlike > many others, a hysterical > > > bigot. He knows that the history of Islam in > Kashmir is not marked by > > hatred > > > of other ways of life or intolerance alone, but, > and this is what is most > > > disturbing, he still chooses to present a > one-sided picture to score a > > cheap > > > polemical point. The knowing dissimulator, in my > opinion. is far more > > > disturbing than the ignorant bigot. > > > > > > best > > > > > > Shuddha > > > > > > On 31-Aug-09, at 9:40 AM, rashneek kher wrote: > > > > > >  dear all, > > > > > > i just hope Shudda's gives the right > links,however i dont think even this > > > forum can teach him that,otherwise he would have > learnt it by now > > > > > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011033.html > > > > > > I will not let the readers have the trouble of > clicking the link.Here is > > > what our friend Shuddha writes. > > > > > > *"It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a > part of South Asia where > > > the rise of Islam > > > did not accompany a military invasion, but > occurred largely due to the > > > example set by missionaries and religious > divines."* > > > > > > and who were these people who spearheaded the > conversion of Kashmir or > >  let > > > us say "rise of islam"(even a kid in Kashmir will > us these two > > > names-Butshikan and Syed hamdani),and what were > the examples of these > > > "missionaries and religous divines"... > > > > > > Iconoclasm and imposition of "true" Sharia > through all means...which are > > > enumerated here > > > > > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-December/014758.html > > > > > > > > > So here we are.....Shudda's shoots himself in the > foot again.... > > > > > > Best Regards > > > > > > Rashneek > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Shuddhabrata > Sengupta < > > shuddha at sarai.net > > > > wrote: > > > > > >>  Dear All, > > >> > > >> Rashneek says  -  "there is a > history on this network here is a history > > on > > >> this > > >> > > >> network where people have called barbarians > like Sikander Butshikan and > > >> Syed > > >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and > incidentally these are > > people > > >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist > ideologies." > > >> > > >> > > >> This is a very interesting statement. I am > not a Maoist (I consider > > Maoism > > >> to be yet another variety of degenerate third > worldist nationalism - ) > > but I > > >> am persuaded by critical strains within > Marxism, (among other things) > > and > > >> have never concealed that fact.  I also > happen to have mentioned > > Sikandar > > >> 'Butshikan' and Hamadani in one of my set of > postings - > > >> https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011030.html > > >> Annotations to the History of Iconoclasm in > Kashmir - I (posted on > > >> November 9, 2007) written, incidentally in > response to Rashneek Kher's > > >> postings on the subject of iconoclasm. > > >> > > >> I have trawled through the Reader List > archives, and the only reference > > to > > >> Hamadani that I could find made by anyone who > could even remotely be > > >> described as a 'Marxist' (even by a stretch > of imagination) occurs in > > this > > >> posting. So, I take it, that the gesture is > made in my general > > direction. > > >> Hence this clarification. > > >> > > >> Nowhere in this posting do I deny that either > Sikandar 'Butshikan' or > > >> Hamadani were not in fact iconoclasts. I > merely make the point that the > > >> history of iconoclasm in Kashmir does not > have a solely 'Islamic' > > >> provenance. And that just as there were many > non-muslim iconcolastic > > rulers > > >> in pre-Islamicate Kashmir, there were also > several muslim rulers in > > Kashmir > > >> who protected non-muslim places of worship. > > >> > > >> More importantly, never, in any posting, have > I characterized either > > >> Sikandar 'Butshikan' or Hamadani as 'divinely > ordained dervishes'. Shah > > >> Sikandar is a king, and that is how I have > described him, and Hamadani > > is a > > >> religious leader, which is exactly what I > have called him. Neither of > > these > > >> two descriptions amounts to what it means > when one says 'divinely > > ordained'. > > >> For that to obtain, I would have first of all > to believe in the notion > > of a > > >> 'divnity' which I don't. And secondly, > believe that such a 'divinity' > > >> ordains the destruction of architecture and > images, which, logically, > > >> following from the first, i don't either. I > have viewed all acts of > > >> iconoclasm in the history of Kashmir, > regardless of who caused them to > > >> occur, as acts of violence. And have never > said any thing that can be > > read > > >> to the contrary. > > >> > > >> I think, yet again, Rashneek, in his haste to > score a weak point, has > > been > > >> a little too generous in his interpretation > of the textual substance of > > the > > >> archive of this list. As always, I would urge > him, and everyone else to > > >> buttress their easily brandished opinions > with a modicum of evidence. > > The > > >> point I made about Nadeem Paracha's loosely > articulated polemic against > > Roy, > > >> which inititated this exchange, seems, to me > to be strengthened by this. > > I > > >> do however, remain hopeful, that this list > will eventually teach > > Rashneek to > > >> be more careful with his words. > > >> > > >> best > > >> > > >> Shuddha > > >> > > >> I > > >>  On 28-Aug-09, at 12:40 PM, rashneek > kher wrote: > > >> > > >>  Dear Anupam, > > >> > > >> Well I am not confusing anything with > anything.There is a history on > > this > > >> network where people have called barbarians > like Sikander Butshikan and > > >> Syed > > >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and > incidentally these are > > people > > >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist > ideologies. > > >> > > >> Thanks > > >> > > >> Rashneek > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:07 PM, anupam > chakravartty < > > c.anupam at gmail.com > > >> >wrote: > > >> > > >>   Dear Rashneek, > > >> "They would cleanse the society by imposing > purity on the inhabitants > > and > > >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and > call them dervishes oops > > >> divinely ordained dervishes." > > >> > > >> I think you are confusing Talibanisation with > Marxism and Maoism. If the > > >> so-called "armed" gunmen threatened the > college principal, as the > > reports > > >> stated, to which he opposed and said:  > "he would not be cowed by the > > >> threat > > >> and would continue to do his work at the > college" and also the fact he > > is > > >> a > > >> specialist in greatest Islamic revivalist of > our times, Sayyid Qutb (who > > >> the > > >> neo-liberal sorts think that because of his > criticism of the American > > way > > >> of > > >> life has helped in shaping of al-qaeda) then > there is an inherent > > >> contradiction in your claims about dervishes. > here we have someone who > > is > > >> specialist, who is opposed to imposition of > hijab. i think i would > > >> appreciate the principal's stand. > > >> - thanks > > >> anupam > > >> > > >> > > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM, rashneek > kher > > >> wrote: > > >> > > >>  Dear All, > > >> > > >> A story done by Indian Express on the > Islamist Icons(Robin Hoods of our > > >> friends) imposing Hijab and threating > Prinicipals of Colleges by burning > > >> their cars. > > >> How I wonder would Taliban control the land > that once infidelds lived > > >> in.They would cleanse the society by imposing > purity on the inhabitants > > >> > > >> and > > >> > > >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and > call them dervishes oops > > >> divinely ordained dervishes.Their divine > powers derived from mediveal > > >> obscrutanist religiou practices-soon > flogging,killing in football > > grounds > > >> and burning of girls schools would be the > order of day.And our Marxist > > >> demi-icons would sing paeans to the piety of > the new age dervishes. > > >> It may also be worthwhile to mention that the > leaders of the "azadi" > > >> > > >> today > > >> > > >> have done exactly this when they "were a part > of the armed struggle".For > > >> the > > >> proponents of jihad and their > supporters...from Riyaz Wani > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >> > > >>  In Valley, gunmen take to moral > policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’ > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >>    In the first such incident in > the Valley since the decline of > > >> militancy > > >> started two years ago, masked gunmen waylaid > the principal of a North > > >> Kashmir college, destroyed his car, and gave > him a three-day ultimatum > > to > > >> ensure the 3,000 girl students in his > institution began wearing the > > >> > > >>   hijab. > > >> > > >> > > >>  The principal, Muhammad Ashraf, a > respected Islamic scholar, told The > > >> Indian Express today that he would not be > cowed by the threat and would > > >> continue to do his work at the college. > > >> > > >>  Ashraf said seven men stopped his car > — in which he was riding with his > > >> son > > >> and a local acquaintance — near his village > at Dangiwacha, and > > >> > > >> commandeered > > >> > > >> the vehicle over a dirt track into a thicket > of bushes. “They wore masks > > >> and > > >> dark glasses and were heavily armed with > Kalashnikovs, pistols and > > >> grenades,” Ashraf said. > > >> > > >>  According to the principal, the men > appeared to know a lot about him: > > >> > > >> that > > >> > > >> he was a specialist on Sayyid Qutb — the > Egyptian Islamist political > > >> theorist and leading intellectual of the > Muslim Brotherhood in the 50s > > >> > > >> and > > >> > > >> 60s who is thought to be one of the > philosophical progenitors of Al > > Qaeda > > >> > > >> — > > >> > > >> and that he had been trying to enforce > discipline in his college. > > >> > > >> “You have taken some really good steps in > the college like banning > > >> > > >> smoking > > >> > > >> and cellphones. Now, you must do something > that we want you to do. > > >> > > >> Enforce > > >> > > >> an Islamic dress code for girl students,” > Ashraf said the men told him. > > >> They > > >> gave him three days to carry out their > diktat, failing which they would > > >> “act”, they said. > > >> > > >> Ashraf’s college, Degree College, Sopore, > has around 7,000 students on > > >> > > >> its > > >> > > >> rolls, 3,000 of whom are girls. It is among > the largest colleges in the > > >> state. > > >> > > >> “They told me that they had picked me to > send a message to all other > > >> schools > > >> and colleges in the Valley in which girls > study,” Ashraf said. > > >> > > >> Perhaps to rattle the principal and send the > message that they meant > > >> business, the gunmen set his vehicle on fire. > Ashraf and his companions > > >> were > > >> released after about two hours in captivity. > > >> > > >> The Dangiwacha police have filed a case, and > are looking at all angles, > > >> including one unrelated to militancy. “We > are exploring the possible > > >> dimension of college rivalry,” said a > senior officer who did not want to > > >> > > >> be > > >> > > >>   named. > > >> > > >> No militant outfit has claimed responsibility > for the incident. The > > >> separatists too have been silent, and are > perhaps trying to ascertain if > > >> militant groups were involved. > > >> > > >> Senior Superintendent of Police Viplav Kumar > said a hunt was on for the > > >> gunmen. “We are trying our best. Hopefully, > we will crack the case > > soon,” > > >> he > > >> said. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-valley-gunmen-take-to-moral-policing-enforce-hijab-in-college/507208/0 > > >> > > >> > > >> best > > >> > > >> -- > > >> Rashneek Kher > > >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > >> > > >>  > _________________________________________ > > >> 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. > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> -- > > >>  Rashneek Kher > > >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > >> > > >> > > >>  Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > >> The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > >> Raqs Media Collective > > >> shuddha at sarai.net > > >> www.sarai.net > > >> www.raqsmediacollective.net > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Rashneek Kher > > > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com > > > > > > > > >  Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > > Raqs Media Collective > > > shuddha at sarai.net > > > www.sarai.net > > > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > >  Rashneek Kher > > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From indersalim at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 21:52:57 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 21:52:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Reading Roy by Nadeem Paracha(in Dawn) In-Reply-To: <1f9180970908302156q374118d5na6ce54fd23a06be6@mail.gmail.com> References: <13df7c120908272156g347a256cj61a592a4d6b34ee6@mail.gmail.com> <13df7c120908280022q55dca797w8d432153ddf04193@mail.gmail.com> <5c5369880908280105t2d956abfle8e74bbd90d0167e@mail.gmail.com> <1f9180970908302156q374118d5na6ce54fd23a06be6@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909010922jce9778vf6dc758fbbb619b7@mail.gmail.com> can be one of the most easily predictable i try to delve into the above opening fragment from essay by Nadeem Paracha sahib. Derrida says, that "there is a future, programmed, scheduled , foreseeable, and the future which is unpridictable, ( to come ) totally unexpected, and for me that is the real future. THE other who comes without my being able to anticipate their arrival. that is the the future" So, whether Dr. chomsky, or Ms.Roy or Mr. Nadeem sahib,....we all in a pridicable realm, if we are unable to evoke the other, that other who absolutely escapes our idea of a future, which i bleieve is partly located in the performativity of our beings, beyond word structure, beyond performances which are of pridictable nature. Now, it is debatable, whether we have a future on this earth or not, whether we still, as human beings have a possiblity to end the divide between rich and the poor ( between nations, and people ) and if at all we are able to live peacefully without violence and fear of the unknown , etc... The best, about this so far has come from the souls who dared to leap into the choas, passionately often, and bring out some knowledge for the rest of us to share and prepare our minds to face that unpridictable of our beings marching towards a future. Here, we may never forget that death is always part of life force. and which is so pridictable, and yet I am not a serious reader of both these famous writers, but to my mind they both repreent the saner voices, and have so far never ran away from criticism, of whatever nature. Dr. Chomsky is a well known linguist, and i benefited a lot from his book years ago, although i never know his other works, but his couple of essays, which i felt are works of a political scientist. He goes deeper and deeper into a particular point, here poltical, and whether he actually touches the hidden nuance or not, but we would have never known that part, if he had not bothered to look into. Similarly, Roy's writing , as Mr. Kak too quoted, her, is really a passionate writer, who happens to speak on behalf of the those who are voiceless and living in conflict zones. Now, what opposition should be to that pursiut, i fail to understand., whether you like that research or not, it should be allowed to float freely. for Derrida, again 9/11 was not unpridictable, in a deeper sense, and if so, any noises which emit from the Right wing playmakers as Nadeem sahib has pointed out, are certainly for serious reflections , so, both Chomsky and Roy are not guilty to include those noises into their arguments, even if they produce pridictable arguments. How can we beleive that the whatever comes to through meida is all lies, and how to filter the news, and how to produce the most original resarch without the elements which are alloys of fantasy and real. Both left, middle and right and the corporate and the liberral are part of our chaos, and who is the saint, of unpridicatable nature and simultaneously not indifferent to the empirical reality of our collecitve being. I quote Nadeem sahib, Roy and Chomsky’s writings in the last five years have contributed more to fatten reactionary arguments, even if the original intent of the writings were/are as noble as those of Said’s and Ahmed’s.* what a contradition, The noble thoughts of Said and Admed in the hands of Roy and Chomsky contribute reactionary arguments. How? Are they modern Maulans who badly intrepret the noble thoughts embedded in sacred texts. Nadeem sahib has made some sweeping statemtns, which has served no purpose, his essay nevertheless contains some 'very pridictable' arguments, but well written love inder salim On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 10:26 AM, Venugopalan K M wrote: > On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Sanjay Kak wrote: >> In continuation of the idea of the starters block jalfarezi: >> >> Nadeem Paracha says: >> >> What Roy seems not to realize (or clearly own up to), is the fact that >> the New Right (‘neo-cons,’ etc.) and, for instance, it’s reaction, >> ‘Islamist terrorism,’ are actually two sides of the same coin. >> >> He might find the following quote useful: >> >> But who is Osama bin Laden really? Let me rephrase that. What is Osama >> bin Laden? >> He's America's family secret. He is the American President's dark >> doppelganger. The savage twin of all that purports to be beautiful and >> civilized. He has been sculpted from the spare rib of a world laid to >> waste by America's foreign policy: its gunboat diplomacy, its nuclear >> arsenal, its vulgarly stated policy of "full spectrum dominance," its >> chilling disregard for non-American lives, its barbarous military >> interventions, its support for despotic and dictatorial regimes, its >> merciless economic agenda that has munched through the economies of >> poor countries like a cloud of locusts, its marauding multinationals >> that are taking over the air we breathe, the ground we stand on, the >> water we drink, the thoughts we think. >> Now that the family secret has been spilled, the twins are blurring >> into one another and gradually becoming interchangeable. Their guns, >> bombs, money, and drugs have been going around in the loop for a >> while. Now they've even begun to borrow each other's rhetoric. Each >> refers to the other as "the head of the snake." Both invoke God and >> use the loose millenarian currency of Good and Evil as their terms of >> reference. Both are engaged in unequivocal political crimes. Both are >> dangerously armed-one with the nuclear arsenal of the obscenely >> powerful, the other with the incandescent, destructive power of the >> utterly hopeless. The fireball and the ice pick. The bludgeon and the >> axe. >> The important thing to keep in mind is that neither is an acceptable >> alternative to the other. >> President Bush's ultimatum to the people of the world-"Either you are >> with us or you are with the terrorists"-is a piece of presumptuous >> arrogance. >> It's not a choice that people want to, need to, or should have to make. >> >> This is from an essay called 'the Algebra of Infinite Justice' by Arundhati Roy. >> >> Best >> >> Sanjay Kak >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: rashneek kher >> Date: Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:52 PM >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Reading Roy by Nadeem Paracha(in Dawn) >> To: Shuddhabrata Sengupta >> Cc: Sarai Reader List >> >> >> Dear Shuddha, >> >> I cant claim to know either Nadeem or Arundhati but through their writings. >> While both them and us are entitled to our opinions I dont agree with your >> "class betrayer" theory.I think most supposedly intellectuals in India today >> are not really afraid to bare their fangs( or speak out their minds).Infact >> sometimes most in the class that you are probably referrring to walk that >> extra mile to prove their point.For every SuheL Sheth or a Tavleen Singh >> arent there people like Shabana Azmi or a Sagarika Ghose. >> So it isnt class thing in my opinion. >> Well when we are in domain of public discourse we are bound to have both >> sides of the opinion and I believe that would true of anyone including >> Arundhati Roy. >> >> Regards >> >> Rashneek >> >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta >> wrote: >> >>> Dear Rashneek, >>> Thank you for forwarding Nadeem Paracha's article from Dawn. I find it very >>> revealing. >>> >>> Unlike Roy, who always, and invariably, (for those who actually bother to >>> read her and not roll their eyes over every time she appears in print) >>>  bothers to buttress her judgements in her political essays (which Paracha >>> is well within his rights to call prejudices) with evidence and citation, I >>> find, that Paracha, does not actually cite a single statement or fragment of >>> writing by Roy. All he offers us is opinion. First he argues that Roy is >>> guilty of providing fodder to  'right wing claptrap' and Islamists say. Then >>> he says that she is guilty of  add an "anti-Islamist (particularly >>> anti-Taliban), angle to her on-going narrative concerning India, Pakistan >>> and the United States". So to Paracha, she is guilty of being both >>> anti-Capitalism and anti-Taliban at the same time, how nice and convenient >>> it would have been for the simple world of our baba-log, if she was one >>> without being the other. At least then they would know which box to put her >>> (and others like her) in. >>> >>> (How terribly inconvenient that Chomsky is Jewish and Anti-Zionist. Why >>> can't opposition to the policies of the State of Israel come in nicely >>> drycleaned anti-semitic clothes. How terrible it is that many of the people, >>> myself included, who oppose the occupation by India of Kashmir are also >>> implacably opposed to Islamist ideologies of all kinds, and to the feudal >>> aristocracy that rules Pakistan. How nice it would be, if we were good >>> Taliban boys, or at least like most members of the Pakistani ruling elite, >>> good old fashioned alchoholic Jihadis) >>> >>> But coming back to the anti-Roy invective by Nadeem Paracha, I find it >>> surprising that none of it, not one sentence , as I have said before, is >>> said with a shred of evidence from within the easily available corpus of >>> Roy's writing and public utterances. Quoting the dubious opinion of the >>> newspaper called the HIndu, of all things to buttress an argument is not a >>> sign of having done one's homework. >>> >>> Basically, It is, I think, intellectually disingenuous to accuse of being >>> something (soft on Islamists) , and then being its opposite (anti-islamist) >>> , at the same time, and not bother to provide grounds for either of the >>> accusations. >>> >>> The disdain and animosity for Roy which animates the salons of Delhi and >>> Islamabad alike has something to do, in my opinion, with the idea that she >>> is somehow a 'class betrayer' to significant sections of the Indian and >>> Pakistani elite. A 'person like us' (although she never was a 'person like >>> them') whom the Suhel Seths, Tavleen Singhs and Nadeem Parachas of the world >>> would have ideally liked to have kept as their little pet novelist, but who >>> had the temerity to bare her fangs at them and expose their shallow and >>> gilded world for what it was.  Somehow, they can't live that down. >>> >>> In Pakistan, they have done it many times, they did it to Faiz, who was >>> imprisoned and exiled, and to many others. They did it to Eqbal Ahmed, too, >>> when he was alive. >>> >>> >>> >>> best >>> >>> Shuddha >>> >>> >>>   On 28-Aug-09, at 10:26 AM, rashneek kher wrote: >>> >>>   http://blog.dawn.com:91/dblog/2009/08/27/reading-roy/ >>> >>> >>> >>> Quite like Dr. Noam Chomsky, award-wining writer and activist, Arundhati >>> Roy, can be one of the most easily predictable intellectuals this side of >>> the post-Cold-War left. >>> >>> And also, quite like Dr. Chomsky (and Naomi Klein), Roy too is fast >>> becoming >>> the provider of the intellectual fodder that wily and loud post-9/11 >>> advocates of 21st Century right-wing claptrap sumptuously feed upon. >>> >>> In fact, it is due to this feeding frenzy by so-called anti-West >>> reactionaries (of assorted shapes and sizes) - who cleverly use leftist >>> critiques of the West to give some ‘intellectual weight’ to their otherwise >>> contemptuous spiels of racial, religious and political hatred - that is >>> gradually rendering people like Chomsky, Kalian and Roy somewhat >>> ineffectual >>> in fully elaborating the otherwise progressive intent of their anti-West/US >>> narratives. >>> >>> Now hijacked and drowned by the noises emitting from right-wing playmakers >>> within the post-9/11 anti-US populism, Roy and Co. have tended to sound >>> hyperbolic to keep the dwindling left in the race featuring assorted >>> celebrity-backed pomposity and demagoguism that is so spectacularly >>> unveiling itself on TV screens and in seminars. >>> >>> It is interesting to note how the once sober, back-stage leftist >>> intellectuals whose critiques of capitalism and ‘American imperialism’ came >>> attached with well thought-out thesis, rationales and ideas for a new way, >>> have reduced themselves to continue dishing out reactive and irresponsible >>> sloganeering revolving around narratives that are largely unoriginal, and >>> worse of all, smacking of the kind of cynical vanity one usually expects >>> from reactionary TV personalities such as Shahid Masood, Zaid Hamid and >>> Harun Yahyah. >>> >>> If such celebrity reactionaries can rightly be accused of exhibiting >>> intellectual dishonesty by unabashedly plagiarizing leftist critiques of >>> the >>> West, and anti-secular narratives devised by early 20th Century Christian >>> Fundamentalists, then their leftist counterparts like Roy and Chomsky can >>> be >>> equally blamed for failing to openly condemn those who are using their work >>> to forward a clearly reactionary agenda. >>> >>> These are tricky times we live in; a time when the media can neither be >>> called liberal/leftist nor entirely conservative. Take the case of the >>> Pakistani electronic media’s darling, Imran Khan. Within a single sentence >>> he manages to sound like a dedicated Socialist, a Taliban sympathizer, and >>> a >>> conscientious democrat without even batting an eyelid. In other words, just >>> like the media today, the great Khan is merely playing to a gallery of >>> jumbled up ideas that have been constructed by the media itself. >>> >>> However, no matter how populist and passionate the animation behind such >>> left-meets-right jumbling, its bottom-line remains reactionary in essence. >>> The effect of this colourful ideological circus has absolutely nothing to >>> do >>> with reformism or democracy as such, but rather, the effect is either pure >>> entertainment or worse, the insinuation of an unsound modern political >>> narrative within the psyche of the more impressionable and impulsive >>> viewers. >>> >>> Coming back to Roy, it wasn’t really her terrific novel, ‘God of Small >>> Things,’ that turned her into a celebrity in Pakistan; rather, it is her >>> (albeit bold) stands on matters such as Kashmir and (albeit hackneyed) >>> understanding of ‘American colonial designs’ in the region that has made >>> her >>> a darling of urban Pakistani drawing rooms. >>> Nevertheless, it is also true that Roy is also perhaps the most tolerated >>> non-Muslim Indian amongst the usual India/Hindu-baiting Islamists. No >>> prizes >>> in guessing why. >>> >>> Conscious of the intellectual and ideological dichotomy generated by the >>> acceptance that she receives from Pakistani leftist/liberal drawing-rooms >>> and in right-wing circles, Roy soon started to add an anti-Islamist >>> (particularly anti-Taliban), angle to her on-going narrative concerning >>> India, Pakistan and the United States. >>> >>> But this angle soon falls flat (and in fact negates itself) at the wake of >>> her verbose ramblings about ‘American Imperialism,’ ‘Globalization’ et al. >>> Thus, the question arises: How exactly is all this beneficial to the >>> egalitarian and conscientious audience that Roy has in her mind? To them >>> this is not news. >>> >>>  But to those liberals/leftists who are more concerned about the impact >>> religious extremism, bigotry and counter-democratic moves are having on >>> their respective societies, these ramblings become an irritant when they >>> are >>> liberally quoted by their rightist nemeses. >>> >>> If during the Cold War there were leftists who got stuck in the hey days of >>> the New Left in the 1960s - and consequently failed to counter the >>> resurgence of the right-wing from late-‘70s onwards - Roy increasingly >>> belongs to a generation of leftists who got embroiled in the post-Cold-War >>> anti-Globalization movements of the late 1990s. Her politics are still >>> being >>> informed by the dictates and sentiments of these movements that culminated >>> with the anti-Globalization riots in Seattle in 1999 and then by the >>> publishing of Naomi Klein’s classic book of the era, ‘No Logo.’ >>> >>> Roy is still firmly entrenched in the 1990s (albeit with the spirit of the >>> archetypal 1960s’ radical), and like Chomsky, she too failed to note the >>> many elusive symptoms that are now clearly marking the fall of the >>> post-Cold-War ‘New-Right.’ >>> >>> What Roy seems not to realize (or clearly own up to), is the fact that the >>> New Right (‘neo-cons,’ etc.) and, for instance, it’s reaction, ‘Islamist >>> terrorism,’ are actually two sides of the same coin. >>> >>> It is true that the whole paranoid spiel about the so-called ‘war on >>> terror’ >>> was a creation of American neo-conservatives to help them to continue >>> occupying the decision-making corridors of United States. The neo-cons had >>> looked to restoring the American pride that was lost in its unsuccessful >>> war >>> against the Soviet-backed North Vietnam (1975). >>> >>> They did this by using the Regan presidency (1980-88), and the media to >>> create a Soviet ‘bogey’ radically heightening the Soviet threat by more >>> than >>> doubling the projected size of the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal and its >>> plans for world domination. This was done to force Reagan to take a more >>> militaristic stance against the Soviets. >>> >>> The Soviet Union’s incompetence during the Afghan war and its eventual >>> collapse clearly stated the weakness of its economic and political systems, >>> and proved that the neo-cons’ exaggerated estimation of Soviet power had a >>> malicious intent. In fact, even had the US not intervened in the war, the >>> Soviets would still have been unable to hold on to Afghanistan. But the >>> neo-cons’ agenda insisted that the Reagan regime fatten autocratic regimes >>> like that of General Ziaul Haq in Pakistan and assorted Arab monarchies to >>> use them to heavily arm the so-called Afghan mujahideen against the >>> Soviets. >>> >>> After the collapse of the inflated Soviet bogey, the neo-cons lost power in >>> Washington, giving way to the moderate Bill Clinton years (1992-99). >>> However, by 2000 the neo-cons were back. They returned much stronger with >>> the arrival on the scene of George W. Bush, especially after the 9/11 >>> attacks in 2001. >>> >>> Though to a certain extent, the justification behind the war on terror was >>> a >>> bogey called Islamic terrorism, ironically this war was also aided by >>> nihilistic Islamic fundamentalists like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. >>> >>> Led by the likes of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda is >>> basically a group of failed Islamic revolutionaries; a bunch of frustrated >>> Islamists who were deluded into believing that it was they who defeated the >>> Soviets and could now impose Islamic regimes wherever. >>> >>> The truth is, it was the Soviet Union’s weak economy and worn-out political >>> structure and, of course, the billions of dollars worth of arms that the >>> mujahideen received from the US that did the trick. >>> >>> I am in total agreement with the line of thought that insists that the >>> neo-cons and the Islamists are two sides of the same coin. And that’s why >>> the more terrorism the Islamists practiced, the stronger the neo-cons got. >>> After all, the neo-cons lost all purpose and requirement once the USSR >>> collapsed. >>> >>> Interestingly, the bait of the post-Soviet Islamic bogey dangled by the >>> neo-cons was not only taken by groups of renegade Islamic revolutionaries; >>> the media took it too. >>> >>> In the West the media continues to portray skewed perceptions of ‘Islamism’ >>> fed to it by the neo-cons; while in the Islamic world, the media is playing >>> out to the other side of the coin by indulging in crass speculative gossip, >>> conspiracy theories and images of the West sketched by frustrated Islamists >>> dreaming of a global Islamic revolution and the reinstatement of the >>> Caliphate. >>> >>> Thanks to the media, this pseudo (but deadly) conflict has now trickled >>> down >>> to realms of society as well. For example, today an average westerner is >>> more likely to feel uneasy if confronted by a person with a Muslim name. He >>> perceives this person with the aid of what he hears and sees in the western >>> media. He will see the Muslim as potentially violent, oppressive, and most >>> probably a wife beater! >>> >>> On the other side, a Muslim is just as likely to interpret western society >>> as being satanic, Jewish-dominated and obscene. This person’s source in >>> this >>> respect is the media in the Islamic countries. It triggers a flippant >>> effect >>> in which the person is then bound to do two things: either fall in the >>> luring trap of the violent Islamist minority, or react by suddenly donning >>> a >>> long beard or a headscarf. >>> >>> What really keeps the neo-cons and the Islamists afloat is the larger >>> social >>> fall-out of this conflict. The conflict then becomes a battle of reactive >>> images in which a westerner influenced by neo-con rhetoric in the media >>> becomes Islamophobic, and a Muslim driven by his country’s conspiratorial >>> media suddenly grows a long beard or starts doing the hijab. Paradoxically, >>> he or she then becomes more receptive to what so-called leftists like >>> Chomsky and Roy have to say about the West. >>> >>> To quote from an article about Roy in The Hindu (November 26, 2000): >>> ‘Arundhati Roy might very well equal (activist writers) Orwell and Karanth >>> in her bravery. But she lacks their intellectual probity and judgment. >>> Those >>> men wrote with a proper sense of gravitas, in a prose that was lucid but >>> understated, each word weighed before it was uttered. Perhaps they were >>> lucky to work in a pre-television and pre-colour supplement era, when the >>> principle would take precedence over the personality.’ >>> >>> I think the above paragraph says it all. Writer-activists such as Roy, >>> Naomi >>> Klein and even the more aged Chomsky have allowed themselves to be bitten >>> by >>> the post-modern celebrity bug that usually feeds on their more reactionary >>> and right-wing counterparts. >>> >>> They have become too self-conscious of their ‘intellectual importance,’ >>> with >>> their overall make-up now bordering on plain vanity. This is something >>> their >>> bygone contemporaries like Edward Said and Iqbal Ahmed would have balked >>> at. >>> >>> *And, for example, while the later two’s writings and thoughts actually >>> helped improve the world’s understanding of the plight of, say, the >>> Palestinians and the Third World in general, Roy and Chomsky’s writings in >>> the last five years have contributed more to fatten reactionary arguments, >>> even if the original intent of the writings were/are as noble as those of >>> Said’s and Ahmed’s.* >>> >>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> best >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Rashneek Kher >>> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >>> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>> >>> >>>  Shuddhabrata Sengupta >>> The Sarai Programme at CSDS >>> Raqs Media Collective >>> shuddha at sarai.net >>> www.sarai.net >>> www.raqsmediacollective.net >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Rashneek Kher >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > -- > > > > You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot > build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you > will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a > whole. > -AMBEDKAR > > > > http://venukm.blogspot.com > > http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur > > http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From taraprakash at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 22:45:33 2009 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (taraprakash) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 13:15:33 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] (off topic) Re: 'Krishna existed. The school texts arewrong':says nuclear scientist References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com><341380d00908310902l43d70096ibdc017eb636f9658@mail.gmail.com><3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> <341380d00908312219x4e56f3eeu3ad3ccef2bf7dacc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <398CB5B10DF0485BB51A8EA8508B52BE@tara> I don't mind your hatred against such people as you described. But this person was neither talking about Hinduism specificly nor he was suggesting any insecurity. He, in fact, said something to the effect about religion (not Hinduism) being tool for world peace. In one of your previous mails when you reacted as if you were stung by million bees, the reason was just use of the word Hindu. The mail did no speak of any insecurity etc. The irony that the writer was pointing towards, like it would happen to any street bully, went over your head. And yes, you are right. I don't read most of your mails, I don't read most of the list mails in fact. There is not just 1 bully on this list. A lot of mails on this list, some written by you as well, stink of shit. And there is so much of shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone. But you seem to have pretensions of sophistication, so I smell some of it from you. But no more. If you can't see the contradiction in your mails written on this thread, I pity your intelligence. Sorry list, there wasn't much for anyone in this mail but since Anupam is anyway going to make it public by putting this on his blog, I did not send him this mail privately, which I should have done. Apologies again. ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" To: "sarai list" Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 1:19 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts arewrong':says nuclear scientist > Dear Taraprakash, > > You may be partially right about my hatred towards all such Hindus who are > desperate to prove their insecurities by finding something with reasoning > (just to be in that same league of solomon's treasure hunters) which the > scriptures itself have said that only prajna or moving beyond reasoning > towards a purer belief (untouched by their insecurities) can lead to > knowledge about the God. > > Looks like you dont read my mails. I have never said such research is not > welcome. I would be happy if someone proves that there was Krishna, and > fairies, and Yeti, and That there were UFOs who actually helped Egyptians > to > build pyramids. however, some how rationality, reasoning and research > would > keep showing otherwise. > > Thank you for calling me a bully. I cant stop smiling at this comment. It > goes on my blog :) > > "Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to prove that you are a > "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who knew you on the > list), > who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for negotiation about his > position?" > > -Anupam > > > On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: >> >> Hello all and Anupam. Your hatred towards anything to do with Hindus is >> clear, but not understandable. Whether Krishna's existence was a fact, as >> this scientist suggests with a reasoning, or whether it was myth, as you >> are >> claiming without actually substantiating your claim, can be proved with >> research. It may not be decissive but if someone wants to do a research >> on >> it, what's wrong in it? Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire >> to >> prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who >> knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for >> negotiation about his position? >> >> Finally if we all were to become wary of things that would offer >> skeletons >> from the closet, would there be any investigation in to massacres, there >> would actually be no teaching of history. >> >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < >> c.anupam at gmail.com> >> To: "sarai list" >> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 12:02 PM >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are >> wrong':says nuclear scientist >> >> >> I am wary of anthropological investigations because they always render >>> skeletons from the closet. Here the scientists are just touching the tip >>> of >>> the iceberg in form astrological positions. My expertise in astrology is >>> as >>> juvenile as the claim that a character called Krishna existed because >>> there >>> was a real planetary position. It certainly is a matter of immense >>> importance to have more interesting data about the authors of these >>> texts >>> namely Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the sense, a certain way of locating >>> fictitious event and to make it seem real, locate the event with real >>> star >>> positions. If the aryan feudal battles were recorded with the star >>> positions, that also is important contribution to the history writing. >>> Would >>> be interested to know more about this project rather than basing my >>> opinion >>> on a news report. This would be an important revelation and I look >>> forward >>> to it. >>> >>> After reading this news report, it take me back to a phase when I was >>> fascinated with Erick Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, and then >>> ... suddenly someone told me about a bunch of people committing >>> suicide thinking about of the some kind of superior race of aliens >>> hovering above this planet waiting to take them to heaven. >>> >>> -anupam >>> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:06 PM, Rakesh Iyer >>> wrote: >>> >>> Dear Kshamendra >>>> >>>> I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, as >>>> I >>>> include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger issues >>>> to >>>> be >>>> solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public >>>> funds >>>> on >>>> such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these >>>> things, >>>> as >>>> this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a >>>> crunch, >>>> and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of other >>>> such >>>> issues. >>>> >>>> Rakesh >>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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. >>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>> >> >> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 08:12:14 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 08:12:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Article on RSS by Jyotirmaya Sharma Message-ID: Dear all I found this a nice article, and I have been fan of the author since I read his book 'Hindutva', which focuses on the historical development of that concept through the contributions of four people, important in the British Raj to different extents. Please do go through it, though you may not agree with it or may, as per your own wish. Regards Rakesh Link: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Splitting-image/H1-Article3-449336.aspx Article: Splitting image Is the RSS itching to play a new role in relation to the BJP? The answer to this question is that the RSS always looks forward to the past. The rupture with the past came during the six years of the BJP-led coalition government in Delhi, when two of its senior swayamsevaks, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, sought to break free from the Sangh’s suffocating embrace and tried to steer the BJP in a different direction. For the Sangh, nothing ever changes; any idea of change is merely cosmic play, leela, or is part of the illusory nature of the phenomenal world and has little to do with reality. In turn, reality is what the Sangh feels, thinks, knows and decrees. In Nagpur, where the headquarters of the RSS are located, this illusion of permanence and hubris of certainty is protected by the heavily armed policemen of the democratically elected government of the people of India. What are these tenets of the RSS that will never change? The Sangh believes that politics is based on selfishness and the greater selfishness increases, the greater the need for politics, power and governance. The only way to avoid the path to politics is to have social unity, cultivate the inner excellence of individuals within that society and celebrate culture as the true representation of genuine power. Quarrels, disagreements, love and hate are possible only in a perfectly constituted unity and not as instances of individuality. Democracy is to be rejected because it encourages individualism and selfishness; democracy, Golwalkar famously quipped, was not even a historical necessity. The only ‘ism’ that the RSS finds tenable is Hinduism. In order to achieve this ideal of purity and perfection, the Sangh took a leap of presumptuousness. The first of these was appointing itself the sole guardian, protector and defender of what they called Hindu culture. The second was to assume the mantle of the sole spokesperson for an undiluted and militant idea of nationalism, which, when translated into simple language, meant Hindu nationalism. Thirdly, they took upon themselves, unilaterally and arbitrarily, the task of what they call Hindu consolidation. Finally, the RSS believes that there is something called Hindu society out there, and it is only a matter of time that this Hindu society will be awakened, see the light of day, and run to the paternal embrace of the Sangh. The RSS had assumed that swayamsevaks who ventured into politics were to be like sages entering the world to cure its impurities. They were to be the ‘recruiting ground’, as Golwalkar suggested for the ideology and the ultimate mission of the Sangh. These sages, over the years, instead of reforming that harlot, namely, politics, instead fell in love with her. They began to love all that she had to offer, be it power, wealth, position or glory. A rank careerist like Jaswant Singh was not far off the mark when, after being expelled from the BJP for writing a book, said that the top leadership of the BJP had begun to suffer from the intoxication of power, or Rajmad. Not only has the BJP learned that politics and power are after all not so bad, but it has also begun to question the Sangh’s leap of presumptuousness. The BJP can no longer pretend that the Sangh or its affiliates protect and preserve Hindu culture, especially so when it is done through dragging young girls out of a pub and assaulting them. They have also realised that the roots of democracy are deep in India and Indian nationalism, however articulated, is a democratic nationalism. The realisation has also dawned that the greatest challenge towards a Hindu consolidation comes from Hindus themselves, who neither subscribe to the rigid, anachronistic and illiberal idea of what an ideal Hindu society ought to be. Nor are they ready to buy the hysterical outpourings of some leaders within the Sangh parivar of a threat to Hindu identity in the form of Muslims, Christians and Western modernity. Most significantly, two successive election defeats have finally driven home the message that there is nothing called a Hindu vote, a myth as exaggerated as the existence of permanent vote banks. Truth be told, there is little that the RSS approves in terms of the functioning of the BJP, whether in power or out of power. The BJP now is like any other political party. It has factions, interest groups and islands of naked ambition. All that the RSS can do in the present scenario is to favour one faction over the other. All its disclaimers to the contrary are merely for public consumption. Without being in politics, it has been reduced to playing politics of the lowest kind, and at the same time, pretending to be an unbiased arbiter of all that masquerades as politics within the BJP. It has become the 10 Janpath of the BJP, but with a difference. Sonia Gandhi is an elected representative of the Indian people. While her authority does not derive from this single fact alone, her legitimacy derives substantially from being part of the democratic process. The RSS, on the contrary, will have to remain content with the ecstatic vision and sinful frenzy of the BJP’s undying love for that woman of the multitude, as Golwalkar in 1954 and Sudarshan in 2004 called that entity we know as politics. *Jyotirmaya Sharma is Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad. He is the author of Terrifying Vision: M.S. Golwalkar, the RSS and India (Penguin)* *The views expressed by the author are personal.* From murali.chalam at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 09:12:40 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 09:12:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> The previous minute becomes history and one cannot be selective on history. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 6:39 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Oh congratulations Murali you have such vast knowledge about African > history. thanks for enlightening us. what do you know about the recent > happenings in your neighbourhood? looks like immediate past is something > elusive for u and you can recall very well from the history books. some > ability i must say to cite this example twice. > > Modi's own party members are regretting the fact that why he was not sacked > after the post-godhra riots. what do u have to say to them? how do u > accomodate Vajpayee's sleepless nights during the mass murders in Gujarat? > > If Sonia Gandhi is to be blamed for accepting Leopold's order, this man who > is not only responsible for the most deadly riots of my time, has also > managed to advertise the MoUs of the industries which have backed out of the > investments in Gujarat. what do u have to say about that? there are zillions > of proof against his government fudging the actual investment figures of the > vibrant gujarat and use it as an advertisement to promote gujarat as an > industrial hub. worse, the golden corridor for chemical industries > (districts such as Valsad and Bharuch) is so polluted that the government > has stopped any kind of expansion. the common and final effluent treatment > plants in all the industrial estates have not been following the Gujarat > Pollution Control Board norms since the day it started functioning. where > are the safeties to set up anything in Gujarat? or is he being awarded > because most of the industrialisation is unregulated with Environmental > Assessment Report not being prepared and you say industries popping out of > now where? > > I frankly do not mind our leaders being awarded. its an honour but at least > in the past people who were really worthy of making changes in our society > have been awarded by various organisations. > > - anupam > > Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is > universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known fact. > > By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing > unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is > against the constitution of INdia. > > Regards, > V Murali > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> Dear Murali and Rajen, >> >> Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, for >> which you do have any proof or even an argument. >> >> -anupam >> >> On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: >>> >>> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold,  which >>> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in >>> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). >>> >>> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in >>> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India >>> and the Indian people.  She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian >>> Constitution. >>> >>> Regards, >>> V Murali >>> >>> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke >>> wrote: >>> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. >>> > >>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>> > From: shabnam hashmi >>> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM >>> > Subject: stop the award >>> > To: shabnam hashmi >>> > >>> > >>> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI > Asian >>> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and >>> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was >>> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that >>> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence >>> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally > Displaced >>> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation >>> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the >>> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter > of >>> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of >>> Pearson >>> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is >>> Marjorie >>> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which >>> ironically >>> > gives out peace grants. >>> > >>> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, >>> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly >>> and >>> > focuses on the business of globalisation. >>> > >>> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney >>> Fingar, >>> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. >>> > >>> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner >>> tomorrow. >>> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* >>> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk)  and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or >>> write >>> > to her directly. >>> > >>> > shabnam hashmi >>> > >>> > >>> > - >>> > >>> > >>> > -- >>> > _________________________________________ >>> > 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. >>> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 10:40:27 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 10:40:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Dr Binayak Sen's Speech : In Favour of Peace Message-ID: <1f9180970909012210o458343b2y77625b839a7928c5@mail.gmail.com> Please visit the YouTube link here. An internationally renowned doctor and activist for peace and social justice has been falsely implicated and incarcerated for over two years for alleged Maoist links. Just listen to him and decide for yourself what crime he has done! Dr Binayak Sen vociferously defends PEACE, in a speech delivered in Hindi after the bail given by the Supreme Court. That anyone exercising the democratic right to criticize the unjust ways of State would be branded as extremist should indeed be challenged. We are coerced not to speak; nevertheless, many of us can't just not do precisely that..!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYyvJ6M-jhA -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 10:47:12 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 10:47:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> Dear Murali, Are we discussing about history or ongoing issue? in the sense leopold's colonialism is a subject or concern but Sonia Gandhi getting that award has nothing to do with sonia gandhi. it is the mere award and its constitution that you are very critical about. On the other hand, readers like me are questioning whether Narendra Modi really deserves this FDI award by FT. Here i am critical about the person. -anupam On 9/2/09, Murali V wrote: > The previous minute becomes history and one cannot be selective on history. > > Regards, > V Murali > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 6:39 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > Oh congratulations Murali you have such vast knowledge about African > > history. thanks for enlightening us. what do you know about the recent > > happenings in your neighbourhood? looks like immediate past is something > > elusive for u and you can recall very well from the history books. some > > ability i must say to cite this example twice. > > > > Modi's own party members are regretting the fact that why he was not > sacked > > after the post-godhra riots. what do u have to say to them? how do u > > accomodate Vajpayee's sleepless nights during the mass murders in > Gujarat? > > > > If Sonia Gandhi is to be blamed for accepting Leopold's order, this man > who > > is not only responsible for the most deadly riots of my time, has also > > managed to advertise the MoUs of the industries which have backed out of > the > > investments in Gujarat. what do u have to say about that? there are > zillions > > of proof against his government fudging the actual investment figures of > the > > vibrant gujarat and use it as an advertisement to promote gujarat as an > > industrial hub. worse, the golden corridor for chemical industries > > (districts such as Valsad and Bharuch) is so polluted that the government > > has stopped any kind of expansion. the common and final effluent > treatment > > plants in all the industrial estates have not been following the Gujarat > > Pollution Control Board norms since the day it started functioning. where > > are the safeties to set up anything in Gujarat? or is he being awarded > > because most of the industrialisation is unregulated with Environmental > > Assessment Report not being prepared and you say industries popping out > of > > now where? > > > > I frankly do not mind our leaders being awarded. its an honour but at > least > > in the past people who were really worthy of making changes in our > society > > have been awarded by various organisations. > > > > - anupam > > > > Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is > > universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known > fact. > > > > By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing > > unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is > > against the constitution of INdia. > > > > Regards, > > V Murali > > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty > > wrote: > >> Dear Murali and Rajen, > >> > >> Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, > for > >> which you do have any proof or even an argument. > >> > >> -anupam > >> > >> On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: > >>> > >>> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold, which > >>> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in > >>> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). > >>> > >>> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in > >>> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India > >>> and the Indian people. She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian > >>> Constitution. > >>> > >>> Regards, > >>> V Murali > >>> > >>> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke > >>> wrote: > >>> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. > >>> > > >>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > >>> > From: shabnam hashmi > >>> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM > >>> > Subject: stop the award > >>> > To: shabnam hashmi > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI > > Asian > >>> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and > >>> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was > >>> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that > >>> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of > violence > >>> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally > > Displaced > >>> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation > >>> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the > >>> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a > matter > > of > >>> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of > >>> Pearson > >>> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is > >>> Marjorie > >>> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which > >>> ironically > >>> > gives out peace grants. > >>> > > >>> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine > [glossy, > >>> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a > fortnightly > >>> and > >>> > focuses on the business of globalisation. > >>> > > >>> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney > >>> Fingar, > >>> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. > >>> > > >>> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner > >>> tomorrow. > >>> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* > >>> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.comor > >>> write > >>> > to her directly. > >>> > > >>> > shabnam hashmi > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > - > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > -- > >>> > _________________________________________ > >>> > 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. > >>> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >>> _________________________________________ > >>> 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. > >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 11:07:54 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 11:07:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (off topic) Re: 'Krishna existed. The school texts arewrong':says nuclear scientist In-Reply-To: <398CB5B10DF0485BB51A8EA8508B52BE@tara> References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d00908310902l43d70096ibdc017eb636f9658@mail.gmail.com> <3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> <341380d00908312219x4e56f3eeu3ad3ccef2bf7dacc@mail.gmail.com> <398CB5B10DF0485BB51A8EA8508B52BE@tara> Message-ID: <341380d00909012237s6c8f090dy8e01d80565399759@mail.gmail.com> Dear Taraprakash, I really sad to hear about your state of mind. let me clear again, I am arguing for the genuius of the authors who composed Mahabharata. the mail did not speak of any insecurity but the very thing about education system and what is being taught to kids points out that at least one set of people are not comfortable with what is being taught. one can very easily infer since history writers could not locate krishna as historical figure, there is this sustained effort from the side of this coterie to prove that things like ram setu or krishna existed. independently, the research is interesting. but this select group of people (namely a set of insecure Hindus) would use this research for racial superiority and other things that comes along with the right wing political. no wonder you can so easily i nurse hatred against the hindus although i have repeatedly appreciated the authors of mahabharata and their sense of astrology. and frankly, you are no different from a bully: "And there is so much of shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone." first you clean your shit then you come and say that mr taraprakash. -anupam On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: > I don't mind your hatred against such people as you described. But this > person was neither talking about Hinduism specificly nor he was suggesting > any insecurity. He, in fact, said something to the effect about religion > (not Hinduism) being tool for world peace. In one of your previous mails > when you reacted as if you were stung by million bees, the reason was just > use of the word Hindu. The mail did no speak of any insecurity etc. The > irony that the writer was pointing towards, like it would happen to any > street bully, went over your head. > > And yes, you are right. I don't read most of your mails, I don't read most > of the list mails in fact. There is not just 1 bully on this list. A lot of > mails on this list, some written by you as well, stink of shit. And there is > so much of shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone. But you > seem to have pretensions of sophistication, so I smell some of it from you. > But no more. If you can't see the contradiction in your mails written on > this thread, I pity your intelligence. > > Sorry list, there wasn't much for anyone in this mail but since Anupam is > anyway going to make it public by putting this on his blog, I did not send > him this mail privately, which I should have done. Apologies again. > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < > c.anupam at gmail.com> > To: "sarai list" > Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 1:19 AM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts > arewrong':says nuclear scientist > > > Dear Taraprakash, >> >> You may be partially right about my hatred towards all such Hindus who are >> desperate to prove their insecurities by finding something with reasoning >> (just to be in that same league of solomon's treasure hunters) which the >> scriptures itself have said that only prajna or moving beyond reasoning >> towards a purer belief (untouched by their insecurities) can lead to >> knowledge about the God. >> >> Looks like you dont read my mails. I have never said such research is not >> welcome. I would be happy if someone proves that there was Krishna, and >> fairies, and Yeti, and That there were UFOs who actually helped Egyptians >> to >> build pyramids. however, some how rationality, reasoning and research >> would >> keep showing otherwise. >> >> Thank you for calling me a bully. I cant stop smiling at this comment. It >> goes on my blog :) >> >> "Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to prove that you are a >> "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who knew you on the >> list), >> who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for negotiation about his >> position?" >> >> -Anupam >> >> >> On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: >> >>> >>> Hello all and Anupam. Your hatred towards anything to do with Hindus is >>> clear, but not understandable. Whether Krishna's existence was a fact, as >>> this scientist suggests with a reasoning, or whether it was myth, as you >>> are >>> claiming without actually substantiating your claim, can be proved with >>> research. It may not be decissive but if someone wants to do a research >>> on >>> it, what's wrong in it? Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire >>> to >>> prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who >>> knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for >>> negotiation about his position? >>> >>> Finally if we all were to become wary of things that would offer >>> skeletons >>> from the closet, would there be any investigation in to massacres, there >>> would actually be no teaching of history. >>> >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < >>> c.anupam at gmail.com> >>> To: "sarai list" >>> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 12:02 PM >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are >>> wrong':says nuclear scientist >>> >>> >>> I am wary of anthropological investigations because they always render >>> >>>> skeletons from the closet. Here the scientists are just touching the tip >>>> of >>>> the iceberg in form astrological positions. My expertise in astrology is >>>> as >>>> juvenile as the claim that a character called Krishna existed because >>>> there >>>> was a real planetary position. It certainly is a matter of immense >>>> importance to have more interesting data about the authors of these >>>> texts >>>> namely Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the sense, a certain way of locating >>>> fictitious event and to make it seem real, locate the event with real >>>> star >>>> positions. If the aryan feudal battles were recorded with the star >>>> positions, that also is important contribution to the history writing. >>>> Would >>>> be interested to know more about this project rather than basing my >>>> opinion >>>> on a news report. This would be an important revelation and I look >>>> forward >>>> to it. >>>> >>>> After reading this news report, it take me back to a phase when I was >>>> fascinated with Erick Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, and then >>>> ... suddenly someone told me about a bunch of people committing >>>> suicide thinking about of the some kind of superior race of aliens >>>> hovering above this planet waiting to take them to heaven. >>>> >>>> -anupam >>>> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:06 PM, Rakesh Iyer >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Dear Kshamendra >>>> >>>>> >>>>> I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, as >>>>> I >>>>> include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger issues >>>>> to >>>>> be >>>>> solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public >>>>> funds >>>>> on >>>>> such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these >>>>> things, >>>>> as >>>>> this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a >>>>> crunch, >>>>> and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of other >>>>> such >>>>> issues. >>>>> >>>>> Rakesh >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> 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. >>>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>>>> >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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. >>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > > From murali.chalam at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 11:30:57 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 11:30:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> I am also critical about the person Sonia Maino. Order of Leopold was no ordinary paper but a special title that demanded ‘devotion’ and ‘loyalty’ to the King and the State of Belgium in return from the person honoured with the title. She should have been disqualified from acting as a Member of Parliament under Article 102 (1) of the Constitution for her having accepted the Order of Leopold from the King of Belgium. How did Belgium become the third largest trade partner with India in 2008? Is it because of dredging contracts awarded for billions of rupees to Dredging International of Belgium and increased diamond trade resulting in stashing away illicit funds in tax havens nearby. Regards, V Murali On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Dear Murali, > > Are we discussing about history or ongoing issue? in the sense leopold's > colonialism is a subject or concern but Sonia Gandhi getting that award has > nothing to do with sonia gandhi. it is the mere award and its constitution > that you are very critical about. > > On the other hand, readers like me are questioning whether Narendra Modi > really deserves this FDI award by FT. Here i am critical about the person. > > -anupam > > > On 9/2/09, Murali V wrote: > >> The previous minute becomes history and one cannot be selective on history. >> >> Regards, >> V Murali >> >> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 6:39 PM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >> > Oh congratulations Murali you have such vast knowledge about African >> > history. thanks for enlightening us. what do you know about the recent >> > happenings in your neighbourhood? looks like immediate past is something >> > elusive for u and you can recall very well from the history books. some >> > ability i must say to cite this example twice. >> > >> > Modi's own party members are regretting the fact that why he was not >> sacked >> > after the post-godhra riots. what do u have to say to them? how do u >> > accomodate Vajpayee's sleepless nights during the mass murders in >> Gujarat? >> > >> > If Sonia Gandhi is to be blamed for accepting Leopold's order, this man >> who >> > is not only responsible for the most deadly riots of my time, has also >> > managed to advertise the MoUs of the industries which have backed out of >> the >> > investments in Gujarat. what do u have to say about that? there are >> zillions >> > of proof against his government fudging the actual investment figures of >> the >> > vibrant gujarat and use it as an advertisement to promote gujarat as an >> > industrial hub. worse, the golden corridor for chemical industries >> > (districts such as Valsad and Bharuch) is so polluted that the government >> > has stopped any kind of expansion. the common and final effluent >> treatment >> > plants in all the industrial estates have not been following the Gujarat >> > Pollution Control Board norms since the day it started functioning. where >> > are the safeties to set up anything in Gujarat? or is he being awarded >> > because most of the industrialisation is unregulated with Environmental >> > Assessment Report not being prepared and you say industries popping out >> of >> > now where? >> > >> > I frankly do not mind our leaders being awarded. its an honour but at >> least >> > in the past people who were really worthy of making changes in our >> society >> > have been awarded by various organisations. >> > >> > - anupam >> > >> > Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is >> > universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known >> fact. >> > >> > By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing >> > unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is >> > against the constitution of INdia. >> > >> > Regards, >> > V Murali >> > >> > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty >> > wrote: >> >> Dear Murali and Rajen, >> >> >> >> Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, >> for >> >> which you do have any proof or even an argument. >> >> >> >> -anupam >> >> >> >> On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: >> >>> >> >>> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold,  which >> >>> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in >> >>> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). >> >>> >> >>> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in >> >>> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India >> >>> and the Indian people.  She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian >> >>> Constitution. >> >>> >> >>> Regards, >> >>> V Murali >> >>> >> >>> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke >> >>> wrote: >> >>> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. >> >>> > >> >>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> >>> > From: shabnam hashmi >> >>> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM >> >>> > Subject: stop the award >> >>> > To: shabnam hashmi >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI >> > Asian >> >>> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and >> >>> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was >> >>> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that >> >>> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of >> violence >> >>> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally >> > Displaced >> >>> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation >> >>> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the >> >>> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a >> matter >> > of >> >>> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of >> >>> Pearson >> >>> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is >> >>> Marjorie >> >>> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which >> >>> ironically >> >>> > gives out peace grants. >> >>> > >> >>> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine >> [glossy, >> >>> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a >> fortnightly >> >>> and >> >>> > focuses on the business of globalisation. >> >>> > >> >>> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney >> >>> Fingar, >> >>> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. >> >>> > >> >>> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner >> >>> tomorrow. >> >>> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* >> >>> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk)  and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.comor >> >>> write >> >>> > to her directly. >> >>> > >> >>> > shabnam hashmi >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > - >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > -- >> >>> > _________________________________________ >> >>> > 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. >> >>> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >>> _________________________________________ >> >>> 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. >> >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> _________________________________________ >> >> 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. >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 11:50:21 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 11:50:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> Dear Murali, I appreciate your concerns about dredging and diamond trade. Here are some articles which may hint at the people who are helping out this Belgian company in developing Damra port in Orissa. It will also suggest you some other players involved in it including Gujarat Maritime Board, Kandla Port Trust and above all, Tatas. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/11/19/stories/2008111950312000.htm I dont think there is any kind of genuiness in your claims that you are making against Sonia Gandhi. About the diamond trade, you can ask Mr modi what he has done. -Anupam On 9/2/09, Murali V wrote: > > I am also critical about the person Sonia Maino. > > Order of Leopold was no ordinary paper but a special title that > demanded ‘devotion’ and ‘loyalty’ to the King and the State of Belgium > in return from the person honoured with the title. She should have > been disqualified from acting as a Member of Parliament under Article > 102 (1) of the Constitution for her having accepted the Order of > Leopold from the King of Belgium. > > How did Belgium become the third largest trade partner with > India in 2008? Is it because of dredging contracts awarded > for billions of rupees to Dredging International of Belgium > and increased diamond trade resulting in stashing away > illicit funds in tax havens nearby. > > Regards, > V Murali > On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > Dear Murali, > > > > Are we discussing about history or ongoing issue? in the sense leopold's > > colonialism is a subject or concern but Sonia Gandhi getting that award > has > > nothing to do with sonia gandhi. it is the mere award and its > constitution > > that you are very critical about. > > > > On the other hand, readers like me are questioning whether Narendra Modi > > really deserves this FDI award by FT. Here i am critical about the > person. > > > > -anupam > > > > > > On 9/2/09, Murali V wrote: > > > >> The previous minute becomes history and one cannot be selective on > history. > >> > >> Regards, > >> V Murali > >> > >> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 6:39 PM, anupam chakravartty > >> wrote: > >> > Oh congratulations Murali you have such vast knowledge about African > >> > history. thanks for enlightening us. what do you know about the recent > >> > happenings in your neighbourhood? looks like immediate past is > something > >> > elusive for u and you can recall very well from the history books. > some > >> > ability i must say to cite this example twice. > >> > > >> > Modi's own party members are regretting the fact that why he was not > >> sacked > >> > after the post-godhra riots. what do u have to say to them? how do u > >> > accomodate Vajpayee's sleepless nights during the mass murders in > >> Gujarat? > >> > > >> > If Sonia Gandhi is to be blamed for accepting Leopold's order, this > man > >> who > >> > is not only responsible for the most deadly riots of my time, has also > >> > managed to advertise the MoUs of the industries which have backed out > of > >> the > >> > investments in Gujarat. what do u have to say about that? there are > >> zillions > >> > of proof against his government fudging the actual investment figures > of > >> the > >> > vibrant gujarat and use it as an advertisement to promote gujarat as > an > >> > industrial hub. worse, the golden corridor for chemical industries > >> > (districts such as Valsad and Bharuch) is so polluted that the > government > >> > has stopped any kind of expansion. the common and final effluent > >> treatment > >> > plants in all the industrial estates have not been following the > Gujarat > >> > Pollution Control Board norms since the day it started functioning. > where > >> > are the safeties to set up anything in Gujarat? or is he being awarded > >> > because most of the industrialisation is unregulated with > Environmental > >> > Assessment Report not being prepared and you say industries popping > out > >> of > >> > now where? > >> > > >> > I frankly do not mind our leaders being awarded. its an honour but at > >> least > >> > in the past people who were really worthy of making changes in our > >> society > >> > have been awarded by various organisations. > >> > > >> > - anupam > >> > > >> > Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is > >> > universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known > >> fact. > >> > > >> > By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing > >> > unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is > >> > against the constitution of INdia. > >> > > >> > Regards, > >> > V Murali > >> > > >> > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty< > c.anupam at gmail.com> > >> > wrote: > >> >> Dear Murali and Rajen, > >> >> > >> >> Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow > comparisons, > >> for > >> >> which you do have any proof or even an argument. > >> >> > >> >> -anupam > >> >> > >> >> On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: > >> >>> > >> >>> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold, which > >> >>> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide > in > >> >>> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). > >> >>> > >> >>> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in > >> >>> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India > >> >>> and the Indian people. She has greater contempt for the Law of > Indian > >> >>> Constitution. > >> >>> > >> >>> Regards, > >> >>> V Murali > >> >>> > >> >>> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke< > phadkeshilpa at gmail.com> > >> >>> wrote: > >> >>> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. > >> >>> > > >> >>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ > >> >>> > > >> >>> > > >> >>> > > >> >>> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > >> >>> > From: shabnam hashmi > >> >>> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM > >> >>> > Subject: stop the award > >> >>> > To: shabnam hashmi > >> >>> > > >> >>> > > >> >>> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI > >> > Asian > >> >>> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known > and > >> >>> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he > was > >> >>> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage > that > >> >>> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of > >> violence > >> >>> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally > >> > Displaced > >> >>> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in > rehabilitation > >> >>> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to > the > >> >>> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a > >> matter > >> > of > >> >>> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part > of > >> >>> Pearson > >> >>> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is > >> >>> Marjorie > >> >>> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which > >> >>> ironically > >> >>> > gives out peace grants. > >> >>> > > >> >>> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine > >> [glossy, > >> >>> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a > >> fortnightly > >> >>> and > >> >>> > focuses on the business of globalisation. > >> >>> > > >> >>> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- > Courtney > >> >>> Fingar, > >> >>> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. > >> >>> > > >> >>> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner > >> >>> tomorrow. > >> >>> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* > >> >>> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to > courtney.fingar at ft.comor > >> >>> write > >> >>> > to her directly. > >> >>> > > >> >>> > shabnam hashmi > >> >>> > > >> >>> > > >> >>> > - > >> >>> > > >> >>> > > >> >>> > -- > >> >>> > _________________________________________ > >> >>> > 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. > >> >>> > To unsubscribe: > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> >>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> >>> _________________________________________ > >> >>> 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. > >> >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> >> _________________________________________ > >> >> 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. > >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> > _________________________________________ > >> > 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. > >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > From aliens at dataone.in Wed Sep 2 12:08:35 2009 From: aliens at dataone.in (bipin) Date: Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:08:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=28no_subject=29?= Message-ID: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - Australia Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.. Separately, Rudd angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians. ' 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom' 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!' 'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.' 'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.' 'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.' Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, WE will find the courage to start speaking and voicing the same truths. If you agree please SEND THIS ON and ON to as many people as you know From aliak77 at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 13:08:29 2009 From: aliak77 at gmail.com (Kath O'Donnell) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 17:38:29 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) In-Reply-To: <383607190909020014v1057e852j1e00e99aae727aee@mail.gmail.com> References: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> <383607190909020014v1057e852j1e00e99aae727aee@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <383607190909020038h6f934115h995b710d26fd5fa0@mail.gmail.com> (resending + added comments - as I'm having problems changing my email address on this list so I think the previous msg bounced) I googled the quote and I don't think this is an accurate quote from the prime minister (current or previous) I can't imagine any PM saying anything as racist as was written in the message.. http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22IMMIGRANTS%2C++NOT+AUSTRALIANS%2C+MUST+ADAPT%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a there's a snopes page for it too : http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/australia.asp apparently it was an email circling in 2008 & had been published as (citizen) reader comments in a couple of newspapers - not an official statement & had been posted on various message boards since 2005. eg: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/racist-email-rocks-railway/story-e6freuzi-1111115427895 http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21032622-661,00.html http://www.ecommunityonline.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=461&mode=threaded 2009/9/2 Kath O'Donnell > hi bipin, do you have the source link for this? I haven't seen this yet. > thanks > kath > > 2009/9/2 bipin > >> Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - Australia >> >> Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday >> to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to >> head off potential terror attacks.. >> >> > > -- http://www.aliak.com http://www.brisbanedancepartiesarchive.com From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 2 16:22:57 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 16:22:57 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) In-Reply-To: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> References: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> Message-ID: <701177.23868.qm@web94715.mail.in2.yahoo.com> The deputy PM said Indians were welcome. Sad they speak in 2 voices. Sad they discriminate, worse the people of Aussie get aroused by such false claims of patriotism and targetting racial minorities. No one complained of ur Constitution, bad show of power to ones who need ur protection, MR Rudd, only if Aussies had brains to see this! ________________________________ From: bipin To: sarai-list Sent: Wednesday, 2 September, 2009 12:08:35 PM Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Prime Minister  Kevin  Rudd  - Australia Muslims  who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on  Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government  targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror  attacks.. Separately,  Rudd  angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he  supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.  Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS,  NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am  tired of this nation worrying about whether we are  offending some individual or their culture. Since the  terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in  patriotism by the majority of Australians. ' 'This  culture has been developed over two centuries of  struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and  women who have sought freedom' 'We speak mainly  ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,  Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to  become part of our society . Learn the language!'  'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some  Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because  Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded  this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is  certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our  schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider  another part of the world as your new home, because God is  part of our culture.' 'We will accept your  beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you  accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment  with us.' 'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR  LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to  enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining,  whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our  Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage  you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,  'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.' 'If you aren't happy  here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You  asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'  Maybe  if we circulate this amongst ourselves, WE will find the  courage to start speaking and voicing the same  truths.  If  you agree please SEND THIS ON  and  ON to as many people as you know    _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.yahoo.com/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 2 16:28:35 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 16:28:35 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <853571.58513.qm@web94701.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Plz ignore, had sadly ignored Kath regards the contexting before writing this mail. However if we see fierce 2 edged nationalist characters in India, who knows when we have a Pm out of them, this politics might have not spared Australia as well, and Australians could be as susseptable as millions of Indians who albeit educated have strange and varied value systems. So with economy on a downturn, it is quite possible that Emotions of security were aroused in personal politics, if not in capacity of  a Primer. ________________________________ From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Wednesday, 2 September, 2009 4:22:57 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (no subject) The deputy PM said Indians were welcome. Sad they speak in 2 voices. Sad they discriminate, worse the people of Aussie get aroused by such false claims of patriotism and targetting racial minorities. No one complained of ur Constitution, bad show of power to ones who need ur protection, MR Rudd, only if Aussies had brains to see this! ________________________________ From: bipin To: sarai-list Sent: Wednesday, 2 September, 2009 12:08:35 PM Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Prime Minister  Kevin  Rudd  - Australia Muslims  who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on  Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government  targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror  attacks.. Separately,  Rudd  angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he  supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.  Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS,  NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am  tired of this nation worrying about whether we are  offending some individual or their culture. Since the  terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in  patriotism by the majority of Australians. ' 'This  culture has been developed over two centuries of  struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and  women who have sought freedom' 'We speak mainly  ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese,  Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to  become part of our society . Learn the language!'  'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some  Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because  Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded  this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is  certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our  schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider  another part of the world as your new home, because God is  part of our culture.' 'We will accept your  beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you  accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment  with us.' 'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR  LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to  enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining,  whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our  Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage  you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,  'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.' 'If you aren't happy  here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You  asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'  Maybe  if we circulate this amongst ourselves, WE will find the  courage to start speaking and voicing the same  truths.  If  you agree please SEND THIS ON  and  ON to as many people as you know    _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> ________________________________ See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. Love Cricket? Check out live scores, photos, video highlights and more. Click here http://cricket.yahoo.com From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 16:35:33 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 16:35:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) In-Reply-To: <701177.23868.qm@web94715.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> <701177.23868.qm@web94715.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909020405o5295c8fciec9d1282d04fb2ec@mail.gmail.com> This just reads like one of the jingoist forwards sent ultramoronic skin heads. i dont think this is the position of the state. On 9/2/09, subhrodip sengupta wrote: > > The deputy PM said Indians were welcome. Sad they speak in 2 voices. Sad > they discriminate, worse the people of Aussie get aroused by such false > claims of patriotism and targetting racial minorities. No one complained of > ur Constitution, bad show of power to ones who need ur protection, MR Rudd, > only if Aussies had brains to see this! > > > > > ________________________________ > From: bipin > To: sarai-list > Sent: Wednesday, 2 September, 2009 12:08:35 PM > Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) > > Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - Australia > > Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday > to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to > head off potential terror attacks.. > > Separately, Rudd angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying > he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: > 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired > of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or > their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a > surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians. ' > > 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials > and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom' > > 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, > Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become > part of our society . Learn the language!' > > 'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, > political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian > principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It > is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God > offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your > new home, because God is part of our culture.' > > 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is > that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.' > > 'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you > every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done > complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, > Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take > advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.' > > 'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. > You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.' > > Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, WE will find the courage to > start speaking and voicing the same truths. > > If you agree please SEND THIS ON and ON to as many people as you know > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: > > > See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out > Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 17:51:48 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 17:51:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (off topic) Re: 'Krishna existed. The school texts arewrong':says nuclear scientist In-Reply-To: <341380d00909012237s6c8f090dy8e01d80565399759@mail.gmail.com> References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d00908310902l43d70096ibdc017eb636f9658@mail.gmail.com> <3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> <341380d00908312219x4e56f3eeu3ad3ccef2bf7dacc@mail.gmail.com> <398CB5B10DF0485BB51A8EA8508B52BE@tara> <341380d00909012237s6c8f090dy8e01d80565399759@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7271ec560909020521s1b7af91fk5a9dfc2938be6529@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, great men and women never hesitate to clean the public toilets, scavengers are need of a society, some have thoughts which have effect of the same, thoughts which are so and words of hate, if not to be cleaned, deserve to be ignored.sidestepped, if not the list will be full of only hate, nothing else. Regards, Rajen. On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 11:07 AM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Dear Taraprakash, > > I really sad to hear about your state of mind. let me clear again, I am > arguing for the genuius of the authors who composed Mahabharata. the mail > did not speak of any insecurity but the very thing about education system > and what is being taught to kids points out that at least one set of people > are not comfortable with what is being taught. one can very easily infer > since history writers could not locate krishna as historical figure, there > is this sustained effort from the side of this coterie to prove that things > like ram setu or krishna existed. independently, the research is > interesting. but this select group of people (namely a set of insecure > Hindus) would use this research for racial superiority and other things > that > comes along with the right wing political. no wonder you can so easily > i nurse hatred against the hindus although i have repeatedly appreciated > the > authors of mahabharata and their sense of astrology. > > and frankly, you are no different from a bully: "And there is so much of > shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone." first you clean > your shit then you come and say that mr taraprakash. > > -anupam > > > On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: > > > I don't mind your hatred against such people as you described. But this > > person was neither talking about Hinduism specificly nor he was > suggesting > > any insecurity. He, in fact, said something to the effect about religion > > (not Hinduism) being tool for world peace. In one of your previous mails > > when you reacted as if you were stung by million bees, the reason was > just > > use of the word Hindu. The mail did no speak of any insecurity etc. The > > irony that the writer was pointing towards, like it would happen to any > > street bully, went over your head. > > > > And yes, you are right. I don't read most of your mails, I don't read > most > > of the list mails in fact. There is not just 1 bully on this list. A lot > of > > mails on this list, some written by you as well, stink of shit. And there > is > > so much of shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone. But > you > > seem to have pretensions of sophistication, so I smell some of it from > you. > > But no more. If you can't see the contradiction in your mails written on > > this thread, I pity your intelligence. > > > > Sorry list, there wasn't much for anyone in this mail but since Anupam is > > anyway going to make it public by putting this on his blog, I did not > send > > him this mail privately, which I should have done. Apologies again. > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < > > c.anupam at gmail.com> > > To: "sarai list" > > Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 1:19 AM > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts > > arewrong':says nuclear scientist > > > > > > Dear Taraprakash, > >> > >> You may be partially right about my hatred towards all such Hindus who > are > >> desperate to prove their insecurities by finding something with > reasoning > >> (just to be in that same league of solomon's treasure hunters) which the > >> scriptures itself have said that only prajna or moving beyond reasoning > >> towards a purer belief (untouched by their insecurities) can lead to > >> knowledge about the God. > >> > >> Looks like you dont read my mails. I have never said such research is > not > >> welcome. I would be happy if someone proves that there was Krishna, and > >> fairies, and Yeti, and That there were UFOs who actually helped > Egyptians > >> to > >> build pyramids. however, some how rationality, reasoning and research > >> would > >> keep showing otherwise. > >> > >> Thank you for calling me a bully. I cant stop smiling at this comment. > It > >> goes on my blog :) > >> > >> "Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to prove that you are a > >> "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who knew you on the > >> list), > >> who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for negotiation about his > >> position?" > >> > >> -Anupam > >> > >> > >> On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: > >> > >>> > >>> Hello all and Anupam. Your hatred towards anything to do with Hindus is > >>> clear, but not understandable. Whether Krishna's existence was a fact, > as > >>> this scientist suggests with a reasoning, or whether it was myth, as > you > >>> are > >>> claiming without actually substantiating your claim, can be proved with > >>> research. It may not be decissive but if someone wants to do a research > >>> on > >>> it, what's wrong in it? Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire > >>> to > >>> prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone > who > >>> knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance > for > >>> negotiation about his position? > >>> > >>> Finally if we all were to become wary of things that would offer > >>> skeletons > >>> from the closet, would there be any investigation in to massacres, > there > >>> would actually be no teaching of history. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < > >>> c.anupam at gmail.com> > >>> To: "sarai list" > >>> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 12:02 PM > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are > >>> wrong':says nuclear scientist > >>> > >>> > >>> I am wary of anthropological investigations because they always render > >>> > >>>> skeletons from the closet. Here the scientists are just touching the > tip > >>>> of > >>>> the iceberg in form astrological positions. My expertise in astrology > is > >>>> as > >>>> juvenile as the claim that a character called Krishna existed because > >>>> there > >>>> was a real planetary position. It certainly is a matter of immense > >>>> importance to have more interesting data about the authors of these > >>>> texts > >>>> namely Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the sense, a certain way of > locating > >>>> fictitious event and to make it seem real, locate the event with real > >>>> star > >>>> positions. If the aryan feudal battles were recorded with the star > >>>> positions, that also is important contribution to the history writing. > >>>> Would > >>>> be interested to know more about this project rather than basing my > >>>> opinion > >>>> on a news report. This would be an important revelation and I look > >>>> forward > >>>> to it. > >>>> > >>>> After reading this news report, it take me back to a phase when I was > >>>> fascinated with Erick Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, and then > >>>> ... suddenly someone told me about a bunch of people committing > >>>> suicide thinking about of the some kind of superior race of aliens > >>>> hovering above this planet waiting to take them to heaven. > >>>> > >>>> -anupam > >>>> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:06 PM, Rakesh Iyer > >>>> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> Dear Kshamendra > >>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, > as > >>>>> I > >>>>> include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger > issues > >>>>> to > >>>>> be > >>>>> solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public > >>>>> funds > >>>>> on > >>>>> such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these > >>>>> things, > >>>>> as > >>>>> this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a > >>>>> crunch, > >>>>> and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of > other > >>>>> such > >>>>> issues. > >>>>> > >>>>> Rakesh > >>>>> _________________________________________ > >>>>> 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. > >>>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >>>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >>>>> > >>>>> _________________________________________ > >>>> 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. > >>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >>>> > >>>> > >>> > >>> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > >> > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > -- Rajen. From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 18:02:09 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:02:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?In_Valley=2C_gunmen_take_to_moral_?= =?windows-1252?q?policing=3A_=91enforce_hijab_in_college=92?= In-Reply-To: <919571.32120.qm@web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <4fcaee300909010329s33b7608fs11b95c838003a415@mail.gmail.com> <919571.32120.qm@web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <7271ec560909020532m36dbc2eheebbb76d45150cbb@mail.gmail.com> Malik jee, you are spot on, the efforts by Wali to give a spin is nothing new for separatists, for whom, religion seems to be more important than the state in a federal nation, failing to see what faith and religion did to talibanised Afghanistan.! Few days back, Junaid or some id was keen to re-enact Ramayana, with portraits of Ravanas in the valley, what this id overlooked was, even in the epic, Ramayana, the good qualities of Ravana was quite clear, as learned king, but lust for another man's wife drove him to be cruel king, the separatists killing their own innocents, who are muslims, who have to follow the dictats of mullas to be with hijab, etc, raping the women who are again, belong to their faith, islam, but we have great human right activists who are particular about wrong doers rights to survive and not the innocent victims of these ravanas of the society. Regards, Rajen. Regards, Rajen. On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 9:13 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Well Sir, in case these were military or paramilitary unit persons, > Mehbooba would have created a ruckus in the State. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Tue, 9/1/09, Wali Arifi wrote: > > > From: Wali Arifi > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] In Valley, gunmen take to moral policing: > ‘enforce hijab in college’ > > To: "Sarai" > > Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 3:59 PM > > Dear all, > > > > > > > > The Indian Express report just mentions “gunmen” in the > > story. And gunmen in > > Kashmir mean anybody holding a gun --- from state or > > non-state. It’s > > appalling the champions of e-activism just pounce on > > anything that comes > > their way, without even scrutinizing the reported facts. > > > > > > > > How does Indian Express story only mean that militants have > > done it? Why > > can’t be it army? Any paramilitary unit, or for that > > matter the police? > > After all, they are also ‘gunmen’! > > > > > > > > The point is when it comes to Kashmir everybody tends to > > stick to the > > statist position and our e-warriors have mastered this art > > of twisting > > semi-facts into suitable arguments to their fixated > > positions. > > > > > > > > This incident, as reported by the principal, happens not > > more than two > > kilometers from the nearest massive army camp. Police > > categorically rule out > > any possibility of presence of armed six or seven militants > > in the area > > where incident occurred. They say there are operational > > hazards for > > militants to carry out such an action in the area as it has > > all the > > possibility of “rendering huge sacrifice (in the form of > > lives) for > > achieving a small goal (of enforcing dress code!).” The > > police officials say > > the action defies logic, particularly in the current > > scenario when militants > > are constantly on run and also have tremendously polished > > their operational > > capabilities. They say there has been almost no sighting of > > more than three > > militants in a group for last many years now for multiple > > reasons. > > > > > > > > So who are these ‘gunmen’? Either the college principal > > is misleading or > > they are gunmen from some state agency? > > > > > > > > Kashmir has witnessed strange incidents related to morality > > post Shopian > > rape and murder of two young women. In many strange > > incidents, which the > > Indian mainstream press has conveniently ignored to report, > > the Mualvis and > > respected elders in various areas have been humiliated and > > thrashed by > > strange-looking gunmen. These incidents have particularly > > occurred in those > > country side areas where anti-India protests have been more > > intense. > > > > > > > > There have been concerted efforts to paint people in > > Kashmir as > > "fundamentalists out there to malign" the central armed > > forces in whatever > > they do. The fact is that many journalists who live on > > "information" fed to > > them by the intelligence establishment have tried this even > > in Shopian in an > > attempt to neutralize embarrassment to the state. > > > > > > > > What is most appalling about this skewed and motivated > > e-activism in the > > name of journalism is that the law that the state employs > > to violate a > > people are never even commented upon let alone scrutinized. > > Media reportage > > alone about a place like Kashmir should never be allowed to > > form opinions > > and inform positions on disputed political entities. It is > > good to know the > > ground than to exist in an orbit tied to a statist or > > nationalist string, > > far removed from the center of gravity. > > > > > > > > Best, > > > > Wali > > > > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 12:07 PM, rashneek kher > > wrote: > > > > > Dear All,shuddha, > > > > > > I have never ever said that their havent been the > > Sufi's of highest order > > > in > > > Kashmir though I always have had my love for those who > > were born in Kashmir > > > rather than the ones who came from elsewhere,Iran > > included. > > > If a link to that needs to be provided I shall be glad > > to provide that as a > > > support of my statement. > > > But as far as spread of Islam is concerned I firmly > > maintain that Islam was > > > spread in Kashmir through forcible means.Incidentally > > I am these days > > > translating a Persian text called Tohfatul Ahbab by > > Shmasdin Araqi and it > > > > records with great pride how the so called sufi > > forcibly put an end to > > > "infidel practices" like dance,festivities,singing and > > wine making. > > > Here i how it is recorded > > > > > > > > > *“He baton charged the dancing amd singing women,the > > musicians and the > > > drumbeaters till they ran away.Wine and liquor > > assemblies had been set up > > > around and he closed them down.Pitchers of wine were > > broken and in this way > > > the black customs of the infidels were put an end > > to.All this was done on > > > the day of the Spring Festival.The festivities were > > taking place at the > > > foothills of the Hari Parbat.On the following day he > > ascended the heights > > > of Koh-i-Maran(Hari Parbat).Together all of them > > destroyed even the > > > minutest > > > remains of the idol house and scattered even the bits > > of the idols.”* > > > So Shuddha while I have great regard and respect for > > ShamS Faqir,ahmed > > > Batwari,Rahim saeb,Ahmed Dar,swoche kral, Ahad azad > > saeb,Wahab khar,Shah > > > Gafoor ,Shah Kalandar,Samad Mir,Santosh and my Guru > > Ayub Betab and many > > > such > > > real great sufis I cannot by any means draw myself to > > accept what is not > > > truth and truth that I know or have read from original > > texts myself > > > thankfully. > > > So let us stay in the realm of reality and accept > > truth as it is. > > > With that hopefuly we can end this discussion > > > > > > I say to you > > > > > > Chalo ab shiddate narazgee mehdood karte hain > > > chalo aut bhi aao,chalo main maan jaata hoon. > > > > > > Best Regards > > > > > > Rashneek > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > > >wrote: > > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > I did not find the names of Sikandar Butshikan > > and Syed Hamadani in the > > > > sentence from my posting quoted so kindly by > > Rashneek Kher in support of > > > his > > > > argument. > > > > > > > > "It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a > > part of South Asia where > > > the > > > > rise of Islam > > > > > > > > *did not accompany a military invasion, but > > occurred largely due to the > > > > example set by missionaries and religious > > divines."* > > > > > > > > > > > > If anyone does find them I would be grateful if > > they could help me locate > > > > them. > > > > Nor do i find it necessary to digress too far in > > pointing out that the > > > > meaning of the word 'divines' as used here > > (indicating religious adepts) > > > is > > > > quite different from the sense of anything being > > 'divinely ordained' (or > > > > commanded by god). Whosoever should wish to > > educate themselves on the > > > > semantic distinction between these two instances > > of usage could consult a > > > > standard dictionary of the English language. But > > let us leave that aside > > > for > > > > now. > > > > > > > > I find Rashneek's second assertion that 'even a > > kid in Kashmir' would > > > know > > > > that the process of bringing Islam to Kashmir was > > spearheaded by Sikandar > > > > 'Butshikan' and Syed Hamadani entertaining. And > > this is where the meat of > > > > his contention lies. > > > > > > > > Because, 'every kid' in Kashmir, and a few adults > > elsewhere, would also > > > > know that these two names were not the only ones > > on whose backs Islam > > > came > > > > to Kashmir. Islam came to Kashmir from diverse > > sources, and if we do not > > > > want to dissimulate, we must remember that some > > of these sources were > > > > different from, and contrary to those represented > > by Sikandar 'Butshikan' > > > > and even, Syed Hamadani. Some of these strains > > were distinctly heterodox, > > > > for instance, Sheikh Yaqub of the Kubrawi order, > > also credited with the > > > > spread of Islam in Kashmir, was often disparaged > > as a 'but-parast' (and > > > idol > > > > lover) and he in fact challenged the ulema of his > > time to find fault with > > > > this finding truth in the altars of icons. The > > history of Islam in > > > Kashmir, > > > > as 'every child' knows, is a testament to its > > doctrinal diversity. > > > > > > > > How else do we account for figures like Bulbul > > Shah (who is said to have > > > > carried out the first conversions) Sheikh > > Nooruddin Wali (or Nund Rishi - > > > of > > > > the entirely Kashmiri indigenous sufi order of > > the 'Rishis'). Apart from > > > > the inflence of the entirely local 'Rishi' order, > > the rise of early Islam > > > in > > > > Kashmir was marked by the influences of the > > Nakshbandi, Suhrawardy, and > > > > heterodox Qadiri and Kubrawi orders, besides > > several different strains of > > > > Shia Islam, and of course the presence of > > canonical, orthodox Sunni > > > Islam. > > > > To say that this variety of beliefs and practices > > amounted to one thing > > > is > > > > to be totally oblivious to the enormous variety > > in the cultural and > > > > religious landscape of early Islam in Kashmir > > > > > > > > Here, for instance is one of Nooruddin Wali/Nund > > Rishi's 'vaks'/ > > > > utterances. Incidentally, Nooruddin is > > affectionately referred to as the > > > > 'Alamdar-e-Kashmir' or the 'standard bearer'. > > This is what he has to say. > > > > > > > > *"We belong to the same parents. > > > > Then why this difference? > > > > Let Hindus and Muslims(together) > > > > Worship God alone. > > > > We came to this world like partners. > > > > We should have shared our joys > > > > and sorrows together." > > > > *** > > > > > > > > This was written in the explicit context of the > > persecution of non > > > muslims > > > > and dissenting muslims that Sheikh Nooruddin was > > witness to in the reign > > > of > > > > Sultan Sikandar and some of his immediate > > successors. This clearly > > > > demonstrates that there were competing strains of > > tolerance and > > > intolerance > > > > within Islam in Kashmir. This is normal, it > > happens in the history of > > > every > > > > religious tradition in the world. To claim that > > intolerance alone marks > > > the > > > > history of any religious tradition, anywhere, is > > to pander to prejudice. > > > > > > > > The trouble is, I think that someone like > > Rashneek knows exactly what I > > > am > > > > talking about. He is not, in my opinion, unlike > > many others, a hysterical > > > > bigot. He knows that the history of Islam in > > Kashmir is not marked by > > > hatred > > > > of other ways of life or intolerance alone, but, > > and this is what is most > > > > disturbing, he still chooses to present a > > one-sided picture to score a > > > cheap > > > > polemical point. The knowing dissimulator, in my > > opinion. is far more > > > > disturbing than the ignorant bigot. > > > > > > > > best > > > > > > > > Shuddha > > > > > > > > On 31-Aug-09, at 9:40 AM, rashneek kher wrote: > > > > > > > > dear all, > > > > > > > > i just hope Shudda's gives the right > > links,however i dont think even this > > > > forum can teach him that,otherwise he would have > > learnt it by now > > > > > > > > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011033.html > > > > > > > > I will not let the readers have the trouble of > > clicking the link.Here is > > > > what our friend Shuddha writes. > > > > > > > > *"It is necessary to remember that Kashmir is a > > part of South Asia where > > > > the rise of Islam > > > > did not accompany a military invasion, but > > occurred largely due to the > > > > example set by missionaries and religious > > divines."* > > > > > > > > and who were these people who spearheaded the > > conversion of Kashmir or > > > let > > > > us say "rise of islam"(even a kid in Kashmir will > > us these two > > > > names-Butshikan and Syed hamdani),and what were > > the examples of these > > > > "missionaries and religous divines"... > > > > > > > > Iconoclasm and imposition of "true" Sharia > > through all means...which are > > > > enumerated here > > > > > > > > > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-December/014758.html > > > > > > > > > > > > So here we are.....Shudda's shoots himself in the > > foot again.... > > > > > > > > Best Regards > > > > > > > > Rashneek > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Shuddhabrata > > Sengupta < > > > shuddha at sarai.net > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > >> Dear All, > > > >> > > > >> Rashneek says - "there is a > > history on this network here is a history > > > on > > > >> this > > > >> > > > >> network where people have called barbarians > > like Sikander Butshikan and > > > >> Syed > > > >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and > > incidentally these are > > > people > > > >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist > > ideologies." > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> This is a very interesting statement. I am > > not a Maoist (I consider > > > Maoism > > > >> to be yet another variety of degenerate third > > worldist nationalism - ) > > > but I > > > >> am persuaded by critical strains within > > Marxism, (among other things) > > > and > > > >> have never concealed that fact. I also > > happen to have mentioned > > > Sikandar > > > >> 'Butshikan' and Hamadani in one of my set of > > postings - > > > >> > https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-November/011030.html > > > >> Annotations to the History of Iconoclasm in > > Kashmir - I (posted on > > > >> November 9, 2007) written, incidentally in > > response to Rashneek Kher's > > > >> postings on the subject of iconoclasm. > > > >> > > > >> I have trawled through the Reader List > > archives, and the only reference > > > to > > > >> Hamadani that I could find made by anyone who > > could even remotely be > > > >> described as a 'Marxist' (even by a stretch > > of imagination) occurs in > > > this > > > >> posting. So, I take it, that the gesture is > > made in my general > > > direction. > > > >> Hence this clarification. > > > >> > > > >> Nowhere in this posting do I deny that either > > Sikandar 'Butshikan' or > > > >> Hamadani were not in fact iconoclasts. I > > merely make the point that the > > > >> history of iconoclasm in Kashmir does not > > have a solely 'Islamic' > > > >> provenance. And that just as there were many > > non-muslim iconcolastic > > > rulers > > > >> in pre-Islamicate Kashmir, there were also > > several muslim rulers in > > > Kashmir > > > >> who protected non-muslim places of worship. > > > >> > > > >> More importantly, never, in any posting, have > > I characterized either > > > >> Sikandar 'Butshikan' or Hamadani as 'divinely > > ordained dervishes'. Shah > > > >> Sikandar is a king, and that is how I have > > described him, and Hamadani > > > is a > > > >> religious leader, which is exactly what I > > have called him. Neither of > > > these > > > >> two descriptions amounts to what it means > > when one says 'divinely > > > ordained'. > > > >> For that to obtain, I would have first of all > > to believe in the notion > > > of a > > > >> 'divnity' which I don't. And secondly, > > believe that such a 'divinity' > > > >> ordains the destruction of architecture and > > images, which, logically, > > > >> following from the first, i don't either. I > > have viewed all acts of > > > >> iconoclasm in the history of Kashmir, > > regardless of who caused them to > > > >> occur, as acts of violence. And have never > > said any thing that can be > > > read > > > >> to the contrary. > > > >> > > > >> I think, yet again, Rashneek, in his haste to > > score a weak point, has > > > been > > > >> a little too generous in his interpretation > > of the textual substance of > > > the > > > >> archive of this list. As always, I would urge > > him, and everyone else to > > > >> buttress their easily brandished opinions > > with a modicum of evidence. > > > The > > > >> point I made about Nadeem Paracha's loosely > > articulated polemic against > > > Roy, > > > >> which inititated this exchange, seems, to me > > to be strengthened by this. > > > I > > > >> do however, remain hopeful, that this list > > will eventually teach > > > Rashneek to > > > >> be more careful with his words. > > > >> > > > >> best > > > >> > > > >> Shuddha > > > >> > > > >> I > > > >> On 28-Aug-09, at 12:40 PM, rashneek > > kher wrote: > > > >> > > > >> Dear Anupam, > > > >> > > > >> Well I am not confusing anything with > > anything.There is a history on > > > this > > > >> network where people have called barbarians > > like Sikander Butshikan and > > > >> Syed > > > >> mohd.Hamdani divinely ordained dervishes and > > incidentally these are > > > people > > > >> who claim to have Marxist if not Moaist > > ideologies. > > > >> > > > >> Thanks > > > >> > > > >> Rashneek > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 12:07 PM, anupam > > chakravartty < > > > c.anupam at gmail.com > > > >> >wrote: > > > >> > > > >> Dear Rashneek, > > > >> "They would cleanse the society by imposing > > purity on the inhabitants > > > and > > > >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and > > call them dervishes oops > > > >> divinely ordained dervishes." > > > >> > > > >> I think you are confusing Talibanisation with > > Marxism and Maoism. If the > > > >> so-called "armed" gunmen threatened the > > college principal, as the > > > reports > > > >> stated, to which he opposed and said: > > "he would not be cowed by the > > > >> threat > > > >> and would continue to do his work at the > > college" and also the fact he > > > is > > > >> a > > > >> specialist in greatest Islamic revivalist of > > our times, Sayyid Qutb (who > > > >> the > > > >> neo-liberal sorts think that because of his > > criticism of the American > > > way > > > >> of > > > >> life has helped in shaping of al-qaeda) then > > there is an inherent > > > >> contradiction in your claims about dervishes. > > here we have someone who > > > is > > > >> specialist, who is opposed to imposition of > > hijab. i think i would > > > >> appreciate the principal's stand. > > > >> - thanks > > > >> anupam > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:26 AM, rashneek > > kher > > > >> wrote: > > > >> > > > >> Dear All, > > > >> > > > >> A story done by Indian Express on the > > Islamist Icons(Robin Hoods of our > > > >> friends) imposing Hijab and threating > > Prinicipals of Colleges by burning > > > >> their cars. > > > >> How I wonder would Taliban control the land > > that once infidelds lived > > > >> in.They would cleanse the society by imposing > > purity on the inhabitants > > > >> > > > >> and > > > >> > > > >> the sly shadows of Mao would cheer them and > > call them dervishes oops > > > >> divinely ordained dervishes.Their divine > > powers derived from mediveal > > > >> obscrutanist religiou practices-soon > > flogging,killing in football > > > grounds > > > >> and burning of girls schools would be the > > order of day.And our Marxist > > > >> demi-icons would sing paeans to the piety of > > the new age dervishes. > > > >> It may also be worthwhile to mention that the > > leaders of the "azadi" > > > >> > > > >> today > > > >> > > > >> have done exactly this when they "were a part > > of the armed struggle".For > > > >> the > > > >> proponents of jihad and their > > supporters...from Riyaz Wani > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >> > > > >> In Valley, gunmen take to moral > > policing: ‘enforce hijab in college’ > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> In the first such incident in > > the Valley since the decline of > > > >> militancy > > > >> started two years ago, masked gunmen waylaid > > the principal of a North > > > >> Kashmir college, destroyed his car, and gave > > him a three-day ultimatum > > > to > > > >> ensure the 3,000 girl students in his > > institution began wearing the > > > >> > > > >> hijab. > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> The principal, Muhammad Ashraf, a > > respected Islamic scholar, told The > > > >> Indian Express today that he would not be > > cowed by the threat and would > > > >> continue to do his work at the college. > > > >> > > > >> Ashraf said seven men stopped his car > > — in which he was riding with his > > > >> son > > > >> and a local acquaintance — near his village > > at Dangiwacha, and > > > >> > > > >> commandeered > > > >> > > > >> the vehicle over a dirt track into a thicket > > of bushes. “They wore masks > > > >> and > > > >> dark glasses and were heavily armed with > > Kalashnikovs, pistols and > > > >> grenades,” Ashraf said. > > > >> > > > >> According to the principal, the men > > appeared to know a lot about him: > > > >> > > > >> that > > > >> > > > >> he was a specialist on Sayyid Qutb — the > > Egyptian Islamist political > > > >> theorist and leading intellectual of the > > Muslim Brotherhood in the 50s > > > >> > > > >> and > > > >> > > > >> 60s who is thought to be one of the > > philosophical progenitors of Al > > > Qaeda > > > >> > > > >> — > > > >> > > > >> and that he had been trying to enforce > > discipline in his college. > > > >> > > > >> “You have taken some really good steps in > > the college like banning > > > >> > > > >> smoking > > > >> > > > >> and cellphones. Now, you must do something > > that we want you to do. > > > >> > > > >> Enforce > > > >> > > > >> an Islamic dress code for girl students,” > > Ashraf said the men told him. > > > >> They > > > >> gave him three days to carry out their > > diktat, failing which they would > > > >> “act”, they said. > > > >> > > > >> Ashraf’s college, Degree College, Sopore, > > has around 7,000 students on > > > >> > > > >> its > > > >> > > > >> rolls, 3,000 of whom are girls. It is among > > the largest colleges in the > > > >> state. > > > >> > > > >> “They told me that they had picked me to > > send a message to all other > > > >> schools > > > >> and colleges in the Valley in which girls > > study,” Ashraf said. > > > >> > > > >> Perhaps to rattle the principal and send the > > message that they meant > > > >> business, the gunmen set his vehicle on fire. > > Ashraf and his companions > > > >> were > > > >> released after about two hours in captivity. > > > >> > > > >> The Dangiwacha police have filed a case, and > > are looking at all angles, > > > >> including one unrelated to militancy. “We > > are exploring the possible > > > >> dimension of college rivalry,” said a > > senior officer who did not want to > > > >> > > > >> be > > > >> > > > >> named. > > > >> > > > >> No militant outfit has claimed responsibility > > for the incident. The > > > >> separatists too have been silent, and are > > perhaps trying to ascertain if > > > >> militant groups were involved. > > > >> > > > >> Senior Superintendent of Police Viplav Kumar > > said a hunt was on for the > > > >> gunmen. “We are trying our best. Hopefully, > > we will crack the case > > > soon,” > > > >> he > > > >> said. > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-valley-gunmen-take-to-moral-policing-enforce-hijab-in-college/507208/0 > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> best > > > >> > > > >> -- > > > >> Rashneek Kher > > > >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > > >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > >> List archive: > > > >> > > > >> > > _________________________________________ > > > >> 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. > > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > >> List archive: > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> -- > > > >> Rashneek Kher > > > >> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > > >> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > >> List archive: > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > >> The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > > >> Raqs Media Collective > > > >> shuddha at sarai.net > > > >> www.sarai.net > > > >> www.raqsmediacollective.net > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Rashneek Kher > > > > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > > > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com > > > > > > > > > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > > > Raqs Media Collective > > > > shuddha at sarai.net > > > > www.sarai.net > > > > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Rashneek Kher > > > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > > > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: -- Rajen. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 19:59:14 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 19:59:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Pleasures and Politics of Pornography In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://psychologynews.posterous.com/the-pleasures-and-politics-of-pornography Excerpts from Shohini Ghosh's article: The anti-porn position, inspired by the writings of American feminists Robin Morgan and Susan Brownmiller, argues that pornography is material which depicts violence against women and is itself violence against women thereby drawing a straight line between pornography and male violence. At this point, one might ask: Do media messages then have no impact on the viewer? If words and images left no impact, why would we make films, write articles or even present papers at conferences? Film and cultural studies on spectatorship continue to foreground the complexity of the relationship between the image and the viewer by emphasising large number of social and personal factors that shapes a person´s responses to the media. Meaning is not produced exclusively by either the text or the viewer but is born at the intersection of both. If the mainstream culture industry relentlessly stages the fair and slender socially desirable female body then porn stages its reverse. It renders visible sexually desirable bodies that militate against accepted notions of female beauty and sexual conformity. If the socially desirable body is one of restraint then the sexually desirable body, most commonly available in the sex and porn industry, is one of excess. From arshad.mcrc at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 22:37:56 2009 From: arshad.mcrc at gmail.com (arshad amanullah) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 22:37:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: So Shall You reach at Vatavaran Film Festival In-Reply-To: <265551.71193.qm@web34501.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <265551.71193.qm@web34501.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2076f31d0909021007y7c5d9c24p5c73c5245fb3ae5b@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ajay Bhardwaj Date: Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 12:49 PM Subject: So Shall You reach at Vatavaran Film Festival To: Ajay Bhardwaj Dear Friend, I am pleased to inform you my film on GM crops -So Shall You Reap- recently got nominated to the 5th  CMS Vatavaran, environment and wild life film festival ( October 27th to 31st 2009)  www.cmsvatavaran.org Please find below a press release prepared by the festival about the film. Warmly Ajay Bhardwaj B-3/3259, VASANT KUNJ ajayunmukt at yahoo.com ni main jaana jogi de naal....bulle shah ‘So shall you reap’ by Ajay Bhardwaj gets nominated for 5th CMS VATAVARAN, environment and wildlife film festival This is a documentary on genetically engineered (G.E.) seeds, with specific reference to India. The film has been widely appreciated and has been recently nominated for the prestigious CMS VATAVARAN, environment and wildlife film festival, in the country. ‘So shall you reap’ competed with several other entries in the category-Livelihood. The festival will be organised from October 27-31, 2009, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Synopsis The film covers aspects, like the technicalities of GE (how seeds are created), the story of GM Cotton in India and their relationship with farmers from Andhra Pradesh and Punjab as well as narrating their experiences; and the serious regulatory shortcomings, irregularities in open air trials of food crops, etc. The first hand experience of farmers, farmer leaders, views of scientists and agricultural ministers all point to the many concerns with regard to GE Crops. However, disregarding all this, Government of India is thrusting forward GE technology as the way for all of us. The documentary also shows how, in increasing numbers, farmers are adopting ecological agriculture as the real way forward, by declaring themselves GE-free and by not depending on agro-business corporations and their corporate science for their farming. Biography I am a Delhi based documentary film maker. I have a double Masters in Political Studies (JNU) and Mass Communications (MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia). Between 1984 -1987, I was associated with a Delhi based street theatre group, Aahwan Natya Manch. From 1990 to 1996 I produced and directed a diverse range of television programmes like current affairs, election analysis, game shows, chat shows, popular science shows, as well as infotainment programmes. Catching up on life long interest and concerns, I have been making documentaries since 1997. Ek Minute Ka Maun /A Minute of Silence (1997) was my first full-length documentary. It captured the spontaneous students' protest in the aftermath of the murder of Chandrashekhar Prasad, a left wing student's union president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, in Delhi. In my recent documentary works, I have turned to excavating ideas than chasing events.  Archaeology of memory is what I find spiritually more fulfilling. Two of my recent works include Kitte Mil Ve Mahi-Where the Twain Shall Meet (2005), and Rabba Hun Kee Kariye -Thus Departed Our Neighbours (2007).  Kitte Mil Ve Mahi is a pioneering work that explores a deep bonding between Sufism and Dalits in Punjab. It brings to life a spiritual universe that is healing. Rabba Hun Kee Kariye gives a deeply humanistic insight into the partition memories in Indian side of Punjab. Through this documentary these long suppressed experiences became accessible in public domain for the first time. From c.anupam at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 10:17:33 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 10:17:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (off topic) Re: 'Krishna existed. The schooltexts arewrong':says nuclear scientist In-Reply-To: References: <664792.54989.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d00908310902l43d70096ibdc017eb636f9658@mail.gmail.com> <3ACBE9307A60439C92D8254662BC3074@tara> <341380d00908312219x4e56f3eeu3ad3ccef2bf7dacc@mail.gmail.com> <398CB5B10DF0485BB51A8EA8508B52BE@tara> <341380d00909012237s6c8f090dy8e01d80565399759@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909022147n3418b2faie3bd1d4423d90eb@mail.gmail.com> Dear Taraprakash, I do not really understand if it is you or someone else replying on your behalf. I really dont care. But i dont understand the reasons why you, specifically you are behaving like this. Have i said something personally to you sir? Or my presence is a threat? Yes i have refuted the argument of this so-called american scientists saying Krishna is not a myth and school texts are wrong. I have refuted it to the best of my knowledge. if you wish argue on the same lines or have more information on it, why dont you post it here? if i am a bullshitting free man, what proves that these bunch of scientists are not in the information provided through the news report. i have repeatedly said i would welcome the findings like many others. why do i feel you are also kind of a zealot trying to prove your intellectual bla and blah. i dont care what sarai list was in the past. the only impression of sarai for me during my college years is that it is place for critical thinking and analysis. a lot of disagreements also. i see that by no means i have gone against very purpose of this organisation. i would request the moderator to block me out, if my posts are offensive. not you sir. -anupam On 9/2/09, taraprakash wrote: > Now this off list. I did not want the rest of the list to be bothered > watching the shit being cleaned with shit. You seem to be a cronic case of a > bull shitting free man. You will set your fingers at liberty and set your > mind to rest. I am not free, have plenty of work to do. I don't have energy, > time or inclination to indulge in a brawl with a nincompoop. So I will let > the street fight go on and stay in my doors. You will be 13th person on the > list to be blocked by my e-mail filters. Before finishing my last e-mail to > you, I will advise you to develop a coherent thinking and express it in your > writing, on the list or elsewhere. If you come out of the denial mode and > read your mails on this thread, you will know what I am trying to say. You > are free to consider the Hindu scriptures myth or reality, abominable or > examplary, your messages are trash if they don't add to the basic > information. REader list used to be a haven for intellectual discussion and > information till some Hindutva zealots and later on "street fighters" like > you flooded it with filth. It is a pastime for 3 or 4 of you (currently) for > the big majority, they add nothing academically. Not everyone is as > technologically savvy to be able to block the users, so have pity on them. > It will also help if you stick to your proposal of boycotting a specific > agenda. A lot of back and forth of e-mails which adds nothing to our > information can be reduced. But in any case, your mails will not reach my > inbox anymore. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < > c.anupam at gmail.com> > To: "sarai list" > Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 1:37 AM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (off topic) Re: 'Krishna existed. The > schooltexts arewrong':says nuclear scientist > > > Dear Taraprakash, >> >> I really sad to hear about your state of mind. let me clear again, I am >> arguing for the genuius of the authors who composed Mahabharata. the mail >> did not speak of any insecurity but the very thing about education system >> and what is being taught to kids points out that at least one set of >> people >> are not comfortable with what is being taught. one can very easily infer >> since history writers could not locate krishna as historical figure, there >> is this sustained effort from the side of this coterie to prove that >> things >> like ram setu or krishna existed. independently, the research is >> interesting. but this select group of people (namely a set of insecure >> Hindus) would use this research for racial superiority and other things >> that >> comes along with the right wing political. no wonder you can so easily >> i nurse hatred against the hindus although i have repeatedly appreciated >> the >> authors of mahabharata and their sense of astrology. >> >> and frankly, you are no different from a bully: "And there is so much of >> shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone." first you clean >> your shit then you come and say that mr taraprakash. >> >> -anupam >> >> >> On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: >> >> I don't mind your hatred against such people as you described. But this >>> person was neither talking about Hinduism specificly nor he was >>> suggesting >>> any insecurity. He, in fact, said something to the effect about religion >>> (not Hinduism) being tool for world peace. In one of your previous mails >>> when you reacted as if you were stung by million bees, the reason was >>> just >>> use of the word Hindu. The mail did no speak of any insecurity etc. The >>> irony that the writer was pointing towards, like it would happen to any >>> street bully, went over your head. >>> >>> And yes, you are right. I don't read most of your mails, I don't read >>> most >>> of the list mails in fact. There is not just 1 bully on this list. A lot >>> of >>> mails on this list, some written by you as well, stink of shit. And there >>> is >>> so much of shit flowing around, it is not fair to blame you alone. But >>> you >>> seem to have pretensions of sophistication, so I smell some of it from >>> you. >>> But no more. If you can't see the contradiction in your mails written on >>> this thread, I pity your intelligence. >>> >>> Sorry list, there wasn't much for anyone in this mail but since Anupam is >>> anyway going to make it public by putting this on his blog, I did not >>> send >>> him this mail privately, which I should have done. Apologies again. >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < >>> c.anupam at gmail.com> >>> To: "sarai list" >>> Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 1:19 AM >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts >>> arewrong':says nuclear scientist >>> >>> >>> Dear Taraprakash, >>> >>>> >>>> You may be partially right about my hatred towards all such Hindus who >>>> are >>>> desperate to prove their insecurities by finding something with >>>> reasoning >>>> (just to be in that same league of solomon's treasure hunters) which the >>>> scriptures itself have said that only prajna or moving beyond reasoning >>>> towards a purer belief (untouched by their insecurities) can lead to >>>> knowledge about the God. >>>> >>>> Looks like you dont read my mails. I have never said such research is >>>> not >>>> welcome. I would be happy if someone proves that there was Krishna, and >>>> fairies, and Yeti, and That there were UFOs who actually helped >>>> Egyptians >>>> to >>>> build pyramids. however, some how rationality, reasoning and research >>>> would >>>> keep showing otherwise. >>>> >>>> Thank you for calling me a bully. I cant stop smiling at this comment. >>>> It >>>> goes on my blog :) >>>> >>>> "Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire to prove that you are a >>>> "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone who knew you on the >>>> list), >>>> who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance for negotiation about his >>>> position?" >>>> >>>> -Anupam >>>> >>>> >>>> On 9/1/09, taraprakash wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>> Hello all and Anupam. Your hatred towards anything to do with Hindus is >>>>> clear, but not understandable. Whether Krishna's existence was a fact, >>>>> as >>>>> this scientist suggests with a reasoning, or whether it was myth, as >>>>> you >>>>> are >>>>> claiming without actually substantiating your claim, can be proved with >>>>> research. It may not be decissive but if someone wants to do a research >>>>> on >>>>> it, what's wrong in it? Aren't you being a bully by showing your desire >>>>> to >>>>> prove that you are a "street fighter" (a claim made by you or someone >>>>> who >>>>> knew you on the list), who wouldn't like to give a reasonable chance >>>>> for >>>>> negotiation about his position? >>>>> >>>>> Finally if we all were to become wary of things that would offer >>>>> skeletons >>>>> from the closet, would there be any investigation in to massacres, >>>>> there >>>>> would actually be no teaching of history. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "anupam chakravartty" < >>>>> c.anupam at gmail.com> >>>>> To: "sarai list" >>>>> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 12:02 PM >>>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'Krishna existed. The school texts are >>>>> wrong':says nuclear scientist >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I am wary of anthropological investigations because they always render >>>>> >>>>> skeletons from the closet. Here the scientists are just touching the >>>>>> tip >>>>>> of >>>>>> the iceberg in form astrological positions. My expertise in astrology >>>>>> is >>>>>> as >>>>>> juvenile as the claim that a character called Krishna existed because >>>>>> there >>>>>> was a real planetary position. It certainly is a matter of immense >>>>>> importance to have more interesting data about the authors of these >>>>>> texts >>>>>> namely Mahabharata and Ramayana. In the sense, a certain way of >>>>>> locating >>>>>> fictitious event and to make it seem real, locate the event with real >>>>>> star >>>>>> positions. If the aryan feudal battles were recorded with the star >>>>>> positions, that also is important contribution to the history writing. >>>>>> Would >>>>>> be interested to know more about this project rather than basing my >>>>>> opinion >>>>>> on a news report. This would be an important revelation and I look >>>>>> forward >>>>>> to it. >>>>>> >>>>>> After reading this news report, it take me back to a phase when I was >>>>>> fascinated with Erick Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, and then >>>>>> ... suddenly someone told me about a bunch of people committing >>>>>> suicide thinking about of the some kind of superior race of aliens >>>>>> hovering above this planet waiting to take them to heaven. >>>>>> >>>>>> -anupam >>>>>> On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 7:06 PM, Rakesh Iyer >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Dear Kshamendra >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> I have no issues with people having interest in all such activities, >>>>>>> as >>>>>>> I >>>>>>> include myself in some of these. But I believe there are larger >>>>>>> issues >>>>>>> to >>>>>>> be >>>>>>> solved for the people across the world, so we need not spend public >>>>>>> funds >>>>>>> on >>>>>>> such things. What we can ask is for the corporates to fund these >>>>>>> things, >>>>>>> as >>>>>>> this requires painstaking research and money, which is already in a >>>>>>> crunch, >>>>>>> and only once public requirements are fulfilled, we can think of >>>>>>> other >>>>>>> such >>>>>>> issues. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Rakesh >>>>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>>> 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. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>>>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>>> >>>>>> 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. >>>>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> >>>> 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. >>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > > From aliens at dataone.in Thu Sep 3 11:42:33 2009 From: aliens at dataone.in (bipin) Date: Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:42:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) References: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> <383607190909020014v1057e852j1e00e99aae727aee@mail.gmail.com> <000e01ca2bc3$a842fd20$0201a8c0@limo> <383607190909020523uf4f986ehec07112eaab48d80@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <001a01ca2c5d$8714d2f0$0201a8c0@limo> Dear Kath, As you mentioned there is no such racist comment in this, but its totally against terrorism activity. When the person comes in Australia or any other country, they must adopt their laws, civil codes and should amalgamate in the country. There is no place for those who are engaged in unlawful activity and harmful to the country must leave. Even this is applicable to citizens, PR also to obey country laws, codes (which must be uniform for all the citizens or uniform civil code, I think which is their in Australia), else they should be ready for punishment. thanks Bipin ----- Original Message ----- From: Kath O'Donnell To: bipin Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 5:53 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (no subject) it's a fake I googled the quote and I don't think this is an accurate quote from the prime minister (current or previous) I can't imagine any PM saying anything as racist as was written in the message.. http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22IMMIGRANTS%2C++NOT+AUSTRALIANS%2C+MUST+ADAPT%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a there's a snopes page for it too : http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/australia.asp apparently it was an email circling in 2008 & had been published as (citizen) reader comments in a couple of newspapers - not an official statement & had been posted on various message boards since 2005. eg: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/racist-email-rocks-railway/story-e6freuzi-1111115427895 http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21032622-661,00.html http://www.ecommunityonline.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=461&mode=threaded 2009/9/2 bipin Dear Kath, I have received this as forwarded message from reliable source and searching link for the same like you. If you get do forward me and if I will get I will forward you the same. thanks bipin ----- Original Message ----- From: Kath O'Donnell To: bipin Cc: sarai-list Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 12:44 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (no subject) hi bipin, do you have the source link for this? I haven't seen this yet. thanks kath 2009/9/2 bipin Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - Australia Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.. -- http://www.aliak.com http://www.brisbanedancepartiesarchive.com From kaksanjay at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 11:45:20 2009 From: kaksanjay at gmail.com (Sanjay Kak) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 11:45:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Muslims help perform last rites of a Pandit in Kashmir In-Reply-To: <8be8a1530909020654o114ca079q52b73a8cbfd1cc30@mail.gmail.com> References: <338451.76780.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <5c5369880908310537i3d4915a4nb9c36a74ae1d39c9@mail.gmail.com> <8be8a1530909020654o114ca079q52b73a8cbfd1cc30@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5c5369880909022315g6edfdbf4wd556303758c2ba89@mail.gmail.com> Dear All This follows the above news story from Srinagar, whose posting on this list has sparked off all kinds of reactions. Some saw it > as commentary on the Islamisation of Kashmir under garb of "Aazadi" > and > the near erasure and extinction of a unique socio-cultural-religious > group... > Given that there are at least several thousand Kashmiri Pandits living in Srinagar, I was intrigued by the nature of this news report, and wrote off to a group that works with the community. Like the story of the "Principal, the hijaab, and the burnt car", once again the newspapers seem to be up to something ... I quote a section of the reply from the group: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti KPSS Date: Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 7:24 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Muslims help perform last rites of a Pandit in Kashmir > the following members of the community were present at the time of kirya karam > B L Dhar, S L Bhat, C L Bhat, Satishji, S L Bhat, Bajjee, Vinodji, Vimal Bhat, along with Gurujee Sh Rattan Lal Razdan > > i was away from srinagar for my personal work > > the name of the person was Bola Nath Kachroo R/o Natipora Sgr. Bachelor throughout his life aged 77 yrs. Later adopted sister's daughter, she is also bachelor ageing 43 yrs and working in National Insurance Company Srinagar. Every single fact in this story in the Times of India seems wrong! Just another example of the surreal unreliability of reporting on Kashmir...? Best Sanjay Kak > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Kashmiri-Muslims-perform-funeral-of-Hindu-man-/articleshow/4948967.cms > > Kashmiri Muslims perform last rites of a Kashmiri Pandit > > SRINAGAR: In a unique display of communal harmony, Muslims neighbours > here performed the last rites of a Hindu man who stayed back when most > of the Pandit families fled during the early 1990s when Islamist > insurgency erupted in Jammu and Kashmir. > > Bhola Nath Kachroo of Srinagar, who was living with his wife and a > daughter here, died Friday after an illness and had nobody to perform > his funeral. > > The family was devastated when Kachroo, who his neighbour said was > "very old", passed away. There was no other Pandit family nearby to > help them. > > But, Muslims in the area helped the family in performing the last > rites of Kachroo. They made arrangements for the last rites and also > erected tents for Kachroo's friends and relatives who had gathered to > mourn the death. > > "There was nobody to perform the funeral. We were equally saddened to > lose an elderly person in our neighbourhood. We gathered and performed > the last rites without considering what faith we follow," said Ghulam > Mohammed Bhat, secretary of the Muslim Welfare Society. > > Most of the Hindu families migrated from the Kashmir Valley in the > wake of insurgency fuelled by Islamic fundamentalists, but Kachroo and > his family stayed back. > > "We came as humans to help our mourning neighbours. They didn't leave > when other Pandits fled and we owe responsibilities to this family," > said Ali Mohammed, another neighbour. > _________________________________________ > From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Sep 3 14:40:33 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 14:40:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Filmmakers, festivals under attack Message-ID: Filmmakers, festivals under attack Deborah Kaufman San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, August 23, 2009 Controversies across the globe in recent months have drawn attention to the power of film to address passionately contested political issues and to spark calls from pressure groups demanding boycott and censorship. These attacks on freedom of expression raise important questions about the relationship between art and politics, balance and subjectivity and who has the authority to deny access to work that might challenge accepted views or offend certain sensibilities: -- The Chinese government has insisted that this summer's Melbourne Film Festival cancel screenings of "The 10 Conditions of Love," about Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled leader of the minority Uighur ethnic group in central Asia. Hackers attacked and disabled the festival's online ticketing system, and the Chinese government leaned on filmmakers to withdraw seven other films. In spite of e-mailed photos of dead kangaroos and explicit death threats, the festival screened the film. -- British filmmaker Ken Loach threatened a boycott of the Edinburgh Film Festival unless it returned a small grant from the Israeli Embassy that was to enable a Tel Aviv filmmaker to attend the screening of her film "Surrogate." Loach's intervention, designed to support some activists' calls to isolate Israel, was successful. The festival capitulated, but after widespread public criticism, it used its own funds to bring the filmmaker to Scotland. -- Theatres in Tokyo canceled screenings of "Yasukuni," a film critical of Japanese militarism, after threats by right-wing nationalists to disrupt the screenings. Harsh criticism rained down from conservative members of Japan's Diet (parliament), and lawsuits were filed against the film's director, but the film was finally shown while heavy police presence at theaters deterred protesters from slashing screens. -- In San Francisco, the Jewish Film Festival was besieged by a vitriolic e-mail campaign against the decision to host "Rachel," a documentary about American activist Rachel Corrie, killed in Gaza by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting the Israeli occupation. Hard-liners contended that the film's subject matter, its point of view and the festival's invited speaker (Cindy Corrie, Rachel's mother) were "unacceptable" and "outside the tent." The festival went ahead with the program in spite of efforts to vilify and defund the 29- year-old festival. These controversies echo the clamor of the "culture wars" of the 1990s, when conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh joined the Christian Coalition in viciously attacking the Public Broadcasting System and the National Endowment for the Arts for what they called deviant or inappropriate programming. At that time, I was director of the Jewish Film Festival and was working across the hall from Marlon Riggs, whose "Tongues Untied," a brave and poetic documentary about being black and gay, was to have its national broadcast on PBS' "POV" series. A small part of the film's funding was a grant from a public agency, but that was enough for presidential candidate Pat Buchanan and his allies to begin a blitzkrieg of homophobic bullying at Riggs and PBS. PBS withstood the firestorm, but 17 local affiliates succumbed to pressure not to air the program. Today's attacks on freedom of expression, cultural diversity and democratic access could be even more dangerous than the witch-hunters of the religious right. They come from the largest nations and the smallest political groups. Enabled by the speed of the Internet and the Web's culture of flaming, they spread globally as fast as swine flu. The sustained focus on curators and festivals, as well as artists, is doubly troubling, because the presenting organizations are the bridge to the public. Artists might be shaping new ideas, but curators and their organizations are often the overlooked heroes on the front lines of this new battle against censorship. Often forgotten in these battles are the many thousands in the audience hungry for knowledge, political debate and unfettered creativity who continue to line up at theaters from Melbourne to Edinburgh, Tokyo to San Francisco. If the puritans and censors win this round, what happens next? Deborah Kaufman is a documentary filmmaker and the founding director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, which she headed from 1980 to 1993. Contact us at forum at sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/23/INAQ19AH9I.DTL From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 14:59:55 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 14:59:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] I-Support Fellowship - Connecting NGOs with Professionals In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Parth Sethi Date: 2009/9/3 Subject: I-Support Fellowship Hi, *I-Support Fellowship *is an initiative designed to connect NGOs with professionals. It aims to use professional expertise to solve some long standing issues of NGOs. The initiative is promoted by NS Raghavan, the co-founder of Infosys. We are looking for bright professionals like you to be a part of this initiative. So, if you have the time and energy to use your skills to bring about social change, then visit www.isupportfellowship.com and get to know more about us. Also, given below is a brief about the initiative*.* Also,if you are an NGO who needs professional expertise, please do get in touch. *I-Support Fellowship (A Brief Description)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * *I-Support Fellowship** is an attempt to connect professional help to NGOs on a part-time basis. The idea is to have a professional work with a NGO for a minimum of 5 hours per week for 3-6 months and solve its issues of sustainability and scalability. Professional's services can be targeted at the NGO as a whole or at one of their critical projects. * We provide a unique engagement model that links professionals with social organizations and provides them with a detailed toolkit and a helpline to help maximize the impact of their contribution. ** Looking forward to hearing from you. Regards -- Parth Sethi Ethos Philanthropy Platform | isupportfellowship.com | parth.sethi at ethosadvisors.com From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 16:16:06 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 16:16:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Inviting Inputs for GOI's Equal Opportunities Commission In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://psychologynews.posterous.com/inviting-inputs-for-gois-equal-opportunities Excerpts from Durgesh Kasbekar's mail: This refers to the ongoing effort of the Government of India in constituting an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) for the country. A couple of weeks ago, the Minority Affairs Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid said that the EOC will be tabled in the coming Parliament session. As you are well aware, discrimination is extremely endemic, rampant and severe when it comes to a) Women b) Physical Handicaps and disabilities c) Age d) Sexual orientation viz Homosexuals, lesbians and bi-sexuals e) Those with HIV infections, AIDS and other health related issues. All the above sections of Indian society should be accorded *equal protection* through the EOC legislation. I would sincerely request you to call upon NGOs and civil society to intervene and ensure that the drafting of the EOC bill for parliamentary approval *ensures the inclusivity of all the sections of the society and equal weightage is given to all and no one is left out.* Once the protection comes in print and in a written form, it opens an avenue for thousands belonging to the vulnerable sections of the society, years down the line to assert their rights Finally, I would like to point out that in the western world, it is mostly women who head the EOC bodies(commissions or ministries) as the most severe forms of discrimination manifest through gender. It is all prevading. It is necessary that the EOC in India is headed by a woman and/or women should have a formidable presence on such a national body. If you know NGOs which work towards addressing rights of women, AIDS patients, HIV infected and others, please forward the contents of this e-mail to them as well. From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Thu Sep 3 16:31:34 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 16:31:34 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) In-Reply-To: <001a01ca2c5d$8714d2f0$0201a8c0@limo> References: <004b01ca2b98$000b14b0$0201a8c0@limo> <383607190909020014v1057e852j1e00e99aae727aee@mail.gmail.com> <000e01ca2bc3$a842fd20$0201a8c0@limo> <383607190909020523uf4f986ehec07112eaab48d80@mail.gmail.com> <001a01ca2c5d$8714d2f0$0201a8c0@limo> Message-ID: <572666.31743.qm@web94704.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Wrong, Who says Sharia law is alien to Australia? Second, sense of security is strong when someone dealing with me deals as expected, while dealing with non followers of sharia law, they should deal withn some other say constitutional law. Definitely they should respect the nation, it's flag and people. At the same time I do not see any problem with hteir own flags, come on, football teams, gurudwaras and even hindu temple have their own flag, Red cross and hotels have flags, why attack some faith on political grounds. If that is infectius, strong then it is welcome in a democracy......................................... Subjecting to any other laws is definitely oppression and trying to establish for certain ends some unchallenged rule. Else why need a normal person be reminded of his nationality, unless we tell him Sacrifice for your brothers(US)! You do not find an answer you resort to a tooth for a tooth strategy, you try to win muslims over but in a bad fashion, which you could do with love............ Regards Subhrodip. ________________________________ From: bipin To: Kath O'Donnell Cc: sarai-list Sent: Thursday, 3 September, 2009 11:42:33 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (no subject) Dear Kath, As you mentioned there is no such racist comment in this, but its totally against terrorism activity. When the person comes in Australia or any other country, they must adopt their laws, civil codes and should amalgamate in the country. There is no place for those who are engaged in unlawful activity and harmful to the country must leave. Even this is applicable to citizens, PR also to obey country laws, codes (which must be uniform for all the citizens or uniform civil code, I think which is their in Australia), else they should be ready for punishment. thanks Bipin   ----- Original Message -----   From: Kath O'Donnell   To: bipin   Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 5:53 PM   Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (no subject)   it's a fake   I googled the quote and I don't think this is an accurate quote from the prime minister (current or previous) I can't imagine any PM saying anything as racist as was written in the message..   http://www.google.com.au/search?q=%22IMMIGRANTS%2C++NOT+AUSTRALIANS%2C+MUST+ADAPT%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a   there's a snopes page for it too : http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/australia.asp   apparently it was an email circling in 2008 & had been published as (citizen) reader comments in a couple of newspapers - not an official statement   & had been posted on various message boards since 2005. eg:   http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/racist-email-rocks-railway/story-e6freuzi-1111115427895   http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21032622-661,00.html   http://www.ecommunityonline.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=461&mode=threaded   2009/9/2 bipin     Dear Kath,     I have received this as forwarded message from reliable source and searching link for the same like you. If you get do forward me and if I will get I will forward you the same.     thanks     bipin       ----- Original Message -----       From: Kath O'Donnell       To: bipin       Cc: sarai-list       Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 12:44 PM       Subject: Re: [Reader-list] (no subject)       hi bipin, do you have the source link for this? I haven't seen this yet.       thanks       kath       2009/9/2 bipin         Prime Minister  Kevin  Rudd  - Australia         Muslims  who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on  Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government  targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror  attacks..   --   http://www.aliak.com   http://www.brisbanedancepartiesarchive.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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.yahoo.com/ From indersalim at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 17:39:47 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (inder salim) Date: Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:09:47 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Invitation=3A_=28No_Subject=29_=40?= =?windows-1252?q?_Thu_Sep_3_6pm_=96_7pm_=28reader-list=40sarai=2En?= =?windows-1252?q?et=29?= Message-ID: <000e0cd2901c8714550472ab420a@google.com> reader-list at sarai.net, you are invited to Title: (No Subject) Time: Thu Sep 3 6pm – 7pm (Timezone: Auckland) Calendar: reader-list at sarai.net Owner/Creator: indersalim at gmail.com Description: Dear all if willing to participate, support, suggest, please click to read and respond as soon as possible http://peripherals.blog.com with love-regards inder salim -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com You can view this event at http://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=Z2RsZHFncTdsaHRxbmg3cWVma3ZlajZvYmcgcmVhZGVyLWxpc3RAc2FyYWkubmV0&tok=MjAjaW5kZXJzYWxpbUBnbWFpbC5jb21iZjA0MzdmNmZjNzQzNDBmMmFhYTMxZDU3OTUyOTZkMjY1MzQ1ZTI0&ctz=Pacific%2FAuckland&hl=en You are receiving this courtesy email at the account reader-list at sarai.net because you are an attendee of this event. To stop receiving future notifications for this event, decline this event. Alternatively you can sign up for a Google account at http://www.google.com/calendar/ and control your notification settings for your entire calendar. From indersalim at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 17:39:49 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 17:39:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] announcement: ART EVENT in FEB.2010: art karavan international in India Message-ID: <47e122a70909030509m1e16b4ffo99620a095ff65e7a@mail.gmail.com> Dear all if willing to participate, support, suggest, please click to read and respond as soon as possible http://peripherals.blog.com with love-regards inder salim -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From indersalim at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 17:51:03 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 17:51:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] announcement:ART EVENT in Feb.2010: Art Karavan International Message-ID: <47e122a70909030521s1712e552m27ce32b0fb78dcb8@mail.gmail.com> Dear all if willing to participate, support, suggest, please click to read and respond as soon as possible http://peripherals.blog.com with love-regards inder salim -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 18:06:17 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 18:06:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Inviting Articles for 'Revive', Learning Network's Annual Magazine In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://psychologynews.posterous.com/inviting-articles-for-learning-networks-annua Excerpts: The yearly issue of Revive - the Learning Network's annual magazine will be distributed at the network's Annual Conference. The Seventh Annual Conference will be held on February 4th – 7th, 2010 at Timbaktu Collective, in Andhra Pradesh. We also invite you to visit http://www.learningnet-india.org and browse through past issues of Revive and Chiguru - the publications of the Learning Network. Revive aims to inspire, challenge, and connect educators, parents, and administrators by providing a space for their multiple voices in continuously transforming education. There are numerous efforts (small and big) by individuals and organizations to critically reflect and rejuvenate the spirit of education, classroom interaction, pedagogy, curriculum, and policies. We invite contributions to Revive that address the spirit of education such as: - What does education for life look like in the classroom, at home and in the community? - How can education become person, ecology, and community centered in addition to being economy-centered? - How can teaching and learning lead to increased self-awareness, and a just, equitable and peaceful society? - How can education develop the spirit, strength, and inclination to be mindful, inquire, understand and change ourselves and the world? - How can teachers be supported in developing classrooms and curriculum that support children's natural sense of inquiry? - How can schools and classrooms include and enrich the experiences of children across class, caste, gender and abilities? - How can we create learning experiences that integrate various disciplines and connect to local contexts? Article submission deadline: Oct 12 Deadline for sending your final edited articles: Nov 7 From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 18:10:42 2009 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 18:10:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] GW and corals Message-ID: <564b2fca0909030540t8a5b5cfyc19b160f96533f90@mail.gmail.com> The debate on limiting emissions and global warming often ignores the fact that over a quarter of all emissions get absorbed by the oceans. This has already increased oceanic acidity by 30 per cent since the Indus Rev. WIth disastrous effects for coral reefs. Piece from the Guardian below. Naga How global warming sealed the fate of the world's coral reefs Destroyed by rising carbon levels, acidity, pollution, algae, bleaching and El Niño, coral reefs require a dramatic change in our carbon policy to have any chance of survival, report warns - - - *David Adam* - guardian.co.uk , Wednesday 2 September 2009 16.53 BST - Article history [image: Coral reef : An aerial view of teh coastline along Hawaii Kai on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu] An aerial view of the coastline along Hawaii Kai on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu where organic sediment is one of the major threat to the reef. Photograph: Ed Darack/Corbis Animal, vegetable and mineral, a pristine tropical coralreef is one of the natural wonders of the world. Bathed in clear, warm water and thick with a psychedelic display of fish, sharks, crustaceans and other sea life, the colourful coral rampartsthat rise from the sand are known as the rainforests of the oceans. And with good reason. Reefs and rainforests have more in common than their beauty and bewildering biodiversity. Both have stood for millions of years, and yet both are poised to disappear. If you thought you had heard enough bad news on the environment and that the situation could not get any worse, then steel yourself. Coral reefs are doomed. The situation is virtually hopeless. Forget ice caps and rising sea levels: the tropical coral reef looks like it will enter the history books as the first major ecosystem wiped out by our love of cheap energy. Today, a report from the Australian government agency that looks after the nation's emblematic Great Barrier Reef reported that "the overall outlook for the reef is poor and catastrophic damage to the ecosystem may not be averted". The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble, and it is not the only one. Within just a few decades, experts are warning, the tropical reefs strung around the middle of our planet like a jewelled corset will reduce to rubble. Giant piles of slime-covered rubbish will litter the sea bed and spell in large distressing letters for the rest of foreseeable time: Humans Were Here. "The future is horrific," says Charlie Veron, an Australian marine biologist who is widely regarded as the world's foremost expert on coral reefs. "There is no hope of reefs surviving to even mid-century in any form that we now recognise. If, and when, they go, they will take with them about one-third of the world's marine biodiversity. Then there is a domino effect, as reefs fail so will other ecosystems. This is the path of a mass extinction event, when most life, especially tropical marine life, goes extinct." Alex Rogers, a coral expert with the Zoological Society of London, talks of an "absolute guarantee of their annihilation". And David Obura, another coral heavyweight and head of CORDIO East Africa, a research group in Kenya, is equally pessimistic: "I don't think reefs have much of a chance. And what's happening to reefs is a parable of what is going to happen to everything else." These are desperate words, stripped of the usual scientific caveats and expressions of uncertainty, and they are a measure of the enormity of what's happening to our reefs. The problem is a new take on a familiar evil. Of the billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide spewed from cars, power stations, aircraft and factories each year, about half hangs round in the thin layer of atmosphere where it traps heat at the Earth's surface and so drives global warming. What happens to the rest of this steady flood of carbon pollution? Some is absorbed by the world's soils and forests, offering vital respite to our overcooked climate. The remainder dissolves into the world's oceans. And there, it stores up a whole heap of trouble for coral reefs. Often mistaken for plants, individual corals are animals closely related to sea anemones and jellyfish. They have tiny tentacles and can sting and eat fish and small animals. Corals are found throughout the world's oceans, and holidaymakers taking a swim off the Cornish coast may brush their hands through clouds of the tiny creatures without ever realising. It is when corals form communities on the sea bed that things get interesting. Especially in the tropics. Yes, Britain has its own rugged coral reefs, but such deep-water constructions are too remote, cold and dark to really fire the imagination. It is in shallow, brightly light waters, that coral reefs really come to life. In the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific, the coral come together with tiny algae to make magic. The algae do something that the coral cannot. They photosynthesise, and so use the sun's energy to churn out food for the coral. In return, the coral provide the algae with the carbon dioxide they need for photosynthesis, and so complete the circle of symbiotic life. Freed of the need to wave their tentacles around to hunt for food, the coral can devote more energy to secreting the mineral calcium carbonate, from which they form a stony exoskeleton. A second type of algae, which also produces calcium carbonate, provides cement. Together, the marine menage-a-trois make a very effective building site, with dead corals leaving their calcium skeletons behind as limestone. For all their apparent beauty and fragility, just think of coral reefs as big lumps of rock with a living crust. A fragile crust too. The natural world is a harsh environment for coral reefs. They are under perpetual attack by legions of fish that graze their fields of algae. Animals bore into their shells to make homes, and storms and crashing waves break them apart. They may appear peaceful paradises, but most coral reefs are manic sites of constant destruction and frantic rebuilding. Crucially though, for millions of years, these processes have been in balance. Human impact has tipped that balance. Loaded with the agricultural nutrients nitrates and phosphates, rivers now spill their polluted waters into the sea. Sediment and sewage cloud the clear waters, while over-fishing plays havoc with the finely tuned community of fish and sharks that kept the reef nibbling down to sustainable levels. All of this is enough to wreck coral without any help from climate change . Global warming, predictably, has made the situation worse. Secure in their tropical currents, coral reefs have evolved to operate within a fairly narrow temperature range, yet, in the late 1970s and 1980s, coral scientists got an unpleasant demonstration of what happens when the hot tap is left on too long. "The algae go berserk," said Rogers. Scientists think the algae react to the warmer water and increased sunlight by producing toxic oxygen compounds called superoxides, which can damage the coral. The coral respond by ejecting their algal lodgers, leaving the reefs starved of nutrients and deathly white. Such bleaching was first observed on a large scale in the 1980s, and reached massive levels worldwide during the 1997-98 El Niño weather event . On top of a human-warmed climate, the 1997-98 El Niño, caused by pulses of warming and cooling in the Pacific, drove water temperatures across the world beyond the coral comfort zone. The mass bleaching event that followed killed a fifth of coral communities worldwide, and though many have recovered slightly since, the global death toll attributed to the 1997-98 mass bleaching stands at 16%. "At the moment the reefs seem to be recovering well but it's only a matter of time before we have another [mass bleaching event]," says Obura. With its striking images of skeletal reefs stripped of colour and life, coral bleaching offers photogenic evidence of our crumbling biodiversity, and has placed the plight of coral reefs higher on the world's consciousness. Head along to your local swimming pool for diving lessons these days, and chances are that you will be offered a coral conservation course as well. Katy Bloor, an instructor at Sub-Mission Dive School in Stoke-on-Trent, says many divers are not aware of the problems corals face, particularly as holiday operators tend to visit reefs in better condition. "Most have probably dived on a coral reef that they thought was a bit rubbish, but they haven't considered why," she said. If anyone knows what they are missing out on, it should be Charlie Veron. So what does it feel like to dive on a pristine reef? "I have not seen many reefs that can be called pristine, and none exist now," he says. "But if I had to take a punt, I was diving on the Chesterfield Reefs, east of New Caledonia [in the southwest Pacific] about 30 years ago and was staggered by the wealth of life, especially big fish which were so thick that I was hardly ever able to photograph coral. That place made even remote parts of the Great Barrier Reef look second rate. "I can only describe it like walking through a rainforest dripping with orchids, crowded with birds and mammals of bewildering variety and trees growing in extreme profusion." Can the coral be helped? If planting more trees can regrow a forest, can coral be introduced to bolster failing reefs? There are a handful of groups working on the problem, many of which have reported encouraging results. Off Japan, scientists are farming healthy coral on hundreds of ceramic discs, which they plan to transplant onto the badly-bleached Sekisei Lagoon reef within two years. In 30 years or so, they hope the reef can recover fully. A similar, if more low-tech, exercise is under way in the Philippine coastal community of Bolinao, where local people have broken off chunks from the healthy section of their local reef and have crudely wedged them into cracks in bleached sections. Others have cultured corals in swimming pools, and researchers in the Maldives are using giant sunken cages, connected to a low level electric current, to help coral form their chalky shells. But the problem with all these efforts, according to Rogers at the ZSL, is that they cannot address the looming holocaust that reefs face. A new, terrible curse that comes on top of the bleaching, the battering, the poisoning and the pollution. Remember the carbon dioxide that we left dissolving in the oceans? Billions and billions of tonnes of it over the last 150 years or so since the industrial revolution? While mankind has squabbled, delayed, distracted and dithered over the impact that carbon emissionshave on the atmosphere, that dissolved pollution has been steadily turning the oceans more acidic. There is no dispute, no denial, about this one. Chemistry is chemistry, and carbon dioxide plus water has made carbonic acid since the dawn of time. As a result, the surface waters of the world's oceans have dropped by about 0.1 pH unit – a sentence that proves the hopeless inadequacy of scientific terminology to express certain concepts. It sounds small, but is a truly jaw-dropping change for coral reefs. For reefs to rebuild their stony skeletons, they rely on the seawater washing over them to be rich in the calcium mineral aragonite. Put simply, the more acid the seawater, the less aragonite it can hold, and the less corals can rebuild their structure. Earlier this year, a paper in the journal Science reported that calcification rates across the Great Barrier Reefs have dropped 14% since 1990. The researchers said more acidic seas were the most likely culprit, and ended their sober write-up of the study with the extraordinary warning that it showed "precipitous changes in the biodiversity and productivity of the world's oceans may be imminent". Rogers says carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are already over the safe limits for coral reefs. And even the most ambitious political targets for carbon cuts, based on limiting temperature rise to 2C, are insufficient. Their only hope, he says, is a long-term carbon concentration much lower than today's. The clock must somehow be wound back and carbon somehow sucked out of the air. If not, then so much more carbon will dissolve in the seas that the reefs will surely crumble to dust. Given the reluctance to reduce emissions so far, the coral community is not holding its breath. "I just don't see the world having the commitment to sort this one out," says Obura. "We need to use the coral reef lesson to wake us up and not let this happen to a hundred other ecosystems." From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 3 19:06:03 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:36:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Decoding the Ancient Script of the Indus Valley Message-ID: <618578.98119.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2009   'Decoding the Ancient Script of the Indus Valley'   By Ishaan Tharoor   The ancient cities of the Indus Valley belonged to the greatest civilization the world may never know. Since the 1920s, dozens of archaeological expeditions have unearthed traces of a 4,500-year-old urban culture that covered some 300,000 square miles in modern-day Pakistan and northwestern India. Digs at major sites such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa revealed a sophisticated society whose towns had advanced sanitation, bathhouses and gridlike city-planning. Evidence of trade with Egypt and Sumer in Mesopotamia, as well as the presence of mining interests as far as Central Asia, suggests that the fertile Indus River basin could have been home to an empire larger and older than its more famous contemporaries in the Middle East.   But the Indus Valley civilization poses an intractable problem, one that legions of archaeologists and scientists have puzzled over from the first excavations to a new study published last month. Its writing, etched in signs on tiny, intricate seals and tablets, remains undeciphered, shrouding the ancient culture in mystery. A code-busting artifact with bilingual text, like the Rosetta stone, has yet to be found. By some counts, more than 100 decipherments of the civilization's often anthropomorphic runes and signs — known in the field as the Harappan script — have been attempted over the decades, none with great success. Some archaeologists spied parallels with the cuneiform of Mesopotamia. Others speculated an unlikely link between Harappan signs and the similarly inscrutable "bird-men" glyphs found thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean on Easter Island.   In 2004, perhaps out of befuddlement and frustration, a group of scholars declared that the script marked only rudimentary pictograms and that the Indus Valley people were functionally illiterate. That hypothesis, which caused a minor uproar in the world of Indus Valley researchers, was recently rejected by a team of mathematicians and computer scientists assembled from institutions in the U.S. and India. That team's study, published initially in April in Science and more extensively in August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, employed computer modeling to prove that the Harappan script communicated language, and has reinvigorated attempts to crack what is one of the lingering puzzles of ancient history.   The group examined hundreds of Harappan texts and tested their structure against other known languages using a computer program. Every language, the scientists suggest, possesses what is known as "conditional entropy": the degree of randomness in a given sequence. In English, for example, the letter t can be found preceding a large variety of other letters, but instances of tx and tz are far more infrequent than th and ta. "A written language comes about through this mix of built-in rules and flexible variables," says Mayank Vahia, an astrophysicist at the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Mumbai who worked on the study. Quantifying this principle through computer probability tests, the scientists determined that the Harappan script had a similar measure of conditional entropy to other writing systems, including English, Sanskrit and Sumerian. If it mathematically looked and acted like writing, they concluded, then surely it is writing.   But this is just a first step. Vahia and his colleagues hope to piece together a solid grammar from the sea of impenetrable Indus signs. Their August paper charted the likelihood of certain characters appearing in parts of a text — for example, a fish sign appeared most frequently in the middle of a sequence and a U-shaped jar sign toward the end. Bit by bit, the structure of the script is coming into view. "We want to find the bedrock against which all further interpretation of the language should be checked," says Vahia. Down the road, he imagines he could write in "flawless Harappan" — even though he may have no idea what the assembled sequences would mean. Rajesh Rao, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Washington and a co-author of the study, says the task ahead of them is "like a jigsaw puzzle, one where you try to fit meanings into patterns and sequences." At the moment, he and his team are wary of ascribing meaning to the signs — an act of conjecture, he says, that has led other Indus Valley experts in the past "to go too far."   It doesn't help that, though long dead, the Harappan script sparks sometimes acrimonious debate in India over the nature of its origins. Scholars from southern India claim it ought to be linked to proto-Dravidian, the progenitor of languages like Tamil, while others think it is related to the Vedic Sanskrit of early Hinduism, the ancestor of Hindi and other languages spoken in India's north. And while cultural agendas within India have stymied collaborative efforts, the enmity between India and Pakistan has impeded archaeological breakthroughs. Ganeriwala, a desert site in Pakistan that possibly holds the ruins of one of the civilization's biggest cities on record, has yet to be properly excavated because it sits precariously along the heavily militarized border with India.   More the shame, says Bryan Wells, a senior researcher at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai, for solving the riddle of the Harappan script needs the involvement of people from all backgrounds. Wells, who was not part of Rao and Vahia's team, spent 15 years painstakingly examining the disparate body of Indus Valley artifacts and compiling what is now the largest database of Harappan signs — 676 in total. Even though no one knows the root language behind the script, he reckons greater cooperation and a monkish devotion to the task can slowly unravel more secrets. Wells and a colleague have already made significant progress in decoding the Harappan system of weight measurements. "What you need is to keep an open mind, form a good idea and have others break it apart and expand it," he says.   That process of careful scientific analysis and scrutiny will take years, probably decades. But it would be worth the wait. Scholars aren't even sure how this enigmatic civilization disappeared. Was it eradicated by conquest or washed away by floods, or did its people just blend into other migrations settling the Indian subcontinent? Although Harappan cities were vast — Mohenjo-daro could have been populated by as many as 50,000 people, a staggering figure for such deep antiquity — they have left behind few towering monuments or epic ruins. Instead, we have clues in miniature, a copper figurine of a mercurial dancing girl, for example, and a treasure trove of delicately carved seals, most no larger than a postage stamp. "They are a window into how these people were thinking," says Vahia. "And they can tell us, in a sense, why we are who we are."   http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1919795,00.html     From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 3 19:09:01 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:39:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The Psychic Scars of Kashmir Message-ID: <194301.79900.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com>     http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2008/scars_kashmir/   From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 3 19:15:51 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:45:51 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Tarek Fatah : Ted Kennedy's courage in Bangladesh Message-ID: <660358.94840.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "Tarek Fatah : Ted Kennedy's courage in Bangladesh"   Posted: September 01, 2009   Tarek Fatah   In the late hours of March 25, 1971, as the citizens of Dhaka slept, the Pakistan Army launched a war on its own people. By the time the sun rose, thousands of students in two university residential halls were dead and countless more lay wounded.   Dhaka University had been a hotbed of political activism for decades. To the generals of the Pakistan Army led by president Yahya Khan and his feared commander in then "East Pakistan," General Tikka Khan, it had to be vanquished. The army also had a score to settle with an old tree on the campus grounds that was rumoured to have cast magical spells of rebellion on the young men and women who mingled underneath it.   After the first massacres, soldiers were sent to kill the giant banyan tree, lovingly known as "Bawt Tawla." Under its branches, generations of Bengali students had gathered, conspired and then gone out to change the world. It was under this tree that the language movement of 1953 was launched. Here in 1968, students had risen up against the military rule of General Ayub Khan, leading to his humiliation.   By the time the sun set on March 25, the Pakistan Army had blown up Bawt Tawla, ripping the very heart out of Dhaka University.   "It was a sad day as if someone had destroyed the very essence of our lives," says Fuad Chowdhury, a Canadian filmmaker who witnessed the carnage. "I saw the random killing and shooting of civilians. Canon fire destroyed part of my house, but the next morning when we saw the tree gone, we were devastated," he adds. "Bawt Tawla was gone forever, we thought. But we were wrong."   A million lives and two years later, after the Bangladeshis had defeated the Pakistan Army and achieved independence, a white American politician would come to the spot where the old tree stood and plant a new sapling. Today, almost 40 years later, that sapling has grown into a new Bawt Tawla, and under it students mourn the passing of the man who planted that sapling: senator Edward Kennedy.   Ted Kennedy had a huge following all over the world. Some admired him for his charisma, others because he was the brother of JFK and RFK. But in Bangladesh, he was revered because he spoke up when no one else in the United States dared to say a word.   In 1971, when the Pakistan Army began its genocide, Islamabad was a close ally of the U. S. president. Yahya Khan had facilitated the Nixon-Mao meeting and the White House was not interested in damaging relations with a military junta that provided an effective counter balance to the growing India-U. S. S. R. relationship.   As Pakistani atrocities mounted, the U. S. consul general in Dhaka, Archer Blood, sent an urgent message to the State Department. It read: "Our government has failed to denounce the suppression of democracy. Our government has failed to denounce atrocities ... But we have chosen not to intervene, even morally, on the grounds that the ... conflict, in which unfortunately the overworked term 'genocide' is applicable, is purely an internal matter of a sovereign state."   Blood said that Dhaka University students were "either shot down in rooms or mowed down when they came out of building ... estimated 1,000 persons, mostly students, but including faculty members resident in dorms, killed ... At least two mass graves on campus, one near Iqbal Hall, other near Rokeya Hall. Rain [on the night of ] March 29 exposed some bodies. Stench terrible."   Instead of paying attention to the news about the bloodletting, the "Blood Telegram," as it came to be known, was reclassified as secret, and Archer Blood got transferred out of Dhaka.   As the world seemed to have abandoned Bengalis, one man had the courage to defy his own government, thumb his nose at the Nixon administration and go to the teeming refugee camps where 10 million people were living in appalling conditions. This man was then 39-year-old senator Ted Kennedy.   Kennedy toured the camps and heard eyewitness stories of the massacres in East Pakistan. Back home, senator Kennedy wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Refugees about "one of the most appalling tides of human misery in modern times." He wrote, "Nothing is more clear, or more easily documented, than the systematic campaign of terror -- and its genocidal consequences -- launched by the Pakistani army on the night of March 25th...All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad. America's heavy support of Islamabad is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal."   Despite obstruction from the Nixon White House, Kennedy worked both sides of the house, pleading for the end of U. S. support for Pakistan. This finally led to the U. S. Congress passing a bill that banned all arms sales to Pakistan.   On Dec. 16, 1971, the war ended and Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan to become an independent country. Fuad Chowdhury recalls when two months later, senator Kennedy came back to Bangladesh and planted a tree at the site of the original Bawt Tawla.   "There were thousands of students chanting " Joi Kennedy" (long live Kennedy) as he spoke to us, comparing the Bangladesh revolution to the American Revolution.   "For us, he was a hero then and will always be remembered as the man who stood by us in our darkest days. The banyan tree should now be renamed as the banyan tree called Kennedy."   National Post tarekfatah at rogers.com   http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/09/01/tarek-fatah-ted-kennedy-s-courage-in-bangladesh.aspx     From goodmash.me at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 19:23:35 2009 From: goodmash.me at gmail.com (Cheri) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 19:23:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> I believe we're digressing from the moot point here, but be that as may be, it's hardly surprising Modi is the recipient of an award of high capital. I'm surprised and even mildly amused at the outrage of him being so decorated -- seriously, did one think FT, that high priest of capitalism, to behave differently? The links between fascism and capital are well known and well theorised. Trotsky wrote about the fascist agency ensuring a long peace after utilising the battering ram of the petty bourgeoisie to thoroughly wipe out all (proletarian) opposition to it. What else does capital need? Its path in to the new markets it has been chased into have never been so wide, never has it been so eagerly awaited and feted ! Modi's greatest achievement was to fully transform the Hindutva idea into its most sophisticated avatar -- that the other is not a cultural or racial threat (the middle class fondly imagines itself to be beyond that!) but as impediments to 'national' progress and development. He has fused Hindutva and development into one heady cocktail -- his Ram Mandir is the industrial complexes and dams that chain the state, his Babri Masjid is the lands and the villages taken away in the name of progress. Prabhat Patnaik in a recent essay in the Frontline makes it eminently clear one cannot pursue a secular agenda without an unflinching commitment against neo-liberalism -- one is invariably stained by the other, and any attempt at running an anti-communal agenda while simultaneously celebrating 'development' is bound to fail. So, Modi is winning an award? Let him. The devil recognises its own. 2009/9/2 anupam chakravartty : > Dear Murali, > > I appreciate your concerns about dredging and diamond trade. Here are some > articles which may hint at the people who are helping out this Belgian > company in developing Damra port in Orissa. It will also suggest you some > other players involved in it including Gujarat Maritime Board, Kandla Port > Trust and above all, Tatas. > > http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/11/19/stories/2008111950312000.htm > > I dont think there is any kind of genuiness in your claims that you are > making against Sonia Gandhi. About the diamond trade, you can ask Mr modi > what he has done. > > -Anupam > > > > On 9/2/09, Murali V wrote: >> >> I am also critical about the person Sonia Maino. >> >> Order of Leopold was no ordinary paper but a special title that >> demanded ‘devotion’ and ‘loyalty’ to the King and the State of Belgium >> in return from the person honoured with the title. She should have >> been disqualified from acting as a Member of Parliament under Article >> 102 (1) of the Constitution for her having accepted the Order of >> Leopold from the King of Belgium. >> >> How did Belgium become the third largest trade partner with >> India in 2008? Is it because of dredging contracts awarded >> for billions of rupees to Dredging International of Belgium >> and increased diamond trade resulting in stashing away >> illicit funds in tax havens nearby. >> >> Regards, >> V Murali >> On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >> > Dear Murali, >> > >> > Are we discussing about history or ongoing issue? in the sense leopold's >> > colonialism is a subject or concern but Sonia Gandhi getting that award >> has >> > nothing to do with sonia gandhi. it is the mere award and its >> constitution >> > that you are very critical about. >> > >> > On the other hand, readers like me are questioning whether Narendra Modi >> > really deserves this FDI award by FT. Here i am critical about the >> person. >> > >> > -anupam >> > >> > >> > On 9/2/09, Murali V wrote: >> > >> >> The previous minute becomes history and one cannot be selective on >> history. >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> V Murali >> >> >> >> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 6:39 PM, anupam chakravartty >> >> wrote: >> >> > Oh congratulations Murali you have such vast knowledge about African >> >> > history. thanks for enlightening us. what do you know about the recent >> >> > happenings in your neighbourhood? looks like immediate past is >> something >> >> > elusive for u and you can recall very well from the history books. >> some >> >> > ability i must say to cite this example twice. >> >> > >> >> > Modi's own party members are regretting the fact that why he was not >> >> sacked >> >> > after the post-godhra riots. what do u have to say to them? how do u >> >> > accomodate Vajpayee's sleepless nights during the mass murders in >> >> Gujarat? >> >> > >> >> > If Sonia Gandhi is to be blamed for accepting Leopold's order, this >> man >> >> who >> >> > is not only responsible for the most deadly riots of my time, has also >> >> > managed to advertise the MoUs of the industries which have backed out >> of >> >> the >> >> > investments in Gujarat. what do u have to say about that? there are >> >> zillions >> >> > of proof against his government fudging the actual investment figures >> of >> >> the >> >> > vibrant gujarat and use it as an advertisement to promote gujarat as >> an >> >> > industrial hub. worse, the golden corridor for chemical industries >> >> > (districts such as Valsad and Bharuch) is so polluted that the >> government >> >> > has stopped any kind of expansion. the common and final effluent >> >> treatment >> >> > plants in all the industrial estates have not been following the >> Gujarat >> >> > Pollution Control Board norms since the day it started functioning. >> where >> >> > are the safeties to set up anything in Gujarat? or is he being awarded >> >> > because most of the industrialisation is unregulated with >> Environmental >> >> > Assessment Report not being prepared and you say industries popping >> out >> >> of >> >> > now where? >> >> > >> >> > I frankly do not mind our leaders being awarded. its an honour but at >> >> least >> >> > in the past people who were really worthy of making changes in our >> >> society >> >> > have been awarded by various organisations. >> >> > >> >> > - anupam >> >> > >> >> > Sonia having accepted the order of Leopold requires no proof as it is >> >> > universally known. Mass murders and Genocide in Zaire is also a known >> >> fact. >> >> > >> >> > By accepting the Order of Leopold, Sonia had to sign register signing >> >> > unquestioned loyalty and alegiance to the king of Belgium, which is >> >> > against the constitution of INdia. >> >> > >> >> > Regards, >> >> > V Murali >> >> > >> >> > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM, anupam chakravartty< >> c.anupam at gmail.com> >> >> > wrote: >> >> >> Dear Murali and Rajen, >> >> >> >> >> >> Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow >> comparisons, >> >> for >> >> >> which you do have any proof or even an argument. >> >> >> >> >> >> -anupam >> >> >> >> >> >> On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: >> >> >>> >> >> >>> What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold,  which >> >> >>> evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide >> in >> >> >>> Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). >> >> >>> >> >> >>> By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in >> >> >>> November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India >> >> >>> and the Indian people.  She has greater contempt for the Law of >> Indian >> >> >>> Constitution. >> >> >>> >> >> >>> Regards, >> >> >>> V Murali >> >> >>> >> >> >>> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke< >> phadkeshilpa at gmail.com> >> >> >>> wrote: >> >> >>> > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> >> >>> > From: shabnam hashmi >> >> >>> > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM >> >> >>> > Subject: stop the award >> >> >>> > To: shabnam hashmi >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI >> >> > Asian >> >> >>> > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known >> and >> >> >>> > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he >> was >> >> >>> > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage >> that >> >> >>> > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of >> >> violence >> >> >>> > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally >> >> > Displaced >> >> >>> > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in >> rehabilitation >> >> >>> > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to >> the >> >> >>> > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a >> >> matter >> >> > of >> >> >>> > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part >> of >> >> >>> Pearson >> >> >>> > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is >> >> >>> Marjorie >> >> >>> > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which >> >> >>> ironically >> >> >>> > gives out peace grants. >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine >> >> [glossy, >> >> >>> > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a >> >> fortnightly >> >> >>> and >> >> >>> > focuses on the business of globalisation. >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- >> Courtney >> >> >>> Fingar, >> >> >>> > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner >> >> >>> tomorrow. >> >> >>> > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* >> >> >>> > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk)  and send copies to >> courtney.fingar at ft.comor >> >> >>> write >> >> >>> > to her directly. >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > shabnam hashmi >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > - >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > >> >> >>> > -- >> >> >>> > _________________________________________ >> >> >>> > 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. >> >> >>> > To unsubscribe: >> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> >>> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >>> _________________________________________ >> >> >>> 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. >> >> >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> >> >> 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. >> >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> > _________________________________________ >> >> > 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. >> >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Birla House, 10th Floor - East Tower, 25 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi 110 001 India (m) +91-99 9907 8674 | (t) +91-11-4178 1007 | (f) +91-11-4178 1010 "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 3 19:41:33 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 07:11:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: New Pakistani Package or Governor Rule Message-ID: <483586.74529.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> From: Balawaristan Front Subject: New Pakistani Package or Governor Rule To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 2:56 AM New Pakistani Package or Governor Rule On 29th Aug. 2009,  Mr. Syed Yousuf Reza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan announced a package for Balawaristan (Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistan) by terming it as self-governance and Internal Autonomy. The so-called package has been finalized by a high powered Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. Qamar Zaman Kaira,  from Lalamusa of Punjab Pakistan a Minister of KANA Islamabad. Gilani said that major political parties were taken in to confidence. A Pakistani English Newspaper “The News” published a story on the same day as below: “The Northern Areas would be granted self-rule on the pattern of Azad Jammu and Kashmir as proposed in the summary finalized in consultation with the authorities of these areas and in accordance with its resolutions. When asked about opposition from any quarter, the sources said that every sitting minister had been consulted and their input had been formed part of the summary. Under the summary , Gilgit Baltistan would have its own election commission, commissioner and courts like AJK. Had the Northern Areas given the status of a province, there might be reaction from outside the borders.” Giving details of the Order’s salient features, Gilani said the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly will formulate its own Rules of Procedures, while legislation on various subjects pertinent to governance will be done by the Council and Assembly in their respective jurisdiction. Prime Minister of Pakistan said the area would be given full rights as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, however it could not be given provincial status as per the Constitution. Regarding any impact on the UN document about on Northern Areas, Gilani said both Foreign Office and the AJK President had been taken onboard before the decision. To a question, he said the Council did not need parliament’s shelter as it had its own Rules of Business, while Boundary Commission had already been constituted. Gilani further said 1.      There shall be a governor of Gilgit Baltistan as proposed under Article -20 and shall be appointed by the President of Pakistan. 2.      Chief Minister will be elected by the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly, who will be assisted by six ministers. 3.      Legislative Assembly will have directly elected 24 members, besides six women and three technocrats. 4.      The decision will empower the Gilgit Baltistan Council and Assembly to make laws. The subject under which the Assembly shall now have power to make law has increased from 49-61 while the Council have 55 subjects. 5.      The Chief Judge of Supreme Appellate Court shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the Advice of the governor and other Judges shall be appointed by the Chairman on the advice of the governor after seeking views of the Chief Judge. 6.      Chief Judge and Judges of the Chief Court shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the advice of the governor on the same pattern as  as it is being practiced in AJK. 7.      Number of Judges  had been increased from three to five. The tenure of the present Judges of the Supreme Judiciary has been protected in the draft. 8.      Auditor General Gilgit Baltistan will be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Council as in the case in AJK. 9.      There shall be an Election Commissioner under Article 82 as well as Auditor General besides Emergency Provisions under article 83 and 87 respectively. 10.  A boundary Commission has been constituted. Despite of high claims of granting SELF-GOVERNANCE or INTERNAL  AUTONOMY, Governor  Rule in the manner of Martial Law administrator has been introduced. The head of the Committee has declared  himself as a governor by the person who was given the highest power by the government of Pakistan to stage  the so-called package drama. All the powers rest with the Pakistani, President (a Pakistan national belong to Sindh province, as approving Authority), Prime Minister (Chairman of the Council, who is Pakistan national  belongs to Multan of Punjab and not elected by the people of Gilgit Baltistan) and Minister of KANA (Governor and Vice Chairman of the Council, is Pakistan national from Lala Musa of Punjab and not elected by the people of Gilgit Baltistan) who have now been declared themselves as Chairman and governor respectively.    The governor and Chairman of the Council are the Supreme Authority. The Gilgit  Baltistan Council would be chaired by the prime minister of Pakistan, who will not be elected by votes of the people of Gilgit  Baltistan, while an un-elected governor, to be appointed by the president of Pakistan, would act as vice – chairman of the council. This arrangement is being seen as a major ploy to control the elected representatives of Gilgit  Baltistan, so to use the new political setup as rubber stamp to get stamp for the construction of 6 Mega Dams including Diamar/ Bhasha Dam and to merge Gilgit Baltistan in to Pakistan  by ignoring the will of the 2 Million people. It is for the very first time, in history of Pakistan, that a serving federal minister has been appointed governor of a political entity which is beyond the constitution of Pakistan. A new designation, called Chief Minister, has been created but the CM would not be authorized to form his cabinet. The governor would form a cabinet, albeit with “advise (which is not legally bound)” of the chief minister. The elected legislative assembly would not be able to elect the chief minister. He would not be elected by Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly but  selected by the  Council (headed by Chairman and Vice Chairman, both are Pakistani national and do not belong to Gilgit Baltistan).  This power mechanism  is a clear indicative of future plan of Pakistan to exploit the resources of this region of Jammu & Kashmir dispute. We strongly believe  that in the presence of huge number of Pakistani forces and its Intelligence agency  the definition of autonomy or Self-Rule is an eyewash to the world community and trick of gaining time to strength it occupation with the full fledge help of government of China. The Gilgit – Baltistan Legislative Assembly, not authorized to discuss a large number of vital issues related to governance of the region, would comprise of thirty eight members. The real power is given to Gilgit Baltistan Council (whose head will be Pakistani Prime Minister as Chairman) which will not be elected but selected like Pok (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). Some pro-Pakistan political leaders will be elected in this Council and many others will be given personal benefits as bribe as its past practice of Pakistan in return of huge exploitation. The elected people have no legal and constitutional protection like what has been given to PoK by its constitution of 1974. The increase of  the number of judges of the Supreme Appellate Court from 3 to 5 without giving a High Court and Supreme Court is meaningless. Nevertheless, this so-called package  will be of no real significance in the presence of Pakistani forces without giving the right to self-determination or even like “Local Authority” after the complete withdrawal of Pakistani forces and civilians, which had been promised by UNCIP on 13th Aug 1948.   The main objection of this non-democratic Package is all the stakeholders in Pakistan have been consulted but nobody from Balawaristan (Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistan) has been taken in to confidence. What is the justification of these Pakistani self-claimed Stake holders, where all these have no legal or constitutional authority to impose their own branded laws against the wishes of the people of such an area which is not part of Pakistan according to its own constitution and Court verdicts besides UNCIP Resolutions. While Pakistani did not take the actual stake holders (owners of this land) in to confidence. The so-called Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA) as Pakistani term it, was not taken in to confidence. Even the so-called powerless local Chief Executive of NALA Meer Ghazanfar was not aware of this package before the announcement.   To settle these boundaries dispute between Balawaristan and Pakistan, Pakistani PM has announced to establish a Boundary Commission during his package announcement. According to the source, a Pakistani Judge from NWFP and another Judge from Gilgit Baltistan (who gets salary from Islamabad ) have been deputed to decide the boundary dispute in favour of Pakistan. Though this is world recognized phenomenon and  law that a Judge should always be impartial.  How a party of a dispute can deliver a judgement against its own interest. Pakistani national whether a serving or retired Judge or any person or a Pakistani employee  from Gilgit Baltistan who gets salary or other benefit or interest from Pakistan cannot be trusted as impartial.   Besides this China has constructed 16 Airstrips on Karakorum Highway (KKH, which is mostly used for the Military purpose (Missiles and nuclear parts were being supplied to Pakistan via this Road in the past) between Pakistan and China.  Pakistan is now hatching conspiracy to build 6 Mega Dams on this disputed land with the help of China without consultation the local indigenous people and even without the knowledge of UNO and UNSC, because the fate of this disputed land has not been decided yet with the rest of the Jammu & Kashmir according to the UNCIP resolutions.   The presence of Chinese forces and the construction of 16 Airstrips on the Road for Jet Fighters, will jeopardise the peace of the whole South Asia and the world in near future.   We the people of Balawaristan reject this new Pakistani package, because this will create more deprivation, lack of Justice and snatch our freedom than ever.    We appeal to the EU and USA  to persuade China not to involve itself in the occupation process of Balawaristan (Pakistan occupied Gilgit Baltistan) by taking lease of precious mines including copper, Gold and Uranium etc, by constructing, Air Strips on the Road, Railways and Dams to change its environment, demography, geography and political dispensation.   We appeal to civilized world  usually and European Union particularly to put pressure on China and Pakistan to withdraw their forces from  Gilgit Baltistan in spite of playing new Package tricks so the 2 million people of this disputed region could decide their future without China and Pakistani interference by a  free and impartial referendum or Election for a constitutional Assembly under the supervision of the UN according to its resolution of 13th Aug. 1948. This is the only solution to avoid any future conflict between, Pakistan, India, China, Russia, USA or Europe in the future.   Abdul Hamid Khan Chairman Balawaristan National Front (BNF) Head Off: Majini mahla, Gilgit, Balawaristan (Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistan) www.balawaristan.net, Email: balawaristan at gmail.com, chairmanBNF at gmail.com,balawaristan at hotmail.com  Tele: 0032 22311750 From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 19:51:53 2009 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 19:51:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] interesting interview Message-ID: <564b2fca0909030721l6fb8cc98rff103039830c0290@mail.gmail.com> Himalayans needs climate change science to get its fingers dirty Dipak Gyawali, research director of the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, explains that an area as diverse as the Himalayas needs localised, 'toad's-eye' science if it is to learn how to adapt to climate change. Interview by *Isabel Hilton, *editor of ChinaDialogue, part of the Guardian Environment Network ** ** *Isabel Hilton (IH): How accurate are predictions of future climate impacts in the region?* Dipak Gyawali (DG): Here is a sense of confusion: the implications of what is happening seem more and more horrendous and some things are pretty certain. Beyond that, though, the models predict all kinds of things. The question of the Himalayas has not really begun to be addressed and the science has a very long way to go on precipitation and the social effects. *IH: How can science become more relevant to the region?* DG: The effects in different parts of the Himalaya and south Asia will be very different and it's not all about glaciers. The Maldives will be drowned; Sri Lanka may have more tsunamis and more intense storms; Bangladesh will have its own problems. They will not be impacted directly by the glaciers; the interest in the glaciers is that they are powerful indicators: they tell you clearly that something is wrong. It's like going to the doctor with a fever: you know you are sick. But we don't have the science to be able to make accurate predictions of impacts over a hugely diverse region. If you look at the last IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ] report, for instance, the whole of the Himalayas was a blank. People are already suffering but whether we can take any one instance as directly related to climate change is not certain. We did local consultations from every part of Nepal, bringing farmers together to ask what they are experiencing as a result of climate change. Many of them cannot relate what they are experiencing to carbon dioxide emissions, and one problem is that over a large part of the region there is no difference between the word for climate and the word for weather. But when we asked them what is happening to their agriculture, we discovered a whole series of impacts. Some of them are predictable: spring is coming a week earlier, for instance; things begin to grow, but it is not "real" spring and it can be followed by a blast of terrible cold weather. It seems to be having an impact on cucumbers: they are getting a much higher volume of male flowers to female flowers, so the crop is smaller. The mangoes come into flower and start to grow, but then the fruits shrivel up and drop off, so the mango harvest is shrinking. Lowland pests have started moving up into the mountains and certain weeds from the lowlands are being found at higher altitudes. We also looked at some major regional catastrophes, signature events like the failure of the Indian monsoon or the floods in the Terai, to see how people were affected. It's essential to find out what is happening, and we believe we need to rethink development in the light of climate change. That has not happened yet. *IH: Presumably it has not happened because the development agencies have not had this kind of detailed input?* DG: That's precisely the point. The remote sensing and the satellites give us the eagle-eye view, which is essential but not enough. In a country as diverse geographically and socially as Nepal – there are more than 90 languages and 103 caste and ethnic groups – the eagle-eye view needs to be complemented by the view from the ground, what I call "toad's-eye" science. *IH: Because high-level science can't be broken down into what is happening in any given local area?* DG: Yes. You are dealing with such diversity: ecological, geographical, cultural and ethnic diversity. The reason we focussed on this toad's-eye view is that we found people were not sitting around waiting for an agreement at the COP15 in Copenhagen. Millions are voting with their feet every day at the grass-roots level, reacting with civic science and traditional knowledge. This is what people are basing their everyday decisions on. High science to come down off its high horse and meet up with civic science and traditional knowledge, in order to understand what is happening, so that national governments can also plan. The high science has to start looking at why there are more male flowers on the cucumbers, why berries are ripening at the wrong time. Just to take one example: nobody has studied what is happening to soil fauna. Soil fauna are essential to everything and they are one of the first indicators that things are going wrong. They affect everything from plants to birds and nobody knows what is happening with them. *IH: Have you a better idea of who is vulnerable as a result of this work?* DG: Yes. The conventional wisdom is that the most vulnerable people are the poorest of the poor, but we have found that it is actually the lower middle classes. The reason is that the poorest of the poor have never had enough land to keep their families for the whole year, so they have always had to diversify their sources of income: they do seasonal labour and have those networks and connections already. They have a built-in resilience, so if their harvest is worse than usual, they just go and work longer. The lower middle classes, though, have had enough land to be able to depend on their crops. They might survive one bad year, but two or three wipe them out, and then you get what you are seeing in India – farmers committing suicide. That is also happening in Nepal. The poorest are suffering, but it is not fatal. The people who are really being hit are the lower middle classes and upwards, which has implications for social stability. *IH: What adaptation is possible in these circumstances?* DG: The solutions have to come out of the watershed and out of the problem-shed. You can talk about big solutions – building high dams – which can take 40 years. We don't know in Nepal if a government will last 40 days. The solutions have to be what these millions of households can take. Can they be helped? How can they be helped? We just haven't done the science for that. We need civic science; ground-level truth. We have some suggestions for how to do it. For instance, you put a weather monitoring station in every school in Nepal, and get the children to do the readings and get the schoolmaster to fax the readings back, your data points increase from around 450 to around 4,000. You are suddenly rich in data, and the local people are involved in understanding the dimensions of the problem. It will be a long, drawn out process, but it is starting with rain gauges in the schools, linked up with the local FM radio stations. Suddenly the FM stations are very excited because they are talking about what is happening in their area instead of reading out a weather report from Kathmandu that might have no relevance to them. We hope our report will point to some things that are essential and some things that local people are already doing to adaptat: building houses on stilts, for instance, so they can move upstairs during the flood season and the people will be safe – their rice will be safe and they can move back down again when the danger is past. Some villages have raised the level of their plinths, just a little bit, but enough to get above the floods. *IH: But won't future floods be much worse?* DG: Not all major floods are caused by high volumes: the Kosi breach, for instance, happened at a time when the flow was lower than usual. It was the failure of a poorly constructed dam and 3.5 million people were displaced in the state of Bihar, India, and 6,500 in Nepal. If tomorrow the floods get worse, expect more Kosi breaches. We expect that the intensity and frequency will be greater, but we don't know exactly what is going to happen. From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 20:45:47 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 20:45:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Cheri This only means we should further strengthen the voices of those who suffered thanks to the mass murder under his reign. He undermined the very oath a Chief Minister has to take under the Constitution. This is not just a fight for justice for these victims, the way I look at it. This is a fight against those who taint the very principles for which our fathers and their fathers fought against the British Raj. The intention was not to shift the capital from London to New Delhi and be happy that we have gained political independence. The idea was to secure political, social and economic freedoms and entitlements for our people, who had been subjected to arbitrary and gross violations of their rights by the British and continue to be done so by leaders, from Nehru to Modi, in one way or the other, from dams to SEZ's to toying with the environment. Such awards are only a manifestation of the way the elites have manipulated the views and structures of organizations to work for them, at the expense of common people, the subalterns. And they should be thoroughly condemned and lambasted and lampooned. Mass murderers and awards?? What next? Osama Bin Laden winning Nobel? Regards Rakesh From vishal.rawlley at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 23:58:53 2009 From: vishal.rawlley at gmail.com (Vishal Rawlley) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 23:58:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Interaction Design Workshop Message-ID: <31d5ea920909031128s1f0a6d12wa179b868e9b31ccb@mail.gmail.com> Attn: *Creative practitioners* interested in *transmission and interaction *of* * *media and technology *in *situations and societies.* This is an opportunity to learn and explore the possibilities of creating interactive installations and new media environments using *DIY electronics*, *Open Source Software* and *Ubiquitous Technology*. This is an intensive hands-on workshop, with artist and new-media practitioner Matthew Kenyon leading a motivated group of ten. Participants shall learn by collaboratively making a working project model over six evenings. The workshop will be held at Khoj Studios, Delhi from *26th October - 1st November (4pm - 8pm)* ** ** *Creating Agency through Telepresence *In this project user-movement about the city shall control the illumination of lightboxes at a remote location. These lightboxes shall be attached to an Arduino microcontroller running Processing software. Users shall be able to send their GPS coordinates to this microcontroller through smartphone devices as they move about the city. This data on being processed by the software shall switch the appropriate lightboxes on and off again. These lightboxes shall in fact display images of the city remotely controlled by user movements around the city. This workshop will look at 4 technologies. Together, they will combine to create a distributed telepresence based project.The 4 technologies are: (1) digital photography, (2) rapid prototyping and digital fabrication, (3) programming and physical computing and (4) ubiquitous computing. Participants shall be involved in all stages of the construction of the project in a hands-on process led by the mentor. Each participant shall be provided a tool kit with the requisite materials. Lectures and demonstrations shall guide the project and explain the process. *Applications:* This program is designed for people interested in learning new processes of technology and mediation through a practice oriented workshop. It is not necessary to have prior knowledge of electronics and computing, but some experience in design, media or technology is preferred. A strong inclination to learn and the ability to be hands-on are a must. ** *To apply send us: *- a statement, no more than 500 words, on why you would like to be part of this workshop - a resume - up to five work samples via web links or email attachments (not more than 20MB all together) or CD/ DVD by post *Send to: * By email: interact at khojworkshop.org Subject: Interaction Design Workshop By post: KHOJ Studios S-17, Khirkee Extn. New Delhi - 110017 ** *Application Deadline:* 15th September 2009 *Selection results:* The final list of selected participants shall be declared by 1st October 2009 ** *Fees: *Rs 2500/- to be paid in favor of Khoj International Artists' Association after final selection is announced. The fees shall be waived off for outstation candidates, however they have make their own arrangements for travel and stay. Kindly contact us if you need further assistance in this regard. *Detailed Schedule and Workplan:* ** *26th Oct. Day 1 - programming with Processing, (4 hours)* - introduction to Processing - drawing forms - animation *27h Oct. Day 2 - programming with Processing pt. 2, (4 hours)* - recap from day 1 - interactivity - connecting to other systems like the Internet *28th Oct. Day 3 - working with the Arduino microcontroller, (4 hours)* - introduction to Arduino - receiving input - sending output - wireless input *29th Oct. Day 4 - working with the Arduino microcontroller pt. 2, (4 hours) * - recap from day 3 - working with larger DC devices - connecting a custom circuit - Arduino and the Internet *30th Oct. Day 5 - digital photography and rapid prototyping, (4 hours)* - tools, processes and services for rapid prototyping - putting together the prepared light box kits - constructing and testing the electronics - digital photography and printing *31st Oct. Day 6 - working with ubiquitous computing, (4 hours)* - programming the iPaq with Mscapers - the power of GPS - sending data to a database - putting it all together - future possibilities *1st November 2009 - Final presentation of the project * ** Information also posted on: http://khojworkshop.org/opportunity/interaction_design_workshop ============= From murali.chalam at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 09:49:58 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 09:49:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: References: <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909032119s3b31109bl6b41dc8d99d92cc4@mail.gmail.com> Why not we also strengthen our voice to get the entire corrupt black money hoarded by the politicians since Independence. Regards, V Murali On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 8:45 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Cheri > > This only means we should further strengthen the voices of those who > suffered thanks to the mass murder under his reign. He undermined the very > oath a Chief Minister has to take under the Constitution. This is not just a > fight for justice for these victims, the way I look at it. This is a fight > against those who taint the very principles for which our fathers and their > fathers fought against the British Raj. The intention was not to shift the > capital from London to New Delhi and be happy that we have gained political > independence. > > The idea was to secure political, social and economic freedoms and > entitlements for our people, who had been subjected to arbitrary and gross > violations of their rights by the British and continue to be done so by > leaders, from Nehru to Modi, in one way or the other, from dams to SEZ's to > toying with the environment. > > Such awards are only a manifestation of the way the elites have manipulated > the views and structures of organizations to work for them, at the expense > of common people, the subalterns. And they should be thoroughly condemned > and lambasted and lampooned. Mass murderers and awards?? What next? Osama > Bin Laden winning Nobel? > > Regards > > Rakesh > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From murali.chalam at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 10:24:03 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 10:24:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: References: <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909032154g17768aaci8848bd8ff3cefb22@mail.gmail.com> I would also like every one to recall the carnage handed to the sikhs post Indira Gandhi Riots. Mobs lead by Congress leaders committed murder, loot, arson and rape, across India for over a week, however the worst effected area was the capital of India Delhi. The official figures of those who died are over 4000 and 60,000 were rendered homeless in Delhi alone, these figures to not incorporate those “missing”. No One except Sikhs were killed, and if the govt. machinery especially the police had made any attempts to control the onslaught, should have killed some Congress goons as well, but that was not the case. Delhi has one of the largest army cantonment and yet it took 3 days to deploy them when almost the mission had almost been completed. “Many people complained that, in some cases, the police were not merely hanging back, but giving active support.” 4 The Times Jagdish Tytler, Kamal Nath, Sajjan Kumar were indicted by independent commissions of inquiry, including the People's Union for Civil Liberties, the People's Union for Democratic Rights and the Citizens' Justice Committee and yet all have been suitably rewarded for the role they played. Arjun Singh statement “Only a person who is totally committed to the nation can make an attempt like Rajiv Gandhi did to bring murderers of his mother into the mainstream,” said the HRD minister." must be understood in the right perspective and there by implicating that ‘All Sikhs’ were ‘Murderers of Indira Gandhi’. Hence, 1984 is justified, implies Arjun Singh? Mr Surinder Singh, who was the then Head Granthi of Gurdwara Pulbangash near Azad Market, said the mob, led by Congress M.P. Jagdish Tytler, attacked the shrine a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “He incited the mob to burn the gurdwara and kill Sikhs,” the witness said in an affidavit filed before the commission probing the riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi. That is congress leaders for us today. Regards, V Mrali On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 8:45 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Cheri > > This only means we should further strengthen the voices of those who > suffered thanks to the mass murder under his reign. He undermined the very > oath a Chief Minister has to take under the Constitution. This is not just a > fight for justice for these victims, the way I look at it. This is a fight > against those who taint the very principles for which our fathers and their > fathers fought against the British Raj. The intention was not to shift the > capital from London to New Delhi and be happy that we have gained political > independence. > > The idea was to secure political, social and economic freedoms and > entitlements for our people, who had been subjected to arbitrary and gross > violations of their rights by the British and continue to be done so by > leaders, from Nehru to Modi, in one way or the other, from dams to SEZ's to > toying with the environment. > > Such awards are only a manifestation of the way the elites have manipulated > the views and structures of organizations to work for them, at the expense > of common people, the subalterns. And they should be thoroughly condemned > and lambasted and lampooned. Mass murderers and awards?? What next? Osama > Bin Laden winning Nobel? > > Regards > > Rakesh > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 10:46:00 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 10:46:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909032154g17768aaci8848bd8ff3cefb22@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010526s52a14248q4efd1e050d485a06@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909032154g17768aaci8848bd8ff3cefb22@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Murali First of all you have diverted from the original topic, but I believe, as I have since one lengthy discussion with one of my friends, that we always do get diverted from topics to discuss other issues, and what is critical is to analyze the arguments raised in those, while not disregarding the main topic or its importance. Having spoken on the subject concerned, I slightly move away to what you have mentioned. First of all, a struggle for enhancement of freedoms of people must focus on all aspects, and not just on one aspect. Hence, focusing on just one Modi or one Gujarat or one Sikh riot or corruption alone doesn't help; what is needed is a multi-pronged approach to struggle for all kinds of injustices, which may be linked sometimes in very strong terms with each other. This needs to be understood. For example, corruption can play a significant role in registering false cases or not including names of genuine culprits in the FIR's, which can play a role after communal riots when the victims wish to get justice but are unable to do so, or communal vendetta is launched after these riots in the name of legal action. Hence, the struggle against Modi at one level is not necessarily excluding corruption, for it can and may be a part of what happened in that state post 2002. Hence, it must certainly be looked at. And on the larger issue of money hidden in Swiss banks or elsewhere, certainly it's something which must be looked at and nobody on this forum, I believe, would support hiding money illegally in these banks for tax evasion purposes. On the issue of Sikh Riots, yes they were more severe than the Gujarat genocide, and to me they too are a genocide or state-sponsored act of terrorism, which we usually associate with Pakistan. (I am consciously using 'we', for however much I wish to dissociate from the states, I can't, having declared to be a citizen and even applying for passport from the state, and I believe this is true for all of us on this forum and elsewhere). They too should deserve justice, which is why I don't think this issue must be forgotten, but ironically, the very same People's Union of Civil Liberties, which you have mentioned for the Sikh Riot report, has also given reports on how the administration dithered and police looked the other way while mass murders were carried out, in similar fashion to what happened in Delhi. Nobody has agreed that Rajiv Gandhi and the killers did the right thing then, and nobody would agree that Modi and the killers did right this time as well. Neither were Sikhs as a community in the holistic sense, traitors for the action of one person, nor can Muslims be seen as a community as traitors, even if for act of a few. Infact, at least in case of Indira Gandhi, we can be sure that two Sikh bodyguards were responsible for it (though there are people who link a conspiracy theory to her death). But in case of Godhra, the truth is still not known, which is why we now have a SIT to reinvestigate Godhra incident, after two panels have already given diverging rationale for why and how it took place. Please do go through the following links to find out what the PUCL and the PUDR have to say about the violence in Gujarat by the way: http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/maro_kapo_balo.pdf http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-modi.htm http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-nhrc-submission.htm http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-violence.htm http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-media.htm http://www.pucl.org/gujarat-index.htm On the issue of Sikh violence, here are the links: http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2003/who-are-guilty.htm http://www.pucl.org/reports/National/2001/communalism.htm Hence, the fight for injustice has to be against all kinds of injustices, not necessarily against those committed only by particular political parties or socio-cultural organizations. Regards Rakesh From asitredsalute at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 12:20:59 2009 From: asitredsalute at gmail.com (Asit asitreds) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 12:20:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909010224t62bfc0f2n88452906e172483@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909010509q731b2c61j1bfc6ee70e481e39@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: awarding a mass muredere like modi is outrageous we should protest asit On 9/1/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > Dear Murali and Rajen, > > Please and try defend Mr modi instead of bringing shallow comparisons, for > which you do have any proof or even an argument. > > -anupam > > On 9/1/09, Murali V wrote: > > > > What do we do to Sonia who has accepted the Order of Leopold, which > > evokes the gruesome memories of Leopold's mass murders and genocide in > > Zaire (erstwhile Belgian Congo). > > > > By accepting the ‘Order of Leopold’ from the King of Belgium in > > November 2006, she has clearly shown that she has contempt for India > > and the Indian people. She has greater contempt for the Law of Indian > > Constitution. > > > > Regards, > > V Murali > > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:37 PM, Shilpa Phadke > > wrote: > > > There is a petition online protesting the award to Modi. > > > > > > http://www.petitiononline.com/FDI/ > > > > > > > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > > From: shabnam hashmi > > > Date: Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM > > > Subject: stop the award > > > To: shabnam hashmi > > > > > > > > > The Financial Times group in London has decided to confer the 'FDI > Asian > > > Personality of the Year 2009’ on Narendra Modi. It is well known and > > > documented by over 30 human rights fact finding reports that he was > > > complicit in and personally responsible for the communal carnage that > > > occurred in Gujarat in 2002, seen as India’s worst instance of violence > > > against minorities. Even today over 5000 families of Internally > Displaced > > > Muslims, the victims of 2002 communal carnage live in rehabilitation > > > colonies built by NGOs as they have not been allowed to return to the > > > villages which bear the sign of the Hindu Rashtra. It will be a matter > of > > > great shame if this award is given to him. The FT Group, is part of > > Pearson > > > PLC, a London headquartered media conglomerate. The current CEO is > > Marjorie > > > Scardino, she serves on the board of MacArthur Foundation, which > > ironically > > > gives out peace grants. > > > > > > The award in question has been instituted by the FDI Magazine [glossy, > > > 15,000 circulation], which is part of the FT Group. It is a fortnightly > > and > > > focuses on the business of globalisation. > > > > > > The panel which chose Modi include the editor at FDI Mag -- Courtney > > Fingar, > > > [E-mail: courtney.fingar at ft.com/ Tel: +44 (0) 20 7775 6365]. > > > > > > I am sending a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner > > tomorrow. > > > Please write to the British High Commissioner ( *Email:* > > > web.newdelhi at fco.gov.uk) and send copies to courtney.fingar at ft.com or > > write > > > to her directly. > > > > > > shabnam hashmi > > > > > > > > > - > > > > > > > > > -- > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From bawazainab79 at gmail.com Thu Sep 3 01:27:13 2009 From: bawazainab79 at gmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 01:27:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Notes from a Metro (Pun Unintentionally Intentional) Message-ID: *Enter Delhi*: The boy was about 13, perhaps less. He was riding a bike which was about three times his size. He swerved between the vehicles on the road at Karol Bagh, very much in the wrong in terms of which side of the road he ought to be on, and therefore also in terms of the traffic rules and regulations. But he could not care. I looked at him and wondered, *Dilli dilwalon ki hai* – Delhi is a city of the large-hearted, of the daring, the bold and the courageous. A few days later, one of the auto drivers remarked to me during a journey, *Kehte hai dilli dilwalon ki hoti hai. Lekin yeh jhoot hai. Sabhi log yahan paise ke peeche pade rehte hai aur har koi aapko lootne ki koshish karna chahta hai –* It is a saying that Delhi is a city of the large-hearted. But this is false. Everyone here is behind money, and each person is out to loot/cheat you. Another auto driver mentioned to me during another journey, *Dilli mein corruption jyada hai, doosre states aur shaharon se bhi zyaada*– There is more corruption in Delhi, more than what it is in other states and cities (in India). *Kyon* – why, I asked, in a rhetorical fashion. Before he could respond, I already answered – *kyonki yeh rajdhani hai?* – Because this is the capital of the country? *Haan, is hi liye. Aur doosra yeh ki har koi yahan apne aap ko minister ka rishtadar bata ta hai ­­–* Yes, that is why. And the other thing is that each one here shows off as being the relative of one minister or the other. In this way, they can get away with anything and also claim to have ‘influence’ or political capital/clout to pass by it all! I smiled on hearing this. Maybe I knew this was coming. At one time, someone had remarked that the problem in Pune city is that everyone shows himself/herself off as a relative of the historical hero Shivaji or belonging to the family of the Peshwas! That relationship needs to be understood in the backdrop of caste, culture, cultural capital and filial capital, somewhat different from the relationships with ministers shown off in Dilli. I still believe that* dilli dilwalon ki hai*. I encounter the aggressive coldness, the aloofness, but then there are also people who talk to me, who invite me into their homes to a cup of tea or a morsel of food. And that encourages me to be a conduit of their stories, of their thoughts, of their imaginations, of their aspirations, of their prejudices, of their biases, of their fears and everything else that comes in this package called humankind. I tell a story here, one that I have only weaved from the myriads which auto drivers, dwellers, taxi drivers and various other people I encountered in Delhi told me at different points in time, during different journeys. This is a story of a city becoming. And with the city becoming, we become, we invest, we reap and we lose. As I am writing, I am unsure how to piece the different narratives together. At times, I pause, wondering if I am sounding didactic or arrogant, or if I am being incoherent. So, perhaps as I write of the city becoming, I also write of myself, and hope that Providence will accompany me in this exercise. Thus, we go … I landed in Delhi on the second day of the strike of the autorickshaw drivers. This was topic enough to begin a conversation from the next day onwards as I leapt in and out of autos. *Toh bhaiyya, aapka strike tha kal. Strike kyon tha?* – I asked the auto driver next day, you had a strike yesterday. Why did you strike? *Ab aisa hai ki authauti wale hum ko fine laga dete hai agar wardi na pehno, agar signal kaat do ya phir galat raaste ho jao. Chalan kat ta hai 5,000 ka, 10,000 ka. Aur gaadi chudwane jao woh alag. To hum strike kar rahe the. –*Now it is like this, that the *authauti *(authority) people, they fine us if we do not wear our uniforms, if we break the signal, if we go the wrong side of the roads. The *chalan*(fine receipt) is usually of 5,000 rupees, 10,000 rupees, and then we also have to go to release the vehicle (which is another headache). That is why we were on strike. *Toh aapka masla hal hua*? – So, was your matter resolved? I asked. *Nahin, kahan. Ab to sarkar ne kaha hai ki woh hamare mamle mein dekhenge. Dekhe kya hota hai.* – No, where? The government has promised to look into our matter. Let us see what happens. Another fellow told me that the strike is also because, *Kabhi log meter se jaana chahte hai toh kabhi humse pehle hi fix karwa lete hai ki itne mein hi jaana hai. Ab yeh to logon ki marzi hai. Bahar se jo log aate hai, woh meter se nahin jaana chahte. To woh humse done karwa lete hai ki itna denge. Lekin policewalleh jo hai woh hummein galat batate hai. Kehte hai hum meter se nahi jaa te aur humko chalan laga dete hai.* – Sometimes people want to go by the meter* *and sometimes they want to fix the fare at the beginning of the journey itself. It is their wish. Those people who come from outside Delhi do not want to go by the meter. They want to fix the fare right at the beginning and hence they do so accordingly. But the policemen always put us auto drivers in the wrong. They say that we don’t go by the meter. And then they write us a *chalan*. He continued, *Aur galat kya hai jo hum aap se 10 rupaiye jyada bhi maang le. Waise bhi mehangayi itni bdh gayi hai. Aur sarkar hai jo kiraya badhane nahin deti. *– And then, what is wrong if I ask you for ten rupees more? As it is, inflation has increased and the government does not want us to increase the fares. After a while, he said, *Aap ko bata de ki log bolte hai ki Bambai mein saare auto wale meter se jaate hai. Lekin unka meter hamesha badha hua rahta hai. Phir woh sahi kaise? *– I must tell you that people tell us that the auto drivers in Bombay always go by the meter. But their meter is not correct and is rigged. Then how come they are right and their ways are correct? *Toh bhaiyya aapka union kuch nahi karta?* I asked the driver whether their union does not do anything for them. *Ab aisa hai ki union ek nahi, bikhre huye hai. Political party walon ka bahrosa nahin. Aaj yahan toh kal wahan. *– Now it is like that we do not have one union. There are several factions. And we do not trust political parties. Today they are here, tomorrow they are there. *Bambai mein to Shiv Sena wale auto union ko control karte hai. Aapke yahan kya BJP wale union pe kaboo rakhte hai?* – I told him that in Bombay, the Shiv Sena party controls the autorickshaw driver unions. Then I asked, if the BJP has a hold on the unions in Delhi. *Waisa nahin hai. Shiv Sena wale ne hamari thodi madad ki thi. Kiraya badhwane ki hamari maang ko unhonne support diya tha. Lekin hum jyada Shiv Sena party se sambandh nahi rakhte. Kyonki woh logon ko baant dete hai. Phir, kuch samay baad, unki party bhi kamjoor pad gayi aur bikhar gayi. To hum unhe support nahin na dete hai.* – It is not like that. The Shiv Sena party and their people had given us some support at one time. When we raised the issue of increasing the fares, they supported us. But we don’t keep much relation with the Sena because they are into divisive politics. And then, the party also became weak after a point in time and it began to disintegrate. So we don’t give them support. To another auto driver, during another journey, I asked again why their tribe was on strike. He said, *Hum galat raaste ho jate hai to chalan kat jata hai 5,000 ka. Us se bada nuksaan ho jata hai humko. Aur sarkar bhi hai jo kiraya badhane nahi deti. Lekin chawal aur shakkar ke daam badh jaate hai. Ab dekho, Congress sarkar ko aaye che mahine bhi nahin huye ki mehangaayi badh gayi. –* If we go on the wrong side of the road, they issue a *chalan* of 5,000 rupees. That leads us to incur very heavy losses. And then the government is there – they don’t let us increase the fare. But the prices of essential commodities keep rising. Now look, the Congress government is in power since only six months and the prices of rice and sugar have increased. We were on our way to South Delhi. At one stage, both the driver and I were unsure about whether to make a left or a right on the road. We stopped by and asked the guard at the club to direct us. I spoke to the guard and asked him for the address. He said, *Madam, woh toh road ke doosre side par hai. Agar autowallah us side se jayega to usko chalan lag jayega. U turn le lo aur phir service road pakad lo. *– Madam, the place you want to go to is on the other side of the road. If the auto driver goes there, he will be issued a fine receipt. Go to the end of the road, take a u-turn and then take the service road. My heart jumped out when I heard the security guard. Just at the beginning of the journey, the auto driver was telling me about *chalans* being issued to them for being on the wrong side of the road and how unfair it was to them and their livelihoods. And now, I would become the cause of a *chalan*being issued to the auto driver. I was very scared. The moment I spotted the place I had to be at from the other side of the road, I stopped the auto driver, gave him his prepaid fare claim receipt, and asked him to speed off. Whew! In the days that passed, and I travelled through various parts of the city, it became evident that the transport authority was perhaps one of the most corrupt and controlling departments in the overall administration. Different auto drivers, during different journeys, said, *Ab aisa hai ki Tata wale yeh rickshaw banate hai. Iska daam hota hai 1,25,000 jyada se jyada. Uske upar, aap samajh lo ki gaadi ki registration, permit, aur kharcha mila ke 10,000 aur ho jata hai. To maan lo ki gaadi ka bahut kar ke 1,35,000 ho jata hai. Lekin aisa hai ki dalaalon ne kabza kar rakha hai, aur black karte hai. Yehi gaadi bikti kai 4,00,000 se 5,00,000 lakh tak. Ab hum to itna kharcha kar nahin sakte hai nah?!? Aur yahan log hai, jinhone ne pachaas pachaas auto apne paas kar liye hain. – *Now it is like this that the Tata guys make these autorickshaws. The actual cost of the vehicle is maximum Rs. 1,25,000. On top of that, there are costs of registration and permits. That comes to about Rs. 10,000. So, at the most, the auto costs about Rs. 1,35,000. Now, there are these brokers, they control the sales of the autorickshaws and hike the price to Rs. 4,00,000 to Rs. 5,00,000. Now, we cannot spend so much. And here, (in Delhi), there are individuals who have about 50 vehicles under their ownership. *Toh hum ne suna hai ki agar aap Haryana mein registration karwaye, to auto 1,75,000 mein mil jaati hai auto.* – So, we have heard that if you register in Haryana, you get the auto for Rs. 1,75,000? I queried. *Haan, yeh toh sahi hai. – *Yes, this is right. *Haan, hum kal kisi ko mile the jo hame yeh bata raha tha –* Yes, we met someone yesterday who was telling us this. What a difference in the prices, no?, my friend travelling with me exclaimed. Almost three times! At another time, I asked the auto driver driving us from Central Secretariat whether the prepaid auto system is more profitable for them or not. *Ab aisa hai ki prepaid mein hammein do char rupaiye jyada mil jaate hai. Lekin yeh bhi problem hai ki hammein jaana padta hai paisa lene ke liye – *Now it is like that we get a little more money when we go by prepaid receipt system. But then, the problem is that we have to go to collect the money back to the counter from where the receipt was made in the first place. *Haan, woh aapke raaste ke bahaar pad jata hoga? *-* *Yes, that must be out of the way for you. *Nahi ji, woh baat nahi hai. Ab aisa hai ki pulicewale is prepaid ko chalate hai. Aur pulicewala to apne baap ka bhi nahin to mera kya? *– No, that is not really the case. The deal is that the prepaid auto system is run by the (traffic) police. Now, the policeman does not even care for his own father, what will he care for me? *Toh aisa lagta hai ki transport department yahan sabse corrupt hai.* – So, it seems like the transport department is most corrupt here. *Haan ji. Ab aisa hai ki sarkar license ke do sau pachaas maangti hai. Jab dalaal beech mein aa jata hai, to usi ka che hazaar ho jata hai. Phir permit lena padta hai. Sarkar uske do sau assi maangti hai aur dalaal aa jaye to wahi teen hazaar ka ho jata hai. Woh sab ko paise khilata hai – neeche se le kar ke upar tak. *– Yes. Now it is like this that the *sarkar* (which could mean administration or the government in different contexts) asks for 250 rupees for issuing license. When the broker comes in the way, then that same license costs us Rs. 6,000. Then we also have to take a permit to run a commercial vehicle on the road. For that, the administration asks for 280 rupees but the broker gets in between and makes it 3,000 rupees. The broker gives money to every official in the administration, from bottom to the top. *Phir, permit ki baat hi dekh li ji ye. Aisa hai ki hammein LMV (light motor vehicle) ka permit mil jaye to hum LMV hi chala sakte hai. Agar hammein truck wagayreh chalana ho, to HMV (heavy motor vehicle) ka license lena padta hai.* – Then you also take the issue of permit. Now, it is like this that we get a permit to drive light motor vehicles. But if we want to drive a truck or some other heavy motor vehicle, then we have to take another license. *To agar aap HMV chalate hai to phir to aapko LMV ka permit nahin lena padta hoga?* – So then, I queried, if you drive a heavy motor vehicle, then you don’t have to take a permit for a light motor vehicle? *Kahan ji! Tab bhi hammein lena padta hai. Yehi to ajeeb baat hai. Agar koi graduate ho, to kya aap us se punchenge ki tumne tenth ka class pass kiya hai ki nahin? Hamney bhi ek baar officer se pooncha tha ki sahib, agar koi graduate hai to kya aap us se poonchege ki woh tenth pass hai ki nahi? Officer ne kaha ki yeh kayda ajeeb hai. Lekin woh kya kare? Woh thodi na kayda badal sakta hai.* – Where? Even then we have to take a permit. Now, if someone is a graduate, will you ask him whether he has passed tenth class (i.e. schooling)? Once, we had asked an officer (in the authority), that sir, if someone is a graduate, will you ask him whether he has passed tenth class? The officer replied, yes, the rule is strange. But then, what can the officer do? He cannot change the law and the rules. *Ab aisa bhi hai ki minister department ko utna nahin jaanta jitna dalal department ko ekum andar se jaanta hai. *– Now it is also like this that the minister does not know the department as much as the broker knows. The broker knows the insides of the department. *Yahan to Punjabiyon ka raaj chalta. Woh hi saare autorickshaw control karte hai. Aur hamare transport minister bhi Harwinder Singh Lovely ji hain – Punjabi. Aur Punjabiyon ka toh aisa hai ki saara kaam bahar hi bahar kar wa lo. *– Here, the Punjabis rule. Most of the autorickshaws are under their control. And our transport minister is also a Punjabi. His name is Harwinder Singh Lovely. And with the Punjabis, they prefer to get all the work done outside. *Bahar kar wa lo matlab kya? *­– What does it mean to get all the work done outside? I asked. (Perhaps he meant that the Punjabis prefer all the matters to be arbitrated and sorted out among the contending parties, outside of the administration’s gaze and involvement.) *Uska matlab hai sab kuch bahar hi nipta lo. Hamare Raju Srivastava ji ne ek joke kaha tha. Flyover banane ka contract nikala sarkar ne. Bungali ne 30,000 ka contract bhara. Marwadi ne 60,000 ka aur Punjabi ne 90,000. Phir afsar (officer) ne teen no ko bulaya aur pooncha ki teen no ke tender mein itna pharak kyon. Bungali ne kaha ki woh saste mein flyover banayega. To woh 10,000 ka material layega, 10,000 labour ko dega aur 10,000 apna profit rakhega. Marwari ne kaha ki woh thoda acchi quality ka flyover banayega. Toh woh 20,000 ka material layega, 20,000 labour ko dega aur 20,000 khud profit rakhega. Phir Punjabi se pooncha. Toh usne bataya ki woh 30,000 bungali ko dega flyover banane ke liye, 30,000 afsar (officer) ko dega aur 30,000 khud rakhega. Toh lo ji, sab khush – aap bhi khush aur main bhi khush.* – That means that the matters have to be sorted out directly between the contending parties. Our Raju Srivastava (comedian and TV personality) had once narrated a joke. A tender was opened for bids to construct a flyover. Bengali quoted 30,000 rupees, Marwari quoted 60,000 rupees and Punjabi quoted 90,000 rupees. The officer called them all in order for them to explain the disparities in the price quoted. Bengali said that he would build a cheap flyover and hence, he would pay 10,000 for materials, 10,000 for labour and keep 10,000 as profit for himself. Marwari said he would build a flyover of good quality. Hence, he would spend 20,000 on materials, 20,000 on labour and 20,000 as personal profit. Punjabi said that he would give 30,000 to the Bengali to build the flyover, 30,000 to the officer and keep the balance 30,000 for himself. This way, you are also happy, I am also happy, Bengali is also happy and everyone is happy! People narrated their perceptions in some journeys. At one time, I was told that house owners prefer to rent their apartments to Bengalis because the Bengalis are peace-loving people and do not fight, whereas Punjabis are more likely to capture the property after living there for some time. In one journey, the autorickshaw driver remarked that Bengalis living in Delhi’s CR Park had all migrated from Bangladesh. He believed that Calcutta was always a prosperous city and that the only Bengalis who migrated were the Hindus from East Pakistan. He explained to us how Calcutta is a cheap city: *Yahan aap auto mein 55 rupaiye kharcha karenge. Wahan Calcutta mein 55 rupaiye mein aap taxi ki savari kar sakte hai.* – Here, in Delhi, you will spend 55 rupees to travel in an auto. There, in Calcutta, you will spend 55 rupees to travel in a taxi. He continued, *Calcutta accha sheher tha. Lekin yeh CPI (M) walon ne usko bigaad ke rakkha hai. Hara aye din strike kar dete hai.* – Calcutta was a nice city (the word *sheher* somehow indicates much more magnanimity, benevolence and vastness than its English translation city!). But, then the CPI (M) (Communist Party – Marxist) has spoilt the city. Every other day, they call for a strike. I think about the disdain with politics that people narrate to me. Yet, they engage with politics. On the surface, we may read this as the corruption that has set into politics. And yet, people engage with politics. Does one class this as “necessary evil”? Or political consciousness? I am not sure how to explain this. For now, I refuse to dismiss this as corruption/apathy/degeneration set into politics. Perhaps I see this as a way of balancing power scales and equations … ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Then I ride past South Delhi. They are building the metro rail system. Just the other day, Mel, D and I were talking in the train from Vidhan Sabha to New Delhi Railway station: Moi: It is so terrible to keep hearing the same announcements at each station each time you travel through the same route. D: Perhaps they should randomize the announcements! Moi: How? They should declare that the next station is Chawri Bazaar and not Civil Lines? D: Yes, maybe. Then everyone will laugh – hahahahaha! Mel: Hehehe! I think the funniest announcement is when they say “Beware! Toys, bags, etc could be bomb!” Yes, bomb! Like everywhere, everyday there is bomb! Moi: The other day, I was travelling in the train from Vidhan Sabha to Rajiv Chowk. At Kashmere Gate, lots of people got in. One of them had a suitcase which he kept close to an old woman’s legs. The old woman began asking around – “whose suitcase? Whose suitcase? Whose suitcase?” – but no one responded. I felt that the owner of the suitcase was not responding because he did not want to haggle with the old woman for space to keep his luggage. And I assumed that the old woman was nagging because she wanted it moved. Finally, she announced, “*Bhaiyya* (brother), you never know what this suitcase could be!” implying that it could be a bomb. “Times are different today.” The *bhaiyya* listening to her concurred with her. The owner of the suitcase came forth and ascertained that the bag belonged to him. I was reminded of my first bus journey in London when an old woman sitting next to me almost had palpitations when she saw the police accumulated around a roadside flea market from outside the window. She wondered whether it was a blast. Hmmm … such memories, such associations, such fears. The Delhi Metro keeps extending each year to different parts of the city. Sometimes I am fascinated and I feel wow! I am able to see parts of Delhi which I wouldn’t have had there been no metro. Then I tell myself that maybe I am building false hopes because it means now with the metro, I don’t take no buses as I used to earlier. I think of regularities, of habits, of everyday routines and what the metro does to people’s lives in this city as also to their minds. Does it open the possibilities for new encounters? … [The other day when I was in the train, people got inside in large numbers at Kashmere Gate. A fellow happened to push another. The one who got pushed turned around and asked the pusher, *Dhakka kyon diya? *Why did you push? *Arre bhaiyya, tum nah toh mere dost nah to mere dushman, main aapko jaan boojh kar dhakka kyon du?* The fellow replied, oh brother! I am neither your friend nor your foe, why should I push you! The two men smiled and understood. *Dilli dilwalon ki hai* – it is these negotiations which force me to peer into the city and into people and their conversations and encounters …] Does the Metro foster/reinforce old beliefs and ideas? I pass through the security checks each day at each Metro station. Sometimes I find the lady guards so bored, doing the same thing they do over and over again – feel people’s bodies and search their bags. Most of the times, it is a half hearted effort, like a formality. And then, as I write right now, I wonder what would happen if there were no security checks at all at each of the metro stations … I also think of the implications the underground and elevated metro has, not so much in terms of costs and effects on surrounding neighbourhoods, but more in terms of what becomes visible and invisible as we go underground in some areas and over ground in others? How does over ground and underground shape our perceptions of the city, our sight, our minds and our visions? …** We walked out of Vidhan Sabha metro station, gate number 1. Across the road were the luxurious DMRC flats meant for the DMRC employees. I point them out to Mel. She also exclaimed in wonder. And then she asked me, “So the security guards at the stations and the people who sell the tokens live in these flats?” I said no. I would imagine they are meant for the top notch officials. Then she laughed and said, “Maybe those who guard the metro rail stations also guard these flats!” The train is usually filled at Kashmere Gate and it both empties and fills up at Rajiv Chowk. The Blue Line trains going to Dwarka are crazy. You get no seat on them to sit for most parts of the journey. The announcement goes: “Please do not sit on the floors of the train and do not play music.” And people sit on the floors of the train. And I wonder whether I can play my I-Pod into my ears and if I do, would I be violating the rules of the use of the Metro? I talk to the taxi driver on the way to the airport. I ask him, *Bhaiyya*, *Metro ke aa jane se aapke dhande ko pharak pada hai?* – Has your business been affected because of the coming of the metro? *Nahi ji. Koi nahi. Balki Metro* *ke badh jaane se hamara dhanda to aur badh jayega. Kya hota hai ji ki log to station par utar jaate hai. Lekin unko aage bhi jaana hota hai. Toh ab kya hoga ki hammein jyada sawari milegi, bhale hi short distance ke liye. Lekin sawari jyada ho jayegi aur jaldi jaldi customer milte rahege *– Not at all! Instead, with the coming of the Metro, our business will increase. What happens is that people get off at the station and then they need to go ahead. In which case, they will call on us. Yes, the distances will be shorter, but we will get more customers, and faster. Autorickshaw fellows also concurred along similar lines. I asked one of them whether the coming of the Metro has made a difference to Delhi. He explained, *Ab kya hai ji ki BJP sarkar ne is Metro ki planning kit hi dus saal pehle. Aur phir aabaadi toh badhti jaati hai. Aur ab is Metro ke aane se, aabaadi aur bhi badh gayi hai!* – The BJP government had planned the Metro ten years ago (according to the then estimates). What happens is that the population increases and now with the Metro, the population has increased further. But the taxi driver does not concur here. He says, *Metro ke aane se pharak pada hai? Kuch nahi ji. Ab kya hota hai ki Dilli ka aadmi bada sust hota hai. Woh bistar mein pada pada phone lagayega taxi ke liye. Hum taxi le aate hai. Phir woh kahe ga bhaiyya zara upar aa kar ke samaan utha lena. Chalo ji, humne samaan utha liya. Phir hum usko station pahuncha dete hai. Ab who kahega, bhaiyya zara coolie bulwa dena. Chalo ji coolie ne maang liye sau-do sau. De diye. Ab in forgeineron ko dekh lo. Khud itne bade bade samaan apne peenth par utha kar ke khud hi chalte hai aur station khud hi jaate hai. Hamare yahan ke log bade aalsi hai. Ab dekhiye ji, kaun sa aadmi metro mein chadhega? Jo beechara busson mein safar karte karte thak gaya hai aur jo jaldi aur theek thaak pahunchna chahta hai. Ab jo pachees-tees hazaar kamane wala hai, kya who metro mein safar karega?* – Has the coming of the metro made a difference? Nothing! Now what happens is that the man in Delhi is very lazy. He will lie in his bed and make a phone call for a taxi. Ok, we bring the taxi to his house. Then he will call us upstairs and ask to pick up his luggage. Ok, we have done that too. Then we drive him to the station. On reaching, he will tell us, ‘go, call a coolie to lift the luggage’. The coolie demands 100-200 rupees – they give it. Now look at these foreigners. They carry their heavy backpacks on their shoulders and backs and they walk themselves to the station. Our people are not like that. Now tell me, who are the people who will use the metro? Those who travel by buses and who want to travel in a clean and safe way and want to reach their destinations quickly. Those who earn 25,000-30,000 rupees, do you think they will take the metro? He continued, *Yeh public-city hi aisi hai. Jiski jaisi soch, woh waisa hi karega. Joh gaadi mein chalne wala hai, woh gaadi mein he jayega.* – This is public-city is like this only. Those who think a particular way, they will behave accordingly. Those who travel by car, they will always use a car. I think about planning, public transport and ways by which people travel the city. The taxi driver tells me, *Ab Dilli mein jitney road ya flyover bana le, gaadiyan kam nahi hongi. Hota yun hai ki jeb mein hai 10,000 rupaiye. Toh bank wale phone kar ke kehte hai, ‘gaadi bhijwa dete hai’. Kamaiyi toh hote rahegi. Har mahine paise bharte rahenge.* – Now in Delhi, build as many roads and flyovers as you like, the number of cars on the road will not reduce. It happens like this that you have 10,000 rupees sitting in your pocket and the Bank fellow knows, he will phone you. He will tell you, ‘we are sending a car for you’. The Bank fellow believes that this fellow will keep earning. So every month, he will pay the installments. Then I ask the taxi *bhaiyya* *Aur zameen? *– And land? (Can you buy land?) He laughs, in a tone I cannot describe. I don’t know what emotion he is going through or what thought it is. He says, *Woh to aap soch bhi nahi sakte Dilli mein.* –You cannot think of buying land in Delhi. My mind races back to the man whose name I did not ask, but when we were wandering around someone’s house, he asked me if I was in their area to purchase a plot of land. This man had been moved from Shahadra to a resettlement colony because his land/house was going to be acquired under the Metro rail construction. I asked him whether he was not interested in going back to Shahadra and residing there. He looked at me and smiled and exclaimed, *Soch bhi nahi sakte waapas jaane ki! Zameen ke bhau itne badh chuke hai ki hum soch bhi nahi sakte. Ek gaj ke 35,000 rupaiye. Kahan se laye?* – Cannot even think of going back! The prices of the land have increased so much that we cannot even think. One *gaj* (square meter) costs about 35,000 rupees now. Where to get so much money? *Kya! Itne kyon badh gaye?* – What? I exclaimed. Why have the prices increased so much? *Kyonki wahan ab poora market ban gaya hai* … - Because a full market has come up there. I am not sure what the market means because as I wanted to talk more, my host asked me to come in along with him and have tea. But he said he did not want to come in. He asked me to look around his area and see if I find some (plot) that I like and want to purchase. Market, I think about that ghost and demon. It has been intriguing me what is the market? How do we understand it? Where is the market? How do we understand the scales at which markets operate? Do the scales have to be separated or can we understand and narrate in a way where scales are neither overwhelming nor absolute nor diminishing one or the other? Market … And then, in the midst of my thoughts, I suddenly ask the taxi driver where he lives? *Mayur Vihar Phase III.* *Haan, hum Mayur Vihar Phase I mein rehte the pehle. * – yes, I used to live in Mayur Vihar Phase I in the beginning, I told him. He then said, somewhat as a matter of factly, *Asal mein Phase I aur II mein apartment hai aur society hai. Phase III poora gaon jaisa hai. Wahan pe gaon jaise kothi/makaan hote hai. Gharon mein aangan jaisa hota hai.* – Actually, in Phase I and II there are apartments and are organized into (housing) societies. Phase III is completely a village. There you have houses like those in villages. Some of the houses have courtyards. As he mentioned this to me, I recognized the aspiration for modernity. In some sense, his tone was slightly hesitant and then also somewhat ashamed. From the beginning of our journey, the taxi driver had been talking about how companies like Easy Cabs are now becoming popular in Delhi because, *AC hota hai. Aaraam hai. Auto wale jaise thodi door jaane ke liye jyaada paise maangte hai. Ab hamare yahan kya hai ki sab facilities hai. Aur hum poora data record kar ke rakhte hai. Dekhiye ji aisa ki is gaadi ne kab kis passenger ko kahan choda tha uska poora data aur record hamare paas hai. Ab aapne kahin bag chod diya gaadi mein, to aap keh sakte hai ki is gaadi aur is driver ne hammein choda tha is samay. Aapka bag waapas mil sakta hai. Ab auto ka kya hai ki driver ke maathe pe nahin likha hota ki woh imaandar hai ya nahin. Aapko apna bag mile ya nahin. - * There is air conditioning. The auto drivers ask you for a lot of money for going a short distance. We, at Easy Cabs, have all the facilities. We maintain a complete record and all the data regarding all journeys that a particular cab and the driver have done. So if you leave your bag in the car by any chance, then you can call and tell the company that you travelled on so-and-so date in so-and-so car number and you will get your bag back. Now with the auto driver, it is not written on his forehead that he is honest and will return your bag to you aptly. The taxi driver had completed his Bachelors in Commerce discipline. He gets 20% of the share from the day’s earnings. It has been two years since he is driving his cab. His father is an employee in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). He is trying for a position in the police services and he hopes it will work out. He tells me about the flyover that is being built from IIT gate right up to the airport. *Aap dus minute mein airport pahunch jaoge ek baar yeh flyover ban gaya toh. Lekin iska kaam chal raha hai chaar saal se. Games hone tak yeh ban jayega. Aisa hai ki PWD wale isko bana rahe hai. Agar private wala banata, toh ab tak yeh khatam ho chuka hota. * – Once this flyover is built, you will reach the airport in ten minutes flat. But the work on this flyover has been going on since 4 years. It should be ready by the time the 2010 (Common Wealth) Games begin in Delhi. The deal is that the Public Works Department (PWD) folks are constructing this flyover. If a private contractor were doing this, it would be ready in the agreed upon time. This intrigues me. I want to probe into his notions of privatization and contract work, more so because he said his father was an employee of the DJB, a government servant. *Toh bhaiyya yeh DJB ko private kar ne wale the?* – So brother, they were going to privatize the DJB, I asked him. *Haan, woh toh BJP sarkar karne wali thi. Ab Congress sarkar aayi huyi hai toh unhone rok rakha hai.* – Yes, that the BJP government was going to do. But now that the Congress government has come, it has put a stop to privatization. Then I want to probe more. Hence, I ask him about electricity privatization in Delhi and how that has proved to be as inefficient as the DESU running it and the number of power cuts continue to be the same. He replies, *Ab aisa hai ki koi aadmi do kilo vazan utha sakta hai. Ab aap us ko bolon ki chalees kilo uthaye. Toh woh kaise utha payega? Ab har ghar mein AC hai, pankhe hai. Balki ek hi room mein kamas kam do AC hai. Cooler to the hi the. Log bhi to jyada bijli istamaal kar rahe hai.* – Now it is like that man can lift 10 kilo weight but you ask him to lift 40 kilos, will he be able to do it? Now, in every house, there are air-conditioners and fans. Moreover, in the same room, there are two air-conditioners. Coolers were always there. You leave that. And people are also using more and more electricity. I am left on this journey thinking about the ways in which people perceive services provided by governments and those provided by private entities. There is no straightforward story that we can tell of whether the private is better than government or that the state should continue to provide water, lighting, health and education. I am grappling with some of these issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I move around South Delhi and notice the frenetic pace of the Metro Rail construction in preparation for the Games in 2010. I pass by an area whose name I don’t know, but it appears before you hit Defence Colony. The construction of the stadium is happening there. Shapoorji Paloonji is the contractor. I am told that LNJP colony near New Delhi railway station is going to be moved. Surveys have taken place to enumerate the slum dwellers. Mel says that the dwellers feel irritated when they see a foreigner around because they are currently coping with the stress of potential eviction. There is no information as to when the evictions will happen. They are only told that the evictions will happen. We go to Ghevra and at the entry to Savda colony where the autorickshaws and cycle rickshaws stand, we are asked if we want to go to Savda. We ask the people who ask us how they know that we are going to Savda. They say that many NGOwalahs come here and they marked as one of that tribe. When being driven around in Savda, people laughed at us and mocked the autorickshaw driver, Haan, take them around Savda. They have come to see the area. Come, see! It is mockery at us, because we are seen as spectators of their plight. I feel ashamed. But I hold out, because *Dilli dilwalon ki hai* and it is the *dil* –the* *heart, the courage, the spirit – which I have to rely on. We pass through the laughter and the prying eyes. And then we are invited into people’s homes and their lives. I watch around in Savda. I hear the language of capture, of building, of speculation which I hear in Mumbai. I then wonder what happens once the games are over. I am told that the built structures will be sold. In my heart of hearts, I hope that they are captured by the very people on whose possessions these were built on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I began to write my notes sitting at the airport. And even then, I find these are incomplete. There are questions I have not asked, there are conversations I have not told. There is the story of *khatra* – danger – that the autodrivers spoke to me about which I have not told here. There is the story of illegal property with legal stamping and legal property with official stamps to prove that there is no *ghotala – *scam – in the transactions and the resulting ownership. But I am spent for now. I am immersed in these tales and I am still dissecting them to understand a city that is becoming. For that matter, all cities in India are now becoming, becoming in a way that was vastly different from what it was two decades ago. My children will know of cities the way I did not know of them. But then, how much did I really know of them as I grew up? … I write with my feet … I feel to travel more … [Dedicated to Melodi Oz with who I travelled into some parts of Delhi and lived with during my time in the city. The Oz turned out to be a wizard – waiting for more magic and laughter to rub on me in the times to come. Dedicated to Ravi Sundaram and his Pirate Modernity – for the conversations, the friendship and the understanding of cities that I have derived from him in some measure.] -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Gaining Ground ... http://zainab.freecrow.org http://cis-india.org/research/cis-raw/histories-of-the-internet/transparency-and-politics From indersalim at gmail.com Wed Sep 2 19:58:50 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 19:58:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] ART KARAVAN INTERNATIONAL: submit a proposal for event in Feb. 2010 Message-ID: <47e122a70909020728i72f1c45t988f4b4663393551@mail.gmail.com> Dear All please click the http://peripherals.blog.com to read and respond the event camp-travel-art event curated by PHERIPHERALS in Feb. 2010 with love inder salim ( member-PERIPHERALS ) _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From murali.chalam at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 11:25:42 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 11:25:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: References: <341380d00909010609r1d381a48gafc33dd36a5e3ea0@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909032154g17768aaci8848bd8ff3cefb22@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909032255o5b195eddjb8de4e0b65ca647f@mail.gmail.com> Exactly, but there seems to be a single agenda which is what I am against. Let there be a protest on all those who have committed mass murders be not allowed to stand in any elections. Regards, V Murali On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Murali > > First of all you have diverted from the original topic, but I believe, as I > have since one lengthy discussion with one of my friends, that we always do > get diverted from topics to discuss other issues, and what is critical is to > analyze the arguments raised in those, while not disregarding the main topic > or its importance. > > Having spoken on the subject concerned, I slightly move away to what you > have mentioned. First of all, a struggle for enhancement of freedoms of > people must focus on all aspects, and not just on one aspect. Hence, > focusing on just one Modi or one Gujarat or one Sikh riot or corruption > alone doesn't help; what is needed is a multi-pronged approach to struggle > for all kinds of injustices, which may be linked sometimes in very strong > terms with each other. This needs to be understood. For example, corruption > can play a significant role in registering false cases or not including > names of genuine culprits in the FIR's, which can play a role after communal > riots when the victims wish to get justice but are unable to do so, or > communal vendetta is launched after these riots in the name of legal action. > > Hence, the struggle against  Modi at one level is not necessarily excluding > corruption, for it can and may be a part of what happened in that state post > 2002. Hence, it must certainly be looked at. And on the larger issue of > money hidden in Swiss banks or elsewhere, certainly it's something which > must be looked at and nobody on this forum, I believe, would support hiding > money illegally in these banks for tax evasion purposes. > > On the issue of Sikh Riots, yes they were more severe than the Gujarat > genocide, and to me they too are a genocide or state-sponsored act of > terrorism, which we usually associate with Pakistan. (I am consciously using > 'we', for however much I wish to dissociate from the states, I can't, having > declared to be a citizen and even applying for passport from the state, and > I believe this is true for all of us on this forum and elsewhere). > > They too should deserve justice, which is why I don't think this issue must > be forgotten, but ironically, the very same People's Union of Civil > Liberties, which you have mentioned for the Sikh Riot report, has also given > reports on how the administration dithered and police looked the other way > while mass murders were carried out, in similar fashion to what happened in > Delhi. > > Nobody has agreed that Rajiv Gandhi and the killers did the right thing > then, and nobody would agree that  Modi and the killers did right this time > as well. Neither were Sikhs as a community in the holistic sense, traitors > for the action of one person, nor can Muslims be seen as a community as > traitors, even if for act of a few. Infact, at least in case of Indira > Gandhi, we can be sure that two Sikh bodyguards were responsible for it > (though there are people who link a conspiracy theory to her death). But in > case of Godhra, the truth is still not known, which is why we now have a SIT > to reinvestigate Godhra incident, after two panels have already given > diverging rationale for why and how it took place. > > Please do go through the following links to find out what the > PUCL and the PUDR have to say about the violence in Gujarat by the way: > > http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/maro_kapo_balo.pdf > > http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-modi.htm > > http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-nhrc-submission.htm > > http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-violence.htm > > http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-media.htm > > http://www.pucl.org/gujarat-index.htm > > On the issue of Sikh violence, here are the links: > > http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2003/who-are-guilty.htm > > http://www.pucl.org/reports/National/2001/communalism.htm > > Hence, the fight for injustice has to be against all kinds of injustices, > not necessarily against those committed only by particular political parties > or socio-cultural organizations. > > Regards > > Rakesh > From murali.chalam at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 11:35:10 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 11:35:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Self Imposed Traffic Discipline Message-ID: <4eab87870909032305t10987703w1dd7f3b37d408a1e@mail.gmail.com> I am sure many of us have experienced bitter and tensed traffic maneuvers almost on an hourly basis. The unruly traffic, the ill-disciplined vehicle drivers, the careless cops monitoring the roads, the traffic signals that never work added to the ever so free cattle roaming on the roads have all added to the long winding vehicular snarls. Have anyone wondered that these could be very well be avoided as most are within our control, which could be very well exercised very prudently and judiciously. During one of my visits to the US, I had a chance encounter of the rarest of rare instances of the traffic lights failing in a four way crossing junction in Austin Texas, during one of those peak hours. To top it all there was not a single cop and yet the traffic flow was very smooth. How it worked may not be easy to put in words, but yet I have tried to put it in a way that I hope people would understand and implement. As the signal stopped, all vehicles stopped at their respective junction points. One vehicle from each direction started moving in a cyclic manner taking turns. This ensured that every one had their turns and the flow resumed in a smooth manner. Now coming to our traffic behavior, what do we do, all vehicles in one direction at the first available opportunity move, blocking all other vehicular movement, blocking and chocking the junction leading to traffic coming to almost a stand still. People fail to realise that in their urgency to move forward quickly are only creating more delays. Take another instance. We do have lanes and by-lanes across the road anywhere in the world. A discipline that is followed in the US is that, whenever there is a queue of vehicles, a clear gap is left for vehicles coming from the opposite direction to turn into the lane, there by preventing a blockage of vehicles in the opposite direction as well because the vehicle cutting across has a clear passage to turn in. What do we do, we provide no such gaps and the traffic in the opposite direction also stops as the vehicle which wants to turn into the lane is waiting for gap to be freed, which is never given resulting in stoppage of vehicles in that direction, more so because most of our roads are narrow. Iam sure these are a few lessons that we can learn and implement, easing traffic tension to some extent. From goodmash.me at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 11:41:52 2009 From: goodmash.me at gmail.com (Cheri) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 11:41:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: stop the award to narendra modi In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909032255o5b195eddjb8de4e0b65ca647f@mail.gmail.com> References: <4eab87870909012042h5f0f032bj61c5930f870d136e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012217q4dc60084xcb3a65574b71c889@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909012300q7e33be2fvb1d664b32b015e91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909012320w313ced87h67f5d3e5e6a9730d@mail.gmail.com> <7675510909030653s3c890f65s15cabd69fb450a55@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909032154g17768aaci8848bd8ff3cefb22@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909032255o5b195eddjb8de4e0b65ca647f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7675510909032311r584a604bj440c0267270f448d@mail.gmail.com> Dear Rakesh, I cannot agree more with you on Modi's subversion of the founding principles of this republic and of the most basic of human rights. August 15, 1947 was just the first step, the anti-colonial struggle had then to move into a struggle for democracy that went beyond regular ballots. And it is here the Indian state has lacked credentials -- be in in Kashmir or the North East, or its attitude towards people displaced by 'development.' Where I deviate from you is at the valorisation of the award. I say we should not care much for it (and I admit I am overstating a point to prove a point) because of the implicit subtext that FT and its ilk need only to be pointed out their errors, and if we are sucessful, they would turn into ideals. It is similar to the intellectual ideal held by the early Indian nationalists of a difference between the 'ideal' Englishman (who was liberal and democratic) and the 'real' Englishman (who ruled the colony with an iron fist). If only the English (of the metropolis) were made aware of how they did not match up to the standards of the 'ideal,' they would promply grant Indians the same rights enjoyed in the democratic centre. In a similar vein, my argument is yes, that Modi is getting an award is a vile thing, but then should we be surprised? Let us see who the award is from and what is their agenda. Does not that angst, however justified, prevent us from hitting at the real problem -- that as long as we admit the idea that capital can be an impartial arbiter, we cannot fight the challenges to democracy, which include communalism? Murali, to counterpoise the Congress and the Indian state's pogrom of 1984 to the Gujarat massacres of 2002 is like two friends finding themselves in a brothel. They smile shamefacedly at each other and wink, since we're all sinners, let's live and let live! To draw a moral (!) equivalence is simply not correct. Regards, Cheri. 2009/9/4 Murali V : > Exactly, but there seems to be a single agenda which is what I am against. > > Let there be a protest on all those who have committed mass murders be > not allowed to stand in any elections. > > Regards, > V Murali > > On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: >> Dear Murali >> >> First of all you have diverted from the original topic, but I believe, as I >> have since one lengthy discussion with one of my friends, that we always do >> get diverted from topics to discuss other issues, and what is critical is to >> analyze the arguments raised in those, while not disregarding the main topic >> or its importance. >> >> Having spoken on the subject concerned, I slightly move away to what you >> have mentioned. First of all, a struggle for enhancement of freedoms of >> people must focus on all aspects, and not just on one aspect. Hence, >> focusing on just one Modi or one Gujarat or one Sikh riot or corruption >> alone doesn't help; what is needed is a multi-pronged approach to struggle >> for all kinds of injustices, which may be linked sometimes in very strong >> terms with each other. This needs to be understood. For example, corruption >> can play a significant role in registering false cases or not including >> names of genuine culprits in the FIR's, which can play a role after communal >> riots when the victims wish to get justice but are unable to do so, or >> communal vendetta is launched after these riots in the name of legal action. >> >> Hence, the struggle against  Modi at one level is not necessarily excluding >> corruption, for it can and may be a part of what happened in that state post >> 2002. Hence, it must certainly be looked at. And on the larger issue of >> money hidden in Swiss banks or elsewhere, certainly it's something which >> must be looked at and nobody on this forum, I believe, would support hiding >> money illegally in these banks for tax evasion purposes. >> >> On the issue of Sikh Riots, yes they were more severe than the Gujarat >> genocide, and to me they too are a genocide or state-sponsored act of >> terrorism, which we usually associate with Pakistan. (I am consciously using >> 'we', for however much I wish to dissociate from the states, I can't, having >> declared to be a citizen and even applying for passport from the state, and >> I believe this is true for all of us on this forum and elsewhere). >> >> They too should deserve justice, which is why I don't think this issue must >> be forgotten, but ironically, the very same People's Union of Civil >> Liberties, which you have mentioned for the Sikh Riot report, has also given >> reports on how the administration dithered and police looked the other way >> while mass murders were carried out, in similar fashion to what happened in >> Delhi. >> >> Nobody has agreed that Rajiv Gandhi and the killers did the right thing >> then, and nobody would agree that  Modi and the killers did right this time >> as well. Neither were Sikhs as a community in the holistic sense, traitors >> for the action of one person, nor can Muslims be seen as a community as >> traitors, even if for act of a few. Infact, at least in case of Indira >> Gandhi, we can be sure that two Sikh bodyguards were responsible for it >> (though there are people who link a conspiracy theory to her death). But in >> case of Godhra, the truth is still not known, which is why we now have a SIT >> to reinvestigate Godhra incident, after two panels have already given >> diverging rationale for why and how it took place. >> >> Please do go through the following links to find out what the >> PUCL and the PUDR have to say about the violence in Gujarat by the way: >> >> http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/maro_kapo_balo.pdf >> >> http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-modi.htm >> >> http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-nhrc-submission.htm >> >> http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-violence.htm >> >> http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-media.htm >> >> http://www.pucl.org/gujarat-index.htm >> >> On the issue of Sikh violence, here are the links: >> >> http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2003/who-are-guilty.htm >> >> http://www.pucl.org/reports/National/2001/communalism.htm >> >> Hence, the fight for injustice has to be against all kinds of injustices, >> not necessarily against those committed only by particular political parties >> or socio-cultural organizations. >> >> Regards >> >> Rakesh >> > -- Birla House, 10th Floor - East Tower, 25 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi 110 001 India (m) +91-99 9907 8674 | (t) +91-11-4178 1007 | (f) +91-11-4178 1010 "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. From monica at sarai.net Fri Sep 4 14:24:38 2009 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 14:24:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it Message-ID: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> Claudia Borges: The internet as we know it is at risk. The new rules in the EU (the Telecoms package) voted on May 6 and will be negotiated again in Autumn propose that broadband providers will be legally able to limit the number of websites you can look at, and to tell you whether or not you are allowed to use particular services. It will be dressed up as ‘new consumer options’ which people can choose from. People will be offered TV-like packages – with a limited number of options for you to access. It means that the Internet will be packaged up and your ability to access and to put up content could be severely restricted. It will create boxes of Internet accessibility, which don’t fit with the way we use it today. http://blackouteurope.eu/,/ Monica Narula Raqs Media Collective Sarai-CSDS www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Fri Sep 4 15:11:47 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 15:11:47 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] New Era Advertising In-Reply-To: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> References: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> Message-ID: <241080.74556.qm@web94702.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Get paid to attend surveys, get paid to read emails........ Now it's available in India. Off course at glance it seems to be a rather waste of time that time which could be used in unaccounted but more useful activities converted into less-than-money's worth equivalent. But experience now tells some people actually earn more....... Just wondering how this ad-earn loop adds into the real products we consume....... May be at a time Keynesian Consumption holds true for the economy now has got quite robust, or may be such a population that feeds on it is oly in it's rudiments.... Just wondering if someone gave me more info. We were having Uiversity paying us for Surveys, at last the online thing is in INdia. For eg check the following link: https://www.surveysavvy.com/?id=4042966&action=join For 'reading emails' here is a link. It works. http://hits4pay.com/members/index.cgi?sub_sengupta May be some people on this list who know more about net traffic statistics and people who know about e-business may help more. So now with real products available, one gets engrossed in this virtual world! ________________________________ From: Monica Narula To: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Friday, 4 September, 2009 2:24:38 PM Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it Claudia Borges: The internet as we know it is at risk.. The new rules in the EU (the  Telecoms package) voted on May 6 and will be negotiated again in  Autumn propose that broadband providers wed inill be legally able to limit  the number of websites you can look at, and to tell you whether or not  you are allowed to use particular services. It will be dressed up as  ‘new consumer options’ which people can choose from. People will be  offered TV-like packages – with a limited number of options for you to  access. It means that the Internet will be packaged up and your  ability to access and to put up content could be severely restricted.  It will create boxes of Internet accessibility, which don’t fit with  the way we use it today. http://blackouteurope.eu/,/ Monica Narula Raqs Media Collective Sarai-CSDS www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> Love Cricket? Check out live scores, photos, video highlights and more. Click here http://cricket.yahoo.com From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 15:43:22 2009 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 15:43:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] piece on the Andhra CM Message-ID: <564b2fca0909040313y1f2c0fe0v34fef11c982d57f8@mail.gmail.com> At a time when the media is falling over itself in praise of the unfortunate Andhra CM ... an excellent piece by K. Balagopal from the EPW on YSR's rise. Naga *ANDHRA PRADESH: BEYOND MEDIA IMAGES* *K. BALAGOPAL * *(June 2004, EPW)* Chandrababu Naidu’s defeat is the kind of event that lends itself so well to analysis by hindsight that the effort would be too tiresome. In any case, analysts attached to the Left parties have done that as ably as hindsight alone permits, and there is no need to add to their wisdom (by which it is not intended that they are altogether wrong). In fact, Naidu (or ‘Babu’ as he is known to his admirers in the State) is a classic instance of a phenomenon that the West is probably already very familiar with, but we are only just waking up to: a pervasive media creates a celebrity out of almost nothing, and then calls in experts to explain why its creation turned out to be nothing. Chandrababu is merely an ambitious political schemer who has managed to con quite a lot of intelligent people because he knows that their hunger for the image he has put on – a third world politician in the mould of a corporate executive spewing IT jargon and the verbiage of the World Bank’s development policy prejudices – is too acute for the normal functioning of their other senses. This is an effort, in part, to introduce his successor. For if someone does not do so now, a new myth could soon be in the making, and if the analysts of Left parties participate in its creation, as a homage to coalition politics, one may have to spend a lot of time disabusing the public of it. It is so easy to clothe Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, MBBS with the image of the good doctor who has turned to politics to cure society, that even without the help of such expertise, the media may itself involuntarily do so. Reforms with a human face, which appears to be the current slogan of the Congress, suits the image so well. The man is anything but a vendor of humane visages. His rise in politics has been accompanied by more bloodshed than that of any other politician in this State. Not bloodshed for some avowed ‘higher cause’, but bloodshed for the narrowest possible cause: the rise of one individual to political power and prominence. The recent elections may very well have meant many things in terms of popular aspirations, and one has no desire to be cynical on that score. But in the matter of the change of helmsmen, it has merely replaced a man who would find nothing too crooked if it is in his political interest, with one who would find nothing too brutal. And for both, the goal is the same: Power. Such precisely are the men neo-liberalism wishes to find in power in countries such as ours which it wants to subordinate to its logic and interests. It would be imprudent to regard this as an irrelevant consideration on the ground of the Congress Party’s avowal of a ‘human face’, for firstly that expression has no precise meaning, secondly Congressmen are known to be capable of changing course mid-stream, and thirdly India’s rulers irrespective of party have knowingly put themselves in a position where they have little leeway in matters of policy. YSR (as he is known in short) belongs to Cuddapah district of the Rayalaseema region of the state. His constituency, Pulivendula, exhibits a most distressing topography: endless stretches of nude soil studded with gravel and relieved by rocks that are even more bare. It is watered, using the expression figuratively, by the Chitravati, a tributary of the Penna (called Pennair in most maps), itself hardly a river worth the name. Today YSR wishes to be seen as a politician who has responded to the needs of farmers and is determined to do well by them, but in the nearly three decades of his political life, he has not been instrumental in adding one acre of assured irrigation to the parched lands of the constituency that has again and again returned him or his brother (when YSR chose to go to parliament instead) to the state Assembly. His father Raja Reddy was, to begin with, an ordinary farmer and a small time civil contractor. He got converted to Christianity in the days when even upper castes thought there may be material benefit in doing so, and was ostracised by the Reddys of his native village, Balapanur. He shifted to Pulivendula, the tahsil head-quarters. He quickly made a name for himself as a rough and violent man with whom one had better not get into a quarrel. To understand how Raja Reddy took advantage of that and paved the way for his son’s rise in politics, one must know something about Rayalaseema. *Viewing Rayalaseema * The Rayalaseema districts of Andhra Pradesh are known for severe water-scarcity. Though as a matter of convention the four districts of Anantapur, Cuddapah, Kurnool and Chittoor are said to comprise the region, in physical, social and historical terms, only the Madanapalle division of Chittoor district can be talked of in the company of the other three. The rest of Chittoor is in every sense, including average rainfall precipitation, a distinct entity. The other three districts have an average annual rainfall of 618 mm, which is among the lowest in the country. They lie in the basins of the Tungabhadra and Penna rivers, which popular memory associates with bounteous waters once upon a time, but are today mere apologies of streams. The catchment of these rivers gives only a moderate yield, much of which has already been dammed, rendering the river-beds dry along most of the length of the rivers. But the canals from the dams serve only about 4 per cent of the cultivable land in the districts. The major irrigation source of Rayalaseema, however, used to be the excellent system of tanks constructed by the Rayas of Vijayanagar, from whom the region gets its name. Like the rulers of Hyderabad and Warangal to the north, the Rayas of Vijayanagar got constructed a system of tanks all over the region to husband the scarce water resources and channel them to the fields. Indeed, most of the kings who ruled the various parts of the Deccan, and not merely the Telugu country, built such tanks to provide water for drinking and irrigation to the populace. A characteristic of the irrigation tanks of Rayalaseema is their huge size, probably because rainfall there is even more scarce, and demands even more comprehensive husbanding of water than elsewhere in the Deccan. This tank system, as indeed everywhere in the Deccan, is however in a shambles, now. Almost nothing has been done for their upkeep during the last several decades. Because of the denudation of the land around, even the slightest rainfall causes inrush of water into the tanks, breaching the poorly maintained bund. The breaches merit only the most cosmetic of repairs, and as a result, the tank bunds are but bundles of ill-repaired breaches. For the same reason, all the tanks are heavily silted, so heavily indeed that they look more like irregular-shaped football fields than irrigation tanks. In the days before chemical fertilisers, the silt was prized by farmers as a source of fertile topsoil, but now nobody is interested in taking the silt to fertilise their fields, and so de-silting, if it is to be done comprehensively, would be akin to a mass waste-removal exercise. As such, it is too costly for the funds governments are willing to spare for the upkeep of traditional irrigation systems. The upshot is reliance on increasing use of groundwater, through deeper and deeper borewells. But this is a self-destructive game, for the deeper farmers dig wells in competition with each other, the deeper they will have to dig next time round. The scarce rainfall cannot sustain this technology-driven thirst for groundwater. In 2002, in the midst of the second successive year of drought, a middle class farmer of YSR’s Cuddapah district had dug a borewell 1,000 feet deep, and still did not find water. (“If only I had persevered a little more, I may have struck oil” was, however, the farmer’s only response to commiseration, for a sense of humour rarely forsakes farmers, even in the worst of adversities). *Violence-Prone Society * A harsh physical environment does not necessarily lead to a harsh social life – there is no such homology – but the peculiar history of Rayalaseema combined with the region’s scanty endowment has led to a violence-ridden society. The kingdom of the Rayas was characterised by devolution of the power of administration, more particularly that of ‘law and order’, down to the lowest level. This was even more true of the border areas which were administered by men whom the British Gazetteers called polegars (‘palegadu’ in Telugu and ‘palayakkaran’ in Tamil). They (often) had small forts, and an armed retinue of men, with whose help they maintained order and assisted the collection of revenue. Except in the most well-administered periods, these men were not bound by any known rules of conduct, not to speak of anything resembling law. They behaved like – and in fact were – war-lords. With the fall of the Vijayanagar empire most of them became sovereigns over a handful of villages and incessantly raided neighbouring domains for booty and territory. It is said – though there is no hard evidence in this regard – that the villagers caught in this conflict sought refuge with village strongmen who could gather a retinue behind them and play the role of protector. But of course, when they did so, the villagers had to pay for the protection by living in accordance with the protector’s writ. As the fall of the Vijayanagar empire was followed by conflict between the British Indian rulers and the rulers of Hyderabad and Mysore, much of which took place over the Rayalaseema districts, the warlords as well as any villager who could gather an armed group around him carried a double premium: the battling armies wooed them, and the local people too needed their help to protect them against the marauding soldiers from outside the region. At the end, by the time the British brought the entire region into their control by the beginning of the 19th century, there was left this residue of a social practice: men of the dominant sections would gather an armed gang around them to assert their power, enforce their writ in the village and fight off challengers to their power over society. While the polegars were mostly of non-cultivating communities such as boya and patra, the practice of establishing dominance and exercising power through the force of armed gangs became a characteristic feature of powerful landed communities, generically described as kapu (husbandsman) but mainly of the reddy caste in recent decades. The British, who successfully put an end to the polegars by a carrot-and-stick policy, found to their dismay that this residue continued to disturb their notion of rule of law. They christened these gangs ‘village factions’, a name that continues to be used to this day. The typical village faction was that of the village headman, called reddy in Rayalaseema. That appellation today refers to a dominant caste which is present all over the state, and men of the caste tag on reddy behind their names. But that is a phenomenon of recent decades, more particularly the latter three-quarters of the 20th century. The word has a complex history, one moment of which is that it designated the village headman in the Rayalaseema districts, in the days when village administration was presided over by the institution of hereditary headmen. This reddy would protect his primacy in the affairs of the village with the most aggressive zealousness. Any challenger to his importance would have to contend with a violent response from him. Though we spoke above of a retinue maintained by such strongmen, it was not a permanent gang maintained only for fighting. Most of the retinue would be ordinary farmers or labourers who come to the aid of the Reddy when called upon to do so. They would, it goes without saying, benefit in matters where the reddy had the final say, but passionate loyalty of the reddy’s followers is a characteristic of village factions. Their attachment was never merely a matter of rational calculation. The dominance of the reddy would often be challenged by someone in the village. He would invariably be either a big landowner, or an otherwise powerful man, e g, by virtue of his closeness to the ruler of the area. From about the time that the word reddy started signifying a caste and not just hereditary headmanship, it is seen that in most cases, the challenger is also a reddy by caste, though there have been important exceptions, especially where the militant boya community is numerous. That man would gather a group of villagers behind him and fight the group of the ‘reddy’. The people to gather behind him would include, of course, his kith and kin, his tenants and sharecroppers; it would include persons who have suffered at the hands of the ‘reddy’; it would also include persons who have conflicts of interest or ego with the followers of the ‘reddy’; it would even include people who are obliged to the challenger for their day to day life or livelihood, even to the extent of people who, by virtue of the village topography, have to pass by his house or fields to reach their own house or fields. Once such a challenger emerges, or in the course of his emergence, street fights between the two groups break out at every conceivable instance. The slightest material interest of every member of the group has to be protected or realised by force, and the slightest injury to every ego has to be avenged by force. But everything turns around the primary interest: the leader’s pre-eminence in the village, his honour, his writ, his word. For this, lives are sacrificed in a spiral of killings. Every death has to be avenged with a death, every burnt house or haystack with a burnt house or haystack, and every devastated acre of land with a devastated acre. The implements of fighting in the old days were stones, sticks, and every implement made by the human race for taming nature and making it yield fruit. It was after the 1950s that crude explosives, crude firearms and lately more sophisticated weapons entered village factions. It is an interesting aside that at each stage it was the communists that were, in all innocence, responsible for modernising the weaponry of faction fights. The village factionist of yore, as can be imagined, was hardly an epitome of rationality. By the time he was through with his energies he would also be through with much of the property he had: it costs a lot to fight court cases, look after injured followers, repair burnt down dwellings and replace hacked orchards, all to keep his manly pride and moustaches intact. But after the introduction of panchayat raj democracy and rural development works, the brutality of village factions acquired the sheen of instrumental rationality. It was quickly realised by the village factionists that the methods used by them to protect the elusive social prominence or importance, could be put to more practical use for rigging polls and winning panchayat elections at the village or block level, and monopolising road and other public works contracts in the village. This started earnestly in the 1960s. The next and natural step was for a leader to emerge from among the village factionists of an area or from a town nearby, who would gather support of all the powerful factionists of the area, create factionists to fight the recalcitrant, assist the faithful in defeating their rivals, protect their crimes and make it worth their while to indulge in crimes of violence on his account in addition to theirs, and make that the base of his rise in politics at the district level and beyond, and the guarantee of a monopoly of not small or local public works but substantial civil contracts. It took a new generation of men to see this possibility and realise it. YSR was one of the pioneers of this change, which has terrorised and devastated the social and political life of the Rayalaseema districts. *Communists as Catalysts * The communists played a peculiar catalyst’s role in all this. The undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) had some base in the Rayalaseema districts. Its leader Eswara Reddy was elected MP from Cuddapah on four occasions starting with the first parliament. It fought – or sought to fight – feudal domination in the villages, but had to contend with the culture of village factions. The communists, from that day to this, have unfortunately understood factionism as merely a rather violent form of feudal domination, which may only require a more violent response, and nothing more. That village factions divide all classes in the village vertically, from absentee landlords to the poorest labourers, which vertical division is accompanied by a degree of felt loyalty to the factionist at the top, thereby reproducing the animosity at the top all the way down the line, and that such a state of affairs is seen as the natural ordering of society by all classes, has never been adequately understood by them. And so when the communists found it difficult to organise the masses to fight a feudal landlord, they encouraged and supported any upstart who was willing to challenge the landlord’s dominance. All that they achieved was to create a new factionist, who would discard the communists once his purpose was done. Pulivendula was dominated in the early years after independence by Devireddy Nagi Reddy (known as D N Reddy), a somewhat haughty landlord, mill owner, some time zilla parishad chairman, and some time MP. YSR’s father Raja Reddy was willing to take on D N Reddy, and the CPI assisted him by helping him to win the block level panchayat elections. Today, the CPI has all but left the district, but Raja Reddy’s legacy continues in the form of his powerful son. Raja Reddy established his credentials as a man to fear by an incident that people still talk of, nearly 50 years later. The town of Pulivendula has a sizable colony of Erukalas, a scheduled tribe, some of whom were known for their unruly ways. They were despised but feared by the higher castes, though it is rumoured that D N Reddy was not above using their crimes for his ends. One day one of them, Oosanna, tried to steal the ornaments worn by a woman of the reddy caste in the bazaar. When the woman struggled, that man cleverly exclaimed that she was his wife and was being disobedient. By the time people realised he was telling a lie, he had slipped away. Later in the day, Raja Reddy reportedly caught hold of Oosanna, dragged him to a public place, poured kerosene on him and burnt him alive. This incident made Raja Reddy a feared man, and people became willing to gather behind him in his conflicts with established leaders. By and by he established immense dominance in the area. But he lacked money of the kind that would sustain his further rise in politics. This problem was resolved by a combination of chance and brutality just about the time that YSR entered politics. Cuddapah has deposits of the mineral barytes, which was once upon a time not a highly priced mineral. One of the mining leases was held by Venkatasubbaiah of the balija caste. Raja Reddy joined him as a junior partner/supervisor (it is not clear which), reportedly because Venkatasubbaiah believed he would be useful in controlling the workmen. Round about the mid-1970s, however, it was discovered that barytes has use in petroleum refining, and its price shot up. Raja Reddy wanted Venkatasubbaiah to hand over the mining lease to him and go. A prominent CPI leader and writer, Gajjela Malla Reddy, brokered a deal whereby Venkatasubbaiah would take Rs 11 lakh and leave the mining lease to Raja Reddy. Venkatasubbaiah refused, and was killed. The mining lease, passed into YSR’s hands. For many years in the later half of the 1980s and the early half of the 1990s, YSR’s barytes mining operation was the subject of one scandal after another. Lease – or sub- lease, after barytes mining became formally the monopoly of the A P Mineral Development Corporation, only to be sub-leased to the same previous lessees – would be taken for a certain extent, but many times more land around would be mined. Even a piece of land on which stood a protected monument so notified by the Archaeological Survey of India was mined, and one and a half lakh tonnes of the mineral (priced at Rs 600 per tonne) was taken away by the time the government woke up and put a stop to it. And there was the case of a villager, Vivekanandam, whose private land of 1.8 acres was also sub-leased to YSR by the Corporation. Though that man went to court and obtained an injunction against the sub-lease, YSR continued with the mining and took away mineral worth Rs 5 crore. The maternal uncle of the said Vivekanandam, a retired government employee, Rajagopal, set out to Hyderabad, to express his protest to the then chief minister Janardhan Reddy, and to move the high court again. The old man was set upon by a gang in the middle of the state’s capital, and had his hands and legs broken. This was as recently as 1992. With the money flowing from the barytes mines in his pockets, YSR was in a position to undertake the transformation of ‘village factions’ into full-fledged instruments of political and economic domination at the highest level. There were others of his period – the post-emergency breed of educated, intelligent and utterly cynical politicians – who made money from other sources, such as for instance excise contracts, and used that wealth in the same manner as YSR to rise to prominence in Rayalaseema politics. The money was used to buy the support of village factionists. The factionist would be helped to overcome his rivals and establish unchallenged power over his area of operation. If a factionist was too adamant and did not heed the call, a rival would be funded to rise against him. A lot of lives would of course be lost in the process, but then that was, for these gentlemen, a matter of no moment. Once a sufficient monopoly of control over the local factionists was established, the leader’s political-economic future was ensured. Elections would be concluded in his favour, and his muscle-power would ensure that he monopolised all the civil/excise contracts he coveted. This sounds bland when stated in this fashion, but the process involved tremendous amount of violence and inaugurated a veritable regime of terror in the area. *Manipulation of Election Process * Political parties and programmes have meant nothing in Rayalaseema, more particularly Cuddapah district. The only distinction in that district has been: with YSR and against YSR. Those who are with him can be in his party or in any other party – not excluding the CPI – and similarly those who are against him. On more than one occasion he has exhibited his capacity to ensure that a candidate to the assembly from his own party who has got a ticket against his will is defeated by a candidate of his choice contesting on a Telugu Desam ticket. Elections in Rayalaseema have meant open violence on polling day to scare away voters and leave the field open to bogus voting, taking away the ballot box to stuff it with ballot papers stamped elsewhere, preventing voters of the rival candidate from entering the polling station, forcing voters to show the stamped ballot paper to the local factionist’s man before putting it in the box, and other acts of like nature. Until recently, a rule followed by the Election Commission was that in the event of death of any candidate, the election would be postponed. Killing defenceless candidates to get the poll postponed is a method not unknown in the more violent parts of our country. Rayalaseema is no exception. In the assembly polls of 1989, YSR’s follower Nagi Reddy fought the Telugu Desam’s Palakondarayudu at Raychoti in Cuddapah district. In the parliament polls of 1985, Palakondarayudu, who was then a candidate for parliament, was unsure of the support of the two main local factions that ruled Raychoti town. So he is said to have got an independent candidate, Guvvala Subbarayudu killed and got the election postponed. He thus gained time to rope in the two factions, and succeeded in winning the election held later. In 1989, polls were held simultaneously for assembly and parliament. Palakondarayudu was this time a candidate for the assembly. Apprehensive that he may repeat his victorious performance, YSR’s man Nagi Reddy set up a pliant man of their own faction, Avula Subba Reddy by name, as an independent candidate, and allegedly killed him the day before the election to get the election to the assembly postponed. It is inconceivable that this could have happened without the knowledge and consent of YSR. In the parliament poll that took place that day as scheduled, there was an orgy of violence in which five persons were killed in Raychoti town including a polling officer by name Ahmedullah. The polling officer was dragged out of the polling station and murdered. The Congress candidate was elected to parliament. The terror created by YSR’s group on that day was sufficient for his candidate Nagi Reddy to carry the day when the assembly poll for the postponed Raychoti segment was later held. Parallel with establishing themselves in power by such means, these leaders set themselves up as representatives of the region who would fight the rulers of the state for justice to water-scarce Rayalaseema. It has been the tragedy of Rayalaseema that, unlike Telangana for instance which has a vibrant political climate that throws up activists close to the people, the same leaders who have devastated the region’s social and political life with their strategies of gang warfare have time and again doubled as saviours of the people. But as their interest is merely the furtherance of their political careers, such espousal is short-lived and fruitless. For about three to four years in the early part of the 1980s, these leaders led major agitations for irrigation water to the region. They held lengthy ‘padayatras’ and boisterous protest meetings. YSR was among those in the forefront. But their interest tapered off once they succeeded in putting pressure upon N T Rama Rao to sanction the extension of the Telugu Ganga project to provide irrigation water to parts of Cuddapah district. Later, the Congress came to power in the state, and many of the agitators became ministers, but they did precious little for the irrigation needs they had agitated for. Subsequently the Telugu Desam Party came back to power again, but this time YSR took care not to be seen agitating for the rights of one region. He had aimed his sights higher. He would dislodge Chandrababu and become chief minister of the state. Power, and power alone has been his guiding light, at each stage of his career, much like Chandrababu. Given the peculiar nature of Rayalaseema society, brute force served YSR’s purpose in the initial stages, much as unscrupulous manipulation did in Chandrababu’s case. But once he set his sights on Hyderabad, he knew that other methods would have to be tried out, and he has been game for that. He worked quite systematically towards this end and has succeeded. In the process he has given the impression of being a man who cares for the classes neglected by Chandrababu’s model of development. Whether that is really so is, to put it politely, extremely doubtful. That those classes have reposed trust in the Congress Party under his leadership is clear: all analysis as well as impressionistic views point to the issues of irrigation and employment as central to the defeat of the Telugu Desam Party, augmented by the desire for a separate state in the Telangana region. Economists too are agreed that poor growth of employment opportunities, and poor capital formation in agriculture, the latter mainly because of low public investment, are two among the negative characteristics of the Indian economy’s performance in recent years. Too categorical an analysis of voters’ preferences is a risky business, but it appears reasonable to suppose that the dissatisfaction generated by these factors lies behind the victory of the Congress. YSR realised it in the course of his pre-election padayatra which brought him face to face with much dissatisfaction regarding issues on which – barring free power to farmers – he had never taken any stand till then. Having realised his debt to the dissatisfaction, he has already gone on record promising heavy investment in major irrigation projects, and free power to farmers, which will encourage private investment to the same end. If he has not issued any immediate policy statements in the matter of employment, that will be declared to be understandable because it is by no means an easy matter. And as for Telangana, YSR has made no secret of the fact that he has neither any understanding of nor sympathy for that cause. But it is doubtful that he has any real convictions in regard to the first two issues too, other than the realisation that they have been useful instruments in his ascension to power. If freedom to all prisoners were to serve that purpose, he would equally readily have emptied all the State’s jails, without holding any philosophy of punishment commensurate with the act. These may appear to be points not worth labouring at length, and it may even be cleverly said, as the Hindi saying goes, that we are concerned that the fruit be a mango, and not that the tree be a mango tree. But if correcting economic policy distortions is what the aspirations revealed by the elections are about, we must note that change in irrigation policy from Chandrababu’s exclusive espousal of drip irrigation to a more realistic programme is not sufficient by itself. Such change is not by itself inimical to the ruling policies being prescribed in the name of reforms. The whole gamut of the policies concerning resources, opportunities and governmental responsibilities will have to be addressed, even if they have not been voted about in bringing YSR to power. There is little evidence that YSR is committed to a different view of these matters than Chandrababu, or that he is willing to devise ways of standing up to the pressure that the World Bank and other instrumentalities of neo-liberalism have been exerting in these matters. Much of what he is now heard saying against Chandrababu’s brand of neo-liberal economic philosophy he picked up in the run up to the elections, and was never part of his way of looking at the economy. It is also to be noted that the forces distorting India’s economy to serve a variety of external interests inimical to those of the poor and needy, have not been content with prescribing any transparent economic policy imperatives at all to suit their ends. They have indulged in a number of devious measures behind the backs of the people, with the active connivance of the rulers. Chandrababu was a willing collaborator in this, and YSR is not proof against it. The economic philosophy ruling the world, namely that resources, opportunities and governmental assistance of all kinds are optimally distributed when they are put unreservedly at the service of those who can augment them with the most investment and generate from them the most income, is easily understood when it is plainly stated, and easily dissented from if one has the slightest conviction that progress should be everybody’s progress, not at some unspecified date in the future, but with reasonable immediacy. But that policy prescription has not been content with such transparent debates. It has sought to work itself into our polity by opaque devices and has succeeded wherever it has found local collaborators among those in power. Those who believe that YSR will resist where Chandrababu was willing are fooling themselves. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Fri Sep 4 16:48:22 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 16:48:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Antarchakshu: Sensitisation Workshop & PhotoExhib by Visually Challenged, Sept 17-18, Bombay In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Check out the invite at http://psychologynews.posterous.com/antarchakshu-sensitisation-workshop-and-photo And do go for it if you can. I've attended both the exhib and a sensitisation workshop organised by the XRCVC (http://www.xrcvc.org). Very good effort! - Chandni ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Neha Trivedi Date: 2009/9/4 hey chandni this year at antarchakshu we are having an exhib on portrayal of disabled in hindi films through the era. you are ofcourse welcome for the event. i have attached an invite. the event is on 17th-18th. feel free to send the invite out to others if you want thanks a ton neha From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Fri Sep 4 20:17:05 2009 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 14:47:05 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it In-Reply-To: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> References: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> Message-ID: Putting a price on browsing will hurt the third world the most. Already, monopoly lead highly exaggerated cost of software is limiting access to new technologies. Typical capitalistic approach- they let you have it free & get used to it, now will make you pay. Wonder, how the Govts. are going to handle it ? Regards all L A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > From: monica at sarai.net > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 14:24:38 +0530 > Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it > > Claudia Borges: > The internet as we know it is at risk. The new rules in the EU (the > Telecoms package) voted on May 6 and will be negotiated again in > Autumn propose that broadband providers will be legally able to limit > the number of websites you can look at, and to tell you whether or not > you are allowed to use particular services. It will be dressed up as > ‘new consumer options’ which people can choose from. People will be > offered TV-like packages – with a limited number of options for you to > access. It means that the Internet will be packaged up and your > ability to access and to put up content could be severely restricted. > It will create boxes of Internet accessibility, which don’t fit with > the way we use it today. > > http://blackouteurope.eu/,/ > > Monica Narula > Raqs Media Collective > Sarai-CSDS > www.raqsmediacollective.net > www.sarai.net > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> _________________________________________________________________ Log on to MSN India for a lowdown on what’s hot in the world today http://in.msn.com From asad_abbasi at hotmail.com Sat Sep 5 07:21:07 2009 From: asad_abbasi at hotmail.com (Asad Abbasi) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 01:51:07 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] How Pro-Golf Are You? Message-ID: Dear All,Very interesting article, linking Golf to United States politics. How vague idea may seem, but there is a noteworthy pattern. It compares the number of increase in of Golf courses with the relations with Uncle Sam. "What is human life but a game of cricket" said Duke of Dorchester in 18th century. It seems US politics is what, but a love for Golf.Or Golf courses as Haass compares. Regards,Asad http://www.newsweek.com/id/214841 The final and decisive round of the PGA Championship in mid-August unfolded in a manner few had predicted. Tiger Woods, the American who firmly occupies the top spot in world rankings, lost his lead and came in a disappointing second. Padraig Harrington, the defending champion and arguably Europe's best golfer, was in contention until he scored a quintuple bogey 8 on a par-3 hole. And the unheralded Y. E. Yang of South Korea, ranked 110th in the world, came from behind to win. In other words, America faded, Europe collapsed, and Asia emerged.These trends should sound familiar. Asia is coming out of the economic crisis relatively unscathed; the region as a whole is likely to grow this year by 5 percent, while China booms at 8 percent. The U.S. economy, meanwhile, continues to contract; growth rates won't turn positive until later this year at least, and even then any improvement will be modest. More golf courses closed than opened in the United States in 2008.Europe is struggling even more: some countries are eking out negligible economic growth, and others are still shrinking. Strategically, the region's demise is even more pronounced. Europe was at the core of 20th-century history; it will not be so in the 21st. Harrington's recent showing is a harbinger. Golf, in fact, provides more insight into politics and economics than most people realize. Years ago the columnist Thom-as Friedman propounded the "Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention," namely that countries with McDonald's franchises don't fight one another. (Alas, some do—Russia and Georgia, Israel and Lebanon—but Friedman's observation is still useful.) Big Macs, however, are not the only indicator worth noting. Countries that have numerous golf courses tend to be friendlier toward the United States. Governments closing golf courses tend to be the most anti-American of all. Think of it as the fairway theory of history.Anyone doubting this need only compare Vietnam and Venezuela. Vietnam, for years a bitter foe of the United States, is now a friend. The clearest evidence of how far things have changed may be the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail, a route that connects more than a half-dozen luxury golf courses and resorts. (Like its namesake, the golf trail runs north-south, but presumably the resemblance ends there.) On the other hand, Venezuela—led by the ever-hostile Hugo Chávez—has closed several golf courses and is threatening to shut down others. Chávez recently delivered a tirade against golf on national television, deriding it as "bourgeois"—an outlook consistent with his repressive policies, which are driving many middle-class Venezuelans to leave the country. Or take the two Koreas: the closed North is reportedly home to just three courses, while democratic South Korea, a U.S. ally, boasts no fewer than 234.Chávez is right about one thing: golf is an expression of increased economic and political openness. Ironically, Fidel Castro, the leader Chávez claims to admire most, appears to be moving in that direction. Cuba is developing golf courses, presumably to attract a larger number of tourists if and when the U.S. economic embargo is rescinded and Americans are free to travel to Cuba. If the fairway theory is right, it is only a matter of time before the island becomes more open and more favorably inclined toward the United States. Several other formerly communist countries (or countries less communist than before) are also building golf courses with abandon. China now has more than 300 courses, including no fewer than 12 at one club, the world's largest. The small number of golf courses in Russia and Ukraine is worrisome in this regard.Golf is also a sign of normalcy. For some two decades, one of the most dangerous pieces of real estate to be found anywhere was Kashmir, the disputed territory that separates India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries with a history of going to war. Five courses are now open in the beautiful valley. Peace may not be quite at hand, but things do seem to be inching in the right direction.Why is golf associated with so many positive trends? It is not just that the game tends to flourish in countries that welcome tourists, who can bring new ideas along with their bags of clubs. Large numbers of golf courses reflect the emergence of a domestic middle class, the traditional foundation of democracy. And they suggest a society where citizens not only enjoy leisure time but take basic security for granted.What should all this mean for Washington? President Obama has created high-profile envoys for trouble spots like the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Iran. But perhaps he should spend more time working on his golf game. _________________________________________________________________ Access your other email accounts and manage all your email from one place. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/167688463/direct/01/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Sat Sep 5 12:35:13 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 12:35:13 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Reputed Brave& strong men: Uniforms ordeal daily born by society Message-ID: <870125.61815.qm@web94706.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Soldier held for teasing women in train * he argumentBuzz Up * Share Sat, Sep 5 10:16 AM Raipur, Sep 5 (IANS) A soldier was arrested here on a charge of teasing two women in a train passing through Chhattisgarh, police said Saturday. The incident took place late Friday in the Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express when Sanjay Shankar allegedly began misbehaving with two women in a sleeper coach. 'When the train stopped at Raipur station, several fellow passengers caught him and started beating him. They then handed him over to the GRP (Government Railway Police),' a police officer said. 'The accused who was in a drunken state was going to Pune where he is posted as supervisor in the engineering wing of the army. The GRP will prepare and send the case details to his army office in Pune,' the officer added. People have set in personalities. But this ordeal seems to be a. In training which characteristically excludes women b. In their explicit machoism c. In the approach of army to save their men always and stylize an enquiry which is ineffective and hides reports, never publishes them After all, shouldn't we awe the suckers of our income? I know stress could have led to drunkenness, and people misunderstand the co-operation, it is too big(as if we need it that big, or we need such stress). What a stress busters, yes civilians should categorically misunderstand them. I no categorising is not right. I have met some brave men with humanist tone and sensitivity too. But let he reply come from a soldier or an army authority. Their aggressiveness in public is rather appalling! Love Cricket? Check out live scores, photos, video highlights and more. Click here http://cricket.yahoo.com From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Sat Sep 5 12:36:50 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 12:36:50 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Reputed Brave& strong men: Uniforms ordeal daily born by society Message-ID: <192152.58373.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> they would never reply. They do not need to, either. They stay away from the Outside socciety. They marry usually inter-se or their collegue's wives. Hahahaha. ________________________________ From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Saturday, 5 September, 2009 12:35:13 PM Subject: Reputed Brave& strong men: Uniforms ordeal daily born by society Soldier held for teasing women in train * he argumentBuzz Up * Share Sat, Sep 5 10:16 AM Raipur, Sep 5 (IANS) A soldier was arrested here on a charge of teasing two women in a train passing through Chhattisgarh, police said Saturday. The incident took place late Friday in the Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express when Sanjay Shankar allegedly began misbehaving with two women in a sleeper coach. 'When the train stopped at Raipur station, several fellow passengers caught him and started beating him. They then handed him over to the GRP (Government Railway Police),' a police officer said. 'The accused who was in a drunken state was going to Pune where he is posted as supervisor in the engineering wing of the army. The GRP will prepare and send the case details to his army office in Pune,' the officer added. People have set in personalities. But this ordeal seems to be a. In training which characteristically excludes women b. In their explicit machoism c. In the approach of army to save their men always and stylize an enquiry which is ineffective and hides reports, never publishes them After all, shouldn't we awe the suckers of our income? I know stress could have led to drunkenness, and people misunderstand the co-operation, it is too big(as if we need it that big, or we need such stress). What a stress busters, yes civilians should categorically misunderstand them. I no categorising is not right. I have met some brave men with humanist tone and sensitivity too. But let he reply come from a soldier or an army authority. Their aggressiveness in public is rather appalling! ________________________________ Looking for 24 hour chemists in your area? Try Yahoo! India Local See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.yahoo.com/ From razvan.ion at pavilionmagazine.org Tue Sep 1 22:54:23 2009 From: razvan.ion at pavilionmagazine.org (Razvan Ion) Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 20:24:23 +0300 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] EXPLORING THE RETURN OF REPRESSION Message-ID: EXPLORING THE RETURN OF REPRESSION September 10 - November 22, 2009 Opening: September 10, 2009, 19.00 hours Curator: Razvan Ion Participants: Luke Fowler (GB), Jean Genet (FR), Hanif Kureishi (GB), Thomas Hirschhorn (CH), Renzo Martens (NL/CG), Alex Mirutziu (RO), Naeem Mohaiemen (BD), Sebastian Moldovan (RO), Taller Popular De Serigrafia (AR), Colm Toibin (IE), Michel Tournier (FR), Pavilion Resource Room (RO). “The return of the repressed” is a crucial theme, a key to understanding recent history. "The project of the West, the Nietzschean project, has been to drive out religion and to produce a secular society in which men and women make their own values, because morality is gone”, writes Hanif Kureishi, British writer of Pakistani descent. “Then suddenly radical religion returns from the Third World. How can you not laugh at that? How can you not find that a deep historical irony?" The return of the repressed is the process whereby repressed elements, preserved in the unconscious, tend to reappear, in consciousness or in behavior, in the shape of secondary and more or less unrecognizable "derivatives of the unconscious." This return of the repressed, of ideologies forced to marginalization, of sexuality subject to forced secrecy, has resulted, in recent years, in an almost dramatic change of a society filled with anguish, hallucinations, repression imposed by unnecessary regulations that serve to the repressive violence of governments against their own citizens. Repression as a conscious and voluntary psychological process, consisting of giving up the fulfillment of a desire which is not in full accord with the moral being, leads to the annihilation and alienation of the simplest desires and rebellions. The main apprehension is now the model of a new international division of labour. This concept has apparently been borrowed by the capitalist leaders from the old socialists, and it is actually hiding something even harsher, something that will bring forth the strengthening of the state as instrument of repression. The new international division of labour is a more important issue to discuss than others, because it is, perhaps, the most important cause of both the political and the civil repression. On the other hand, if we examine carefully the present legal system, it is reveal itself as a revolting system, supporting the class exploitation, the radicalization of the chasm among social classes and the supremacy of the white heteronormative and macho-patriarchal majority. The legal system supports the creation of the political obedience and it deals with the adjustment of the value of work. Actually, it protects the capital creation and a type of legal inequity. In order to understand the main effects of the state violence, we also have to consider the alternative: the social assistance for the poor and for the working class. Frances Fox-Piven and Richard Cloward wrote in New Class War: “the connection between the income maintenance programs, the labour market and profits is indirect, but not complicated”. Too much social democracy will make people stop being grateful for low wages and poor work conditions. Thus, even with the converse, the link between state repression, labour market and profits is not complicated at all. Repression manages poverty. Poverty depresses wages. Low wages increase the rate of exploitation and create profit. Which is the main purpose of the state. (Excerpt from: Răzvan Ion, "Exploring the return of repression" in the newspaper "Exploring the return of repression"). Discursive Events: Urban Larssen (SE), Sina Najafi (USA), Alex Mirutziu (RO), Cosmin Marian (RO), Sebastian Moldovan (RO). Publication/Newspaper: 32 pages, 31,5 x 42 cm, b/w, english. distributed for free. With texts by Andrei Crăciun (RO), Tatjana Greif (SI), Daraka Larimore Hall (NO), Răzvan Ion (RO), Rolling Thunder (USA), Ronald F. King (USA), Urban Larssen (SE), Jose Louis Meiras (AR), Suzana Milevska (MK), Naeem Mohaiemen (BD), Maria Eva Blotta & Diego Posadas (AR), Eugen Rădescu (RO), Michel Tournier (FR). With special booklet insert by Taller Popular De Serigrafia (AR). Free PDF download of the publications at http://www.pavilionunicredit.org/publicatii.html Assistant curator: Silvia Vasilescu -- Friday, October 2, 2009 17.00 Exhibtion tour with Razvan Ion (curator) Friday, October 23, 2009 17.00 Exhibition tour with Silvia Vasilescu (assistant curator) --- PAVILION UNICREDIT center for contemporary art & culture Sos. Nicolae Titulescu 1 (Piata Victoriei) Bucharest 011131 Romania T: + 4 031 103 4131 E: pavilion at pavilionmagazine.org www.pavilionunicredit.ro --- PAVILION UNICREDIT este un centru pentru arta si cultura contemporana, un spatiu independent work-in-progress, spatiu de productie si cercetare a vizualului, a discursivului si a performativului. Este un spatiu al gandirii critice care promoveaza o întelegere implicata socio-politic a artei si a institutiilor culturale. PAVILION UNICREDIT is a center for contemporary art & culture, a work-in-progress independent space, a space for the production and research in the fields of audiovisual, discursive and performative. It is a space of the critical thinking, and it promotes an artistic perspective implying the social and political involvement of the art and of the cultural institutions. --- This is a project by PAVILION - journal for politics and culture. www.pavilionmagazine.org --- PAVILION, BUCHAREST BIENNALE and PAVILION UNICREDIT are projects devised and founded by Razvan Ion and Eugen Radescu --- Supported by: UniCredit Tiriac Bank Strategic partner: Pilsner Urquell Media partners: Radio Romania Cultural, 22, Alternativ.ro, Feeder.ro, 24Fun, Modernism.ro Production partner: UpDate Advertising Printing partner: First Advertising Agency Audio-visual partner: Sony --- To unsubscribe click this link To forward this message click this link -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From vignesh at hss.iitd.ac.in Fri Sep 4 12:31:52 2009 From: vignesh at hss.iitd.ac.in (Dr. P. Vigneswara Ilavarsan.) Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 12:31:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for papers - ICTD -11&12 March - 2010 New Delhi Message-ID: <000701ca2d3e$8b8c4b10$0301a8c0@user72a331adbd> Dear All: Apologies for the unsolicited email. Kindly find a call for papers, below. I will be grateful, if the call is circulated among the interested. Thanking you, Warm regards Vignesh http://web.iitd.ac.in/~vignesh/ http://www.iitd.ac.in/events/ICTD2010/ ICTs and Development: An International Workshop for Theory, Practice, & Policy 11-12 March, 2010 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi Sponsored by International Development Research Centre, Canada Unpublished, original empirical papers are invited for the forthcoming international workshop on ICTs and Development: An International Workshop for Theory, Practice, & Policy to be conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, India, during 11-12 March 2010. The workshop aims to provide a forum for scholars to share their empirical research with academic experts, policymakers, and activists from the regional and international development community. Papers should examine how mobile phones, computers, and the Internet influence the empowerment of marginal individuals and communities, including whether ICTs create and enhance livelihood opportunities for people in the developing world. Papers should be in the range of 5,000-8,000 words (including abstract and bibliography) and should include a clear discussion of the implications of the findings for development policy and/or practice. No more than twelve papers will be selected by the workshop organizers for presentation.The first author of each paper chosen will be given air fare and lodging/meals. The workshop is part of the project, ICTs and Urban Micro Enterprises: Identifying and Maximizing Opportunities for Economic Development, and is supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada. The organizers are committed to finding an appropriate publication venue for all papers accepted for the workshop. Deadlines: Submission of manuscripts: 1st October 2009 Announcement of results: 1st December 2009 Submission of final version of the paper: 1st February 2010 For submission of manuscripts and other enquiries, please write to ICTD2010 at gmail.com Workshop Organizers Dr. P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan (IIT Delhi) Prof. Mark R. Levy (Michigan State University) http://www.iitd.ac.in/events/ICTD2010/ ICTs and Development: An International Workshop for Theory, Practice, & Policy 11-12 March 2010 | New Delhi. _______________________ http://web.iitd.ac.in/~vignesh/ P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan, PhD Department of Humanities & Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016 India Ph: +91-0-9910230407; +91-11-2659 1374 Fax: +91-11-2659 6509 From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Sat Sep 5 21:14:07 2009 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 21:14:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Anti-Posco Solidarity Appeal In-Reply-To: <46601a350909050842s7a45099bn37b1bfdddcc26f10@mail.gmail.com> References: <809b7c0d0909050826h3d579605mf512315f3d5d46eb@mail.gmail.com> <46601a350909050842m6bf6a1bev2e33ff35e24a58d8@mail.gmail.com> <46601a350909050842s7a45099bn37b1bfdddcc26f10@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <35f96d470909050844y126a0243mdfbf1a7e4122d8de@mail.gmail.com> *ANTI-POSCO STRUGGLE* - *APPEAL FOR SUPPORT * *Friends,* For more than four years the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samity (PPSS) has been bravely resisting attempts to displace over 30,000 people in Jagatsinghpur District of Orissa by POSCO, a South Korean company, which wants to set up a steel company and a port on their lands. The US12 billion-dollar project, being aggressively promoted by both Orissa and Indian governments, threatens the livelihood of thousands of agriculturists, workers and small businesses in the area besides devastating the local environment and ecology. In the course of their peaceful and democratic non-violent struggle to prevent their lands from being forcibly acquired by POSCO, the members of PPSS have been brutally attacked by paid goons of the company and subjected to grueling economic blockades by the local administration. Several of their leaders, including Abhay Sahu, veteran CPI leader in the area, have been put behind bars and false charges foisted on over 150 activists, both men and women. *Need For Doctors and Medicines: * As a result of all this there is now a grave medical emergency developing in the Erasama and Kujanga blocks of Jagatsinghpur district, the sites of the proposed land acquisition for the POSCO steel plant. There are dozens of activists who have fractured limbs due to violence by the company’s hired musclemen, some of which include injuries from bomb attacks. They need orthopedic help and in some cases possibly even surgical intervention. Some women in the area are in late stages of pregnancy but unable to leave the area to get the medical care they need because of the fear of harassment and even arrest by the local police. Many other women have developed a range of gynecological problems that need urgent medical attention. There is severe malnutrition among children owing to the lack of income over the past few years as many local people have not been able to pursue their normal livelihoods because of the turmoil in the area. The general population of the affected villages also need help in combating malaria which is endemic to the area. There are also patients suffering from paralysis who need medical care. All these patients cannot go out and receive treatment because of the threat of arrests. Therefore, we appeal to you to help in mobilizing support for a medical camp which can be organized by the anti-Posco movement. Please contact: Prashant Kumar Paikray: (0)9437571547; Satya Sivaraman: (0)9818514952; or K.P. Sasi: (0)9945282056. *Protest on September 10: * A huge gathering of the people affected by POSCO will take place on September 10 at Balitutha, the entrance point of the proposed POSCO complex area. Many leaders of different anti-displacement struggles will address the gathering. The anti-Posco movement appeals to all people’s movements against displacement, movements against SEC, mass organization leaders and like-minded activists to participate and express solidarity. *Need for Contributions:* There is an urgent need for contributions for the protest on September 10, medical care, legal defence and other expenses of the movement. We appeal to you to communicate to your friends and mobilize maximum support and inform Prashant Kumar Paikray, the spokesperson of the movement (09437571547) at the earliest. *Send Letters of Protest:* The PPSS appeals to people all over India and around the world to show solidarity with the struggle by sending letters of protest to the Chief Minister of Orissa (cmorissa at ori.nic.in and cmo at ori.nic.in) and the Prime Minister of India (*Fax*: 91-11-23019545 / 91-11-23016857). Copies of protest letters can be sent to antiposcosolidarity at gmail.com. *For Anti Posco Struggle Solidarity (antiposcosolidary at gmail.com):* Prashant Paikray, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithy (PPSS) K.P.Sasi, Visual Search, Bangalore Satya Sivaraman, www.binayaksen.net, New Delhi Magline Peter, Theeradesa Mahilavedi, Kerala Dhirendra Panda, Common Concern, Orissa Jagadish, New Socialist Alternative, Bangalore Rajaji Mathew, CPI MLA, Chairperson, Kerala Legislative Assembly on Environment Anivar Aravind, Moving Republic, Bangalore From pheeta.ram at gmail.com Sat Sep 5 21:24:29 2009 From: pheeta.ram at gmail.com (Pheeta Ram) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 21:24:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it In-Reply-To: References: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> Message-ID: <5bedab660909050854o6cb0dc5dy42dfd1322011e7e2@mail.gmail.com> I wonder how "putting a price on browsing will hurt the third world the most" where most of the people haven't even heard of this creature. Who browses the internet? Why and what for? If we can pay for the internet now we would do even then even if it begins costing us an arm. Moreover, technology has this uncanny habit of surmounting all odds: if internet goes down as we know it, there will be something else, better. Internet earns more revenue in being (apparently) free than it would by being otherwise. Logic of capital leaves little room for this untimely lament. On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:17 PM, Lalit Ambardar wrote: > > > > Putting a price on > browsing will hurt the third world the most. Already, monopoly lead highly > exaggerated > cost of software is limiting access to new technologies. Typical > capitalistic > approach- they let you have it free & get used to it, now will make you > pay. Wonder, how the Govts. are going to handle it ? > > > > Regards all > > L > A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > From: monica at sarai.net > > To: reader-list at sarai.net > > Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 14:24:38 +0530 > > Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it > > > > Claudia Borges: > > The internet as we know it is at risk. The new rules in the EU (the > > Telecoms package) voted on May 6 and will be negotiated again in > > Autumn propose that broadband providers will be legally able to limit > > the number of websites you can look at, and to tell you whether or not > > you are allowed to use particular services. It will be dressed up as > > ‘new consumer options’ which people can choose from. People will be > > offered TV-like packages – with a limited number of options for you to > > access. It means that the Internet will be packaged up and your > > ability to access and to put up content could be severely restricted. > > It will create boxes of Internet accessibility, which don’t fit with > > the way we use it today. > > > > http://blackouteurope.eu/,/ > > > > Monica Narula > > Raqs Media Collective > > Sarai-CSDS > > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > www.sarai.net > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > > _________________________________________________________________ > Log on to MSN India for a lowdown on what’s hot in the world today > http://in.msn.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Sep 5 23:33:09 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 23:33:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The death of the Internet as we know it In-Reply-To: <5bedab660909050854o6cb0dc5dy42dfd1322011e7e2@mail.gmail.com> References: <79D1D006-09D0-4DCD-9E40-55504A6E56C2@sarai.net> <5bedab660909050854o6cb0dc5dy42dfd1322011e7e2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear all I think one must carefully distinguish between needs and wants. Wants are basically privileges, and hence they can be taxed for, for even though they do provide freedoms of various kinds, subsidization of wants will lead to huge problems of unrestrained use of resources, without either giving any thought to the legitimate rights of future generations to have the same wants, or to the environment and nature, and the right of all human beings and even creatures to live with dignity. I can understand therefore, if someone is concerned about food prices and therefore shouts about food being unavailable to the poor, primarily because it's a need for every human being to exist. But the internet is not a need because human race has survived even without it in the past. It has been a great tool in enhancing freedoms of allowing information to move freely across, to communicate with people, and also providing various kinds of services. But in the end, it's a want and not a need. Therefore, if some company providing such a service charges for it in some measure, I don't feel it's a thing to be necessarily worried about. The rich and the middle class can still pay for it, and others can live without it in other ways. Probably this will bring back the time of letters, greeting cards and love-letters as well, ensure greater personal interaction amongst people living close but aloof thanks to internet usage, and also libraries and book functions will be important. Alternatively, as Pheeta said, we could get newer technologies and solutions better than the expensive Internet. And who knows, as Linux came as a counter to Windows, we could also have the same possibility here as well. Therefore, I don't think it's an argument to be heavily contested against. Ultimately, if the internet becomes costly and loses too many users, it will be a disaster, which is where I agree with Pheeta again. Already unrestrained use of internet leads to huge consumption across the houses of the economically forward people, as also institutions like the one I study in. This has to be checked, so why not introduce such a principle of payment itself? While basic needs should be fulfilled, excess consumption must be discouraged as well, and we can keep some restrictions with the idea of sustainable development as well, for the long run. Regards Rakesh From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Sun Sep 6 12:06:22 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 12:06:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Inviting Contribution for an Online Campaign on Child Abuse Message-ID: Read the details at http://psychologynews.posterous.com/inviting-contribution-for-an-online-campaign Excerpts: This campaign will build support to five organisations across India addressing the issue by creating a map of collective stories from people that will express their own ideas, views and feeling on child sexual abuse. On 19 November 2009 we propose to launch a campaign for six months that seeks to engage people to understand the reality of child sexual abuse and calls for support. In 180 days we are aiming at bringing together 100 stories. We are looking for contributors who can either share a story or write stories for us - do interviews, illustrations etc. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sun Sep 6 14:16:46 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 01:46:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Roving stores drive into villages with books in local languages Message-ID: <498569.85573.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "Roving stores drive into villages with books in local languages"   (The mobile bookstore firm also uses a toll-free number to take orders over the phone)   Aruna Viswanatha   New Delhi: India’s sprawling rural market has been a honey pot for sellers of soap, two-wheelers, mobile telephones and several other consumer goods. Pankaj Kurulkar is trying his hand at something new—books.   An electrical engineer by training, 45-year-old Kurulkar ran a networking and hardware solutions company for 15 years, before he put Rs3 crore of his own into Granthayan, a chain of mobile bookstores that travels the length and breadth of Maharashtra selling mostly Marathi books. Kurulkar says he plans to later replicate his business model in other states, focusing on books in their regional languages.   There could be several rough patches to negotiate. Only 59% of India’s rural population can read, according to the 2001 census, and reading material itself is limited outside the cities. Local languages have also had to face the growing popularity of English. “The situation is pathetic. People are migrating from vernacular language to English medium, and not at all passionate about reading Marathi,” says Kurulkar, who writes novels and short stories as well.   “Rural areas don’t see anything other than newspapers and textbooks. So good, affordable reading material, which is simple, is the need for the day,” says Rukmini Banerji, a programme director at non-government organization Pratham, which prepares an annual report on the status of education measuring student literacy. “Nothing is easily available like you can go to the paan (betel) shop and get gutka.” Pratham’s publishing arm, Pratham Books, which prints cheap children’s books, also has plans to enter the rural retail market next month, according to managing trustee Ashok Kamath.   Even in Mumbai, by Kurulkar’s count, there are only nine bookstalls that sell Marathi books, to cater to a Marathi population of about three million.   Granthayan’s business was inaugurated in August, with 10 custom-designed Tata trucks functioning as mobile bookstores. The vehicles, 18ft long and 8ft wide, were fitted with shelves, tube lights, ceiling fans, scanners, cash machines and even their own generators, to resemble a typical mall storefront. The company says it plans to own 100 trucks and move into several other states by the end of the year.   Others have tried similar initiatives before, often non-profit trusts that want to promote reading. Granthali, a Mumbai-based organization started in 1975, distributed books at cost in remote areas in Maharashtra. It was possible to do that in the 1970s and 1980s, says Granthali founder Dinkar Gangal, because the organization relied on volunteers, who are hard to find in today’s economy.   “Now it needs to be done effectively,” he says. “It is very tedious, and accounting is the most difficult part.”   To date, Kurulkar says, his trucks have visited 28 out of the 35 districts in Maharashtra, and covered 80% of the state. The trucks follow pre-set routes—up and down the Mumbai-Goa highway for instance—and stay in a neighbourhood from a few days up to a week, depending on the amount of local business. Each truck has a staff of three, with a driver, an accountant and a helper on board.   According to Kurulkar, Granthayan has sold around 100,000 titles in the first three months of operation, and stocks both Marathi and English titles, though, he says, 75% of the company’s stock and sales are in Marathi.   Spiritual and religious titles such as Jnaneshwari and Samarth Ramdas’ Dasbodh sell best in rural areas, he says, but English volumes, including books by Chetan Bhagat and Robin Sharma and Paulo Coelho, are the fastest movers in cities such as Pune and Nagpur.   Kurulkar has put his network engineering skills to good use in Granthayan. The trucks are fitted with global positioning system (GPS) tools that allows a central office to track routes and inventory even as the mobile bookshops roll through rural Maharashtra.   The project is also an effort to encourage more authors to write in regional languages. Kurulkar attributes the poor print run of his novels to the lack of booksellers with adequate reach (the print runs of the Hindi and Marathi editions of Kurulkar’s own books were 500 and 1,000, respectively). “For English books, Crosswords, Landmark are there,” he says, referring to Crossword Bookstores Ltd and Landmark Ltd, two large book retailers in India, “but small, regional languages books are not available.”   Part of the problem, though, is that regional language literature itself is in short supply. “Printed work will have its own place, but a very small place, especially in the regional languages,” says Granthali’s Gangal, who points out that the first Marathi book was only published 200 years ago. “There was no written tradition, it is an oral tradition.”   To increase regional language content, Granthayan has also started a Marathi publishing arm, with plans to produce a dozen books a month. This month’s titles include two posthumous novels written by well-known Marathi author Gangadhar Gadgil. The company will give a 30% royalty to each author, and plans to print translations of Nobel and Man Booker prize winners, and expand into other languages over the course of the year, according to Kurulkar.   “Selling 1,000 copies used to take more than five or six years,” says Kurulkar. “Now we are printing not less than 5,000 copies, and will sell in less than one year’s time.”   Granthayan also has a toll-free number to take telephonic orders for books. The company will deliver the ordered books anywhere in the country, for free, through a deal with the Indian postal service. The mail order services are still in the trial phase, but, Kurulkar says, they have received orders from inside the state.   Kurulkar cites labour as his biggest challenge. “Skilled manpower is too low,” he says, “those who are passionate about selling books. We are not getting quality staff.”   The government, in conjunction with social sector organizations, has sponsored several programmes to get books and other reading material to children across India. Pratham, an organization that works in primary education, set up libraries in rural Maharashtra that may serve as a guide. Pratham assumed mythological stories would be the most popular, but sent books on nature and science topics as well.   “All those books were picked for reading, not the story books,” says Usha Rane, a programme director for Pratham based in Mumbai. “When we interviewed parents, they said, we want information books, on computers, or how an aeroplane is made, send these books for our children.”   For adults, too, she says, biographies on Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as books on topics of social interest such as caste, were also popular.   “People don’t go out of their way to buy books,” says Rane, “but if they see them right at their doorstep, there is a lot of scope to sell books, for good quality books.”   aruna.v at livemint.com   http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/27001936/Roving-stores-drive-into-villa.html   From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sun Sep 6 14:25:36 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 01:55:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "Empowered Outsourcing" & "BPOs go rural" Message-ID: <714422.62519.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com>   1. "Empowered Outsourcing"  as claimed by "SourcePilani"  http://www.sourcepilani.com/        Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRGnDjaxGLg     2.   "Sreelatha Menon: BPOs go rural"   A district collector’s experiment in Tamil Nadu is showing the way for more rural BPOs even in times of recession.   Rural BPOs (business process outsourcing) as social business are attracting a lot of young explorers. Last year, Kartik Raman, an economics graduate straight out of a college in the US, joined hands with two young men in India, one younger than his 26 years and another slightly older, to start a rural BPO in Bagad village in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan.   They recruited ten women, many of them just out of Class X, and some graduates, and trained them in entering and processing data. Today, 30 more have joined the BPO, called Source of Change, started under the umbrella of the Piramal Foundation, and earning between Rs 3,500 and Rs 7,000.   Kartik says they are planning to expand to more semi-rural towns in Rajasthan and are targeting1,000 recruits by 2012. So far, NGO Pratham has been their main client. They are also doing a pilot for the Confederation of Indian Industries to do contact verification for their members.   But it is southern India which is witnessing a rural BPO boom with over 30 already existing and more on the way. The inspiration for many is the unique experiment started a year ago in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district.   When an enterprising District Collector, Santhosh Babu, a medical graduate from Trivandrum Medical College, decided to have a BPO for his collectorate, he decided to open it in a village and recruited and trained villagers who had failed in Class X. Today, Babu has been made the managing director of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot) by the state government to oversee the expansion of his experiment in all 30 districts. This in a unique public-private partnership whose aim is to bring business and jobs for rural dropouts.   The first BPO, a 100 seater, was set up with a loan of Rs 20 lakh from the rural development funds of the District Rural Development Agency. The society formed in the village under the collector to run the BPO is repaying the amount. The society has BSNL and the Husur Industries Association as members and is totally free of government control. Today, its biggest client is none other than the US All State Insurance.   The most important gain of the BPO experiment in Tamil Nadu is that it recruits mostly people in villages who have failed Class X as well as graduates and pays both equal salaries of up to Rs 5,000.   Every seat should have a return of $300 to make it profitable, while giving jobs to dropouts and those who have no hope of a career, says Babu.   Elcot has started a rural finishing school where 7,000 dropouts from various villages in 30 districts have already been trained. After the elections, it is planning to call tender applications for franchises in every district. They would be drawing from the trained candidates. The National Association for Software and Service Companies and Fostera are partners along with a private company called Adventity.   The recruits, who start with a typing speed of 15 words per minute, are trained to improve it to 25, and given a three-month crash course in English. There is no compromise on quality, says Babu. It is already becoming a model for neighbouring states like Karnataka and Kerala which have set aside funds to begin rural BPOs.   There is no subsidy or charity. It is pure business and franchisees have to profit to find it attractive, says Babu. He says there is a lot of work coming which can be handed over to the BPOs but it would be up to the franchisees to get more.   Societies formed in the villages will sign pacts with franchisees and share profits, says Babu. Meanwhile, there are 25 other rural BPOs in Krishnagiri itself, he says, started by individuals and societies, not to speak of initiatives in a tribal village in Gujarat and three in Andhra Pradesh started by the Byrraju Foundation. Babu does not exaggerate the goodness of the BPOs and feels that expansion has to be dictated by the volume of the work available. It cannot become the only alternative job option for villages, he says.   http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sreelatha-menon-bpos-go-rural/356252/             From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Sun Sep 6 14:42:03 2009 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 14:42:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] DUSU elections: Left fails yes again, ABVP wins Message-ID: <6353c690909060212m703afa8eh42532831b857f4ce@mail.gmail.com> DUSU elections: ABVP one, three won *Deepu Sebastian Edmond**Indian Express* *New Delhi* Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students’ wing of BJP, may have won only the lone seat it was contesting but can claim to have won the day as the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election results were announced on Saturday. Both the president-elect, Manoj Choudhary (Independent) and joint secretary-elect Anupriya Tyagi of Samajwadi Chathra Sabha claimed that they had won with ABVP support. Kriti Wadhera, the lone ABVP candidate left after three of its top four contestants were disqualified for flouting code of conduct norms, easily won the vice-president’s post. Wadhera, a Miranda House student, polled 2,546 votes more than her nearest candidate — Anurag Sharma, a Department of Buddhist Studies student contesting as an Independent. Arshdeep Kaur, the lone candidate in the panel for Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), will be the next DUSU secretary. Significantly, three of the four top DUSU office-bearers would now be women. While results for the other three posts were lopsided, with the winners galloping home by a wide margin, the president’s post was closely fought. Manoj Choudhary, in the end, had only an 11-vote advantage over his classmate from the Department of Buddhist Studies Bajinder Singh. The second-placed All India Students’ Federation (AISF) candidate got 5,380 votes. NSUI’s Kaur won by the largest margin: 4,181 votes. Choudhary, incidentally, is the first Independent DUSU president since Rajiv Goswami of the Mandal agitation fame won with NSUI support in 1991. *Doubts remain* But as reported by Newsline on Friday, the new DUSU panel runs the risk of losing its top three office-bearers for the year after the university’s chief election officer, Gurmeet Singh, declared that the candidates served showcause notices on Thursday are liable to be disqualified if found guilty in the inquiry of violating poll code during campaigning. Choudhary, Wadhera and Kaur are all facing inquiry. *Left left out* What the results also highlight is the students’ complete rejection of the Left-backed organisations, who failed to capitalise despite ABVP and NSUI each having had three out of four candidates debarred. The radical Left All India Students’ Association (AISA), which was eyeing a full-panel, could not even come third for any seat. The CPI (M)-affiliated Students’ Federation of India, in fact, fared better, coming on top of its bitter rival AISA in two of the three seats it contested. Instead, smaller students’ organisations like the INSO and the ASOI made significant gains. *The ‘A’ factor* The second-placed candidate for president’s post, Bajinder Singh of AISF, was a surprise package but indications are Singh, whose name was first in the candidates’ list, gained from undecided “floating votes”. In fact, all candidates placed first in the voting list fared well: while both Arshdeep Kaur and Anupriya Tyagi won, Anurag Sharma (Independent) came second for vice-president. Interestingly, ABVP’s disqualified candidate Rohit Chahal, had changed his name to ‘Aa Rohit Chahal’ to be on top of the list and catch the undecided voters. -- Aditya Raj Kaul From ish at sarai.net Sun Sep 6 18:10:01 2009 From: ish at sarai.net (ish) Date: Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:10:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Complex Music license for Creative commons (CC) Message-ID: <4AA3ADA1.3040600@sarai.net> Hi , I wanted to know if anyone has drafted a 'Music license' for Creative commons (CC) which is totally unique to a given situation. for example there is a 'third party' and the label/artist: = for 'third party' the 20 minutes of the music produced can only be installed in a specific space as a sound art/installation; along with one time 'publishing rights' of around 1000 copies. so here the other distribution rights(etc) of the songs remain with the label/artists and they can further publish them in any format they want to on the web etc. if any one has examples of licenses like these please fwd them to me thanks ISh -- soundreasons.in sarai.net myspace.com/edgecutting frEeMuZik.net myspace.com/freakopus From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Sun Sep 6 20:12:31 2009 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (Mani A) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 20:12:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Complex Music license for Creative commons (CC) In-Reply-To: <4AA3ADA1.3040600@sarai.net> References: <4AA3ADA1.3040600@sarai.net> Message-ID: <78323d480909060742p22ba0458nca2f524cdb47c6f2@mail.gmail.com> On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 6:10 PM, ish wrote: > Hi , > > I wanted to know if anyone has drafted a 'Music  license' for Creative > commons (CC)  which is totally unique to a given situation. > > for example there is a 'third party' and the label/artist: > > = for 'third party'  the 20 minutes of the music produced can only be > installed in a specific space as a sound art/installation;  along with one > time 'publishing rights' of around 1000 copies. so here the other > distribution rights(etc) of the songs remain with the label/artists and they > can further publish them in any format they want to on the web etc. > This part is not clear. Apparently you want http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ (there is a waiver clause in it) Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC, AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From rahulroy63 at gmail.com Sat Sep 5 18:35:57 2009 From: rahulroy63 at gmail.com (Rahul Roy) Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 18:35:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [DFA NewsLetter] Fwd: Delhi Screenings of Paromita Vohra's films Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Paromita Vohra Date: Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 5:40 PM Subject: Delhi Screenings of some of my films To: Paromita Vohra Hi Some films of mine will be shown in Delhi on September 10th - in case you'd like to see or know someone who might. Best Paromita ---- YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITE TO A SCREENING OF ANNAPURNA: GODDESS OF FOOD (25 MIN) COSMOPOLIS: TWO TALES OF A CITY (13 MIN) WHERE'S SANDRA? (18 MIN) UNLIMITED GIRLS (94 MIN) WHEN Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:00pm - 8:30pm WHERE Hall of Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication Sri Aurobindo Society, Delhi Branch, Adhchini, Shaheed Jeetsingh Marg, Delhi FOR ENQUIRES Phone: 265619867 Email: shankhajeet at gmail.com ABOUT THE FILMS WHERE¹S SANDRA? Doc./Short, Digital Video, 17.30 min. English Producer: Celebrate Bandra Trust Director: Paromita Vohra Camera: Avijit Mukul Kishore Editing: Jabeen Merchant, Sankalp Meshram Sound: Anita Kushwaha Actors: Tuhinaa Vohra, Sonali Verma, Rachel Lopez FORMATS: DVD, VCD VERSIONS: English Who¹s Sandra? If you saw her would you know here? Is she naughty or nice? And where is she, anyway? The film is a playful look at the figure of ³Sandra from Bandra² ­ part covetous fantasy of the racy Christian girl from Bombay who works as a secretary, wears a dress and likes to dance; part condescending stereotype of a dowdy, religious girl from a minority community. The film searches for Sandra in Bollywood films, in the words of writers and poets and the stones in church graveyards. We encounter various claimants to the title ­ some who aren¹t called Sandra and some who aren¹t even from Bandra ­ until finally finding 5 women really called Sandra who are all as different from each other as can be even if they are a little bit the same. COSMOPOLIS: TWO TALES OF A CITY (Short/ doc: 13 minutes) English, Hindi, Marathi with English subtitles PRODUCER : DEVI PICTURES DIRECTOR: PAROMITA VOHRA FORMATS: VHS, DVD, VCD VERSIONS: ENGLISH In two discrete but associated shorts, this film looks at divisions of language, class, memory and food and queries the myths of Bombay as a great cosmopolitanism city. TALE 1: THE FORGOTTEN CITY (1 min.17 sec) CAMERA: Mrinal Desai, Arun Varma SOUND: Paromita Vohra EDITING: Jabeen Merchantnt A poem called Mumbai, about a city built by workers. A skyline where mill chimneys are replaced by glinting, cylindrical highrises, that mimic their shape, but do not hold their memory. A singer who recites the names of train stations, a map in song. In the eye of change,a forgotten city. the eye of change, a forgotten city. TALE 2: DEFEAT OF A MINOR GODDESS (12 min) CAMERA: Setu SOUND: Gissy Michael, Hari M, Vipin Bhati EDITING: Kavita Pai This is a film about food and faith. Anapurna, the goddess of food, a gorgeous meal of fish. Pleased, she blesses the city with gastronomic abundance and even reigns as its (very popular) patron deity. However, very soon she faces competition with the arrival her sister, Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. The rivalry between the goddesses manages to divide the city with all the classical intrigue, insecurity and jealousy that make up a good old fashioned battle. The city spirals into an escalating war over food and property, livelihood and living. Vegetarians don¹t want to live with non-vegetarians, Saraswat Brahmins don¹t want Jain neighbours and fishmongers don¹t want people of other communities to sell fish. Interweaving the fictional war between the goddesses with a documentary exploration of Bombay¹s food politics, the film interrogates the divisive politics that characterizes contemporary Bombay under its cosmopolitan costume. UNLIMITED GIRLS Digital Video,94 min English, Hindi, Marathi Producer: Sakshi Director: Paromita Vohra, Camera: Mrinal Desai Editing: Jabeen Merchant Sound: Subir Das UnLimited Girls is an exploration of engagements with feminism in contemporary urban India. It is told through the conversations of a narrator called Fearless who starts accidentally in a chatroom and embarks on a journey where she encounters diverse characters - feminists who remember the songs and actions of the Indian women¹s movement, yuppies who discuss their modern marriage, a policeman writing films for ³women¹s upliftment², women shopping at a bra sale, college kids practicing a dance, teachers who feel girls must not take injustice ­ or break a home; a woman cab driver, a priest, academics, activists, and unseen but much-heard women like Atilla_the_Nun, ChamkiGirl and Devi_is_a_Diva, in a feminist chatroom ­ all talking of their engagements with feminism and its place in their lives today. The film uses a personally reflective tone and playfully eclectic form, mixes non-fiction and fiction, to ask questions about feminism in our lives: why must women lead double lives, being feminist but not saying they are. How do we remain politically engaged as individuals who will not join groups? If feminism changes the way we live, then do we change the meaning of feminism as we live it? And then how do we separate true feminists from false ones? Will X-ray vision work better, or female intuition - or is there a common set of principles in this multiply interpreted philosophy? How do we make sense of love and anger, doubt and confusion, the personal and the political in this enterprise of pushing the boundaries, of being un-limited - the enterprise we call feminism. UnLimited Girls is set in urban India, but its themes resonate in the lives of people all over the world who have sampled the fruits of feminism, along with its dilemmas; who have asked the questions which have reshaped their lives and changed the world. ANNAPURNA\GODDESS OF FOOD Betacam, Documentary, 25 minutes, Hindi, Marathi, with English Subtitles Producer: T.Jayashree Director : Paromita Vohra Camera: Manoj Nair/Arun Varma Sound: Resul Pokutty/Mohan Dass Editing: Pankaj Rishi Kumar Set in the lanes and by lanes of central Bombay¹s mill area, the film is a portrait of a women¹s co-operative named Annapurna. Started in 1975 by 14 khanawalwalis ­ women who prepared meals for migrant workers, thus earning the name food-lady ­ the organization has today swelled to a membership of 150,000 and has it¹s own credit co-operative bank, short-stay home and catering centre. The film observes the everyday life of these women and intertwines it with the story of how the organization grew. An exploration of the politics and economics of women¹s work, the film is a tribute to the fearless women who started Annapurna, and the feisty women who carry it on. The film is part of an international series on women¹s initiatives entitled Half the Sky : Women of the World, made for the Beijing conference, in 1995. It has been telecast in 11 countries. -- Paromita Vohra DEVI PICTURES D404, Trans Apartments Mahakali Caves Road Andheri (E) Bombay 400093 Tel: 91.22.28377960 Cell: 91.9819377960 Email:parodevi at gmail.com "The Emperor has no clothes" -- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please DO NOT REPLY to the sender. To contact the MODERATOR: delhifilmarchive [at] gmail.com To UNSUBSCRIBE: send an email to delhifilmarchive-unsubscribe at googlegroups.com More OPTIONS are on the web: http://groups.google.com/group/delhifilmarchive Our WEBSITE: www.delhifilmarchive.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- From newsletter at pavilionmagazine.org Mon Sep 7 01:32:46 2009 From: newsletter at pavilionmagazine.org (Pavilion) Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 23:02:46 +0300 Subject: [Reader-list] EXPLORING THE RETURN OF REPRESSION Message-ID: <7b825541675c03c8a091959ef6bef4ea@localhost.localdomain> /for English please scroll down/ EXPLORING THE RETURN OF REPRESSION 10 septembrie - 22 noiembrie, 2009 Deschidere oficiala: 10 septembrie 2009, orele 19.00 Curator: Razvan Ion (RO) Participanti: Luke Fowler (GB), Jean Genet (FR), Hanif Kureishi (GB), Thomas Hirschhorn (CH), Renzo Martens (NL/CG), Alex Mirutziu (RO), Naeem Mohaiemen (BD), Sebastian Moldovan (RO), Taller Popular De Serigrafia (AR), Colm Toibin (IE), Michel Tournier (FR), Pavilion Resource Room (RO). “Intoarcerea reprimatului” e o tema fundamentala, esentiala pentru intelegerea istoriei recente. „Proiectul Occidentului, proiectul nietzschean a urmarit eliminarea religiei si crearea unei societati seculare, in care barbatii si femeile sa-si creeze propriile valori, deoarece moralitatea a disparut, spune scriitorul britanic de origine pakistaneza Hanif Kureishi. Iar apoi religia, in forma ei radicala, se reintoarce din Lumea a Treia. Cum sa nu rizi de asa ceva? Cum sa nu vezi aici o profunda ironie a istoriei?”. Intoarcerea reprimatului reprezinta procesul prin care elementele reprimate, ce se pastreaza in subconstient, au tendinta sa apara din nou – in constiinta sau in comportament – sub forma unor „derivate ale subconstientului” de tip secundar, mai mult sau mai putin recognoscibile. Aceasta intoarcere a reprimatului, a ideologiilor impinse spre marginalizare, a subiectului sexual silit sa se ascunda, provoaca in ultimii ani o transformare aproape dramatica a unei societati napadite de spaime, halucinatii si reprimare, toate impuse de reglementarile inutile, ce sustin violenta represiva a guvernelor impotriva propriilor lor cetateni. Reprimarea ca proces psihic constient si voluntar, care consta in renuntarea la satisfacerea unei dorinte care nu se afla in concordanta cu persoana morala duce la anihilarea, alienarea celor mai simple dorinte si revolte. Teama principala acum este modelul noii diviziuni internationale a muncii. Acest concept aparent imprumutat de catre liderii capitalisti de la socialistii vechi ascunde in fapt ceva mult mai dur care va aduce indubitabil o intarire a statului ca instrument de represiune. Noua diviziune internationala a muncii este o chestiune mult mai important de discutat decât altele pentru ca este, poate, cea mai importanta cauza a a represiuniii, fie ea politica sau civila. Pe de alta parte, sistemul juridic actual privit atent ne releva un sistem revoltator, un sistem care sustine exploatarea de clasa, radicalizarea prapastiei intre clasele sociale si suprematia majoritatii albe heteronormative macho-patriarhale. Sistemul juridic sustine creearea obedientei politice si are grija de reglarea pretului muncii. in fapt protejeaza creearea de capital si un tip de inechitate legala. Pentru a intelege efectele majore ale violentei statului trebuie sa privim si alternativa: asistenta statala pentru cei saraci si pentru clasa muncitoare. Frances Fox-Piven si Richard Cloward scriau in "New Class War": "legatura dintre programele de mentinere ale veniturilor, piata muncii si profituri este indirecta, dar nu foarte complicata". Prea multa democratie sociala va determina oamenii sa nu mai fie multumti de salariile mizere, de conditiile infecte de lucru. Deci, chiar daca facem conversia, legaturile statului represiv cu piata muncii si profiturile nu sunt complicate deloc. Represia gestioneaza saracia. Saracia duce la reducerea lefurilor. Salariile mici cresc rata de exploatare si creaza profit. Ceea ce reprezinta scopul principal al statului. (Extras din textul "Exploring the return of repression" de Razvan Ion, publicat in ziarul "Exploring the return of repression"). Evenimente discursive: Urban Larssen (SE), Sina Najafi (USA), Alex Mirutziu (RO), Cosmin Marian (RO), Sebastian Moldovan (RO). Publicatie/ziar: 32 pages, 31,5 x 42 cm, b/w, english. distributed for free. Cu texte de Andrei Craciun (RO), Tatjana Greif (SI), Daraka Larimore Hall (NO), Razvan Ion (RO), Rolling Thunder (USA), Ronald F. King (USA), Urban Larssen (SE), Jose Louis Meiras (AR), Suzana Milevska (MK), Naeem Mohaiemen (BD), Maria Eva Blotta & Diego Posadas (AR), Eugen Radescu (RO), Michel Tournier (FR). Publicatiile pot fi descarcate gratuit la http://www.pavilionunicredit.org/publicatii.html Assistant curator: Silvia Vasilescu -- Vineri, 02 Octombrie, 2009 17.00 Exhibtion tour with Razvan Ion (curator) Vineri, 23 Octombrie, 2009 17.00 Exhibition tour with Silvia Vasilescu (assistant curator) -- Imagine: Thomas Hirschhorn, “Where do I stand ? What do I want ?”, publication, 96 pages, 2007 (detail). --- EXPLORING THE RETURN OF REPRESSION September 10 - November 22, 2009 Opening: September 10, 2009, 19.00 hours Curator: Razvan Ion Participants: Luke Fowler (GB), Jean Genet (FR), Hanif Kureishi (GB), Thomas Hirschhorn (CH), Renzo Martens (NL/CG), Alex Mirutziu (RO), Naeem Mohaiemen (BD), Sebastian Moldovan (RO), Taller Popular De Serigrafia (AR), Colm Toibin (IE), Michel Tournier (FR), Pavilion Resource Room (RO). “The return of the repressed” is a crucial theme, a key to understanding recent history. "The project of the West, the Nietzschean project, has been to drive out religion and to produce a secular society in which men and women make their own values, because morality is gone”, writes Hanif Kureishi, British writer of Pakistani descent. “Then suddenly radical religion returns from the Third World. How can you not laugh at that? How can you not find that a deep historical irony?" The return of the repressed is the process whereby repressed elements, preserved in the unconscious, tend to reappear, in consciousness or in behavior, in the shape of secondary and more or less unrecognizable "derivatives of the unconscious." This return of the repressed, of ideologies forced to marginalization, of sexuality subject to forced secrecy, has resulted, in recent years, in an almost dramatic change of a society filled with anguish, hallucinations, repression imposed by unnecessary regulations that serve to the repressive violence of governments against their own citizens. Repression as a conscious and voluntary psychological process, consisting of giving up the fulfillment of a desire which is not in full accord with the moral being, leads to the annihilation and alienation of the simplest desires and rebellions. The main apprehension is now the model of a new international division of labour. This concept has apparently been borrowed by the capitalist leaders from the old socialists, and it is actually hiding something even harsher, something that will bring forth the strengthening of the state as instrument of repression. The new international division of labour is a more important issue to discuss than others, because it is, perhaps, the most important cause of both the political and the civil repression. On the other hand, if we examine carefully the present legal system, it is reveal itself as a revolting system, supporting the class exploitation, the radicalization of the chasm among social classes and the supremacy of the white heteronormative and macho-patriarchal majority. The legal system supports the creation of the political obedience and it deals with the adjustment of the value of work. Actually, it protects the capital creation and a type of legal inequity. In order to understand the main effects of the state violence, we also have to consider the alternative: the social assistance for the poor and for the working class. Frances Fox-Piven and Richard Cloward wrote in New Class War: “the connection between the income maintenance programs, the labour market and profits is indirect, but not complicated”. Too much social democracy will make people stop being grateful for low wages and poor work conditions. Thus, even with the converse, the link between state repression, labour market and profits is not complicated at all. Repression manages poverty. Poverty depresses wages. Low wages increase the rate of exploitation and create profit. Which is the main purpose of the state. (Excerpt from: Răzvan Ion, "Exploring the return of repression" in the newspaper "Exploring the return of repression"). Discursive Events: Urban Larssen (SE), Sina Najafi (USA), Alex Mirutziu (RO), Cosmin Marian (RO), Sebastian Moldovan (RO). Publication/Newspaper: 32 pages, 31,5 x 42 cm, b/w, english. distributed for free. With texts by Andrei Craciun (RO), Tatjana Greif (SI), Daraka Larimore Hall (NO), Razvan Ion (RO), Rolling Thunder (USA), Ronald F. King (USA), Urban Larssen (SE), Jose Louis Meiras (AR), Suzana Milevska (MK), Naeem Mohaiemen (BD), Maria Eva Blotta & Diego Posadas (AR), Eugen Radescu (RO), Michel Tournier (FR). With special booklet insert by Taller Popular De Serigrafia (AR). Free PDF download of the publications at http://www.pavilionunicredit.org/publicatii.html Assistant curator: Silvia Vasilescu -- Friday, October 2, 2009 17.00 Exhibtion tour with Razvan Ion (curator) Friday, October 23, 2009 17.00 Exhibition tour with Silvia Vasilescu (assistant curator) -- Image: Thomas Hirschhorn, “Where do I stand ? What do I want ?”, publication, 96 pages, 2007 (detail). --- To unsubscribe click http://pavilionmagazine.org/phplist/?p=unsubscribe&uid=e338aa962978d4a63145054620e4b299 To forward this message click http://pavilionmagazine.org/phplist/?p=forward&uid=e338aa962978d4a63145054620e4b299&mid=99 From patrice at xs4all.nl Mon Sep 7 15:28:41 2009 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 11:58:41 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] On the death of the Internet awki (Rakesh Iyer) Message-ID: <019cf5ba3a5fcde849df78f99c810cb2.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> Rakesh Iyer's rejoinder on Monica's call for arms ;-) was refreshing and a sensible ethical reality check, immo. However, there is one aspect I found flawed, and it is that scaling down on our on-line consumption would be imposed on us not by our own volition or democratic decision, but by corporate interests. What these probably dream of is what I once called the 'MTV effect': one can watch MTV all over the planet, but MTV Hungary is totally different from MTV Argentina, and nowhere are you able to look at yr favourite MTV chain if that is not the local one. MTV decides for you which blend you watch (Bollysongs on MTV S.Asia, Balkan techno on MTV Bosnia (if there is such ;-). With other words, corporate interests would like to revert the Internet into a (digital) broadcast system, of course flush with ads for 'captive eyeballs'. Not our wish, and hence opposition is needed. But that should not refrain us from heading Rakesh's advice and go for 'de-consume'. I plan to institute one e-mailfree day a week for starters! Cheers, patrizio & Diiiinooos! From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Sep 7 18:01:26 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 18:01:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] On the death of the Internet awki (Rakesh Iyer) In-Reply-To: <019cf5ba3a5fcde849df78f99c810cb2.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> References: <019cf5ba3a5fcde849df78f99c810cb2.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> Message-ID: Dear Patrice The point I am making has larger implications actually even beyond Internet. The fact is that our consumption pattern today is completely unsustainable over a longer duration of time. What the British established during the Industrial Revolution, was a model which was based on making people greedy and thereby consuming resources to consume as much as they can, and the way to achieve this was possible thanks to colonization. Which is why Gandhi had once remarked that already the British required more than half the earth to satisfy their own greed, and if India were to follow suit, it will be a disaster. Hence, there has to be a limit to how we consume. I find it strange that the Ambanis have built a huge mansion while having only four people. Ironically, people like Amartya Sen may say that Ambani has the freedom to do it and he should be allowed to do it, but I think wasteful consumption of resources this way in the name of freedom is something we can't allow and we should tax heavily. A certain amount of consumption is fine, but beyond that, if you want to use your freedom, pay for it. That should be one of the important lessons required for sustainable development. Regards Rakesh From sinead.kachroo at gmail.com Tue Sep 8 10:26:14 2009 From: sinead.kachroo at gmail.com (sinead kachroo) Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 10:26:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Mahatma Gandhi and Ragging. Message-ID: <5be9c5ea0909072156v6b4a72f8u4cc6e41fadcbf24f@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, *Invitation to commemorate the anniversary of the Satyagraha at Raj Ghat, New Delhi on the 11th Sept. at 4 PM. * On the occasion of the 103rd anniversary of the Satyagraha, the Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti, has decided to dedicate this year to the issue of*Ragging. * They in cooperation with the *Aman Movement for the Eradication of Ragging* has decided to organise *a thought provoking session of interaction * between students, academics, Journalists, non governmental agencies, parents, school teachers, psychologists, administrators and law enforcing personnel on the subject of ragging. *What can we do to stop this violence in institutes of Education ? Who is to be blamed resposible and who has the power to do something about it ? What are your thoughts and solutions ?* We would like to invite you to participate in the function as active participants and contribute to the discussion. An open Forum has been organised where participants can talk and ask the panellist questions directly. We need people who are active and aware. *People who are not afraid to speak their mind. * Panelists include the Delhi Vice Chancellor and Bengal Vice Chancellor of Universities, Director of the Nelson Mandela Resolution for Peace and Conflict, reputed Delhi Psychologists and Representatives of the Police force. The format is informal, after a brief address of the panellists on the issue of ragging which should last about 3-5 minutes each. The Session will then be open to discussion and moderated by the *Aman Satya Kachroo Trust Founder -Dr. Raj Kachroo.* * * We look forward to see you on the 11th September at 4 PM – Raj Ghat. For more information please feel free to call me on (0) 9717 059 747. Warm Regards, Sinead Kachroo Aman Movement for Eradication of Ragging. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 8 17:04:47 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 04:34:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] On the death of the Internet awki (Rakesh Iyer) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <256945.16150.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Some thoughts. Random thoughts. Perhaps uneducated thoughts.   Whatever Amartya Sen or Gandhi may or may not say, the 'rich' should be encouraged to spend; spend as much as they can; encouraged to spend within the country. That is one good way of spreading wealth with some degree of 'trickle down'   To 'tax' expenditure is foolish economics. "Conspicuous Multiple Taxation" only encourages 'avoidance of declarations', 'benami transactions', 'hoarding of currency', 'flight of capital' and 'unproductive investment such as in gold-bars'.   "Wasteful consumption" would be pertinent for such "sustenance elements" as "food". The 'rich' cannot consume 'food' beyond a certain limit which is no different from the 'non-rich'. 'Food shortages' arise out of mismanaging 'inputs for agriculture', hoarding by 'Private' traders and mismanagement of Regulatory Pricing; Procurement; Stocking; Distribution by the State. Inability to 'buy food' even when available has nothing to do with 'consumption' by the 'rich'.   Other inputs for "Decent Living' such as Clothes, Residence, Sanitation; Healthcare, Education, Employment have very little to do with how much the 'rich' consume of those elements.   Availability of two other elements needed for "Decent LIving", Water and Electricity could perhaps be affected by how much of those the 'rich' consume. I wonder though to what extent if (perhaps) not more than 5% of the population could possibly indulge themselves in being able to afford 'excessive wasteful consumption'   Enterprise and Entrpreneurship should be encouraged. Regulatory mechanisms should ensure that there is a 'level playing field', that Profiteering is not resorted to, that Cartelisation is not allowed, that there is Fair Pricing (not hostage to Demand/Supply influences), that there are Fair Wages (not hostage to Demand/Supply influences)      Kshmendra --- On Mon, 9/7/09, Rakesh Iyer wrote: From: Rakesh Iyer Subject: Re: [Reader-list] On the death of the Internet awki (Rakesh Iyer) To: "Patrice Riemens" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Monday, September 7, 2009, 6:01 PM Dear Patrice The point I am making has larger implications actually even beyond Internet. The fact is that our consumption pattern today is completely unsustainable over a longer duration of time. What the British established during the Industrial Revolution, was a model which was based on making people greedy and thereby consuming resources to consume as much as they can, and the way to achieve this was possible thanks to colonization. Which is why Gandhi had once remarked that already the British required more than half the earth to satisfy their own greed, and if India were to follow suit, it will be a disaster. Hence, there has to be a limit to how we consume. I find it strange that the Ambanis have built a huge mansion while having only four people. Ironically, people like Amartya Sen may say that Ambani has the freedom to do it and he should be allowed to do it, but I think wasteful consumption of resources this way in the name of freedom is something we can't allow and we should tax heavily. A certain amount of consumption is fine, but beyond that, if you want to use your freedom, pay for it. That should be one of the important lessons required for sustainable development. Regards Rakesh _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From javedmasoo at gmail.com Tue Sep 8 17:29:25 2009 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 17:29:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters Message-ID: An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh Hon’ble Prime Minister of India September 8, 2009, 1.02am Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. I had written a small article in The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in Gujarat. The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. I am writing this to ask you a small favour. I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various media reports. On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Jisan Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill chief minister Narendra Modi. Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai suburb. Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency conducted investigation. When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of additional DGP - should probe this case. The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the Kith and Kin of the two. There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered up. In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of Central Home Ministry. After UPA came to power some tainted CBI officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track record were removed after a lot of pressure and almost two years but they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit for CBI probe." Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale then? Do they just go home and sleep? Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which says all citizens are equal? The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry with the Gujarat government. My request to you is that if your government has any political will then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. You are fond of poetry. Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang ko gulnaar karein Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko gulzaar karein (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will brighten your colourless earth; How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your deserts to bloom.) Sincerely Yours Shabnam Hashmi Member, National Integration Council [shabnamhashmi at gmail.com] ======== Jaspal Singh, IPS (retd) former Minister, Gujarat writes to SIT on Gujarat riots 2002 Calls Gujarat riots "a thoroughly thought out elaborate and heinous strategy to communalise the society at large in Gujarat, with a view to derive political benefits" Jaspal Singh,IPS (retd) (former: Cabinet Minister, Government of Gujarat , Mayor of Vadodara, Commissioner of Police, Vadodara, Gujarat) wrote the following letter on 7 September 2009 to Dr. R.K. Raghavan, Chairman, Special Investigation Team (SIT), Dr.Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Block-11, 1St Flr, Old Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar: Sir, Sub: Gujarat Riots of 2002 – Action thereon Apropos my letter dated Jun 06, 2009, I write to compliment you for pursuing investigations in to the Gujarat riots of 2002 with vigour by recording statement of Mrs.Zakia Jafri, widow of late of Mr.Ehsan Jafri, a former member of the Parliament, Shri R.B.Sreekumar, IPS (Retd), former DGP of Gujarat, and Mr.Rahul Sharma a serving IPS officer of Gujarat cadre. While the progress of the case does bring some comfort to the victims of the genocide unleashed in Gujarat, lot more remains to be done as expeditiously as possible, so as to instil a sense of hope in the hearts and minds of Indians, that the rule of law would be respected and no one would be spared for flouting it. The happenings of 2002 have brought shame and disgrace of unfathomable proportions, and only investigation by the SIT under your command can redeem the honour of the country. I list below some of the matters which need to be investigated in detail in pursuance of trust reposed in you, and your team by the Hon’ble Apex Court. Your efforts will assuage the terribly dented image of our great country, and hence your responsibility is immense. As a retired IPS officer I consider it a matter of pride that the job to redeem the honour of the country has been entrusted to the SIT headed by a IPS officer. The outcome of the SIT’s investigation and actions following it may prove to be a benchmark in the history of our country. 1. Communalisation of Gujarat: The mayhem in Gujarat was the result of a thoroughly thought out elaborate and heinous strategy to communalise the society at large in Gujarat, with a view to derive political benefits. Towards that end the exclusivist, fundamentalist and sectarian pseudo religious groups among Hindus and Muslims played a leading role, aided and abetted by those at the helm. 2. Examiniation of participants in the crucial meeting chaired by the CM – Narendra Modi: Examination of the following persons is crucial for the purpose of the SIT: a) Smt.Swarnakanta Varma IAS, the then Acting Chief Secretary b) Mr.Ashok Narayan, IAS, the then Home Secretary c) Dr.P.K.Mishra, IAS, the then Principal Secretary to the CM d) Mr.Anil mukim, IAS & Mr.A.K.Sharma, IAS Secretaries to CM e) Mr.P.C.Pande IPS, then Commissioner of Police Ahmedabad f) Shri K.Chakravarty, IPS, the then DG of Police, Gujarat g) Shri G.C.Raiger, IPS, the then Addl. DGP of Gujarat h) Shri Nityanand, IPS, Secretary in the Home Department. 3. Representative of CBI: The SIT must examine Shri Rajendrakumar, the then Jt.Director, Central Intelligence Bureau (CBI) in charge of Gujarat who had insisted on the state DGP to deem the burning of the train at Godhra as a terrorist act mounted by the ISI. 4. Examination of Ministers: Examine all those ministers of Shri Modi Government about the details of the meeting held at the residence of the CM on 27.02.2002, including the then Minister of State for Home Shri Govardhan Zadapiya who had admitted in the State Assembly about the meeting convened by the CM. It may be mentioned that the State Assembly was in session on the day the tragic events took place at Godhra. This can be verified from the official records of the State Assembly. This will clarify that the CM had directed the officers to permit free play of Hindu revengefulness on the Muslims (Reference to June 03, 2002 issue of the weekly – Outlook). 5. Whether prompt action taken: Examine whether there was delay in requisitioning army and central para military forces with a view to give free hand to the anti Muslim rioters. 6. Law and order Review meeting minutes: Examine the minutes of the law and order review meetings chaired by the CM, the Chief Secretary, and the DGP jointly, or otherwise and subsequent follow up action by subordinate officers in the police department, and executive magistracy from District Magistrates to Mamalatdars. If minutes were not kept it would be obvious that monitoring of the implementation of decisions could not haven been done. 7. Follow up action: Examine how the monitoring of the implementations of the decisions in these review meetings was done by the CM to DGP without minutes of these meetings. 8. Media reports – sources: Conduct deeper probe in to the source of media reports about the meeting chaired by the CM, where the CM directed the officials to be soft on Hindu rioters. Investigation on the above lines could provide evidence of extra judicial confessions. Some further investigations that are necessary are: a) Examination of documents on the communications between and among the CM’s office, CS Office, Home department, DGP Office and the Commissioners of Police of Ahmedabad, Baroda, and SPs of major riot affected districts in the period from 27.02.2002 to 31.05.2002. Similar correspondence from the relevant police stations to district / commissionrate level officers also be examined to find out whether there were major omissions and commissions to facilitate the Pogram against the Muslims b) Examination of documents on communications between the DGP and the State Control room in Gandhinagar, and the Commissionarates, besides offices of the DSPs, Addl. DGP (Intelligence) c) Examination of entries in the registers and log books of the police patrol vehicles in cities and important towns. d) Examination of documents on various incidents and action reported by DGP and CP Ahmedabad and riot affected districts to their higher officers. e) Examination of reports by DGP, Home department, Chief Secretary, ADGO (Intelligence) to the Central Government and to find out veracity of reports and efforts of anyone to suppress truth. f) It is on record that the Gujarat State intelligence branch had sent daily reports to Shri B.K.Haldar, Jt. Secy, MHA, New Delhi from 13.03.2002 onwards. Besides, daily reports which were sent on various specific incidents that took place in Gujarat. A study of these reports will indicate that there was anti-minority prejudice explicit in the actions of the state police which prompted them to avoid arrest of Hindu rioters and concentrating on penalising the Muslims. Analysis of the statistics prepared by the Add. D.G., Intelligence, Gujarat in the form of daily reports will reveal that the casualties in the police action weighed heavily against the Muslims, as also the destruction and damage to properties. g) Action must be taken to procure data regarding representations from the riot affected people and general public received through phone calls, written complaints and personal representations from 27.02.2002 to 31.05.2002. It is also necessary to examine the quality and character of response to these by the enforcing officers. In case responses are found to be inadequate, and unprofessional, an adverse inference can be drawn against the concerned officers. h) Examination of documents on meetings held by CP, Ahmedabad and other police commissionarates and affected districts during the same period to find out the nature of instructions given and decisions taken thereon and the extent of their implementation. i) Examination of concerned officers from DGP to field officers at the police station level on their failure to comply with the directions and instructions on handling of communal situation in Gujarat as per Gujarat State Police Manual Vol-III, Rule 21 to 31, and DGP Gujarat’s booklet on “Criminal Riots – Strategy and Approach” forwarded to all senior police officers by the then DGP Shri K.V.Joseph vide his letter No. SB/49/1050/1175 dated 19.11.1997, compilation of Government instructions captioned –“Criminal Peace”, and recommendations of Justice Reddy Commission and the Commission headed by Justice Dave. j) Officers in charge of areas where large scale violence happened should explain the reason for their dereliction of duties in violation of the provisions of Gujarat Police Manual Vol-III, Rules 24, 134, 135 and 136. It is relevant to note that such culpable connivance by government functionaries with the rioters had prompted the Apex Court to portray the Gujarat bureaucracy as modern day Neros and the Hon’ble Supreme Court had actively intervened to correct the aberrations by ordering : i) Transfer of Bilkisbano rape case to CBI in April 2004 ii) Transfer of Bilkisbano and Best Bakery cases to Maharashtra in April 2004. iii) Review of 2000 odd closed cases (August 2004) iv) Creation of SIT to reinvestigate 9 major carnage cases (March 2008) v) Order of the Supreme Court to the SIT to investigate on all points contained in the complaint filed by Mrs.Jafre (April 2009) k) SIT should go in to the series of circumstances indicating criminal motive of the CM, Gujarat and his collaborators in projecting the Godhra train fire incident as an outcome of conspiracy by ISI and a terrorist act. There is sufficient evidence to prove that even before the investigating or intelligence agency had any information about conspiracy behind the Godhra fire, the CM, Gujarat, a national leader of BJP, declared it to be a consequence of conspiracy. This is the starting point of anti minority carnage. The CM made a statement in the state assembly that the Godhra train incident was a pre-planned terrorist act and was a result of a conspiracy. l) In fact the Gujarat police brought out the questionable conspiracy element only by the end of March 2002. The Apex Court had not supported the Gujarat State Government’s application of provisions of the then prevailing POTA on the accused of the Godhra train fire. m) Revelations by some witnesses in the Godhra train fire case in the operation ‘kalank’ brought out by ‘Tehelka’ magazine about the Gujarat police bribing them to give false evidence. The then Home Secretary Mr.G.C.Murmu, and Government pleader Mr.Arvind Pandya tried to tutor the then Addl. DGP. Shri R.B.Sreekumar to support Government’s conspiracy theory during his cross examination by the Nanavati Commission. The then Godhra Collector Ms.Jayanti Ravi openly stated that the Godhra incident was criminal and she did not mention either about the conspiracy or it being a terrorist act. n) In fact in my view the ill motivated declaration of ISI being behind this conspiracy was a part of the larger conspiracy to perpetuate genocidal crimes against the minority community for ensuring political consolidation of the majority community in favour of the BJP to procure electoral dividends. Simultaneously the Sangh Parivar could achieve their ever pursued hidden agenda of treating the Muslim minority as second class citizens. Having denied proper relief and rehabilitation in pre-riot vocations/trades, commerce and agriculture, many riot victims were forced to compromise with the perpetrators of the violence and consequently not even 25% of the cases reviewed on the Apex Court’s orders could end up in prosecution of accused persons. o) Abnormality and impropriety in the following actions by Shri Modi government after the Godhra incident need to be uncovered, as they are linked to the plans to inflict maximum damage on the Muslims. I. A condolence resolution was passed in the state assembly to condone those who were killed in the train fire, though no person for whom such resolutions are customary were killed. II. No condolence resolution was passed to condone the death of Ehsan Jafri, a former MP as was customary. This was in total violation of legislative norms. III. No discussion in the state assembly on the riots was held for over 10 days as the assembly remained closed during the period. IV. The CM and BJP leaders supported the Gujarat Bandh call given by the VHP on 28.02.2002. V. Neither the CM or any senior BJP leader made any appeal for peace on the eve of the Bandh on 28.02.2002. VI. Parading of dead bodies of Godhra fire victims in Ahmedabad city was done in violation of all regulations in this connection. Please enquire in to how the dead bodies were handed over to unauthorised persons viz. VHP leaders and not the legally entitled kin of the diseased. SIT should procure all documentary evidence about the whole process viz. Which officer had released the dead bodies to the VHP. Please procure and confiscate the relevant records immediately. Who were the persons who received the bodies, why unidentified dead bodies were also handed over to such unauthorised persons. The concerned officers be asked to produce the details of Government order, if any, in this connection. In case relevant officers take the cover of non availability of records, they should be prosecuted for deliberate destruction of evidence. p) Mr.P.C.Pande the then Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad should be examined on the following fatal acts of negligence facilitating the blood bath in Ahmedabad city. I. Non initiation of preventive measures as per numerous instructions including those in Gujarat Police Manual etc. from 27.02.2002 onwards when anti minority riots started. II. Why imposition of curfew on 28.02.2002 was delayed up to 1300 Hours? III. Why no redeployment of the SRP and additional police force was not done on 28.02.2002? The SRP continued to be at the same places as they were before. IV. Please examine as to what follow up action he had taken on the state IB reports as cited in the affidavits filed by the then Addl. DGP Intelligence. V. What further action did he take on his letters to the DGP, and the Secretary Home, about the role of VHP in fomenting trouble and extortion of protection money from miscreants. q) Examine the officers of the state intelligence branch Ahmedabad City and other major riot affected areas as to whether they reported the anti minority stance of the police at the ground level during and after the riots resulting in non registration of FIRs by the riot victims. Misinformation of the intensity of crimes, clubbing of numerous offences as just one single incident. r) Not arresting Hindu accused promptly, and not taking them on remand for collecting additional evidence, and recovery of looted or stolen property. s) Prejudicial stand of Special Public Prosecutors some of who were office bearers of the Sangh Parivar. t) Examine the officers in charge of the riot affected areas regarding the instructions given by them in response to distress calls from the riot victims, monitoring of the implementation of these instructions, any disciplinary action taken against anybody for non compliance etc. Examination of relevant documents in the CP or SP offices, Offices of Range DIGs/IGs and SDPOs, and police station officers absolutely imperative. u) Electronic and print media had brought out graphically the pictures of parading of dead bodies, ghastly scenes of riots etc. These be procured and analysed, and further probes be done like arresting those found indulging in violence. v) Many Sangh Parivar leaders and accused in anti minority carnage had boasted about their active involvement in the riots to Shri Ashish Khaitan, the Tehelka correspondent in the video. Make further inquiries about the information brought out in operation ‘kalank’. These revelations are extra judicial confessions. The forensic test of all these persons is also necessary. w) Please examine state home department officials and DGP, Shri K.Chakravarty about follow up action initiated by them on the state IB reports regarding prejudices of the state police against the riot victims. Please examine Home Secretary Shri Ashok Narain, as to what action he had taken on the demand by the National Minority Commission about highly inciting and incendiary speech of the CM in 2002. x) Please examine the Secretary, Law Department for appointing supporters and office bearers of the Sangh Parivar as Special Public Prosecutors to present cases against the accused belonging to Hindu community. y) Please examine the District Magistrates of relevant districts as to why they recommended supporters and office bearers of the Sandh Parivar for appointment as Police Public prosecutors to the state law department. z) Please examine the Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi, about the details of instructions given by him to the Chief Secretary, Home department officials and the DGP during the riots and subsequently. Did he notice any acts of omission or commission by such officers, if so what action he had initiated to correct the system and discipline those who derelicted their duties. Did the CM initiate any curative measures to redress the grievance of the victims before the intervention by the NHRC, the Apex Court, and the national level bodies. If no such action was taken, then this must be deemed as part of a conspiracy to perpetuate violence on the Muslim minority and subversion of criminal justice system. Please examine Mr.Modi on the action taken by him about malicious role of one of his cabinet ministers, Mr.Bharat Barot in inciting anti minority violence as reported by the CP, Ahmedabad. It is quite likely that the Government functionaries who collaborated with the CM and the Sangh Parivar in executing anti minority violence will refuse to provide relevant evidence to the SIT. Therefore the SIT will have to depend on the documentary evidence in Government and police records heavily. Once clear picture about planning and execution of conspiracy emerges, the relevant culprits should be confronted and their forensic test be carried out. I strongly feel that a few officers known for their competence, professionalism and integrity need to be inducted in to the SIT from the Gujarat Police. The supervisory officers in the SIT at present are handicapped by their lack of knowledge Gujarati language. To overcome this problem I would strongly recommend the induction of the following officers in to the SIT. 1. Mr.Satish Verma, IPS 1986 2. Mr.Rahul Sharma, IPS 1992 3. Mr.Rajnish Rai, IPS 1992 4. Dr.(Mrs) Neerja Gotru Rao, IPS 1993 and 5. Mr.Hasmukh N. Patel, IPS 1993 For probing points contained in the complaint filed by Mrs Jafri. Any failure by the Indian Judicial system to bring under the clutches of law, the real planners and executioners of anti-minority genocide in 2002 would further energise anti Indian forces internationally and particularly those jihadi groups who have been denigrating the Indian State authorities for their failure to protect the minority community. The Islamic terrorists who had claimed responsibility for explosions and terror acts throughout India since 2002 have declared their dastardly acts as revenge and retribution for Gujarat genocide. These groups will fully capitalise on any situation which will provide immunity from prosecution to the CM, Shri Narendra Modi and his aides and attract frustrated riot victims to their camps to the detriment of our national interest. Praying for expeditious actions on the above suggestions/requests. Yours sincerely, Jaspal Singh IPS (Retd) 4, Green Park, Akota, Vadodara 390020 Telephone: 0265 2332555 Email: jaspalofbaroda at yahoo.com From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Sep 8 22:33:28 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:03:28 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication is looking for Lecturer & Associate Professor @ Delhi Campus Message-ID: <8CBFEBD6B9AEA76-36B0-267CF@webmail-m005.sysops.aol.com> Dear members , Greetings Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication offers the following full time programs : 1. MA in Mass Communication in affiliation with Guru Nanak Dev University 2. Advertising & Marketing Communication 3. Public Relations & Event Management The new faculty is required for the above courses . Hope to hear from you soon ! Regards Ashok Ogra Director Formerly : Vice President , Discovery Channel & Animal Planet ( South Asia ) Mobile : 9810502674 Apeejay Campus, Sector 8, Institutional Area, Dwarka , New Delhi - 110075 Ph: (011) 25367821, 25363979-82, 25364523 Fax : (011) 25367821, 25363985 Email : aimc.del at apj.edu Website : www.apeejay.edu/aimc/home.htm From indersalim at gmail.com Tue Sep 8 22:56:16 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 22:56:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister Message-ID: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh Hon’ble Prime Minister of India September 8, 2009, 1.02am Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. I had written a small article in The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in Gujarat. The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. I am writing this to ask you a small favour. I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various media reports. On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Jisan Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill chief minister Narendra Modi. Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai suburb. Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency conducted investigation. When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of additional DGP - should probe this case. The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the Kith and Kin of the two. There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered up. In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of Central Home Ministry. After UPA came to power some tainted CBI officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track record were removed after a lot of pressure and almost two years but they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit for CBI probe." Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale then? Do they just go home and sleep? Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which says all citizens are equal? The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry with the Gujarat government. My request to you is that if your government has any political will then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. You are fond of poetry. Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang ko gulnaar karein Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko gulzaar karein (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will brighten your colourless earth; How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your deserts to bloom.) Sincerely Yours Shabnam Hashmi Member, National Integration Council Cc: Media & fellow human rights activists From yasir.media at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 03:25:05 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 02:55:05 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd: It's a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of India In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5af37bb0909081455p224cd9a6q147304a66824ae71@mail.gmail.com> fwd http://www.tehelka.com/dotnet/mainheadline.asp?id=1 “It is a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of India” * *Ayesha Jalal, Pakistani historian and author of "The Sole Spokesman", picks through the tangle of the Jinnah controversy By Shoma Chaudhury *What strikes you, personally, as the sharpest irony of the Jinnah- Jaswant Singh controversy and its fallout in India?* What strikes me as most ironic is the extent to which the '''secular' Congress and the 'communal' BJP end up subscribing to the same common idioms of Indian nationalism when it comes to Pakistan and its most potent symbol, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Jinnah of the 1916 Lucknow Pact where Sarojini Naidu hailed him as the “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”; Jinnah of the 1940 Lahore Declaration and two-nation theory; Jinnah who wanted Pakistan to be a “laboratory of Islam”; the secular Jinnah of the August 11 1947 address. And the Jinnah of the personal domain: a Parsi wife, smoking, drinking. How is one to reconcile all these? Were these all stages in the evolution of Jinnah’s political thinking, or were they expedient positions? Like any other successful politician, Jinnah changed tactics without losing sight of his ultimate strategic objectives in response to shifting political dynamics during a career spanning several decades. Only a most superficial and politically tainted understanding of Jinnah can lead to the conclusion that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between his early career when he was hailed as the ‘ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity’ and his later years when he orchestrated the demand for a Pakistan in order to win an equitable share of power for Muslims in an independent India. As for the presumed contradiction between his personal lifestyle and championing of a Pakistan in which Islam would play a role, the problem again lies with an insufficient understanding of what Jinnah meant by Islam. The Islam he advocated was neither bigoted nor narrow-minded, but one based on principles of equity, justice and fairplay for all, regardless of caste or creed. Jinnah never abandoned his secular and liberal vision for purposes of expediency. This is amply in evidence from the speeches he gave in the aftermath of partition on the place of religion and the minorities in the Muslim state of Pakistan. *Your own book "The Sole Spokesman" argues that Partition was a gross miscalculation and Jinnah never wanted it till the end. How is one to read his demand for two nations then? And what, according to you, did Jinnah really want?* What I argued in The Sole Spokesman was that it was a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of India as it took place in 1947. After 1940, the demand for Pakistan was intended by Jinnah as a means to stake a claim for the Muslim share of power in India once the British quit. He argued that the unitary centre of the raj was a British construction and would stand dissolved at the moment of decolonization. Any reconstitution of the centre would have to be based on the premise that there were ‘two nations’ in India – the Muslim nation represented by the Muslim-majority provinces in the north-west and north-east (Pakistan) and the Hindu nation represented by the Hindu-majority provinces (Hindustan). Once the Congress and the British conceded the principle of a Pakistan, Jinnah left it an open question whether the two parts of India would arrive at treaty arrangements on matters of common concern as two sovereign states or enter into a confederal arrangement on the basis of equality. Jinnah always insisted that ‘Pakistan’ had to be based on undivided Punjab and Bengal and resolutely opposed the partition of these two provinces along ostensibly religious lines until the bitter end. By insisting on a wresting power at a strong center with only the most nominal concessions to the provincial autonomy demanded by the Muslim-majority provinces, by endorsing the Hindu Mahasabha’s call to partition Punjab and Bengal and, above all, by refusing to grant Muslims the share of power at the all-India level demanded by Jinnah, the Congress led by Nehru and Patel foreclosed the possibility of keeping India united. Jinnah did miscalculate in believing Gandhi’s voice was still dominant in the Congress. *Was the idea of an eminent Muslim domain within a sovereign Indian Union a tenable idea? Indian states were in any case carved along linguistic lines, would a Muslim State have been in keeping with this principle? And if so, why were the Congress stalwarts so against it? * This is a counterfactual question. However, the irony is that it was Jinnah and the Muslim League who wanted undivided Punjab and Bengal and the Mahasabha-Congress combine that insisted on their division along lines of religion. The Congress stalwarts were against such a Muslim state because it entailed diluting their control over the centre and gave far too much power to Jinnah and the Muslim League. Linguistic states in a federal union was not incompatible with Jinnah’s vision. *In your reading of history, who would you hold most culpable for the Partition, and why? Jaswant Singh seems to suggest that Patel and Nehru were most responsible, would you agree?* Mr Jaswant Singh has basically endorsed the main lines of my thesis in The Sole Spokesman as far as apportioning responsibility for the partition of India is concerned. Patel and Nehru were more responsible because, as leaders of the larger party, they had to find the terms for an accommodation with Jinnah and the Muslim League so that the unity of India could have been preserved. In opting to seize power at British India’s unitary center rather than striking a compromise with the Muslim League based on a genuinely federal arrangement, these politicians of the Congress paved the way for partition. * In India we don’t want to acknowledge that Jinnah never really wanted Pakistan; in Pakistan it must be a kind of anathema to suggest the founder of the nation never wanted the nation. Why is Jinnah, in particular, subject to such historical ambiguity?* It is wrongly presumed that Pakistan as it emerged in 1947 is what Mr Jinnah was after all along. The demand for Pakistan, as I have explained above, was intended to renegotiate the power sharing arrangements at the all-India centre on the basis that there were two nations in India, both of which had to be treated on an equal footing regardless of their population proportions. An understanding of the difference between ‘Pakistan’ and partition, particularly the partition of the two main Muslim-majority provinces, will go some way to clearing the fog surrounding the reasons for the division of the subcontinent and, in the process, resolve the ‘historical ambiguity’. *What would you count as the real turning point that made Partition inevitable? Is it the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946? Or do you think there was some other catalytic moment?* The Congress’s refusal to agree to the grouping of provinces – even Gandhi called grouping worse than partition - and Nehru’s public assertions against a centre restricted to three main subjects (defence, foreign affairs and communications), made it impossible for Jinnah to stick to the Muslim League’s acceptance of the Cabinet Mission three tiered plan for a federal India instead of a fully sovereign Pakistan. The outbreak of violence in Calcutta in August 1946 and, subsequently, in other parts of India narrowed the options available to the all-India leaders and made a painful division rather than a negotiated accommodation seem more feasible. However, the partition of Punjab was not inevitable until the Congress called for it in early March 1947 and efforts continued to be made to avoid the partition of Bengal until the end of May 1947. *What would you say are the inconvenient or uncomfortable facts of history that India papers over in its construction of Jinnah? In turn, what does Pakistan paper over?* Despite the available scholarship, the nationalist self-projections of both countries have not managed to attain the requisite level of maturity. The exclusive focus on the ‘religious causes’ of partition in the public discourse on both sides of the divide obscures the powerful regional dynamics that played such a decisive role in the final denouement of 1947. The other associated reason is the insistence on writing history by focusing on the ‘great men’, whether Jinnah, Nehru, Patel or Gandhi. This makes it impossible for people to fully understand the complex historical factors that shaped the politics of these individuals. The Indian state and political elite find it hard to acknowledge that Congress leaders did not in the end stand for the unity of India. Their Pakistani counterparts are loath to accept that Jinnah was handed the maimed, mutilated and moth-eaten Pakistan in 1947 that he had categorically rejected in 1944 and 1946. *If Jinnah was indeed a secular and constitutional giant, why has Pakistan slid so easily towards a theocracy or dictatorship at different points in its history? Is it hobbled in any way by discrepancies in the life of its founding father?* Jinnah articulated a clear vision for Pakistan as a modern nation-state where all citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliations, would have equal rights of citizenship. He ruled out a theocracy at the very outset. His successors stuck to this vision when it came to keeping the religious divines in place well into the early 1970s. They were less successful in avoiding dictatorship in the context of the Cold War and chronic tensions with India over Kashmir. The emergence of the military as the dominant institution and the derailing of democratic processes after 1958 set the ball rolling in the gradual erosion of Jinnah’s vision for a moderate and democratic Pakistan. Yet, it was not until the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq made the fatal decision to turn a narrowly construed brand of Islam into an instrument of state policy, both internally and externally. What plagues Pakistan today are more a result of the legacies of the Zia era than any specific discrepancies (other than partition) in the life of its founding father. From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 08:21:26 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 08:21:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] On the death of the Internet awki (Rakesh Iyer) In-Reply-To: <256945.16150.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <256945.16150.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Kshamendra >From pure politics with parties and ideologies, now I am glad at least we are moving in some measure to economics as well adding on to it. This would be interesting to look at. My views: 1) Trickle down is one of the most dubious ways of development, which has been followed since the past 60 years of independence, and should be thoroughly condemned. The result why the Congress is today in a state of doldrums at the political level in one way is indicative of the pitfalls of trickle-down. Trickle-down doesn't work because of many reasons. Firstly, there is a person at the top or an entity at the top, which is involved in deciding about the production and the consumption functions, as well as decisions to be launched in the name of 'social sector'. The problem is that none or very little of the problems of the people at the ground level is taken into consideration. We should not forget that India is a very diverse country, and what may work in Gujarat may not necessarily work in a neighboring state like Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh. What's more, what may work in a region like Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, may not or will not work at all in a region like Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, micro-level changes have to be made, which may be quite substantial, but trickle-down policy never allows changes to be made. Changes are made by people sitting at a distance, who may have never lived the way the people (for whom the policy is made) lead their lives. What's more, trickle-down never works thanks to corruption. And before one says, corruption can be removed, please go and read Kautilya. He himself has said it's impossible to remove corruption totally, and corruption itself is based on the principle of social trust in our country. Therefore, I don't see any great saint going to change the dynamics of social trust on a grand scale within the country, who will ensure that corruption is wiped out. What therefore, we do need, is to incentivize ways which will reduce corruption. And one of the best ways is the bottom-up approach. This approach is good, for it means that people at the bottom decide what is good for them and what is not, and they take the decision. It's like saying panchayats are the most powerful entity in India, where they choose representatives from amongst them who will then form a state level kind of delegation. They in turn then get elected to form the Central level delegation. (Gandhi's vision of Indian Republic, which was never adopted. The Centre was supposed to be the weakest and village panchayats to be the strongest. Wonder why we still have Gandhi as the Father of India when we couldn't follow a single thing of what he said properly) I don't completely agree with this model, but I think we need to take certain insights from it and realize its practical value in today's India. I can discuss more about it, but this would be an elaborate discussion. So I will go into details later. 2) Certain kinds of transactions and consumption of goods is fine, because at the end of the day we do want to stimulate the economy. But at the same time, we also don't want people spending too much on wants, because sustainable development is what we must strive towards. I am not saying we should ban it, because it infringes upon freedoms of individuals to use such commodities or buy them. But certainly, they should be taxed. Regarding expenditure taxations or income taxations, is something economists have never agreed upon amongst themselves, what to speak of common people like us? What we need to do is then have healthy discussions amongst ourselves, and find out why something is good and something is bad. For me, expenditure taxation is good because it forces rich to consume less of a luxury or a want, but it's bad as well because it actually affects those who are indulging in producing those luxury goods. Therefore, if expenditure taxation is to be introduced, what must be done is to give panchayats the licence to impose it, so that by consensus villagers decide to not produce certain commodity or produce certain other commodity. We can't keep on just spending all resources at will. Also, ensure proper implementation of the NREGA, now that we have it. Plus, we definitely need to absorb labor which can be lost in such sectors into other sectors, for which skill-training programs and skill-enhancement programs will be required, which is why the govt. must be there for. (Here centrality of govt with proper funds available is a good way) 3) The issue of hunger has something ironically to do with the rich, through the budget. When poor are not able to get food, it is a moral and ethical duty of the state to ensure they get their food as an entitlement, for I believe it's the right of every human being to a life of dignity and justice, for which food is an essential requirement. We can't simply disregard people because they don't have the resources to get food for themselves or their families. And when the govt is instead spending crores and crores of your and my money to provide corporate tax exemptions, which are never talked about at all in the mainstream media, it is even more ridiculous. There was a huge discussion about why or why not should the farmer loan-waivers' scheme be implemented? But nobody asked the question why should or should not the Tatas be given corporate subsidies? Why should companies investing in Uttaranchal be given tax exemptions? Why should Tatas get exemption in Gujarat, which according to some studies, is of the tune of Rs. 30,000 crore? If even half that money is obtained and then invested for development, think of what can be done in Gujarat. Is such a tax exemption justifiable, that too for producing a car which is ultimately going to lead to tremendous congestion on our already suffering roads, huge pollution of all kinds (air and noise, but in some measure water wastage and pollution as well, thanks to washing) and also other issues? All this talk about rich not able to do anything for poor, or poor's plight not related to rich's actions is nonsense. When you (you meaning not you as an individual, but members of a society in which you may or may not be party to as an individual) go and ask for a dam, it displaces poor people. When you demand that we want a SEZ, it will inevitably lead to displacement of people. When you ask for control of panchayats to fake muster rolls, which is what the village rich do, then you lead to poverty of people. Poverty is not just simply a matter of luck. It is perpetuated and accentuated by the actions of the rich in one way or the other. Their consumption may have a role to play in that, be it that of electricity, or of land, or of something else. Consumption forces them to corruption too, as also power. Even the amounts to be allocated in budgets, and the way it has to be spent, is something which has to be decided in the context of how the rich lobbies with the govt. and asks them to spend money on it's needs. Look at the way Union Budget 2009 decides on giving exemptions on pipeline-building for gas and oil, and think how it helps the Ambanis in particular. Why give exemptions, is there a justifiable reason for it? Shouldn't the public have a right to know all this? I will give you one more example. In my state, Madhya Pradesh, and in the state I am living (to gain education), Tamil Nadu, after a state budget is presented, there is a debate each day on discussing the amounts or grants given to each ministry, and what all is going to be done in that. It is discussed, to an extent, upon whether the money is sufficient enough to meet the needs, and what has been the pattern in earlier years and what needs to be improved. But for the Central govt. budget, when the Central govt. is more powerful, there is no such debate or discussion on why a particular dept. gets more money while some other dept. gets less. And they all manage to evade by simply making announcements at will as they feel, leading to impoverishment in one form or the other. What about that, Kshamendra jee? 4) Water. Good point. Go and find out how the rich elite splurge water in Mumbai, and how the nearby villages are not able to get water for daily use. Go to Delhi, and you will find outskirts in deep trouble. Go to Hyderabad, and you will find trouble in the same measure. Come to Chennai, where you can stay in my room, and you will find water problems within as well as just outside of Chennai. People sell water there, while in some of the villages, coconuts are free!!! About electricity, the emphasis must not only be on building plants, which are displacing so many people from their lands. The emphasis must be on reducing wasteful consumption, promoting austerity in some way, and also making processes more energy-efficient. In Maharashtra, the govt there has decided to build plants in Konkan region (very green and environmentally sound thanks to Western Ghats) in the name of generating more electricity. According to a study made by the Prayas Group (one of the leading NGO's working in the electricity sector whose report I have read on this issue), if the govt simply decides to reduce T & D losses (transmission-distribution) from around 40% in areas to 20-25%, and also increase the rates slightly, there is no requirement of one plant. And they were going to build plants to produce electricity of thousands of Megawatts. What a shame!!! Pollution of environment and displacement of helpless people. Is this what a govt should be doing, acting like a Robinhood with a difference: take from the poor and give to the rich? I would feel better to commit suicide rather than involve myself in such an activity. 5) Regarding benami properties, what I will say is that it's not expenditure taxation but use of power in dubious ways which is the problem, and hence we need to look at structural changes and institutions which can help in ensuring reduction of corruption, though as I said earlier, this will not work beyond a limit. But let's keep the limit as low as possible. Let's try to bring civil, judicial, police and administrative reforms. There are so many reports lying in the dustbins. Why not implement them or have discussions with the public and implement them within a given time frame? Why not talk on Sarai about that? 6) Your last paragraph I agree on, because not only does it give freedom of trade, innovations and economic growth, but more importantly, the revenues generated out of that can be helpful in ensuring reduction of poverty levels, referred as growth-mediated development. I am all for it, if this is what you wish to ensure. But I am not for the theory of 'growth for the sake of growth'. That's what the NDA's philosophy was, and look where it is now. Let's focus on growth-mediated development, and if tax exemptions are to be given to corporates or small entities for this purpose, give it, but be judgemental and careful because they have costs and benefits, and an analysis only can help in making proper decision, based upon discussions and some mathematics. I want to say more on this, but I stop as I have said too much (Bahut paka diya aap sabko). Regards Rakesh From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 15:08:31 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 15:08:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> Dear all members in the reader list, often I am confused by the fuss and hue and cries raised by some for selective amnesia if the encounters happen in the nation, often, few CMs become targets of annoyance, amused talks, and ofcourse of the disgust. A death by encounter is a death, which has no justification as rules of laws are not followed when a person is killed, and if the person is deviant, accused criminal, the utmost care for the law keepers is to not to kill, but over power by ways of even using the fire power, to hurt and over power, so there is no justification for encounter killings as such, but such deviants have to be prosecuted and dealt with as per rule of laws.. But the some ids seem to have made it a practise to charge the CMs whom they have prejudice, a party to blame, as we in this continent always love the blame game, and conveniently be selective of the deaths by faith, caste and region.? Was the encounter death in Manipur not to be condemned,? Was the CM of Delhi not responsible by the same standards, why no letters , no hue and cries for the deaths in some places for some people, is it because they are of different faiths.? It is really amusing at times when we see the individuals in turn, support the anti national acts and the law of lands is silent and faith is brought in to save the enemies of the society because they belong to any faith, all those guilty of deviant acts in society must be taken care by the rule of laws, by the system of laws expeditiously, but when judges fudge with prosecutions, prosecutions are negligent with biryani eating accused, investigative agencies are all powerful to ignore the swabs of the victims, forensic evidence leads, to doctored evidence, may be law keepers become executors.? Such acts of executors does not augur well for the society, nor the acts of selective protests for the followers of any selective faith, as society will doubt the credibilty of such acts of selective protests, and ofcourse we have enough socialite social workers, artists with art as their credo living on immoral artistic expressions, and those who are unethical and immoral in their profession of journalism. Great cobinations of permutations and combinations to make the society of a nation of jungle law. Regards, Rajen. On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Inder Salim wrote: > An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > > > Dr. Manmohan Singh > Hon’ble Prime Minister of India > September 8, 2009, 1.02am > Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. > > I had written a small article in > The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a > Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in > Gujarat. > The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case > (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally > termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a > metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew > that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that > such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am > not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. > I am writing this to ask you a small favour. > I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to > handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various > media reports. > On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the > now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat > Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Jisan > Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged > Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill > chief minister Narendra Modi. > Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai > suburb. > Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding > death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition > alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the > present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done > to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy > that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. > The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency > conducted investigation. > When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately > proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous > Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along > with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of > additional DGP - should probe this case. > The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who > are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in > the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. > Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and > recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. > 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the > Kith and Kin of the two. > There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered up. > In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took > a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out > fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic > with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of > Central Home Ministry. After UPA came to power some tainted CBI > officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track > record were removed after a lot of pressure and almost two years but > they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. > To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that > the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed > and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of > Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. > Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told > the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under > consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit > for CBI probe." > Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent > inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an > independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working > with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which > carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." > If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the > Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from > Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at > the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this > precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by > the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. > The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government > was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a > message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake > encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry > had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. > The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the > officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers > when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when > they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale > then? Do they just go home and sleep? > Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular > nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which > says all citizens are equal? > The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that > in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the > Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go > before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent > boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. > I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find > itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from > your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a > strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry > with the Gujarat government. > My request to you is that if your government has any political will > then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for > filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally > murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. > You are fond of poetry. > Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: > > Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang > ko gulnaar karein > Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko > gulzaar karein > > (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will > brighten your colourless earth; > How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your > deserts to bloom.) > Sincerely Yours > Shabnam Hashmi > Member, National Integration Council > Cc: Media & fellow human rights activists > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Rajen. From murali.chalam at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 15:26:35 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 15:26:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909090256x33d99a81lcc84d3d0612008be@mail.gmail.com> Selective awakening and selective amnesia!! Regards, V Murali On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:08 PM, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi wrote: > Dear all members in the reader list, >   often I am confused by the fuss and hue and cries raised by some for > selective amnesia if the encounters happen in the nation, often, few CMs > become targets of annoyance, amused talks, and ofcourse of the disgust. A > death by encounter is a death, which has no justification as rules of laws > are not followed when a person is killed, and if the person is deviant, > accused criminal, the utmost care for the law keepers is to not to kill, but > over power by ways of even using the fire power, to hurt and over power, so > there is no justification for encounter killings as such, but such deviants > have to be prosecuted and dealt with as per rule of laws.. > >  But the some ids seem to have made it a practise to charge the CMs whom > they have prejudice, a party to blame, as we in this continent always love > the blame game, and conveniently be selective of the deaths by faith, caste > and region.? > >   Was the encounter death in Manipur  not to be condemned,? Was the CM of > Delhi  not responsible by the same standards, why no letters , no hue and > cries for the deaths in some places for some people, is it because they are > of different faiths.? > >   It is really amusing at times when we see the individuals in turn, > support the anti national acts and the law of lands is silent and faith is > brought in  to save the enemies of the society because they belong to any > faith, all those guilty of deviant acts in society must be taken care by the > rule of laws, by the system of laws expeditiously, but when judges fudge > with prosecutions, prosecutions are negligent with biryani eating accused, > investigative agencies are all powerful to ignore the swabs of the victims, > forensic evidence leads,   to doctored evidence, may be law keepers become > executors.? > >  Such acts of executors does not augur well for the society, nor the acts > of selective protests for the followers of any selective faith, as society > will doubt the credibilty of such acts of selective protests, and ofcourse > we have enough socialite social workers, artists with art as their credo > living on immoral artistic expressions, and those who are unethical and >  immoral in their profession of journalism. Great cobinations of > permutations and combinations to make the society of a nation of jungle law. > > Regards, > Rajen. > > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Inder Salim wrote: > >> An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister >> >> >> Dr. Manmohan Singh >> Hon’ble Prime Minister of India >> September 8, 2009, 1.02am >> Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. >> >>                                     I had written a small article in >> The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a >> Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in >> Gujarat. >> The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case >> (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally >> termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a >> metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew >> that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that >> such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am >> not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. >> I am writing this to ask you a small favour. >> I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to >> handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various >> media reports. >> On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the >> now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat >> Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana  and Jisan >> Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged >> Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill >> chief minister Narendra Modi. >> Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai >> suburb. >> Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding >> death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition >> alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the >> present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done >> to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy >> that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. >> The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency >> conducted investigation. >> When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately >> proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous >> Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along >> with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of >> additional DGP - should probe this case. >>  The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who >> are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in >> the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. >> Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and >> recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. >> 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the >> Kith and Kin of the two. >> There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered up. >> In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took >> a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out >> fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic >> with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of >> Central Home Ministry.  After UPA came to power some tainted CBI >> officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track >> record were removed after  a lot of pressure and almost two years but >> they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. >> To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that >> the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed >> and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of >> Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. >> Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told >> the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under >> consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit >> for CBI probe." >> Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent >> inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an >> independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working >> with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which >> carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." >> If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the >> Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from >> Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at >> the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this >> precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by >> the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. >> The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government >> was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a >> message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake >> encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry >> had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. >> The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the >> officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers >> when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when >> they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale >> then? Do they just go home and sleep? >> Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular >> nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which >> says all citizens are equal? >> The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that >> in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the >> Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go >> before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent >> boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. >> I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find >> itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from >> your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a >> strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry >> with the Gujarat government. >> My request to you is that if your government has any political will >> then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for >> filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally >> murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. >> You are fond of poetry. >> Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: >> >> Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang >> ko gulnaar karein >> Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko >> gulzaar karein >> >> (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will >> brighten your colourless earth; >> How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your >> deserts to bloom.) >>  Sincerely Yours >> Shabnam Hashmi >> Member, National Integration Council >> Cc: Media & fellow human rights activists >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > -- > Rajen. > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 15:41:25 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 15:41:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909090256x33d99a81lcc84d3d0612008be@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909090256x33d99a81lcc84d3d0612008be@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909090311ia95259ds9500d16dae70c968@mail.gmail.com> And also selectively picking up people labelling them as terrorists, staging selective encounters, with selected guns, and selected police officers, selected threat perceptions for the selected Cheif ministers because they have selectively killed people. are we talking about natural selection here? i dont think so, Peace be Upon Darwin. -anupam On 9/9/09, Murali V wrote: > > Selective awakening and selective amnesia!! > Regards, > V Murali > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:08 PM, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi > wrote: > > Dear all members in the reader list, > > often I am confused by the fuss and hue and cries raised by some for > > selective amnesia if the encounters happen in the nation, often, few CMs > > become targets of annoyance, amused talks, and ofcourse of the disgust. A > > death by encounter is a death, which has no justification as rules of > laws > > are not followed when a person is killed, and if the person is deviant, > > accused criminal, the utmost care for the law keepers is to not to kill, > but > > over power by ways of even using the fire power, to hurt and over power, > so > > there is no justification for encounter killings as such, but such > deviants > > have to be prosecuted and dealt with as per rule of laws.. > > > > But the some ids seem to have made it a practise to charge the CMs whom > > they have prejudice, a party to blame, as we in this continent always > love > > the blame game, and conveniently be selective of the deaths by faith, > caste > > and region.? > > > > Was the encounter death in Manipur not to be condemned,? Was the CM of > > Delhi not responsible by the same standards, why no letters , no hue and > > cries for the deaths in some places for some people, is it because they > are > > of different faiths.? > > > > It is really amusing at times when we see the individuals in turn, > > support the anti national acts and the law of lands is silent and faith > is > > brought in to save the enemies of the society because they belong to any > > faith, all those guilty of deviant acts in society must be taken care by > the > > rule of laws, by the system of laws expeditiously, but when judges fudge > > with prosecutions, prosecutions are negligent with biryani eating > accused, > > investigative agencies are all powerful to ignore the swabs of the > victims, > > forensic evidence leads, to doctored evidence, may be law keepers > become > > executors.? > > > > Such acts of executors does not augur well for the society, nor the acts > > of selective protests for the followers of any selective faith, as > society > > will doubt the credibilty of such acts of selective protests, and > ofcourse > > we have enough socialite social workers, artists with art as their credo > > living on immoral artistic expressions, and those who are unethical and > > immoral in their profession of journalism. Great cobinations of > > permutations and combinations to make the society of a nation of jungle > law. > > > > Regards, > > Rajen. > > > > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Inder Salim > wrote: > > > >> An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > >> > >> > >> Dr. Manmohan Singh > >> Hon’ble Prime Minister of India > >> September 8, 2009, 1.02am > >> Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. > >> > >> I had written a small article in > >> The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a > >> Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in > >> Gujarat. > >> The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case > >> (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally > >> termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a > >> metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew > >> that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that > >> such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am > >> not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. > >> I am writing this to ask you a small favour. > >> I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to > >> handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various > >> media reports. > >> On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the > >> now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat > >> Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Jisan > >> Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged > >> Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill > >> chief minister Narendra Modi. > >> Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai > >> suburb. > >> Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding > >> death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition > >> alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the > >> present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done > >> to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy > >> that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. > >> The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency > >> conducted investigation. > >> When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately > >> proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous > >> Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along > >> with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of > >> additional DGP - should probe this case. > >> The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who > >> are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in > >> the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. > >> Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and > >> recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. > >> 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the > >> Kith and Kin of the two. > >> There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered > up. > >> In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took > >> a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out > >> fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic > >> with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of > >> Central Home Ministry. After UPA came to power some tainted CBI > >> officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track > >> record were removed after a lot of pressure and almost two years but > >> they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. > >> To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that > >> the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed > >> and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of > >> Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. > >> Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told > >> the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under > >> consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit > >> for CBI probe." > >> Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent > >> inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an > >> independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working > >> with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which > >> carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." > >> If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the > >> Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from > >> Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at > >> the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this > >> precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by > >> the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. > >> The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government > >> was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a > >> message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake > >> encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry > >> had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. > >> The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the > >> officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers > >> when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when > >> they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale > >> then? Do they just go home and sleep? > >> Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular > >> nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which > >> says all citizens are equal? > >> The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that > >> in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the > >> Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go > >> before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent > >> boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. > >> I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find > >> itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from > >> your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a > >> strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry > >> with the Gujarat government. > >> My request to you is that if your government has any political will > >> then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for > >> filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally > >> murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. > >> You are fond of poetry. > >> Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: > >> > >> Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang > >> ko gulnaar karein > >> Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko > >> gulzaar karein > >> > >> (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will > >> brighten your colourless earth; > >> How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your > >> deserts to bloom.) > >> Sincerely Yours > >> Shabnam Hashmi > >> Member, National Integration Council > >> Cc: Media & fellow human rights activists > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Rajen. > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From indersalim at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 16:23:51 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 16:23:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd: It's a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of India In-Reply-To: <5af37bb0909081455p224cd9a6q147304a66824ae71@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909081455p224cd9a6q147304a66824ae71@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909090353j63527401n4fdaf04e83bb850a@mail.gmail.com> it was a game played by two or three or four lawyers,... interestingly, they all learned this art from those masters who were occuping their homes back in India. Have these lawyers actually outwitted those colonial masters, i doubt, they always had an axe to grind, and one can see that axe in action, even now. Gandhi narrowly managed to exonerate himself as a devil player of Partition. but he was there all the time. and so one can say he also unwittingly contributed to Muslim alineation. I dont see Hindus love Gandhi anymore, Nehru is almost fogotten... was Jinnah the most deserving representative of muslim masses, i again doubt, i too dont doubt his secular credentials, but his faith in democracy was negligible. and that was the reason he saw no futture for muslims in a Hindu majority India. that does not mean that congress were democratic, Nehru impressed masses, but he always protected the elite of his times, I gues, it Jinnahs miscalculation, imagine, Pakistan Bangladesh as part of India, in the present, Muslims with that added proportion, obviously would have been always the deciding factors to form a government in any election., Mulsims would have preserved the past more meaningfully, which they were not able to do with the mass migrationn of people from cities, which were occupied by muslims. The direct action, which killed millions was by no means a dream, it was the outcome of the endless and failed series of discussions held by these egoistis lawyers. how to praise, Jinnah, or Nehur, or Patel or Gandhi for that, Here, i must say, that Sheikh Mohd Abudullah was a real hero of the hour of partitiion, Not a single hindu was killed in kashmir. yes, many muslims were killed in Jammu province, because of Maharaja Hari singh. iwhat Jinnah dreamt actually ? i think patition was a nightmere both jaswant singh and Ayesha jalal should think of the murder of millions of humans beings, rather than these few personalities who should be discussed as briefly as possible with love regards inder salim On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:25 AM, yasir ~يا سر wrote: > fwd > > http://www.tehelka.com/dotnet/mainheadline.asp?id=1 > > “It is a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of > India” * > > *Ayesha Jalal, Pakistani historian and author of "The Sole Spokesman", picks > through the tangle of the Jinnah controversy > > By Shoma Chaudhury > > *What strikes you, personally, as the sharpest irony of the Jinnah- Jaswant > Singh controversy and its fallout in India?* > > What strikes me as most ironic is the extent to which the '''secular' > Congress and the 'communal' BJP end up subscribing to the same common idioms > of Indian nationalism when it comes to Pakistan and its most potent symbol, > Mohammad Ali Jinnah. > >  Jinnah of the 1916 Lucknow Pact where Sarojini Naidu hailed him as the > “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”; Jinnah of the 1940 Lahore Declaration > and two-nation theory; Jinnah who wanted Pakistan to be a “laboratory of > Islam”; the secular Jinnah of the August 11 1947 address. And the Jinnah of > the personal domain: a Parsi wife, smoking, drinking. How is one to > reconcile all these? Were these all stages in the evolution of Jinnah’s > political thinking, or were they expedient positions? > > Like any other successful politician, Jinnah changed tactics without losing > sight of his ultimate strategic objectives in response to shifting political > dynamics during a career spanning several decades. Only a most superficial > and politically tainted understanding of Jinnah can lead to the conclusion > that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between his early career when > he was hailed as the ‘ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity’ and his later years > when he orchestrated the demand for a Pakistan in order to win an equitable > share of power for Muslims in an independent India. > >  As for the presumed contradiction between his personal lifestyle and > championing of a Pakistan in which Islam would play a role, the problem > again lies with an insufficient understanding of what Jinnah meant by Islam. > The Islam he advocated was neither bigoted nor narrow-minded, but one based > on principles of equity, justice and fairplay for all, regardless of caste > or creed. Jinnah never abandoned his secular and liberal vision for purposes > of expediency. This is amply in evidence from the speeches he gave in the > aftermath of partition on the place of religion and the minorities in the > Muslim state of Pakistan. > > > > *Your own book "The Sole Spokesman" argues that Partition was a  gross > miscalculation and Jinnah never wanted it till the end. How is one to read > his demand for two nations then? And what, according to you, did Jinnah > really want?* > > What I argued in The Sole Spokesman was that it was a mistake to equate the > demand for Pakistan with the partition of India as it took place in 1947. > After 1940, the demand for Pakistan was intended by Jinnah as a means to > stake a claim for the Muslim share of power in India once the British quit. > He argued that the unitary centre of the raj was a British construction and > would stand dissolved at the moment of decolonization. Any reconstitution of > the centre would have to be based on the premise that there were ‘two > nations’ in India – the Muslim nation represented by the Muslim-majority > provinces in the north-west and north-east (Pakistan) and the Hindu nation > represented by the Hindu-majority provinces (Hindustan). Once the Congress > and the British conceded the principle of a Pakistan, Jinnah left it an open > question whether the two parts of India would arrive at treaty arrangements > on matters of common concern as two sovereign states or enter into a > confederal arrangement on the basis of equality. Jinnah always insisted that > ‘Pakistan’ had to be based on undivided Punjab and Bengal and resolutely > opposed the partition of these two provinces along ostensibly religious > lines until the bitter end. By insisting on a wresting power at a strong > center with only the most nominal concessions to the provincial autonomy > demanded by the Muslim-majority provinces, by endorsing the Hindu > Mahasabha’s call to partition Punjab and Bengal and, above all, by refusing > to grant Muslims the share of power at the all-India level demanded by > Jinnah, the Congress led by Nehru and Patel foreclosed the possibility of > keeping India united. Jinnah did miscalculate in believing Gandhi’s voice > was still dominant in the Congress. > > > > *Was the idea of an eminent Muslim domain within a sovereign Indian Union a > tenable idea? Indian states were in any case carved along linguistic lines, > would a Muslim State have been in keeping with this principle? And if so, > why were the Congress stalwarts so against it? * > > This is a counterfactual question. However, the irony is that it was Jinnah > and the Muslim League who wanted undivided Punjab and Bengal and the > Mahasabha-Congress combine that insisted on their division along lines of > religion. The Congress stalwarts were against such a Muslim state because it > entailed diluting their control over the centre and gave far too much power > to Jinnah and the Muslim League. Linguistic states in a federal union was > not incompatible with Jinnah’s vision. > > > > *In your reading of history, who would you hold most culpable for the > Partition, and why? Jaswant Singh seems to suggest that Patel and Nehru were > most responsible, would you agree?* > > Mr Jaswant Singh has basically endorsed the main lines of my thesis in The > Sole Spokesman as far as apportioning responsibility for the partition of > India is concerned. Patel and Nehru were more responsible because, as > leaders of the larger party, they had to find the terms for an accommodation > with Jinnah and the Muslim League so that the unity of India could have been > preserved. In opting to seize power at British India’s unitary center rather > than striking a compromise with the Muslim League based on a genuinely > federal arrangement, these politicians of the Congress paved the way for > partition. > > > * > In India we don’t want to acknowledge that Jinnah never really wanted > Pakistan; in Pakistan it must be a kind of anathema to suggest the founder > of the nation never wanted the nation. Why is Jinnah, in particular, subject > to such historical ambiguity?* > > It is wrongly presumed that Pakistan as it emerged in 1947 is what Mr Jinnah > was after all along. The demand for Pakistan, as I have explained above, was > intended to renegotiate the power sharing arrangements at the all-India > centre on the basis that there were two nations in India, both of which had > to be treated on an equal footing regardless of their population > proportions. An understanding of the difference between ‘Pakistan’ and > partition, particularly the partition of the two main Muslim-majority > provinces, will go some way to clearing the fog surrounding the reasons for > the division of the subcontinent and, in the process, resolve the > ‘historical ambiguity’. > > > > *What would you count as the real turning point that made Partition > inevitable? Is it the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946? Or do you think there > was some other catalytic moment?* > > The Congress’s refusal to agree to the grouping of provinces – even Gandhi > called grouping worse than partition - and Nehru’s public assertions against > a centre restricted to three main subjects (defence, foreign affairs and > communications), made it impossible for Jinnah to stick to the Muslim > League’s acceptance of the Cabinet Mission three tiered plan for a federal > India instead of a fully sovereign Pakistan. The outbreak of violence in > Calcutta in August 1946 and, subsequently, in other parts of India narrowed > the options available to the all-India leaders and made a painful division > rather than a negotiated accommodation seem more feasible. However, the > partition of Punjab was not inevitable until the Congress called for it in > early March 1947 and efforts continued to be made to avoid the partition of > Bengal until the end of May 1947. > > > > *What would you say are the inconvenient or uncomfortable facts of history > that India papers over in its construction of Jinnah? In turn, what does > Pakistan paper over?* > > > > Despite the available scholarship, the nationalist self-projections of both > countries have not managed to attain the requisite level of maturity. The > exclusive focus on the ‘religious causes’ of partition in the public > discourse on both sides of the divide obscures the powerful regional > dynamics that played such a decisive role in the final denouement of 1947. > The other associated reason is the insistence on writing history by focusing > on the ‘great men’, whether Jinnah, Nehru, Patel or Gandhi. This makes it > impossible for people to fully understand the complex historical factors > that shaped the politics of these individuals. The Indian state and > political elite find it hard to acknowledge that Congress leaders did not in > the end stand for the unity of India. Their Pakistani counterparts are loath > to accept that Jinnah was handed the maimed, mutilated and moth-eaten > Pakistan in 1947 that he had categorically rejected in 1944 and 1946. > > > > *If Jinnah was indeed a secular and constitutional giant, why has Pakistan > slid so easily towards a theocracy or dictatorship at different points in > its history? Is it hobbled in any way by discrepancies in the life of its > founding father?* > > > > Jinnah articulated a clear vision for Pakistan as a modern nation-state > where all citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliations, would have > equal rights of citizenship. He ruled out a theocracy at the very outset. > His successors stuck to this vision when it came to keeping the religious > divines in place well into the early 1970s. They were less successful in > avoiding dictatorship in the context of the Cold War and chronic tensions > with India over Kashmir. The emergence of the military as the dominant > institution and the derailing of democratic processes after 1958 set the > ball rolling in the gradual erosion of Jinnah’s vision for a moderate and > democratic Pakistan. Yet, it was not until the Soviet invasion of > Afghanistan that Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq made the fatal decision to turn a > narrowly construed brand of Islam into an instrument of state policy, both > internally and externally. What plagues Pakistan today are more a result of > the legacies of the Zia era than any specific discrepancies (other than > partition) in the life of its founding father. > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 9 16:30:52 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 04:00:52 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Jinnah and Kashmir Message-ID: <662513.57030.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Jinnah and Kashmir By Jagmohan Sep 09 2009   Surprisingly, there is no mention of the Kashmir problem in Jaswant Singh’s book, Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence, though this problem throws light on Jinnah’s mind and motivation, his well-crafted approach and his over-powering ambition to attain his objective even if it involved loss of innocent lives. A couple of years before Partition, Jinnah had formulated his strategy with regard to the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the summer of 1944, he visited it, ostensibly for rest. But his real purpose was to establish contact with the two principal political outfits of the state — the National Conference, headed by Sheikh Abdullah, and the Muslim Conference, headed by Chowdhry Ghulam Abbas. He accepted invitations for receptions in his honour from both. At the reception given by the National Conference, Sheikh Abdullah as well as Jinnah indulged in what may be called an “exercise in ambivalence”. But at the reception held by the Muslim Conference, Jinnah came out openly in its favour. He said: “The Muslims have one platform, one ‘Kalma’ and one God. I would request them to come under the banner of the Muslim Conference and fight for their rights”. Jinnah also presided over the annual session of the Muslim Conference. In his address, he described Sheikh Abdullah’s National Conference as a “band of gangsters”. Later, when this outfit launched its “Quit Kashmir” movement against the Maharaja, Jinnah labelled it “an agitation carried on by a few malcontents who were out to create disorderly conditions in the state”. Jinnah urged the Muslims of the state to rally under the leadership of Chowdhry Ghulam Abbas and his Muslim Conference. This must have convinced Sheikh Abdullah that his political future would be bleak if Kashmir joined Pakistan. In his autobiography, Atish-e-Chinar, Sheikh has himself acknowledged the hostility which Jinnah displayed towards him: “At that time, Jinnah was intoxicated by power. He thought it beneath his dignity to talk to a poor and resourceless nation. When this equation of power went against him, he woke up in panic from his dream. But by this time, the snake had passed; only its line remained”. At the time the Indian Independence Act was passed, the political stage of Kashmir was crowded with a variety of actors. The National Conference dominated the Valley but had a limited influence in Jammu and Ladakh. It had developed close rapport with the leaders of the Indian National Congress, particularly Jawaharlal Nehru. Then there was the Muslim Conference which had been gaining ground after Jinnah’s visit to the state. The Maharaja was yet another force. The relations between him on one hand and Sheikh Abdullah and Pandit Nehru on the other were marked by mutual distrust and dislike. All these actors were soon to play their part in the first act of the tragic Kashmir drama. The Maharaja was indecisive. Jinnah was impatient. Pandit Nehru was caught between his idealism and the stark realities of the situation. Sheikh Abdullah, with streaks of megalomania embedded deep in the layers of his mind, was nursing the ambitions to carve out a virtual “Sheikhdom” for himself and his coterie. Each one of these actors was pushed on the stage with illusions of his own importance and believed that the drama would end the way they desired. Consequently there was confusion and inconsistency. Mistakes were made and Kashmir soon found itself in the whirlpool of national and international controversy. The first grave mistake was when Maharaja Hari Singh flirted with the idea of independence. Later Lord Mountbatten recalled: “The only trouble that could have been raised was by non-accession to either side, and this, unfortunately, was the very course followed by the Maharaja”. Jinnah and his advisers, however, lost no time in working out a plan to secure possession of the state through subterfuge, subversion and infiltration.. While on paper a “stand-still agreement”, operative from August 15, 1947, was executed by Pakistan with Jammu and Kashmir, in practice economic blockade was brought about, causing acute scarcity of essential commodities in the state. On October 16, 1947 Dawn reported: “The Kashmir government is disintegrating. It has already suffered a loss of Rs 2 crores out of its total budget of Rs 4 crores. The tremendous inflation in the prices of necessities has created a feeling of feverish restlessness amongst the masses.” Earlier, Jinnah had sent his private secretary to Kashmir to build an environment favourable to Pakistan. According to M.C. Mahajan, the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, “Communal-minded persons and Muslim divines were worked up and asked to request the Maharaja to give accession of the state to Pakistan”. According to the Tribune’s report of October 23, “West Punjab and Frontier Pakistani crusaders, masquerading as pleasure seekers, had poured into the Valley and, besides carrying on subtle poisonous propaganda, were organising ‘stabbers and fire-raiser’ squads. Menacingly, Jinnah caps were visible everywhere”. Around the same time, military skirmishes all along the border were manipulated to disperse state forces, the total strength of which was only nine infantry battalions and two mountain batteries. From October 22, large-scale infiltration of armed tribesmen began. They pillaged, plundered, raped and killed with impunity. Muzaffarabad and Baramulla soon fell to them. The latter was ruthlessly devastated. Of about 14,000 inhabitants, only 3,000 are believed to have survived. Jinnah did not utter a single word of condemnation against such beastly atrocities. When, on October 27, Jinnah learnt that Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India and the Indian forces had landed in Srinagar, he realised that his plan could not be executed with the smoothness he had earlier visualised. Flabbergasted, he ordered General Gracey to march into Kashmir with Pakistani troops. But General Gracey expressed his inability to carry out the orders without the approval of General Auchinlek, the supreme commander. Auchinlek told Jinnah that in case of a war between the two dominions, all British officers would have to be first withdrawn. Jinnah was left with no option but to cancel his orders. He asked for a meeting with Nehru and Mountbatten at Lahore. Being ill, Nehru could not go to Lahore on November 1, where the two Governor-Generals met. During the course of discussions, Jinnah proposed withdrawal of all forces — the Indian Army and the tribal invaders. When asked how anyone could guarantee that the latter would be withdrawn, Jinnah, according to Alan Campbell Johnson, the press adviser of Mountbatten, replied: “If you do this, I will call the whole thing off”. Unwittingly, he gave out that the entire invasion had been engineered by him.   * Jagmohan is a former governor of J&K and former Union minister   http://www.deccanchronicle.com/op-ed/jinnah-and-kashmir-920   From murali.chalam at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 18:02:15 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 18:02:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <341380d00909090311ia95259ds9500d16dae70c968@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909090256x33d99a81lcc84d3d0612008be@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909090311ia95259ds9500d16dae70c968@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909090532n1ea3f963hc5d90dff1906ab48@mail.gmail.com> Custodial killings were rampant during the emergency period. However, custodial killings became rampant in Kerala throughout the last three decades of the post-emergency period during the dispensations of both the CPI (M) and Congress-led governments. According to the NHRC, there were a total of 54 custodial deaths in Kerala during 2002-2003, of which 4 were in police custody and 50 in judicial custody. Regards, V Murali On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:41 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > And also selectively picking up people labelling them as terrorists, staging > selective encounters, with selected guns, and selected police officers, > selected threat perceptions for the selected Cheif ministers because they > have selectively killed people. are we talking about natural selection here? > i dont think so, Peace be Upon Darwin. > > -anupam > > On 9/9/09, Murali V wrote: >> >> Selective awakening and selective amnesia!! >> Regards, >> V Murali >> >> On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:08 PM, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi >> wrote: >> > Dear all members in the reader list, >> >   often I am confused by the fuss and hue and cries raised by some for >> > selective amnesia if the encounters happen in the nation, often, few CMs >> > become targets of annoyance, amused talks, and ofcourse of the disgust. A >> > death by encounter is a death, which has no justification as rules of >> laws >> > are not followed when a person is killed, and if the person is deviant, >> > accused criminal, the utmost care for the law keepers is to not to kill, >> but >> > over power by ways of even using the fire power, to hurt and over power, >> so >> > there is no justification for encounter killings as such, but such >> deviants >> > have to be prosecuted and dealt with as per rule of laws.. >> > >> >  But the some ids seem to have made it a practise to charge the CMs whom >> > they have prejudice, a party to blame, as we in this continent always >> love >> > the blame game, and conveniently be selective of the deaths by faith, >> caste >> > and region.? >> > >> >   Was the encounter death in Manipur  not to be condemned,? Was the CM of >> > Delhi  not responsible by the same standards, why no letters , no hue and >> > cries for the deaths in some places for some people, is it because they >> are >> > of different faiths.? >> > >> >   It is really amusing at times when we see the individuals in turn, >> > support the anti national acts and the law of lands is silent and faith >> is >> > brought in  to save the enemies of the society because they belong to any >> > faith, all those guilty of deviant acts in society must be taken care by >> the >> > rule of laws, by the system of laws expeditiously, but when judges fudge >> > with prosecutions, prosecutions are negligent with biryani eating >> accused, >> > investigative agencies are all powerful to ignore the swabs of the >> victims, >> > forensic evidence leads,   to doctored evidence, may be law keepers >> become >> > executors.? >> > >> >  Such acts of executors does not augur well for the society, nor the acts >> > of selective protests for the followers of any selective faith, as >> society >> > will doubt the credibilty of such acts of selective protests, and >> ofcourse >> > we have enough socialite social workers, artists with art as their credo >> > living on immoral artistic expressions, and those who are unethical and >> >  immoral in their profession of journalism. Great cobinations of >> > permutations and combinations to make the society of a nation of jungle >> law. >> > >> > Regards, >> > Rajen. >> > >> > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Inder Salim >> wrote: >> > >> >> An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister >> >> >> >> >> >> Dr. Manmohan Singh >> >> Hon’ble Prime Minister of India >> >> September 8, 2009, 1.02am >> >> Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. >> >> >> >>                                     I had written a small article in >> >> The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a >> >> Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in >> >> Gujarat. >> >> The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case >> >> (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally >> >> termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a >> >> metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew >> >> that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that >> >> such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am >> >> not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. >> >> I am writing this to ask you a small favour. >> >> I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to >> >> handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various >> >> media reports. >> >> On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the >> >> now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat >> >> Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana  and Jisan >> >> Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged >> >> Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill >> >> chief minister Narendra Modi. >> >> Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai >> >> suburb. >> >> Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding >> >> death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition >> >> alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the >> >> present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done >> >> to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy >> >> that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. >> >> The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency >> >> conducted investigation. >> >> When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately >> >> proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous >> >> Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along >> >> with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of >> >> additional DGP - should probe this case. >> >>  The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who >> >> are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in >> >> the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. >> >> Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and >> >> recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. >> >> 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the >> >> Kith and Kin of the two. >> >> There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered >> up. >> >> In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took >> >> a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out >> >> fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic >> >> with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of >> >> Central Home Ministry.  After UPA came to power some tainted CBI >> >> officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track >> >> record were removed after  a lot of pressure and almost two years but >> >> they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. >> >> To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that >> >> the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed >> >> and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of >> >> Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. >> >> Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told >> >> the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under >> >> consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit >> >> for CBI probe." >> >> Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent >> >> inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an >> >> independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working >> >> with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which >> >> carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." >> >> If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the >> >> Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from >> >> Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at >> >> the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this >> >> precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by >> >> the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. >> >> The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government >> >> was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a >> >> message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake >> >> encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry >> >> had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. >> >> The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the >> >> officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers >> >> when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when >> >> they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale >> >> then? Do they just go home and sleep? >> >> Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular >> >> nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which >> >> says all citizens are equal? >> >> The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that >> >> in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the >> >> Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go >> >> before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent >> >> boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. >> >> I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find >> >> itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from >> >> your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a >> >> strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry >> >> with the Gujarat government. >> >> My request to you is that if your government has any political will >> >> then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for >> >> filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally >> >> murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. >> >> You are fond of poetry. >> >> Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: >> >> >> >> Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang >> >> ko gulnaar karein >> >> Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko >> >> gulzaar karein >> >> >> >> (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will >> >> brighten your colourless earth; >> >> How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your >> >> deserts to bloom.) >> >>  Sincerely Yours >> >> Shabnam Hashmi >> >> Member, National Integration Council >> >> Cc: Media & fellow human rights activists >> >> _________________________________________ >> >> 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. >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Rajen. >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From difusion at medialab-prado.es Wed Sep 9 18:51:27 2009 From: difusion at medialab-prado.es (difusion) Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:21:27 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] LAST MONTH FOR APPLICATIONS: Call for Projects and Papers on Public Data Visualization (Madrid) Message-ID: <4AA7ABD7.1030208@medialab-prado.es> Visualizar'09: Public Data, Data in Public Call for projects and papers *International Workshop-Seminar on Public Data Visualization November 12 - 27, 2009 in Medialab-Prado (Madrid, Spain) Seminar: November 12 and 13 Deadline for projects and papers: October 5, 2009* *Call for collaborators: October 16 - November 11, 2009* http://medialab-prado.es/visualizar Directed by José Luis de Vicente. Teachers: Ben Cerveny (Stamen), Aaron Koblin, and Manuel Lima. With the support of Bestiario. This new edition will focus on the implications of using data structure visualization to aid in public processes of decision-making. Selected projects and papers will tackle the topic of Open Data and Visualization for Government Transparency and Civic Engagement. Visualizar'09 includes an* international seminar *and an *advanced project development workshop*. Both activities will be aimed at the discussion about transparency of data to make public discussion and debate possible, regarding the political, social, and scientific processes. Consequently, one of the objectives of Visualizar'09 will be the development of new strategies for communicating these data and returning them to the public domain. Projects will be on showcase until January 2010 at the Medialab-Prado. All those interested in collaborating in one of the selected projects can sign in from* October 16 to November 11*. *Submission of databases:* Public databases of institutions or research groups interested in sharing them and making them more available to citizens can be sent to visualizar[arroba]medialab-prado.es or through http://medialab-prado.es/visualizar Submitted databases could serve as work material for data visualization projects selected for this workshop. *More information:* http://medialab-prado.es/article/convocatoria_de_proyectos__visualizar_09_datos_publicos_datos_en_publico visualizar(arroba)medialab-prado.es With the support of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology - Ministry of Science and Innovation (FECYT - Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) -- Nerea García Garmendia Comunicación / Press Medialab-Prado Área de Las Artes, Ayuntamiento de Madrid Plaza de las Letras Alameda, 15 28014 Madrid Tfno. +34 914 202 754 difusion at medialab-prado.es www.medialab-prado.es From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 19:56:35 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 19:56:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909090532n1ea3f963hc5d90dff1906ab48@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a70909081026l1e6b9367n22c2172f580abb41@mail.gmail.com> <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909090256x33d99a81lcc84d3d0612008be@mail.gmail.com> <341380d00909090311ia95259ds9500d16dae70c968@mail.gmail.com> <4eab87870909090532n1ea3f963hc5d90dff1906ab48@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi to all The forum now seems to be a way of glorification and vilification of ideas and ideologies, which is fine provided there is a rationale based on such extremist attributes being given to the posts. Anyways, as per different cultures, including the Indian one, extremeness of anything is considered to be bad. Regarding this case, I have read some of the reports in 'The Hindu', and from what it seems, there is a lack of legal understanding among those who don't believe in the report, as well as those who believe in the report, up to a certain extent. And on top of that, this extremeness in attitude is not going to help any cause of knowing the truth and the correct facts as well. Ishrat Jehan, the girl whose encounter has created a storm, was aspiring to become a teacher when this encounter happened. Ironically, this encounter happened on June 15, 2004. The man considered to be responsible for this encounter is D.G. Vanzara, which has also resulted in allegations and attacks on Narendra Modi, because Vanzara is attributed to be close to Modi, and is considered to have significant political and financial clout. (There are allegations of corruption against Vanzara as well). Vanzara has already been in the eye of the storm created over another (proved) fake encounter, the Sohrabuddin case, which created further controversy when Modi mentioned it in one of his speeches, which seemed in complete disrepect and contravention to the SC verdict in this case, of considering it fake. What one also forgets here, is that there was also the fake encounter killing of Prajapati, another criminal who was taken and murdered in cold blood, in addition to Sohrabuddin and Kausar-Bi, so this may not necessarily be a case of targetting only Muslims necessarily, it goes way beyond that to put police as the biggest gunda or thug of the society. The problem in all this is actually the central govt. affidavit, which states that Jehan is a member of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, the dreaded organization supposed to have engineered terror attacks within the country on numerous occasions, like the Parliament attacks and the Akshardham temple attack. This is ironical because this is a Congress-led govt, and the encounter was carried out, as stated by a Gujarat minister (Mr. Vyas), on the basis of information received from the central intelligence agencies. Another issue which has been raised is that the inquiry by the Metropolitan Magistrate, can't be acceptable because not only has the High Court instituted an inquiry into the case by constituting a SIT (special investigation team) for a fresh inquiry (and hence the matter is sub-judice), but also because the Metropolitan Magistrate had no business in inquiring into the matter. Mr. Vyas, who raised this issue, probably forgot that it was an amendment to the Cr. PC that gave the authority to the Metropolitan Magistrates to hold inquiry into cases which were unnatural (like this police encounter). (as per Hindu report). What is interesting is that the report was prepared within 25 days, which is a kind of record for a country where judicial and inquiry reports fail to see the light of the day, and even if they are submitted, are never made public. I feel instead of the High Court instituting an SIT and then the matter going round and round again, the High Court should first find out if the report is fine or if it is of a dubious nature. If the latter turns out to be true, then of course the SIT must be allowed. Otherwise, allowing SIT to inquire is simply a wasteful expenditure of the public money. Most importantly, a magistrate inquiry is not enough, what needs to be seen is whether it has substantial evidence to prosecute those who were involved in the act. And if yes, then there needs to be an apology from the Gujarat Govt., infact from Modi himself (in whose protection's name, the encounter was conducted). On the other hand, I think blaming Modi for all the ills may also be far-fetched, for there is no substantial proof to prove that Vanzara did all he could because Modi protected him, unless one has minutes of a meeting or recordings where Modi shouted down the idea of not protecting Vanzara from the crimes he committed. Here I would like to remind all those who are classifying Modi as wrong, the injustice which can be perpetrated by the idea of perceptions. One shouldn't go by perceptions, because it can be dangerous. Don't forget that the VHP perceives Muslims as traitors, which is why anti-Muslim propaganda is one of its major contributions to the Indian society post-independence. That too is based on perception. Should that too be accepted? The BJP protests against Valentine's day based on its perception that westernization of society is a sin. That too is based on a perception. Is that acceptable? Perceptions do form, and they do change with time as well, but as far as possible, they must be based on rational decision making and facts which are proven, which are there before the public. Blaming Modi without any evidence is not going to solve any problem, particularly when Modi himself enjoys being portrayed as a victim to win on the basis of sympathy votes, which further leads to more distance amongst those who believe him and those who don't. All this hatred amongst ourselves just for a leader whom we may have not even met in our lives. Is this what we have come up to as human beings? What is important is getting the truth about Ishrat as well as others, two of whom the Indian govt. claims, are Pakistani citizens. Are they Pakistanis really, or is there something fishy going on? That has to be analyzed. And that can't be done by glorifying Modi or villifying Modi. That has to be done by thorough debates and discussions on the report, both in public and in the court. Let the truth come out, that's the major issue, not Modi or no Modi. Regards Rakesh From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 9 21:20:12 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 08:50:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <7271ec560909090238m637f881doa10ab6a4a8443030@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <544841.4423.qm@web112116.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Rajenji, I agree with views expressed by you. Why there are no comments on Gujarat High Court's ruling today blaming the magistrate for making the report public before submitting the same to the court? Let the truth come out, magistrate's report is not final. Some people take the magistrate's report to be true while saying that the Supreme Court's decision punishing the Parliament's attackee as flawed.It needs to be a fair criticism, if at all criticism is to be made and not make it as is convenient to the people. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Wed, 9/9/09, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi wrote: > From: Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > To: "Inder Salim" > Cc: "reader-list" > Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 3:08 PM > Dear all members in the reader list, >    often I am confused by the fuss and hue > and cries raised by some for > selective amnesia if the encounters happen in the nation, > often, few CMs > become targets of annoyance, amused talks, and ofcourse of > the disgust. A > death by encounter is a death, which has no justification > as rules of laws > are not followed when a person is killed, and if the person > is deviant, > accused criminal, the utmost care for the law keepers is to > not to kill, but > over power by ways of even using the fire power, to hurt > and over power, so > there is no justification for encounter killings as such, > but such deviants > have to be prosecuted and dealt with as per rule of laws.. > >   But the some ids seem to have made it a practise to > charge the CMs whom > they have prejudice, a party to blame, as we in this > continent always love > the blame game, and conveniently be selective of the deaths > by faith, caste > and region.? > >    Was the encounter death in Manipur  > not to be condemned,? Was the CM of > Delhi  not responsible by the same standards, why no > letters , no hue and > cries for the deaths in some places for some people, is it > because they are > of different faiths.? > >    It is really amusing at times when we see > the individuals in turn, > support the anti national acts and the law of lands is > silent and faith is > brought in  to save the enemies of the society because > they belong to any > faith, all those guilty of deviant acts in society must be > taken care by the > rule of laws, by the system of laws expeditiously, but when > judges fudge > with prosecutions, prosecutions are negligent with biryani > eating accused, > investigative agencies are all powerful to ignore the swabs > of the victims, > forensic evidence leads,   to doctored > evidence, may be law keepers become > executors.? > >   Such acts of executors does not augur well for the > society, nor the acts > of selective protests for the followers of any selective > faith, as society > will doubt the credibilty of such acts of selective > protests, and ofcourse > we have enough socialite social workers, artists with art > as their credo > living on immoral artistic expressions, and those who are > unethical and > immoral in their profession of journalism. Great > cobinations of > permutations and combinations to make the society of a > nation of jungle law. > > Regards, > Rajen. > > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Inder Salim > wrote: > > > An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > > > > > > Dr. Manmohan Singh > > Hon’ble Prime Minister of India > > September 8, 2009, 1.02am > > Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. > > > >                >                 >      I had written a small article in > > The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called > ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a > > Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat > Jahan’s killing in > > Gujarat. > > The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every > encounter case > > (and which was never done in the Batla House > encounter) has finally > > termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter > yesterday in a > > metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for > us as we knew > > that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will > also agree that > > such things are happening and happened in Gujarat > under Modi. But I am > > not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. > > I am writing this to ask you a small favour. > > I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and > thousands of issues to > > handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered > from various > > media reports. > > On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, > then headed by the > > now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young > people –Ishrat > > Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali > Rana  and Jisan > > Johar. It was propagated that these four young people > were alleged > > Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on > mission to kill > > chief minister Narendra Modi. > > Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in > Mumbra, a Mumbai > > suburb. > > Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in > 2004 demanding > > death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s > mother’s Petition > > alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the > many that the > > present government regime in Gujarat headed by > Narendra Modi had done > > to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic > and sympathy > > that the Chief Minister was sought to be > assassinated. > > The crime branch carried out the operation and the > same agency > > conducted investigation. > > When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he > immediately > > proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in > the infamous > > Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was > jailed along > > with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of > the rank of > > additional DGP - should probe this case. > >  The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. > Vanzara and his team who > > are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble > Supreme Court in > > the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife > Kausarbi. > > Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the > state to be fake and > > recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an > amount of Rs. > > 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for > being paid to the > > Kith and Kin of the two. > > There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and > have been covered up. > > In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a > Party and it took > > a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing > to carry out > > fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand > triggered panic > > with the State Government and it seems even with some > Officers of > > Central Home Ministry.  After UPA came to power > some tainted CBI > > officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with > questionable track > > record were removed after  a lot of pressure and > almost two years but > > they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA > regime. > > To our dismay we realized last month through the media > reports that > > the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated > that Ishrat, Javed > > and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all > operatives of > > Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. > > Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union > government told > > the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is > under > > consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the > present case fit > > for CBI probe." > > Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question > of independent > > inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) > had carried out an > > independent probe into the incident and the officer is > neither working > > with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime > branch, which > > carried out the operation and later investigated the > case itself." > > If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met > you regarding the > > Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other > activists from > > Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has > replaced NDA at > > the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as > yet’. I had said this > > precisely in the connection of how the tainted > officers promoted by > > the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. > > The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the > Central Government > > was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I > T and give a > > message that even the Central Government had approved > the act of fake > > encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central > Home Ministry > > had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat > deserved to be killed. > > The logic used always is what will happen to the > morale of the > > officers. My question is what happens to the morale of > the officers > > when they torture innocent young people, when they > kill them, when > > they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to > their morale > > then? Do they just go home and sleep? > > Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of > being a secular > > nation and why don’t we remove the article from the > constitution which > > says all citizens are equal? > > The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of > the fact that > > in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has > connived with the > > Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. > With 3 days to go > > before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 > more innocent > > boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' > terrorists'. > > I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the > way and find > > itself in a dustbin as I have never received any > acknowledgment from > > your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to > others to lodge a > > strong protest against this blatant connivance of the > Home Ministry > > with the Gujarat government. > > My request to you is that if your government has any > political will > > then please ask your home ministry to tender a public > apology for > > filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was > so brutally > > murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. > > You are fond of poetry. > > Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: > > > > Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo > tiray arz-i-berang > > ko gulnaar karein > > Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo > tiray sehraon ko > > gulzaar karein > > > > (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That > which will > > brighten your colourless earth; > > How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears > will cause your > > deserts to bloom.) > >  Sincerely Yours > > Shabnam Hashmi > > Member, National Integration Council > > Cc: Media & fellow human rights activists > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > -- > Rajen. > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 9 21:33:56 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 09:03:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister Message-ID: <180718.40108.qm@web112112.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Murali,                 I am of the opinion that custodial killings need to be deplored whosoever is the perpetator.If one state/govt has done it, that doesn't give a license to the other govt to let it allow in the other state. Yes, I agree people make it selective news to target Modi for anything wrong done in Gujarat whether at peon's level or constable's level. What I see in this forum, I see a similarity in media reporting where anything wrong is highlighted or reported in small print or not reported at all depending upon bias of the media person. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Wed, 9/9/09, Murali V wrote: > From: Murali V > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > To: "anupam chakravartty" > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 6:02 PM > Custodial killings were rampant > during the emergency period. However, > custodial killings became rampant in Kerala throughout the > last three > decades of the post-emergency period during the > dispensations of both > the CPI (M) and Congress-led governments. According to the > NHRC, there > were a total of 54 custodial deaths in Kerala during > 2002-2003, of > which 4 were in police custody and 50 in judicial custody. > > Regards, > V Murali > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:41 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > And also selectively picking up people labelling them > as terrorists, staging > > selective encounters, with selected guns, and selected > police officers, > > selected threat perceptions for the selected Cheif > ministers because they > > have selectively killed people. are we talking about > natural selection here? > > i dont think so, Peace be Upon Darwin. > > > > -anupam > > > > On 9/9/09, Murali V > wrote: > >> > >> Selective awakening and selective amnesia!! > >> Regards, > >> V Murali > >> > >> On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:08 PM, Rajendra Bhat > Uppinangadi > >> > wrote: > >> > Dear all members in the reader list, > >> >   often I am confused by the fuss and hue > and cries raised by some for > >> > selective amnesia if the encounters happen in > the nation, often, few CMs > >> > become targets of annoyance, amused talks, > and ofcourse of the disgust. A > >> > death by encounter is a death, which has no > justification as rules of > >> laws > >> > are not followed when a person is killed, and > if the person is deviant, > >> > accused criminal, the utmost care for the law > keepers is to not to kill, > >> but > >> > over power by ways of even using the fire > power, to hurt and over power, > >> so > >> > there is no justification for encounter > killings as such, but such > >> deviants > >> > have to be prosecuted and dealt with as per > rule of laws.. > >> > > >> >  But the some ids seem to have made it a > practise to charge the CMs whom > >> > they have prejudice, a party to blame, as we > in this continent always > >> love > >> > the blame game, and conveniently be selective > of the deaths by faith, > >> caste > >> > and region.? > >> > > >> >   Was the encounter death in Manipur  not > to be condemned,? Was the CM of > >> > Delhi  not responsible by the same > standards, why no letters , no hue and > >> > cries for the deaths in some places for some > people, is it because they > >> are > >> > of different faiths.? > >> > > >> >   It is really amusing at times when we see > the individuals in turn, > >> > support the anti national acts and the law of > lands is silent and faith > >> is > >> > brought in  to save the enemies of the > society because they belong to any > >> > faith, all those guilty of deviant acts in > society must be taken care by > >> the > >> > rule of laws, by the system of laws > expeditiously, but when judges fudge > >> > with prosecutions, prosecutions are negligent > with biryani eating > >> accused, > >> > investigative agencies are all powerful to > ignore the swabs of the > >> victims, > >> > forensic evidence leads,   to doctored > evidence, may be law keepers > >> become > >> > executors.? > >> > > >> >  Such acts of executors does not augur well > for the society, nor the acts > >> > of selective protests for the followers of > any selective faith, as > >> society > >> > will doubt the credibilty of such acts of > selective protests, and > >> ofcourse > >> > we have enough socialite social workers, > artists with art as their credo > >> > living on immoral artistic expressions, and > those who are unethical and > >> >  immoral in their profession of journalism. > Great cobinations of > >> > permutations and combinations to make the > society of a nation of jungle > >> law. > >> > > >> > Regards, > >> > Rajen. > >> > > >> > On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:56 PM, Inder Salim > > >> wrote: > >> > > >> >> An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> Dr. Manmohan Singh > >> >> Hon’ble Prime Minister of India > >> >> September 8, 2009, 1.02am > >> >> Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. > >> >> > >> >>                             >         I had written a small article in > >> >> The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was > called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a > >> >> Terrorist’. It was to express my > anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in > >> >> Gujarat. > >> >> The Magisterial Enquiry, which is > mandatory in every encounter case > >> >> (and which was never done in the Batla > House encounter) has finally > >> >> termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a > fake encounter yesterday in a > >> >> metropolitan court. It is not a matter of > surprise for us as we knew > >> >> that she was killed in cold blood. > Perhaps you will also agree that > >> >> such things are happening and happened in > Gujarat under Modi. But I am > >> >> not writing to talk about how bad Modi > is. > >> >> I am writing this to ask you a small > favour. > >> >> I know you have absolutely hectic > schedules and thousands of issues to > >> >> handle so I am putting down here the > facts, gathered from various > >> >> media reports. > >> >> On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city > crime branch, then headed by the > >> >> now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot > four young people –Ishrat > >> >> Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, > Amjad Ali Rana  and Jisan > >> >> Johar. It was propagated that these four > young people were alleged > >> >> Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were > allegedly on mission to kill > >> >> chief minister Narendra Modi. > >> >> Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of > Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai > >> >> suburb. > >> >> Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the > high court in 2004 demanding > >> >> death compensation and a CBI probe. > Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition > >> >> alleged that it was a fake encounter as > one of the many that the > >> >> present government regime in Gujarat > headed by Narendra Modi had done > >> >> to achieve Political Mileage to publicly > create panic and sympathy > >> >> that the Chief Minister was sought to be > assassinated. > >> >> The crime branch carried out the > operation and the same agency > >> >> conducted investigation. > >> >> When the petition was heard by Justice KS > Jhaveri , he immediately > >> >> proposed, almost on line taken by the > Supreme Court in the infamous > >> >> Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for > which Vanzara was jailed along > >> >> with other policemen, that a five-member > team - all of the rank of > >> >> additional DGP - should probe this case. > >> >>  The encounter was done by the infamous > D. G. Vanzara and his team who > >> >> are presently arrested under Orders of > the Hon’ble Supreme Court in > >> >> the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin > and his wife Kausarbi. > >> >> Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been > admitted by the state to be fake and > >> >> recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed > to deposit an amount of Rs. > >> >> 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia > compensation for being paid to the > >> >> Kith and Kin of the two. > >> >> There are allegedly 28 encounters which > were fake and have been covered > >> up. > >> >> In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was > impleaded as a Party and it took > >> >> a stand that if the Court so orders they > are willing to carry out > >> >> fresh investigations and unearth the > truth. Such stand triggered panic > >> >> with the State Government and it seems > even with some Officers of > >> >> Central Home Ministry.  After UPA came > to power some tainted CBI > >> >> officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA > with questionable track > >> >> record were removed after  a lot of > pressure and almost two years but > >> >> they soon found plush positions in Delhi > under UPA regime. > >> >> To our dismay we realized last month > through the media reports that > >> >> the Ministry of Home Affairs in an > affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed > >> >> and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali > Rana were all operatives of > >> >> Pakistan-based terror group > Lashkar-e-Toiba. > >> >> Maintaining that the four were > terrorists, the Union government told > >> >> the high court, "No proposal for CBI > investigation is under > >> >> consideration of the Centre nor does it > consider the present case fit > >> >> for CBI probe." > >> >> Moreover, the Centre claimed that there > is no question of independent > >> >> inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & > Intelligence) had carried out an > >> >> independent probe into the incident and > the officer is neither working > >> >> with crime branch nor is he a subordinate > to the crime branch, which > >> >> carried out the operation and later > investigated the case itself." > >> >> If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister > when I met you regarding the > >> >> Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims > along with other activists from > >> >> Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news > that UPA has replaced NDA at > >> >> the centre has not reached your Home > Ministry as yet’. I had said this > >> >> precisely in the connection of how the > tainted officers promoted by > >> >> the BJP were still being pampered under > the UPA. > >> >> The reason behind filing of the Affidavit > by the Central Government > >> >> was to dissuade the Court from appointing > a strong S I T and give a > >> >> message that even the Central Government > had approved the act of fake > >> >> encounter. But for the magisterial > enquiry the Central Home Ministry > >> >> had left no stone unturned to prove that > Ishrat deserved to be killed. > >> >> The logic used always is what will happen > to the morale of the > >> >> officers. My question is what happens to > the morale of the officers > >> >> when they torture innocent young people, > when they kill them, when > >> >> they illegally detain them, beat them. > What happens to their morale > >> >> then? Do they just go home and sleep? > >> >> Why don’t we as nation stop playing the > farce of being a secular > >> >> nation and why don’t we remove the > article from the constitution which > >> >> says all citizens are equal? > >> >> The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry > is a proof of the fact that > >> >> in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case > UPA has connived with the > >> >> Gujarat government in a blatantly > communal manner. With 3 days to go > >> >> before assembly bye election in 7 seats > in Gujarat 5 more innocent > >> >> boys have been picked up in Baroda and > declared' terrorists'. > >> >> I do not know if this letter will be also > lost on the way and find > >> >> itself in a dustbin as I have never > received any acknowledgment from > >> >> your office, so I will be forced to > circulate it to others to lodge a > >> >> strong protest against this blatant > connivance of the Home Ministry > >> >> with the Gujarat government. > >> >> My request to you is that if your > government has any political will > >> >> then please ask your home ministry to > tender a public apology for > >> >> filing the affidavit against the innocent > girl who was so brutally > >> >> murdered. It requires some courage and > conviction. > >> >> You are fond of poetry. > >> >> Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi > hoon: > >> >> > >> >> Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae > arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang > >> >> ko gulnaar karein > >> >> Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, > Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko > >> >> gulzaar karein > >> >> > >> >> (The blood of how many do you need O > motherland;That which will > >> >> brighten your colourless earth; > >> >> How many sighs will soothe your heart; > How many tears will cause your > >> >> deserts to bloom.) > >> >>  Sincerely Yours > >> >> Shabnam Hashmi > >> >> Member, National Integration Council > >> >> Cc: Media & fellow human rights > activists > >> >> > _________________________________________ > >> >> 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. > >> >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> >> List archive: > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > Rajen. > >> > _________________________________________ > >> > 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. > >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> > List archive: > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Wed Sep 9 23:05:20 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 23:05:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <180718.40108.qm@web112112.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <180718.40108.qm@web112112.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik jee You have raised the issue of Afzal being not attacked whereas Modi being attacked. The fact is that according to the chargesheet which the Delhi police used, along with their investigation to prove that Afzal and others are guilty, the facts suggested are of such a dubious nature, that right from the Civil Court (lowest strata) to the Supreme Court (highest strata), the Delhi police got a reprimand for not conducting investigations properly. If you don't believe me, read the judgement. What's ironic then is that the SC declared that to satisfy the collective conscience of society, Afzal must be hanged. What is strange is that Afzal has never said he was not guilty, but he hasn't accepted all accusations against him. Moreover, he was a spy working for the Kashmir police, where he was beaten to shreds. How many would know that? How come a judgement based on a dubious chargesheet be acceptable to rational human beings? Which is why I said that Modi should not be glorified or villified. Similarly, even Afzal is being glorified or vilified, which is not what we should do. If the facts on the ground state that Afzal has not done the crime or not to the extent of deserving the death sentence, he shouldn't have got it. Which is why I feel the case needs to be re-investigated and re-trialled, as quickly as possible. And if still the court finds him guilty based on legally rational principles and facts, then hang him on 13th December. Don't wait then And the SC is not God that it hasn't made mistakes in the past. The SC has time and again allowed the Sardar Sarovar dam to be built, even when again and again it has been proved that the dam will never achieve its objectives. Now you can find out for yourself what are the results of this dam. Even Gujarati ministers concede Narmada water won't reach Kutch, which was one of the principal objectives of the project. All at the cost of displacing tribals. Look even in the judges' assets declaration bill. The SC judges have accepted it after so much resistance. Why? Regards Rakesh From ramanchima at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 00:37:39 2009 From: ramanchima at gmail.com (Raman Chima) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:37:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Submissions for Quirk, Issue 10 Message-ID: <2fbb8fe0909091207u6feb0ecdw445c21bc3b9db5ca@mail.gmail.com> Its bigger! Its better! And its back! (And no, we aren’t talking about the swine flu strain) Quirk, the literary magazine of National Law School of India University is back, and it’s looking for *Your* contribution. Revues and reviews, prose and articles about throes, angsty poems and lengthy tomes: we’re looking at all genres and the only thing that counts is your ability to write. And unlike Macaulay Culkin’s exploits, the theme for this issue is: "Don’t Try This At Home!" You are, of course, free to deviate if the creative inspiration strikes and Erato takes you in a whole different direction. But make it witty and make it quirky and make it stand out. Who knows, this could be your big break! Last date for submission: 30th September Email your entries and queries to: quirk.mag at gmail.com We are also looking for regular columnists. Think you have an interesting, innovative idea? Think that people might actually like reading your words regularly? Then pitch as an idea, for at least 3 columns, and a small writing sample of about 500 words, and we’ll get back to you! To know more about Quirk in its current avatar, catch us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bangalore/Quirk/121257987070. Access the Quirk Archives at https://sites.google.com/site/superquirk/ to view past content in reliable PDF or yummy iPaper formats. For more details, contact any of the following: Raeesa Vakil [raeesa.vakil at gmail.com] Vrinda Maheswari [vrindam at gmail.com] From rohitrellan at aol.in Thu Sep 10 01:25:51 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:55:51 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feature Film Screenplay Workshop In-Reply-To: <5088732d0909090632u18e3b560x21fce001268983fa@mail.gmail.com> References: <5088732d0909090632u18e3b560x21fce001268983fa@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <8CBFF9EAAF506EB-24E8-38065@webmail-m045.sysops.aol.com> Dear Friends, Hi! I'm conducting a feature film screenplay workshop, from Sunday the 13th of September, in which every participant will write a screenplay for a feature film over four months. Please do contact me asap if you'd like to join, since there are just a couple of seats left. Warm regards, Rajashree http://rajashree.in +91 97694 49556 Feature Film Screenplay Workshop A workshop in which each student writes an individual feature film screenplay with the guidance of the faculty. The Indian film and television industry is looking for good, original screenplays. With the diminishing appeal of the formula masala film, there is a demand for fresh voices and out of the box thinking, for scriptwriters who understand the art and craft of screenwriting. The audience wants good stories, well told. Most people who come to write and direct in the Bombay film industry are interested in feature films. But a big stumbling block for a lot of newcomers is having a finished screenplay with which they feel confident about approaching directors, actors and producers. This workshop would give them the discipline of writing combined with an opportunity of getting expert guidance for their feature film screenplays. The workshop would be conducted by Rajashree, an award-winning filmmaker and a bestselling novelist. She has taught at the Film and Television Institute of India, Poona and some of the best film schools in Bombay. Rajashree’s been a film buff since she was a kid – she once stood in a line for five hours to get tickets for Sholay. She has been working in Bombay after studying direction at the Film and Television Institute of India. She’s assisted Mansoor Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. A film she wrote and directed, The Rebel, was screened at many film festivals, and won the National Award and the Golden Ten Award. Her critically acclaimed first book, Trust Me, is a lighthearted romantic comedy set in the Bombay film industry. According to figures given by The Times of India and The Sunday Telegraph, Trust Me is the biggest-selling Indian chick lit novel. http://rajashree.in While Rajashree would be the main person conducting the workshops, there would also be guest lectures by professionals from the film industry. The students would be guided through the process of working on the basic concept, synopsis, premise, characterization, plot, treatment, step outline and screenplay of a feature film. The writing of each student would be discussed in class and inputs given. While this is a practical-oriented workshop, there would also be theory classes about writing scripts for feature films. The concepts discussed in the practical and theory classes would be explained by viewing and analyzing films. By the conclusion of the workshop, each student would be required to submit a feature film screenplay that has been registered with the Film Writer’s Association. I n the Hindi film industry, sometimes the screenplay and dialogue are written by different people. In this context, it would be up to the student whether he/she wants to write a screenplay with or without dialogue. The screenplay which the student has written as a part of the workshop would be his/her property. Equipped with this screenplay, the student can approach directors, actors and producers in the film industry. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 1. A knowledge of the basics of screenwriting and the form. (If a fresher is very keen on writing a feature film screenplay as a part of this workshop, he/she can simultaneously attend the 5- week scriptwriting course conducted by Rajashree free of cost). 2. A sincere desire to work on a feature film screenplay as a part of the workshop 3.The students would be required to become members of the Film Writers’ Association, if they aren't already. Recommendation letters would be given to the FWA by the faculty to facilitate the process. DURATION Four months, beginning on the 13th of September. Workshop sessions every Sunday. CERTIFICATE The students would be awarded a certificate at the successful completion of the workshop. FEES The fees for this four-month workshop are Rs 28,000. They can be paid in two ways: 1. It is preferable if the student pays the full amount at the time of registration. 2. It is also possible for the student to pay in monthly installments, in the form of post-dated cheques that would be submitted at the time of registration. A one-time additional fee of Rs 2,000 would be charged for students who prefer to pay in installments. VENUE The classes would be in Goregaon. Participants can also attend online. Participants who want to attend online need a good internet connection and multimedia headphones with a mike (available for about a hundred rupees). COURSE CONTENT INTERACTIVE SESSIONS: Around seventy per cent of the classes would be devoted to interactive sessions in which the students’ writing is discussed. The students would be required to work on their screenplay ideas over the course of the four months. They would write at home and then read out their work in interactive sessions in which they receive feedback as well as suggestions. A student can join with just a concept for a feature film or even a full-fledged screenplay which he/she would like to rework as a part of the workshop. Participants can work on their screenplays at different levels of completion depending on what they start off with. However, even if a participant already has script he/she wants to rework, he/she would be required to submit the synopsis, character sketches, step-outline, etc as well. This would be of great benefit to him/her since it would help make the base of their script stronger. All the students would write: 1. The basic idea for their feature film screenplay 2. The synopsis of the screenplay 3. What is the premise of the film? What is the theme? What are the socio-political and ethical ideas being conveyed? 4. Detailed character sketches of the main characters, keeping their physiology, sociology and psychology in mind. The back story – what has happened in the life of the character before the film begins. How does the character change and grow through the film. 5. Research for the film 6. The way the screenplay is structured 7. The brief step-outline / one-line script of the film, in which every scene is described in a paragraph. 8. The feature film screenplay. THEORY: Around 30% of the classes would be devoted to teaching: An Overview of the Basic Elements of Scriptwriting: While the students would be expected to know the basics, we would start with an overview, so that everybody in the class understands these terms: Plot, Character, Setting, Theme, Structure. Protagonist, Antagonist. Dramatic Need. The Importance of Conflict. Types of Conflict: Static Conflict, Jumping Conflict, Rising Conflict, Foreshadowing Conflict. Transition. Mystery, Surprise, Suspense. Premise, Theme, Ideology, Ethical & Socio-Political Ideas. Zeitgeist, Weltenschaung. The Nava Rasas. Genres of Films, Genre Conventions. The Scene: We would analyze in detail film scenes that work well (and those that don’t) in terms of the action and dialogue and understand why they are or=2 0aren’t working. Structuring: Understanding the way screenplays of feature films are structured and learning how to use these elements in one’s own work: Plot, Sub-plot, Inciting incident, Point of attack, Set-Up, Confrontation, Crisis, Climax, Resolution, etc. The Format: The format for writing the Synopsis, Treatment, Step-outline, Screenplay and Script for a film. Adaptation from literary works: Many films are based on novels and short stories. Adapting a literary work into a screenplay is both easier and more difficult than writing an original screenplay. How to write a screenplay for a film that is interesting in itself and also preserves the soul of the work it is based on? Film History: An overview of the history of cinema in India and the rest of the world. Film Analysis: Screening and analysis of films from the following categories: Contemporary Commercial Indian film Contemporary Off-Beat Indian film Hollywood Romantic Comedy A film with an avant-garde non-linear structure A classic of World Cinema Contemporary World Cinema From yasir.media at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 02:25:19 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:55:19 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] utopias? mistake to equate demand for Pk w partition Message-ID: <5af37bb0909091355m5250a2f9j26d5d393bffaf7fe@mail.gmail.com> has anyone managed to actually evade the enlightenment project on any side. just wondering if anyone has managed elucidate something which i am at a loss to recall at the moment . it could be me but no one strikes me as being able to get up and feel very healthy after all that... well criticism :D realistically most things are versions, bad versions mostly. there are utopias. have we discussed those on the list ? would be nice to make a list.... best يا سر On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:53 PM, Inder Salim wrote: > it was a game played by two or three or four lawyers,... > interestingly, they all learned this art from those masters who were > occuping their homes back in India. Have these lawyers actually > outwitted those colonial masters, i doubt, they always had an axe to > grind, and one can see that axe in action, even now. > > Gandhi narrowly managed to exonerate himself as a devil player of > Partition. > but he was there all the time. and so one can say he also unwittingly > contributed to Muslim alineation. I dont see Hindus love Gandhi > anymore, Nehru is almost fogotten... > > was Jinnah the most deserving representative of muslim masses, i again > doubt, > > i too dont doubt his secular credentials, but his faith in democracy > was negligible. and that was the reason he saw no futture for muslims > in a Hindu majority India. that does not mean that congress were > democratic, Nehru impressed masses, but he always protected the elite > of his times, > > I gues, it Jinnahs miscalculation, imagine, Pakistan Bangladesh as > part of India, in the present, > Muslims with that added proportion, obviously would have been always > the deciding factors to form a government in any election., Mulsims > would have preserved the past more meaningfully, which they were not > able to do with the mass migrationn of people from cities, which were > occupied by muslims. The direct action, which killed millions was by > no means a dream, it was the outcome of the endless and failed > series of discussions held by these egoistis lawyers. how to praise, > Jinnah, or Nehur, or Patel or Gandhi for that, > > Here, i must say, that Sheikh Mohd Abudullah was a real hero of the > hour of partitiion, Not a single hindu was killed in kashmir. yes, > many muslims were killed in Jammu province, because of Maharaja Hari > singh. > > iwhat Jinnah dreamt actually ? i think patition was a nightmere > > both jaswant singh and Ayesha jalal should think of the murder of > millions of humans beings, rather than these few personalities who > should be discussed as briefly as possible > > with love > regards > inder salim > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:25 AM, yasir ~يا سر > wrote: > > fwd > > > > http://www.tehelka.com/dotnet/mainheadline.asp?id=1 > > > > “It is a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of > > India” * > > > > *Ayesha Jalal, Pakistani historian and author of "The Sole Spokesman", > picks > > through the tangle of the Jinnah controversy > > > > By Shoma Chaudhury > > > > *What strikes you, personally, as the sharpest irony of the Jinnah- > Jaswant > > Singh controversy and its fallout in India?* > > > > What strikes me as most ironic is the extent to which the '''secular' > > Congress and the 'communal' BJP end up subscribing to the same common > idioms > > of Indian nationalism when it comes to Pakistan and its most potent > symbol, > > Mohammad Ali Jinnah. > > > > Jinnah of the 1916 Lucknow Pact where Sarojini Naidu hailed him as the > > “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”; Jinnah of the 1940 Lahore Declaration > > and two-nation theory; Jinnah who wanted Pakistan to be a “laboratory of > > Islam”; the secular Jinnah of the August 11 1947 address. And the Jinnah > of > > the personal domain: a Parsi wife, smoking, drinking. How is one to > > reconcile all these? Were these all stages in the evolution of Jinnah’s > > political thinking, or were they expedient positions? > > > > Like any other successful politician, Jinnah changed tactics without > losing > > sight of his ultimate strategic objectives in response to shifting > political > > dynamics during a career spanning several decades. Only a most > superficial > > and politically tainted understanding of Jinnah can lead to the > conclusion > > that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between his early career > when > > he was hailed as the ‘ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity’ and his later > years > > when he orchestrated the demand for a Pakistan in order to win an > equitable > > share of power for Muslims in an independent India. > > > > As for the presumed contradiction between his personal lifestyle and > > championing of a Pakistan in which Islam would play a role, the problem > > again lies with an insufficient understanding of what Jinnah meant by > Islam. > > The Islam he advocated was neither bigoted nor narrow-minded, but one > based > > on principles of equity, justice and fairplay for all, regardless of > caste > > or creed. Jinnah never abandoned his secular and liberal vision for > purposes > > of expediency. This is amply in evidence from the speeches he gave in the > > aftermath of partition on the place of religion and the minorities in the > > Muslim state of Pakistan. > > > > > > > > *Your own book "The Sole Spokesman" argues that Partition was a gross > > miscalculation and Jinnah never wanted it till the end. How is one to > read > > his demand for two nations then? And what, according to you, did Jinnah > > really want?* > > > > What I argued in The Sole Spokesman was that it was a mistake to equate > the > > demand for Pakistan with the partition of India as it took place in 1947. > > After 1940, the demand for Pakistan was intended by Jinnah as a means to > > stake a claim for the Muslim share of power in India once the British > quit. > > He argued that the unitary centre of the raj was a British construction > and > > would stand dissolved at the moment of decolonization. Any reconstitution > of > > the centre would have to be based on the premise that there were ‘two > > nations’ in India – the Muslim nation represented by the Muslim-majority > > provinces in the north-west and north-east (Pakistan) and the Hindu > nation > > represented by the Hindu-majority provinces (Hindustan). Once the > Congress > > and the British conceded the principle of a Pakistan, Jinnah left it an > open > > question whether the two parts of India would arrive at treaty > arrangements > > on matters of common concern as two sovereign states or enter into a > > confederal arrangement on the basis of equality. Jinnah always insisted > that > > ‘Pakistan’ had to be based on undivided Punjab and Bengal and resolutely > > opposed the partition of these two provinces along ostensibly religious > > lines until the bitter end. By insisting on a wresting power at a strong > > center with only the most nominal concessions to the provincial autonomy > > demanded by the Muslim-majority provinces, by endorsing the Hindu > > Mahasabha’s call to partition Punjab and Bengal and, above all, by > refusing > > to grant Muslims the share of power at the all-India level demanded by > > Jinnah, the Congress led by Nehru and Patel foreclosed the possibility of > > keeping India united. Jinnah did miscalculate in believing Gandhi’s voice > > was still dominant in the Congress. > > > > > > > > *Was the idea of an eminent Muslim domain within a sovereign Indian Union > a > > tenable idea? Indian states were in any case carved along linguistic > lines, > > would a Muslim State have been in keeping with this principle? And if so, > > why were the Congress stalwarts so against it? * > > > > This is a counterfactual question. However, the irony is that it was > Jinnah > > and the Muslim League who wanted undivided Punjab and Bengal and the > > Mahasabha-Congress combine that insisted on their division along lines of > > religion. The Congress stalwarts were against such a Muslim state because > it > > entailed diluting their control over the centre and gave far too much > power > > to Jinnah and the Muslim League. Linguistic states in a federal union was > > not incompatible with Jinnah’s vision. > > > > > > > > *In your reading of history, who would you hold most culpable for the > > Partition, and why? Jaswant Singh seems to suggest that Patel and Nehru > were > > most responsible, would you agree?* > > > > Mr Jaswant Singh has basically endorsed the main lines of my thesis in > The > > Sole Spokesman as far as apportioning responsibility for the partition of > > India is concerned. Patel and Nehru were more responsible because, as > > leaders of the larger party, they had to find the terms for an > accommodation > > with Jinnah and the Muslim League so that the unity of India could have > been > > preserved. In opting to seize power at British India’s unitary center > rather > > than striking a compromise with the Muslim League based on a genuinely > > federal arrangement, these politicians of the Congress paved the way for > > partition. > > > > > > * > > In India we don’t want to acknowledge that Jinnah never really wanted > > Pakistan; in Pakistan it must be a kind of anathema to suggest the > founder > > of the nation never wanted the nation. Why is Jinnah, in particular, > subject > > to such historical ambiguity?* > > > > It is wrongly presumed that Pakistan as it emerged in 1947 is what Mr > Jinnah > > was after all along. The demand for Pakistan, as I have explained above, > was > > intended to renegotiate the power sharing arrangements at the all-India > > centre on the basis that there were two nations in India, both of which > had > > to be treated on an equal footing regardless of their population > > proportions. An understanding of the difference between ‘Pakistan’ and > > partition, particularly the partition of the two main Muslim-majority > > provinces, will go some way to clearing the fog surrounding the reasons > for > > the division of the subcontinent and, in the process, resolve the > > ‘historical ambiguity’. > > > > > > > > *What would you count as the real turning point that made Partition > > inevitable? Is it the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946? Or do you think there > > was some other catalytic moment?* > > > > The Congress’s refusal to agree to the grouping of provinces – even > Gandhi > > called grouping worse than partition - and Nehru’s public assertions > against > > a centre restricted to three main subjects (defence, foreign affairs and > > communications), made it impossible for Jinnah to stick to the Muslim > > League’s acceptance of the Cabinet Mission three tiered plan for a > federal > > India instead of a fully sovereign Pakistan. The outbreak of violence in > > Calcutta in August 1946 and, subsequently, in other parts of India > narrowed > > the options available to the all-India leaders and made a painful > division > > rather than a negotiated accommodation seem more feasible. However, the > > partition of Punjab was not inevitable until the Congress called for it > in > > early March 1947 and efforts continued to be made to avoid the partition > of > > Bengal until the end of May 1947. > > > > > > > > *What would you say are the inconvenient or uncomfortable facts of > history > > that India papers over in its construction of Jinnah? In turn, what does > > Pakistan paper over?* > > > > > > > > Despite the available scholarship, the nationalist self-projections of > both > > countries have not managed to attain the requisite level of maturity. The > > exclusive focus on the ‘religious causes’ of partition in the public > > discourse on both sides of the divide obscures the powerful regional > > dynamics that played such a decisive role in the final denouement of > 1947. > > The other associated reason is the insistence on writing history by > focusing > > on the ‘great men’, whether Jinnah, Nehru, Patel or Gandhi. This makes it > > impossible for people to fully understand the complex historical factors > > that shaped the politics of these individuals. The Indian state and > > political elite find it hard to acknowledge that Congress leaders did not > in > > the end stand for the unity of India. Their Pakistani counterparts are > loath > > to accept that Jinnah was handed the maimed, mutilated and moth-eaten > > Pakistan in 1947 that he had categorically rejected in 1944 and 1946. > > > > > > > > *If Jinnah was indeed a secular and constitutional giant, why has > Pakistan > > slid so easily towards a theocracy or dictatorship at different points in > > its history? Is it hobbled in any way by discrepancies in the life of its > > founding father?* > > > > > > > > Jinnah articulated a clear vision for Pakistan as a modern nation-state > > where all citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliations, would > have > > equal rights of citizenship. He ruled out a theocracy at the very outset. > > His successors stuck to this vision when it came to keeping the religious > > divines in place well into the early 1970s. They were less successful in > > avoiding dictatorship in the context of the Cold War and chronic tensions > > with India over Kashmir. The emergence of the military as the dominant > > institution and the derailing of democratic processes after 1958 set the > > ball rolling in the gradual erosion of Jinnah’s vision for a moderate and > > democratic Pakistan. Yet, it was not until the Soviet invasion of > > Afghanistan that Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq made the fatal decision to > turn a > > narrowly construed brand of Islam into an instrument of state policy, > both > > internally and externally. What plagues Pakistan today are more a result > of > > the legacies of the Zia era than any specific discrepancies (other than > > partition) in the life of its founding father. > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > -- > > http://indersalim.livejournal.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 10 11:11:36 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 22:41:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister Message-ID: <471160.64567.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Rakesh,               There seems to be a little misunderstanding in what I wrote and what you interpreted.I never said that Afzal "was not attacked and Modi was", I used the word Parliament attackee deliberately so as not to invite unnecessary posts from persons who get worried as soon as a muslim name appears somewhere. 2. I think we are not above the knowledge level of Supreme Court judges. It is very strange that you write that facts on which the charge sheet was based were of dubious nature and still the Supreme Court decided to punish the accused and gave a decision to hang him.The review petition, to the best of my knowledge, was also dismissed by the SC.If people do not have faith in the highest court of the country just because the accused happens to be a muslim,   even more reasoning will not change this perception. I have been closely associated with the working of the judiciary and do not find any fault with the SC. The court never acts on perceptions, but on facts of the case and for the same facts of the case, the judges do differ. Whether right or wrong, the SC gives a finality to the cases and we have to respect the judgements.Fair criticism can always be made. If I say it bluntly, even a paanwalla says during cricket matches" Saale Tendulalkar ko wo shot nahin maarna chahiye tha, bweqoofi ki usne aur hara diya India ko" .So a paanwalla knows more cricket than Tendulkar.So people like you and me know laws better than the experienced SC judges who have put their lives in interpreting the laws.You would be listening to similar comments about teachers by the students.I agree nobody is divine on this earth and anyone including judges can err, but my feeling is erring collectively would be very rare. 3.Even on judges' assests, I have different views than yours. Have you seen persecution of Chief Justice Sabharwal whose son had a shop in a Mall and it was alleged that he gave judgment on illegal constructions in Delhi to benefit his son? What a shameless accusation? There will be no dearth of such accusations once the assets are declared by the judges. Nothing personal pl. I still admire your views. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Wed, 9/9/09, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > From: Rakesh Iyer > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Murali V" , "Sarai List" > Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 11:05 PM > Dear Malik jee > > You have raised the issue of Afzal being not attacked > whereas Modi being attacked. The fact is that according to > the chargesheet which the Delhi police used, along with > their investigation to prove that Afzal and others are > guilty, the facts suggested are of such a dubious nature, > that right from the Civil Court (lowest strata) to the > Supreme Court (highest strata), the Delhi police got a > reprimand for not conducting investigations properly. If you > don't believe me, read the judgement. > > > What's ironic then is that the SC declared that to > satisfy the collective conscience of society, Afzal must be > hanged. What is strange is that Afzal has never said he was > not guilty, but he hasn't accepted all accusations > against him. Moreover, he was a spy working for the Kashmir > police, where he was beaten to shreds. How many would know > that? > > > How come a judgement based on a dubious chargesheet be > acceptable to rational human beings? Which is why I said > that Modi should not be glorified or villified. Similarly, > even Afzal is being glorified or vilified, which is not what > we should do. If the facts on the ground state that Afzal > has not done the crime or not to the extent of deserving the > death sentence, he shouldn't have got it. > > > Which is why I feel the case needs to be re-investigated > and re-trialled, as quickly as possible. And if still the > court finds him guilty based on legally rational principles > and facts, then hang him on 13th December. Don't wait > then > > > And the SC is not God that it hasn't made mistakes in > the past. The SC has time and again allowed the Sardar > Sarovar dam to be built, even when again and again it has > been proved that the dam will never achieve its objectives. > Now you can find out for yourself what are the results of > this dam. Even Gujarati ministers concede Narmada water > won't reach Kutch, which was one of the principal > objectives of the project. All at the cost of displacing > tribals. > > > Look even in the judges' assets declaration bill. The > SC judges have accepted it after so much resistance. Why? > > Regards > > Rakesh > > From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 11:31:43 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:31:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <471160.64567.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <471160.64567.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik jee I am happy to receive this mail, and feel nice as I respond. Here it is, for the benefit of all including you: 1) My argument about the Afzal case has no relation to as far as his being Muslim (or even a Kashmiri) is concerned, though this has been alleged in many circles. My argument is that for a crime whose charge-sheet itself is of a dubious nature, it is striking that the Court has sentenced a person to death on the basis of the same charge-sheet. Therefore, I have my reservations and I have expressed it. If it would have been a Ram, a Johnson or a Surjeet Singh, my response would be the same. And the argument too remains the same. 2) The second problem lies with having greater knowledge and the chances of its possible misuse. Just because doctors have greater knowledge than us does not mean that we leave everything to the doctors necessarily. Just because cricketers know everything about cricket does not mean we should leave everything to cricketers alone. The reason is that these are people who are professionals, and since they have a greater knowledge in a particular field, they can misuse their knowledge to derive profits of their own at the expense of others or causing harm to others, which can't and shouldn't be acceptable in any society. The same is true for Supreme Court judges as well. Just because they know better about law, does not mean they are the Gods of India. They are also fallible, and while I agree with you that collective judgment helps in ensuring this is somewhat rectified, it may not always be true. Hence, they can fall out, and we should try to get it straight. Of course, it doesn't mean judges are at fault. They can be misled as well by the voices of the two lawyers fighting against each other in the court. And model statements like the court should be partial, are not going to help. 3) In the name of wrong cases, it is wrong to not apply the RTI to judges, because this was the same excuse adopted by the Indian bureaucrats right from top to bottom, and yet it was thrown into the dustbin, precisely because this is a good excuse of hiding things. If I am not guilty, what should I be afraid of? And if I feel something has been done wrong against me, then I have the right to go to court and settle my grievances there. There are also other modes of protest to account for. And if all this fails, though it may be wrong, there is also the Maoist dictum of violence to use, and then be ready to face the consequences, which I may be in such a state. I agree cases drag on for years and years, and our investigations are shoddy, but in that case, don't our courts also have to share the blame for it? Should they be left out of this mess? As for Sabharwal, if he is not guilty, he shouldn't worry. If he is, then let's hope he is caught. Regards Rakesh From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 15:02:23 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:02:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: References: <471160.64567.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <7271ec560909100232j6ec703d6oc6659b46efa9f296@mail.gmail.com> Dear all in the list, to my thinking these are some of the perceptions which need objective pondering:-D >From the paras of the post in the list, a) "You have raised the issue of Afzal being not attacked whereas Modi being attacked. The fact is that according to the chargesheet which the Delhi police used, along with their investigation to prove that Afzal and others are guilty, the facts suggested are of such a dubious nature, that right from the Civil Court (lowest strata) to the Supreme Court (highest strata), the Delhi police got a reprimand for not conducting investigations properly. If you don't believe me, read the judgement." __ Is this a fact.? b) How come a judgement based on a dubious chargesheet be acceptable to rational human beings? Which is why I said that Modi should not be glorified or villified. Similarly, even Afzal is being glorified or vilified, which is not what we should do. If the facts on the ground state that Afzal has not done the crime or not to the extent of deserving the death sentence, he shouldn't have got it. -- Is this a fact.? c) The BJP protests against Valentine's day based on its perception that westernization of society is a sin. That too is based on a perception. __Is that acceptable? . 1. Are these perceptions based on objective look, if some individuals who are also supporters of a political party, oppose Valentines Day, does it reflect the party's stand.? 2. Does the affidavit filed by the Home ministry reflect truth or objectively looked at, in the case of accused by the court when Supreme court persued it.? 3. When a CM of the state being held responsible for riots and attacks on the basis of faith, does the same "intellectuals" look objectively at the actions of the law keepers of Delhi State, Jharkhand State, or that of Manipur state, and these CMs are different as they belong to different political parties.? 4. When analyzing the facts "objectively" the weightage for faith becomes an important issue for the "intellectuals".? 5. Deviants if belonged to a faith which is "minority" such crimes are not big time crimes, or is it that there are no criminals in those faiths.? Regards, Rajen. On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 11:31 AM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Malik jee > > I am happy to receive this mail, and feel nice as I respond. Here it is, > for > the benefit of all including you: > > 1) My argument about the Afzal case has no relation to as far as his being > Muslim (or even a Kashmiri) is concerned, though this has been alleged in > many circles. My argument is that for a crime whose charge-sheet itself is > of a dubious nature, it is striking that the Court has sentenced a person > to > death on the basis of the same charge-sheet. Therefore, I have my > reservations and I have expressed it. If it would have been a Ram, a > Johnson > or a Surjeet Singh, my response would be the same. And the argument too > remains the same. > > 2) The second problem lies with having greater knowledge and the chances of > its possible misuse. Just because doctors have greater knowledge than us > does not mean that we leave everything to the doctors necessarily. Just > because cricketers know everything about cricket does not mean we should > leave everything to cricketers alone. The reason is that these are people > who are professionals, and since they have a greater knowledge in a > particular field, they can misuse their knowledge to derive profits of > their > own at the expense of others or causing harm to others, which can't and > shouldn't be acceptable in any society. > > The same is true for Supreme Court judges as well. Just because they know > better about law, does not mean they are the Gods of India. They are also > fallible, and while I agree with you that collective judgment helps in > ensuring this is somewhat rectified, it may not always be true. Hence, they > can fall out, and we should try to get it straight. > > Of course, it doesn't mean judges are at fault. They can be misled as well > by the voices of the two lawyers fighting against each other in the court. > And model statements like the court should be partial, are not going to > help. > > 3) In the name of wrong cases, it is wrong to not apply the RTI to judges, > because this was the same excuse adopted by the Indian bureaucrats right > from top to bottom, and yet it was thrown into the dustbin, precisely > because this is a good excuse of hiding things. If I am not guilty, what > should I be afraid of? And if I feel something has been done wrong against > me, then I have the right to go to court and settle my grievances there. > There are also other modes of protest to account for. And if all this > fails, > though it may be wrong, there is also the Maoist dictum of violence to use, > and then be ready to face the consequences, which I may be in such a state. > > I agree cases drag on for years and years, and our investigations are > shoddy, but in that case, don't our courts also have to share the blame for > it? Should they be left out of this mess? > > As for Sabharwal, if he is not guilty, he shouldn't worry. If he is, then > let's hope he is caught. > > Regards > > Rakesh > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Rajen. From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 15:10:11 2009 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:10:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7271ec560909100240w371c1c4ajf8d1788089f3bbeb@mail.gmail.com> Dear all in the list, this is how the life of a human is degraded, asking, seeking compensation, and death is priced, that is why terror breeds, "Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated." Which if objectively seen, the family is particular about the compensation for the death, not about the acts of travelling as husband and wife to different destinations, dual passports of the dead, and ofcourse, that is why faith does not preach terror, but the terrorists carry always large sums of money, arms and ammunitions and id cards, passports of different nations.!Ultimate analysis displays the role of "wealth" as the motivator, not faith for terrorism. Even media talks of "names" if it is good trp of a faith, not otherwise.! Regards, Rajen. On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Javed wrote: > An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister > > Dr. Manmohan Singh > > Hon’ble Prime Minister of India > > September 8, 2009, 1.02am > > Dear Dr Manmohan Singh. > > > I had written a small article in > The Hindustan Times in June 2004. It was called ‘Come Shoot Me: I am a > Terrorist’. It was to express my anguish on Ishrat Jahan’s killing in > Gujarat. > > The Magisterial Enquiry, which is mandatory in every encounter case > (and which was never done in the Batla House encounter) has finally > termed it Ishrat jahan’s killing as a fake encounter yesterday in a > metropolitan court. It is not a matter of surprise for us as we knew > that she was killed in cold blood. Perhaps you will also agree that > such things are happening and happened in Gujarat under Modi. But I am > not writing to talk about how bad Modi is. > > I am writing this to ask you a small favour. > > I know you have absolutely hectic schedules and thousands of issues to > handle so I am putting down here the facts, gathered from various > media reports. > > On June 15, 2003, the Ahmedabad city crime branch, then headed by the > now jailed IPS officer D G Vanzara, shot four young people –Ishrat > Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Jisan > Johar. It was propagated that these four young people were alleged > Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives who were allegedly on mission to kill > chief minister Narendra Modi. > > Ishrat, was a 19-year old student of Khalsa College in Mumbra, a Mumbai > suburb. > > Ishrat's mother filed a petition in the high court in 2004 demanding > death compensation and a CBI probe. Ishrat Jahan’s mother’s Petition > alleged that it was a fake encounter as one of the many that the > present government regime in Gujarat headed by Narendra Modi had done > to achieve Political Mileage to publicly create panic and sympathy > that the Chief Minister was sought to be assassinated. > > The crime branch carried out the operation and the same agency > conducted investigation. > > When the petition was heard by Justice KS Jhaveri , he immediately > proposed, almost on line taken by the Supreme Court in the infamous > Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, for which Vanzara was jailed along > with other policemen, that a five-member team - all of the rank of > additional DGP - should probe this case. > > The encounter was done by the infamous D. G. Vanzara and his team who > are presently arrested under Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in > the case of fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi. > Sohrabuddin’s encounter has been admitted by the state to be fake and > recently on 11/08/2008, they have agreed to deposit an amount of Rs. > 10.00 Lakhs as interim ex-gratia compensation for being paid to the > Kith and Kin of the two. > > There are allegedly 28 encounters which were fake and have been covered up. > > In Ishrat Jahan’s matter the CBI was impleaded as a Party and it took > a stand that if the Court so orders they are willing to carry out > fresh investigations and unearth the truth. Such stand triggered panic > with the State Government and it seems even with some Officers of > Central Home Ministry. After UPA came to power some tainted CBI > officers placed in Gujarat during the NDA with questionable track > record were removed after a lot of pressure and almost two years but > they soon found plush positions in Delhi under UPA regime. > > To our dismay we realized last month through the media reports that > the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that Ishrat, Javed > and two others Jisan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were all operatives of > Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba. > > Maintaining that the four were terrorists, the Union government told > the high court, "No proposal for CBI investigation is under > consideration of the Centre nor does it consider the present case fit > for CBI probe." > > Moreover, the Centre claimed that there is no question of independent > inquiry, as an additional DGP (CID & Intelligence) had carried out an > independent probe into the incident and the officer is neither working > with crime branch nor is he a subordinate to the crime branch, which > carried out the operation and later investigated the case itself." > > If you remember Hon’ble prime Minister when I met you regarding the > Package for the Gujarat 2002 victims along with other activists from > Gujarat I had jokingly said, “The news that UPA has replaced NDA at > the centre has not reached your Home Ministry as yet’. I had said this > precisely in the connection of how the tainted officers promoted by > the BJP were still being pampered under the UPA. > > The reason behind filing of the Affidavit by the Central Government > was to dissuade the Court from appointing a strong S I T and give a > message that even the Central Government had approved the act of fake > encounter. But for the magisterial enquiry the Central Home Ministry > had left no stone unturned to prove that Ishrat deserved to be killed. > > The logic used always is what will happen to the morale of the > officers. My question is what happens to the morale of the officers > when they torture innocent young people, when they kill them, when > they illegally detain them, beat them. What happens to their morale > then? Do they just go home and sleep? > > Why don’t we as nation stop playing the farce of being a secular > nation and why don’t we remove the article from the constitution which > says all citizens are equal? > > The affidavit filed by the Home Ministry is a proof of the fact that > in Ishrat Jahan’s fake encounter case UPA has connived with the > Gujarat government in a blatantly communal manner. With 3 days to go > before assembly bye election in 7 seats in Gujarat 5 more innocent > boys have been picked up in Baroda and declared' terrorists'. > > I do not know if this letter will be also lost on the way and find > itself in a dustbin as I have never received any acknowledgment from > your office, so I will be forced to circulate it to others to lodge a > strong protest against this blatant connivance of the Home Ministry > with the Gujarat government. > > My request to you is that if your government has any political will > then please ask your home ministry to tender a public apology for > filing the affidavit against the innocent girl who was so brutally > murdered. It requires some courage and conviction. > > You are fond of poetry. > > Faiz ke chand lines apki nazar kar rahi hoon: > > Tujh ko kitnon ka lahoo chahiye ae arz-i-watan, Jo tiray arz-i-berang > ko gulnaar karein > > Kitni aahon se kaleja tira thanda hoga, Kitne aansoo tiray sehraon ko > gulzaar karein > > > (The blood of how many do you need O motherland;That which will > brighten your colourless earth; > > How many sighs will soothe your heart; How many tears will cause your > deserts to bloom.) > > Sincerely Yours > > Shabnam Hashmi > > Member, National Integration Council > > [shabnamhashmi at gmail.com] > > ======== > > Jaspal Singh, IPS (retd) former Minister, Gujarat writes to SIT on > Gujarat riots 2002 > > Calls Gujarat riots "a thoroughly thought out elaborate and heinous > strategy to communalise the society at large in Gujarat, with a view > to derive political benefits" > > Jaspal Singh,IPS (retd) (former: Cabinet Minister, Government of > Gujarat , Mayor of Vadodara, Commissioner of Police, Vadodara, > Gujarat) wrote the following letter on 7 September 2009 to Dr. R.K. > Raghavan, Chairman, Special Investigation Team (SIT), Dr.Jivraj Mehta > Bhavan, Block-11, 1St Flr, Old Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar: > > > Sir, > > Sub: Gujarat Riots of 2002 – Action thereon > > Apropos my letter dated Jun 06, 2009, I write to compliment you for > pursuing investigations in to the Gujarat riots of 2002 with vigour by > recording statement of Mrs.Zakia Jafri, widow of late of Mr.Ehsan > Jafri, a former member of the Parliament, Shri R.B.Sreekumar, IPS > (Retd), former DGP of Gujarat, and Mr.Rahul Sharma a serving IPS > officer of Gujarat cadre. While the progress of the case does bring > some comfort to the victims of the genocide unleashed in Gujarat, lot > more remains to be done as expeditiously as possible, so as to instil > a sense of hope in the hearts and minds of Indians, that the rule of > law would be respected and no one would be spared for flouting it. The > happenings of 2002 have brought shame and disgrace of unfathomable > proportions, and only investigation by the SIT under your command can > redeem the honour of the country. > > I list below some of the matters which need to be investigated in > detail in pursuance of trust reposed in you, and your team by the > Hon’ble Apex Court. Your efforts will assuage the terribly dented > image of our great country, and hence your responsibility is immense. > As a retired IPS officer I consider it a matter of pride that the job > to redeem the honour of the country has been entrusted to the SIT > headed by a IPS officer. The outcome of the SIT’s investigation and > actions following it may prove to be a benchmark in the history of our > country. > > 1. Communalisation of Gujarat: The mayhem in Gujarat was the > result of a thoroughly thought out elaborate and heinous strategy to > communalise the society at large in Gujarat, with a view to derive > political benefits. Towards that end the exclusivist, fundamentalist > and sectarian pseudo religious groups among Hindus and Muslims played > a leading role, aided and abetted by those at the helm. > > 2. Examiniation of participants in the crucial meeting chaired by > the CM – Narendra Modi: > > Examination of the following persons is crucial for the purpose of the SIT: > > a) Smt.Swarnakanta Varma IAS, the then Acting Chief Secretary > > b) Mr.Ashok Narayan, IAS, the then Home Secretary > > c) Dr.P.K.Mishra, IAS, the then Principal Secretary to the CM > > d) Mr.Anil mukim, IAS & Mr.A.K.Sharma, IAS Secretaries to CM > > e) Mr.P.C.Pande IPS, then Commissioner of Police Ahmedabad > > f) Shri K.Chakravarty, IPS, the then DG of Police, Gujarat > > g) Shri G.C.Raiger, IPS, the then Addl. DGP of Gujarat > > h) Shri Nityanand, IPS, Secretary in the Home Department. > > 3. Representative of CBI: The SIT must examine Shri Rajendrakumar, > the then Jt.Director, Central Intelligence Bureau (CBI) in charge of > Gujarat who had insisted on the state DGP to deem the burning of the > train at Godhra as a terrorist act mounted by the ISI. > > 4. Examination of Ministers: Examine all those ministers of Shri > Modi Government about the details of the meeting held at the residence > of the CM on 27.02.2002, including the then Minister of State for Home > Shri Govardhan Zadapiya who had admitted in the State Assembly about > the meeting convened by the CM. It may be mentioned that the State > Assembly was in session on the day the tragic events took place at > Godhra. This can be verified from the official records of the State > Assembly. This will clarify that the CM had directed the officers to > permit free play of Hindu revengefulness on the Muslims (Reference to > June 03, 2002 issue of the weekly – Outlook). > > 5. Whether prompt action taken: Examine whether there was delay in > requisitioning army and central para military forces with a view to > give free hand to the anti Muslim rioters. > > 6. Law and order Review meeting minutes: Examine the minutes of > the law and order review meetings chaired by the CM, the Chief > Secretary, and the DGP jointly, or otherwise and subsequent follow up > action by subordinate officers in the police department, and executive > magistracy from District Magistrates to Mamalatdars. If minutes were > not kept it would be obvious that monitoring of the implementation of > decisions could not haven been done. > > 7. Follow up action: Examine how the monitoring of the > implementations of the decisions in these review meetings was done by > the CM to DGP without minutes of these meetings. > > 8. Media reports – sources: Conduct deeper probe in to the source > of media reports about the meeting chaired by the CM, where the CM > directed the officials to be soft on Hindu rioters. > > Investigation on the above lines could provide evidence of extra > judicial confessions. > > Some further investigations that are necessary are: > > a) Examination of documents on the communications between and among > the CM’s office, CS Office, Home department, DGP Office and the > Commissioners of Police of Ahmedabad, Baroda, and SPs of major riot > affected districts in the period from 27.02.2002 to 31.05.2002. > Similar correspondence from the relevant police stations to district / > commissionrate level officers also be examined to find out whether > there were major omissions and commissions to facilitate the Pogram > against the Muslims > > b) Examination of documents on communications between the DGP and > the State Control room in Gandhinagar, and the Commissionarates, > besides offices of the DSPs, Addl. DGP (Intelligence) > > c) Examination of entries in the registers and log books of the > police patrol vehicles in cities and important towns. > > d) Examination of documents on various incidents and action > reported by DGP and CP Ahmedabad and riot affected districts to their > higher officers. > > e) Examination of reports by DGP, Home department, Chief Secretary, > ADGO (Intelligence) to the Central Government and to find out veracity > of reports and efforts of anyone to suppress truth. > > f) It is on record that the Gujarat State intelligence branch had > sent daily reports to Shri B.K.Haldar, Jt. Secy, MHA, New Delhi from > 13.03.2002 onwards. Besides, daily reports which were sent on various > specific incidents that took place in Gujarat. A study of these > reports will indicate that there was anti-minority prejudice explicit > in the actions of the state police which prompted them to avoid arrest > of Hindu rioters and concentrating on penalising the Muslims. Analysis > of the statistics prepared by the Add. D.G., Intelligence, Gujarat in > the form of daily reports will reveal that the casualties in the > police action weighed heavily against the Muslims, as also the > destruction and damage to properties. > > g) Action must be taken to procure data regarding representations > from the riot affected people and general public received through > phone calls, written complaints and personal representations from > 27.02.2002 to 31.05.2002. It is also necessary to examine the quality > and character of response to these by the enforcing officers. In case > responses are found to be inadequate, and unprofessional, an adverse > inference can be drawn against the concerned officers. > > h) Examination of documents on meetings held by CP, Ahmedabad and > other police commissionarates and affected districts during the same > period to find out the nature of instructions given and decisions > taken thereon and the extent of their implementation. > > i) Examination of concerned officers from DGP to field officers > at the police station level on their failure to comply with the > directions and instructions on handling of communal situation in > Gujarat as per Gujarat State Police Manual Vol-III, Rule 21 to 31, and > DGP Gujarat’s booklet on “Criminal Riots – Strategy and Approach” > forwarded to all senior police officers by the then DGP Shri > K.V.Joseph vide his letter No. SB/49/1050/1175 dated 19.11.1997, > compilation of Government instructions captioned –“Criminal Peace”, > and recommendations of Justice Reddy Commission and the Commission > headed by Justice Dave. > > > > j) Officers in charge of areas where large scale violence > happened should explain the reason for their dereliction of duties in > violation of the provisions of Gujarat Police Manual Vol-III, Rules > 24, 134, 135 and 136. It is relevant to note that such culpable > connivance by government functionaries with the rioters had prompted > the Apex Court to portray the Gujarat bureaucracy as modern day Neros > and the Hon’ble Supreme Court had actively intervened to correct the > aberrations by ordering : > > > > i) Transfer of Bilkisbano rape case to CBI in April 2004 > > ii) Transfer of Bilkisbano and Best Bakery cases to Maharashtra in April > 2004. > > iii) Review of 2000 odd closed cases (August 2004) > > iv) Creation of SIT to reinvestigate 9 major carnage cases (March 2008) > > v) Order of the Supreme Court to the SIT to investigate on all points > contained in the complaint filed by Mrs.Jafre (April 2009) > > > > k) SIT should go in to the series of circumstances indicating > criminal motive of the CM, Gujarat and his collaborators in projecting > the Godhra train fire incident as an outcome of conspiracy by ISI and > a terrorist act. There is sufficient evidence to prove that even > before the investigating or intelligence agency had any information > about conspiracy behind the Godhra fire, the CM, Gujarat, a national > leader of BJP, declared it to be a consequence of conspiracy. This is > the starting point of anti minority carnage. The CM made a statement > in the state assembly that the Godhra train incident was a pre-planned > terrorist act and was a result of a conspiracy. > > > > l) In fact the Gujarat police brought out the questionable > conspiracy element only by the end of March 2002. The Apex Court had > not supported the Gujarat State Government’s application of provisions > of the then prevailing POTA on the accused of the Godhra train fire. > > > > m) Revelations by some witnesses in the Godhra train fire case in the > operation ‘kalank’ brought out by ‘Tehelka’ magazine about the Gujarat > police bribing them to give false evidence. The then Home Secretary > Mr.G.C.Murmu, and Government pleader Mr.Arvind Pandya tried to tutor > the then Addl. DGP. Shri R.B.Sreekumar to support Government’s > conspiracy theory during his cross examination by the Nanavati > Commission. The then Godhra Collector Ms.Jayanti Ravi openly stated > that the Godhra incident was criminal and she did not mention either > about the conspiracy or it being a terrorist act. > > > > n) In fact in my view the ill motivated declaration of ISI being > behind this conspiracy was a part of the larger conspiracy to > perpetuate genocidal crimes against the minority community for > ensuring political consolidation of the majority community in favour > of the BJP to procure electoral dividends. Simultaneously the Sangh > Parivar could achieve their ever pursued hidden agenda of treating the > Muslim minority as second class citizens. Having denied proper relief > and rehabilitation in pre-riot vocations/trades, commerce and > agriculture, many riot victims were forced to compromise with the > perpetrators of the violence and consequently not even 25% of the > cases reviewed on the Apex Court’s orders could end up in prosecution > of accused persons. > > > > o) Abnormality and impropriety in the following actions by Shri > Modi government after the Godhra incident need to be uncovered, as > they are linked to the plans to inflict maximum damage on the Muslims. > > > > I. A condolence resolution was passed in > the state assembly to condone those who were killed in the train fire, > though no person for whom such resolutions are customary were killed. > > > > II. No condolence resolution was passed to > condone the death of Ehsan Jafri, a former MP as was customary. This > was in total violation of legislative norms. > > > > III. No discussion in the state assembly on the > riots was held for over 10 days as the assembly remained closed during > the period. > > > > IV. The CM and BJP leaders supported the > Gujarat Bandh call given by the VHP on 28.02.2002. > > > > V. Neither the CM or any senior BJP leader > made any appeal for peace on the eve of the Bandh on 28.02.2002. > > > > VI. Parading of dead bodies of Godhra fire > victims in Ahmedabad city was done in violation of all regulations in > this connection. Please enquire in to how the dead bodies were handed > over to unauthorised persons viz. VHP leaders and not the legally > entitled kin of the diseased. SIT should procure all documentary > evidence about the whole process viz. Which officer had released the > dead bodies to the VHP. Please procure and confiscate the relevant > records immediately. Who were the persons who received the bodies, why > unidentified dead bodies were also handed over to such unauthorised > persons. The concerned officers be asked to produce the details of > Government order, if any, in this connection. In case relevant > officers take the cover of non availability of records, they should be > prosecuted for deliberate destruction of evidence. > > > > p) Mr.P.C.Pande the then Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad should > be examined on the following fatal acts of negligence facilitating the > blood bath in Ahmedabad city. > > > > I. Non initiation of preventive > measures as per numerous instructions including those in Gujarat > Police Manual etc. from 27.02.2002 onwards when anti minority riots > started. > > > > II. Why imposition of curfew on > 28.02.2002 was delayed up to 1300 Hours? > > > > III. Why no redeployment of the SRP and > additional police force was not done on 28.02.2002? The SRP continued > to be at the same places as they were before. > > > > IV. Please examine as to what follow up > action he had taken on the state IB reports as cited in the affidavits > filed by the then Addl. DGP Intelligence. > > > > V. What further action did he take on > his letters to the DGP, and the Secretary Home, about the role of VHP > in fomenting trouble and extortion of protection money from > miscreants. > > > > q) Examine the officers of the state intelligence branch Ahmedabad > City and other major riot affected areas as to whether they reported > the anti minority stance of the police at the ground level during and > after the riots resulting in non registration of FIRs by the riot > victims. Misinformation of the intensity of crimes, clubbing of > numerous offences as just one single incident. > > > > r) Not arresting Hindu accused promptly, and not taking them on > remand for collecting additional evidence, and recovery of looted or > stolen property. > > > > s) Prejudicial stand of Special Public Prosecutors some of who were > office bearers of the Sangh Parivar. > > > > t) Examine the officers in charge of the riot affected areas > regarding the instructions given by them in response to distress calls > from the riot victims, monitoring of the implementation of these > instructions, any disciplinary action taken against anybody for non > compliance etc. Examination of relevant documents in the CP or SP > offices, Offices of Range DIGs/IGs and SDPOs, and police station > officers absolutely imperative. > > > > u) Electronic and print media had brought out graphically the > pictures of parading of dead bodies, ghastly scenes of riots etc. > These be procured and analysed, and further probes be done like > arresting those found indulging in violence. > > > > v) Many Sangh Parivar leaders and accused in anti minority carnage > had boasted about their active involvement in the riots to Shri Ashish > Khaitan, the Tehelka correspondent in the video. Make further > inquiries about the information brought out in operation ‘kalank’. > These revelations are extra judicial confessions. The forensic test of > all these persons is also necessary. > > > > w) Please examine state home department officials and DGP, Shri > K.Chakravarty about follow up action initiated by them on the state IB > reports regarding prejudices of the state police against the riot > victims. Please examine Home Secretary Shri Ashok Narain, as to what > action he had taken on the demand by the National Minority Commission > about highly inciting and incendiary speech of the CM in 2002. > > > > x) Please examine the Secretary, Law Department for appointing > supporters and office bearers of the Sangh Parivar as Special Public > Prosecutors to present cases against the accused belonging to Hindu > community. > > y) Please examine the District Magistrates of relevant districts as > to why they recommended supporters and office bearers of the Sandh > Parivar for appointment as Police Public prosecutors to the state law > department. > > z) Please examine the Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi, about the > details of instructions given by him to the Chief Secretary, Home > department officials and the DGP during the riots and subsequently. > Did he notice any acts of omission or commission by such officers, if > so what action he had initiated to correct the system and discipline > those who derelicted their duties. Did the CM initiate any curative > measures to redress the grievance of the victims before the > intervention by the NHRC, the Apex Court, and the national level > bodies. If no such action was taken, then this must be deemed as part > of a conspiracy to perpetuate violence on the Muslim minority and > subversion of criminal justice system. Please examine Mr.Modi on the > action taken by him about malicious role of one of his cabinet > ministers, Mr.Bharat Barot in inciting anti minority violence as > reported by the CP, Ahmedabad. > > It is quite likely that the Government functionaries who collaborated > with the CM and the Sangh Parivar in executing anti minority violence > will refuse to provide relevant evidence to the SIT. Therefore the SIT > will have to depend on the documentary evidence in Government and > police records heavily. Once clear picture about planning and > execution of conspiracy emerges, the relevant culprits should be > confronted and their forensic test be carried out. > > I strongly feel that a few officers known for their competence, > professionalism and integrity need to be inducted in to the SIT from > the Gujarat Police. The supervisory officers in the SIT at present are > handicapped by their lack of knowledge Gujarati language. To overcome > this problem I would strongly recommend the induction of the following > officers in to the SIT. > > 1. Mr.Satish Verma, IPS 1986 > > 2. Mr.Rahul Sharma, IPS 1992 > > 3. Mr.Rajnish Rai, IPS 1992 > > 4. Dr.(Mrs) Neerja Gotru Rao, IPS 1993 and > > 5. Mr.Hasmukh N. Patel, IPS 1993 > > For probing points contained in the complaint filed by Mrs Jafri. > > Any failure by the Indian Judicial system to bring under the clutches > of law, the real planners and executioners of anti-minority genocide > in 2002 would further energise anti Indian forces internationally and > particularly those jihadi groups who have been denigrating the Indian > State authorities for their failure to protect the minority community. > The Islamic terrorists who had claimed responsibility for explosions > and terror acts throughout India since 2002 have declared their > dastardly acts as revenge and retribution for Gujarat genocide. These > groups will fully capitalise on any situation which will provide > immunity from prosecution to the CM, Shri Narendra Modi and his aides > and attract frustrated riot victims to their camps to the detriment of > our national interest. > > Praying for expeditious actions on the above suggestions/requests. > > Yours sincerely, > > Jaspal Singh IPS (Retd) > > 4, Green Park, Akota, Vadodara 390020 > > Telephone: 0265 2332555 > > Email: jaspalofbaroda at 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Rajen. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 17:13:04 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:13:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Job Vacancy: Manager-Researcher with PRIA, Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: From: Vasudha Dhingra PRIA, (www.pria.org) an international centre for learning and promotion of participation and democratic governance, requires Manager-Research for its office in New Delhi. The applicant must possess a doctoral degree in Social Sciences with professional research experience of 5-7 years on issues related to civil society, governance (including local governance), urbanization and gender. The applicant must have strong analytical abilities, synthesis and documentation skills. Handling of research projects independently including preparing designs is desirable. The applicant must have the willingness to travel extensively. Good computer and communication skills are essential for this position. Remuneration will commensurate with qualification and experience. The candidates having relevant qualification / experience should send their resume mentioning present/expected salary, joining time required to hr at pria.org positively by September 20, 2009. The vacancies are open to applicants of either sex. Preference will be given to equally qualified women candidates. From indersalim at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 18:02:56 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:02:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] utopias? mistake to equate demand for Pk w partition In-Reply-To: <5af37bb0909091355m5250a2f9j26d5d393bffaf7fe@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909091355m5250a2f9j26d5d393bffaf7fe@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909100532o46fcdddctf8cde27e57850131@mail.gmail.com> how to reflect this, dear Yasir, but i like the way you write it, a sincere note on partition and its pain, without a need to be comprehensible to the journalistic knowledge of the 47 divide. it is full of human warmth, which is missing in cold analyses of boring historians like Jaswant Singh etc, i dont know if Ayesha Jalal has included some not so popular jokes, verses, ancedotes in her book while writing on patition, our research is too depenant on archival which will produce the pedictable. we want to get entangled with poetcis of it, poetic does not mean 'shairi' only but a given willingness that we are part of 'chaos' which is atavistic in nature, too ancient, too loaded with a past, and hence our eccentricites, our queerishness, our amnesian, our jolly moods...etc we have conflicts given in our nature, we start an affair with hug, love making , and then departures, hate murder and finally war, have we really been so sound on earth we might have been ' the crown of creation' ashraful makhlookat , but we are neither beasts nor the ideal human , we know only how to occupy the entire earth,by encroaching the spaces which were meant for good ghosts, species and life.... Partition is not a absolute word for me, and neither are there two sides permenantly dividied by some history, mostly poor people live the same life, miserable, and also with their sensiblities intact... those who died in 1947, are living ghosts , and those who survived gave birth to new mutants, akin to the generation after Atombomb was dropped in Hiroshima, so half ghost half human beings, half dead half living in both pakistan and india, and who inroncially love to be like that, but see how most of our historians painstakingly value each and every move, every step , every uttered word by these personality politicians, but alas, nothing about the people, the poet, the ordinary, the homeless so may be the things discussed so far are too limited. we may know something that liberates, let us talk about ' sensiblities' our need is ' horizontal distriubution of sensibilities' as Jacques Ranciere writes with love inder salim On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 2:25 AM, yasir ~يا سر wrote: > > has anyone managed to actually evade the enlightenment project on any side. > > just wondering if anyone has managed elucidate something which i am at a > loss to recall at the moment . it could be me but no one strikes me as being > able to get up and feel very healthy after all that... well criticism  :D > > realistically most things are versions, bad versions mostly. > > there are utopias. > > have we discussed those on the list ? > would be nice to make a list.... > > best > > يا سر > > > > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:53 PM, Inder Salim wrote: > > > it was a game played by two or three or four lawyers,... > > interestingly, they all learned this art from those masters who were > > occuping their homes back in India.  Have these lawyers actually > > outwitted those colonial masters, i doubt, they always had an axe to > > grind, and one can see that axe in action, even now. > > > > Gandhi narrowly managed to exonerate himself as a devil player of > > Partition. > > but he was there all the time. and so one can say he also  unwittingly > > contributed to Muslim alineation. I dont see Hindus love Gandhi > > anymore, Nehru is almost fogotten... > > > > was Jinnah  the most deserving representative of muslim masses, i again > > doubt, > > > > i too dont doubt his secular credentials, but his faith in democracy > > was negligible. and that was the reason he saw no futture for muslims > > in a Hindu majority India. that does not mean that congress were > > democratic, Nehru impressed masses, but he always protected the elite > > of his times, > > > > I gues, it Jinnahs miscalculation, imagine, Pakistan Bangladesh as > > part of India, in the present, > > Muslims with that added proportion, obviously would have been always > > the deciding factors to form a government  in any election., Mulsims > > would have preserved the past more meaningfully, which they were not > > able to do with the mass migrationn of people from cities, which were > > occupied by muslims.  The direct action, which killed millions was by > > no means a dream, it was the outcome of the endless   and failed > > series of discussions held by these egoistis lawyers. how to praise, > > Jinnah, or Nehur, or Patel or Gandhi for that, > > > > Here, i must say, that Sheikh Mohd Abudullah was a real hero of the > > hour of partitiion, Not a single hindu was killed in kashmir. yes, > > many muslims were killed in Jammu province, because of Maharaja Hari > > singh. > > > > iwhat Jinnah dreamt actually ?  i think patition was a nightmere > > > > both jaswant singh and Ayesha jalal should think of  the murder of > > millions of humans beings, rather than these few personalities who > > should be discussed as briefly as possible > > > > with love > > regards > > inder salim > > > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 3:25 AM, yasir ~يا سر > > wrote: > > > fwd > > > > > > http://www.tehelka.com/dotnet/mainheadline.asp?id=1 > > > > > > “It is a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of > > > India” * > > > > > > *Ayesha Jalal, Pakistani historian and author of "The Sole Spokesman", > > picks > > > through the tangle of the Jinnah controversy > > > > > > By Shoma Chaudhury > > > > > > *What strikes you, personally, as the sharpest irony of the Jinnah- > > Jaswant > > > Singh controversy and its fallout in India?* > > > > > > What strikes me as most ironic is the extent to which the '''secular' > > > Congress and the 'communal' BJP end up subscribing to the same common > > idioms > > > of Indian nationalism when it comes to Pakistan and its most potent > > symbol, > > > Mohammad Ali Jinnah. > > > > > >  Jinnah of the 1916 Lucknow Pact where Sarojini Naidu hailed him as the > > > “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”; Jinnah of the 1940 Lahore Declaration > > > and two-nation theory; Jinnah who wanted Pakistan to be a “laboratory of > > > Islam”; the secular Jinnah of the August 11 1947 address. And the Jinnah > > of > > > the personal domain: a Parsi wife, smoking, drinking. How is one to > > > reconcile all these? Were these all stages in the evolution of Jinnah’s > > > political thinking, or were they expedient positions? > > > > > > Like any other successful politician, Jinnah changed tactics without > > losing > > > sight of his ultimate strategic objectives in response to shifting > > political > > > dynamics during a career spanning several decades. Only a most > > superficial > > > and politically tainted understanding of Jinnah can lead to the > > conclusion > > > that there was an irreconcilable contradiction between his early career > > when > > > he was hailed as the ‘ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity’ and his later > > years > > > when he orchestrated the demand for a Pakistan in order to win an > > equitable > > > share of power for Muslims in an independent India. > > > > > >  As for the presumed contradiction between his personal lifestyle and > > > championing of a Pakistan in which Islam would play a role, the problem > > > again lies with an insufficient understanding of what Jinnah meant by > > Islam. > > > The Islam he advocated was neither bigoted nor narrow-minded, but one > > based > > > on principles of equity, justice and fairplay for all, regardless of > > caste > > > or creed. Jinnah never abandoned his secular and liberal vision for > > purposes > > > of expediency. This is amply in evidence from the speeches he gave in the > > > aftermath of partition on the place of religion and the minorities in the > > > Muslim state of Pakistan. > > > > > > > > > > > > *Your own book "The Sole Spokesman" argues that Partition was a  gross > > > miscalculation and Jinnah never wanted it till the end. How is one to > > read > > > his demand for two nations then? And what, according to you, did Jinnah > > > really want?* > > > > > > What I argued in The Sole Spokesman was that it was a mistake to equate > > the > > > demand for Pakistan with the partition of India as it took place in 1947. > > > After 1940, the demand for Pakistan was intended by Jinnah as a means to > > > stake a claim for the Muslim share of power in India once the British > > quit. > > > He argued that the unitary centre of the raj was a British construction > > and > > > would stand dissolved at the moment of decolonization. Any reconstitution > > of > > > the centre would have to be based on the premise that there were ‘two > > > nations’ in India – the Muslim nation represented by the Muslim-majority > > > provinces in the north-west and north-east (Pakistan) and the Hindu > > nation > > > represented by the Hindu-majority provinces (Hindustan). Once the > > Congress > > > and the British conceded the principle of a Pakistan, Jinnah left it an > > open > > > question whether the two parts of India would arrive at treaty > > arrangements > > > on matters of common concern as two sovereign states or enter into a > > > confederal arrangement on the basis of equality. Jinnah always insisted > > that > > > ‘Pakistan’ had to be based on undivided Punjab and Bengal and resolutely > > > opposed the partition of these two provinces along ostensibly religious > > > lines until the bitter end. By insisting on a wresting power at a strong > > > center with only the most nominal concessions to the provincial autonomy > > > demanded by the Muslim-majority provinces, by endorsing the Hindu > > > Mahasabha’s call to partition Punjab and Bengal and, above all, by > > refusing > > > to grant Muslims the share of power at the all-India level demanded by > > > Jinnah, the Congress led by Nehru and Patel foreclosed the possibility of > > > keeping India united. Jinnah did miscalculate in believing Gandhi’s voice > > > was still dominant in the Congress. > > > > > > > > > > > > *Was the idea of an eminent Muslim domain within a sovereign Indian Union > > a > > > tenable idea? Indian states were in any case carved along linguistic > > lines, > > > would a Muslim State have been in keeping with this principle? And if so, > > > why were the Congress stalwarts so against it? * > > > > > > This is a counterfactual question. However, the irony is that it was > > Jinnah > > > and the Muslim League who wanted undivided Punjab and Bengal and the > > > Mahasabha-Congress combine that insisted on their division along lines of > > > religion. The Congress stalwarts were against such a Muslim state because > > it > > > entailed diluting their control over the centre and gave far too much > > power > > > to Jinnah and the Muslim League. Linguistic states in a federal union was > > > not incompatible with Jinnah’s vision. > > > > > > > > > > > > *In your reading of history, who would you hold most culpable for the > > > Partition, and why? Jaswant Singh seems to suggest that Patel and Nehru > > were > > > most responsible, would you agree?* > > > > > > Mr Jaswant Singh has basically endorsed the main lines of my thesis in > > The > > > Sole Spokesman as far as apportioning responsibility for the partition of > > > India is concerned. Patel and Nehru were more responsible because, as > > > leaders of the larger party, they had to find the terms for an > > accommodation > > > with Jinnah and the Muslim League so that the unity of India could have > > been > > > preserved. In opting to seize power at British India’s unitary center > > rather > > > than striking a compromise with the Muslim League based on a genuinely > > > federal arrangement, these politicians of the Congress paved the way for > > > partition. > > > > > > > > > * > > > In India we don’t want to acknowledge that Jinnah never really wanted > > > Pakistan; in Pakistan it must be a kind of anathema to suggest the > > founder > > > of the nation never wanted the nation. Why is Jinnah, in particular, > > subject > > > to such historical ambiguity?* > > > > > > It is wrongly presumed that Pakistan as it emerged in 1947 is what Mr > > Jinnah > > > was after all along. The demand for Pakistan, as I have explained above, > > was > > > intended to renegotiate the power sharing arrangements at the all-India > > > centre on the basis that there were two nations in India, both of which > > had > > > to be treated on an equal footing regardless of their population > > > proportions. An understanding of the difference between ‘Pakistan’ and > > > partition, particularly the partition of the two main Muslim-majority > > > provinces, will go some way to clearing the fog surrounding the reasons > > for > > > the division of the subcontinent and, in the process, resolve the > > > ‘historical ambiguity’. > > > > > > > > > > > > *What would you count as the real turning point that made Partition > > > inevitable? Is it the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946? Or do you think there > > > was some other catalytic moment?* > > > > > > The Congress’s refusal to agree to the grouping of provinces – even > > Gandhi > > > called grouping worse than partition - and Nehru’s public assertions > > against > > > a centre restricted to three main subjects (defence, foreign affairs and > > > communications), made it impossible for Jinnah to stick to the Muslim > > > League’s acceptance of the Cabinet Mission three tiered plan for a > > federal > > > India instead of a fully sovereign Pakistan. The outbreak of violence in > > > Calcutta in August 1946 and, subsequently, in other parts of India > > narrowed > > > the options available to the all-India leaders and made a painful > > division > > > rather than a negotiated accommodation seem more feasible. However, the > > > partition of Punjab was not inevitable until the Congress called for it > > in > > > early March 1947 and efforts continued to be made to avoid the partition > > of > > > Bengal until the end of May 1947. > > > > > > > > > > > > *What would you say are the inconvenient or uncomfortable facts of > > history > > > that India papers over in its construction of Jinnah? In turn, what does > > > Pakistan paper over?* > > > > > > > > > > > > Despite the available scholarship, the nationalist self-projections of > > both > > > countries have not managed to attain the requisite level of maturity. The > > > exclusive focus on the ‘religious causes’ of partition in the public > > > discourse on both sides of the divide obscures the powerful regional > > > dynamics that played such a decisive role in the final denouement of > > 1947. > > > The other associated reason is the insistence on writing history by > > focusing > > > on the ‘great men’, whether Jinnah, Nehru, Patel or Gandhi. This makes it > > > impossible for people to fully understand the complex historical factors > > > that shaped the politics of these individuals. The Indian state and > > > political elite find it hard to acknowledge that Congress leaders did not > > in > > > the end stand for the unity of India. Their Pakistani counterparts are > > loath > > > to accept that Jinnah was handed the maimed, mutilated and moth-eaten > > > Pakistan in 1947 that he had categorically rejected in 1944 and 1946. > > > > > > > > > > > > *If Jinnah was indeed a secular and constitutional giant, why has > > Pakistan > > > slid so easily towards a theocracy or dictatorship at different points in > > > its history? Is it hobbled in any way by discrepancies in the life of its > > > founding father?* > > > > > > > > > > > > Jinnah articulated a clear vision for Pakistan as a modern nation-state > > > where all citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliations, would > > have > > > equal rights of citizenship. He ruled out a theocracy at the very outset. > > > His successors stuck to this vision when it came to keeping the religious > > > divines in place well into the early 1970s. They were less successful in > > > avoiding dictatorship in the context of the Cold War and chronic tensions > > > with India over Kashmir. The emergence of the military as the dominant > > > institution and the derailing of democratic processes after 1958 set the > > > ball rolling in the gradual erosion of Jinnah’s vision for a moderate and > > > democratic Pakistan. Yet, it was not until the Soviet invasion of > > > Afghanistan that Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq made the fatal decision to > > turn a > > > narrowly construed brand of Islam into an instrument of state policy, > > both > > > internally and externally. What plagues Pakistan today are more a result > > of > > > the legacies of the Zia era than any specific discrepancies (other than > > > partition) in the life of its founding father. > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > > > > -- > > > > http://indersalim.livejournal.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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 18:11:53 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:11:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd:An Open Letter to Hon'ble Prime Minister In-Reply-To: <7271ec560909100232j6ec703d6oc6659b46efa9f296@mail.gmail.com> References: <471160.64567.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <7271ec560909100232j6ec703d6oc6659b46efa9f296@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Rajen jee I think some of these answers have to be given, so let's give them, without any personal attacks like some we had in the past: 1) On a larger note,yes, it's not necessary that just because some people belonging to a political party believe in something, the political party also believes in it. But in this case, this other side which does not believe in it has also not come forward to at least say they don't believe in it. And this is not about a group of people, but a political party. What is also important is that it's the Sangh (RSS), the VHP and the Bajrang Dal which opposes the celebration of the Valentine's Day. And the members of these along with karyakartas who are mostly the members of the BJP as well. That is why almost 70-80% of the cadre at least is considered to be anti-minority and anti-westernization. What do we do about that? This is not akin to the Congress party of the 1950's or even today, where different voices speak different perspectives and yet a formal decision is taken. This is something else. 2) The second question is something which only those in investigation have the conscious knowledge of, for everybody believes in them mostly, and it's their responsibility to be ethical in their actions and belief. 3) The argument is fine. However, the CM can't be left alone in all cases, especially if this is a one-off argument. I think there are two kinds of arguments being raised against Modi. First is the one that encounters are being used to target Muslims. This is something which can only be proven by finding the no. of Muslims targetted in encounters, and then comparing it with other states to find out if this ratio is large or not. Then too, this is not the way to look about such things. What has to be done is to look at the attitude towards such cases as well. Secondly, the argument is that this state has a high no. of encounters. In this case of course, we need to look at whether the CM is responsible or not, being the administrative head of the govt. I think this is an issue which needs a discussion as well. Also involved is whether the CM is involved in protecting those who indulge in encounters. If that's the case, why leave him? Certainly not. We are not going to. We shouldn't. But these are perceptions. We should first ask the CM to respond to these perceptions, but unfortunately, the Gujarati lion always hides when there is no election time. It's only around elections that his courage, after probably having gone away on a pilgrimage, returns back to take the enemies, that too not in debates, but in public speeches. He knows very well that in a debate, his fundaes would be thrown away to dogs, and that he would be properly vanquished by someone intelligent and innovative in his debating skills. (And I don't believe all politicians are fools, not to be able to do so). But then, jeva guru jeva chela (like guru, like his disciple, and Modi is the disciple of Advani in this respect). When questions are asked, both run away as if they are wrong-doers. Even my own state CM is not like this. Probably Modi can learn good from others as well to respond at least to such allegations himself and state that he doesn't believe in such things. 4) In an objective reasoning, what I have looked at is freedom of individuals and infringement on these as well by state and other individuals. But freedom and will should not be mixed with each other. It may be Modi's will that he has to have a good image, but it's not necessarily his freedom (he has the freedom to think he should have a good image, but not to impose it upon others so that all have to praise him). His freedom is to work towards fulfilling the desire of having a good image, without infringing upon the freedom of other individuals as well. In the case of Afzal, I have already put posts on this group, and let people reading it decide for themselves whether Afzal deserves death punishment or not. The same has been done, I believe, for Modi too on this forum. I am not going to ask people to change their views unnecessarily. But hanging Afzal, or even Modi for that matter, for what they did (perceivably), is not going to be a solution to the problem. 5) Certainly not. Deviants are deviants, and here we talk about crimes hopefully. They should be punished. I don't think anybody on this forum has said that Afzal should be left because he is a Muslim. Or that Modi be hanged because he is a Hindu. It's a great disservice to the very meaning of being a Hindu or a Muslim for oneself that people have to be hanged because of their faith. Equally, it would be a great disservice to the faith by not punishing someone for his/her crime just because he/she belongs to that faith. What needs to be done though is to set some standards and follow them. I doubt we have done so in the case of say people like Afzal and Modi. But then this is my perception. What can be said in generality is that fake encounters are wrong and law must be followed. On a case specific basis, we have to look at facts and then decide. Anyways, I am not gunning for or wanting any personal fights here. Let's look at things objectively. Even in my 1st point, the arguments are based on research by Jyotirmaya Sharma upto an extent, the name being famous for its research on Hindutva. Of course, people are free to castigate him or declare him and me 'insane'. Regards Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Sep 10 18:17:55 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:17:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters In-Reply-To: <7271ec560909100240w371c1c4ajf8d1788089f3bbeb@mail.gmail.com> References: <7271ec560909100240w371c1c4ajf8d1788089f3bbeb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I think we need to be careful in our words and deeds. A magistrate inquiry is no substitute finally for what a court has to say, and for the moment the Gujarat High Court has asked this report to be put aside and reorder an inquiry into the incident. Hence, we must look into the issue and find out what is happening. What I find surprising is that this is an encounter where no person from the police side is even injured, forget dead. If these people are terrorists, I did expect that at least one among the law-enforcers would be hurt or injured. This is one aspect which must be looked into. Also, it seems to be a kind of great thing to just put all responsibility on the LeT. In most of the cases, the Indian police and intelligence have no proof to prove that Lashkar was responsible for the attacks. What are these arguments then based upon? Fiction? Or saving one's own chair? If a proof is found out, why not put the facts out in public with proofs to prove the point? Even the bank accounts obtained in terrorists' name, their balances and transactions are not shown before the public. The masterminds keep changing everyday, and sometimes every hour as well. What next? Every minute change of theirs? In one single sentence, our investigations into terror attacks are 'andhere mein teer chalana'. (shooting arrows in the dark, not knowing where is the target to be shot at). Regards Rakesh From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Thu Sep 10 19:37:31 2009 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:07:31 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters In-Reply-To: References: <7271ec560909100240w371c1c4ajf8d1788089f3bbeb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Batla House encounter in Delhi , last year, saw the killing of a senior police officer, yet some on this forum & outside denounced it to be a ‘fake’ even before any ‘enquiry’ was commissioned. Army & other security men keep falling to the bullets of the pan Islamists in Kashmir- Major Akash Singh being the latest martyr who was killed in an encounter day before yesterday yet there is not a word against the zealots responsible for the continued cycle of ‘death & destruction’ in Kashmir, in the name of illusive ‘azadi’ . Regards all L A ps: It is not to justify fake encounters. The case in question must be thoroughly investigated/ tried to establish the truth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:17:55 +0530 > From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com > To: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters > > I think we need to be careful in our words and deeds. A magistrate inquiry > is no substitute finally for what a court has to say, and for the moment the > Gujarat High Court has asked this report to be put aside and reorder an > inquiry into the incident. Hence, we must look into the issue and find out > what is happening. > > What I find surprising is that this is an encounter where no person from the > police side is even injured, forget dead. If these people are terrorists, I > did expect that at least one among the law-enforcers would be hurt or > injured. This is one aspect which must be looked into. > > Also, it seems to be a kind of great thing to just put all responsibility on > the LeT. In most of the cases, the Indian police and intelligence have no > proof to prove that Lashkar was responsible for the attacks. What are these > arguments then based upon? Fiction? Or saving one's own chair? > > If a proof is found out, why not put the facts out in public with proofs to > prove the point? Even the bank accounts obtained in terrorists' name, their > balances and transactions are not shown before the public. The masterminds > keep changing everyday, and sometimes every hour as well. What next? Every > minute change of theirs? > > In one single sentence, our investigations into terror attacks are 'andhere > mein teer chalana'. (shooting arrows in the dark, not knowing where is the > target to be shot at). > > Regards > > Rakesh > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> _________________________________________________________________ We all see it as it is. But on MSN India, the difference lies in perspective. http://in.msn.com From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 10 22:11:46 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:41:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <252942.48967.qm@web112103.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Ambardar, Even where the the NHRC or even the Supreme Court has given verdict, people still keep the perception that justice has not been done. It is rather strange that VC of Jamia University, holding a statutory Govt Post, decided to defend the accused from University side claiming the Batla House accused to be falsely implicated. I don't know which funds he intended to use or has used.Any individual in his private capacity is at liberty to so, but a Govt functionary can't.If this goes on, terrorists will shoot us and the police would prefer to watch because then they won't have any problems. Yes, there may be isolated cases of fakes as well, which need to be investigated by honest cops and the guilty punished. 2. Are there any sympathizers for the brutal attack on Pakistani Hindus? Today's TOI says: One Ranaram ,who used to live in the Rahimyar district of Pakistan,s Punjab, says his wife was kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted to Islam. His two daughters were alsi forcibly converted.Ranaram, too, had to accept Islam for fear of his life. He thought it best to flee with his two daughters; his wife still untraceable.More than 1000 such persons have moved to India in 2009 itself. We are more concerned about giving justice to Pakistani terrorists who have more human rights than any one else!!!!. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Thu, 9/10/09, Lalit Ambardar wrote: > From: Lalit Ambardar > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored fake encounters > To: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com, rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com > Cc: "reader-list at sarai.net" > Date: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 7:37 PM > > > > Batla House  encounter in Delhi , last > year, saw the killing of a senior police officer, yet some > on this forum & outside > denounced it to be a ‘fake’ even before any > ‘enquiry’ was commissioned. > > > > Army & other > security men keep falling to the bullets of the pan > Islamists in Kashmir- Major > Akash Singh being the latest martyr who was killed in an > encounter day before yesterday > yet there is not a word against the zealots responsible for > the continued cycle of ‘death > & destruction’ in Kashmir, in the name of > illusive  ‘azadi’ .    > > > > Regards all > > L A > > ps: It is not to justify > fake encounters. The case in question must be thoroughly > investigated/ tried to > establish the truth. > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:17:55 +0530 > > From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com > > To: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com > > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] more on state-sponsored > fake encounters > > > > I think we need to be careful in our words and deeds. > A magistrate inquiry > > is no substitute finally for what a court has to say, > and for the moment the > > Gujarat High Court has asked this report to be put > aside and reorder an > > inquiry into the incident. Hence, we must look into > the issue and find out > > what is happening. > > > > What I find surprising is that this is an encounter > where no person from the > > police side is even injured, forget dead. If these > people are terrorists, I > > did expect that at least one among the law-enforcers > would be hurt or > > injured. This is one aspect which must be looked > into. > > > > Also, it seems to be a kind of great thing to just put > all responsibility on > > the LeT. In most of the cases, the Indian police and > intelligence have no > > proof to prove that Lashkar was responsible for the > attacks. What are these > > arguments then based upon? Fiction? Or saving one's > own chair? > > > > If a proof is found out, why not put the facts out in > public with proofs to > > prove the point? Even the bank accounts obtained in > terrorists' name, their > > balances and transactions are not shown before the > public. The masterminds > > keep changing everyday, and sometimes every hour as > well. What next? Every > > minute change of theirs? > > > > In one single sentence, our investigations into terror > attacks are 'andhere > > mein teer chalana'. (shooting arrows in the dark, not > knowing where is the > > target to be shot at). > > > > Regards > > > > Rakesh > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > _________________________________________________________________ > We all see it as it is. But on MSN India, the difference > lies in perspective. > http://in.msn.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Fri Sep 11 00:15:57 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:15:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Maids, Labourers and Arushi Talwars Message-ID: Raj Kumar died of shock. It seems "certain influential people of the area forced him to climb a tree on Saturday evening and cut a branch that was entangled in a high voltage wire." Yet another 'accidental' death of a field laborer. He did not have insurance policies. An English newspaper reports it : Cops beaten up by irate mob.Most probably the first and last newspaper report on this death. [Thanks to Anu and PSB for sharing this story. I would not have noticed it otherwise.] Similar was the story of a maid who was apparently butchered by her employer to please the gods last year, in the luxurious Green Park residential area in South Delhi. Maids and servants sat in front of that house in protest. It seems that same person had done this with another maid about an year before that. Police pacified 'irate mob' and cleared the place. Don't know what happened after that. I see Arushi's [see footnote] photograph on the front page of a newspaper today, once again after a few months. * * * [Arushi Talwar : One girl from Noida whose face was on the front pages of newspapers for months together. Needless to say, she was from a well to do family. It was interesting : the first day newspapers carried the news of her death, and said a servant is the main suspect. Next day they figured out that the 'suspect' was also murdered. Police then said her father killed them both. Then it became big news. People came out on streat, demanding justice. TV channels made merry, ran stories one after the other, came with new theories every day. Finally, one day we heard that some 'Nepali' servants did it. Everyone was happy. There was no follow-up news in any newspapers. TV channels turned their camera away from Talwars finally. The only people to raise a meek voice of protest was some Nepali associations. End of story, for all practical purpose. There will be some reference once in a while, some nostalgia. After all, a lot of people -- both storymakers and followers -- lived on this one story for a very long time.] [ also posted at http://sudeepsdiary.blogspot.com/2009/09/irate-mobs-and-arushi.html ] From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Sep 11 14:20:47 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:20:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bamboo as Grass, not Tree In-Reply-To: <4a4cf3de0909110052u16df81f1lfd9b7a352ee6b996@mail.gmail.com> References: <4a4cf3de0909110052u16df81f1lfd9b7a352ee6b996@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909110150y3cf6adfey62b322a58efb7024@mail.gmail.com> *Bamboo is NOT a Tree!* ------------------------------ View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition ------------------------------ To: Government of India BAMBOO IS NOT A TREE! Dear Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State Shri Jairam Ramesh, Ministry of Environment and Forests Hon'ble Union Minister Shri Sharad Pawar, Ministry of Agriculture The Indian Forest Act (1927) classifies bamboo, now a scientifically recognised grass, as a tree. It is a blunder and a very costly one. With 1500 documented uses, bamboo is the most useful renewable resource. India has the largest proportion of area under bamboo cultivation and if managed well bamboo could become a steady and sustainable source of livelihood for millions of tribals and rural habitants, it could reduce use of timber and save our forests, and help build peace and prosperity in our volatile North East region. Sustainable Livelihood: The Planning Commission estimates that bamboo could provide employment to nearly 50 million people, particularly the poorest forest-dependent communities. The productivity per hectare in India is one-fifth of that in China and the annual turnover of the bamboo sector in China is 12 times that of India. Environmental Benefits: It releases more oxygen than an equivalent strand of trees, absorbs high intensity radiation, prevents soil erosion and can be used as a green fuel. According to the ASSOCHAM, if just the government of India substitutes bamboo for the wood products it purchases, it could save nearly Rupees 7,000 crore annually and help save our forests. Development and Stability in the North East: More than 66% of the total bamboo yield comes from our Northeastern states. The failure to utilise this resource properly has hit this region the hardest. In fact the Mizo insurgency was a direct result of the government’s lackluster attitude to the problem of bamboo flowering. Looking at all the available literature, the Centre for Civil Society study makes the following recommendations: A) Amend the Indian Forest Act (1927) and remove bamboo from the list of trees under Section 2(7) of the Act B) The Ministry of Environment and Forests should declare bamboo a grass, a horticulture crop, and as Non-Timber Forest Produce C) Abolish all restrictions on bamboo grown on private lands D) Declare the North-East as a Special Bamboo Zone E) Create a Bamboo Board on the lines of Tea/ Coffee Board The bamboo could be India’s Green Gold! Let’s remove the hurdles of the forest laws which govern the harvest, trade, transport and use of bamboo. Parth J Shah, President, Centre for Civil Society www.jeevika.org, www.ccs.in, www.azadi.me Sincerely, The Undersigned View Current Signatures From kuhutanvir at gmail.com Fri Sep 11 17:10:26 2009 From: kuhutanvir at gmail.com (Kuhu Tanvir) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:10:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Papers: Wide Screen Message-ID: Dear All, Please forward to all interested researchers, practitioners, and students General Call for Papers. Second Issue of Wide Screen, a peer reviewed open access journal of screen studies. Issue 2, Vol 1 2009 Wide Screen encompasses a broad range of perspectives and approaches and we invite papers on film studies reflecting the journal's aims. We welcome papers on (not limited to): Film Theory Film Practice Film Criticism Film Audience Film Policy Film and Culture Research Methods We also invite comment articles, interviews, book reviews and film reviews. The details about various sections and their policies are defined here: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/editorialPolicies#sectionPolicies Send an abstract of your paper (preferably 500 words) to kuhu at widescreenjournal.org or kishore at widescreenjournal.org by October 30, 2009. We adhere to a strict double blind review policy, which is defined here: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/editorialPolicies#peerReviewProcess To access the first issue of Wide Screen, go to: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Sep 11 19:27:37 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:27:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asian Borderlands Conference In-Reply-To: <4a4cf3de0909110354s2b5a0d8br2bc5513493a4145a@mail.gmail.com> References: <4a4cf3de0909110354s2b5a0d8br2bc5513493a4145a@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909110657k70834c10qce7eba8cc5d828a5@mail.gmail.com> Asian Borderlands: Enclosure, Interaction and Transformation 2nd Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network, Chiang Mai University (RCSD), November 5th - 7th 2010 State-centered views of the world continue to predominate, but it is increasingly apparent that these restrict perspectives on dynamics within broader regional fields. In an attempt to leapfrog a definition of the world in terms of national economies, societies, cultures and histories, ‘borderland' centered perspectives have emerged. But whereas borderland studies have quickly developed in Africa, Europe and North America, the field is still in its infancy in Asia. ‘Asian Borderlands: Enclosure, Interaction and Transformation' intends to encourage scholarship that looks across Asian borders. The conference takes its cue from an important new book by James C. Scott, 'The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia' (Yale UP, 2009). In this book, Scott focuses on the mountainous regions of the Himalayas and its lower ranges that run from the Central Highlands in Vietnam, most of Laos, Northern Thailand, Southwest China, Northern Burma, Northeast India, Eastern Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet. The 200 million people living in this huge region (over 15 million km2) are geographically dispersed and culturally diverse, yet they share crucial cultural, economic and social characteristics: hill agriculture, physical mobility, relatively egalitarian social structures, as well as commonalities in material culture and outlook. National borders often appear utterly arbitrary to them as many groups spill across two or more national borders. In this way they distinguish themselves from the lowland populations who dominate the states in which they live. Scott refers to this region as ‘Zomia', a term coined by Willem van Schendel (2002/2005). What is the viability and relevance of a concept such as Zomia for the study of Asian borderlands? To what extend are people in such border zones sharing ideas, practices and attitudes? Why and how do they remain different? How are relationships, alliances and conflicts between hills and plains people defined? In what ways are cultural and social dynamics in and beyond such a region influenced by political boundaries? How do people engage in, and are engaged by, processes of modernization and globalization? We invite conceptually innovative papers, based on new research, which address questions such as these, in order to develop new perspectives on the study of Asian borderlands. Panels will be considered that have a thematic focus, are of a comparative character, and involve scholars affiliated to distinct research institutions. Please submit proposals through the webform that will be made available at www.asianborderlands.net. Deadline: December 1st 2009. Participants will be notified by February 1st, 2010. Participants are expected to fund their own travel and stay. Very limited financial support may be made available to specific scholars residing in Asia. Convenors: Dr. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Prof. Willem van Schendel, Dr. Erik de Maaker From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Fri Sep 11 22:16:43 2009 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:16:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fearing Taliban, Pak Hindus take Thar Express to India Message-ID: <6353c690909110946r1db99cecpd3d748706cc57827@mail.gmail.com> Fearing Taliban, Pak Hindus take Thar Express to India*Vimal Bhatia **10 September 2009 The Times of India* * Link* - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Fearing-Taliban-Pak-Hindus-take-Thar-Express-to-India/articleshow/4992774.cms *JAISALMER:* In the past four years, some 5,000 Hindusmay have crossed over from Pakistan, never to return. It has not been easy abandoning their homes, sometimes even their families, but they say they had no choice: they had to flee the Taliban. It started as a trickle in 2006, the year the Thar Express was flagged off. The weekly train starts from Karachi, enters India at Munabao, a border town in Barmer, and runs up to Jodhpur. In the first year, 392 Hindus crossed over. This grew to 880 in 2007. The next year, the number was 1,240, and this year, till August, over 1,000 have crossed over. They just keep extending their visas and hope to become Indian citizens. Incidentally, these are official figures. Sources say there are many more who cross over and melt in the local milieu. And officials have a soft corner for these people, most of whom have harrowing stories to tell. Ranaram, who used to live in the Rahimyar district of Pakistan’s Punjab, says he fell prey to the Taliban. His wife was kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted to Islam. His two daughters were also forcibly converted. Ranaram, too, had to accept Islam for fear of his life. He thought it best to flee with his two daughters; his wife was untraceable. Dungaram, another migrant, says atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan have increased in the past two years after the ouster of Musharraf. "We won't get permanent jobs unless we convert to Islam." Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangathan, a group working for the refugees in Barmer and Jaisalmer, says there's unfortunately no proper refugee policy in India even though people from Pakistan reach here in large numbers. He said in 2004-05, over 135 families were given Indian citizenship but the rest are still living illegally in the country and are often tortured by police because they don't have proper citizenship certificates. "In December 2008, over 200 Hindus were converted to Islam in Mirpur Khas town of Pakistan. But there are several others who want to stick to their religion but there’s no safety for them in Pakistan." Immigration officer at Munabao railway station, Hetudan Charan, says the arrival of Hindu migrants had suddenly increased as over 15 to 16 families were reaching India every week. “None of them admit they are to settle here but seeing their baggage, we easily understand,’’ he said. Ravi Kumar, who was Barmer collector till his transfer two days back, said the government in 2007 had given permanent citizenship to a few Pakistani immigrants. -- Aditya Raj Kaul From pkray11 at gmail.com Sat Sep 12 08:57:06 2009 From: pkray11 at gmail.com (prakash ray) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:57:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Cinemela Inauguration 13 sept Message-ID: <98f331e00909112027n32c68a13uf7011e0ef09e0067@mail.gmail.com> Hi, You are invited to the inaugural session of the 4th edition of Cinemela Festival on 13th September. Please inform your friends also. The details are as follows: CINEMELA 2009 13 September/6.30 pm onwards KC Open Air Theatre, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi GUESTS/SPEAKERS: Anwar Jamal, Renowned filmmaker and Director of National Award winning film, Swaraaj: The Little Republic Prof Amitabh Mattoo, Renowned academician and Former Vice Chancellor, Jammu University Prof S.N Malakar, President, Jawaharlal Nehru University Teacher's Association Dr Ira Bhaskar, Associate Professor, Cinema Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University Happymon Jacob, Assistant Professor, CIPOD/SIS, Jawaharlal Nehru University Dr. Chandan Srivastava, Senior Associate Fellow, CSDS Sandeep Singh, President, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EVENING PHOTO EXHIBITION: Inauguration of 4 days Photo exhibition on Peace Builders in 30 crises zones world over. Photo exhibition on Tibet MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: Sufi-Bhakti Music by Dhruv Sangari and the Rooh THEATER: Wed-Lock, a theater Performance by Pandies’ Theater Quintessentially a forum exercise, Wed_Lock – directed by Sanjay Kumar - puts the beleaguered institution of marriage on the table. SCREENINGS: Films made by Lumière brothers- Auguste Lumière & Louis Lumière (1895) Shot Dead for Development/Surya Shankar Dash/Kui/1min The film uses the sacred art form to depict the devastation brought by the big companies in the tribal areas. Gaon Chodab Nahi/K.P Sasi/4 min The video song describes the present day exploitation of tribal land and forests in the name of development. Shruti/Harish Vyas/Hindi/30min A true story of a schoolgirl who contracted HIV from her own uncle who was sexually abusing her for long. -- Prakash K Ray 0 987 331 331 5 www.cinemela.youthv.com http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118193556385&ref=ts http://twitter.com/cinemela -- Prakash K Ray 0 987 331 331 5 www.cinemela.youthv.com http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118193556385&ref=ts http://twitter.com/cinemela From 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com Sat Sep 12 15:26:04 2009 From: 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com (Taha Mehmood) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:56:04 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] How Is America Going To End? Message-ID: <65be9bf40909120256o6fcf9554t26c5ddc60213da8c@mail.gmail.com> Dear All They say- all that has begin will come to an end, nation states, it seems, are no exceptions to this form of thinking. Another line of thinking, which is predicting the doom of nation states is- futurology. Prognosticating is akin to making memory of a time yet to come. Even as we are being asked to stand in long queues to get identified and subsequently get branded as Indians, Americans, Pakistanis and so on, there are those who are making a quick buck by re-telling the collective dreams of all anarchists, and repackaging it with the so called statistical and therefore scientific and objective garbs, that, it would not be long before national will become post national. ( -Fractal- according to someone like Jeebesh ) Peter Schwartz seems to be one such person out there who is predicting the collapse of America in grave sounding tones. Peter runs Global Business Network. Global Business Network is a part of the Monitor group. Monitor group specializes in scenario-based forecasting. Monitor also happens to be a place where, according to a wiki entry, Rahul Gandhi spent considerable time while interning in London. Since India is one of just eleven select countries where Monitor has an office, therefore I wonder, whether Rahul takes the word of senior thought leaders like Peter seriously while thinking about India!! I however, do not know why these so called futurologists like Peter Schwartz are urging us to think about doom of nation states, as we know it; I do not know how much of this calculated and systematic fear of collapse of the world most powerful country is true nor am I convinced by all the arguments which Peter and his colleague, put forward to make their case, however I do wonder what will happen, even if a small, tini-mini proportion of policy people start taking these arguments earnestly? What is it about future anyways that people all over, especially those who are in power are always afraid of?The question, it seems has moved away from Will America end or when will America end to How will it end? (-: Please read this rather delightfully 'gloomy' article below for more, Warm regards Taha http://www.slate.com/id/2223962/ How Is America Going To End?The world's leading futurologists have four theories. By Josh LevinPosted Monday, Aug. 3, 2009, at 2:33 PM ET The Global Business Network answers the same question for all its corporate and government clients: What happens next? GBN handles a lot of different whats, and even the occasional what-in-the-hell. In 2003, the group's chairman, Peter Schwartz, and his colleague Doug Randall whipped up a not-so-rosy, 22-page report on "abrupt climate change" for the Department of Defense ("The United States and Australia are likely to build defensive fortresses around their countries"). Last year, the municipality of Amsterdam asked the firm to help figure out how it might deal with immigration. GBN has also loaned out its brainpower to Hollywood, advising Minority Report director Steven Spielberg on whether Congress and the Constitution would still exist in 2054. (The answer: yes, with a few buts.) GBN, which since 2000 has been a part of the management-consulting firm the Monitor Group, specializes in scenario-based forecasting. Professional futurologists have long used complex computer models to prognosticate, say, what the Middle East will look like in 2050. The Global Business Network comes up with stories. Schwartz, the group's lead philosopher, argues that "scenario planning"—coming up with a broad array of yarns, "good and bad, expected and surprising"—brings rigor to the inevitably imprecise art of forecasting. "It is critical to push people's imagination out to the very edges of believability to see the full range of the possible," Schwartz and Randall explain in the book Blindside. The best way to reach the outer limits of the imagination, they believe, is to tell a good tale. Today, I've asked the world's leading provider of futuristic consulting to help me think about America's downfall. I'm at a conference table in the group's San Francisco office with six forecasters, including GBN founders Schwartz, Napier Collyns, and Stewart Brand. Our mission: plot scenarios by which the United States could end in the next 100 years. GBN's head of marketing and communications, Nancy Murphy, suggested the time limit. "Beyond 100 years it gets so science fiction-y," she explains. Before my meeting, I collect some pointers from Schwartz's foundational scenario-planning text, 1991's The Art of the Long View. He suggests that wannabe futurists inhale science and tech news, embrace fringe cultures (though Schwartz admits that his chats with UFO aficionados "offered no insight about the future"), and look for social trends in nascent cultural phenomena such as gangsta rap and America's Funniest Home Videos. (Forgive him: The book was written 20 years ago.) The big picture: If you want to glimpse the future, seek out remarkable people and open your mind to loony-sounding ideas. I also learn from Schwartz's book that the sensible futurist prefaces everything by saying This is not a prediction of the future—the professional forecaster is not an oracle. That said, Schwartz has made his share of good calls. When Schwartz was the head of scenario planning for Royal Dutch/Shell in the 1980s, his team told the company's higher-ups to watch out for an unknown Soviet pol named Gorbachev. If Gorby were to assume a leadership position, Schwartz said, it would be a strong indication that the USSR would open to the West and oil and natural gas prices would drop. When the price plunge came, Shell execs—having anticipated this eventuality—swooped in and bought oil reserves at a discounted rate. This morning, in a conference room full of fellow forecasters, Schwartz happily plays the emcee for the end of America. He speaks more quickly and authoritatively than anyone else, and he's the one patrolling the line between what's crazy enough to destroy the United States and what's just plain crazy. His first idea: racial warfare. By 2050, whites will no longer be a majority in the United States and Hispanics will make up an estimated 29 percent of the population. "Most violence is committed by males 18 to 35," Schwartz explains. "Now picture a very large, low-employed Hispanic population of males not too pleased with their lot or their ability to control a white-dominated world. … That population then becomes violent and disruptive. And now you get into racial and identity politics—it's all those illegal immigrants we let across the border." Add in a flailing economy, mega-droughts in the Southwest, and the "Colombianization" of Mexico and you've got The Road Warrior crossed with an unusually rabid episode of Lou Dobbs Tonight. This is just the beginning. For nearly three hours, we run through America-killers that range from the believable to the science fiction-y: rising sea levels, a collapse of entitlement programs, an attack by a foreign power on American soil, a pandemic 10 times worse than the 1918 flu, global domination by a space-faring nation that uses geo-engineering to "turn off" climate change, and the emergence of a transnational class of biologically enhanced supermen and women ("They're all about 6-2—and that's the girls," Schwartz says) who identify more with one another than with any particular nation. Despite the fun of imagining America succumbing to the Super Friends, Schwartz believes the most likely scenario for the next 100 years is "that the city of Washington will still be a capital of a nation-state on this continent." America has abundant natural resources, relatively low population density, and—with oceans on both coasts—a built-in security system. The collapse of a country with those inherent advantages sometime in the next century would require a low-probability series of events. But low probability isn't no probability. Schwartz ends our exercise by sketching out the possibilities in a two-by-two box. Most scenario-planning sessions end with the world stuffed inside a grid. The "scenario matrix" is a means of transforming everything we've learned into a range of credible stories—four futures that are as different as you can possibly make them, covering the broadest range of possible outcomes. Joel Garreau, a longtime Washington Post writer and editor who regularly works with GBN, explains that the scenario matrix is a framework for thinking logically about an illogical subject—a way to minimize the "oogabooga" that's inherent in futurism. When he was contemplating whether to buy a generator in the run-up to Y2K, for example, Garreau drew a matrix of four possible post-Y2K worlds. The generator, he found, would come in handy in only one of his four futures; he didn't buy it. Ultimately, the American collapse probably won't occur in the next century. If it does, though, it might take one of these four forms. Without any further oogabooga, here's Peter Schwartz's matrix for the end of America: Collapse: In this scenario, the country has devolved after a series of catastrophes: unchecked climate change, a pandemic, nuclear war—the stuff that Jared Diamond books and disaster movies are made of. A catastrophe that breeds internal division, Schwartz argues, is more likely to eradicate America than any kind of external threat. A country is like a family, he theorizes. If you feel threatened from the outside, you band together—rather than tear the United States apart, 9/11 galvanized us against a common enemy. The laggard response to Hurricane Katrina, on the other hand, meant that our own government became the common enemy. A long, uninterrupted series of nationwide Katrinas—and a concomitant series of bungled federal responses—is the recipe for collapse. Schwartz submits that government incompetence might not be enough to trigger America's implosion. After all, we could always just vote out the bozos who let us down. What we need to destroy the country, he argues, is Zimbabwe-sized corruption: a succession of executives who pilfer the national treasury and refuse to hold free elections. In that case, the country could fall apart as our national creeds of freedom, democracy, and openness are gradually abandoned. Friendly breakup: In future No. 2, the country dissolves peacefully because the overhead of running a large nation becomes unmanageable. Schwartz likens this to the breakup of the Soviet Union, a case where the cost of holding the country together proved too great and the advantages too small. While Igor Panarin—the Russian who forecasts America's demise for 2010—would certainly agree with that idea, making parallels with the USSR seems a bit dubious. Unlike the Eastern bloc, the United States isn't an agglomeration of states with strong ethnic identities. It was foreseeable that a socialist republic like Lithuania, which had its own long-standing culture and language, might someday become an independent nation. In modern America, where English predominates and a highly mobile population flits from place to place, is it possible that some state or region could develop enough distinctiveness to split from the union? GBN's Michael Costigan suggests that self-segregation could lead to an amicable parting of the ways. If Democrats migrate to Democratic cities and Republicans cluster in GOP strongholds, we could reach a point where the redder-than-red states and the bluer-than-blue states decide to go it on their own. Hey, it's the future—it could happen! Global governance: In our third future, the national government declines in importance relative to the world community. Barack Obama's recent brief in defense of American exceptionalism is just one indicator among many that the United States is nowhere near willing to cede its position as the greatest of the world's great powers. But Slate contributor Robert Wright argues in his book Nonzero that humankind must come together to head off the challenges of the "non-zero-sum," globalized world: climate change, biological weapons, pandemics. While Wright tells me that "you wouldn't need something so centralized" as a souped-up United Nations, he believes that if in the next 100 years "America's identity has not dissolved into some sort of larger body of global governance, then chaos will reign." Global conquest: The final scenario and the grimmest of all: a figure described variously as a "global Napoleon," "a much more empowered Hitler," and "a super-Mao" conquers America and the rest of the world via brute force. This idea, which Schwartz classifies as the least likely of the four, leads us to debate whether it's harder to subjugate the world than it used to be—Schwartz believes it is, as there are "more people with military competence spread across the world." That's followed by a discussion of the best method to exercise dominion over the globe. "I think the way you conquer the world these days is from space," he says. "You can put weapons up there and shut down the world." A real GBN client would use this scenario matrix to initiate a change in behavior—a shift in corporate strategy perhaps, or a call for new public policy. For me, the end-of-America scenarios are the stopping point. I'm trying to foresee our pathways to societal upheaval, not prevent it from happening. Futurologists are generally fairly sanguine about man's ability to save himself, even if they do delight in thinking up dystopias. Jamais Cascio, a former GBN employee who now consults for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Institute for the Future, is a connoisseur of disaster scenarios—worlds torn asunder by ocean acidification and nanoscale weapons—that you weren't aware you should be terrified of. For IFTF's Ten-Year Forecast spring retreat—attended by corporations like Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Nokia, and Wells Fargo—Cascio went beyond the program's usual decadelong timeframe to write up three 50-year forecasts, each laying out a distinct vision of the next half-century. One of the timelines, the "Long Crisis," begins with "global storming," a run of catastrophic weather events around the world. By 2023, the United States has defaulted on its debts to China. Eventually, in the aftermath of Global Famine II, the U.S. breaks into eight pieces. On the plus side, African biohackers find a cure for AIDS in 2026. Yippee! (You can read Cascio's whole "Long Crisis" scenario here.) Cascio insists that the "Long Crisis" isn't merely a scary story. Rather, his goal is to goad policymakers into dealing with the century's biggest challenges: climate change, Sino-American relations, the global food supply. "What futurists and scenario planners provide is a wind tunnel of sorts," Cascio says. "The scenarios we construct allow organizations to test their strategies, to test their decisions, to say, If we follow Course X, what kinds of outcomes might we expect as the world around us changes?" For more of Cascio's thoughts on futurology—why it doesn't matter that every detail he comes up with will be wrong, his belief that the United States could break apart in the next 50 years, and how America and China might forge a partnership to fight off an asteroid strike—watch the video below. Cascio clearly believes that humanity has the ingenuity and the smarts to beat back threats to its continued existence. He doesn't, however, assume that the persistence of the United States is necessarily the most-desirable outcome. It's possible America will collapse as we try desperately to save it—or perhaps the country will shrivel up and go away when its time has come and gone. "It's not necessarily how America will survive," Cascio says, "but how do the values we hold dear … survive even if some of the institutions don't?" You've seen what the professional forecasters think. Now we want your thoughts on America's demise. With our "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" tool, you can pick the scenarios you think are most likely to terminate the United States and compare your selections with those made by the rest of the Slate audience. At the end of the week, I'll file a report on the most popular choices and investigate what clues your favorite scenarios give us about the American psyche. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Sat Sep 12 15:42:35 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:42:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Participate in the 'Theatre Jam' in Bangalore in October In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Read details at http://FundACause.posterous.com/theatre-jam-bangalore Excerpts: theatre Jam is a space to affirm of individual expression. a caravan of artists who meet every month to share, create and JAM. read more on www.theatresundays.blogspot.com bring your story, art, medium, idea dreams, memories, tricks… install, improvise, perform, express anyone can Participate in the jam activities. pick a date in October and tell us what you want to do. most activities will take place in public parks, streets, terraces, basements and markets. We roughly need about a lakh for travel for outstation artists, food, publicity, coordination, chai-pani. You could also offer spare rooms and couches for outstation artists. food, water, travel, coffee/tea will help cut costs. we need people to shoot, update, collate and coordinate. volunteer. Get in touch. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Sat Sep 12 17:03:23 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:03:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Talk on Fighting Corruption, Sept 16, Hyderabad In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: From: Monika Hirmer *Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad * Invites you to: Fighting Corruption The Role and Criticality of Citizen Participation *16th **September**,** **18:00hrs** * At:* **Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad** * presented by: *Santosh Mehra** * *OPEN TO ALL* In India , a developing country, population explosion and corruption are amongst the biggest challenges. In his compelling Presentation, *Mr. Santosh Mehra* IPS, Director, Anti Corruption Bureau, Andhra Pradesh, clinically examines the issue of corruption and its different aspects. The deeply engaging presentation provides a broad overall perspective of corruption at global, national and sub-national levels and delves into its causes and consequences in the Indian context. * * * * - - - Monika Hirmer Programme Coordinator GOETHE-ZENTRUM HYDERABAD ASSOCIATION FOR GERMAN CULTURE Hermitage Office Complex(HUDA) Hill Fort Road, Nampally Tel.: 040-6552 6443 / 2324 1791 www.goethe.de/hyderabad From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Sep 12 17:41:57 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:41:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The recent big news - Corruption (with an Islamic tinge) Message-ID: Source: Outlook Link: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261789 Article: *Wakf Scam * *Allah’s Left The Building * *Meant for Muslim welfare, Wakf lands are being sold for a song by its trustees* Saba Naqvi PRINT SHARE [image: Click to Share] COMMENTS Also In This Story delhi wakf board chairman’s view On A Wink And A Prayer He cannot do much, says the Delhi Wakf board chairman Wakf Deconstructed - *‘To tie down’* is the literal meaning of the Arabic word Wakf. It's used across the Muslim world to denote property donated by individuals and institutions in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor in the community. - *800 years* is how old the institution of Wakf is in India. It began when Muslim rulers donated huge lands for charity. - *3,00,000* is the approximate number of registered Wakf properties in India - *4 lakh acres* is the land Wakf properties account for. According to the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, this makes the board the third-largest landholder after the railways and defence. - *35* is the number of Wakf boards in India, many of them non-functional - *5* is the minimum number of members a board must have. The number, however, varies according to the Muslim population of a state. Members are nominated by ruling parties in each state. - *Wakf Acts* The 1954 and 1995 central laws endow huge powers with the state governments that set up and run Wakf boards in their states *** Modus Operandi *Outright sale* - Builder or businessman identifies a Wakf property - They approach members of the board - The land is sold for a pittance - Board members get their cut *Cheap rent* - Happens in states where outright sale is not encouraged - Builder/ businessman approaches board members - The land is given on a ridiculously low lease - Land use is changed to facilitate commercial exploitation - Members pocket their cuts *Allegations against the board* - Although Wakf is a national resource to be used to develop institutions and earn income for Muslims, it is so terribly managed that it is the only system where virtually no accountability is demanded - Cases of blatant corruption abound. Land is sold off for buildings, hotels, malls or factories for a pittance or given out for shockingly low rents to commercial interests. - The boards have become an avenue for political patronage. Muslims who cannot be accommodated in ministries are sent off here. They mostly never do anything for the community. In most cases, they are hand-in-glove with the land mafia and encroachers. - The "Islam in danger" sentiment is crudely raised to hoodwink the Muslim public and stop any real scrutiny of the functioning of boards, whose members are out to make a fast buck - Ironically, Wakf boards keep claiming properties protected by the ASI as "living" religious shrines. In many cases, there is a clear monetary incentive under the guise of religion. - The mess in the boards is also a reflection of the apathy of state governments. Many have not constituted boards; none have carried out a survey of Wakf properties as required by the 1995 Act. - As a result of this mess, 70 per cent of Wakf properties are encroached upon, often in connivance with board members or government department overseeing. *Allow encroachments* - The board covertly encourages Muslims to encroach on a monument. Friday prayers begin to be held on a regular basis. Wakf board then attempts to make it a ‘living’ place of worship. Very often, the encroachers are board members or persons acting on their behalf. - Later surrounding land is sold/ leased as private property for commercial purposes. *** It is collectively the biggest land scam in India’s history. Wakf can be described as a religious endowment made in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor and needy in the Muslim community. There are approximately 3,00,000 registered Wakf properties in India on about four lakh acres of land. It is a national resource that should have been developed for the welfare of the community, as it is meant to. Instead, this resource has been mortgaged, sold and encroached upon with the connivance of the very institutions and individuals responsible for safeguarding it. This is an investigation into a systemic rot. The Wakf boards in most states of India are repositories of corruption, in league with land sharks and builders. They continue to get away with the daylight robbery of their own community because, whenever there is any demand for scrutiny, they crudely take cover behind the “Islam in danger” sentiment. Earlier, a sale or exchange of land had to have the approval of the district judge. Now the board pretty much does what it wants. Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, was chairman of the joint parliamentary committee on Wakf that submitted its report a year ago. Having examined the issue in depth, he says: “If the Wakf properties were managed properly, many problems of Muslims such as joblessness, lack of education and resultant poverty would have been resolved. Today, even if we presume that 70 per cent of these properties have been encroached upon or sold off, even the remaining 30 per cent is a huge resource that can be developed.” He has already recommended to the Manmohan Singh government that there be a “total change” in the constitution of the boards and a national Wakf development corporation be set up with professionals at the helm. “Imagine what great institutions can be built as the land cost is zero,” he says. But that is some distance away and will happen only if public awareness about the scale of the problem is created. Currently, those who purport to be leaders of the community are complicit in the conspiracy to rob resources while perpetuating a siege mentality. They want to capture existing institutions and sell them off piece by piece. They are adept at fanning fears and feeding into the victimhood syndrome but quite incapable of building institutions or shepherding the community towards modernity. Atyab Siddiqui, advocate and standing counsel of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, says that “anytime we talk of reforming Wakf, they bring religion into it”. According to him, the 1995 Wakf Act actually increased corruption within the boards. Earlier, any sale or exchange of land had to be cleared by a district judge. “But now,” he says, “the board can pretty much do what it likes, and shocking decisions are taken all the time.” Some examples of suspect land deals from across the land: - *Chennai:* In 1997, the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board took the decision to outright sell 1,710 square feet of land in the commercialised Triplicane High street in Madras for a paltry Rs 3 lakh. A sale like this would have required the sanction of two-thirds of the board members. - *Mumbai:* The Maharashtra Wakf Board got a measly Rs 16 lakh for 4,532 square metres in the upscale Altamount Road on which none other than Mukesh Ambani is building his plush 27-storey home. - *Bangalore:* Developed on about five acres of land, the Windsor Manor hotel here was till recently giving the board a rent of Rs 12,000 a month for a property worth Rs 500 crore. - *Faridabad:* The Wakf board has been giving out about five acres of land on 11-month leases for several years at a ridiculously low rent between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 per month. A factory was built and land use altered. When *Outlook* approached Salman Khursheed, the Union minister for minority affairs, he admitted that “Wakf is one of those areas in which accountability has not been demanded. The community itself has not demanded accountability possibly due to a level of ignorance”. Can things change? Khursheed says he has proposed changes in the existing laws. “Once there was no accountability in the management of Haj. Now questions are asked all the time,” he points out. “Although the Wakf situation looks impossible, things do and can change once awareness builds up.” The heart of the problem lies in the constitution of the boards. A senior bureaucrat familiar with the issue says bluntly: “The boards are ill-constituted, not constituted or politically constituted. Often, they’re nothing more than a gang of thieves.” Mostly, political hangers-on and operators from the minority community are sent off to man the boards. The policies of successive governments have created a class of “sarkari Musalmans” adept at capturing institutions and bagging positions through which they can patronise others down the pecking order. The incentive they have, besides authority, is to pilfer as much as they can get away with. The policies of successive governments have created a class of ‘sarkari Musalmans’ who are adept at capturing institutions. There are enough examples of how a small group of “insiders” at Muslim institutions benefit from the overall laxity in the boards. For instance, there is the case of a member of the Delhi minorities commission running a private school on a large tract of Wakf land in the expensive Nizamuddin area and paying the board a pittance of Rs 1,000 rent per month. Mohammad Arif, section officer in charge of properties in the Delhi Wakf office, admits reluctantly that there are “some schools running on Wakf land but they are not for the poor and charge fees”. Further digging reveals that, two decades ago, Delhi Wakf ran a charitable dispensary but it was shut down. Now the main service they provide is paying salaries of imams attached to masjids (see On a Wink and a Prayer). There are two revealing cases linked to the huge Fatehpuri mosque in Delhi. According to some documents accessed by *Outlook*, what was listed as “Wakf estate number 6540 in masjid Fatehpuri” was occupied by a branch of the Punjab National Bank. The board fought a case and got the property vacated. Subsequently, however, it leased the property to a society headed by one of its own members, a Maulana Moazzam Ahmad. A blatant case of insider trading? Three years ago, a lawyer representing a school running inside the Fatehpuri mosque tried to get a shop at the entrance removed. The Wakf board claimed that the documents relevant for that plot of land were missing—it was widely suspected that the shopkeeper was paying off members. Salman Khursheed also pleads helplessness. “What do we do when the boards let their own properties be encroached upon and then say the documents are missing and they have lost the title deeds?” That is, in fact, the most common tactic used when the boards are in league with encroachers. RS deputy chairman Rahman Khan says that there is no doubt that almost 70 to 80 per cent of Wakf land is encroached upon. Often, it is the government that simply takes over the land. But all too often Muslims themselves are the encroachers who pay off board members to live inside mosques and shrines or run shops and businesses on the premises. “Corruption in the boards is rampant,” says Rahman Khan, “and this is made worse by the attitude of state governments to Muslim institutions. They don’t want to interfere in case there is a reaction and they also don’t care because Muslims are involved.” Standing counsel for Jamia Millia Islamia Atyab Siddiqui says that whenever there is an initiative from educated Muslims to preserve a legacy, build an institution or perhaps even introduce modern education, there is a run-in with the Wakf board. “We believe the Wakf does not have the instruments to preserve old mosques and we have been arguing that the ASI is better positioned to manage properties. But the problem that enlightened sections of society face is that they run up against monetary interests of a few who hide behind the guise of religion.” K.K. Mohammad is a veteran ASI archaeologist who has worked across India. Now the superintending archaeologist for the Delhi circle, he says, “My experience shows me that whenever people claim protected monuments as living shrines, there is a commercial incentive of occupying the monument or developing the land around it. All communities have people who do this.” Most old Wakf properties have caretakers who treat it like a personal fiefdom, building houses and businesses and destroying the character of the shrine. Siddiqui has been part of the initiative to preserve the historic Anglo-Arabic school in Delhi’s Ajmeri gate area. He says, “The high court ordered the removal of encroachers (about 50 families) from the heritage property. But the same lot of property dealers, local toughs, interlopers are again trying to move in under the Wakf umbrella.” Andhra has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the country. Here the government has simply taken over land. Across the country, there are examples of the huge Wakf mess. West Bengal has many cases of properties being encroached upon and made into little slums. Some examples: 4,000 illegal occupants are in possession of a property in Calcutta known as the Mysore Family Fateha Fund Wakf Estate. Over a hundred mosques in Calcutta and Howrah have been encroached upon. Sixty-four other mosques in the state have been illegally occupied. The story is somewhat different in Andhra Pradesh, which has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the country. Here the government has simply taken over huge tracts of Wakf lands. For instance, Hyderabad’s hi-tech city stands on Wakf land. There is the interesting case of the government taking over 6,000 acres of land worth Rs 500 crore in Visakhapatnam and allotting 900 acres out of this to NTPC and 800 acres to the Hindujas at the rate of Rs 2.25 lakh per acre. When the Wakf board contested this, the Supreme Court ruled in its favour saying that the land was theirs and transferred it back to them. The government had to then transfer the money to the Wakf board. Clearly, Wakf is a remarkable resource that can be tapped for the community. In a state like Kerala where people are literate and demand accountability, the board is manned by professionals and headed by two advocates, not by racketeers. Bureaucrats in the ministry of minority affairs in New Delhi cite the work done in Kerala as an example of what is possible. But that is an exception. The norm is rampant corruption, in the firm belief that no one will demand accountability. More than anything else, the terrible state of Wakf properties in India reflects on the Muslim community’s failure to build institutions. Compare this with the manner in which the tiny Christian minority has preserved and built schools, colleges and hospitals. There is a complex set of reasons for this state of affairs in institutions that purport to work for the welfare of the country’s largest minority and the world’s second-largest Muslim population. In the case of Wakf, many illiterate Muslims just see their placards and presume the land belongs to them. They are encouraged to believe there is some higher religious purpose to Wakf, little knowing that it has become a synonym for daylight robbery. The greatest hypocrisy perhaps is that the men who violate the spirit of charity behind the concept of Wakf then pretend to be devout and pious believers. From appu.es at gmail.com Sat Sep 12 17:54:48 2009 From: appu.es at gmail.com (Appu Esthose Suresh) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:54:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The recent big news - Corruption (with an Islamic tinge) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4b1e36590909120524t2325fd16g6da9221d11c80a9c@mail.gmail.com> * *This is part of my story, "Cash is King:Is AP the most corrupt state in India?" in Covert Magazine on its March1-15 issue this year. I can say for sure, at least about waqf properties in AP; everyone from the politicians to waqf board members to bureaucrats collude to sell priceless properties most of the time at the heart of the city for through away price...here is one such instance, and a ridiculous explanation from the Chief Secy * * WAQF LAND SOLD ILLEGALLY Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy is also presiding over what sources describe as the completely illegal selling off of Waqf property in the State. There is a long list of cases where prime Waqf land has been sold for a pittance, with others getting the bulk of the money. In what is a classic case reflecting rampant corruption, 100 acres of Waqf property at Manakonda village was acquired by the State Government and sold to an infrastructure firm Lanco at throwaway prices. Earlier, a single bench of the Andra Pradesh High Court declared the land to be Waqf property and in an interim order later stopped construction. The State Government went in appeal and this order was stayed. The editor of Siyasat, the Hyderabad-based Urdu daily, Zaheeruddin Ali Khan told Covert that Lanco made a profit of Rs 10,000 crores on this property that was acquired from the Wakf Board at a price of just Rs 60 crores. The land was initially acquired for an IT park but it has since been changed to a residential area costing Rs 13,500 crores, while just Rs 427 crores were paid officially for the land, according to Mr Khan. I*nterestingly, the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, J. Hari Narayan, in an affidavit filed on behalf of the State Government before the High Court stated that in an earlier Ayodhya-Babri Masjid Land Acquisition case “the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that even a mosque can be subject to land acquisition. So there is no immunity to either a Dargah or to a Waqf land being acquired by the state. So the concept ‘once a waqf always a waqf’ has no legal basis.”* Individuals, delegations, Opposition parties have all taken up the acquisition and sale of prime Waqf property, but the Chief Minister has refused to look into this. *Lanco is owned by Congress MP L. Rajagopal, who is close to Y.S.R. Congress MP V. Hanumantha Rao, who has been vocal against the State Government on this issue, told Covert, “Once a Waqf property it is always a Waqf property and no one can acquire or sell it. Unfortunately, the TDP started the sale of Waqf land, but now the present Government is continuing with the same policy. It is regrettable that we in the Opposition were critical of the sale, but are doing the same now.” Mr Rao said that the Minority Affairs Minister Mohammad Shabir Ali is equally responsible for the sale of prime Waqf land.* He further said that a parliamentary committee under Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Rehman Khan, was convinced that Lanco had acquired Waqf land and urged the State Government to revoke the deal. But the Chief Minister has taken no remedial action. On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Source: Outlook > > Link: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261789 > > Article: > > *Wakf Scam > > * > *Allah’s Left The Building > > * > *Meant for Muslim welfare, Wakf lands are being sold for a song by its > trustees* > Saba Naqvi< > http://www.outlookindia.com/peoplefnl.aspx?pid=3900&author=Saba+Naqvi> > > PRINT > > SHARE > [image: Click to Share] > COMMENTS > > Also In This Story > delhi wakf board chairman’s view > On A Wink And A Prayer > He cannot do much, says the Delhi Wakf board chairman > Wakf Deconstructed > > - *‘To tie down’* is the literal meaning of the Arabic word Wakf. It's > used across the Muslim world to denote property donated by individuals > and > institutions in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor in the > community. > - *800 years* is how old the institution of Wakf is in India. It began > when Muslim rulers donated huge lands for charity. > - *3,00,000* is the approximate number of registered Wakf properties in > India > - *4 lakh acres* is the land Wakf properties account for. According to > the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, this makes the > board > the third-largest landholder after the railways and defence. > - *35* is the number of Wakf boards in India, many of them non-functional > - *5* is the minimum number of members a board must have. The number, > however, varies according to the Muslim population of a state. Members > are > nominated by ruling parties in each state. > - *Wakf Acts* The 1954 and 1995 central laws endow huge powers with the > state governments that set up and run Wakf boards in their states > > *** > > Modus Operandi > > *Outright sale* > > - Builder or businessman identifies a Wakf property > - They approach members of the board > - The land is sold for a pittance > - Board members get their cut > > *Cheap rent* > > - Happens in states where outright sale is not encouraged > - Builder/ businessman approaches board members > - The land is given on a ridiculously low lease > - Land use is changed to facilitate commercial exploitation > - Members pocket their cuts > > *Allegations against the board* > > - Although Wakf is a national resource to be used to develop institutions > and earn income for Muslims, it is so terribly managed that it is the > only > system where virtually no accountability is demanded > - Cases of blatant corruption abound. Land is sold off for buildings, > hotels, malls or factories for a pittance or given out for shockingly low > rents to commercial interests. > - The boards have become an avenue for political patronage. Muslims who > cannot be accommodated in ministries are sent off here. They mostly never > do > anything for the community. In most cases, they are hand-in-glove with > the > land mafia and encroachers. > - The "Islam in danger" sentiment is crudely raised to hoodwink the > Muslim public and stop any real scrutiny of the functioning of boards, > whose > members are out to make a fast buck > - Ironically, Wakf boards keep claiming properties protected by the ASI > as "living" religious shrines. In many cases, there is a clear monetary > incentive under the guise of religion. > - The mess in the boards is also a reflection of the apathy of state > governments. Many have not constituted boards; none have carried out a > survey of Wakf properties as required by the 1995 Act. > - As a result of this mess, 70 per cent of Wakf properties are encroached > upon, often in connivance with board members or government department > overseeing. > > *Allow encroachments* > > - The board covertly encourages Muslims to encroach on a monument. Friday > prayers begin to be held on a regular basis. Wakf board then attempts to > make it a ‘living’ place of worship. Very often, the encroachers are > board > members or persons acting on their behalf. > - Later surrounding land is sold/ leased as private property for > commercial purposes. > > *** > > It is collectively the biggest land scam in India’s history. Wakf can be > described as a religious endowment made in the name of Allah for the > benefit > of the poor and needy in the Muslim community. There are approximately > 3,00,000 registered Wakf properties in India on about four lakh acres of > land. It is a national resource that should have been developed for the > welfare of the community, as it is meant to. > > Instead, this resource has been mortgaged, sold and encroached upon with > the > connivance of the very institutions and individuals responsible for > safeguarding it. This is an investigation into a systemic rot. The Wakf > boards in most states of India are repositories of corruption, in league > with land sharks and builders. They continue to get away with the daylight > robbery of their own community because, whenever there is any demand for > scrutiny, they crudely take cover behind the “Islam in danger” sentiment. > > > > > Earlier, a sale or exchange of land had to have the approval of the > district > judge. Now the board pretty much does what it wants. > > > > Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, was chairman of the joint > parliamentary committee on Wakf that submitted its report a year ago. > Having > examined the issue in depth, he says: “If the Wakf properties were managed > properly, many problems of Muslims such as joblessness, lack of education > and resultant poverty would have been resolved. Today, even if we presume > that 70 per cent of these properties have been encroached upon or sold off, > even the remaining 30 per cent is a huge resource that can be developed.” > He > has already recommended to the Manmohan Singh government that there be a > “total change” in the constitution of the boards and a national Wakf > development corporation be set up with professionals at the helm. “Imagine > what great institutions can be built as the land cost is zero,” he says. > > > But that is some distance away and will happen only if public awareness > about the scale of the problem is created. Currently, those who purport to > be leaders of the community are complicit in the conspiracy to rob > resources > while perpetuating a siege mentality. They want to capture existing > institutions and sell them off piece by piece. They are adept at fanning > fears and feeding into the victimhood syndrome but quite incapable of > building institutions or shepherding the community towards modernity. Atyab > Siddiqui, advocate and standing counsel of the Jamia Millia Islamia > university, says that “anytime we talk of reforming Wakf, they bring > religion into it”. According to him, the 1995 Wakf Act actually increased > corruption within the boards. Earlier, any sale or exchange of land had to > be cleared by a district judge. “But now,” he says, “the board can pretty > much do what it likes, and shocking decisions are taken all the time.” > > Some examples of suspect land deals from across the land: > > - *Chennai:* In 1997, the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board took the decision to > outright sell 1,710 square feet of land in the commercialised Triplicane > High street in Madras for a paltry Rs 3 lakh. A sale like this would have > required the sanction of two-thirds of the board members. > - *Mumbai:* The Maharashtra Wakf Board got a measly Rs 16 lakh for 4,532 > square metres in the upscale Altamount Road on which none other than > Mukesh > Ambani is building his plush 27-storey home. > - *Bangalore:* Developed on about five acres of land, the Windsor Manor > hotel here was till recently giving the board a rent of Rs 12,000 a month > for a property worth Rs 500 crore. > - *Faridabad:* The Wakf board has been giving out about five acres of > land on 11-month leases for several years at a ridiculously low rent > between > Rs 500 and Rs 1,500 per month. A factory was built and land use altered. > > When *Outlook* approached Salman Khursheed, the Union minister for minority > affairs, he admitted that “Wakf is one of those areas in which > accountability has not been demanded. The community itself has not demanded > accountability possibly due to a level of ignorance”. Can things change? > Khursheed says he has proposed changes in the existing laws. “Once there > was > no accountability in the management of Haj. Now questions are asked all the > time,” he points out. “Although the Wakf situation looks impossible, things > do and can change once awareness builds up.” > > The heart of the problem lies in the constitution of the boards. A senior > bureaucrat familiar with the issue says bluntly: “The boards are > ill-constituted, not constituted or politically constituted. Often, they’re > nothing more than a gang of thieves.” Mostly, political hangers-on and > operators from the minority community are sent off to man the boards. The > policies of successive governments have created a class of “sarkari > Musalmans” adept at capturing institutions and bagging positions through > which they can patronise others down the pecking order. The incentive they > have, besides authority, is to pilfer as much as they can get away with. > > > > > The policies of successive governments have created a class of ‘sarkari > Musalmans’ who are adept at capturing institutions. > > > > There are enough examples of how a small group of “insiders” at Muslim > institutions benefit from the overall laxity in the boards. For instance, > there is the case of a member of the Delhi minorities commission running a > private school on a large tract of Wakf land in the expensive Nizamuddin > area and paying the board a pittance of Rs 1,000 rent per month. Mohammad > Arif, section officer in charge of properties in the Delhi Wakf office, > admits reluctantly that there are “some schools running on Wakf land but > they are not for the poor and charge fees”. Further digging reveals that, > two decades ago, Delhi Wakf ran a charitable dispensary but it was shut > down. Now the main service they provide is paying salaries of imams > attached > to masjids (see On a Wink and a > Prayer). > > > There are two revealing cases linked to the huge Fatehpuri mosque in Delhi. > According to some documents accessed by *Outlook*, what was listed as “Wakf > estate number 6540 in masjid Fatehpuri” was occupied by a branch of the > Punjab National Bank. The board fought a case and got the property vacated. > Subsequently, however, it leased the property to a society headed by one of > its own members, a Maulana Moazzam Ahmad. A blatant case of insider > trading? > Three years ago, a lawyer representing a school running inside the > Fatehpuri > mosque tried to get a shop at the entrance removed. The Wakf board claimed > that the documents relevant for that plot of land were missing—it was > widely > suspected that the shopkeeper was paying off members. Salman Khursheed also > pleads helplessness. “What do we do when the boards let their own > properties > be encroached upon and then say the documents are missing and they have > lost > the title deeds?” > > That is, in fact, the most common tactic used when the boards are in league > with encroachers. RS deputy chairman Rahman Khan says that there is no > doubt > that almost 70 to 80 per cent of Wakf land is encroached upon. Often, it is > the government that simply takes over the land. But all too often Muslims > themselves are the encroachers who pay off board members to live inside > mosques and shrines or run shops and businesses on the premises. > “Corruption > in the boards is rampant,” says Rahman Khan, “and this is made worse by the > attitude of state governments to Muslim institutions. They don’t want to > interfere in case there is a reaction and they also don’t care because > Muslims are involved.” > > Standing counsel for Jamia Millia Islamia Atyab Siddiqui says that whenever > there is an initiative from educated Muslims to preserve a legacy, build an > institution or perhaps even introduce modern education, there is a run-in > with the Wakf board. “We believe the Wakf does not have the instruments to > preserve old mosques and we have been arguing that the ASI is better > positioned to manage properties. But the problem that enlightened sections > of society face is that they run up against monetary interests of a few who > hide behind the guise of religion.” K.K. Mohammad is a veteran ASI > archaeologist who has worked across India. Now the superintending > archaeologist for the Delhi circle, he says, “My experience shows me that > whenever people claim protected monuments as living shrines, there is a > commercial incentive of occupying the monument or developing the land > around > it. All communities have people who do this.” > > Most old Wakf properties have caretakers who treat it like a personal > fiefdom, building houses and businesses and destroying the character of the > shrine. Siddiqui has been part of the initiative to preserve the historic > Anglo-Arabic school in Delhi’s Ajmeri gate area. He says, “The high court > ordered the removal of encroachers (about 50 families) from the heritage > property. But the same lot of property dealers, local toughs, interlopers > are again trying to move in under the Wakf umbrella.” > > > > > Andhra has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the country. > Here the government has simply taken over land. > > > > Across the country, there are examples of the huge Wakf mess. West Bengal > has many cases of properties being encroached upon and made into little > slums. Some examples: 4,000 illegal occupants are in possession of a > property in Calcutta known as the Mysore Family Fateha Fund Wakf Estate. > Over a hundred mosques in Calcutta and Howrah have been encroached upon. > Sixty-four other mosques in the state have been illegally occupied. The > story is somewhat different in Andhra Pradesh, which has the largest number > of Wakf properties registered in the country. Here the government has > simply > taken over huge tracts of Wakf lands. For instance, Hyderabad’s hi-tech > city > stands on Wakf land. There is the interesting case of the government taking > over 6,000 acres of land worth Rs 500 crore in Visakhapatnam and allotting > 900 acres out of this to NTPC and 800 acres to the Hindujas at the rate of > Rs 2.25 lakh per acre. When the Wakf board contested this, the Supreme > Court > ruled in its favour saying that the land was theirs and transferred it back > to them. The government had to then transfer the money to the Wakf board. > > > Clearly, Wakf is a remarkable resource that can be tapped for the > community. > In a state like Kerala where people are literate and demand accountability, > the board is manned by professionals and headed by two advocates, not by > racketeers. Bureaucrats in the ministry of minority affairs in New Delhi > cite the work done in Kerala as an example of what is possible. But that is > an exception. The norm is rampant corruption, in the firm belief that no > one > will demand accountability. > > More than anything else, the terrible state of Wakf properties in India > reflects on the Muslim community’s failure to build institutions. Compare > this with the manner in which the tiny Christian minority has preserved and > built schools, colleges and hospitals. There is a complex set of reasons > for > this state of affairs in institutions that purport to work for the welfare > of the country’s largest minority and the world’s second-largest Muslim > population. In the case of Wakf, many illiterate Muslims just see their > placards and presume the land belongs to them. They are encouraged to > believe there is some higher religious purpose to Wakf, little knowing that > it has become a synonym for daylight robbery. The greatest hypocrisy > perhaps > is that the men who violate the spirit of charity behind the concept of > Wakf > then pretend to be devout and pious believers. > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From yasir.media at gmail.com Sun Sep 13 05:47:43 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:17:43 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific Message-ID: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> ** The World Class City Concept and its Repercussions on ** Urban Planning for Cities in the Asia Pacific Region By Arif Hasan (04 September 2009) Email: arifhasan at cyber.net.pk (Paper prepared for the IAPS-CSDE Network Symposia on Culture, Space and Revitalization, Istanbul, Turkey, 12 – 16 October 2009) (The contents of this paper are drawn from my personal experiences of working or being associated with programmes and projects in a number of Asian cities over the last two and a half decades and with their planners, academics, students, politicians and NGO and CBO representatives. Many of these programmes and projects were supported by IFIs and bilateral development agencies and most of the references in the paper are from authors known personally to me.) Introduction The welfare state model in Europe was born out of an uneasy reconciliation between capitalism and its opponents. Its principles were adopted by most of the newly independent countries (who did not belong to the Soviet block) in the post-Second World War period. The ethos of the model survived because of the division of the world into socialist and capitalist entities and because of the presence of a revolutionary China and a militarily powerful Soviet Union in the UN’s Security Council. In these circumstances a global market economy was simply not possible. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the repercussions of the failure of the Cultural Revolution in China changed all this and in political terms capitalism came to dominate the world. As a result, we are governed today by three global institutions. They determine global politics, culture, finance and development and as such most national development policies and concepts as well. These institutions are all undemocratic in nature and hence their decisions and policies cannot be changed through existing rules, regulations and procedures that determine their functioning. These institutions are: one, the UN which is controlled by five members of the Security Council who won the Second World War and who can individually veto any decision of the UN General Assembly; two, the International Monitory Fund (IMF) and World Bank, which function on the basis of one dollar one vote; and three, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which was born out of the G-7 green room negotiations that led to the creation of GATT and is controlled by the G-8. Collectively these organisations have promoted what has come to be known as the “free market” economy, the most important aspect of which is the freedom of capital to move across national borders and seek investment wherever it can multiply. The structural adjustment process, which most poorer countries had to undergo in the decade of the 90’s, facilitated the growth of the free market economy and helped in this process. Structural adjustment demanded from national governments the regulating of then balance of payment and returning loans taken from the IFIs. To make this possible countries undergoing structural adjustment agreed to remove subsidies on health, education and housing; increase taxation on utilities; sell their industrial and real assets to the private, national or international corporate sector; and remove restrictions on imports and exports. The resulting national economic crunch meant that the poorer countries could not invest, and in many cases even subsidise, infrastructure projects and these had to be built by the international or national corporate sector through international tendering. As a result, there has been a big boom of international companies bidding for these projects. The Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and the Build-Operate-Own (BOO) processes were invented to make infrastructure development possible through this system. Both systems produce infrastructure at more than twice the cost of government produced infrastructure and in addition national governments have to give sovereign guarantees for the investment made by the investors. A whole new terminology and concepts has been developed to support the market economy. Concepts such as “it is not the business of the state to do business”, “cities are the engines of growth”, “direct foreign investment”, and the concept of linking economic well being with GDP growth have had a major impact on national policies of Asian countries. In search of growth and DFI, they have invested in a big way in the creation of industrial zones (instead of in their people) and accepted the concept of “corporate” farming. India is one of the emerging economic giants who have followed these policies since the mid-1990’s. As a result, its economic growth in the last decade has varied between 7 and 9 per cent. However, it is estimated that as a result of the creation of 500 Special Economic Zones (for attracting Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) and corporate farming (both promoted by the World Bank for GDP growth) about 400 million people would willingly or unwillingly be forced to move from rural to urban areas by 2015.[1] This is twice the population of the United Kingdom, France and Germany put together. This process is also being promoted in other Asian counties and is in many cases being resisted by the farmers.[2] It is replacing food crops by cash crops and in the process increasing the cost and shortage of food; creating agricultural refugees; and making the state vulnerable to corporate sector pressures and interests.[3] To promote DFI, the three undemocratic global institutions have also promoted the decentralisation of governance systems, giving considerable power to local level institutions. Increasingly this power is being used for accessing DFI and identifying projects independently of the provincial or central governments. It is too early to evaluate this process. Maybe an audit after one more decade will help us decide as to the benefits of the system – at present it is a mixed bag.[4] IFI pushed political reforms and deregulations have also had a major impact on property markets and have reshaped the politics of land development. Trading across borders in gold and contraband goods is no longer lucrative. As a result, the gangs and mafias involved in these underworld activities have become involved in the real estate business and linked up with their underworld partners abroad for this purpose. This has skewed the land market and promoted massive speculation.[5] The process has been further facilitated by regional conflicts, increasingly porous borders (both for capital and individuals) and the narcotic trade. All this has introduced an element of violence and targeted killings and kidnappings of opponents, rivals and social activists in the land and real estate sector.[6] The state in almost all cases has responded to these market pressures and made land available for development through landuse conversions, new development schemes and the bulldozing of informal settlements.[7] NGOs and CBOs who have challenged this process have faced two constraints (apart from their own internal organisational weaknesses and culture); one an unsympathetic international media and the other an absence of laws to prevent environmentally and socially inappropriate land conversions. Even where such laws do exist, rules, regulations and procedures and institutions to implement them are often missing. As a result, courts often deliver judgements that promote inequity, poverty and social fragmentation.[8] Media too is increasing being controlled by the global giants, who promote the new paradigm, and Richard Mindoch has predicted that very soon there will only be three global media grants and his company will be one of them. In 1983 there were over 50 such corporations. By 2002 they had fallen to nine.[9] National medias, where journalists and the intellectuals are fighting for reform and justice, are responsive to social and environmental issues but their owners are subject to both state and corporate sector pressures that they cannot resist.[10] Poverty in the countries who did not have the means to respond positively to the free market, has increased and the rich-poor divide has increased in all cases. The most damaging aspect of this divide is promoted by the privatisation of education. This is introducing two systems of education, private for the rich and public for the poor, and has very serious long term repercussions.[11] To rectify this increasing divide, the IFIs have promoted the concept of safety nets for the poor for which loans are being provided and the role of NGOs in these programmes is being encouraged. Safety nets are serving a very small percentage of the effected population and NGO involvement with big funds available to them is adversely affecting NGO culture and its relationship with development policies and poor communities.[12] Loans for infrastructure projects have also increased, especially for road projects. There is an increasing questioning of these loans and aid programmes and the projects they promote by civil society organisations in the South.[13] There is evidence that shows that most of the projects are either failures or unsustainable, expensive and that much (in some cases most) of the loans go back to the north in the shape of technical assistance, overheads and contractors’ profits promoted by the concept of international tenders.[14] What has been elaborated above has had a profound effect on the shape and politics of our cities. The shape that our cities are taking and the reasons behind them are the result of a powerful nexus of developers and investors (many of dubious origins); compromised government institutions and bureaucrats; and politicians seeking global capital for shaping their cities in the image of the “West” – an image that is promoted (implicitly or explicitly) by the three global institutions I mentioned in the beginning of this paper. To promote this paradigm, which I call the neo-liberal urban development paradigm, the concept of the world class or global city has also been promoted. It is a powerful concept and has almost universally been accepted by national government policy makers, the newly emerging middle classes and academia, especially in the West. The World Class City Concept and its Repercussions Karachi, Bombay, Hochiminh City, Seoul, Delhi all aspire to become World Class cities. Some wish to become like Shanghai and others like Dubai[15] although the context of Shanghai or Dubai is very far removed from them. The World Class city has been defined beautifully (also sympathetically) by Mehbubur Rahman in a brilliant paper and in other literature.[16] According to the World Class city agenda, the city should have iconic architecture by which it should be recognised, such as the highest building or fountain in the world. It should be branded for a particular cultural, industrial or other produce or happening. It should be an international event city (Olympics, sports fairs). It should have high-rise apartments as opposed to upgraded settlements and low-rise neighbourhoods. It should cater to tourism (which is often at the expense of local commerce). It should have malls as opposed to traditional markets. For solving its increasing traffic problem (the result of bank loans for the purchase of cars) it should build flyovers, underpasses and expressways rather than restrict the production and purchase of automobiles and manage traffic better. Doing all this is an expensive agenda and for it the city has to seek DFI and the support of International Financial Institutions (IFIs). For accessing DFI, investment friendly infrastructure has to be developed and the image of the World Class city established. For establishing this image, poverty is pushed out of the city to the periphery and already poor-unfriendly byelaws (which are anti-street, anti-pedestrian, anti-mixed landuse and anti-dissolved space) are made even more unfriendly by permitting environmentally and socially unfriendly landuse conversions. The three most important repercussions of this agenda are that global capital increasing determines the physical and social form of the city and in the process projects have replaced planning and landuse is now determined on the basis of land value alone and not on the basis of social and environmental considerations. Land has unashamedly become a commodity. The agenda for opting for high-rise redevelopment rather than the upgrading of settlements; relocating old informal settlements to the periphery of the city; and making room for mega projects and mega events has resulted in a massive increase in evictions all over Asia in the last five years.[17] Over 500,000 persons have been evicted in Delhi for the preparation of the 2010 Asian Olympics alone.[18] All studies show that the evicted population was not consulted in the eviction and/or relocation process; that there was always an element of subtle coercion and often of brute force; and that the evicted and/or relocated population became poorer than before and often in debt whereas before they were debt free.[19] Children’s education too has always been disrupted as a result; jobs lost and travel time to and from work increased to over five to six hours in many cases, thus effecting families and social life, health, recreation and entertainment activities.[20] The result of the above policies, along with an absence of appropriately subsidised land development and social housing, has seen a phenomenal increase in informal settlements. Politicians and government planners justify the high-rise redevelopment approach by insisting that a modern city has to be high-rise with open areas in-between. They also insist that high densities, needed for a well-functioning city, cannot be achieved by upgrading and densifying existing neighbourhoods.[21] The image of a city is governed by the perception of what it should be. One can discuss and disagree on it. However, a recent International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) supported study by the Urban Research and Design Cell at the Department of Architecture and Planning (DAP), NED University, Karachi, of Karachi settlements and apartment complexes has conclusively established that the same densities as prescribed by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) can be achieved by building row houses of ground plus two stories (along with required social infrastructure) without damaging the environment or adversely effecting social life.[22] The study of a resettlement and upgrading project in Hochiminh City (considered as one of the better ones) illustrates the problems with the high-rise option as opposed to upgrading.[23]  The average compensation given to apartment dwellers in the project is about US$ 5,400 which does not include the loan required to bridge the gap between the compensation and the actual price of the housing unit. It does not include the cost of external infrastructure either. The apartment option, given Vietnam’s economy, is not sustainable except through massive IFI loans. The upgrading option on the other hand works out to US$ 325 per household and is manageable. Communities also prefer upgrading to apartments for they cannot perform economic activities in apartment blocks. Out of 72 households who had moved to apartments in the project, 50 were in debt as a result of moving, whereas previously none were in debt. One of the reasons was that they were paying the equivalent of US$ 8 per month for utility and maintenance charges and US$ 21 instalments for the apartment against an average monthly earning of US$ 75 per month. The World Class image of the city has no place in it for informal businesses and hawkers except as organised tourist attractions. The link of these hawkers and businesses with low income people (for whom they make life affordable) and with commuters is not recognised and as such large scale evictions of informal businesses and hawkers have taken place without any compensation in all the major cities in the Asia-Pacific region. This has impoverished millions of families.[24] The free market economy led in the last decade to considerable liquidity in banks and leasing companies. This has been utilised for providing loans for the purchase of cars. Evidence suggests that these loans were provided as a result of an understanding between the automobile industry and global banking and financial sectors. Many billion dollars of loans have increased the population of cars in many Asian mega and secondary cities in the last decade by over 80 to 100 per cent. In Karachi alone banks and leasing companies gave the rupee equivalent of US$ 1.8 billion for the purchase of an average of 506 vehicles per day in the financial year 2006-2007.[25] As a result of this automobile industry-banking sector nexus, traffic in the larger cities of the Asia-Pacific region has become a nightmare. To solve this problem, city planners have initiated a massive programme for the construction of signal-free roads, flyovers, underpasses and expressways which have aggravated the situation and in addition made life difficult for pedestrians and commuters. In addition to these traffic related projects, non-motorised means of transport, used mostly by the poor (such as cyclos, rickshaws, animal drawn carts) have also been banned in many cities or their movement restricted to the periphery or to low income settlements.[26] Mass transit light rail projects meanwhile have failed to provide an adequate or affordable alternative to the poor since they are essentially projects and not part of a larger comprehensive transport plan.[27] As a result of the above and related processes, the once poor-friendly cities of Asia have become poor-unfriendly, both for the migrants (mainly agricultural refugees) and for communities who have lived in them for decades if not for centuries. Land, construction costs and rentals have multiplied manifold as compared to daily wages for unskilled labour.[28] The Struggle Against the Negative Aspects of the World Class City I do not know of any city or country in the Asia-Pacific region where the neo-liberal urban development paradigm has been challenged as a paradigm or an alternative vision for the city has been promoted. However, projects promoted by the paradigm have been successfully challenged in those countries who have a populist political culture and strong civil society organisations and networks. Global capital, as has been said earlier, has desperately been looking for a home. Real estate development for the new rich and for tourism offers the best opportunities for investment especially in countries where regulatory frameworks are weak. Tourist resorts and condominiums along the beaches of Asian cities are prime locations for this development. For commercial plazas, the inner city informal settlements, if evicted, promise lucrative returns. National and the newly empowered city governments have clandestinely sold or arranged to sell these assets to national and/or international companies without the knowledge of the residents of these settlements and without developing any procedures for resettlement of the evicted population. According some reports,[29] almost half of Cambodia has been sold to foreign investors between 2006 and 2008, including seven islands off the coast and a large number of beaches and the homes of residents bulldozed. As a result, there was an increase of over 1,500 per cent in 2007 over the preceding four years in DFI. This investment has impoverished the poor and made them jobless and homeless. It has benefited the investors, their local partners and politicians.[30] Cambodia is a poor country, still recovering from years of devastation, genocide and war and as such with an almost non-existent civil society movement. So this clandestine sale was possible, with little or no organised resistance. Pakistan is also a poor country but it has a comparatively strong civil society, nascent environmental laws and tribunals and a populist political culture born out of repeated struggles for the restoration of democracy. In 2007, the Prime Minister of Pakistan agreed to sell two islands off the Karachi coast to a Dubai based company against an investment of US$ 43 billion. In addition, he agreed to providing about 33,000 hectares of coastal land to another Dubai based company for a US$ 500 billion project with an initial investment of US$ 150 billion. Another project of US$ 1,500 million, aimed at privatising 14 kilometres of beach has also been proposed and part of it has been initiated. In agreeing to sell the land and beaches the Prime Minister bypassed existing laws and procedures. In addition, the projects (which were exclusively for upmarket condominiums, 5 star hotels and marinas) were to adversely affect the livelihood of 200,000 fishermen, evict about 36 villages and prevent lower and lower middle groups access to the beach. At present, over 300 thousand persons visit the beaches over the weekend. Beach development projects have also tried to force lower income groups (and those who serve them) off the beach by preventing informal eating places and activities on the beach and replacing them with expensive formal food stalls.[31] Civil society organisations in Karachi formed a network to oppose the beach development and island sale projects. The network included fishermen’s organisations, community organisations from low income settlements, schools, NGOs, academia, prominent citizens (including ex-judges of the Supreme Court) and the print media. The sale was also opposed by a number of senior bureaucrats. As a result, the sale of the islands has been put on hold, the Limitless project cancelled and the US$ 1,500 million project considerably modified. Earlier, through the same process networks, backed by organisations that work with low income groups, had objected to the 1994 Karachi Mass Transit Project as a result of which modifications were made to it.[32] A US$ 100 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan was also cancelled for a waste water management project when an NGO, working with communities in informal settlements presented and lobbied through a network for a US$ 20 million alternative.[33] Professional bodies representing architects and planners were conspicuous by their absence in these processes although a number of architects did take part individually in the movements. A similar process to that in Karachi has been followed in Bombay. The Maharastra state government, of which Bombay is the capital, put out an advertisement for an “expression of interest” for the redevelopment of Dharavi, an inner city informal settlement. The developer was to survey the settlement, carry out the urban design exercise and relocate and/or provide housing for the displaced population. Dharavi’s population is over half a million and its informal businesses and industry serve the formal ones and generate the rupee equivalent of well over US$ 500 million a year. In spite of this, the advertisement called Dharavi a pocket and asked the investor whether the prospect “turns you on”.[34] The people and businesses in Dharavi were not consulted regarding this advertisement and had no knowledge of it. Also, for such a huge undertaking an EIA was required under Indian Law which was not carried out. What made the issue even more serious was that the developer was being asked to carry out the survey. Already there were major differences between government and NGOs surveys of Dharavi. Government listed 55,000 houses but no businesses whereas NGO surveys listed 81,000 structures and 120,000 businesses and households.[35] A network consisting of the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) (a national level organisation of 500,000 households), NGOs working with low income groups such as SPARC, concerned citizens and organisations formed specially for opposing the government plan, was formed. International academics, artists, researchers and NGOs also expressed their concern. Meanwhile, the President of the NSDF offered a partnership to the state government for the development of Dharavi and also threatened agitation if the government plan went through. As a result of this movement, negotiations took place and an NGO, Mashal, has won the bid for carrying out a survey of Dharavi with the support of NSDF and Society Promotion for Area Resource Centres (SPARC).[36] All successful movements against insensitive projects have a number of things in common. One, the existence of a large network or organisation of poor communities; two, the existence of organisations that support these communities with information and managerial and technical guidance but do not control or direct them; three, research on social, technical and planning issues that question the project in an informal manner and present alternatives; four, support from concerned and prominent citizens, professional bodies, academia and media; five, no one group owns the network and its successes as theirs. Another aspect that has emerged from a number of case studies is that violence or threat of it, unfortunately, is the only form of dissent that is acknowledged and accommodated by officialdom.[37] The bleak picture above has to be supplemented with hope. This is provided by the Baan Mankong nation wide slum upgrading project of the Community Development Institute (CODI). It is a Thai government project. Under the project communities (organised through a process of savings and credit) identify and acquire land for their housing and house building or upgrading through a government system of subsidies and loans through revolving funds. To prevent speculation the strategy of collective rather than individual ownership has been adopted. A search is also on to find ways to develop new social systems on the basis of the relationship established in the process of the savings process and that of land acquisition. Local governments, professionals, universities and NGOs are involved with poor communities in the CODI process. Between January 2003 and March 2008, over 1,100 communities (53,976 households) in 226 Thai cities had benefited from the programme.[38] An Alternative to the World Class City Concept? What is the alternative to the World Class city concept? An inclusive city based on the principles of justice and equity? A pedestrian and commuter friendly city? By what process do you develop a vision? And then there are a number of sub issues. After developing a vision how do you promote it? Or will it be born out the processes that challenge (successfully and unsuccessfully) the projects promoted by the neo-liberal urban development paradigm? Maybe we need to discuss this but in the meantime what should one do? In the case of Karachi, I see projects replacing planning for the foreseeable future. I have tried to promote some principles on the basis of which projects should be judged and/or modified. These are: one, projects should not damage the ecology of the region in which the city is located. Two, projects should as a priority seek to serve the interests of the majority who in the case of our cities are lower and lower middle income groups. Three, projects should decide landuse on the basis of social and environmental considerations and not on the basis of land values alone. And four, projects should protect the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the communities that live in them. This would in my opinion produce better projects. But you cannot effectively follow these principles if you do not have affection and respect for the natural environment and for the people who form the majority in your cities. However, the question is whether the megalomania and opportunism of politicians and planners will accept a new and more humane paradigm that curtails their profits and decommoditises land? I do not think they will unless they are pressurised by city wide networks armed by alternative research and an alternative vision. The key to bringing about a change lies in the nature of professional education, I often think that it might help if graduating architects, planners and engineers should take an oath similar to those of doctors and if they do not follow the terms of the oath, their names should be removed from the list of practising professionals. In 1983, after evaluating the environmental damage that some of my work had done, I promised in an article.[39] “I will not do projects that will irrepairably damage the ecology and environment of the area in which they are located; I will not do projects that increase poverty, dislocate people and destroy the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of communities that live in the city; I will not do projects that destroy multi-class public space and violate building byelaws and zoning regulations; and I will always object to insensitive projects that do all this, provided I can offer viable alternatives.” I have tried to keep that promise and I think I have succeeded. ________________________________ [1]. Devinder Sharma; Displacing Farmers: India Will have 400 Million Agricultural Refugees;        www.dsharma.org [2].  In Pakistan a major movement of share croppers has struggled successfully against being evicted from their farms in the Okara district of the Punjab province over the last five years. Neanwhile, the Pakistan government has identified 7 hundred thousand hectares of agricultural land for lease to foreign countries. For details see, Ahmed Rafay Alam; Leasing Out Land And Food Security; The Daily News, Karachi, September 04, 2009. [3]. Devinder Sharma; Displacing Farmers: India Will have 400 Million Agricultural Refugees;         www.dsharma.org [4].  David Satterthwaite; Understanding Asian Cities; Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, Bangkok, October 2005. The paper asks two important questions. These are: “Does decentralisation give city governments more power and resources and thus capacity to act?” and “If city government does get more capacity to act does this actually bring benefits to urban poor groups?” [5].  Liza Weinstein; Mumbai’s Development Mafias: Globalization, Organized Crime and Land Development; International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 32.1, March 2008 [6].   Ibid. Also, planners in different Asian cities have voiced similar concerns to the author. [7].   Arif Hasan: Understanding Karachi: Planning and Reform for the Future; City Press, Karachi 2000 [8].  Tripti Lahiri; A Nightmare Grows on Ruins of India’s Housing Shortage; Daily Dawn, Karachi, May 14, 2008 [9].   John Pilger; The Invisible Government; Speech delivered at the Chicago Socialism 2007 Conference on June 16, 2007 [10]. The electronic media in Karachi in 2006-2007 gave considerable coverage against real estate development projects that were going to privatise Karachi’s beaches. The media was forced to discontinue this coverage when the real estate companies threatened to withdraw their advertisements. [11]. Arif Hasan; The Neo Urban Development Paradigm and the Changing Landscape of Asian Cities; International Society of City and Regional Planners Review No. 3, The Hague, 04 June 2007 [12]. Arif Hasan: Discussion Document for UN University Event on “Sustainable Urban Future in an Era of Globalisation and Environmental Change”; New York, July 09-10, 2007 [13]. These include the Independent People’s Tribunal on the World Bank Group in India; People’s Voice in Karachi; and Cambodia Development Resource Institute in Cambodia. [14]. See Stephanie Gorson Fried and Shannom Lawrence with Regina Gregory: The Asian Development Bank: In its own Worlds; “An Analysis of Project Audit Reports for Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; ADB Watch, July 2003. Also, Arif Hasan; The Neo Urban Development Paradigm and the Changing Landscape of Asian Cities; International Society of City and Regional Planners Review No. 3, The Hague, 04 June 2007. Also, according to research carried out by the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi, the government develops infrastructure at 4 to 6 times the cost of labour and material involved. When loans are taken from IFIs the cost goes up by 30 to 50 percent due to foreign consultants and related purchase conditionalities. Where an international tender is also a condititionality the cost can go up by an additional 200 to 300 percent. Thus something whose cost is US$ 1 in material and labour terms is delivered at a cost of US$ 20 to 30. [15]. See City District Government Karachi: Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020; October 2008 and State of Maharashtra; Transforming Mumbai into a World Class City; Chief Minister’s Task Force; 2004. Author’s conversations with politicians and planners in other Asian cities support this contention. [16]. Mahbubur Rahman; “Global City – Asian Aspirations; paper read at the DAP, NED University Karachi seminar on Planning in a Globalising World, Karachi, May 30, 2009 [17]. ACHR Monitoring of Evictions in seven Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines) shows that evictions are increasing dramatically. Between January to June 2004, 334,593 people were evicted in the urban areas of these countries. In January to June 2005, 2,084,388 people were evicted. The major reason for these evictions was the beautification of the city. In the majority of cases, people did not receive any compensation for the losses they incurred and where resettlement did take place it was 25 to 60 kilometres from the city centre. (Ken Fernandes; Some Trends in Evictions in Asia; ACHR, March 2006) [18]. Tripti Lahiri; A Nightmare Grows on Ruins of India’s Housing Shortage; Daily Dawn, Karachi, May 14, 2008 [19]. For details see Tripti Lahiri; A Nightmare Grows on Ruins of India’s Housing Shortage; Daily Dawn, Karachi, May 14, 2008 and Han Verschure, Arif Hasan and Somsook Boonyabancha; Evaluation & Recommendations for Infrastructure & Resettlement Pilot Project Tan Hoa-Lo Gom Canal; Ho Chi Minh City, 28 April 2006 [20]. Arif Hasan; Livelihood Substitution: The Case of the Lyari Expressway; Ushba International Publishing, Karachi, 2006. According to the estimates of the Urban Resource Centre Karachi, the building of the Lyari Expressway adversely affected the education of 26,000 children. [21]. Government planners from Delhi, Phnom Penh, Hochiminh City, Seoul and Karachi have repeated this in their conversations with the author [22]. Arif Hasan. Asiya Sadiq, Suneela Ahmed; Density Study of Low and Lower Middle Income Settlements in Karachi; unpublished study prepared for the IIED, UK, 22 June 2009 [23].  Han Verschure, Arif Hasan and Somsook Boonyabancha; Evaluation & Recommendations for Infrastructure & Resettlement Pilot Project Tan Hoa-Lo Gom Canal; Ho Chi Minh City, 28 April 2006 [24]. For details see Arif Hasan, Asiya Sadiq Polak, Christophe Polak; The Hawkers of Saddar Bazaar; Ushba International Publishing, Karachi, 2008 and Bhowmik, S.; Social Security for Street Vendors: A Symposium on Extending Social Security to Unprotected Workers; Volume 568, December 2006 (quoted in Liza Weinstein; Mumbai’s Development Mafias: Globalization, Organized Crime and Land Development; International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 32.1, March 2008) [25]. Arif Hasan; The Neo Urban Development Paradigm and the Changing Landscape of Asian Cities; International Society of City and Regional Planners Review No. 3, The Hague, 04 June 2007 . According to government officials (in conversations with the author), 1,700 cars per day were registered in Bangkok and 1,300 per day in Delhi in the financial year 2006-2007. [26]. Madhu Gurung; Delhi’s Graveyard of Rickshaws; InfoChange News & Features, September 2006. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has destroyed 60,000 rickshaws which it had impounded for violation of registration related regulations. The rickshaw owners could not pay a fine of Rs 325 plus a storage charge of Rs 25 per day at the municipal yard to get their rickshaws released within a period of 15 days. Impounded cars have to pay only Rs 100 per day and if the owner does not pay this sum, the car is not destroyed. [27]. Cities such as Bangkok, Manila, Calcutta have made major investments in light rail and metro systems. Other Asian cities are following their example. However, these systems are far too expensive to be developed on a large enough scale to make a difference. Manila’s light rail caters to only 8 percent of trips and Bangkok’s sky train and metro to only 3 percent of trips and Calcutta’s metro to even less. The light rail and metro fares are 3 to 4 times more expensive than bus fares. As a result, the vast majority of commuters travel by run down bus system (for details, see Geetam Tiwari; Urban Transport for Growing Cities; Macmillan India Ltd., 2002 and Arif Hasan; Understanding Karachi’s Traffic Problems; Daily Dawn, January 29, 2004.) [28]. The seriousness of the situation can be judged from the fact that in Karachi (which is a far more poor friendly city than the other Asian mega cities) land costs in peri-urban informal settlements in 1991 was Rs 176 (US$ 2.35) per square metre or 1.7 times the daily wage for unskilled labour at that time. Today, the cost of land in such settlements is about Rs 10,000 (US$ 133.33) per square metre or 40 times the daily wage for unskilled labour. In 1991, the construction of a semi-permanent house in an informal settlement was about Rs 660 (US$ 8.8) per square metre or 6.6 times the cost of the daily wage for unskilled labour. Today, the cost is Rs 5,000 (US$ 66.66) per square metre or 20 times the cost of the daily wage for unskilled labour. In 1991, such a semi-permanent house could be rented for Rs 350 (US$ 4.66) per month or at 3.5 times the daily wage for unskilled labour. Today, the rent for such a house would be Rs 2,500 (US$ 33.33) per month or 10 times the daily wage for unskilled labour. (Source: Arif Hasan; Housing Security and Related Issues: The Case of Karachi; unpublished paper prepared for UN-Habitat, October 2008 [29].  Ardian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark; Country for Sale; The Guardian, April 26, 2008 [30]. According to a paper by the Cambodia Development Resource Institute titled Technical Assistance and Capacity Development in an Aid-Dependent Economy; Working Paper 15, Year 2000; in 1992, 19 percent of all aid money was spent on technical assistance. In 1998, it had increased to 57 percent. Also, according to Tom Coghlan; Consultants Reap Wealth from Afghan Chaos; Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2008, almost 50% of British aid to Afghanistan since 2001 has been spent on consultants and contractors. According to Afghan MP Shukria Barakzai, only 11 cents out of every dollar goes to the Afghans – the rest goes back to the West. [31]. See “The Partitioning of Clifton Beach” in Arif Hasan; Planning and Development Options for Karachi; Sheher Saaz, Islamabad, 2009. See also, website of Fisherfolk Forum www.pff.org.pk [32].  Urban Resource Centre website: www.urckarachi.org. [33].  Orangi Pilot Project website: www.oppinstitutions.org [34].  Society Promotion for Area Resource Centres (SPARC) website: www.sparcindia.org [35].  Sheela Patel and Jockin Arputham; Plans for Dharavi: Negotiating a Reconciliation Between a State-Driven Market Redevelopment and Residents’ Aspiration; Environment & Urbanization, Volume 20(1), 2008 [36]. Ibid [37].  This has been observed by the author in at least three cases in Karachi and the struggle of the tenant farmers in the Punjab. This has also been mentioned to the author by Sheela Patel of SPARC for Bombay and by Prof. Yves Cabannes for cases in Latin America.. [38].  See CODI website: www.codi.or.th [39].  Arif Hasan; No to Socially and Environmentally Development Projects; The Review, 1983 From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Sep 13 08:11:30 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:41:30 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Mera India: Bridge the Gap Contest Message-ID: <8CC0232D594B8FB-2468-1C1E2@webmail-d047.sysops.aol.com> Mera India: Bridge the Gap Contest Unnati Features and Women’s Features Services invite the youth of India to take the challenge, and be the change! Enter the Mera India, Bridge the Gap contest By 2015, India has pledged to achieve the following eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): •Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger •Achieve universal primary education •Promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by eliminating gender disparity in schools •Reduce the child mortality rate •Reduce the maternal mortality rate •Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases •Ensure environment sustainability •Develop global partnership for development As an Indian, your role should be to assess the shortcomings and challenges that lie before us, and be ready with ideas and innovation on how our country can achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Contest How to Enter •You should be an Indian citizen between the ages of 18 to 35 years. •The first step is to register with the organisers at indiabridgethegap at gmail.com with your name and Email ID. •You must acquaint yourself with the Millennium Development Goals. •Then rank the following 10 constituents on a scale of 10 to 1, in their order of importance for the achievement of the MDGs. The category you feel is more important figures higher on the scale. 1.Celebrities 2.Corp orate leaders 3.Educationists 4.Elected representatives 5.Government officials 6.Health personnel 7.NGOs 8.The Judiciary 9.The Media 10.The Youth •Tell us what you think are the most important things to be done towards achieving the MDGs. You may choose from the following formats to express yourself: ◦A 1000-word essay ◦Or a pictorial strip ◦Or a film not longer than five minutes using a mobile phone or digital camera. •Every contestant must enclose a birth certificate and a statement certifying that the work submitted is original. •Each contestant can send in only one entry. Entries from teams comprising not more than three persons would also be considered, provided that the oldest member in the team is not more than 35 years. •Entries should be sent in an envelope marked ‘Mera India, Bridge the Gap’ to Women’s Feature Service, G-69 Second Floor, Nizamuddin West, New Delhi –110013. •Entries can also be emailed to: indiabridgethegap at gmail.com, along with a scanned birth certificate and statement certifying that the work is original. The Prizes 1st prize – Rs. 75,000 | 2nd prize – Rs. 50,000 | 3rd prize – Rs. 25,000 Each entry would be judged on its content, its innovative nature and the practicability of the ideas suggested. The jury will be a panel of independent persons well known in their respective fields. Prize winners will be invited to a special awards function in New Delhi and your ideas will be shared with policy makers, civil society leaders and people in various fields who can make a difference. Last Date for receiving entries: October 5th, 2009 From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Sun Sep 13 12:50:45 2009 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:50:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call to assert rights of fishing community Message-ID: <3457ce860909130020w36a53428qf4f432b634b95616@mail.gmail.com> *Law sought to protect fish workers’ interests * *Date:13/09/2009* *URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/13/stories/2009091353790400.htm* Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram: Participants in a seminar organised by the Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF) have stressed the need for a legislation to protect the interests of coastal communities in the country. Expressing concern over the threats to the lives and livelihood of fishworkers, the two-day seminar, which concluded at Kovalam on Saturday, decided to voice their apprehensions at the proposed consultation between the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the fishing community to be held in Kochi soon. The meeting recognised the success of the fishworkers’ struggle against Coastal Zone Management Notification. It called for strengthening the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification issued in 1991. Activists said the 1991 notification did not recognize the customary rights of the fishing community, including the right to build new houses. Pointing to a report on 8825 CRZ violations in Goa, former Joint Fisheries Director S. Ravindran Nair said the government had to come up with regulatory measures to prevent such large scale offences. “Considering the large number of people inhabiting the coastal areas, Parliament has to discuss the regulation. It should not be issued as a notification.” *By Express News Service 13 Sep 2009 08:47:00 AM IST* Call to assert rights of fishing community The seminar organised by the CRZ-CMZ consultation which concluded here on Saturday has expressed the need for asserting the rights of the fishermen to participate in the emergence of a new Coastal Management Notification recognizing all rights of the fishing community. The seminar held at the Animation Centre, Kovalam, dealt with a number of issues concerning the lives and livelihood of the fishing community, to be expressed in the consultation between the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the fishing community to be held in Kochi soon. The meeting recognised the success of the fishermen’s struggle to force the Government to withdraw the plan of Coastal Management Notification and implement a notification which strengthens the original Coastal Regulation Notification, 1991. S.Ravindran Nair, retired joint director, Fisheries, said that since there was a large population on the Indian coasts, the debate on CRZ-CMZ notification had to be discussed by Parliament and not as a mere notification. Women’s activist Nilanjana Biswas said that from the experience of Gujarat, the move by the Government to create marine protected areas will only facilitate industries and not the small and medium-level fisher people. T. Peter, president of the Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF) strongly challenged the capacity of the Government to prosecute CRZ violators, which has become the biggest threat to the fishing community. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Sun Sep 13 13:29:24 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:29:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Participate in an Internet-based Cross Cultural Study In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Details at http://psychologynews.posterous.com/participate-in-an-internet-based-cross-cultur Excerpts: This study is being conducted by Professor Edward McAuley from the Department of Kinesiology at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and his graduate students. This is to request you to participate in the survey! You are eligible to participate if you are between 18 to 30 years and have lived in America or India for all your life. The study is investigating physical activity, self-esteem and quality of life in college students. From santhoshhrishikesh at gmail.com Sun Sep 13 21:27:35 2009 From: santhoshhrishikesh at gmail.com (santhosh hk) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:27:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Coeternal 9/11 Message-ID: How will 9/11 go down in history? Will it be registered as a postmodern crusade between America and Islamic powers? (In one of the commemoratory albums doing rounds on Youtube, the wreckage of the erstwhile WTO buildings look like a garlanded cross). Or as the first edition of battles in the post coldwar era where frontiers are blurred and immaterial? Or as a watershed in the American centered discursive formations of power? Will posterity hail it as the herald of a new anti-imperial struggle? Or will it remain a gruesome reminder of the incidence and intensity of terrorism? A memorial to the world with strata percolated with venom? For an event that unveiled and demonstrated, in no unclear terms, the intricate intermingling of politics, religion and economics, future interpretations come dime a dozen. Whatever be the future of that fateful day, it seems indisputable that 9/11 has already transcended and crucibled different opinions and entrenched itself as an eloquent and immortal billboard of the Transnational. It was a mental global village that the twin towers tumbled into, not a space with spatial and temporal constraints. This precisely is why any question as to the nationality of the deceased—including that of the nine “terrorists”—becomes irrelevant, if not irreverent. People were panicking not over the collapse of a skyscraper in a far off land but in the very next street. The premature demise of a building in the strongest nation on the earth was emblematic of the strongest incentive that prods the current world--trade. What could be better than fall of the World Trade Center then! In the aftermath of the death of the towers, there emanated from the U.S. itself a few arguments that questioned the veracity of the bugbear of Islamic terrorism. In fact there were quite a good number of well-researched articles and features that sought to show the extent to which the federal government colluded and connived in orchestrating the heinous act, with the intention of bringing about political-religious consolidation. Revealingly, none of them gained currency outside the country. The offbeat responses that refused to swallow theories stuffed with “conventional wisdom” were largely shrugged off or played down altogether overseas (India was brilliant here!). Even the celebrity status of Noam Chomsky would not suffice to drill the shell of belief in official American explanations!! Chomsky *is *correct in linguistics, *maybe *so in other issues, but not here!! Why? The theory and praxis of the battle waged by the U.S. and its allies are not bounded to, located in or controlled by the physical/geographical space of any nation but takes place in a mental domain marked out by a strong sense of internationalism. We just don’t care about and think in terms of the bright cartographical contours but would rather get into the shoes of an international warrior. It is only after 9/11 that the term ‘terrorist’ (the terrorist of one nation is the patriot of the other, you know) assumes international signifying potential and terrorism becomes a meticulously planned activity, masterminded by a highly centralized, exclusive and esoteric coterie headquartered somewhere in the Middle East. There are explosions and suicide attacks anywhere; but if you look through the magnifying glass of Sherlock Holmes, you can’t miss the common hologram ‘Made in Iraq.’ (Just like products for the world market are owned by American firms, designed in India and manufactured in China!!!). The same period witnesses certain names, sartorial habits and appearances become objects of fear and suspicion in milling international airports and bustling railway terminals. If Hollywood heroes flexed their muscles and single-handedly annihilated creepy extra terrestrials in the preceding decades, the currents ones fight against terrorism—come hell or high water—and keep the country intact. Not to be outdone, Bollywood has fared better by interspersing cinematic texts with tall, bearded terrorists swaggering in and out or waiting with the patience of a python in the quest to grind Shining India into pieces. To be sure, the shockwaves sent out by 9/11 have not been lost in art and literature either. Arguably, nothing betrays the traces of the new international conscience and its multiple manifestations more emphatically than the film *11'09"01 September 11* (2002). What weaves these short visuals, triggered by the panic of the event, into a coherent whole is a host of universal concerns, fears and anxieties. The not-so-good individual narratives by directors like Samira Makhmalbaf, Mira Nair , Claude Lelouchand Youssef Chahine have nothing in themselves to stake the claim of a movie. Wait a minute. Stop and look inward. See how the blog universe swells by the minute. Is it such a long a shot to say 9/11 has catalyzed the growth of a universal writer/reader community, wrenched from local colors, cultural ethos and personal concerns clubbed with the urge for self expression? Is an Indian, for that matter any national, crouching behind an IP address an Indian in the traditional sense of the word? He is in a fluffy virtual space that could be literally *everywhere. *Still better to say he is a fluffy space impossible to locate and penetrate. hk santhosh pk sreekumar * * http://hksanthosh.blogspot.com http://youreemember.blogspot.com From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Sep 13 21:37:37 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:07:37 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Deadline Extended To September 28 ! Message-ID: <8CC02A3724BDA9B-1814-9F9F@webmail-d001.sysops.aol.com> We've pushed back the ticking hands of time and given all Filmakas TWO MORE WEEKS to create their submission for RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK. Make a three minute short on this theme and you could win $500 cash and go on to have your work seen by our Filmaka Jury. One Grand Prize Winner in 2009 will be chosen to direct their feature idea with Filmaka producing! ENTER NOW http://www.filmaka.com/competition.php From subasrik at yahoo.com Sun Sep 13 23:23:19 2009 From: subasrik at yahoo.com (Subasri Krishnan) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:53:19 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Call for film entries to the Nigah QueerFest Message-ID: <903728.94082.qm@web57616.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Following the success of the Nigah QueerFest in 2007 and 2008, we are excited to announce the Nigah QueerFest 09 which will be held in multiple venues in Delhi, India from 23rd October - 1st November 2009. The QueerFest remains proud to be entirely funded by individual donations from queer and queer friendly people from India and abroad in its attempt to continuously expand queer-positive spaces around us. This year, the ten-day celebration of queerness will showcase films, photo exhibition, workshops, performance night, parties and much more. All the information is available on the website  www.thequeerfest.com (please keep checking for updates). We request you to enter your film for screening at the Nigah QueerFest 09. Please download the enclosed document for information, submission guidelines and entry form or check the following link to the film call: http://www.thequeerfest.com/filmcall.pdf Please mail your film submissions latest by 4th October 2009 (extended deadline) at the following address: Sunil Gupta The Nigah QueerFest 09 N-230, Ground Floor Greater Kailash – I New Delhi 110048 India Tel: +91 9810327322 About Nigah: Nigah is a queer collective that works on issues of gender and sexuality. Apart from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, we understand queer to be any identity, politics or process that challenges dominant norms. Based in Delhi, India, we try to create inclusive and safe queer spaces using media, training, and conversations. Nigah QueerFest 07: http://www.thequeerfest.com/QF07/index.html Nigah QueerFest 08: http://www.thequeerfest.com/QF08/index.html Cheers Nigah From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 08:35:44 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:35:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Former Gujarat Minister Writes To SIT To Probe Modi's Role Into Gujarat Pogrom By Jaspal Singh Message-ID: <1f9180970909132005h17ed886hfb1fc0bc41ca6404@mail.gmail.com> http://www.countercurrents.org/jaspalsingh080909.htm Former Gujarat Minister Writes To SIT To Probe Modi's Role Into Gujarat Pogrom By Jaspal Singh 8 September, 2009 TwoCircles.net New Delhi: The mayhem in Gujarat was the result of a thoroughly thought-out, elaborate and heinous strategy to communalise the society at large in Gujarat, with a view to derive political benefits,” writes ex-IPS and former Cabinet Minister of Gujarat Jaspal Singh to the Supreme Court-appointed SIT that is looking into the role of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues and police officers in the Gujarat 2002 riots. Jaspal Singh, who has been Commissioner of Police and then Mayor of Vadodara, wrote the letter on September 7, 2009 to Dr. R.K. Raghavan, Chairman, Special Investigation Team (SIT). Singh in the letter has urged the SIT to investigate in details the communalization of Gujarat and examine the participants (officials as well as ministers) of the crucial meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the day Godhra carnage occurred. In the letter Singh named some officers who attended the meeting, and urged the SIT to examine them. They include: Smt.Swarnakanta Varma, IAS, the then Acting Chief Secretary, Mr. Ashok Narayan, IAS, the then Home Secretary, Dr. P.K. Mishra, IAS, the then Principal Secretary to the CM, Mr. Anil Mukim, IAS & Mr.A.K.Sharma, IAS, Secretaries to CM and Mr.P.C. Pande, IPS, then Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad. Full text of Singh’s letter to SIT: Sir, Sub: Gujarat Riots of 2002 – Action thereon Apropos my letter dated Jun 06, 2009, I write to compliment you for pursuing investigations in to the Gujarat riots of 2002 with vigour by recording statement of Mrs.Zakia Jafri, widow of late of Mr.Ehsan Jafri, a former member of the Parliament, Shri R.B.Sreekumar, IPS (Retd), former DGP of Gujarat, and Mr.Rahul Sharma a serving IPS officer of Gujarat cadre. While the progress of the case does bring some comfort to the victims of the genocide unleashed in Gujarat, lot more remains to be done as expeditiously as possible, so as to instil a sense of hope in the hearts and minds of Indians, that the rule of law would be respected and no one would be spared for flouting it. The happenings of 2002 have brought shame and disgrace of unfathomable proportions, and only investigation by the SIT under your command can redeem the honour of the country. I list below some of the matters which need to be investigated in detail in pursuance of trust reposed in you, and your team by the Hon’ble Apex Court. Your efforts will assuage the terribly dented image of our great country, and hence your responsibility is immense. As a retired IPS officer I consider it a matter of pride that the job to redeem the honour of the country has been entrusted to the SIT headed by a IPS officer. The outcome of the SIT’s investigation and actions following it may prove to be a benchmark in the history of our country. 1. Communalisation of Gujarat: The mayhem in Gujarat was the result of a thoroughly thought out elaborate and heinous strategy to communalise the society at large in Gujarat, with a view to derive political benefits. Towards that end the exclusivist, fundamentalist and sectarian pseudo religious groups among Hindus and Muslims played a leading role, aided and abetted by those at the helm. 2. Examiniation of participants in the crucial meeting chaired by the CM – Narendra Modi: Examination of the following persons is crucial for the purpose of the SIT: a) Smt.Swarnakanta Varma IAS, the then Acting Chief Secretary b) Mr.Ashok Narayan, IAS, the then Home Secretary c) Dr.P.K.Mishra, IAS, the then Principal Secretary to the CM d) Mr.Anil mukim, IAS & Mr.A.K.Sharma, IAS Secretaries to CM e) Mr.P.C.Pande IPS, then Commissioner of Police Ahmedabad f) Shri K.Chakravarty, IPS, the then DG of Police, Gujarat g) Shri G.C.Raiger, IPS, the then Addl. DGP of Gujarat h) Shri Nityanand, IPS, Secretary in the Home Department. 3. Representative of CBI: The SIT must examine Shri Rajendrakumar, the then Jt.Director, Central Intelligence Bureau (CBI) in charge of Gujarat who had insisted on the state DGP to deem the burning of the train at Godhra as a terrorist act mounted by the ISI. 4. Examination of Ministers: Examine all those ministers of Shri Modi Government about the details of the meeting held at the residence of the CM on 27.02.2002, including the then Minister of State for Home Shri Govardhan Zadapiya who had admitted in the State Assembly about the meeting convened by the CM. It may be mentioned that the State Assembly was in session on the day the tragic events took place at Godhra. This can be verified from the official records of the State Assembly. This will clarify that the CM had directed the officers to permit free play of Hindu revengefulness on the Muslims (Reference to June 03, 2002 issue of the weekly – Outlook). 5. Whether prompt action taken: Examine whether there was delay in requisitioning army and central para military forces with a view to give free hand to the anti Muslim rioters. 6. Law and order Review meeting minutes: Examine the minutes of the law and order review meetings chaired by the CM, the Chief Secretary, and the DGP jointly, or otherwise and subsequent follow up action by subordinate officers in the police department, and executive magistracy from District Magistrates to Mamalatdars. If minutes were not kept it would be obvious that monitoring of the implementation of decisions could not haven been done. 7. Follow up action: Examine how the monitoring of the implementations of the decisions in these review meetings was done by the CM to DGP without minutes of these meetings. 8. Media reports – sources: Conduct deeper probe in to the source of media reports about the meeting chaired by the CM, where the CM directed the officials to be soft on Hindu rioters. Investigation on the above lines could provide evidence of extra judicial confessions. Some further investigations that are necessary are: a) Examination of documents on the communications between and among the CM’s office, CS Office, Home department, DGP Office and the Commissioners of Police of Ahmedabad, Baroda, and SPs of major riot affected districts in the period from 27.02.2002 to 31.05.2002. Similar correspondence from the relevant police stations to district / commissionrate level officers also be examined to find out whether there were major omissions and commissions to facilitate the Pogram against the Muslims b) Examination of documents on communications between the DGP and the State Control room in Gandhinagar, and the Commissionarates, besides offices of the DSPs, Addl. DGP (Intelligence) c) Examination of entries in the registers and log books of the police patrol vehicles in cities and important towns. d) Examination of documents on various incidents and action reported by DGP and CP Ahmedabad and riot affected districts to their higher officers. e) Examination of reports by DGP, Home department, Chief Secretary, ADGO (Intelligence) to the Central Government and to find out veracity of reports and efforts of anyone to suppress truth. f) It is on record that the Gujarat State intelligence branch had sent daily reports to Shri B.K.Haldar, Jt. Secy, MHA, New Delhi from 13.03.2002 onwards. Besides, daily reports which were sent on various specific incidents that took place in Gujarat. A study of these reports will indicate that there was anti-minority prejudice explicit in the actions of the state police which prompted them to avoid arrest of Hindu rioters and concentrating on penalising the Muslims. Analysis of the statistics prepared by the Add. D.G., Intelligence, Gujarat in the form of daily reports will reveal that the casualties in the police action weighed heavily against the Muslims, as also the destruction and damage to properties. g) Action must be taken to procure data regarding representations from the riot affected people and general public received through phone calls, written complaints and personal representations from 27.02.2002 to 31.05.2002. It is also necessary to examine the quality and character of response to these by the enforcing officers. In case responses are found to be inadequate, and unprofessional, an adverse inference can be drawn against the concerned officers. h) Examination of documents on meetings held by CP, Ahmedabad and other police commissionarates and affected districts during the same period to find out the nature of instructions given and decisions taken thereon and the extent of their implementation. i) Examination of concerned officers from DGP to field officers at the police station level on their failure to comply with the directions and instructions on handling of communal situation in Gujarat as per Gujarat State Police Manual Vol-III, Rule 21 to 31, and DGP Gujarat’s booklet on “Criminal Riots – Strategy and Approach” forwarded to all senior police officers by the then DGP Shri K.V.Joseph vide his letter No. SB/49/1050/1175 dated 19.11.1997, compilation of Government instructions captioned –“Criminal Peace”, and recommendations of Justice Reddy Commission and the Commission headed by Justice Dave. j) Officers in charge of areas where large scale violence happened should explain the reason for their dereliction of duties in violation of the provisions of Gujarat Police Manual Vol-III, Rules 24, 134, 135 and 136. It is relevant to note that such culpable connivance by government functionaries with the rioters had prompted the Apex Court to portray the Gujarat bureaucracy as modern day Neros and the Hon’ble Supreme Court had actively intervened to correct the aberrations by ordering : i) Transfer of Bilkisbano rape case to CBI in April 2004 ii) Transfer of Bilkisbano and Best Bakery cases to Maharashtra in April 2004. iii) Review of 2000 odd closed cases (August 2004) iv) Creation of SIT to reinvestigate 9 major carnage cases (March 2008) v) Order of the Supreme Court to the SIT to investigate on all points contained in the complaint filed by Mrs.Jafre (April 2009) k) SIT should go in to the series of circumstances indicating criminal motive of the CM, Gujarat and his collaborators in projecting the Godhra train fire incident as an outcome of conspiracy by ISI and a terrorist act. There is sufficient evidence to prove that even before the investigating or intelligence agency had any information about conspiracy behind the Godhra fire, the CM, Gujarat, a national leader of BJP, declared it to be a consequence of conspiracy. This is the starting point of anti minority carnage. The CM made a statement in the state assembly that the Godhra train incident was a pre-planned terrorist act and was a result of a conspiracy. l) In fact the Gujarat police brought out the questionable conspiracy element only by the end of March 2002. The Apex Court had not supported the Gujarat State Government’s application of provisions of the then prevailing POTA on the accused of the Godhra train fire. m) Revelations by some witnesses in the Godhra train fire case in the operation ‘kalank’ brought out by ‘Tehelka’ magazine about the Gujarat police bribing them to give false evidence. The then Home Secretary Mr.G.C.Murmu, and Government pleader Mr.Arvind Pandya tried to tutor the then Addl. DGP. Shri R.B.Sreekumar to support Government’s conspiracy theory during his cross examination by the Nanavati Commission. The then Godhra Collector Ms.Jayanti Ravi openly stated that the Godhra incident was criminal and she did not mention either about the conspiracy or it being a terrorist act. n) In fact in my view the ill motivated declaration of ISI being behind this conspiracy was a part of the larger conspiracy to perpetuate genocidal crimes against the minority community for ensuring political consolidation of the majority community in favour of the BJP to procure electoral dividends. Simultaneously the Sangh Parivar could achieve their ever pursued hidden agenda of treating the Muslim minority as second class citizens. Having denied proper relief and rehabilitation in pre-riot vocations/trades, commerce and agriculture, many riot victims were forced to compromise with the perpetrators of the violence and consequently not even 25% of the cases reviewed on the Apex Court’s orders could end up in prosecution of accused persons. o) Abnormality and impropriety in the following actions by Shri Modi government after the Godhra incident need to be uncovered, as they are linked to the plans to inflict maximum damage on the Muslims. I. A condolence resolution was passed in the state assembly to condone those who were killed in the train fire, though no person for whom such resolutions are customary were killed. II. No condolence resolution was passed to condone the death of Ehsan Jafri, a former MP as was customary. This was in total violation of legislative norms. III. No discussion in the state assembly on the riots was held for over 10 days as the assembly remained closed during the period. IV. The CM and BJP leaders supported the Gujarat Bandh call given by the VHP on 28.02.2002. V. Neither the CM or any senior BJP leader made any appeal for peace on the eve of the Bandh on 28.02.2002. VI. Parading of dead bodies of Godhra fire victims in Ahmedabad city was done in violation of all regulations in this connection. Please enquire in to how the dead bodies were handed over to unauthorised persons viz. VHP leaders and not the legally entitled kin of the diseased. SIT should procure all documentary evidence about the whole process viz. Which officer had released the dead bodies to the VHP. Please procure and confiscate the relevant records immediately. Who were the persons who received the bodies, why unidentified dead bodies were also handed over to such unauthorised persons. The concerned officers be asked to produce the details of Government order, if any, in this connection. In case relevant officers take the cover of non availability of records, they should be prosecuted for deliberate destruction of evidence. p) Mr.P.C.Pande the then Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad should be examined on the following fatal acts of negligence facilitating the blood bath in Ahmedabad city. I. Non initiation of preventive measures as per numerous instructions including those in Gujarat Police Manual etc. from 27.02.2002 onwards when anti minority riots started. II. Why imposition of curfew on 28.02.2002 was delayed up to 1300 Hours? III. Why no redeployment of the SRP and additional police force was not done on 28.02.2002? The SRP continued to be at the same places as they were before. IV. Please examine as to what follow up action he had taken on the state IB reports as cited in the affidavits filed by the then Addl. DGP Intelligence. V. What further action did he take on his letters to the DGP, and the Secretary Home, about the role of VHP in fomenting trouble and extortion of protection money from miscreants. q) Examine the officers of the state intelligence branch Ahmedabad City and other major riot affected areas as to whether they reported the anti minority stance of the police at the ground level during and after the riots resulting in non registration of FIRs by the riot victims. Misinformation of the intensity of crimes, clubbing of numerous offences as just one single incident. r) Not arresting Hindu accused promptly, and not taking them on remand for collecting additional evidence, and recovery of looted or stolen property. s) Prejudicial stand of Special Public Prosecutors some of who were office bearers of the Sangh Parivar. t) Examine the officers in charge of the riot affected areas regarding the instructions given by them in response to distress calls from the riot victims, monitoring of the implementation of these instructions, any disciplinary action taken against anybody for non compliance etc. Examination of relevant documents in the CP or SP offices, Offices of Range DIGs/IGs and SDPOs, and police station officers absolutely imperative. u) Electronic and print media had brought out graphically the pictures of parading of dead bodies, ghastly scenes of riots etc. These be procured and analysed, and further probes be done like arresting those found indulging in violence. v) Many Sangh Parivar leaders and accused in anti minority carnage had boasted about their active involvement in the riots to Shri Ashish Khaitan, the Tehelka correspondent in the video. Make further inquiries about the information brought out in operation ‘kalank’. These revelations are extra judicial confessions. The forensic test of all these persons is also necessary. w) Please examine state home department officials and DGP, Shri K.Chakravarty about follow up action initiated by them on the state IB reports regarding prejudices of the state police against the riot victims. Please examine Home Secretary Shri Ashok Narain, as to what action he had taken on the demand by the National Minority Commission about highly inciting and incendiary speech of the CM in 2002. x) Please examine the Secretary, Law Department for appointing supporters and office bearers of the Sangh Parivar as Special Public Prosecutors to present cases against the accused belonging to Hindu community. y) Please examine the District Magistrates of relevant districts as to why they recommended supporters and office bearers of the Sandh Parivar for appointment as Police Public prosecutors to the state law department. z) Please examine the Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi, about the details of instructions given by him to the Chief Secretary, Home department officials and the DGP during the riots and subsequently. Did he notice any acts of omission or commission by such officers, if so what action he had initiated to correct the system and discipline those who derelicted their duties. Did the CM initiate any curative measures to redress the grievance of the victims before the intervention by the NHRC, the Apex Court, and the national level bodies. If no such action was taken, then this must be deemed as part of a conspiracy to perpetuate violence on the Muslim minority and subversion of criminal justice system. Please examine Mr.Modi on the action taken by him about malicious role of one of his cabinet ministers, Mr.Bharat Barot in inciting anti minority violence as reported by the CP, Ahmedabad. It is quite likely that the Government functionaries who collaborated with the CM and the Sangh Parivar in executing anti minority violence will refuse to provide relevant evidence to the SIT. Therefore the SIT will have to depend on the documentary evidence in Government and police records heavily. Once clear picture about planning and execution of conspiracy emerges, the relevant culprits should be confronted and their forensic test be carried out. I strongly feel that a few officers known for their competence, professionalism and integrity need to be inducted in to the SIT from the Gujarat Police. The supervisory officers in the SIT at present are handicapped by their lack of knowledge Gujarati language. To overcome this problem I would strongly recommend the induction of the following officers in to the SIT. 1. Mr.Satish Verma, IPS 1986 2. Mr.Rahul Sharma, IPS 1992 3. Mr.Rajnish Rai, IPS 1992 4. Dr.(Mrs) Neerja Gotru Rao, IPS 1993 and 5. Mr.Hasmukh N. Patel, IPS 1993 For probing points contained in the complaint filed by Mrs Jafri. Any failure by the Indian Judicial system to bring under the clutches of law, the real planners and executioners of anti-minority genocide in 2002 would further energise anti Indian forces internationally and particularly those jihadi groups who have been denigrating the Indian State authorities for their failure to protect the minority community. The Islamic terrorists who had claimed responsibility for explosions and terror acts throughout India since 2002 have declared their dastardly acts as revenge and retribution for Gujarat genocide. These groups will fully capitalise on any situation which will provide immunity from prosecution to the CM, Shri Narendra Modi and his aides and attract frustrated riot victims to their camps to the detriment of our national interest. Praying for expeditious actions on the above suggestions/requests. Yours sincerely, Jaspal Singh IPS (Retd) 4, Green Park, Akota, Vadodara 390020 Telephone: 0265 2332555 Email: jaspalofbaroda at yahoo.com Leave A Comment & Share Your Insights -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Mon Sep 14 10:54:07 2009 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:24:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?b?SmFzaGFu4oCTZeKAk0FtYW4sIGEgRmVzdGl2YWwg?= =?utf-8?q?of_Peace?= Message-ID: <975268.14713.qm@web51402.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Jashan–e–Aman, Festival of Peace Soch, Samajh, Seekh aur Saamna (Thought, Understanding, Learning and Facing) STEP (Standing Together to Enable Peace) cordially invites you to a 2-weeks long festival of peace in Delhi, to be held from September 19th – October 2nd 2009 Inaugural Ceremony 19th September 2009 Please do confirm your Presence RSVP paramjeetbernad at gmail.com - 9811084987 Abhishek.jani at gmail.com – 9899111320 Programmes open for public 19th Sept. VENUE: Nehru Memorial Museum Library, New Delhi 5:30 – 6:00 pm Curtain Raiser Video screening: “Unheard Voices of India” (produced by Saeed Akhtar Mirza, for ActionAid) 6:00 – 6:20 pm Welcome speech: by STEP member 6:20 – 6:50 pm Envision Peace (conversation): Harsh Mander Syeda Hameed 6:50 – 7:15 pm Iftar (breaking of fast) 7:30 – 8:15 pm Recital for Peace Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar 8:30 pm – Session: “The world at My Table” (by invitation) 26th Sept. Nehru Memorial Museum Library, New Delhi Time: 4:00 – 5:00 pm “Us and Them” directed by Katkatha 5:15 – 7:30 pm Screening of the documentary film: “Khayal Darpan” Directed by Yousuf Saeed (Auditorium) In conversation with the director 7: 30 – 9: 45 pm Music for Peace Bands from Various NGOs 27th Sept. Venue: Dwarka Sector 3 Prodyokita Apartment RWA Time: 11:00 -12:30 pm Puppet Show: “Us and Them” Dialogue with: Wasifudin Dagar Movie Screening “Basant” (by Yousuf Saeed) Time: 5:00 – 6:30 pm Workshop: Dialoguing with Diversity – Exploring my Experiences VENUE NMML Time: 6:30 – 7:30pm Play “Reality” Imagining an Urban Eco-system 1st October Venue: Lady Shri Ram College Workshop: Teaching Peace – Educating for 21st Century Time: 11:30 – 3:00 pm JASHN Finale Safdar Hashmi Amphitheatre Jamia Milia Islamia Time: 7:00 – 9:30 pm Sufi music performance from Ajmer, Kashmir and Delhi 2nd October NMML Time3:00 – 5:00 pm Workshop: Youth and Peace 5:00 – 6:00 pm Performance by – Theatre Y 6:00 – 7:00 pm Panel Youth on Peace -envisioning youth movement for change: IYCN, Pravah, Hulchul and Youth Parliament and NAAM 7:00 – 7:15 pm Launching STEP website for Change Festival montage 7:15 – 8:00 pm Being Peace an interactive closing performance by students of Ritinjali Night Idea behind this peace festival: 21st September is celebrated world over as International Peace Day and the 2nd of October the world pays homage to M.K Gandhi by celebrating International Non-Violence Day. Taking these to dates as our starting point for reflection this year we hope to celebrate the journey for building a peaceful society. Join us as we explore what peace means to us? How we can translate it into our daily lives? What values the society needs to promote to create a culture of peace? Where should one begin to build such a society? Through performing arts, discussions, dialogues and workshop we hope that for 12 day the city can reflect, act and enjoy fostering peace. If you have any ideas or wish to contribute towards creating this platform for an engaging exploration, do visit us at www.sttep.co.in. From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 11:44:38 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:44:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Be the Change - Come Alive Event, Oct 2, Bombay or Pune In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Read the mail from NGO Akanksha at http://chandni.posterous.com/be-the-change-come-alive-event-oct-2-bombay-o* Excerpts:* *The Social Leadership Program of the Akanksha Foundation and Teach for India have arranged a special programme to celebrate the 140th birth anniversary of the Mahatma. A unique morning of doing, of meeting others, of discovering ways to come alive for a cause. Let’s all COME ALIVE!*** **Here is how it works: ** *1. **By the 21st of September, choose an activity you are passionate about and sign up for the day... * *3. **Invite activity “experts” to join your group, inform Mansi about them. For example, if you are passionate about art, dance or theatre, an expert dancer, artist or actor. * *6. **Spend the next few hours doing what excites you. Step out of your comfort zone, and interact with people you don’t usually spend time with. Have fun and make it a meaningful experience for everyone.* *7. **End with an hour-long reflection led by your group facilitator.* *How are our leaders at SLP coming alive???* “Playing with colors..That what makes me come alive” – Shirajul “We want to sing to our hearts content and come alive” – Naheeda & Sangeeta “Football...Playing football especially in the rain...that should make me come alive” - Dheeraj “Getting lost in my favorite book..I will come alive “ -Subhangi * * From ravikant at sarai.net Mon Sep 14 13:01:25 2009 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:01:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: My review of Jaswant's Book in Outlook (internet) Message-ID: <200909141301.25518.ravikant@sarai.net> Seriously funny! Enjoy. ravikant ---------- आगे भेजे गए संदेश ---------- Subject: My review of Jaswant's Book in Outlook (internet) Date: रविवार 13 सितम्बर 2009 11:30 From: C M Naim Controversy: Psuedo-Scholarship Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Jinnah has nothing new to offer, except some rare photographs. It is significant only because it rudely and perhaps unexpectedly exposed the tussles within the top ranks of the BJP leadership. C.M. Naim Jinnah: India—Partition—Independence By By Jaswant Singh Rupa | 688 pages | Rs 695 With due apology to every Pathan in the world, I must start with a "Pathan" joke. A Pathan came down into the plains to visit with a friend. The friend treated him to qalaqand. The Pathan loved the chunky, grey-white sweet so much that the next day he went looking for it in the market. Unfortunately he couldn’t remember the name, and so when he saw a man selling what looked like qalaqand, he pointed to it and bought some. As he started eating he found himself in terrible agony, for what he had bought was home-made soap. Seeing his anguished look and the foam trickling out of his mouth, a man asked, “What’s the matter, Khan? What are you eating?” Gasping for breath, the Pathan retorted, “What do you think? Khan is eating his money.”  That describes my experience with Jaswant Singh’s tome Jinnah: India – Partition – Independence (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2009). I spent 695 good rupees and therefore felt I had to get my money’s worth. However, after a couple of attempts to read the book serially, I decided to cut my losses. I began to read the book in patches—50 pages here, 10 pages there, often letting the book fall open and then reading whatever fate dictated. I feel no shame in saying that the responses I offer below are based only on a partial reading, and resolutely subjective.   My first response: it is an embarrassing book to read. I felt foolish when I found myself trudging through such awful expository prose as this:  “The League had claimed that it was the true upholder of Islam’s ideological authenticity; also of representing a substantive Muslim consensus, therefore, it demanded, rather presupposed, just a single Muslim medium – and asserting its identity as a different conceptual ‘nation’, claimed a separate land for itself which is why this agonizing question continues to grate against our sensibilities: ‘Separate’ from what?” Yes, it actually is a single sentence on page 5. As is this on page 50: “By this time Jinnah had been a Congressman of the Pherozeshah Mehta group, (the moderate group of the Congress, which amongst others included Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and their group included Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lal (sic) Lajpat Rai, and also, secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji who was presiding over the Calcutta Congress.” Things don’t improve as the book progresses. Here is one gem of a sentence from page 479: “For one, such an assertion—[Muslims are a separate nation]—though entirely illogical, is fundamentally of an insatiable nature, it will always remain so, forever, as it never can be quenched being born of a peculiar Indian phenomenon ‘minoritism’, endlessly it will continue to give birth to more destructive minoritism, being politically contagious for, Pakistan is doubtless Muslim, but ‘theocentrically’, it is not a ‘theocratic’ state, indeed there is no such state other (sic) perhaps than the Vatican, but then who, other than Gandhi and a few others was to advise caution as we rushed headlong (and unheeding!) down this destructive path.” While I prefer simplicity and lucidity in any expository prose I’m made to read, I readily confess to being a pedant when it comes to scholarly books. I expect them to fully employ standard scholarly tools and methods—in particular when quoting from other sources. For that reason I took particular interest in the book’s footnotes and endnotes, and checked the quotations included in the main text as well as elsewhere. The exercise was revealing. Mr. Singh’s research assistants apparently felt no hesitation in borrowing verbatim from other people’s writings and then presenting it to him as their own. Mr. Singh, subsequently, compounded the “lapse” by letting everything appear as the fruit of his own labours. I wrote on this matter in the Indian Express of September 1, 2009 and would like to share the relevant portions here: 1. On pages 481–2, there is a long (19 lines), erudite note on the Canadian scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Besides being totally irrelevant, it is a verbatim copy of a note available on the web. The site belongs to the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Alabama; the note is authored by its Department of Religious Studies. 2. On page 588, the long (34 lines), equally erudite note on Benedict Anderson and his book, Imagined Communities, is a meticulous copy of what is available on the web from The Nationalism Project. 3. Page 623 contains a note (20 lines) on the Muddiman Committee. It is copied word for word from the Banglapedia, prepared by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.  The note is duplicated on page 630, unnoticed by the publishers. 4. On page 633, the author includes a note on Ramsay Macdonald; it runs to 25 lines, faithfully copied from “British Friends of India,” offered on the web by the Indian National Congress. 5. On pages 634–35, the author has presented a long note on A. K. Fazlul Haq. Its 38 lines were originally written by someone for the Story of Pakistan project. I reiterate: none of the above carries any indication that it was not authored by Mr. Jaswant Singh or his research team. I stopped after five searches, but I’m confident that more searches of the kind I did, using key words or sentences, will turn up many more such examples. The main text itself is full of similar lapses. Any number of quotations is utilized, but their sources are not indicated in any manner. Six lines are quoted from Al-Biruni’s book on page 16, but no reference is given. On pages 21 and 22, the author quotes from the trial record of Emperor Bahadur Shah, but fails to tell us where he found it. On page 47, Mr. Singh mentions a Syed Mohammed Zauqi and a letter he allegedly wrote to Jinnah in 1943. Mr. Singh writes, “In this (sic) a rather detailed, but retrospective account is given of the origins of the Simla Deputation and the formation of the Muslim League. This is placed in the Appendix, for interest (sic) though its authenticity cannot be vouchsafed.” The appendix runs from page 526 to page 530. Neither the Appendix nor the main text mentions Mr. Singh’s source or the reason why its authenticity cannot be vouchsafed. I’m willing to allow that Mr. Singh or his publisher might not find anything embarrassing in such silly passages as the following: “[M.R.A. Baig] fell out with Jinnah over the Lahore Resolution which he felt to be communal. He, then become (sic) Jinnah’s secretary…” (p. 275) “Suddenly, Burma (now Myanmar) was now vulnerable, as was Rangoon, and then was it to be India?” (p. 291) Most people, however, would find it worse than embarrassing having to read a text so irresponsibly prepared. And yet the same is touted as scholarship that allegedly required five years of writing, re-writing, checking, and cross checking (p. xiii).   My second response to the book is to call it unneeded and irrelevant. It has nothing new to offer, except some rare photographs. If one is interested in Jinnah as a person, Stanley Wolpert (Jinnah of Pakistan) is presently our best guide. On the final years of Jinnah’s political life in undivided India, Ayesha Jalal (The Sole Spokesman) cannot be bettered. If one is more narrowly focused and wants to know how things went wrong in 1946, Abul Kalam Azad (India Wins Freedom) tells it all quite succinctly. For readable polemics, one can turn to Ram Manohar Lohia (Guilty Men of India’s Partition). As for finding a meticulously argued and documented single book on why the partition of India came about and who must take on what share of responsibility for it, one cannot find a better guide than H. M. Seervai (Partition of India: Legend and Reality). Then there are any number of review essays by that man of amazing memory and erudition, A. G. Noorani, that have appeared over the years in Frontline and elsewhere. Mr. Singh believes in an eternal unitary India that just happens to have the same territorial boundaries as the areas of the subcontinent over which the British held sovereignty in 1947, including Andaman Islands, Leh and Ladakh, Sikkim, and Baluchistan. He also believes that the main causes of the Partition were something called the “minority syndrome” of the Muslims and the obduracy of a man named Jawaharlal Nehru. These are good beliefs to hold for a self-defined “political figure,” but they amount to nothing more.  In his opening remarks (“Acknowledgments”), Mr. Singh states that on a flight back from Pakistan he was struck by the thought “there existed no biography of Jinnah written by a political figure from India. It was then that I decided to fill the gap…. (p. xiii)”  The logic is peculiar. His reason is not that he was personally fascinated by Jinnah and wished to write a personal account of his life, nor is it that a good biography of Jinnah did not presently exist. He simply believes that some Indian “political figure” should have written Jinnah’s biography, and since none did he must fill the gap. I’m open to correction, but no Indian “political figure” as understood by Mr. Singh has yet written a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru or Vallabhbhai Patel. Does he intend to fill those gaps too? Next, in the Introduction, Mr. Singh poses his big question: “Why was this ancient entity [i.e. India] broken: Why? (p. 10)” Then he adds:  “… unless we ourselves almost live in that period, and breathe those contentions—[I don’t know how one breathes contentions.]—join in the great debates of those years as participants…not merely be ex post-facto narrators of events, or commentators upon past happenings—[I have no idea how one can avoid commenting upon past happenings while writing about the Partition.]—unless we do this very minimum we will fail to capture the passions of those times. (p. 11)” I’m afraid his utterly drab, often turgid and frequently rambling narration fails to capture any passion of those times. How could it, when it is entirely focused on the so-called big events and big names? Much worse, in my view, is the absence of any sign of introspection, any attempt to relate what he might believe to be the passions of those long ago years to his own growth as a “political figure.” A more personal book would have been much shorter and of genuine interest than this depressing attempt at pseudo-scholarship. My third and final response is to acknowledge that it is a significant book, but the significance, in my view, lies merely in its being a political epiphenomenon. It rudely and perhaps unexpectedly exposed the tussles within the top ranks of the BJP leadership. It became a handy tool for many of them to get rid of Mr. Singh. What was personal animus could now conveniently be turned into ideological difference. No history of the BJP will now be written without mentioning this book and what it immediately brought about: the expulsion of its author from the BJP. Needless to say, the expulsion, as explained to the public, was baseless. The leopard has not changed its spots. Mr Advani's former aide Sudheendra Kulkarni has correctly written: “Anyone who reads the entire book with an unprejudiced mind will conclude that the charge that he went against the BJP’s ‘core ideology’ is bunkum… Actually, it adds ballast to many of the underpinnings of the party’s nationalist ideology: its total rejection of the Two-Nation theory, its rejection of ‘minoritism’, its concept of genuine secularism.” Of course, Kulkarni does not mention that the book, while rejecting the so-called “Two-Nation” theory fails to make any mention of V. D. Savarkar, who as staunchly believed in it as Jinnah, and did so prior to the latter’s conversion to it. [1]  An introspective Jaswant Singh would have spent some time pondering over the possible reasons why Savarkar and Jinnah shared that theory. That would have been a new and valuable contribution. Mani Shankar Aiyar has pointed out this matter forcefully in a recent review article in Outlook. He writes, “. . . at Nagpur on August 15, 1943— . . . exactly four years before Independence Day —Savarkar enthusiastically endorsed Jinnah’s claim to Two Nations. Savarkar’s views spawned Hedgewar, Golwalkar and the RSS, and animated the Hindu Mahasabha (besides eventually giving us first the Jan Sangh and now the Bharatiya Janata Party). Here lie the Hindu origins of Partition. . . Clearly, Jaswant Singh the scholar embarrasses Jaswant Singh, lately of the BJP!” Aiyar has also put his finger on what seems to be the single most powerful drive behind the book, a disdain verging on hatred for Jawaharlal Nehru. If that was deliberate—a ploy to diminish even further the mild critique of Vallabhbhai Patel—it sadly failed to save Mr. Singh’s fate in the BJP. On the other hand, given the role that the RSS and its chief, Mohanrao Bhagwat, play in dictating the choices in the party’s leadership, his fate in the BJP may not be quite sealed. Mr. Bhagwat might have condemned the book but his condemnation was more likely to tell Mr. Advani to make a graceful exit while he still had a chance. The loudest and most persistent criticism of the book has come from those whose own leadership positions are in serious jeopardy, perople like Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj. They were prominently not invited to the latest conclave organized by the RSS, as reported in today’s papers, but their critic, Arun Shourie, was. I also find it significant that Murli Manohar Joshi and Atal Behari Vajpeyi have abstained from condemning the book and its author. I, for one, can imagine a future BJP to which Mr. Jaswant Singh would be of more relevance and acceptance than is evident presently. I am, however, not similarly sanguine about the fate of Mr. Singh’s book in Pakistan. Sure, just as he has been a hit with the ‘chatterati’ of Delhi so will he be—as he is now—with the English language chatterati in Karachi and Islamabad when a Pakistani edition comes out or the Indian edition becomes widely available. But I won’t be surprised if a demand soon enough rises in the Urdu press to have the book banned—for it questions the concept of Pakistan and the motives of its founder. After all, there is a law on the books in Pakistan against any such “blasphemy.” And many prominent Urdu journalists might be expected to retort to Mr. Singh: “Nonsense. Pakistan became inevitable the day Muhammad bin Qasim landed at Dabul.” “Iqbal offered the vision of Pakistan and the Quaid transformed it into reality,” that is the founding myth of Pakistan; it cannot accommodate the possibility that Jinnah could have abandoned that vision in 1946. “Congress was intransigent,” many in Pakistan would gladly concede, but, disregarding the contradiction, the same will also assert in the same breath: “Pakistan was inevitable.” Some perceptive Pakistani commentators have already noted this problem. In the Daily Times of August 24, Ejaz Haider concluded his column on the book (“Jaswant’s Art of the Impossible”) by asking: “So, what are we going to do? Praise him for implying that India played a bad hand in East Pakistan and chide him for implying that Kashmir’s boundaries should not be redrawn? Praise him for placing Mr Jinnah on a higher pedestal that Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel and reject his contention that partition was bad and didn’t solve anything?” Compare it to what Muhammad Tahir wrote (“Mughalte” “False Conclusions”) on September 2 in the Nawa-i-Waqt: “The Brahmin mind in India, by presenting Quaid-i-Azam as a ‘secular’ leader desires to remove the permanent existence of Pakistan from the sacred security of the Two Nation theory. The latter is inviolably linked with the existence of Muslims. Its purpose is not to oppress or defeat some other nation but only to bring about the total fulfillment of the religious, historical, and cultural needs of the Muslims…. [The Quaid’s acceptance of the Mission plan in 1946] “was the last nail he hammered into the coffin of the permanent overlordship of the Hindus and partisanship of the British. He knew what to expect [from both]. The separate state for the Muslims was a consequence of his independent will; it is wrong to thing it was a result of his disappointment.” No, I am afraid, the reception in Pakistan may not turn out to be exactly what Mr. Singh’s Pakistani friends seem to anticipate C.M. Naim is Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago [1] I’m not claiming that Savarkar was the first person. “Who was first?” is not the issue, unless one believes that Savarkar had no mind of his own and only “reacted” to what others wrote. As for those who mention Sir Syed and Iqbal with reference to the “Two Nation” theory, they fail to note that Sir Syed, when using the word qaum, did not mean a “nation-state”; for him the Muslims were a separate qaum, but then they too consisted of several separate qaums. Iqbal indeed talked in terms of nation-states, but it should be noted that in 1930 he did not include Bengali Muslims in his scheme. His vision of “a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim state” was not the same as the “separate states” of the Lahore Resolution of 1940. Please see my 1979 essay Iqbal, Jinnah, and Pakistan: The Vision and the Reality http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261816 ------------------------------------------------------- From c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 13:04:02 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:04:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Coeternal 9/11 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <341380d00909140034g15913e0fse5ef808d17959a3f@mail.gmail.com> Dear Santosh, Enjoyed reading your piece. "Enjoyed" because I feel you have described 9/11 just like this event which changed the world in the ways I would have thought in my comic book dream with the international syndicate of "heroes" called the Justice League. It was fun reading about these "fine" heroes and their exploits. Even exciting was how large scale "global" disasters struck the world while these super heroes were in their full bloom. At times, I would wonder if these super heroes had some kind of a tacit understanding with the destiny (personified), who would sent these "enemies" of the mankind in to the earth through time warps. Later, they became boring just like their adventures and also the anti-heroes. A friend once told me that the justice league started getting state support, that's why the plots in the later comics were lame. I also wonder if we see the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the same light as 9/11? -regards Anupam On 9/13/09, santhosh hk wrote: > > How will 9/11 go down in history? Will it be registered as a postmodern > crusade between America and Islamic powers? (In one of the commemoratory > albums doing rounds on Youtube, the wreckage of the erstwhile WTO buildings > look like a garlanded cross). Or as the first edition of battles in the > post > coldwar era where frontiers are blurred and immaterial? Or as a watershed > in > the American centered discursive formations of power? Will posterity hail > it > as the herald of a new anti-imperial struggle? Or will it remain a gruesome > reminder of the incidence and intensity of terrorism? A memorial to the > world with strata percolated with venom? For an event that unveiled and > demonstrated, in no unclear terms, the intricate intermingling of politics, > religion and economics, future interpretations come dime a dozen. > > > > Whatever be the future of that fateful day, it seems indisputable that 9/11 > has already transcended and crucibled different opinions and entrenched > itself as an eloquent and immortal billboard of the Transnational. It was > a > mental global village that the twin towers tumbled into, not a space with > spatial and temporal constraints. This precisely is why any question as to > the nationality of the deceased—including that of the nine > “terrorists”—becomes irrelevant, if not irreverent. People were panicking > not over the collapse of a skyscraper in a far off land but in the very > next > street. The premature demise of a building in the strongest nation on the > earth was emblematic of the strongest incentive that prods the current > world--trade. What could be better than fall of the World Trade Center > then! > > > > > In the aftermath of the death of the towers, there emanated from the U.S. > itself a few arguments that questioned the veracity of the bugbear of > Islamic terrorism. In fact there were quite a good number of > well-researched > articles and features that sought to show the extent to which the federal > government colluded and connived in orchestrating the heinous act, with the > intention of bringing about political-religious consolidation. Revealingly, > none of them gained currency outside the country. The offbeat responses > that > refused to swallow theories stuffed with “conventional wisdom” were largely > shrugged off or played down altogether overseas (India was brilliant > here!). > Even the celebrity status of Noam Chomsky would not suffice to drill the > shell of belief in official American explanations!! Chomsky *is *correct in > linguistics, *maybe *so in other issues, but not here!! Why? The theory and > praxis of the battle waged by the U.S. and its allies are not bounded to, > located in or controlled by the physical/geographical space of any nation > but takes place in a mental domain marked out by a strong sense of > internationalism. We just don’t care about and think in terms of the bright > cartographical contours but would rather get into the shoes of an > international warrior. It is only after 9/11 that the term ‘terrorist’ (the > terrorist of one nation is the patriot of the other, you know) assumes > international signifying potential and terrorism becomes a meticulously > planned activity, masterminded by a highly centralized, exclusive and > esoteric coterie headquartered somewhere in the Middle East. There are > explosions and suicide attacks anywhere; but if you look through the > magnifying glass of Sherlock Holmes, you can’t miss the common hologram > ‘Made in Iraq.’ (Just like products for the world market are owned by > American firms, designed in India and manufactured in China!!!). The same > period witnesses certain names, sartorial habits and appearances become > objects of fear and suspicion in milling international airports and > bustling > railway terminals. If Hollywood heroes flexed their muscles and > single-handedly annihilated creepy extra terrestrials in the preceding > decades, the currents ones fight against terrorism—come hell or high > water—and keep the country intact. Not to be outdone, Bollywood has fared > better by interspersing cinematic texts with tall, bearded terrorists > swaggering in and out or waiting with the patience of a python in the quest > to grind Shining India into pieces. > > To be sure, the shockwaves sent out by 9/11 have not been lost in art and > literature either. Arguably, nothing betrays the traces of the new > international conscience and its multiple manifestations more > emphatically than > the film *11'09"01 September 11* (2002). What weaves these short visuals, > triggered by the panic of the event, into a coherent whole is a host of > universal concerns, fears and anxieties. The not-so-good individual > narratives by directors like Samira > Makhmalbaf, > Mira Nair , Claude > Lelouchand Youssef > Chahine have nothing in > themselves to stake the claim of a movie. > > > Wait a minute. Stop and look inward. See how the blog universe swells by > the minute. Is it such a long a shot to say 9/11 has catalyzed the growth > of > a universal writer/reader community, wrenched from local colors, cultural > ethos and personal concerns clubbed with the urge for self expression? Is > an > Indian, for that matter any national, crouching behind an IP address an > Indian in the traditional sense of the word? He is in a fluffy virtual > space > that could be literally *everywhere. *Still better to say he is a fluffy > space impossible to locate and penetrate. > > hk santhosh > pk sreekumar > > * * > http://hksanthosh.blogspot.com > http://youreemember.blogspot.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Sep 14 13:48:38 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:48:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A nocturnal roof-top conversation Message-ID: dear All. In the latest issue of GurgoanworkersNews i found this conversation very illuminating. For more see http://gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com warmly jeebesh *** A nocturnal roof-top conversation: Skilled textile workers talk about changes in technology and work-organisation undermining their power - Kapas Hera, a former village in Gurgaon in walking distance to the huge industrial area Udyog Vihar Phase 1, now home of many factory workers. A roof-top. In the house below live 400 factory workers, three to four share a room, the rent is about 1,000 Rs. The rooms have no windows, so many people decide to sleep on the roof. People sit in circles and talk, some sleep, some arrive late from work. In our circle sit four friends aged between 19 and 55, all skilled tailors, working in different companies in Gurgaon. They tell us about their experiences. “I come from Bihar, I arrived in Delhi in the early 1970s, since then I work as a tailor. Most of these years I worked for ‘fabricators’, in small unofficial workshops, like you still find them, for example, in Hauz Rani (see newsletter no.7). The work-atmosphere in these workshops was much different from the atmosphere in the factories now. We basically all lived in the workshop – so we also did not have to pay rent. We would cook and eat and work and sleep there together. The working-time was not that fixed. Today you are sent back home from the factory gate or your half-day’s wage get cut when you arrive one minute late at work – even when you are on piece rate work. In the workshops you would have your breakfast and bath and start working when you like. You are on piece-rate, so you are master over your time. You can take a break in the evening and go to the cinema, if you like. You might then work till 3 am and sleep in”. “I arrived in Delhi in the late 1970s, but then I decided to move to Nepal in the 1980s, I worked in textile factories there for about ten years. Then the political turmoil caused a lot of factories to close down. I moved back to Delhi, then to Gurgaon. My friends told me to come with them to Madras, they say that you can earn 8,000 Rs as a tailor there, but I don’t want to move again. In Madras people don’t speak Hindi, and it’s far away again. But even Manesar, which is only 20 or 25 km away seems like too far. Maybe not because of the distance, but because the factories are new there and there are even less facilities for workers. Here you find a room quickly, you know some people, the drinking water is ok. In Manesar I heard that you are not safe, that people get robbed and so on”. “I then worked in factories in Okhla, that was in the 1990s. There people would not have that time and space like in the ‘fabricators’ workshops. They live in rented rooms nearby, you have to arrive at the factory in time, take your breaks in time. We then still worked ‘full- piece’, meaning that one tailor would sew the whole piece. We started hearing about ‘chain-systems’ in the late 1990s, but this system was not implemented in the factories in Okhla. It was only when I came to Gurgaon Udyog Vihar in 1998 when I actually worked in ‘chain-system’ for the first time. Now there might be 400-500-600 textile factories in Udyog Vihar Phase 1, in 1998 there were two or three, like Gopal Clothing or Fashion Express. Then a lot of factories moved from Delhi to Gurgaon. I worked at Modelama as a permanent worker for quite some time. During that time, from 1998 to 2001, the chain-system’ became dominant in all factories. Now 20 to 25 tailors work on one piece. They might still be on piece rate, but they would just do the collars, just do the pockets and so on. The piece-rate for the whole piece came down a lot. Less people are necessary due to the increase in productivity. In 1998 I earned something like 2,200 Rs, now I earn around 4,000 Rs. A cup of tea in 1998 was 1 Rs, now it is 3 Rs, even 4 Rs. Another difference between ‘full-piece’ and ‘chain-system’ is the fact that you don’t need that much experience. Nowadays you find dozens of schools in Kapas Hera and the surrounding areas, where you pay 700 Rs for a week’s course in tailoring. After that you can work in the ‘chain system’. It takes much longer – a year or longer – to become a proper tailor”. “And it is not only the ‘chain-system’ that puts pressure on people. Together with this system more and more tasks are done by computer controlled machines, like cutting and embroidery. Nowadays you have even thread cutting machines, which replace all the women who used to do this ‘unskilled’ work. If you want to work as a full-piece tailor you have to try to get a job in the sampling departments, this is where the first pieces are made which are then mass-produced in the production departments. Or you have to go back to the ‘fabricator’ workshops, but there the rates are low. I just quit a job at Orient Leather after only 18 days. It is a huge factory, around 1,000 workers, but the offered rates were just too bad”. *** The daily railway bad trip to work - For six years I have been commuting between Faridabad and Delhi every day. Stampedes and huge crowds, jumping onto moving EMUs (commuter trains), hanging outside of the train carriers… In these years I have seen many accidents. On Friday, 29th of May 2009, a student crashed his head against a signal shortly after the train left Ballabhgarh station. His friends and me dragged the student inside the carrier. His head was bleeding and he was unconscious. We immediately informed the railway police at Old Faridabad Station. But when we arrived at the station there was no police on the platform. We lifted the student off the train and the train left. At this point he was alive. In the station there is no ambulance, no doctor, no First Aid. We waited next to the injured for ten minutes, then some railway staff arrived. He was still bleeding… While for us the whole situation was very unsettling, for them everything seemed rather like business as usual. The railway police guy was rude. They put the injured onto a stretcher and carried him outside the station. In a hired auto-rickshaw the student were brought to a hospital. The atmosphere in the hospital was extremely harsh… The student later died. Deaths on the tracks and deaths in order to build them: on 12th of July 2009 several construction worker – exploited to build the Delhi Metro line – died, crushed by a huge steel part. The accident only made it into the news because the steel part also crushed the main water lines of the area. At least two more fatal accidents on the Metro site had happened by end of July. From amit.mahanti at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 17:23:04 2009 From: amit.mahanti at gmail.com (Amit Mahanti) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:23:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Screening of our film at FTII, Pune Message-ID: <852cf9500909140453l5a42ba5dg56e41a00f153dac6@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, Our film, *ML 05 B 6055*, is being screened at the Persistence/Resistance film festival, Film & Televison Institute of India, Pune on the 15th of September. Please catch it if you can. Synopsis- *ML 05 B 6055* documents the journey of a bazaar bus between the village of Mawjatap in the East Khasi Hills and Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. The film is an assemblage of images and extracts from conversations around the bus with various people. It depicts the intricate linkage that exists between the bus and rural life and livelihoods in Meghalaya and tries to highlight the dependence that people have on the bus in all aspects of their lives. *ML 05 B 6055* is, in a sense, a biographical portrait of a bus – how a wooden bus is made, its functionality, systems that exist around it and the associations and attachment that people have for their bus. Venue: Preview Theatre, FTII, Pune Date/Time: 15th Sep./ 2.15 pm For detailed schedule - http://www.magiclanternfoundation.org/Events/pr09_ftii/pr09_ftii.html Warm Regards Frame Works Frame Works Research & Media Collective adopts interdisciplinary practices to explore development issues and social processes. They use varied research techniques and media forms in their work –from ethnography and documentary film to public art and community media. Frame Works comprises Ruchika Negi, Subhashim Goswami and Amit Mahanti. frameworks.collective at gmail.com From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Mon Sep 14 19:34:39 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:04:39 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Pakistan started war with India in 1965: Durrani Message-ID: <688590.27120.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Monday, September 14, 2009   "Pakistan started war with India in 1965: Durrani"   * Nothing achieved from Indo-Pak wars Daily Times Monitor LAHORE: Former national security adviser Mahmood Ali Durrani has said that the Indian Army crossed the international border to launch full-fledged war against Pakistan in 1965 because “low-level skirmishes were started from this side”. “We started the intrusions on the borders, and I think we should think about the Indian response at that time,” said Durrani while talking to Daily Times Editor-in-Chief Najam Sethi on his Dunya News programme on Sunday. He said the high-level military command was not involved in “a strategy to disturb India”, but politicians knew about what was happening along the border. He said then foreign affairs minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also had no idea that India would cross the international border. Durrani said he had participated in two wars, and “I now think Pakistan did not achieve anything from these wars”. “We should extend [a hand of] friendship towards India, and start peace talks to settle disputes,” he said. Durrani said former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had arranged negotiations between Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto. He said he was “very sad” over Benazir’s assassination in Rawalpindi. Durrani said he accepted President Asif Ali Zardari’s invitation to join his government as the national security adviser after taking Musharraf into confidence. He said he had floated an idea in India that the neighbours should soften their visa regimes, but the Indians had some “security-related reservations”. Durrani, also a former ambassador to the US, said there had only been speculation about Israeli and Indian involvement in Ziaul Haq’s plane crash. He also rejected the statement by former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan that the presidential plane was blown up in the air. He said Zia’s plane was destroyed while landing.   http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C14%5Cstory_14-9-2009_pg7_25     From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Mon Sep 14 19:42:09 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:12:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "Is India really a big nation, which behaves small?" Message-ID: <414639.27937.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "Is India really a big nation, which behaves small?"   By Jawed Naqvi Monday, 14 Sep, 2009   Gen Hossain Mohammed Ershad, the first host of Saarc in 1985, said bluntly in a TV documentary sponsored by India’s foreign ministry that one of the main reasons for creating the grouping was that India’s smaller neighbours were ‘allergic’ to the big neighbour. ‘So we decided to bring everyone together to deal with the problem.’ Former US Senator and ex-ambassador to New Delhi Daniel Patrick Moynihan proclaimed that India is a big country, which behaves small.   The perceived smallness by foreigners is just as palpable at home. The exultation in the media over successfully getting the senior and the junior foreign ministers thrown out from their five-star hotel accommodations in Delhi reveals a mindset that goes with the description that perhaps bothered Moynihan. The eviction of two prominent ministers on the grounds that five-star luxury does not go with the drought and famine-like crisis being faced by millions of impoverished Indians is spurious, if also misleading.   It may have given the government a reason to gloat and win brownie points over some fictitious idealism but it serves no other purpose. It is of course just as foolish to force senior officials and ministers to travel economy class. The assumption behind the story is wrong. Suppose the ministers had been awarded some sprawling colonial-style bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi, which they are entitled to, instead of being crammed in hotel rooms, would it make them ostentatious? Such reports help newspapers and TV channels escape their responsibility of throwing light on years of neo-con policies that have led to farmers’ suicides and boundless misery for so many Indians.   Tokenism was ok with someone of the stature of Gandhi, but in the current context such news reports are tantamount to what we know as the dumbing down of news. Gandhiji used to drink goat’s milk, which made him look something of an impoverished fakir. But that couldn’t stop Sarojini Naidu from chuckling to Gandhi: ‘Bapu, it costs us a fortune to keep you poor.’ Gandhi probably smiled back good-naturedly.   Some of the smallness is the handiwork of the media, with or without the assistance of their official minders in the business and intelligence communities. You should read just four English newspapers in Delhi to be abreast of the official or quasi-official line towards countries lying in the four directions from India, each exuding petty concerns rather than a visionary policy. One newspaper gives me all the anti-China propaganda that the dirty tricks department of the concerned agencies would want to expose us to. Another gives me the official pro-Sinhalese line on Sri Lanka. It also is nicely loaded with official dope on Kashmir and Pakistan. I read a third paper which never tires of canvassing for closer ties with Israel and the United States, in that order, together with a relentless campaign to privatise everything in sight. A fourth newspaper from Kolkata can give you insights into the complex affairs vis-à-vis Bangladesh and with India’s remote northeastern states, and all the way to Myanmar.   I have yet to come across a serious, objective discussion in any of the newspapers why India’s neighbours are allergic to it. Instead of blaming Pakistan’s ISI sleuths who probably play a hand whenever they find an opening in determining or undermining India’s ties with its neighbours, would it not be useful for Indian intellectuals and analysts to have a meaningful discussion as to why India’s RAW or IB are unable to neutralise the damage? India helped create Bangladesh out of Pakistan, but Dhaka today has better ties with Islamabad than with New Delhi. Is it because of ISI alone? Buddhist Sri Lanka, Hindu Nepal, they all seem to have better ties with Pakistan than with India. Shouldn’t there be a commission of inquiry set up by India to investigate the lapses by its ministers, officials and sleuths that have brought the country to a pass that bewildered Moynihan?   There are reports of rockets being fired the other day from Pakistan’s side of the international border in the Attari border region. This a serious incident not the least because it involves two nuclear-armed neighbours. It was however the very last paragraph of the report in The Hindu that suggested the incident could be the handiwork of ‘non-state players’. The matter was hopefully sorted out in the meeting the Pakistan Rangers and India’s BSF point persons held at the Wagah checkpost. A less sensational way to report the same incident would be to say upfront that the rockets were feared to have been fired by militants who are probably just as hostile towards the government in Pakistan. That would be the large-hearted and probably a truer way to treat a serious-looking incident at the border. What were the militants trying to do and what can the two countries do to not fall into heir trap?   In this regard it was heartening to read a piece by a former Indian intelligence chief, advising Indian journalists against sensationalising news of China’s threat to India. In his analysis of recent media focus on an imagined issue (which was evidently so outrageous that it was denied by the Indian foreign minister) B. Raman has discussed why the Chinese military is unhappy with the Indian media’s shrill anti-China rhetoric and why it could hurt both countries’ interests.   Raman quoted a report titled ‘China Refutes Trespass Claims’ carried on September 10 in The Global Times, the English-language daily published by the Communist Party-owned People’s Daily group.   Chinese non-governmental analysts have also been critical of the way sections of the Indian media sensationalised an incident involving the temporary detention of a plane of the UAE air force at Kolkata earlier this week for not correctly declaring that it was carrying a consignment of arms and ammunition and ‘combat missiles’ to China.   According to them, these arms and ammunition and missiles, which were manufactured in China, had been sent to Abu Dhabi for displaying in an international exhibition of military equipment and were being taken back to China after the exhibition was over. These analysts have expressed surprise over the manner in which the whole issue was sought to be sensationalised by sections of the Indian media as if it was a sinister development.   Raman says that while it was important for the media to report instances of alleged Chinese troop intrusions into Indian territory, they ought to take care not to create an anti-China frenzy, which may get out of control. ‘One was disturbed by the way a national television channel played up in a jingoistic manner the incident in the Ladakh sector in which a Chinese patrol is alleged to have intruded into Indian territory and painted China on a stone.’   Two acknowledged experts on China, who have an excellent knowledge of the Chinese language, appeared on the programme – a reputed academic of Delhi and a retired China expert of the Government of India. One would have expected the anchor to ask them to translate for the viewers what was written on the stone and to comment on the implications of it.   ‘If he had done it, the entire jingoistic programme might have ended in a fizzle. He did not do so. Instead, most of the time, the viewers were subjected to an anti-China harangue by a retired army officer. I myself do not know Chinese, but I am told by those who know the language that what was written on the stone was ‘Middle Yellow River’. It could also be translated as central Yellow River.’ Moynihan’s words were not said with malice but with affection for India. Which hotel the ministers should sleep in or what class they should fly is of little consequence to the real issues the India media, the government and the sleuths need to handle with zealous care.   jawednaqvi at gmail.com From c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 20:04:13 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:04:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'The Gujarat police are in denial about post-Godhra riots' Message-ID: <341380d00909140734n2cb025afn4e663f4deac450b1@mail.gmail.com> After spending five years in the high-security Sabarmati jail in Gujarat, Maulana Mohammed Naseeruddin was granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 4. He was arrested by the Gujarat police in October 21, 2004 and booked under the Prevention Of Terrorism Act for allegedly having links with Pakistan-based terror groups. Later, he was accused of plotting the murder of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya. EXCERPTS from an interview*: * ** Could you share some of the interactions you had with the Gujarat police while you were in their custody? The Gujarat police were in complete denial of any violence in Gujarat post the Godhra riots. They kept telling me there was no problem between the Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat and each community was living in harmony. They kept saying I was unnecessarily provoking the youth across the country on the basis of the Gujarat riots. They tried so hard to convince me that everything was always peaceful. On one occasion, while I was being taken to court, the police stopped the jeep near a bazaar. The inspector told me to take a look at a nearby building. He said, 'See, this building belongs to a Hindu, but all the tenants are Muslims. Look at the environment here, will you still claim that injustice is being meted out to Muslims in Gujarat?' I did not say anything to the police at that time. But you tell me, was I wrong in raising my voice? Do you really expect me to believe that everything was peaceful in Gujarat? Were you tortured by the Gujarat police? No, they did not torture me either physically or mentally. I won't accuse them of things that they have not done. More: http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/sep/14/gujarat-police-are-in-denial-about-post-godhra-riots.htm -regards Anupam From indersalim at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 22:09:42 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:09:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: HUSAIN AT 94- Saalgirah Mubarak, 11 am, September 17th 2009 at Husain Gallery, Jamia Millia Islamia In-Reply-To: <396414.12323.qm@web34205.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <396414.12323.qm@web34205.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909140939x4af830bey7f9729e53943c00f@mail.gmail.com> SAHMAT 29, Feroze Shah Road,New Delhi-110001 Telephone- 23381276/ 23070787 e-mail-sahmat@ vsnl.com 14.9.2009 FOR HUSAIN AT 94 Saalgirah Mubarak, September 17th 2009 SAHMAT, The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, in association with the Outreach Programme of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi is pleased to invite you to a special event - FOR HUSAIN AT 94 – celebrating the 94th birthday of artist MF Husain, at the MF Husain Gallery at Jamia Milia Islamia. An exhibition of over 100 artworks which have been made as a gift for Husain by both eminent and emerging artists and art students will open that morning at 11 am. Through the day, we will screen his movies: Gajagamini, (2000),  with Madhuri Dixit, Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities, (2004), with Tabu, and Through the Eyes of a Painter, (1966) – which won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. The filmmaker and critic K Bikram Singh will deliver a lecture on the work of Husain based on his large new book on the painter. The Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Najeeb Jung, will release the book, For Husain at 94, which is the tribute gift to Husain from artists. The evening will end with an Iftar outside the gallery. This exhibition and book is both a tribute and a celebration of the work and life of Husain from artists and a reminder to Husain that inspite of attempts to denigrate his art and his forced exile, the creative community holds him in the highest regard. Please do join us. Programme: September 17th, 2009, Thursday Exhibit opens at 11 am. Gajagamini screens at 11.30 am Meenaxi screens at 2.30 pm Through the Eyes of a Painter screens at 4.15 pm Husain at 94, book release by VC Janab Najeeb Jung at 4.50 pm Lecture by K Bikram Singh at 5 pm Iftar at 6.20 pm The Exhibition runs from September 17th till September 24th, 11 am – 6 pm List of artists follows: Ajay Desai, Aji V.N.,Akash Gaur,Alex Mathew,Alexis Kersey,Amitava Das,Anjolie Ela Menon,Anju Dodiya,Anjum Singh,Archana Hande,Arpana Caur, Arpita Singh, Arun Kumar H.G.,Ashim Ghosh,Atul Dodiya,Aurogeeta Das,Bari Kumar,Bharti Kapadia,Bharati Kher,Birendra Pani,Durga Kainthola,Eleena Banik,Gargi Raina, Gauri Gill,Gazanfar Zaidi,Gigi Scaria,Gulammohammed Sheikh,Habib Rahman,Hafeez Ahmed,Haku Shah,Inder Salim,Jehangir Jani,Jitish Kallat,Joydip Sengupta,Kanchan Chander,Kanishka Prasad,Kaushal Sonkaria,Kaushik Sengupta,Kavita Nayyar,Kiyomi Talaulicar,M.S. Prakash Babu,Madhvi Parekh,Manisha Parekh,Manu Parekh,Meera Devidayal,Megha Joshi,Meher Pestonji,Mira Nair,Mithila Maniketh,Mona Rai,Mukesh Sharma,Navjot Altaf,Neeta Mohindra,Nida Mahmood & Raoul Chandra,Nilima Sheikh,Nuzhat Kazmi,Pallav Chander,Paramjit Singh,Parthiv Shah,Prashant Panjiar & Itu Chaudhuri,Pravat Mishra,Prem Singh,Priyanka Dua,Pushpamala N.,Raja Jaikrishan,Ram Rahman,Ranbir Kaleka,Rashmi Kaleka,Rekha Rao,Richard Bartholomew,Saba Hasan,Samit Das,Samjo Husain,Sandeep Biswas,Satish Panchal,Shamshad,Shobha Broota,Showket Kathjoo,Subodh Gupta,Sudhir Patwardhan,Sunil Gupta,Tabassum Zaidi,Tanmay Santra,Tanmaya Tyagi,Vijay Sekhon,Veer Munshi,Venktesh Desai,Vibha Galhotra,Vijay S.Jodha, Viswanadhan,Vivan Sundaram And students of Delhi College of Art and Jamia Millia Islamia Art Department. http://peripherals.blog.com -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Mon Sep 14 22:27:04 2009 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:57:04 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] "Is India really a big nation, which behaves small?" In-Reply-To: <414639.27937.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <414639.27937.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: .........and yellow river flows in China...... Regards all LA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:12:09 -0700 > From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: [Reader-list] "Is India really a big nation, which behaves small?" > > "Is India really a big nation, which behaves small?" > > By Jawed Naqvi > Monday, 14 Sep, 2009 > > Gen Hossain Mohammed Ershad, the first host of Saarc in 1985, said bluntly in a TV documentary sponsored by India’s foreign ministry that one of the main reasons for creating the grouping was that India’s smaller neighbours were ‘allergic’ to the big neighbour. ‘So we decided to bring everyone together to deal with the problem.’ Former US Senator and ex-ambassador to New Delhi Daniel Patrick Moynihan proclaimed that India is a big country, which behaves small. > > The perceived smallness by foreigners is just as palpable at home. The exultation in the media over successfully getting the senior and the junior foreign ministers thrown out from their five-star hotel accommodations in Delhi reveals a mindset that goes with the description that perhaps bothered Moynihan. The eviction of two prominent ministers on the grounds that five-star luxury does not go with the drought and famine-like crisis being faced by millions of impoverished Indians is spurious, if also misleading. > > It may have given the government a reason to gloat and win brownie points over some fictitious idealism but it serves no other purpose. It is of course just as foolish to force senior officials and ministers to travel economy class. The assumption behind the story is wrong. Suppose the ministers had been awarded some sprawling colonial-style bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi, which they are entitled to, instead of being crammed in hotel rooms, would it make them ostentatious? Such reports help newspapers and TV channels escape their responsibility of throwing light on years of neo-con policies that have led to farmers’ suicides and boundless misery for so many Indians. > > Tokenism was ok with someone of the stature of Gandhi, but in the current context such news reports are tantamount to what we know as the dumbing down of news. Gandhiji used to drink goat’s milk, which made him look something of an impoverished fakir. But that couldn’t stop Sarojini Naidu from chuckling to Gandhi: ‘Bapu, it costs us a fortune to keep you poor.’ Gandhi probably smiled back good-naturedly. > > Some of the smallness is the handiwork of the media, with or without the assistance of their official minders in the business and intelligence communities. You should read just four English newspapers in Delhi to be abreast of the official or quasi-official line towards countries lying in the four directions from India, each exuding petty concerns rather than a visionary policy. One newspaper gives me all the anti-China propaganda that the dirty tricks department of the concerned agencies would want to expose us to. Another gives me the official pro-Sinhalese line on Sri Lanka. It also is nicely loaded with official dope on Kashmir and Pakistan. I read a third paper which never tires of canvassing for closer ties with Israel and the United States, in that order, together with a relentless campaign to privatise everything in sight. A fourth newspaper from Kolkata can give you insights into the complex affairs vis-à-vis Bangladesh and with India’s > remote northeastern states, and all the way to Myanmar. > > I have yet to come across a serious, objective discussion in any of the newspapers why India’s neighbours are allergic to it. Instead of blaming Pakistan’s ISI sleuths who probably play a hand whenever they find an opening in determining or undermining India’s ties with its neighbours, would it not be useful for Indian intellectuals and analysts to have a meaningful discussion as to why India’s RAW or IB are unable to neutralise the damage? India helped create Bangladesh out of Pakistan, but Dhaka today has better ties with Islamabad than with New Delhi. Is it because of ISI alone? Buddhist Sri Lanka, Hindu Nepal, they all seem to have better ties with Pakistan than with India. Shouldn’t there be a commission of inquiry set up by India to investigate the lapses by its ministers, officials and sleuths that have brought the country to a pass that bewildered Moynihan? > > There are reports of rockets being fired the other day from Pakistan’s side of the international border in the Attari border region. This a serious incident not the least because it involves two nuclear-armed neighbours. It was however the very last paragraph of the report in The Hindu that suggested the incident could be the handiwork of ‘non-state players’. The matter was hopefully sorted out in the meeting the Pakistan Rangers and India’s BSF point persons held at the Wagah checkpost. A less sensational way to report the same incident would be to say upfront that the rockets were feared to have been fired by militants who are probably just as hostile towards the government in Pakistan. That would be the large-hearted and probably a truer way to treat a serious-looking incident at the border. What were the militants trying to do and what can the two countries do to not fall into heir trap? > > In this regard it was heartening to read a piece by a former Indian intelligence chief, advising Indian journalists against sensationalising news of China’s threat to India. In his analysis of recent media focus on an imagined issue (which was evidently so outrageous that it was denied by the Indian foreign minister) B. Raman has discussed why the Chinese military is unhappy with the Indian media’s shrill anti-China rhetoric and why it could hurt both countries’ interests. > > Raman quoted a report titled ‘China Refutes Trespass Claims’ carried on September 10 in The Global Times, the English-language daily published by the Communist Party-owned People’s Daily group. > > Chinese non-governmental analysts have also been critical of the way sections of the Indian media sensationalised an incident involving the temporary detention of a plane of the UAE air force at Kolkata earlier this week for not correctly declaring that it was carrying a consignment of arms and ammunition and ‘combat missiles’ to China. > > According to them, these arms and ammunition and missiles, which were manufactured in China, had been sent to Abu Dhabi for displaying in an international exhibition of military equipment and were being taken back to China after the exhibition was over. These analysts have expressed surprise over the manner in which the whole issue was sought to be sensationalised by sections of the Indian media as if it was a sinister development. > > Raman says that while it was important for the media to report instances of alleged Chinese troop intrusions into Indian territory, they ought to take care not to create an anti-China frenzy, which may get out of control. ‘One was disturbed by the way a national television channel played up in a jingoistic manner the incident in the Ladakh sector in which a Chinese patrol is alleged to have intruded into Indian territory and painted China on a stone.’ > > Two acknowledged experts on China, who have an excellent knowledge of the Chinese language, appeared on the programme – a reputed academic of Delhi and a retired China expert of the Government of India. One would have expected the anchor to ask them to translate for the viewers what was written on the stone and to comment on the implications of it. > > ‘If he had done it, the entire jingoistic programme might have ended in a fizzle. He did not do so. Instead, most of the time, the viewers were subjected to an anti-China harangue by a retired army officer. I myself do not know Chinese, but I am told by those who know the language that what was written on the stone was ‘Middle Yellow River’. It could also be translated as central Yellow River.’ Moynihan’s words were not said with malice but with affection for India. Which hotel the ministers should sleep in or what class they should fly is of little consequence to the real issues the India media, the government and the sleuths need to handle with zealous care. > > jawednaqvi at gmail.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> _________________________________________________________________ Great events make grand headlines – read them all on MSN India http://in.msn.com From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 22:45:31 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:45:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Case_Study_Competition_on_=E2=80=98Making?= =?utf-8?q?_Markets_Work_for_the_Poor=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: >From "Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India" Sep 14, 2009 Subject: Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India. Case Study Competition An initiative by: & [image: MDI] ** *Sitaram Rao Livelihoods **India* Case Study Competition * * Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, a top business school in India, recently announced a *Center for Sustainable Development* to provide a multi stakeholder platform foster development in a truly sustainable manner, benefiting both community as well as the world. As a part of this initiative, MDI has collaborated with *ACCESS Development Services*, a not-for-profit company that offers specialized technical assistance under two verticals - microfinance and livelihoods, to provide a business perspective to ACCESS’s livelihoods activities and help the poor in the country attain sustainable livelihoods solutions. The ‘Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India Case Study Competition’ is being launched with attractive prize money of *Rs 75,000/-, 50,000/- and 30,000/- for the top three entries*. The case study competition would be part of the Microfinance India Summit organized by ACCESS every year. The competition aims to document and disseminate motivating case studies in an attempt to increase awareness and knowledge on the livelihoods sector and making markets work for the poor. These case studies will provide insights to practitioners and will help them improve models of livelihood interventions. .The participants will be required to write a case study of approximately 5000 words on *‘Making Markets Work for the Poor’,* with a focus on public-private- community partnership. The competition will welcome entries from national as well as foreign nationals, and is targeted at management professionals, practitioners, academicians, researchers and B- school students Deep Joshi (Magsaysay award winner 2009), Padmashree Prof Pritam Singh(Professor of Eminence, MDI, Gurgaon) Biswajit Sen (Rural Development Specialist, Agriculture and Rural Development Unit, South Asia Region, World Bank), Dr. NCB Nath (Chairman, PIC and FAIR)and Bindu Ananth(President, IFMR Trust), have agreed to be a part of the esteemed Jury. The other expected jurists are, Mr. Shiv Kumar (CEO, NOKIA) and Dr. Rita Sharma (Secretary, Rural Development). We will be very glad if you could spread the news about this competition in your institution and help us make this initiative a coveted and credible competition which brings out the best practices of the sector. The details of the announcement on Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India Case Study Competition can be found at http://accessdev.org/case-study-competition.php. Please direct your queries to casecomp at accessdev.org *. * *Important Dates* · September 18, 2009 – Submission of registration form · October 4, 2009 – Submission of final case studies · October 28, 2009 – Awards Distribution at the Livelihoods Day of the Microfinance India Summit 2009 We look forward to receiving entries from your institution. From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Sep 15 05:49:28 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:19:28 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Bamboo is NOT a tree ! Petition Message-ID: <8CC03B152F4F3EB-2FEC-5907@webmail-d062.sysops.aol.com> To: Government of India BAMBOO IS NOT A TREE! Dear Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State Shri Jairam Ramesh, Ministry of Environment and Forests Hon'ble Union Minister Shri Sharad Pawar, Ministry of Agriculture The Indian Forest Act (1927) classifies bamboo, now a scientifically recognised grass, as a tree. It is a blunder and a very costly one. With 1500 documented uses, bamboo is the most useful renewable resource. India has the largest proportion of area under bamboo cultivation and if managed well bamboo could become a steady and sustainable source of livelihood for millions of tribals and rural habitants, it could reduce use of timber and save our forests, and help build peace and prosperity in our volatile North East region. Sustainable Livelihood: The Planning Commission estimates that bamboo could provide employment to nearly 50 million people, particularly the poorest forest-dependent communities. The productivity per hectare in India is one-fifth of that in China and the annual turnover of the bamboo sector in China is 12 times that of India. Environmental Benefits: It releases more oxygen than an equivalent strand of trees, absorbs high intensity radiation, prevents soil erosion and can be used as a green fuel. According to the ASSOCHAM, if just the government of India substitutes bamboo for the wood products it purchases, it could save nearly Rupees 7,000 crore annually=2 0and help save our forests. Development and Stability in the North East: More than 66% of the total bamboo yield comes from our Northeastern states. The failure to utilise this resource properly has hit this region the hardest. In fact the Mizo insurgency was a direct result of the government’s lackluster attitude to the problem of bamboo flowering. Looking at all the available literature, the Centre for Civil Society study makes the following recommendations: A) Amend the Indian Forest Act (1927) and remove bamboo from the list of trees under Section 2(7) of the Act B) The Ministry of Environment and Forests should declare bamboo a grass, a horticulture crop, and as Non-Timber Forest Produce C) Abolish all restrictions on bamboo grown on private lands D) Declare the North-East as a Special Bamboo Zone E) Create a Bamboo Board on the lines of Tea/ Coffee Board The bamboo could be India’s Green Gold! Let’s remove the hurdles of the forest laws which govern the harvest, trade, transport and use of bamboo. Parth J Shah, President, Centre for Civil Society www.jeevika.org, www.ccs.in, www.azadi.me Sincerely, The Undersigned http://www.petitiononline.com/bamboo/petition-sign.html The Bamboo is NOT a Tree! Petition to Government of India was created by and written by Parth Shah (jeevika at ccs.in). This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public servic e. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form. From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Tue Sep 15 08:17:54 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:17:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Honour Killings In Haryana By Kavita Krishnan (countercurrents.org) Message-ID: <1f9180970909141947r1b252205k9fbdea9dfcbb8969@mail.gmail.com> http://www.countercurrents.org/krishnan140909.htm Honour Killings In Haryana By Kavita Krishnan 14 September, 2009 Countercurrents.org “Only whores choose their own partners.... Recently an educated couple married against the samaj’s (community’s) wishes in Jhajjar. We hail the panchayat’s decision to execute them...The government cannot protect this atyachar (immoral behaviour).... (The law of the land) is the root of all problems... That’s your Constitution, ours is different.’’ – Mahendra Singh Tikait, farmers’ leader of Western UP “Yahan izzatdar woh hain jo ladki ko marte hain (Those who kill their girls are respected here)” – a teacher in rural Haryana ‘‘Khap leaders are keepers of Jat tradition” - Justice (retd) Devi Singh Teotia, a former judge of the Punjab & Haryana HC, active member of the Sarv Khap Panchayat, demanding legalising of the khaap panchayats Mahendra Singh Tikait’s outrageous and offensive remarks once again raise the question: why do the khaap panchayats of Haryana and Western UP which open issue ‘death sentences’ for couples who defy their caste-diktats on love and marriage, enjoy impunity? In the context of such executions, Congress MP from Rohtak Deepender Hooda (whom the Congress proudly counts among its contingent of ‘young MPs’) had expressed sympathy for the “sentiments and local customs of khaap panchayats.” Will the Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh tell us why leaders of their party endorse such “sentiments” that mock the constitution and openly call for lynching? Tikait says women who choose their own partners are ‘whores’. The ‘dishonour’ of ‘whoring’, in his eyes, does not lie, it seems, in the act of buying sexual services. After all, men in the same region openly buy their wives (as reproductive machines) from other states, because women are in short supply due to female foeticide. The ‘dishonour’ according to him lies primarily in women choosing their own partners. This choice threatens the structures of property and land, and with it, the very edifice of the feudal order. Tikait’s words are all the more unfortunate coming from a representative of the farmers’ movement. One caution, however. The Times of India story that carried Tikait's statements, described the farmers’ leader in stereotypical terms as “squatting on his haunches...dhoti-clad...bare-chested...". The suggestion seems to be that it is only in the “backward” rural, lower-class hinterland that such views on women exist. The question is: isn't Ashok Todi prosperous, ‘modern’ and upper class? What about US-educated Deepender Hooda? And are not men who are dhoti-class, bare-chested and squat on haunches capable of being progressive? The likes of Tikait may offer the more juicy sound-bytes and makes an easier target for the corporate media. We in the women’s movement, however, can’t lose sight of the fact that educated and well off fathers and brothers are quite as culpable in policing their daughters’ and sisters’ sexuality. Murders in the name of 'honour' have land and property as a sub-text, and they do not happen only in 'uncivilised' hinterlands but often enough in elite sections of cities. Home Minister P Chidambaram has rejected the need for a special law to deal with the Haryana killings, saying they should be dealt with as murders. The killings and lynchings themselves may be murders. The question is: is it legal to justify and call for such killings, as the khaap panchayats do, as Tikait does? Does our existing law permit any individual or institution to issue diktats on adults’ choice of marriage partners, and declare ‘death sentences’ for those who defy these caste-imposed diktats? If it is indeed illegal to issue such diktats and death sentences, why does neither Home Ministry nor the State Government of Haryana take any action against those who issue them? Sati and dowry killings are also murders, but we have specific laws to recognise them. Can murders which are openly justified – even by leaders from Chidambaram’s own party, as well as their allies like Tikait – in the name of social tradition be dealt with in the same way as ordinary murders? If the Central Government and State Governments refuse to invoke existing laws to punish those who openly flout the Constitution and call for such killings; if the existing laws do not even allow the National Crime Records Bureau to document or assess the actual numbers of such killings (since they’re all lumped together as murders), then surely we need a specific law that • declares it illegal for any group or individual, be they khaap panchayats or Sangh outfits or parents like D P Yadav or Ashok Todi to coerce adults in matters of marriage; • spells out punishments for diktats and death sentences issued by khaap panchayats, and also for Tikait-type justifications of such ‘executions’; • that spells out punishments for concerned police and administration authorities who fail to protect couples and take preventive action against those who issue death sentences • that spells out punishments for parents who falsely accuse women of being ‘minors’ so as to separate them from husbands and have them locked up in Nari Niketans Kavita Krishnan is the Secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), kavitakrish73 at gmail.com -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From difusion at medialab-prado.es Tue Sep 15 15:41:26 2009 From: difusion at medialab-prado.es (Medialab-Prado comunicacion) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:11:26 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Urban Screens and Public Space International Seminar / Sept.28-29-30 at Medialab-Prado Message-ID: <4AAF684E.20105@medialab-prado.es> *Urban Screens and Public Space* *International Seminar* *September 28, 29 and 30, 2009 @Medialab- Prado Madrid (Spain)* This international seminar aims to reflect on the relationships established between urban screens and the public space in which they are immersed, questioning the kinds of space, communities and personal interactions they activate. The program includes lectures given by internationally renowed artists and experts, as well as roundtables, discussion groups and the presentation of urban screen projects in Spain, such as the screen at Plaza de Las Letras (Medialab-Prado) in Madrid, the facade of the C4 in Cordoba, or the communicating building of Alcorcon City Council (Madrid). Participants: *Mirjam Struppek* (Interactionfield ), *Susa Pop* (Public Art Lab ), *Jeffrey Huang* (Media Design Lab), *Kim Halskov *(Digital Urban Living ), *Jan and Tim Edler* (Realities United ), and *United Visual Artists* (UVA ). Roundtables moderated by *José Luis Brea*, *Blanca Fernández Quesada*, and *Paloma Blanco*. Free admission. Limited seating. Complete program and RSVP: http://medialab-prado.es/article/urban_screens_and_public_space_seminar * Contact:* difusion at medialab-prado.es +34 91 369 2303 *Venue: * Medialab-Prado Plaza de las Letras Alameda, 15 28014 Madrid (Spain) -- Nerea García Garmendia Comunicación / Press Medialab-Prado Área de Las Artes, Ayuntamiento de Madrid Plaza de las Letras Alameda, 15 28014 Madrid Tfno. +34 914 202 754 difusion at medialab-prado.es www.medialab-prado.es From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Tue Sep 15 17:17:19 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:17:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "Is India really a big nation, which behaves small?" In-Reply-To: References: <414639.27937.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear all I think one of the biggest bogus creations in India today is the very character of the Indian mainstream media, which cares no hoots for all the wrongs they commit in the name of 'freedom of speech'. When a Yakoob Qureshi or a Varun Gandhi or a Mamta Banerjee says something which undermines the character or ethics associated with the freedom of speech and expression vested in the Constitution, at least the media and we all can criticize it, and moreover it is portrayed again and again to prove that it's wrong. What about our media itself though, which commits graver wrong-doings and which never get reported at all, and their ideological moves as well? Who is going to stop that? Several examples can be taken to look at this issue in detail. 1) Let us start with Indian cricket. I still remember the days when Saurav Ganguly and his tiff with Greg Chappell was considered the biggest matter of India, as if both these individuals were more important than the Prime Minister of India or even the other people of India. What was shameful was that an objective analysis of the entire situation was hardly missing. While the newspaper media did present some objectivity in their reporting, or at least presenting the views of such people, our TV media was just resorting to sensationalism. What was even stranger was that when our selection policies are questioned, the media attacks cricketers, while the Board is hardly talked about. What about that? Isn't and shouldn't the Indian cricket board be accountable? Now even Modi has become the chief of a state cricket board. Do chief ministers and a Union agricultural minister (or other union ministers) have the time to run a sport which is a passion in our country and requires huge time and effort, both on infrastructure and human angles? Isn't it time to analyze such issues? 2) The next example coming to my mind is about culture. When the Mangalore pub attacks took place, what had to be condemned was the fact that it's an infringing on the freedom of a woman to go wherever she wants to (for that matter, any human being has that freedom and should have it). Moreover, she can do as she wants, and if somebody feels it's not wrong or improper, (as long as it doesn't infringe on the freedoms of others), then one should explain it provided she is willing to listen it out, which too is in her hands. The beating was and should be condemned by any means. What next came out was disgusting. Instead of focussing on women being insecure and their rights and freedoms going on a toss, we shifted onto a debate of culture, where tradition was pitted against modernity. Anything modern was taken to be synonymous with development, while anything tradition was taken to be anti-development. What a shame! Even Gandhi, if he were alive, would have disapproved of it. There couldn't be an objective discussion even on whether culture and criminal activites should be dissociated or associated with each other, and what can be done to solve such crimes. Neither was there an objective discussion or debate as to how come modernity only is development? After all, our ancestors didn't have as many water problems as some of our cities have, thanks to the huge system of tanks and wells constructed in the normally parched regions of the country. Yet, they are not developed, whereas we are developed!! Brilliant indeed! What kind of development is this where only people who believe in certain things are considered people whereas others not believing in them are to be discarded or not cared at for all? How is that similar to the attitude of Nehru, who asked tribals to make sacrifices in the name of development (read making dams) or even the VHP bandhs announced on the Valentines' day? 3) What is even more shameful is how our media seems to go around hand-in-glove with our politicians, page-3 stars and our famous people? What happened to the 'aam aadmi'? The aam aadmi seems to be only in the slogans of political parties, rather than being reported about in the media. Even 'The Hindu' seems to be having less on poverty and more on Kashmir fighting between separatists and the Army-plus-nationalists. I agree Kashmir is an important issue, but don't we have other issues even within Kashmir too? What about that? Is poverty not a concern without Kashmir, or have Kashmiris decided that poverty can wait and azadi is a must first? And even if azadi is what they talk about, can't the link in their own ways be also reported with respect to other demands, as well as an objective analysis of whether those are possible or not? There are more reporters covering today the Lakme Fashion Weeks and the filmi gossip than those who are covering the villages suffering from drought. How else can one explain that again and again exit polls are failing in their predictions for the Lok Sabha election, and that too by massive margins? When journalists are not in touch with all layers of society except to the class they belong to, what do you expect of them to do? Our media has simply become an object of consumption, rather than a service to the society as well. In other words, the entire media has now turned into a business and efficiency based model, where the only objective is to earn profits, and if that requires turning one journalists' wife into prostitute and then reporting it to gain TRP's, so be it. The autonomy provided to the media has been severely abused by it, to the extent where they have become more entertaining rather than the MTV and the Fashion TV's. (if you know what I mean). Whether it be national security, whether it be people's issues, whether it be objective reporting, whether it be other related concerns, the media seems to be failing again and again. It's time for an introspection into all these, otherwise we may have a dangerous body which will turn media into a servant of the ruling govt or ruling dispensation, and all media will be a version of the China Daily, the only English newspaper coming out of the Chinese mainland. If you don't know what news China Daily puts in, just read it for a week and you will know what I mean. Regards Rakesh From logos.theword at gmail.com Tue Sep 15 17:43:31 2009 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:43:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Theatre Workshop in Aid of Jamghat In-Reply-To: <33bc2ee60909150505u6369a7bcx1e0946f8f99915cd@mail.gmail.com> References: <9c17c0ca0909141830r6a1756j1ab79d21f55b4575@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca0909141902q25e91316rf0ff4a6a8ffe480f@mail.gmail.com> <33bc2ee60909150505u6369a7bcx1e0946f8f99915cd@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <33bc2ee60909150513q2df83e04i4080f2e0039e7915@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: priyanka at jamghat.in Date: Sep 14, 2009 6:07 PM Subject: Theatre Workshop!! To: vasudev at jamghat.in Cc: arka.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com Dear Friends, Greetings from Jamghat!!! Jamghat (www.jamghat.in), a non-profit organization, works for the rehabilitation of street children and has always been involved in theatre for creating awareness and raising funds. This time we have come up with the idea of giving theatre workshops and connecting with the people. Arka Mukhopadhyay , a theatre practitioner and a poet will be taking the theatre workshop this time. He has been involved with theatre for a long time and is engaged in research on theatre training. He has performed nationally as well internationally and has worked with children and teachers throughout India and abroad. Apart from theatre, his other vocation is poetry. His poems have been published worldwide and he was awarded TFA creative writing award in the year 2008. *"Breath, Body, Text"* - a workshop for actors, dancers and performers as also musicians, painters, teachers, activists and others, will focus on connecting with the self and unlocking one's inner creative potential through an approach firmly grounded in the body, and will extend into areas such as breath focus and presence, existing in a shared space as a group, embodying the rasaas, and more. It is not restricted to performers, but can be of value to anyone wishing to explore and engage with the self and develop a heightened sense of existence. Topics will cover: Breath - seeking the physical, emotional and spiritual centre through breath, incorporating ideas of Buddhist and other meditation practices. Voice work - chants from the Upanishads and others sources, organic sounds of the body, songs and more Emotions - the nine rasaas; exploring them through breath, inner rhythms, gesture, eye-movements and more Movement - exercises of the eye, finger and hand gestures, finding one's physical texture, organic energy and impulse, integrating different strands such as voice, breath, emotion and presence, being truthful and existing in the moment Ensemble work and devising - creating short compositions using ideas of the singing, moving and speaking chorus, exploring space, through text and more. Date: Friday, Saturday and Sunday Time: Friday: 5 - 8, Saturday and Sunday: 3 - 6 Contact: Amit - 9818705715 Address: F-2 First Floor Lado Sarai New Delhi-30 Workshop fees: there are no fixed fees, the suggested contribution is 1,500/-. The proceeds will go to Jamghat. Jamghat is also having its Night Walk on this Saturday, i.e. 19th September, 09. Please confirm for your visit before 17th September, 09. regards, *Priyanka* *Programme Head* *Phone*- +91 11 29522112 *Mobile*- + 91 9811656740 *Web *:- www.jamghat.in Join our Google group for constant updates about Jamghat - http;// groups.google.com/group/jamghat From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Tue Sep 15 20:46:08 2009 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:16:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?The_E=B1cacy_of_Parochial_Politics?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=3ACaste=2C_Commitment=2C_and_Competence_in_Indian_Local_G?= =?iso-8859-1?q?overnments?= Message-ID: <206031.81779.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Abstract: Parochial politics is typically associated with poor leadership and low levels of public good provision. This paper explores the possibility that community involvement in politics need not necessarily worsen governance and, indeed, can be efficiency enhancing when the context is appropriate. Complementing the new literature on the role of community networks in solving market problems, we test the hypothesis that strong traditional social institutions can discipline the leaders they put forward, successfully substituting for secular political institutions when they are ineffective. Using new data on Indian local governments at the ward level over multiple terms, and exploiting the randomized election reservation system, we find that the presence of a numerically dominant sub caste (caste equilibrium) is associated with the selection of leaders with superior observed characteristics and with greater public good provision. This improvement in leadership competence occurs without apparently diminishing leaders' responsiveness to their constituency. http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Kaivan_Munshi/panchayat11.pdf From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Tue Sep 15 21:44:38 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:44:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] swine flu vaccine kills..?!.... Message-ID: <1f9180970909150914g7a64ed6aj7e6e99f288bf3f3f@mail.gmail.com> http://www.prisonplanet.com/doctor-says-flu-vaccine-will-cause-60000-deaths-in-france-alone.html -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 01:15:57 2009 From: naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com (Naeem Mohaiemen) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:45:57 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Tonight: Philippine President/Naeem Mohaiemen/Domestic Workers/Pineapple Culture Message-ID: Asia Pacific Forum Tuesday, September 15, 2009 8:00-9:00 pm EST WBAI 99.5 FM, New York City Podcasting and streaming live at Asia Pacific Forum Listen LIVE online: http://wbai.org ********************************************************* The Next Philippine President? Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. is the secretary of defense of the Philippines--and widely considered a leading contender in next year's presidential race. APF's Dorian Merina covered his recent visit to New York. Domestic Worker Bill of Rights: Close to Passage? For more than five years, New York’s domestic workers—nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers--have been organizing, rallying, and lobbying to pass a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. Now, that bill--the first of its kind in the nation--is close to being passed in the legislature and signed into law by the Governor. We’re joined by Aijen Poo, Director of Domestic Workers United. Live True Life or Die Trying: A New Show by Artist Naeem Mohaiemen One day in Dhaka, Naeem Mohaiemen attends two marches—one of familiar leftists, the other of young Islamists. Mohaiemen’s photo, text, and video installation at Cue Art Foundation plumbs the differences and similarities between the two protests. The writer and artist joins us to talk about the show. Pineapple Culture: A New Book Historian Gary Okihiro traces the transit of the pineapple—from tropical America to European tables and back to America—to tell the story of empire. Along the way, he locates Hawaii at the center of a world system of commerce and discovers a political history to the tropical and temperate zones. Okihiro joins us to talk about his new book. ********************************************************* This program is brought to you by Andrew Hsiao, Dorian Merina, and Irene Tung of the APF Collective. For last week's show on NYC’s city council races, ongoing lawsuits against the Bush administration’s abuse of “material witness” provisions, and a retrospective of the work of artist Martin Wong, click here. Every Tuesday from 8-9 PM EST, Asia Pacific Forum brings you coverage of Asian American and Asian news, politics, and culture. For more information see Asia Pacific Forum or contact us via info at asiapacificforum.org. From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 10:21:17 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:21:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Message-ID: http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 16 11:13:37 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:43:37 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] HelpAge India Film Festival 2009 Message-ID: <8CC04A7C5C13DFE-1028-42E91@webmail-d036.sysops.aol.com> HelpAge India is a registered national voluntary organisation “working for the cause and care of disadvantaged older people and to improve their quality of life”. HI’s pride lies in voicing the elderly’s concerns. It has an outreach of about 10 million of the estimated 90 million in the age group of 60 and above, or 8 per cent of the country’s population. To coincide with the International Day of the Older Persons on October 1, HelpAge India will host i’mage, a film festival to sensitise the masses about the problems and needs of the elderly. Since its inception in 1978, HelpAge India has defined the needs of the elderly -- from quality healthcare, economic security, to battling against their abuse and fears. HI’S FOCUS AREAS ARE • Protection and advocacy of rights of the elderly • Social protection for the elderly, particularly the destitute • Healthcare for the elderly • Ensuring dignified and self-sufficient life for the elderly • Social inclusion • Shelter-care & independent existence for the elderly. HelpAge India understands the imperatives of highlighting elderly as a cause and audio-visuals have been among the most powerful tools of its mandate. I’mage is an effort, through films, to dispel myths, stereotypes and perceptions about the elderly on the one hand, and to promote better understanding of issues related to them and age-care on the other. For, we believe, the elderly have a right to live with dignity. They cannot be neglected and must have an active role in the family, community and society. We believe the elderly are yet-to-be-tapped assets in the social weave. I’mage is an attempt to connect the viewers with the silver population, their apprehensions, fears and burdens. With the film festival, HelpAge India will highlight the need for an inter-generation environment for the senior citizens’ cause. HelpAge India believes that life after 60 does not mean life truncated to make ready for the end. It’s not mere survival. Despite the trying process of ageing, it’s about culmination and collation of experiences, with self-assurance, self-confidence and even, independence. It is about inclusive ageing. It’s about, after 60, still having miles to go. i’mage Film Festival on the elderly Call for entry Last date : September 20, 2009 Objective i’mage - To create awareness and sensitise the masses about the problems and needs of the elderly. The most common problems that the elderly face are isolation, neglect, failing health, fear, abuse, loss of control. The films should be able to highlight the issues related to one or more of these problems with which the older people have to struggle in everyday life. The films should also aim at finding solutions to the problems. Film Festival will be organized in Delhi. Rules and Regulations • The Festival is open to students, independent filmmakers, organisations working in India and abroad, amateurs and professionals. • The entries can be animation, live action or both, and documentary. • The production can be either in Film/Video or Digital format, but the entries should be submitted in DVD format only. • English subtitles/captioning are a must even if the language of the film itself is English. • In case you are willing to send more than one entry, separate entry forms will have to be filled. • You can send a maximum of three entries. • Films accompanied by incomplete forms will not be considered for selection. • Last date for submission of films is September 20, 2009 Entries are invited for films on elderly in the following categories:- Category 1. Upto 30 Minute 2. Upto 45 Minute 3. Upto 60 Minute Address for communication The Director – Film Festival HelpAge India C-14, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi– 110016 Ph: 011 41688955-56 E-mail: headoffice at helpageindia.org For Details contact : The Co ordinator, 9899472065, email: helpageindiafilmfest at gmail.com Submission Requirements 1. All films and documentaries invited to the festival must arrive not later than 4:30 p.m. on September 20, 2009 on the address for communication, mentioned above. All entries that arrive after the deadline are not valid for this year’s festival. 2. Selection of films for the festival will be made by a specially constituted jury/festival committee. All filmmakers will be notified of acceptance via e-mail as soon as possible. 3. If the ownership of a work is transferred to a successor after the selection has been made, the successor’s permission for the film to take part in the competition will have to be conveyed to the festival. 4. Attendance of filmmaker at the festival is not mandatory, but we would be happy to welcome you at the film festival and will offer free festival passes to all filmmakers with films in competition. 5. In case of legal proceedings, jurisdiction of Delhi courts will apply. ENTRY FORM 1 THE FILM 1.1 Title of the Film in the original language 1.2 Title of the Film in English 1.3 Original Language of the film Whether subtitled in English Whether subtitled in Hindi  Yes  No  Yes  No 1.4 Date of Production 1.5 Running time in minutes 1.6 Category of Film/Documentary=2 0 1. Upto 30 Minute 2. Upto 45 Minute 3. Upto 60 Minute 1.7 Other Festivals in which the film has participated, with years (Please attach a separate sheet, if necessary) 1.8 Prizes and Awards won, if any (Please attach a separate sheet, if necessary) 2. PRODUCTION 2.1 Producer of the Film Address Telephone/Fax 2.2 Production Organization Address Telephone/Fax 3 AUTHORS/TECHNICIANS 3.1 Director Address Telephone/Fax:/E-mail 3.2 Summary of Film 4. CAST 4.1 Leading actors/actresses Names Acting Roles 5 DOCUMENTATION 5.1 The synopsis in English : 2 copies 5.2 Stills from the film : 2 sets 5.3 Posters : At least two, if any 5.4 Where the film should be sent after the festival Name Address Telephone/Fax FILMMAKER AGREEMENT This is to certify that I/we, ____________________________ am/are applying to the Film Festival on elderly scheduled during October, 2009 at various cities of India after accepting all conditions and requirements. I/we certify that my/our film is eligible for this festival and that I am/we are aware of the restrictions=2 0that apply. I am we are aware that I/we will not be able to withdraw my/our film, if accepted. I/we understand that it is my/our responsibility to provide a synopsis, required press kit and photographs etc. with film still and any printed materials related to the film. The information provided in this form is true and accurate. Date: Place: Signature: (*) Seal: Name: Address: Telephone/Fax: Email: The entries must meet the following criteria: • films must be subtitled in English and/or Hindi • film rights must be secured CHECKLIST • Completed Application Form • Film synopsis (100 words) and all printed materials pertaining to the film. • Press kit including cast and crew credit, press release, and reviews(if possible) • 2 Screener copies - DVD or CD (PAL Format) Films will not be considered unless complete information has been received. From naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 12:57:58 2009 From: naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com (Naeem Mohaiemen) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:27:58 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Sep 17 Vijay Prashad, Sep 24 Chris Marker Message-ID: On the next two Thursdays, there are programs in conjunction with the "Live True Life or Die Trying" project at Cue Art Foundation. Hope you can attend. +++++++++++++ Conversation with Vijay Prashad Introduction by DJ Spooky Thursday, September 17th 7-9pm Cue Art Foundation 511 West 25th Street, (between 10 & 11th Ave), Ground Floor New York Chris Marker's "Case of the Grinning Cat" Thursday, September 24th 7-9pm Screening in Lecture Hall, Room 101 5 Washington Place (between West 4th & Waverly Place) +++++++++++++ Vijay Prashad Vijay Prashad is author of "Darker Nations: A People's History Of The Third World", "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity", "The Karma of Brown Folk", "Keeping Up With the Dow Joneses", "Fat Cats & Running Dogs: The Enron State of Capitalism", etc. Prashad is a Marxist and co-founder of the Forum of Indian Leftists (FOIL). Prashad, along with FOIL member Biju Mathew, is a consistent opponent of resurgent Hindu cultural nationalism ('Hindutva'). He has also emerged as an early critic of Obama's appointment of controversial figures such as Sonal Shah of Indicorps. http://www.counterpunch.org/prashad07012009.html +++++++++++++ The Case of the Grinning Cat A long time ago I met the graffiti artist M Chat in the lower east side. He wanted our help to organize a rally, but he had to stay anonymous. Over drinks, he drew his cat on dollar bills and handed each note to us as a gift. He was in New York as Marker's emissary. So far I had been used to Guillaume, now there was a flesh & blood man/boy. He was delightful and funny, and under the skin a sharp political tongue. He was an appropriate stand-in. As we watched Iraq, headscarf and that ghastly Le Pen unfold on screen, I kept my eye open for that darn cat. The next day M Chat was gone, and in his place new ghostly trails and a few smiles painted on hard to reach walls. http://monsieurchat.free.fr/MChat.php All events are free & open to public. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 16 14:01:01 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:31:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <347598.66168.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 14:23:13 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:23:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <347598.66168.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <347598.66168.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the > objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning > Mayawati as "ugly". > > But, what is racist about the cartoon? > > Kshmendra > > --- On *Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S * wrote: > > > From: Sudeep K S > Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM > > http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 > > From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 16 16:26:33 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:56:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "PLAYING IT CRISP - Is the Indian political class maturing in its dealings with the US?" Message-ID: <805683.93180.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "PLAYING IT CRISP - Is the Indian political class maturing in its dealings with the US?"   K P Nayar   For four days last week, the Union home minister, P. Chidambaram, was the envy of many of the 174 ambassadors resident in Washington. Actually, he was the envy even of some of those who claim to turn the levers of State power in America’s capital. The access that was given to Chidambaram in New York and in Washington during his maiden visit to the United States of America as home minister made some prominent members of the US House of Representatives and the Senate rub their eyes in disbelief. The Obama administration officials frankly admitted that some US lawmakers who interacted with the home minister could not have as easily met so many key people in Washington, especially at the nerve centres of US intelligence and in the war rooms that protect America against terrorism.   The home minister’s visit has held out hope that may be, just may be, India would at last show some belated signs of maturity in its dealings with the US. This columnist has covered every single Indian ministerial and senior officials’ visit to Washington in the last nine years. Most of these ministers wanted a photo opportunity with the US president: never mind that the visitor was dealing with, say, food processing industries back home. Not that all of the visiting ministers were uninterested in — or incapable of — conducting any serious official business in Washington. A meeting with the US president was, however, billed as the high point of ministerial visits.   On one occasion, an external affairs minister reversed his foreign secretary’s strict insistence on reciprocity and went to the PMO to make sure that a visiting US secretary of state will meet the prime minister after the Indian ambassador in Washington — who favoured such a meeting — cleverly let it be known to the minister that there is no hope of his meeting George W. Bush during his next visit to America if the secretary of state was confined to the external affairs minister during that trip and was not allowed access to the prime ministerial residence on 7 Race Course Road.   Chidambaram, on the other hand, was not obsessed, even for a minute, with being photographed with Barack Obama. But then Chidambaram is not Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad or Jaipal Reddy, and it may be too much to assume that the way the home minister conducted himself last week was synonymous with the Indian political class having acquired maturity in its dealings with Washington.   Look at how a big song and dance is being made in New Delhi as the US visit — and the “first state visit” under the Obama presidency — of the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, draws near. And the Americans know how easy it is to massage India’s ego: even as Chidambaram was in Washington, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, Robert Blake, made it a point to underscore in a policy speech that Singh’s visit was, indeed, the first state visit. This columnist has never seen a US official underline such frills of absolutely no consequence, with no bearing whatsoever on substantive policy, in America’s dealings with China, Russia, Japan or France.   Chidambaram came to the US with a precise agenda and rare clarity on how to go about fulfilling what was on his agenda. He did not plead with his US interlocutors to help save India from cross-border terrorism. He did not whine like the little boy who runs to his big brother to complain that his cousin or neighbour had given him a beating.   At a meeting with representatives of select think-tanks in Washington, Chidambaram got the opportunity to say a lot of what he wanted to tell Americans when a participant asked why India was unwilling to have a joint investigation with Pakistan into the terrorist attack on Mumbai in November last year. Without once raising his voice or giving in to emotions, like a lawyer clinically cross-examining a witness, Chidambaram explained to Americans at this and other meetings what precise evidence India had given to Pakistan about the involvement of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and of its chief, Hafeez Sayeed, in the attack on Mumbai. The implication of everything that Chidambaram said was that the Pakistan judiciary was right in letting Hafeez Sayeed go free. Because the Pakistani government had failed to investigate Indian leads, it had let evidence grow cold and deliberately not presented proof in court, which would have put Hafeez Sayeed behind bars. A judge, the home minister repeatedly noted, can only act if he is shown evidence against the people who are being prosecuted. The authorities in Pakistan had simply abdicated their responsibility to do that despite several dossiers from India which contained leads that ought to have been followed up. Chidambaram made the Americans squirm when he reminded them that Pakistan’s reluctance to investigate, prosecute and destroy the terrorist virus that is threatening to overwhelm that country has nothing to do with India pointing a finger at the Pakistan establishment.   Six Americans died in the terrorist attack on Mumbai, and yet, Islamabad has refused to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct any inquiry in Pakistan. It is an argument that cuts deep into the American psyche: every US government has valued American lives to be worth acting against those who endanger those lives. And yet, when it comes to Pakistan, there is a sense of helplessness in Washington about doing anything, which the home minister more than hinted at in his interactions in the US. Some of those present at official meetings where Chidambaram rolled out these arguments were the very people who have been arguing that Pakistan should be the centrepiece of US security strategy for South and Central Asia in the next decade..   Notwithstanding the sparring, it was clear as Chidambaram left for New Delhi that the Americans were very pleased to have had the opportunity to meet face-to-face the top man in India who was dealing with terrorism on a day-to-day basis. The last time men and women in the US, whose job it is to protect America, had that opportunity was six years ago when the deputy prime minister and home minister, L.K. Advani, went to Washington. Interacting with two home ministers in India, Advani and Chidambaram, the Americans must be wondering what it is in India’s political system that makes home ministers so much superior, so very personable and businesslike, compared to other members of the Union cabinet. For all the legal arguments that Chidambaram presented, his incontrovertible logic and his eloquence, nothing is going to change in Washington: the Americans are stuck with Pakistan on Afghanistan and Central Asia.   But then, Pakistan, contrary to television hyperbole, was only part of Chidambaram’s agenda in the US. As part of his thorough preparations for the visit, Chidambaram read Securing the City: Inside America’s Best Counter­terror Force — the NYPD (acronym for the New York Police Department). It is a new book written by Christopher Dickey, the Paris bureau chief of Newsweek, who wanted to investigate how the NYPD had kept New Yorkers safe since September 11, 2001. After reading the book, Chidambaram decided to craft his own programme in New York, unlike most Indian ministers. He asked for meetings with the FBI-led Joint Terror Task Force, the NYPD and the agencies involved in protecting New York’s mass transport system. In Washington, he similarly insisted on a personal tour of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre: his idea is to create a centre in New Delhi that mirrors the talent and capacity of the one in Washington in being able to deal with threats to India.   Chidambaram wants the US to help India in creating its anti-terrorist infrastructure to a standard that has prevented another attack on America since September 11, 2001. Lest the Americans should drag their feet on such help, the home minister’s brahmastra was that it was in US interest to help in India’s acquisition of counter-terrorist technology and equipment because it will, in turn, provide greater security for American investment in India as bilateral economic relations become deeper. It was an argument that no one in Washington could counter.   http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090916/jsp/opinion/story_11497173.jsp#     From karthik.natarajan at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 17:05:01 2009 From: karthik.natarajan at gmail.com (Karthik Natarajan) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:05:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: hi.i complete agree with you. we are racists. but i dont think its because jug suraiya made fun of mayawatis statue making romp. but because you were looking for a racist/casteist and gender-insensitive comment in a cartoon strip that may be a little over the top funny. i wonder if you would still call it racist/casteist and gender insensitive, if say advani would have erect these statues and the cartoon strip was made with him instead of her? the strip,, makes fun of mayawatis feeble shot at immortalizing herself in indian political history, by means of a series of staues. i wonder how she is justifying this move morally? is the state doing so well that we are spending obscene amounts of money on cosmetic efforts and not aesthetics. i dont think this wil be like the bruce lee of mostar for lucknow? < http://www.reason.com/news/show/33300.html>. it could have the exact opposite effect if that. who is to benefit from these statues? does a resident care if he sees a statue of a deceased/alive politician on the way to work each day? or is his life going to be better because of this move? does this help the unemployed and the homeless? have our politicians become this insecure of their place in time that they have to resort to such meaningless moves? tho' i agree with the idea that indians are racists, and we shall be racists, unless we stop making issues of things as trivial as cartoon strips, and bearded students in school and head scarves. 62 years after independence if we cannot focus on better things i think we should seriously rethink our strategies and more so our representatives. calling them leaders would just be demean the idea of democracy. i sincerely hope that in the future, we shall stop being so paranoid about such non issues and look at progress as the only issue. best, karthik. 2009/9/16 Sudeep K S > http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- karthik natarajan 0091 99232 27049 [using webmail] From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 17:45:41 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:45:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Inspiring Stories - A MetaGood Project: Looking For Freelancers & Story Ideas In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: >From nirat at metagood.org Sep 16, 2009 Overview Inspiring Stories is a MetaGood project (www.metagood.org) which seeks to unearth stories of inspiring individuals and groups who are doing work that is making a difference and enabling positive changes in our society. These stories would be captured through interviews, photo & video documentaries and would be disseminated over the MetaGood website & spin-off books. Themes For Inspiring Stories Inspiring Stories will run stories aligned to a few themes because this will allow us to have depth and focus and will also enable us to create spin-offs such as theme specific books that will be released under Creative Commons licensing at cost only pricing. The 7 themes that Inspiring Stories will run (sequentially) are: 1. Inspiring Career Transitions 2. Social Entrepreneurs / Innovators 3. Stories Of Sustainable Business 4. Inspiring People In The Government 5. Stories Of Inspiring Underprivileged 6. Inspiring Students 7. Inspiring Social Change Movements Theme & Story Formats Each of the themes will run for 20 stories. Theme 1 will start first and once we're through with 20 stories in it, we'd move to Theme 2 and so on. The story length would be between 3,000 & 4,000 words with 5-7 associated images. We have a freelance program in which we commission stories to interested writers and pay Rs 10,000 for each story successfully completed. Creative Commons Licensing These stories would be put up on the MetaGood website and also other formats such as books for each theme. We'd be releasing the stories under a Creative Commons license enabling noncommercial reuse of the stories by other entities. Looking For Freelancers & Story Ideas If you would like to participate either as a freelancer or you know of someone who would make a great person to feature in one of our stories, then please reach out to me on nirat at metagood.orgor call me on + 91 9899692572. Thanks Nirat Nirat Bhatnagar Gurgaon From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 18:21:20 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:21:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 5:05 PM, Karthik Natarajan < karthik.natarajan at gmail.com> wrote: > hi.i complete agree with you. we are racists. but i dont think its because > jug suraiya made fun of mayawatis statue making romp. but because you were > looking for a racist/casteist and gender-insensitive comment in a cartoon > strip that may be a little over the top funny. i wonder if you would still > call it racist/casteist and gender insensitive, if say advani would have > erect these statues and the cartoon strip was made with him instead of her? > Dear Karthik Natarajan, I can bet that had it been Adwani, the cartoon would not have said 'that one is ugly'. Nor would someone in the cartoon strip mistake Advani for a statue, especially if statues were black in colour. the strip,, makes fun of mayawatis feeble shot at immortalizing herself in > indian political history, by means of a series of staues. i wonder how she > is justifying this move morally? is the state doing so well that we are > spending obscene amounts of money on cosmetic efforts and not aesthetics. i > dont think this wil be like the bruce lee of mostar for lucknow? < > http://www.reason.com/news/show/33300.html>. it could have the exact > opposite effect if that. > Ok this is another topic of discussion -- the morality of Mayawati's statues (not the ugliness of Mayawati's looks, or her being mistaken for a statue because she is dark). We never have any problem with all those Gandhi/India Gandhi/Rajeev Gandhi statues or many other ways of wasting the money. In fact what is 'wasting money' is subjective. Building statues, building roads, building dams, buying weapons, building malls, building houses.. Governments do so many things. I have felt many times that a lot of it is a waste of money. Of mine and yours. But that is my opinion. Here is a short moral justification for Mayawati: 1) MONEY: The monuments were built with money from the department of culture, NOT money meant for development or education. The culture money is for cultural development. Mayawati chose to built monuments with it. 2) MONUMENTS: Why monuments, why not TV, theatres, plays books about dalit culture. In five years time, this is the best symbolic method. The statues remain. Why do we visit Taj Mahal? Why do we feel proud about it? It is a cultural exercise, an education, a reconnection with history as a Taj Mahal visit connects the Indian to the Indian history, Monuments connect humanity. 3) What for DALITS: Dalits are not just deprived of economic and social rights, the cultural heritage is also missing. Using the money from the culture department, to give a Dalit that education, connection to the dalit history is as primary as getting the education departments money being spent on better library facilities for them. There has been some amount of debate on that on the internet, and I had reproduced some of the arguments and linked to them from my blog, at http://sudeepsdiary.blogspot.com/2009/07/mayavati-and-her-statues.html There was also a 'Big Fight' on NDTV, in which the Congress spokesperson desparately tried to defend themselves saying Mayavati should have waited for 'others' to make her statue, like Congress did for Rajiv or others. That was a gem :-) Link to the big fight video here: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/new/NDTV-Show-Special.aspx?ID=260#VPlay Let me reiterate that this discussion has got absolutely nothing to do with that cartoon which you find funny (even if 'over the top'). Regards Sudeep > who is to benefit from these statues? does a resident care if he sees a > statue of a deceased/alive politician on the way to work each day? or is his > life going to be better because of this move? does this help the unemployed > and the homeless? have our politicians become this insecure of their place > in time that they have to resort to such meaningless moves? > > tho' i agree with the idea that indians are racists, and we shall be > racists, unless we stop making issues of things as trivial as cartoon > strips, and bearded students in school and head scarves. 62 years after > independence if we cannot focus on better things i think we should seriously > rethink our strategies and more so our representatives. calling them leaders > would just be demean the idea of democracy. > > i sincerely hope that in the future, we shall stop being so paranoid about > such non issues and look at progress as the only issue. > > best, > karthik. > > 2009/9/16 Sudeep K S > >> http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 >> > > > > -- > karthik natarajan > 0091 99232 27049 > [using webmail] > From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 16 18:37:38 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:07:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 18:46:19 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:46:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Sudeep > > Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see > anything RACIST in the cartoon strip. > > Kshmendra > Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come under racism? After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough money or time for that. love sudeep > From: Sudeep K S > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are > racist > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net > Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM > > > Dear Kshemendra, > > 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the > cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. > > Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever > features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. > This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans > face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory > 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. > > If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on > the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, > this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness > about racism. > > See the complete strip here: > > "What? Me? A Racist?" > > http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf > > Regards > Sudeep > > On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > > wrote: > >> The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly >> the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning >> Mayawati as "ugly". >> >> But, what is racist about the cartoon? >> >> Kshmendra >> >> --- On *Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S >> >* wrote: >> >> >> From: Sudeep K S >> > >> Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist >> To: reader-list at sarai.net >> Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM >> >> http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 >> >> > > From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 19:05:51 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:05:51 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <631413.63092.qm@web94713.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Agreed, even I do not se Racism, however with Sudeep, I do agree that these are the lines of thinking based on racism, disowning a person on basis of Culture, Lineage or even physical traits. I add to clarify why this mentality is bad, we all know people of ancestral lineage based in  Manipur and further east are of a different mix than those in rest of the country, their culture is also a bit varied, wearing colourful doesnt make Indian.  What do many of us call them? Why? Isn't that Racism? We single out their women for wearing shorts, isn't that racism, we attach with them all kind of malpractices, like getting drunk, and we devote any attrocity commited on them to their carefree attitude. IN short we think all SC's and ST's lack brains. Well that is class based discrimination than race based discrimination. But that is discrimination, singling out a persons reputation or property, I do not equate goodwill with property, for some body else's pleasure..............    As a result, all stay in their own community and hate all other communities. And every one in their right senses shall sense more than a healthy competition in all this..... Discrimination in providing natural rights is bad, unqualified this stand, to call somebody ugly and make fun of their looks attacks dignity the way they'd like to be treated and enfiorces an unfair deal on them, is bad too. After all Our father of the nation did not look all that pretty too. The list is slightly longer.... But kshmendra's note as I see it is more nuanced and stands on it's own top, the Farmers, looking like Dalits, are themselves developing a distaste for their leader's looks, ( Why that many do not like Maya's looks, wht is wrong in that?)so many of her statues are implanted, so much watage of resources. Tired, they call her UGLY! And they can not distinguish a real and a statue replica, so many replicas they have seen! The including of Words, Slap are also ironic. Since such a subtle irony is ill placed in a broad based media, this amounts to like discusing Sex life of Gandhi after calling students singly for a different topic, or portraying heavy errotica before children. Again Surely as the dseigner must have Subtle ideas he should brave this out, and stand against odds. Then his ideas shall reach the dalits, instead of a totally different class having nothing to do with her looks.   Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 6:37:38 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Connect more, do more and share more with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn more. http://in.overview.mail.yahoo.com/ From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 16 19:33:46 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:03:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Sudeep   If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned.   If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see it.. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or creed or ethnicity.   If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them 'ugly'. What is racist about that?   For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that?   No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please dont see it everywhere.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come under racism? After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough money or time for that. love sudeep From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 19:35:52 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:35:52 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <384691.73316.qm@web94701.mail.in2.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: subhrodip sengupta To: Kshmendra Kaul Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 7:13:13 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Media rarely gets critisised for going by the government wishes and aims. I wonder who are behind this............ in wake of the recent controversies on INDO CHINA....... the media supporting the idea of leave 500 bucks to the bank and settle for a zero worth FIR, or depicting false stories in Mumbai case or batla encounter is  aggreable to most of these people. Corresponds to I am not hurt that (S)he said all this about me, as I am that you all listened to all this and tried to get some meaning out of it! ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 6:37:38 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> ________________________________ Add whatever you love to the Yahoo! India homepage. Try now! Now, send attachments up to 25MB with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn how. http://in.overview.mail.yahoo.com/photos From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 19:52:02 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:52:02 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <368053.53789.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <552009.85253.qm@web94713.mail.in2.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 7:05:51 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Agreed, even I do not se Racism, however with Sudeep, I do agree that these are the lines of thinking based on racism, disowning a person on basis of Culture, Lineage or even physical traits. I add to clarify why this mentality is bad, we all know people of ancestral lineage based in  Manipur and further east are of a different mix than those in rest of the country, their culture is also a bit varied, wearing colourful doesnt make Indian.  What do many of us call them? Why? Isn't that Racism? We single out their women for wearing shorts, isn't that racism, we attach with them all kind of malpractices, like getting drunk, and we devote any attrocity commited on them to their carefree attitude. IN short we think all SC's and ST's lack brains. Well that is class based discrimination than race based discrimination. But that is discrimination, singling out a persons reputation or property, I do not equate goodwill with property, for some body else's pleasure..............    As a result, all stay in their own community and hate all other communities. And every one in their right senses shall sense more than a healthy competition in all this..... Discrimination in providing natural rights is bad, unqualified this stand, to call somebody ugly and make fun of their looks attacks dignity the way they'd like to be treated and enfiorces an unfair deal on them, is bad too. After all Our father of the nation did not look all that pretty too. The list is slightly longer.... But kshmendra's note as I see it is more nuanced and stands on it's own top, the Farmers, looking like Dalits, are themselves developing a distaste for their leader's looks, ( Why that many do not like Maya's looks, wht is wrong in that?)so many of her statues are implanted, so much watage of resources. Tired, they call her UGLY! And they can not distinguish a real and a statue replica, so many replicas they have seen! The including of Words, Slap are also ironic. Since such a subtle irony is ill placed in a broad based media, this amounts to like discusing Sex life of Gandhi after calling students singly for a different topic, or portraying heavy errotica before children. Again Surely as the dseigner must have Subtle ideas he should brave this out, and stand against odds. Then his ideas shall reach the dalits, instead of a totally different class having nothing to do with her looks.   Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 6:37:38 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist ________________________________ Yahoo! India has a new look. Take a sneak peek. Yahoo! India has a new look. Take a sneak peek http://in.yahoo.com/trynew From dulali.nag at gmail.com Wed Sep 16 19:54:52 2009 From: dulali.nag at gmail.com (DULALI NAG) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:54:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <9a38651a0909160724m6d1255c4nba9def5573fcb859@mail.gmail.com> Very sane and very cogent argument. And such positions tend to be politically incorrect. Keep it up. Dulali Nag On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 5:05 PM, Karthik Natarajan < karthik.natarajan at gmail.com> wrote: > hi.i complete agree with you. we are racists. but i dont think its because > jug suraiya made fun of mayawatis statue making romp. but because you were > looking for a racist/casteist and gender-insensitive comment in a cartoon > strip that may be a little over the top funny. i wonder if you would still > call it racist/casteist and gender insensitive, if say advani would have > erect these statues and the cartoon strip was made with him instead of her? > > the strip,, makes fun of mayawatis feeble shot at immortalizing herself in > indian political history, by means of a series of staues. i wonder how she > is justifying this move morally? is the state doing so well that we are > spending obscene amounts of money on cosmetic efforts and not aesthetics. i > dont think this wil be like the bruce lee of mostar for lucknow? < > http://www.reason.com/news/show/33300.html>. it could have the exact > opposite effect if that. > > who is to benefit from these statues? does a resident care if he sees a > statue of a deceased/alive politician on the way to work each day? or is > his > life going to be better because of this move? does this help the unemployed > and the homeless? have our politicians become this insecure of their place > in time that they have to resort to such meaningless moves? > > tho' i agree with the idea that indians are racists, and we shall be > racists, unless we stop making issues of things as trivial as cartoon > strips, and bearded students in school and head scarves. 62 years after > independence if we cannot focus on better things i think we should > seriously > rethink our strategies and more so our representatives. calling them > leaders > would just be demean the idea of democracy. > > i sincerely hope that in the future, we shall stop being so paranoid about > such non issues and look at progress as the only issue. > > best, > karthik. > > 2009/9/16 Sudeep K S > > > http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > -- > karthik natarajan > 0091 99232 27049 > [using webmail] > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 21:37:52 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:37:52 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] The spectre haunts on. Message-ID: <77914.5105.qm@web94702.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Isn't this Racism. Worse than singling out, this is thought at popular level, a clear conflict between how influential sections think, violating all hopes and assuarances generated.  The spectre lives on, even as we are discussing at a level.  I still wonder which are the sections who think thus and what leads them to. It haunts me, I too have travell plans to Australia. Every time it disappears yet it haunts us. Ironically today some of us were talking of racism here. Three Indians attacked in Australia Tue, Sep 15 01:19 PM After a brief lull in attacks on Indians in Australia, two students and their uncle were "brutally bashed" by a group of around 70 youth while playing here. 26-year-old Sukhdip Singh, his brother Gurdeep Singh and uncle Mukhtair Singh were attacked by the group when they were playing pool in the eastern suburb of Epping on Saturday. "At around 11'o clock my brother-in-law Sukhdip was playing pool along with few family members when they were attacked by around 70 locals who were attending a party," the victim's relative Onkar Singh told PTI. "They were quitely playing and were trying to avoid trouble even after these locals were trying to provoke them by passing comments," he said. The group started telling them to go back to their country. "When they reached the car park to leave the place a huge crowd attacked them and started bashing. The attackers were in their teens and around twenties," he said. Onkar claimed police have informed him that six of the 70 attackers have been arrested. The attacks come a month after Australian government assured External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, during his visit here, that Indian students will be protected. Around 30 Indian students were attacked in various cities from June to August. Connect more, do more and share more with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn more. http://in.overview.mail.yahoo.com/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 22:29:53 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:29:53 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <138366.44917.qm@web94716.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Dear KK, Another story of generalising. I relate to the strip in the cartoon of We are all racist: Asians Indians Pakis all look the same they should mate. Absolutely, there is no racism, but some sort of  appearances, facial makeup. And Sudeep and Subhrodip, for god's sake are two different people as r Wadhwani & Advani. Just beacause they sound similar, they can not be grouped as one. Again I'd conclude on your side as look who's citing media now and Why?                                                  I dont like giving my spectre and belt to all n sundry. Well done Sudep the concerns you express is broad based, but again is simplistic on dynamics of racism who and why people support for example Hindutva in extremist forms. Reading your cartoon was fun, n I thought of re-enacting it some where. Elsewhere, I'd better stand invisible and watch as a spectre does! Subhrodip. ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 7:33:46 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Dear Sudeep   If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned.   If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see it.. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or creed or ethnicity.   If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them 'ugly'. What is racist about that?   For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that?   No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please dont see it everywhere.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come under racism? After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough money or time for that. love sudeep From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From cricket scores to your friends. Try the Yahoo! India Homepage! http://in.yahoo.com/trynew From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 22:32:09 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:32:09 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Message-ID: <546009.41892.qm@web94707.mail.in2.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 10:29:53 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Dear KK, Another story of generalising. I relate to the strip in the cartoon of We are all racist: Asians Indians Pakis all look the same they should mate. Absolutely, there is no racism, but some sort of  appearances, facial makeup. And Sudeep and Subhrodip, for god's sake are two different people as r Wadhwani & Advani. Just beacause they sound similar, they can not be grouped as one. Again I'd conclude on your side as look who's citing media now and Why?                                                  I dont like giving my spectre and belt to all n sundry. Well done Sudep the concerns you express is broad based, but again is simplistic on dynamics of racism who and why people support for example Hindutva in extremist forms. Reading your cartoon was fun, n I thought of re-enacting it some where. Elsewhere, I'd better stand invisible and watch as a spectre does! Subhrodip. ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 7:33:46 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Dear Sudeep   If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned.   If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see it.. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or creed or ethnicity.   If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them 'ugly'. What is racist about that?   For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that?   No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please dont see it everywhere.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come under racism? After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough money or time for that. love sudeep From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> ________________________________ Yahoo! India has a new look. Take a sneak peek. Yahoo! India has a new look. Take a sneak peek http://in.yahoo.com/trynew From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 22:51:58 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:51:58 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <570868.54007.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Sharing perceptions is so healthy, when as a bunch u call Ugly and seperate the ugliest, when U call a victim a slut, or a goon. When U decide to mob up Mohhemmadans, who spread an alternative ideology or things beyond your foresight, u single out for not obeying.  Cheap public entertaintment, Greeks had Matadors and Arenas where they committed such attrocities, we have notion of witchcraft, and stripping women for that. Nothing is wrong, though the joke was at maya not her altar. Eve teasing is the highest show of male shivalry, or citi people commenting at less privelleged shabby people in English as if they were too imprudent to understand what is said. Even these people then use their own dialect at city girls, the problem goes when someone falls vulnerable. Not just physically, but materially or even mentally....Life is not wine, one must not go by package. This again remains a personal note, the attempt remaing ambitious at making a sly joke. The true problem arises in imposing a queer and superficial notion of peace and harmony whcih highlights the Bigotism, as if even the Indian Hindu majority states or Australia for that matter were too big states to operate either big by size or big by population. Then one must consider fragmenting and dividing into families, not throwing people out. ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 7:33:46 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Dear Sudeep   If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned.   If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see it.. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or creed or ethnicity.   If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them 'ugly'. What is racist about that?   For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that?   No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please dont see it everywhere.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come under racism? After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough money or time for that. love sudeep From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> Connect more, do more and share more with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn more. http://in.overview.mail.yahoo.com/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Wed Sep 16 22:57:44 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:57:44 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Message-ID: <918308.59877.qm@web94716.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Dear KK, Another story of generalising. I relate to the strip in the cartoon of We are all racist: Asians Indians Pakis all look the same they should mate. Absolutely, there is no racism, but some sort of  appearances, facial makeup. And Sudeep and Subhrodip, for god's sake are two different people as r Wadhwani & Advani. Just beacause they sound similar, they can not be grouped as one. Again I'd conclude on your side as look who's citing media now and Why?                                                  I dont like giving my spectre and belt to all n sundry. Well done Sudep the concerns you express is broad based, but again is simplistic on dynamics of racism who and why people support for example Hindutva in extremist forms. Reading your cartoon was fun, n I thought of re-enacting it some where. Elsewhere, I'd better stand invisible and watch as a spectre does! Subhrodip. ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Sudeep K S Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 7:33:46 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist Dear Sudeep   If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned.   If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see it.. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or creed or ethnicity.   If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them 'ugly'. What is racist about that?   For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that?   No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please dont see it everywhere.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Sudeep   Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see anything RACIST in the cartoon strip.   Kshmendra Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come under racism? After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough money or time for that. love sudeep From: Sudeep K S Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM Dear Kshemendra, 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness about racism. See the complete strip here: "What? Me? A Racist?" http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf Regards Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning Mayawati as "ugly".   But, what is racist about the cartoon?   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S wrote: From: Sudeep K S Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738       _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> ________________________________ Yahoo! India has a new look. Take a sneak peek. Try the new Yahoo! India Homepage. Click here. http://in.yahoo.com/trynew From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 16 23:46:07 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:16:07 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] IGNOU-DW: Training of Trainers Programme In-Reply-To: <26a257d50909160220q285230b2y4c375bd29421784d@mail.gmail.com> References: <26a257d50909160220q285230b2y4c375bd29421784d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <8CC0510E4E5AC24-1CD4-699A@webmail-d062.sysops.aol.com> As might be aware, IGNOU is conducting three programmes in the areas of online journalism, training of trainers and media management in collaboration with Deutsche Welle (DW), Academy, Germany.  DW Academy is one of the premier institutions of media education and training not only in Europe but across the world. The DW also runs television channels and radio stations.   We propose to conduct the Training of Trainers programme tentatively from October 26 until November 6, 2009.  The programme will be of immense value for media educators and those also to those who are associated with media education and training as guest faculty or in some other capacity or wish to enter the same. We are still working our fee structure but it would be roughly around Rs. 10,000.   Nominations are invited for the programme from full time faculty members or part time faculty members or those who wish to join media education. Willingness to participate may please be communicated at the earliest at sdhuliya at gmail.com Thanking you, Subhash Dhuliya.   From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 06:30:13 2009 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:30:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91No_mechanism_to_cope_with_nucle?= =?windows-1252?q?ar_accident=92?= Message-ID: <3457ce860909161800hd57e489if51ae22fcb18475e@mail.gmail.com> *‘No mechanism to cope with nuclear accident’ * *Date:17/09/2009* *URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/17/stories/2009091756290400.htm* Special Correspondent *‘Authorities of Koodankulam plant violating safety regulations’ * ------------------------------ * Rally in New Delhi on October 2 ‘India becoming dumping ground for obsolete nuclear technology’ * ------------------------------ Thiruvananthapuram: The People’s Movement against Nuclear Energy alleged here on Wednesday that the district administration in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha were not equipped to cope with an accident at the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. Addressing a press conference here, coordinator of the movement S.P. Udayakumar and leaders of various member organisations said the authorities had failed to conduct safety drills or share evacuation plans with the residents in the seven districts likely to be affected by an accident. “They maintain that no accident will occur at the Koodankulam nuclear power plant. Even the Environmental Impact Assessment report, safety analysis report and site evaluation study have not been revealed to the public in the two States”. Mr. Udayakumar said a series of mild tremors in the neighbourhood of the nuclear plant and other places in the Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts in the recent past had created panic among the people. “There has been no effort to allay their fears.” He alleged that the authorities at the Koodankulam plant were violating the prescribed safety regulations in transport of radioactive material. “Nuclear fuel rods and uranium are brought to the Thiruvananthapuram airport like ordinary cargo and transported to Koodankulam by road without any warning or advance information to the people on the movement of radioactive material.” Mr. Udayakumar said India was becoming a dumping ground for obsolete nuclear technology peddled by other nations. “The U.S. has not built a nuclear power plant for the last 30 years while Russia stopped making new nuclear power plants since the Chernobyl accident. They are now trying to dump their technology on developing nations.” State president of the Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF) T. Peter said the Koodankulam nuclear power complex would pollute the near shore waters, leading to the mass migration of fish. This, he said, would pose a new threat to the traditional fishermen community, already reeling under several crises. Mr. Peter said the coastal communities were living in fear of diseases caused by radioactive contamination. “The Three Mile Island accident in the U.S. and the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine are not just a memory but a living reality for people suffering from various health problems and birth disorders,” Mr. Udayakumar pointed out. The People’s Movement against Nuclear Energy will take out a rally in New Delhi on October 2, Gandhi Jayanthi, to voice protest against the power plant. From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 09:03:25 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:03:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <9a38651a0909160724m6d1255c4nba9def5573fcb859@mail.gmail.com> References: <9a38651a0909160724m6d1255c4nba9def5573fcb859@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Duali, Could you explain why (and what parts) of this argument do you find 'cogent' and 'sane', and why? And why is it politically incorrect if it is indeed cogent and sane? Thanks Sudeep On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 7:54 PM, DULALI NAG wrote: > Very sane and very cogent argument. And such positions tend to be > politically incorrect. Keep it up. > > Dulali Nag > On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 5:05 PM, Karthik Natarajan < > karthik.natarajan at gmail.com> wrote: > >> hi.i complete agree with you. we are racists. but i dont think its because >> jug suraiya made fun of mayawatis statue making romp. but because you were >> looking for a racist/casteist and gender-insensitive comment in a cartoon >> strip that may be a little over the top funny. i wonder if you would still >> call it racist/casteist and gender insensitive, if say advani would have >> erect these statues and the cartoon strip was made with him instead of >> her? >> >> the strip,, makes fun of mayawatis feeble shot at immortalizing herself in >> indian political history, by means of a series of staues. i wonder how she >> is justifying this move morally? is the state doing so well that we are >> spending obscene amounts of money on cosmetic efforts and not aesthetics. >> i >> dont think this wil be like the bruce lee of mostar for lucknow? < >> http://www.reason.com/news/show/33300.html>. it could have the exact >> opposite effect if that. >> >> who is to benefit from these statues? does a resident care if he sees a >> statue of a deceased/alive politician on the way to work each day? or is >> his >> life going to be better because of this move? does this help the >> unemployed >> and the homeless? have our politicians become this insecure of their place >> in time that they have to resort to such meaningless moves? >> >> tho' i agree with the idea that indians are racists, and we shall be >> racists, unless we stop making issues of things as trivial as cartoon >> strips, and bearded students in school and head scarves. 62 years after >> independence if we cannot focus on better things i think we should >> seriously >> rethink our strategies and more so our representatives. calling them >> leaders >> would just be demean the idea of democracy. >> >> i sincerely hope that in the future, we shall stop being so paranoid about >> such non issues and look at progress as the only issue. >> >> best, >> karthik. >> >> 2009/9/16 Sudeep K S >> >> > http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> karthik natarajan >> 0091 99232 27049 >> [using webmail] >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > From sudeep.ks at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 09:18:43 2009 From: sudeep.ks at gmail.com (Sudeep K S) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:18:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist In-Reply-To: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5329.20275.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 7:33 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Sudeep > > If you have other ghosts or realities troubling you, that is a separate > issue. Let us keep it simple as far as the cartoon strip is concerned. > Exactly. That is what I said to Karthik also. There are many realities that trouble me (and probably that holds for Karthik, Subhrodip and you also), and there could be many realities that trouble him. But the point of discussion here (that I started out, with a reference to that cartoon strip) was that the cartoonists' comments are racist. > If someone finds a silhouetted Mayawati 'ugly' then that is how they see > it. Nothing 'racist' about it, silhouettes have no colour, or caste, or > creed or ethnicity. > Ok.. 'that is how they see it'. I agree till that part. My question now is that what would make Mayavati's looks 'ugly' to some people (here, Jug Suraiya and Neelabh). Why are certain figures considered ugly by people? Could it be because that kind of looks are not very common or are not considered so beautiful in their own community and they refuse to accept the fact that the same looks could be very common and 'normal' for someone who does not belong to that community? It is this *refusal to understand and accept the differences (in looks, in colour, in culture)* that I find *racist*. I can and will say that any number of times. And in western societies, such a cartoon strip would have caused a big furore. Because even if many of them are racist, they are better aware what constitutes racism, and what would not pass off so easily in a public space like a newspaper cartoon strip. Regards Sudeep If someone finds "some" statues of Mayawati 'ugly', well they find them > 'ugly'. What is racist about that? > > For that matter If someone were to percieve Mayawati herself as an 'ugly > looking' person then that is how he/she sees it. What is racist about that? > > No question that we have many examples of 'racism' in India, but please > dont see it everywhere. > > Kshmendra > > --- On *Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S * wrote: > > > From: Sudeep K S > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are > racist > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net > Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 6:46 PM > > > On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > > wrote: > >> Dear Sudeep >> >> Your explanations and references notwithstanding, I still do not see >> anything RACIST in the cartoon strip. >> >> Kshmendra >> > > Ok.. let us try to come to a common platform before arguing over a word. > What do you mean by the word RACIST? According to you, what all would come > under racism? > > After listening to your answer, I can try to explain better why I feel this > cartoon (and also many Delhiites' attitude towards 'South Indians' or many > Europeans' attitude towards Indians) is absolutely racist in nature. I would > also like to fight a case in the court, it is just that I do not have enough > money or time for that. > > love > sudeep > > >> From: Sudeep K S >> > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are >> racist >> To: "Kshmendra Kaul" >> > >> Cc: reader-list at sarai.net >> Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:23 PM >> >> >> Dear Kshemendra, >> >> 'Racism' is a broad term, and in this context, it refers to the >> cartoonists' definition of 'ugli'ness. >> >> Someone who does not look like 'our women' (the fair, and with whatever >> features that consitute 'beauty' in our people) gets classified as 'ugly'. >> This is not far from the discrimination and disrespect that Asians/Africans >> face for being 'dark-skinned' by fair-skinned people, or the deregatory >> 'South Indian / Madrasi' tag that some of us have to live with in Delhi. >> >> If you want more help on this, there is a cool 'racism primer' avilable on >> the net. Incidentally, this one is also a cartoon strip, and guess what, >> this was pubished by the European nations in their effort to raise awareness >> about racism. >> >> See the complete strip here: >> >> "What? Me? A Racist?" >> >> http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/multicult_france99/cartoon_raciste_en.pdf >> >> Regards >> Sudeep >> >> On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> > wrote: >> >>> The cartoon could be considered to be in bad taste wherein indirectly >>> the objectifying of women as "pretty things" is being promoted by mentioning >>> Mayawati as "ugly". >>> >>> But, what is racist about the cartoon? >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> --- On *Wed, 9/16/09, Sudeep K S >>> >* wrote: >>> >>> >>> From: Sudeep K S >>> > >>> Subject: [Reader-list] ..and these newspapers say Australians are racist >>> To: reader-list at sarai.net >>> Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:21 AM >>> >>> http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=738 >>> >>> >> >> > > From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Sep 17 12:59:19 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:59:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal Message-ID: <7FAB5170-FA6C-4860-A094-74991D2512EB@sarai.net> dear All, An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed research for over many years. Enclosing a review of the book. warmly jeebesh http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html Waste Review by Fiona Harvey Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal By Tristram Stuart Penguin £9.99, 448 pages FT Bookshop price: £7.99 Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every day, with everything you ate. Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the meagre data provided by governments and businesses. The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell Stuart. Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author hopes, demanding change. Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the 1840s. . . . We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on British life for decades, and famines during and following the war scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television screens. Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of malnourished. How did this happen? Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a product, they will be held to blame. If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their products. Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar themselves. This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long time. Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden From prem.cnt at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 14:23:21 2009 From: prem.cnt at gmail.com (Prem Chandavarkar) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:23:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on us from above by global financial institutions. As Foucault has pointed out, power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced. So one has to look within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is seen as desirable by Asians. In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical discontinuity. Given over two centuries of history that one could not consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and future suffered a disruption. This created a development discourse for the first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a lack of perceived authenticity. Any discussion of "authentic" Indian culture was always rooted in the village. Unlike the west where the city was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely through a rational lens. But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived as being anchored in global production in a very central way. Modernity no longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived. The software industry is essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and therefore the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and has created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is seen as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic. Some indicators of this desire are: a) One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of the global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire towards. b) There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and the better enforcement of master plans. c) Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the efficient and ordered city. To take as an example three recent Supreme Court judgments on Delhi: · The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to CNG as a fuel. · The sealing of shops and other business establishments in residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). · The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. d) Cities are now concerned about branding themselves. City authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social housing. The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely played a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them out, and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our throats. Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking out this model. Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments of our population go unrecognised. Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. Regards, Prem From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 17 17:43:44 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:13:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <7FAB5170-FA6C-4860-A094-74991D2512EB@sarai.net> Message-ID: <557055.65661.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Jeebesh   The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on HOW TO prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take place in homes and commercial establishments.   Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so.   Kshmendra  --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: From: Jeebesh Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM dear All, An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He  has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many  people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed  research for over many years. Enclosing a review of the book. warmly jeebesh http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html Waste Review by Fiona Harvey Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal By Tristram Stuart Penguin £9.99, 448 pages FT Bookshop price: £7.99 Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think  about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the  wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate  the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and  simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every  day, with everything you ate. Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a  quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is  perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or  homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill.  Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government  estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling  amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story.  Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare  our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket  packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner,  has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several  years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as  well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the  meagre data provided by governments and businesses. The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of  bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in  our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to  say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving  it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell Stuart. Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to  come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of  our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The  scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing  world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author  hopes, demanding change. Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most  cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who  helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the  Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged  themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving  children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the  1840s. .. . . We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages.  Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on  British life for decades, and famines during and following the war  scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have  seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television screens. Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food  resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts;  to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last  residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As  Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible,  Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs  that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have  broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The  food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to  alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of  malnourished. How did this happen? Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of  plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and  ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes  in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force  suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a  product, they will be held to blame. If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap  in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from  selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin  if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts  with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their  products. Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being  crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not  even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided  it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be  sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and  display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European  Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after  the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school  kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain:  the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to  feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in  supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg;  retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible  contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who  fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a  disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the  pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and  produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the  Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the  world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities  such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar  themselves. This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and  readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long  time. Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 17 17:58:03 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:28:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <220710.5768.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Prem   Thank you for a very interesting and educative perspective.   I am intrigued though by your sentence "Given over two centuries of history that one could not consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and future suffered a disruption."   Could you please elaborate what these "over two centuries" are that we (in India) "could not consider authentically one's own".   Who are you referring to? Just the British and Christian influence?     If that is so, why would the (prior to British), Mughal and Islamic influence be any worthier of considering it as "authentically one's own"?   Kshmendra   --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Prem Chandavarkar wrote: From: Prem Chandavarkar Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific To: "yasir ~يا سر" Cc: "Sarai Reader-list" , urbanstudygroup at sarai.net Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 2:23 PM I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on us from above by global financial institutions.  As Foucault has pointed out, power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced.  So one has to look within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is seen as desirable by Asians. In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical discontinuity.  Given over two centuries of history that one could not consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and future suffered a disruption.  This created a development discourse for the first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a lack of perceived authenticity.  Any discussion of "authentic" Indian culture was always rooted in the village.  Unlike the west where the city was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely through a rational lens. But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived as being anchored in global production in a very central way.  Modernity no longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived.  The software industry is essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and therefore the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and has created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is seen as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic.  Some indicators of this desire are: a)       One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of the global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire towards. b)      There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and the better enforcement of master plans. c)       Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the efficient and ordered city.  To take as an example three recent Supreme Court judgments on Delhi: ·         The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to CNG as a fuel. ·         The sealing of shops and other business establishments in residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). ·         The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. d)      Cities are now concerned about branding themselves.  City authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social housing. The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely played a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them out, and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our throats.  Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking out this model.  Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments of our population go unrecognised. Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. Regards, Prem _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 18:06:53 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:06:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] CFP: Conference on Renegotiating Intimacies: Marriage, Living Practices etc Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chandni Parekh Date: 2009/9/17 Subject: CFP: Conference on Renegotiating Intimacies: Marriage, Sexualities, Living Practices To: Sarai List Read the details at http://psychologynews.posterous.com/call-for-proposals-conference-on-renegotiatin Excerpts: To be held at Jadavpur University, Kolkata December 22-23, 2009 The conference proposes the following broad themes for further exploration: *Intermediation of marriages* Evolution of different forms of intermediation and contemporary variations across class, caste and community Marital choice and agency Multiple marriages (widow/widower remarriage, remarriage of divorcees, and others) *Marriage and Violence* Various forms of violence within marriage – domestic violence, forced marriages, enforced motherhood, etc Transgressive marriages leading to violence between different sections of class, caste and community Role of the state and legal system in combating violence within/due to marriage *Marriage and structures of class/caste hierarchies* Constructions of caste/class identities Reproduction of gendered ideologies of marriage *Abstracts should reach by 30.10.2009* From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Sep 17 18:20:44 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:20:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <557055.65661.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <557055.65661.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <82500044-F661-4051-B441-161A92955EA0@sarai.net> dear Kshmendra, The book does go pretty deep into possible way out of this disastrous situation. It takes some case study, notably new administrative rules around waste both domestic and industrial. Tristram is a freegun and gathers a lot of his food from departmental store garbage. I have eaten lovely lunch with him with these perfectly nice food from the garbage cans. Great Sushi and sashimi. :) This book and his earlier one is the development of a deep philosophical engagement with question of what we call and eat as food. I am yet to read the book and is waiting for my copy. But have heard him talk about the issues in the book and he approaches it from an urgency to act on it rather than just critique. Enjoy the book if you get your hand on it. warmly jeebesh On 17-Sep-09, at 5:43 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Jeebesh > > The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on > HOW TO prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take > place in homes and commercial establishments. > > Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so. > > Kshmendra > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: > > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM > > dear All, > > An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He > has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many > people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed > research for over many years. > > Enclosing a review of the book. > > warmly > jeebesh > > http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html > > Waste > Review by Fiona Harvey > Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 > Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > By Tristram Stuart > Penguin £9.99, 448 pages > FT Bookshop price: £7.99 > > Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think > about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the > wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate > the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and > simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every > day, with everything you ate. > > Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a > quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is > perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or > homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. > Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. > > Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government > estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling > amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. > Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare > our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket > packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, > has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several > years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as > well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the > meagre data provided by governments and businesses. > > The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of > bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in > our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to > say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving > it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell > Stuart. > > Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to > come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of > our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The > scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing > world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author > hopes, demanding change. > > Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most > cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who > helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the > Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged > themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving > children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the > 1840s. > > . . . > > We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. > Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on > British life for decades, and famines during and following the war > scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have > seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television > screens. > > Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food > resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; > to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last > residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As > Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, > Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs > that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. > > Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have > broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The > food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to > alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of > malnourished. How did this happen? > > Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of > plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and > ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes > in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force > suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a > product, they will be held to blame. > > If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap > in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from > selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin > if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. > > Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts > with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their > products. > > Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being > crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not > even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided > it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be > sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. > > Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and > display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- > regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European > Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after > the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school > kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. > > Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: > the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to > feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in > supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; > retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible > contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who > fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. > > Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a > disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the > pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and > produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the > Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the > world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities > such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar > themselves. > > This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and > readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long > time. > > Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > From c.anupam at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 18:25:06 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:25:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <557055.65661.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <7FAB5170-FA6C-4860-A094-74991D2512EB@sarai.net> <557055.65661.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909170555k150b03f4ocd07fe48e90ff6ea@mail.gmail.com> Dear Kshmendra, Although i am yet to find a copy of this book, my question is more generic. Do you really think some of the books written in our times pointing towards massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the measures that can be taken to stop it? I feel by the premises which have been established through the review that the book speaks about the vast irregularities in the food industry. -regards Anupam On 9/17/09, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > Dear Jeebesh > > The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on HOW TO > prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take place in homes > and commercial establishments. > > Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so. > > Kshmendra > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: > > > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM > > > dear All, > > An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He > has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many > people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed > research for over many years. > > Enclosing a review of the book. > > warmly > jeebesh > > http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html > > Waste > Review by Fiona Harvey > Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 > Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > By Tristram Stuart > Penguin £9.99, 448 pages > FT Bookshop price: £7.99 > > Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think > about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the > wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate > the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and > simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every > day, with everything you ate. > > Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a > quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is > perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or > homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. > Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. > > Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government > estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling > amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. > Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare > our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket > packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, > has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several > years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as > well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the > meagre data provided by governments and businesses. > > The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of > bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in > our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to > say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving > it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell Stuart. > > Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to > come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of > our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The > scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing > world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author > hopes, demanding change. > > Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most > cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who > helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the > Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged > themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving > children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the > 1840s. > > .. . . > > We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. > Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on > British life for decades, and famines during and following the war > scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have > seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television screens. > > Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food > resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; > to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last > residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As > Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, > Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs > that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. > > Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have > broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The > food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to > alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of > malnourished. How did this happen? > > Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of > plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and > ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes > in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force > suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a > product, they will be held to blame. > > If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap > in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from > selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin > if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. > > Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts > with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their > products. > > Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being > crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not > even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided > it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be > sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. > > Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and > display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- > regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European > Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after > the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school > kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. > > Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: > the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to > feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in > supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; > retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible > contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who > fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. > > Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a > disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the > pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and > produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the > Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the > world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities > such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar > themselves. > > This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and > readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long > time. > > Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From nilankur at cultureunplugged.com Thu Sep 17 19:11:34 2009 From: nilankur at cultureunplugged.com (Nilankur) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:11:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Disaster Film: A Cultural Phenomenon Message-ID: <5465F1C3-681A-4765-98B1-25E465A38869@cultureunplugged.com> The genius of Welles’ “War of the Worlds” doesn’t merely lie in the production quality of the radio broadcast, but instead in the psychological effect it had on its listeners. More often than not, Hollywood disaster films offer minimal substance, non-existent character development and excessive high-concept destruction—the equivalent to a roller coaster ride with spiraling loops, dips and upside down twists. The characters are more like set pieces placed in peril so the studio can exhibit its state-of-art special effects sequences, resulting in the ‘WOW factor.’ http://truthseekers.cultureunplugged.com/truth_seekers/2009/09/the-disaster-film-a-cultural-phenomenon.html nilankur 'frame voice. find vigor' http://www.cultureunplugged.com/filmedia/truthSeekers.php From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 17 20:33:26 2009 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:03:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?b?U2F5IOKAmE5v4oCZIHRvIFVyYW5pdW0gbWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_in_Meghalaya?= Message-ID: <451528.98012.qm@web51406.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Say ‘No!’ to Uranium mining in Meghalaya Please sign this petition: http://petitions.tigweb.org/SayNotoUraniummininginMeghalaya Petition created by: Baniaikynmaw L Shanpru We’ll keep this as informal as possible and just as simple. We belong to a group “Say ‘No!’ to Uranium mining in Meghalaya”. This group was formed after the Meghalaya State Government gave the go-ahead for the pre-developmental construction to the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. at the proposed mining site in West Khasi hills of Meghalaya. As the name suggests, we are vehemently against the mining of this super-unstable element. We do not mean to be anti-establishment and nor de we have any political ambitions. We simply care and are very concerned with the impending doom that the future would hold for the people of Meghalaya in general and the villages of West Khasi hills in particular if the uranium is allowed to be mined. From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Thu Sep 17 22:29:48 2009 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:29:48 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Heights of offensive Ads Message-ID: <341956.31076.qm@web94715.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Nothing criminal against anybody. Tata Indicom's ad. For new generation's people. Depicts a maid saying I carry Shiney's number. Yes shiny got attracted to Female maids in general, not necessarily the woman wom he raped or at least seduced. I find Tata Indicom's Photon Ad objectionable. Even they know it'd be pull out but tey tink it'll generate a fashion satement and increase revenue. That's were I' concerned too, not that they said such n suuch, about a sensitive issue, but that people shall listen, smile and remember them for it.  Plz forward is message o as many friends. We should try n protect he dignity of people even our maids. Does city culture portray every one as offensive and exisence but a burden? Why did e creative head think of marketing this, afer gossip channels and radio, wo have gone unnoticed making offensive comments. Maybe. ealing ourselves take time, to begin wit proximal bit's to do ell with Tata's Ad. Connect more, do more and share more with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn more. http://in.overview.mail.yahoo.com/ From yasir.media at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 22:33:19 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:03:19 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <220710.5768.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> <220710.5768.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb0909171003v3605d79cted060d41da10dfc8@mail.gmail.com> I think the main point of the article was the sheer disregard (and historically so) of people who have stakes in the such urban development schemes (long term programmes, shorter time-bound projects..), such as dwellers, affectees, economic entities at various levels, while the alternatives actually taken are positively harmful. What we end up with both through planning (foucaldian), and below/after that the corrupted attenuation/implementation, are far from the best alternatives available and what city dwellers deserve. Since arif hasan has been a consultant to these same institutions for 2.5 decades, i hear him saying they these institutions (along with the govt) are not going for the better alternatives, and will only be coaxed through popular and community activism. KK and Prem, i think you'll agree that the point is being made for these times, but certainly popular revolt through pre and post colonial history have served as correctives to royal and colonial policies. best y On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 5:28 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Prem > > Thank you for a very interesting and educative perspective. > > I am intrigued though by your sentence "Given over two centuries of history > that one could not consider authentically one's own, the connection between > past present and > future suffered a disruption." > > Could you please elaborate what these "over two centuries" are that we (in > India) "could not consider authentically one's own". > > Who are you referring to? Just the British and Christian influence? > > If that is so, why would the (prior to British), Mughal and Islamic > influence be any worthier of considering it as "authentically one's own"? > > Kshmendra > > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Prem Chandavarkar wrote: > > > From: Prem Chandavarkar > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for > urban planning in Asia-Pacific > To: "yasir ~يا سر" > Cc: "Sarai Reader-list" , urbanstudygroup at sarai.net > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 2:23 PM > > > I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on > us > from above by global financial institutions. As Foucault has pointed out, > power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something > desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced. So one has to look > within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is > seen as desirable by Asians. > In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: > > Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical > discontinuity. Given over two centuries of history that one could not > consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and > future suffered a disruption. This created a development discourse for the > first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history > was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a > glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. > > Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a > lack of perceived authenticity. Any discussion of "authentic" Indian > culture was always rooted in the village. Unlike the west where the city > was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of > cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, > and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely > through a rational lens. > > But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in > particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility > for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived > as being anchored in global production in a very central way. Modernity no > longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived. The software industry is > essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and > therefore > the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. > > This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and > has > created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is > seen > as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic. Some indicators of this > desire are: > > a) One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of > the > global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and > Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire > towards. > > b) There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by > resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and > the better enforcement of master plans. > > c) Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the > efficient > and ordered city. To take as an example three recent Supreme Court > judgments on Delhi: > > · The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to > CNG as a fuel. > > · The sealing of shops and other business establishments in > residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial > space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). > > · The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the > banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the > master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the > location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. > > d) Cities are now concerned about branding themselves. City > authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums > and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social > housing. > The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely > played > a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them > out, > and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our > throats. Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking > out this model. Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the > attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments > of our population go unrecognised. > > Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on > that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. > > Regards, > Prem > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From anilbhattarai at gmail.com Thu Sep 17 22:36:50 2009 From: anilbhattarai at gmail.com (Anil Bhattarai) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:06:50 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <62596c150909171006x299aff7fxcfd1479694bcec27@mail.gmail.com> Hello, I am a newbie to this discussion group and therefore I don't have much reference to past discussions. However, Prem's discussion about how 'we' have adopted the world-class city is very insightful. I think, as you have outlined, the reference to the imposition thesis as if it was the World Bank and the IMF with their grand-designs which shoved specific models on 'us' does not allow us to think creatively about what needs to be done, in addition to the fact it was not also an empirically full picture. There is a growing desire to participate in that dream--the dream of a particular notion of world-city among the majority of the ruling elites. It is here, I see the need of creating a urban politics that galvanizes 'others' in a project that presents different visions of the city. The problem in India and many other places, the politics is dominated by a narrow elites, and the majority of the residents, and mostly poor among them, do not have spaces in which they can politically articulate different visions. I see this part mostly missing in this post-colonial dream analysis. It's not the general 'we' who aspired for particular dreams, but there are class dimensions, there are caste dimensions, and there are gendered dimensions to it. Ultimately, it's the failure of the politics of the left to provide creative alternatives to the dominant practices of city-building. Sooner or later, it is by compulsion and not by choice, that even the middle class will have to come to realize that this particular brand of world-class city--with flyovers, megamalls, is going to be too costly for human lives. But again, the challenge is not only to 'see' how things have emerged, but also to begin the process of constructing diverse visions/ or consolidating them through political process. Anil On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:53 AM, Prem Chandavarkar wrote: > I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on us > from above by global financial institutions.  As Foucault has pointed out, > power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something > desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced.  So one has to look > within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is > seen as desirable by Asians. > In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: > > Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical > discontinuity.  Given over two centuries of history that one could not > consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and > future suffered a disruption.  This created a development discourse for the > first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history > was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a > glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. > > Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a > lack of perceived authenticity.  Any discussion of "authentic" Indian > culture was always rooted in the village.  Unlike the west where the city > was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of > cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, > and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely > through a rational lens. > > But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in > particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility > for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived > as being anchored in global production in a very central way.  Modernity no > longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived.  The software industry is > essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and therefore > the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. > > This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and has > created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is seen > as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic.  Some indicators of this > desire are: > > a)       One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of the > global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and > Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire > towards. > > b)      There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by > resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and > the better enforcement of master plans. > > c)       Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the efficient > and ordered city.  To take as an example three recent Supreme Court > judgments on Delhi: > > ·         The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to > CNG as a fuel. > > ·         The sealing of shops and other business establishments in > residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial > space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). > > ·         The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the > banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the > master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the > location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. > > d)      Cities are now concerned about branding themselves.  City > authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums > and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social > housing. > The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely played > a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them out, > and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our > throats.  Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking > out this model.  Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the > attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments > of our population go unrecognised. > > Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on > that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. > > Regards, > Prem > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Anil Bhattarai Programme in Planning University of Torontoh www.ajamvarifarm.org www.zmag.org www.nyayahealth.org From yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 03:29:05 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:59:05 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <62596c150909171006x299aff7fxcfd1479694bcec27@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> <62596c150909171006x299aff7fxcfd1479694bcec27@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb0909171459n4f94c57bqa00be6713b5635c3@mail.gmail.com> Yes i think its an important point that we all indulge in the fantasy of the global the modern the urban cosmopolis. can i indulge you and others in a the other fantasy, of the alternatives. where are the alternatives, why are they not popular (they'are absent). i find my vision is blurred (i agree: is may also be the failure of the eye that's Left?). and all the alternatives i remembered i no longer do in my current aporia. may be be we can list some resources, websites, people here? how about that. around themes of visions and practical politics? yasir mauj collective karachi On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 10:06 PM, Anil Bhattarai wrote: > Hello, > I am a newbie to this discussion group and therefore I don't have much > reference to past discussions. However, Prem's discussion about how > 'we' have adopted the world-class city is very insightful. I think, as > you have outlined, the reference to the imposition thesis as if it was > the World Bank and the IMF with their grand-designs which shoved > specific models on 'us' does not allow us to think creatively about > what needs to be done, in addition to the fact it was not also an > empirically full picture. There is a growing desire to participate in > that dream--the dream of a particular notion of world-city among the > majority of the ruling elites. > > It is here, I see the need of creating a urban politics that > galvanizes 'others' in a project that presents different visions of > the city. The problem in India and many other places, the politics is > dominated by a narrow elites, and the majority of the residents, and > mostly poor among them, do not have spaces in which they can > politically articulate different visions. > > I see this part mostly missing in this post-colonial dream analysis. > It's not the general 'we' who aspired for particular dreams, but there > are class dimensions, there are caste dimensions, and there are > gendered dimensions to it. Ultimately, it's the failure of the > politics of the left to provide creative alternatives to the dominant > practices of city-building. > > Sooner or later, it is by compulsion and not by choice, that even the > middle class will have to come to realize that this particular brand > of world-class city--with flyovers, megamalls, is going to be too > costly for human lives. > > But again, the challenge is not only to 'see' how things have emerged, > but also to begin the process of constructing diverse visions/ or > consolidating them through political process. > > Anil > > On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:53 AM, Prem Chandavarkar wrote: >> I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on us >> from above by global financial institutions.  As Foucault has pointed out, >> power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something >> desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced.  So one has to look >> within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is >> seen as desirable by Asians. >> In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: >> >> Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical >> discontinuity.  Given over two centuries of history that one could not >> consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and >> future suffered a disruption.  This created a development discourse for the >> first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history >> was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a >> glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. >> >> Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a >> lack of perceived authenticity.  Any discussion of "authentic" Indian >> culture was always rooted in the village.  Unlike the west where the city >> was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of >> cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, >> and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely >> through a rational lens. >> >> But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in >> particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility >> for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived >> as being anchored in global production in a very central way.  Modernity no >> longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived.  The software industry is >> essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and therefore >> the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. >> >> This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and has >> created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is seen >> as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic.  Some indicators of this >> desire are: >> >> a)       One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of the >> global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and >> Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire >> towards. >> >> b)      There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by >> resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and >> the better enforcement of master plans. >> >> c)       Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the efficient >> and ordered city.  To take as an example three recent Supreme Court >> judgments on Delhi: >> >> ·         The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to >> CNG as a fuel. >> >> ·         The sealing of shops and other business establishments in >> residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial >> space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). >> >> ·         The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the >> banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the >> master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the >> location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. >> >> d)      Cities are now concerned about branding themselves.  City >> authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums >> and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social >> housing. >> The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely played >> a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them out, >> and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our >> throats.  Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking >> out this model.  Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the >> attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments >> of our population go unrecognised. >> >> Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on >> that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. >> >> Regards, >> Prem >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > -- > Anil Bhattarai > Programme in Planning > University of Torontoh > www.ajamvarifarm.org > www.zmag.org > www.nyayahealth.org > From anilbhattarai at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 07:56:32 2009 From: anilbhattarai at gmail.com (Anil Bhattarai) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:26:32 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <5af37bb0909171459n4f94c57bqa00be6713b5635c3@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> <62596c150909171006x299aff7fxcfd1479694bcec27@mail.gmail.com> <5af37bb0909171459n4f94c57bqa00be6713b5635c3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <62596c150909171926s51796543u2a3f276bb37078c@mail.gmail.com> Hi Yasir, Here is a link I came across that discusses the transformation of Detroit into prosperous food city in the US. Yes, good idea to share links and also project ideas. http://www.guernicamag.com/spotlight/1182/food_among_the_ruins/index.php I am currently in Toronto, but will be moving back to Nepal in December, initially for a 9month field research for my ph.d. and after ph.d. for good to start systainable food system building work in a western mountain region of Nepal. I am seriously exploring the possibilities of doing alternative small-town urbanism there. Let's see. I do not hesitate to imagine, howsoever idiosyncratic the ideas may sound like. Alright Ab On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:59 PM, yasir ~يا سر wrote: > Yes i think its an important point that we all indulge in the fantasy > of the global the modern the urban cosmopolis. > > can i indulge you and others in a the other fantasy, of the > alternatives. where are the alternatives, why are they not popular > (they'are absent). > > i find my vision is blurred (i agree: is may also be the failure of > the eye that's Left?). and all the alternatives i remembered i no > longer do in my current aporia. > > may be be we can list some resources, websites, people here? how about > that. around themes of visions and practical politics? > > > yasir > mauj collective > karachi > > > On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 10:06 PM, Anil Bhattarai > wrote: >> Hello, >> I am a newbie to this discussion group and therefore I don't have much >> reference to past discussions. However, Prem's discussion about how >> 'we' have adopted the world-class city is very insightful. I think, as >> you have outlined, the reference to the imposition thesis as if it was >> the World Bank and the IMF with their grand-designs which shoved >> specific models on 'us' does not allow us to think creatively about >> what needs to be done, in addition to the fact it was not also an >> empirically full picture. There is a growing desire to participate in >> that dream--the dream of a particular notion of world-city among the >> majority of the ruling elites. >> >> It is here, I see the need of creating a urban politics that >> galvanizes 'others' in a project that presents different visions of >> the city. The problem in India and many other places, the politics is >> dominated by a narrow elites, and the majority of the residents, and >> mostly poor among them, do not have spaces in which they can >> politically articulate different visions. >> >> I see this part mostly missing in this post-colonial dream analysis. >> It's not the general 'we' who aspired for particular dreams, but there >> are class dimensions, there are caste dimensions, and there are >> gendered dimensions to it. Ultimately, it's the failure of the >> politics of the left to provide creative alternatives to the dominant >> practices of city-building. >> >> Sooner or later, it is by compulsion and not by choice, that even the >> middle class will have to come to realize that this particular brand >> of world-class city--with flyovers, megamalls, is going to be too >> costly for human lives. >> >> But again, the challenge is not only to 'see' how things have emerged, >> but also to begin the process of constructing diverse visions/ or >> consolidating them through political process. >> >> Anil >> >> On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:53 AM, Prem Chandavarkar wrote: >>> I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on us >>> from above by global financial institutions.  As Foucault has pointed out, >>> power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something >>> desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced.  So one has to look >>> within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is >>> seen as desirable by Asians. >>> In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: >>> >>> Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical >>> discontinuity.  Given over two centuries of history that one could not >>> consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and >>> future suffered a disruption.  This created a development discourse for the >>> first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history >>> was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a >>> glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. >>> >>> Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a >>> lack of perceived authenticity.  Any discussion of "authentic" Indian >>> culture was always rooted in the village.  Unlike the west where the city >>> was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of >>> cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, >>> and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely >>> through a rational lens. >>> >>> But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in >>> particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility >>> for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived >>> as being anchored in global production in a very central way.  Modernity no >>> longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived.  The software industry is >>> essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and therefore >>> the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. >>> >>> This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and has >>> created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is seen >>> as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic.  Some indicators of this >>> desire are: >>> >>> a)       One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of the >>> global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and >>> Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire >>> towards. >>> >>> b)      There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by >>> resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and >>> the better enforcement of master plans. >>> >>> c)       Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the efficient >>> and ordered city.  To take as an example three recent Supreme Court >>> judgments on Delhi: >>> >>> ·         The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to >>> CNG as a fuel. >>> >>> ·         The sealing of shops and other business establishments in >>> residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial >>> space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). >>> >>> ·         The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the >>> banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the >>> master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the >>> location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. >>> >>> d)      Cities are now concerned about branding themselves.  City >>> authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums >>> and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social >>> housing. >>> The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely played >>> a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them out, >>> and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our >>> throats.  Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking >>> out this model.  Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the >>> attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments >>> of our population go unrecognised. >>> >>> Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on >>> that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Prem >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >> -- >> Anil Bhattarai >> Programme in Planning >> University of Torontoh >> www.ajamvarifarm.org >> www.zmag.org >> www.nyayahealth.org >> > -- Anil Bhattarai Programme in Planning University of Torontoh www.ajamvarifarm.org www.zmag.org www.nyayahealth.org From anilbhattarai at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 07:58:15 2009 From: anilbhattarai at gmail.com (Anil Bhattarai) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:28:15 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 'World Class City' concept & repercussions for urban planning in Asia-Pacific In-Reply-To: <5af37bb0909171459n4f94c57bqa00be6713b5635c3@mail.gmail.com> References: <5af37bb0909121717k1ef4400bh82b4e559e1d32bce@mail.gmail.com> <7e230b560909170153j7ecfaa8au15895c30b1f55591@mail.gmail.com> <62596c150909171006x299aff7fxcfd1479694bcec27@mail.gmail.com> <5af37bb0909171459n4f94c57bqa00be6713b5635c3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <62596c150909171928h7214660fkbcfa48340fa951fe@mail.gmail.com> One more idea I wanted to share but forgot in my previous email: I have started contacting folks in Kathmandu who are serious about starting campaigns for bicycle paths in the city. Kathmandu being a manageably small city, if we can institute good bike trails, we can see a sizeable chunk of city dwellers pedalling along than driving. Ab On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:59 PM, yasir ~يا سر wrote: > Yes i think its an important point that we all indulge in the fantasy > of the global the modern the urban cosmopolis. > > can i indulge you and others in a the other fantasy, of the > alternatives. where are the alternatives, why are they not popular > (they'are absent). > > i find my vision is blurred (i agree: is may also be the failure of > the eye that's Left?). and all the alternatives i remembered i no > longer do in my current aporia. > > may be be we can list some resources, websites, people here? how about > that. around themes of visions and practical politics? > > > yasir > mauj collective > karachi > > > On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 10:06 PM, Anil Bhattarai > wrote: >> Hello, >> I am a newbie to this discussion group and therefore I don't have much >> reference to past discussions. However, Prem's discussion about how >> 'we' have adopted the world-class city is very insightful. I think, as >> you have outlined, the reference to the imposition thesis as if it was >> the World Bank and the IMF with their grand-designs which shoved >> specific models on 'us' does not allow us to think creatively about >> what needs to be done, in addition to the fact it was not also an >> empirically full picture. There is a growing desire to participate in >> that dream--the dream of a particular notion of world-city among the >> majority of the ruling elites. >> >> It is here, I see the need of creating a urban politics that >> galvanizes 'others' in a project that presents different visions of >> the city. The problem in India and many other places, the politics is >> dominated by a narrow elites, and the majority of the residents, and >> mostly poor among them, do not have spaces in which they can >> politically articulate different visions. >> >> I see this part mostly missing in this post-colonial dream analysis. >> It's not the general 'we' who aspired for particular dreams, but there >> are class dimensions, there are caste dimensions, and there are >> gendered dimensions to it. Ultimately, it's the failure of the >> politics of the left to provide creative alternatives to the dominant >> practices of city-building. >> >> Sooner or later, it is by compulsion and not by choice, that even the >> middle class will have to come to realize that this particular brand >> of world-class city--with flyovers, megamalls, is going to be too >> costly for human lives. >> >> But again, the challenge is not only to 'see' how things have emerged, >> but also to begin the process of constructing diverse visions/ or >> consolidating them through political process. >> >> Anil >> >> On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 4:53 AM, Prem Chandavarkar wrote: >>> I am not sure about an analysis which sees the whole problem as pushed on us >>> from above by global financial institutions.  As Foucault has pointed out, >>> power is difficult to enforce until it is also constructed as something >>> desirable to those on whom power is to be enforced.  So one has to look >>> within the Asian region and see why the idea of the "world class city" is >>> seen as desirable by Asians. >>> In India, I believe it is linked to two factors: >>> >>> Firstly, as a post-colonial country we suffered a sense of historical >>> discontinuity.  Given over two centuries of history that one could not >>> consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and >>> future suffered a disruption.  This created a development discourse for the >>> first five decades after independence where the nation's sense of history >>> was perceived as being in a state of suspension between a memory of a >>> glorious yet distant past and an anticipated technological modernity. >>> >>> Secondly, when it came to any sense of culture, the city suffered from a >>> lack of perceived authenticity.  Any discussion of "authentic" Indian >>> culture was always rooted in the village.  Unlike the west where the city >>> was seen as the site of the avant garde and therefore the cutting edge of >>> cultural production, in India culture was perceived as being largely rural, >>> and the city was seen more as a technical efficiency to be viewed purely >>> through a rational lens. >>> >>> But after 1991, with the successes of industries such as software in >>> particular (and other industries followed based on the global credibility >>> for India that the software industry created), suddenly India was perceived >>> as being anchored in global production in a very central way.  Modernity no >>> longer had to be anticipated - it had arrived.  The software industry is >>> essentially an urban (that too largely metropolitan) industry, and therefore >>> the city was seen as leading India's march into modernity. >>> >>> This has created a perception that "globalisation equals modernity", and has >>> created a desire for the global city in India, where the global city is seen >>> as clean, ordered, efficient and visually iconic.  Some indicators of this >>> desire are: >>> >>> a)       One often hears a public rhetoric that constructs an imagery of the >>> global city as being clean and efficient: examples like Singapore and >>> Shanghai are often raised as paradigms that the Indian city must aspire >>> towards. >>> >>> b)      There is a growing wave of middle class activism driven by >>> resident's associations that is pushing towards better master planning and >>> the better enforcement of master plans. >>> >>> c)       Judicial judgments are leaning towards this notion of the efficient >>> and ordered city.  To take as an example three recent Supreme Court >>> judgments on Delhi: >>> >>> ·         The requirement that all public transport vehicles must shift to >>> CNG as a fuel. >>> >>> ·         The sealing of shops and other business establishments in >>> residential areas (even though the master plan provisions of commercial >>> space are grossly inadequate for a city of the size of Delhi). >>> >>> ·         The decision that the three decades old Nangla Machi basti on the >>> banks of the Yamuna must be demolished because it is not recognised on the >>> master plan, and the master plan authorities have declared the site as the >>> location of the games village for the proposed Commonwealth Games. >>> >>> d)      Cities are now concerned about branding themselves.  City >>> authorities evince greater interest in brandable projects such as stadiums >>> and convention centres, as opposed to non-brandable projects such as social >>> housing. >>> The existence of organisations like World Bank and IMF has definitely played >>> a role in this process, but one has to realise that we have sought them out, >>> and it is not a one-directional process of something being shoved down our >>> throats.  Except it is a very narrow (but powerful) segment that is seeking >>> out this model.  Unfortunately it is this segment that dominates the >>> attention of the media, and as a result the dislocations to large segments >>> of our population go unrecognised. >>> >>> Am copying this to the urban study group as there have been discussions on >>> that list expressing concern over the concept of the 'world class city'. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Prem >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> >> -- >> Anil Bhattarai >> Programme in Planning >> University of Torontoh >> www.ajamvarifarm.org >> www.zmag.org >> www.nyayahealth.org >> > -- Anil Bhattarai Programme in Planning University of Torontoh www.ajamvarifarm.org www.zmag.org www.nyayahealth.org From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Sep 18 08:31:13 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:01:13 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] This Monday - A Day to Remember : Watch a Movie for The Age of Stupid Global Premier In-Reply-To: <8CC0621E91C4F65-10D8-7C6A@webmail-m006.sysops.aol.com> References: <1140842915.1861653641@org.orgDB.mail.democracyinaction.org> <8CC0621E91C4F65-10D8-7C6A@webmail-m006.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC06236AA3E39B-10D8-7D99@webmail-m006.sysops.aol.com> On Monday, September 21st, join people around the world in two crucial events:    1) The Global Wake-Up call--5-minute flash-mobs all over the world    2) The Global Premier of The Age of Stupid, the new climate change epic.      Join the world in both!    Dear Friends,    Are you ready? The global climate movement is about to get MUCH louder.     With the one-month countdown to the International Day of Climate Action approaching, let's get ready to make some noise. Literally.    In less than 24 hours, "Climate Week" begins--7 days of events surrounding a big UN Climate summit in New York.  The summit's purpose: to get world leaders on the same page in advance of the crucial UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen this December.  Climate Week will be a big deal--UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for this emergency meeting, and both Barack Obama and Hu Jintao will be giving landmark speeches. I'll be going to New York myself in just a few days, and as I prepare for the whirlwind of events, one question keeps nagging at me:    At a high-profile, celebrity-studded, media-saturated event like Climate Week, how can we break through and make our voices heard?    Today I have two answers to that question, and they are both refreshingly simple. One involves making a phone call.  The other involves watching a movie.  On Monday, September 21st, I'm hoping you'll join me and20people all around the world in doing both:    1) Make a Phone Call for The Global Wake-Up Call    350 and many of our partners in the new TckTckTck campaign are teaming up for the Global Wake Up Call--a set of 5-minute, distributed "flash-mobs" designed to put the pressure on world leaders the day before the big UN meeting in New York.  In cities, towns and villages around the world, people will gather in public places with their neighbors and friends, not only to make some noise about climate change, but to make some calls.  On Monday, September 21st, we will flood world leaders with phone calls, letting them know that climate change is a challenge like no other and that the world is sounding an alarm and it's time to pay attention and wake up.  Join us: www.350.org/sept21    2) Watch a Movie for The Age of Stupid Global Premier    On the night of Monday, September 21st, The Age of Stupid--the new big-screen climate change epic--will be shown in cinemas in more than 50 countries.  It will be part of the largest global film premier in history. It's the largest because YOU are invited--if you can make your way to a participating theater on Monday, September 21, you will be part of this historic event. We've all watched the film here at 350 headquarters, and we're convinced that it's jus t the film the world needs right now.  As we approach the precipice of climate chaos--and an =0  Aopportunity to pull humanity back from the brink in Copenhagen--this fictional epic (with a good sense of humor!) set 50 years in the future will remind you of how scary and important present-day reality actually is:  www.350.org/sept21    Here's the deal:  just like every other UN meeting, most of you won't be there at the negotiating table when world leaders sit down.   But you CAN influence the outcome through these two easy--and fun--events.  Yup, I said "fun" in the same context as "climate chaos."   On September 21, all across the planet, you'll be able to see, and hear, the movement for climate solutions.   I'll be reporting out from New York next week--and letting you know how we can use this surge in climate activity as a springboard.     Because after Monday, September 21, you know what happens--the International Day of Climate Action on October 24--now with new actions in countries like Bahrain and Burkina Faso, and with new 350 endorsers like economist Lord Nicholas Stern.    We're so glad you've taken action with us so many times this year. Now that the 24th of October is right around the corner, we'll be working around the clock to make it as powerful, creative, and fun as we can. You've been with us every step of the way, and now is the time to really Step It Up.    Let's get going,    -May Boeve, Partnerships Coordinator, 350.org  (And the whole 350.org team)    350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate    350.org is an international grassroots campaign that aims to mobilize a global climate movement united by a common call to action. By spreading an understanding of the science and a shared vision for a fair policy, we will ensure that the world creates bold and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. 350.org is an independent and not-for-profit project.    What is 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Scientists measure carbon dioxide in "parts per million" (ppm), so 350ppm is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. To get there, we need a different kind of PPM-a "people powered movement" that is made of of people like you in every corner of the planet.                                From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 08:52:45 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:52:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Reuters.com - Swine flu death rate similar to seasonal flu: expert In-Reply-To: <999534390.6051253243967095.JavaMail.rcomus@204.71.247.179> References: <999534390.6051253243967095.JavaMail.rcomus@204.71.247.179> Message-ID: <1f9180970909172022k72fd01e8oe2ca3abd274fdae5@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Reuters_News at reuters.com Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:49 AM Subject: Reuters.com - Swine flu death rate similar to seasonal flu: expert To: "kmvenuannur at gmail.com" KMVenugopalan (kmvenuannur at gmail.com) has sent you this article. Personal Message: find the interesting story about swine flu: myths and facts Reuters.com - Swine flu death rate similar to seasonal flu: expert http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSTRE58E6NZ20090916 This service is not intended to encourage spam. The details provided by your colleague have been used for the sole purpose of facilitating this email communication and have not been retained by Thomson Reuters. Your personal details have not been added to any database or mailing list. If you would like to receive news articles delivered to your email address, please subscribe at http://www.reuters.com/newsmails -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Sep 15 20:11:26 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:41:26 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Democracy Video Challenge Message-ID: <8CC0429BD1D6D10-4290-2B642@webmail-m061.sysops.aol.com> Your Voice. Your Video. The Challenge Create a video short that completes the phrase "Democracy is…" The Prize An all-expense-paid trip to Washington, New York and Hollywood to attend gala screenings of the winning videos, gain exposure to the U.S. film and television industry and meet with creative talent, democracy advocates and government leaders. About the challenge Create a video short that completes the phrase “Democracy is…” The Prize •An all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood. •Gala screenings of the winning videos in Hollywood, New York and Washington •Exposure to filmmakers and the U.S. film and television industry. •Meetings with democracy advocates from government, media and civil society. The Timeline •SUBMISSION DEADLINE - MIDNIGHT GMT JANUARY 31, 2010. •Challenge semifinalists will be selected on or about March 31, 2010. •An independent jury will narrow down the semifinalists to 21 finalists on or about May 15, 2010. •The general public will vote online for the winning videos May 15 – June 15, 2010. •Seven winners – one each from the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South & Central Asia, East Asia/Pacific and one anonymous winner – will be announced in mid-June 2010. •The six publicly=2 0identified winners, one from each of the six geographic regions, will travel to the United States to claim their prize in the fall of 2010. The Details •You must be 18 or older to enter. •Videos can be any style: fiction or documentary, animated or live action. •Videos must be no longer than three minutes. •Videos must be in English or have English subtitles. •Contestants may enter anonymously, but anonymous winners cannot collect the grand prize. •See contest site for a complete list of rules, www.videochallenge.america.gov. From prayas.abhinav at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 10:29:05 2009 From: prayas.abhinav at gmail.com (Prayas Abhinav) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:29:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Introducing Growing Down, a music album inviting songs about childhood and play Message-ID: <825bb7b00909172159n6a7fc0b8j44eefd502c98d5a@mail.gmail.com> Dear friends (sorry for cross-posting), 'Growing Down' is an initiative to produce a compilation of music (all languages, styles, genres) exploring aspects of childhood and play. The effort has come up in response to our work on 'Spirited Caravans,' a process of setting up mobile cultural spaces across Bangalore's diverse neighbourhoods and programming the spaces with projects around the theme of 'Children and the City.' The process has led us to involve creative practitioners in different communities to share their work in this area. For the music album, if you know some musicians or bands (including yourself) who would like to send in their music for this album do forward this across to them please. Details at http://growingdown.cityspinning.org. Thanks, Tanvi --------------------- Growing Down, http://growingdown.cityspinning.org Spirited Caravans, http://cityspinning.org/spiritedcaravans >> Contact URL: http://growingdown.cityspinning.org Email: growingdown at cityspinning.org Phone: 9035285996 (Tanvi) From iram at sarai.net Fri Sep 18 10:48:43 2009 From: iram at sarai.net (Iram Ghufran) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:48:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Resources at Kriti Docuship: September 2009 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4AB31833.20708@sarai.net> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject:[Kriti Team] Resources at Kriti Docuship: September 2009 > From:SPACE KRITI > To:anadaad1 at sancharnet.in > > > /Dear Friends,/ > > /As we start the ninth month of 2009, we share with you a selected > list of books and documentaries available to access from the Kriti > Docushop, in solidarity with the following days of the month: > / > > // > > /8 International Literacy Day / > > /21 International Peace Day/ > > /15 Shankar Guha Niyogi Martyrdom Day and Harsud Day/ > > // > > /We invite you to keep in touch with our activities this month as > there are quite a few interesting ones lined up. We would especially > like to ask you to mark your calender for the 19^th , 21^st and 22^nd > of September as we are organizing our fourth peace day festival with a > panel discussion, theatre, films, poetry and more. Keep track of the > programme on http://krititeam.blogspot.com > > / > > // > > /in solidarity/ > > /Kritians/ > > ** > > *Books* > > *Leading Cases on Right to Information* > > /By Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar and Jayshree Satpute/ > > _Contribution_: pl check when ordering > > This book is about the Right to Information Act, 2005 and how it has > been regarded as one of the most important legislations passed by > Parliament since Independence. > > ** > > *Accords, Peace Processes and Prospects of Civil Society Peace > Initiatives* > > /Organized by the North East Peoples’ Initiatives (NEPI) / > > _Contribution_: Rs. 100.00 > > The North Eastern Region of India has witnessed struggles for > political affirmation, separation and self-assertion. The people of > this region have a very limited say on affairs concerning their > social, political, economic and cultural rights. Political scientists > and historians in India have described the region as a zone of > conflict, forever beset by conflicts, justifying the security-oriented > administrative policies and structures in the region. A closer look at > the conflicts and the armed resistance movements show that these > struggles have never been mere issues of law and order not for > secession. These struggles have fundamentally been assertions of > independence and the right to self determination by indigenous > communities and ethnic groups that were suppressed by the Indian State. > > *__* > > *Mangoo Ram, Ad Dharm: the Dalit Movement in **Punjab*** > > /By Ronki Ram/ > > _Contribution_: Rs. 20.00 > > A publication explaining the objectives of the Mangoo Ram and Ad Dharm > political movements which were to liberate the so-called untouchables > so they could lead a life of dignity and equability with the twice-born. > > ** > > *Chhatrapati Shahu’s Crusade Against Untouchability* > > /By B.D. Khane/ > > _Contribution_: Rs. 20.00 > > This is a short publication explaining the condition of the > untouchables and the contribution made by Chhatrapati Shahu in the > movement for equality for the untouchables. > > > *DOCUMENTARY FILMS* > > ** > > > *People Audit to Fight Corruption > * > > By MKSS (17 min, Hindi with English Subtitles, VCD) > **** > > //** > > The Right to Information campaign had a modest beginning as an effort > to document that the Government of Rajasthan was failing to pay > minimum wages to workers engaged in employment generation programs. > When government officials were asked by the MKSS to explain their > failure to pay minimum wages, they claimed that the wage rolls and the > Project Engineer's Measurement Books showed that the correct dues had > been paid to the workers in question. Through these efforts, the > National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information was formed; this > group subsequently led the struggle for right to information in other > states of India. > > > ** > > *Letters and Learning*** > > /By Ajay Tg (41 min, Original language, DVD)/** > > Letters and learning is about an elderly Satnami who got a job in the > Bhilai Steel Plant in return for giving up his land, and how he > prospered, enabling his daughter to become a school teacher and his > granddaughter a doctor. Ajay got to know him when working as Jonathan > Parry’s field assistant. This Jandarshan student film is not only a > biography, but also a critique of attitudes to literacy and knowledge. > > ** > > *Bharat Ki Chaap*** > > /By Comet Media Foundation (VCD)/ > > This 13 disk collection of films is presented and supported by the > National Council for Science and Technology Communication Department > of Science and Technology Government of India on the history of > science and technology on the Indian Subcontinent. The Film titles > include: Introduction, The Stone Age till 3500 B.C., The Harappan > Civilization, The Iron Age 2000 B.C. to 500 B.C., The Age of > Codification 500 B.C. to 300 A.D., Ayurveda & Astronomy 300 A.D. to > 700 A.D., Mathematics & Temple Architecture 700 to 1200, Synthesis & > Growth 1200 to 1600, Stagnation & a Changing World 1600 to 1800, > Colonialism & the Industrial Revolution 1800 to 1900, The Freedom > Struggle & the scientific Community 1900 to 1947, Independent India > 1947 to the Present and finally Retrospect & Prospect. > > ** > > *Redefining Peace* > > /By K.P. Sasi (60 Minutes, English and Hindi, VCD)/ > > This one hour documentary showcases the history of the 1000 Women for > Nobel Peace Prize 2005 initiative and profiles ten peace women from > different regions of India, connected to various people’s movements. > Namely Magline Peter from the Fish-workers movement, Medha Patkar from > Narmada Bachao Andolan, Teesta Setalvad, lawyer-journalist and her > struggle against the fascist state and fundamentalist political > forces, C.K. Janu, struggling for rights of indigenous people and > adivasis, Sharmila Iron, a young woman who is using non-violent > mechanism to challenge and demand repeal of draconian laws in North > East India. It also highlights the work of four grassroots women > Lataben Sachde, Parmeben Sava, Alkaben Jani, Meghiben Samariya from > Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghathan, Gujarat and their struggle for > sustainable health, education and livelihoods for the masses. > > *Ayodhya to **Varanasi** Prayers for Peace* > > /By Suma Josson (60 Minutes, English, VCD)/** > > Against the background of globalization, the worsening economic > situation, the status of Dalits, the concept of a Hindu Rashtra, and > other issues being discussed in the film - it travels from Ayodhya to > Faizabad, and surrounding villages. The message that comes through > Sultanpur, Badlapur, Juanpur, Varanasi and others are strongly in > favour of communal harmony and development, to the divisive ideologies > being propagated by the ideology of Hindutva. > > *War and Peace* > > /By Anand Patwardhan (135 Minutes, English, DVD)/** > > Filmed over three years this is a journey of peace activism in the > face of religious fanaticism, militarism and war. > > ** > > *Elusive Doves* > > /By //Asia// Indigenous Peoples Pact (DVD)/ > > This is a film about the peace process. > > > ** > > *SOME NEW EDITIONS IN THE Kriti FILM CLUB (Available To View)* > > ** > > *MANZIL KI AUR (2009)* > > /By Ritu Dutta (32 mins, Hindi, DVD)/ > > Vanishing schedule Tribes and disappearing forests are the testimonies > to governments. For centuries the forest people of India have been > struggling to reestablish their sovereign rights over forests, which > were taken away by the colonial British government in the 18th > century. Lack of education and awareness of their rights adds to their > misery. Keeping this in mind, this film has been conceived not only to > spread legal awareness but also to emphasize the fact that unity and > trust between each other is their only weapon. > > *POISON ON THE PLATTER (2009)* > > /By Mahesh Bhatt and Ajay Kanchan (25 mins, Hindi, DVD)/ > > “Poison on the Platter”, is an eye-opening film, illustrating how all > of our lives are going to be (adversely) affected by genetically > modified foods. It is no longer just a farmer’s issue; it is a matter > of the consumers’ right to food safety. You and I would not even be > able to separate/choose a normal Brinjal from/over a GM one, if Bt > Brinjal - a GM crop produced by the mighty agri-MNC Monsanto - is let > through by our corrupt regulatory body. Let’s put up a strong > resistance, by demanding a ban on GM food/crops for 5 years, until > they are proven safe for human consumption by independent researchers, > after long-term studies. > > //Please ask us for the contributions of each film when placing order. > > /Note://This mailer has been put together with the support of Megan, > Kriti team volunteer./ > > // > > *Information is Power! We share it, you can access it! > Kriti team > * > > *Contact us @ 011-26027845/ 26033088* > > *Email - space.kriti at gmail.com * > > Peace Day Festival by Kriti team, 19-22 September 2009. Get details on > http://krititeam.blogspot.com > > > > -- > Looking for development and human rights books, documentary films and > resistance music? Tshirts, stoles, recycled paper stationary, jute > bags, accessories, organic products? Visit our Docushop and Gestures > stall at the Kriti team workplace, call or email us! > > S-35 Tara Apartments, Alaknanda, New Delhi 110019 > +91-11-26027845/ 26033088 > http://krititeam.blogspot.com > www.ecocafe.in > > In case you'd like us to remove you from our mailing list please send > us a mail with 'remove' in the subject line. thanks From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Tue Sep 15 12:10:34 2009 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (artNET) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:40:34 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?=5BAnnouncements=5D_Final_call=3A_20?= =?iso-8859-1?q?10_-_The_Best_of_Flash_on_the_Net?= Message-ID: <20090915084034.4ADD0BCC.36CEEF01@192.168.0.3> Final call - deadline: 30 September 2009 --------------------------------------- 2010 - 10th anniversary of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne Cinematheque - streaming media project environments http://cinema.nmartproject.net Call for entries \\ Flash & Thunder Flash as a medium and tool for artistic creations // Since the Internet became popular in the late 90'ies of 20th century, the software program "FLASH", once developed and prepared for the commercial market by Macromedia, and now owned by Adobe, represents a vector based developing environment which enables the creator to combine different media and develop vector based animations especially for the Internet. .swf data file extension became a standard for animations online and offline, and Flash video and its .flv file format stands for "videostreaming" on the net. As soon as the Internet started, artists captured it for artistic purposes, and the same is good for certain software used for the net, particularly Flash is predestined for developing artistic creations due to its intuitive use. It became one of the most popular software tools for the net, computer based animations and interactive applications like games. Flash based artworks entered media festivals, even festivals solely based on movies created in Flash are organised. After Cinematheque - streaming media environments - explored in 2007 the capabilities of "Quicktime" as an artistic medium in the comprehensive show \\Slowtime? Quicktime as an artistic medium// - its now the time to explore in 2009/2010 the artistic potential of Flash in its own way in a big online show, as well. // Flash and Thunder Flash as a medium and tool for artistic creations \\ Cinematheque is looking for the best artistic Flash works created since 2000. Please find the regulations and entry form on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=408 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Cinematheque - streaming media project environments http://cinema.nmartproject.net is a corporate part of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne http://www.nmartproject.net - the experimental platform for art and new media from Cologne/Germany ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////// _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From logos.theword at gmail.com Tue Sep 15 20:28:51 2009 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:28:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fwd: Theatre Workshop in Aid of Jamghat In-Reply-To: <33bc2ee60909150513q2df83e04i4080f2e0039e7915@mail.gmail.com> References: <9c17c0ca0909141830r6a1756j1ab79d21f55b4575@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca0909141902q25e91316rf0ff4a6a8ffe480f@mail.gmail.com> <33bc2ee60909150505u6369a7bcx1e0946f8f99915cd@mail.gmail.com> <33bc2ee60909150513q2df83e04i4080f2e0039e7915@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <33bc2ee60909150758j14ea7018v1c2a85ee629672b0@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: priyanka at jamghat.in Date: Sep 14, 2009 6:07 PM Subject: Theatre Workshop!! To: vasudev at jamghat.in Cc: arka.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com Dear Friends, Greetings from Jamghat!!! Jamghat (www.jamghat.in), a non-profit organization, works for the rehabilitation of street children and has always been involved in theatre for creating awareness and raising funds. This time we have come up with the idea of giving theatre workshops and connecting with the people. Arka Mukhopadhyay , a theatre practitioner and a poet will be taking the theatre workshop this time. He has been involved with theatre for a long time and is engaged in research on theatre training. He has performed nationally as well internationally and has worked with children and teachers throughout India and abroad. Apart from theatre, his other vocation is poetry. His poems have been published worldwide and he was awarded TFA creative writing award in the year 2008. *"Breath, Body, Text"* - a workshop for actors, dancers and performers as also musicians, painters, teachers, activists and others, will focus on connecting with the self and unlocking one's inner creative potential through an approach firmly grounded in the body, and will extend into areas such as breath focus and presence, existing in a shared space as a group, embodying the rasaas, and more. It is not restricted to performers, but can be of value to anyone wishing to explore and engage with the self and develop a heightened sense of existence. Topics will cover: Breath - seeking the physical, emotional and spiritual centre through breath, incorporating ideas of Buddhist and other meditation practices. Voice work - chants from the Upanishads and others sources, organic sounds of the body, songs and more Emotions - the nine rasaas; exploring them through breath, inner rhythms, gesture, eye-movements and more Movement - exercises of the eye, finger and hand gestures, finding one's physical texture, organic energy and impulse, integrating different strands such as voice, breath, emotion and presence, being truthful and existing in the moment Ensemble work and devising - creating short compositions using ideas of the singing, moving and speaking chorus, exploring space, through text and more. Date: Friday, Saturday and Sunday Time: Friday: 5 - 8, Saturday and Sunday: 3 - 6 Contact: Amit - 9818705715 Address: F-2 First Floor Lado Sarai New Delhi-30 Workshop fees: there are no fixed fees, the suggested contribution is 1,500/-. The proceeds will go to Jamghat. Jamghat is also having its Night Walk on this Saturday, i.e. 19th September, 09. Please confirm for your visit before 17th September, 09. regards, *Priyanka* *Programme Head* *Phone*- +91 11 29522112 *Mobile*- + 91 9811656740 *Web *:- www.jamghat.in Join our Google group for constant updates about Jamghat - http;// groups.google.com/group/jamghat -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From difusion at medialab-prado.es Tue Sep 15 15:13:14 2009 From: difusion at medialab-prado.es (Medialab-Prado comunicacion) Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:43:14 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Urban Screens and Public Space International Seminar / Sept.28-29-30 at Medialab-Prado Message-ID: <4AAF61B2.5020501@medialab-prado.es> *Urban Screens and Public Space* *International Seminar* *September 28, 29 and 30, 2009 @Medialab- Prado Madrid (Spain)* This international seminar aims to reflect on the relationships established between urban screens and the public space in which they are immersed, questioning the kinds of space, communities and personal interactions they activate. The program includes lectures given by internationally renowed artists and experts, as well as roundtables, discussion groups and the presentation of urban screen projects in Spain, such as the screen at Plaza de Las Letras (Medialab-Prado) in Madrid, the facade of the C4 in Cordoba, or the communicating building of Alcorcon City Council (Madrid). Participants: *Mirjam Struppek* (Interactionfield ), *Susa Pop* (Public Art Lab ), *Jeffrey Huang* (Media Design Lab), *Kim Halskov *(Digital Urban Living ), *Jan and Tim Edler* (Realities United ), and *United Visual Artists* (UVA ). Roundtables moderated by *José Luis Brea*, *Blanca Fernández Quesada*, and *Paloma Blanco*. Free admission. Limited seating. Complete program and RSVP: http://medialab-prado.es/article/urban_screens_and_public_space_seminar * Contact:* difusion at medialab-prado.es +34 91 369 2303 *Venue: * Medialab-Prado Plaza de las Letras Alameda, 15 28014 Madrid (Spain) -- Nerea García Garmendia Comunicación / Press Medialab-Prado Área de Las Artes, Ayuntamiento de Madrid Plaza de las Letras Alameda, 15 28014 Madrid Tfno. +34 914 202 754 difusion at medialab-prado.es www.medialab-prado.es -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From indersalim at gmail.com Mon Sep 14 22:35:22 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:35:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Perforamnce Art Event in India:Call for sumbmission Message-ID: <47e122a70909141005p149b7396w6eb1156258bc3ea4@mail.gmail.com> Dear all please click http://peripherals.blog.com to read , to suggest, to respond, to join Art Karavan International starting from Feb. 2010 till April 2010. destinations: Shanti Niketan, Ranchi, Patna, Luknow, Dehradun, Shimla, Srinagar, Delhi open to all, Artists, writers, poets, artisans, folk artists, musicians, bloggers, etc love regards inder salim curator _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From joasia at kurator.org Fri Sep 11 18:10:37 2009 From: joasia at kurator.org (Joasia) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:40:37 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] After The Net (2.0) exhibition In-Reply-To: Message-ID: _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From prem.cnt at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 12:46:06 2009 From: prem.cnt at gmail.com (Prem Chandavarkar) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:46:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] An authentic history Message-ID: <7e230b560909180016u2ceee6d8ocd520226a252341@mail.gmail.com> Dear Kshmendra, As your response raises issues that cover ground other than that focused on in the earlier thread on "world class city", I am creating a new thread. I quote from your response below: *"I am intrigued though by your sentence "Given over two centuries of history that one could not consider authentically one's own, the connection between past present and future suffered a disruption.".............Could you please elaborate what these "over two centuries" are that we (in India) "could not consider authentically one's own"...........Who are you referring to? Just the British and Christian influence?.........If that is so, why would the (prior to British), Mughal and Islamic influence be any worthier of considering it as "authentically one's own"?"* If the idea is to revert back to an authentic history that was prior to any contamination, then I suspect one will be searching forever. Human history is filled with invasions and the intermingling of cultures. The contemporary notion of the sovereignty of the nation state as a concept on which to base political and cultural identity is also quite recent and has its origins only in the mid-17th century. I remember in one of my early classes on art history in college, the teacher said that in the history of conquest, one side conquers politically, but in turn gets conquered culturally. One does find that in earlier invasions there was an intermingling of cultures in the realms of language, music, dance, art, and many other realms - with the culture of the "conquerer" often going through a more drastic reformation than the culture of the "conquered". What we might call "Indian culture" today is a result of these interminglings. However, such intermingling was not really found to the same extent during the British colonial period. There was an incursion into some realms such as architecture, fine art and theatre; but many other realms such as literature, music and dance remained quite separate. But the above point is secondary. The main point is to be clear on is what do we mean by "history". There is one view which says history is an authentic record of our past. But which is the authentic past? A past of kings and generals? A subaltern past? A caste based past? A religion based past? A community based past? An art and culture based past? A political past? An economic past? As soon as we start getting into such distinctions we find there are different viewpoints, and such complex levels of diversity that reconciliation into a single narrative becomes an impossible task. Which makes us face a possible redefinition of "history" as a view of the past as seen from a vantage point in the present (which could also serve as a reference point for imagining the future). Which means that the vantage point chosen in the present becomes a necessary subject of critical scrutiny. How do we reconcile the clash between conflicting vantage points? In an earlier era of feudal political structures, the resolution of this conflict was simple: the person in power decided on what the proper vantage point was, and any other vantage points were suppressed (often brutally). But the point of Indian independence is different, because in the context of the 20th century we sought to reinvent ourselves as a *democratic* nation, and were not seeking to revive our precolonial feudal past. We could not resort to feudal resolutions of the authentic vantage point to view history. In a democratic society, the thrust ought to be on creating the institutional structures of governance and conceptual inquiry by which a widespread debate could over time inculcate a more deep-rooted and inclusive perception of our history. When one looks at it in terms of such institutional structures, the moment of independence from British colonialism in 1947 represented a greater disruption between past and present than that seen in earlier feudal eras. Regards, Prem From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Fri Sep 18 19:42:28 2009 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:12:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" Message-ID: <355855.17127.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> A warning by Isarel http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm The foreign minister of Pakistan seems to corroborate. "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 20:13:40 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:13:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <355855.17127.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <355855.17127.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909180743x58153ef1qff1ab979aeaf437b@mail.gmail.com> Dear Rahul, It felt like one of those pre war warnings after reading the BBC piece after which one feels like why do I belong to any of these nations. Perhaps the report doesnt take into consideration: "Doing business for Israel and India (I to I) is easy because there is enormous goodwill for India in the country, not least because India has no history of anti-Semitism—one reason why tens of thousands of Israelis come holidaying to India every year." T.I. Ninan which appeared recently in Business Standard. ( I am trying my best to not react to the anti-semitism comment) http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ Although the article explores the avenues of better Indo-Israel ties, my question pertain to the BBC report and the warnings of Israel. If Israel is investing such huge amounts in various sectors including dairy, how is it possible that they are issuing warnings to its own people to be careful while visiting India? Or is it some kind of gamble vis-a-vis the security establishment's success or failure to curb the so-called Islamic fundamentalism? -regard Anupam On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > A warning by Isarel > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > > The foreign minister of Pakistan seems to corroborate. > "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Fri Sep 18 20:21:49 2009 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:51:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <341380d00909180743x58153ef1qff1ab979aeaf437b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <207451.68292.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> "If Israel is investing such huge amounts in various sectors including dairy, how is it possible that they are issuing warnings to its own people to be careful while visiting India?" I do not understand your question.What is the connection? --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > To: "sarai list" > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:13 PM > Dear Rahul, > > It felt like one of those pre war warnings after reading > the BBC piece after > which one feels like why do I belong to any of these > nations. Perhaps the > report doesnt take into consideration: "Doing business for > Israel and India > (I to I) is easy because there is enormous goodwill for > India in the > country, not least because India has no history of > anti-Semitism—one reason > why tens of thousands of Israelis come holidaying to India > every year." T.I. > Ninan which appeared recently in Business Standard. ( I am > trying my best to > not react to the anti-semitism comment) > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ > > Although the article explores the avenues of better > Indo-Israel ties, my > question pertain to the BBC report and the warnings of > Israel. If Israel is > investing such huge amounts in various sectors including > dairy, how is it > possible that they are issuing warnings to its own people > to be careful > while visiting India?  Or is it some kind of gamble > vis-a-vis the security > establishment's success or failure to curb the so-called > Islamic > fundamentalism? > > -regard Anupam > > > > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > > > A  warning by Isarel > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > > > > The foreign minister of Pakistan seems to > corroborate. > > "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > > http://mail.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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Sep 18 20:31:13 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:31:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <207451.68292.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <341380d00909180743x58153ef1qff1ab979aeaf437b@mail.gmail.com> <207451.68292.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909180801k1e82886fo8ca0c282e4e02542@mail.gmail.com> I was expecting this question Rahul. Let me rephrase it with a hypothesis: Say you have a lot of money, and you want to invest in a piece of land. but you learn that you are investing money in a property, which is always visited by a bunch of dacoits. would you like to still go ahead with investment? i am sure you would not unless you have a large army of security personnel who can thwart the attempts of the so-called dacoits. which is why the next part of my question is whether Israel is risking big time vis-a-vis the success or the failure to contain such threats. i am just posing a question here -regards anupam On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > "If Israel is > investing such huge amounts in various sectors including dairy, how is it > possible that they are issuing warnings to its own people to be careful > while visiting India?" > I do not understand your question.What is the connection? > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have > consequences" > > To: "sarai list" > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:13 PM > > Dear Rahul, > > > > It felt like one of those pre war warnings after reading > > the BBC piece after > > which one feels like why do I belong to any of these > > nations. Perhaps the > > report doesnt take into consideration: "Doing business for > > Israel and India > > (I to I) is easy because there is enormous goodwill for > > India in the > > country, not least because India has no history of > > anti-Semitism—one reason > > why tens of thousands of Israelis come holidaying to India > > every year." T.I. > > Ninan which appeared recently in Business Standard. ( I am > > trying my best to > > not react to the anti-semitism comment) > > > > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ > > > > Although the article explores the avenues of better > > Indo-Israel ties, my > > question pertain to the BBC report and the warnings of > > Israel. If Israel is > > investing such huge amounts in various sectors including > > dairy, how is it > > possible that they are issuing warnings to its own people > > to be careful > > while visiting India? Or is it some kind of gamble > > vis-a-vis the security > > establishment's success or failure to curb the so-called > > Islamic > > fundamentalism? > > > > -regard Anupam > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul Asthana >wrote: > > > > > A warning by Isarel > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > > > > > > The foreign minister of Pakistan seems to > > corroborate. > > > "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > > > > > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > > protection around > > > http://mail.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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > > > > From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Fri Sep 18 23:30:00 2009 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <341380d00909180801k1e82886fo8ca0c282e4e02542@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <798154.35221.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> You are making two assumptions: 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. 2.It is going to affect business significantly. I think it is a stretch to extrapolate the information we have at this time to make those assumptions. You may disagree. Thanks Rahul --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > To: "sarai list" > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:31 PM > I was expecting this question Rahul. > Let me rephrase it with a hypothesis: > Say you have a lot of money, and you want to invest in a > piece of land. but > you learn that you are investing money in a property, which > is always > visited by a bunch of dacoits. would you like to still go > ahead with > investment? i am sure you would not unless you have a large > army of security > personnel who can thwart the attempts of the so-called > dacoits. which is why > the next part of my question is whether Israel is risking > big time vis-a-vis > the success or the failure to contain such threats. i am > just posing a > question here > > -regards anupam > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > > > "If Israel is > > investing such huge amounts in various sectors > including dairy, how is it > > possible that they are issuing warnings to its own > people to be careful > > while visiting India?" > > I do not understand your question.What is the > connection? > > > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses > talks, it would have > >  consequences" > > > To: "sarai list" > > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:13 PM > > > Dear Rahul, > > > > > > It felt like one of those pre war warnings after > reading > > > the BBC piece after > > > which one feels like why do I belong to any of > these > > > nations. Perhaps the > > > report doesnt take into consideration: "Doing > business for > > > Israel and India > > > (I to I) is easy because there is enormous > goodwill for > > > India in the > > > country, not least because India has no history > of > > > anti-Semitism—one reason > > > why tens of thousands of Israelis come holidaying > to India > > > every year." T.I. > > > Ninan which appeared recently in Business > Standard. ( I am > > > trying my best to > > > not react to the anti-semitism comment) > > > > > > > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ > > > > > > Although the article explores the avenues of > better > > > Indo-Israel ties, my > > > question pertain to the BBC report and the > warnings of > > > Israel. If Israel is > > > investing such huge amounts in various sectors > including > > > dairy, how is it > > > possible that they are issuing warnings to its > own people > > > to be careful > > > while visiting India?  Or is it some kind of > gamble > > > vis-a-vis the security > > > establishment's success or failure to curb the > so-called > > > Islamic > > > fundamentalism? > > > > > > -regard Anupam > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul Asthana > > >wrote: > > > > > > > A  warning by Isarel > > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > > > > > > > > The foreign minister of Pakistan seems to > > > corroborate. > > > > "If India refuses talks, it would have > consequences" > > > > > > > > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the > best spam > > > protection around > > > > http://mail.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. > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > List archive: > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From anansi1 at earthlink.net Sat Sep 19 00:51:45 2009 From: anansi1 at earthlink.net (Paul D. Miller) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:21:45 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [Reader-list] Yoko Ono + Dj Spooky: Exhibition 10/3/09 Message-ID: <7666855.1253301705610.JavaMail.root@elwamui-hound.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Hey people - it's been a while. I just wanted to send out a headz up about an exhibition I have coming up. As many of you know, I'm an artist, writer, and musician. In October, I have two large projects I wanted to invite you to check out. 1) I have an exhibition with some of my favorite artists from Japan: Yoko Ono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mamaru Oshi (he directed one of my favorite films "Ghost in the Shell") etc Also, if you haven't had a chance, check out the material I produced on Yoko Ono's last album "Yes, I'm a Witch" The theme of the show is centered on this 2012: Art, The City, and The Environment and the opening party will be under the new Highline. You can read about it on the main site: thedropnyc.org or on Yoko's site: YOKO ONO SITE: http://imaginepeace.com/news/archives/7917 I'm reminding everyone very early: we're expecting quite a few people. 2) On another note - I'm a judge for this year's South Asian International Film Festival. I hope you can check out some the films http://www.saiff.org/ Blurb: The week-long event will run from Wednesday, October 21 through Tuesday, October 27, 2009 in New York City. With several screening locations, a team of high-profile supporters, red carpet premieres, and a slate of top-notch films, the festival will give audiences of all ages and ethnicities a chance to discover new South Asian voices and celebrate established ones. I hope you can make some of the events. I haven't been around NY for several months because I was shooting a film in the South Pacific. It's a long story... www.djspooky.com/nauruelegies in peace, Paul ps, don't forget - the new album comes out in the beginning of October too! But that's another email From elkamath at yahoo.com Sat Sep 19 09:39:30 2009 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:09:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] In hundreds of cities, parking spaces become parks Message-ID: <80271.49847.qm@web53609.mail.re2.yahoo.com> In Hundreds of Cities, Parking Spaces Become Parks By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 18, 2009 Filed at 9:28 p.m. ET LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Activists across the nation parked themselves curbside Friday, taking up spaces reserved for cars and transforming them into mini parks with sod, potted plants, lawn chairs and even barbecues to raise awareness about how the auto has won the battle over public space in big cities. On a busy street in Los Angeles, a neighborhood association took up seven parking spots and set up a hangout with a grill, a kiddie pool and a gardening workshop to teach people how to grow drought-tolerant plants. In Chicago, an architecture firm turned two parking spaces into a pit stop where bicyclists can chill out on a grassy knoll and refuel on drinks and snacks. In New York City, theater students from Fordham University staged a ''Shakespeare in the Parking Spot'' festival. Construction workers on their lunch break sat on cardboard chairs and watched the students read ''Romeo and Juliet,'' ''Richard III'' and other plays from a portable stage. ''I was impressed,'' said adjunct professor Sandra McKee. ''They did some interesting interpretations and they projected their voice well. Of course, they had to compete with the cars.'' The setting was one of the pocket parks created for ''Park(ing) Day.'' The movement started as a single installation four years ago in San Francisco and has become a worldwide event reaching more than 100 cities on four continents. Matthew Passmore, who helped start Park(ing) Day, said the concept strikes a chord with urban dwellers everywhere because they're dealing with similar issues of traffic congestion and pollution. The temporary parks highlight the fact that curbside parking ''results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution,'' Passmore said. He cites a study by Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, which found that drivers spent an average of 3.3 minutes, or half a mile, circling the block in search of a parking space. Over a year, vehicles traveled 950,000 miles -- the equivalent of 38 trips around the Earth -- just looking for a parking spot. Shoup said many drivers would rather cruise for open spots on the street than park in higher-priced lots and garages. ''Converting a parking space into something else challenges people's assumption about how space is used and allows them to reimagine the possibilities of the urban landscape,'' Passmore said. Organizers said many cities have been supportive, even when mini parks occupy a parking space beyond the time limit. ''Parking enforcement is well aware of what we're doing and they look the other way,'' said Alfredo Hernandez, who has staged mini parks in Los Angeles for three years. But just in case, he said he keeps plenty of coins in his pocket to feed the meter. Motorists and police slowed as they passed three such parks in Los Angeles to check out the scene. Some stopped to ask what it was about, then put their thumbs up before driving away. At one park in downtown's arts district, an affordable housing advocacy group set up a lounge area over two parking spaces with chairs, tables and a lamp covered in artificial grass. A few people played Scrabble while others chatted with curious onlookers. ''When we cut out the AstroTurf to lay on the ground, we didn't realize how big it was,'' said organizer Marla Alvarez. ''This shows how valuable a parking space is as a piece of real estate. Hopefully this will start a dialogue about what you can do beyond just parking a car here.'' Melissa How, a designer who works nearby, said it's usually tough to find a parking space in the area but she didn't mind losing two spaces to a temporary park.''I think it's good. This doesn't happen everyday,'' she said. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/18/us/AP-US-Parking-Meter-Parks.html?_r=1 From ravikant at sarai.net Sat Sep 19 12:45:10 2009 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:45:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Mahabharata Lecture @ CSDS, Delhi Message-ID: <200909191245.11026.ravikant@sarai.net> MAHABHARATA: A TEXT OF VEDAVYASA’S DISCONTENT A SAMVAD (Lecture-cum-Discussion) By SHRIVATSA GOSWAMI (Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana, Vrindavan) Tuesday, 22 September 2009 At 2:00 PM SEMINAR ROOM Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110054 Dr. Shrivatsa Goswami, belonging to the priestly family serving at the Radha-Raman Temple in Vrindavana, is one of the most renowned Vaisnava scholars of our times. He also heads the Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana at Vrindavan, which is dedicated to the scholarship on Vaisnava literature and philosophy. He had his early training in Indian philosophy and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Divinity School, Harvard University. ------------------------------------------------------- From c.anupam at gmail.com Sat Sep 19 13:56:11 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:56:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <798154.35221.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <341380d00909180801k1e82886fo8ca0c282e4e02542@mail.gmail.com> <798154.35221.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909190126k31571256h2ddd30de127dedbd@mail.gmail.com> Dear Rahul, The idea was to question the report based on Israeli intelligence issuing these warnings. That assumption has already being established when the report was cited on the mailing list. -regards anupam On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 11:30 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > > You are making two assumptions: > 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. > 2.It is going to affect business significantly. > > I think it is a stretch to extrapolate the information we have at this time to make those assumptions. You may disagree. > > Thanks > Rahul > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have  consequences" > > To: "sarai list" > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:31 PM > > I was expecting this question Rahul. > > Let me rephrase it with a hypothesis: > > Say you have a lot of money, and you want to invest in a > > piece of land. but > > you learn that you are investing money in a property, which > > is always > > visited by a bunch of dacoits. would you like to still go > > ahead with > > investment? i am sure you would not unless you have a large > > army of security > > personnel who can thwart the attempts of the so-called > > dacoits. which is why > > the next part of my question is whether Israel is risking > > big time vis-a-vis > > the success or the failure to contain such threats. i am > > just posing a > > question here > > > > -regards anupam > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > > > > > "If Israel is > > > investing such huge amounts in various sectors > > including dairy, how is it > > > possible that they are issuing warnings to its own > > people to be careful > > > while visiting India?" > > > I do not understand your question.What is the > > connection? > > > > > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty > > wrote: > > > > > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses > > talks, it would have > > >  consequences" > > > > To: "sarai list" > > > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:13 PM > > > > Dear Rahul, > > > > > > > > It felt like one of those pre war warnings after > > reading > > > > the BBC piece after > > > > which one feels like why do I belong to any of > > these > > > > nations. Perhaps the > > > > report doesnt take into consideration: "Doing > > business for > > > > Israel and India > > > > (I to I) is easy because there is enormous > > goodwill for > > > > India in the > > > > country, not least because India has no history > > of > > > > anti-Semitism—one reason > > > > why tens of thousands of Israelis come holidaying > > to India > > > > every year." T.I. > > > > Ninan which appeared recently in Business > > Standard. ( I am > > > > trying my best to > > > > not react to the anti-semitism comment) > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ > > > > > > > > Although the article explores the avenues of > > better > > > > Indo-Israel ties, my > > > > question pertain to the BBC report and the > > warnings of > > > > Israel. If Israel is > > > > investing such huge amounts in various sectors > > including > > > > dairy, how is it > > > > possible that they are issuing warnings to its > > own people > > > > to be careful > > > > while visiting India?  Or is it some kind of > > gamble > > > > vis-a-vis the security > > > > establishment's success or failure to curb the > > so-called > > > > Islamic > > > > fundamentalism? > > > > > > > > -regard Anupam > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul Asthana > > > > >wrote: > > > > > > > > > A  warning by Isarel > > > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > > > > > > > > > > The foreign minister of Pakistan seems to > > > > corroborate. > > > > > "If India refuses talks, it would have > > consequences" > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the > > best spam > > > > protection around > > > > > http://mail.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. > > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > > List archive: > > > > _________________________________________ > > > > 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. > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > List archive: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Sat Sep 19 16:16:04 2009 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:46:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <341380d00909190126k31571256h2ddd30de127dedbd@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <85073.16020.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> "That assumption has already being established when the report was cited on the mailing list." what assumption are you talking about? --- On Sat, 9/19/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > To: "sarai list" > Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009, 1:56 PM > Dear Rahul, > > The idea was to question the report based on Israeli > intelligence > issuing these warnings. That assumption has already being > established > when the report was cited on the mailing list. > > -regards > anupam > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 11:30 PM, Rahul Asthana > wrote: > > > > You are making two assumptions: > > 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. > > 2.It is going to affect business significantly. > > > > I think it is a stretch to extrapolate the information > we have at this time to make those assumptions. You may > disagree. > > > > Thanks > > Rahul > > > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses > talks, it would have  consequences" > > > To: "sarai list" > > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:31 PM > > > I was expecting this question Rahul. > > > Let me rephrase it with a hypothesis: > > > Say you have a lot of money, and you want to > invest in a > > > piece of land. but > > > you learn that you are investing money in a > property, which > > > is always > > > visited by a bunch of dacoits. would you like to > still go > > > ahead with > > > investment? i am sure you would not unless you > have a large > > > army of security > > > personnel who can thwart the attempts of the > so-called > > > dacoits. which is why > > > the next part of my question is whether Israel is > risking > > > big time vis-a-vis > > > the success or the failure to contain such > threats. i am > > > just posing a > > > question here > > > > > > -regards anupam > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Rahul Asthana > wrote: > > > > > > > "If Israel is > > > > investing such huge amounts in various > sectors > > > including dairy, how is it > > > > possible that they are issuing warnings to > its own > > > people to be careful > > > > while visiting India?" > > > > I do not understand your question.What is > the > > > connection? > > > > > > > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India > refuses > > > talks, it would have > > > >  consequences" > > > > > To: "sarai list" > > > > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:13 > PM > > > > > Dear Rahul, > > > > > > > > > > It felt like one of those pre war > warnings after > > > reading > > > > > the BBC piece after > > > > > which one feels like why do I belong to > any of > > > these > > > > > nations. Perhaps the > > > > > report doesnt take into consideration: > "Doing > > > business for > > > > > Israel and India > > > > > (I to I) is easy because there is > enormous > > > goodwill for > > > > > India in the > > > > > country, not least because India has no > history > > > of > > > > > anti-Semitism—one reason > > > > > why tens of thousands of Israelis come > holidaying > > > to India > > > > > every year." T.I. > > > > > Ninan which appeared recently in > Business > > > Standard. ( I am > > > > > trying my best to > > > > > not react to the anti-semitism > comment) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ > > > > > > > > > > Although the article explores the > avenues of > > > better > > > > > Indo-Israel ties, my > > > > > question pertain to the BBC report and > the > > > warnings of > > > > > Israel. If Israel is > > > > > investing such huge amounts in various > sectors > > > including > > > > > dairy, how is it > > > > > possible that they are issuing warnings > to its > > > own people > > > > > to be careful > > > > > while visiting India?  Or is it some > kind of > > > gamble > > > > > vis-a-vis the security > > > > > establishment's success or failure to > curb the > > > so-called > > > > > Islamic > > > > > fundamentalism? > > > > > > > > > > -regard Anupam > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul > Asthana > > > > > > >wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > A  warning by Isarel > > > > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > > > > > > > > > > > > The foreign minister of Pakistan > seems to > > > > > corroborate. > > > > > > "If India refuses talks, it would > have > > > consequences" > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > > > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has > the > > > best spam > > > > > protection around > > > > > > http://mail.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. > > > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > > > List archive: > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > > > > 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. > > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > > List archive: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > > http://mail.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Sat Sep 19 16:35:41 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:35:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <85073.16020.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <341380d00909190126k31571256h2ddd30de127dedbd@mail.gmail.com> <85073.16020.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909190405k50179c7nfc2b83ab6ffa4d81@mail.gmail.com> there are two possibilities here Rahul: 1. You dont know what you are talking about. 2. I dont know what i am talking about. Second option being rather close to me, I would say, by citing the threat perception of the Israelis through a news report about possible strikes by terrorists in India, the assumption that there might be attacks was already established even before i started commenting on it. To add to that, i had questioned whether the idea of issuing warnings to its own civilians while visiting is a contradiction as Israel has proposed investments in India. You have very clearly said that you saw no connection between the two. I differed on that aspect citing a hypothetical example to which you did not reply but instead you said: "You are making two assumptions: 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. 2.It is going to affect business significantly." The first assumption was already in place. I only asked if Israelis are gambling big time by investing in India for which it has issued according to the BBC report: "The Israeli statement said the planned attacks could target other Lubavitch centres in India.The warning was based on "a concrete, very serious threat", it said." Therefore, I have NOT assumed anything. I have just questioned these warnings. Thanks for patiently reading the mail, Anupam On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 4:16 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > "That assumption has already being established > when the report was cited on the mailing list." > what assumption are you talking about? > > --- On Sat, 9/19/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > >> From: anupam chakravartty >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have  consequences" >> To: "sarai list" >> Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009, 1:56 PM >> Dear Rahul, >> >> The idea was to question the report based on Israeli >> intelligence >> issuing these warnings. That assumption has already being >> established >> when the report was cited on the mailing list. >> >> -regards >> anupam >> >> On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 11:30 PM, Rahul Asthana >> wrote: >> > >> > You are making two assumptions: >> > 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. >> > 2.It is going to affect business significantly. >> > >> > I think it is a stretch to extrapolate the information >> we have at this time to make those assumptions. You may >> disagree. >> > >> > Thanks >> > Rahul >> > >> > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >> > >> > > From: anupam chakravartty >> > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses >> talks, it would have  consequences" >> > > To: "sarai list" >> > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:31 PM >> > > I was expecting this question Rahul. >> > > Let me rephrase it with a hypothesis: >> > > Say you have a lot of money, and you want to >> invest in a >> > > piece of land. but >> > > you learn that you are investing money in a >> property, which >> > > is always >> > > visited by a bunch of dacoits. would you like to >> still go >> > > ahead with >> > > investment? i am sure you would not unless you >> have a large >> > > army of security >> > > personnel who can thwart the attempts of the >> so-called >> > > dacoits. which is why >> > > the next part of my question is whether Israel is >> risking >> > > big time vis-a-vis >> > > the success or the failure to contain such >> threats. i am >> > > just posing a >> > > question here >> > > >> > > -regards anupam >> > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Rahul Asthana >> wrote: >> > > >> > > > "If Israel is >> > > > investing such huge amounts in various >> sectors >> > > including dairy, how is it >> > > > possible that they are issuing warnings to >> its own >> > > people to be careful >> > > > while visiting India?" >> > > > I do not understand your question.What is >> the >> > > connection? >> > > > >> > > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty >> >> > > wrote: >> > > > >> > > > > From: anupam chakravartty >> > > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India >> refuses >> > > talks, it would have >> > > >  consequences" >> > > > > To: "sarai list" >> > > > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:13 >> PM >> > > > > Dear Rahul, >> > > > > >> > > > > It felt like one of those pre war >> warnings after >> > > reading >> > > > > the BBC piece after >> > > > > which one feels like why do I belong to >> any of >> > > these >> > > > > nations. Perhaps the >> > > > > report doesnt take into consideration: >> "Doing >> > > business for >> > > > > Israel and India >> > > > > (I to I) is easy because there is >> enormous >> > > goodwill for >> > > > > India in the >> > > > > country, not least because India has no >> history >> > > of >> > > > > anti-Semitism—one reason >> > > > > why tens of thousands of Israelis come >> holidaying >> > > to India >> > > > > every year." T.I. >> > > > > Ninan which appeared recently in >> Business >> > > Standard. ( I am >> > > > > trying my best to >> > > > > not react to the anti-semitism >> comment) >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ >> > > > > >> > > > > Although the article explores the >> avenues of >> > > better >> > > > > Indo-Israel ties, my >> > > > > question pertain to the BBC report and >> the >> > > warnings of >> > > > > Israel. If Israel is >> > > > > investing such huge amounts in various >> sectors >> > > including >> > > > > dairy, how is it >> > > > > possible that they are issuing warnings >> to its >> > > own people >> > > > > to be careful >> > > > > while visiting India?  Or is it some >> kind of >> > > gamble >> > > > > vis-a-vis the security >> > > > > establishment's success or failure to >> curb the >> > > so-called >> > > > > Islamic >> > > > > fundamentalism? >> > > > > >> > > > > -regard Anupam >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Rahul >> Asthana >> > > > > > > >wrote: >> > > > > >> > > > > > A  warning by Isarel >> > > > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm >> > > > > > >> > > > > > The foreign minister of Pakistan >> seems to >> > > > > corroborate. >> > > > > > "If India refuses talks, it would >> have >> > > consequences" >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > >> __________________________________________________ >> > > > > > Do You Yahoo!? >> > > > > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has >> the >> > > best spam >> > > > > protection around >> > > > > > http://mail.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. >> > > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > > > > > List archive: >> > > > > >> _________________________________________ >> > > > > 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. >> > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > > > > List archive: >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > _________________________________________ >> > > 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. >> > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > > List archive: >> > >> > __________________________________________________ >> > Do You Yahoo!? >> > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam >> protection around >> > http://mail.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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: > > > > From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Sep 18 22:38:42 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:08:42 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Screening of ' The Age of Stupid ' : 6:30 PM, 22nd September 2009, Select City Mall, Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CC0699CE558A6E-51BC-20524@webmail-d099.sysops.aol.com> Dear members , Greetings To be a part of the subject screening kindly mail across to Tamseel in order to confirm your presence . Best Wishes , - Rohit Hi , Promoted by Greenpeace, The Age of Stupid is a film by Franny Armstrong, director of McLibel, and John Battsek, producer of One Day in September. The film is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid which stars Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching archive footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?   The film's UK premiere was on 15 March 2009 in a solar-powered cinema tent in London's Leicester Square.. The Age of Stupid was released in Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday 19 August with simultaneous green carpet premieres in Auckland and Sydney, linked by satellite to cinemas in the two countries.   The film will be released internationally on September 21st and 22nd at the "Global Premiere". A green carpet, solar-powered cinema tent in New York will be linked by satellite to 442 cinemas across America and to more than 200 cinemas in 45+ other countries. Special guests include Kofi Annan, Pete Postlethwaite and Gillian Anderson and Thom Yorke from Radiohead will sing live. Shekhar Kapur will be beaming live from Gaumukh for the premiere. Please visit ageofstupid.net for more info.   If you re interested in hosting a  film screening post the event which is on 22nd September, 2009, please contact tamseel.hussain at gmail.com   -- Tamseel Hussain From menaka at indiaifa.org Sat Sep 19 14:39:44 2009 From: menaka at indiaifa.org (Menaka Rodriguez for India Foundation for the Arts) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:39:44 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Job Call from India Foundation for the Arts, Code - PRO Message-ID: <20090919090944.BB58B398042@mdreg2.mailserve.net> Public Relations Officer Job Description The successful candidate will help to create an annual PR plan for the organisation, pitch for IFA stories with journalists across the country, deliver a predetermined number of media exposures every month, look for opportunities for IFA plug-ins in industry related stories, and organise press conferences for IFA’s fundraising and other events. The position will be based in Bangalore. Key responsibilities will include Maintaining the email database of IFA and sending out all IFA email communications such as the IFA Newsletter, Event Announcements, Request for Proposals, News Announcements Creating and maintaining an IFA Contact database Creating all IFA Information Kits including press kits Monitoring and scanning media vehicles on a weekly basis to trace and file IFA news, filing press articles and maintaining the documentation for the same Maintaining a database of press contacts in the country Providing support at all IFA events and managing the IFA information kiosk at all IFA-related events    Eligibility for Public Relations Officer Applicants should ideally have an MBA / PG in Communications with a minimum of 3 years experience in Public Relations, having worked with a Public Relations agency, a media house, the marketing communications department of a corporation, a publishing house or the non-profit sector. Established networks with media Excellent networking skills Excellent written and oral communication skills Experience in database management for client/customers Exposure to organising press conferences Interest in the arts Position Location: Bangalore Remuneration:   Between 2.5 and 3.5 lakh per annum  Application: Applicants should submit a detailed C.V. and a covering letter as why they would be suitable for this position. The deadline for applications is October 15th 2009. Selected candidates will be called for an interview in Bangalore. Applications should be emailed to menaka at indiaifa.org with the subject line Code PRO or posted to: Sub: Code PRO India Foundation for the Arts Apurva Ground Floor #259, 4th Cross RMV 2nd Stage, 2nd Block Bangalore 560 094 Telephone 080 2341 4681 / 82  India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is an independent philanthropic organization based in Bangalore. We make grants nationwide in support of arts research and practice, and arts education. Please visit www.indiaifa.org for further information on our mission, objectives and programmes. From rohitrellan at aol.in Sat Sep 19 15:44:19 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:14:19 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] WWF - Canon Photo Contest 'Framed' ( LAST Date : 30 September 2009 ) Message-ID: <8CC07291627FC5C-663C-CC2@webmail-d078.sysops.aol.com> They’re pristine, they’re mighty and they’re awe-inspiring, yet their fragility stares at us while we position our cameras and capture their beauty. The Himalayas are among the world’s most venerated mountain ranges, yet today they face threats like climate change and impacts of human pressure. If you’ve seen them and captured them on camera then send in your photos to the WWF-Canon photo contest, FRAMED, and stand a chance to win some great prizes. Pictures speak… so lend us your mountain stories by participating in FRAMED. FRAMED is the first of many activities under WWF’s ‘Green Hiker’ campaign. ‘Green Hiker’ is an initiative taken by WWF to help reduce the impacts of tourism pressure on the highly vulnerable Himalayan eco region. This is a small step in WWF’s efforts to conserve this majestic mountain region and its high altitude wetlands. Join the campaign on the WWF-India website and spread the message of conservation. FOR MORE DETAILS LOG ON TO : http://www.eitherone.in/framed/index.html From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Fri Sep 18 11:36:52 2009 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (soundLAB) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:06:52 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?=5BAnnouncements=5D_Call=3A_soundart?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_for_SoundLAB_VII?= Message-ID: <20090918080652.7300A8FC.C60DC0F1@192.168.0.3> Call for entries Deadline: 30 November 2009 2010 - 10th anniversary of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne SoundLAB - sonic art project environments is happy to launch the call for its next edition to be part of this anniversary celebrations, entitled: SoundLAB VII - soundCELEBRATION sound compositions made for the 10th anniversary! For its 7th edition, planned to be launched in March 2010, SoundLAB would like to celebrate the power of sound as a tool for artistic creations and communications on occasion of the 10th anniversary of the global network it is embedded in and invites soundartists, musicians and composers to create for the 10th anniversary a special sound composition. Please find detailed information, the regulations and entry form on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1423 ------------------------------------------------ SoundLAB - sonic art project environments http://soundlab.newmediafest.org is a corporate part of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne, the experimental platform for art and new media from Cologne/Germany http://www.nmartproject.net in(at)nmartproject.net ----------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ravikant at sarai.net Fri Sep 18 14:14:20 2009 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:14:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Mahabharata Lecture @ CSDS, Delhi Message-ID: <200909181414.21607.ravikant@sarai.net> MAHABHARATA: A TEXT OF VEDAVYASA’S DISCONTENT A SAMVAD (Lecture-cum-Discussion) By SHRIVATSA GOSWAMI (Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana, Vrindavan) Tuesday, 22 September 2009 At 2:00 PM SEMINAR ROOM Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110054 Dr. Shrivatsa Goswami, belonging to the priestly family serving at the Radha-Raman Temple in Vrindavana, is one of the most renowned Vaisnava scholars of our times. He also heads the Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana at Vrindavan, which is dedicated to the scholarship on Vaisnava literature and philosophy. He had his early training in Indian philosophy and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Divinity School, Harvard University. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Sat Sep 19 18:04:44 2009 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:34:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" In-Reply-To: <341380d00909190405k50179c7nfc2b83ab6ffa4d81@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <490245.86391.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Anupam, 1.I agree,the first assumption was already in place.Since there were two,I didn't know which one you were talking about.How do you tie it with the second one:as in,there will be significant impact on business.Perhaps there is some historical data available on how the Bombay blasts earlier have affected business. In fact, as far as I can remember, businesses have bounced back to normal in a few days. As I said earlier I do not see a connection between terrorist attacks and long term profitability of a business but I am willing to be educated on this. 2.How do you read the Pakistan Foreign minister's statement as in "There will be consequences"? What consequences do you think he is talking about? Thanks Rahul --- On Sat, 9/19/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses talks, it would have consequences" > To: "sarai list" > Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009, 4:35 PM > there are two possibilities here > Rahul: > > 1. You dont know what you are talking about. > 2. I dont know what i am talking about. > > Second option being rather close to me, I would say, by > citing the > threat perception of the Israelis through a news report > about possible > strikes by terrorists in India, the assumption that there > might be > attacks was already established even before i started > commenting on > it. To add to that, i had questioned whether the idea of > issuing > warnings to its own civilians while visiting is a > contradiction as > Israel has proposed investments in India. You have very > clearly said > that you saw no connection between the two. I differed on > that aspect > citing a hypothetical example to which you did not reply > but instead > you said: "You are making two assumptions: > 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. > 2.It is going to affect business significantly." > > The first assumption was already in place. I only asked if > Israelis > are gambling big time by investing in India for which it > has issued > according to the BBC report: > > "The Israeli statement said the planned attacks could > target other > Lubavitch centres in India.The warning was based on "a > concrete, very > serious threat", it said." > > Therefore, I have NOT assumed anything. I have just > questioned these warnings. > > Thanks for patiently reading the mail, > > Anupam > > > On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 4:16 PM, Rahul Asthana > wrote: > > "That assumption has already being established > > when the report was cited on the mailing list." > > what assumption are you talking about? > > > > --- On Sat, 9/19/09, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > > >> From: anupam chakravartty > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India refuses > talks, it would have  consequences" > >> To: "sarai list" > >> Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009, 1:56 PM > >> Dear Rahul, > >> > >> The idea was to question the report based on > Israeli > >> intelligence > >> issuing these warnings. That assumption has > already being > >> established > >> when the report was cited on the mailing list. > >> > >> -regards > >> anupam > >> > >> On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 11:30 PM, Rahul Asthana > > >> wrote: > >> > > >> > You are making two assumptions: > >> > 1. There is going to be a series of attacks. > >> > 2.It is going to affect business > significantly. > >> > > >> > I think it is a stretch to extrapolate the > information > >> we have at this time to make those assumptions. > You may > >> disagree. > >> > > >> > Thanks > >> > Rahul > >> > > >> > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam chakravartty > > >> wrote: > >> > > >> > > From: anupam chakravartty > >> > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If India > refuses > >> talks, it would have  consequences" > >> > > To: "sarai list" > >> > > Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:31 > PM > >> > > I was expecting this question Rahul. > >> > > Let me rephrase it with a hypothesis: > >> > > Say you have a lot of money, and you > want to > >> invest in a > >> > > piece of land. but > >> > > you learn that you are investing money > in a > >> property, which > >> > > is always > >> > > visited by a bunch of dacoits. would you > like to > >> still go > >> > > ahead with > >> > > investment? i am sure you would not > unless you > >> have a large > >> > > army of security > >> > > personnel who can thwart the attempts of > the > >> so-called > >> > > dacoits. which is why > >> > > the next part of my question is whether > Israel is > >> risking > >> > > big time vis-a-vis > >> > > the success or the failure to contain > such > >> threats. i am > >> > > just posing a > >> > > question here > >> > > > >> > > -regards anupam > >> > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Rahul > Asthana > >> wrote: > >> > > > >> > > > "If Israel is > >> > > > investing such huge amounts in > various > >> sectors > >> > > including dairy, how is it > >> > > > possible that they are issuing > warnings to > >> its own > >> > > people to be careful > >> > > > while visiting India?" > >> > > > I do not understand your > question.What is > >> the > >> > > connection? > >> > > > > >> > > > --- On Fri, 9/18/09, anupam > chakravartty > >> > >> > > wrote: > >> > > > > >> > > > > From: anupam chakravartty > > >> > > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "If > India > >> refuses > >> > > talks, it would have > >> > > >  consequences" > >> > > > > To: "sarai list" > >> > > > > Date: Friday, September 18, > 2009, 8:13 > >> PM > >> > > > > Dear Rahul, > >> > > > > > >> > > > > It felt like one of those pre > war > >> warnings after > >> > > reading > >> > > > > the BBC piece after > >> > > > > which one feels like why do I > belong to > >> any of > >> > > these > >> > > > > nations. Perhaps the > >> > > > > report doesnt take into > consideration: > >> "Doing > >> > > business for > >> > > > > Israel and India > >> > > > > (I to I) is easy because there > is > >> enormous > >> > > goodwill for > >> > > > > India in the > >> > > > > country, not least because > India has no > >> history > >> > > of > >> > > > > anti-Semitism—one reason > >> > > > > why tens of thousands of > Israelis come > >> holidaying > >> > > to India > >> > > > > every year." T.I. > >> > > > > Ninan which appeared recently > in > >> Business > >> > > Standard. ( I am > >> > > > > trying my best to > >> > > > > not react to the > anti-semitism > >> comment) > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/t-n-ninan-an-i-for-an-i/369851/ > >> > > > > > >> > > > > Although the article explores > the > >> avenues of > >> > > better > >> > > > > Indo-Israel ties, my > >> > > > > question pertain to the BBC > report and > >> the > >> > > warnings of > >> > > > > Israel. If Israel is > >> > > > > investing such huge amounts in > various > >> sectors > >> > > including > >> > > > > dairy, how is it > >> > > > > possible that they are issuing > warnings > >> to its > >> > > own people > >> > > > > to be careful > >> > > > > while visiting India?  Or is > it some > >> kind of > >> > > gamble > >> > > > > vis-a-vis the security > >> > > > > establishment's success or > failure to > >> curb the > >> > > so-called > >> > > > > Islamic > >> > > > > fundamentalism? > >> > > > > > >> > > > > -regard Anupam > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:42 > PM, Rahul > >> Asthana > >> > > >> > > > >wrote: > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > A  warning by Isarel > >> > > > > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262110.stm > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > > The foreign minister of > Pakistan > >> seems to > >> > > > > corroborate. > >> > > > > > "If India refuses talks, > it would > >> have > >> > > consequences" > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > > > >> > > > http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C09%5C18%5Cstory_18-9-2009_pg7_1 > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > > > >> > > > >> > __________________________________________________ > >> > > > > > Do You Yahoo!? > >> > > > > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! > Mail has > >> the > >> > > best spam > >> > > > > protection around > >> > > > > > http://mail.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. > >> > > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> > > > > > List archive: > >> > > > > > >> _________________________________________ > >> > > > > 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. > >> > > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> > > > > List archive: > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > _________________________________________ > >> > > 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. > >> > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> > > List archive: > >> > > >> > > __________________________________________________ > >> > Do You Yahoo!? > >> > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best > spam > >> protection around > >> > http://mail.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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 19 18:13:32 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:43:32 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Why_Kashmiri_Pandits_don=E2=80=99t_return?= =?utf-8?q?_to_Valley=3F?= Message-ID: <640763.80678.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Perspective   "KP’s dilemma"   "Why Kashmiri Pandits don’t return to Valley?"   HOMECOMING BY P. N. RAZDAN   The return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley has again assumed media attention due to the renewed interest of the newly elected government in the state for this subject. The NC led government announced a series of financial incentives both in the budget speech and separately through a mega plan by the Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister for the return of Pandits. The wholesome package covers all the relevant concerns like repairs of houses, orchards, restarting of business, employment and housing. Despite the attractive terms of package, the response of the migrant Pandits has been lukewarm. Only about 300 families have expressed their interest in the return package so far besides the 934 families that registered last year after the announcement of a package by the Prime Minister. This is just 2% of the 55476 families registered as migrants in Jammu, Delhi and other states. Why is the response of the Pandits so brazenly cool to the package? We try to analyze the reasons for this diffidence of the migrant natives. The apprehension foremost in the minds of Pandits is that of insecurity. It is not the overall insecurity, like a bomb blast on the roadside or a cross firing that results in death and disability, but the individual targeting that is the prime concern of the migrants. Pandits were targeted on the basis of their religion in 1990 and later, a fear that continues to bother them. Kashmir is an unsettled issue but for the last nineteen years post migration, the issue has not been de-linked from religion. Events of late like Amarnath land agitation, regardless of its genesis, have only aggravated these fears. So long as Kashmir problem is associated with religion and a theocratic state like Pakistan that has a dismal record of minority handling, the worry of the Pandits used to a secular and pluralistic way of life in the valley, is logical. Pandits would not like to return only to be thrown out again. Their heart goes back to Kashmiriyat, and its revival. A lot of this fear of insecurity could have been lessened had the return plan been backed up the locals. While the individual bonhomie and warmth of the local Muslims with the Pandits continues as before (if not more), there is no collective social or political initiative for the return of Pandits. This is probably because there is a fear that this step may dilute the attention on the Kashmir problem and reduce the pressure on Indian establishment for working out a solution. The other reason for a lukewarm attitude for return is the lack of housing. About 80% of the Pandit families have disposed off their immovable properties either willingly or under threat of encroachment. There is a small section of people in Srinagar and some major towns whose houses are under the control of para military forces. Despite petty rents followed by delays and insensitive attitude of the State Police for their payment, these people have refused to sell their properties with the hope of an eventual return to their homeland. But even these properties are not available at present due to their continued occupation by the forces and refusal for their vacation. In reality there is therefore no accommodation, transit or permanent, for Pandits to start with. This problem has not been addressed in the return package. It would be helpful if the government makes arrangements for transit accommodation for the returning Pandits both as a welcome gesture and also to have a first feel of the largely safe and secure valley. The problem of permanent housing can easily be solved if large-scale housing projects are taken up both by the government and private builders of repute. It is however important that housing projects be made available for a mix of population with majority percentage fixed for migrants. Exclusive tenements for Pandits defeat the very argument of security and plurality. There is also a genuine concern particularly among the youth, about the lack of professional employment in the valley. The state has remained static on development front for the last two decades because of unstable political and security conditions. Industry, IT, tourism, communication, health services etc. have not seen the progress recorded in other states of the country.. There is mounting unemployment particularly in professional categories. Government continues to be the sole employer and Pandit youth even if absorbed in the meager professional openings, would have no lateral movement. Already there are scores of Kashmiri Muslim youth working as doctors, engineers and IT professionals in all metropolitan cities of the country pointing to the difficult professional employment situation in the valley. With better openings available outside the valley, offer of employment for return therefore does not seem to be a workable proposition at least for professionally qualified youth. Linking employment to the return is meaningless even otherwise, since anybody who takes up employment in the valley would have to stay there itself. Then there are tiny little grounds like affinity with the newly created neighborhoods, health services, schooling of kids etc. that may discourage the reverse migration of Pandits. But as the author has observed in one of his earlier articles that, Pandits may have improved both socially as well as economically after migration, but their biggest loss has been the loss of their identity. And a majority of them are prepared to exchange anything for its redemption. However, they can do so only if there is a will to help them. The government seems to have come out openly in this cause. It is now for the civil society to play its part. (PN Razdan was in the government of Jammu & Kashmir from the Statistical Service and retired as Special Secretary in the Planning Department. He is a Kashmiri Pandit putting up in New Delhi. He can be mailed at pnrazdan at yahoo..com. Ideas expressed are author’s own)   Saturday, September 19, 2009 http://www.greaterkashmir.com/today/full_story.asp?Date=19_9_2009&ItemID=34&cat=11#Print%20This%20Story       From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 19 18:58:10 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:28:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <82500044-F661-4051-B441-161A92955EA0@sarai.net> Message-ID: <849642.24882.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Jeebesh   You wrote : "The book ....... takes some case study, notably new administrative rules  around waste both domestic and industrial."   That would make it a more than worthwhile read.   There could (in my opinion) in any case be very few suggested remedies with "global" applicability. The uniqueness of social and business environments would require specific systems to be designed for them to find acceptance. But certainly a practicable working model at one place possibly could  with appropiate tweaks be applied elsewhere too.    Kshmendra   --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: From: Jeebesh Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 6:20 PM dear Kshmendra, The book does go pretty deep into possible way out of this disastrous  situation. It takes some case study, notably new administrative rules  around waste both domestic and industrial. Tristram is a freegun and gathers a lot of his food from departmental  store garbage. I have eaten lovely lunch with him with these perfectly  nice food from the garbage cans. Great Sushi and sashimi. :) This book  and his earlier one is the development of a deep philosophical  engagement with question of what we call and eat as food. I am yet to read the book and is waiting for my copy. But have heard  him talk about the issues in the book and he approaches it from an  urgency to act on it rather than just critique. Enjoy the book if you get your hand on it. warmly jeebesh On 17-Sep-09, at 5:43 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Jeebesh > > The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on  > HOW TO prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take  > place in homes and commercial establishments. > > Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so. > > Kshmendra > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: > > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM > > dear All, > > An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He > has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many > people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed > research for over many years. > > Enclosing a review of the book. > > warmly > jeebesh > > http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html > > Waste > Review by Fiona Harvey > Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 > Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > By Tristram Stuart > Penguin £9.99, 448 pages > FT Bookshop price: £7.99 > > Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think > about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the > wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate > the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and > simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every > day, with everything you ate. > > Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a > quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is > perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or > homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. > Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. > > Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government > estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling > amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. > Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare > our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket > packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, > has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several > years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as > well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the > meagre data provided by governments and businesses. > > The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of > bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in > our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to > say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving > it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell  > Stuart. > > Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to > come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of > our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The > scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing > world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author > hopes, demanding change. > > Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most > cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who > helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the > Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged > themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving > children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the > 1840s. > > . . . > > We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. > Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on > British life for decades, and famines during and following the war > scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have > seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television  > screens. > > Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food > resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; > to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last > residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As > Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, > Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs > that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. > > Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have > broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The > food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to > alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of > malnourished. How did this happen? > > Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of > plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and > ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes > in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force > suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a > product, they will be held to blame. > > If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap > in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from > selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin > if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. > > Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts > with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their > products. > > Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being > crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not > even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided > it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be > sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. > > Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and > display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- > regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European > Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after > the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school > kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. > > Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: > the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to > feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in > supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; > retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible > contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who > fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. > > Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a > disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the > pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and > produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the > Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the > world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities > such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar > themselves. > > This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and > readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long > time. > > Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 19 19:34:39 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:04:39 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <341380d00909170555k150b03f4ocd07fe48e90ff6ea@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <23384.95276.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Anupam   You asked : "Do you really think some of the books written in our times pointing towards massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the measures that can be taken to stop it?"   Taking your question at face value and in the context of the book Tristram Stuart’s "Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal", my answer is; Yes!   Well researched In-depth and competent insights into a 'problem' would be much more meritorious when they take that additional step from "what is the problem" to "what can and should be done".   I did not like your phrase "speculate over measures" but certainly "options" can be put forward.   Someone who has understood well the contours of a 'problem' would already have, if not pored over, at the very least flirted with thoughts about 'possible options as solutions'.   Understanding of the facts of the 'problem' would not be possible unless the author has dwelled over the Politics, Financials, Laws, Sociologicals that allow the 'problem' to take place and in them also lie the "solutions" or 'possible options as solutions'.   Kshmendra         --- On Thu, 9/17/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: From: anupam chakravartty Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal To: "sarai list" Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 6:25 PM Dear Kshmendra, Although i am yet to find a copy of this book, my question is more generic. Do you really think some of the books written in our times pointing towards massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the measures that can be taken to stop it? I feel by the premises which have been established through the review that the book speaks about the vast irregularities in the food industry. -regards Anupam On 9/17/09, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > Dear Jeebesh > > The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on HOW TO > prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take place in homes > and commercial establishments. > > Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so. > > Kshmendra > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: > > > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM > > > dear All, > > An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He > has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many > people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed > research for over many years. > > Enclosing a review of the book. > > warmly > jeebesh > > http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html > > Waste > Review by Fiona Harvey > Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 > Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > By Tristram Stuart > Penguin £9.99, 448 pages > FT Bookshop price: £7.99 > > Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think > about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the > wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate > the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and > simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every > day, with everything you ate. > > Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a > quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is > perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or > homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. > Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. > > Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government > estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling > amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. > Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare > our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket > packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, > has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several > years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as > well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the > meagre data provided by governments and businesses. > > The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of > bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in > our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to > say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving > it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell Stuart. > > Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to > come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of > our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The > scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing > world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author > hopes, demanding change. > > Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most > cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who > helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the > Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged > themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving > children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the > 1840s. > > .. . . > > We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. > Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on > British life for decades, and famines during and following the war > scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have > seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television screens. > > Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food > resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; > to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last > residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As > Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, > Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs > that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. > > Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have > broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The > food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to > alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of > malnourished. How did this happen? > > Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of > plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and > ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes > in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force > suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a > product, they will be held to blame. > > If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap > in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from > selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin > if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. > > Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts > with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their > products. > > Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being > crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not > even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided > it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be > sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. > > Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and > display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- > regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European > Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after > the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school > kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. > > Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: > the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to > feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in > supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; > retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible > contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who > fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. > > Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a > disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the > pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and > produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the > Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the > world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities > such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar > themselves. > > This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and > readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long > time. > > Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Sat Sep 19 19:58:36 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:58:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <23384.95276.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <341380d00909170555k150b03f4ocd07fe48e90ff6ea@mail.gmail.com> <23384.95276.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909190728p5ec5c3d6q8940bdb4720f0b39@mail.gmail.com> Dear Kshmendra, Thanks for responding to my question. It is very interesting for me to note that you use quotes for a problem, however you are very causal about the word "merit". Moreover, the last paragraph: "Understanding of the facts of the 'problem' would not be possible unless the author has dwelled over the Politics, Financials, Laws, Sociologicals that allow the 'problem' to take place and in them also lie the "solutions" or 'possible options as solutions'." Since both of us have not read the book, we cannot assert that the author has not or has dwelled over the Politics, financials, laws, sociologicals. looking forward to a discussion after we both read it :) -anupam On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 7:34 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Anupam > > You asked : "Do you really think some of the books written in our times > pointing towards > massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or > even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the > measures that can be taken to stop it?" > > Taking your question at face value and in the context of the book Tristram > Stuart’s "Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal", my answer is; Yes! > > Well researched In-depth and competent insights into a 'problem' would be > much more meritorious when they take that additional step from "what is the > problem" to "what can and should be done". > > I did not like your phrase "speculate over measures" but certainly > "options" can be put forward. > > Someone who has understood well the contours of a 'problem' would already > have, if not pored over, at the very least flirted with thoughts about > 'possible options as solutions'. > > Understanding of the facts of the 'problem' would not be possible unless > the author has dwelled over the Politics, Financials, Laws, Sociologicals > that allow the 'problem' to take place and in them also lie the "solutions" > or 'possible options as solutions'. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On *Thu, 9/17/09, anupam chakravartty * wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > To: "sarai list" > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 6:25 PM > > Dear Kshmendra, > > Although i am yet to find a copy of this book, my question is more generic. > Do you really think some of the books written in our times pointing towards > massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or > even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the > measures that can be taken to stop it? I feel by the premises which have > been established through the review that the book speaks about the vast > irregularities in the food industry. > > -regards Anupam > > On 9/17/09, Kshmendra Kaul > > wrote: > > > > Dear Jeebesh > > > > The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on HOW > TO > > prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take place in > homes > > and commercial establishments. > > > > Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so. > > > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh > > wrote: > > > > > > From: Jeebesh > > > > Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > > > > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM > > > > > > dear All, > > > > An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He > > has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many > > people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed > > research for over many years. > > > > Enclosing a review of the book. > > > > warmly > > jeebesh > > > > http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html > > > > Waste > > Review by Fiona Harvey > > Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 > > Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > > By Tristram Stuart > > Penguin £9.99, 448 pages > > FT Bookshop price: £7.99 > > > > Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think > > about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the > > wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate > > the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and > > simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every > > day, with everything you ate. > > > > Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a > > quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is > > perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or > > homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. > > Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. > > > > Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government > > estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling > > amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. > > Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare > > our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket > > packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, > > has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several > > years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as > > well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the > > meagre data provided by governments and businesses. > > > > The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of > > bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in > > our knowledge of waste.. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to > > say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving > > it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell Stuart. > > > > Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to > > come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of > > our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The > > scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing > > world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author > > hopes, demanding change. > > > > Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most > > cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who > > helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the > > Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged > > themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving > > children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the > > 1840s. > > > > .. . . > > > > We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. > > Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on > > British life for decades, and famines during and following the war > > scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have > > seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television screens. > > > > Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food > > resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; > > to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last > > residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As > > Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, > > Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs > > that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. > > > > Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have > > broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The > > food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to > > alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of > > malnourished. How did this happen? > > > > Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of > > plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and > > ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes > > in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force > > suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a > > product, they will be held to blame. > > > > If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap > > in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from > > selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin > > if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. > > > > Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts > > with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their > > products. > > > > Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being > > crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not > > even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided > > it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be > > sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. > > > > Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and > > display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- > > regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European > > Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after > > the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school > > kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. > > > > Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: > > the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to > > feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in > > supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; > > retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible > > contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who > > fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. > > > > Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a > > disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the > > pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and > > produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the > > Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the > > world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities > > such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar > > themselves. > > > > This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and > > readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long > > time. > > > > Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.netwith > > subscribe in the subject header. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.netwith > > subscribe in the subject header. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai..netwith subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > From anilbhattarai at gmail.com Sat Sep 19 21:27:07 2009 From: anilbhattarai at gmail.com (Anil Bhattarai) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:57:07 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal In-Reply-To: <23384.95276.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <23384.95276.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4AB4FF53.8030109@gmail.com> There are thousands of permaculture groups, urban gardeners, dumpster divers, community food sharers, who are now either dealing with 'waste' or creating systems that extricate themselves and local communities from the 'waste=producing systems'. This yeas, the whole of North America saw the biggest rise of farmers'markets, backyard gardening, food sharing. FoodShare in Toronto does amazing stuff, but it is only one among tens of thousands of groups across North America. ANil Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Anupam > > You asked : "Do you really think some of the books written in our times pointing towards > massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the measures that can be taken to stop it?" > > Taking your question at face value and in the context of the book Tristram Stuart’s "Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal", my answer is; Yes! > > Well researched In-depth and competent insights into a 'problem' would be much more meritorious when they take that additional step from "what is the problem" to "what can and should be done". > > I did not like your phrase "speculate over measures" but certainly "options" can be put forward. > > Someone who has understood well the contours of a 'problem' would already have, if not pored over, at the very least flirted with thoughts about 'possible options as solutions'. > > Understanding of the facts of the 'problem' would not be possible unless the author has dwelled over the Politics, Financials, Laws, Sociologicals that allow the 'problem' to take place and in them also lie the "solutions" or 'possible options as solutions'. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Thu, 9/17/09, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal > To: "sarai list" > Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 6:25 PM > > > Dear Kshmendra, > > Although i am yet to find a copy of this book, my question is more generic. > Do you really think some of the books written in our times pointing towards > massive carelessness in part of the large corporations or governments or > even individuals should also suggest prevention or speculate over the > measures that can be taken to stop it? I feel by the premises which have > been established through the review that the book speaks about the vast > irregularities in the food industry. > > -regards Anupam > > On 9/17/09, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: >> Dear Jeebesh >> >> The book would be worthwhile if it gives practicable suggestions on HOW TO >> prevent or put to good use the wasateges that otherwise take place in homes >> and commercial establishments. >> >> Nothing in the review suggests that the book does so. >> >> Kshmendra >> >> --- On Thu, 9/17/09, Jeebesh wrote: >> >> >> From: Jeebesh >> Subject: [Reader-list] Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal >> To: "Sarai Reader-list" >> Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 12:59 PM >> >> >> dear All, >> >> An exceptional book has been written by a friend based in London. He >> has been in Delhi for a long period earlier and is known to many >> people on this list. The book is called Waste and is based on detailed >> research for over many years. >> >> Enclosing a review of the book. >> >> warmly >> jeebesh >> >> http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/Review.html >> >> Waste >> Review by Fiona Harvey >> Published: July 18 2009 01:41 | Last updated: July 18 2009 01:41 >> Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal >> By Tristram Stuart >> Penguin £9.99, 448 pages >> FT Bookshop price: £7.99 >> >> Next time you pick up a lunchtime sandwich, take a moment to think >> about where it has come from. Think of the effort it took to grow the >> wheat for the bread, to feed the cows to make the cheese, to cultivate >> the salad from seed. Imagine if you took a few bites from it and >> simply threw the rest straight in the bin. And if you did that every >> day, with everything you ate. >> >> Supermarkets and high-street sandwich chains regularly discard a >> quarter as many sandwiches as they sell. Most of that food is >> perfectly edible, but little of it is given away to the poor or >> homeless. Instead, it is destroyed and often sent to landfill. >> Meanwhile, 1bn people go hungry, in a globalised economy. >> >> Consumers are no better. In the UK alone, according to government >> estimates, a third of the food we buy goes into the bin. The appalling >> amounts wasted in restaurants and fast food eateries is another story. >> Tristram Stuart’s Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal lays bare >> our wasteful habits, from the farm to shrinkwrapped supermarket >> packaging and beyond. Stuart, a freegan and environmental campaigner, >> has based his book on painstaking research carried out over several >> years of first-hand experience of foraging in supermarket bins, as >> well as interviews with company executives and trawls through the >> meagre data provided by governments and businesses. >> >> The book, with 68 pages of detailed notes and 69 pages of >> bibliography, bristles with facts but points also to the huge gaps in >> our knowledge of waste. Most retailers, for instance, prefer not to >> say how much food they waste, regarding it as a trade secret. Giving >> it away would put them at a competitive disadvantage, they tell Stuart. >> >> Waste is certainly one of the most important environmental books to >> come out in years. But it is more than that. It is an indictment of >> our consumer culture that should make us all feel deeply ashamed. The >> scale of our food waste problem – and its effect on the developing >> world – revealed in this book will leave you shocked. And, the author >> hopes, demanding change. >> >> Avoiding the unnecessary wasting of food is deeply ingrained in most >> cultures. “Your eyes are bigger than your belly” was how children who >> helped themselves to more than they could eat were scolded in the >> Belfast of my childhood. Those who failed to finish, or gorged >> themselves on too much, would be reminded first of the starving >> children in Africa then, for good measure, of the Irish famine of the >> 1840s. >> >> .. . . >> >> We need not go back so far to discover raw memories of food shortages. >> Rationing during the second world war and early 1950s left its mark on >> British life for decades, and famines during and following the war >> scarred Europe and parts of Asia. In the past two decades, we have >> seen famines in Africa roll horrifically across our television screens. >> >> Human societies have found ingenious ways to eke out our valuable food >> resources: to store, pickle and preserve; to find uses for byproducts; >> to fatten animals on scraps; and even to burn or distil the last >> residues. Much of our cultural heritage is defined by what we eat. As >> Stuart reminds us in his chapter-heading – quotations from the Bible, >> Koran and folk sayings – we have evolved elaborate rules and customs >> that embody the imperative to use food efficiently. >> >> Yet our culture of thrift, built up over millennia, seems to have >> broken down within a few decades into a culture of carelessness. The >> food wasted each day in the UK and the US alone would be enough to >> alleviate the hunger of 1.5bn people – more than the global number of >> malnourished. How did this happen? >> >> Retailers must shoulder a large part of the blame. The illusion of >> plenty they like to foster, by constantly refilling shelves and >> ensuring there is always more food than can be bought in a day, comes >> in for an excoriating attack. These practices, in turn, force >> suppliers to overproduce for fear that if the retailer runs out of a >> product, they will be held to blame. >> >> If this sounds like poor economics, it isn’t. Food has become so cheap >> in most developed countries that retailers make more profit from >> selling one more sandwich than they lose from throwing it in the bin >> if it remains unsold. So overstacking the shelves is a no-brainer. >> >> Food producers play along because they need to keep their contracts >> with retailers, and they incorporate the cost of waste into their >> products. >> >> Stuart records seeing stacks of ready-meals, metres high, being >> crushed at a food producer’s plant instead of being sold. They had not >> even passed their sell-by date – it was just that the retailer decided >> it did not need so many. They were retailer branded, so could not be >> sold elsewhere. The edible food had to be landfilled. >> >> Red tape does not help. Confusion over best-before, sell-by and >> display-by dates causes massive waste of edible food. So did the over- >> regulation, until recently, of food sizes and shapes by the European >> Union. As a result of a knee-jerk reaction by the UK government after >> the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, food scraps from school >> kitchens and the like cannot even be given to pigs as swill. >> >> Stuart catalogues appalling waste all through the food supply chain: >> the farmer whose tasty, blemish-free carrots are only deemed fit to >> feed animals because they are a mite too bendy to be sold in >> supermarkets, which assume buyers can only cope with straight veg; >> retail chains that padlock their bins or deliberately spoil the edible >> contents, for fear their customers will forage in them; consumers who >> fall for buy-one-get-one-free offers to buy food they will not eat. >> >> Wasting food in rich countries cannot be seen in a vacuum. It has a >> disastrous effect on the poor. Cheap food is an illusion – the >> pressure on agricultural land for people to feed themselves and >> produce for export markets is causing widespread deforestation in the >> Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa, and soil degradation across the >> world. Our careless waste pushes up prices for globalised commodities >> such as grain and rice, forcing poor people to go hungry or beggar >> themselves. >> >> This book exposes all of these effects clearly, logically and >> readably. It made me more angry than any book I have read for a long >> time. >> >> Fiona Harvey is the FT’s environment corresponden >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Sat Sep 19 22:25:04 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:25:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=28FWD=29_The_Politics_Of_=91Auste?= =?windows-1252?q?rity=92_=96_Covering_Up_The_Policies_And_Prioriti?= =?windows-1252?q?es_Of_The_Congress_Government_By_Kavita_Krishnan?= Message-ID: <1f9180970909190955r5b3d3b58i7305f2efc120dc76@mail.gmail.com> -- The Politics Of ‘Austerity’ – Covering Up The Policies And Priorities Of The Congress Government *By Kavita Krishnan* 18 September, 2009 *Countercurrents.org* Daily papers nowadays are carrying headlines about the HRD Ministry declaring cuts in Universities’ funding, ordering them to hike fees, levy user charges etc to mobilize their own funds even to procure chemicals in labs and books in libraries. All this in the name of ‘austerity measures’. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prescribed wage cuts for workers in times of recession. For the Congress-led Government, the recession is a handy pretext to push through all the pet policies of a neoliberal regime. Privatisation measures, wage cuts and job cuts – all can be virtuously blamed on the fund crunch in times of global recession. And when people protest, the government can fall back on the plea of ‘austerity.’ No wonder, then that the Congress is dismayed at media revelations of the ostentatious flaunting of wealth by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his junior Shashi Tharoor, and at Tharoor’s indiscreet ‘cattle class’ tweet that revealed contempt for the aam aadmi. A red-faced Congress rushed into damage control mode. Both the Ministers shifted to more modest accommodation on request from their party leadership; Congress leaders from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi downwards are now competing to display conspicuous ‘austerity’ – wearing khadi, travelling by economy class flights and even by train; and Congress has reprimanded Tharoor for his tweet. Read between the lines: the Congress leaders’ song and dance of ‘austerity’ is a danger signal of the Government’s plans to intensify its liberalization offensive in the name of ‘austerity’. *Class Character peeps out – From beneath the Aam Aadmi mask * The Congress is aware that Krishna’s and Tharoor’s protestations that the 5-star bills were paid out of their own pockets rather than the government exchequer might not reduce the political cost of the episode. The fact that Ministers can afford 5-star comfort even as the Government has been preaching ‘austerity’ and prescribing wage-cuts for workers in times of acute drought, price rise and hunger, smacks of double standards, no matter which way you look at it. The Congress correctly recognised it as an instance of the aam aadmi mask having slipped, and hastened to position the mask in place once again: carefully crafted to display the correct expressions of sincerity and sacrifice. But once someone has recognised the Emperor to be naked, attempts to persuade people that he is magnificently clothed tend to be in vain. Unfortunately for the Congress, the mask keeps slipping. Every day it revealed how other Congress Ministers too are living it up like modern day maharajahs – demanding Italian tiles, Spanish marble, and even vaastu-aligned toilets – all at public cost! These expensive tastes stand revealed as the natural lifestyle of the Congress netas. * Princes and Paupers… * The Government’s awkward and unconvincing attempts to cover up this revelation of its real class character with gestures of ‘austerity’ only serve to rub in the cosmetic and theatrical nature of such gestures. Consider: why should it be big news that Rahul Gandhi spends a night at a dalit’s house or makes a single journey by train? Precisely because such events are orchestrated exceptions. It’s like a Prince dressing up as a pauper for a day. An event that only serves to emphasise his princeliness – “See how great is the prince – he is willing to come down to our level and share our food.” There’s nothing democratic about these gestures: they are the very essence and spirit of feudal hierarchies. *Gifts and Giveaways for the Super-rich; Peanuts for the Poor * Recall that a couple of years ago, the Prime Minister had suggested that CEOs avoid conspicuous consumption, saying that “Such vulgarity insults the poverty of the less privileged.” That is precisely the hypocritical sentiment reflected in the Congress’ conspicuous austerity now: pursuing policies that promote the rich and punish the poor is fine – as long as this attitude is not ‘vulgarly’ displayed in a manner that might provoke the poor! Of course the very same papers which revealed the Congress Ministers’ lifestyles, are now writing editorials defending conspicuous consumption as a way to rescue the economy in times of recession. Spending sprees, if one believes them, is a patriotic duty. The ‘austerity’ measures only serve to re-emphasise the fact that the Government’s priorities and policies are all tailored to serve the super-rich. The Union Budget’s ‘Statement of revenues foregone’ is revealing. It tells us that in 2008-09, Rs. 68,914 crore of revenue due from corporate taxation was “foregone” (due to special tax rates, exemptions, deductions, rebates, etc). And if we take a closer look at the corporate tax collected, we can see that bigger and more profitable companies get away with more exemptions while smaller companies pay more by way of corporate taxes. 67398 of the most profitable private companies, which had 44.60% of the share in total corporate profits, were taxed at an effective rate in the range of 0-20%, and therefore formed just 21.89% in the total tax payable. The smallest companies, those with profits less than Rs 10 Cr, had the largest effective tax rate. It is also well known that indirect exemptions like concessions in excise and custom duties are also largely cornered by the corporate sector with little benefits being extended to actual consumers. Income foregone in 2007-08 on excise duty was Rs. 87,468 crore and on customs duty Rs. 1,53,593 crore. Even if we assume that 50% of these concessions are passed on to consumers, the total concession enjoyed by the corporate sector through direct tax exemptions and indirect duty cuts add up to more than Rs. 1.5 lakh crore. In other words, the corporate sector gets a concession of nearly Rs. 20 crore an hour – and this does not include the numerous tangible and intangible subsidies showered on the super-rich by way of cheap land, cheap power and so on and so forth. Compare these enormous yearly handouts to the richest of the rich with the allocations for the poorest of the poor, struggling for survival: a mere Rs. 39,100 crore was allocated for the NREGS in the 2009-10 Budget. The priorities are clear: the neo-royalty of this country, who earn obscene salaries several thousands of times larger than the wages of the poorest Indians, are the ones whom our Government favours with huge gifts and giveaways. The poor are given mere peanuts – and on top of it all being made to shoulder the burden of recession in the shape of back-breaking prices, retrenchment and wage cuts. The politics of ‘austerity’ and the true priorities of the callous and cruel Congress-led Governments must be challenged and exposed by militant mass movements of the poor. *Kavita Krishnan* is the Editor, Liberation, Central organ of CPI(ML). * kavitakrish73 at gmail.com* You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Sun Sep 20 19:10:16 2009 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:10:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Right to Read Campaign for the Visually Challenged In-Reply-To: <6292b08b0909200627u52ba5a33y32feb1a511979a8d@mail.gmail.com> References: <6292b08b0909200627u52ba5a33y32feb1a511979a8d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chandni Parekh The entire post on the Right to Read campaign is at http://kafila.org/2009/09/19/right-to-read-campaign/ Millions of Indians are unable to read printed material due to disabilities. There are technologies available which can help them read print if the material is converted into an alternate format such as large print, audio, Braille or any electronic format. While the Indian constitution guarantees the “right to read” as a fundamental right, the copyright regime does not permit the conversion of books into accessible formats for the benefit of persons with print impairment, as a result of which a “book famine” is created. Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign · To accelerate change in copyright law · To raise public awareness on the issue · To gather Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). As part of the campaign we are creating audio visual clips of eminent persons, celebrities etc. supporting the Campaign. If you know any eminent persons, celebrities etc. who are willing to support the campaign do mail me (rahul.cherian at inclusiveplanet.com) so that we can arrange for their testimony to be recorded. From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sun Sep 20 19:49:49 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 07:19:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death Message-ID: <525353.23443.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi All, News Item FYI "The Supreme Court has advised the government to expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering some larger political or government policy". As many as death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned prisoners' right to life with dignity." (A.K.MALIK) From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Sun Sep 20 20:36:46 2009 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:36:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Workshop on Re-affirming Plurality, Seeking Justice and Democracy: Oct 12 and 13, 2009 Message-ID: From http://psychologynews.posterous.com/workshop-re-affirming-plurality-seeking-justi *Re-affirming Plurality, Seeking Justice and Democracy* Southern Regional Workshop organised by the Indian Association for Women's Studies (IAWS) and the Centre for Women's Studies, University of Mysore, Mysore in collaboration with the PG Department of Social Work, School of Social Work Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore Dates: 12th and 13th October, 2009 Venue: Auditorium, School of Social Sciences, School of Social Work Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore Across the country, people are asserting and expressing their rights and freedoms as citizens, be they women who choose to spend an evening at a public place of their choice – a pub, a garden or a seafront, men and women who choose to migrate across the country in search of livelihood, countless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who want a life free from discrimination and violence. Stifling these ordinary rights and freedoms are powerful, insidious voices that coalesce across the spectrum. Representing a morality that is hegemonic, intolerant and representative of conservative politics, these forces and voices speak in unison from different institutional positions – the state in the name of nationhood, the family in the name of values, religion and other authorities in the name of culture, castes, communities, and regions in the name of the `Other', market in the name of `merit' and `freedoms'; each also variously borrowing from the others when the stretch of diversity challenges power and control. The plurality of our social life and the constitutional protection granted to us as citizens, which is a unique feature of our society, is constantly put to test. There is no doubt that it is those at the margins who are constantly under attack and threat as they challenge the power and control of those who continue to keep them disempowered. New and insidious ways and means are adopted to keep people under control. New moralities are forged that tear at a fabric of tolerance, creativity, and peace. The cultural violence against social freedoms in South Karnataka, the pan-religious backlash against the decriminalization of the queer communities by the courts, the xenophobic attacks against north Indian migrants in Maharashtra, the casteist brutalities against dignified affirmation of rights by Dalits, are few of the instances. Countless more could be cited. What is our response as citizens, scholars and activists? Apart from public and systematic protests in diverse fora, we have a larger responsibility to retaining the core of our democracy and diversity. We need to counter these destructive efforts with examples and experiences from within our lives of an ethic and politics of co-existence, tolerance, camaraderie, and mutuality rather than exclusiveness, intolerance, and violence. Our vigilance should also be evident in seeking the mechanisms of law for redress, holding the state responsible, as well as coalescing our own efforts as scholars and citizens. In this context the Indian Association for Women's Studies is organizing a two day workshop in Mangalore on 12th and 13th October, 2009 in collaboration with the Centre for women's Studies, University of Mysore, Mysore and Roshini Nilaya, Mangalore with the idea of analyzing the issues from the social, political, and religious perspectives and understanding the responses to the happenings in order to identify the path that the women's movement could take. Workshop Coordinators Dr. M. Indira, Mysore (IAWS Southern Regional Coordinator and Director, Centre for women's studies, University of Mysore), with Dr. Meena Gopal, Mumbai (IAWS Executive Committee member and SNDT Women's University), Dr. Rita Noronha, Mangalore (Roshni Nilaya ), Ms. Sumi Krishna, Bangalore (past President, IAWS). For information on participation, please call or write to M. Indira by September 26. email Dr M Indira Professor of Economics Director, Centre for Women's Studies University of Mysore, Manasgangotri Mysore 570 006 Phone: 091-821-2419533( Economics) 091-821-2419819( CWS) From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sun Sep 20 22:18:59 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:48:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <525353.23443.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <253434.88476.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi All, A little more for info: The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as per SC verdict they have a right to get the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting for long for their death sentence to be executed. (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik wrote: > From: A.K. Malik > Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "Sarai List" > Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM > Hi All, >            News Item > FYI > "The Supreme Court has advised the government to > expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced > to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering > some larger political or government policy". As many as > death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict > Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their > mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any > delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned > prisoners' right to life with dignity." > > (A.K.MALIK) > > >       > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Sun Sep 20 22:55:25 2009 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:55:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91Discuss_FTA_in_Parliament=92?= Message-ID: <3457ce860909201025y46076ff2ue0a69df74b25e03@mail.gmail.com> *‘Discuss FTA in Parliament’ * *Date:20/09/2009* *URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/20/stories/2009092053990300.htm* Staff Reporter KOLLAM: Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation State president T. Peter has demanded that the Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) be comprehensively discussed in Parliament before being implemented. He was inaugurating a seminar on ‘ASEAN agreement and its concerns along the Kerala coast’ on Saturday. The seminar was organised by the Kerala Matsysthozhilali Kshema Samithi. Mr. Peter said the fishing community across the country feared that the implementation of the agreement would impoverish them as 117 species of edible fish caught and sold by them would be imported into the country on a large scale. This would push the fishing community into a crisis. He called upon all members of the community to shed their political differences and come forward to oppose the agreement. He demanded that all MPs from the State present the concerns of the community over the agreement in Parliament. The Chief Minister should take an all-party delegation and meet the Prime Minister in this connection, he said. Mr. Peter said fishermen would soon launch strong agitations against the agreement. Samithi president Jose Vimal Raj presided. From db at dannybutt.net Mon Sep 21 08:16:02 2009 From: db at dannybutt.net (Danny Butt) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:46:02 +1200 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: On the arrest and torture of Indigenous Activist Jiten Yumnam Message-ID: <29C6CA1E-3056-4885-A2E7-BAA4A3CB3D85@dannybutt.net> Greetings all Does anyone on the list know anything about this issue? I've just received the forward. Cheers Danny ----------------- September 16, 2009 [ Recipient list below, petition and original at http://apiyn.org/home/?p=216 ] Sir / Ma’am, Jiten Yumnam, member of the Coordinating Committee of the Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network (APIYN), was arrested at Imphal Airport around 12:30 pm (India standard time). On the same day, at around 3:00 pm, seven identified executives of the All Manipur United Club Organization (AMUCO) were also arrested after a combined team of Singjamei Police and Imphal West Police Commandos raided their office. The seven executives were Sungchen Koireng, Likmabam Tompok, A. Soken, Irom Brojen, Toarem Ramanda, G. Sharat Kabui and Thiyam Dinesh. Reports stated that an FIR case has been registered against the eight arrested men (including Jiten Yumnam) and booked under Section 121/121- A of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 16/18/39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section O of the Official Secret Act. Section 121/121-A of the IPC deals with “attempting to wage war” and “conspiring to commit offences against the state”. Sections 16/18/39 of UA(P) deal with “unlawful acts of supporting or motivating” of what the State considers as “insurgents”. Aside from being a founding member of the APIYN, Jiten Yumnam is also the Joint-Secretary of Citizens' Concerns on Dam and Development (CCDD) that had been vocal and active in motivating youth engagement in constructive dialogues with Governments in the background of development aggression and militarization in North East India. Jiten Yumnam has also demonstrated great wisdom and boldness while raising public awareness against construction of Big Dams, besides his in- depth knowledge of the way International Financial Institutions (IFIs) design and fund mega projects in the name of climate change mitigation. Jiten Yumnam, by the time of his arrest, was actually on his way to Bangkok for another international meeting on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and shall proceed to New Zealand for the Indigenous Climate Connections (ICC) afterwards. Jiten Yumnam also worked dedicatedly to raise awareness of the youth and the people by being a field reporter of Imphal Free Press and as freelance writer in Manipur Mail, The Sangai Express and the Imphal Free Press. He also published several materials that shook the Government like the "Insidious Intrusion of International Financial Institutions in India's North East" (2008); "Militarization and human rights violations in Manipur" (December 2006) published by Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong; “Mapithel Dam amidst Militaristic Development in Manipur” published in The Sangai Express last 14 December 2008; “Damned Hearings of Tipaimukh High Dam in Manipur” published in New Nation, Bangladesh last May 5, 2008; and “Development Aggression: Imphal Airport and University Expansion” published in the Imphal Free Press (March 15, 2008). We express grave concern for the arrest of indigenous youth activist Jiten Yumnam and the AMUCO officials. The arrests last September 14 are not isolated cases, but actually part of the Government’s efforts to repress and oppress criticisms from its concern people. India is known to have used undemocratic Federal and State legislations to charge activists in attempts to immobilize processes that embarrass Governments. We also express serious alarm over the impunity with which citizens of that region are subjected to. These unjustifiable acts should end now. We demand that Police and law enforcement elements take the issue with utmost seriousness. APIYN and the world’s indigenous peoples, with concerned international agencies, state our abhorrence to the increasing cases of human rights violations in Manipur and demand the Government of India to ensure that its federal unit in Manipur: 1. Ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Jiten Yumnam and the AMUCO officials, and provide safety and return to their family and work; 2. Ensure that they shall be given the opportunity to speak and defend themselves in due process; 3. Retract from the policy of “cutting-off” activists individually and systematically; 4. Stop any form of repression and oppression to indigenous peoples activists and shall always use democratic spaces in resolving issues and concerns to the people of India; 5. Stop state violence to its people. Mr. OKRAM IBOBI Chief Minister & Home Minister of Manipur, Chief Minister's secretariat Babupara, Imphal 795001 Manipur INDIA, Tel: +91 385 2221833, 2220137 (O); 2220136, 2222683 (R) Fax: + 91 385 2221817, Email: cmmani at hub.nic. in Pratibha Patil Devi, President, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, 110004 INDIA Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary), 3014507 (Personal Secretary), Fax: +91 11 3017290, 3014570 E-mail: presssecy at alpha.nic.in or Pressecy at Sansad.nic.in Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg New Delhi-110001 INDIA Tel: +91 11 23074448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016E-mail: mailto: chairnhrc at nic. in Mr. Chidambaram , Hon'ble Ministry of Home Affairs, Griha Mantralaya Room No. 104, North Block Central Secretariat, New Delhi 110001 INDIA Fax: +91 11 2301 5750, 2309 3750, 2309 2763 Email: websitemhaweb at mha.nic.in Chairperson Manipur State Human Rights Commission Room No. VIP-II, State Guest House Sanjenthong, Imphal-795001 Manipur INDIA Tel: +91 385 2410473 (O) / 2447438 (R), Telefax: +91 385 2410472E-mail: mhrc at man.nic. in -------------------- From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 08:40:46 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:40:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [humanrights-movement:1999] CPI (ML) Press Statement demanding halt to paramilitary offensive in Chhattisgarh In-Reply-To: References: <004f01ca3a12$44f500d0$0201a8c0@lib2009> <9d0a2e930909200954n7f4ad87dve9f6f9fac484209@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1f9180970909202010q32e965a4rd882dd5013c7a865@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kavita Krishnan Date: Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 12:44 AM Subject: [humanrights-movement:1999] CPI (ML) Press Statement demanding halt to paramilitary offensive in Chhattisgarh To: * Press Statement by CPI (ML) - Liberation Halt paramilitary offensive in Chhattisgarh * Halt ‘Operation Green Hunt’ War on the people cannot bring peace to Bastar Disbanding Salwa Judum and ensuring rights of adivasi people is the only road to peace New Delhi, September 20 The paramilitary offensive launched in Bastar by CoBRA battalions along with State police is a matter of grave concern for all those who seek the return of peace in the region. The experience of counter-insurgency offensives in other parts of the country as well as that of the past few years in Chhattisgarh itself have clearly shown that paramilitary ‘cleansing operations’ never bring peace or end militancy. In effect, such operations have invariably spelt a war on the people, with mass scale violations of human rights, and have been quite ineffective in checking military actions by Maoists or insurgent groups. The UPA Government, by sponsoring a militaristic offensive in Bastar and backing up the Chhattisgarh Government in the patronage of a private militia (the Salwa Judum), is not even heeding the recommendations of the Expert Committee appointed by the Planning Commission. In its report submitted in early 2008, this Committee had explicitly counseled against ineffective militaristic solutions, pointing instead to a "socio-economic malaise" caused by State’s failure to ensure basic Constitutional entitlements to the poorest and most deprived of people. In a highly irresponsible manner, the Home Ministry is accompanying its offensive with screaming ads displaying photographs claimed to be victims of ‘naxalites’ who, the ad claims are "nothing, but cold-blooded murderers." Civilian killings by Naxalites are indefensible. But killings of innocents by the State, in order to brand them as extremists in death, is surely a far more heinous offense. The Home Ministry is silent on the numerous ‘encounters’ in Bastar, where villagers have identified the victims as innocent adivasis rather than ‘dreaded naxalites’. The Ishrat Jehan case has emphasized that ‘encounters’ which are yet to proved genuine by a judicial enquiry are all too likely to be fake. Are fake encounters not cold-blooded murders? An estimated 2 lakh adivasi people of Bastar have been rendered homeless since the launch of the Salwa Judum offensive in 2005. There have been several charges of rape and loot against leaders of the Salwa Judum. What passes for the ‘counterinsurgency’ operation in Chhattisgarh is clearly nothing but a war on the people. The only road to peace in Bastar, in this situation, can be for the State and central Governments to immediately put an end to the war on the people by private militia (Salwa Judum) and paramilitary; to ensure the return of the displaced adivasis to their villages; and guarantee of their rights to land, livelihood and life. Prabhat Kumar, For CPI(ML) Central Committee Communist Party of India (ML) Liberation CPI(ML) U-90 Shakarpur Delhi - 110092 Phone: 91-11-22521061 Fax: 91-11-22442790 Web-site: www.cpiml.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to humanrights-movement at googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to humanrights-movement+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From murali.chalam at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 10:48:26 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:48:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <253434.88476.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <525353.23443.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <253434.88476.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909202218h7c8d1589s5ce500f382397c57@mail.gmail.com> Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as far as Afzal Guru is concerned. Murali On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Hi All, >        A little more for info: > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as per SC verdict they have a right to get the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting for long for their death sentence to be executed. > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik wrote: > >> From: A.K. Malik >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death >> To: "Sarai List" >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM >> Hi All, >>            News Item >> FYI >> "The Supreme Court has advised the government to >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced >> to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering >> some larger political or government policy". As many as >> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any >> delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned >> prisoners' right to life with dignity." >> >> (A.K.MALIK) >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: From kaksanjay at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 11:54:10 2009 From: kaksanjay at gmail.com (Sanjay Kak) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:54:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: On the arrest and torture of Indigenous Activist Jiten Yumnam In-Reply-To: <29C6CA1E-3056-4885-A2E7-BAA4A3CB3D85@dannybutt.net> References: <29C6CA1E-3056-4885-A2E7-BAA4A3CB3D85@dannybutt.net> Message-ID: <5c5369880909202324u612345ebx32f4781b0402b8f0@mail.gmail.com> The news on Jiten Yumnam is not good — he has already been subjected to torture (see the story below) and it seems his court hearing has been posted for Sep 29th. Manipur's security apparatus is one to be feared, perhaps more so than what even Kashmir experiences. I would recommend that everyone put whatever kind of pressure they can to secure an early release for Jiten Yumnam Best Sanjay Kak http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/guwahati/Another-shocker-from-Manipur/Article1-456197.aspx Another shocker from Manipur Rahul Karmakar, Hindustan Times Guwahati, September 21, 2009 A Manipur Police commando team had on September 14 picked up green activist Jiten Yumnam from the Imphal airport before he could board a flight to Delhi en route to Bangkok to attend a UN meet on climate change. A day later, he had to undergo treatment at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal. The medical report, accessed by HT, makes it apparent Yumnan was tortured in custody. “General weakness – 1 day, pain private parts after electric shock,” reads the report. Yumnam and the others were booked under the Official Secrets Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They were scheduled to be produced before the court on 29 September. Yumnam was one of the eight members of the All Manipur United Clubs Organisation that had been upping the ante against the Okram Ibobi Singh government after a series of “fake encounters”. He also happens to be one of the strongest voices against the controversial Tipaimukh Dam that Bangladesh is also opposed to. Environmentalists have been opposing construction of the 1500 MW Tipaimukh hydro-electric project on Barak and Tuivai rivers saying it would displace tens of thousands of villagers and submerge agricultural and forest land. “Yumnam has been motivating youth to engage in constructive dialogues with governments in the backdrop of development aggression and extreme forms of militarisation... (in) Northeast,” said a spokesperson of Asia-Pacific Indigenous Youth Network. Kohima-based environment rights activist Mmhonlümo Kikon said the police were waiting for Yumnam to move out of Imphal so that they could legitimise arrest and imply he was trying to flee. SSP Imphal West district L Kailun told HT, “I’ve not seen the medical report.If such a thing has occurred, I will definitely look into it...”. On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 8:16 AM, Danny Butt wrote: > > Greetings all > > Does anyone on the list know anything about this issue? I've just > received the forward. > > Cheers > > Danny > ----------------- > September 16, 2009 > > [ Recipient list below, petition and original at http://apiyn.org/home/?p=216 >  ] > > Sir / Ma’am, > > Jiten Yumnam, member of the Coordinating Committee of the Asia Pacific > Indigenous Youth Network (APIYN), was arrested at Imphal Airport > around 12:30 pm (India standard time). On the same day, at around 3:00 > pm, seven identified executives of the All Manipur United Club > Organization (AMUCO) were also arrested after a combined team of > Singjamei Police and Imphal West Police Commandos raided their office. > The seven executives were Sungchen Koireng, Likmabam Tompok, A. Soken, > Irom Brojen, Toarem Ramanda, G. Sharat Kabui and Thiyam Dinesh. > > Reports stated that an FIR case has been registered against the eight > arrested men (including Jiten Yumnam) and booked under Section 121/121- > A of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 16/18/39 of Unlawful Activities > (Prevention) Act and Section O of the Official Secret Act. Section > 121/121-A of the IPC deals with “attempting to wage war” and > “conspiring to commit offences against the state”. Sections 16/18/39 > of UA(P) deal with “unlawful acts of supporting or motivating” of what > the State considers as “insurgents”. > > Aside from being a founding member of the APIYN, Jiten Yumnam is also > the Joint-Secretary of Citizens' Concerns on Dam and Development > (CCDD) that had been vocal and active in motivating youth engagement > in constructive dialogues with Governments in the background of > development aggression and militarization in North East India. Jiten > Yumnam has also demonstrated great wisdom and boldness while raising > public awareness against construction of Big Dams, besides his in- > depth knowledge of the way International Financial Institutions (IFIs) > design and fund mega projects in the name of climate change > mitigation. Jiten Yumnam, by the time of his arrest, was actually on > his way to Bangkok for another international meeting on the United > Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and shall > proceed to New Zealand for the Indigenous Climate Connections (ICC) > afterwards. > > Jiten Yumnam also worked dedicatedly to raise awareness of the youth > and the people by being a field reporter of Imphal Free Press and as > freelance writer in Manipur Mail, The Sangai Express and the Imphal > Free Press. He also published several materials that shook  the > Government like the "Insidious Intrusion of International Financial > Institutions in India's North East" (2008);  "Militarization and human > rights violations in Manipur" (December 2006) published by Asian Human > Rights Commission in Hong Kong; “Mapithel Dam amidst Militaristic > Development in Manipur” published in The Sangai Express last 14 > December 2008; “Damned Hearings of Tipaimukh High Dam in Manipur” > published in New Nation, Bangladesh last May 5, 2008; and “Development > Aggression: Imphal Airport and University Expansion” published in the > Imphal Free Press  (March 15, 2008). > > We express grave concern for the arrest of indigenous youth activist > Jiten Yumnam and the AMUCO officials. The arrests last September 14 > are not isolated cases, but actually part of the Government’s efforts > to repress and oppress criticisms from its concern people. India is > known to have used undemocratic Federal and State legislations to > charge activists in attempts to immobilize processes that embarrass > Governments. > > We also express serious alarm over the impunity with which citizens of > that region are subjected to. These unjustifiable acts should end now. > We demand that Police and law enforcement elements take the issue with > utmost seriousness. APIYN and the world’s indigenous peoples, with > concerned international agencies, state our abhorrence to the > increasing cases of human rights violations in Manipur and demand the > Government of India to ensure that its federal unit in Manipur: > > 1.    Ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Jiten > Yumnam and the AMUCO officials, and provide safety and return to their > family and work; > 2.    Ensure that they shall be given the opportunity to speak and > defend themselves in due process; > 3.    Retract from the policy of “cutting-off” activists individually > and systematically; > 4.    Stop any form of repression and oppression to indigenous peoples > activists and shall always use democratic spaces in resolving issues > and concerns to the people of India; > 5.    Stop state violence to its people. > > Mr. OKRAM IBOBI > Chief Minister & Home Minister of Manipur, > Chief Minister's secretariat Babupara, > Imphal 795001 Manipur INDIA, > Tel: +91 385 2221833, 2220137 (O); 2220136, 2222683 (R) > Fax: + 91 385 2221817, > Email: cmmani at hub.nic. in > > Pratibha Patil Devi, > President, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhawan, > New Delhi, 110004 INDIA Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary), > 3014507 (Personal Secretary),  Fax: +91 11 3017290, > 3014570 > E-mail: presssecy at alpha.nic.in  or  Pressecy at Sansad.nic.in > > Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India > Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg > New Delhi-110001 INDIA > Tel: +91 11 23074448, Fax: +91 11 2334 > 0016E-mail: mailto:  chairnhrc at nic. in > > Mr. Chidambaram , Hon'ble  Ministry of Home Affairs, > Griha Mantralaya Room > No. 104, North Block Central Secretariat, New Delhi 110001 > INDIA  Fax: +91 11 2301 5750, 2309 3750, 2309 2763 > Email:  websitemhaweb at mha.nic.in > > Chairperson Manipur State Human Rights > Commission Room No. VIP-II, State Guest House > Sanjenthong, Imphal-795001 Manipur > INDIA Tel: +91 385 2410473 (O) / 2447438 > (R),  Telefax: +91 385 > 2410472E-mail: mhrc at man.nic. in > -------------------- > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 12:16:16 2009 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:16:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Fwd: On the arrest and torture of Indigenous Activist Jiten Yumnam In-Reply-To: <5c5369880909202324u612345ebx32f4781b0402b8f0@mail.gmail.com> References: <29C6CA1E-3056-4885-A2E7-BAA4A3CB3D85@dannybutt.net> <5c5369880909202324u612345ebx32f4781b0402b8f0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d00909202346s75d60b00ldd10944e4d7a6b6d@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, Here's a letter posted by Yumnam recently on a mailing list. "Dear Friends, Please find a brief write up (for local media) below based on a recent attempt of 14th Assam Rifles, a paramilitary group operating under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 applied the customary laws of the Kuki people of Manipur to deliver justice (or injustice) after extra judicial executing three Kuki women at Saitu Village under Senapati District of Manipur in India's North East. While skirting all existing human rights norms for a prompt and impartial investigation into cases of extrajudicial executions involving armed forces, the Assam Rifles negotiated with village chiefs of Saitu region to resolve the issue with provision of money, clothes, necklace and pigs for the bereaved families. The customary laws has been applied for easy escapism from injustice and where customary laws and traditional institutions are deemed to be applied in other circumstances, for instances, introduction of mega developmental projects, the same institutions and structures and relevant norms are flouted. Would be glad to receive your comments and suggestion to deal with such situations. In Solidarity, Jiten Yumnam Imphal, Manipur Flirting Customary Laws in Manipur Jiten Yumnam, Imphal, Manipur The armed conflict situation in Manipur in India’s North East, a theatre of confrontation between indigenous armed opposition groups with demands varying from complete secession to autonomy under the Indian Constitution with the Indian political entity, represented by its Armed Forces and other law enforcing agencies, empowered by a range of special legislations, viz: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, National Security Act, 1980, Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act, Seditious Meetings Act, 1911 etc., churned out interesting and slanting realities, that will provide us valuable answers on how a climate of impunity has been consolidated and how the arbitration of principles and standards of justice, universally accepted and its delivery process has been rigidified. The persistence of extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions remains grim in areas of armed conflict. Violation of the right to life, supreme and non-derogable, is perpetuated in countries where the democratic system does not exist or where it is in its infancy. Poor governance makes Governments dependent on security forces to control the crime rate or other forms of violence, or even dissent through violent means, which invariably raises the risk of extra judicial executions. Persecution of personnel of the armed forces of India involved in misusing the special powers and immunity conferred to them subjecting indigenous peoples of the state to excessive human rights violations, rape, torture, extra judicial execution remains a long standing and a much contentious issue. The contention revolves around the non-derogable and non-negotiable issue of delivering ‘justice’ to peoples whose dignity, physical, mental and spiritual integrity both at the individual and collective level are infringed and trampled with. ‘Justice’ is the foundation of democracy, and constitutes the central ideal and guiding philosophy of functioning of states and nations all over. Denial of justice in any system would tantamount to reinforcement of the practices of barbarism, bereft of all values of humanism. History is evidence that nations and system disregarding the issue of justice, central to civilization and humanism, is bound to fall sooner or later. The issue assumes more significance as it is discussed in a conflict torn region like Manipur, where armed groups have ruled to the roost from the ‘barrels of the gun’, within an assortment of specialties. Recent cases of armed forces involvement in extrajudicial executions had seen an unprecedented invocation of customary laws and traditions of several indigenous communities of Manipur notwithstanding the existence of national and international human rights standards for upholding the dignity and integrity of peoples. Where imbalance of power relationships exists between state entities and the indigenous peoples, invocation of customary laws and traditions for justice delivery to injustices perpetrated to indigenous peoples cans itself constitute reinforcing injustice and an abject disregard of dignity of the people and the community. For instance, the 14th Assam Rifles based at Lairou, Senapati District, Manipur negotiated with Kuki Village chiefs of Saitu area on evening of 5th May 2005 to tender an apology, to provide money, pigs, clothes and a necklace for two women and a baby, killed by personnel of the 14th Assam Rifles at Saitu Village under Sapermeina Police Station, Manipur on 5th May 2005. In yet another similar incident, a memorandum of understanding was signed between 28th Assam Rifles and Kom Rem Union, Manipur on 19 December 2004, deciding to withdraw an FIR lodged with the Bishnupur PS and to urge upon the Government of Manipur to close the Bungte Chiru Inquiry Commission, that inquires the facts and the circumstances leading to the extra judicial execution of LD Rengtuiwan, gunned down by personnel of 28th Assam Rifles on 16 November, 2004 at Bungte Chiru, Bishnupur District of Manipur. The Assam Rifles, under the agreement, presented a pig, a traditional Chiru shawl and a sword to the Victims’family during a ceremony. The agreement had sparked a controversy with the Inquiry Commission, initially refusing to accept Kom Rem Union’s application to withdraw the Inquiry. The negotiations for the previous case at Saitu, in accordance with the Kuki customary traditions and institutions are amidst contrasting claims of villagers and the PIB (Defence Wing). According to villagers, six troopers of 14th Assam Rifles who came in civil dress came at Saitu Village, where the villagers were preparing to hold a meeting to elect the representatives to the Saitu -Namphajol Village Organization around 11:30 in the morning, opened fired blankly and dispersed the gathering villagers. The Assam Rifles troopers then going up the Saitu hillock fired indiscriminately, killing the two women who were attending domestic chores at the upper side of the hillock. Nemtingmeng Haokip (30), wife of Doukhomang, resident of the same village, who witnessed the sordid killings said one of the AR men reached the spot where the women were taking cover inside a dry ditch over grown with grass and told him that they are villagers. Ms. Zhingkhoneng Haokip with her one-year-old child, Hoineichang Haokip were fired upon by the trooper and killed when she called out her husband for help and the other woman killed was Lamneithem Haokip (25). Meanwhile, a Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) Press release of 6 May 2005 stated that troopers of 14 Assam Rifles launched an operation in the fringes of Saitu village, Senapati district to round up underground activists in the area and that they were fired upon by the underground activist, who later fled towards the jungle causing civilian casualties. The release continued the IG (Assam Rifles), M. General BS Ghora has ordered a high level inquiry into the incident. The payments etc and the invocation of the Kuki Customary Laws brings into urgency the need to define the entire meaning of justice and to reconsider the sincerity and the consistency of the state attitude towards indigenous peoples and their customary traditions and institutions. Because whilst the customary laws has been invoked for delivery justice in the case of violations involving civil and political rights violations, the same institutions and structures are being disregarded in other state approaches, for instances in introducing mega developmental projects, where their land and resources are forcibly acquired and social, cultural and environmental impact assessments and subsequent public consultation process to be carried out through these institutions are flouted. Consistent appeals for recognizing the traditional institutions and the process in taking decisions in undertaking such projects are disregarded. The invocation of customary law has also been selective and exclusionary and where customary laws best safeguarding easy escapism seems to be adopted to its best of practices. Going by customary practices, it would be interesting had the Meitei people’s tradition, Ngabongkhoaoda Namduna Turelda Thadaba is invoked, whereby a murderer is punished by death by drowning, the practice being - the offenders being tied in a sack and thrown into a river at places where another river meets. The pattern of inconsistency in application of customary laws represents directing a mockery of the traditional institutions and destroying the sanctity of the customary laws and traditions. The issue of prosecuting the involved Assam Rifles personnel has not been addressed meaningfully and in accordance with due process of justice delivery, universally upheld, in the entire negotiations of Assam Rifles and the Village Chiefs. While respecting the regulations of customary practices, the need to prosecute the involved personnel and providing justice to the people should be taken seriously. The people are fully sensitive to forbidding outcomes of high level inquiries announced by Army authorities previously and will have little, if any, confidence and trust with the inquiry that the IG (Assam Rifles) major general BS Ghora has ordered in connection with the Saitu firing Extra-Judicial execution case. The Assam Rifles Inquiry constituted shortly after the rape and murder of Ms. Thangjam Manorama, a young woman by personnel of 17th Assam Rifles on 11 July 2004 involves contradictory statements by high ranking army officials and still people of Manipur had to find answers if the Assam Rifles Inquiry commission is over and as to whether their personnel involved in the murder were ever prosecuted. And in fact, the findings of the Manorama Inquiry Commission, constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, are never made public and as such, the government still failed to implement the recommendations, if ever made, to prosecute the personnel involved in the gruesome rape and murder. The Armed Forces, whose firm principle is upholding justice at all levels are obliged to respect the principles of justice and institutions providing justice remedies. Searching for easy escapism for barbaric acts and creating hurdles in slightest process in seeking out truth for effective justice delivery to peoples whose heart and souls are shattered with their brutal perpetration of injustice and barbarism cannot be construed as upholding the principles and spirit of democracy but rather destroying its vital essence. The efforts of the 17th Assam Rifles and the 28th Assam Rifles challenging the legality of the Ms. Thangjam Manorama Death Inquiry Commission and the Bungte Chiru Death Inquiry both in 2004 and headed by Retired Justice C. Upendro on contentions that the State Government of Manipur has no jurisdiction to inquire into the conduct of the personnel belonging to the Armed Forces of the Union of India, who are acting by exercising the power conferred under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, cannot be considered again as promoting this universal principle of justice. Reasons are rife for grave concerns that impunity for serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, has become systematic and institutionalized in several countries worldwide including India. Prevalence of impunity with widespread and systematic killings would amount to crimes against humanity. A sustainable, just and stable peace could only be achieved if those responsible for ordering and carrying out grave human rights violations were apprehended and held accountable for their crimes in trials that conform to international human rights standards and to the highest standards of impartiality, competence, objectivity and independence of the judiciary in protecting the lives and security of innocent civilians. This is particularly important in situations where impunity is the direct product of laws explicitly exempting public officials, parliamentarians or certain categories of State agents from accountability or prosecution for grave human rights abuses. In order to overcome impunity, the government need to show both political will and moral courage to confront human rights abuses by ensuring that strong, independent and effective institutions and mechanisms are in place to bring perpetrators to justice. The Government of India has an obligations, as a country aspiring to become the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council with a veto power to abide by the principles and the standards of the United Nations established to protect the life, security and human dignity of all peoples. And such, the government should conduct an exhaustive and impartial investigations into the Saitu Firing Case, the Bungte Chiru Case and other extrajudicial executions to prosecute the armed forces personnel involved in the crimes towards ending impunity in Manipur, in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of person, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, 1985 and the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, 1989. Repealing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 as demanded by the people of Manipur and recommended by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, in its consideration of the Third Periodic Report of India to ICCPR will contribute enormously in securing peace in Manipur. And in fact, flirting with the indigenous peoples’ traditions and customary laws of Manipur cannot be a good answer to sooth their feelings hurt and console their cries for justice and yearnings for peace. EOM" ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sanjay Kak Date: Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 11:54 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Fwd: On the arrest and torture of Indigenous Activist Jiten Yumnam To: Danny Butt Cc: Sarai Reader-list The news on Jiten Yumnam is not good — he has already been subjected to torture (see the story below) and it seems his court hearing has been posted for Sep 29th. Manipur's security apparatus is one to be feared, perhaps more so than what even Kashmir experiences. I would recommend that everyone put whatever kind of pressure they can to secure an early release for Jiten Yumnam Best Sanjay Kak http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/guwahati/Another-shocker-from-Manipur/Article1-456197.aspx Another shocker from Manipur Rahul Karmakar, Hindustan Times Guwahati, September 21, 2009 A Manipur Police commando team had on September 14 picked up green activist Jiten Yumnam from the Imphal airport before he could board a flight to Delhi en route to Bangkok to attend a UN meet on climate change. A day later, he had to undergo treatment at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal. The medical report, accessed by HT, makes it apparent Yumnan was tortured in custody. “General weakness – 1 day, pain private parts after electric shock,” reads the report. Yumnam and the others were booked under the Official Secrets Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They were scheduled to be produced before the court on 29 September. Yumnam was one of the eight members of the All Manipur United Clubs Organisation that had been upping the ante against the Okram Ibobi Singh government after a series of “fake encounters”. He also happens to be one of the strongest voices against the controversial Tipaimukh Dam that Bangladesh is also opposed to. Environmentalists have been opposing construction of the 1500 MW Tipaimukh hydro-electric project on Barak and Tuivai rivers saying it would displace tens of thousands of villagers and submerge agricultural and forest land. “Yumnam has been motivating youth to engage in constructive dialogues with governments in the backdrop of development aggression and extreme forms of militarisation... (in) Northeast,” said a spokesperson of Asia-Pacific Indigenous Youth Network. Kohima-based environment rights activist Mmhonlümo Kikon said the police were waiting for Yumnam to move out of Imphal so that they could legitimise arrest and imply he was trying to flee. SSP Imphal West district L Kailun told HT, “I’ve not seen the medical report.If such a thing has occurred, I will definitely look into it...”. On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 8:16 AM, Danny Butt wrote: > > Greetings all > > Does anyone on the list know anything about this issue? I've just > received the forward. > > Cheers > > Danny > ----------------- > September 16, 2009 > > [ Recipient list below, petition and original at http://apiyn.org/home/?p=216 >  ] > > Sir / Ma’am, > > Jiten Yumnam, member of the Coordinating Committee of the Asia Pacific > Indigenous Youth Network (APIYN), was arrested at Imphal Airport > around 12:30 pm (India standard time). On the same day, at around 3:00 > pm, seven identified executives of the All Manipur United Club > Organization (AMUCO) were also arrested after a combined team of > Singjamei Police and Imphal West Police Commandos raided their office. > The seven executives were Sungchen Koireng, Likmabam Tompok, A. Soken, > Irom Brojen, Toarem Ramanda, G. Sharat Kabui and Thiyam Dinesh. > > Reports stated that an FIR case has been registered against the eight > arrested men (including Jiten Yumnam) and booked under Section 121/121- > A of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 16/18/39 of Unlawful Activities > (Prevention) Act and Section O of the Official Secret Act. Section > 121/121-A of the IPC deals with “attempting to wage war” and > “conspiring to commit offences against the state”. Sections 16/18/39 > of UA(P) deal with “unlawful acts of supporting or motivating” of what > the State considers as “insurgents”. > > Aside from being a founding member of the APIYN, Jiten Yumnam is also > the Joint-Secretary of Citizens' Concerns on Dam and Development > (CCDD) that had been vocal and active in motivating youth engagement > in constructive dialogues with Governments in the background of > development aggression and militarization in North East India. Jiten > Yumnam has also demonstrated great wisdom and boldness while raising > public awareness against construction of Big Dams, besides his in- > depth knowledge of the way International Financial Institutions (IFIs) > design and fund mega projects in the name of climate change > mitigation. Jiten Yumnam, by the time of his arrest, was actually on > his way to Bangkok for another international meeting on the United > Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and shall > proceed to New Zealand for the Indigenous Climate Connections (ICC) > afterwards. > > Jiten Yumnam also worked dedicatedly to raise awareness of the youth > and the people by being a field reporter of Imphal Free Press and as > freelance writer in Manipur Mail, The Sangai Express and the Imphal > Free Press. He also published several materials that shook  the > Government like the "Insidious Intrusion of International Financial > Institutions in India's North East" (2008);  "Militarization and human > rights violations in Manipur" (December 2006) published by Asian Human > Rights Commission in Hong Kong; “Mapithel Dam amidst Militaristic > Development in Manipur” published in The Sangai Express last 14 > December 2008; “Damned Hearings of Tipaimukh High Dam in Manipur” > published in New Nation, Bangladesh last May 5, 2008; and “Development > Aggression: Imphal Airport and University Expansion” published in the > Imphal Free Press  (March 15, 2008). > > We express grave concern for the arrest of indigenous youth activist > Jiten Yumnam and the AMUCO officials. The arrests last September 14 > are not isolated cases, but actually part of the Government’s efforts > to repress and oppress criticisms from its concern people. India is > known to have used undemocratic Federal and State legislations to > charge activists in attempts to immobilize processes that embarrass > Governments. > > We also express serious alarm over the impunity with which citizens of > that region are subjected to. These unjustifiable acts should end now. > We demand that Police and law enforcement elements take the issue with > utmost seriousness. APIYN and the world’s indigenous peoples, with > concerned international agencies, state our abhorrence to the > increasing cases of human rights violations in Manipur and demand the > Government of India to ensure that its federal unit in Manipur: > > 1.    Ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Jiten > Yumnam and the AMUCO officials, and provide safety and return to their > family and work; > 2.    Ensure that they shall be given the opportunity to speak and > defend themselves in due process; > 3.    Retract from the policy of “cutting-off” activists individually > and systematically; > 4.    Stop any form of repression and oppression to indigenous peoples > activists and shall always use democratic spaces in resolving issues > and concerns to the people of India; > 5.    Stop state violence to its people. > > Mr. OKRAM IBOBI > Chief Minister & Home Minister of Manipur, > Chief Minister's secretariat Babupara, > Imphal 795001 Manipur INDIA, > Tel: +91 385 2221833, 2220137 (O); 2220136, 2222683 (R) > Fax: + 91 385 2221817, > Email: cmmani at hub.nic. in > > Pratibha Patil Devi, > President, Office of the President, Rashtrapati Bhawan, > New Delhi, 110004 INDIA Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary), > 3014507 (Personal Secretary),  Fax: +91 11 3017290, > 3014570 > E-mail: presssecy at alpha.nic.in  or  Pressecy at Sansad.nic.in > > Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India > Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg > New Delhi-110001 INDIA > Tel: +91 11 23074448, Fax: +91 11 2334 > 0016E-mail: mailto:  chairnhrc at nic. in > > Mr. Chidambaram , Hon'ble  Ministry of Home Affairs, > Griha Mantralaya Room > No. 104, North Block Central Secretariat, New Delhi 110001 > INDIA  Fax: +91 11 2301 5750, 2309 3750, 2309 2763 > Email:  websitemhaweb at mha.nic.in > > Chairperson Manipur State Human Rights > Commission Room No. VIP-II, State Guest House > Sanjenthong, Imphal-795001 Manipur > INDIA Tel: +91 385 2410473 (O) / 2447438 > (R),  Telefax: +91 385 > 2410472E-mail: mhrc at man.nic. in > -------------------- > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 14:18:55 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:18:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Online Conference in November on the Use of Social Networks as Learning Development Tools In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: From: mmendoza97 Subject: Social Networking: Thriving as a Community of Practice * Dear friends, We are delighted to inform you that from November 5-8, 2009, we will be running the Social Networking 2009 Conference. This open-knowledge event will be completely online and free and it is aimed at ELT practitioners to grow in the use of social networks as learning development tools encouraging practioners to reflect on the role of communities of practice as a social network in ELT. This event is being jointly organized by AVEALMEC and ARCALL, two Latin-American associations, one based in Venezuela and the other in Argentina, interested in promoting the use of ICT in the language classroom. For this event, we invited conference speakers from different parts of the world: George Siemens -Canada Etienne Wenger -US Vance Stevens -UAE Nik Peachey -UK Charalambos Vrasidas and Maria Solomou -Cyprus Nicky Hockly -Spain Erica Cruvinel and Ronaldo Lima –Brazil Rita Zeinstejer and Paula Ledesma -Argentina Nellie Müller Deustch –Israel Carla Arena –Brazil Graham Stanley –Spain Jennifer Verschoor, Evelyn Izquierdo and Erica Cruvinel –Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil During four days, our guest speakers will be sharing their experiences and expertise with participants and will help us grasp a better picture of how social networks can be used in the language teaching and learning field. We will be discussing about the concepts and theories around social networks, communities of practice and the Web 2.0, as well as about the use, advantages and drawbacks of social networking tools. Join us and participate in this amazing learning experience! http://avealmec.org.ve/ Spread the word! Let´s get socially connected! * __._,_.___ __,_._,___ From cubbykabi at yahoo.com Mon Sep 21 20:30:26 2009 From: cubbykabi at yahoo.com (kabi cubby sherman) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:30:26 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: [faowindia] Fwd: Invisible people In-Reply-To: <34060b2e0909210153q294b203ci6c9ab511f11e9693@mail.gmail.com> References: <34060b2e0909210153q294b203ci6c9ab511f11e9693@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <361341.2538.qm@web94710.mail.in2.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: smriti nevatia To: faowindia at yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, 21 September, 2009 5:15:21 PM Subject: [faowindia] Fwd: Invisible people ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nishtha Jain Date: Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:23 PM Subject: Invisible people Dear friends, I would like to share Kalpana Sharma's article about my new film 'At My Doorstep'. I recently premiered the film in Isola cinema, Slovenia. Hope to start screening the film soon in other places especially here in Bombay. Please get in touch for any possible screening suggestions/ possibilities in your locality, housing societies. We could make a double bill with Lakshmi and Me... thanks and warm regards Nishtha The Hindu, Sunday Magazine, September 20, 2009 http://www.hinduonn et.com/mag/ 2009/09/20/ stories/20090920 50110300. htm THE OTHER HALF Invisible people KALPANA SHARMA The documentary fleshes out the story of unacknowledged lives whose hard work holds up a city like Mumbai… ________________________________ The least that we, who are served and looked after by these silent servers, can do is to acknowledge their presence… ________________________________ Unappreciated work: A still from the documentary “At my doorstep”. Every morning, before most people in the multi-storied building where I live in Mumbai wake up and virtually unnoticed by its residents, a silent army of men do their work. A young boy, a student during the rest of the day, delivers newspapers, the g arbage bag left outside our doors is cleared and the corridor swept and swabbed by the sweeper and the milkman delivers packets of milk, perching them on a ledge or placing them in a bag hung on front doors. And even as we stir, the “breadman” delivers freshly baked local bread and eggs, the sabziwallah comes to the door with a selection of vegetables, the fruit man brings your choice of fruit, the istriwallah comes to collect and deliver your ironing and the local kirana (grocery) store delivers whatever you order on the phone. This is apart from your domestic help arriving to sweep and swab your house, wash your clothes, cook your meal and wash your dishes. And also apart from the security men at the gate of the building, who check everyone who enters the building and make sure you are not disturbed by strangers coming to your door. Question we don’t ask So who are these people? Do we know their names? Where do they come from? How do they survive in Mumbai? Where do they live? Do we care? Nishtha Jain, a film-maker already known for her remarkable film on the life of her domestic help, “Lakshmi and me”, that brought out the world of the women who literally hold up the homes of the middle class and the rich in Mumbai, has now made another film on the world of these virtually invisible people who hold up the city of Mumbai. “At my doorstep” is the story of the security guards, the men who iron clothes, the boys who deliver newspapers and groceries and the men who clear the garbage from Mumbai’s multi-storied and high-rise buildings. Set against the background of Mumbai’s Film City, and the dreams that Bollywood weaves for so many who come to the city seeking work, Jain opens our eyes to the world that these men inhabit. Through the words of Dayanand, a poet and writer originally from Bokaro in Jharkhand, who works as a security guard, Jain portrays the philosophical mindset that helps these men to survive. Dayanand’s arrival in Mumbai begins with the ticket collector fining him for travelling from Bokaro to Mumbai on an Express Train with an ordinary ticket. Unable to pay the fine, he spends his first night in the lockup. His journey then progresses to the point he has a job but no home. A hut in a slum becomes home, embellished with posters and poems pasted on its flimsy walls. In his spare time, Dayanand uses his skill as a writer to help others like him to write home to their loved ones. While the film fleshes out Dayanand, it leaves us asking questions about some of the other men. Like the young boy who delivers and collects clothes for ironing every day. And his colleagues, who spend the whole day ironing clothes in a hot room and say that if they do such work for more than eight months they fall sick. We watch them cook dal and rice and eat it in the same room where they have worked all day, and where they will sleep. The lucky ones sleep on the ironing tables; the others, like the delivery boy, sleep in the space below the tables. Who are these men? Where did they come from? What is their future? Equally intriguing is the young delivery boy who runs up and down stairs carrying groceries and always smiling. Not everyone pays him the entire amount of the bill. Often people tell him to come back later for the money. It is amazing how people with fixed incomes and secure jobs demand credit from those who work on minute margins. Of course, no one bothers to tip the boy for the service he provides. Clockwork routine And what about the security guard, Sonu? He spends his day opening and closing the gate of the building depending on which car wants to enter or leave. His additional job is to make sure that water is pumped up to the overhead tanks. For this, he must go to the roof of the building, open the tanks and check, wait until they are filled up — an overflow will fetch a reprimand — and then lock the covers of the tanks and come down. Rain or shine, this job must be done. Even in a Mumbai monsoon, without a raincoat or umbrella. For people who live in the Mumbai that is not a slum, all this is familiar. Something similar must happen in most of our bigger cities that are increasingly going vertical. Even in those cities that have housing colonies with individual houses, there is a similar silent army of workers that provide an almost unacknowledged service. Indeed, when we think of the economy in many cities changing from industrial to the service sector, these are the kind of services that are drawing in the majority of people. The formal sector only caters to a minute percentage of the total workforce. No rights These service providers are also the bulk of the city’s homeless — people who live in informal settlements with no security of tenure. Many of them earn far less than the minimum wage but their sense of security is based on a system of kinship that provides them with employment and a place to live. In Mumbai, over half the population lives in informal settlements. And in India as a whole, 85 per cent of the working population is employed in the informal sector, in jobs like the ones described above as well as many others. Without such people, Mumbai would come to a dead halt. Yet, these workers are not organised, they cannot demand better working conditions or higher wages, and they certainly cannot afford to stop work even for a day. Perhaps we cannot change this reality. For many people like Dayanand, cities like Mumbai are attractive because they provide so many diverse avenues for employment. The least that we, who are served and looked after by these silent servers, can do is to acknowledge their presence, know who they are and accept that without them our cities would collapse. Kalpana Sharma Independent Journalist/Columnis t Email: kalpusharma@ gmail.com/sharma.kalpana@ yahoo.com Home page: http://www.indiatog ether.org/ opinions/ kalpana/ Blog: http://kscribe- kalpanasharma. blogspot. com/ -- Nishtha Jain N 1001 Bhoomi Park Phase III Near Jan Kalyan Nagar, Off Marve Road, Malad West, Mumbai 400095 INDIA tel +91 22 28691393; mob +919819417194 www.raintreefilms. net www.lakshmiandme. com __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar MARKETPLACE Mom Power: Discover the community of moms doing more for their families, for the world and for each other Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent ActivityVisit Your Group Yahoo! News Fashion News What's the word on fashion and style? Ads on Yahoo! Learn more now. Reach customers searching for you. Get in Shape on Yahoo! Groups Find a buddy and lose weight. . __,_._,___ Now, send attachments up to 25MB with Yahoo! India Mail. Learn how. http://in.overview.mail.yahoo.com/photos From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 22:24:34 2009 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:24:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Need science communicators and managers for exhibition Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chandni Parekh ‘Science Express’ is a unique, state-of-the-art science exhibition on a 16 coach AC train, traveling across the country. It has successfully completed two phases during which it has traveled to more than 100 cities, covering over 32,000 km across India. After the overwhelming response to the two phases so far, the third phase of the Science Express is being planned to start in first week of October 2009 from Gandhinagar, Gujarat. During the third phase, this train will travel to 55 new locations, in seven months after its launch. Its objective is to develop scientific temper, foster scientific environment among students of higher secondary schools and also colleges and influence upon them to pursue their interest in science. There are vacancies for 'Science Communicators' and 'Managers'. Details at: http://www.sciencexpress.in/downloads/pdf/SEAdvt.pdf HT: Parul From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Sep 21 22:28:09 2009 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:28:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] UnLtd India social entrepreneurship program Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Bhuvan Jain *Do you know exceptional individuals in Mumbai with ideas or initiatives for social change?* UnLtd India is looking for applicants from Mumbai for our unique incubation support programme. The programme offers a one year long package of: 1. Start up funding 2. Hands-on assistance 3. Connections to peers, experts and leaders The programme aims to develop leaders and enable them to start up sustainable, high-impact initiatives. *Eligibility criteria* The applicant must be: 1. Over the age of 16 2. Resident in India and based in Mumbai The applicants must have an idea or initiative that is: 1. Beneficial for a deprived community or the public at large 2. Entrepreneurial in nature, i.e. resourceful, practical and/or innovative If the applicants apply on behalf of a registered organisation then: 1. He/she must be a co-founder of the organisation 2. The organisation must not be more than 4 years old as a registered entity 3. The organisation must have a current budget of less than Rs. 10 Lakhs *Important points to note* 1. Applicants could be working part time on their idea/project. 2. Applicants need not have registered organisations. 3. Applicants can apply as individuals or teams (up to three members) can apply. *Selection process* The applicants who meet the basic criteria will go through the following steps: 1. Meet an UnLtd India team member 2. Submit an application form 3. Present in front of an interview panel We will be announcing the dates of our next round of selections soon. If you know anyone within your network who meets the above criteria, then please send us their contact details at pooja.warier at unltdindia.org or call us at 022 3216 3287. Alternatively, please circulate this information within your network. -- Bhuvan From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Sep 22 10:46:05 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:46:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] LETTER OF DISAPPOINTMENT Message-ID: <84CE11F9-0918-400A-8F62-FC7D670E725A@sarai.net> dear all, i came across this letter in another list, where a campaign against the just passed education act is brewing. given that in india there is a clear move towards an apartheid mode of school education, it would be nice to hear some thoughts from people on this list on the current schooling system. warmly jeebesh To Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, Government of India, South Block, New Delhi September 19, 2009 LETTER OF DISAPPOINTMENT Sir, We the undersigned wish to express our deep sense of disappointment with ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009’ signed by the President last month. After waiting for this Fundamental Right for six decades, India’s almost 46 crore children up to 18 years of age expected a characteristically different Act. It is our considered view that this is an anti-Constitutional, anti- education and anti-child Act that denies Fundamental Right to education of equitable quality – a Right that has existed in the Constitution since 1950, as declared by the Hon’ble Supreme Court through its historic Unnikrishnan Judgment (1993). This Act, guarantees only conditional and arbitrary free education; even this is provided only to a category of children while denying it to others; shall maintain the prevailing multi-layered school system, thereby continuing with education rooted in inequality and discrimination; envisages sub-standard and inferior quality education for almost three- fourths of India’s children, including the dalits, tribals, most OBCs and the minorities, and particularly the girls in each of these categories, thus failing to provide education of equitable quality; distorts the universally accepted definition of Neighborhood School, thereby authorizing the government to arbitrarily compel the poor children to study in inferior quality schools; undermines the universally accepted pedagogic role of the mother tongue in acquiring knowledge and learning languages other than one’s mother tongue, including English; misconceives the universally acknowledged concept of disability and fails to provide for norms and standards necessary for integrating disabled children into regular schools; discriminates between the children studying in government schools and the private unaided schools in various ways, particularly by providing for deployment of the government school teachers for a range of non- teaching tasks; legitimizes and promotes privatization of school education under the pretext of providing free education to the weaker sections on 25% of the seats in private schools; this misconceived provision would not give any benefit whatsoever to the deprived children even in the short term; allows for shifting of public funds and other critical public resources for privatization and commercialization of education, as part of the ‘free market’ policy of Public Private Partnership in its various forms, including school vouchers, sale or handing over (‘adoption’) of government schools to private parties, tax exemptions and subsidies (both direct and hidden); does not empower the appropariate government to regulate arbitrary fee- hikes by private schools, thus opening the flood gates for unabashed profiteering; neither guarantees early childhood care and pre-primary education nor provides for Right to secondary education viz. from class IX to XII, thus disentitling more than 26 crore children of their Right to equal opportunities to participate in national economy; and enables the State, by not including the financial estimates for implementation of the Act in the Financial Memorandum, to abdicate its Constitutional obligations for guaranteeing adequate funds for school education. We are convinced that the implementation of this Act would lead to, abdication of the State’s Constitutional obligation for providing free and compulsory education of equitable quality; steady demolition of the government school system, except the schools of specified categories (Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, XI plan’s 6,000 model schools, and similar elite schools of the States/UT governments); and increase in the pace of unregulated privatization and commercialization of school education. We wish to register our dismay also because not one public hearing has been held since the drafting of this Act began in November 2004 by the CABE’s Committee chaired by Shri Kapil Sibal, the then Minister of State for S & T under the previous UPA regime. An opportunity for public hearing was also denied even when the Bill was sent to the concerned Parliamentary Standing Committee in December 2008. Further, our appeal to the Lok Sabha Speaker stood ignored. This violation of the democratic traditions of India has resulted in a wide-spread feeling of grave injustice in the public mind and rising resentment against the Act. Finally, you have missed an historical opportunity by not designing this Act in the framework of a Common School System based on Neighborhood Schools – a system that would be fully government-funded but governed democratically in a decentralized manner with participation of local bodies and the community, particularly the parents. We are sure you know that such a system has been practiced successfully in most of the advanced economies of the world, including the G-8 countries. In case you had heeded the rising public demand for such a system in the country, your government would have won immense political goodwill among the masses. We dare suggest that it is still not too late. You have enough time under your leadership to retract the retrogressive Act and build a new vision of India’s education by moving towards the long awaited Common School System based on Neighborhood schools. This indeed is the only historical option in school education India has. Hoping for your decisive intervention in this matter of critical importance for the survival of India as a democratic, egalitarian, secular and enlightened society, Name & Designation Organisation District and State Cc.: Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, UPA 24, Akbar Road, New Delhi, 110011 HYPERLINK "mailto:soniagandhi at sansad.nic.in" \t "_blank" soniagandhi at sansad.nic.in , Circulated by with regards Sincerely yours, Ramesh Patnaik member, secretariat, AIF-RTE From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 22 17:50:38 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:20:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] LETTER OF DISAPPOINTMENT In-Reply-To: <84CE11F9-0918-400A-8F62-FC7D670E725A@sarai.net> Message-ID: <764833.2612.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Jeebesh, Some beginning has been made which is a positive step. Let us live with it for some time and then can force the Govt through opinion/pressure to go in for the requisite amendments.Dowry Prohibition Act is there,but how many marriages are done without dowry. There is no use of having Acts on Statute Books which can not be implemented in reality.Just tell me one instance where you feel there is equality in India.Everyone should then be sent to Stanford,LSB to have equality. Is there anywhere in India equality in employment,criminal justice,politics, religion,babudom,in our own families, etc? In order to get the best for everyone, we should not deny them better and good.That is my opinion. WITH BEST REGARDS (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 9/22/09, Jeebesh wrote: > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] LETTER OF DISAPPOINTMENT > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 10:46 AM > > > > dear all, i came across this letter in another list, where > a campaign  > against the just passed education act is brewing. given > that in india  > there is a clear move towards an apartheid mode of school > education,  > it would be nice to hear some thoughts from people on this > list on the  > current schooling system. > > > warmly > jeebesh > > > To > Dr. Manmohan Singh, > Prime Minister, Government of India, > South Block, New Delhi > > September 19, 2009 > > > > > LETTER OF DISAPPOINTMENT > Sir, > > We the undersigned wish to express our deep sense of > disappointment  > with ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory > Education Act,  > 2009’ signed by the President last month. After waiting > for this  > Fundamental Right for six decades, India’s almost 46 > crore children up  > to 18 years of age expected a characteristically different > Act. It is  > our considered view that this is an anti-Constitutional, > anti- > education and anti-child Act that denies Fundamental Right > to  > education of equitable quality – a Right that has existed > in the  > Constitution since 1950, as declared by the Hon’ble > Supreme Court  > through its historic Unnikrishnan Judgment (1993). > > This Act, > guarantees only conditional and arbitrary free education; > even this is  > provided only to a category of children while denying it to > others; > shall maintain the prevailing multi-layered school system, > thereby  > continuing with education rooted in inequality and > discrimination; > envisages sub-standard and inferior quality education for > almost three- > fourths of India’s children, including the dalits, > tribals, most OBCs  > and the minorities, and particularly the girls in each of > these  > categories, thus failing to provide education of equitable > quality; > distorts the universally accepted definition of > Neighborhood School,  > thereby authorizing the government to arbitrarily compel > the poor  > children to study in inferior quality schools; > undermines the universally accepted pedagogic role of the > mother  > tongue in acquiring knowledge and learning languages other > than one’s  > mother tongue, including English; > misconceives the universally acknowledged concept of > disability and  > fails to provide for norms and standards necessary for > integrating  > disabled children into regular schools; > discriminates between the children studying in government > schools and  > the private unaided schools in various ways, particularly > by providing  > for deployment of the government school teachers for a > range of non- > teaching tasks; > legitimizes and promotes privatization of school education > under the  > pretext of providing free education to the weaker sections > on 25% of  > the seats in private schools; this misconceived provision > would not  > give any benefit whatsoever to the deprived children even > in the short  > term; > allows for shifting of public funds and other critical > public  > resources for privatization and commercialization of > education, as  > part of the ‘free market’ policy of Public Private > Partnership in its  > various forms, including school vouchers, sale or handing > over  > (‘adoption’) of government schools to private parties, > tax exemptions  > and subsidies (both direct and hidden); > does not empower the appropariate government to regulate > arbitrary fee- > hikes by private schools, thus opening the flood gates for > unabashed  > profiteering; > neither guarantees early childhood care and pre-primary > education nor  > provides for Right to secondary education viz. from class > IX to XII,  > thus disentitling more than 26 crore children of their > Right to equal  > opportunities to participate in national economy; and > enables the State, by not including the financial estimates > for  > implementation of the Act in the Financial Memorandum, to > abdicate its  > Constitutional obligations for guaranteeing adequate funds > for school  > education. > > We are convinced that the implementation of this Act would > lead to, > abdication of the State’s Constitutional obligation for > providing free  > and compulsory education of equitable quality; > steady demolition of the government school system, except > the schools  > of specified categories (Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya > Vidyalayas, XI  > plan’s 6,000 model schools, and similar elite schools of > the States/UT  > governments); and > increase in the pace of unregulated privatization and  > > commercialization of school education. > > We wish to register our dismay also because not one public > hearing has  > been held since the drafting of this Act began in November > 2004 by the  > CABE’s Committee chaired by Shri Kapil Sibal, the then > Minister of  > State for S & T under the previous UPA regime. An > opportunity for  > public hearing was also denied even when the Bill was sent > to the  > concerned Parliamentary Standing Committee in December > 2008. Further,  > our appeal to the Lok Sabha Speaker stood ignored. This > violation of  > the democratic traditions of India has resulted in a > wide-spread  > feeling of grave injustice in the public mind and rising > resentment  > against the Act. > > Finally, you have missed an historical opportunity by not > designing  > this Act in the framework of a Common School System based > on  > Neighborhood Schools – a system that would be fully > government-funded  > but governed democratically in a decentralized manner > with  > participation of local bodies and the community, > particularly the  > parents. We are sure you know that such a system has been > practiced  > successfully in most of the advanced economies of the > world, including  > the G-8 countries. In case you had heeded the rising public > demand for  > such a system in the country, your government would have > won immense  > political goodwill among the masses. We dare suggest that > it is still  > not too late. You have enough time under your leadership to > retract  > the retrogressive Act and build a new vision of India’s > education by  > moving towards the long awaited Common School System based > on  > Neighborhood schools. This indeed is the only historical > option in  > school education India has. > > Hoping for your decisive intervention in this matter of > critical  > importance for the survival of India as a democratic, > egalitarian,  > secular and enlightened society, > > Name & Designation > Organisation > > District and State > > > > > > Cc.: Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, UPA > > 24, Akbar Road, New Delhi, 110011 > >   HYPERLINK "mailto:soniagandhi at sansad.nic.in" > \t "_blank" soniagandhi at sansad.nic.in > > , > > > Circulated by > > with regards > Sincerely yours, > > Ramesh Patnaik > member, secretariat, > AIF-RTE > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Tue Sep 22 18:28:00 2009 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:28:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] LETTER OF DISAPPOINTMENT In-Reply-To: <764833.2612.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <84CE11F9-0918-400A-8F62-FC7D670E725A@sarai.net> <764833.2612.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: The idea here is about the conflict in a sense with niti (which is the principle) and nyaya (its implementation). In India, there is problem with both. Niti is never made properly, and if made properly in rarest of rare cases, Nyaya is never given or obtained. Hence, as far as the principle or policy is concerned, if it's wrong, there is no harm or wrong in criticizing it. Let us use public pressure in an innovative and instrumental way to change the wrong-doings in the act, and thereby make it a better one. For that we can't wait. Already the children of India have waited 62 years since independence to get the act, and then the act is partial and incomplete, as well as having loopholes. This can't and shouldn't be tolerated. At the same time, the coming of the act must be appreciated, and one should call for modifications in the act, rather than fighting as if one were against the Act. Rakesh From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Tue Sep 22 19:07:23 2009 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:07:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] REVIVE magazine invites articles on education Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Reshma Dear Readers This is a follow-up of an email sent a few days ago, requesting for submissions for articles for *Revive*, the Learning Network's Annual Magazine. Please note the deadline for initial submission of complete articles is *October 12th, 2009*. Revive has been well received every year and we want to make it a worthwhile publication for our readers yet again :) Adhering to the deadline, will allow us time to edit, communicate with any changes and compile in time for publishing! Goodbooks Trust, Chennai is assisting us with the publishing and we thank them for their support :) If you have any questions, do email us at info at learningnet-india.org. Rest fo the submission guidelines follows below. best regards, Reshma and Anita* *(for the Learning Network - www.learningnet-india.org)* Solicitation of Articles for Revive* It is that time of the year when we begin to put together the yearly issue of Revive - the Learning Network's annual magazine, distributed at the network's Annual Conference. The Seventh Annual Conference will be held on February 4th – 7th, 2010 at Timbaktu Collective, in Andhra Pradesh. The conferences have been a great occasion for learning in a homely and informal environment from resource groups/persons engaging in holistic education. We also urge that you share this announcement widely with friends, educators, students and anyone who you think would be interested in contributing to Revive. We also invite you to visit http://www.learningnet-india.org and browse through past issues of Reviveand Chiguru - the publications of the Learning Network. ** *About Revive* Revive aims to inspire, challenge, and connect educators, parents, and administrators by providing a space for their multiple voices in continuously transforming education. There are numerous efforts (small and big) by individuals and organizations to critically reflect and rejuvenate the spirit of education, classroom interaction, pedagogy, curriculum, and policies. Revive provides a space to express these efforts emerging from dynamic and diverse learning communities and individuals. Articles in Reviveoffer refreshing ideas on education which come together in a collective edition that integrates theoretical, practical, experiential, and philosophical perspectives. We invite contributions to Revive that address the spirit of education such as: - What does education for life look like in the classroom, at home and in the community? - How can education become person, ecology, and community centered in addition to being economy-centered? - How can teaching and learning lead to increased self-awareness, and a just, equitable and peaceful society? - How can education develop the spirit, strength, and inclination to be mindful, inquire, understand and change ourselves and the world? - How can teachers be supported in developing classrooms and curriculum that support children's natural sense of inquiry? - How can schools and classrooms include and enrich the experiences of children across class, caste, gender and abilities? - How can we create learning experiences that integrate various disciplines and connect to local contexts? While these are broad guidelines, if you have other ideas and formats for articles, we invite you to send it to us and we will consider them for publication. If you have already submitted an article for Revive in the past and plan to write to on the same topic, please consider what new information and ideas you can share. Please send your submissions to learningnet.india at gmail.com. or info at learningnet-india.org *Article Submission deadline:** October 12th, 2009* We will provide feedback and editing comments as you send in your submissions.***Deadline for sending your final edited articles:** November 7th, 2009* *We will take a final decision on the articles in Revive by* *November 15th, 2009.* *Submission Formats*: Articles to Revive can be contributed in any of the following formats and topics: 1. Narratives of a particularly meaningful or moving personal experience connected to an educational practice. It can be a reflection of your personal growth and journey through specific educational practice as a teacher, parent, or administrator; classroom practices that provide new ideas; visionary work that inspires educators; a description of methodology, curriculum, materials, learning environment, student work, interviews, afterthoughts and suggestions for others who may want to try this out in their teaching. 2. Essays on social issues and policy decisions influencing education; an assessment of current educational philosophy, methodology, or curriculum; a review of a book relevant to the interest of the network members. Essays must be substantiated by experiences, interactions with people, and/or research and references. 3. Articles, poetry, short stories, and illustrations by children which are relevant to the spirit of education. Please include the name, age, school/organization (name and address) and contact information of the person submitting this work. 4. Copyrighted articles by well-known educators that have become classics in education and serve as a learning resource. If you are of aware of such articles, let us know and we follow up on obtaining the permissions to reprint in Revive. 5. Reflections, alternative view points, or responses to articles in previous issues of Revive or Chiguru. We will also contact the authors of the original article prior to publishing reflections on the same. *Submission Guidelines* - Submission should be a maximum of 1500 words (equivalent to about 3 A4/Letter size pages with Times New Roman, font size 12, single space). While we suggest this length for articles, please consider that a well-written article of shorter length can be more effective in engaging readers. - Please include an abstract of 50 words at the beginning of your article, and your contact address (postal and email) - We look for engaging, and concise writing that is descriptive and original. Please avoid jargon and rhetoric. If you are quoting or paraphrasing other articles, websites and books, please reference them appropriately in your article. You may consider using pseudonyms if you are referencing teachers/students in your article to protect their privacy. - While we understand and welcome variations in writing styles, we will be editing and reviewing the article for overall consistency in terms of length, clarity, content, and structure (spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure). __._,_.___ Messages in this topic ( 1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages| Files| Photos| Links| Database| Polls| Members| Calendar [image: Yahoo! Groups] Change settings via the Web(Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest| Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity Visit Your Group Give Back Yahoo! for Good Get inspired by a good cause. Y! Toolbar Get it Free! easy 1-click access to your groups. Yahoo! Groups Start a group in 3 easy steps. Connect with others. . __,_._,___ From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 22 19:15:58 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:45:58 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Bodies raise questions in Pakistan's Swat Message-ID: <850115.5848.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "Bodies raise questions in Pakistan's Swat"   by Lehaz Ali Lehaz Ali – Tue Sep 22   PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistani security forces dragged away his brother for questioning, says Saeed Akbar. Three days later, his body was found rotting on a Swat roadside, his nose, ears and tongue slashed.   "My brother was a student and the army officials took him for interrogation for alleged links with Taliban in August but he never came back," the teacher told AFP. "That was on August 8. On August 11, we found his body."   Pakistani officials say 251 corpses have been dumped next to roads, beheaded or strung up in the northwest Swat valley since July when the government declared a massive operation had defeated local Taliban.   They claim the bodies belong to militants who were killed by vengeful residents determined to prevent Islamist militants from again imposing a reign of terror on the beautiful mountain valley in the name of sharia law.   But as the bodies stack up, security forces have courted increased suspicion among residents and rights activists who say that for law and peace to return to the valley, alleged militants should instead face trial.   The military denies any responsibility and says no orders have been issued to execute suspected militants in cold blood.   "We reject the claim that the army is behind the killings in Swat. Most of the bodies found in Swat are of Taliban militants and our information is they are being killed by the local people," said spokesman Colonel Akhtar Abbas.   "We never indulge in extra judicial killings. We maintain a complete record of the people we arrested so far in the Swat operation," said Abbas.   But analysts and human rights activists believe soldiers are exacting revenge after so many of their own were killed and beheaded by the Taliban during their two-year uprising to enforce sharia law.   "This is a typical example of jungle law, as nobody -- whether it is the military or locals -- has the right to kill anyone including Taliban suspects," leading rights activist Farzana Bari told AFP.   "We cannot rule out involvement of security forces in these killings, which is a matter of great concern," said Bari, who heads the gender studies centre at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam university.   The military's job is to arrest criminals and not execute them, she said. Lashkars, or private armies formed by locals to protect communities often with encouragement from the military, might also have been involved, Bari suspected.   A Taliban commander wounded in a military operation in which he was arrested died from his injuries on Sunday while in custody, the army said.   Sher Mohammad Qasab, dubbed "head of the Taliban beheading squad" by media, was one of the most senior commanders on a most-wanted list.   The military says more than 2,100 militants and 177 soldiers have died since April in what was the most sustained assault in three northwestern districts of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir against the Taliban.   Swat had slipped out of government control after radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah mounted a violent campaign in which his followers beheaded opponents, burnt schools and fought against troops to enforce Islamic sharia law.   But Ziauddin, a tribal elder who runs several colleges for boys and girls in Swat, said the army had lost any moral high ground.   "Army soldiers take Taliban or their supporters during search operations and then dump their bodies along the roads or throw them into the river," Ziauddin said, calling for a proper judicial investigation.   "Killing criminals should be under a proper judicial system and extra judicial killings are not acceptable," he said.   Residents in Swat were terrorised by the two-year Taliban uprising, ransacking and destruction of schools and beheading of opponents.   But one member of the northwest provincial assembly told AFP he supported the killings of Taliban whose adherents beheaded government officials, intimidated locals and destroyed schools during their two-year uprising.   "The Taliban should hang in public places. If they are let go they will come again and re-start their dirty game," he said on condition of anonymity.   "In my opinion, these are Taliban's dead bodies and were killed by security forces and frankly security forces are doing the right job," he added.   http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090922/wl_asia_afp/pakistanunrestnorthwest_20090922065829   From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 22 19:21:02 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:51:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "Meeting India's tree planting guru" Message-ID: <200771.7018.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "Meeting India's tree planting guru"   By Amarnath Tewary BBC News, Bihar   An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar.   His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.   Evidence of Mr Raju's success could clearly be seen on 30 August, when he organised 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.   In doing so the agriculture graduate from Bangalore has provided "sustainable employment" to people living below the poverty line in Bihar.   'Lack of awareness'   Mr Raju has linked his "social forestry" programme to the central government's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) which is also designed to provide employment to poor people.   Under NREGA - initiated in February 2006 as the government's most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people - the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year to members of families living below the poverty line.   About 44% of Bihar's population fall into this category.   "The scheme has brought benefits to thousands of families since its implementation," said a recent International Labour Organisation report.   But Mr Raju says that Bihar - being the poorest and most lawless state of India - has not been able to spend the allocated NREGA funds.   "This is because of a lack of awareness among officials about the scheme," he said. The poor monsoon this year has led to lower agricultural outputs, while flash floods in some northern districts has made the situation even worse, he said.   "So the idea struck to my mind, why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days?   "Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210)."   Target   The civil servant immediately made a blueprint of his idea and got the support of senior state officials.   In June Mr Raju released a comprehensive booklet of "dos and don'ts" and distributed it to village heads and district officials.   His initiative meant that NREGA funds were fully utilised - in the past this has not always been the case.   "I told the villagers that they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old, handicapped and widows would be given preference," he explained.   Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50,000 saplings - a group of four families has to plant 200 seedlings and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow more sturdy.   "They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they will be paid only half the wage. If the survival rate is less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced," the guidelines say.   Under NREGA rules, each worker has to be paid 100 rupees ($2) per day for 100 days in a year.   Increase in funds   Mr Raju even came close to planting one billion saplings on a single day.   "I started preparing for this and motivating villagers by announcing the date as 30 August," he said.   "The target for every village panchayat (council) was to plant 6,000 saplings from 6am to 6pm to achieve the target of one billion. At the end of the day, we found out that we were just just short of the target, but it was still a world record," the beaming civil servant said.   Significantly, his scheme has even stopped the migration of poor labourers from the area in search of employment elsewhere during monsoon time.   "We never thought we would get employment for planting trees and protecting them," said Paigambarpur village head Indra Bhusan, whose community - like many others - planted over 30,000 saplings mostly on both flanks of the 14km embankment which criss-crosses their village.   The saplings planted are both fruit and non-fruit trees. The non-fruit seedlings have been planted on the banks of the embankment and on state and national highways - while fruit bearing trees are planted inside the villages.   This year the central government has given more money to the scheme.   Meanwhile, the Bihar civil servant is busy collecting the facts and figures to get his feat listed by Guinness World Records.   "Bihar has edged out Pakistan from the record book," he said flashing a confident smile. "Its all become possible due to villagers. I owe them a lot."   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8257563.stm     From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 22 19:39:37 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:09:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909202218h7c8d1589s5ce500f382397c57@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <571017.98139.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com>   Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should use "Death" as a penalty.  --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V wrote: From: Murali V Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death To: "A.K. Malik" Cc: "Sarai List" Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as far as Afzal Guru is concerned. Murali On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Hi All, >        A little more for info: > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as per SC verdict they have a right to get the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting for long for their death sentence to be executed. > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik wrote: > >> From: A.K. Malik >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death >> To: "Sarai List" >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM >> Hi All, >>            News Item >> FYI >> "The Supreme Court has advised the government to >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced >> to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering >> some larger political or government policy". As many as >> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any >> delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned >> prisoners' right to life with dignity." >> >> (A.K.MALIK) >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Tue Sep 22 21:34:38 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:34:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: 'The Age of Stupid' (fwd) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1f9180970909220904k4b0e0befg9ba27e407288b777@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Shiva Shankar Date: Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 8:08 PM Subject: 'The Age of Stupid' (fwd) To: 'The Age of Stupid': a wakeup call on climate by Staff Writers, Paris (AFP) Sept 19, 2009 Could we, the human race, really miss an ever-narrowing chance to save the planet from the ravages of global warming? "The Age of Stupid," which will be screened in hundreds of venues around the world next week, contemplates this grim scenario with the open aim of galvanising a collective effort to prevent it. Former UN chief Kofi Annan is expected to attend a special "green carpet" showing in New York Monday, on the eve of the world's first United Nation's climate summit. The film is a serious documentary dressed up as a futuristic climate thriller, with a few bits of animation thrown in to help explain the underlying science. The story is told in the voice of an ageing archivist -- played by A-list British actor Pete Postlethwaite -- looking back from the year 2055 on a world devastated by climate catastrophe. Ensconced in a sea-bound tower harbouring a complete digital record of human history, the sadder and wiser archivist pulls up image files that tell the story of real, flesh-and-blood people profiled by the filmmaker, Franny Armstrong. "We could have saved ourselves, but we didn't. It's amazing. What state of mind were we in, to face extinction and simply shrug it off?", Postlethwaite's character says with a flash of anger. Gazing back to our time, he details the lives of six people whose stories intersect with global warming in different ways: a dirt-poor, aspiring medical student from Nigeria's oil rich Niger Delta; a young business scion starting up India's third "low cost" airline. a pair of child refugees from the war in Iraq. We meet 37-year-old Piers Guy, struggling vainly against the opposition of his neighbors in the English countryside of Cornwall to a windfarm that could power several thousand households. And then there is 82-year old Fernand Parau, a French mountain guide who has watched Alpine glaciers retreat dozens of metres over his long career. The movie's title comes from a retired oil company scientist in New Orleans, thinking out loud as to how future generations might look back our era if we fail to reign in global warming. "The Age of Stupid" (www.ageofstupid.com) will be broadcast on Monday in more than 400 US theaters. And on Tuesday, the film -- translated by volunteers into 32 languages -- will be seen in over 60 countries in locations ranging from the futuristic Geode in Paris to an open-air screen in Vanatu, a South Pacific island nation at risk of being wiped off the map by rising sea levels. Organisers say more than 200,000 people across the globe will watch the film, which premiered in Britain earlier this year. The movie's modest 450,000-pound (500,000-euro, 735,000-dollar) budget was financed entirely through "crowd funding," explained Armstrong. "It is a simple concept: basically, 228 people invested between 500 and 35,000 pounds, and they all own a percentage of the profit," she told AFP in a phone interview. Armstrong's aims are clear: to help turn up the volume of public pressure ahead of a make-or-break UN conference in Copenhagen in December charged with delivering a planet-saving climate treaty. She points to other grassroots initiatives that have led to major changes: the US civil rights movement, anti-Vietnam War protests, investment boycotts that helped unravel South Africa's aparthied regime. Science is clear on what needs to be done, she says: keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times, and make sure greenhouse gas emissions peak no later than 2015. "Every generation that come before us did not know about the problem, and for every generation that follows, it will be too late for them to do anything," she said. "So it comes down to our generation." "We have the potential to do it, the only question that remains is whether or not we are going to give it a try," she added. -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 23 00:32:34 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:02:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <571017.98139.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <282189.19777.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> So that the fellow can repeat whatever he has done earlier when the fellow gets freed after serving the jail term or gets freedom after Kaandhar like incidents and kills more people. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 9/22/09, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "A.K. Malik" , "Murali V" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 7:39 PM >   > Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should > use "Death" as a penalty.  > > --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V > wrote: > > > From: Murali V > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to > Death > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM > > > Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as > far as Afzal Guru is concerned. > > Murali > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K.. Malik > wrote: > > Hi All, > >        A little more for info: > > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy > petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as per > SC verdict they have a right to get the death sentence > commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting for > long for their death sentence to be executed. > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik > wrote: > > > >> From: A.K. Malik > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners > sent to Death > >> To: "Sarai List" > >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM > >> Hi All, > >>            News > Item > >> FYI > >> "The Supreme Court has advised the government > to > >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners > sentenced > >> to death and not to use human beings "as > pawns in furthering > >> some larger political or government policy". > As many as > >> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack > convict > >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision > on > their > >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government > that any > >> delay in decision would amount to violation of > condemned > >> prisoners' right to life with dignity." > >> > >> (A.K..MALIK) > >> > >> > >> > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > > http://mail.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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > From oishiksircar at gmail.com Wed Sep 23 00:55:14 2009 From: oishiksircar at gmail.com (OISHIK SIRCAR) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:55:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Oak Institute Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2010 Oak Fellowship In-Reply-To: <20090922141502.ARJ91554@mirapoint.colby.edu> References: <20090922141502.ARJ91554@mirapoint.colby.edu> Message-ID: <62cba67a0909221225m2f4d517exa73b94d515c63e3e@mail.gmail.com> *Fall 2010 Oak Fellowship* The Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College is pleased to issue a call for nominations and applications for the 2010 Oak Human Rights Fellowship. The Oak Fellowship annually offers an opportunity for one prominent practitioner in international human rights to take a sabbatical leave from front-line work to spend the fall semester (September – December) in residence at Colby. This provides the fellow time for respite, reflection, research, and writing. Following the period of the award, the fellow is expected to return home to continue human rights work. For the Oak Fellowship in residence at Colby College during the fall of 2010, we seek front-line human rights activists advocating for those incarcerated. Areas of work for prisoners’ rights include but are not limited to living standards and health care in prisons, pretrial detention, illegal imprisonment, detained non-citizens, the right of legal representation, juvenile detention, education and practical training for inmates, post-detention rehabilitation, families of inmates, disciplinary procedures, prison privatization, gender and racial discrimination in incarceration, political prisoners, prisoners of war, torture, sexual abuse, brutality, and the death penalty. We especially encourage applications from those who are currently or were recently involved in on-the-ground work at some level of personal risk and are in need of respite. Activists must be centrally engaged in work outside of the United States. The Oak Fellow’s responsibilities include regular meetings with students through a small seminar class. Additionally, the fellow works with Colby faculty to shape a lecture series or symposium on his/her human rights interests. The fellow participates in the intellectual life of the campus, providing Colby students the opportunity to work with an internationally recognized human rights practitioner. In addition to a $32,000 stipend, the fellowship includes college health benefits, local accommodations, a campus meal plan, and use of a car. The fellowship also provides an office, access to the College’s computer and library facilities, a student assistant to help with the seminar and research, as well as secretarial support. Travel support is provided for dependent family members. Applications can be submitted online or via email. Completed applications must arrive no later than December 15, 2009. More information, including the application, is available on the Institute's webpage at: http://www.colby.edu/oak. Final selection will be announced by April 15, 2010. ===================== -- OISHIK SIRCAR oishiksircar at gmail.com oishik.sircar at utoronto.ca From murali.chalam at gmail.com Wed Sep 23 12:25:02 2009 From: murali.chalam at gmail.com (Murali V) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:25:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <571017.98139.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <4eab87870909202218h7c8d1589s5ce500f382397c57@mail.gmail.com> <571017.98139.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4eab87870909222355yc047d5cua3c7bd88dfa6c11@mail.gmail.com> If that be the case then the life sentence should also be modified to clearly state "Till death in Prison" as currently for life term it is 14 years and there can also be no mercy plea for release. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 7:39 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should use "Death" as > a penalty. > > --- On *Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V * wrote: > > > From: Murali V > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM > > Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as far as Afzal Guru is concerned. > > Murali > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K.. Malik > > wrote: > > Hi All, > > A little more for info: > > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy petitions is > pending before the President is 26 and as per SC verdict they have a right > to get the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept > waiting for long for their death sentence to be executed. > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik > > wrote: > > > >> From: A.K. Malik > > > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > >> To: "Sarai List" > > > >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM > >> Hi All, > >> News Item > >> FYI > >> "The Supreme Court has advised the government to > >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced > >> to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering > >> some larger political or government policy". As many as > >> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict > >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their > >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any > >> delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned > >> prisoners' right to life with dignity." > >> > >> (A.K..MALIK) > >> > >> > >> > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > > http://mail.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.netwith subscribe in the subject header. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.netwith subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Wed Sep 23 14:10:01 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:10:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: (Fwd)Men Kidnapped and Forced Into Marriage By Deepali Gaur Singh, RH Reality Check. Posted September 21, 2009. In-Reply-To: <1f9180970909230139m6ee4fde8u2325445a361b94f6@mail.gmail.com> References: <1f9180970909230139m6ee4fde8u2325445a361b94f6@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1f9180970909230140q6bacc190y907ac9ab4369fb5@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Venugopalan K M Date: Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 2:09 PM Subject: (Fwd)Men Kidnapped and Forced Into Marriage By Deepali Gaur Singh, RH Reality Check. Posted September 21, 2009. To: foil-l at insaf.net    http://www.alternet.org/story/142785/men_kidnapped_and_forced_into_marriage?page=entire Marriage is an extremely critical social institution in the Indian context. For a majority of country it is traditionally viewed as the only way to continue the family and thereby repay one's debt to his/her ancestors. Unfortunately, over time it is invariably the bride's family that carries the material burden that the reparation of these debts entail. Consequently, marriage has come to be symbolized as such a burden upon the girl's family that it determines the "de-valuation" of girls over their lifetime. The tremendous social and financial burden of an impending marriage of a daughter 18 years later is enough compulsion for many to kill infant girls if they do not already have the wherewithal to selectively terminate pregnancies on the basis of the sex of the fetus. Dowry at the time of marriage and throughout marriage and the gender imbalance in nurture and care of children all eventually play itself out even in this social institution and gets manifested in the manner in which marriage is symbolized as a burden for the girl's parents and a money-minting enterprise for the boy's parents. A rather peculiar and alarming practice that locates itself in certain parts of the country exhibits this same gender imbalance in a frighteningly unique manner. Poverty and the inability to muster a "decent" dowry for the daughter's marriage; the scandalous possibility of an unmarried daughter at home and the social stigma attached to it has led to desperate measures in certain parts of the country. A recent government survey shows 209 men were kidnapped in the country last year. They were forced into marriage. The age group of these prospective grooms varied from 10 to 50 years. This is a trend that is more common in the less prosperous and backward state of Bihar in eastern India. Evidenced here for decades - it is a state where the kidnappings of men are at par with women, in fact even higher, according to the report, "Crime in India - 2007" of the National Crime Records Bureau of India. Though still more young girls than boys are kidnapped for marriage, there are parts of India where kidnappings of boys for marriage occur more frequently than for ransom. The proof of the prevalence of this practice is in the fear that grips parents of "eligible" bachelors in certain parts of Bihar (which are known for this) as the wedding season approaches every year. One has personal memories tied to train journeys through this region when co-passengers secured doors of the train coaches when transiting here, less out of the fear of being robbed but more out of the fear of pakadua shaadis or the kidnappings of young men for forced marriages. >From what once sounded more legend, less fact, it is a menace that has assumed alarming proportions in recent years and spread to the neighboring districts too. The massive pressure of increasing dowry demands and the inability of most parents to fulfill them has resulted in families seeking the services of criminal gangs that kidnap unmarried men and force them into wedlock. Even as cases might appear rampant in certain areas many go unreported out of fear of these local criminals. According to the police, over the years it has turned into a high-profit, low-risk business that many gangs thrive on as they earn a sizeable commission from these marriage-related kidnappings. And by stretching the saying of "honor among thieves" a little further, their responsibility does not end with the abduction alone. They ensure that the marriage is solemnized and the girl sent to the boy's home. Forced marriages in India tread a very thin line between approved and coerced because marriages are often arranged by the parents and the community with the couples hardly having a say in the matter. In fact, 40 percent of the world's child marriages take place in India. And traditions and social mores ensure that a marriage once solemnized within the parameters of traditional requirements is considered legitimate. Over the years wherever this practice of abduction-for-marriage has been prevalent, even the village community has been known to have extended support to the girl's side. And with the advent of modern technology, practices such as these have moved to the next level as the ceremony is videographed so that the tape can be used as evidence subsequently in a dispute between both parties. With 15 percent of girls in rural areas across the country married before 13, the pressure to find grooms for them in a country with a imbalanced sex ratio begins very early. Subsequently, the first pregnancy for a majority 52 percent is between 15 and 19. But what happens to the girls who have been forced into such marriages on the basis of deceit - in this case deceiving the boy's family? What happens to them once they leave their maternal homes and are sent to their matrimonial homes? It is hardly surprising that in most cases they are not accepted by the groom's side of the family. But with a greater social stigma attached to abandonment many of these girls do not even return to their native villages. The physical and mental torture inflicted at the matrimonial homes becomes more acceptable than having to carry the label of an abandoned woman. Many of the grooms actually go on to marry again with these girls reduced to the status of labor hands. Their vulnerability is heightened by the fact that they are a mere commodity in this coerced social contract, with physical and sexual exploitation, the punishment they bear for a crime committed elsewhere. And with "fate" being the compelling argument in the kind of groom they get, the fate of their lives too get relegated to the realms of a dark, mute corners of a fake domesticity that even their families rarely hear about. -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From shuddha at sarai.net Wed Sep 23 14:40:29 2009 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:40:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <571017.98139.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <571017.98139.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3027472F-8D9C-49EC-AED7-E948CE6F3AD7@sarai.net> Dear Kshmendra, Thank you for brining this up, I agree with you entirely, and I find 'death penalties' meted out either by the state, or by non-state insurgents, or 'freedom fighters' of any description equally heinous. This is different from a political assasination, say of a tyrant, or death due to violence that occurs when people have to defend themselves against violence that would otherwise wipe them out. In the rare case of political assasination in the form of tyrannicide and regicide, the perpetrator does not necessarily mimic the tropes of justice, but acts to remove a fundamental obstacle to liberty. Having said this, in nine times of ten, political assasinations are politically unwise, desparate measures that cause more problems than they solve, (they usually increase not decrease the amount of state repression) so I would 'rationalize' them only in the rarest of rare, and most exceptional of cases. Had Hitler of Joseph Stalin been assasinated in office while they presided over massacres, it is possible, just possible, that this may have had a positive effect. This too would have to be committed, not in order to 'avenge the dead', but in order to prevent further death. In the second case of defensive violence, the wielders of defensive violence act in order to save their own lives. But as a general rule, politics that takes recourse to violence as a matter of principle, usually ends up either defeated, or, ends up mimicing the very structures of oppression that it set out to combat, and thus, derails the cause of liberty and justice. 'Death sentences' regardless of who hands them down, are of a third order altogether, they are 'rewarded' as if any action could be compensated for or rewarded by the death of a human being. They either work from within a judicial framework, or, they mimic a judicial framework. And since I do not believe that the cause of justice can be served by death, once a person is held accountable and captive for their crime, I am totally against the death penalty in any form. thanks for brining up this question, warmly, Shuddha On 22-Sep-09, at 7:39 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should use "Death" as a > penalty. > > --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V wrote: > > > From: Murali V > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM > > > Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as far as Afzal Guru is concerned. > > Murali > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K. Malik > wrote: >> Hi All, >> A little more for info: >> The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy petitions >> is pending before the President is 26 and as per SC verdict they >> have a right to get the death sentence commuted to life >> imprisonment if they are kept waiting for long for their death >> sentence to be executed. >> >> (A.K.MALIK) >> >> >> --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik wrote: >> >>> From: A.K. Malik >>> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death >>> To: "Sarai List" >>> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM >>> Hi All, >>> News Item >>> FYI >>> "The Supreme Court has advised the government to >>> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced >>> to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering >>> some larger political or government policy". As many as >>> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict >>> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their >>> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any >>> delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned >>> prisoners' right to life with dignity." >>> >>> (A.K.MALIK) >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: >> >> __________________________________________________ >> Do You Yahoo!? >> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >> http://mail.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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 23 15:21:13 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:51:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=22Decline_of_Indology_in_the_West_--_fro?= =?utf-8?q?m_Max_M=C3=BCller_to_Witzel=22?= Message-ID: <259502.17848.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> DECLINE OF INDOLOGY IN THE WEST   Indology, which is the study of Indian history and culture from a Western perspective, is rapidly declining in the West under the impact of science and changed global conditions. Just as Max Müller represented Indology at its height, Michael Witzel symbolizes its current decadent state.     N.S. Rajaram     ABSTRACT     Indology may be defined as the study of Indian culture and history from a Western, particularly European perspective. The earliest Westerner to show an interest in India was the Greek historian Herodotus, followed by his successors like Megasthenes, Arrian, Strabo and others. This was followed by missionaries, traders and diplomats, often one and the same. With the beginning of European colonialism, Indology underwent a qualitative change, with what was primarily of trade and missionary interest to becoming a political and administrative tool. Some of the early Indologists like William Jones, H.T. Colebrook and others were employed by the East India Company, and later the British Government. Even academics like F. Max Müller were dependent on colonial governments and the support of missionaries. From the second half of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War, German nationalism played a major role in the shaping of Indological scholarship.       Much of the literature in Indology carries this politico-social baggage including colonial attitudes and stereotypes. The end of the Second World War saw also the end of European colonialism, beginning with India. Indology however was slow to change, and with minor modifications like seemingly dissociating itself from its racial legacy, the same theories and conclusions continued to be presented by Western Indologists. Towards the close of the twentieth century, first science and then globalization dealt serious blows to the discipline and its offshoots like Indo European Studies. This is reflected in the closure of established Indology programs in the West and the rise of new programs within and without academic centers driven mainly by science and primary literature.       The article will trace the origins, evolution and the devolution of Indology and the main contribution of the field and some of its key personalities.     Background: Historiography     One of the striking features of the first decade of the present century (and millennium) is the precipitous decline of Indology and the associated field of Indo-European Studies. Within the last three years, the Sanskrit Department at Cambridge University and the Berlin Institute of Indology, two of the oldest and most prestigious Indology centers in the West, have shut down. The reason cited is lack of interest. At Cambridge, not a single student had enrolled for its Sanskrit or Hindi course.       Other universities in Europe and America are facing similar problems.. The Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, long a leader in Oriental Studies, is drastically cutting down on its programs. Even the Sanskrit Department at Harvard, one of the oldest and most prestigious in America, shut down its summer program of teaching Sanskrit to foreign students. It may be a harbinger of things to come that Francis X. Clooney and Anne E. Monius, both theologians with the Harvard Divinity School, are teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the Sanskrit Department. More seriously, they are also advising doctoral candidates.     Does this mean that the Harvard Sanskrit Department may eventually be absorbed into the Divinity School and lose its secular character? In striking contrast, the Classics Department which teaches Greek and Latin has no association with the Divinity School, despite the fact that Biblical studies can hardly exist without Greek and Latin. It serves to highlight the fact that Sanskrit is not and can never be as central to the Western Canon as Greek and Latin. It also means that Sanskrit Studies, or Indology, or whatever one may call it must seek an identity that is free of its colonial trappings. It was this colonial patronage in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries that sustained these programs. Their slide into the fringes of academia is a reflection of the changed conditions following the end of colonialism.       Coming at a time when worldwide interest in India is the highest in memory, it points to structural problems in Indology and related fields like Indo-European Studies. Also, the magnitude of the crisis suggests that the problems are fundamental and just not a transient phenomenon. What is striking is the contrast between this gloomy academic scene and the outside world. During my lecture tours in Europe, Australia and the United States, I found no lack of interest, especially among the youth. Only they are getting what they want from programs outside academic departments, in cultural centers like the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, temples, and short courses and seminars conducted by visiting lecturers (like this writer).     This means the demand is there, but academic departments are being bypassed. Even for learning Sanskrit, there are now innovative programs like those offered by Samskrita Bharati that teach in ten intensive yet lively sessions more than what students learn in a semester of dry lectures. The same is true of other topics related to India— history, yoga, philosophy and others. And this interest is by no means limited to persons of Indian origin. What has gone wrong with academic Indology, and can it be reversed?     To understand the problem today it is necessary to visit its peculiar origins. Modern Indology began with Sir William Jones’s observation in 1784 that Sanskrit and European languages were related. Jones was a useful linguist but his main job was to interpret Indian law and customs to his employers, the British East India Company. This dual role of Indologists as scholars as well as interpreters of India continued well into the twentieth century. Many Indologists, including such eminent figures as H.H. Wilson and F. Max Müller sought and enjoyed the patronage of the ruling powers.     Indologists’ role as interpreters of India ended with independence in 1947, but many Indologists, especially in the West failed to see the writing on the wall. They continued to get students from India, which seems to have lulled them into believing that it would be business as usual. But today, six decades later, Indian immigrants and persons of Indian origin occupy influential positions in business, industry and now the government in the United States and Britain. They are now part of the establishment in their adopted lands. No one in the West today looks to Indology departments for advice on matters relating to India when they can get it from their next door neighbor or an office colleague. In this era of globalization, India and Indians are not the exotic creatures they were once seen to be.     This means the Indologist’s position as interpreter of India to the West, and sometimes even to Indians, is gone for good. But this alone cannot explain why their Sanskrit and related programs are also folding. To understand this we need to look further and recognize that new scientific discoveries are impacting Indology in ways that could not be imagined even twenty years ago. This is nothing new. For more than a century, the foundation of Indology had been linguistics, particularly Sanskrit and Indo-European languages. While archaeological discoveries of the Harappan civilization forced Indologists to take this hard data also into their discipline, they continued to use their linguistic theories in interpreting new data. In effect, empirical data became subordinate to theory, the exact reverse of the scientific approach.     These often forced interpretations of hard data from archaeology and even literature were far from convincing and undermined the whole field including linguistics of which Sanskrit studies was seen as a part. The following examples highlight the mismatch between their theories and data. Scholars ignored obvious Vedic symbols like: svasti and the om sign found in Harappan archaeology; the clear match between descriptions of flora and fauna in the Vedic literature and their depictions in Harappan iconography; and also clear references to maritime activity and the oceans in the Vedic literature while their theories claimed that the Vedic people who composed the literature were from a land-locked region and totally ignorant of the ocean. Such glaring contradictions between their theories and empirical data could not but undermine the credibility of the whole field.     All this didn’t happen overnight: Harappan archaeology posed challenges to colonial Indological model of ancient India, built around the Aryan invasion model nearly a century ago. But the challenge was ignored because the political authority that supported Western Indologists and their theories did not disappear until 1950, while its academic influence lingered on for several more decades. It is only now, long after the disappearance of colonial rule that academic departments in the West are beginning to feel the heat.     Colonial Indology     Modern Indology may be said to have begun with Sir William Jones, a Calcutta judge in the service of the East India Company. One can almost date the birth of Indology to February 12, 1784, the day on which Jones observed:       "The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of wonderful structure; more perfect than Greek, more copious than Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of the verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source…"     With this superficial, yet influential observation, Jones launched two fields of study in Western academics— philology (comparative linguistics) and Indo-European Studies including Indology. The ‘common source,’ variously called Indo-European, Proto Indo-European, Indo-Germanische and so forth has been the Holy Grail of philologists. The search for the common source has occupied philologists for the greater part of two hundred years, but the goal has remained elusive, more of which later.     Jones was a linguist with scholarly inclinations but his job was to interpret Indian law and customs to his employer— the British East India Company in its task of administering its growing Indian territories. In fact, this was what led to his study of Sanskrit and its classics. This dual role of Indologists as scholars as well as official interpreters of India to the ruling authorities continued well into the twentieth century. Many Indologists, including such highly regarded figures as H.H. Wilson and F.. Max Müller enjoyed the support and sponsorship of the ruling powers. It was their means of livelihood and they had to ensure that their masters were kept happy.     Though Jones was the pioneer, the dominant figure of colonial Indology was Max Müller, an impoverished German who found fame and fortune in England. While a scholar of great if undisciplined imagination, his lasting legacy has been the confusion he created by conflating race with language. He created the mythical Aryans that Indologists have been fighting over ever since. Scientists repeatedly denounced it, but Indologists were, and some still are, loathe to let go of it. As far back as 1939, Sir Julian Huxley, one of the great biologists of the twentieth century summed up the situation from a scientific point of view:       "In 1848 the young German scholar Friedrich Max Müller (1823 – 1900) settled in Oxford where he remained for the rest of his life… About 1853 he introduced into English usage the unlucky term Aryan, as applied to a large group of languages. His use of this Sanskrit word contains in itself two assumptions— one linguistic,… the other geographical. Of these the first is now known to be erroneous and the second now regarded as probably erroneous. [Sic: Now known to be definitely wrong.] Nevertheless, around each of these two assumptions a whole library of literature has arisen."     Moreover, Max Müller threw another apple of discord. He introduced a proposition that is demonstrably false. He spoke not only of a definite Aryan language and its descendants, but also of a corresponding ‘Aryan race’. The idea was rapidly taken up both in Germany and in England…     In England and America the phrase ‘Aryan race’ has quite ceased to be used by writers with scientific knowledge, though it appears occasionally in political and propagandist literature… In Germany, the idea of the ‘Aryan race’ received no more scientific support than in England. Nevertheless, it found able and very persistent literary advocates who made it appear very flattering to local vanity. It therefore steadily spread, fostered by special conditions. (Emphasis added.)     These ‘special conditions’ were the rise of Nazism in Germany and British imperial interests in India. Its perversion in Germany leading eventually to Nazi horrors is well known. The less known fact is how the British turned it into a political and propaganda tool to make Indians accept British rule. A recent BBC report acknowledged as much (October 6, 2005):     "It [Aryan invasion theory] gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier."     That is to say, the British presented themselves as ‘new and improved Aryans’ that were in India only to complete the work left undone by their ancestors in the hoary past. This is how the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin put it in the House of Commons in 1929:     "Now, after ages, …the two branches of the great Aryan ancestry have again been brought together by Providence… By establishing British rule in India, God said to the British, “I have brought you and the Indians together after a long separation, …it is your duty to raise them to their own level as quickly as possible …brothers as you are…”     Baldwin was only borrowing a page from the Jesuit missionary Robert de Nobili (1577 - 1656) who presented Christianity as a purer form of the Vedic religion to attract Hindu converts. Now, 300 years later, Baldwin and the British were telling Indians: “We are both Aryans but you have fallen from your high state, and we, the British are here to lift you from your fallen condition.” It is surprising that few historians seem to have noticed the obvious similarity.       In the circumstances it is hardly surprising that many of the ‘scholars’ of Indology should have had missionary links. In fact, one Colonel Boden even endowed a Sanskrit professorship at Oxford to facilitate the conversion of the natives to Christianity. (H.H. Wilson was the first Boden Professor followed by Monier Williams. Max Müller who coveted the position never got it. He remained bitter about it to the end of his life.)     It is widely held that Max Müller turned his back on his race theories when he began to insist that Aryan refers to language and never a race. The basis for this belief is the following famous statement he made in 1888:     "I have declared again and again that if I say Aryan, I mean neither blood nor bones, nor skull nor hair; I mean simply those who speak the Aryan language. … To me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan blood, Aryan race, Aryan eyes and hair is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar."     What lay behind this extraordinary vehemence from a man noted for his mild language? Was there something behind this echo of the Shakespearean “Methinks the lady doth protest too much”?     Huxley attributes Max Müller’s change of heart to the advice of his scientist friends. This is unlikely. To begin with, the science needed to refute his racial ideas did not exist at the time. Moreover, Max Müller didn’t know enough science to understand it even if it were explained it to him. The reasons for his flip flop, as always with him, were political followed by concern for his position in England, not necessarily in that order.     A closer examination of the record shows that Max Müller made the switch from race to language not in 1888 but in 1871. That incidentally was the year of German unification following Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War. Thereby hangs a tale. (1)     For more than twenty years, from 1848 to 1871, Max Müller had been a staunch German nationalist arguing for German unification. He was fond of publicity and made no secret of his political leanings in numerous letters and articles in British and European publications. German nationalists of course had embraced the notion of the Aryan nation and looked to scholars like Max Müller to provide intellectual justification. He was more than willing to cooperate.       Things changed almost overnight when Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War leading to German unification under the Prussian banner.. From a fragmented landscape of petty principalities, Germany became the largest and most powerful country in Europe and Britain’s strongest adversary. There was near hysteria in British Indian circles that Sanskrit studies had brought about German unification as the mighty ‘Aryan Nation’. Sir Henry Maine, a member of the Viceroy’s Council went so far as so claim “A nation has been born out of Sanskrit!”     The implication was clear, what happened in Germany could happen also in India, leading to a repeat of 1857 but with possibly a different result. All this was hysteria of the moment, but Max Müller the Aryan Sage, and outspoken German Nationalist faced a more immediate problem: how to save his position at Oxford? He had to shed his political baggage associated with the Aryan race and the Aryan Nation to escape any unfriendly scrutiny by his British patrons.     He could of course have gone along quietly but Max Müller being Max Müller, he had to strike a dramatic pose and display his new avatar as a staunch opponent of Aryan theories. In any event he was too much of a celebrity to escape unnoticed, any more than Michael Witzel or Romila Thapar could in our own time. So, within months of the proclamation of the German Empire (18 January 1871) Friedrich Max Müller marched into a university in Strasburg in German occupied France (Alsace) and dramatically denounced what he claimed were distortions of his old theories. He insisted that they were about languages and race had nothing to do with them.       He may have rejected his errors, but his followers, including many quacks and crackpots kept invoking his name in support of their own ideas. The climate in Oxford turned unfriendly and many former friends began to view him with suspicion. In fact, the situation became so bad that in 1875, he seriously contemplated resigning his position at Oxford and returning to Germany. Though there have been claims that this was because he was upset over the award of an honorary degree to his rival Monier-Williams, the more probable explanation is the discomfort resulting from his German nationalist past in the context of the changed situation following German unification.     The specter of Max Müller looms large over the colonial period of Indology though he is unknown in Germany today and all but forgotten in England. In fact his father Wilhem Müller, a very minor German poet is better known: a few of his poems were set to music by the great composer Franz Schubert. In his own time, Germans despised him for having turned his back on the ‘Aryan race’ to please his British masters. Indians though still revere him though no one today takes his theories seriously. One can get and idea of how he was seen by his contemporaries and immediate successors from the entry in the eleventh edition (1911) of the Encyclopædia Britannica:       "Though undoubtedly a great scholar, Max Müller did not so much represent scholarship pure and simple as her hybrid types— the scholar-author and the scholar-courtier. In the former capacity, though manifesting little of the originality of genius, he rendered vast service by popularizing high truths among high minds [and among the highly placed]. …There were drawbacks in both respects: the author was too prone to build on insecure foundations, and the man of the world incurred censure for failings which may perhaps be best indicated by the remark that he seemed too much of a diplomatist."     His contemporaries were less charitable. They charged that Max Müller had an eye “only for crowned heads.” His acquaintances included a large number of princes and potentates—with little claim to scholarship—with a maharaja or two thrown in. He was fortunate that the British monarchy was of German origin (Hanoverian) and Queen Victoria’s husband a German prince (Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). It was these more than fellow scholars that he cultivated. It proved valuable for his career, if not scholarship, for he had little difficulty in getting sponsors for his ambitious projects. He lived and died a rich man, drawing from his rival William Dwight Whitney the following envious if tasteless remark: (2)   "He has had his reward. No man was before ever so lavishly paid, in money and in fame, even for the most unexceptional performance of such a task. For personal gratitude in addition, there is not the slightest call. If Müller had never put his hand to the Veda, his fellow-students would have had the material they needed perhaps ten years earlier, and Vedic studies would be at the present moment proportionately advanced. …The original honorarium, of about £500 a volume, is well-nigh or quite unprecedented in the history of purely scholarly enterprises; and the grounds on which the final additional gift of £2000 was bestowed have never been made public."     Max Müller’s career illustrates how Indology and Sanskrit studies in the West have always been associated with politics at all levels. He was by no means the only ‘diplomatist’ scholar gracing colonial Indology, only the most successful. It is remarkable that though his contributions are all but forgotten, his political legacy endures. His successors in Europe and America have been reduced to play politics at a much lower level, but in India, his theories have had unexpected fallout in the rise of Dravidian politics. It is entirely proper that while his scholarly works (save for translations) have been consigned to the dustbin of history, his legacy endures in politics. This may prove to be true of Indology as a whole as an academic discipline.   Post colonial scene: passing of the Aryan gods     The post colonial era may conveniently be dated to 1950. In 1947 India became free and the great Aryan ‘Thousand Year Reich’ lay in ashes. In Europe at least the word Aryan came to acquire an infamy comparable to the word Jihadi today. Europeans, Germans in particular, were anxious to dissociate themselves from it. But there remained a residue of pre-war Indology (and associated race theories) that in various guises succeeded in establishing itself in academic centers mainly in the United States. Its most visible spokesman in recent times has been one Michael Witzel, a German expatriate like Max Müller, teaching in the Sanskrit Department at Harvard University in the United States. In an extraordinary replay of Max Müller’s political flip-flops Witzel too is better known for his political and propaganda activities than any scholarly contributions. Witzel’s recent campaigns, from attempts to introduce Aryan theories in California schools to his ill-fated tour of India where his scholarly deficiencies were exposed in public highlight the dependence of Indology on politics.       While the field of Indo-European Studies has been struggling to survive on the fringes of academia, lately it has become the subject critical analysis by scholars in Europe and America. Unlike Indians who treat the field and its practitioners with a degree of respect, European scholars have not hesitated to call a spade a spade, treating it as a case of pathological scholarship with racist links to Nazi ideology. This may be attributed to the fact that Europeans have seen and experienced its horrors while Indians have only read about it.     In a remarkable article, “Aryan Mythology As Science And Ideology” (Journal of the American Academy of Religion1999; 67: 327-354) the Swedish scholar Stefan Arvidsson raises the question: “Today it is disputed whether or not the downfall of the Third Reich brought about a sobering among scholars working with 'Aryan' religions.” We may rephrase the question: “Did the end of the Nazi regime put an end to race based theories in academia?”       An examination of several humanities departments in the West suggests otherwise: following the end of Nazism, academic racism may have undergone a mutation but did not entirely disappear. Ideas central to the Aryan myth resurfaced in various guises under labels like Indology and Indo-European Studies. This is clear from recent political, social and academic episodes in places as far apart as Harvard University and the California State Board of Education. But there was an interregnum of sorts before Aryan theories again raised their heads in West.     Two decades after the end of the Nazi regime, racism underwent another mutation as a result of the American Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King. Thanks to the Civil Rights Movement, Americans were made to feel guilty about their racist past and the indefensible treatment of African Americans. U.S. academia also changed accordingly and any discourse based on racial stereotyping became taboo. Soon this taboo came to be extended to Native Americans, Eskimos and other ethnic groups.     In this climate of seeming liberal enlightenment, one race theory continued to flourish as if nothing had changed. Theories based on the Aryan myth that formed the core of Nazi ideology continued in various guises, as previously noted, in Indology and Indo-European Studies. Though given a linguistic and sometimes a cultural veneer, these racially sourced ideas continue to enjoy academic respectability in such prestigious centers as Harvard and Chicago.       Being a European transplant, its historical trajectory was different from the one followed by American racism. Further, unlike the Civil Rights Movement, which had mass support, academic racism remained largely confined to academia. This allowed it to escape public scrutiny for several decades until it clashed with the growing Hindu presence in the United States. Indians, Hindus in particular saw Western Indology and Indo-European Studies as a perversion of their history and religion and a thinly disguised attempt to prejudice the American public, especially the youth, against India and Hinduism to serve their academic interests.       The fact that Americans of Indian origin are among the most educated group ensured that their objections could not be brushed away by ‘haughty dismissals’ as the late historian of science Abraham Seidenberg put it. Nonetheless, scholars tried to use academic prestige as a bludgeon in forestalling debate, by denouncing their adversaries as ignorant chauvinists and bigots unworthy of debate. But increasingly, hard evidence from archaeology, natural history and genetics made it impossible to ignore the objections of their opponents, many of whom (like this writer) were scientists. But in November 2005, there came a dramatic denouement, in, of all places, California schools. Academics suddenly found it necessary to leave their ivory towers and fight it out in the open, in full media glare— and under court scrutiny.       It is unnecessary to go into the details of the now discredited campaign by Michael Witzel and his associates trying to stop the removal of references to the Aryans and their invasion from California school books. What is remarkable is that a senior tenured professor at Harvard of German origin should concern himself with how Hinduism is taught to children in California. Witzel is a linguist, but he presumed to tell California schools how Hinduism should be taught to children. It turned out that Hinduism was only a cover, and his concern was saving the Aryan myth from being erased from books.     Ever since he moved to Harvard from Germany, Witzel has seen the fortunes of his department and his field, gradually sink into irrelevance. Problems at Harvard are part of a wider problem in Western academia in the field of Indo-European Studies. As previously noted, several ‘Indology’ departments—as they are sometimes called—are shutting down across Europe. One of the oldest and most prestigious, at Cambridge University in England, has just closed down. This was followed by the closure of the equally prestigious Berlin Institute of Indology founded way back in 1821. Positions like the one Witzel holds (Wales Professor of Sanskrit) were created during the colonial era to serve as interpreters of India. They have lost their relevance and are disappearing from academia. This was the real story, not teaching Hinduism to California children.       Witzel’s California misadventure appears to have been an attempt to somehow save his pet Aryan theories from oblivion by making it part of Indian history and civilization in the school curriculum. Otherwise, it is hard to see why a senior, tenured professor at Harvard should go to all this trouble, lobbying California school officials to have its Grade VI curriculum changed to reflect his views.       To follow this it is necessary to go beyond personalities and understand the importance of the Aryan myth to Indo-European Studies. The Aryan myth is a European creation. It has nothing to do with Hinduism. The campaign against Hinduism was a red herring to divert attention from the real agenda, which was and remains saving the Aryan myth. Collapse of the Aryan myth means the collapse of Indo-European studies. This is what Witzel and his colleagues are trying to avert. For them it is an existential struggle.     Americans and even Indians for the most part are unaware of the enormous influence of the Aryan myth on European history and imagination. Central to Indo-European Studies is the belief—it is no more than a belief—that Indian civilization was created by an invading race of ‘Aryans’ from an original homeland somewhere in Eurasia or Europe. This is the Aryan invasion theory dear to Witzel and his European colleagues, and essential for their survival. According to this theory there was no civilization in India before the Aryan invaders brought it— a view increasingly in conflict with hard evidence from archaeology and natural history.       In this academic and political conundrum it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the Aryan myth is a modern European creation. It has little to do with ancient India. The word Arya appears for the first time in the Rig Veda, India’s oldest text. Its meaning is obscure but it seems to refer to members of a settled agricultural community. It later became an honorific and a form of address, something like ‘Gentleman’ in English or ‘Monsieur’ in French. Also, it was nowhere as important in India as it came to be in Europe. In the whole the Rig Veda, in all of its ten books, the word Arya appears only about forty times. In contrast, Hitler’s Mein Kampf uses the term Arya and Aryan many times more. Hitler did not invent it. The idea of Aryans as a superior race was already in the air— in Europe, not India. (3)     It is interesting to contrast Witzel’s political campaigns against Max Müller’s. Where Max Müller hobnobbed with Indian and European aristocracy including princes and Maharajas, Witzel has had to content himself waiting on California schoolteachers and bureaucrats. These were his masters who held the keys to his career and reputation. It may be no more than a reflection of changed circumstances and the loss of power and prestige of the aristocracy but the contrasts are nonetheless striking.     No less striking is the contrast between their legacy and reputation.. While we may look at Max Müller’s foibles and failures with amused tolerance and appreciate his monumental work in compiling the fifty-volume Sacred Books of the East, Witzel’s name is unlikely to command any respect much less affection. In addition to his support for the Aryan theories and the California campaign, Witzel is known for his association with the notorious Indo-Eurasian Research (IER), which has been accused of a hate campaign against the Hindus.     An article that appeared the New Delhi daily The Pioneer (December 25, 2005) began: “Boorish comments denigrating India, Hindus and Hinduism by a self-proclaimed ‘Indologist’ who is on the faculty of Harvard University has unleashed a fierce debate over the increasing political activism of ’scholars’ who teach at this prestigious American university. Prof Michael Witzel, Wales professor of Sanskrit at Harvard, is in the centre of the storm because he tried to prevent the removal of references to India, Hinduism and Sikhism in the curriculum followed by schools in California which parents of Indian origin found to be inadequate, inaccurate or just outright insensitive.”       The author of The Pioneer article (Kanchan Gupta) went on to observe: “Witzel declared Hindu-Americans to be "lost" or "abandoned", parroting anti-Semite slurs against Jewish people. Coincidence or symptom? Witzel's fantasies are ominously reminiscent of WWII German genocide. He says that 'Since they won't be returning to India, [Hindu immigrants to the USA] have begun building crematoria as well. … Witzel demeans the daughters of Indian-American parents, who take the trouble to learn their heritage through traditional art forms. In the worst of racist slander, Witzel claims that Indian classical music and dance reflect low moral standards.”     One cannot imagine any publication today, let alone in India, write in this vein about Max Müller, whatever one may feel about his politics and scholarship. Nor can one imagine Max Müller write in the style of Witzel about India or anyone else.       It must be recorded that Max Müller was emphatically not a racist. He was also a man of exemplary humility in dealing with fellow scholars.. In a letter to the Nepalese scholar and Sanskrit poet Pandit Chavilal (undated but written probably just before 1900) Max Müller wrote:     "I am surprised at your familiarity with Sanskrit. We [Europeans] have to read but never to write Sanskrit. To you it seems as easy as English or Latin to us… We can admire all the more because we cannot rival, and I certainly was filled with admiration when I read but a few pages of your Sundara Charita."     This reflects great credit on Max Müller as a scholar. One has to wonder if his present day counterparts are capable of such exemplary humility. Certainly none was in evidence during Michael Witzel’s recent disastrous lecture tour of India where he was severely embarrassed by schoolchildren and scholars alike, where he was shown to be completely at sea with basic rules of Sanskrit grammar. More than a hundred years ago, Max Müller declined invitations to visit India probably because he sensed that a similar fate awaited him. He chose discretion over bravado.     The decline from Max Müller to Witzel serves as a metaphor for the decline of Indology itself in our time.   State of Sanskrit studies in the West     In recent months there have been cries of ‘Sanskrit in danger of disappearing’ from Sanskrit professors and other Indologists in Western academia. This is certainly true in their own case, but their next claim that they need more funding (what else?) to reverse the decline must be taken with a large grain of salt. Sanskrit existed and flourished for thousands of years before Indology and Indologists came into existence, and will no doubt continue to exist without them. If Sanskrit ever faces extinction, it will be for reasons of social and political developments in India and not due to lack of funds for Indologists in the West. They can no more save Sanskrit than Indian scholars can save classical Greek.     We may now take a moment to assess the contribution of Western Sanskritists from an Indian perspective. For those who believe that Western scholarship has made a major contribution to Sanskrit, such people are not limited to the West, here is an objective measure to consider: Indians began studying English (and other European languages) about the same time that Europeans began their study of Sanskrit. Many Indians have attained distinction as writers in English. But there is not a single piece in Sanskrit—not even a shloka (verse)—by a Western Sanskritist that has found a place in any anthology. This was acknowledged by no less an authority than Max Müller in passage quoted at the end of the previous section.       These are not the people who can ‘save’ Sanskrit, even if it needs to be saved. Sanskrit is India’s responsibility just as Greek and Latin are Europe’s. Let them study Sanskrit just as Indians should study Greek, but it is too much to expect a few sanctuaries in the West protect and nurture a great and ancient tradition when they are having a hard time saving themselves.       The principal contribution of the West has been in bringing out editions of ancient works like the Rigveda and translations like Max Müller’s monumental fifty volume Sacred Books of the East. These too have their limitations.   Summary and conclusions     We may now conclude that that Western Indology is in steep decline and may well become extinct in a generation. The questions though go beyond Indology. Sanskrit is the foundation of Indo-European Studies. If Sanskrit departments close, what will take their place? Will these departments now teach Icelandic, Old Norse or reconstructed Proto Indo-European? Will they attract students? Can Indo-European Studies survive without Sanskrit? A more sensible course would be for Indian and Western scholars to collaborate and build an empirically based study of ancient Indian and European languages— free of dogma and free of politics.     A basic problem is that for reasons that have little to do with objective scholarship, Indologists have been trying to remove Sanskrit from the special space it occupies in the study of Indo-European languages and replace it something called Proto-Indo-European of PIE. This is like replacing Hebrew with a hypothetical Proto-Semitic language in Biblical Studies. This PIE has literally proven to be a pie in the sky and the whole field is now on the verge of collapse. The resulting vacuum has to be filled by a scholarship that is both sound and empirical, based on existing languages like Sanskrit, Greek and the like. Additionally, Indian scholars will have look more to the east and search for linguistic and other links to the countries and cultures of Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and others that have historic ties to India of untold antiquity.     NOTES AND REFERENCES (1) This is explained in more detail in this writer’s The Politics of History and also in Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization, Third Edition, by Navaratna Rajaram and David Frawley, both published by Voice of India, New Delhi. Some recent developments may be found in Sarasvati River and the Vedic Civilization by N.S. Rajaram, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi. For the record the full name of Max Müller was Friedrich Maximillian Müller, but he is better known as Max Müller, the name used also by his descendants.   (2) Max Müller’s aristocratic Indian friends included the Raja of Venkatagiri (who partly financed his edition of the Rigveda) as well as Dwarakanath Tagore, the grandfather of the Nobel laureate Rabindranath. When Max Müller was a struggling scholar in Paris, Tagore helped him with Sanskrit as well as financially. He knew also British and European nobility having met Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In his early years his patrons included Dwarakanath Tagore and Baron Bunsen, the Prussian Ambassador to Britain. It is a tribute to Max Müller’s personality and liberal character that he could attract the friendship of such a wide range of people.   (3) It should be noted that the Nazis appropriated their ideas and symbols from European mythology, not India. Hitler’s Aryans worshipped Apollo and Odin, not Vedic deities like Indra and Varuna. His Swastika was also the European ‘Hakenkreuz’ or hooked cross and not the Indian svasti symbol. It was seen in Germany for the first time when General von Luttwitz’s notorious Erhardt Brigade marched into Berlin from Lithuania in support of the abortive Kapp Putsch of 1920. The Erhardt Brigade was one of several freebooting private armies during the years following Germany’s defeat in World War I. They had the covert support of the Wehrmacht (Army headquarters).   http://www.sanghparivar.org/blog/rkm/decline-of-indology-in-the-west-from-max-m-ller-to-witzel       From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 23 15:33:55 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:03:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <282189.19777.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8783.11378.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear AKM   Depending on the severity of the crime and/or evaluation of the "psyche" and severity of "indoctrination" of the guilty person, "sentenced to prison for life without any possibility of remission of sentence" is an option.   I do believe however that (generally speaking) if the prison sentence does not lead to "reforming" a convict out of the criminal habits or tendencies then there is something seriously lacking in the "prisoner management".   The example of the "Kandhar Exchange" is not an appropiate one. It was an Executive-Decision made under unique circumstances.   Kshmendra     --- On Wed, 9/23/09, A.K. Malik wrote: From: A.K. Malik Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "Sarai List" Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 12:32 AM So that the fellow can repeat whatever he has done earlier when the fellow gets freed after serving the jail term or gets freedom after Kaandhar like incidents and kills more people. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 9/22/09, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "A.K. Malik" , "Murali V" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 7:39 PM >   > Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should > use "Death" as a penalty.  > > --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V > wrote: > > > From: Murali V > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to > Death > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM > > > Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as > far as Afzal Guru is concerned. > > Murali > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K.. Malik > wrote: > > Hi All, > >        A little more for info: > > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy > petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as per > SC verdict they have a right to get the death sentence > commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting for > long for their death sentence to be executed. > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik > wrote: > > > >> From: A.K. Malik > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners > sent to Death > >> To: "Sarai List" > >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM > >> Hi All, > >>            News > Item > >> FYI > >> "The Supreme Court has advised the government > to > >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners > sentenced > >> to death and not to use human beings "as > pawns in furthering > >> some larger political or government policy". > As many as > >> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack > convict > >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision > on >  their > >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government > that any > >> delay in decision would amount to violation of > condemned > >> prisoners' right to life with dignity." > >> > >> (A.K..MALIK) > >> > >> > >> > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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. > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >> List archive: > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > > http://mail.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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > >        From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 23 15:38:28 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:08:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <4eab87870909222355yc047d5cua3c7bd88dfa6c11@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <240871.69768.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Murali   Yes, I would agree with that being the better option. (Depending on the severity of the crime and/or evaluation of the "psyche" and severity of "indoctrination" of the guilty person)   Kshmendra  --- On Wed, 9/23/09, Murali V wrote: From: Murali V Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "A.K. Malik" , "Sarai List" Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 12:25 PM If that be the case then the life sentence should also be modified to clearly state "Till death in Prison" as currently for life term it is 14 years and there can also be no mercy plea for release. Regards, V Murali On Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 7:39 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote:   Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should use "Death" as a penalty.  --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V wrote: From: Murali V Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death To: "A.K. Malik" Cc: "Sarai List" Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as far as Afzal Guru is concerned. Murali On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K.. Malik wrote: > Hi All, >        A little more for info: > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose mercy petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as per SC verdict they have a right to get the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting for long for their death sentence to be executed. > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik wrote: > >> From: A.K. Malik >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death >> To: "Sarai List" >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM >> Hi All, >>            News Item >> FYI >> "The Supreme Court has advised the government to >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of prisoners sentenced >> to death and not to use human beings "as pawns in furthering >> some larger political or government policy". As many as >> death row prisoners, including Parliament attack convict >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a decision on their >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the government that any >> delay in decision would amount to violation of condemned >> prisoners' right to life with dignity." >> >> (A.K..MALIK) >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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. >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> List archive: > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 23 19:13:46 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:43:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "LeT militant kills girl" (on Eid day) Message-ID: <53716.43332.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> The report says "The murders appear to be a re-run of an incident in Swat valley in Pakistan ..."   It well might be. But there have been many such killings by the "Aazadi" supporters in J&K in the last two decades apart from the abduction of girls at gunpoint and forcing them into marriage.   Kshmendra     "LeT militant kills girl" Srinagar, September 21 Little did a 16-year-old girl know that her life will be snuffed out on the Id festival today for no fault of hers.   As the first rays of the sun shone in the valley, it was the last day of Dilshada who was killed by a LeT militant in her home for spurning his advances. The shocking incident took place in the Batpora-Akhaal area in Kanganarea, 40 km from here.   The police claimed that as per the initial probe, the militant, identified as Babar, had been stalking the girl and was pressurising her to marry him.   However, as soon as the news of her proposed engagement with a surrendered militant of Hizbul Mujahideen Dilwar Gaghi spread, the Lashker terrorist decided to take revenge and barged into the home of early morning killing on the spot.   The victim's sister - 14-year-old Rohee - who was hit in her right hand was injured in the attack.   The locality, which should have been buzzing with Id festivities, could only hear cries and wails as mourners poured into the residence of Abdul Ahad Khan to offer their condolences.   Earlier this year, Hizbul Mujahideen militants murdered a woman's husband Ejaz, mother Taja Begum and father-in-law in May in Mahore area, 120 km from Jammu. The fault of the groom was that he had married a girl whom a Hizb commander had wished to marry.   The murders appear to be a re-run of an incident in Swat valley in Pakistan, where Taliban militants brutally lashed a young girl in public after she refused to marry one of their members. — PTI From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Sep 24 12:48:40 2009 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:48:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Required Director | Indian Institute of Dalit Studies | Delhi In-Reply-To: <151f29c00909220143o7a6e4cddp430efb56ed5c1aba@mail.gmail.com> References: <151f29c00909220143o7a6e4cddp430efb56ed5c1aba@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Vasudha Dhingra Date: Sep 22, 2009 2:13 PM Subject: [Opportunity727] Required Director | Indian Institute of Dalit Studies | Delhi To: *Indian Institute of Dalit Studies* *D-II/1, Road No- 4, Andrews Ganj, New Delhi-110049 Tel: * <쓤Ƌ> * * * +91-11-26252082 ** * * +91-11-26252082, 26251808, Fax: +91-11-26252082 * *9 September 2009 * *Position of Director* Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) is a social science centre, which exclusively focuses on development concerns of the marginalised groups and socially excluded communities (http://dalitstudies.org.in). IIDS invites applications from distinguished social scientists for the position of Director. The Director will be responsible to lead, support, and guide the entire research, administration and other functions of the Institute. The candidate should have high quality published research work with an experience of 10 years in teaching and/ or research, and administrative, at University / national level Institutions/ Government. Research experience particularly on the marginalized groups, issue of inequality, poverty, discrimination and similar issues, though not essential, is a desirable qualification for the position. The position of Director is of the Professor level. Salary will be equivalent to the revised UGC scale plus other allowances. The appointment shall be for a period of three years with further renewal. Interested candidates may send their application with a copy of their CV to the Administrative Coordinator, on the e-mail address admin at dalitstudies.org.inwithin three weeks from the date of advertisement. -- Thanks and regards, Vasudha Dhingra PhD candidate, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences building, Second Floor, University of Delhi, North Campus, New Delhi - 110007 Mobile: +919711883191 From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 24 13:31:03 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:01:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98Discuss_FTA_in_Parliament?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <3457ce860909201025y46076ff2ue0a69df74b25e03@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <499885.3962.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Peter   Why would any imported fish be cheaper than that caught and sold by the local 'fishing community across the country' ?   "Imported Fish" would have the additional costs of Long DistanceTransportation; Refrigeration; Financial Transaction Costs (Bank charges).   There must be something I am missing out on that would make the "Imported Fish" cheaper and would "impoverish" and "push the fishing community into a crisis". Perhaps you could clarify.   Thanks   Kshmendra   --- On Sun, 9/20/09, T Peter wrote: From: T Peter Subject: [Reader-list] ‘Discuss FTA in Parliament’ To: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 10:55 PM *‘Discuss FTA in Parliament’ * *Date:20/09/2009* *URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/20/stories/2009092053990300.htm* Staff Reporter    KOLLAM: Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation State president T. Peter has demanded that the Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) be comprehensively discussed in Parliament before being implemented. He was inaugurating a seminar on ‘ASEAN agreement and its concerns along the Kerala coast’ on Saturday. The seminar was organised by the Kerala Matsysthozhilali Kshema Samithi. Mr. Peter said the fishing community across the country feared that the implementation of the agreement would impoverish them as 117 species of edible fish caught and sold by them would be imported into the country on a large scale. This would push the fishing community into a crisis. He called upon all members of the community to shed their political differences and come forward to oppose the agreement. He demanded that all MPs from the State present the concerns of the community over the agreement in Parliament. The Chief Minister should take an all-party delegation and meet the Prime Minister in this connection, he said. Mr. Peter said fishermen would soon launch strong agitations against the agreement. Samithi president Jose Vimal Raj presided. _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 24 15:24:33 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:54:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: <8783.11378.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <650764.80965.qm@web112104.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Kaul, As the things stand today, there doen't seem to be a chance of "prison management" being substantially different than what it is today. It would generally depend on civil society's general standards which are on the decline currently with honest and truthful suffering in front of your eyes and the others making merry. 2.If the convicted persons remain in prison, the risk of "Kandhaar" like situations would always loom large in a bid to get the fellows freed by his/her gang members. How the files are kept pending for years for political vested interests is anyone's imagination? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Wed, 9/23/09, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 3:33 PM > Dear AKM >   > Depending on the severity of the crime and/or > evaluation of the "psyche" and severity of > "indoctrination" of the guilty person, > "sentenced to prison for life without any possibility > of remission of sentence" is an option.. >   > I do believe however that (generally speaking) if the > prison sentence does not lead to "reforming" a > convict out of the criminal habits or tendencies then there > is something seriously lacking in the "prisoner > management".. >   > The example of the "Kandhar Exchange" is not > an appropiate one. It was an Executive-Decision made under > unique circumstances. >   > Kshmendra >   >   > > --- On Wed, 9/23/09, A.K. Malik > wrote: > > > From: A.K. Malik > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to > Death > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" > > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 12:32 AM > > > So that the fellow can repeat > whatever he has done earlier when the fellow gets freed > after serving the jail term or gets freedom after Kaandhar > like incidents and kills more people. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Tue, 9/22/09, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners > sent to Death > > To: "A.K. Malik" , > "Murali V" > > Cc: "Sarai List" > > Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 7:39 PM > >   > > Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should > > use "Death" as a penalty.  > > > > --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V > > > wrote: > > > > > > From: Murali V > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of > Prisoners sent to > > Death > > To: "A.K. Malik" > > Cc: "Sarai List" > > Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM > > > > > > Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as > > far as Afzal Guru is concerned. > > > > Murali > > > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K.. Malik > > wrote: > > > Hi All, > > >        A little more for > info: > > > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose > mercy > > petitions is pending before > the President is 26 and as per > > SC verdict they have a right to get the death > sentence > > commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting > for > > long for their death sentence to be executed. > > > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik > > wrote: > > > > > >> From: A.K. Malik > > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of > Prisoners > > sent to Death > > >> To: "Sarai List" > > >> Date: > Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM > > >> Hi All, > > >>         >    News > > Item > > >> FYI > > >> "The Supreme Court has advised the > government > > to > > >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of > prisoners > > sentenced > > >> to death and not to use human beings > "as > > pawns in furthering > > >> some larger political or government > policy". > > As many as > > >> death row prisoners, including Parliament > attack > > convict > > >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a > decision > > on > >  their > > >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the > government > > that any > > >> delay in decision would amount to violation > of > > condemned > > >> prisoners' right to life with > dignity." > > >> > > >> (A.K..MALIK) > > >> > > > >> > > >> > > >> _________________________________________ > > >> 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. > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > >> List archive: > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > Tired of spam? >  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > > protection around > > > http://mail.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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: > > _________________________________________ > > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > >        > > > > > > > From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 24 16:09:04 2009 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:39:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "Khayal Darpan" screening in Delhi and Kabul Message-ID: <371907.53150.qm@web51410.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear friends Those of you who are in Delhi or Kabul this Saturday, here is an opportunity to watch my documentary film "Khayal Darpan - A Mirror of Imagination" and participate in a discussion. Film: Khayal Darpan An Indian filmmaker's journey through classical music in Pakistan Duration: 100 mins, Language: Urdu/Hindi with English subtitles In Delhi: (as part of STEP's Jashn-e-Aman) Venue: Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (Auditorium), New Delhi Time: 5:15 pm, 26th September, 2009 (Saturday) Followed by a discussion In Kabul: (as part of 2nd International Music Festival of Kabul) Venue: Lycee Esteqlal, French Culture Centre, Kabul, Afghanistan Time: 3 pm Kabul's festival also includes a live performance by Pakistani classical vocalist Naseeruddin Saami (featured in Khayal Darpan) on 27th September at 5 pm (at the same venue). More details about "Khayal Darpan" can be seen at www.khayaldarpan.info or www.ektara.org Thanks From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Sep 20 11:42:19 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:12:19 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] TransREEL.com : The First Trans Only Video Distribution For the Web Message-ID: <8CC07D071D6ED3C-2B00-6E24@webmail-m098.sysops.aol.com> Transreel.com is the first of its kind film distribution company featuring films by and about transgender and gender variant individuals. Transgender, Transexual, Gender Variant, Gender Queer, Trans Art, Trans Film, Transgender film, Transexual Film. SUBMISSIONS Transreel.com is the first of its kind film distribution company featuring films by and about transgender and gender variant individuals. Transreel.com is an online Pay-Per-View distribution company where your films will be available worldwide and you get paid, but it is also a place to archive this important history in the making. The launching of transreel.com is scheduled for November 20, 2009 (trans day of remembrance). We are looking for shorts and feature length films made by trans people or about trans people. Films can be of almost any genre and although films may have adult content we are not excepting porn. We are looking to accept a wide range of films from all over the world, so please submit whatever you have. Transreel.com may suggest pro bono editing, color correction, sound sweetening, etc. to make sure your video is at it's best for public viewing. This is optional, but please note that video Pay Per View pricing will be based on content and quality of the video. Options for Submission 1. CHECK US OUT ON WITHOUT A BOX. ( https://www.withoutabox.com/login/8436) This option is easy because it is all online. It will cost $15 for every entry. This money goes directly to transreel.com to support us in our work. (activated soon!) 2. Second option is to send the attached PDF ( http://transreel.com/PDFs/SubmissionForm.pdf ) with your DVD (or VHS). Mail submissions are also $15 for every entry. If you need sliding scale, please read the PDF for directions. Thank you for your participation. Ethan Bach, Founder From contactus at indiaifa.org Tue Sep 22 15:13:04 2009 From: contactus at indiaifa.org (India Foundation for the Arts) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:13:04 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Naseeruddin Shah in Bangalore, Oct 2nd & 3rd Message-ID: <20090922094304.122B239803E@mdreg2.mailserve.net>     PRESTIGE GROUP Presents    Katha Collage & Ismat Apa Ke Naam - II In Support of India Foundation for the Arts Chowdiah Memorial Hall – October 2 & 3, 2009   Produced and Directed by Naseeruddin Shah Katha Collage:  2nd October, 2009 Directed by Naseeruddin Shah     Language: Hindustani   Duration: 1hr 45 min Cast: Imaad Shah, Jameel Khan, Om, Manoj Pahwa, Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Pahwa,    There are three classic tales in Katha Collage 1.  Bade Bhai Saheb (Elder Brother) written by Premchand Munshi is a tale of two brothers, narrated in the first person by the younger (the carefree, irresponsible but unknowingly brilliant one) about his older sibling, (the dour, studious but irredeemably mediocre one) is a study of contrasts of many kinds: a contrast of mindsets and approaches to life; a contrast of tradition and modernity, and a contrast of natural brilliance and natural dullness. 2.  Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players) by Premchand Munshi is a delicious satire set in the days just prior to 1857, about two indulgent feudal lords obsessed with the game of chess at the cost of everything else, personal or political, has uncanny echoes of the modern day apathy of most of us. The fate that catches up with these decadent gentlemen is one which probably awaits all those who refuse to be drawn into taking a stand about anything except their own misguided sense of pride.  3.  Sankraman (The Circle of Life) by Kamtanath is a tale about how, most of us on hitting middle age, are often startled by memory flashes of our own parents and by how similar to them we have unconsciously begun to sound or look or behave. This play portrays the pungent, straight-from-the-heart points of view of a man, his wife and their son are set in a middle class home of Uttar Pradesh, but are representatives of parents and progeny anywhere.   Ismat Apa Ke Naam -II :  3rd October, 2009 Directed by Naseeruddin Shah     Language: Hindustani   Duration: 1hr 50 min Cast: Manoj Pawah, Lovleen Mishra & Seema Pawah   There are three stories of the best Urdu writer Ismat Chugtai in Ismat Apa Ke Naam – II    1.  Amar Bel is a wonderful tale of how a thing of beauty that one has only thought in dreams when possessed gives you the epitome of delight but gradually becomes the pain in the neck because you cannot match its charm.   2.  Nanni Ki Naani is a heartfelt story of an old woman who survives all pains and odds of life but succumbs to something which, otherwise, one would term immaterial.   3.  Do Haath is about a pair of helping hands which is only a pair of helping hands and nothing but a pair of helping hands.   Co- Sponsor  - UTI,  Hospitality Partner – The Park,  Ground Partner - Cafe Coffee Day, Online Partner - www.indianstage.in   Donations received through this performance will be used by  IFA to continue its grant-making in the arts. Entry for the performance through donations of Rs 2000/- and Rs.1000/- call Joyce at 2341 4681/82/83 between 10 am to 5 pm or email  joyce at indiaifa.org.  Exciting Offer: All 'Friends of IFA' call Menaka at 2341 4681/82/83 or email her at menaka at indiaifa.org for details. Entry for the performance through online donations available at www.indianstage.in   For Door Delivery please call – 9880036611 Entry for the performance through donations of Rs 500/-  and Rs.300/- will be available from September 24th onwards at the following Cafe Coffee Day outlets.   Jayanagar - Garla Garnet, Phone: 65391012 Koramangala - BPCL, Phone: 64541184 Indiranagar, 100 Ft. Road, Phone: 64528290 Lavelle Road, Phone: 64511535 Malleswaram, Phone: 64511532 Brigade Road, Windsor House, Phone: 64541160 Super Market , 5th Avenue, Brigade Road, Phone: 25581248/25580392       From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 23 16:03:26 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:33:26 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] IGNOU is Inviting Applications For Establishing Programme Study Centers in Performing and Visual Arts. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CC0A506B4D8FFF-39D0-F2BF@webmail-m052.sysops.aol.com> Dear all Ignou is inviting applications for establishing Programme Study Centers in Performing and Visual Arts. Please find the add in the attachements. Yours Dr.Govindaraju Bharadwaza Reader School of Performing and Visual Arts IGNOU New Delhi From seminargroupanthro at gmail.com Wed Sep 23 16:56:09 2009 From: seminargroupanthro at gmail.com (Seminar group) Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:56:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] special lecture Message-ID: Research Seminar Group Department of Anthropology Universitry of Delhi Dear All, This is to inform that a special lecture by Dr. Bapuli( Director CFSL Ranchi, Jharkhand) on 'Application of science and technology in homicide investigation: Insight from case studies" will be delivered on Thursday, 24th september, 2009 at 2.45PM in the Department. All are welcome. Dr. Renu Tyagi Dr. Manoj Kr. Singh Secretary Co-Convener Reply Reply to all Forward From naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com Thu Sep 24 22:20:09 2009 From: naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com (Naeem Mohaiemen) Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:50:09 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Chris Marker Rescheduled Message-ID: Chris Marker screening, in conjunction with the "Live True Life" project, has been re-scheduled-- instead of Sep 24, it is now on Oct 6, in order to have Prerana Reddy join us for post-film discussion. ++++++++++++++++ NYU’s PROGRAM FOR ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN STUDIES presents: Asian American Visual Cultures inaugural event ARTISTS ON FILM: THE CASE OF THE GRINNING CAT (dir. Chris Marker, 2004), 59 min. Followed by a discussion between Prerana Reddy & Naeem Mohaiemen 7pm, Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 Room 471, 20 Cooper Square (Bowery and East 4th) FREE ++++++++++++++++ More details on Marker screening: THE CASE OF THE GRINNING CAT In 2001, shortly after the attack on the World Trade Center, a yellow cat appeared from nowhere in Paris. Stencils of this smiling feline began to crop up on the city’s walls, sidewalks and demonstration placards. Who was Monsieur Chat and what did he represent? For Chris Marker, director of such classic cine-essays as ‘La Jetee’, ‘Sans Soleil’ and ‘The Last Bolshevik’, and whose 1977 film ‘Grin Without A Cat’ included a provocative claim that “a cat is never on the side of power”, these mysterious eruptions of feline graphology became an occasion to embark on a series of drifts and peregrinations through the French capital. Everywhere turbulence reigned: the streets were clogged with marches against the war in Iraq, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the casualisation of labor. The Case of the Grinning Cats, shot over three years, is a city symphony, a diary film, and a witty and associative meditation on political idealism – its necessity, blind spots, melancholia. ++++++++++++++++ The screening will be presented by Naeem Mohaiemen, who will be discussing the film with Prerana Reddy, in relation to the project "Live True Life or Die Trying" at Cue Art Foundation. Prerana Reddy is Director of Public Events at Queens Museum of Art. She is a member of 3rd I NY, which exhibits South Asian film & video on a monthly basis, and a member of the South Asian Solidarity Initiative, which works with progressive organizations in South Asia. She is also board member of Alwan for the Arts, a Middle East and Arab cultural space in Lower Manhattan. She has worked as documentary filmmaker exploring such topics as World Social Forum (w/ Jawad Metni & Naeem Mohaiemen) and alternatives to juvenile detention. Naeem Mohaiemen's projects include "My Mobile Weighs A Ton" (http://mobileton.wordpress.com at Gallery Chitrak, Dhaka), "Otondro Prohori, Guarding Who" (at National Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka), and "Kazi in Nomansland" (Lines of Control group project at Dubai/Karachi). His essays include “Islamic Roots of Hip-Hop” in ‘Sound Unbound’ (MIT Press) and “Adman Blues Becomes Artist Liberation” in ‘Indian Highway’ (Serpentine Gallery). "Live True Life" is his current project in New York. ++++++++++++++++ "Live True Life or Die Trying" runs at Cue until 10/31. Open Tue-Sat, 10-6 http://cueartfoundation.org From indersalim at gmail.com Fri Sep 25 14:12:51 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:12:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] EVOKING NAZIR, performance-presentation and photographs from kashmir at The Loft Mumbai Message-ID: <47e122a70909250142v6820259aga1f772d644cfc653@mail.gmail.com> Dear all please press to read and do join if in Mumbai http://singularitease.blogspot.com The Loft, Lower Parel, Mumbai, on 26th 6.30 sharp the exhibtion will remain open till 5th of Oct http://www.theloft.in/index.html love regards inder salim -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From pheeta.ram at gmail.com Sat Sep 26 00:44:39 2009 From: pheeta.ram at gmail.com (Pheeta Ram) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:44:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] I don't know but i am increasingly being reminded of Spanish Civil War, of Caudwell... Message-ID: <5bedab660909251214t19288e8fo990edc8220920412@mail.gmail.com> FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne031009coverstory.asp I don't know why but i am increasingly being reminded of Spanish Civil War of the 1930s...of Caudwell ...of Orwell...of Lorca............ From javedmasoo at gmail.com Sat Sep 26 10:34:49 2009 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:34:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Banks_shy_away_from_revealing_big_?= =?windows-1252?q?defaulters=92_names?= Message-ID: Banks shy away from revealing big defaulters’ names C Unnikrishnan I TNN ( TOI 21.9.2009 pg 2 ) Mumbai: Although a Union finance minister had once described the rising non-performing assets (NPA) of nationalised banks as a loot, public sector banks are unwilling to divulge the names of those who have defaulted on huge loans. None of the 25 public sector banks who were asked to name big defaulters under the Right to Information Act (RTI), did so. Sixteen of these banks merely gave figures of the outstandings, while nine refused to even reply. According to information provided under RTI, the banks have written off over Rs 15,000 crore in the period 2003-2008. The banks reasoned that furnishing the names is not in public interest and is an invasion into the privacy of borrowers. The RTI application was filed by Borivili resident Richie Shoaib Sequeira on the directions of the Bombay high court. On Thursday, chief justice Swatanter Kumar and Ajay Khanwilkar, while hearing his PIL, directed that notices be issued to Union of India, RBI and other banks. The court also directed Sequeira to make the state crime investigation department a party to the PIL. The matter will come up for hearing on October 15. At the last hearing, the HC asked Sequeira to invoke RTI or any other law to gather details from the banks. Sequeira had filed a PIL, saying there has been no strict vigil by the finance ministry and RBI while writing off loans by the banks and the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) had failed to recover the debts. The RBI, finance ministry, law ministry and DRT have said that in their replies they have no records of the write-offs and one-time settlements between the borrowers and banks. The PIL also said that no rules have been framed by the finance ministry while writing off loans by the banks, which smacks of corruption. Some of the banks in their replies have said that the write-off is done in accordance with the guidelines framed by the board of directors. During a debate in Lok Sabha in 2002, then finance minister Jaswant Singh had described the NPA menace as a loot. The banks, which refused to disclose details about the defaulters include, SBI, its associates, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Andhra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank and Indian Overseas Bank. Banks like Corporation Bank, UCO Bank, BoI and Allahabad Bank refused to reply to the RTI questions. The banks mostly approach the DRT, attach assets under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act or go in for a onetime settlement to recover whatever dues they can. The DRT, set up for expeditious adjudication and recovery of debts owed to banks and financial institutions, recovered just 32% of the total outstanding amount in the period 2001-07. In the case of State Bank of Travancore, in 2003-2008, of the Rs 10,162 crore claimed by the bank, it has recovered only 15%. Another 50% of the claims is yet to be decided. In the onetime settlement, the bank has forgone another Rs 800 crore. Dena Bank has managed to recover only Rs 725 crore of the Rs 151,85 crore for the period 2003-2008. The bank has foregone another Rs 950 crore as part of one-time settlement in the period 2006-2008. In the case of Oriental Bank of Commerce, the bank has foregone Rs 1353.5 crore in the last four years. Union Bank of India has recovered only Rs 3,261.5 crore of the Rs 7,623 crore in 2006-08. ---- Read how Punjab National Bank gave Rs 11.5 crores against flat ONLY 400 sqft. http://www.RoguePolice.com/pnb.htm From rohitrellan at aol.in Sat Sep 26 14:31:09 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:01:09 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Visionance In-Reply-To: <8CC0C9A558C7886-4698-BA24@webmail-m006.sysops.aol.com> References: <12126258.1253887762997.JavaMail.SYSTEM@cms-app1> <8CC0C9A558C7886-4698-BA24@webmail-m006.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC0C9F0619ACA0-4698-BAF7@webmail-m006.sysops.aol.com> Visionance Concert Thursday, 01.10. & Friday 02.10.2009 18:30 p.m. Auditorium, Information Centre Bahá'í House of Worship (Lotus Temple) Thursday, October 1, 6.30 pm Friday, October 2, 6.30 pm Thursday, October 1, 6.30 pm Avantgarde A program with european avant-garde films from the 1920s This unique program will bring together some of the most influential filmic works of the German and French avant-garde of the 1920s. Hans Richter, Walter Ruttmann, Viking Eggeling, Man Ray, Germaine Dulac, Marcel Duchamp just to name a few, are among those who were exploring the formal and visual potential of film in a groundbreaking way in that era. This program will contain films like Rhythmus 21 and Symphonie Diagonale, experiments of form, light and rhythm and some of the most interesting experiments of poetic visual narration, such as Invitaion au voyage and L´Etoile de Mer. Eunice Martins – Performer, composer, researcher - will provide the Sound/Music for this program.   Friday, October 2, 6.30 pm Visionance - Drops from nowhere The drop of water Lands perfectly poised On the leaf lip That caresses the rose bud Does one hear the clouds float by Visionance is a unique concert comprising=2 0a visual-audio musical tapestry. Reflecting=2 0the poesis of the drop of water - a micro cosmos, fluid and translucent - in a visual music set to the piano. A poetical reverberation of the fine interSpaces in music, visual composition, time and silence. This is the main concert of the visionance project, consisting also of the 2 day workshop in September. It comprises a set of visual films and compositions by Giti Thadani, visual composer and researcher, and a musical performance by Eunice Martins on the Piano. For further information please contact: 011 - 2332 9506 ext. no. - 110 Entry through passes, available at Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan   From indersalim at gmail.com Sat Sep 26 16:03:43 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:03:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] blood in the river Message-ID: <47e122a70909260333i31a7b4a5l86464ec9c80c5ce7@mail.gmail.com> Dear all please press to read in the OPEN MAGAZINE http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/true-life/blood-in-the-river -- love regards inder salim http://indersalim.livejournal.com From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 26 16:36:50 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:06:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Indian ancestry revealed Message-ID: <269203.40347.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Published online 23 September 2009   "Indian ancestry revealed"   (The mixing of two distinct lineages led to most modern-day Indians.)   Elie Dolgin   The population of India was founded on two ancient groups that are as genetically distinct from each other as they are from other Asians, according to the largest DNA survey of Indian heritage to date. Nowadays, however, most Indians are a genetic hotchpotch of both ancestries, despite the populous nation's highly stratified social structure. "All Indians are pretty similar," says Chris Tyler-Smith, a genome researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, UK, who was not involved in the study. "The population subdivision has not had a dominating effect."   India makes up around one-sixth of the world's population, yet the South Asian country has been sorely under-represented in genome-wide studies of human genetic variation. The International HapMap Project, for example, includes populations with African, East Asian and European ancestry — but no Indians. The closest the Human Genome Diversity Cell Line Panel of 51 global populations comes is Pakistan, India's western neighbour. The Indian Genome Variation database was launched in 2003 to fill the gap, but so far the project has studied only 420 DNA-letter differences, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in 75 genes1. Caste divisions Now, a team led by David Reich of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Lalji Singh of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India, has probed more than 560,000 SNPs across the genomes of 132 Indian individuals from 25 diverse ethnic and tribal groups dotted all over India2.   The researchers showed that most Indian populations are genetic admixtures of two ancient, genetically divergent groups, which each contributed around 40-60% of the DNA to most present-day populations. One ancestral lineage — which is genetically similar to Middle Eastern, Central Asian and European populations — was higher in upper-caste individuals and speakers of Indo-European languages such as Hindi, the researchers found. The other lineage was not close to any group outside the subcontinent, and was most common in people indigenous to the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Bay of Bengal.   The researchers also found that Indian populations were much more highly subdivided than European populations. But whereas European ancestry is mostly carved up by geography, Indian segregation was driven largely by caste. "There are populations that have lived in the same town and same village for thousands of years without exchanging genes," says Reich. Number puzzle Indian populations, although currently huge in number, were also founded by relatively small bands of individuals, the study suggests. Overall, the picture that emerges is of ancient genetic mixture, says Reich, followed by fragmentation into small, isolated ethnic groups, which were then kept distinct for thousands of years because of limited intermarriage — a practice also known as endogamy.   This genetic evidence refutes the claim that the Indian caste structure was a modern invention of British colonialism, the authors say. "This idea that caste is thousands of years old is a big deal," says Nicole Boivin, an archaeologist who studies South Asian prehistory at the University of Oxford, UK. "To say that endogamy goes back so far, and that genetics shows it, is going to be controversial to many anthropologists." Boivin fears that the study might be 'spun' by politicians seeking to maintain caste structures in India, and she calls on social scientists and geneticists to collaborate on such "highly politicized" issues.   Beyond the study's social repercussions, the low rates of genetic mingling "could have important implications for biomedical studies of Indian populations", notes Sarah Tishkoff, a human geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia who was not involved in the research. The partitioned population structure will need to be taken into account in any efforts to map disease genes, she says.   The small numbers of founders of each Indian group also have clinical consequences, says Reich. "There will be a lot of recessive diseases in India that will be different in each population and that can be searched for and mapped genetically," he says. "That will be important for health in India."   The evidence that most Indians are genetically alike, even though anthropological data show that Indian groups tend to marry within their own group, is "very puzzling", says Aravinda Chakravarti, a human molecular geneticist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, who wrote an accompanying News & Views article3. For example, Chakravarti notes that the study can't establish a rough date for when the ancient mixing between the two ancestral populations took place. "There are very curious features of the data that are hard to explain," he says, adding: "This is not the end of the story."   References   Indian Genome Variation Consortium J. Genet. 87, 3-20 (2008). Reich, D. et al. Nature 461, 489-494 (2009). Chakravarti, A. Nature 461, 487-488 (2009). http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090923/full/news.2009.935.html     From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Sat Sep 26 17:11:16 2009 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:11:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Against Asean-India FTA Message-ID: <3457ce860909260441y2be41d21y9df96df995cf3680@mail.gmail.com> *FISHWORKERS CALL FOR MARCH TO PARLIAMENT ON NOVEMBER 11, 2009 AGAINST ASEAN-INDIA FTA* Several Major Fisheries Trade Unions organized a convention on 24thSeptember 2009 at Ernakulam, under the banner of the *Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee*, to oppose the recently signed *ASEAN- India Free Trade Agreement*, with a unanimous demand for *“No fish imports”*. The Agreement between India and 10 South East Asian nations signed on August 13th this year aims to allow the import of several fish products at lower tariffs into India. This would grossly impact the employment and incomes of over ten lakh traditional fish and allied workers in Kerala. Fishworkers in Kerala are already dealing with the pressure of rising investment and maintenance costs, and are unable to deal with even a one-rupee fluctuation in price. The convention was inaugurated by Justice (Retd.) V.R. Krishna Iyer, who strongly condemned the FTA- stating that such an agreement is a betrayal of the Fishworkers right to their livelihood. He further asserted that the deep felt impacts of such an agreement would result in an erosion of the Fishworkers livelihoods and basis of existence, leading to suicides in many cases. He insisted that the only way the voice of the Fishworkers could be heard at the national level, was through a joint struggle, which would lead to an eventual victory over such anti-people measures. Most ASEAN nations share climatic features with the Kerala coast and produce similar varieties of fish. With their fish production far exceeding domestic requirements, Kerala would undoubtedly become the dumping ground for these countries soon. Compromises on monitoring and quality control measures implicit in the agreement also bring about potential health hazards. The anger among the Fishworkers, in the face of such a monstrous Agreement, was elaborated by T. Peter (President, KSMTF): “The Fishing Community in Kerala will take all measures to stop this agreement, and will physically prevent any vessel carrying fish from the ASEAN nations from entering Cochin Harbour”. There was a collective call for action against the agreement, with V.V. Shashidharan (General Convenor, Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee) stating that on October 20th, there will be protest marches and dharnas in front of Central Government Offices, at all the Districts of Kerala. And, the culmination of these protests would be a March to the Parliament on November 11, voicing the concerns of the Fishworkers communities at the national platform. The main participants present at the gathering were as follows: Mathew Master *(INTUC)* M.M. Lawrence *(CITU)* V. Dinakaran, former MLA *(Akhil Kerala Deevara Sabha)* Joseph Xavier Kalapuraikal *(Kerala State Fishing Boat Operators Association)* O.B. Ravindran *(BMS)* Umar Ottumal *(STU)* T. Peter *(KSMTF)* P. Lawrence *(UTUC)* A.T. Sreedharan *(HMS) * Chavara Sarasan *(Malsya Thozhilali Congress (S))* Charles George *(TUCI)* ** Petty producers in State will be hit by Asean pa State Planning Board Vice-Chairman Prabhat Patnaik inaugurating the seminar on `Issues raised by ASEAN pact’, organised by the Kerala Gazetted Officer Express News Service First Published : 19 Sep 2009 12:29:00 AM IST Last Updated : KOTTAYAM: India’s quest for hegemony in South- East Asia by any means, including the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and additional one-to-one agreements with other countries, amply aided by the US, will affect the interests of mass petty producers in the country, especially those in Kerala, said State Planning Board vice-chairman Prabhat Patnaik here on Friday. He was speaking after inaugurating a state-level seminar on `Issues Raised by ASEAN Pact’, organised by the Kerala Gazetted Officers’ Association (KGOA). “Millions of peasants and workers in the country stand to lose terribly as policy makers seem to be obsessed with growth rate alone and bank on a language aimed at becoming the superpower,” he said. Patnaik alleged that the central executive was not bothered to ratify international treaties in the Parliament. He said that such a stance was highly objectionable, particularly when the provisions of such pacts impinged the rights of the member states and the livelihood of millions of people. The argument raised on this score is that such ratification by the Parliament was not mandatory as per the country’s Constitution. “But, countries like the US, which often spearhead such agreements, are obliged to present them for the sanction of their respective national forums before signing them,” he said. Patnaik said that the promise made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to a delegation from Kerala that details of the ASEAN draft agreement would be shared with the State, and apprehensions, if any, would be addressed before signing the pact was broken when it was signed without any such gesture. It is bad for a country that it cannot trust the words of the Prime Minister. The Congress seems to be riding roughshod with its victory in the Lok Sabha polls. He said that in a federal structure the states had the right to demand. Kerala was genuinely concerned about the fact that many of the State’s agricultural produces, including pepper, rubber and coconuts as well as the fisheries products, all of which fall under the petty production sector, were listed in the third category of goods in the ASEAN FTA that empowers reduction of duty on the import of these items from the existing 80 % to the 35-40 % range over a period of time. Patnaik also pointed out that the actual income of petty producers should also be evaluated with respect to the relative exchange rates of the rupee, rather than relying on the production cost factor alone. “However, it will completely wipe out the little gains which may come through increased productivity. The peasants of the country should be protected by invoking a livelihood box, considering the experiences from the previous FTAs where scores of people were thrown out of their jobs,” he opined. ASEAN nations have a track record of systematically dumping products, which would prove harmful to Kerala which is already in trouble following the SAAR C FTA, as it had facilitated the flow of produces like pepper from Vietnam and elsewhere. Kerala University former Vice- Chancellor B Ekbal said that the ASEAN agreement and many of the one-to-one agreements recently signed between India and other countries were manifestations of a strategy by the US and other developed nations to impose their policies which could not be enforced through the WTO. KGOA state president K Krishna Panicker presided over the meeting and state general secretary K Sivakumar welcomed the gathering. Mons Joseph MP inaugurated a session on `ASEAN Agreement and Farm Sector’. State Planning Board member K N Harilal presented the topic and Infam chairman Mathew Vadakkemuri spoke. Another session on `ASEAN Pact and Fisheries Sector’, was also held. Inaugurating the session, Fisheries Minister S Sharma said that the Centre had issued a death warrant to the country’s fisheries sector through the ASEAN agreement. “Kerala had posted an all-time record last year in the export of fish products. With unfettered imports, the scenario will undergo a drastic change for the worse,” he said. School of Industrial Fisheries director Prof Madhusoodana Kurup presented the topic. Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation general secretary T Peter and joint secretary K J Antony spoke. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 26 18:50:03 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:20:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?The_military=E2=80=99s_ideology_=28=27Sha?= =?utf-8?q?dow_War=27_by_Arif_Jamal=29?= Message-ID: <981516.77895.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "The military’s ideology"   By Ayesha Siddiqa Friday, 25 Sep, 2009   PAKISTAN observers often wonder what the Pakistan military’s primary ideology is. Is it a secular institution or one which is high on religious values? Since the military is considered the strongest institution of the Pakistani state, the question becomes critical in determining what direction the country will take or how its armed forces will fight the war on terror.   One particular perspective is that the military is essentially a secular institution which got transformed temporarily under Gen Ziaul Haq, who made sure that his officers had a religious grounding. He had allowed the tableeghi jamaat to penetrate the armed forces and introduced a religiously conservative current in society. Subsequently, the Zia era was blamed for the continued links between certain military personnel and the Taliban post-9/11.   Later, it was argued that Gen Pervez Musharraf put the military back on the secular track by weeding out religious-minded, senior officers replacing them with others who were socially acceptable to the international community. In fact, senior officers now claim that the military is highly professional and secular. This is correct in that ‘secular’ in this case means that the army is not driven purely by religious instincts in pursuing its goals. But then ‘religious’ or ‘secular’ are not the right terms to describe the organisation.   Indeed, if one is searching for the correct term, it would be pragmatic-nationalist. This means that instead of sticking to one ideology the institution can shift between a couple or more ideologies at the same time. So, when it was convenient to turn religiously ideological during the 1980s it could do so. Even Gen Zia was not solely driven by his personal inclination to support the Afghan ‘jihad’; the geo-strategic and geopolitical environment was important in the framing of decisions. There was no dichotomy between pursuing jihad and having a strategic alignment with the US even then.   Zia also found religious ideology handy in pursuing other military-strategic goals. Deploying non-state actors was financially, politically and militarily cost-effective. Hence, all generals maintained links with the jihadis despite the fact that they were different from Zia.   The pragmatist-nationalist character of the military also explains why it was able to swiftly shift between ideologies, especially after it had to undergo a change in the wake of 9/11. This also means that maintaining links with the different jihadi organisations, as explained by Arif Jamal in Shadow War: the Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir, does not necessarily depend on having a religious ideology.   The author’s interesting conclusion is that even seemingly ‘secular’ generals like the present chief, Gen Ashfaq Kayani, could pursue the same policy as the generals during the 1990s. Jamal claims that a lot of jihadi organisations were thrilled to hear of the appointment of Gen Kayani as the new chief and many reopened their offices in 2008. He also argues that several meetings were arranged between the various Afghan Taliban groups and the Kashmiri jihadis in 2007 by the ISI to help them with a strategy to stop Indian help from reaching Hamid Karzai’s government in Kabul and placing more sleeper cells in India for possible activation at later dates.   This argument explains the character of the Pakistan Army and its use of religion or at least one aspect of it, namely jihad, for its strategic advantage. There is nothing odd in the argument since the military was part of what was described by Hamza Alavi as the Muslim salariat class, which used religion to motivate a movement for an independent state.   The fact is that this class was always linked to the use of religious ideology. It might not want to adopt a Saudi model for state-making, though the Pakistani state has gradually moved closer to Saudi Arabia, but religion has always remained central to the fulfilment of the strategic goals of the salariat, which later evolved into the ruling elite.   This basically meant that while the Islamic norms of social justice might not be adopted, religious identity would be used in some form to meet political and military-strategic objectives. Jamal’s argument is that like all such plans that generate opportunity costs, the jihadis of today, who seem to be challenging the Pakistani state, are inadvertently a product of a specific plan to fight the war in Kashmir.   The camps where Ajmal Qasab and others were trained by the Lashkar-i-Taiba to carry out the Mumbai attacks, the author claims, were set up by the ISI to win the war in Kashmir. Even if the attack was not ordered by the intelligence agency, it indicates a situation where the jihadis trained for a particular purpose might have used their training to carry out attacks on their own or gone beyond the brief.   Obviously, the military always had to use religion as a motivating factor from the time when Col Akhtar Malik planned the first offensive to capture Kashmir in 1947/48 to the 1980s and 1990s when, according to Jamal, a lot of new jihadi organisations were established. Gen Ayub Khan adopted a similar approach while planning the historic but failed Operation Gibraltar in 1965. However, the military was not the only force which used the above-mentioned approach.   Even seemingly liberal-secular leaders like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto favoured the policy of using non-state actors to the country’s perceived military advantage. For instance, Bhutto personally came to congratulate the hijackers of an Indian Airlines flight in January 1971. It is important to remember that the use of non-state actors was part of a larger package of mixing religion with state strategy.   In adopting this approach Bhutto might have not been too far off from Ziaul Haq who, as Jamal argues, developed an alignment with the Jamaat-i-Islami to support the Afghan jihad and to use that as a cover for strengthening the army’s war in Kashmir.   The country’s ruling elite and the military have traditionally used a particular aspect of religion to gain strategic dividends. While they can conveniently claim to have retained their secularism and saved one organisation from turning ideological, a similar claim might not be made for society at large. The proliferation of ‘jihad’ in mainland Pakistan is but the opportunity cost of strategy.   The writer is an independent strategic and political analyst.   ayesha.ibd at gmail.com var href = document.location.href; href = href.substring(0,href.indexOf("?")); document.write(href); http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/ayesha-siddiqa-the-militarys-ideology-599   From jeebesh at sarai.net Sun Sep 27 10:35:25 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:35:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fingerprints, databases and mobile phones Message-ID: <50A89F91-343A-493D-B554-38A6133CA912@sarai.net> dear All, Two news items that could be given some thought. “If any agency wants to confirm the identify of a person, it would have to just take the fingerprint of the person on a cell phone and send it across to a central database and receive authentication within seconds.”. http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092755850900.htm " If all goes according to plan, then starting next month, your bank and insurance accounts, your travel details and even telephone and Internet usage will all be available to a bunch of high-level officials in the top-most government security enforcement agencies." http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-11-central-agencies-can-monitor-your-bank-account-travel-and-tax-details/522026/ Read more below. Happy Dushehra. Jeebesh ------------------ http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092755850900.htm NEW DELHI: The recently constituted Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) headed by Nandan Nilekani, former co-Chairman of the IT major Infosys, would aim at devising a system through which the identity of a person could be established through just a call from a mobile phone. Explaining the project at a lecture here, Mr. Nilekani said that since its objective was to help the poor in particular to access the benefits of various government schemes with greater ease, the aim was to develop a system whereby the identity of a person could be established through just a call from a mobile phone. “If any agency wants to confirm the identify of a person, it would have to just take the fingerprint of the person on a cell phone and send it across to a central database and receive authentication within seconds.” Instead of a card, the UIDA would only provide a number to every citizen linked to a person’s demographic and biometric information. At the time of the issue of the number, the Authority would seek certain basic information such as the name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, and the address of the individuals and take their photograph and fingerprints. The database would be developed in partnership with the government and private agencies, such as mobile service providers, cooking gas outlets, passport offices, NREGA and PDS authorities. “The moment a person comes in contact with any of the partner agencies, their details would be collected and the unique identification number would be issued. Once a person gets the number, he or she would have to just quote it on approaching another service provider.” The aim of the project was to be provide a robust system to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, apart from verification and authentication of the identity in an easy manner, Mr. Nilekani said. The system would be developed in such a way that whenever a partner agency sends the data of an individual for registration, the central database would perform a search on key demographic and biometric attributes so that there was no duplication. Noting that the present situation of multiple databases gave individuals “an incentive” to provide different personal information to different agencies, he said that since the mechanism for de- duplication in the UID system would ensure that the residents would have only one chance to be in the database, the individuals would provide accurate data. “The incentives for giving correct information would become especially powerful as benefits and entitlements would be linked to UID.” Giving the lecture at the 67th foundation day celebrations of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Mr. Nilekani said the UIDAI planned to start issuing the identification numbers in 12 to 18 months and cover 600 million citizens over the next four years. While the largest such database currently available anywhere in the world covered only 120 million people, the one being set up in India would cover 10 times more than that figure, he said. “It is certainly a gigantic task with several technological challenges. But, we will do it.” ------------------------ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-11-central-agencies-can-monitor-your-bank-account-travel-and-tax-details/522026/ Maybe this is the price you are required to pay to keep yourself and the country secure from terrorists. If all goes according to plan, then starting next month, your bank and insurance accounts, your travel details and even telephone and Internet usage will all be available to a bunch of high-level officials in the top-most government security enforcement agencies. The National Intelligence Grid, which the government intends to establish by the end of this month, will ensure that designated officers in 11 Central security and intelligence agencies—such as the Intelligence Bureau, National Investigating Agency and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence—would have complete access to nearly 20 databases held by public authorities, including nationalised banks and insurance companies, railways and airlines, immigration and income tax department. The idea is to let the law enforcement agencies get quicker and comprehensive access to all information related to suspected criminals and terrorists at one place over a highly secure network. Investigating officers often lose crucial time trying to get information from other departments, thereby benefiting the criminals. The NATGRID, it is hoped, would not just speed up investigation of cases but also help in pre-empting crimes by acting on suspicious activities of people under watch. For purposes of easy use, each of the 20-odd databases would remain separate entities and would not be merged into a single master database. Eventually, the intention is to bring relevant databases held even in private hands, like banks or transport companies, under the ambit of NATGRID. The main data centre for NATGRID would be located in the Multi-Agency Centre which has been reactivated after the Mumbai attacks last year Sources in the government played down concerns on privacy, saying security agencies could even otherwise access these databases for investigation purposes. “All that is sought to be done is ensure that relevant information is accessed and acted upon timely in the interests of national security,” a source said. Additionally, they pointed out that similar measures have been taken in other countries as well, especially in the United States following 9/11. “It would not have been done if it wasn’t considered to be completely necessary. A system of checks and balances would obviously be put in place so that information is not misused in any way,” the source said. The complete NATGRID network would be delivered in three phases over the next two years. The first phase is ready to be initiated and is awaiting the final approval of Home Minister P Chidambaram, government sources said. From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Sun Sep 27 20:53:25 2009 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:53:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian's sordid saga Message-ID: Shopian case: Doc sent fictitious slides for forensic lab, CBI Agencies Posted online: Sunday , Sep 27, 2009 at 1733 hrs Srinagar : In a new twist to the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian, a doctor who prepared the vaginal slides of the victims has told the CBI that no samples from the duo had ever been taken. The doctor, who was a part of the second postmortem team from Pulwama district hospital, was questioned by the CBI team camping here during which she told the investigators that no vaginal swab was ever taken of the two victims ­ Neelofar (22) and Aasiya (17), official sources said. The doctor broke down during the questioning and narrated the entire sequence of events to the CBI officials, the sources said. The sources claimed that the doctor had taken samples from gloves used in the gynaecological ward of the district hospital and prepared a slide which showed presence of semen. The CBI conducted searches at the hospital late last night and seized various pairs of gloves and records available at the hospital, they said. While the CBI was officially tightlipped about the case, sources said the lady doctor informed the CBI that she had done this as public pressure was mounting. The CBI team which searched the hospital last night was accompanied by the doctor, they said. The exhumation of bodies was expected to be undertaken tomorrow and the family members had also given permission for the same. From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Sep 28 02:37:24 2009 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:07:24 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <88537.24653.qm@web112113.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi, I copied it from NDTV.com the same evening the news appeared.It was in Times of India print edition next day as well. While the hearing in the SC was held on Friday, the judgement was delivered on Saturday. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Fri, 9/25/09, Sanchita Bakshi wrote: > From: Sanchita Bakshi > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners sent to Death > To: "A.K. Malik" > Date: Friday, September 25, 2009, 11:53 AM > Could kindly send us the weblink for > this news item that you shared. >   > Thanks >   > Sanchita   > >   > On 9/23/09, A.K. Malik > wrote: > So that the fellow can > repeat whatever he has done earlier when the fellow gets > freed after serving the jail term or gets freedom after > Kaandhar like incidents and kills more people. > > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Tue, 9/22/09, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners > sent to Death > > To: "A.K. Malik" , > "Murali V" > > > Cc: "Sarai List" > > Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 7:39 PM > >   > > Whatever be the crime, no civilized society should > > > use "Death" as a penalty. > > > > --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Murali V > > > wrote: > > > > > > From: Murali V > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of Prisoners > sent to > > Death > > To: "A.K. Malik" > > Cc: "Sarai List" > > > Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 10:48 AM > > > > > > Which is what the UPA Govt. wants as > > far as Afzal Guru is concerned. > > > > Murali > > > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:18 PM, A.K.. Malik > > > wrote: > > > Hi All, > > >        A little more for info: > > > The number of prisoners sentenced to death whose > mercy > > petitions is pending before the President is 26 and as > per > > SC verdict they have a right to get the death > sentence > > > commuted to life imprisonment if they are kept waiting > for > > long for their death sentence to be executed. > > > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > > > > --- On Sun, 9/20/09, A.K. Malik > > > wrote: > > > > > >> From: A.K. Malik > > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Mercy Pleas Of > Prisoners > > sent to Death > > >> To: "Sarai List" > > > >> Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:49 PM > > >> Hi All, > > >>            News > > Item > > >> FYI > > >> "The Supreme Court has advised the > government > > to > > > >> expeditiously dispose of mercy pleas of > prisoners > > sentenced > > >> to death and not to use human beings > "as > > pawns in furthering > > >> some larger political or government > policy". > > > As many as > > >> death row prisoners, including Parliament > attack > > convict > > >> Mohammed Afzal Guru, are awaiting for a > decision > > on > >  their > > >> mercy pleas. The court cautioned the > government > > > that any > > >> delay in decision would amount to violation > of > > condemned > > >> prisoners' right to life with > dignity." > > >> > > >> (A.K..MALIK) > > >> > > > >> > > >> > > >> _________________________________________ > > >> 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. > > >> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > >> List archive: > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > > protection around > > > http://mail.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. > > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > List archive: > > > _________________________________________ > > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > > List archive: > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: > > > From yasir.media at gmail.com Mon Sep 28 04:13:48 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:43:48 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] india v Pk cricket Message-ID: <5af37bb0909271543i594ecb3bq397c238881b4199e@mail.gmail.com> context: India loses to Pakistan. Indian media insult the team after creating all the hype in the first instance, amid heavy revenues. correction: its Star sports not zeeits be-izzati not bisti - ie dissin, disrespect, dishonour Not being a sports watcher. for a good games sake I was actually backing the other side. talk about media independence, what would stalin do, to the team and the media :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho0htLmu2HM From indersalim at gmail.com Mon Sep 28 13:28:11 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:28:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] blood in the river: on performance art Message-ID: <47e122a70909280058m4780fdc9ob5ed0d90729af036@mail.gmail.com> Dear All please click to read, in TIME OUT and OPEN magazine http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/art/arts_features_details.asp?code=108 http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/true-life/blood-in-the-river love regards inder salim -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Sep 28 17:00:36 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:00:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] what a calculation!!! Message-ID: <1D9856D9-ED8D-48B3-A0C2-C6503EF2CF70@sarai.net> What a mad statement and calculation. !!! http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_india-felt-it-would-win-nuclear-war-with-pakistan_1293477 New York: In the event of a nuclear war with Pakistan, Indian leaders had predicted a bizarre victory, according to former US president Bill Clinton. Indian officials had calculated that while 300 million to 500 million of their countrymen would die if Pakistani nukes hit India, all 120 million Pakistanis would be annihilated in a tit-for-tat Indian strike, Clinton is quoted as saying in a book. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Taylor Branch's new book, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President, which goes on sale this week, has an unguarded Clinton venting about Indian and Pakistani leaders' so-called willingness to threaten the death of millions in their standoff over nuclear arms. "Indian officials spoke of knowing roughly how many nuclear bombs the Pakistanis possessed, from which they calculated that a doomsday nuclear volley would kill 300 [million] to 500 million Indians while annihilating all 120 million Pakistanis. The Indians would thus claim 'victory'," Branch has quoted Clinton as saying. New Delhi is likely to be furious with the observation, which portrays it as a government willing to play fast and loose with its citizens lives to notch up a bizarre win against Pakistan. Clinton had slapped sanctions on India and Pakistan over the tit-for- tat nuclear tests in 1998. His successor George Bush lifted those sanctions after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks as a reward, particularly for Pakistan, for offering to support Washington's pursuit of Osama bin Laden. Branch's 700-page book is the result of his access to Clinton, in 79 sessions, during the two terms of his presidency from 1993 to 2001. In an interview with USA Today, Branch said Clinton, who had read the manuscript, expressed concern about some details in the book. Branch said he believed Clinton "was nervous" about the book's publication but had not asked for changes. The Internet is abuzz with a smashed Boris Yeltsin anecdote in the book. Clinton recalled getting a security alert in 1995 that the secret service had found a whisky-tanked Yeltsin, in his underwear, teetering outside Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue and trying to hail a taxi. A longtime-friend, Branch quizzes Clinton on his political passions, his marriage and picks at the scabs of the Monica Lewinsky affair. One night in August 1999, six months after Clinton had survived the Senate impeachment trial, Clinton told Branch the Lewinsky affair began because "I cracked; I just cracked. From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Mon Sep 28 23:47:32 2009 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:47:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Online Petition for Enquiry Into Batla House Encounter Message-ID: <1f9180970909281117g55157398nfce5dc4df1eb34f7@mail.gmail.com> Dear Friends, I have just read and signed the online petition: "Judicial Probe into the Batla House ‘Encounter’ Now!" http://www.PetitionOnline.com/jtsa2009/ I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself. Best wishes, KM Venugopalan -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com From anansi1 at earthlink.net Tue Sep 29 08:54:19 2009 From: anansi1 at earthlink.net (Paul D. Miller) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:24:19 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [Reader-list] Sonic Weapons at G20 Message-ID: <6530174.1254194659688.JavaMail.root@elwamui-karabash.atl.sa.earthlink.net> The Long Range Acoustic Device was used for the first time on American soil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM It's been used on Iraqi's for the last couple of years in places like "Camp Bucca" Iraq and are being tested in regions of Baghdad, Fallujah, along with other regions of Iraq. The LRAD device was on hand at protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City[3] but not used; it was extensively used against protesters in Georgia against opposition protesters in Tbilisi on November 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device I just thought I'd pass this along. Intriguing first person account of the scenario. Paul Robocops Come to Pittsburgh and bring the latest weaponry with them by Mike Ferner September 28, 2009 No longer the stuff of disturbing futuristic fantasies, an arsenal of "crowd control munitions," including one that reportedly made its debut in the U.S., was deployed with a massive, overpowering police presence in Pittsburgh during last week's G-20 protests. Nearly 200 arrests were made and civil liberties groups charged the many thousands of police (most transported on Port Authority buses displaying "PITTSBURGH WELCOMES THE WORLD"), from as far away as Arizona and Florida with overreactingand they had plenty of weaponry with which to do it. Bean bags fired from shotguns, CS (tear) gas, OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) spray, flash-bang grenades, batons and, according to local news reports, for the first time on the streets of America, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Mounted in the turret of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), I saw the LRAD in action twice in the area of 25th, Penn and Liberty Streets of Lawrenceville, an old Pittsburgh neighborhood. Blasting a shrill, piercing noise like a high-pitched police siren on steroids, it quickly swept streets and sidewalks of pedestrians, merchants and journalists and drove residents into their homes, but in neither case were any demonstrators present. The APC, oversized and sinister for a city street, together with lines of police in full riot gear looking like darkly threatening Michelin Men, made for a scene out of a movie you didnt want to be in. As intimidating as this massive show of armed force and technology was, the good burghers of Pittsburgh and their fellow citizens in the Land of the Brave and Home of the Free ain't seen nothin yet. Tear gas and pepper spray are nothing to sniff at and, indeed, have proven fatal a surprising number of times, but they have now become the old standbys compared to the list below thats already at or coming soon to a police station or National Guard headquarters near you. Proving that "what goes around, comes around," some of the new Property Protection Devices were developed by a network of federally-funded, university-based research institutes like one in Pittsburgh itself, Penn State's Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies. · Raytheon Corp.'s Active Denial System, designed for crowd control in combat zones, uses an energy beam to induce an intolerable heating sensation, like a hot iron placed on the skin. It is effective beyond the range of small arms, in excess of 400 meters. Company officials have been advised they could expand the market by selling a smaller, tripod-mounted version for police forces. · M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition, with a range of 30 meters "is similar in operation to a claymore mine, but it delivers...a strong, nonpenetrating blow to the body with multiple sub-munitions (600 rubber balls)." · Long Range Acoustic Device or "The Scream," is a powerful megaphone the size of a satellite dish that can emit sound "50 times greater than the human threshold for pain" at close range, causing permanent hearing damage. The L.A. Times wrote U.S. Marines in Iraq used it in 2004. It can deliver recorded warnings in Arabic and, on command, emit a piercing tone..."[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine," says Woody Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp., the San Diego firm that produces the weapon. "It will knock [some people] on their knees." CBS News reported in 2005 that the Israeli Army first used the device in the field to break up a protest against Israel's separation wall. "Protesters covered their ears and grabbed their heads, overcome by dizziness and nausea, after the vehicle-mounted device began sending out bursts of audible, but not loud, sound at intervals of about 10 seconds...A military official said the device emits a special frequency that targets the inner ear." · In "Non-lethal Technologies: An Overview," Lewer and Davison describe a lengthy catalog of new weaponry including the "Directed Stick Radiator," a hand-held system based on the same technology as The Scream. "It fires high intensity sonic bullets' or pulses of sound between 125-150db for a second or two. Such a weapon could, when fully developed, have the capacity to knock people off their feet." · The Penn State facility is testing a "Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator" a.k.a. the "puke ray." The colors and rhythm of light are absorbed by the retina and disorient the brain, blinding the victim for several seconds. In conjunction with disturbing sounds it can make the person stumble or feel nauseated. Foreign Policy in Focus reports that the Department of Homeland Security, with $1 million invested for testing the device, hopes to see it "in the hands of thousands of policemen, border agents and National Guardsmen" by 2010. · Spider silk is cited in the University of Bradford's Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project, Report #4 (pg. 20) as an up-and-comer. A research collaboration between the University of New Hampshire and the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center is looking into the use of spider silk as a non-lethal "entanglement" material for disabling people. They have developed a method for producing recombinant spider silk protein using E. coli and are trying to develop methods to produce large quantities of these fibres." · New Scientist reports that the (I'm not making this up) Inertial Capacitive Incapacitator (ICI), developed by the Physical Optics Corporation of Torrance, California, uses a thin-film storage device charged during manufacture that only discharges when it strikes the target. It can be incorporated into a ring-shaped aerofoil and fired from a standard grenade launcher at low velocity, while still maintaining a flat trajectory for maximum accuracy. · Aiming beyond Tasers, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, (FY 2009 budget: $1B) the domestic equivalent of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), plans to develop wireless weapons effective over greater distances, such as in an auditorium or sports stadium, or on a city street. One such device, the Piezer, uses piezoelectric crystals that produce voltage when they are compressed. A 12-gauge shotgun fires the crystals, stunning the target with an electric shock on impact. Lynntech of College Station, Texas, is developing a projectile Taser that can be fired from a shotgun or 40-mm grenade launcher to increase greatly the weapon's current range of seven meters. · "Off the Rocker and On the Floor: Continued Development of Biochemical Incapacitating Weapons," a report by the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre revealed that in 1992, the National Institute of Justice contracted with Lawrence Livermore National Lab to review clinical anesthetics for use by special ops military forces and police. LLNL concluded the best option was an opioid, like fentanyl, effective at very low doses compared to morphine. Combined with a patch soaked in DMSO (dimethylsufoxide, a solvent) and fired from an air rifle, fentanyl could be delivered to the skin even through light clothing. Another recommended application for the drug was mixed with fine powder and dispersed as smoke. · After upgrades, the infamous "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship from the Vietnam War is now the AC-130. "Non-Lethal Weaponry: Applications to AC-130 Gunships," observes that "With the increasing involvement of US military in operations other than war..." the AC-130 "would provide commanders a full range of non-lethal weaponry from an airborne platform which was not previously available to them." The paper concludes in part that "As the use of non-lethal weapons increases and it becomes valid and acceptable, more options will become available." · Prozac and Zoloft are two of over 100 pharmaceuticals identified by the Penn State College of Medicine and the university's Applied Research Lab for further study as "non-lethal calmatives." These Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), noted the Penn State study, "...are found to be highly effective for numerous behavioral disturbances encountered in situations where a deployment of a non-lethal technique must be considered. This class of pharmaceutical agents also continues to be under intense development by the pharmaceutical industry...New compounds under development (WO 09500194) are being designed with a faster onset of action. Drug development is continuing at a rapid rate in this area due to the large market for the treatment of depression (15 million individuals in North America)...It is likely that an SSRI agent can be identified in the near future that will feature a rapid rate of onset." In Pittsburgh last week, an enormously expensive show of police and weaponry, intended for "security" of the G20 delegates, simultaneously shut workers out of downtown jobs for two days, forced gasping students and residents back into their dormitories and homes, and turned journalists' press passes into quaint, obsolete reminders of a bygone time. Most significant of all, however, was what Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, told the Associated Press: "It's not just intimidation, it's disruption and in some cases outright prevention of peaceful protesters being able to get their message out." ##### Mike Ferner is a writer from Ohio and president of Veterans For Peace From anansi1 at earthlink.net Tue Sep 29 09:39:11 2009 From: anansi1 at earthlink.net (Paul D. Miller) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:09:11 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [Reader-list] Sonic Weapons at G20 Message-ID: <11841667.1254197351523.JavaMail.root@elwamui-karabash.atl.sa.earthlink.net> The Long Range Acoustic Device was used for the first time on American soil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM It's been used on Iraqi's for the last couple of years in places like "Camp Bucca" Iraq and are being tested in regions of Baghdad, Fallujah, along with other regions of Iraq. The LRAD device was on hand at protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City[3] but not used; it was extensively used against protesters in Georgia against opposition protesters in Tbilisi on November 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device I just thought I'd pass this along. Intriguing first person account of the scenario. Paul Robocops Come to Pittsburgh and bring the latest weaponry with them by Mike Ferner September 28, 2009 No longer the stuff of disturbing futuristic fantasies, an arsenal of "crowd control munitions," including one that reportedly made its debut in the U.S., was deployed with a massive, overpowering police presence in Pittsburgh during last week's G-20 protests. Nearly 200 arrests were made and civil liberties groups charged the many thousands of police (most transported on Port Authority buses displaying "PITTSBURGH WELCOMES THE WORLD"), from as far away as Arizona and Florida with overreactingand they had plenty of weaponry with which to do it. Bean bags fired from shotguns, CS (tear) gas, OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) spray, flash-bang grenades, batons and, according to local news reports, for the first time on the streets of America, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Mounted in the turret of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), I saw the LRAD in action twice in the area of 25th, Penn and Liberty Streets of Lawrenceville, an old Pittsburgh neighborhood. Blasting a shrill, piercing noise like a high-pitched police siren on steroids, it quickly swept streets and sidewalks of pedestrians, merchants and journalists and drove residents into their homes, but in neither case were any demonstrators present. The APC, oversized and sinister for a city street, together with lines of police in full riot gear looking like darkly threatening Michelin Men, made for a scene out of a movie you didnt want to be in. As intimidating as this massive show of armed force and technology was, the good burghers of Pittsburgh and their fellow citizens in the Land of the Brave and Home of the Free ain't seen nothin yet. Tear gas and pepper spray are nothing to sniff at and, indeed, have proven fatal a surprising number of times, but they have now become the old standbys compared to the list below thats already at or coming soon to a police station or National Guard headquarters near you. Proving that "what goes around, comes around," some of the new Property Protection Devices were developed by a network of federally-funded, university-based research institutes like one in Pittsburgh itself, Penn State's Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies. · Raytheon Corp.'s Active Denial System, designed for crowd control in combat zones, uses an energy beam to induce an intolerable heating sensation, like a hot iron placed on the skin. It is effective beyond the range of small arms, in excess of 400 meters. Company officials have been advised they could expand the market by selling a smaller, tripod-mounted version for police forces. · M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition, with a range of 30 meters "is similar in operation to a claymore mine, but it delivers...a strong, nonpenetrating blow to the body with multiple sub-munitions (600 rubber balls)." · Long Range Acoustic Device or "The Scream," is a powerful megaphone the size of a satellite dish that can emit sound "50 times greater than the human threshold for pain" at close range, causing permanent hearing damage. The L.A. Times wrote U.S. Marines in Iraq used it in 2004. It can deliver recorded warnings in Arabic and, on command, emit a piercing tone..."[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine," says Woody Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp., the San Diego firm that produces the weapon. "It will knock [some people] on their knees." CBS News reported in 2005 that the Israeli Army first used the device in the field to break up a protest against Israel's separation wall. "Protesters covered their ears and grabbed their heads, overcome by dizziness and nausea, after the vehicle-mounted device began sending out bursts of audible, but not loud, sound at intervals of about 10 seconds...A military official said the device emits a special frequency that targets the inner ear." · In "Non-lethal Technologies: An Overview," Lewer and Davison describe a lengthy catalog of new weaponry including the "Directed Stick Radiator," a hand-held system based on the same technology as The Scream. "It fires high intensity sonic bullets' or pulses of sound between 125-150db for a second or two. Such a weapon could, when fully developed, have the capacity to knock people off their feet." · The Penn State facility is testing a "Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator" a.k.a. the "puke ray." The colors and rhythm of light are absorbed by the retina and disorient the brain, blinding the victim for several seconds. In conjunction with disturbing sounds it can make the person stumble or feel nauseated. Foreign Policy in Focus reports that the Department of Homeland Security, with $1 million invested for testing the device, hopes to see it "in the hands of thousands of policemen, border agents and National Guardsmen" by 2010. · Spider silk is cited in the University of Bradford's Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project, Report #4 (pg. 20) as an up-and-comer. A research collaboration between the University of New Hampshire and the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center is looking into the use of spider silk as a non-lethal "entanglement" material for disabling people. They have developed a method for producing recombinant spider silk protein using E. coli and are trying to develop methods to produce large quantities of these fibres." · New Scientist reports that the (I'm not making this up) Inertial Capacitive Incapacitator (ICI), developed by the Physical Optics Corporation of Torrance, California, uses a thin-film storage device charged during manufacture that only discharges when it strikes the target. It can be incorporated into a ring-shaped aerofoil and fired from a standard grenade launcher at low velocity, while still maintaining a flat trajectory for maximum accuracy. · Aiming beyond Tasers, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, (FY 2009 budget: $1B) the domestic equivalent of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), plans to develop wireless weapons effective over greater distances, such as in an auditorium or sports stadium, or on a city street. One such device, the Piezer, uses piezoelectric crystals that produce voltage when they are compressed. A 12-gauge shotgun fires the crystals, stunning the target with an electric shock on impact. Lynntech of College Station, Texas, is developing a projectile Taser that can be fired from a shotgun or 40-mm grenade launcher to increase greatly the weapon's current range of seven meters. · "Off the Rocker and On the Floor: Continued Development of Biochemical Incapacitating Weapons," a report by the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre revealed that in 1992, the National Institute of Justice contracted with Lawrence Livermore National Lab to review clinical anesthetics for use by special ops military forces and police. LLNL concluded the best option was an opioid, like fentanyl, effective at very low doses compared to morphine. Combined with a patch soaked in DMSO (dimethylsufoxide, a solvent) and fired from an air rifle, fentanyl could be delivered to the skin even through light clothing. Another recommended application for the drug was mixed with fine powder and dispersed as smoke. · After upgrades, the infamous "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship from the Vietnam War is now the AC-130. "Non-Lethal Weaponry: Applications to AC-130 Gunships," observes that "With the increasing involvement of US military in operations other than war..." the AC-130 "would provide commanders a full range of non-lethal weaponry from an airborne platform which was not previously available to them." The paper concludes in part that "As the use of non-lethal weapons increases and it becomes valid and acceptable, more options will become available." · Prozac and Zoloft are two of over 100 pharmaceuticals identified by the Penn State College of Medicine and the university's Applied Research Lab for further study as "non-lethal calmatives." These Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), noted the Penn State study, "...are found to be highly effective for numerous behavioral disturbances encountered in situations where a deployment of a non-lethal technique must be considered. This class of pharmaceutical agents also continues to be under intense development by the pharmaceutical industry...New compounds under development (WO 09500194) are being designed with a faster onset of action. Drug development is continuing at a rapid rate in this area due to the large market for the treatment of depression (15 million individuals in North America)...It is likely that an SSRI agent can be identified in the near future that will feature a rapid rate of onset." In Pittsburgh last week, an enormously expensive show of police and weaponry, intended for "security" of the G20 delegates, simultaneously shut workers out of downtown jobs for two days, forced gasping students and residents back into their dormitories and homes, and turned journalists' press passes into quaint, obsolete reminders of a bygone time. Most significant of all, however, was what Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, told the Associated Press: "It's not just intimidation, it's disruption and in some cases outright prevention of peaceful protesters being able to get their message out." ##### Mike Ferner is a writer from Ohio and president of Veterans For Peace From anansi1 at earthlink.net Tue Sep 29 11:27:17 2009 From: anansi1 at earthlink.net (Paul D. Miller) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:57:17 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Sonic Weapons at G20 Message-ID: <1540222.1254203837220.JavaMail.root@elwamui-little.atl.sa.earthlink.net> The Long Range Acoustic Device was used for the first time on American soil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM It's been used on Iraqi's for the last couple of years in places like "Camp Bucca" Iraq and are being tested in regions of Baghdad, Fallujah, along with other regions of Iraq. The LRAD device was on hand at protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City[3] but not used; it was extensively used against protesters in Georgia against opposition protesters in Tbilisi on November 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device I just thought I'd pass this along. Intriguing first person account of the scenario. Paul Robocops Come to Pittsburgh and bring the latest weaponry with them by Mike Ferner September 28, 2009 No longer the stuff of disturbing futuristic fantasies, an arsenal of "crowd control munitions," including one that reportedly made its debut in the U.S., was deployed with a massive, overpowering police presence in Pittsburgh during last week's G-20 protests. Nearly 200 arrests were made and civil liberties groups charged the many thousands of police (most transported on Port Authority buses displaying "PITTSBURGH WELCOMES THE WORLD"), from as far away as Arizona and Florida with overreactingand they had plenty of weaponry with which to do it. Bean bags fired from shotguns, CS (tear) gas, OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) spray, flash-bang grenades, batons and, according to local news reports, for the first time on the streets of America, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Mounted in the turret of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), I saw the LRAD in action twice in the area of 25th, Penn and Liberty Streets of Lawrenceville, an old Pittsburgh neighborhood. Blasting a shrill, piercing noise like a high-pitched police siren on steroids, it quickly swept streets and sidewalks of pedestrians, merchants and journalists and drove residents into their homes, but in neither case were any demonstrators present. The APC, oversized and sinister for a city street, together with lines of police in full riot gear looking like darkly threatening Michelin Men, made for a scene out of a movie you didnt want to be in. As intimidating as this massive show of armed force and technology was, the good burghers of Pittsburgh and their fellow citizens in the Land of the Brave and Home of the Free ain't seen nothin yet. Tear gas and pepper spray are nothing to sniff at and, indeed, have proven fatal a surprising number of times, but they have now become the old standbys compared to the list below thats already at or coming soon to a police station or National Guard headquarters near you. Proving that "what goes around, comes around," some of the new Property Protection Devices were developed by a network of federally-funded, university-based research institutes like one in Pittsburgh itself, Penn State's Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies. · Raytheon Corp.'s Active Denial System, designed for crowd control in combat zones, uses an energy beam to induce an intolerable heating sensation, like a hot iron placed on the skin. It is effective beyond the range of small arms, in excess of 400 meters. Company officials have been advised they could expand the market by selling a smaller, tripod-mounted version for police forces. · M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition, with a range of 30 meters "is similar in operation to a claymore mine, but it delivers...a strong, nonpenetrating blow to the body with multiple sub-munitions (600 rubber balls)." · Long Range Acoustic Device or "The Scream," is a powerful megaphone the size of a satellite dish that can emit sound "50 times greater than the human threshold for pain" at close range, causing permanent hearing damage. The L.A. Times wrote U.S. Marines in Iraq used it in 2004. It can deliver recorded warnings in Arabic and, on command, emit a piercing tone..."[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine," says Woody Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp., the San Diego firm that produces the weapon. "It will knock [some people] on their knees." CBS News reported in 2005 that the Israeli Army first used the device in the field to break up a protest against Israel's separation wall. "Protesters covered their ears and grabbed their heads, overcome by dizziness and nausea, after the vehicle-mounted device began sending out bursts of audible, but not loud, sound at intervals of about 10 seconds...A military official said the device emits a special frequency that targets the inner ear." · In "Non-lethal Technologies: An Overview," Lewer and Davison describe a lengthy catalog of new weaponry including the "Directed Stick Radiator," a hand-held system based on the same technology as The Scream. "It fires high intensity sonic bullets' or pulses of sound between 125-150db for a second or two. Such a weapon could, when fully developed, have the capacity to knock people off their feet." · The Penn State facility is testing a "Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator" a.k.a. the "puke ray." The colors and rhythm of light are absorbed by the retina and disorient the brain, blinding the victim for several seconds. In conjunction with disturbing sounds it can make the person stumble or feel nauseated. Foreign Policy in Focus reports that the Department of Homeland Security, with $1 million invested for testing the device, hopes to see it "in the hands of thousands of policemen, border agents and National Guardsmen" by 2010. · Spider silk is cited in the University of Bradford's Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project, Report #4 (pg. 20) as an up-and-comer. A research collaboration between the University of New Hampshire and the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center is looking into the use of spider silk as a non-lethal "entanglement" material for disabling people. They have developed a method for producing recombinant spider silk protein using E. coli and are trying to develop methods to produce large quantities of these fibres." · New Scientist reports that the (I'm not making this up) Inertial Capacitive Incapacitator (ICI), developed by the Physical Optics Corporation of Torrance, California, uses a thin-film storage device charged during manufacture that only discharges when it strikes the target. It can be incorporated into a ring-shaped aerofoil and fired from a standard grenade launcher at low velocity, while still maintaining a flat trajectory for maximum accuracy. · Aiming beyond Tasers, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, (FY 2009 budget: $1B) the domestic equivalent of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), plans to develop wireless weapons effective over greater distances, such as in an auditorium or sports stadium, or on a city street. One such device, the Piezer, uses piezoelectric crystals that produce voltage when they are compressed. A 12-gauge shotgun fires the crystals, stunning the target with an electric shock on impact. Lynntech of College Station, Texas, is developing a projectile Taser that can be fired from a shotgun or 40-mm grenade launcher to increase greatly the weapon's current range of seven meters. · "Off the Rocker and On the Floor: Continued Development of Biochemical Incapacitating Weapons," a report by the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre revealed that in 1992, the National Institute of Justice contracted with Lawrence Livermore National Lab to review clinical anesthetics for use by special ops military forces and police. LLNL concluded the best option was an opioid, like fentanyl, effective at very low doses compared to morphine. Combined with a patch soaked in DMSO (dimethylsufoxide, a solvent) and fired from an air rifle, fentanyl could be delivered to the skin even through light clothing. Another recommended application for the drug was mixed with fine powder and dispersed as smoke. · After upgrades, the infamous "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship from the Vietnam War is now the AC-130. "Non-Lethal Weaponry: Applications to AC-130 Gunships," observes that "With the increasing involvement of US military in operations other than war..." the AC-130 "would provide commanders a full range of non-lethal weaponry from an airborne platform which was not previously available to them." The paper concludes in part that "As the use of non-lethal weapons increases and it becomes valid and acceptable, more options will become available." · Prozac and Zoloft are two of over 100 pharmaceuticals identified by the Penn State College of Medicine and the university's Applied Research Lab for further study as "non-lethal calmatives." These Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), noted the Penn State study, "...are found to be highly effective for numerous behavioral disturbances encountered in situations where a deployment of a non-lethal technique must be considered. This class of pharmaceutical agents also continues to be under intense development by the pharmaceutical industry...New compounds under development (WO 09500194) are being designed with a faster onset of action. Drug development is continuing at a rapid rate in this area due to the large market for the treatment of depression (15 million individuals in North America)...It is likely that an SSRI agent can be identified in the near future that will feature a rapid rate of onset." In Pittsburgh last week, an enormously expensive show of police and weaponry, intended for "security" of the G20 delegates, simultaneously shut workers out of downtown jobs for two days, forced gasping students and residents back into their dormitories and homes, and turned journalists' press passes into quaint, obsolete reminders of a bygone time. Most significant of all, however, was what Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, told the Associated Press: "It's not just intimidation, it's disruption and in some cases outright prevention of peaceful protesters being able to get their message out." ##### Mike Ferner is a writer from Ohio and president of Veterans For Peace From aiindex at gmail.com Tue Sep 29 14:08:05 2009 From: aiindex at gmail.com (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:38:05 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Compromise and surrender of principle: A response to an article by Ramachandra Guha Message-ID: sacw.net 28 September 2009 Compromise and surrender of principle: A response to the article by Ramachandra Guha, ’The Beauty of Compromise: an excess of secularism may be as problematic as bigotry’ (in The Telegraph, 26 September 2009) by Marieme Helie Lucas The information about French secularism, past and present, that one can draw from English speaking media leads to much misunderstanding and biased opinions. On the one hand one cannot blame writers who have no direct access to primary sources and have to rely on secondary ones. On the other hand, the propagation of biased information and thus of erroneous conclusions in the English language serve the interests of Muslim fundamentalists in France, and for that reason alone, it needs to be addressed. The article by Ramachandra Guha shows bias at several levels: it overlooks the different definitions of secularism, it presents erroneous interpretations as facts, it under-evaluates the rise of Muslim fundamentalism as a political -not a religious- phenomenon and it accepts a cultural definition of women’s rights. All of these tend to give credibility to the assertions of Muslim fundamentalists that combat French secularism. [. . .] FULL TEXT AT: http://www.sacw.net/article1150.html From anansi1 at earthlink.net Tue Sep 29 17:50:01 2009 From: anansi1 at earthlink.net (Paul D. Miller) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:20:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Sonic Weapons at G20 Message-ID: <31211568.1254226801655.JavaMail.root@elwamui-karabash.atl.sa.earthlink.net> The Long Range Acoustic Device was used for the first time on American soil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM It's been used on Iraqi's for the last couple of years in places like "Camp Bucca" Iraq and are being tested in regions of Baghdad, Fallujah, along with other regions of Iraq. The LRAD device was on hand at protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City[3] but not used; it was extensively used against protesters in Georgia against opposition protesters in Tbilisi on November 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Acoustic_Device I just thought I'd pass this along. Intriguing first person account of the scenario. Paul Robocops Come to Pittsburgh and bring the latest weaponry with them by Mike Ferner September 28, 2009 No longer the stuff of disturbing futuristic fantasies, an arsenal of "crowd control munitions," including one that reportedly made its debut in the U.S., was deployed with a massive, overpowering police presence in Pittsburgh during last week's G-20 protests. Nearly 200 arrests were made and civil liberties groups charged the many thousands of police (most transported on Port Authority buses displaying "PITTSBURGH WELCOMES THE WORLD"), from as far away as Arizona and Florida with overreacting and they had plenty of weaponry with which to do it. Bean bags fired from shotguns, CS (tear) gas, OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) spray, flash-bang grenades, batons and, according to local news reports, for the first time on the streets of America, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Mounted in the turret of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), I saw the LRAD in action twice in the area of 25th, Penn and Liberty Streets of Lawrenceville, an old Pittsburgh neighborhood. Blasting a shrill, piercing noise like a high-pitched police siren on steroids, it quickly swept streets and sidewalks of pedestrians, merchants and journalists and drove residents into their homes, but in neither case were any demonstrators present. The APC, oversized and sinister for a city street, together with lines of police in full riot gear looking like darkly threatening Michelin Men, made for a scene out of a movie you didn t want to be in. As intimidating as this massive show of armed force and technology was, the good burghers of Pittsburgh and their fellow citizens in the Land of the Brave and Home of the Free ain't seen nothin yet. Tear gas and pepper spray are nothing to sniff at and, indeed, have proven fatal a surprising number of times, but they have now become the old standbys compared to the list below that s already at or coming soon to a police station or National Guard headquarters near you. Proving that "what goes around, comes around," some of the new Property Protection Devices were developed by a network of federally-funded, university-based research institutes like one in Pittsburgh itself, Penn State's Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies. · Raytheon Corp.'s Active Denial System, designed for crowd control in combat zones, uses an energy beam to induce an intolerable heating sensation, like a hot iron placed on the skin. It is effective beyond the range of small arms, in excess of 400 meters. Company officials have been advised they could expand the market by selling a smaller, tripod-mounted version for police forces. · M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition, with a range of 30 meters "is similar in operation to a claymore mine, but it delivers...a strong, nonpenetrating blow to the body with multiple sub-munitions (600 rubber balls)." · Long Range Acoustic Device or "The Scream," is a powerful megaphone the size of a satellite dish that can emit sound "50 times greater than the human threshold for pain" at close range, causing permanent hearing damage. The L.A. Times wrote U.S. Marines in Iraq used it in 2004. It can deliver recorded warnings in Arabic and, on command, emit a piercing tone..."[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine," says Woody Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp., the San Diego firm that produces the weapon. "It will knock [some people] on their knees." CBS News reported in 2005 that the Israeli Army first used the device in the field to break up a protest against Israel's separation wall. "Protesters covered their ears and grabbed their heads, overcome by dizziness and nausea, after the vehicle-mounted device began sending out bursts of audible, but not loud, sound at intervals of about 10 seconds...A military official said the device emits a special frequency that targets the inner ear." · In "Non-lethal Technologies: An Overview," Lewer and Davison describe a lengthy catalog of new weaponry including the "Directed Stick Radiator," a hand-held system based on the same technology as The Scream. "It fires high intensity sonic bullets' or pulses of sound between 125-150db for a second or two. Such a weapon could, when fully developed, have the capacity to knock people off their feet." · The Penn State facility is testing a "Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator" a.k.a. the "puke ray." The colors and rhythm of light are absorbed by the retina and disorient the brain, blinding the victim for several seconds. In conjunction with disturbing sounds it can make the person stumble or feel nauseated. Foreign Policy in Focus reports that the Department of Homeland Security, with $1 million invested for testing the device, hopes to see it "in the hands of thousands of policemen, border agents and National Guardsmen" by 2010. · Spider silk is cited in the University of Bradford's Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project, Report #4 (pg. 20) as an up-and-comer. A research collaboration between the University of New Hampshire and the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center is looking into the use of spider silk as a non-lethal "entanglement" material for disabling people. They have developed a method for producing recombinant spider silk protein using E. coli and are trying to develop methods to produce large quantities of these fibres." · New Scientist reports that the (I'm not making this up) Inertial Capacitive Incapacitator (ICI), developed by the Physical Optics Corporation of Torrance, California, uses a thin-film storage device charged during manufacture that only discharges when it strikes the target. It can be incorporated into a ring-shaped aerofoil and fired from a standard grenade launcher at low velocity, while still maintaining a flat trajectory for maximum accuracy. · Aiming beyond Tasers, the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, (FY 2009 budget: $1B) the domestic equivalent of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), plans to develop wireless weapons effective over greater distances, such as in an auditorium or sports stadium, or on a city street. One such device, the Piezer, uses piezoelectric crystals that produce voltage when they are compressed. A 12-gauge shotgun fires the crystals, stunning the target with an electric shock on impact. Lynntech of College Station, Texas, is developing a projectile Taser that can be fired from a shotgun or 40-mm grenade launcher to increase greatly the weapon's current range of seven meters. · "Off the Rocker and On the Floor: Continued Development of Biochemical Incapacitating Weapons," a report by the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre revealed that in 1992, the National Institute of Justice contracted with Lawrence Livermore National Lab to review clinical anesthetics for use by special ops military forces and police. LLNL concluded the best option was an opioid, like fentanyl, effective at very low doses compared to morphine. Combined with a patch soaked in DMSO (dimethylsufoxide, a solvent) and fired from an air rifle, fentanyl could be delivered to the skin even through light clothing. Another recommended application for the drug was mixed with fine powder and dispersed as smoke. · After upgrades, the infamous "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship from the Vietnam War is now the AC-130. "Non-Lethal Weaponry: Applications to AC-130 Gunships," observes that "With the increasing involvement of US military in operations other than war..." the AC-130 "would provide commanders a full range of non-lethal weaponry from an airborne platform which was not previously available to them." The paper concludes in part that "As the use of non-lethal weapons increases and it becomes valid and acceptable, more options will become available." · Prozac and Zoloft are two of over 100 pharmaceuticals identified by the Penn State College of Medicine and the university's Applied Research Lab for further study as "non-lethal calmatives." These Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), noted the Penn State study, "...are found to be highly effective for numerous behavioral disturbances encountered in situations where a deployment of a non-lethal technique must be considered. This class of pharmaceutical agents also continues to be under intense development by the pharmaceutical industry...New compounds under development (WO 09500194) are being designed with a faster onset of action. Drug development is continuing at a rapid rate in this area due to the large market for the treatment of depression (15 million individuals in North America)...It is likely that an SSRI agent can be identified in the near future that will feature a rapid rate of onset." In Pittsburgh last week, an enormously expensive show of police and weaponry, intended for "security" of the G20 delegates, simultaneously shut workers out of downtown jobs for two days, forced gasping students and residents back into their dormitories and homes, and turned journalists' press passes into quaint, obsolete reminders of a bygone time. Most significant of all, however, was what Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, told the Associated Press: "It's not just intimidation, it's disruption and in some cases outright prevention of peaceful protesters being able to get their message out." ##### Mike Ferner is a writer from Ohio and president of Veterans For Peace From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Tue Sep 29 19:17:23 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:17:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Participate in a Study on Bullying in School and Cognitive Development In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: >From ChristopherJoaquim at yahoo.com Sep 28, 2009 Subject: Bullying in School and Cognitive Development Dear Potential Participant, I am studying how people reason about bullying in high school. The purpose of the questionnaire below is to explore how people reason about bullying in high school, to facilitate discussions about student reasoning about bullying, and to increase knowledge about the problem of bullying in high schools. Taking the questionnaire is easy and the amount of time it takes to complete will vary. The average time is expected to be about 30 minutes, but there is no time limit. Your participation is completely voluntary and your answers will be completely anonymous. It is important to complete the entire questionnaire. Please answer all parts, and read the short bullying stories carefully before answering questions. It does not matter if you agree with how the student deals with the problem. You are only rating how good or bad the student's thinking is before the student deals with the problem. Each link below contains a questionnaire. The link that you click on will depend on what letter your last name begins with. You can begin the questionnaire and take a break at anytime. The instructions for doing this are included in the questionnaire. To continue to the questionnaire please click on the link below. The study will begin automatically: if your last name starts with a letter from A - I http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1Lpc6R2RFFGnNo_2byEtboxw_3d_3d if your last name starts with a letter from J-R http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Jk5dutTjvwBpUqj27wmG8g_3d_3d if your last name starts with a letter from S-Z http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=fFQqcifGCeL_2f3pC53dGZ3g_3d_3d Thank you, Christopher Joaquim, M.S., M.Ed. Email: ChristopherJoaquim at yahoo.com From indersalim at gmail.com Tue Sep 29 20:17:03 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:17:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] EVOKING NAZIR, performance-presentation and photographs from kashmir at The Loft Mumbai In-Reply-To: <47e122a70909250142v6820259aga1f772d644cfc653@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a70909250142v6820259aga1f772d644cfc653@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909290747u6ee79cafgd2b9b990a8d4ceb9@mail.gmail.com> Dear all some images from my exhibition titled EVOKING NAZIR at THE LOFT in MUMBAI are uploaded in my little blog http://indersalim.livejournal.com please press to see and please click to read, in TIME OUT and OPEN magazine http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/art/arts_features_details.asp?code=108 http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/true-life/blood-in-the-river love regards inder salim On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 2:12 PM, Inder Salim wrote: > Dear all > > please press to read and do join if in Mumbai > > http://singularitease.blogspot.com > > The Loft, Lower Parel, Mumbai, on 26th 6.30 sharp > the exhibtion will remain open till 5th of Oct > > http://www.theloft.in/index.html > > > > love regards > inder salim > > > > > > > -- > > http://indersalim.livejournal.com > -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From santhoshhrishikesh at gmail.com Tue Sep 29 23:14:16 2009 From: santhoshhrishikesh at gmail.com (santhosh hk) Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:14:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] HOW TO KILL A BUFFALO? Message-ID: Television has been with us for fifty years, that is technically. Just like the platitude Indians are equal and are secular. Even today, in a shining India where MNCs throng, television density remains depressingly low. As in many other social indices, Kerala stands apart. The higher penetration rate has heavily impacted on our social habits and outlooks too. Evenings are for soap operas or reality shows. Women huddle in front of the glimmering screen, invariably their eyes riveted to it, ready to weep for the pangs of characters. By the half of last decade, private channels had almost replaced the staid state owned television and redefined our visual sensibility. An average Malayalee knows the world through television. What he sees on it true. In other words, the infallibility once attributed to print media has become the privilege of television. The factoid ‘camera does not lie’ is the plank on which the faith rests. Never ever have our channels dithered in taking advantage of this trust. We have seen how often the self-appointed wholesale dealers of truth whip up passion and frenzy on graft and sex, only to declare later that the whole affair was a bogus report concocted by a rival channel. Arguably the Prudential World Cup in 1983 and the assassination of Indira Gandhi the following year were watersheds in the history of television. To own a television set became a new status symbol. In the 1990s, with the advent of cable networks, our living rooms were literally flooded with news and music. Channels vied with each other to bring in the latest and the intriguing. And often they infringed upon traditional media ethics. In the early 1990s Asianet, the first private player in Kerala, televised a documentary on the ruthless and unhygienic slaughtering of cattle in an abattoir in Trivandrum with the warning ‘carrying women and the weak-minded are advised to abstain from watching.’ In hindsight the gory scenes that splashed the screen and the minds seem to have been the curtain raiser of many a visual extravaganza to follow. Later Asianet and archrival Surya set new standards by repeatedly telecasting the visuals of a nut whacking a government employ to death. It is during the same period that sting operations and exposés sparked off heated discussions and debates. To be fair, the startling revelation that sleaze had soaked bureaucracy was a jolt to the public and would play a major role in forming public perceptions about politics and politicians. In Kerala it was a documentary on the lives of bootleggers and contract killers by Asianet that set new senses and sensibilities on roll. The televisual debut into the murky lives and allies of the homegrown felons featured youngsters shuffling down with daggers slinging from their waists. The electrifying program remains fresh in memory. Now, after all these years, if a channel films the den of some goons, won’t they be shooting a bloodbath, with a lot of risk on their lives? Or will they tread the path of Edward Armstead in The Almighty in scripting and creating events to be reported? The hype over the murder of the young businessman Paul M. George and the ongoing investigation of Sr. Abhaya murder case raise chilling possibilities and eerie doubts. Some days back, a weird action of a cop triggered much controversy. He was bold or outrageous enough to shoot parts of his colleagues grilling a petty actress arrested on charge of prostitution. He would not stop there. Rather mysteriously the picture found its way to the internet. Who was the prostitute here? Questions and fears never end at the moment when we celebrate the golden jubilee of television. www.hksanthosh.blogspot.com http://youreemember.blogspot.com From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Sep 30 10:47:01 2009 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:47:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fingerprints, databases and mobile phones Message-ID: dear All, Two news items that could be given some thought. “If any agency wants to confirm the identify of a person, it would have to just take the fingerprint of the person on a cell phone and send it across to a central database and receive authentication within seconds.”. http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092755850900.htm " If all goes according to plan, then starting next month, your bank and insurance accounts, your travel details and even telephone and Internet usage will all be available to a bunch of high-level officials in the top-most government security enforcement agencies." http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-11-central-agencies-can-monitor-your-bank-account-travel-and-tax-details/522026/ Read more below. Jeebesh ------------------ http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/27/stories/2009092755850900.htm NEW DELHI: The recently constituted Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) headed by Nandan Nilekani, former co-Chairman of the IT major Infosys, would aim at devising a system through which the identity of a person could be established through just a call from a mobile phone. Explaining the project at a lecture here, Mr. Nilekani said that since its objective was to help the poor in particular to access the benefits of various government schemes with greater ease, the aim was to develop a system whereby the identity of a person could be established through just a call from a mobile phone. “If any agency wants to confirm the identify of a person, it would have to just take the fingerprint of the person on a cell phone and send it across to a central database and receive authentication within seconds.” Instead of a card, the UIDA would only provide a number to every citizen linked to a person’s demographic and biometric information. At the time of the issue of the number, the Authority would seek certain basic information such as the name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, and the address of the individuals and take their photograph and fingerprints. The database would be developed in partnership with the government and private agencies, such as mobile service providers, cooking gas outlets, passport offices, NREGA and PDS authorities. “The moment a person comes in contact with any of the partner agencies, their details would be collected and the unique identification number would be issued. Once a person gets the number, he or she would have to just quote it on approaching another service provider.” The aim of the project was to be provide a robust system to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, apart from verification and authentication of the identity in an easy manner, Mr. Nilekani said. The system would be developed in such a way that whenever a partner agency sends the data of an individual for registration, the central database would perform a search on key demographic and biometric attributes so that there was no duplication. Noting that the present situation of multiple databases gave individuals “an incentive” to provide different personal information to different agencies, he said that since the mechanism for de- duplication in the UID system would ensure that the residents would have only one chance to be in the database, the individuals would provide accurate data. “The incentives for giving correct information would become especially powerful as benefits and entitlements would be linked to UID.” Giving the lecture at the 67th foundation day celebrations of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Mr. Nilekani said the UIDAI planned to start issuing the identification numbers in 12 to 18 months and cover 600 million citizens over the next four years. While the largest such database currently available anywhere in the world covered only 120 million people, the one being set up in India would cover 10 times more than that figure, he said. “It is certainly a gigantic task with several technological challenges. But, we will do it.” ------------------------ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-11-central-agencies-can-monitor-your-bank-account-travel-and-tax-details/522026/ Maybe this is the price you are required to pay to keep yourself and the country secure from terrorists. If all goes according to plan, then starting next month, your bank and insurance accounts, your travel details and even telephone and Internet usage will all be available to a bunch of high-level officials in the top-most government security enforcement agencies. The National Intelligence Grid, which the government intends to establish by the end of this month, will ensure that designated officers in 11 Central security and intelligence agencies—such as the Intelligence Bureau, National Investigating Agency and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence—would have complete access to nearly 20 databases held by public authorities, including nationalised banks and insurance companies, railways and airlines, immigration and income tax department. The idea is to let the law enforcement agencies get quicker and comprehensive access to all information related to suspected criminals and terrorists at one place over a highly secure network. Investigating officers often lose crucial time trying to get information from other departments, thereby benefiting the criminals. The NATGRID, it is hoped, would not just speed up investigation of cases but also help in pre-empting crimes by acting on suspicious activities of people under watch. For purposes of easy use, each of the 20-odd databases would remain separate entities and would not be merged into a single master database. Eventually, the intention is to bring relevant databases held even in private hands, like banks or transport companies, under the ambit of NATGRID. The main data centre for NATGRID would be located in the Multi-Agency Centre which has been reactivated after the Mumbai attacks last year Sources in the government played down concerns on privacy, saying security agencies could even otherwise access these databases for investigation purposes. “All that is sought to be done is ensure that relevant information is accessed and acted upon timely in the interests of national security,” a source said. Additionally, they pointed out that similar measures have been taken in other countries as well, especially in the United States following 9/11. “It would not have been done if it wasn’t considered to be completely necessary. A system of checks and balances would obviously be put in place so that information is not misused in any way,” the source said. The complete NATGRID network would be delivered in three phases over the next two years. The first phase is ready to be initiated and is awaiting the final approval of Home Minister P Chidambaram, government sources said. From yasir.media at gmail.com Tue Sep 22 03:19:46 2009 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:49:46 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Hanging Fire ***** Contemporary Art from Pakistan In-Reply-To: <5af37bb0909211445w756ab103k1b2cc2f95c992e1b@mail.gmail.com> References: <1253556811907.8e00fe92-4266-4c81-8b1f-5e1bc4f97fc9@google.com> <5af37bb0909211445w756ab103k1b2cc2f95c992e1b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb0909211449w7bb7785cn5f18ab4b2cb1cf87@mail.gmail.com> "Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art from Pakistan," at Asia Society (Sept. 2009-Jan. 2010) is billed as the first major U.S. museum survey of contemporary art from Pakistan. http://maujmedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/hanging-fire-contemporary-art-from.html Producer: Robert Knafo A visit at the media preview features an interview with curator Salima Hashmi and spotlights work by Hamra Abbas, Bani Abidi Zahoor ul Akhlaq, Faiza Butt, Ayaz Jokhio, Naiza Khan, Huma Mulji, Asma Mundrawala, Imran Qureshi, Rashid Rana, Anwar Saeed, and Adeela Suleman. -- Posted By yasir ~ to :: Mauj ~ موج // at 9/21/2009 11:13:00 AM --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~    \\   Mauj _ Collective for Open Technology, Art & Culture From iram at sarai.net Wed Sep 30 11:45:21 2009 From: iram at sarai.net (iram at sarai.net) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:45:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Calling Entries for the UK Environment Film Fellowships 2010 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0264947759b2aceed5a1cc932ce4f820@sarai.net> Subject:UKEFF 2010 : Calling Entries for the UK Environment Film Fellowships 2010 From: rohitrellan at aol.in Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:51:39 -0400 Calling Entries for the UK Environment Film Fellowships 2010 UKEFF announces 4 Full Fellowships for Indian filmmakers to make 12 minute environmental documentaries. The UK Environment Film Fellowships have been awarded every year since 2005 to young Indian environment filmmakers, to create impactful documentaries. Till date, 19 filmmakers have been awarded these fellowships. Every year, a theme is decided and young filmmakers are encouraged to submit proposals for films which depict originality in research work in terms of topical relevance to the theme. Filmmakers identify and team-up with subject experts/ professionals/ institutions and work closely with them during the making of the film to ensure a well-researched and high quality film. The purpose of UKEFF is to build capacity and encourage the environment filmmakers’ community in India. The films made by these filmmakers are important communication tools that drive awareness and action among viewers on the impacts and possible solutions for safeguarding the environment in India. Applications are now invited for UKEFF 2010. Apply now. To know more log on to www.britishcouncil.org.in/LCF Deadline for submitting entries is 2 November 2009. From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Mon Sep 28 12:41:48 2009 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (netEX) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:11:48 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?=5BAnnouncements=5D_netEX=3A_calls_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=26_deadlines_--=3EOctober_2009?= Message-ID: <20090928091148.DA9A8BC8.9B605EED@192.168.0.3> netEX: calls & deadlines -->October 2009 ------------------------------------- [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne newsletter contents calls & deadlines 06 Calls: 2009 deadlines internal 16 Calls: October 2009 deadlines external 9 Calls: ongoing external/internal ------------------------------------------------ Calls & deadlines ---> ------------------------------------------------ 2009: deadlines internal **Deadline: 30 September 2009 A Virtual Memorial - memorial project environments is looking for artists who work on the subject "SHOAH" in digital media, primarily videoart/filmart, but also netart, soundart, digital photography and media installation http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=662 **extended Deadline 30 September2009 Cinematheque - streaming media project environments call: Flash & Thunder - Flash as a medium and tool for artistic creations http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=408 *Deadline: 2 November 2009 VideoChannel - video project ebvironments call: Found Footage! details and entry form on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1569 deadline 30 November call: soundart for SoundLAB VII - soundCelebrations details and entry form on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1423 Deadline 20 December 2009 VideoChannel - video project environments Call: SF - Shoah Film Collection to be released on occasion 27 January 2010 - 65th return of the Liberation of Auschwitz details and entry form on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1549 *ongoing deadline 1 September 2009 - 1 September 2010 Java Museum - Forum for internet Technology in Contemporaryv Art will be celebrating in 2010 its 10th anniversary and is looking for Internet based art from the years 2000-2010 details, regulations and entry form can be found on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1428 ------------------------------------------------ October 2009 deadlines: external ------------------------------------------------ 31 October Pollution - thematic project by Incident.net http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1558 30 October One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Prague/Czech Republic http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1531 24 October Luminale 2010 Frankfurt/Germany http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1474 20 October Alternative Film/Video 2009 Festival Novi Beograd/Serbia http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1565 15 October City Without Walls - curatorial opprtunity - Newark/NJ/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1538 15 October 2nd SCREEN Festival Oslo/Norway http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1448 15 October Creative Divergents International Competition http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1457 15 October Videomedeja Novi Sad/Serbia http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1453 15 October Phonurgia Nova Awards Arles/France http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1336 5 October Pontino Short Film Fest - Latina/Italy http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1392 7 October Project Room and Lab - Atelier Nord Oslo/Norwary http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1561 5 October Visualizar: Public Data, Data in Public - MediaLAB Prado Madrid/Spain http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1371 1 October Vida 12.0 - Fundacia Telefonica Madrid/Spain http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1317 1 October Chico Art Net 2009 http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1488 1 October VII International Electro-Acoustic Miniature Contest Huelva/ES http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1186 1 October Streaming Festival The Hague/NL http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=799 ----------------------------------------------- Ongoing calls: external/internal ----------------------------------------------- -->Videos for Bivouac Projects Sumter/USA -->OUTCASTING - web based screenings -->Films and video screenings Sioux City (USA) -->Laisle screenings Rio de Janeiro/Brazil -->Videos for Helsinki based video gallery - 00130 Gallery -->Web based works for 00130 Gallery Helsinki/Finland -->Project: Repetition as a Model for Progression by Marianne Holm Hansen -->US webjournal Atomic Unicorn seeks netart and video art for coming editions -->TAGallery and more deadlines on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?page_id=4 ----------------------------------------------- NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net # calls in the external section--> http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?cat=3 # calls in the internal section--> http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?cat=1 ----------------------------------------------- # This newsletter is also released on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?cat=9 # netEX - networked experiences is a free information service powered by [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne http://www.nmartproject.net - the experimental platform for art and new media from Cologne/Germany # info & contact: info (at) nmartproject.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 30 12:07:14 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:37:14 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Celebrate Bandra Festival Souvenir - Call for Submissions In-Reply-To: <8CC0D8813B06811-429C-12EE0@webmail-d004.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CC0D8813B06811-429C-12EE0@webmail-d004.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC0FAF94E19E6A-40D4-779F@webmail-d039.sysops.aol.com> The Celebrate Bandra Festival happens once every two years in Bandra. This year, the festival will be in November. I'm helping curate the literature section. More about past festivals at celebratebandra.net (the site won't be updated with this year's schedule for a little while yet).      Here's the brief.    "You're My Home": you live in Bandra, so what makes it home? (If you don't live in Bandra, imagine it). The trees, the birds, the air, your nosy neighbours, your generous and helpful neighbours, their culture and yours, the sea, the waves, the aromas, the convenience, the excitement. It's home, so like every home, it has ups, it has downs. But what is it about the environment of Bandra, seen as broadly as you can, that makes it home for you?  ...    You can submit anything that can appear in print (without spending enormous amounts of money): essays, short fiction, poetry, play scripts, illustrations, photographs.    Please email your submissions to celebrate.bandra.festival at gmail.com    Last date for submissions: September 30th, 11:59p.m.    You can make more than one stand-alone submission, but please do so in separate emails, to help the selection process.    For text submissions  • Your submission must be close to, but not over, the 1000 word mark.  • Please paste your text into the body of the email. No attachments, plea se.  • Please use one of these subject lines: Souvenir Submission20- short story, Souvenir Submission - poem, Souvenir Submission - essay, or Souvenir Submission - script.    For photographs, scanned illustrations or computer-generated art  • Please submit only one piece. (A picture being worth a thousand words and all that.)  • You can include a short (not more than 100 words) descriptor or caption in the body of your email.  • If your image is a very large file, please upload it online somewhere* and mail in a link.  • If you think you must submit more than one image as part of the same entry, then please mail in only one, but add a description of what the rest of the series will be like, or upload the additional material elsewhere and send in a link. If we want to see the rest, we'll mail you.  • Please use one of these subject lines: Souvenir Submission - photograph, Souvenir Submission - illustration, or Souvenir Submission - digital art    In one paragraph at the end of your email, please include your name, postal address, email address and a phone number, land or cellular, where you can be reached during the day and in the evenings.    By submitting, you declare that the work is your own, or that you have collaborated in its creation and are authorised to submit on behalf of the collective. Please remember Indi a's laws on libel and obscenity. And for visual art submissions that depict people, especially photographs, please make=2  0sure you have your subject's permission. For any form of 'found art,' text or visual, please ensure that you are not infringing India's copyright laws.    Entries will be short-listed by Rahul Goswami. Rahul is an intermittent Bandra resident, and otherwise a researcher working on the links between economic growth, livelihoods and agriculture.    The short-list will then be judged by Dilip D'Souza, writer and journalist, who is the editor of the souvenir, and Joe Campana, and the selected submissions will appear in print. Updates on the lists will be posted to this blog, and, if it's ready by then, the updated Celebrate Bandra website.    Rewards: the joy of seeing your work in print, and contributing towards the Celebrate Bandra effort. We are trying to get some small prizes for the best entries, but this is very unlikely, so don't count on it. Update: The top five entries, across categories, will be marked as such in the souvenir, and, yes, will get small prizes.    Do please pass this on to friends and well-wishers, from Bandra or elsewhere. Feel free to copy this text to your website or blog, and to online forums where you know it will be welcome.  From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 30 12:08:56 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:38:56 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Win tickets to Mastering Hollywood for Writers In-Reply-To: <8CC0EF4299F2C52-1AF8-295@webmail-d072.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CC0EF4299F2C52-1AF8-295@webmail-d072.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC0FAFD1BAF78A-40D4-77BC@webmail-d039.sysops.aol.com> movieScope Magazine is giving away tickets to November's 'Mastering Hollywood for Writers' event. To be in with a chance of winning, just email lizhobbs at moviescopemag.com with your details.    About the event:    Date: 28th & 29th November, 2009  Time: 9-18.30  Location: Hilton Olympia, London    Mastering Hollywood for Writers gives you the tools you need to succeed before or after you write that brilliant script. In two intensive and information-packed days, veteran Hollywood writer Doug Chamberlin (Toy Story 2) will show you everything you need to “make it” in Hollywood.    You’ll gain insight based on his 17 years of experience working with notable names such as Steven Spielberg, Jeff Katzenberg, Bruce Willis, Barry Levinson and Brian Grazer as well as the heads of Universal, Dreamworks, Pixar and Paramount.    New writers break into Hollywood every day. Why not you?    For more information, please follow the link below:    http://www.thescreenwritersstore.net/product_info.php/cPath/30/products_id/246 From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 30 12:10:45 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:40:45 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] 9th CSE Media Fellowship on The Coastal Concerns of India In-Reply-To: <8CC0F09B466D505-2928-167BA@webmail-d019.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CC0F09B466D505-2928-167BA@webmail-d019.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC0FB012B536A2-40D4-77DB@webmail-d039.sysops.aol.com> 9th CSE Media Fellowship on The Coastal Concerns of India  November 2009-January 2010    The over-7,500 km of India’s coastline, holding more than 25 per cent of the country’s population, is a hotbed of anthropogenic activities -- industrial, commercial, and tourist. At the same time, Indian coasts are ecological treasure-troves housing more than 13,000 species of flora and fauna.      Naturally, they are under tremendous pressure – from population, pollution, wastes, industrial activities and tourism. These pressures aggravate the ravages of increasing climate change-induced natural disasters like cyclones, tsunamis and sea level rise. The worst sufferers, besides the region’s ecological wealth, are the communities that depend on the seas and the coasts for their survival, such as fisherfolk.      To protect India’s coasts and fishers, the Coastal Regulation Zone was notified in 1991. It was diluted to favour industry 21 times. In 2008, a new set of rules – Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) – also met with fishworkers’ protests. Now a ministry of environment and forests committee has offered a breather by recommending that the CMZ notification be allowed to lapse.      Under its 9th Media Fellowship programme, Centre for Science and Environment invites journalists to study, investigate and report on the pressures, conflicts, impacts, actions and inactions that are being played  out on India’s coasts.    The fellowship offers a unique opportunity to travel to these regions to look at the issues and concerns at close range, and to write and comment on them.    Suggested areas of research    • Industrial development  • Cities on the coast  • Tourism  • Climate change  • Coastal habitats and their conservation  • Communities and livelihoods  • Legislation and regulation      Duration    Two months – November 2009 to January 2010 – with one month of travel time and another month for research, writing, publication and submission of stories and features.      Compensation and funding    Selected fellows will each receive a stipend of Rs 40,000 (subject to tax deductions at source) to support research, travel and writing between October and December 2009.    The stipend will be released in two instalments – the first as a travel grant at the start of the fellowship programme and the second after its successful completion.      Who can apply    These fellowships are open to Indian journalists only, including freelancers, photojournalists and television/video journalists.      Applications must be accompanied by the following documents:    • Curriculum20vitae    • For print journalists, three samples of published work on development issues. By ‘published work’, we mean articles20published by / in national or regional newspapers or magazines.    • Those writing in regional languages must have at least one of their articles translated into English.    • For television and radio journalists, two samples of telecasted / broadcasted programmes on development issues – those telecasting / broadcasting in regional languages must also give a short written summary of the programme along with the CDs of the samples.    • A letter of support from the editor that the output under the fellowship will be published / broadcast (mandatory for all candidates, including freelancers).    • A comprehensive fellowship proposal outlining (a) the subject/s and story ideas that the applicant proposes to focus on, (b) tentative travel plans and (c) a list of people who might be interviewed.    Last date for submission of applications   October 25, 2009    Fellowships output      Selected applicants from the print media will be expected to generate feature and news article/s totalling 5,000 words, based on the research carried out under the fellowship. Original clippings of these articles will have to be submitted at the completion of the fellowship programme. They will also be exp ected to take and submit photographs of the areas they travel in for their stories.    Selected applicants from the audio-visual media will be expected to generate either a single film/broadcast or a se  ries of episodes, based on the research carried out under the fellowships. Video and audio CDs of these outputs will have to be submitted at the completion of the fellowship programme.      Note: Due to certain unforeseen circumstances, the recently announced Media Briefing Workshop on ‘The Coastal Concerns of India’, to be held at Goa in November, stands postponed. CSE will announce new dates for the workshop.    Applications for the fellowship should be addressed to:   Shachi Chaturvedi  Assistant Coordinator  Media Resource Centre  Centre for Science and Environment  41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area  New Delhi 110 062  Ph: 011-29955124, 29955125, Fax: 011-29955879  Mobile: 98187 50007  Email: shachi at cseindia.org    From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 30 12:14:13 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:44:13 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] SHAMIANA in Ahmedabad !! "Celebrating Short Films" In-Reply-To: <8CC0D82389D0EF6-429C-12C2E@webmail-d004.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CC0D82389D0EF6-429C-12C2E@webmail-d004.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC0FB08ED17BA6-40D4-782B@webmail-d039.sysops.aol.com> It's SHAMIANA time in Ahmedabad as we make our foray into this culture loving city of Gujarat!    With a grand launch kickstarting the inaugural scrng, SHAMIANA will be a Monthly feature on the cultural calender of Ahmedabad...    Lookin forward to our date with Ahmedabad on the 30th!    For details, contact Priya on +91-97266 29675      Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009    Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm    Location:DARPANA Academy    Street:Usmanpura    City/Town: Ahmadabad, India    -------------------------------------------------------------------------   --------------  ABOUT Shamiana - The Short Film Club    SHAMIANA, India's only dedicated and fastest growing short film club is passionate about showcasing the finest shorts from India and all over the world.  The people behind SHAMIANA are the pioneers of the organised short film space in India and the company behind the club - TWO PLUS PRODUCTIONS are also into production and distribution of shorts.    What started off with just one screening at Jazz By the Bay has now expanded to 3 CHAPTERS across Bombay and Poona with regular monthly screenings drawing packed houses!  We can't wait to go to more cities in the coming months!!!    We'll keep you posted on our monthly screenings, any news and other events in the short film world!    And you keep=2 0your feedback coming in thru mails AT shamianashorts at gmail.com . From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Sep 30 12:15:53 2009 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:45:53 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] UKEFF 2010 : Calling Entries for the UK Environment Film Fellowships 2010 In-Reply-To: <8CC0F0193390865-2928-161E3@webmail-d019.sysops.aol.com> References: <9D6AC680AE11C84E858F844E9DAB9791093FE95E@IN_DEL1B_MS002.BritishCouncil.Org> <8CC0F0193390865-2928-161E3@webmail-d019.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CC0FB0CA2F0124-40D4-7840@webmail-d039.sysops.aol.com> Calling Entries for the UK Environment Film Fellowships 2010      UKEFF announces 4 Full Fellowships for Indian filmmakers to make 12 minute environmental documentaries. The UK Environment Film Fellowships have been awarded every year since 2005 to young Indian environment filmmakers, to create impactful documentaries. Till date, 19 filmmakers have been awarded these fellowships.       Every year, a theme is decided and young filmmakers are encouraged to submit proposals for films which depict originality in research work in terms of topical relevance to the theme.  Filmmakers identify and team-up with subject experts/ professionals/ institutions and work closely with them during the making of the film to ensure a well-researched and high quality film.      The purpose of UKEFF is to build capacity and encourage the environment filmmakers’ community in India. The films made by these filmmakers are important communication tools that drive awareness and action among viewers on the impacts and possible solutions for safeguarding the environment in India.    Applications are now invited for UKEFF 2010. Apply now.    To know more log on to www.britishcouncil.org.in/LCF      Deadline for submitting entries is 2 November 2009.          From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 30 14:56:57 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:26:57 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] blood in the river In-Reply-To: <47e122a70909260333i31a7b4a5l86464ec9c80c5ce7@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <86440.10282.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Inder   Looks like you managed to further pollute the Yamuna.   Kshmendra --- On Sat, 9/26/09, Inder Salim wrote: From: Inder Salim Subject: [Reader-list] blood in the river To: "reader-list" Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009, 4:03 PM Dear all please press to read in the OPEN MAGAZINE http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/true-life/blood-in-the-river -- love regards inder salim http://indersalim.livejournal.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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From indersalim at gmail.com Wed Sep 30 15:17:40 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:17:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: TOMORROW: Arundhati Roy, 'Listening to Grasshoppers' Launch, Talk & Conversation In-Reply-To: <9659bc7a0909291549h1597c1cdr1769211790ef59ec@mail.gmail.com> References: <9659bc7a0909291451v62b8c5c9t7645763bb611f3f8@mail.gmail.com> <9659bc7a0909291549h1597c1cdr1769211790ef59ec@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909300247p723ebea3s681cb337edc8be28@mail.gmail.com> --------- PENGUIN BOOKS INDIA & THE PEN ALL-INDIA CENTRE invite you to the launch of LISTENING TO GRASSHOPPERS: Field Notes on Democracy by ARUNDHATI ROY The author will speak about the book, followed by a conversation with Ranjit Hoskote Date: 1st October 2009 (Thursday) Time: 6 pm Place: Homi J H Taleyarkhan Memorial Hall (Town Hall/ Asiatic Library Compound), 141 Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai RSVP: Harish Shenoy, Penguin 98210-14546 -- The PEN All-India Centre Theosophy Hall 40 New Marine Lines Mumbai 400 020 India -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From indersalim at gmail.com Wed Sep 30 15:38:49 2009 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:38:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] blood in the river In-Reply-To: <86440.10282.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <47e122a70909260333i31a7b4a5l86464ec9c80c5ce7@mail.gmail.com> <86440.10282.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <47e122a70909300308t5c1e1ce7va108ae9222332cd@mail.gmail.com> Thanks dear Kshmendra it is true that my art thrives by extremes. paradoxically, for example my on going exhibition in Mumbai at The Loft wont happen if the siutation in Kashmir was not so, as we know. please have a look at some images http://indersalim.livejournal.com . I mix personal with the political and self with the other, life with the death.... no worries, dont call it art even, but it is something, some madness, some form of madness without which, perhaps , we dont have a simple understanding of art even, The problem is that we have over glossed it more than we need to, and, needless to emphasize that naturewise, we human beings on earth, are really in bad shape, and so how to talk about aesthetics, and yes, for someone who reads her/his emails in a ari conditioned space/ room, this vital form of madness needs to enter in a glossed form, but.. Your comment is sincerely provocative, and that really suits me. Because i am not really thinking of layering of the existing aesthetic order, but sensitizing it, in the first place by connecting 'self' with the 'dead' or other. The River is dead, a declared dead and so how do we celebrate the dead.. Dont we have ritual for that, which are part of our religous belief, and here i have found my own way to communcate with the dead in the contemporary sense, a ritual which none should follow, or feel to follow in their own new way. After all we are human beings, and know the value of practices which are beyond logic. It is here, you comment comes handy, because , it has truely meant to think of the pollution. And who is pollutiig the earth except the us. so, death with the death, you can have a feeling of this in Banaras even, but hat is single tract connection with the death, but here it is about the death of earth, so very sad, thanks for comment love inder salim On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 2:56 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > Dear Inder > > Looks like you managed to further pollute the Yamuna. > > Kshmendra > > --- On Sat, 9/26/09, Inder Salim wrote: > > From: Inder Salim > Subject: [Reader-list] blood in the river > To: "reader-list" > Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009, 4:03 PM > > Dear all > please press to read in the OPEN MAGAZINE > > http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/true-life/blood-in-the-river > > -- > love regards > inder salim > > > > > > http://indersalim.livejournal.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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From chandni.parekh at gmail.com Wed Sep 30 16:05:17 2009 From: chandni.parekh at gmail.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:05:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] National Meet on the Status of Muslims, Oct 3-5, Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: See the mailer from Anhad at http://psychologynews.posterous.com/national-meet-on-the-status-of-muslims-oct-3 Excerpts: Anhad is organizing a National Meet on the Status of Muslims to document the continuing ways of discrimination, exclusion, persecution of Muslims in India today, to document overt as well as low intensity violence and the insecurity that they live with, and to prepare a charter of demands for the present government. We also plan to develop a strategy paper for voluntary organizations who are working for the minority rights. During the three day meet senior activists, academicians, grass root workers and victims would present and listen to testimonies and reports, and reflect on these conditions. *Panelists: *** Admiral Ramdas, Ahmad Saeed Malihabadi, Asghar Ali Engineer, Colin Gonsalves, Gagan Sethi, Ghanshyam Shah, Hanif Lakdawala, Harsh Mander, Justice Bhargava, Kavita Srivastava, Mahesh Bhat, Prashant Bhushan, Ram Puniyani, Rooprekha Verma, Sandeep Pandey, Shahid Latif, Tarun Tejpal, Uma Chakravarty, Zafar Agha, Zahid Ali Khan, Zoya Hasan *Speakers: * Abu Zafar, Ajit Sahi, Amit Sengupta, Apoorvanand, Arshad Ajmal, Ashish Khaitan, Avinash Kumar, Azam Khan, Aziz Mubaraki, Baharul Islam, Farah Naqvi , Harinder Baweja, Hozzefa Ujjaini, Iftikhar Gilani, Irfan engineer, Jawed Naqvi, Jyoti Punwani, Manisha Sethi, Manoj Jha, Mehmood bhai, Minakshi Ganguly, Mohd Azam Khan, Mohd Shuaib, Nagma Nadaf, Naseem Ansari , Nihal Ahmad Ansari, Nishat Hussain, Noorjahan, Poornima Joshi, Rajendra Y J? Clifton ( to be confirmed), Rajiv Yadav, Rashida Khan, Sarwar Raza, Shafeeq Mahajir, Shahnawaz Alam, Shesh Narain Singh, Sohail Hashmi, Vidyadhar Gadgil , Vineet Tiwari, Vrinda Grover, Yogesh Diwan, Yusuf Shaikh, Zaheer Ali Khan, Zakia Soman From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 30 16:59:02 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:29:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Compromise and surrender of principle: A response to an article by Ramachandra Guha In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <929214.67398.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Harsh   Thank you for sharing this very informative and educative article.   If you come across a response to this from Ramchandra Guha please do share that too. Marieme Helie Lucas has pointed out in Guha's article "a number of conceptual and factual errors."   On a personal note it was gratifying to see that the "Secular" model of France somewhat mirrors my own (uneducated) perspectives on what a "Secular India" should be.   Thanks again   Kshmendra     --- On Tue, 9/29/09, Harsh Kapoor wrote: From: Harsh Kapoor Subject: [Reader-list] Compromise and surrender of principle: A response to an article by Ramachandra Guha To: "sarai list" Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 2:08 PM sacw.net 28 September 2009 Compromise and surrender of principle: A response to the article by Ramachandra Guha, ’The Beauty of Compromise: an excess of secularism may be as problematic as bigotry’ (in The Telegraph, 26 September 2009) by Marieme Helie Lucas The information about French secularism, past and present, that one can draw from English speaking media leads to much misunderstanding and biased opinions. On the one hand one cannot blame writers who have no direct access to primary sources and have to rely on secondary ones. On the other hand, the propagation of biased information and thus of erroneous conclusions in the English language serve the interests of Muslim fundamentalists in France, and for that reason alone, it needs to be addressed. The article by Ramachandra Guha shows bias at several levels: it overlooks the different definitions of secularism, it presents erroneous interpretations as facts, it under-evaluates the rise of Muslim fundamentalism as a political -not a religious- phenomenon and it accepts a cultural definition of women’s rights. All of these tend to give credibility to the assertions of Muslim fundamentalists that combat French secularism. [. . .] FULL TEXT AT: http://www.sacw.net/article1150.html _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 30 17:39:31 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:09:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian's sordid saga In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <137320.34557.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> UPDATING WITH THE LATEST (gossip?)   ".... Aasiya was a virgin"   "No hymen rupture, rectal prolapse found on teenager’s body"   AHMED ALI FAYYAZ   SRINAGAR, Sep 30: Quoting sources associated with the process of post mortem at Shopian yesterday, Early Times had exclusively reported in today’s issue: “The team also collected vaginal parts of both the bodies in full to find whether the deceased women had been sexually assaulted before their death occurred during the night intervening May 29th and 30th. Even as the perfunctory examination of unmarried Aasiya’s hymen, according to sources, did not conclusively establish a sexual assault, members of the expert team preserved the same carefully for a subsequent microscopic analysis that would lead to the final opinion”. In hours of this newspaper hitting the stands and thousands of readers learning all over the world through its online edition that all from media to politics were perhaps in for a possible shock, major news agencies and television channels today carried reports to suggest that rape did not appear to have taken place on the two young women found dead in Rambiara of Shopian on May 30th this year. Even as the conclusive evidence would be available only after a detailed biological and microscopic analysis by the team of forensic experts of CFSL and doctors of AIIMS in a few days, discovery of 17-year-old Aasiya’s hymen having turned out to be “intact” and without any marks of violation is not only to change entire course of the investigation but also potential enough to turn a many faces red in the institutions of media and politics. Both have been approvingly reporting and asserting in absence of any scientific evidence that the married Neelafar and unmarried Aasiya had been raped and murdered. Even after Justice Sunil Hali’s big question on the “one-track investigation” of Jammu & Kashmir Police’s Special Investigating Team (SIT), none of the investigators had bothered to move to the characters who could have been involved in fudging of the vaginal swab, then believed to have been obtained from the dead bodies of the two women and swapped by unidentified persons. SIT’s only subject of investigation appeared to be identification of the agency---Army, CRPF, J&K Police---that was “responsible” and to search how many of the personnel had committed the “rape-cum-murder”. The flow of emotion was so strident that media skipped the adjective of “alleged” and Chief Minister himself has been apologizing since June for the “misleading report”--- of prima facie cause of death---he got from Police and disclosed at a news conference. One wonders what SIT was doing even after SSP Pulwama, Kifayat Hyder, had written to IGP Kashmir in his confidential letter in August that Dr Nighat Shaheen had collected the smear from a number of living patients at District Hospital of Pulwama and not from the two dead bodies at District Hospital of Shopian. While the country’s eminent intellectuals had, in their columns, questioned Omar Abdullah government’s order to place under suspension Dr Nighat Shaheen who publicly claimed credit for her “bold disclosure” of having confirmed the “horrible gang rape”, leaders of most of the political parties had gone to the extent of threatening strike in case the gynecologist was not reinstated with honour. Significantly, there have been no jingoistic voices after Majlis-e-Mushawarat of Shopian broke away from the Hurriyat and extended full cooperation to the fresh investigation being conducted by CBI. The victims’ family has not only cooperated with the new probe but also expressed satisfaction publicly on the way CBI had launched the exercise and conducted the exhumation and post mortem. Informed sources today revealed that the post mortem had, well on the spot, convinced the MMS- nominated doctor that Aasiya’s hymen was “intact” and there was not even a rectal prolpase---prima facie suggestion that the women had not been sexually assaulted. The CFSL experts have, nevertheless, reserved their final opinion and made it clear to many interested in the process that a “conclusive scientific opinion” could be framed only after a thorough biological and microscopic analysis in New Delhi. Sources said that during its hearing of the PIL tomorrow, CBI’s Srinagar-based assistant solicitor general Anil Bhan would appear before the Division Bench of J&K High Court, comprising Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Mr Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, to inform that the investigation had been taken over by the federal agency. A thin team of CBI, including an SSP and Dy SP and Jammu-based Special Public Prosecutor Mr Bhat, are also expected to be present. DB has been monitoring the investigation, first conducted by SIT and lately assigned to CBI. http://www.earlytimes.in/earlytimes1/newsdet.aspx?q=44465   --- On Sun, 9/27/09, S. Jabbar wrote: From: S. Jabbar Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian's sordid saga To: "Sarai" Date: Sunday, September 27, 2009, 8:53 PM Shopian case: Doc sent fictitious slides for forensic lab, CBI Agencies Posted online: Sunday , Sep 27, 2009 at 1733 hrs Srinagar : In a new twist to the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian, a doctor who prepared the vaginal slides of the victims has told the CBI that no samples from the duo had ever been taken. The doctor, who was a part of the second postmortem team from Pulwama district hospital, was questioned by the CBI team camping here during which she told the investigators that no vaginal swab was ever taken of the two victims ­ Neelofar (22) and Aasiya (17), official sources said. The doctor broke down during the questioning and narrated the entire sequence of events to the CBI officials, the sources said. The sources claimed that the doctor had taken samples from gloves used in the gynaecological ward of the district hospital and prepared a slide which showed presence of semen. The CBI conducted searches at the hospital late last night and seized various pairs of gloves and records available at the hospital, they said. While the CBI was officially tightlipped about the case, sources said the lady doctor informed the CBI that she had done this as public pressure was mounting. The CBI team which searched the hospital last night was accompanied by the doctor, they said. The exhumation of bodies was expected to be undertaken tomorrow and the family members had also given permission for the same. _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 30 18:13:01 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:43:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Cross-border bride brawl Message-ID: <714991.28938.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Sunday , September 27 , 2009   "Cross-border bride brawl"    OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT   Srinagar, Sept. 26: Separatist groups headed by men married to girls from outside the state have left battered and bruised the editor of a weekly who has been critical of such matrimonial alliances which have been quite common among Kashmiri leaders.   Supporters of Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and J&K Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik — both are married to girls who are not from the state — barged into a hotel lobby and disrupted a news meet being addressed by Shabnum Qayoom, editor of the weekly Quami Waqar.   Qayoom, who was also assaulted, said he had been forced to call the news meet after JKLF leaders threatened to kill him for being critical of Malik’s marriage with Pakistani artist Mushaal Malik.   The editor was particularly critical of Malik, though he made a passing reference of Mirwaiz, whose wife is an American of Kashmiri origin, and separatist-turned-mainstream leader Sajjad Lone, who too is married to a Pakistani.   Malik recently married Mushaal, while Mirwaiz and Sajjad had solemnised theirs some years ago.   Kashmir has a history of its politicians marrying non-Kashmiris, but it is perhaps the first time that such weddings have been publicly questioned.   National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah was married to Begum Akbar Jahan, the daughter of British hotelier Harry Nedous and Mir Jan, a Kashmiri. Prior to her marriage to Sheikh Abdullah, Begum Akbar Jahan was, according to writer Tariq Ali, the wife of T.E. Lawrence, the legendary British military officer known as Lawrence of Arabia.   Farooq Abdullah, the son of Sheikh Abdullah and Akbar Jahan, too followed in his father’s footsteps by marrying Molly, a British citizen. Chief minister Omar Abdullah, the son of Farooq, has a Punjabi wife, Payal.   Qayoom believes Kashmiris are not against inter-racial marriages but they have a big reason to question separatists who do it.   “I am not against a Kashmiri marrying a non-Kashmiri and perhaps other Kashmiris also think on similar lines. But separatists started the armed movement here, which has created an army of widows and orphaned girls. It is they who separatists should marry and not the elite girls from outside our state,” Qayoom told The Telegraph.   The editor, who too has separatist leanings, said he had lodged a formal complaint with the police against the men who assaulted him. “I was beaten by them,” he said.   Earlier during the news conference, a JKLF supporter created a ruckus inside the hall as Qayoom was reading from a prepared text. The moment he referred to Mirwaiz’s marriage, he received a thrashing, apparently from the supporters of the Hurriyat chairman. Deputy inspector-general of police H.K. Lohia said they had rounded up five activists.   Qayoom said he was against Malik’s marriage for another reason — his artist wife made “nude paintings”.   It appeared that Mirwaiz and Malik supporters got wind of the news conference in advance and were present in full strength at the venue.   They raised slogans against Qayoom, claiming he had raised the issue at the behest of Indian intelligence agencies. “He (Qayoom) is on the payroll of the IB,” an activist shouted.   Qayoom, intriguingly, was defended by some supporters of Hurriyat hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who too were present in strength.   http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090927/jsp/frontpage/story_11547222.jsp#   From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 30 18:32:18 2009 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:02:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Armed, political struggle must for Kashmir solution: United Jihad Council (UJC) Message-ID: <600909.2010.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "Armed, political struggle must for K-solution: UJC"   GK NEWS NETWORK   Srinagar, Sept 29: The United Jihad Council chairman, Syed Salah-ud-Din, on Tuesday said a strong armed struggle and an organized political movement were imperative for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. “It is because of the armed struggle and supreme sacrifices of militants that the Kashmir issue was resurrected from the cold storage and brought to the international centre stage. It is because of these that Kashmiri political leaders are touring New Delhi, Islamabad, US, UK and other countries from Srinagar,” said Salah-ud-Din, according to a statement faxed from AJK by the UJC spokesman, Syed Sadaqat Hussian. “If all the present political leaders launch a unified political movement, they will never attain the stature of late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah nor can they ever launch such a forceful and vibrant struggle he had launched and still India used him for its own interests and threw him like a tissue paper,” said Salah-ud-Din. Salah-ud-Din said Kashmiri leadership should understand that Indian armed forces had occupied 27 lakh kanal of orchard, agriculture and forestland to strengthen its control in the state. “These armed forces have also occupied 5600 kanal of land in Shopian area, used the tourist resorts and spread of network of railway lines, roads and tunnels for its military purposes to squeeze land for Kashmiris on Israeli pattern. Under such circumstances neither Kashmir issue can be resolved nor can the state be freed from military occupation through political efforts and futile talks,” he said, adding that talks had not yielded any result over the past 62 years. “These talks failed to get the incarcerated leaders released,” he said. Salah-ud-Din said in 2000-2001 India had shunned its stubbornness as a result of the  pressure mounted on it through armed struggle and it leadership had acknowledged the disputed status of Kashmir expressing willingness for talks. “The then prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, offered talks twice and announced ceasefire. The Indian army general Padmanabhan even said that there was no military solution to Kashmir issue and exhorted India to resolve it politically. In this way, Kashmir issue had come closer to solution but the then Pakistan president General Musharraf and the large chunk of Kashmiri political leadership committed perfidy with the cause and instead of mounting sustained pressure on India resorted to weaken the armed struggle,” he said. Regretting the attitude of political leaders and terming it hypocritical, Salah-ud-Din said, “While interacting privately with intellectuals, journalists and Pakistani leaders, they explicitly say that Kashmir cannot be resolved without armed struggle. But when they speak at public meetings and conferences and during their tours to foreign countries, they talk of democracy, secularism and moderation and oppose the holy armed struggle.” Salah-ud-Din emphatically said, “Kashmir cannot be freed from Indian control by only political lecturers, dharnas, seminars and tours. If at all the Kashmiri leaders want that issue to be resolved justly and viably, they should have to prepare themselves for a statewide strong and effective armed struggle besides pursuing the cause politically in an organized and cohesive way. Otherwise, they may get gifts and dinner and lunches in foreign countries but not the resolution of Kashmir issues.” Expressing shock and grief over the atmosphere of bickering between media and some political leaders, Salah-ud-Din counseled restraint so that Indian agencies did not use it to their advantage. He exhorted the political parties to demonstrate tolerance and at the same time asked media not to resort to character assassination of anyone. Wednesday, September 30, 2009 http://www.greaterkashmir.com/today/full_story.asp?Date=30_9_2009&ItemID=78&cat=1