From chandni_parekh at yahoo.com Mon Mar 1 11:37:50 2010 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:07:50 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Film Screenings in March Message-ID: <236625.99258.qm@web54406.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Chandni Parekh sent a message to the members of Vikalp at Prithvi group on Facebook. -------------------- Subject: Film Screenings in March On the first day of this month, I'm back to let you know about film screenings for the month of March in India. But before that... thank you to all those who came for the Vikalp at Prithvi screening of 'Doon School Chronicles'. Many of you liked the film (I did too!) and participated in what was a pretty interesting discussion. The next Vikalp at Prithvi screening is an important documentary about India’s agrarian crisis by Deepa Bhatia. Join us on Monday, 29th March at 7 PM to watch 'Nero's Guests'. If you're not on our mailing list, send me your email ID and you will begin receiving monthly mailers about Vikalp at Prithvi screenings. And now for the upcoming film screenings: 'The Sun Behind the Clouds' by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, March 1, Bangalore Samsung Women's International Film Festival, March 1-9, Chennai Screening of Short Films at the 'Art Bengaluru 2010' Festival, March 2 'Buru Gaara' by Shriprakash and 'The Fight to Dance' by Anish Patel, March 3, Delhi CINEMATHEQUE 2010 - Film Festival, March 5-6, Calcutta Film Screenings on Kabir, March 6-14, Madhya Pradesh 6th Asian Women's Film Festival, March 7-8, Delhi Short Films presented by Shamiana, March 10, Bombay Queer Nazariya - International LGBTI Film Festival, March 25-28, Bombay Vikalp at Prithvi Screening of 'Nero's Guests' by Deepa Bhatia on Monday, March 29, 7 PM, Prithvi House, Juhu, Bombay Best, Chandni From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 1 11:43:29 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 11:43:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Freedom Gagged Message-ID: <6b79f1a71002282213r59e83ce1x6564ac2693e43f66@mail.gmail.com> http://epaper.newindpress.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=10_03_2008_008_005&kword=&mode=1# This exhibition is not about raking-up the past or "creating communal disharmony", it is about Indian children, Hindus and Muslims alike, knowing their own past and making sure it does not happen again. Aurangzeb's shadow and legacy is very much present BY FRANCOIS GAUTIER O N the March 7, 2008, in Lalit Kala Academi, Chennai, Assistant Commissioner of Police K N Murali, took off the wall an exquisite miniature painting, which showed the destruction of the Somnath temple (which has been razed six times) and threw it on the ground, shattering it. Then his men started removing all the paintings from the wall, further damaging many of them. On that day, the morale and the reputation of the Tamil Nadu police must have sunk to a new low : of bowing down to their master's wishes and those of a few fanatics, of forsaking moral decency and all the qualities that a police officer should embody. The previous day the Nawab of Arcot visited the exhibition and lashed out at FACT volunteers accusing them of "misrepresenting facts." He was particularly enraged by two miniatures - the first depicted Aurangzeb's army destroying the Somnath temple and the second showed the destruction of the Kesava Rai temple in Mathura. We are told that he has direct access to the CM's office and that orders to the police to clamp down on exhibition came down from there. Otherwise, Mr Murali would not have dared to go so far, so brazenly. Soon, the nawab sent a group of goons, allegedly from TMMK (Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam) and MNP (Manitha Neethi Paasarai) to pick up arguments with the volunteers, most of them elderly women from decent family backgrounds. They came back again on 7th afternoon when I was there, screaming on, top of their voices in Tamil and in English that this exhibition was absolutely false and that unless it was closed immediately they would come back in force the next day (Friday) to break it down. I tried to reason with them, that these were all documents from Government archives, that I could explain everything to them, that we could even debate on TV, but they shouted even louder and got more threatening. When all these arguments were going on the police did not bother to come up. (The hall is on the first floor.) Then the goons closeted them selves with Mr Murali, two other officers and Mr Palaniappan, the secretary of the LKA, in his office and when I barged in, Mr Murali told me he was closing down the exhibition. I decided to rush to the Commissioner's office in Egmore to plead for a stay order. But meanwhile Mr Murali swung into action: he terrorised the harmless ladies calling them " stooges of a white dog," threw two paintings on the ground and ordered his policemen to remove the rest. Then he arrested four volunteers (Mrs. Srarswathi, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi, Mrs. Malathi and Mr. B.R. Haran) and took them to the Thousand Lights police station. There ACP termed Mr. Francois as a "Foreign Terrorist" and threatened to book the volunteers "for helping and assisting him to incite communal violence in the otherwise peaceful Tamil Nadu." What was all the noise about? Lalit Kala Academi was showing an exhibition: "Aurangzeb as he was according to his own records." This is an artistic exhibition on Aurangzeb, the great Mughal emperor using his own records and firmans (edicts), many of which are still preserved in Indian museums, such as the Bikaner archives. Aurangzeb was truly a pious Muslim, copying the Koran himself, stitching Muslim skullcaps and enforcing strict laws, according to his own documents, which we were careful to show. How come Aurangzeb is such a hero with the Nawab of Arcot and his henchmen? Forget what he did to Hindus : reimposing the humiliating jiziya tax, forbidding them from riding horses, elephants or palanquins and ordering all temples destroyed (Among them the Krishna's birth temple in Mathura, the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat, the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya), he was also a monster to his own family, having his father poisoned, his two brothers killed, and imprisoning his own son. This exhibition was sponsored by FACT, which I created in 2003, when I received at the hands of the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha the Natchiketa Award of Excellence in Journalism. With the Prize money, my Indian wife Namrita and myself mounted an exhibition on the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, four hundred thousand of them having become refugees in their own country. This exhibition travelled around India and then in the world and was shown in Capitol Hill, Washington, in July 2005, leading to a bipartisan resolution on the Human Rights of the Kashmiri Pandits in the US Congress . Another exhibition on the persecution of Hindus, Christians and Buddhists in Bangladesh was inaugurated in Mumbai on November 18, 2006. We have also a huge show on Shivaji ‘a Hero for Modern, India' in Mumbai on March 12 in Ravindra Natya Mandir. A lot of historical research and artistic efforts have gone into the making of this exhibition. It is also an effort to help a dying craft, of the painters of Rajasthan, that of miniature painting. Each original painting, which portrays a historically docu mented incident in the times of Aurangzeb, has been done in the original Mughal style and is signed and dated. Professor V. S. Bhatnagar of the Rajasthan University, Jaipur, has contributed the historical research part. We are hiring a lawyer to file a case on FACT's behalf on five counts: 1) Assistant Commissioner of Police K N Murali, took two of the paintings, which showed the destruction of the Somnath temple and threw them on the ground. I hear six more paintings have been damaged and we have no news of the exhibition as it has been sealed. It costs 8 lakhs to do (all original miniature paintings not counting my time). 2) We paid Lalit Kala Academi a lot of money and they cancelled the show. 3) The police took in a police van three innocent ladies to the police station after 6 p.m. which is illegal. 4) The police totally sided with the goons, closeting themselves in the manager's office for one hour. 5) Mr Murali threatened the ladies repeatedly that they were ‘terrorists.' 6) Lastly, we will file a case against Lalit Kala Academi for damage to our paintings, infringement upon our freedom of expression and we will demand that they reopen the exhibition in their premises so that the people of Chennai may have the opportunity to make their own judgment about it. This exhibition is not about raking up the past or "creating communal disharmony," it is about Indian children, Hindus and Muslims alike knowing their own past and making sure it does not happen again. For Aurangzeb's shadow and legacy is still very much present in India. It was there in Kashmir when all the Hindus were forced by terror to leave their homeland; it is there when Indian Muslims help plant bombs in Mumbai trains, Varanasi, or Delhi; it was there in Chennai when a few Muslim rowdies hold at ransom an entire state and its political apparatus. This is why we had that exhibition. François Gautier is political correspondent in South Asia for " Le Figaro" for eight years. He is now the editor in chief of Paris-based La Revue de l'Inde (lesbelleslettres.com) From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Mar 1 14:43:08 2010 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 14:43:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish Message-ID: <0988EAF5-F1C1-418F-B868-BCE91147CD1E@sarai.net> Suresh Kalmadi on TV phone talk with an news anchor after the opening world cup hockey match win of the Indian team, said that he is happy and will give a "bakshish" of 1 lakh rupees to each player. This reveals why the hockey team earlier had to go on a strike to argue for stable salaries. They asked for a stable payment of 1 crore for the full team for salaries. But Mr. Management could not understand it, TV channels could not understand it!! The sports managements here only understand wins and then bakshish. Nothing else. For commonwealth games this same management is handling a few thousand crores. Amazing. Happy Holi. Jeebesh From shuddha at sarai.net Mon Mar 1 12:29:56 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 12:29:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Freedom Gagged In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71002282213r59e83ce1x6564ac2693e43f66@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71002282213r59e83ce1x6564ac2693e43f66@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <2058E379-5B6E-4833-B7A3-765203CF4063@sarai.net> Dear All, Thank you, Pawan Durani, for sending us this two year old news. It is good to reflect on issues like this even if they are not current. I think it is sad and deplorable that the Nawab of Arcot was able to utilise muscle power and police to disrupt an exhibition in 2008. I totally condemn this attack on the freedom of expression. The way to criticise an exhibition is not to use goons and the police to shut it down, or to disrupt it, but to mount counter exhibitions, and write critiques, organize discussions etc. I do not personally like much of the work of the artist M.F. Husain, though I think that the body of his work has a certain significance in the history of modernist painting in India, and I think that the efforts to disrupt exhibitions of his work in India are just as deplorable as the efforts to disrupt the FACT exhibition that Pawan Durani has informed us about. It is just as condemnable as the banning of an academic book on Shivaji and his reign au thored by Jim Laine in Maharshtra, the recent attempts at preventing the screenings of the film My Name is Khan, or the somewhat older attempts to prevent the screenings of the film 'Fire', the attempts to disrupt, interrput and prevent public screenings of Jashn-e-Azaadi by Sanjay Kak, or indeed the banning of the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, or the attempts to prevent Taslima Nasreen from living in India. I hope that all of you, and especially Pawan will agree with me on all this. Surely, if we are committed to the freedom of speech and expression, we are committed to its protection, regardless of whether or not we like or even agree with what is being said or expressed. regards, Shuddha On 01-Mar-10, at 11:43 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > http://epaper.newindpress.com/ArticleText.aspx? > article=10_03_2008_008_005&kword=&mode=1# > > This exhibition is not about raking-up the past or "creating communal > disharmony", it is about Indian children, Hindus and Muslims alike, > knowing their own past and making sure it does not happen again. > Aurangzeb's shadow and legacy is very much present > BY FRANCOIS GAUTIER > > > O N the March 7, 2008, in Lalit Kala Academi, Chennai, Assistant > Commissioner of Police K N Murali, took off the wall an exquisite > miniature painting, which showed the destruction of the Somnath temple > (which has been razed six times) and threw it on the ground, > shattering it. Then his men started removing all the paintings from > the wall, further damaging many of them. On that day, the morale and > the reputation of the Tamil Nadu police must have sunk to a new low : > of bowing down to their master's wishes and those of a few fanatics, > of forsaking moral decency and all the qualities that a police officer > should embody. > The previous day the Nawab of Arcot visited the exhibition and lashed > out at FACT volunteers accusing them of "misrepresenting facts." He > was particularly enraged by two miniatures - the first depicted > Aurangzeb's army destroying the Somnath temple and the second showed > the destruction of the Kesava Rai temple in Mathura. We are told that > he has direct access to the CM's office and that orders to the police > to clamp down on exhibition came down from there. Otherwise, Mr Murali > would not have dared to go so far, so brazenly. > > Soon, the nawab sent a group of goons, allegedly from TMMK (Tamil Nadu > Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam) and MNP (Manitha Neethi Paasarai) to pick up > arguments with the volunteers, most of them elderly women from decent > family backgrounds. > > They came back again on 7th afternoon when I was there, screaming on, > top of their voices in Tamil and in English that this exhibition was > absolutely false and that unless it was closed immediately they would > come back in force the next day (Friday) to break it down. I tried to > reason with them, that these were all documents from Government > archives, that I could explain everything to them, that we could even > debate on TV, but they shouted even louder and got more threatening. > When all these arguments were going on the police did not bother to > come up. > > (The hall is on the first floor.) Then the goons closeted them selves > with Mr Murali, two other officers and Mr Palaniappan, the secretary > of the LKA, in his office and when I barged in, Mr Murali told me he > was closing down the exhibition. I decided to rush to the > Commissioner's office in Egmore to plead for a stay order. > > But meanwhile Mr Murali swung into action: he terrorised the harmless > ladies calling them " stooges of a white dog," threw two paintings on > the ground and ordered his policemen to remove the rest. Then he > arrested four volunteers (Mrs. Srarswathi, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi, Mrs. > > Malathi and Mr. B.R. Haran) and took them to the Thousand Lights > police station. There ACP termed Mr. Francois as a "Foreign Terrorist" > and threatened to book the volunteers "for helping and assisting him > to incite communal violence in the otherwise peaceful Tamil Nadu." > > What was all the noise about? Lalit Kala Academi was showing an > exhibition: "Aurangzeb as he was according to his own records." This > is an artistic exhibition on Aurangzeb, the great Mughal emperor using > his own records and firmans (edicts), many of which are still > preserved in Indian museums, such as the Bikaner archives. > > Aurangzeb was truly a pious Muslim, copying the Koran himself, > stitching Muslim skullcaps and enforcing strict laws, according to his > own documents, which we were careful to show. How come Aurangzeb is > such a hero with the Nawab of Arcot and his henchmen? Forget what he > did to Hindus : reimposing the humiliating jiziya tax, forbidding them > from riding horses, elephants or palanquins and ordering all temples > destroyed (Among them the Krishna's birth temple in Mathura, the > rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat, the Vishnu temple > replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares and the > Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya), he was also a monster to his own > family, having his father poisoned, his two brothers killed, and > imprisoning his own son. > > This exhibition was sponsored by FACT, which I created in 2003, when I > received at the hands of the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha the > Natchiketa Award of Excellence in Journalism. With the Prize money, my > Indian wife Namrita and myself mounted an exhibition on the plight of > the Kashmiri Pandits, four hundred thousand of them having become > refugees in their own country. > > This exhibition travelled around India and then in the world and was > shown in Capitol Hill, Washington, in July 2005, leading to a > bipartisan resolution on the Human Rights of the Kashmiri Pandits in > the US Congress . Another exhibition on the persecution of Hindus, > Christians and Buddhists in Bangladesh was inaugurated in Mumbai on > November 18, 2006. We have also a huge show on Shivaji ‘a Hero for > Modern, India' in Mumbai on March 12 in Ravindra Natya Mandir. > > A lot of historical research and artistic efforts have gone into the > making of this exhibition. It is also an effort to help a dying craft, > of the painters of Rajasthan, that of miniature painting. Each > original painting, which portrays a historically docu mented incident > in the times of Aurangzeb, has been done in the original Mughal style > and is signed and dated. Professor V. S. Bhatnagar of the Rajasthan > University, Jaipur, has contributed the historical research part. > > We are hiring a lawyer to file a case on FACT's behalf on five counts: > > 1) Assistant Commissioner of Police K N Murali, took two of the > paintings, which showed the destruction of the Somnath temple and > threw them on the ground. I hear six more paintings have been damaged > and we have no news of the exhibition as it has been sealed. It costs > 8 lakhs to do (all original miniature paintings not counting my time). > > 2) We paid Lalit Kala Academi a lot of money and they cancelled the > show. > > 3) The police took in a police van three innocent ladies to the police > station after 6 p.m. which is illegal. > > 4) The police totally sided with the goons, closeting themselves in > the manager's office for one hour. > > 5) Mr Murali threatened the ladies repeatedly that they were > ‘terrorists.' 6) Lastly, we will file a case against Lalit Kala > Academi for damage to our paintings, infringement upon our freedom of > expression and we will demand that they reopen the exhibition in their > premises so that the people of Chennai may have the opportunity to > make their own judgment about it. > > This exhibition is not about raking up the past or "creating communal > disharmony," it is about Indian children, Hindus and Muslims alike > knowing their own past and making sure it does not happen again. For > Aurangzeb's shadow and legacy is still very much present in India. > > It was there in Kashmir when all the Hindus were forced by terror to > leave their homeland; it is there when Indian Muslims help plant bombs > in Mumbai trains, Varanasi, or Delhi; it was there in Chennai when a > few Muslim rowdies hold at ransom an entire state and its political > apparatus. This is why we had that exhibition. > > François Gautier is political correspondent in South Asia for " Le > Figaro" for eight years. He is now the editor in chief of Paris-based > La Revue de l'Inde (lesbelleslettres.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 From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 1 18:10:05 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 04:40:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish In-Reply-To: <0988EAF5-F1C1-418F-B868-BCE91147CD1E@sarai.net> Message-ID: <559606.16135.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Jeebesh, This is because they get pat on their backs when they give Bakshish but it would not have created any news for them if they had given one crore at the start of the match. Everyone wants publicity especially on wins.You have seen the same cricket team being cursed when they are defeated and get showers of praises and lot of Bakshish termed prizes for them when they win. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/1/10, Jeebesh wrote: > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 2:43 PM > Suresh Kalmadi on TV phone talk with > an news anchor after the opening  > world cup hockey match win of the Indian team, said that he > is happy  > and will give a "bakshish" of 1 lakh rupees to each > player. > > This reveals why the hockey team earlier had to go on a > strike to  > argue for stable salaries. They asked for a stable payment > of 1 crore  > for the full team for salaries. But Mr. Management could > not  > understand it, TV channels could not understand it!! > > The sports managements here only understand wins and then > bakshish.  > Nothing else. > > For commonwealth games this same management is handling a > few thousand  > crores. > > Amazing. > > Happy Holi. > > Jeebesh > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the > city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net > with subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Mon Mar 1 18:33:31 2010 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 05:03:31 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91Budget_has_ignored_fishing_comm?= =?windows-1252?q?unity=92?= Message-ID: <3457ce861003010503p5fcf4a8cr7553c078cdc8c8df@mail.gmail.com> ‘Budget has ignored fishing community’ Express News ServiceFirst Published : 01 Mar 2010 10:02:28 AM ISTLast Updated : THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF) president T. Peter has criticised the Union Budget saying that there was little in it for fishing communities and termed its description as a `green budget’ as nothing but eyewash. Peter said in a statement here on Sunday that the Budget clearly showed that the agenda of the UPA Government is to act as an `enabler’ of the private sector and the middle classes, he said. By providing tax concessions to corporates and the middle and elite classes amounting to over Rs 26,000 crore while at the same time reducing food subsidies and raising indirect taxes which would adversely affect the poorer sections, the budget serves to primarily benefit a small percentage of the Indian population, the statement said. `The rise in prices of diesel and kerosene due to the budget proposals will increase hardships of the fishing community. The repeated petitions submitted to the Union Government to recognise the crisis in traditional fisheries sector and waive loans of fish workers, have all been ignored,’’ he said. KSMTF pointed out the irony of two-star category and above hotels getting massive investment-linked concessions. This could lead to an unwanted increase in tourism-related investment along the fragile coast. `The fact that Goa is being provided Rs 200 crore for the restoration of beaches is a result of the damage inflicted by the tourism industry on its once pristine beaches. These funds should be utilised in consultation with Goa’s fishing communities and not for the tourism industry,’’ he said. Despite the national and global concern on climate change and its impact on coastal communities, it was shocking that there was no specific fund for climate change adaptation and mitigation for coastal areas, he said. Much of the allocations for clean technology are likely to be cornered by big companies who now see climate change as a huge business opportunity. The Budget contains nothing to ensure the promotion and adoption of community-led decentralised and sustainable technologies, he said. KSMTF welcomed the setting up of the National Security Fund with an allocation of Rs 1000 crore for unorganised sector workers. Fishworkers, especially women fish vendors, should also be able to avail of its benefits, he said. From justjunaid at gmail.com Mon Mar 1 20:44:42 2010 From: justjunaid at gmail.com (Junaid) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 10:14:42 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys Message-ID: Hi Sonia, Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how "stone-pelters" have developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13 years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins, seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the population--which according to the article is constituted by an "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun." It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF, and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you heard what the mother had to say. Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of right-wing nationalism. Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not a new feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs. Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there. Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope that those who were involved are punished. Junaid From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 1 22:16:07 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 22:16:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003010846i4860ad32scf5448e509724281@mail.gmail.com> Were the 20 killed by CRPF killed for no reason ? Were these 20 killed rioting in the streets ? Were these 20 threat to public life ? Were these 20 pelting stones or were covering the terrorists ? Just figures do not tell the story ? I hold the Hurriyat responsible for the death of those 20 killed by CRPF , as it is these crooked leaders who instigate the common people and themselves remain fortified. God Bless Pawan On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 8:44 PM, Junaid wrote: > Hi Sonia, > > Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha > Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how > "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13 > years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and > entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the > police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very > terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins, > seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but > above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the > population--which according to the article is constituted by an > "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal > president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun." > > It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on > the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land > grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come > out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than > 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the > "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were > killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in > Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, > since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF, > and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of > Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to > book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you > heard what the mother had to say. > > Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and > injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala > bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last > dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good > stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the > killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about > the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just > celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine > line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only > unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of > right-wing nationalism. > > Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not > a new  feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working > class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for > small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs. > Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there. > > Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these > stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which > is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in > 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole > leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. > > I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in > good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope > that those who were involved are punished. > > Junaid > _________________________________________ > 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 Mon Mar 1 23:08:11 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 23:08:11 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish In-Reply-To: <559606.16135.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <559606.16135.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <268412.20862.qm@web94716.mail.in2.yahoo.com> What will happen to the crore is anybody's guess :). ________________________________ From: A.K. Malik To: Jeebesh Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Sent: Mon, 1 March, 2010 6:10:05 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish Dear Mr Jeebesh,                 This is because they get pat on their backs when they give Bakshish but it would not have created any news for them if they had given one crore at the start of the match. Everyone wants publicity especially on wins.You have seen the same cricket team being cursed when they are defeated and get showers of praises and lot of Bakshish termed prizes for them when they win. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/1/10, Jeebesh wrote: > From: Jeebesh > Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 2:43 PM > Suresh Kalmadi on TV phone talk with > an news anchor after the opening  > world cup hockey match win of the Indian team, said that he > is happy  > and will give a "bakshish" of 1 lakh rupees to each > player. > > This reveals why the hockey team earlier had to go on a > strike to  > argue for stable salaries. They asked for a stable payment > of 1 crore  > for the full team for salaries. But Mr. Management could > not  > understand it, TV channels could not understand it!! > > The sports managements here only understand wins and then > bakshish.  > Nothing else. > > For commonwealth games this same management is handling a > few thousand  > crores. > > Amazing. > > Happy Holi. > > Jeebesh > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the > city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net > with subscribe in the subject header. > 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/> The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Mar 2 01:12:03 2010 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 01:12:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish In-Reply-To: <268412.20862.qm@web94716.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <559606.16135.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <268412.20862.qm@web94716.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <26327E1D-260A-4CDF-B520-C8748B17681E@sarai.net> I have a faint feeling that both of you have never played any sport or team game. Hope i am wrong. Zafar Iqbal the mercurial once shared his growing up as a player in Aligarh Muslim University. It was early 70s. He was describing how the pro-vice chancellor would be standing outside and would serve lemon juice during breaks of practice matches to the student players. Players learnt hockey and dignity from these gestures. This man who stood giving lemon juice was not giving bakshish. He knew the labour involved in playing a sport well. Nobody plays for "bakshish" Mr. Malik. It takes years of lonely practice to become a player. Thousand plays without notice. from them a few emerges. warmly jeebesh On 01-Mar-10, at 11:08 PM, subhrodip sengupta wrote: > What will happen to the crore is anybody's guess :). > > > ________________________________ > From: A.K. Malik > To: Jeebesh > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net > Sent: Mon, 1 March, 2010 6:10:05 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish > > Dear Mr Jeebesh, > This is because they get pat on their backs when > they give Bakshish but it would not have created any news for them > if they had given one crore at the start of the match. Everyone > wants publicity especially on wins.You have seen the same cricket > team being cursed when they are defeated and get showers of praises > and lot of Bakshish termed prizes for them when they win. > Regards, > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Mon, 3/1/10, Jeebesh wrote: > >> From: Jeebesh >> Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish >> To: "Sarai Reader-list" >> Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 2:43 PM >> Suresh Kalmadi on TV phone talk with >> an news anchor after the opening >> world cup hockey match win of the Indian team, said that he >> is happy >> and will give a "bakshish" of 1 lakh rupees to each >> player. >> >> This reveals why the hockey team earlier had to go on a >> strike to >> argue for stable salaries. They asked for a stable payment >> of 1 crore >> for the full team for salaries. But Mr. Management could >> not >> understand it, TV channels could not understand it!! >> >> The sports managements here only understand wins and then >> bakshish. >> Nothing else. >> >> For commonwealth games this same management is handling a >> few thousand >> crores. >> >> Amazing. >> >> Happy Holi. >> >> Jeebesh >> >> _________________________________________ >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the >> city. >> Critiques & Collaborations >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net >> with subscribe in the subject header. >> 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/> > > > The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! > Homepage. http://in.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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 2 08:33:40 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 19:03:40 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish In-Reply-To: <26327E1D-260A-4CDF-B520-C8748B17681E@sarai.net> Message-ID: <794821.76784.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Yes, Sir. You are right. I have not played any sports except for sometime when I used to play hockey and could only afford to play with a branch of a tree with a little bend on one side. Couldn't continue for long so I know why players ask for more money.But ,Sir what I have said is based on what I see and observe.May be I am wrong and you are right.But it was just what was my opinion on the matter and I never said players were playing for Bakshish. The comment was made for the management. Regards (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/2/10, Jeebesh wrote: > From: Jeebesh > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 1:12 AM > I have a faint feeling that both of > you have never played any sport or  > team game. Hope i am wrong. > > Zafar Iqbal the mercurial once shared his growing up as a > player in  > Aligarh Muslim University. It was early 70s. He was > describing how the  > pro-vice chancellor would be standing outside and would > serve lemon  > juice during breaks of practice matches to the student > players.  > Players learnt hockey and dignity from these gestures. This > man who  > stood giving lemon juice was not giving bakshish. He knew > the labour  > involved in playing a sport well. > > Nobody plays for "bakshish" Mr. Malik. It takes years of > lonely  > practice to become a player. Thousand plays without notice. > from them  > a few emerges. > > warmly > jeebesh > > On 01-Mar-10, at 11:08 PM, subhrodip sengupta wrote: > > > What will happen to the crore is anybody's guess :). > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: A.K. Malik > > To: Jeebesh > > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net > > Sent: Mon, 1 March, 2010 6:10:05 PM > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish > > > > Dear Mr Jeebesh, > >              >    This is because they get pat on their > backs when  > > they give Bakshish but it would not have created any > news for them  > > if they had given one crore at the start of the match. > Everyone  > > wants publicity especially on wins.You have seen the > same cricket  > > team being cursed when they are defeated and get > showers of praises  > > and lot of Bakshish termed prizes for them when they > win. > > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > --- On Mon, 3/1/10, Jeebesh > wrote: > > > >> From: Jeebesh > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish > >> To: "Sarai Reader-list" > >> Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 2:43 PM > >> Suresh Kalmadi on TV phone talk with > >> an news anchor after the opening > >> world cup hockey match win of the Indian team, > said that he > >> is happy > >> and will give a "bakshish" of 1 lakh rupees to > each > >> player. > >> > >> This reveals why the hockey team earlier had to go > on a > >> strike to > >> argue for stable salaries. They asked for a stable > payment > >> of 1 crore > >> for the full team for salaries. But Mr. Management > could > >> not > >> understand it, TV channels could not understand > it!! > >> > >> The sports managements here only understand wins > and then > >> bakshish. > >> Nothing else. > >> > >> For commonwealth games this same management is > handling a > >> few thousand > >> crores. > >> > >> Amazing. > >> > >> Happy Holi. > >> > >> Jeebesh > >> > >> _________________________________________ > >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the > >> city. > >> Critiques & Collaborations > >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net > >> with subscribe in the subject header. > >> 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/> > > > > > >      The INTERNET now has a > personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo!  > > Homepage. http://in.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/> > > _________________________________________ > 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 surabhi.kukke at gmail.com Tue Mar 2 10:31:00 2010 From: surabhi.kukke at gmail.com (surabhi kukke) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2010 23:01:00 -0600 Subject: [Reader-list] SAMAR Issue 35: States of Disaster Message-ID: <8cbc7ed01003012101o5f2357bh41b02a7388fdea82@mail.gmail.com> *************************** Issue 35: States of Disaster Check out the latest in SAMAR Magazine http://www.samarmagazine.org/ March 1, 2010 ****************************** Featuring: **** Nimmi Gowrinathan discusses the problems of the international communities' relief efforts in Sri Lanka as lessons that can be applied to Haiti's recovery **** Thirteen letters are written to Fahad Hashmi who has been confined for over three years, half in solitary confinement, under the guise of national security **** Anjali Kamat breaks down Obama policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Palestine **** Hear about two outstanding South Asian artists - Red Baraat and YaliniDream **** And, a response to Bollywood's My Name is Khan **** Plus, the latest cartoon from Khalil Bendib *********** About this Issue: Issue 35: States of Disaster Devastating earthquakes and the threat of another development agenda based on disaster capitalism (to use Naomi Klein's phrase). Climate talks that failed to achieve their goals in Copenhagen. And one year later, finding little hope and less change in a supposedly historic presidency. It was good riddance to 2009; but standing at the dawn of 2010, we're straining our eyes to see the light. This latest issue of SAMAR explores the various states of disaster we find ourselves witnessing and experiencing, at home and abroad. The earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Japan and the ongoing threat of tsunamis in parts of the Pacific remind us of other disasters in recent history. It made sense to look towards places like Sri Lanka for lessons learned around recovery. In "Aftershocks of International Intervention," Nimmi Gowrinathan considers the international communities' relief efforts in Sri Lanka. Key to her analysis is that any efforts must be partnered with local communities and take into account local conditions. Or else, the problems of international NGO responses come with external solutions that can be devastating in their own ways. The daily devastation of state-sanctioned human rights abuse is epitomized by the experience of Fahad Hashmi. Thirteen stories up in the behemoth of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, Fahad has been confined for over 1,350 days, waiting for a trial that will determine whether he provided "material support" by letting a friend store ponchos and socks at his apartment. For over half of those days, he has been locked in extreme solitary confinement, with virtually no contact with the outside world. SAMAR, in partnership with THAW (Theaters Against War), put out a call for letters a few weeks ago. Though Fahad may never see these letters as they will likely not get past prison censors, we publish a sampling of them in "Dear Fahad " so that the world may learn how far the US government will go in the name of "national security." Indeed the US government has gone to great lengths to protect our “national security” so far that we have begun waging a war on a country that we are not “at war” with through simplistic justification. Language and its manipulation have been at the core of the Obama adminstration's policy on war and occupation. In "The Audacity of Empire," Anjali Kamat astutely notes how Obama's rhetoric is the only thing to distinguish his administration from the one before. Juxtapositioning Obama's speeches concerning policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Palestine, she shows how he justifies occupation using the languages of just wars and wars of necessity. Also in this issue, hear about outstanding artists making waves in the South Asian diaspora. Robin Sukhadia's review of Red Baraat's debut album, Chaal Baby, shows how the exciting group brings together street music from New Orleans and the Punjab. Highlighting the commonalities of celebration, the group has managed to arrange a successful meeting of the tabla, dhol, horn and sousaphones. Then, Natasha Bissonauth interviews YaliniDream, a multi-genre and inter-disciplinary performer whose work includes the personal *of* the political. One of YaliniDream’s recent pieces, ten years in the making, asks "Where does love emerge and how do we heal amidst war, disaster, violent immigration processes, gender-based violence, silence, and other destructive forces?" Finally, Omer Shah respondsto Bollywood's attempt to deal with Muslim identity and terrorism. In some ways successful, in other ways problematic, "My Name is Khan" ultimately creates a dichotomous Muslim identity, the good, innocent, righteous Muslim and the bad, terrorist Muslim which not only exposes American prejudices but similar simplistic thinking in Indian society as well. *********** SAMAR Magazine accepts articles, essays, reviews, artwork, photoessays, fiction, and poetry. For more information on submissions: http://www.samarmagazine.org/submissions/ We are currently accepting submissions for our next issue. Email to submissions at samarmagazine.org Questions? Contact us at collective at samarmagazine.org From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 2 15:29:35 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 01:59:35 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish In-Reply-To: <0988EAF5-F1C1-418F-B868-BCE91147CD1E@sarai.net> Message-ID: <12930.61754.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Jeebesh   Did Kalmadi use the word "bakshish"?   I do think that being rewarded for a 'win' and the issue of reasonable remuneration (and/or match fees) are two separate matters.   I also think it is stupid to reward the players just because it was a win against Pakistan. If that indeed was the reason.  Hopefully the players will be similarly rewarded for every match they win.   Kshmendra  --- On Mon, 3/1/10, Jeebesh wrote: From: Jeebesh Subject: [Reader-list] Holi Bakshish To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 2:43 PM Suresh Kalmadi on TV phone talk with an news anchor after the opening  world cup hockey match win of the Indian team, said that he is happy  and will give a "bakshish" of 1 lakh rupees to each player. This reveals why the hockey team earlier had to go on a strike to  argue for stable salaries. They asked for a stable payment of 1 crore  for the full team for salaries. But Mr. Management could not  understand it, TV channels could not understand it!! The sports managements here only understand wins and then bakshish.  Nothing else. For commonwealth games this same management is handling a few thousand  crores. Amazing. Happy Holi. Jeebesh _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From ravikant at sarai.net Tue Mar 2 18:49:05 2010 From: ravikant at sarai.net (ravikant) Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:49:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Postdoctoral Fellowship at Georgetown Univ Message-ID: <4B8D1049.1040008@sarai.net> *Postdoctoral Fellowship for Chinese Scholar of Religious Studies, Georgetown University * Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs in Washington, DC, invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowship for the 2010-11 academic year. Candidates should be based at a Chinese university or institute and engaged in research at the intersection of religion, culture, and society. The 10-month fellowship (September 2010-June 2011) at the Center is open with respect to academic discipline, and carries a $35,000 stipend plus health insurance and travel allowance. It includes a 16 hour/week commitment to help develop Chinese-language resources on religion-related topics for the Center's website on Religion in China and the United States . Information about the Center and the University can be found at: http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu and http://georgetown.edu . Applicants should send a send a letter of interest, CV, and contact information for three references via email to Director Thomas Banchoff at banchoff at georgetown.edu , by March 21, 2010. -- Thomas Banchoff Director, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs Georgetown University 3307 M. St, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20007 202 687 5117 202 318 0747 (fax) banchoff at georgetown.edu http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Tue Mar 2 22:02:41 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 22:02:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] British Council vacancy: English teacher, Hyderabad Teaching Centre, India Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ranjani Shankar Dear Chintan, I have received the following link from the British Council for teacher recruitment at the BC, in Hyderabad. Please share it with anyone in need or fits the bill. All documentation and further details are available on our website: http://www.britishcouncil.org.in/careers/ Electronic applications using the form above should be sent to teacher.recruitment at in.britishcouncil.org before Sunday, 14 March 2010. With warm regards Ranjani Shankar. From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Tue Mar 2 22:24:24 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 22:24:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] New school in Bangalore for children with learning disabilities Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chetana Keni Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 8:13 PM Subject: Remedial School - Learning Disbilities Hi Chintan My name is Chetana Keni. I live in Bangalore. I work with Children with Learning Difficulties. I am trying to set up Remedial Centres and a Remedial School in Bangalore so these children can be given specific help with the 3R's and mainstreamed/homeschooled depending on the choice/need. I am attaching a short writeup here. It is my passion to reach out to these children and their parents so they are enjoy their childhood and celebrate their uniqueness. Kindly reply back if you have any more queries. With best regards Chetana -- Dear All I am starting a Remediation School for children diagnosed with learning difficulties in the age group of 6-16 years in HSR Layout Bangalore. It is a form of alternative schooling where you come to get your basic skills and continue to either homeschool or mainstream. The program can be extended to homeschoolers if they want an assisted collective learning environment for the academics. Different time slots and days can be worked out. I am a Special Educator and a School Counselor working with children with Learning Difficulties. I have also homeschooled my gifted son with Specific Learning Difficulties in Reading, Writing and Spelling for three years after which he has decided to join school again for social interaction and collective/collaborative learning opportunities which was difficult for me to provide. However the 3 years of a Total Remediation Program helped him to cope up, regain confidence and also complete 5 grade levels in English, Math and Science. Today he is considered as an asset to the School. Of course full credit goes to the School also, who have agreed to make several accommodations to nurture his intellectual gifts as well as manage his difficulties. Coming back to the Remedial School, the emphasis will be on helping these children to pick up the 3R’s using techniques which I have designed, tried and tested in the past four years. Our advisory panel consists of Special Educators who have worked with LD since the last 20 years. Children with LD have average to above average intelligence and generally do not fit into the mainstream because of the one size fits all curriculum and rote learning. In my experience these children learn want to know the *Why*and *How* of anything they are asked to learn and learn best when these questions are answered. The School will share the campus with a mainstream concept school run by a well known group who are into education from several years. They use innovative teaching methods drawing upon the multiple intelligences of the child. The curriculum is also delivered using a multisensory approach like LCD Projectors and Videos etc. Parents of children with LD will have a choice to either place their children for a total remedial program at the Remedial School or elect for a mix of the mainstream school with remedial assistance. A stop gap arrangement also is available where children from other schools can take a few months or year off from their regular school and attend here. Homeschoolers who would want to continue with homeschooling can choose the earlier program. The Remedial School will run from 9 am to 2 pm. In addition we are offering an After School Remedial Program for children attending any other mainstream school and who need help in specific areas like Reading, Spelling, Written Expression and Comprehension. Special Study Skill workshops and Group/Private Counseling is also offered for adolescents The curriculum is being designed with the CBSE guidelines which will have a total remedial base. This is to help children build up the required concepts right from the beginning to enable them to successfully appear for the Open Schooling/IGCSE exams. Children can also elect to seamlessly move into a mainstream school when they feel they are ready. If any of you need more details kindly contact me on 0-9-8-4-5-4-9-7-9-0-1 or email me at *iamchetana at yahoo.com*. Volunteers, Teachers and suggestions are also welcome. With warm regards Chetana Keni From ish at sarai.net Wed Mar 3 04:56:16 2010 From: ish at sarai.net (ISh S) Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:26:16 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] A Performative installtion at Alliance Francaise -Wed 3 March 2010 from 7.30 pm onwards Message-ID: <4B8D9E98.2020903@sarai.net> A Performative installtion by Yann Marussich at Alliance Francaise de Delhi,72 Lodhi Estate on Wed 3 March 2010 from 7.30 pm onwards//// Music And Sound Design by ISh S (sound reasons records) // / Also Feat. Sound Works by '4th World Orchestra' // -- Sound Reasons Records/ Sarai-CSDS http://soundreasons.in http://freemuzik.net http://sarai.net From justjunaid at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 08:25:03 2010 From: justjunaid at gmail.com (Junaid) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 21:55:03 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: A brief addition to our little conversation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g Junaid On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid wrote: > Hi Sonia, > > Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha > Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how > "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13 > years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and > entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the > police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very > terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins, > seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but > above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the > population--which according to the article is constituted by an > "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal > president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun." > > It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on > the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land > grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come > out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than > 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the > "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were > killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in > Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, > since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF, > and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of > Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to > book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you > heard what the mother had to say. > > Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and > injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala > bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last > dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good > stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the > killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about > the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just > celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine > line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only > unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of > right-wing nationalism. > > Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not > a new  feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working > class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for > small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs. > Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there. > > Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these > stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which > is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in > 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole > leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. > > I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in > good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope > that those who were involved are punished. > > Junaid > From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 09:02:23 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:02:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Burma's shame Message-ID: Aung San Suu Kyi: a sham appeal It was a foregone conclusion in Burma that the opposition leader would not be freed ­ but we must keep up the pressure Andrew Heyn guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 March 2010 18.30 GMT We heard late last Thursday evening that the Burma's high court would sit the following morning to deliver its decision on Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal. Given the global interest in Burma and in Aung San Suu Kyi in particular, you could have expected the atmosphere in Rangoon to be highly charged on Friday morning. If her appeal had been upheld, the implications would have been truly significant. As for Nelson Mandela's release, everyone here would have remembered where they were the day Aung San Suu Kyi was freed. The reality, however, was different. It was business as usual on the streets. There was no extra buzz around the tea shops; no excited speculation among the local staff in the embassy. Everyone I spoke to before the hearing knew exactly what the result would be. So there was no tension, just resignation. The court building is an impressive, but faded, relic of Burma's colonial past. Rhubarb and custard painted on the outside, the courtrooms and offices inside are decorated in a bizarre pistachio green and chocolate colour scheme. These rooms, with their high ceilings and lazy ceiling fans, look on to a central courtyard garden. Inside the room allotted to this case today, the lawyers in their black robes and traditional headgear were engaged in animated conversation. Anyone who had arrived here with no prior knowledge of the country would have thought this was a regular legal process where learned and considered interpretation of the law was at stake. As in previous sessions, the prosecution and defence lawyers were present, their desks stacked with law books and papers. Diplomats representing western countries were also well represented; a reflection of the intense international interest in the hearing. My mobile phone vibrated throughout as international news networks placed their requests for a read out and a quote once proceedings were over. But everyone knew that we were witnessing a sham process and that the outcome of this hearing, like those that had gone before it, was known from the moment the trumped-up charges against Suu Kyi were made last May. And no one knew this better than Suu Kyi herself. She wasn't in the court today ­ she wasn't allowed to attend. She remains confined under house arrest at least until November, the assumption being that this will prevent her from taking part in the regime's elections. Proceedings began at around 10.15am. They were over five minutes later. The appeal was dismissed on the grounds that the central arguments presented by the defence team concerning the 1974 constitution were irrelevant. And that was it. After discussions with Suu Kyi's defence team outside the courtroom, I made my way back to the office, photographed by a battery of special police photographers (goodness only knows what they do with all the photographs they have taken of me since I arrived in July). I passed the small group of local stringers outside the court and launched myself back into the bustle of daily street life in Rangoon. And, as before, it was as if nothing significant had happened ­ everyone was pretty sure what the decision would be and they had been proved right. But in the wider scheme of things, this was a significant event. It represents another dark day; another backward step. So where do we and the Burmese democracy movement go from here? Seen from here, the answer is that we keep up the pressure unrelentingly. Elections will be held here later this year. Their credibility will be judged by some pretty simple benchmarks. For example, will the 2,100 political prisoners, imprisoned for what they think and what they have written and said, be allowed to express their views to the electorate? Will their views be given column inches and airtime in the media alongside the regime's political representatives? Will Burma's many ethnic groups be brought into an inclusive dialogue on the future of their country? And on election day itself, will people be allowed to cast their votes freely and will the count be conducted properly? And in the meantime, the legal case rumbles on. Suu Kyi's lawyers can now make a case, to the so-called "special court", that there are significant issues of law or fact which have not been properly considered thus far. They told us this morning they expect to submit their arguments within a month. If this court agrees that there is a case to answer, a special panel of three judges will consider their arguments. If so, the next stage is likely to be in Naypyitaw, the purpose-built capital located about four hours' drive away from any major population centre in Burma. And that will probably be the only change. The venue may be different, but the outcome will almost certainly be the same. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010 From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 09:12:26 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:12:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Old but interesting article on India's Burma policy Message-ID: India's policy on Burma a shame by admin ‹ last modified 2009-04-23 20:08 September 17, 2007: (The Nation) It was amazing to witness how India chose to respond to questions on its relations with Burma. When visiting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was in town last week, he was immediately taken to task on the issue. New Delhi's support of the regime in Rangoon severely damages its international credibility Questions from the floor by American and British diplomats as well as journalists focused exclusively on relations between India and Burma. After all, India, the world's largest democracy, is actively supporting one of the world's most famous rogue states, which continues to oppress its people. Confronted with uncompromising and undiplomatic questions, Mukherjee simply recited the textbook answer that one of India's cardinal principles is not to interfere with the domestic affairs of another country. When he was asked how India could back a regime with one of the world's worst human-rights records, he responded with a deadpan expression that it is essentially the job of the people in the country to decide what government they want. It is very disappointing that India has chosen to maintain this strange policy of support concerning the military junta in Burma. Certainly, one realises that India, which shares a border with Burma in Nagaland in eastern India, would have to accommodate the leaders in Rangoon to a certain degree on issues of common concern along the border, especially insurgents. But nobody would have expected India to kowtow to Burma in such a way. India's policy towards Burma is a shame. The Burmese people have already decided that they do not want their government and India is doing nothing. The Indian foreign minister's answers help explain why India will remain aloof in the scheme of things in Asia, especially when it comes to institutional building. No wonder that when India is compared with China, China prevails. Even though China is also a supporter of Burma, the reasons its leaders give for relations with Burma have been more circumspect and sensible. Following growing international pressure, including that from UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, China has begun to assert pressure on Burma in discreet ways. Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win was summoned to Beijing recently. If India wants to "Look East" and continues to deal with Burma in such an unaccountable manner, its future position and reputation will be greatly jeopardised. One of the few reasons why India was not admitted into Apec this year in Sydney was its support for the Burmese regime. With the US, a key Apec member, lashing out at Burma, it would have been odd for India's membership bid to receive support. If New Delhi continues with its current policy, India will be caught in a dilemma, as the country would become Burma's only strong supporter. Since 1991, India has pursued a Look East policy to very good result. It started out courting the economies of Asean and East Asia. In the following years, it has forged closer ties with Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan. The country's relations progressed and resulted in the overall strengthening of ties between India and Asean. The abrupt change in its policy towards Burma in the mid-1990s was in response to China's southward policy in Southeast Asia and domestic concerns over insurgents in Nagaland. That was understandable, but the trouble is that India has been doing more by strengthening the regime in the past several years with ammunition and arms. Mukherjee denied outright that India has sold arms to Burma. Maybe India did not sell the arms but simply gave them to the junta. India has to answer these questions in front of the international community. Obviously, India-Burma relations cannot go on forever like this. It does not make sense. It is strange but true, but this policy is reminiscent of the days when New Delhi chose to back the Heng Samrin regime, knowing full well that it would be fruitless. That misguided policy caused a long delay in the strengthening of India-Asean relations. It will be interesting to watch India and its diplomatic efforts if a new consensus emerges within Asean pushing for India to do more to contribute to the opening up of Burma. From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 09:18:06 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:18:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Tata among the top investors in Burma Message-ID: New Burma ŒDirty List¹ - Companies Named and Shamed 03 Jun 2008 New Burma ŒDirty List¹ - Companies Named and Shamed View the Dirty List here: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/dirty-and-clean-list/dirty-l ist/contact-details BBC Worldwide, Toyota, Qantas, TATA join Burma ŒDirty List¹ 50 new companies have been added to the ŒDirty List¹ published today by the Burma Campaign UK. A total of 154 companies feature on the new list. The ŒDirty List¹ exposes companies that are directly or indirectly helping to finance Burma¹s brutal military dictatorship. Major companies named and shamed include, BBC Worldwide, Toyota, Qantas, TATA, TOTAL Oil, Orient Express, Kuoni, Schlumberger, Lonely Planet, Daewoo, China National Offshore Oil Corp and Hutchison Whampoa, owner of 3 Mobile. ³In an age where companies like to claim they behave ethically, this list exposes those corporations for whom corporate responsibility is just a hollow public relations exercise,² said Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer of the Burma Campaign UK. ³If you are serious about ethics, you don¹t fund dictatorships that rape five year old girls, shoot at peaceful protestors and leave storm victims to die.² The regime spends half its budget on the military and just 1.4% of GDP on health and education, less than half that spent by the next poorest country in Asia. Burma is the only country in Asia whose defence budget is greater than that of health and education combined. As a consequence Burma has the 4th highest child mortality rate in the world. The new companies added to the list are the result of new information and an influx of new investment in Burma¹s gas sector. - 30 companies on the list are in the tourism sector ­ either operating tours to Burma or promoting tourism through guides. - 33 companies on the list are in the oil & gas sector. Since the Dirty List was first published six years ago over 100 companies have withdrawn from Burma including PwC, Rolls Royce, DHL, Swiss Re and Willis. For more information and a copy of the Dirty List, contact Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer, on 020 7324 4710 NOTE TO EDITORS: THE CURRENT SITUATION IN BURMA Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. In May democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had her detention without trial extended. She has now been under arrest for more than 12 years. Rape is used as a weapon of war against ethnic minorities and over 1,800 political prisoners languish in jail, many subjected to horrific torture. Over 2.4 million people are currently at serious risk due to the regime¹s deliberate obstruction of international aid efforts to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. Subscribe to the Dirty List You can subscribe to the Dirty List to receive: advance copies of each ŒDirty List¹, free checks on any company to establish known details of any links to Burma (up to 20 per year), free background checks to provide extra information on companies on the list, immediate notification of any changes to the ŒDirty List¹ during the course of the year, emailed updates of significant events relating to companies on the list, advance notice of new or planned campaigns against companies on the list. For more details contact johnny.chatterton at burmacampaign.org.uk +44 20 7324 4714 From pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 09:26:36 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 09:26:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003021956x39ae73b9w944ded55c5f7302@mail.gmail.com> For those who do not understand Kashmiri , Junaid has written that the 10 day old Irfan was killed by "Baccha Khor". The rough translation of that is "Naughty Boy". So , the killers have become naughty boys... God bless the society ..... Pawan On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Junaid wrote: > A brief addition to our little conversation: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g > > Junaid > > On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid wrote: >> Hi Sonia, >> >> Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha >> Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how >> "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13 >> years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and >> entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the >> police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very >> terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins, >> seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but >> above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the >> population--which according to the article is constituted by an >> "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal >> president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun." >> >> It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on >> the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land >> grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come >> out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than >> 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the >> "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were >> killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in >> Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, >> since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF, >> and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of >> Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to >> book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you >> heard what the mother had to say. >> >> Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and >> injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala >> bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last >> dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good >> stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the >> killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about >> the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just >> celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine >> line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only >> unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of >> right-wing nationalism. >> >> Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not >> a new  feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working >> class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for >> small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs. >> Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there. >> >> Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these >> stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which >> is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in >> 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole >> leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. >> >> I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in >> good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope >> that those who were involved are punished. >> >> Junaid >> > _________________________________________ > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 09:37:31 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:37:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Tata's underbelly Message-ID: War Profiteer of the Month: Tata Group Español 17 Nov 2009 ‹ javier Tata Group is one of India's oldest and largest conglomerates in India. The group is spread over seven business sectors. It comprises 96 companies, operates on six continents and employs 350,000 people. Revenues in 2007-08 are estimated at $62.5 billion (around Rs. 2,51,543 crore), of which 61 percent is from business outside India. History The beginnings of the Tata Group can be traced back to 1868, when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata established a trading company dealing in Opium in Bombay. This was followed by the installation of Empress Mills in Nagpur in 1877. Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay was opened for business in 1903. Sir Dorab Tata, the eldest son of Jamsetji became the chairman of the group after his fathers death in 1904. Under him, the group ventured into steel production (1905) and hydroelectric power generation(1910). After the death of Dorab Tata in 1934, Nowroji Saklatwala headed the group till 1938. He was succeeded by JRD Tata. The group expanded significantly under him with the establishment of Tata Chemicals (1939), Tata Motors and Tata Industries (both 1945), Voltas (1954), Tata Tea (1962), Tata Consultancy Services (1968) and Titan Industries (1984). Ratan Tata, the incumbent chairman of the group succeeded JRD Tata in 1991. Corporate responsibilities Tata and its group of companies have been named for violating human and labour rights and environmental standards, as well as for involvement in financial scams. Both historically and today, Tata companies have struck business deals with repressive governments. In its early days, Tata benefited from business deals arising out of the British empire's colonial conquests. More recently, it has drawn criticism for opportunism including open support for repressive administrations such as the Hindu fundamentalist right in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, has documented the Tata Group's crimes against the environment and human rights, noting the company's links with Myanmar's military junta. Tata's flagship company, Tata Steel has been involved in several conflicts with indigenous people over mineral resources. In the Sukinda district of Orissa, Tata operates one of the world's largest chromite mines. Sukinda has been listed as one of the 10 most polluted sites in the world. On January 2, 2006, State Police shot dead 12 indigenous people who were part of a large protest against Tata Steel's takeover of their land. [Source: Battle over steel mills. BBC News. 26 February, 2006.] >From the times of its war profiteering during the campaign of the British imperial forces in Northern Africa, to opium trade during the opium wars with China, Tata has seized opportunities thrown up by situations of conflict and aggression. It has not hesitated to build up ties with even globally tainted and oppressive regimes, such as the military junta in Burma, or the Hindu fundamentalist Narendra Modi Government in Gujarat. In December 2006, Gen. Thura Shwe Mann, "Myanmar¹s chief of general staff and possibly the second-most important leader of the military junta after Senior Gen. Than Shwe" visited the Tata Motors plant in Pune. The Pune plant reportedly manufactures vehicles for the Indian military. [Source: "Myanmar Ties." December 8, 2006. The Telegraph, Calcutta, India] Political influence Tatas are among the largest contributors to the two key and rival political parties in the Indian national scene. The Indian National Congress Party received the largest share of Tata's financial largesse between 2003 and 2007, netting $860,000 (Rupees 43 million). The BJP too, tainted as it was with allegations of perpetrating the Gujarat riots targeting Muslims in 2002, received $540,000 from the Tatas during 2003-2007. ["BJP, Congress hog big biz funds." DNA. 05 March, 2009] In December 2004, immediately after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance formed the Government at the Centre, Ratan Tata was appointed chair of the Investment Commission that was to develop a roadmap for the Government in attracting Foreign Direct Investment to India. ["Ratan Tata to head Investment Commission." Times of India. New Delhi. 6 December, 2004.] In March, 2009, Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata was taken to court by Ms. Shruti Singh, an advocate of the Patna High Court, for launching the Nano car ahead of the elections. This, she alleged was done to "help" Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who provided land to the Tatas after their car project was kicked out of Singur, West Bengal by farmers and farm labourers whose lands and livelihoods were to be sacrificed to accommodate the project. Military industry Tata Advanced Systems has been set up as a joint venture (JV) with an investment of $150 million and 76% holdings by the mammoth Tata Industries and $50 million by Israel¹s IAI to manufacture Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), electronic warfare systems, missiles, radar systems and security systems. Tatas have also tied up with US aviation company Sikorsky for helicopter sub-assemblies. Aerospace Division of TAML (Tata Advanced Materials Limited) which is part of the Tata conglomerate is engaged in Design, Manufacture and Supply of composite components, parts, sub-assemblies for applications in Aircraft, Space & Helicopter. TAML also designs and manufactures light weight composites based bullet resistant jackets in a Technical Collaboration with SNPE of France (a French Government owned Defense Company). Over the years TAML also worked developing special composite containers for transporting various sensitive products used by the Indian defence forces. The company also worked in developing other special applications used in operations and products by the Indian armed forces. According to TML words ³Mobility today is key to the success of the security forces who have to go in hot pursuit of the enemy and often they would need to seek and destroy by attacking the enemy in their own territory in the urban areas [...]Security personnel, VIP¹s are often under a threat and need protection as they travel against assassination attempts and other attacks using mines. The men of the armed forces are always in the forefront of danger and as they move in hostile territory, these brave men need to be protected. We at TAML can provide solutions to armour the vehicles which are used by VIP¹s, Soldiers and other Security personnel [...]A common enough solution is to provide an all steel armour and thus cover the vehicle from all directions. This results in a substantial increase in weight and reduces vehicle performance and efficiency². For more information: http://www.crocodyl.org/research_inventory/tata_group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_group http://www.tata.co.in/ http://wri-irg.org/node/8664 Published in War Profiteers' News, November 2009, No. 21 From justjunaid at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 10:45:28 2010 From: justjunaid at gmail.com (Junaid) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:15:28 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003021956x39ae73b9w944ded55c5f7302@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003021956x39ae73b9w944ded55c5f7302@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Pawan, Thanks for your translation effort. It is just that "Baccha Khor" is not a Kashmiri word but an Urdu one--and means "child eater" or "child-killer" as in "Aadam Khor"--the man-eater. There is a Kashmiri (countryside) phrase too which sounds similar, but simple logic would suggest the use of that meaning will make no sense in the context. Also, I took the word "Baccha Khor" from the article that Sonia had posted. I don't particularly have any liking for verbal overkill. Keep well, Junaid On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > For those who do not understand Kashmiri , Junaid has written that the > 10 day old Irfan was killed by "Baccha Khor". > > The rough translation of that is "Naughty Boy". > > So , the killers have become naughty boys... > > God bless the society ..... > > Pawan > > > > On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Junaid wrote: >> A brief addition to our little conversation: >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g >> >> Junaid >> >> On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid wrote: >>> Hi Sonia, >>> >>> Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha >>> Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how >>> "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13 >>> years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and >>> entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the >>> police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very >>> terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins, >>> seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but >>> above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the >>> population--which according to the article is constituted by an >>> "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal >>> president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun." >>> >>> It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on >>> the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land >>> grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come >>> out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than >>> 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the >>> "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were >>> killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in >>> Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, >>> since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF, >>> and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of >>> Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to >>> book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you >>> heard what the mother had to say. >>> >>> Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and >>> injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala >>> bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last >>> dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good >>> stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the >>> killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about >>> the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just >>> celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine >>> line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only >>> unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of >>> right-wing nationalism. >>> >>> Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not >>> a new  feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working >>> class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for >>> small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs. >>> Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there. >>> >>> Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these >>> stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which >>> is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in >>> 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole >>> leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. >>> >>> I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in >>> good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope >>> that those who were involved are punished. >>> >>> Junaid >>> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 11:11:26 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 11:11:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003021956x39ae73b9w944ded55c5f7302@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003022141n63962b42kadf94d56a182a48e@mail.gmail.com> I havent come across "Baccha Khor ' as "Adam Khor " is used in urdu. Neverthless ....i still buy your argument .... we are used to believe by heart and not by mind. Pawan On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 10:45 AM, Junaid wrote: > Dear Pawan, > > Thanks for your translation effort. It is just that "Baccha Khor" is > not a Kashmiri word but an Urdu one--and means "child eater" or > "child-killer" as in "Aadam Khor"--the man-eater. There is a Kashmiri > (countryside) phrase too which sounds similar, but simple logic would > suggest the use of that meaning will make no sense in the context. > > Also, I took the word "Baccha Khor" from the article that Sonia had > posted. I don't particularly have any liking for verbal overkill. > > Keep well, > Junaid > > > On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: >> For those who do not understand Kashmiri , Junaid has written that the >> 10 day old Irfan was killed by "Baccha Khor". >> >> The rough translation of that is "Naughty Boy". >> >> So , the killers have become naughty boys... >> >> God bless the society ..... >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Junaid wrote: >>> A brief addition to our little conversation: >>> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g >>> >>> Junaid >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid wrote: >>>> Hi Sonia, >>>> >>>> Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha >>>> Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how >>>> "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13 >>>> years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and >>>> entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the >>>> police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very >>>> terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins, >>>> seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but >>>> above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the >>>> population--which according to the article is constituted by an >>>> "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal >>>> president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun." >>>> >>>> It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on >>>> the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land >>>> grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come >>>> out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than >>>> 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the >>>> "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were >>>> killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in >>>> Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, >>>> since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF, >>>> and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of >>>> Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to >>>> book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you >>>> heard what the mother had to say. >>>> >>>> Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and >>>> injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala >>>> bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last >>>> dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good >>>> stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the >>>> killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about >>>> the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just >>>> celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine >>>> line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only >>>> unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of >>>> right-wing nationalism. >>>> >>>> Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not >>>> a new  feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working >>>> class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for >>>> small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs. >>>> Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there. >>>> >>>> Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these >>>> stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which >>>> is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in >>>> 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole >>>> leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. >>>> >>>> I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in >>>> good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope >>>> that those who were involved are punished. >>>> >>>> Junaid >>>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 mitoo at sarai.net Wed Mar 3 11:12:47 2010 From: mitoo at sarai.net (Mitoo Das) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:12:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Pirate Modernity: Book Discussion Message-ID: <4B8DF6D7.2040107@sarai.net> We invite you to a book discussion of Ravi Sundaram's *Pirate Modernity: Delhi's Media Urbanism, Routledge, London and Delhi. 2010 * *Venue: *CSDS, Seminar Room* Location: *29 Rajpur Road* Date:*Wednesday, March 10th, 2010.* Time: *5pm* * *Discussants *Lawrence Liang Awadhendra Sharan* *Nivedita Menon *Refreshments will follow the discussion* --- Using Delhi's contemporary history as a site for reflection, Pirate Modernity moves from a detailed discussion of the technocratic design of the city by US planners in the 1950s, to the massive expansions after 1977, culminating in the urban crisis of the 1990s. As a practice, pirate modernity is an illicit form of urban globalisation in cities where low cost technologies are accessed by residents. Urban populations increasingly inhabit non-legal spheres: unauthorized neighbourhoods, squatter camps and bypass legal technological infrastructures (media, electricity). This pirate culture produces a significant enabling resource for subaltern populations unable to enter the legal city. Equally, this is an unstable world, bringing subaltern populations into the harsh glare of permanent technological visibility, and attacks by urban elites, courts and visceral media industries. The book examines contemporary Delhi from some of these sites: the unmaking of the citys modernist planning design, new technological urban networks that bypass states and corporations, and the tragic experience of the road accident terrifyingly enhanced by technological culture. Pirate Modernity moves between past and present, along with debates in Asia, Africa and Latin America on urbanism, media culture, and everyday life. The book suggests cities have to be revisited afresh after proliferating media culture. *To order the South Asia edition, visit the Scholars without Borders on-line bookstore: * http://www.scholarswithoutborders.in/item_show.php?code_no=CUL107&ID=undefined&calcStr = *The book is also available in bookstores in India. The international paperback is due this summer. --* -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 11:21:46 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 11:21:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Able Outsourcing: BPO in Bangalore run by people with physical disabilities Message-ID: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/real-india/able-outsourcing From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 15:35:13 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 15:35:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Marathi Literary Convention: March 26-28 Message-ID: Details here: http://blog.prathambooks.org/2010/03/marathi-literary-convention.html From chandni_parekh at yahoo.com Wed Mar 3 19:58:38 2010 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 06:28:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Celebrating Diversity and Pluralism : March 6, St Andrews College, Bandra, Bombay Message-ID: <947969.19351.qm@web54408.mail.re2.yahoo.com> If you want to see one of the posters they mailed: http://is.gd/9Bxey From: anhad mumbai Date: 3 March 2010 Subject: Celebrating Diversity and Pluralism : March 6, St Andrews College, Bandra CELEBRATING DIVERSITY AND PLURALISM Defending Democratic Rights and Freedom of Expression March 6, 2010 St Andrews College Auditorium, Bandra West, Mumbai 4:00 -5.00pm- Umbrella Painting on Diversity: Children 10-15yrs (already registered for the program) 5.00pm onwards artists paint on a 100 feet canvas on the theme of diversity, pluralism, democratic rights ( we invite visual artists , students to participate) 5.00-6.00 pm - Interactive Session Diversity and Pluralism : Nandita Das and Rahul Bose talk to college students, youth ( others are invited too) 6.00-9.00pm – poetry, music, dance, theatre, solidarity statements Participating artists and activists include: Amjad Khan, Anand Teltumde, Atul Tiwari, Auritra Ghosh, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Dhruv Sangari, Gersen da Cunha, Imaad Shah, Kumud Misra, Madhur Bhandarker, Mahesh Bhatt, Mahesh Dattani, Manu Rishi, Mehneer Sudan, Neiloufer Bhagwat, Nandita Das, Piyush Misra, Proscenium, Rahul Bose, Rajit Kapoor, Saba Azad, Salim Arif, Sabhaji Bhagat, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Sen, Shyama Kulkarni, Swanand Kirkire, Vahida Nainar, Vidhyadhar Bhave, Vikrant Chaturvedi, Yuvak Biradari 9.00-10.00pm- The programme will culminate with Dhruv Sangari, disciple of Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan adding flavour of Sufism by singing Sufi music. He will be accompanied on Tabla by Amjad Khan. This is an open event for every denizen of Mumbai to join in and be part of ‘Celebration of Diversity and Pluralism’ of Mumbai with the artists, dignitaries and organisers. The programme is organised by Anhad and supported by Oxfam India and Hivos. From iram.ghufran at gmail.com Wed Mar 3 20:03:22 2010 From: iram.ghufran at gmail.com (iram ghufran) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 20:33:22 +0600 Subject: [Reader-list] talk@SAA, JNU: Partha Chatterjee Message-ID: <6c6fbec51003030633g209e343as664a26498424186@mail.gmail.com> The School of Arts and Aesthetics Jawaharlal Nehru University Presents Siraj-ud-daulah and the National Popular Theatre A Talk by Partha Chatterjee Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, former Director of Centre for the Study of Social Sciences and founder member of the Subaltern Studies Collective At The School of Arts and Aesthetics Auditorium 8th March, Monday 2010 2pm -- Iram Ghufran Sarai Media Lab Sarai/ CSDS 29 Rajpur Road Delhi 110057 http://citystudio.ning.com/profile/IramGhufran From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 3 20:29:06 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 06:59:06 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003022141n63962b42kadf94d56a182a48e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <338680.36582.qm@web112102.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Durrani Sahib, "Khor" is very common word meaning khanewala or eater as Mr Junaid had pointed out.You must definitely have heard the word Aadam Khor usually being used for tigers who become man-eaters. It is very widely used though the word Bacha Khor is very rarely used but was able to make out its meaning thinking that it is similar to the word Aadam Khor. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Wed, 3/3/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys > To: "Junaid" > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net > Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 11:11 AM > I havent come across "Baccha Khor ' > as "Adam Khor " is used in urdu. > > Neverthless ....i still buy your argument .... we are used > to believe > by heart and not by mind. > > Pawan > > On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 10:45 AM, Junaid > wrote: > > Dear Pawan, > > > > Thanks for your translation effort. It is just that > "Baccha Khor" is > > not a Kashmiri word but an Urdu one--and means "child > eater" or > > "child-killer" as in "Aadam Khor"--the man-eater. > There is a Kashmiri > > (countryside) phrase too which sounds similar, but > simple logic would > > suggest the use of that meaning will make no sense in > the context. > > > > Also, I took the word "Baccha Khor" from the article > that Sonia had > > posted. I don't particularly have any liking for > verbal overkill. > > > > Keep well, > > Junaid > > > > > > On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Pawan Durani > wrote: > >> For those who do not understand Kashmiri , Junaid > has written that the > >> 10 day old Irfan was killed by "Baccha Khor". > >> > >> The rough translation of that is "Naughty Boy". > >> > >> So , the killers have become naughty boys... > >> > >> God bless the society ..... > >> > >> Pawan > >> > >> > >> > >> On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Junaid > wrote: > >>> A brief addition to our little conversation: > >>> > >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g > >>> > >>> Junaid > >>> > >>> On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid > wrote: > >>>> Hi Sonia, > >>>> > >>>> Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's > interesting report on "Bacha > >>>> Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our > understanding of how > >>>> "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple > connections. At 12 and 13 > >>>> years' of age these hardened criminals > seem to be quite savvy and > >>>> entrepreneurial, enough to play around > with the politicians, the > >>>> police, the separatists, and even the CM! > These ruffians with very > >>>> terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, > the lowest of the urchins, > >>>> seem to have suddenly become a pain for > all the above grandees, but > >>>> above all to the "silent majority," the > "99 percent of the > >>>> population--which according to the article > is constituted by an > >>>> "influential businessmen", " a "trader" > and the "Beopar Mandal > >>>> president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami > rakun." > >>>> > >>>> It is surprising that the silent majority > of old town Baramulla was on > >>>> the streets not too long ago. In the > protests against Amarnath land > >>>> grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority > was the first one to come > >>>> out to protest. The first major rally > started from there. More than > >>>> 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining > villages came out for the > >>>> "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people > from this place who were > >>>> killed, around 5 of them, when Indian > troops fired at the rally in > >>>> Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat > leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, > >>>> since 2008 around 20 people have been > killed in the town by the CRPF, > >>>> and one by the "bacha khour" > stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of > >>>> Irfan is uncondonable and those > responsible should be brought to > >>>> book--yet in all likelihood it looks like > it was accidental, if you > >>>> heard what the mother had to say. > >>>> > >>>> Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There > are only very few deaths and > >>>> injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and > "uffs" of our Dilliwala > >>>> bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into > a frenzy to sip to the last > >>>> dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for > them, are actually feel-good > >>>> stories--"well, see, we are not the only > ones doing the > >>>> killings"--even if we do most of them!). > So, I am not surprised about > >>>> the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It > is the same media which just > >>>> celebrated CBI's criminal report on > Shopian rape case. There is a fine > >>>> line between objectivity and nationalism, > and Indian media is not only > >>>> unaware of it, but has placed itself at > the unethical end of > >>>> right-wing nationalism. > >>>> > >>>> Old town Baramulla has always defied > government control and it is not > >>>> a new  feature. These old towns and the > downtowns are the working > >>>> class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they > are also centers for > >>>> small-scale artisans, who don't care about > government jobs. > >>>> Businessmen, really, do not form the > silent majority there. > >>>> > >>>> Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers > are worried that these > >>>> stone-pelters are on their own, that they > don't listen to them. Which > >>>> is kind of the opposite of what he wanted > at the Eid Gah rally in > >>>> 2008, where in front of a million people > he claimed to be the sole > >>>> leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. > >>>> > >>>> I understand that your earnestness in > posting these news-reports is in > >>>> good faith, and it is not a feel-good > thing for you. I, like you, hope > >>>> that those who were involved are > punished. > >>>> > >>>> Junaid > >>>> > >>> _________________________________________ > >>> 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 press at tank.tv Tue Mar 2 16:55:35 2010 From: press at tank.tv (tank.tv press) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 11:25:35 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?tank=2Etv_is_Now_Showing_Aur=E9lien_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?Froment=2C_until_31st_March=2E?= Message-ID: <78c84f091003020325m350a7d09se2f94dace6d2286b@mail.gmail.com> www.tank.tv Aurélien Froment 1st - 31st March 2010 This March tank.tv will be exhibiting a selection of nine videos made between 2001 and 2009 by the artist Aurélien Froment. Without reducing Froment’s work to ineffectual buzzwords it is safe to say that both process and situation both have central roles within his oeuvre. Working through the thematic prisms of play, theatre and architecture Froment allows himself to take a magpie approach to the specifics of art and culture as subject matter. This scope takes in Friedrich Froebel’s building blocks for children, Frank Lloyd Wright, knot-making, Kazimir Malevich and lazy stage prompters, amongst many others. This range of foci is held together by assonance, rather than archetype and the gentle tide is always back to process, learning and the potent pregnancy of situation. The idea of filmmaking is important to understanding Froment’s work. His recent exhibition at Gasworks in London set the viewer within the potentially fecund space of projection and for him life’s experiences can be understood through the processes of filmmaking – editing, flashback and discarded scenes. With this in mind we are very pleased to bring a selection of his videos to tank.tv, a platform that deals exclusively with the moving image. Of course, we would not reduce this artist’s work to a few words so you’ll simply have to visit www.tank.tv for the full, extended experience. This exhibition has been generously supported by Arts Council England and Paris Calling. www.tank.tv -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - tank.tv 2nd Floor Princess House 50 - 60 Eastcastle Street London W1W 8EA press at tank.tv T: +44 (0)207323 3475 F: +44 (0)207631 4280 http://www.tank.tv - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now showing: Jean-Charles Hue 14th October - 3rd November 2009 Fresh Moves - Out now! Order your copy on www.tank.tv "A significant archive of creative practices in the early years of twenty-first century England" Tyler Coburn, Tomorrow Unlimited --- tank.tv is an inspirational showcase for innovative work in film and video. Dedicated to exhibiting and promoting emerging and established international artists, www.tank.tv acts as a major online gallery and archive for video art. A platform for contemporary moving images. From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Tue Mar 2 03:47:10 2010 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de ([artNET}) Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:17:10 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?=5BAnnouncements=5D_NewMediaFest=272?= =?iso-8859-1?q?010_-_week_10_-_program_preview?= Message-ID: <20100301231710.2081D501.4C6E310A@192.168.0.3> NewMediaFest'2010 10 Years [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne global heritage of digital culture 1 January - 31 December 2010 ---------------------------------------- Program preview for the week 10 - 1-7 March 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=651 Feature of the month March 2010 is Violence Online Festival (active 2002-2004) --> on 20 March 2003 the Iraq war began and the war on Violence Online Festival started by chance the same day. http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=647 ----------------------------------------- Program of today - 1 March 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=654 ----------------------------------------- NewMediaFest'2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org calls for entries --> for NewMediaFest'2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?page_id=78 2010 [at] newmediafest.org ---------------------------------------------------- Join NewMediaFest'2010 on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=404197070650 ---------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 01:44:30 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 01:44:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Almost Island Dialogues, India International Centre, New Delhi, from 18th to 21st March 2010 Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chandni Parekh ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Almost Island Date: 2 March 2010 23:00 Subject: ALMOST ISLAND: DIALOGUES 4 To: ashwinibhat00 at yahoo.co.in Dear Friend, Welcome to the fourth edition of the Almost Island Dialogues, to be held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, from 18th to 21st March 2010. The past three years of this conference have seen presentations and readings by major international figures like the Italian writer Claudio Magris and Chinese writer Bei Dao (both Nobel literature nominees) in mutual conversation with crucial and singular Indian writers like Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Irwin Allan Sealy or Vinod Kumar Shukla. This year we plan to continue that unfolding with more (equally singular) writers, in our usual format that emphasises intimacy and rigour. The mornings and some afternoons are kept for intense, extended, freewheeling talks and discussions; the evenings, for readings and performances. Please find below more details about the event, including schedule and writer biographies. For a note about the discussions from Almost Island editor Sharmistha Mohanty, see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27661953 . For periodic updates, with links to work by the invited writers available online, visit or join our new facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=279757768380 . If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ashwini Bhat at: almostisland.edit at gmail.com . With kind regards, Sharmistha Mohanty [Editor] Vivek Narayanan [Consulting Editor] Ashwini Bhat [Editorial Assistant] *Evening Readings on the IIC Annexe Lawns* (All are welcome…) *Thursday, March 18, 6:30 p.m.* Vivek Narayanan / Eliot Weinberger *Friday, March 19, 6:30 p.m.* Vahni Capildeo / Joy Goswami *Saturday, March 20, 6:00 p.m. (Note earlier start time) * Anita Agnihotri / Xu Xi / Charu Nivedita *Sunday, March 21, 6:30 p.m.* Sharmistha Mohanty / Tomaz Salamun *Panels and discussion schedule:* (Please note: panels are also open to all who wish to come, but *pre-registration is required*. Contact Ashwini Bhat -- almostisland.edit at gmail.com -- for more details.) * * The overarching objective of the morning panels will be a dialogue around “innovation, the making of the new, the originary.” See: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27661953 for a more detailed presentation. The writers’ presentations will be staggered as below. Each writer will have about 10-15 minutes for a basic laying out of thoughts; this is meant only to provoke a more extended, open-ended discussion among all the participants. March 19, 10 a.m-1:00 p.m. : Sharmistha Mohanty, Tomaz Salamun, Vahni Capildeo March 20, 10 a.m-1:00 p.m. : Vivek Narayanan, Eliot Weinberger, Charu Nivedita March 21, 10 a.m.-1:00 p.m. : Xu Xi, Anita Agnihotri, Joy Goswami There will also be a discussion with the invited audience on March 19, 2:30-4:00 *Writer Biographies* The Slovenian Tomaz Salamun is widely acknowledged to be one of the great post-war Central European poets, and indeed one of the “indispensable poets of [our] era” (Jorie Graham). He has over thirty books of poetry, including several in excellent translations, done by a range of poets. Recent titles in English include: The Book for My Brother (Harcourt), Poker (Ugly Duckling Presse) and The Selected Poems of Tomaz Salamun (Ecco Press). Eliot Weinberger is a translator and essayist who first came into prominence as the primary translator of Octavio Paz. He writes an innovative prose that takes the documentary essay to the borders of poetry. He is considered among the most significant of prose stylists writing in English; his own work regularly appears in translation and has been published in some thirty languages. Weinberger’s recent books of essays include An Elemental Thing, Karmic Traces, and Oranges and Peanuts for Sale (all from New Directions). Translations include Vicente Huidobro’s Altazor, books by Bei Dao, and Borges’ non fiction. Xu Xi is a fiction writer and essayist who pushes the borders of both, her fluidity a reflection of her life as a Hong Kong Chinese woman, born of Indonesian parents, writing in English. She is the author of six books, including Overleaf Hong Kong, History's Fiction and The Unwalled City. Vahni Capildeo is at the vanguard of a new generation of Caribbean poets who are both fully conscious of their literary inheritance and ready to extend and transform it in startling ways. She is the author of three collections: No Traveler Returns, Person Animal Figure (a Guardian Poetry Book of the Year for 2005) and, most recently, Undraining Sea. Capildeo is experimental, but “without fear of traditional subjects or language” (Bernard O’Donoghue). She often works through the long sequence or book length poem. Charu Nivedita was born and initially raised in rural Tamilnadu. He has four novels and many books of essays in Tamil. Zero Degree, his second novel, was published in English translation by Blaft Books in 2008. Deeply transgressive and radical in form and narrative structure, reminiscent of authors like William Burroughs or Kathy Acker, the book sent shock waves through the South Indian literary world (and became a huge success) when it first appeared in Tamil in 1998 and in Malayalam a year later. Joy Goswami is one of Bengal's foremost poets. He has created an original poetic idiom in the language and given new directions to contemporary Bengali poetry. He has more than 30 published books, including three volumes of compiled poems numbering close to a thousand, 12 novels, two of which are written in verse and 5 collections of essays. A book of poems in English translation by Sampurna Chattarji is to be published soon. Anita Agnihotri is a poet and fiction writer who writes intensely and genuinely about the marginalized in rural India, among whom she has lived and worked. She writes in Bengali, but has published two books in English translation—Forest Interludes and The Awakening (both from Zubaan books). Vivek Narayanan’s first book of poems, Universal Beach, appeared in 2006. Publications in anthologies include: 60 Indian Poets (Penguin) and Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond (W.W. Norton). He works at Sarai-CSDS and is Consulting Editor for Almost Island. Sharmistha Mohanty has published two novels, Book One and New Life, as well as a recent translation of Tagore's fiction, Broken Nest and Other Stories, for Tranquebar press. She is the founding Editor of Almost Island and the initiator of the Almost Island Dialogues. From indersalim at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 09:12:30 2010 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 12:42:30 +0900 Subject: [Reader-list] Art Karavan International: update In-Reply-To: <47e122a71002280151p7c174a7ay91d50e8734099617@mail.gmail.com> References: <47e122a71002280151p7c174a7ay91d50e8734099617@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47e122a71003031942g545836c8y2927ae7ada6642ed@mail.gmail.com> deaｒall yesterday evening　art karavan entered　patna city after great weekned in Ranchi . all the images and details are not uploaded but some at artkaravan.wordpress.com please comment and spreadてthe word with love and regards inder salim On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Inder Salim wrote: > Dear all > > Plz click to see some images on the blog > > http://artkaravan.wordpress.com > > other detail will appear soon, we are right now in Ranchi city > > please comment, join or even help us to improve our concept design > > with love and regards > inder salim > > > -- > > http://indersalim.livejournal.com > -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 09:27:55 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 09:27:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys In-Reply-To: <338680.36582.qm@web112102.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <6b79f1a71003022141n63962b42kadf94d56a182a48e@mail.gmail.com> <338680.36582.qm@web112102.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003031957i33c6de41jab9af607ddfad79b@mail.gmail.com> Dear Malik Sahab, Being a Kashmiri myself , i know how 'khor' is used by Kashmiri's. I hope you can trust a Kashmiri for that. Why not ask Sonia ? Pawan On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:29 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Dear Durrani Sahib, > "Khor" is very common word meaning khanewala or eater > as Mr Junaid had pointed out.You must definitely have heard the word Aadam > Khor usually being used for tigers who become man-eaters. It is very widely > used though the word Bacha Khor is very rarely used but was able to make > out its meaning thinking that it is similar to the word Aadam Khor. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Wed, 3/3/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > From: Pawan Durani > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys > > To: "Junaid" > > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net > > Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 11:11 AM > > I havent come across "Baccha Khor ' > > as "Adam Khor " is used in urdu. > > > > Neverthless ....i still buy your argument .... we are used > > to believe > > by heart and not by mind. > > > > Pawan > > > > On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 10:45 AM, Junaid > > wrote: > > > Dear Pawan, > > > > > > Thanks for your translation effort. It is just that > > "Baccha Khor" is > > > not a Kashmiri word but an Urdu one--and means "child > > eater" or > > > "child-killer" as in "Aadam Khor"--the man-eater. > > There is a Kashmiri > > > (countryside) phrase too which sounds similar, but > > simple logic would > > > suggest the use of that meaning will make no sense in > > the context. > > > > > > Also, I took the word "Baccha Khor" from the article > > that Sonia had > > > posted. I don't particularly have any liking for > > verbal overkill. > > > > > > Keep well, > > > Junaid > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Pawan Durani > > wrote: > > >> For those who do not understand Kashmiri , Junaid > > has written that the > > >> 10 day old Irfan was killed by "Baccha Khor". > > >> > > >> The rough translation of that is "Naughty Boy". > > >> > > >> So , the killers have become naughty boys... > > >> > > >> God bless the society ..... > > >> > > >> Pawan > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Junaid > > wrote: > > >>> A brief addition to our little conversation: > > >>> > > >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g > > >>> > > >>> Junaid > > >>> > > >>> On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid > > wrote: > > >>>> Hi Sonia, > > >>>> > > >>>> Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's > > interesting report on "Bacha > > >>>> Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our > > understanding of how > > >>>> "stone-pelters" have developed multiple > > connections. At 12 and 13 > > >>>> years' of age these hardened criminals > > seem to be quite savvy and > > >>>> entrepreneurial, enough to play around > > with the politicians, the > > >>>> police, the separatists, and even the CM! > > These ruffians with very > > >>>> terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, > > the lowest of the urchins, > > >>>> seem to have suddenly become a pain for > > all the above grandees, but > > >>>> above all to the "silent majority," the > > "99 percent of the > > >>>> population--which according to the article > > is constituted by an > > >>>> "influential businessmen", " a "trader" > > and the "Beopar Mandal > > >>>> president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami > > rakun." > > >>>> > > >>>> It is surprising that the silent majority > > of old town Baramulla was on > > >>>> the streets not too long ago. In the > > protests against Amarnath land > > >>>> grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority > > was the first one to come > > >>>> out to protest. The first major rally > > started from there. More than > > >>>> 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining > > villages came out for the > > >>>> "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people > > from this place who were > > >>>> killed, around 5 of them, when Indian > > troops fired at the rally in > > >>>> Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat > > leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall, > > >>>> since 2008 around 20 people have been > > killed in the town by the CRPF, > > >>>> and one by the "bacha khour" > > stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of > > >>>> Irfan is uncondonable and those > > responsible should be brought to > > >>>> book--yet in all likelihood it looks like > > it was accidental, if you > > >>>> heard what the mother had to say. > > >>>> > > >>>> Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There > > are only very few deaths and > > >>>> injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and > > "uffs" of our Dilliwala > > >>>> bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into > > a frenzy to sip to the last > > >>>> dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for > > them, are actually feel-good > > >>>> stories--"well, see, we are not the only > > ones doing the > > >>>> killings"--even if we do most of them!). > > So, I am not surprised about > > >>>> the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It > > is the same media which just > > >>>> celebrated CBI's criminal report on > > Shopian rape case. There is a fine > > >>>> line between objectivity and nationalism, > > and Indian media is not only > > >>>> unaware of it, but has placed itself at > > the unethical end of > > >>>> right-wing nationalism. > > >>>> > > >>>> Old town Baramulla has always defied > > government control and it is not > > >>>> a new feature. These old towns and the > > downtowns are the working > > >>>> class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they > > are also centers for > > >>>> small-scale artisans, who don't care about > > government jobs. > > >>>> Businessmen, really, do not form the > > silent majority there. > > >>>> > > >>>> Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers > > are worried that these > > >>>> stone-pelters are on their own, that they > > don't listen to them. Which > > >>>> is kind of the opposite of what he wanted > > at the Eid Gah rally in > > >>>> 2008, where in front of a million people > > he claimed to be the sole > > >>>> leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws. > > >>>> > > >>>> I understand that your earnestness in > > posting these news-reports is in > > >>>> good faith, and it is not a feel-good > > thing for you. I, like you, hope > > >>>> that those who were involved are > > punished. > > >>>> > > >>>> Junaid > > >>>> > > >>> _________________________________________ > > >>> 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 blauloretta at yahoo.com Thu Mar 4 09:52:37 2010 From: blauloretta at yahoo.com (Gustaff Harriman Iskandar) Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 20:22:37 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] A Note from John Perkins Message-ID: <372388.9918.qm@web51002.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi all, I just got an incoming mail from a friend and I feel some of you might be interested to read this. Salam, - Gustaff Dear Friends, Many of you have asked how I feel about the Obama administration . . . In short: the fact that we moved from a conservative Republican oilman from Texas to a liberal Democratic African American from Illinois, and yet change plods along at a snail's pace – if at all – is a confirmation of what I discuss in detail in my "HOODWINKED." Our president has little real power. In recent years, geopolitics have shifted; the corporatocracy rules. Democrats and Republicans alike fall under the thumb of the multinational corporations. We have entered a time of realignment not unlike that when city states joined together to form nations. Except this time it is global; countries are becoming less relevant. The emerging rulers are corporate CEOs, members of the corporatocracy. Like huge clouds swirling around the globe, their conglomerates reach every continent, country, and village. They are unrestricted by national borders or any particular sets of law. Although many are headquartered in the United States and call upon the U.S. military to protect their interests, they feel no sense of loyalty to any one country. They form partnerships with the Chinese and the Taiwanese, with the Israeli and Arab nations, with Brazilians, Australians, Russians, Indonesians, Congolese—with anyone who possesses resources or offers markets they covet. As we have seen with Halliburton, they think nothing of relocating to places like Dubai, where they pay fewer taxes. They hire a vast army of lobbyists who influence every politician in Washington and every other capital. They either own the mainstream media or control it through their advertising budgets. The good news: for the first time in history this new empire has been created not by military force, but through the sale of goods and services. And the marketplace is democratic—once we decide to see it as such. It is the ultimate polling booth. Corporations exist only because we vote for them in their stores, at the malls, and over the Internet. It is up to us to decide which companies will succeed and which ones will fail. Politicians will not change the world, because they are beholden to the big corporations. AND the corporations are dependent upon you and me. About a hundred fifty years ago we as a nation voted for Abraham Lincoln, and then we fought a Civil War to get rid of slavery. Later our women picketed Woodrow Wilson everywhere he went over women's suffrage; they would not allow him to send troops into WWI to defend democracy in Europe "until we women enjoy democracy here at home." We held teach-ins for Richard Nixon to educate him and the country on the travesty that had become the Vietnam War. We won those struggles, because we the people forced our leaders to change. In recent decades, we forced corporations to clean up polluted rivers, do away with ozone layer destroying aerosols, and remove trans fats from our foods. Today, we the people are called upon to speak again. When we impact bottom lines, we change stock prices and attract the attention of boards of directors. Those boards influence the decisions made in the halls of legislatures. We must not look to President Obama to change the world. We must do it – we must force those in control to adopt a new goal for the people of our planet: creating a sustainable, just, and peaceful world for all who live on this special space-station we call home. Perhaps President Obama's greatest gift to us will be that he taught us a lesson in democracy. We the people must take charge. We cannot look to a president to change the world. It is up to each of us to do it. I thank you for your continued support of my work and my books. Please share this email with all your lists and please follow me on Twitter - @economic_hitman. johnperkinsorg at gmail.com -----Inline Attachment Follows----- From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 11:06:31 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:06:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?=B3_I_tried_to_be_not_so_sweet_that_?= =?iso-8859-1?q?I_would_be_eaten_whole=2C_and_not_so_bitter_that_I_would_b?= =?iso-8859-1?q?e_spat_out=2E_=B2?= Message-ID: The New Yorker DON’T LOOK BACK by Steve Coll MARCH 1, 2010 he Taliban’s jihad, like rock and roll, has passed from youthful vigor into a maturity marked by the appearance of nostalgic memoirs. Back in the day, Abdul Salam Zaeef belonged to the search committee that recruited Mullah Omar as the movement’s commander; after the rebels took power in Kabul, he served as ambassador to Pakistan. “My Life with the Taliban,” published this winter, announces Zaeef’s début in militant letters. The volume contains many sources of fascination, but none are more timely than the author’s account of his high-level relations with Pakistani intelligence. While in office, Zaeef found that he “couldn’t entirely avoid” the influence of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. Its officers volunteered money and political support. Late in 2001, as the United States prepared to attack Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, the I.S.I.’s then commanding general, Mahmud Ahmad, visited Zaeef’s home in Islamabad, wept in solidarity, and promised, “We want to assure you that you will not be alone in this jihad against America. We will be with you.” And yet Zaeef never trusted his I.S.I. patrons. He sought to protect the Taliban’s independence: “I tried to be not so sweet that I would be eaten whole, and not so bitter that I would be spat out.” Earlier this month, outside Karachi, Pakistani security services, reportedly accompanied by C.I.A. officers, arrested the Afghan Taliban’s top military commander, Abdul Ghani Baradar, an action that has revived questions about the relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban. The Taliban rose to power with extensive aid from the I.S.I.; the collaboration persisted, if less robustly, after September 11th. More lately, the Pakistani military, of which the I.S.I. is a component, has seemed to waver, striking against some Taliban factions in Pakistan but tolerating or helping others. (As recently as December, U.S. intelligence was collecting evidence of mid-level contacts between the I.S.I. and Taliban factions fighting in Afghanistan.) Mullah Baradar’s arrest, which was followed, last week, by the arrests, in Pakistan, of two other significant Taliban leaders, suggests that the I.S.I. may be further reviewing its calculations. In any event, there are few strategic issues of greater importance to the outcome of President Obama’s Afghan war. Why might Pakistan consider modifying its strategy? In 2009, Islamist militants, mainly Taliban, carried out eighty-seven suicide attacks inside Pakistan, killing about thirteen hundred people, almost ninety per cent of them civilians, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies. Last October, Taliban raiders staged an unprecedented assault on the Army’s General Headquarters, in Rawalpindi. Customarily, Pakistani officers have blamed “bad” Taliban for such domestic raids, while absolving “good” Taliban (who shoot only at infidels in Afghanistan). As the violence on Pakistani soil intensifies, however, it would be natural for Pakistan’s generals to question whether their jihad-management strategy has become mired in false distinctions. American diplomats have been warning Pakistan for years, to little effect, that support for Islamist extremists would boomerang against its own interests. The Bush Administration made matters worse by delivering several billion dollars of covert aid to the I.S.I. for help against Al Qaeda without holding it to account for coddling the Taliban and other militant groups. The paranoid style of politics in Pakistan makes the American version look quaint. In recent days, there has been speculation that Mullah Baradar’s detention is evidence of some sort of diabolical I.S.I. conspiracy to thwart reconciliation talks between the Taliban and the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, or to manipulate such talks, or to split the Taliban. (A report in the Times indicates that Baradar’s arrest may have been accidental; in Pakistan’s national psyche, however, there are no accidents.) The Taliban are a diverse, dispersed guerrilla force with multiple command centers and locally autonomous leaders. Nonetheless, the Afghan Taliban leadership group in which Baradar reigned, known as the Quetta Shura, has exercised significant authority in recent years, particularly over Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, where U.S. marines have been fighting house to house. Uncontested sanctuary for Islamist guerrilla leaders in Pakistan contributed to the Soviet Union’s defeat in Afghanistan; the elimination or even the reduction of such a sanctuary for the Taliban (and Al Qaeda) would ease American burdens in Afghanistan by no small margin. American strategists claim to see encouraging changes in Pakistan’s behavior; intelligence-sharing between the United States and Pakistan, severely constrained by mistrust eighteen months ago, has increased. Unfortunately, the geopolitical incentives that have informed Pakistan’s alliance with the Afghan Taliban remain unaltered. Pakistan’s generals have retained a bedrock belief that, however unruly and distasteful Islamist militias such as the Taliban may be, they could yet be useful proxies to ward off a perceived existential threat from India. In the Army’s view, at least, that threat has not receded. Indo-Pakistani peace negotiations that have been in suspension since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack are only just re-starting. Absent a sudden breakthrough that charts the potential for normalizing relations between Pakistan and India—a framework settlement on Kashmir, freer trade, freer borders, and demilitarization—Pakistan’s rationale for preserving the Taliban and similar groups is not likely to change. The I.S.I., by all accounts, is not a sentimental outfit. Although Zaeef witnessed its senior commanders wail over America’s plan to overthrow the Taliban (one I.S.I. general was “crying out loud, with his arms around my neck like a woman”), he was also savvy enough to take note of Pakistan’s “mixed signals.” Later, Zaeef defied the I.S.I.’s entreaties to break with Mullah Omar and lead a “moderate” Taliban movement; the Pakistanis arrested him, and handed him over to American soldiers, who transferred him to Guantánamo. (He was released in 2005 and has retired in Kabul.) In his memoir, Zaeef titles the chapter about his betrayal “A Hard Realisation.” There will be more of those. The root problem in this murkiest theatre of the Afghan war is not Pakistan’s national character or even the character of its generals; rather, it involves Pakistan’s interests. The Pakistani Army has learned over many years to leverage its grievances, dysfunction, bad choices, and perpetual dangers to extract from the United States the financial and military support that it believes it requires against India. At the same time, Pakistan’s generals resent their dependency on America. For the I.S.I. to repudiate the Taliban entirely, its officers would have to imagine a new way of living in the world—to write a new definition of Pakistan’s national security, one that emphasizes politics and economics over clandestine war. For now, many Pakistani generals imagine themselves masters of an old game: to be not so sweet that they will be eaten whole by the United States, but not so bitter that they will be spat out. ♦ From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 11:11:43 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:11:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Pakistan reverting to old Kashmir policy Message-ID: Pak¹s changing K-tune puts Hurriyat in a fix RIYAZ WANI Indian Express Posted online: Thursday , March 04, 2010 at 2358 hours IST Srinagar: Pakistan may have reverted to its traditional posturing on Kashmir, making a renewed pitch for the right to self-determination for Kashmiris, but this abrupt change in its stand has run into opposition from none other than the separatists in the Valley, who continue to see Pervez Musharraf¹s four-point proposal as the ³most pragmatic solution to the Kashmir dispute². Upset over this ³unilateral turnaround² by Pakistan, two Hurriyat executive members, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Gani Lone, have opted out of the upcoming visit of separatists to Islamabad. There is also internal pressure on chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq against making the trip. Hurriyat reasoning is simple. ³We have been working for the past four years to rally people in Kashmir around the four-point proposal for a settlement. Now, how will we go back to the same people and tell them we are back to the old position on Kashmir,² said a senior leader on condition of anonymity. ³Policies on Kashmir can¹t be changed on a whim. It is difficult for us to reconcile with these periodic swings in Islamabad.² Hurriyat in the past launched several mass mobilisation drives across the Valley to create awareness about Musharraf¹s proposal in 2006, which included demilitarisation, self-governance and a joint supervision mechanism. What has miffed Hurriyat most is that Islamabad changed its stand without consulting them and now expected them to change their tune. According to sources, in their meeting with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, they complained that while Pakistan on its part made several policy shifts on Kashmir over the years without any regard for Kashmiri opinion, Kashmiri separatists were not being trusted to deal with the situation directly. The recent case in point being Islamabad¹s disapproval of the ³quiet engagement² between moderates and the Centre. Hurriyat leaders, sources said, told Bashir that when it suited Islamabad, the country went for Tashkent accord, Shimla agreement, Lahore Declaration followed by Musharraf¹s willingness to settle for self-governance for Kashmir. And now, they complained, when it again suits the country, Pakistan has reverted to its old position on the state. ³Let us make it clear that we are not for a solution to Kashmir that excludes Pakistan. But we want recognition and a say in the entire process of dialogue and resolution,² a leader said. Adding further to the moderates¹ sense of hurt is Pakistan¹s wider outreach to the hardline separatist elements in the state led by Syed Ali Geelani. Islamabad has not only invited Geelani but also his ideological allies, Kashmir HC Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom and Asiya Andrabi, the leader of a fundamentalist women separatist outfit. From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 11:15:45 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 11:15:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Ramayana Festival March 2010 @ Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts Research Message-ID: http://www.adishaktitheatrearts.com/component/content/article/128.html From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 11:15:09 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:15:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Daily Time, Pakistan, Editorial: Closet Taliban? Message-ID: Daily Time, Pakistan, Editorial: Closet Taliban? It is a matter of extreme concern that a provincial law minister has been seen pandering to a banned organisation¹s senior leader. Rana Sanaullah, who happens to be Punjab¹s Law Minister, either forgot his own designation during his recent visit to Jhang or was suffering from amnesia when he took Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) leader Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi on a ride in his car. He also visited the banned organisation¹s madrassa. Is it not ironic that the law minister gave full protocol to a sectarian outfit¹s leader, an organisation that has officially been banned by the government? Thus it was all but inevitable that there was an uproar over Rana Sanaullah giving official patronage to Ludhianvi in the National Assembly. Mr Sanaullah was on a by-election campaign for a provincial assembly seat in Jhang, but it cannot be said with certainty if he paid a visit to the seminary for electoral purposes or deep-rooted extremist linkages. Even if it was for purely electoral purposes, should the law minister have taken along a sectarian leader with him on an election campaign? According to a report, ŒPakistan: The Militant Jihadi Challenge¹ by the International Crisis Group published in 2009, ³The recent upsurge of jihadi violence in Punjab...demonstrates the threat extremist Sunni-Deobandi groups pose to the Pakistani citizen and state...Punjab-based radical Deobandi groups like the SSP and its offshoot Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) provide weapons, recruits, finances and other resources to Pakistani Taliban groups...The SSP and LJ are also al Qaeda¹s principal allies in the region.² Being a provincial law minister, Rana Sanaullah should have all this information. He should take effective measures to curb extremism and sectarianism in Punjab. Instead he opted for hobnobbing with the leaders of such militant outfits. Some lawmakers from Punjab had raised this issue in the National Assembly last year as well, protesting that the activities of banned outfits in Jhang were going unchecked. Just last month, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed addressed a seminar in Lahore. The Punjab government needs to be reminded that the JuD is just a new name of the banned terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). In January 2002, General Musharraf banned some jihadi outfits and launched a crackdown, but it was a complete failure as most of these groups renamed themselves before the ink had even dried on the proscription papers. JuD is a classic example. To let its leader address a seminar in Lahore is a grave violation of the rule of law. The judiciary should also take note of this as the Indian government has accused Hafiz Saeed of masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. The Punjab government has long been in denial over the presence of terror outfits in Punjab, particularly South Punjab. The audacity of the PML-N to call itself a Œprogressive¹ party ‹ at best, it is a centre-right party ‹ when it is pursuing such policies should serve as a wake up call for the people of Pakistan. If we want to rid our country of extremist ideology, our lawmakers should set an example instead of giving official patronage to terror outfits. An appeal to the Punjab government: stop living in denial and take effective measures to make our country safe from extremist elements. * From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 15:28:12 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:28:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation - To commemorate the death anniversary of Aman Kachroo In-Reply-To: <6353c691003030407j47ed938as746f320758c07fdf@mail.gmail.com> References: <6353c691003030407j47ed938as746f320758c07fdf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6353c691003040158g72344579i2f8522a4f8695572@mail.gmail.com> To commemorate the death anniversary of Aman Satya Kachroo *Aman Movement Presents* *Akanandun *– an old Kashmiri ‘*Dastaan*’ in contemporary dance form. Please support the cause of eradication of ragging and participate *on Sunday, 7th March, 2010, at 6 pm, * at *NCUI Auditorium*, 3 Sri Fort Institutional Area, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi. (Opposite Sri Fort Auditorium on Khel Gaon Marg) *The Story: * * Once upon a time, there used to be a King and a Queen, who had 7 daughters but were longing for a son, who would be the next king. A sadhu granted their wish on the condition that they will have to return the boy to him after 12 years. Akanandun was born and the promise that the king and the queen had made was forgotten. Then one day, after 12 years, the sadhu appeared and asked for Akanandun to be killed. The story describes the emotions of parents who are faced with a conflict between keeping a promise and that of breaking it. * Generations of Kashmiri’s have heard this story in the form of a D*astaan* – which is a particular style of narration and singing. For this occasion we have decided to experiment and present the story in a contemporary dance form. We feel that this most unusual experiment is the right tribute to a boy who was also unusual in his ways. *Sangeeta Sharma * Founder Director of Anveshna dance theatre, will choreograph the show. She has more than 20 years of expedience as a dancer and choreographer in Indian and western contemporary style of dancing. Her choreographed pieces demonstrate her unique creative and innovative style to bring up issues facing the society. * * * Dhananjay Kaul* A talented and a well known singer, will provide the music and narrate the * Dastaan*. He has developed his own unique style of singing in Kashmiri and he sings both in Kashmiri and in Hindi with equal ease. *We hope you will enjoy the evening. * * * *Sinead Kachroo - 9717059747* - sinead.kachroo at gmail.com *..see you there.* *Aditya Raj Kaul* *Cell - +91-9873297834*** From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 4 16:50:33 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 03:20:33 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] The Death of Film Criticism Message-ID: <3959.14890.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> The Death of Film Criticism By Thomas Doherty   http://chronicle.com/article/The-Death-of-Film-Criticism/64352/     From c.anupam at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 17:01:11 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 17:01:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Death of Film Criticism In-Reply-To: <3959.14890.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <3959.14890.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003040331s2595af3dlf243ebfcdfba3585@mail.gmail.com> Brilliant piece! Thanks for sharing this -anupam On 3/4/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > The Death of Film Criticism > By Thomas Doherty > > http://chronicle.com/article/The-Death-of-Film-Criticism/64352/ > > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 4 21:16:34 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 07:46:34 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] The Death of Film Criticism In-Reply-To: <3959.14890.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <203261.3265.qm@web53603.mail.re2.yahoo.com> There is no credible argument in the body of the article to the declaration in the title;just some platitudes about the general nature of print media and internet. --- On Thu, 3/4/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: [Reader-list] The Death of Film Criticism > To: "sarai list" > Date: Thursday, March 4, 2010, 4:50 PM > The Death of Film Criticism > By Thomas Doherty >   > http://chronicle.com/article/The-Death-of-Film-Criticism/64352/ >   >   > > >       > _________________________________________ > 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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Mar 4 23:10:01 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 23:10:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A feature on lives of women teaching in govt. schools of UP Message-ID: *THEY TRAVEL LONG HOURS — ON FOOT, CARTS AND CYCLES, LEAVING HOME AND KIDS. PHOTOGRAPHER **SHAILENDRA PANDEY** TRACKS THE LIVES OF WOMEN TEACHING IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN RURAL UTTAR PRADESH* ** http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=cr270210too_tired.asp From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Thu Mar 4 23:11:22 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 23:11:22 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] The Death of Film Criticism In-Reply-To: <3959.14890.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <3959.14890.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <629956.7202.qm@web94703.mail.in2.yahoo.com> A clear dichotomy is made on basis of sensibility, or, what I'd call degree of involvement. Even as a modest poster of light content blogs, with labour invested not as intense as a film, I do get across comments as 'Giberrish'. Well some body else might have in those problems something interesting.  Not withstanding that one of the audience who employed his valuable resources into reading and trying to relate with me, if only for 2 mins. He could not assosciate intellectually, spiritually with the content. And I appreciate that, though that might be anti-aesthetic, but that kind of aesthetism which is elitist is essentially unstable, pertaining only to the fortunes or mis fortunes of certain people.  I call this participative aesthetism. A lot of people like theater. But this theather itself is of different genres, broadly identified at, leasty in bengali tradition by name of the group. In the end the director, personally takes feedback. Yet different genres of theater, have attracted different sections of the society, where my distinction is nuanced set of fashion variables, distingushed by broad responses on different culural aspects. Surely individuals are highly reserved on some aspects as use of language, we might see the use of slangs in contemporart films. While accepting slangs doesnt bring some emotional relief,  the trend setting attitude of defying social norms make these movies popular.  People who ise slangs in their day to day lives feel a greater social acceptance. By spending one's money on a movie one expects not only entertaintment but a message, and a cultural change. Else he says 'IT SUCKS". There is no harm in making films for, and we do have many such films, exclusively for the elite. Comments like the above would certainly not be entertained there. We are having certain good quality movies which have in-depth research.  The problem then remains combing this in depth reasearch and popular art, so that the target audience are reached and no more, and the film appeals to them.  We have many talents who have clearly appealed to classes. If results are contra, and logic of 'Clicks', fail, it means things could not have associated with, the cultural variables, the scenes were ill-synchronised, or even messed up, and couldnt deliver what it had to to the people. What is the problem in calling 'boring boring'.   Like wise like good movie makers, good critiques have to be innovative and deliver something new for each situation. Else brain gets bored and filters it, worse rejects it.  The problem is rather in death of creativity which embodies critics to be intellects. Say I have never been involved emotionally with a professor, nor do I aspire to be one. Then I may do equally well by ignoring him/her! What is quality then becomes higly subjective, and the present problem arises in the 2.0 Web era as power to dissipate information reversed, but what of poets, and story writers who have been imprisoned since ages, to not so Distant Fidel Caestro Indira Gandhi, or the present times, when Authors have to delete the most dramatic and compelling scenes shot, diluting their movies at Verdict of I& B ministry for they had filmed the army, or raised questions on some policy.  I can relate to a Nude Swaraswati but some poliuticians couldn't. Which such elements around, I find the enoirnment of the net cleaner as well as safer. What film criticism has found a new avatar in it's internet version is blogging. And that stands better than Papers where we do get to read ads. The media has experienced a cultural change corresponding to economic change of people who pay for internet. And the people who could be found at certain places are now re-organised form newspapers which were once expensive to Blogs. And on demand certain Search enginges provide search for blogs.  The good news is for people who lack creativity creativoty and criticism is taken and reproduced as it is.  We do have cinema lover's club, but alas people do have little time to gossip about a single movie. There do we see death of Addas, Film critiqs, Carrom and the like.... ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: sarai list Sent: Thu, 4 March, 2010 4:50:33 PM Subject: [Reader-list] The Death of Film Criticism The Death of Film Criticism By Thomas Doherty   http://chronicle.com/article/The-Death-of-Film-Criticism/64352/           _________________________________________ 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/> Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From javedmasoo at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 03:22:47 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 03:22:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa Message-ID: Anti Terrorism Fatwa Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker issued an anti terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that suicide bombing was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many other organizations have taken before. Even recently after the incident at Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over twenty organizations who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy in Fort Hood. It is not any different from most of the voices I heard in the Mumbai taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews traveling through bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate misconception between Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all the voices of dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has been stated by the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the domain of pop culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, backyards in Alabama, streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of every big publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about in the Mumbai taxis. Inshallah! http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ ------- Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to terrorist recruiting By Kiran Khalid, CNN March 3, 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those notorious for targeting others: terrorists. The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was "haraam," or forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters promise, but with a suite in hell. Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, an Islamic movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news conference in London, England, on Tuesday that his decree categorically condemns terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism were conditional and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone interview, noting that his 600-page ruling left no room for interpretation. "I didn't leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of radicals or extremists, can take them to the direction of martyrdom." The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an "absolute" condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists themselves "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly significant step towards eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank based in London, said in a statement. Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and Southeast Asia at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, agreed, calling the fatwa "unprecedented." "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and systematic treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition dealing with armed resistance against the state, rules of engagement, aspects. The fatwa itself ... is categorically and comprehensively against terrorism in any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual dismantling of al Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on recruiting terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many potential foot soldiers don't have access to education, much less academic discourse. Ahmed says it can. "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument alone. This is a theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah [practice of the Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily available argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers across Pakistan, who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly sermons." Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark is online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Custer, head of intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, told the CBS program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth." In the recent case involving five young Americans from the Virginia area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani jail potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called ringleader Ramy Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web sites. Last week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New York City. Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with terrorists. Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock band "Junoon" and author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," says it's young men in the West who can be influenced the most by Qadri's arguments. "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an important positive religious ruling and it has been made in the West, where a lot of young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed by the terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of Islam," Ahmad said. "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize that Muslims will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked by a bunch of thugs masquerading as holy men." http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ From pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 08:49:25 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 08:49:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Early Kashmiri Society-An Analysis In-Reply-To: <187273.58268.qm@web50707.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <187273.58268.qm@web50707.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003041919m166da197l541b7cb9f1d5ee19@mail.gmail.com> Early Kashmiri Society-An Analysis Source: Kashmir Sentinel By Dr. S.S. Toshkani >From the above analysis of the nature and character of the pre-Islamic Kashmiri society and its way of life we can safely arrive at some conclusions. We can characterize it as an open-minded, liberal and human society, culturally advanced, intellectually alert and aesthetically conscious. The religion that formed and bedrock of its values and ideals allowed different beliefs and modes of worship to co-exist happily and cordially. In his introduction of Edwin Muir's 'Life of Mohammet', well-known historian Ram Swarup has quoted Prudence Jones, spokesperson for the UK Pagan Federation to have observed: "All the world's indigenous and ethnic religions have three features in common: they are nature-venerating, seeing nature as a manifestation of divinity; secondly, they are polytestic and recognize many gods as many manifestation;  the third feature is that they all recognize the Goddess, the female aspect of Divinity as well as male". This in nutshell also sums up the religious outlook of the early Kashmiri society. It had several inherent weaknesses too. But when Islam came to Kashmiri in the 14th century with its ideology and beliefs, its theology and dogmas, its laws and codes of conduct, its lore and legends, everything that the Kashmiri society stood for earlier was upturned. Its entire social, spiritual and cultural fabric was shattered by the cataclysmic events that followed. Some scholars say that long before Muslim rule was established there, Muslims had settled in Kashmir. They give examples of the presence of Turkic Muslim soldiers in Harsha's (19089-1111) army, and the employment of Turkie mercenaries by Bhikshachara (1120-1121) against Sussala as evidence. They quote Marco Polo as suggesting that a colony of Muslims existed in Kashmir in the 13th century. All this may well be true, but was only when refugees and adventurers from different quarters converged on Kashmir during the reign of King Suhadev (1301-1320), that the Hindus lost Kashmir to Islam. Till then Kashmir may have known Muslims, but not Islam as such. The earlier attempts by Hisham bin Amru'I—Taghlibi, the Arab governor in Sindh, in the 8th century and Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) to invade Kashmir had ended in failure. Not much is known about the impact of Muslims who had settled earlier in Kashmir on the existing society, but it seems that their activities went unnoticed largely because of Hindu tradition of hospitality. But when Rinchana, a Buddhist fugitive from Ladakh and Shah Mir, an adventurer from Swat, came seeking refugee, they colluded with Saiyyid Sharaf-ud-Din alias Bulbulshah, who had arrived earlier, to subvert the very society that gave them shelter. They succeeded in doing hat Ghazni could not an established Islamic rule in Kashmir by subversion, perfidy and treachery. Lacking political foresight and ignorant of Shah Mir's motives and ambitions. Suhadev committed the folly of granting him a whole village for his sustenance. Earlier he had bestowed a jagir on Bulbul Shah also. Rinchana too got employment under Ramachandra. Suhadeva's commander-in-chief. And even as the two were consolidating their positions by clever means, Zulji or Zulqadr Khan, a Turk/Mongol chief invaded Kashmir at the head of a huge army of 70,000. Suhadeva fled to Kashtawar, without the Kottarajas or petty chiefs of border posts, coming to his help. He left people to the invader's mercy. Zulju ordered a massacre and his soldiers decimated thousands of people, enslaved thousands, burnt down villagers, plundered towns and destroyed standing crops. After eight months of his devastating stay Zulju left taking fifty thousand Brahmins with him as slaves, but perished along with the pensions and troops near Devasar Pass in a heavy snowfall. His ravages have been described in detail in Jonaraja's Rajataragini and the Baharistan-i-Shahi. Famine ensued as the Zulju's troops had destroyed all stores of grain, causing immense misery to the starving survivors. It was Zulju's devastating invasion that actually scripted the fall of Kashmir into Musilm hands, for in the anarchy conditions created by it, Rinchana saw the opportunity for himself to grab power. According to Baharistan-i-Shahi, Rinchana, smuggled his men with weapons in the guise of merchants in to the fort where his master Ramchandra had shut himself up. In the bloody attack that followed Ramachandra and his men were treacherously killed and his family imprisoned. Even children were not spared and pregnant women's wombs were cut upon. Seizing power in a coup, Rinchana later freed Ramchandra's son Rawanchandra and married his daughter Kota Rani. Rinchana's conversion to Islam is one of the most controversial issues in the history of Kashmir. Jonaraja says that he wanted to become a Hindu, but the Shaiva guru Devaswami refused to admit him into the fold. But this does not seem to be the fact, for, as Prof. A.Q. Rafiqi has rightly pointed out, even if that were the case, Rinchana, being the king, could have approached any other Brahmana for it. "Conversion from Buddhism to Hinduism or vice versa was not a new thing", Prof. Rafiqi writes. It is wrong, therefore, to put the blame on Devaswami, as some modern historians have done, simply because he was a Brahmin. Is it not possible that his hestitation had something to do with the revolutions cased by Rinchana's treachery? Another story was floated which attributed Rinchana's acceptance of Islam to "divine grace". Rinchana, it is said, held discussions with both Hindu and Muslim scholars about what is "Truth", but none could satisfy him. He then decided to adopt the religion of the first person he should see in the morning. And who could that person be other than the "Sufi" Sharafu'd-Din Bulbul, offering namaz outside the palace? Rinchana became a Muslim adopting the Islamic name Sadr'-ud-Din. The story "was concocted to glorify Islam and establish the miraculous power of Sayyid Sharafu'd-Din", says Prof. Rafiqi and rightly so. It seems more probable that Rinchana's conversion was manipulated by Shah Mir himself with the connivance of Bulbul Shah to establish Muslim rule in Kashmir. And thus the refugee from Ladakh became, the ruler of the Kashmir in 1320 A.D, but died less than three years later. Kota Rani made Suhadeva's brother Udyanadeva the king and herself became his queen. Hindu rule was restored but not for long. Again a Turk (or Mongol) marauder, Achala, swooped upon Kashmir and Udyanadeva fled to Ladakh. Showing exemplary courage, Kota Rani organised a resistance with the help of Bhatta Bhikshana, a Brahmin noble, and Shah Mir as well as some Kottarajas or clan-chiefs. She managed to send the invader back, while Shah Mir gained popularity for his role. Shah Mir now started scheming openly for grabbing the throne which he had been eyeing all along. Not that Kota Rani, who had proclaimed herself the ruler, failed to read his mind, but she played her cards badly. Instead of cutting Shah Mir to his size, she further strengthened his position by offering his administrative posts to his two sons. And not just that, when Shah Mir reigned illness, she sent her ablest general Bhatta Bhikshana to inquire of his health. Shah Mir murdered Bhatta Bhikshana treacherously and besieged Kota Rani in her palace at Andarkot. Overpowering the queen, he seized power in 1339 AD, laying the foundation of Muslim rule in Kashmir. Kota had to pay with her life for the folly of not having arrested the wily Mir immediately after Bhikshana's murder. That was the final act in the sordid drama that saw Hindu Kashmir loose out to Islam without ever getting a chance to recover. Both Shah Mir and Rinchana repaid the generosity and hospital of the Hindu rulers as well as people with perfidy most could and unimaginable. And though "no Arab legions marched into Kashmir with their swift horses and slender sword," as Prof. K.N. Pandita has observed, it will be wrong to think that the sword played no part in destroying its ancient society and changing forever its religious and demographic profile. Did not the blitzkriegs of Zulju and Achala create conditions of such abysmal chaos that it became easy for adventurers like Rinchana and Shah Mir to grab power without as much as a ripple? Shah Mir's ascension to the thrown as the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir triggered the inexorable chain of developments that had a terrible impact on the psyche of its hapless Hindus, making them retreat into a sulk from which they have still not been able to retrieve themselves. The period of transition to Islam is most crucial in the history of Kashmir, but unfortunately it has been presented in a manner that shows utter disregard (or should we say utmost contempt) for truth. It is extremely important to understand how people belonging to a society saturated with civilization and steeped in learning came to accept in vast numbers a religion totally incompatible with their deepest convictions and long established traditions. It must be noted that the process of Islamization of Kashmir that began during Rinchana and Shah Mir's time gathered a furious momentum with the arrival of Sayyid Mir Ali Hamadani on the scene and proved to be an unmitigated disaster for Kashmiri Hindus-a nightmare of mass massacres, holocaust, genocidal attacks and enslavement. Let us have a look at the sequence of events that led to it before arriving at any conclusions Sayyid Ali Hamadani, regarded one of the greatest missionaries of Islam by Kashmiri Muslims, arrived from Hamadan probably in 1381 with an entourage of 700 other Sayyids who it is widely believed fled Persia to escape persecution by Taimur. Earlier he had sent two of his cousins, Sayyid Taju'd-Din and Sayyid Hussain to Kashmir "to explore the religious atmosphere of that country" according to Prof. A.Q. Rafiqi. He was initiated in the Kubrawiya order of Sufi's by Ala'ud-Din Simnani who "believed that the duty of a Sufi was to preach his faith". The first thing Sayyid Ali Hamdani did in Kashmir was to admonish Sultan Qutbu'd-Din for having married two uterine sisters against the Islamic law and for dressing himself after the fashion of the Hindus. The Sultan quickly divorced one of the two sisters, and abandoned the Hindu costume to wear Muslim dress Hamadani he then set upon his proselytizing activities to fulfil Allah's command to him. He is sand to have converted as many as 37,000 Hindus to Islam. He probably wanted Qutbu'd-Din" to make the persecution and torture of Hindus as state policy" as Prof. K.L. Bhan writes in his book Paradise Lost: Seven Exoduses of Kashmiri Pandits" But as the author of Baharistan-i-Shahi says, "Sultan Qutbu'd-Din failed to propagate Islam in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of Amir Sayyid Ali Hamdani, he decided not to stay in Kashmir anyt more and left via Baramulla under the pretext of proceeding on a pilgrimage to Mecca". But he left for the Sultan a mandate in the shape of 'Zakhirat-ul-Mulk' which made it imperative for every Muslim ruler to treat his non-Muslim subjects (Zimnis) according to the convenient of Caliph Umar. Sayyid Ali's mandate divides the subjects under a Muslim ruler into two categories-Muslims and Kafirs-and lists 20 most humiliating and degrading rules for the infidels to comply with absolute obedience. The mandate forbids non-Muslims to construct any new places of worship, to reconstruct any existing place of worship that may fall in to ruin to ride horses with saddle and bridle, to carry weapons, to wear signet rings, to openly practice their customs and usages among Muslims, to carry their dead near the graveyards of Muslims to mourn their dead loudly, to build their houses in the neighbourhood of Muslims, and to prevent Muslim travellers from staying their place of worship or temples. They are also required to receive any Muslim traveller in to their houses and to provide him with hospitality for three days and to wear humble dress so that they may be distinguished from Muslims. Sayyid Ali does not mention any rights which non-Muslims could expect in return for obeying these twenty conditions, but concludes with the note that if they infringe any of them then Muslim shave a right to kill them. An open licence to kill those who do not believe in Islam! It was Sayyid Ali Hamdani who got the temple of Kalishri near Fatehkadal in Srinagar demolished and converted into a Khanqah, now known as Khanqah to Maula "Sayyid Ali's proselytizing activities", writes Prof. A.Q. Rafiqi, "are highly extolled by both medieval and modern scholars. But none of them gives any details of the method adopted by him at his work" Rafiqi adds. "There is no doubt, however, that Islam received great impetus because of Sayyid Ali and his followers. He left his deputies at a number of places which were great Hindu centres of those days, such as Pompur, Avantipura and Vijabror. These followers of Sayyid Ali established Khanqahs, and the network of branches which gradually emerged became important centres of preaching and proselytization". The proselytizing frenzy of the Sayyids reached a crescendo in Kashmir during the reign of Sikandar Butshikan or Sikandar the Iconoclast. At the behest of Sayyid Ali Hamadani's son Sayyid Muhmmad Hamdani who came to Kashmir in 1393, Sultan Sikandar let loose a reign of unprecedented terror against the Hindu population. "To him", writes the author of Baharistan-i-Shahi, "goes the credit of wiping out the vestiges of infidelity and heresy from the mirror of the conscience of the dwellers of these lands", adding that "immediately after his arrival, Sultan Sikandar, peace be on him submitted to his religious supremacy and proved his loyalty to him by translating his words into deeds". One of the first to be converted by the Sayyid was Sikandar's minister Suha Bhatt, who was given the Muslim name of Malik Safu'd-Din. The two at the instigation of Mir Sayyid Mohammad Hamdani committed the most barbaric atrocities on Kashmiri Hindus, giving them no option but to accept Islam, exile or death. Hassan writes: "Sikandar meted out greatest oppression to the Hindus. It was notified in the city that if a Hindu does not became a Muslim, he must leave the country or be killed. As a result, some of the Hindus fled away, some accepted Islam and many Brahmanas consented to be killed and gave their lives. It is said Sikandar collected by these methods about three khirwars (240 kilgrams) of sacred threads (from Hindu converts) and burnt them...All the Hindu books of learning were collected and thrown into Dal Lake and were buried beneath stones and earth". Sikandar imposed the Jiziya on Hindus, prevented them from applying tilak on their foreheads and prohibited the selling of wine, dancing of women, music and gambling. He derived a peculiar sadistic pleasure from destroying Hindus temples and smashing their idols, from which he got his notorious nickname, Hassan says: "This country (Kashmir) possessed from the times of Hindu kings many temples which were like the wonders of the world. Their workmanship was so fine and delicate that one found himself bewildered at their sight. Sikandar goaded by feelings of bigotry destroyed them and levelled them with the earth and with their materials built many mosques and Khanqahs. In the first instance he turned his attention towards the Martanda temple built by Ramadeva (it was actually Lalitaditya who had built it) on Mattan Karewa. For one full year he fried to demolish it but failed. At last in sheer dismay he dug out stones from its base and having stored enough wood in their place set fire to it. Gold gilt paintings on its walls were totally destroyed and the walls surrounding its premises were demolished. Its ruins even now strike wonder in men's minds. At Bijbeahara three hundred temples including the famous Vijayaeshwara temple which was partially damaged by Shahabu'd-Din were destroyed and with the material of the latter a mosque was built and on its site and a Khanqah which is even now known as Vijayeshwar Khanqah". Like some possessed maniacs, the iconoclasts went on destroying one magnificent temple after another, one splendid image after another—Martanda, Vishaya, Ishana, Chakrabhrit, Tripureshwara. Sureshwari, Parihaspur, Mahashri, the temple built by Tarapida all became targets on their frenzy. Jonaraja, the contemporary historian says with anguish : "There was no town, no village, no wood where Suha and the Turshka left the temples of Gods unbroken". Adds R.K. Parmu: "Then they rebuilt the Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, and the mosque of Khanqah Maula was built in commemoration of Sayyid Ali Hamadani. Two other big mosques were built in Bhavan and Bijbeahara. All these mosques were built from the material of the demolished Hindu temples; and the spacious courtyard of the Lokeshwari temple in Srinagar was converted into the Mazar-i-Salatin." Parmu blames it on the "fanatical zeal" of the "malevolent" Sayyids who in their fiendhish exultation gave Sikandar their most coveted title of "Butshikan", the iconoclast.." Prof. AQ Rafiqi is clear that Sikandar's orthodox policy was not dictated by political reasons but on the advice of Mir Muhammad Hamdani. Genocidal attacks and barbaric decrees created so much terror and panic among the defencless Hindus that they fled for their lives—across the Smithan Pass to neighbouring Kashtawar and via Batote (Kashmiri 'Bhatta Wath' or the path of the Bhattas) . This, as Prof. K.L. Bhan points out, was the first mass of exodus Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir. The orgy of violence and proselytizing frenzy continued unabated into the reign of Sultan Ali Shah (1413-1420). The renegade Suha and the demoniac Sayyids went berserk in their attempt to destroy Hinduism, root and branch. The whole Valley was bathed in the blood of the innocents. Jonaraja draws a heart-rending picture of the plight of Hindus, in particular Brahmins of Kashmir comparing them to fish tormented by a fisherman in a closed river. He says that their religious ceremonies and processions were banned; heavy taxes were levied on them; and to starve them their traditional allowances were stopped, forcing them to become beggars. For a mouthful of food, "they went from house to house, lolling out their tongues like dogs". Some roamed in the streets in the disguise of Muslims to save their emaciated families from hunger. To escape oppression and to preserve their religious identity, may of them ran away from their land through bye-roads as the main roads were closed, "the non leaving his father behind and the father leaving his son". Passing though difficult terrain, many of them died of scorching heat and illness, many of starvation due to scanty food. But not all succeeded in escaping. Many of those who remained behind committed suicide by taking poison, many by drowning self-immolation. Many hanged themselves, many jumped from precipices. Numerous Hindus were killed brutally while many were forced to convert to Islam. Deeply disturbed by the suffering of his co-regionalists on the even of Zainu'l-Abidin's ascension to throne, Jonaraja laments: "As storms do with trees, or locusts with paddy crops, wicked people belonging to his (Sikandar's) faith worked havoc with the traditions and usages of Kashmir. His lament viewed against the background of Suha Bhatta's role in the misery heaped up on Kashmiri Hindus raises a significant question: how to explain the behaviour of the neo-converts towards their erstwhile co-regionalists? Purna, the barber who instigated Zainu'l-Abidin's on Haidar Shah to commit barbarities against the Hindus is another case of the rabidity of the neoconverts. He got their limbs amputated, their tongues and noses chopped off and had them impaled. Other neo-converts too joined the orthodox Muslims to provoke the king to commit inhuman atrocities on Hindus, to desecrate and loot their temples. --(Concluded) From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 10:02:15 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 10:02:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Everyday conversations to heal racism Message-ID: Here's a wonderful resource we could use in learning spaces and in our personal lives. http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/america-the-remix/everyday-conversations-to-heal-racism?utm_source=febmar10&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=15_Conversations From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 10:25:28 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 10:25:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Findings of a major study of 100, 000 children's reading habits In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/boys-read-as-much-as-girls-but-prefer-the-simpler-books-1913667.html Do you know of any systematic study of children's reading habits in India? (in terms of genre, language, themes, gender, etc.) Such a project would be so exciting to undertake, and so useful to see the findings of. Have been thinking of it for a while now. From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 10:35:31 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 10:35:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Teaching Academy Summer 2010 @ Brockwood Park School, UK Message-ID: Details here: http://brockwood.org.uk/pdf/teaching_academy2010.pdf From aliens at dataone.in Fri Mar 5 11:01:08 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:01:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000601cabc25$0f9475c0$2ebd6140$@in> It is welcome move to issue such fatwa that suicide bombing was banned by Islam without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions. Suicide is always condemnable by almost all the religions and nothing new in it. So, it can be counted as a teaching statement rather than issuing fatwa. Similarly, Islamic group has even earlier issued fatwa against any kind of violence/terrorism in general. But, what today need is fatwa against terrorists or terrorists group specifically to pressurize them to stop terrorism. When you can give fatwa against Taslima Nasreen and Salman Rashdie specifically then why not issue fatwa against any terrorist specifically. This is what required in today's time. Can any of Islamic group dare to do this? It will be welcome. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Javed Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:23 AM To: sarai list Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa Anti Terrorism Fatwa Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker issued an anti terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that suicide bombing was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many other organizations have taken before. Even recently after the incident at Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over twenty organizations who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy in Fort Hood. It is not any different from most of the voices I heard in the Mumbai taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews traveling through bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate misconception between Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all the voices of dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has been stated by the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the domain of pop culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, backyards in Alabama, streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of every big publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about in the Mumbai taxis. Inshallah! http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ ------- Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to terrorist recruiting By Kiran Khalid, CNN March 3, 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those notorious for targeting others: terrorists. The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was "haraam," or forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters promise, but with a suite in hell. Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, an Islamic movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news conference in London, England, on Tuesday that his decree categorically condemns terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism were conditional and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone interview, noting that his 600-page ruling left no room for interpretation. "I didn't leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of radicals or extremists, can take them to the direction of martyrdom." The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an "absolute" condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists themselves "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly significant step towards eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank based in London, said in a statement. Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and Southeast Asia at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, agreed, calling the fatwa "unprecedented." "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and systematic treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition dealing with armed resistance against the state, rules of engagement, aspects. The fatwa itself ... is categorically and comprehensively against terrorism in any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual dismantling of al Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on recruiting terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many potential foot soldiers don't have access to education, much less academic discourse. Ahmed says it can. "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument alone. This is a theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah [practice of the Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily available argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers across Pakistan, who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly sermons." Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark is online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Custer, head of intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, told the CBS program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the Internet is the single most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth." In the recent case involving five young Americans from the Virginia area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani jail potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called ringleader Ramy Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web sites. Last week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New York City. Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with terrorists. Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock band "Junoon" and author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," says it's young men in the West who can be influenced the most by Qadri's arguments. "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an important positive religious ruling and it has been made in the West, where a lot of young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed by the terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of Islam," Ahmad said. "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize that Muslims will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked by a bunch of thugs masquerading as holy men." http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ _________________________________________ 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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 13:59:18 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 13:59:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] IIM Bangalore to refund fees of students opting for NGO jobs Message-ID: Full story here: http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/04/iim-b-to-refund-fees-of-students-opting-for-ngo-jobs.htm#write From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Fri Mar 5 16:21:53 2010 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 10:51:53 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa In-Reply-To: <000601cabc25$0f9475c0$2ebd6140$@in> References: , <000601cabc25$0f9475c0$2ebd6140$@in> Message-ID: There can be no better deterrent against jihadi terror than invoking the wroth of very God that is purportedly the inspiration for terrorism. Such strong voices should have emanated earlier. Due cognisance of the suicide car bombing in Srinagar on the eve of the year 2000 X-mas by the Birmingham born Bilal Ahmed could possibly have averted 9/11 & scores of other attacks worldwide. Regards all LA --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 11:01:08 +0530 > From: aliens at dataone.in > To: javedmasoo at gmail.com > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > It is welcome move to issue such fatwa that suicide bombing was banned by Islam without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions. Suicide is always condemnable by almost all the religions and nothing new in it. So, it can be counted as a teaching statement rather than issuing fatwa. Similarly, Islamic group has even earlier issued fatwa against any kind of violence/terrorism in general. But, what today need is fatwa against terrorists or terrorists group specifically to pressurize them to stop terrorism. When you can give fatwa against Taslima Nasreen and Salman Rashdie specifically then why not issue fatwa against any terrorist specifically. This is what required in today's time. Can any of Islamic group dare to do this? It will be welcome. > > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Javed > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:23 AM > To: sarai list > Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker issued an anti > terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that suicide bombing > was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any pretexts, or > exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many other > organizations have taken before. Even recently after the incident at > Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations > released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over twenty organizations > who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy in Fort Hood. > It is not any different from most of the voices I heard in the Mumbai > taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews traveling through > bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate misconception between > Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as Muhammad > Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. > > When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all the voices of > dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has been stated by > the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the domain of pop > culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, backyards in Alabama, > streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of every big > publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about in the Mumbai > taxis. Inshallah! > > http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ > ------- > > Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to terrorist recruiting > By Kiran Khalid, CNN > March 3, 2010 > Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this > week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those > notorious for targeting others: terrorists. > > The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir > ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was "haraam," or > forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not > by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters promise, but > with a suite in hell. > > Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, an Islamic > movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news conference in > London, England, on Tuesday that his decree categorically condemns > terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. > > "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism were conditional > and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone interview, noting > that his 600-page ruling left no room for interpretation. "I didn't > leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of radicals or > extremists, can take them to the direction of martyrdom." > > The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an "absolute" > condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists themselves > "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." > > "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly significant step towards > eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a counter-extremism think > tank based in London, said in a statement. > > Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and Southeast Asia > at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, agreed, calling the > fatwa "unprecedented." > > "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and systematic > treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition dealing with armed > resistance against the state, rules of engagement, aspects. The fatwa > itself ... is categorically and comprehensively against terrorism in > any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. > > Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual dismantling of al > Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on recruiting > terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many potential foot soldiers > don't have access to education, much less academic discourse. > > Ahmed says it can. > > "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument alone. This is a > theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah [practice of the > Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily available > argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers across Pakistan, > who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly sermons." > > Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark is > online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Custer, head of > intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, told the CBS > program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the Internet is the single > most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth." > > In the recent case involving five young Americans from the Virginia > area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani jail > potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called ringleader Ramy > Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web sites. Last > week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty > to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New York City. > Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with terrorists. > > Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock band "Junoon" and > author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," says > it's young men in the West who can be influenced the most by Qadri's > arguments. > > "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an important positive > religious ruling and it has been made in the West, where a lot of > young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed by the > terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of Islam," Ahmad > said. > > "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize that Muslims > will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked by a bunch of > thugs masquerading as holy men." > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ > _________________________________________ > 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/> _________________________________________________________________ The latest songs, trailers and more http://video.in.msn.com/ From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Fri Mar 5 20:30:44 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 07:00:44 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <107785.977.qm@web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Amardar, Do you think that the terrorist are going to heed to the fatwa. With best regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Lalit Ambardar wrote: > From: Lalit Ambardar > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > To: aliens at dataone.in, javedmasoo at gmail.com > Cc: "reader-list at sarai.net" > Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 4:21 PM > > > > There can be no better deterrent > against jihadi terror than invoking the wroth of very God > that is purportedly the > inspiration for terrorism. Such strong voices should have > emanated earlier. > > Due cognisance of  the suicide car bombing in Srinagar > on the eve > of the year 2000 X-mas by the Birmingham born Bilal Ahmed > could possibly have > averted 9/11 & scores of other attacks worldwide. > > Regards all > > LA > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 11:01:08 +0530 > > From: aliens at dataone.in > > To: javedmasoo at gmail.com > > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > > > It is welcome move to issue such fatwa that suicide > bombing was banned by Islam without any excuses, any > pretexts, or exceptions. Suicide is always condemnable by > almost all the religions and nothing new in it. So, it can > be counted as a teaching statement rather than issuing > fatwa. Similarly, Islamic group has even earlier issued > fatwa against any kind of violence/terrorism in general. > But, what today need is fatwa against terrorists or > terrorists group specifically to pressurize them to stop > terrorism. When you can give fatwa against Taslima Nasreen > and Salman Rashdie specifically then why not issue fatwa > against any terrorist specifically. This is what required in > today's time. Can any of Islamic group dare to do this? It > will be welcome. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net > [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Javed > > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:23 AM > > To: sarai list > > Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri > > > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker > issued an anti > > terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that > suicide bombing > > was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any > pretexts, or > > exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many > other > > organizations have taken before. Even recently after > the incident at > > Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian > Organizations > > released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over > twenty organizations > > who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy > in Fort Hood. > > It is not any different from most of the voices I > heard in the Mumbai > > taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews > traveling through > > bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate > misconception between > > Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as > Muhammad > > Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. > > > > When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all > the voices of > > dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has > been stated by > > the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the > domain of pop > > culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, > backyards in Alabama, > > streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of > every big > > publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about > in the Mumbai > > taxis. Inshallah! > > > > http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ > > ------- > > > > Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to > terrorist recruiting > > By Kiran Khalid, CNN > > March 3, 2010 > > Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious > ruling, issued this > > week is roiling theological waters after it took aim > at those > > notorious for targeting others: terrorists. > > > > The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar > Muhammad Tahir > > ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism > was "haraam," or > > forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would > be rewarded not > > by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters > promise, but > > with a suite in hell. > > > > Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran > International, an Islamic > > movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news > conference in > > London, England, on Tuesday that his decree > categorically condemns > > terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. > > > > "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism > were conditional > > and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone > interview, noting > > that his 600-page ruling left no room for > interpretation. "I didn't > > leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of > radicals or > > extremists, can take them to the direction of > martyrdom." > > > > The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an > "absolute" > > condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists > themselves > > "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." > > > > "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly > significant step towards > > eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a > counter-extremism think > > tank based in London, said in a statement. > > > > Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and > Southeast Asia > > at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, > agreed, calling the > > fatwa "unprecedented." > > > > "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and > systematic > > treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition > dealing with armed > > resistance against the state, rules of engagement, > aspects. The fatwa > > itself ... is categorically and comprehensively > against terrorism in > > any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. > > > > Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual > dismantling of al > > Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on > recruiting > > terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many > potential foot soldiers > > don't have access to education, much less academic > discourse. > > > > Ahmed says it can. > > > > "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument > alone. This is a > > theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah > [practice of the > > Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily > available > > argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers > across Pakistan, > > who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly > sermons." > > > > Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an > indelible mark is > > online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John > Custer, head of > > intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, > told the CBS > > program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the > Internet is the single > > most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic > youth." > > > > In the recent case involving five young Americans from > the Virginia > > area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani > jail > > potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called > ringleader Ramy > > Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web > sites. Last > > week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi > pleaded guilty > > to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New > York City. > > Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with > terrorists. > > > > Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock > band "Junoon" and > > author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's > Revolution," says > > it's young men in the West who can be influenced the > most by Qadri's > > arguments. > > > > "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an > important positive > > religious ruling and it has been made in the West, > where a lot of > > young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed > by the > > terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of > Islam," Ahmad > > said. > > > > "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize > that Muslims > > will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked > by a bunch of > > thugs masquerading as holy men." > > > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ > > _________________________________________ > > 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/> >     >          >            >   > _________________________________________________________________ > The latest songs, trailers and more > http://video.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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Fri Mar 5 20:33:39 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 07:03:39 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <533508.40327.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Ambardar, Sorry I misspelt your name im my mail just sent. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Lalit Ambardar wrote: > From: Lalit Ambardar > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > To: aliens at dataone.in, javedmasoo at gmail.com > Cc: "reader-list at sarai.net" > Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 4:21 PM > > > > There can be no better deterrent > against jihadi terror than invoking the wroth of very God > that is purportedly the > inspiration for terrorism. Such strong voices should have > emanated earlier. > > Due cognisance of  the suicide car bombing in Srinagar > on the eve > of the year 2000 X-mas by the Birmingham born Bilal Ahmed > could possibly have > averted 9/11 & scores of other attacks worldwide. > > Regards all > > LA > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 11:01:08 +0530 > > From: aliens at dataone.in > > To: javedmasoo at gmail.com > > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > > > It is welcome move to issue such fatwa that suicide > bombing was banned by Islam without any excuses, any > pretexts, or exceptions. Suicide is always condemnable by > almost all the religions and nothing new in it. So, it can > be counted as a teaching statement rather than issuing > fatwa. Similarly, Islamic group has even earlier issued > fatwa against any kind of violence/terrorism in general. > But, what today need is fatwa against terrorists or > terrorists group specifically to pressurize them to stop > terrorism. When you can give fatwa against Taslima Nasreen > and Salman Rashdie specifically then why not issue fatwa > against any terrorist specifically. This is what required in > today's time. Can any of Islamic group dare to do this? It > will be welcome. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net > [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Javed > > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:23 AM > > To: sarai list > > Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri > > > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker > issued an anti > > terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that > suicide bombing > > was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any > pretexts, or > > exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many > other > > organizations have taken before. Even recently after > the incident at > > Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian > Organizations > > released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over > twenty organizations > > who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy > in Fort Hood. > > It is not any different from most of the voices I > heard in the Mumbai > > taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews > traveling through > > bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate > misconception between > > Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as > Muhammad > > Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. > > > > When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all > the voices of > > dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has > been stated by > > the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the > domain of pop > > culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, > backyards in Alabama, > > streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of > every big > > publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about > in the Mumbai > > taxis. Inshallah! > > > > http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ > > ------- > > > > Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to > terrorist recruiting > > By Kiran Khalid, CNN > > March 3, 2010 > > Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious > ruling, issued this > > week is roiling theological waters after it took aim > at those > > notorious for targeting others: terrorists. > > > > The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar > Muhammad Tahir > > ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism > was "haraam," or > > forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would > be rewarded not > > by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters > promise, but > > with a suite in hell. > > > > Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran > International, an Islamic > > movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news > conference in > > London, England, on Tuesday that his decree > categorically condemns > > terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. > > > > "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism > were conditional > > and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone > interview, noting > > that his 600-page ruling left no room for > interpretation. "I didn't > > leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of > radicals or > > extremists, can take them to the direction of > martyrdom." > > > > The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an > "absolute" > > condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists > themselves > > "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." > > > > "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly > significant step towards > > eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a > counter-extremism think > > tank based in London, said in a statement. > > > > Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and > Southeast Asia > > at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, > agreed, calling the > > fatwa "unprecedented." > > > > "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and > systematic > > treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition > dealing with armed > > resistance against the state, rules of engagement, > aspects. The fatwa > > itself ... is categorically and comprehensively > against terrorism in > > any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. > > > > Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual > dismantling of al > > Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on > recruiting > > terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many > potential foot soldiers > > don't have access to education, much less academic > discourse. > > > > Ahmed says it can. > > > > "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument > alone. This is a > > theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah > [practice of the > > Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily > available > > argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers > across Pakistan, > > who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly > sermons." > > > > Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an > indelible mark is > > online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John > Custer, head of > > intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, > told the CBS > > program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the > Internet is the single > > most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic > youth." > > > > In the recent case involving five young Americans from > the Virginia > > area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani > jail > > potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called > ringleader Ramy > > Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web > sites. Last > > week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi > pleaded guilty > > to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New > York City. > > Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with > terrorists. > > > > Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock > band "Junoon" and > > author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's > Revolution," says > > it's young men in the West who can be influenced the > most by Qadri's > > arguments. > > > > "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an > important positive > > religious ruling and it has been made in the West, > where a lot of > > young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed > by the > > terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of > Islam," Ahmad > > said. > > > > "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize > that Muslims > > will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked > by a bunch of > > thugs masquerading as holy men." > > > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ > > _________________________________________ > > 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/> >     >          >            >   > _________________________________________________________________ > The latest songs, trailers and more > http://video.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 vivek at sarai.net Fri Mar 5 21:33:29 2010 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:33:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Free digital editions increase sales of paper editions... Message-ID: <4B912B51.9030402@sarai.net> See: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;view=text;rgn=main;idno=3336451.0013.101 for formatted tables. The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales John Hilton III and David Wiley This paper was refereed by the Journal of Electronic Publishing’s peer reviewers. Abstract Increasingly, authors and publishers are freely distributing their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. A vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, “What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?” We used BookScan sales data for four categories of books (a total of 41 books) for which we could identify the date when the free digital versions of the books were made available to determine whether the free version affected print sales. We analyzed the data on book sales for the eight weeks before and after the free versions were available. Three of the four categories of books had increased sales after the free books were distributed. We discuss the implications and limitations of these results. The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales Introduction A growing number of authors and publishers freely distribute their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. These books, for both academic and general audiences, cover a wide variety of genres, including technology, law, fantasy, and science fiction. Some authors claim that free digital distribution has increased the impact of their work and their reputations as authors. [1] But beyond increased exposure, a vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, “What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?” One answer may come from the National Academies Press (NAP), which makes the text of all of its publications freely accessible. “Consequently,” reported Michael Jensen, Director of Publishing Technologies at NAP, “we are very well indexed by search engines.” [2] Jensen wrote that as a result of this indexing they receive many visitors, a small percentage of whom purchase books. Jensen reported that NAP’s 1997 publication “Toxicologic Assessment of the Army’s Zinc Cadmium Sulfide Dispersion Tests” had 11,500 online visitors in 2006. Those visitors “browsed approximately four book pages each. Of those, four bought a print book at $45, and two bought the PDF at $37.50. So 0.05% of the visitors to that particular book purchased it, even though they could read every page free online.” [3] Thus, a nine-year-old out-of-print publication that otherwise would likely have been inaccessible was viewed 11,000 times and purchased six times. The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago digitally distributes free copies of its books, and recently reported that print sales have not decreased. Specifically they noted that “[a]fter the complimentary distribution of twenty-one titles in 2008 that had for many years only been available in print, sales of these titles increased by 7% compared with the previous two years.” [4] The question of how freely distributing an electronic version of a work affects print sales is difficult, if not impossible, to answer experimentally because there is no way to simultaneously release and not release free versions of a book. It is not possible to determine causation; nevertheless, the effect of free distribution on print sales is an important issue to examine. In the present study we explored how free digital book distribution influenced book sales in the short term by examining a series of books that were released in print at one point in time, and then later released in a free digital format. Our specific question was, “Are book sales in the eight weeks following a book’s free digital release different from the eight weeks prior to this release?” Because most books have a pattern of declining sales as time goes by, our assumption was that sales would decrease slightly in the eight weeks following the free release. Method We followed the lead of Tim O’Reilly in using Nielsen BookScan to track the data on book sales before and after free versions were available. [5] BookScan tracks point-of-sales data from most major booksellers, meaning that it tracks the number of books actually sold to customers, as opposed to books sold by distributors to retailers. Notable booksellers that BookScan does not track include Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. [6] In general, BookScan estimates that it tracks approximately 70% of all book sales in the United States. Because BookScan tracks sales by week, we had to exercise some judgment in designating which weeks were “pre” and which were “post.” For example, if a free digital version was released on a Friday, some of the sales that week would be when the book was freely available and others would not be. If the release date of the free version was such that five or more days of the week fell into either a “pre” or “post” category, we assigned it to that category. In instances where the free version was released in the middle of week we did not count that week at all in our analysis; rather we tracked the eight weeks before and after the week the free version was made available. To protect BookScan’s proprietary business information, we did not link the sales figures with specific book titles in this paper. We organized the books we studied into four different groups. The first group consisted of seven nonfiction books that had digital versions that were released at various times. The second group consisted of five science fiction/fantasy titles that had digital versions that were released at various times. The third group consisted of five science fiction/fantasy books that were released together by Random House. The fourth group consisted of 24 science fiction/fantasy books released by Tor Books. The Tor group was different from the previous three in that Tor ran a special promotion in which they released a new book each Friday. The book was available for free download only for one week and only to those who registered for Tor’s newsletter. With the other three groups, once a book was released in a free digital format it remained available, at least for several weeks, and in many cases, indefinitely. It is important to note that some publishers, such as the National Academies Press, allow readers to view only a page at a time, and make the downloading of an entire book difficult. This was not the case with the specific books we studied. With two exceptions all of the books were available to be downloaded as entire PDF document. The two exceptions were Cult of iPod and Cult of Mac. Rather than making PDF versions of these books available to download from a static site, the author of these two books used BitTorrent to encourage the spread of the book. [7] Some books were available free in digital formats beyond PDF. All of the books released by Random House were available in Stanza, an e-book format commonly used on the iPhone, Kindle, or at Scribd.com, the social publishing site that allows anyone to post a work. Several of the Tor books were made available in additional formats such as Mobipocket, a format used on some “smart” cell phones and personal digital assistants. At a minimum, all books except the two previously described were available as complete PDF downloads. Results Non-Fiction Books The non-fiction books that we studied were: * Blown to Bits (Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, and Harry Lewis) * Cultural Software (Jack Balkin) * Cult of iPod (Leander Kahney) * Cult of Mac (Leander Kahney) * The Future of Ideas (Lawrence Lessig) * Trigger Happy (Steven Poole) * The Access Principle (John Willinsky) Table 1 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these nonfiction titles. Table 1: Sales of Nonfiction Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 1 33 46 13 Title 2 322 338 16 Title 3 6 17 11 Title 4 13 20 7 Title 5 134 86 –48 Title 6 115 139 24 Title 7 22 33 11 Total 639 662 34 Science Fiction/Fantasy Books The science fiction/fantasy books that we studied are: * Seaborn (Chris Howard) * Caught Stealing (Charlie Huston) * Magic for Beginners (Kelly Link) * Spaceman Blues (Brian Slattery) * The Crooked Letter (Sean Williams) Table 2 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these science fiction/fantasy titles. Table 2: Sales of Fiction Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 8 45 18 –27 Title 9 16 12 –4 Title 10 252 272 20 Title 11 160 163 3 Title 12 40 181 141 Total 513 646 133 Random House Books On March 4, 2009, Random House announced that it was releasing free digital versions of five science fiction/fantasy books. These books are: * Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb) * His Majesty’s Dragon (Naomi Novik) * Blood Engines (T.A. Pratt) * Red Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson) * Settling Accounts: Return Engagement (Harry Turtledove) Because March 4 was a Wednesday, and BookScan tracks sales by weeks, we did not use sales from the week of March 2–8. Thus the dates of the eight weeks prior to the release of the free versions were January 5–March 1, and the dates for the eight weeks after release were March 9–May 3. Table 3 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these Random House titles. Table 3: Sales of Random House Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 13 316 252 –64 Title 14 1812 2153 341 Title 15 1612 1677 65 Title 16 413 508 95 Title 17 796 817 21 Total 4949 5407 458 Tor Books To promote an upcoming website, Tor Books began releasing a series of free e-books on February 15, 2008. To claim the free e-book, readers needed to register for a newsletter that was sent out each week announcing the location of the next free e-book. Each Friday for the successive 24 weeks a new book was released, and the previous week’s book was then no longer available. The books released by Tor were: * Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson) * Old Man’s War (John Scalzi) * Spin (Robert Charles Wilson) * Farthing (Jo Walton) * The Outstretched Shadow (Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory) * Crystal Rain (Tobias Buckell) * Lord of the Isles (David Drake) * Through Wolf’s Eyes (Jane Lindskold) * The Disunited States of America (Harry Turtledove) * Reiffen’s Choice (S. C. Butler) * Sun of Suns (Karl Schroeder) * Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Cherie Priest) * Spirit Gate (Kate Elliot) * Starfish (Peter Watts) * Touch of Evil (C. T. Adams & Cathy Clamp) * A Shadow in Summer (Daniel Abraham) * Orphans of Chaos (John Wright) * In the Garden of Iden (Kage Baker) * In the Midnight Hour (Patti O’Shea) * Battlestar Galactica (Jeffrey A. Carver) * Flash (L. E. Modesitt, Jr.) * Soul (Tobsha Learner) * Darkness of the Light (Peter David) * Three Shadows (Cyril Pedrosa) Table 4 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these books. Table 4: Sales of Tor Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 18 385 260 –125 Title 19 4,178 2,561 –1,617 Title 20 2,710 2,645 –65 Title 21 1,490 1,518 28 Title 22 440 296 –144 Title 23 1,594 1,445 149 Title 24 79 76 3 Title 25 240 210 –30 Title 26 843 735 –108 Title 27 294 218 –76 Title 28 77 34 –43 Title 29 240 152 –88 Title 30 99 95 –4 Title 31 1,270 1,096 –174 Title 32 150 339 189 Title 33 188 136 –52 Title 34 207 250 43 Title 35 662 695 33 Title 36 137 95 –42 Title 37 136 106 –30 Title 38 100 35 –65 Title 39 75 37 –38 Title 40 6,211 2,778 –3,433 Title 41 19 744 725 Total 21,824 16,556 –5,268 Discussion Perhaps the most significant finding of this study was the contrasting results received by Tor and the other three groups studied. With one exception, sales of the nonfiction titles increased after a free digital release, and when the sales of the books were combined, sales were up 5%. The majority of the fantasy/science fiction books that were not part of a group release also had increased sales, and as a group their sales increased 26%, largely as a result of “Title 12.” Four of the five Random House books saw sales gains after the free versions were released; in total, combined sales of those five books increased 9%. These three groups were in contrast to our initial hypothesis that book sales would decline. Although we cannot say that the free e-books caused sales to increase, a correlation exists between a free e-book and increased print sales. The results of the Tor book sales were quite different. Only four of the twenty-four books saw increased sales during the eight weeks after the free version was made available. Two of these books (titles 32 and 41) both had releases of paperback editions that preceded the free book by only a few weeks. Thus for the majority of the “pre” weeks, a paperback version was not available. These newly released paperback versions could easily explain why the “pre” sales of these titles were less than the “post” sales. The book with the most dramatic pre–post difference (title 40) was released just ten weeks before the free digital version was released. It is possible that what was measured with this title was the natural decline of book sales over time instead of a result of a free version being made available. But even when these three books were excluded from the analysis, combined sales of the remaining 21 books decreased 18%. Why were the results from Tor so different from the others? This question cannot be answered with certainty. The only thing we know is that Tor’s model of making the books available for one week only and requiring registration in order to download the book was substantially different from the models used to create free versions of the other books we studied. Further research is necessary to determine if the Tor results were related to their model of free book distribution, a natural drop in sales, or if other factors account for the decreased sales. Conclusion The present study indicates that there is a moderate correlation between free digital books being made permanently available and short-term print sales increases. However, free digital books did not always equal increased sales. This result may be surprising, both to those who claim that when a free version is available fewer people will pay to purchase copies, as well as those who claim that free access will not harm sales. The results of the present study must be viewed with caution. Although the authors believe that free digital book distribution tends to increase print sales, this is not a universal law. The results we found cannot necessarily be generalized to other books, nor be construed to suggest causation. The timing of a free e-book’s release, the promotion it received and other factors cannot be fully accounted for. Nevertheless, we believe that this data indicates that when free e-books are offered for a relatively long period of time, without requiring registration, print sales will increase. Although this article has focused on print sales, it should be noted that in addition to print sales, publishers and authors may have other reasons for releasing free electronic versions. As Anderson has pointed out, there are many ways to make “free” profitable. [8] Increasing electronic sales may be an additional motive. For example, it is possible that Kindle book sales of second and third books in a series increased dramatically when the first book was available for free. We cannot determine if this happened, because Amazon does not release Kindle book sales figures. In addition, publishers and authors may have motivations indirectly related to sales. For example, although Tor may have lost sales as a result of their free e-book promotion, the customer information harvested and the publicity gained may have been more valuable than sales they perhaps lost. Another factor that we did not analyze was the differences in the size of the audience for the books we studied. Even within the four groups there were large differences in total sales of specific titles. Some of the fiction books had sold several hundred thousand copies, others fewer than five thousand. Future studies might examine relationships between the potential audience for a book and the impact of free digital distribution. In addition, we did not study how free books affect the sales of other titles by an author. For example, all the books released by Random House were the first books in a series. Future analysis needs to be done to determine whether sales of other books by an author (e.g., later books in a series) are influenced by making one of an author’s works freely available. As books increasingly become available in digital formats, the effects of free distribution may rapidly change. The explosive growth of Kindle and other e-book formats could dramatically impact how free distribution affects for-profit sales and even alter the relative importance of print sales. As the electronic publishing industry matures it will be increasingly important to research the effects of free distribution of electronic books. [missing figure] John Hilton III received his M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and currently is a Ph.D. student in Instructional Psychology at Brigham Young University. He is interested in researching open-access issues, particularly the creation and use of open educational resources, and looking at how free digital book distribution affects print sales and the impact of books. John can be contacted via his website at http://johnhiltoniii.org. [missing figure] David Wiley is an associate professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. His previous appointments include the director of the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning, a nonresident fellow of the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, a National Science Foundation–funded postdoctoral fellow, and a visiting scholar at the Open University of the Netherlands. He is also the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Young Researcher/CAREER award. Email: david.wiley at byu.edu Website: http://opencontent.org Notes 1. James Boyle, “Text Is Free, We Make Our Money on Volume(s),” Financial Times, January 22, 2007, retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b46f5a58-aa2e-11db-83b0-0000779e2340.html. Cory Doctorow, Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future (San Francisco: Tachyon Publications, 2008). James Hilton and David Wiley, “Free: Why Authors Are Giving Books Away on the Internet,” Tech Trends (in press). 2. Michael Jensen, “The Deep Niche,” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 10, no. 2 (Spring 2007), retrieved May 13, 2009 from http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0010.2066 3. Ibid. 4. The Oriental Institute, “The Electronic Publications Initiative of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago,” April 6, 2009, retrieved May 13, 2009 from http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/epi.html. 5. Tim O’Reilly, “Free Downloads vs. Sales: A Publishing Case Study,” O’Reilly Radar, June 1, 2007, retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/06/free-downloads-vs-sales-a-publ.html. 6. Kurt Andrews and Philip M. Napoli, “Changing Market Information Regimes: A Case Study of the Transition to the BookScan Audience Measurement System in the U.S. Book Publishing Industry,” Journal of Media Economics 19, no. 1 (2006): 33–54. 7. “BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data.” "BitTorrent (protocol)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BitTorrent_(protocol)&oldid=311471813 (accessed September 2, 2009). 8. Chris Anderson, Free: The Future of a Radical Price (New York: Hyperion, 2009). From yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 22:49:04 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 22:19:04 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa In-Reply-To: <533508.40327.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <533508.40327.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003050919r3ba44183i58589b8fd0e6b3aa@mail.gmail.com> btw this cleric is a minor one. he lost elections. ... yet, while i cant take guarantees of people i dont know, this is the norm and the majority i know. jihadis have been the exception to this majority in our society. so why should this be anything new for me. it is not. I agree fascinating catchy sound bytes like are those with popping stuff, falling stuff, burning stuff, hitting stuff, .... astaghfarullah ! :D y On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 8:03 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Dear Mr Ambardar, > Sorry I misspelt your name im my mail just sent. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Lalit Ambardar wrote: > > > From: Lalit Ambardar > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > To: aliens at dataone.in, javedmasoo at gmail.com > > Cc: "reader-list at sarai.net" > > Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 4:21 PM > > > > > > > > There can be no better deterrent > > against jihadi terror than invoking the wroth of very God > > that is purportedly the > > inspiration for terrorism. Such strong voices should have > > emanated earlier. > > > > Due cognisance of the suicide car bombing in Srinagar > > on the eve > > of the year 2000 X-mas by the Birmingham born Bilal Ahmed > > could possibly have > > averted 9/11 & scores of other attacks worldwide. > > > > Regards all > > > > LA > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > > > > Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 11:01:08 +0530 > > > From: aliens at dataone.in > > > To: javedmasoo at gmail.com > > > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > > > > > > It is welcome move to issue such fatwa that suicide > > bombing was banned by Islam without any excuses, any > > pretexts, or exceptions. Suicide is always condemnable by > > almost all the religions and nothing new in it. So, it can > > be counted as a teaching statement rather than issuing > > fatwa. Similarly, Islamic group has even earlier issued > > fatwa against any kind of violence/terrorism in general. > > But, what today need is fatwa against terrorists or > > terrorists group specifically to pressurize them to stop > > terrorism. When you can give fatwa against Taslima Nasreen > > and Salman Rashdie specifically then why not issue fatwa > > against any terrorist specifically. This is what required in > > today's time. Can any of Islamic group dare to do this? It > > will be welcome. > > > > > > Thanks > > > Bipin > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net > > [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > > On Behalf Of Javed > > > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:23 AM > > > To: sarai list > > > Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > > > Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > > > > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri > > > > > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker > > issued an anti > > > terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that > > suicide bombing > > > was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any > > pretexts, or > > > exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many > > other > > > organizations have taken before. Even recently after > > the incident at > > > Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian > > Organizations > > > released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over > > twenty organizations > > > who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy > > in Fort Hood. > > > It is not any different from most of the voices I > > heard in the Mumbai > > > taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews > > traveling through > > > bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate > > misconception between > > > Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as > > Muhammad > > > Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. > > > > > > When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all > > the voices of > > > dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has > > been stated by > > > the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the > > domain of pop > > > culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, > > backyards in Alabama, > > > streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of > > every big > > > publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about > > in the Mumbai > > > taxis. Inshallah! > > > > > > http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ > > > ------- > > > > > > Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to > > terrorist recruiting > > > By Kiran Khalid, CNN > > > March 3, 2010 > > > Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious > > ruling, issued this > > > week is roiling theological waters after it took aim > > at those > > > notorious for targeting others: terrorists. > > > > > > The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar > > Muhammad Tahir > > > ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism > > was "haraam," or > > > forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would > > be rewarded not > > > by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters > > promise, but > > > with a suite in hell. > > > > > > Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran > > International, an Islamic > > > movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news > > conference in > > > London, England, on Tuesday that his decree > > categorically condemns > > > terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. > > > > > > "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism > > were conditional > > > and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone > > interview, noting > > > that his 600-page ruling left no room for > > interpretation. "I didn't > > > leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of > > radicals or > > > extremists, can take them to the direction of > > martyrdom." > > > > > > The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an > > "absolute" > > > condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists > > themselves > > > "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." > > > > > > "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly > > significant step towards > > > eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a > > counter-extremism think > > > tank based in London, said in a statement. > > > > > > Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and > > Southeast Asia > > > at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, > > agreed, calling the > > > fatwa "unprecedented." > > > > > > "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and > > systematic > > > treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition > > dealing with armed > > > resistance against the state, rules of engagement, > > aspects. The fatwa > > > itself ... is categorically and comprehensively > > against terrorism in > > > any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. > > > > > > Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual > > dismantling of al > > > Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on > > recruiting > > > terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many > > potential foot soldiers > > > don't have access to education, much less academic > > discourse. > > > > > > Ahmed says it can. > > > > > > "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument > > alone. This is a > > > theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah > > [practice of the > > > Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily > > available > > > argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers > > across Pakistan, > > > who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly > > sermons." > > > > > > Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an > > indelible mark is > > > online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John > > Custer, head of > > > intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, > > told the CBS > > > program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the > > Internet is the single > > > most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic > > youth." > > > > > > In the recent case involving five young Americans from > > the Virginia > > > area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani > > jail > > > potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called > > ringleader Ramy > > > Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web > > sites. Last > > > week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi > > pleaded guilty > > > to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New > > York City. > > > Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with > > terrorists. > > > > > > Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock > > band "Junoon" and > > > author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's > > Revolution," says > > > it's young men in the West who can be influenced the > > most by Qadri's > > > arguments. > > > > > > "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an > > important positive > > > religious ruling and it has been made in the West, > > where a lot of > > > young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed > > by the > > > terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of > > Islam," Ahmad > > > said. > > > > > > "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize > > that Muslims > > > will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked > > by a bunch of > > > thugs masquerading as holy men." > > > > > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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: > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > The latest songs, trailers and more > > http://video.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: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 kauladityaraj at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 23:33:54 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 23:33:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! Message-ID: <6353c691003051003n1ec5c42cm5e333b23bc6d4017@mail.gmail.com> *Debate: Sympathisers looking uncomfortable* *Courtesy: Times Now* Last evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who went to lodge a complaint against them. They even murdered a poor factory worker because his owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists sympathizers held a press conference in New Delhi against the government's 'Operation Greenhunt', and when confronted with direct questions on Maoist terror, the defence was weak to say the least. They give unconvincing replies on Maoist violence. TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates the issue of ideology of the Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed questions with Dilip Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen Swami, Associate Editor, 'The Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor, 'Mainstream'. Link - http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/videoshow/4339945.cms From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Fri Mar 5 23:39:19 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 23:39:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian truth nailed Message-ID: <6353c691003051009g55b44a49k8ec43c9095377514@mail.gmail.com> *Exclusive: Shopian truth nailed* *Harinder Baweja* *New Delhi, February 13, 2010* Link - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story?sId=83795&secid=4 The Shopian double rape-cum-murder case, that singed the Kashmir Valley for months last year, was based on doctored medical reports. While a CBI probe has already established this, evidence has come to light that shows the post-mortem reports of the victims were fudged at the behest of Majlis Mashawarat, an organisation that was at the forefront of the agitation against security forces. Taped conversations between a Majlis representative and two doctors have emerged that nail the lie of the Shopian rapes. The Jammu and Kashmir Police tapped the phones of the Majlis officials and the doctors. Government doctors at the Kashmir hospitals who conducted the post-mortems on Asiya Jan and her sister-in-law Nilofer Jan, the two women security personnel were accused of raping and killing, knew they were not raped. Yet, post-mortem reports were made to doctor the truth. Shopian and entire Kashmir burnt for nearly two months. The Omar Abdullah government faced its first serious crisis as the Valley erupted, accusing it of trying to shield the guilty. But taped conversation between a doctor who conducted the post-mortem and Mohammad Shafi Khan, the vice-president of the Majlis - which was representing the families of the victims - show a deliberate attempt was made to cook up false reports. *Headlines Today* is in exclusive possession of a copy of the audio tape and also another one in which conversations between Shafi Khan and Dr Qadir Khan were recorded. Dr Khan was appointed by the Majlis as observer at the time when the bodies of Nilofer and Asia were exhumed by the CBI. Soon after the exhumation, he called up Shafi Khan and told him that Asiya's hymen was intact, which ruled out the charge of rape. He told Shafi that the CBI had evidence to prove that the rape charges were false and suggested that the Majlis should now take the stand that "attempts to rape" were made. Here are excerpts of their conversation. *Dr Qadir Khan*: I have told you that the hymen is intact and our case has become weak. But if we say otherwise, that is not possible now because the CBI have taken samples and photographs. What can be done? *Shafi Khan: *That is right. *Dr Qadir Khan:* They have taken vaginal samples. We cannot lie in this regard and why should we lie? They have taken close photographs/ magnifying photographs… Even then, I told them that we cannot rule out attempt of rape. Because we can then say she (Asiya) was brave, she resisted… This I told the lady doctor present there and she agreed that it can also happen. Now take care of me. I do not want to get involved in this. Dr Khan is on tape admitting that the hymen of one of the alleged victims was intact. But to the Majlis, he suggests that another fake charge be levelled as a way to save its face. Nearly 900 people were injured in violence across the Valley after allegations of rape of the two women by the security forces surfaced. The entire valley witnessed several bandhs. Security personnel were arrested on charges of rape. The CBI report accessed exclusively by Headlines Today says a "deliberate conspiracy was hatched against the police and the security forces where concerted efforts were made to create false evidence". The report says doctors at the Shopian and Pulwama hospitals created false postmortem reports, fudged slides of samples taken from the alleged victims' bodies and resorted to inducing and threatening the witnesses to give false testimony. Dr Nighat Shaheen, who was on the team that conducted the second post-mortems on the victims, concluded that they had been raped without even examining their vaginas. She admits her mistake to the Majlis vice-president and even said she wanted to go to the court to speak out the truth, but was stopped from doing so. The CBI report says the first team of doctors prepared several post-mortem reports, making additions to suit the changing circumstances. Dr Nighat and her associates falsely mentioned in their postmortem report that Asiya's hymen was ruptured. However, doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) who conducted the autopsy after the CBI exhumed the bodies, found that Asiya's hymen was intact. Dr Nighat and her associates said Nilofar died due to neurogenic shock. The AIIMS team found that she died due to asphyxia as a result of antemortem drowning. Even after accepting that she had fudged the slides, Dr Nighat insisted that rape did take place. The Abdullah government gave the clearance for tapping the phones of Majlis representatives, the doctors and lawyers of the Shopian bar council. But given the sensitivities in the Valley, it is a challenge for it to bring out the undoctored truth. Security forces have committed excesses in Kashmir in many cases, but Shopian clearly was not one of them. From yasir.media at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 03:46:39 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:16:39 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [PR] Fwd: [New post] YouTube, Geoblocks and Proxies In-Reply-To: References: <2df26d3e20bf07ac677a1b1e2e802aa0@localhost.localdomain> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003051416t1a360a77k934891f6bef48e08@mail.gmail.com> From: Claude Almansi Date: Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 12:27 PM Hi All, Below, the automatic notification and text of a post I wrote for . The idea came from a) the block of the "Zardari saying Shut Up" videos in Pakistan in February; b) folks in CH and other countries getting irritated at being getting geoblocked from YT videos "with content from EMI" and other majors. Best Claude ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Educational Technology and Change Journal Date: Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 12:39 AM Subject: [New post] YouTube, Geoblocks and Proxies To: claude.almansi at gmail.com YouTube, Geoblocks and Proxies Claude Almansi | March 4, 2010 at 1:15 pm | Tags: Black Eyed Peas, censorship, copyright, EMI, geoblock, geoblocking, Pakistan, proxy, vevo, Video, YouTube, Zardari | Categories: Multimedia, law | URL: or Geoblocking as censoreship measure Screenshot of blocked YouTube video of PK President Zardari saying "Shut up!" during a rally - by Huma Imitaz. The message reads: "This Site is Restricted." The above screenshot shows the page people in Pakistan got redirected to early on February 7, 2010, when they were trying to view a YouTube video of Pres. Asif Zardari saying "Shut up" to someone during a rally. In the rest of the world, the video could be seen normally: So Pakistani advocates of freedom of information immediately started blogging, twittering and writing to mailing lists about the block, some of them advising how to by-pass it by using proxies such as can be found by looking up "YouTube" and "proxy" in a search engine. Geoblocking as copyright measure < http://etcjournal.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/geoblocking_okgo_ttsp.jpg?w=n300&h=124 > Screenshot of OK Go's YouTube channel when trying to view their "This Too Shall Come to Pass" video from Switzerland. In the case of President Zardari's "Shut up" video, the block was apparently enforced by the Pakistan Telecom Agency at the request of the government. However, for quite a while now, YouTube has been offering its partners automated audio and video content identification, which allows them to find uses by third parties of content under their copyright. And on September 28, 2009, YouTube announced that it was integrating this offer with YouTube Insight, which also gives complete statistics on the use of a given video. This allowed right holders to fine-tune the management of their rights on their content when they found it on YouTube: getting their share of the ad revenue, completely blocking or geoblocking uploads by third parties. And as Liz Gannes wrote in her article about her interview with David King, Senior Product Manager of YT Content ID (From Monitor to Monetize: The Evolution of YouTube Content ID. Newteevee. Sept 28 09): ...Content is increasingly geoblocked, said King, so for instance, something that was uploaded in France could potentially be unavailable there because of local rights issues, but viewable in the rest of world. ... Proxies cannot tell the difference Proxy servers enable you to surf the web as if you were in the country where they are. Therefore they cannot tell the difference between web pages that are geoblocked for censorship and those that are blocked for copyright management. Actually, they are not even aware of geoblocks. But what is the legal situation when geoblocking is enforced as a copyright management mesure? In countries that have ratified the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty, it is illegal to circumvent such measures, except for personal use, and it is illegal to publicize the existence of circumvention tools. So: When people surf with a proxy to bypass censorship, do they violate copyright law if they happen to view a video they would otherwise be geoblocked from for copyright motives? When human rights activists give info about using proxies to access geoblocked-for-censorship content, do they violate copyright law because the same proxies can be used to view geoblocked-for-copyright content? Unchartered ground Screenshot from Michael Wesch's "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us" YouTube video and lion from William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (source: Wikimedia) When I asked Ben Edelman the above questions about online geoblocks and proxies, he answered: (...) I don't think any courts, in an country, have had occasion to consider this question (...) there's lots of ground to cover -- including what "circumvent" and "effectively constrains access" mean when a DRM system grants access to entire countries without charge or other restriction. Certainly this is quite different from the core DRM (e.g. DVD players) that began notions [of] circumvention. Indeed, and the meaning of these words are also problematic in other countries where copyright law was adapted towards the ratification of the 1996 WIPO copyright treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. This is even true in Switzerland, where the revised version of the copyright law (French text) only came into force on July 1, 2008. However, its new articles on digital works and digital protection measures remained identical to their version in the 2004 draft, in spite of the radical changes in content distribution and sharing brought in the meantime by Web 2.0. This creates headaches both for content users and for content producers. Geoblocks of multimedia works made some sense from the producers' - if not from the consumers' - viewpoint when such works were only available on material supports (DVDs, CDs): for a producer in country X to have a chance to sell the rights on a given work to a producer in country Y, the work produced in country X had to be unavailable and unusable in country Y. But attempting to apply this geoblocking policy to online multimedia just does not work, as the block can be bypassed by using a proxy. And as Grant Buckler wrote in Internet Geoblocking: How It Works And Why It's Done (MPIII.com. Feb 17th, 2009): (...) There are ways around geoblocking by disguising your computer's IP address. One of the most common ways is to use a service that relays your internet connection through a server in another country — most often the U.S. — so that you appear to be in that country. Content providers haven't found a way to prevent this, and so far are simply tolerating it. (...) (my emphasis). Appeal As online geoblocking does not work any better than plugging the bunghole of an old wooden cask that leaks through all stave joints, would music majors kindly leave it to tech-and-otherwise-benighted autocrats, please? Proxy servers are - often literally - vital to people who live in dictatorial countries or in countries like Pakistan, which has a more or less democratically elected government that nonetheless promulgated the ferociously repressive Prevention of E-Crime Ordinance (PECO) last year. So these proxy servers must not get swamped by requests from fans who want to see their favorite band's videos they are theoretically geoblocked from. Bonus track Of course, Pakistani civic rights militants also made many mirrors of the "Zardari saying shut up" video shown at the beginning of this post. Someone even made a remix version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvyX1yD3jfI> Interestingly, the song used in the remix is "Shut Up" by Black Eyed Peas, available on YouTube without geoblock as a VEVO video: even though, as the description says, it is a "Music video by Black Eyed Peas performing Shut Up. (C) 2003 Interscope Geffen (A&M) Records A Division of UMG Recordings Inc." and even though its main VEVO.com site is geoblocked outside US. However, from the Wikipedia VEVO entry, VEVO might be a promising new business model: Vevo is a music video and entertainment website. It is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media Company. The service was launched officially on 8 December 2009. The video hosting for Vevo is provided by YouTube, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue. Vevo offers music videos from three of the four major record labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI. (...). Links The sites/pages mentioned in this post, and a few others, are gathered in http://www.diigo.com/user/calmansi/geoblock" -- This is the People's Resistance Mailing List From javedmasoo at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 07:16:44 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 07:16:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa In-Reply-To: <000601cabc25$0f9475c0$2ebd6140$@in> References: <000601cabc25$0f9475c0$2ebd6140$@in> Message-ID: Dear Bipin Why should we assume that only clerics are responsible for bringing the terrorists to the book? Why should we only expect them to give out the fatwas. And if fatwas could help, terrorism would have been contained much earlier. Everyone knows that if they give a fatwa against a specific group or individual, they would be the next target of that terror group. So, why should we expect them to become the victim. Let me tell you that the muftis or clerics who give out fatwas against terrorism may not be the ones who gave fatwas against Tasleema or be involved in the terror-training activities in the first place. Javed On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 11:01 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > > It is welcome move to issue such fatwa that suicide bombing was banned by Islam without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions. Suicide is always condemnable by almost all the religions and nothing new in it. So, it can be counted as a teaching statement rather than issuing fatwa. Similarly, Islamic group has even earlier issued fatwa against any kind of violence/terrorism in general. But, what today need is fatwa against terrorists or terrorists group specifically to pressurize them to stop terrorism. When you can give fatwa against Taslima Nasreen and Salman Rashdie specifically then why not issue fatwa against any terrorist specifically. This is what required in today's time. Can any of Islamic group dare to do this? It will be welcome. > > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Javed > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 3:23 AM > To: sarai list > Subject: [Reader-list] Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > Anti Terrorism Fatwa > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri > > Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker issued an anti > terrorism fatwa in London this Tuesday. It stated that suicide bombing > was banned by Islam “without any excuses, any pretexts, or > exceptions.” This is a great stand and one that many other > organizations have taken before. Even recently after the incident at > Fort Hood, The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations > released ‘their fatwa.’ The NCSO consists of over twenty organizations > who had issued this strong statement after the tragedy in Fort Hood. > It is not any different from most of the voices I heard in the Mumbai > taxis. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and Jews traveling through > bustling Bombay commented on this unfortunate misconception between > Islam and Terror and voiced the same concern as Muhammad > Tahir-ul-Qadri and The Quilliam Foundation. > > When will mainstream media truly pay attention to all the voices of > dissent? Like I said , a great stand but one which has been stated by > the common man for decades. May this fatwa enter the domain of pop > culture and be talked about on twitter, blogs, backyards in Alabama, > streets of Kabul, Mc Donalds kitchens and headlines of every big > publication Worldwide as much as it was talked about in the Mumbai > taxis. Inshallah! > > http://thetaxitakes.com/anti-terrorism-fatwa/ > ------- > > Some experts see fatwa as significant blow to terrorist recruiting > By Kiran Khalid, CNN > March 3, 2010 > Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this > week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those > notorious for targeting others: terrorists. > > The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir > ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was "haraam," or > forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not > by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters promise, but > with a suite in hell. > > Qadri, the founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, an Islamic > movement with centers in 90 countries, told a news conference in > London, England, on Tuesday that his decree categorically condemns > terrorism and suicide bombings in the name of Islam. > > "Until now, scholars who were condemning terrorism were conditional > and qualified what they said," Qadri said in a phone interview, noting > that his 600-page ruling left no room for interpretation. "I didn't > leave a single, minor aspect that, in the mind of radicals or > extremists, can take them to the direction of martyrdom." > > The 59-year-old Pakistani scholar called his fatwa an "absolute" > condemnation, going as far as to label the terrorists themselves > "kafirs," a term in the Quran meaning "unbeliever." > > "This fatwa has the potential to be a highly significant step towards > eradicating Islamist terrorism," Quilliam, a counter-extremism think > tank based in London, said in a statement. > > Manan Ahmed, assistant professor of Islam in South and Southeast Asia > at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Berlin, agreed, calling the > fatwa "unprecedented." > > "This is a landmark theological study -- a careful and systematic > treatment of a thousand years of legal tradition dealing with armed > resistance against the state, rules of engagement, aspects. The fatwa > itself ... is categorically and comprehensively against terrorism in > any form and for any cause," Ahmed said. > > Many skeptics questioned whether an intellectual dismantling of al > Qaeda's religious philosophy could have any impact on recruiting > terrorists in places like Pakistan, where many potential foot soldiers > don't have access to education, much less academic discourse. > > Ahmed says it can. > > "This is not an academic or an intellectual argument alone. This is a > theological argument, based in the Qur'an and Sunnah [practice of the > Prophet]," Ahmed said. "What it provides are easily available > argumentation and proof for the millions of preachers across Pakistan, > who can, in turn, incorporate this into their weekly sermons." > > Ahmed says where it will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark is > online. Just this week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Custer, head of > intelligence at the U.S. military's Central Command, told the CBS > program "60 Minutes" that "without a doubt, the Internet is the single > most important venue for the radicalization of Islamic youth." > > In the recent case involving five young Americans from the Virginia > area, known as the "D.C. Five," who are in a Pakistani jail > potentially facing terrorism charges, the so-called ringleader Ramy > Zamzam allegedly had contact with radical Islamist Web sites. Last > week, 24 year-old Afghan-born American Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty > to conspiring to blow up high-density targets in New York City. > Prosecutors allege he, too, communicated online with terrorists. > > Salman Ahmad, the lead singer of the Pakistani rock band "Junoon" and > author of "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution," says > it's young men in the West who can be influenced the most by Qadri's > arguments. > > "The fatwa by the Pakistani Islamic scholar is an important positive > religious ruling and it has been made in the West, where a lot of > young impressionable Muslim kids are being brainwashed by the > terrorists to commit murder and suicide in the name of Islam," Ahmad > said. > > "It's about time Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda realize that Muslims > will not allow their faith and identity to be hijacked by a bunch of > thugs masquerading as holy men." > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/03/terror.fatwa.analysis/ > _________________________________________ > 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 Sat Mar 6 09:52:13 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:22:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian truth nailed In-Reply-To: <6353c691003051009g55b44a49k8ec43c9095377514@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <493903.25699.qm@web112103.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Kaul, The sympathisers are still going to say that everything being done by CBI is all fake as is being done in the case of Batla house firing in Delhi.May be because the CBI has also lost face in some of the cases. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj Kaul wrote: > From: Aditya Raj Kaul > Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian truth nailed > To: "sarai list" > Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:39 PM > *Exclusive: Shopian truth nailed* > *Harinder Baweja* *New Delhi, February 13, > 2010* > > > > > Link - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story?sId=83795&secid=4 > > The Shopian double rape-cum-murder case, that singed the > Kashmir Valley for > months last year, was based on doctored medical reports. > While a CBI probe > has already established this, evidence has come to light > that shows the > post-mortem reports of the victims were fudged at the > behest of Majlis > Mashawarat, an organisation that was at the forefront of > the agitation > against security forces. > > Taped conversations between a Majlis representative and two > doctors have > emerged that nail the lie of the Shopian rapes. The Jammu > and Kashmir Police > tapped the phones of the Majlis officials and the doctors. > Government > doctors at the Kashmir hospitals who conducted the > post-mortems on Asiya Jan > and her sister-in-law Nilofer Jan, the two women security > personnel were > accused of raping and killing, knew they were not raped. > > Yet, post-mortem reports were made to doctor the truth. > Shopian and entire > Kashmir burnt for nearly two months. The Omar Abdullah > government faced its > first serious crisis as the Valley erupted, accusing it of > trying to shield > the guilty. > > But taped conversation between a doctor who conducted the > post-mortem and > Mohammad Shafi Khan, the vice-president of the Majlis - > which was > representing the families of the victims - show a > deliberate attempt was > made to cook up false reports. > > *Headlines Today* is in exclusive possession of a copy of > the audio tape and > also another one in which conversations between Shafi Khan > and Dr Qadir Khan > were recorded. > > Dr Khan was appointed by the Majlis as observer at the time > when the bodies > of Nilofer and Asia were exhumed by the CBI. Soon after the > exhumation, he > called up Shafi Khan and told him that Asiya's hymen was > intact, which ruled > out the charge of rape. > > He told Shafi that the CBI had evidence to prove that the > rape charges were > false and suggested that the Majlis should now take the > stand that "attempts > to rape" were made. > > Here are excerpts of their conversation. > > *Dr Qadir Khan*: I have told you that the hymen is intact > and our case has > become weak. But if we say otherwise, that is not possible > now because the > CBI have taken samples and photographs. What can be done? > > *Shafi Khan: *That is right. > > *Dr Qadir Khan:* They have taken vaginal samples. We cannot > lie in this > regard and why should we lie? They have taken close > photographs/ magnifying > photographs… Even then, I told them that we cannot > rule out attempt of > rape. Because we can then say she (Asiya) was brave, she > resisted… This I > told the lady doctor present there and she agreed that it > can also happen. > Now take care of me. I do not want to get involved in > this. > > Dr Khan is on tape admitting that the hymen of one of the > alleged victims > was intact. But to the Majlis, he suggests that another > fake charge be > levelled as a way to save its face. > > Nearly 900 people were injured in violence across the > Valley after > allegations of rape of the two women by the security forces > surfaced. > > The entire valley witnessed several bandhs. > > Security personnel were arrested on charges of rape. > > The CBI report accessed exclusively by Headlines Today says > a "deliberate > conspiracy was hatched against the police and the security > forces where > concerted efforts were made to create false evidence". The > report says > doctors at the Shopian and Pulwama hospitals created false > postmortem > reports, fudged slides of samples taken from the alleged > victims' bodies and > resorted to inducing and threatening the witnesses to give > false testimony. > > Dr Nighat Shaheen, who was on the team that conducted the > second > post-mortems on the victims, concluded that they had been > raped without even > examining their vaginas. > > She admits her mistake to the Majlis vice-president and > even said she wanted > to go to the court to speak out the truth, but was stopped > from doing so. > > The CBI report says the first team of doctors prepared > several post-mortem > reports, making additions to suit the changing > circumstances. > > Dr Nighat and her associates falsely mentioned in their > postmortem report > that Asiya's hymen was ruptured. > > However, doctors of the All India Institute of Medical > Sciences (AIIMS) who > conducted the autopsy after the CBI exhumed the bodies, > found that Asiya's > hymen was intact. > > Dr Nighat and her associates said Nilofar died due to > neurogenic shock. The > AIIMS team found that she died due to asphyxia as a result > of antemortem > drowning. > > Even after accepting that she had fudged the slides, Dr > Nighat insisted that > rape did take place. > > The Abdullah government gave the clearance for tapping the > phones of Majlis > representatives, the doctors and lawyers of the Shopian bar > council. But > given the sensitivities in the Valley, it is a challenge > for it to bring out > the undoctored truth. > > Security forces have committed excesses in Kashmir in many > cases, but > Shopian clearly was not one of them. > _________________________________________ > 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 Sat Mar 6 09:56:41 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:26:41 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! In-Reply-To: <6353c691003051003n1ec5c42cm5e333b23bc6d4017@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <64410.29057.qm@web112106.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Kaul, In the TV visuals the embarrassment was writ large on the faces of the sympatizers. May be once taken sides, they seem to be scared to go against the Maoists.Such people need more condemnation than the ordinary mortals. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj Kaul wrote: > From: Aditya Raj Kaul > Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! > To: "sarai list" > Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:33 PM > *Debate: Sympathisers looking > uncomfortable* > > *Courtesy: Times Now* > > Last evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who went > to lodge a > complaint against them. They even murdered a poor factory > worker because his > owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists sympathizers > held a press > conference in New Delhi against the government's 'Operation > Greenhunt', and > when confronted with direct questions on Maoist terror, the > defence was weak > to say the least. They give unconvincing replies on Maoist > violence. > > TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates the issue > of ideology of the > Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed questions > with Dilip > Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen Swami, > Associate Editor, 'The > Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor, 'Mainstream'. > > > Link - > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/videoshow/4339945.cms > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 10:05:24 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 10:05:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The hail of stones - Faizan Ali Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003052035p638cd499i923aaf27c6e542ac@mail.gmail.com> The hail of stones - Faizan Ali Source : FaceBook page The streets of Srinagar, in the past couple of years, have been playing gracious hosts to more bricks and stones than rain and snow. The stone pelting, without doubt, has caused ripples cutting across lines of allegiances or ideologies. While on one hand, the Government is moving pillar to post to fight this problem which, they say, is a bigger threat than the militancy and is being funded by elements across the border – on the other hand, the separatists are backing stone pelting as credible and righteous means to fight the oppression and atrocities of the occupiers. The privileged intelligentsia of the State, not to be left behind, are debating, as to with which prism this entire exercise is to be viewed – the verdict, as always, is fractured, diverse and spread across the extremes. The mainstream opposition, not willing to forego some political ground, is speaking in varied tones to please every ear. The painful shrieks of the common man, who tends to be the only sufferer, are being ironically drowned in the dazzle and pomp of glorifying and ridiculing stone pelters. The young lives lost in this exercise have always had confusing climaxes - with the administration, on one hand, branding them as seasoned stone pelters and the families, on the other hand, defending their slain sons as teenagers who couldn’t run faster than the bullets while playing cricket on the streets or returning from tuitions. Whatever is the case – the bottom-line is that precious young lives are being lost and what’s worse is that they’re being used as steeping stones for initiating protests in the name of getting justice to the departed souls but soon become just one more addition to the stats ledger. If stone-pelting was the way for delivering justice to those deprived of it, where is that justice? Instead of getting justice to the dead and paralyzed; more and more fathers have to bear the unbearable burden of shouldering the corpses of their teenage sons. Though some may defend individual loses stand too small against the towering backdrop of the larger cause of freedom - but haven’t we already bled enough to continue to bleed each passing day. When a decade of gun-culture couldn’t get us anywhere how can freedom be a stone’s throw away? I would like to ask all those who defend and glorify stone pelting as to how they would feel if they lost a teenager son or a sibling in stone pelting? And how many of them actually encourage their children to go and pelt stones against the gun barrel and instead of sending them to the esteemed universities and colleges of the “oppressor” in the “oppressor’s back yard”? Why this dual yard-stick approach, Sir? Are others the children lesser mortals? Why this glaring discrepancy where some privileged enjoy a life of luxury and class and others are called onto streets to die? The Government on its part has to do away with the tactics of quenching protestors with just brute force. That may be the temporary solution but somewhere down the line it will raise its head again in one form or the other. The government on its part will have to agree that there is a good level of discontent among certain quarters and asserting their supremacy using sheer force will not do. Bullets are not the answer to stones; instead the Government should set a precedent of ushering in an era where anyone guilty of any wrong doing should be held accountable for his guilt. But the Government sadly has failed over and over again in delivering justice leaving the field open for opportunists to take over and dictate terms to the people and the entire State. When four unidentified masked youth can enforce a strike in the entire Valley for a week, what credibility does the Government enjoy? The politics over the entire stone pelting affair makes it clear that it is not as simple as it appears; the arrest of a stone-pelting ring leader has led to him being associated with the mainstream by the separatists and vice versa. No one is certain as to who is calling the shots. When the Western countries can deliberate upon the concept of the good Taliban and the bad Taliban – why can’t our government go on similar lines? Why can’t they take into confidence those people who do it for the sake of money coz of lack of other employment options? Why can’t the Government use water cannons, tazers and rubber bullets instead of the expired tear gas shells and bullets? One thing is clear that brute force is not way to deal with this problem.And not to forget, after the killing of baby Irfan - there is blood on the hands of both the sides; whether you want to choose the lesser of the two evils or kill the evil altogether - I leave that for each one of you to decide. The politics of dancing over dead bodies must end; coz while our esteemed politicians and intellectuals are debating this problem, a patient is not receiving the treatment at the right time, a daily-wager and his family are being forced to go to bed with an empty stomach, the education of the kids is taking a hit, public property is being destroyed and more importantly blood is being spilled in the streets. The Government needs to get its act together otherwise as Saul Bellow said, “A fool can throw a stone in a pond which even 100 wise men can’t get out.” From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 11:14:22 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:14:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! In-Reply-To: <64410.29057.qm@web112106.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I watched the video and it's totally misleading. Not one panelist called himself a Maoist sympathizer and Dilip Simeon even points out to the misleading headline over all 3 panelists-- even Praveen Swami of all people!! All 3 panelists condemned Maoist violence. Sumit Chakravarty makes a distinction between tribals taking up arms and the Maoists, but even he unequivocally condemns beheadings and summary executions. Arundhati Roy was absent in both videos. Arnab Goswami makes a reference to her discomfort in a press conference which we never see... Where was the embarrassment and where were the Maoist sympathizers? What a total waste of time and so typical of the hysteria that Times Now tries to pass off as responsible journalism. > From: "A.K. Malik" > Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:26:41 -0800 (PST) > To: Aditya Raj Kaul > Cc: > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! > > Dear Mr Kaul, In the TV visuals the embarrassment was writ > large on the faces of the sympatizers. May be once taken sides, they seem to > be scared to go against the Maoists.Such people need more condemnation than > the ordinary mortals. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj > Kaul wrote: > From: Aditya Raj Kaul > > Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy > 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! > To: "sarai list" > > Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:33 PM > *Debate: > Sympathisers looking > uncomfortable* > > *Courtesy: Times Now* > > Last > evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who went > to lodge a > > complaint against them. They even murdered a poor factory > worker because > his > owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists sympathizers > held a > press > conference in New Delhi against the government's 'Operation > > Greenhunt', and > when confronted with direct questions on Maoist terror, > the > defence was weak > to say the least. They give unconvincing replies on > Maoist > violence. > > TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates the > issue > of ideology of the > Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed > questions > with Dilip > Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen Swami, > > Associate Editor, 'The > Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor, 'Mainstream'. > > > > Link - > > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/videoshow/4 > 339945.cms > _________________________________________ > 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 kaksanjay at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 13:35:42 2010 From: kaksanjay at gmail.com (Sanjay Kak) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 13:35:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Super-8 mm movement in West Bengal Message-ID: <5c5369881003060005u2fabf661l6c7a0b789bf9853b@mail.gmail.com> A detailed and fascinating account of the Super-8 mm movement in West Bengal: apologies if you've already read it. Enjoy Sanjay Kak ---------------------- http://canvaspix.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/super-8-movement/ Saumen Guha is the one person who can be undoubtedly attributed the credit of introducing the Super 8 mm format among some interested students in Calcutta. Also to a large extent he initiated the culture of hands on independent film making in Calcutta in the early 1980s. Saumen Guha is however better known for following up the historic Archana Guha case against the former deputy commissioner of police Ranjit Guha Neogi. This historic legal battle has strangely an interesting relation to the history of independent film making movement in Bengal. After release from jail in 1977, Saumen Guha devoted major chunk of his energy into fighting for justice for her sister Archana Guha and also in attempt for her recovery. Archana Guha was severely tortured for several weeks by police after being picked up on lieu of interrogating about her Naxalite brother’s whereabouts. The torture left her severely paralysed from below the waist. It was at this juncture that Saumen Guha got in touch with Amnesty International and it was arranged for his sister to be taken to Amnesty’s special medical facility in Denmark. In Denmark Saumen Guha was exposed to Super 8, a powerful and affordable technology for recording and creating cinema! The primary intention was to document Archa Guha’s recovery. The interest in film making was something Saumen Guha nurtured for quite sometime. He remembers how during his stay in jail (1974-1977) he saw and thought at length about the sacrifices made by family members of the activists who were in jails. It was here in jail that he thought of making a film on Gorky’s Mother in Bengali. After his release in amnesty, in 1977 after Left Front government came to power, he pursued this dream for quite sometime. He even applied to the Left Front government’s cultural department headed by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya for a grant to produce the film. He went as far as Pune spent days in the film library to study all the foreign films made on adaptation of Gorky’s Mother. Today Saumen Guha adds as an afterthought that he is rather thankful that the government grant never came. Without any grant the idea of making a film on Mother was dropped by Guha. He thought, Mother had to be made properly or not made at all. He started directing most of his creative energy and the thoughts surrounding it to Super-8. It gradually sank in that 8 mm could be a very powerful tool at the hand of the people in general. It could well stand out as an alternate media. Indeed super 8 was flexible, comparatively in-expensive and provided an opportunity to make films completely outside the establishment. The State of Film societies of Calcutta Before the advent of this culture of hands on film making, the scope of discussions and analysis of films were rather limited, most film clubs and societies confined themselves to screening mainstream films. And even these groups were banned during the emergency period. The situation changed somewhat after the restrictions on organisations were lifted post emergency. Gradually the groups and societies turned to film making and an entire new dimension opened up, they started making film and breaking films down. There was also an occasional ‘Film Appreciation Course’ arranged in Jadavpur University in association with Pune Film Institute. The course attracted several students who wanted to learn the basic grammar of films. There were other independent groups who discussed and analysed films more thoroughly and were very quick in taking up film making once an affordable and feasible opening came. People’s Film Workshop (PFW), Jadavpur University Film Society (JUFS), Chitra Chetana (চিত্র চেতনা, pictures and consciousness) were among such groups. In fact the magazine of JUSF ‘Kotha-Golpo-Chobi’ (কথা গল্প ছবি, Words Stories Pictures) became the perfect vehicle to contain the ideas and debates related to the new independent film making culture. WOLF In 1981, JUFS along with PFW arranged a lecture session for Saumen Guha along with the screening of his first film shot in 8 mm called ‘Silent Calcutta’. The experience was so novel and unique that before the lecture, Saumen Guha himself had to prepare and circulated a few possible questions for the audience to encourage their queries. Super eight in Calcutta With growing interest in Super 8, Saumen Guha decided upon setting up a regular workshop for training interested students. The workshop was called Workshop on Little Film Making (WOLF). WOLF was a major success and had three batches with 15-20 students each. This workshop was very highly regarded and was written about. In Aajkal (আজকাল bengali daily) 06-06-83 an article titled Kolkatai Super Eight (কলকাতায় সুপার-৮, Super 8 in Calcutta) even carried a picture of the WOLF workshop being taken by Saumen Guha, even before that Jugantar (20-05-83) carried an article in the film section of the newspaper titled “Kolkatai Super 8 Workshop”. WOLF was definitely creating a lot of noise which could not be ignored. Students of WOLF were taught of basic theory of film making and were given hands on experience of making a complete film in Super 8. The Workshop had it’s printed Prospectus, Syllabus and guidelines. The course work was of 3 months and each student was handed cyclostyled notes. Each batch jointly completed a film, from shooting, script writing, editing and finishing, everything was completed by the individuals of the group. The films made in the three batches were: Chalachitrakar Sankha Satero (চালচিত্রকার সংখ্যা ১৭, 17 Film Makers), Anweshan (অন্বেষণ, Discovery), and Kolkata-r Jishu (কলকাতার যীশু, Jesus of Calcutta). After finishing the course the students pursued super 8 film making independently and also formed a larger forum, Forum for Super 8 Cinema (FS8C). Partha Chatterjee, then engineering student of Jadavpur got in touch with Saumen Guha in the early 80s and was almost immediately interested in Super 8 and took it up. He later also became the convener of JUFS. He along with some friends formed a group called PIX, who would screen films and also make several serious films in 8 mm. In late 1983, PIX got the proposal of making a film on Junior Doctor’s movement. The movement had ended but the atmosphere remained and the memories were fresh. The documentary “Swastho Amar Adhikar” (স্বাস্থ আমার অধিকার, Health is my Right) came out very well with some financial support from All Bengal Junior Doctor’s Federation (ABJDF). It was screened several times to full house audiences at the Muslim Institute auditorium and in All Bengal Student Association (ABSA) programmes all across Bengal. The music used in the film was taken from Ali Akbar, some Saxophone records and a tango score. With the success of this film, PIX got another proposal to make a documentary on drug business industry, Upasham (উপষম, Symptom). But before the film was made, PIX members had to meet and convince Father Rubesh about their ability to carry out the project. Father Rubesh, a French, living in Calcutta was quite an authority in films and a known critic. After watching Swastho Amar Adhikar, Father Rubesh was more than satisfied and expressed how his feelings about the doctor’s strike in France changed after watching it. Upasham was an extremely well made professional work, and a friend of PIX was asked to provide original music. Upasham was screened in Nandan 2 and was very well received. Another work of PIX was on parthenium weed, which was not native to India and with introduction spread far and wide creating havoc among human and livestock health. This film was also screened in several places across Murshidabad and Beharampore. Nilanjan Dutta was another Jadavpur University student who came in touch with Saumen Guha and took up independent film making seriously. Like many others Nilanjan Dutta worked with super 8 independently and under Saumen Guha’s guidance. He documented the devastation of a cyclone in Sunderbans in a hired 8 mm camera and the footage was edited with Saumenda’s help and screened in several places. He also made another documentary Hiroshima Dibash (হিরোশিমা দিবস, Hiroshima Day)which was also much appreciated. Debasis Moitra, engineering student of Jadavpur University was also a student of the second batch of WOLF and pursued film making in super 8 till late 1980s. He completed a full length documentary on adivasis putting in a lot of research and effort from 1982-89. The film titled Hool (হুল, Revolt) was later converted to VHS format. Debasish Moitra bought his own camera, projector and even managed to get hold of an editing machine by placing an advertisement in a Newspaper. This method of acquiring necessary hardware was not uncommon. In Calcutta, Super 8 equipments were available with several Anglo-Indian families and some wealthy families, who would use it for making home videos. In fact super 8 is credited with starting the wedding videography culture, the culture of recording moments within the family in motion pictures. As these affluent families hopped and jumped on to superior versions of hardware or even newer technologies like VHS, they were willing to part with their older Super 8 equipments. Saumen Guha also bought his first editing machine from a Russle Street auction in Calcutta. In fact the hardware acquired in these fashions by Saumen Guha and Debasis Moitra were the finest among independent super 8 film makers of Calcutta of the time. Debasis Moitra along with other members of FS8C carried out several successful projects with super 8 sharing these hardware. Their homes with these machines turned into editing centres of independent films in Calcutta. Mainak Biswas, then arts student of Jadavpur University was introduced to Saumen Guha’s workshop WOLF by his friend Nilanjan Dutta and also pursued independent film making very sincerely. He used Saumen Guha’s Braun camera and his own Yashica to complete a film Graffiti. It was more of a collage of images or a retrospective of the fading Naxal movement. It was a docudrama with the shooting mostly done inside the Jadavpur University campus. The film had two characters a male and a female who walks across the University campus separately and looks back at the turbulent times. The film captured certain remaining graffiti of Naxalbari movement. The mood and nostalgia that remained attached to a movement that was falling apart was captured in the film. Mainak Biswas also documented dialogues of himself with his father Hemanga Biswas, the eminent Bengali folk singer, in Super 8. It was in Super 8 that several songs sung by Hemanga Biswas alone in his home or in programmes were recorded, right up to his demise. The documentation of Hemanga Biswas was never edited and this unedited version was screen at several places. Super-8 Outside Calcutta The interest and initiatives with Super 8 was not limited to Calcutta and it’s surroundings. Saumen Guha conducted workshops in places like Durgapur, Murshidabad and Assam. There were also a couple of students from Bangladesh Manjrool and Kamran who came in to join workshops in Durgapur. The super8 really turned into a movement through this workshops. There were organisations and magazines who took up the cause of super 8, writing and debating about the new medium. Organisations like Cine Commune (Jadavpur) and their organ Chitrabodh (চিত্রবোধ); Centre for Communication and Cultural Action with their organ People’s Cinema, Abohi (অবহি) published from South 24 Pargana, estd. 1975; little magazines like Protisrot (প্রতিশ্রোত, counter current) published from Murshidabad, Cinemabhabna(সিনেমাভাবনা, Thoughts on Cinema) were among many who wrote and debated on Super 8 and also occasionally invited Saumen Guha to write for them or arrange seminars. A group from Assam worked very sincerely with super 8 and made some extremely important films. The films were based around contemporary turmoil in Assam, the anti-Bengali Assam-chauvinist movement. Partha Pratim Moitra from Assam took part in making and screening the films Ashraf Ali-r Swadesh (আসরাফ আলীর স্বদেশ, Land of Ashraf Ali) and Sagar Deepak-er der bochor (সাগর দীপক-এর দেড় বছর, One and half years since Sagar and Deepak). Ashraf Ali-r Swadesh was a fictional film where the protagonist was a poor Muslim farmer who had come across border from East Pakistan to Assam. Now during the anti-Bengali movement when the demand was raised for the Bengali to return to their swadesh, Ashraf Ali had nowhere to go, East-Pakistan ceased to exist and Bangladesh would not take him back. The other film Sagar Deepak-er der bochor was a documentary about two students who died of police firing in Karimgunj (করিমগঞ্জ). The entire school turned up and so did the locals, when the film was screened for the first time. Chitra Chetana (চিত্র চেতনা) Chitra Chetana was a group of activists who used pictures and films as a means of communicating their social and political views. Although the group never directly made any films in super 8 but they played a huge role in promoting the usage of the medium and also organised several super 8 festivals. The group was formed in January 1982 and between 1982-1987 the group made 4 audio visual slides: Sarkari Santrash (সরকারি সন্ত্রাশ, State Violence), Ashanta Assam (অশান্ত আসাম, Turbulent Assam), Bobajuddha (বোবাযুদ্ধ, Silent War), and Arwal (অরওয়াল). A brief History of Chitra Chetana 2 The formation of the group was somewhat directly influenced by certain necessities and limitations of activism felt by some members. Tapan Sen, member of Chitra Chetana, remembers how a particular incident convinced him of the necessity of an independent organisation of alternate media. And that necessity was perfectly met in Chitra Chetana. As member of PUCL Tapan Sen and Dilip Bandopadhyay went to look into the facts of a case of custodial torture resulting in murder of a villager Nanta Sekh of Nadia. Sekh was accused of being a member of Second CC. After interviewing villagers a picture of rampant police torture and illegal detention emerged. PUCL prepared a report and a press release which was never published by any media. This convinced Tapan Sen that it was necessary of have an alternate media by which such suppressed stories could be brought out and propagated. This was indeed one of the many inspirations for Chitra Chetana which took up many such important issues and prepared path breaking audio visual presentations. The motivation and idea behind Chirta Chetana was essentially the same as the Super-8 movement, although the two developed independently. In early 1980s a few lines that Saumen Guha wrote in an article summarised the thoughts and idea behind such movement and organisations beautifully: “For whom films? If this question is settled, there will be no problem to determine the themes of the movies and to reach the proper audience.“ Chitra Chetana made Sarkari Santrash mostly on the experiences of the Nadia fact finding. It was screened in Birla Academy and Aajkal reviewed it as almost as powerful as a film. Ashanta Assam was made in 1983 on the anti-Bengali movement of Assam, specifically on the Nellie massacre that took place in the same year. Bobajuddha was made on the plight of workers of locked up factories. The presentation started and ended with an added commentary otherwise the entire body comprised interviews of workers. It was screened in several factories in Burnpur, Brace bridge, Asansole, Chinikal and so on, the presentation was also successfully screened in workers’ colonies. The members were often overwhelmed by the response. The workers would themselves collect money after the shows to support at least the cost for transportation. Bobajuddha was screened in Nandan 2 and a discussion was arranged on Trade Union and Film Movement also a book was published with the same name which included articles and commentaries of the experiences of the film makers in each factory they visited. Dilip Banarjee was an inspiration to Chitra Chetana, he was also one of the founder members. Dilip Banerjee took active part in every aspect of creating a presentation, from the script writing to direction, editing, commentary and so on. It was Banerjee who roped in his friend Dilip Balakrishnan to create the music for the presentations. Balakrishnan would listen carefully to the themes of the presentations and would create music for them. He used the popular raghupati raghav tune in the film Arwal. This film was on the truth behind 1986 Arwal massacre of peasants by the Bihar police, and the tune by Balakrishnan was used completely in contrast to it’s meaning creating a masterpiece. In this film there were interviews of Dr. Vinay of Mazdoor Kissan Sangram Samiti (MKSS) who then had a price of one lakh on his head. There were also interviews of Mrinal Sen of human rights tribunal and Mahasweta Devi. In Jadavpur, JUSF in association with Chitra Chetana arranged for two films festivals. The 1983 festival from December 17 to 21 was entirely a Super 8 festival. It was the first National Super 8 film festival in India. The festival was advertised in Screen a national bulletin of films from Bombay and entries were invited. The response was beyond expectation and more than 100 films came in from all across India. The festival was a big success and Bombay based Cine Super 8 came forward to sponsor the prizes given to best three films. The director of the company was also present in the festival as a guest. The best picture was also awarded based on the audience’s selection. Of the 100 films that came in as submissions, 40 films were selected for screening. The films were: Apartheid (D Roy Chowdhury, Jadavpur, English colour 8 mins.) -Discovering ‘Apertheid’ –the symptom of discrimination of ‘colours’–as an allegory of our day to day happenings–as an inherent concept which may change its type and form but is never totally eradicated. As it happens, one type of social classification and discrimination system gives way to another and the cycle is repeated. Tehran Times (Vijay Dikshit, Nasik; Marathi Colour, 15 mins.) -The film is basically on architectural monument in Tehran city with emphasis on form and movement of the camera, texture, music and other cinematic possibilities. Self Realisation (AGV Rao, Mysore; Silent, Colour, 4 mins.)-A person becomes interested in self-realisation, renounces his comforts and becomes a traditional Sanyasi. Through this change he never reaches his goal. Later he finds that accumulation is self-destruction and distribution self-realisation. Hemalkasa-An Experiment with Tribals (TISS Bombay, English colour, 40 mins.)-A documentary on the work of Dr. Prakash Amte, with the Madia tribals of Hemalkasa, Chandrapur district on the Maharashtra-Madhyapradesh border. Dr Amte’s project, which he took over from the work initiated in the area by his father, Baba Amte, started off as am integrated health service for Madias, encompassing treatment and prevention. Prevention covers a variety of areas including improving food consumption through promoting agriculture, introduction of new items of food, educating tribal children and so on. Through interviews with various participants in this process of development, the film attempts to document and interpret this experiment with tribals. San Vedana (Mukund Samant, Bombay; Hindi, Colour, 25 mins)- A young girl often dials any phone number and enjoys the irritation of the receiver. She happens to dial a young man one day. His initial irritation fades. Her interest becomes serious ans they become phone-friends. Their phone-friendship is two months ld. They meet–and it is a turmoil. San Vedana is a comment on the maturity of a society. Beattitude (Diptarup Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta;English,Colour,10 mins)- This film tries to present how supernatural and mystic powers were exercised in Buddhism, after Buddha Deyal (Anima Dutta, Hoogli)-Aboy of 12 working in a restaurant, tries to be free from the drudgery of his life–but in vain. Calcutta Oh! (Charles Solomon, Calcutta; Bengali,Colour, 9mins)-a comic strip based on pedestrian hazards in Calcutta. Glimpses of Bhils (Rajesh Rathi, Ujjain;English Colour, 35 mins.)-The film tries to capture the historical background and preserve the lifestyle of ‘Bhil’ –one of the most primitive Indian tribes. Their socio-economic structure is also explored. A few sequences reflect some typical behavioural patterns and habits of this tribe. It also registers the excitement of some of their exclusive traditional festivals. Generally a tribe visualised as an uncivilised, ugly society. People tend to form opinion without observation. This short offers an opportunity for objective observation of a tribe called ‘Bhil’. An unknown world of vivid colours come to life! Comes close to ours! The Havenots (G N Murthy, Bangalore; Kannada,Colour, 12 mins.)-Apoor boy is severely beaten up in a police station for theft. His parents take the boy to a roadside God Anjaneya and force him into promising that he will never steal again. The boy steals again from a township shop. He is chased. And as the distance between him and his chasers is reduced he sees hallucination of Anjaneya.He is finally caught. His pursuers are disappointed to find that the boy has stolen a mere piece of bread. The disheartened boy looks at the soiled piece of bread and throws it on the face of Anhaneya. The boy’s mother with a little baby in her arms watches them helplessly. As the film fades out we hear the cry of a hungry child. Ekti Kobita (Prabir Mallick, Calcutta; Bengali, colour, 8 mins.) -A young man receives a letter from his former lady love and goes to meet her. But after meeting herhe feels that the relationship has broken down. He comes back. Tomra Bhogoponya Nao (Debasis Pathak, Baraipur Bengali,colour 8mins.)-Bikash is married to Deepa. Bikash considers Deepa his personal property. Deepa can’t bear this miserable life anymore. She commits suicide.She leaves a letter for the next generation, crying out against women being exploited by men as their personal product. What Can I do (Surendra Chowdhury, Gorakhpur, Silent colour, 5 mins.),-Aprotest against evils of drinking. A Tribute to Rodin (Soumitra Ranade,Bombay, Silent Colour, 4 mins.)-In memory of great French sculptor Rodin.An attempt has been made to bring his famous piece ‘The Thinker’ into reality. Three P’s (Bercham Cine Arts, Calicut; Silent Colour, 21 mins.)-An old man’ the only bread winner of the family lives with his son, a polio victim, a daughter-in-law and their two children. The old man goes to fish every day to earn his daily bread. One morning a board is put up by the authorities prohibiting fishing at the pond. There was nothing for the family to eat that day. Driven to misery the daughter-in-law has a sexual relation with the landlord next day and with the money thus earned bought food. When the old man realises in the evening how his daughter-in-law procured food, the old man committed suicide. Jahaj Dhora Sohoj Noy (PFW, Jadavpur, Bengali Colour, 7mins.)- Some observations on the prevailing education system as related to contemporary politics Hiroshima Dibash (Nilanjan Dutta, Calcutta, Bengali, Colour 8 mins.)- A short on the anti-nuclear peace rally in Calcutta, 1982 on Hiroshima Day, August 6. Cyclone (Nilanjan Dutta, Bengali,Colour 8 mins.) A view of the Taldi area of 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, after the devastating cyclone on June 11, 1982. This Image And That Image (PFW), Jal Nahi Mile (Saumen Guha, Calcutta; Bengali, Colour 10 mins.)- Visual survey of the condition of draught in the area of Kangshabati river Project in the district of Bankura, West Bengal. Kushadweep (Saumen Guha, Calcutta, Bengali,Colour, 10 mins.)-A visual survey of the rural energy problems in a village Kusadweep in the Bankura district of West Bengal. Vidyasthane Cho (Samir Kundu, 24 Parganas), Unscrupulous businessmen and some government officials are happy with the government’s programme of nutrition for primary school students. Due to the corrupt distribution system, the students are deprived of their rightful quota of bread. But this is not the only side of the picture. There are the masses of the people who are not willing to take this deprivation lying down. They will strike back. Their children are ‘the people of the future’. We Will Smash This Prison (Gail Omvedt, Maharashtra, English colour 20 mins)-A documentry on the development of women’s movement in Maharashtra. No (Tapash Purakayastha, Calcutta) Behind the Festival (Cine Scope, Calcutta, English, Colour, 18 mins.)-Based on the durga puja festival in Calcutta. The film depicts the motive force behind the festival and its co-relations. Bubai (Burnpur Film Society, Burpur, Bengali colour 11 mins.)-This short shows the dilemma children go through to get admitted to an established english medium public school. Bundh (Utpal Sarkar, Calcutta, Bengali, Colour, 28 mins)-Rivers are creations of Nature. While they create civilisation, they also wrought havoc. In the interest of increasing agricultural yield and prosperity of the country, the government wants to tame the rivers by building dams. But increased production does not better the lot of the toiling masses. They protest Anweshan (WOLF, Calcutta, Bengali Colour 10 mins.)-Four friends start to make a documentary on the Calcutta Metro Rail. They interview various people including the workers and discover the harsh reality. Chalachitrakar Sonkha Sotero (WOLF, Bengali, colour,10 mins.)- three friends used to live in a world of romantic unreality. One fine morning they casually began thinking of making S-8 films. They begin filming and gradually come into contact with reality. They feel what life is. A well-to-do young man realises the problem of social exploitation and takes up the super-8 camera as his vehicle of expression against exploitation. Faces (Subhasis Mitra, Calcutta, Music, Colour, 8 mins.) A movie-collage of faces on poses and postures of different people of Calcutta. Graffiti (Moinak Biswas, Calcutta, Benglai/English Colour, 23 mins.)- Two ex-students of Jadavpur University enter the campus and take a look back….They feel a pervasive sense of Loss. They have lost their relationship, their political commitment and their most beloved teacher and friend. The Other Way (Arjun Sengupta, Calcutta, English Colour, 8 mins.) Scraps, refuse and other leftover of our daily life are dumped by the city COrporation in a place called ‘Dhapa’. in CAlcutta. There are people there who make a living out of this waste, even staking their lives on it. the other way of living is also life. Light of Life (Gopa Sengupta, Calcutta, English, Colour 8 mins.)-The film deplores the unhealthy light which prevails over our existence. Din Suru (Korak Ghosh, Calcutta, Bengali,Colour, 25 mins.)-A group of young film makers go out to shoot the dawn in the city. they harbour and illusion about the tenderness of day break. But what appears on the rectangular view finder are hard faces. Their illusion is shattered and they search for a new meaning of dawn. Ounmes (Asit Kr Sarkar,Calcutta, Silent, Colour, 9 mins.)-A short on the neglected talents in our society. Prattuttare Atmahatya O Atmahatyar Prattuttar (Prabir Das, Bausdroni)-The present day man is alienated. So called politics is one of the many causes of this alienation. As a result of this the young generation has taken the path of escapism. If we can adopt the sincere and untainted ways of our childhood all our life, then man can be rejuvenated and learn to live in the next generation. Sristichara (Somprokash Banerjee, Calcutta,Bengali,Colour, 20 mins)-Adapted from TAgore’s “Bhul Swarga” (the Erroneous Heaven). The tale of a misfit who seeks to find creative harmony in a modern World of mechanical strife. He fails to comprehend the common norms of labour and is stamped down by society as an idler. Let Us Live (Dhananjoy Govardhan, Nasik), Om Shanti (PDR Videotronics, Bombay), Unemployment and Automation (Atanu Majumder, Calcutta, Bengali, Colour, 25 mins.)-The film deals with the question of automation in the Banking industry of India with respect to the high unemployment figure. -taken from the Souvenir of Indian Super-8 Film Festival 83, Calcutta This list clearly indicates how far reaching and diverse the festival had been, and more importantly there was a large chunk of participants from the districts outside Calcutta and another section participated from outside Bengal and all across India. And even for the participation from within Bengal there were many entries which were completely untouched by and disconnected from the organisations like FS8C, WOLF, Chitra Chetana, PFW and other known organisations. Truly Independent film making in Super 8 had reached the people and transformed into a movement by this time. And this was neither unexpected or unanticipated. It had taken place in the Americas and Europe. Leonard Lipton in an article “The Lowdown on Super-8 Education” had already written by then: “…The second major camp emerging in the world of Super-8 film making favours a more democratic approach….(this) approach is designed to bring film making to the people–to anybody and everybody….Super-8 has the power to place the film-making medium in the hands of people–ordinary and extraordinary–who need to tell their story on film.“ The second festival in 1985 was not exclusively for Super 8 but some slide shows and videos were included. This festival was not as well received as the first one one and evidently the interest in super 8 was on the decline. But film making in super 8 continued well into the beginning of 1990s. Audio Cine and Mannada(মান্নাদা) The shows of Super 8 that was arranged by small budget groups like Chitra Chetana, JUFS, FS8C, PIX and others were exceptionally supported by Audio Cine. Audio Cine was a company managed by S.D. Manna (মান্নাদা) who became a household name in Calcutta Super 8 movement. Manna would allow these groups to rent the expensive hardware like projectors, sound equipments at unbelievable low rates and even for free. In film screenings outside Calcutta, often the Cine Audio staff would lend the equipments to the organizers without the knowledge of Manna. For such screenings the expensive equipments would be carried for hours in trains and buses and then power would be hooked from overhead wired to make the equipments functional. Often Manna would himself bring the projectors bound behind his scooter to the film shows and watch all the films himself intensely. In the end he would be happy with such a meagre rent for the equipments that the organisers felt that it will not be sufficient even for his scooter’s fuel, which was old and quite a fuel guzzler. Many activist of the movement claim that Manna and his workers were as much of soldiers of the movement as were the film makers. International Contacts During the hey days of Super 8 film making, there were several international organisations with whom the organisations of Calcutta got in touch with, mostly through Saumen Guha. The dialogue between Calcutta Super 8 organisations with their international counterparts was enriching in the least and occasionally transformed to participation in serious international projects. In May 1988 super 8 festival of International Forum of Super 8, which took place in Exit Art auditorium in NewYork, Saumen Guha’s Calcutta: The Promised Land, Partha Pratim Moitra’s Ashraf Alir Swadesh and another super 8 film on Tusu festival was screened. Dok Films of Denmark had a lasting relationship with the Super 8 movement of Calcutta through Saumen Guha. They even entrusted Guha with making two documentaries on polluting factories of Bengal and also on the lives of toiling women in West Bengal. There was even a proposal from National Danish Film Workshop to Saumen Guha to make a film The Unfair State on the state and police oppression in Bengal. In 1988 Filmers’ Almanac project Owen O’Toole of Los Angeles, there was more than one participant from India and Saumen Guha was among them, filming for the December 31 slot. There was also regular exchange of thoughts between members of Calcutta based super 8 movement and the Boston based International Center for 8mm Film and Video Inc (IC8FV) and they regularly mailed their monographs for distribution in Calcutta. The IC8FV wrote and informed about their world wide connection of Super 8 film makers thus providing an exceptional platform of share and discuss. Fading of Super-8 With the advent of VHS, it was almost clear that this format would replace the film format. There were several advantages like recorded VHS could be played back instantly and there was no necessity to develop. There was evidently much more data or length of video that can be held in VHS tapes, than their film counterparts. And the cartridges could be reused! In an interview published in 1983 souvenir of National Super-8 Festival, there was a question: “Some say with the coming of video to India, Super-8 has no chance. Do you agree?” to which Film Society Activist Subhendu Dasgupta had replied “Ours is a country of poor people. Video will not be able to reach them. Also the chance of S-8 basically depends on the objectives and strength of the organisations who will use this medium.” Indeed, Super 8 could hold ground for quite sometime, because of some initial disadvantages of VHS. The cameras were not as portal, editing was entirely different and so editors or technicians who were used to films could not automatically migrate at least technologically! Hardware was immensely expensive, VHS projectors were almost unthinkable and colour televisions were rare and small-screen, making public screening a major problem. But still Super-8 was fighting a loosing battle, and the manufacturers well understood it. As VHS started to replace Super 8 as the main motion picture format internationally, the cost of cartridges, and other hardware started to rise. The major markets in Europe and America was quickly adapting to VHS while in third world, the cost of VHS equipments was a serious impediment. Even as costs rose, some tried to carry on with super 8 and the most of the people and organisations attached to the Super-8 movement could not cope. Debasis Moitra remembered how during the final phases of production of Hool, the Super 8 cartridge price rose to almost 5-6 times its usual price. Even without any competition, Super 8 had several drawbacks from the beginning. Firstly the film was a reversal film, that is the image impression was in the positive and so making copies of a film would require to first make a negative and then make copies. This would both degrade quality and would be expensive. Further this meant that there was only one copy of the film made from the footage, and this had to be physically transported to wherever a screening was arranged. Any damage to the film at any point of time would be irreparable and irreplaceable. Besides the films could not be washed locally, the cartridge price included shipping charge and after recording the sealed cartridge would have to be taken to a Kodak store in park-street to be shipped to Germany. However later there was a facility to wash films nearer, but that too in Bombay. So it took somewhere between 3 weeks and a few months for a person to see the results of his shots. The initial Super 8 camera was without a sound and so were the cartridges, it was a silent system. Later when the cartridge had provision for sound recording then also switching over to the new cameras was not immediately possible and so separate sound addition, often post editing, was the usual practice. Even then sound quality was poor. Apart from these, the cartridge was capable of recording for only 2 and 1/2 minutes at 24 frames per second. Independence in Film Making In spite of all the draw backs what super 8 brought to the film making scene was invaluable. It brought much needed independence. There was also abundant experimentation with techniques and grammar of film making. When the lap dissolve feature and the fade-in fade out features were not provided in-camera, there were ingenious experiments carried out successfully to produce such effects. In some cameras, there was often a light sensor which would automatically control the aperture and in early Super 8 cameras this sensor would be separate from the lens (non-TTL variant), thus while filming, moving a torchlight towards the sensor created the effect of aperture closing down and this the fading out effect. Similarly starting a shot with a glowing torch held near the aperture and slowly moving it away would create the fade-in effect. Lap dissolve was done as a combination of these two effects, fade out and fade in, where after fade out the cartridge was rewound a little, before shooting the fade in so that the faded out portion and the faded in portion overlapped somewhat. Then there was the opportunity to conduct animation, especially by the stop gap technique. Members of PIX while doing their film Upasham carried out experiments with animation, they tried a simple animation to show drug tablets forming out of bits of particles. This was done by using stop motion technique. It was extremely time consuming, repetitive and to add to concerns the film makers could not see and rectify mistakes instantaneously, they had to wait for weeks if not months to see their results and go through the process once again to rectify in case there appeared any mistake! Yet in end the the exercise was very fulfilling. Once PIX film makers tried adding sound to a film shot using the earlier silent variant of Super 8 mm film. The magnetic material from tape was dissolved and a painting brush was used to paint the mixture on the silent film and left to dry. After drying, indeed a magnetic strip was formed on the film but attempt to record sound on it resulted in too much noise and the result was not satisfactory. The beauty of all this experiments was that it broke down the Super 8 hardware and its science before the film makers. There was nothing that remained sacred. The entire technology was in grasp and done hands on. Apart from certain minor aspects, Super 8 brought complete independence to film making. The other magnificent aspect of Super 8 was its portability which allowed film makers to film in practically any situation and also screen them in remote places. This aspect made Super 8 an important vehicle of communications for motivated activists. The organisers of 1983 National Super-8 Festival wrote about the festival in a souvenir publish on occasion of the festival: Super-8 means freedom for the film medium. Freedom because films can now reach the large numbers through various people-intensive distribution channels. The small portable sound projector can become an indispensable item with the large number of club, societies, mass organisations, trade unions, committees, associations,village committees which encompass a vast population. Screenings can be organised for 30 people or even 300….. ….While making films on socially relevant issues, they (film makers) must try to identify themselves with the environment which is always active. the environment should also react. Mass organisations, social action groups and other such people-intensive bodies should recognise the value and impact of film making and extent their support to the film movement. In fact each of these organisations can with greatest of ease, own a Super-8 camera and projector, create films in number and become a part and parcel of the film movement. True to these words Super 8 film makers of Calcutta carried their films and projectors to screen them in factories, villages, schools, colonies and other places untouched by commercial and mainstream cinema. They made films accessible to people who could not afford a ticket to cinema halls. This form of a film movement, an alternate platform of speaking out and communicating through such a powerful medium as film remains as essential today if not more. With the growth of a elite class and the growing economic divide, like all other business film-making is more and more targeting the section which will yield more profit to them. It is not just that one class can better afford films, on the other hand the a large section other class has been driven down to the point that film is out of their bounds. And obviously films are speaking for or showcasing the stories of the class they target. Most recently in an interview Arundhuti Roy mentioned how “Bollywood has completely walked away from the poor of this country” she pointed out about Amitabh Bachchan how in “his early films, he was the poor guy who grew up in the slums….he was a Muslim, a coolie, and a trade union leader…and..now..in movies, he only lives in villas and is getting out of helicopters, and those movies are only shown in these little cinema halls — multiplexes.” Indeed today’s films, funded by international production houses, are not made for the masses and are doing extremely well with the exclusive audience who can afford exorbitant ticket prices at the multiplexes. The displaced national production houses have somewhat found avenues of expansion in region films. But still there is a large vacuum that still needs to be filled and only by Independent films, because only they can address “For whom films?“ ---------- From shuddha at sarai.net Sat Mar 6 12:17:17 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 12:17:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of plain speech ? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4F857C51-135E-4B60-9E1B-BF9FD568A66F@sarai.net> Dear All, Thank you Sonia, for pointing out the obvious facts, which Aditya Raj Kaul seems to have missed out on. Yes, the video on the Times Now website, forwarded by Aditay Raj Kaul in the post titled 'Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence!' is totally misleading, partly because, as you pointed out, there was no Arundhati Roy in the video. Morover, neither Sumit Chakravarti, nor Dileep Simeon have ever said that they are sympathisers of the Maoists. In fact each one of them has at some time or the other made statements critical of the Maoists. What they have of course also done is that they have refused to let their criticism of the Maoists get in the way of the fundamental critique they make of the Indian state and its clients in the course of the so called 'Operation Green Hunt' The Indian state is engaged in a deeply violent armed campaign in support of the MOUs delivered to corporate interests in central India. If one the one hand we have Maoists, then, on the other, we have MOUists. The MOUist campaign works through terror and intimidation, and is fuelled by naked greed. In the presence of such brute force, it is not at all unnatural that those who are subject to that force may often find themselves allied with others who are antagonists of that force. This simple fact demonstrates the presence of the Maoists in the so called 'red corridor'. If the state was serious about undercutting the Maoists, all that it would have to do is to stop acting as the protection mafia for mining and corporate interests in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and the entire region, and the Maoists would be rendered as irrelevant as they were before a crop of MOUs were signed. Instead, they have burnt villages, acted as accessories to disappearance, rape and murder. There is a fundamental distinction that needs to be kept in mind. I pay taxes, many of us pay taxes, which fund the state, which, when it engages in the abuse of human rights and disregards its own laws, is basically abusing my money, your money, to set itself up as a criminal operation. I neither pay the Maoists any taxes, nor endorse or support them. They are not accountable to me, nor am I accountable to them. But the Indian state is accountable to me, and to all of us, because, basically, we pay for it. Similarly, the money we spend on commodities is used to fund the advertising that pays for television channels like Times Now. In that sense, both the state, and the corporate media are accountable to all of us for everything that they do. I do not believe that my tax paying money being used to set up a protection racket and a pr exercise for extractive industries and to eject people from their forests is the right thing, and therefore, I will always be combative when the impunity and irresponsibility of the state and the corporate media is exposed. I have a right to criticise the state, and the media, on this account. The same cannot be said insofar as the criticism of the Maoists is concerned. I am critical of the Maoists and their politics, and their methods, because of my political convictions. And being a critic of the state does not automatically turn one into a 'sympathiser' of the Maoists, as Arnab Goswami would have us believe. We should all refuse to be made subject to such false choices. Arnab, repeatedly, tries to insinuate that some of the intellectuals who have appeared on his programme refuse to let themselves be called 'symapthizers' because they have something to hide. In his book, one is either with the state on Green Hunt, or else, one automatically becomes a 'Maoist Sympathizer'. He either does not have the intelligence to realize that one can be critical, in different ways, to different ends, of the state and the Maoists, and that all resistance to the state is not necessarily coming from the Maoists alone. In fact, twice, I have seen him refer to a 'letter' critical of the Maoists, signed by several intellectuals on the left, without bothering to mention, even though it was pointed out to him on his own programme by Saroj Giri, just the other day, that it was in fact equally critical of the state's actions. Times Now is proving to be so slippory that it should perhaps be called Slimes Now. Nobody who is not a Maoist can be held responsible for what the Maoists do, simply because our resources are not being used by them. However, we are all implicated in the state's abuses, because they are a) done in our name, and b) done with our money. How dare then, Arnab Goswami act as a front man for the mafia (the faction that controls the Indian state) that abuses our trust and our money to wreck havoc in parts of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra and Bihar. I think its time we asked the question as to what makes Arnab Goswami, and others of his ilk, such open MOUists and 'sympathisers of state terror'. Incidentally, the right urls for this travesty of television are - http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/ videoshow/4339945.cms http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-2/ videoshow/4339952.cms And no, I did not see Arundhati Roy in this show, nor was she quoted with any precision in terms of what she, or anyone else for that matter is supposed to have said at the Press Conference. Is Aditya Raj Kaul in need of help, in that he sees Ms. Roy in a television programme, even when she is not in the television programme. And by the way, Arnab Goswami never looks uncomfortable. Maybe because he is way too comfortable for his own good. best Shuddha On 06-Mar-10, at 11:14 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > I watched the video and it's totally misleading. > > Not one panelist called himself a Maoist sympathizer and Dilip > Simeon even > points out to the misleading headline over all 3 panelists-- even > Praveen > Swami of all people!! > > All 3 panelists condemned Maoist violence. Sumit Chakravarty makes a > distinction between tribals taking up arms and the Maoists, but > even he > unequivocally condemns beheadings and summary executions. > > Arundhati Roy was absent in both videos. Arnab Goswami makes a > reference to > her discomfort in a press conference which we never see... > > Where was the embarrassment and where were the Maoist sympathizers? > What a total waste of time and so typical of the hysteria that > Times Now > tries to pass off as responsible journalism. > > >> From: "A.K. Malik" >> Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:26:41 -0800 (PST) >> To: Aditya Raj Kaul >> Cc: >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy 'uncomfortable' to >> condemn violence! >> >> Dear Mr Kaul, > In the TV visuals the embarrassment was writ >> large on the faces of the sympatizers. May be once taken sides, >> they seem to >> be scared to go against the Maoists.Such people need more >> condemnation than >> the ordinary mortals. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj >> Kaul wrote: > >> From: Aditya Raj Kaul >> >> Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy >> 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! >> To: "sarai list" >> >> Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:33 PM >> *Debate: >> Sympathisers looking >> uncomfortable* >> >> *Courtesy: Times Now* >> >> Last >> evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who went >> to lodge a >> >> complaint against them. They even murdered a poor factory >> worker because >> his >> owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists sympathizers >> held a >> press >> conference in New Delhi against the government's 'Operation >> >> Greenhunt', and >> when confronted with direct questions on Maoist terror, >> the >> defence was weak >> to say the least. They give unconvincing replies on >> Maoist >> violence. >> >> TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates the >> issue >> of ideology of the >> Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed >> questions >> with Dilip >> Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen Swami, >> >> Associate Editor, 'The >> Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor, 'Mainstream'. >> >> >> >> Link - >> >> http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/ >> videoshow/4 >> 339945.cms >> _________________________________________ >> 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/> Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From shuddha at sarai.net Sat Mar 6 14:45:06 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 14:45:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Importance of Being Arnab (Goswami) Message-ID: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> Dear All, Apropos of the recent small flurry of TV news, and specifically Arnab Goswami related posts on the list - here is something that I enjoyed reading enormously, and so, thought that I would pass along to the rest of the list - it was posted on a blog called www.rollon.in on the 19th of December, 2009. Enjoy, Shuddha -------------------- Arnab Goswami Allows Interviewee to Answer http://www.rollon.in/2009/12/19/arnab-goswami-allows-interviewee-to- answer/ In an unprecedented event earlier this evening, Arnab Goswami, the Editor-In-Chief for Times Now, stayed silent for a full 5 seconds during News Hour, allowing his guests to speak, and sending the TRP ratings for the channel soaring through the roof. This shocking moment occurred while the usually chirpy Arnab was interviewing an expert panel of celebrities, regarding Borivali’s recent demand for statehood. The news has been received with varied reactions from all over. Rajdeep Sardesai, from a competing news channel, said he’d like to maintain a dignified silence regarding this development, right after pointing out that the gimmick was ‘too low even by Arnab’s dwarfish standards’. Mahesh Bhatt called in earlier today from his mobile home parked permanently outside the offices of 24×7, saying that the news was provocative, communal and biased. He further demanded that the censor board be banned for this. When pointed out that the Censor Board had no role to play in this incident, he said that it was beside the point, and the censor board should be banned regardless. Throughout the telecon, Suhel Seth, seated beside Mr. Bhatt, kept shouting obsceneties. When asked to comment, he said that he was infuriated with the situation for no particular reason and threatened to go without a hair cut for a further six months. The most candid response came from the expert panel itself. Apparently, they were flabbergasted that Arnab betrayed their trust on national television. As usual before News Hour, the panel had been briefed that absolutely no answers would be required from them throughout the program, since Arnab will keep questioning without pauses; their role was restricted to trying to fit in as many interjections and conjunctions (Whoa!, But, Ah!) in between to give the illusion of them actually having something to say. So, fifteen minutes into the program, Ms. Ameesha Patel was understandably embarrassed when she found herself forced to sing ‘Yeahhh lazy lazy lamhe…’ to Arnab’s question on her opinion on a federal government structure. On the other side of the border, Pakistan Interior Minister, Mr. Rehman Malik, noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, and urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective overcome these forces of evil. When reminded that it was the Times Now incident and not another bomb blast for which his reaction was being sought, he noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, and urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective overcome the forces of evil. Arnab himself chose to downplay the incident, pointing out that the magnitude of the incident had been blown out of proportions by the media. ‘I remember being silent for a full 6 seconds back in 1985 while honing my interviewing skills on my pet dog. That being said, I know that the people of India are dying for an answer. So, you can join us today on News Hour to find out WHY ARNAB PAUSED,’ said Arnab with his trademark authoritative voice, while leaning over the desk on one arm. Note: All of this is obviously untrue. Arnab didn’t pause. Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From pawan.durani at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 15:49:52 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 15:49:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Importance of Being Arnab (Goswami) In-Reply-To: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> References: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003060219u55ab622dl376f5ef779596c2@mail.gmail.com> Rather unfair ....I think it actually fits Sagarika's attitude. On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear All, > > Apropos of the recent small flurry of TV news, and specifically Arnab > Goswami related posts on the list - here is something that I enjoyed > reading enormously, and so, thought that I would pass along to the > rest of the list - it was posted on a blog called www.rollon.in on > the 19th of December, 2009. > > Enjoy, > > Shuddha > -------------------- > Arnab Goswami Allows Interviewee to Answer > > http://www.rollon.in/2009/12/19/arnab-goswami-allows-interviewee-to- > answer/ > In an unprecedented event earlier this evening, Arnab Goswami, the > Editor-In-Chief for Times Now, stayed silent for a full 5 seconds > during News Hour, allowing his guests to speak, and sending the TRP > ratings for the channel soaring through the roof. This shocking > moment occurred while the usually chirpy Arnab was interviewing an > expert panel of celebrities, regarding Borivali’s recent demand for > statehood. > > The news has been received with varied reactions from all over. > Rajdeep Sardesai, from a competing news channel, said he’d like to > maintain a dignified silence regarding this development, right after > pointing out that the gimmick was ‘too low even by Arnab’s dwarfish > standards’. Mahesh Bhatt called in earlier today from his mobile home > parked permanently outside the offices of 24×7, saying that the news > was provocative, communal and biased. He further demanded that the > censor board be banned for this. When pointed out that the Censor > Board had no role to play in this incident, he said that it was > beside the point, and the censor board should be banned regardless. > Throughout the telecon, Suhel Seth, seated beside Mr. Bhatt, kept > shouting obsceneties. When asked to comment, he said that he was > infuriated with the situation for no particular reason and threatened > to go without a hair cut for a further six months. > > The most candid response came from the expert panel itself. > Apparently, they were flabbergasted that Arnab betrayed their trust > on national television. As usual before News Hour, the panel had been > briefed that absolutely no answers would be required from them > throughout the program, since Arnab will keep questioning without > pauses; their role was restricted to trying to fit in as many > interjections and conjunctions (Whoa!, But, Ah!) in between to give > the illusion of them actually having something to say. So, fifteen > minutes into the program, Ms. Ameesha Patel was understandably > embarrassed when she found herself forced to sing ‘Yeahhh lazy lazy > lamhe…’ to Arnab’s question on her opinion on a federal government > structure. > > On the other side of the border, Pakistan Interior Minister, Mr. > Rehman Malik, noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, and > urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > overcome these forces of evil. When reminded that it was the Times > Now incident and not another bomb blast for which his reaction was > being sought, he noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, > and urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > overcome the forces of evil. > > Arnab himself chose to downplay the incident, pointing out that the > magnitude of the incident had been blown out of proportions by the > media. ‘I remember being silent for a full 6 seconds back in 1985 > while honing my interviewing skills on my pet dog. That being said, I > know that the people of India are dying for an answer. So, you can > join us today on News Hour to find out WHY ARNAB PAUSED,’ said Arnab > with his trademark authoritative voice, while leaning over the desk > on one arm. > > Note: All of this is obviously untrue. Arnab didn’t pause. > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> From geetaseshu at gmail.com Sat Mar 6 16:15:40 2010 From: geetaseshu at gmail.com (geeta seshu) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 16:15:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Importance of Being Arnab (Goswami) In-Reply-To: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> References: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> Message-ID: <6df6732b1003060245r38aa537bt17718601683f75bd@mail.gmail.com> ah! enjoyed reading this...is it our exasperation or our sense of powerlessness that we resort to satire in dealing with our television anchors? whatever it is, may I add to the list: http://noiseofindia.com/media-ipl-top-news-anchors-to-be-auctioned/ Media IPL: top news anchors to be auctioned 5th July 2009 Issue 8: July 05 2009 *Inspired by the IPL, the major news channels have decided to auction off their high-value assets to ride out the recession. Reputed auditing firm Ricewaterspouse has already assessed the anchors and submitted a detailed report to Lalit Modi. Don’t ask us how we laid our grubby hands on page 1 of this confidential report. Just dim your screens and read silently.* *TOP SECRET & CONFIDENTIAL* (SECURITY LEVEL: mouse cursor on minimize button) *Media assets under consideration* *ANCHORS* [image: anc_rajdeep] "I'm your soulmate. I complete your sentences, don't I?" ** NAME: *Rajdeep “pointus interruptus” Sardesai* SIGNATURE STYLE: Bark excitedly at faces on a giant screen. USP: Appeals to a wide demographic; incredibly popular with Pomeranians. CREDO: Create a channel out of thin air, then sustain it on hot air. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Rajdeep’s fanatical commitment to the sound of his own voice has the effect of rendering his guests speechless. Gone are the days when politicians leisurely dangled their modifiers and flaunted their participles while cunningly hiding their main clauses in labyrinths of disclaimers. Today, they hurriedly pack all their meaning into the first half of every sentence. Because once they reach mid-sentence [image: anc_sagarika] Does every question in the universe have a Y or N answer? Y-73% N-27% NAME: *Sagarika “faze the nation” Ghose* SIGNATURE STYLE: Maddening high-pitched harangue. USP: Wields voice with operatic prowess. Can go ultrasonic and sense your location using sonar. CREDO: Oversimplify or perish. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Knows that India is a nation teeming with objective-type questions. Just SMS QOTD Y or N. There is no negative marking. If you’re a guest, keep it short. If you veer off-script, Sagarika will provide a heart-stoppingly unrecognizable summary of whatever you just said. High on sartorial consistency, sleeves match attention span. [image: "See the putty in my hands? That's you, dear viewer."] "See the putty in my hands? That's you, dear viewer." NAME: *Barkha “she the people” Dutt* SIGNATURE STYLE: Let’s give them something to fight about. USP: Never ashamed to *T*ea*R* u*P* on camera. CREDO: Have heartstring, will yank. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: If you’re a guest on her talk show, she will find your raw nerve and sandpaper it till you cry. And then she will cry with you till the ratings go wild. It’s like watching Jerry Springer and Oprah at the same time. As a war correspondent, she will brave gunfire and artillery shells, but not unfriendly blogs. If you so much as suggest that she put soldiers in harm’s way, she will make a Cheytanya Kunte out of you (go ahead, google the poor wretch). Currently anchors a show where the buck stops, but certainly not the *bak bak*. [image: anc_arnab] For every fact, there is an equal and opposite opinion NAME: *Arnab “the evangelist” Goswami* SIGNATURE STYLE: Suppressed incandescent moral outrage of the omniscient admonisher. USP: Can unleash a 60-minute sermon while pretending to interview 5 guests. CREDO: The apocalypse is upon us. Follow me. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In an industry obsessed with objectivity and balance, Arnab comes as a breath of fresh air. In a nation obsessed with humility and wisdom, Arnab comes as a breath of fresh air. One could go on. Every evening, Arnab’s forensic pyrotechnics make you question the need for a judicial system in a nation equipped with television studios. A man of destiny, Arnab knows that he will one day save the world. Not surprisingly, he dresses like Clark Kent. * * *LEGACY STAFF* [image: anc_karan] "I'm Socrates. You're a gorgeous Athenian lad." NAME: *Karan Thapar* SIGNATURE STYLE: Nitpick. Nitpick. Nitpick. USP: Extremely well connected. CREDO: The privilege is all yours. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Talking to Thapar is the verbal equivalent of getting a colonoscopy. Not recommended unless medically necessary, and never to be attempted in public. Typical interview fragment: *Thapar:* You’re not saying “yes”…. so does that mean you’re saying “no”? *Guest:* Not exactly. *Thapar:* Ok so you’re saying “not exactly”….. Does that mean a “not exactly yes” or a “not exactly no”? *Guest:* I’m saying neither. *Thapar *(narrowing his eyes): So you’re not saying “yes”, you’re not saying “no”, you’re not saying “not exactly yes”, and you’re not saying “not exactly no”… Would that be a correct assessment of what you’re saying? *Guest:* I suppose so. *Thapar:* You just contradicted yourself! A moment ago you were absolutely certain and now you’re no longer sure. *Guest:* Well that’s because- *Thapar:* Thank you. It’s been a pleasure talking to you. [image: anc_shekar] "tell me honestly... didn't you think Skylab would fall on your head?" NAME: *Shekhar Gupta* SIGNATURE STYLE: Obscure 80s nostalgia. USP: Frighteningly well connected. CREDO: Let’s Walk the Talk. You walkie, me talkie. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Walks and talks with VIPs so VVIP that they won’t be caught dead near a television studio. Is the most hilariously inattentive interviewer in the industry. Typical interview fragment: *Shekhar:* So tell me about your strained relations with Pranab Mukherjee. *Chidambaram: *As I was saying, last Sunday I had had just about enough of his nonsense. So I- *Shekhar:* You mean the PM? *Chidambaram:* Not the PM. Pranab Mukherjee. So as I was saying, I went up to him and told him to *take a flying*- *Shekhar:* I remember during Rajiv Gandhi’s time you were criticized for fixing the price of tea. On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear All, > > Apropos of the recent small flurry of TV news, and specifically Arnab > Goswami related posts on the list - here is something that I enjoyed > reading enormously, and so, thought that I would pass along to the > rest of the list - it was posted on a blog called www.rollon.in on > the 19th of December, 2009. > > Enjoy, > > Shuddha > -------------------- > Arnab Goswami Allows Interviewee to Answer > > http://www.rollon.in/2009/12/19/arnab-goswami-allows-interviewee-to- > answer/ > In an unprecedented event earlier this evening, Arnab Goswami, the > Editor-In-Chief for Times Now, stayed silent for a full 5 seconds > during News Hour, allowing his guests to speak, and sending the TRP > ratings for the channel soaring through the roof. This shocking > moment occurred while the usually chirpy Arnab was interviewing an > expert panel of celebrities, regarding Borivali’s recent demand for > statehood. > > The news has been received with varied reactions from all over. > Rajdeep Sardesai, from a competing news channel, said he’d like to > maintain a dignified silence regarding this development, right after > pointing out that the gimmick was ‘too low even by Arnab’s dwarfish > standards’. Mahesh Bhatt called in earlier today from his mobile home > parked permanently outside the offices of 24×7, saying that the news > was provocative, communal and biased. He further demanded that the > censor board be banned for this. When pointed out that the Censor > Board had no role to play in this incident, he said that it was > beside the point, and the censor board should be banned regardless. > Throughout the telecon, Suhel Seth, seated beside Mr. Bhatt, kept > shouting obsceneties. When asked to comment, he said that he was > infuriated with the situation for no particular reason and threatened > to go without a hair cut for a further six months. > > The most candid response came from the expert panel itself. > Apparently, they were flabbergasted that Arnab betrayed their trust > on national television. As usual before News Hour, the panel had been > briefed that absolutely no answers would be required from them > throughout the program, since Arnab will keep questioning without > pauses; their role was restricted to trying to fit in as many > interjections and conjunctions (Whoa!, But, Ah!) in between to give > the illusion of them actually having something to say. So, fifteen > minutes into the program, Ms. Ameesha Patel was understandably > embarrassed when she found herself forced to sing ‘Yeahhh lazy lazy > lamhe…’ to Arnab’s question on her opinion on a federal government > structure. > > On the other side of the border, Pakistan Interior Minister, Mr. > Rehman Malik, noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, and > urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > overcome these forces of evil. When reminded that it was the Times > Now incident and not another bomb blast for which his reaction was > being sought, he noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, > and urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > overcome the forces of evil. > > Arnab himself chose to downplay the incident, pointing out that the > magnitude of the incident had been blown out of proportions by the > media. ‘I remember being silent for a full 6 seconds back in 1985 > while honing my interviewing skills on my pet dog. That being said, I > know that the people of India are dying for an answer. So, you can > join us today on News Hour to find out WHY ARNAB PAUSED,’ said Arnab > with his trademark authoritative voice, while leaning over the desk > on one arm. > > Note: All of this is obviously untrue. Arnab didn’t pause. > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 6 16:39:39 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:09:39 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Free digital editions increase sales of paper editions... In-Reply-To: <4B912B51.9030402@sarai.net> Message-ID: <162849.25008.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Thanks Vivek. Very interesting.   K --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Vivek Narayanan wrote: From: Vivek Narayanan Subject: [Reader-list] Free digital editions increase sales of paper editions... To: "sarai list" Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 9:33 PM See: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;view=text;rgn=main;idno=3336451.0013.101 for formatted tables. The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales John Hilton III and David Wiley This paper was refereed by the Journal of Electronic Publishing’s peer reviewers. Abstract Increasingly, authors and publishers are freely distributing their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. A vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, “What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?” We used BookScan sales data for four categories of books (a total of 41 books) for which we could identify the date when the free digital versions of the books were made available to determine whether the free version affected print sales. We analyzed the data on book sales for the eight weeks before and after the free versions were available. Three of the four categories of books had increased sales after the free books were distributed. We discuss the implications and limitations of these results. The Short-Term Influence of Free Digital Versions of Books on Print Sales Introduction A growing number of authors and publishers freely distribute their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. These books, for both academic and general audiences, cover a wide variety of genres, including technology, law, fantasy, and science fiction. Some authors claim that free digital distribution has increased the impact of their work and their reputations as authors. [1] But beyond increased exposure, a vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, “What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?” One answer may come from the National Academies Press (NAP), which makes the text of all of its publications freely accessible. “Consequently,” reported Michael Jensen, Director of Publishing Technologies at NAP, “we are very well indexed by search engines.” [2] Jensen wrote that as a result of this indexing they receive many visitors, a small percentage of whom purchase books. Jensen reported that NAP’s 1997 publication “Toxicologic Assessment of the Army’s Zinc Cadmium Sulfide Dispersion Tests” had 11,500 online visitors in 2006. Those visitors “browsed approximately four book pages each. Of those, four bought a print book at $45, and two bought the PDF at $37.50. So 0.05% of the visitors to that particular book purchased it, even though they could read every page free online.” [3] Thus, a nine-year-old out-of-print publication that otherwise would likely have been inaccessible was viewed 11,000 times and purchased six times. The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago digitally distributes free copies of its books, and recently reported that print sales have not decreased. Specifically they noted that “[a]fter the complimentary distribution of twenty-one titles in 2008 that had for many years only been available in print, sales of these titles increased by 7% compared with the previous two years.” [4] The question of how freely distributing an electronic version of a work affects print sales is difficult, if not impossible, to answer experimentally because there is no way to simultaneously release and not release free versions of a book. It is not possible to determine causation; nevertheless, the effect of free distribution on print sales is an important issue to examine. In the present study we explored how free digital book distribution influenced book sales in the short term by examining a series of books that were released in print at one point in time, and then later released in a free digital format. Our specific question was, “Are book sales in the eight weeks following a book’s free digital release different from the eight weeks prior to this release?” Because most books have a pattern of declining sales as time goes by, our assumption was that sales would decrease slightly in the eight weeks following the free release. Method We followed the lead of Tim O’Reilly in using Nielsen BookScan to track the data on book sales before and after free versions were available. [5] BookScan tracks point-of-sales data from most major booksellers, meaning that it tracks the number of books actually sold to customers, as opposed to books sold by distributors to retailers. Notable booksellers that BookScan does not track include Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. [6] In general, BookScan estimates that it tracks approximately 70% of all book sales in the United States. Because BookScan tracks sales by week, we had to exercise some judgment in designating which weeks were “pre” and which were “post.” For example, if a free digital version was released on a Friday, some of the sales that week would be when the book was freely available and others would not be. If the release date of the free version was such that five or more days of the week fell into either a “pre” or “post” category, we assigned it to that category. In instances where the free version was released in the middle of week we did not count that week at all in our analysis; rather we tracked the eight weeks before and after the week the free version was made available. To protect BookScan’s proprietary business information, we did not link the sales figures with specific book titles in this paper. We organized the books we studied into four different groups. The first group consisted of seven nonfiction books that had digital versions that were released at various times. The second group consisted of five science fiction/fantasy titles that had digital versions that were released at various times. The third group consisted of five science fiction/fantasy books that were released together by Random House. The fourth group consisted of 24 science fiction/fantasy books released by Tor Books. The Tor group was different from the previous three in that Tor ran a special promotion in which they released a new book each Friday. The book was available for free download only for one week and only to those who registered for Tor’s newsletter. With the other three groups, once a book was released in a free digital format it remained available, at least for several weeks, and in many cases, indefinitely. It is important to note that some publishers, such as the National Academies Press, allow readers to view only a page at a time, and make the downloading of an entire book difficult. This was not the case with the specific books we studied. With two exceptions all of the books were available to be downloaded as entire PDF document. The two exceptions were Cult of iPod and Cult of Mac. Rather than making PDF versions of these books available to download from a static site, the author of these two books used BitTorrent to encourage the spread of the book. [7] Some books were available free in digital formats beyond PDF. All of the books released by Random House were available in Stanza, an e-book format commonly used on the iPhone, Kindle, or at Scribd.com, the social publishing site that allows anyone to post a work. Several of the Tor books were made available in additional formats such as Mobipocket, a format used on some “smart” cell phones and personal digital assistants. At a minimum, all books except the two previously described were available as complete PDF downloads. Results Non-Fiction Books The non-fiction books that we studied were: * Blown to Bits (Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, and Harry Lewis) * Cultural Software (Jack Balkin) * Cult of iPod (Leander Kahney) * Cult of Mac (Leander Kahney) * The Future of Ideas (Lawrence Lessig) * Trigger Happy (Steven Poole) * The Access Principle (John Willinsky) Table 1 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these nonfiction titles. Table 1: Sales of Nonfiction Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 1 33 46 13 Title 2 322 338 16 Title 3 6 17 11 Title 4 13 20 7 Title 5 134 86 –48 Title 6 115 139 24 Title 7 22 33 11 Total 639 662 34 Science Fiction/Fantasy Books The science fiction/fantasy books that we studied are: * Seaborn (Chris Howard) * Caught Stealing (Charlie Huston) * Magic for Beginners (Kelly Link) * Spaceman Blues (Brian Slattery) * The Crooked Letter (Sean Williams) Table 2 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these science fiction/fantasy titles. Table 2: Sales of Fiction Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 8 45 18 –27 Title 9 16 12 –4 Title 10 252 272 20 Title 11 160 163 3 Title 12 40 181 141 Total 513 646 133 Random House Books On March 4, 2009, Random House announced that it was releasing free digital versions of five science fiction/fantasy books. These books are: * Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb) * His Majesty’s Dragon (Naomi Novik) * Blood Engines (T.A. Pratt) * Red Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson) * Settling Accounts: Return Engagement (Harry Turtledove) Because March 4 was a Wednesday, and BookScan tracks sales by weeks, we did not use sales from the week of March 2–8. Thus the dates of the eight weeks prior to the release of the free versions were January 5–March 1, and the dates for the eight weeks after release were March 9–May 3. Table 3 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these Random House titles. Table 3: Sales of Random House Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 13 316 252 –64 Title 14 1812 2153 341 Title 15 1612 1677 65 Title 16 413 508 95 Title 17 796 817 21 Total 4949 5407 458 Tor Books To promote an upcoming website, Tor Books began releasing a series of free e-books on February 15, 2008. To claim the free e-book, readers needed to register for a newsletter that was sent out each week announcing the location of the next free e-book. Each Friday for the successive 24 weeks a new book was released, and the previous week’s book was then no longer available. The books released by Tor were: * Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson) * Old Man’s War (John Scalzi) * Spin (Robert Charles Wilson) * Farthing (Jo Walton) * The Outstretched Shadow (Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory) * Crystal Rain (Tobias Buckell) * Lord of the Isles (David Drake) * Through Wolf’s Eyes (Jane Lindskold) * The Disunited States of America (Harry Turtledove) * Reiffen’s Choice (S. C. Butler) * Sun of Suns (Karl Schroeder) * Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Cherie Priest) * Spirit Gate (Kate Elliot) * Starfish (Peter Watts) * Touch of Evil (C. T. Adams & Cathy Clamp) * A Shadow in Summer (Daniel Abraham) * Orphans of Chaos (John Wright) * In the Garden of Iden (Kage Baker) * In the Midnight Hour (Patti O’Shea) * Battlestar Galactica (Jeffrey A. Carver) * Flash (L. E. Modesitt, Jr.) * Soul (Tobsha Learner) * Darkness of the Light (Peter David) * Three Shadows (Cyril Pedrosa) Table 4 summarizes the results of the BookScan data for these books. Table 4: Sales of Tor Titles Books sales 8 weeks before free digital release Books sales 8 weeks following free digital release Net difference (post sales–pre sales) Title 18 385 260 –125 Title 19 4,178 2,561 –1,617 Title 20 2,710 2,645 –65 Title 21 1,490 1,518 28 Title 22 440 296 –144 Title 23 1,594 1,445 149 Title 24 79 76 3 Title 25 240 210 –30 Title 26 843 735 –108 Title 27 294 218 –76 Title 28 77 34 –43 Title 29 240 152 –88 Title 30 99 95 –4 Title 31 1,270 1,096 –174 Title 32 150 339 189 Title 33 188 136 –52 Title 34 207 250 43 Title 35 662 695 33 Title 36 137 95 –42 Title 37 136 106 –30 Title 38 100 35 –65 Title 39 75 37 –38 Title 40 6,211 2,778 –3,433 Title 41 19 744 725 Total 21,824 16,556 –5,268 Discussion Perhaps the most significant finding of this study was the contrasting results received by Tor and the other three groups studied. With one exception, sales of the nonfiction titles increased after a free digital release, and when the sales of the books were combined, sales were up 5%. The majority of the fantasy/science fiction books that were not part of a group release also had increased sales, and as a group their sales increased 26%, largely as a result of “Title 12.” Four of the five Random House books saw sales gains after the free versions were released; in total, combined sales of those five books increased 9%. These three groups were in contrast to our initial hypothesis that book sales would decline. Although we cannot say that the free e-books caused sales to increase, a correlation exists between a free e-book and increased print sales. The results of the Tor book sales were quite different. Only four of the twenty-four books saw increased sales during the eight weeks after the free version was made available. Two of these books (titles 32 and 41) both had releases of paperback editions that preceded the free book by only a few weeks. Thus for the majority of the “pre” weeks, a paperback version was not available. These newly released paperback versions could easily explain why the “pre” sales of these titles were less than the “post” sales. The book with the most dramatic pre–post difference (title 40) was released just ten weeks before the free digital version was released. It is possible that what was measured with this title was the natural decline of book sales over time instead of a result of a free version being made available. But even when these three books were excluded from the analysis, combined sales of the remaining 21 books decreased 18%. Why were the results from Tor so different from the others? This question cannot be answered with certainty. The only thing we know is that Tor’s model of making the books available for one week only and requiring registration in order to download the book was substantially different from the models used to create free versions of the other books we studied. Further research is necessary to determine if the Tor results were related to their model of free book distribution, a natural drop in sales, or if other factors account for the decreased sales. Conclusion The present study indicates that there is a moderate correlation between free digital books being made permanently available and short-term print sales increases. However, free digital books did not always equal increased sales. This result may be surprising, both to those who claim that when a free version is available fewer people will pay to purchase copies, as well as those who claim that free access will not harm sales. The results of the present study must be viewed with caution. Although the authors believe that free digital book distribution tends to increase print sales, this is not a universal law. The results we found cannot necessarily be generalized to other books, nor be construed to suggest causation. The timing of a free e-book’s release, the promotion it received and other factors cannot be fully accounted for. Nevertheless, we believe that this data indicates that when free e-books are offered for a relatively long period of time, without requiring registration, print sales will increase. Although this article has focused on print sales, it should be noted that in addition to print sales, publishers and authors may have other reasons for releasing free electronic versions. As Anderson has pointed out, there are many ways to make “free” profitable. [8] Increasing electronic sales may be an additional motive. For example, it is possible that Kindle book sales of second and third books in a series increased dramatically when the first book was available for free. We cannot determine if this happened, because Amazon does not release Kindle book sales figures. In addition, publishers and authors may have motivations indirectly related to sales. For example, although Tor may have lost sales as a result of their free e-book promotion, the customer information harvested and the publicity gained may have been more valuable than sales they perhaps lost. Another factor that we did not analyze was the differences in the size of the audience for the books we studied. Even within the four groups there were large differences in total sales of specific titles. Some of the fiction books had sold several hundred thousand copies, others fewer than five thousand. Future studies might examine relationships between the potential audience for a book and the impact of free digital distribution. In addition, we did not study how free books affect the sales of other titles by an author. For example, all the books released by Random House were the first books in a series. Future analysis needs to be done to determine whether sales of other books by an author (e.g., later books in a series) are influenced by making one of an author’s works freely available. As books increasingly become available in digital formats, the effects of free distribution may rapidly change. The explosive growth of Kindle and other e-book formats could dramatically impact how free distribution affects for-profit sales and even alter the relative importance of print sales. As the electronic publishing industry matures it will be increasingly important to research the effects of free distribution of electronic books. [missing figure] John Hilton III received his M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and currently is a Ph.D. student in Instructional Psychology at Brigham Young University. He is interested in researching open-access issues, particularly the creation and use of open educational resources, and looking at how free digital book distribution affects print sales and the impact of books. John can be contacted via his website at http://johnhiltoniii.org. [missing figure] David Wiley is an associate professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. His previous appointments include the director of the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning, a nonresident fellow of the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, a National Science Foundation–funded postdoctoral fellow, and a visiting scholar at the Open University of the Netherlands. He is also the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Young Researcher/CAREER award. Email: david.wiley at byu.edu Website: http://opencontent.org Notes 1. James Boyle, “Text Is Free, We Make Our Money on Volume(s),” Financial Times, January 22, 2007, retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b46f5a58-aa2e-11db-83b0-0000779e2340.html. Cory Doctorow, Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future (San Francisco: Tachyon Publications, 2008). James Hilton and David Wiley, “Free: Why Authors Are Giving Books Away on the Internet,” Tech Trends (in press). 2. Michael Jensen, “The Deep Niche,” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 10, no. 2 (Spring 2007), retrieved May 13, 2009 from http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0010.2066 3. Ibid. 4. The Oriental Institute, “The Electronic Publications Initiative of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago,” April 6, 2009, retrieved May 13, 2009 from http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/epi.html. 5. Tim O’Reilly, “Free Downloads vs. Sales: A Publishing Case Study,” O’Reilly Radar, June 1, 2007, retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/06/free-downloads-vs-sales-a-publ.html. 6. Kurt Andrews and Philip M. Napoli, “Changing Market Information Regimes: A Case Study of the Transition to the BookScan Audience Measurement System in the U.S. Book Publishing Industry,” Journal of Media Economics 19, no. 1 (2006): 33–54. 7. “BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data.” "BitTorrent (protocol)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BitTorrent_(protocol)&oldid=311471813 (accessed September 2, 2009). 8. Chris Anderson, Free: The Future of a Radical Price (New York: Hyperion, 2009). _________________________________________ 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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Sun Mar 7 00:19:41 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 00:19:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Professor Krishna Kumar on his five-year tenure as director, NCERT Message-ID: Check this http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/article139044.ece From shuddha at sarai.net Sat Mar 6 16:09:56 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 16:09:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Importance of Being Arnab (Goswami) In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003060219u55ab622dl376f5ef779596c2@mail.gmail.com> References: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> <6b79f1a71003060219u55ab622dl376f5ef779596c2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <8AAB3086-3451-43AA-8301-4FFEC5B27D1E@sarai.net> Agreed, it fits Sagarika too, and Barkha Dutt, and Rajdeep Sardesai, but Mr. Goswami, crown prince of smugness himself, somehow takes the cake ! best Shuddha On 06-Mar-10, at 3:49 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Rather unfair ....I think it actually fits Sagarika's attitude. > > On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > wrote: > Dear All, > > Apropos of the recent small flurry of TV news, and specifically Arnab > Goswami related posts on the list - here is something that I enjoyed > reading enormously, and so, thought that I would pass along to the > rest of the list - it was posted on a blog called www.rollon.in on > the 19th of December, 2009. > > Enjoy, > > Shuddha > -------------------- > Arnab Goswami Allows Interviewee to Answer > > http://www.rollon.in/2009/12/19/arnab-goswami-allows-interviewee-to- > answer/ > In an unprecedented event earlier this evening, Arnab Goswami, the > Editor-In-Chief for Times Now, stayed silent for a full 5 seconds > during News Hour, allowing his guests to speak, and sending the TRP > ratings for the channel soaring through the roof. This shocking > moment occurred while the usually chirpy Arnab was interviewing an > expert panel of celebrities, regarding Borivali’s recent demand for > statehood. > > The news has been received with varied reactions from all over. > Rajdeep Sardesai, from a competing news channel, said he’d like to > maintain a dignified silence regarding this development, right after > pointing out that the gimmick was ‘too low even by Arnab’s dwarfish > standards’. Mahesh Bhatt called in earlier today from his mobile home > parked permanently outside the offices of 24×7, saying that the news > was provocative, communal and biased. He further demanded that the > censor board be banned for this. When pointed out that the Censor > Board had no role to play in this incident, he said that it was > beside the point, and the censor board should be banned regardless. > Throughout the telecon, Suhel Seth, seated beside Mr. Bhatt, kept > shouting obsceneties. When asked to comment, he said that he was > infuriated with the situation for no particular reason and threatened > to go without a hair cut for a further six months. > > The most candid response came from the expert panel itself. > Apparently, they were flabbergasted that Arnab betrayed their trust > on national television. As usual before News Hour, the panel had been > briefed that absolutely no answers would be required from them > throughout the program, since Arnab will keep questioning without > pauses; their role was restricted to trying to fit in as many > interjections and conjunctions (Whoa!, But, Ah!) in between to give > the illusion of them actually having something to say. So, fifteen > minutes into the program, Ms. Ameesha Patel was understandably > embarrassed when she found herself forced to sing ‘Yeahhh lazy lazy > lamhe…’ to Arnab’s question on her opinion on a federal government > structure. > > On the other side of the border, Pakistan Interior Minister, Mr. > Rehman Malik, noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, and > urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > overcome these forces of evil. When reminded that it was the Times > Now incident and not another bomb blast for which his reaction was > being sought, he noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, > and urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > overcome the forces of evil. > > Arnab himself chose to downplay the incident, pointing out that the > magnitude of the incident had been blown out of proportions by the > media. ‘I remember being silent for a full 6 seconds back in 1985 > while honing my interviewing skills on my pet dog. That being said, I > know that the people of India are dying for an answer. So, you can > join us today on News Hour to find out WHY ARNAB PAUSED,’ said Arnab > with his trademark authoritative voice, while leaning over the desk > on one arm. > > Note: All of this is obviously untrue. Arnab didn’t pause. > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> > Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Sun Mar 7 05:11:14 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 15:41:14 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of plain speech ? In-Reply-To: <4F857C51-135E-4B60-9E1B-BF9FD568A66F@sarai.net> Message-ID: <119552.85280.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi Shuddha, The economic contract that you have hypothesized is incorrect.By your logic the government is not accountable to anyone who does not pay taxes. In fact, the contract is drawn and the power is vested in the government with respect to a group of people deciding collectively how they want to live in a state of law.The taxes are only a small part of the contract. The Maoists are also accountable to that contract, so is the state. Again, the application of the same money principle with respect to the Maoists is incorrect as well. Any movement requires both ideas and material.Anyone who provides ideological support to the Maoists is responsible for them in the same way as someone who provides material support. Thanks Rahul --- On Sat, 3/6/10, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta > Subject: [Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of plain speech ? > To: "S. Jabbar" > Cc: "reader-list list" > Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010, 12:17 PM > Dear All, > > Thank you Sonia, for pointing out the obvious facts, which > Aditya Raj  > Kaul seems to have missed out on. Yes, the video on the > Times Now  > website, forwarded by Aditay Raj Kaul in the post titled > 'Arundhati  > Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence!' is totally > misleading,  > partly because, as you pointed out, there was no Arundhati > Roy in the  > video. > > Morover, neither Sumit Chakravarti, nor Dileep Simeon have > ever said  > that they are sympathisers of the Maoists. In fact each one > of them  > has at some time or the other made statements critical of > the  > Maoists. What they have of course also done is that > they have refused to let their criticism of the Maoists get > in the  > way of the fundamental critique they make of the Indian > state and its  > clients in the course of the so called 'Operation Green > Hunt' > > The Indian state is engaged in a deeply violent armed > campaign in  > support of the MOUs delivered to corporate interests in > central  > India. If one the one hand we have Maoists, then, on the > other, we  > have MOUists. > > The MOUist campaign works through terror and intimidation, > and is  > fuelled by naked greed. In the presence of such brute > force, it is  > not at all unnatural that those who are subject to that > force may  > often find themselves allied with others who are > antagonists of that  > force. This simple fact demonstrates the presence of the > Maoists in  > the so called 'red corridor'. If the state was serious > about  > undercutting the Maoists, all that it would have to do is > to stop  > acting as the protection mafia for mining and corporate > interests in  > Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and the entire region, and > the Maoists  > would be rendered as irrelevant as they were before a crop > of MOUs  > were signed. Instead, they have burnt villages, acted as > accessories  > to disappearance, rape and murder. > > There is a fundamental distinction that needs to be kept in > mind. > > I pay taxes, many of us pay taxes, which fund the state, > which, when  > it engages in the abuse of human rights and disregards its > own laws,  > is basically abusing my money, your money, to set itself up > as a  > criminal operation. I neither pay the Maoists any taxes, > nor endorse  > or support them. They are not accountable to me, nor am I > accountable  > to them. But the Indian state is accountable to me, and to > all of us,  > because, basically, we pay for it. > > Similarly, the money we spend on commodities is used to > fund the  > advertising that pays for television channels like Times > Now. In that  > sense, both the state, and the corporate media are > accountable to all  > of us for everything that they do. I do not believe that my > tax  > paying money being used to set up a protection racket and a > pr  > exercise for extractive industries and to eject people from > their  > forests is the right thing, and therefore, I will always be > combative  > when the impunity and irresponsibility of the state and the > corporate  > media is exposed. I have a right to criticise the state, > and the  > media, on this account. > > The same cannot be said insofar as the criticism of the > Maoists is  > concerned. I am critical of the Maoists and their politics, > and their  > methods, because of my political convictions. And being a > critic of  > the state does not automatically turn one into a > 'sympathiser' of the  > Maoists, as Arnab Goswami would have us believe. We should > all refuse  > to be made subject to such false choices. Arnab, > repeatedly, tries to  > insinuate that some of the intellectuals who have appeared > on his  > programme refuse to let themselves be called 'symapthizers' > because  > they have something to hide. In his book, one is either > with the  > state on Green Hunt, or else, one automatically becomes a > 'Maoist  > Sympathizer'. He either does not have the intelligence to > realize  > that one can be critical, in different ways, to different > ends, of  > the state and the Maoists, and that all resistance to the > state is  > not necessarily coming from the Maoists alone. > > In fact, twice, I have seen him refer to a 'letter' > critical of the  > Maoists, signed by several intellectuals on the left, > without  > bothering to mention, even though it was pointed out to him > on his  > own programme by Saroj Giri, just the other day, that it > was in fact  > equally critical of the state's actions. Times Now is > proving to be  > so slippory that it should perhaps be called Slimes Now. > > Nobody who is not a Maoist can be held responsible for what > the  > Maoists do, simply because our resources are not being used > by them.  > However, we are all implicated in the state's abuses, > because they  > are a) done in our name, and b) done with our money. > > How dare then, Arnab Goswami act as a front man for the > mafia (the  > faction that controls the Indian state) that abuses our > trust and our  > money to wreck havoc in parts of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, > West Bengal,  > Orissa, Maharashtra and Bihar. > > I think  its time we asked the question as to what > makes Arnab  > Goswami, and others of his ilk, such open MOUists and > 'sympathisers  > of state terror'. > > Incidentally, the right urls for this travesty of > television are - > > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/ > > videoshow/4339945.cms > > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-2/ > > videoshow/4339952.cms > > And no, I did not see Arundhati Roy in this show, nor was > she quoted  > with any precision in terms of what she, or anyone else for > that  > matter is supposed to have said at the Press Conference. > Is  Aditya  > Raj Kaul in need of help, in that he sees Ms. Roy in a > television  > programme, even when she is not in the television > programme. > > And by the way, Arnab Goswami never looks uncomfortable. > Maybe  > because he is way too comfortable for his own good. > > best > > Shuddha > > On 06-Mar-10, at 11:14 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > > > I watched the video and it's totally misleading. > > > > Not one panelist called himself a Maoist sympathizer > and Dilip  > > Simeon even > > points out to the misleading headline over all 3 > panelists-- even  > > Praveen > > Swami of all people!! > > > > All 3 panelists condemned Maoist violence.  Sumit > Chakravarty makes a > > distinction between tribals taking up arms and the > Maoists, but  > > even he > > unequivocally condemns beheadings and summary > executions. > > > > Arundhati Roy was absent in both videos.  Arnab > Goswami makes a  > > reference to > > her discomfort in a press conference which we never > see... > > > > Where was the embarrassment and where were the Maoist > sympathizers? > > What a total waste of time and so typical of the > hysteria that  > > Times Now > > tries to pass off as responsible journalism. > > > > > >> From: "A.K. Malik" > >> Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:26:41 -0800 (PST) > >> To: Aditya Raj Kaul > >> Cc: > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy > 'uncomfortable' to  > >> condemn violence! > >> > >> Dear Mr Kaul, > >                > In the TV visuals the embarrassment was writ > >> large on the faces of the sympatizers. May be once > taken sides,  > >> they seem to > >> be scared to go against the Maoists.Such people > need more  > >> condemnation than > >> the ordinary mortals. > > Regards, > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj > >> Kaul > wrote: > > > >> From: Aditya Raj Kaul > >> > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy > >> 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! > >> To: "sarai list" > >> > >> Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:33 PM > >> *Debate: > >> Sympathisers looking > >> uncomfortable* > >> > >> *Courtesy: Times Now* > >> > >> Last > >> evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who > went > >> to lodge a > >> > >> complaint against them. They even murdered a poor > factory > >> worker because > >> his > >> owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists > sympathizers > >> held a > >> press > >> conference in New Delhi against the government's > 'Operation > >> > >> Greenhunt', and > >> when confronted with direct questions on Maoist > terror, > >> the > >> defence was weak > >> to say the least. They give unconvincing replies > on > >> Maoist > >> violence. > >> > >> TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates > the > >> issue > >> of ideology of the > >> Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed > >> questions > >> with Dilip > >> Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen > Swami, > >> > >> Associate Editor, 'The > >> Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor, > 'Mainstream'. > >> > >> > >> > >> Link - > >> > >> http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/ > > >> videoshow/4 > >> 339945.cms > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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/> > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Sun Mar 7 13:07:31 2010 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 13:07:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Meeting on the Ecological commons, struggles, alternatives they offer Message-ID: <564b2fca1003062337k531c83det3fdb86ff2f50e6e2@mail.gmail.com> Delhi Platform and NFFPFW Invite you to participatory sessions On the Ecological Commons & Conservation 10-11 March 2010, Hyderabad As part of the Indian Social Science Congress Focal Theme - Planet Earth in Crisis Dear friends, Are we up to the challenge of preserving our life-sustaining ecological commons? That is the central question facing humanity. For the last 250 years, the dominant and pervasive model of development, a consequence of industrial capitalism, has stressed many of nature’s ecosystems and pushed natural cycles to breaking point. For people in many regions of the country, this process of ‘development’ has meant displacement, denial of access to the commons ¬– to their water, rivers, land and forests – and repression when they resist these processes. In this context, it is only appropriate that efforts are made to bring together forces asserting the common rights of the majority of the people and trying to preserve our ecosystems, to share their perspective and experiences. We are organizing a meeting to discuss these concerns. Activists from the following movements will present the issues highlighted by the struggles in their areas, and also, importantly, what they see as possible alternatives. Each presentation will be followed by open discussions. 1. Satish Londhe – Shramik Mukti Dal (Anti-coal power movement, Maharashtra) 2. Pushpa Toppo – Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan, Jharkhand 3. Debjeet – Chhattisgarh Forest People’s movement, Chhattisgarh 4. Guman Singh – Himayala Niti Abhiyan, Himachal Pradesh 5. Mamata Dash – NFFPFW, Orissa (Niyamgiri) 6. Asit Das – Agrarian Crisis & farmers 7. Shweta Narayan, Equations 8. Sagar Dhara, Hyderabad Platform 9. Sebastian Rodrigues – MandGoa To allow enough time for discussion, the meeting will take place over two half days, on 10th and 11th. We would welcome your joining us and actively participating in these discussions. Meeting Venue: B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad Dates: 10th and 11th March 2010 Time: 2-5.30 pm (both days) In solidarity, Soumya Dutta (Delhi Platform), Chairperson Sanjay Basu Mallick (NFFPFW) For any further details, please contact: Soumya Dutta, Delhi Platform (chairperson) on 09213763756 or Nagraj Adve on 09910476553 From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Sun Mar 7 13:16:57 2010 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 13:16:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Observance of March 08 as IWD : It is Linked with Working Women's Struggles for Better Conditions at the Workplace AND THEIR STRUGGLES FOR SOCIALISM In-Reply-To: <1f9180971003062259p270e2c87y89aab9dad3184994@mail.gmail.com> References: <1f9180971003062259p270e2c87y89aab9dad3184994@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1f9180971003062346s5639c6d6p83bc1692bb743ad@mail.gmail.com> "Among other relevant historic events, it came to commemorate the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire" "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed over 140 garment workers. A lack of safety measures was blamed for the high death toll." "Demonstrations marking International Women's Day in Russia proved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917." "Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik feminist Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Leninofficial holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet USSR "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day#History The first IWD was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it came to commemorate the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrializationand economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions. In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen(in the labour-movement building located at Jagtvej 69, which until recently housed Ungdomshuset ) by the Second International and an 'International Women's Day' was established, which was submitted by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified.[1]The following year, 1911, IWD was marked by over a million people in Austria , Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, on March 19.[2]However, soon thereafter, on March 25, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed over 140 garment workers. A lack of safety measures was blamed for the high death toll. Furthermore, on the eve of World War I, women across Europe held peace rallies on 8 March 1913. In the West, International Women's Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s, but dwindled. It was revived by the rise of feminism in the 1960s. Demonstrations marking International Women's Day in Russiaproved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917 . Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik feminist Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Leninto make it an official holiday in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme SovietInternational Women's Day was declared as a non working day in the USSR "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays." Greetings of the Day, (Venu) -- 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 paulo.hartmann at gmail.com Sun Mar 7 21:38:51 2010 From: paulo.hartmann at gmail.com (Paulo Hartmann) Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 13:08:51 -0300 Subject: [Reader-list] Mobilefest 2010 - Call for Papers, Projects, Prototypes and Products, Solutions and Mobile Applications. Message-ID: V MOBILEFEST 2010 - International Festival of Mobile Creativity Call for Papers, Projects, Prototypes and Products, Solutions and Mobile Applications. (Submission is valid for all Mobilefest editions in 2010: April 15th to 18th, Sao Paulo + May 17th to 21st, Rio de Janeiro) THEME How can mobile technology contribute to democracy, culture, art, environment, peace, education, health and the Third Sector? KEY WORDS 3g, mobile applications, interactive architecture, electronic art, mobile activism, bluetooth, cyber culture, live cinema, mociology, culture, democracy, inclusion design, ecology, education, d-i-y, gprs, gps, LBS, innovation, mobile and wireless games, lbs, locative, geotagging, electronic music, mobile music, m-health,_m-payment, m-gov, mobile narrative, peace, interactive net performances with mobile and wireless devices, interchange, video production and distribution, augmented reality, open wireless, mesh, social nets, rfid, expanded classroom, health, sms, mobile streaming, wearable technolgies, tendencies, third-sector, citizen video, video call, TV on mobile, wi-fi, wi-max, zigbee, etc. INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR AND EXHIBITION This seminar attracts leading academics, researchers and other serious-minded people engaged in the pursuit of knowledge related to mobile technology. Mobilefest seeks papers for live presentation. For the participation at the exhibition with interactive installations, performances or urban interventions send a detailed technical rider: installation plan, photos, video and complete description. PAST TOPICS Activism, art and technology, democracy, digital divide, ecology and e-waste, games and behavior, inclusive design, innovation, locative media, licensing, m-government, m-learning, mobile art, mobile marketing, mobile music, network culture, new forms of distribution, performance, rfid, video mobile production, wearable technology, wireless cities. CRITERIA Papers should be of an academic or serious research nature. Papers should address current topics of direct relevance to Mobilefest's theme. Abstracts should be at least 500 words. Final papers should be at least 1000 words long, and authors should be prepared to deliver a presentation limited to 30 minutes. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Papers may be written in Portuguese, Spanish or English. Abstracts and final papers should be sent as email attachments in .TXT, .RTF, .DOC or PDF format. Presentations must be delivered in Portuguese or English. Presentations will be limited to 30 minutes total. DEADLINE Abstracts must be received no later than 31st March 2010. Abstracts will be selected for presentation by 5th April 2010. Notification will be made via this website, as well as to the applicant's listed contact email. REGISTRATION FOR AUTHORS Registration must be received by 31st March 2010. Please submit the following information via email to 2010 at mobilefest.org: Author's Full name: University/Organisation/Company: Email address: Optional 2nd email address: Postal address: City: State: Country: Postal Code: Landline telephone number: Mobile number: Please mark in which Mobilefest you'd like to present your work: ____Sao Paulo ____Rio de Janeiro Abstract Category (Please mark all that apply): ____Democracy ____Culture ____Art ____Environment ____Peace ____Education ____Health ____Third Sector ____All ** ** MOBILEFEST is a transdisciplinary event. The more interconnection of information, the better. Short biography of principal author: Abstract (minimum 500 words): From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 8 01:24:32 2010 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 11:54:32 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Visas for research in India Message-ID: <645701.87965.qm@web51404.mail.re2.yahoo.com> The following discussion from another e-list may interest some of you - something that has been troubling a lot of foreign scholars wanting to visit India for a long duration. ----- From: mascasa at umd.edu Subject: Re: Visas for research in India Date: 8 March 2010 12:25:23 AM GMT+05:30 For anyone planning to stay over six months, a research visa may really be the best way to go, I think. I went on a tourist visa because I was not going to be affiliated with a school since my research was multi-sited and I was working largely with musicians outside of "officialdom" (that's also an issue for future research, though a few schools in my area [Kerala] are happy to write letters of affiliation for researchers). Though my visa was approved for a year, I was supposed to get it renewed after six months, but I didn't know about this and when it came time for me to go home, they wouldn't let me leave the country. This happened to a few other students while I was there, but I thought I had a year! This caused all kinds of problems for my husband and me because the airline did not want to reschedule us (I thought I would have to find in India for a year just to raise the money for another ticket or commit a small crime so they would kick us out!), but eventually we got home after about three days of haunting the local police station trying to get all of the right stamps of approval. To add to my distress, I was also pregnant and sick at the time. All this to say, I'm not sure if the renewal is necessary for the research visa, but I sure learned my lesson about staying informed about proper procedures. Ah...the joys of fieldwork. Strangely, despite the problems at the end, I still can't wait to go back! Katherine Morehouse Ph.D. Cand. University of Maryland Liberty University, Instructor Lynchburg, VA. ---- Original message ---- Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 14:41:07 +0000 From: Katherine Brown Subject: Re: Visas for research in India To: Gordon Thompson Cc: Richard Kent Wolf , Richard Widdess , samwale-list Dear all, I don't think there is, in fact, any change to any other visa category than the tourist visa, a change that has only caught out some of our UK research students because they have gone in on tourist visas. The situation does need to be clarified as to whether or not UK citizens have, in fact, long been supposed to apply for research visas to do research in India, even though it has been established practice for years for ethnomusicologists not to do so. All Cambridge PhD students I know in history and anthropology have gone in on research visas, and they were very surprised that ethnomusicologists did not apparently need to do this. More concerningly, there does not appear to be a minimum limit on the length of trip for which you must apply for a research visa, which might catch us all out. If you have a look at the website for the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, you will see that it appears that US citizens even need research visas and letters of invitations to attend academic conferences in India. The requirements for UK citizens do seem at best a bit blurry though, because I did in fact apply for a research visa for my PhD work in India, but when it didn't come through in time, the cultural attache at the Indian High Commission told me to go on a tourist visa anyway while waiting for the research visa to come through -- he even gave me letters to take to the British Council for him because they would arrive faster than the diplomatic bag! I had no problems getting into libraries and archives on a tourist visa, doing the same kind of work as my historian colleagues. It might be useful, however, to get some official guidance re. under what circumstances we, in our different jurisdictions, are supposed to get research visas for India. Katherine On 7 Mar 2010, at 13:56, Gordon Thompson wrote: Richards, Some of the differences you describe can be connected to your nationalities. When I traveled on a Canadian passport, I had no immigration problems. Indeed, I became an official resident of India with little difficulty. On an American passport, I needed to follow the process described by Professor Wolf. It is interesting to know that the government is changing that relationship with the Commonwealth (again). Gordon Gordon R. Thompson, Professor, Department of Music Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 -----Original Message----- From: Richard Kent Wolf [mailto:rwolf at fas.harvard.edu] Sent: Sun 07-Mar-10 8:08 AM To: Richard Widdess Cc: samwale-list Subject: Re: Visas for research in India Dear Richard and fellow samwale, Scholars from the US doing research in India using any of the major sources of funding (AIIS, Fulbright) have always been required to get research visas. It involves getting affiliated with an approved institution in India--usually a university; paying an affiliation fee, getting an official letter, and sending all that off to the Indian govt. for approval. The process can take a year or more and in my experience has required having someone on the ground in India to help push things forward. It is a pain, but absolutely necessary if one is to stay a year or two at a time. One then must register with the police in India and do some other paperwork. Obviously one can't do this for a visit of a few weeks. What was the precise information you received? Yours, Richard Wolf On 3/7/10 7:13 AM, Richard Widdess wrote: Dear SAMwale The Indian government is trying to clamp down on students and scholars using tourist visas to do research in India. That is all very well but what's the alternative? Has anyone experience of getting research visas, for themselves or students, and if so how is it done? What are other disciplines doing about this? Is there a concerted approach? Cheers Richard -- Richard K Wolf Professor of Music Department of Music Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 U.S.A. ph: (+1) 617-495-2791 fax: (+1) 617-496-8081 From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 8 10:38:33 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 10:38:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Ragging crusader feels defeated Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003072108o23a02754yb67faac35aff45aa@mail.gmail.com> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Ragging-crusader-Kachroo-feels-defeated/articleshow/5639061.cms GURGAON: A year after Rajendra Kachroo lost his 19-year-old son, Aman Kachroo, to ragging at a medical college in Himachal Pradesh and launched the Aman Kachroo movement against ragging, he is a disappointed man. An RTI filed by him recently has revealed that the call centre set up by the human resource development ministry and UGC after a Supreme Court ruling, based on the suggestions given by Kachroo himself, has virtually proved to be a non-starter. The RTI reply given by UGC reveals that nearly 1.5 lakh calls were made to the call centre since its inception on June 20, 2009, of which 300 calls translated into complaints. However, unfortunately, no real action has been taken in a single case. "My son Aman died on March 8, a few hours after being being brutally beaten up by some students at the Rajendra Prasad Medical College in Tanda town of Kangra," he said, his pain visible in his eyes. "He was my only son and nothing in this world can compensate for my loss. However, I did not want to his death to go waste and I vowed that I would not let any other Aman suffer. However, a year later I feel failed by the system from which I had sought support me," said Kachroo, who has spent his entire time, along with his daughter and sister, in creating awareness regarding the 'disease' of ragging. He believes the call centre, his brainchild, ended up in "wrong hands". He recalls: "I had myself offered to set up the centre, free of cost, but this was rejected by the UGC. In May last year, some of the best known companies in the business offered to implement the entire plan at a cost of Rs 60 lakh." He added: "A report was submitted to UGC with details of outputs, methodology, time-frame, technology, format of reports, guarantees, financial and infrastructural details, past history of doing similar work etc. This proposal was rejected by UGC on the grounds that there was not enough time for it to call for tenders from private companies," said Kachroo. For reasons best known to the officials concerned, the job was offered to a company which, he claims, had no experience of doing this kind of work for Rs 6 crore. "As a result, the situation now is that when you complain of a ragging case to the call centre, they are reluctant to take it seriously and ask you irrelevant questions. And of the 300 complaints which were recorded, 180 complaints were forwarded by UGC to college principals through ordinary post. Only 60 principals have responded. No one even looked into what they have said. Other 120 complaints are still waiting to be looked at, at the end of January 2010, many months after they were registered. This shows the pathetic state of affairs," said Kachroo. As for the trial in Aman's case, Kachroo has forgiven the culprits. "The boys have been in jail for the past one year and I have even stopped following the case. What I really wanted is that the then principal should be punished. Not only did he ignore my son's pleas, he instigated the senior students," he alleges. Kachroo, who left his job to dedicate himself to the movement doesn't believe all is lost. "After the cooperation I got from the President, I have been working closely in association with V-Cs of several universities and I am happy that so much awareness has been created among students against ragging," he said. From iram at sarai.net Mon Mar 8 12:03:26 2010 From: iram at sarai.net (Iram Ghufran) Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:33:26 +0600 Subject: [Reader-list] @James Beveridge MRC: Course on Performance and Documentary Message-ID: <4B949A36.2010208@sarai.net> *JAMES BEVERIDGE MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE* AJK Mass Communication Research Centre Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi 110025 * SPECIAL COURSE: PERFORMANCE AND THE DOCUMENTARY * Course instructor: Nilita Vachani Dates: 1^st week – April 5^th to 8^th 2^nd week- April 12^th to 15^th Timing: 11am-1pm(Lunch break) 2pm – 4:30 pm *CALL FOR APPLICATIONS * The JB MRC invites applications for a special course on _Performance and the Documentary _from MA/M.Phil/Ph.D students as well as teachers, scholars and media practitioners with at least 5 years experience. *Course Description: * Most practitioners and scholars of documentary now agree that performance is an inevitable part of `documenting reality’. Yet documentary tends to get judged by certain truth criteria which are rarely applied to fiction filmmaking: How truthful is the film? How unmediated was the filming process? How unbiased is the filmmaker? How representative is the film of a larger reality? This course will examine the multiple ways in which performance permeates the fabric of documentary filmmaking creating a rich aesthetic experience and a new reality. Issues that will be discussed in class will concern * Performance and the non-actor * Stylistic choices that shape composition, structure and narrative * The filmmaker’s politics and narrative presence * Documentary spectatorship and multiple viewing experiences * Documentary as a performative tool signifying realness. While this seminar is not historically exhaustive, the eight illustrated lectures, accompanied by screenings and discussions will attempt a chronological exploration of the role of performance in the documentary from the very first films made by the Lumiere brothers, through prototypes of the American documentary movement, to contemporary Iranian cinema and ‘factual’ entertainment on television today. Last date for applications: March 15^th 2010 Course commencement date: April 5^th 2010 Selected applicants will be charged a nominal non-refundable course fee. Applicants should note that this is strictly a theoretical course and does not involve any hand-on production experience. Readings are compulsory as are regular attendance and punctuality. *To apply:* Send your CV and a brief statement (500 words max) outlining your interest in attending the course to mrc.jamia at gmail.com Alternatively, please mail (preferably courier) your application to Pearl Sandhu 91-9958863690 Programme Officer James Beveridge Media Resource Centre AJK Mass Communication Research Centre Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi-110025 From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Mar 8 13:34:01 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 13:34:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 80-year old art teacher runs a school in rural Maharashtra Message-ID: Here's a lovely blogpost about an an 80-year old art teacher who runs a school in rural Maharashtra. >From http://artyeast.blogspot.com/2010/03/ramchandranchi-maitree-shaala.html Excerpt: "Popularly and fondly known as "Inamdar Sir", he is "Ram Kaka" for me, my granduncle and my grandfather's younger brother. Formerly an art teacher at Bal Mohan Vidyamandir, Ram Kaka was also a student of the JJ school of Arts, the only one in the family ever to have studied Art formally. At 80, he continues to be be both, teacher and student, with an unfading, unflinching enthusiasm. What greeted me as I approached his house in the village of नीळजा (Nilja), a few kilometers off Kalyan, was a name plate tied to an electric pole. It read "मैत्री शाळा", with an arrow pointing to his house. Maitree Shaala is Ram Kaka's home, workspace, studio, school , dream, struggle and his own patch of sunshine which he strives to spread so that children of all ages from nearby villages can come and bask in its warmth and shine on!" From shveta at sarai.net Mon Mar 8 13:59:29 2010 From: shveta at sarai.net (Shveta) Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:59:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Trickster City: Launch Text Message-ID: <4B94B569.6090104@sarai.net> dear all, Trickster City: Writings from the belly of the metropolis, by Azra Tabassum et al, published by Penguin India, was launched in Delhi on 12th February 2010. Below is an english translation of the writers' introduction of their book and thoughts on the city and about writing. Further details about the book are at the end of the text. warmly shveta ----------------------- Translation of the writers' text Launch of Trickster City 12th February 2010 Delhi. Azra Tabassum: They say in Delhi, there are no red lights; there are only the hands of strangers. We, along with all our co-writers of Trickster City, who are among the audience, welcome you all. We would like to thank Ankur and Sarai, along with whom we have made, through Cybermohalla, a generative space. A space where we pose and think through our most challenging questions. We thank all our co-travellers, who argued and debated with us, challenged us further as we wrote and questioned. Lakhmi Kohli: We made Cybermohalla a space where unfinished stories may find a narration. We know that fearless speech requires fearless listening. Over the years, we have realised, that people's capacity to surprise each other is inexhaustible. Suraj Rai: To be continuously surprised by another can evoke fear. To us it presented an ocean of possibilities. Stories became the oars with which we navigated this vast ocean. But the questions one might ask now are – How can one know another's desire to surprise? How can one become aware of the possibilities in someone? Neelofar: What is "to surprise"? Does surprise excite? Or is it that by being surprised we re-animate ourselves? Is being surprised a self-absorbing game? Or does it make us tug anew at the weave of our relationships? Jaanu Nagar: It must be said that these two words – "surprise" and "capacity" – are vital for understanding any environment or context, and to find ones own connection with it. To surprise, to think the intangibles in life and in force of life, and ones capacity to search new directions within them – these indicate the quality of ones life. Love Anand: We live in the city. In living in it, we affirm its multifareous forms, and yet we find ourselves incomplete within it. It is in this incompleteness that the desire to search begins. As we search, some people appear around us as missing persons. Azra: Everyone renews within them their stubbornness to live. We recognise it as an intellectual process, as something that expands and deepens with time. When we say 'missing', we are not talking about a lack. The 'missing' is that which provides the impetus, the capacity to move from a known threshold to multiple thresholds. We keep reaching out to those thresholds which give us the high of weaving together new creations. And this becomes part of our desires. To recognise something as 'missing', is to open oneself up to imagining and discovering oneself, new directions and ones co-travellers. Suraj: We set out on this long journey of writing. We'd write about that around us which perplexed us, and these perplexities we'd share with each other. But merely transcribing what one sees and hears – is that writing? Chiselling ones writing through ones own experience, memories and perspectives, we encountered questions. To move ahead without thinking these questions through was impossible. And so we asked ourselves: Can every day be accounted for? Can every moment be recalled and narrated? Does every passing moment get absorbed in our past? Every space is somewhat like a story. A story told over many pages. And there are those pages too, which get folded at the edges, and so, when they are turned, they either wrap and silence many pages, or open out several new pages. Time is revealed, or gets concealed in this way. And along with it, many people too. This is the threshold at which we realised that – to write is to keep active a sense of the force of life. This sense is for the writer, for the one who is being written about, and also for the thoughts and visions that unfold when one writes. [Neelofar reads a text] A cot on the road divider, and on the cot sat she... There is a pair of thick glasses on her eyes, because of which one of her eyes looks big. Her black hair are curly. Her hijaab in her hands, she is staring unblinkingly at the bald patch of land before her. Her experienced heart knows a fountain will powerfully sprout out from this land. The sand on this hillock will soon be moist; the garbage will turn to gold. This place will breathe and make space within itself for many lives to breathe within it... A strong gust of wind. It starts slowly, but then gathers velocty... The sand doesn't want to stir. The wind wants to draw it towards itself, seduce it with the promise of flight. How long can dust on the ground refuse the promise of this intoxication? Soon it let itself be carried away. And she? She sits, her eyes smarting... Each time she opens her eyes, she sees things have changed. Is it her mind, or is the world spinning? How is this place is changing the way it is? The dust is slowly settling. One can see, the bald patch of land is generating something. Have these bodies been carved out of its own mud? Or have they been carried by the wind, brought to rest here? All the bodies are in different postures. Postures that don't make it seem as if this place were new for them. It seems as if these bodies know this space, know the waves, the crests and troughs that constitute this place. [Love reads a text] It is dark in the lane now. The bottle is empty. This roof is on the seventh floor. Like countless nights that have passed, and all those nights still to come, it begins from his feet. “Tha-Tha-Thaiyya...” Till his hips gyrate to a rhythm that he alone knows. Then the tips of his body – his head, his fingers – stir. His torso sways. Every pore of his body secretes a music, each cell that makes him stirs. He begins to dance. He can’t piece together how things changed for him. But he knows something inside him was cast away, was slowly pushed aside and locked out by his surroundings. The climb up the forty steps to the roof on the seventh floor was a daily passage to solitude, so he could be alone with what was precious to him. There was a time when the roof was not all he had. The courtyard was open to the sky. It was past midnight, and there was no sign of sleep in his eyes. The drum beat loudly. Voices sang. Among these, another voice – but it didn't sound like someone was singing; it sounded like a beast letting out a wail. It was his voice. Jaanu: Confronting us, a poet in our neighbourhood said to us, “Come to me when you have a question that goes beyond my relationships and world of work.” This critique compelled us to start a new dialogue with our own self. We asked ourselves: How do we think about a space which is only beginning to get formed, where relationships and the world of work are still tenuous, and where wandering and weaving are happening together, challenging each other? To be introduced to a person, and to be introduced to a place – how are these different? Does a person become what he does because of a place? Or does a place become what it does because of the people in it? Perhaps both. Perhaps place and people keep forming each other and clashing with each other. [Neelofar and Love read] Recognising the pitch of the whistle, a flock of pigeons turned sharply in its flight, waylaying pigeons from a neighbouring flock startled by this sudden intersection. The boy continued to whistle, guiding his pigeons. He scattered grain on the roof on which he stood. Their wings flapping furiously, the pigeons alighted on the roof. The boy counted them while they pecked lustily at the grains. Each time he spotted a pigeon from another flock amidst his own, he grabbed it and pushed it into a cage. Then he set his own pigeons free to fly once again in the sky. A woman appeared at the window of her first floor. "I am roaming far more in my dreams than I can possibly roam in Sawda-Ghevra," she said. "Just recently, I was at the shrine of Lattu Shah Baba. There is so much spiritual depth and quietness there. I could see myself sitting by the shrine, offering namaz, seeking the saint's benevolence. I saw, Babaji is asking me about the good and the bad in my life, and I am answering him. Then I am going towards the shrine of Haji Ali—angels are carrying me to it. I am dressed in white clothes; I am flying. Suddenly I see, the fridge has caught fire." The man with the drums played on his drum and walked through J-block, his eyes scanning his surroundings. He paid no attention to the hullabaloo around him. He looked past it, to some point far away. But whenever he'd reach that point, it was as if by virtue of having reached it, his relation with it would end. His eyes would always be set ahead of him. Up ahead, some goats were nuzzling around in a sack, trying to chew on the cauliflowers in it. Till he was far from them, he kept looking at them; but when the man with the drums reached them, he removed his gaze from them and walked on, as if his destination lay further ahead. Did he even have a destination? He didn't halt anywhere, but only kept walking. When my niece was much younger, why did my mother scare her by saying, “Don't fuss, or the dhol wala will take you away”? She used to say the same thing to me, and possibly both my elder sisters too were kept in check by evoking this same figure. A drummer beats his drums, and amid the crowd that gathers around him because of this noise that he produces, his eyes lose their focus. Drawn by the sound, the crowd follows him, but maintains a distance. Weaving a web of glances around him, the drummer disappeared into K-block. Azra: Stories never complete themselves. They always remain unfinished, and that's their strength. This is what keeps alive an anticipation in listening, and surprises the story teller. My love for writing grew when I realised that the words that we hear around us, or which we say ourselves in our everyday, are not only part of language, but each word has an expansive world of its own. A shadow accompanies every word. A word is that tool which opens out the possibilities for creativity. These possibilities are infinite. When I realised this, I found myself inextricably bound to the shadows cast by different words. I actively began to seek them around me, and explore them in my home and among all my companions. When we find ourselves thinking, "I now understand this place", or "I understand this person completely", it means we have stopped thinking, ended our curiosity about things. "I have not understood". When one says this, s/he opens out new ways of listening and speaking. And that's when we begin to excavate again that which we thought we had already found and we had. "What is my own capacity, creativity, possibility?" This is where our journey began, but soon our words changed. Or perhaps I should say, the words that circulate between us may still be the same, but over time, their edge and their velocity keep changing. Suraj: The question is not only – "What are we giving to a context?" But equally important is the question – "What have we brought with us to that context?" Questions change. How questions are formulated, changes. The relation of the teller and the listener to words and stories also changes. "Capacity, creativity and possibility" make this flight and scaling new heights possible. But "capacity, creativity and possibility" can only breathe when they are given flight, outside ones own self. Otherwise they remain, merely, as ones experience or story. Azra: Is there anything outside experience and stories? I was finding it difficult to write beyond experience and story. My co-travellers realised this when they saw my pen had dried up. Self-love allows inner desires to flower, take flight. But it also reduces ones capacity to spread ones arms and take in other lives. How does one discern what it is that one is weaving; which possibilities we are nurturing; which possibilities we want to be in dialogue with? How will we know if we are stuck merely in repetition? How will we know if we have turned ourselves merely into archives from which we keep producing and presenting things before others? After all, that's not what we want to do! We tussled with this difficulty and searched resources so we may emerge out of our own drying up. [Love and Neelofar – dialogue] Love: Lets marry tomorrow? Neelofar: Why? What good will that do? Love: You'll start living in my house. Neelofar: Then? Love: We will live together. Neelofar: Then? Love: Those things will happen, which happen between husband and wife. We will have children. They'll call you 'ma' and me 'dad'. Neelofar: Then? Love: Don't you know? Neelofar: What's new in this? Isn't something new possible? All this has already happened in the world, hasn't it? Love: By saying this you have equated my love with everyone's love. What is it that you want? Neelofar: Something which really is different. Love: I can't think of my life without you! Neelofar: Really? And what if we don't end up together? Love: I will die then! Neelofar: That means there never was any love between us. Love: Why! Why do you think that? I love you a lot. You don't see this in what I say to you? Neelofar: I used to live even before I met you. Yes, when I met you, I felt this special feeling, and so I found my life even more beautiful than before. To me, these feelings that you have given me will remain with me even after you're not there, and they will ensure I don't feel your absence. Our love has opened new paths for me in my life. If these paths were to close after you are not with me, then what would your love have given me! Love: Do you love me at all? Neelofar: To live is to be in movement. Love which gives you opportunities of flight in life is love that will remain with you always. Whether that love be of friendship or of relationships. Love: What do you want? Why don't you just be explicit about this! Neelofar: Along with you, I want the entire world. After all, how long will we remain lost in one another? Love: Yes, you're right. Go on, take the entire world. Take whatever you want... I think, maybe you want to work. Neelofar: No. Love: Then what do you want? Neelofar: My desire is to fill each day with colours, and this is the desire I want to continue to fuel and live with in the time to come. Azra: Resources which made us emerge from ourselves, made us reach beyond ourselves. So we may find again our romance with our expressivity. A search which took us beyond our own stories and experiences, into the city, to search again a new language. [Love reads a text] Many sharp images came to mind as I sat down to write a review of Godfather. But after an sms conversation about what I was thinking with some friends, these images became blurred. As if the canvas on which I was painting had been spoiled. Thinking about this spoiled canvas, I wrote: Three men herding forty goats crossed my path. One of the men pulled a goat by its ear; the goat bleated loudly, resisted, and was dragged along, helplessly. The remaining thirty-nine goats followed quietly in line. The two men walking along them hit them with sticks occasionally. I marvelled at how dragging one goat by its ear can control an entire army of goats. The goat right in front can sense it's going to be killed and so it struggles, refusing to move. And the goats behind it follow quietly, afraid that if they don't, they will get their ears pulled! [Neelofar reads a text] Watching Chris Marker's La Jette, I felt: ...All of us see dreams with our eyes closed, and when we open our eyes, we try and think about those dreams. We search frames through which these may enter our lives. What happens if no connection remains between what we saw and what transpired? All of us nurture an inner life within our selves. It lives on inspite of the conditions of life. If this inner life – this internal life – were to be subtracted out of our lives, all that will remain, merely, is the grey, visible, social world. Lakhmi: Our emphasis on performative expression was not to veer away from either the truth or the imaginary, but was a challenge we posed to ourselves to encounter every place, each person as shape-shifting. Some questions arise: What is life? What is life force? What is to crack something open to make it reveal itself? What is a mystery? What is truth? What is a lie? What is imagination? Who are we? And who am I? And then we return again to search resources. [Love reads] Though, it must be said, one doesn't need to wait too long in order to find happiness. Just dream new dreams in your sleep at night, laugh away the indignity you felt at work, and pocket all the tickets that will lead you to happiness. These are tickets that can also be bought in black. People line up, stand in queues for these tickets! Just that they're a little scared of asking for them. Who is to say if some official is standing nearby, in vigil, to declare them as criminals if they were to ask for them. And then, everyone is wary too, of how much they will be charged for these tickets in black! [Neelofar reads] Outside the cinema hall, their back against the wall, stand many young men, countless dreams in their eyes. Eyes which are staring, now at the cinema hall, now at the actors whose photographs adorn the posters. Eyes with which they check hurriedly what the person standing next to them is looking at, or trying to look at. Maybe they have just come out after watching a show? And are still playing the character they had seen on the big screen? Maybe someone who is without a job is imagining he has found one? And someone is convinced he has now finally found the way through which he can plant the seed of his love in the heart of his beloved? Outside the cinema hall, every pair of eyes is as if dreaming many dreams. Dreams that are dreamt with open eyes can't be called strange dreams. These aren't dreams dreamt while one sleeps, which can be brushed aside after waking up. These are not daydreams, that they get left aside, tucked away in ones mind alone. Many set out to fulfil these dreams, to make them reach some kind of conclusion. That is why some head out from home, a small bag packed with a change of clothes, and a few rupees in their pockets. He disappears from his known world in search of that other world. Or someone reaches a set where a shooting is on, doing everything within his means to get a chance to show his skills. And that, in front of someone who must have first come here to be an actor himself, and is still in queue. These young men hang around the cinema hall for hours, as if stuck to its walls, waiting for that moment which will reveal to them if it is possible, after all, for what they have seen to become reality. They halt there, laze around, behold the walls, the posters, the public entering the cinema hall, the viewers emerging from the cinema hall, their friends and, if nothing else remains, themselves. A police constable, a stick beating the floor, comes near them and says, “What the hell are you doing here? Why are you standing here? Just loitering? Or are you a ticket blacker? What do you keep doing here? You're not standing here with the intention of picking someone's pocket, are you? I've been watching you for a while now.” These young men who dream with their eyes open (these “pickpockets”, “ticket blackers” and who knows what else they are or might be called next) – listen quietly, or they sometimes become gutsy and talk back. They aren't about to produce any hafta, so the constable can beat down on them a bit harder. For now, these young men will move away. But for sure, they will be back again tomorrow. Suraj: Before us today is the question – what qualities of life can we etch out in the zone between the state and the truth? These are the two poles towards which arguments often veer. And the state always asks us – what examples of “being alive” can you provide which can vouch for the truth of what you say? What are the circumstances about which we become without words? An image emerges before us when we think about this question: To embellish its truth, the state declares every person a citizen, and every space a territory. It is difficult to make an estimation of what and how many kinds of threads weave a person or a place. Because the state searches for the extent of a thing; it is not concerned with depth. The state makes rules and regulations. Those who follow them are good citizens, and those who do not, are traitors. Through what words does someone who is in the grey zone between being a good citizen and a traitor express her/himself? Azra: The state prepares its eyes in such a way that it will approve of us only when we dawn on certain costumes. But in the time this eye takes to blink, so many kinds of scenes – internal and external to us – open themselves out. Scenes in which one is free, in which one dances, makes others dance, runs, makes others run with him, where one is sometimes a stranger, at other times a neighbour, sometimes on a journey, and at other times a companion in another's travels. Jaanu: In the time between when a place breaks and is re-made, can be found many kinds of life, many kinds of signs of life. But the city – the same city that is made up of strangers, where strangers hold hands – is also expert at pretending these signs of life don't exist. Suraj: There is a place called Ghevra. A new place in the city, which is still being settled. Through this place we reached those questions which are often uttered once and forgotten, or sentenced to that realm in which they are answered in simplistic terms of behaviour, or in black and white – immense pain or joy. Places give shelter to different kinds of searches. To rest in these places is not to get planted in them, but to find in oneself a deep urge to embark on another flight. One often thinks people go to a place to search how they may settle down in it. But actually, it is after someone reaches a place that his search begins, is born in him. This search may be of many kinds – search for a habitat, for a gathering, for meeting others. That these desires emerge in every person who comes to a place is not a co-incidence. Then what is it? Many ways in which one can think about this question have to be found. The important thing is that this is a realm that can't be called or explained as “experience” or easily narrativised. Jaanu: Our book, Trickster City, begins its life in one part of the city. But this does not mean the book is based on a partition. Every word on a page breathes with life, and when things breathe, the desire to find their own way of living is born in them. Words fill a book with the breath of life. They can transform lives into a life force. No, a book is not a magical realm, but it has its ways of giving birth to worlds that are magical. Azra: There are many paths ahead. Open arms call out to us. We thank you all, once again, for being with us today. We hope you will read this book, and will want to continue this conversation with us. Thankyou ------------------------- Trickster City: Writings from the belly of the metropolis by Azra Tabassum el at (translated from Hindi) has been published by Penguin India, 2010. Trickster City is available at any bookstore across India and can also be purchased online from http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/category/Anthology/Trickster_City_9780670083329.aspx It is possible to buy Trickster City from outside India. Write to: customer.service[at]in.penguingroup[dot]com To buy Trickster City from the US, go to: http://www.indiaplaza.in/trickster-city-writings-from-belly-of-metropolis-us-shippingvarious/books/Tricksterr.htm Read a review of the book and a conversation with the writers in TimeOut Delhi at http://www.timeoutdelhi.net/books/book_feature_details.asp?code=86 Read about Trickster in Tehelka here http://www.tehelka.com/story_main44.asp?filename=hub130310slum_doggerel.asp Trickster City in Mint http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/05203751/Listen-to-this-Delhi.html?d=1 Read more about Trickster City at http://www.sarai.net/practices/cybermohalla/public-dialogue/books/trickster-city From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Mon Mar 8 14:14:25 2010 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de ([nmf2010}) Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:44:25 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?NewMediaFest=272010_-_program_-_week?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_11?= Message-ID: <20100308094426.973B4AE9.2E191E92@192.168.0.3> NewMediaFest'2010 Feature of the week 11 - 8-14 March 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=680 ---------------------------------------------------- The venues Manipulated Image Santa Fe (USA) - 12 March Traverse Video Festival Toulouse (France) - 11-14 March Oslo Screen Festival (Norway) - 12 - 14 March ---------------------------------------------------- 12 March Manipulate Image @ The Complex Santa Fe - New Mexico (USA) For the Action's Sake - screening, project, installation, performance event - co-curated by Alysss Stepanian (curator of MI) and Wilfried Agricola de Cologne (curator of VideoChannel/CologneOFF) --> Manipulated Image selection artists selected by Alysse Stepanian John Criscitello (New York), 2- David Kareyan (Armenia) Ulf Kristiansen (Norway), Jonas Nilsson (Sweden) Roland Wegerer (Austria), Julia Zastava (Moscow, Russia) --> The VideoChannel selection is featuring Daniel LoIocono (Germany), David Jakubovic (USA) Ioannis Roumeliotis (Greece), Rafael (Belgium) Ascan Breuer (Germany), Alex Lora (Spain) Casey Mckee (USA), Daniel Rodrigo (Spain) more details on http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=680 ---------------------------------------------------- 12 March Traverse Videofestival Toulouse/France - 11-13 March 2010 http://www.traverse-video.org --> program VIDEO D'ICI ET D'AILLEURS » shows the Agricola de Cologne videos -Encoded-, 5:50, 2008 Hairdryer, 2008, 1:00 Mi nombre es Wilfried, 2009, 6:00 more details on http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=680 ---------------------------------------------------- 11-14 March 2010 Oslo Screen Festival http://www.screenfestival.no presents the Agricola de Cologne video --> Silent Cry more details on http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=680 14 March OSLO Screen Festival - 11-14 March 2010 presetation/screening - --> CologneOFF IV & V - curated and presented by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne featuring Lin Fangsuo (China), Roland Wegerer (Austria) Casey McKee (USA), Masha Yosefpolsky (Israel) Alex Lora (Spain). Anna Porzelt (Germany) Frank Gatti (France), Istvan Rusvai (Hungary) more details on http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=680 ---------------------------------------------------- NewMediaFest'2010 10 Years [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne global heritage of digital culture 1 January - 31 December 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org director and chief curator: Wilfried Agricola de Cologne 2010 [at] newmediafest.org ---------------------------------------------------- From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Mon Mar 8 15:10:55 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:10:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of plain speech ? In-Reply-To: <119552.85280.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <4F857C51-135E-4B60-9E1B-BF9FD568A66F@sarai.net> <119552.85280.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <7271ec561003080140u15f4493awc85844b18034fc69@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, who are we decieving with this sort of intellectual repartees.? Arundhathi Roy, supposed to be "intellectual" with one novel, and a booker reward, later went in to essays and further proved to society, her mindset, that of a deviant, who has no qualms about violent means to achive the ends that some dream of derailing democratic rule of laws, not that the rule of laws are working without any faults. No doubt the rule of laws is not perfect, has defects in governance, but to blame the rule of laws instead of corrections in each of us to follow the rule of laws, by awareness, importance of rule of laws is the need of the society. That the this Arundhathi Roy was irritated, uncomfortable when the media sought answrs for the atrocities by the naxal cadres was obivious if the viewers had seen the programme, when Roy replied," who are you to question me, why should I answer you," and left the chair from the conference and press meet. Worst, none of the panellists had answers in the conference of meet the press about the violence of naxal cadres, but some sought to deflect with "state sponsored" terror. Basic issue is is the law keepers of the state have to use the force to meet the force or remain "non-vilent" against the looters, extortions and raposts, if they happen to be naxals.? Do we have different rules to different citizens who indulge in deviant behaviour, or is it that sikh riots have a different take, gujarath riots have a different take and violence of naxals have to be tackled differently.? As far as a common citizen, me is concerned, who ever does not follow the rules of society in the guise of bringing in the the rule of their leaders, by violent methods, they are not doing favour to society, they are subverting democratic rights of freedom. Walking and talking nations who go by labels of being intellectuals have the credo of being secular, secular for them seems to mean be littling any other faith than the organised faiths, as these oganised faiths have a day to pray, then after the prayer can take to violence to "teach" the "intellectuals" to keep away from their faiths.! Regards, On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 5:11 AM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > Hi Shuddha, > The economic contract that you have hypothesized is incorrect.By your logic > the government is not accountable to anyone who does not pay taxes. > In fact, the contract is drawn and the power is vested in the government > with respect to a group of people deciding collectively how they want to > live in a state of law.The taxes are only a small part of the contract. > The Maoists are also accountable to that contract, so is the state. > > Again, the application of the same money principle with respect to the > Maoists is incorrect as well. Any movement requires both ideas and > material.Anyone who provides ideological support to the Maoists is > responsible for them in the same way as someone who provides material > support. > Thanks > Rahul > --- On Sat, 3/6/10, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > > > From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > Subject: [Reader-list] Aditya Raj Kaul 'uncomfortable' in the presence of > plain speech ? > > To: "S. Jabbar" > > Cc: "reader-list list" > > Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010, 12:17 PM > > Dear All, > > > > Thank you Sonia, for pointing out the obvious facts, which > > Aditya Raj > > Kaul seems to have missed out on. Yes, the video on the > > Times Now > > website, forwarded by Aditay Raj Kaul in the post titled > > 'Arundhati > > Roy 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence!' is totally > > misleading, > > partly because, as you pointed out, there was no Arundhati > > Roy in the > > video. > > > > Morover, neither Sumit Chakravarti, nor Dileep Simeon have > > ever said > > that they are sympathisers of the Maoists. In fact each one > > of them > > has at some time or the other made statements critical of > > the > > Maoists. What they have of course also done is that > > they have refused to let their criticism of the Maoists get > > in the > > way of the fundamental critique they make of the Indian > > state and its > > clients in the course of the so called 'Operation Green > > Hunt' > > > > The Indian state is engaged in a deeply violent armed > > campaign in > > support of the MOUs delivered to corporate interests in > > central > > India. If one the one hand we have Maoists, then, on the > > other, we > > have MOUists. > > > > The MOUist campaign works through terror and intimidation, > > and is > > fuelled by naked greed. In the presence of such brute > > force, it is > > not at all unnatural that those who are subject to that > > force may > > often find themselves allied with others who are > > antagonists of that > > force. This simple fact demonstrates the presence of the > > Maoists in > > the so called 'red corridor'. If the state was serious > > about > > undercutting the Maoists, all that it would have to do is > > to stop > > acting as the protection mafia for mining and corporate > > interests in > > Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and the entire region, and > > the Maoists > > would be rendered as irrelevant as they were before a crop > > of MOUs > > were signed. Instead, they have burnt villages, acted as > > accessories > > to disappearance, rape and murder. > > > > There is a fundamental distinction that needs to be kept in > > mind. > > > > I pay taxes, many of us pay taxes, which fund the state, > > which, when > > it engages in the abuse of human rights and disregards its > > own laws, > > is basically abusing my money, your money, to set itself up > > as a > > criminal operation. I neither pay the Maoists any taxes, > > nor endorse > > or support them. They are not accountable to me, nor am I > > accountable > > to them. But the Indian state is accountable to me, and to > > all of us, > > because, basically, we pay for it. > > > > Similarly, the money we spend on commodities is used to > > fund the > > advertising that pays for television channels like Times > > Now. In that > > sense, both the state, and the corporate media are > > accountable to all > > of us for everything that they do. I do not believe that my > > tax > > paying money being used to set up a protection racket and a > > pr > > exercise for extractive industries and to eject people from > > their > > forests is the right thing, and therefore, I will always be > > combative > > when the impunity and irresponsibility of the state and the > > corporate > > media is exposed. I have a right to criticise the state, > > and the > > media, on this account. > > > > The same cannot be said insofar as the criticism of the > > Maoists is > > concerned. I am critical of the Maoists and their politics, > > and their > > methods, because of my political convictions. And being a > > critic of > > the state does not automatically turn one into a > > 'sympathiser' of the > > Maoists, as Arnab Goswami would have us believe. We should > > all refuse > > to be made subject to such false choices. Arnab, > > repeatedly, tries to > > insinuate that some of the intellectuals who have appeared > > on his > > programme refuse to let themselves be called 'symapthizers' > > because > > they have something to hide. In his book, one is either > > with the > > state on Green Hunt, or else, one automatically becomes a > > 'Maoist > > Sympathizer'. He either does not have the intelligence to > > realize > > that one can be critical, in different ways, to different > > ends, of > > the state and the Maoists, and that all resistance to the > > state is > > not necessarily coming from the Maoists alone. > > > > In fact, twice, I have seen him refer to a 'letter' > > critical of the > > Maoists, signed by several intellectuals on the left, > > without > > bothering to mention, even though it was pointed out to him > > on his > > own programme by Saroj Giri, just the other day, that it > > was in fact > > equally critical of the state's actions. Times Now is > > proving to be > > so slippory that it should perhaps be called Slimes Now. > > > > Nobody who is not a Maoist can be held responsible for what > > the > > Maoists do, simply because our resources are not being used > > by them. > > However, we are all implicated in the state's abuses, > > because they > > are a) done in our name, and b) done with our money. > > > > How dare then, Arnab Goswami act as a front man for the > > mafia (the > > faction that controls the Indian state) that abuses our > > trust and our > > money to wreck havoc in parts of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, > > West Bengal, > > Orissa, Maharashtra and Bihar. > > > > I think its time we asked the question as to what > > makes Arnab > > Goswami, and others of his ilk, such open MOUists and > > 'sympathisers > > of state terror'. > > > > Incidentally, the right urls for this travesty of > > television are - > > > > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/ > > > > videoshow/4339945.cms > > > > http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-2/ > > > > videoshow/4339952.cms > > > > And no, I did not see Arundhati Roy in this show, nor was > > she quoted > > with any precision in terms of what she, or anyone else for > > that > > matter is supposed to have said at the Press Conference. > > Is Aditya > > Raj Kaul in need of help, in that he sees Ms. Roy in a > > television > > programme, even when she is not in the television > > programme. > > > > And by the way, Arnab Goswami never looks uncomfortable. > > Maybe > > because he is way too comfortable for his own good. > > > > best > > > > Shuddha > > > > On 06-Mar-10, at 11:14 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > > > > > I watched the video and it's totally misleading. > > > > > > Not one panelist called himself a Maoist sympathizer > > and Dilip > > > Simeon even > > > points out to the misleading headline over all 3 > > panelists-- even > > > Praveen > > > Swami of all people!! > > > > > > All 3 panelists condemned Maoist violence. Sumit > > Chakravarty makes a > > > distinction between tribals taking up arms and the > > Maoists, but > > > even he > > > unequivocally condemns beheadings and summary > > executions. > > > > > > Arundhati Roy was absent in both videos. Arnab > > Goswami makes a > > > reference to > > > her discomfort in a press conference which we never > > see... > > > > > > Where was the embarrassment and where were the Maoist > > sympathizers? > > > What a total waste of time and so typical of the > > hysteria that > > > Times Now > > > tries to pass off as responsible journalism. > > > > > > > > >> From: "A.K. Malik" > > >> Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 20:26:41 -0800 (PST) > > >> To: Aditya Raj Kaul > > >> Cc: > > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy > > 'uncomfortable' to > > >> condemn violence! > > >> > > >> Dear Mr Kaul, > > > > > In the TV visuals the embarrassment was writ > > >> large on the faces of the sympatizers. May be once > > taken sides, > > >> they seem to > > >> be scared to go against the Maoists.Such people > > need more > > >> condemnation than > > >> the ordinary mortals. > > > Regards, > > > > > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > > > > > --- On Fri, 3/5/10, Aditya Raj > > >> Kaul > > wrote: > > > > > >> From: Aditya Raj Kaul > > >> > > >> Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy > > >> 'uncomfortable' to condemn violence! > > >> To: "sarai list" > > >> > > >> Date: Friday, March 5, 2010, 11:33 PM > > >> *Debate: > > >> Sympathisers looking > > >> uncomfortable* > > >> > > >> *Courtesy: Times Now* > > >> > > >> Last > > >> evening, Maoist terrorists shot a rape victim who > > went > > >> to lodge a > > >> > > >> complaint against them. They even murdered a poor > > factory > > >> worker because > > >> his > > >> owner refused to pay a ramsom. Today, Maoists > > sympathizers > > >> held a > > >> press > > >> conference in New Delhi against the government's > > 'Operation > > >> > > >> Greenhunt', and > > >> when confronted with direct questions on Maoist > > terror, > > >> the > > >> defence was weak > > >> to say the least. They give unconvincing replies > > on > > >> Maoist > > >> violence. > > >> > > >> TIMES NOW Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami debates > > the > > >> issue > > >> of ideology of the > > >> Maoists and Maoist sympathisers avoiding pointed > > >> questions > > >> with Dilip > > >> Simeon, Writer and Research Scholar; Praveen > > Swami, > > >> > > >> Associate Editor, 'The > > >> Hindu' and Sumit Chakravartty Editor, > > 'Mainstream'. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Link - > > >> > > >> http://www.timesnow.tv/Debate-Sympathisers-looking-uncomfortable-1/ > > > > >> videoshow/4 > > >> 339945.cms > > >> _________________________________________ > > >> 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: > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > Raqs Media Collective > > shuddha at sarai.net > > www.sarai.net > > www.raqsmediacollective.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: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Mon Mar 8 15:19:58 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:19:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Importance of Being Arnab (Goswami) In-Reply-To: <8AAB3086-3451-43AA-8301-4FFEC5B27D1E@sarai.net> References: <1CE4C306-E537-4017-AC27-99A8F5E4B9AC@sarai.net> <6b79f1a71003060219u55ab622dl376f5ef779596c2@mail.gmail.com> <8AAB3086-3451-43AA-8301-4FFEC5B27D1E@sarai.net> Message-ID: <7271ec561003080149g6d9845ffod79b850ef3b9a9af@mail.gmail.com> That the anchors are no more "journalists" is well known issue with tv viewers, but moot issue is how is it that the "intellectuals " sit with them, on the panels to mold the opinions and doctor the spins and be the hidden persuaders for the oldest party which died natural death in 1969.? With divided polity, today the vote banks based on castes, faiths and regions and languages, the ill organised individuals and the castes are neglcted lot in democratic life of rule of laws.Few years ago, it was pointed out to NDTV the funny and amusing behaviours of Arnab who with vineer of being polite was arrogant beast with his anchoring, and as luck could have it, the times now grabbed this anchor, who just wanted this type for their paid news service, and rajdeep and sagarika had field day with american sponsorship, and awards was assured when barkha was in the list of tokenism of padma, so was rajdeep, but Arnab was missing thanks to his style of polite rubbing of all the right persons in wrong places.! Regards, On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 4:09 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Agreed, it fits Sagarika too, and Barkha Dutt, and Rajdeep Sardesai, > but Mr. Goswami, crown prince of smugness himself, somehow takes the > cake ! > > best > > Shuddha > > > On 06-Mar-10, at 3:49 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > Rather unfair ....I think it actually fits Sagarika's attitude. > > > > On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > wrote: > > Dear All, > > > > Apropos of the recent small flurry of TV news, and specifically Arnab > > Goswami related posts on the list - here is something that I enjoyed > > reading enormously, and so, thought that I would pass along to the > > rest of the list - it was posted on a blog called www.rollon.in on > > the 19th of December, 2009. > > > > Enjoy, > > > > Shuddha > > -------------------- > > Arnab Goswami Allows Interviewee to Answer > > > > http://www.rollon.in/2009/12/19/arnab-goswami-allows-interviewee-to- > > answer/ > > In an unprecedented event earlier this evening, Arnab Goswami, the > > Editor-In-Chief for Times Now, stayed silent for a full 5 seconds > > during News Hour, allowing his guests to speak, and sending the TRP > > ratings for the channel soaring through the roof. This shocking > > moment occurred while the usually chirpy Arnab was interviewing an > > expert panel of celebrities, regarding Borivali’s recent demand for > > statehood. > > > > The news has been received with varied reactions from all over. > > Rajdeep Sardesai, from a competing news channel, said he’d like to > > maintain a dignified silence regarding this development, right after > > pointing out that the gimmick was ‘too low even by Arnab’s dwarfish > > standards’. Mahesh Bhatt called in earlier today from his mobile home > > parked permanently outside the offices of 24×7, saying that the news > > was provocative, communal and biased. He further demanded that the > > censor board be banned for this. When pointed out that the Censor > > Board had no role to play in this incident, he said that it was > > beside the point, and the censor board should be banned regardless. > > Throughout the telecon, Suhel Seth, seated beside Mr. Bhatt, kept > > shouting obsceneties. When asked to comment, he said that he was > > infuriated with the situation for no particular reason and threatened > > to go without a hair cut for a further six months. > > > > The most candid response came from the expert panel itself. > > Apparently, they were flabbergasted that Arnab betrayed their trust > > on national television. As usual before News Hour, the panel had been > > briefed that absolutely no answers would be required from them > > throughout the program, since Arnab will keep questioning without > > pauses; their role was restricted to trying to fit in as many > > interjections and conjunctions (Whoa!, But, Ah!) in between to give > > the illusion of them actually having something to say. So, fifteen > > minutes into the program, Ms. Ameesha Patel was understandably > > embarrassed when she found herself forced to sing ‘Yeahhh lazy lazy > > lamhe…’ to Arnab’s question on her opinion on a federal government > > structure. > > > > On the other side of the border, Pakistan Interior Minister, Mr. > > Rehman Malik, noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, and > > urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > > overcome these forces of evil. When reminded that it was the Times > > Now incident and not another bomb blast for which his reaction was > > being sought, he noted that this was a difficult time for Pakistan, > > and urged the citizens to be brave and help the nation to collective > > overcome the forces of evil. > > > > Arnab himself chose to downplay the incident, pointing out that the > > magnitude of the incident had been blown out of proportions by the > > media. ‘I remember being silent for a full 6 seconds back in 1985 > > while honing my interviewing skills on my pet dog. That being said, I > > know that the people of India are dying for an answer. So, you can > > join us today on News Hour to find out WHY ARNAB PAUSED,’ said Arnab > > with his trademark authoritative voice, while leaning over the desk > > on one arm. > > > > Note: All of this is obviously untrue. Arnab didn’t pause. > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > > Raqs Media Collective > > shuddha at sarai.net > > www.sarai.net > > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> > -- Rajen. From nicole.wolf0 at googlemail.com Wed Mar 3 02:06:56 2010 From: nicole.wolf0 at googlemail.com (Nicole Wolf) Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 21:36:56 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] CFP - Visible Evidence XVII -- Istanbul 9-12 August] Message-ID: <2c6b48731003021236t6e5005acr5f15c4ebca00747e@mail.gmail.com> Dear all - i wanted to spread this call for papers (or other forms of presentation), amongst the readers of this list. thanks for taking a look and please scroll down for further information on the overall conference. best wishes, Nicole Thinking with Documentary in the Revolution (Panel within VISIBLE EVIDENCE conference) This panel will investigate documentaries that make an intervention in situations of political precariousness, and are produced through filmmaking practices that have affinities with Third Cinema. It will invite papers that attempt to think with these documentary aesthetics and actions that emerged from specific locations and moments of liberation struggle and postcolonial conflict, as a means to expand critical thinking developed in the field of visual culture. The panel will seek to explore various questions: What does revolutionary documentary want to produce – an event, a critical space, a reversal of social roles, a transformation of subjectivity, new social relations? What might a revolutionary documentary look like now? What happens to documentary testimonies in situations of historical erasure and/or de-politicisation? What new concepts might be demanded in order to understand both the singularity and the possible connectedness of these films and the circumstances of their production? The panel will seek to open a discussion on the extent to which these practices may form a constellation of alternative histories and geographies of political documentary. Thinking from these other histories of political filmmaking which were in alliance, directly or indirectly, with the textual and filmic manifestos of the late 1960s and 1970s, the panel will question whether similar networks and constellations can be identified in contemporary moments of precariousness and political conflict, which once again question and challenge the documentary image and its efficacy, but also bring to light other ways of returning to documentary as a mode of intervention. How do these materials enable new ways of thinking about the present? Can they make new critical interventions in different contexts of media production and circulation? What emergent forms and networks of engaged documentary might we begin to identify in the contemporary world? Please send paper proposals to n.wolf at gold.ac.uk or r.gray at gold.ac.uk by 12 March. ---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: Visible Evidence XVII CFP -- Istanbul 9-12 August From: "Alisa Lebow" Date: Mon, March 1, 2010 4:42 pm To: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apologies for cross-posting. Please Circulate Widely and beyond the usual networks! Proposals to Individual Panels Deadline: 12 March (send proposal to panel chairs, see attached). Open Call for Papers Deadline: 30 March. Attached is a list of panels that have been accepted by the Visible Evidence XVII Conference Committee (also available at www.visibleevidence.org ). If you are interested in participating in one of these panels, send a paper proposal directly to the chair(s) of the panel by March 12th. The panel chairs will make their decisions by March 19th. Any person whose paper proposal is not accepted by a panel chair is welcome to apply to the Open Call for Papers, which has a deadline of March 30th. (Proposals for the open call should be sent to Alisa Lebow: asl36 at earthlink.net). ••• Alisa Lebow www.alisalebow.co.uk ****************************************** Nicole Wolf Lecturer Department of Visual Cultures Goldsmiths, University of London New Cross London SE14 6NW Direct Line: 0044 (0)20 7078 5116 Departmental: 0044 (0)20 7919 7490 e-mail: n.wolf at gold.ac.uk From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Mon Mar 8 18:00:39 2010 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 18:00:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] where agriculture is going Message-ID: <564b2fca1003080430x79e6595fxc05cd52e52f583d3@mail.gmail.com> Look where agriculture is going, including by 'Indian' companies. Longish piece but worth reading. Naga How food and water are driving a 21st-century African land grab An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens * John Vidal * o The Observer, Sunday 7 March 2010 We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia's largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches over 20 hectares – the size of 20 football pitches. The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology minimises water use from two bore-holes and 1,000 women pick and pack 50 tonnes of food a day. Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East. Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world's most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations. The 1,000 hectares of land which contain the Awassa greenhouses are leased for 99 years to a Saudi billionaire businessman, Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, one of the 50 richest men in the world. His Saudi Star company plans to spend up to $2bn acquiring and developing 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia in the next few years. So far, it has bought four farms and is already growing wheat, rice, vegetables and flowers for the Saudi market. It expects eventually to employ more than 10,000 people. But Ethiopia is only one of 20 or more African countries where land is being bought or leased for intensive agriculture on an immense scale in what may be the greatest change of ownership since the colonial era. An Observer investigation estimates that up to 50m hectares of land – an area more than double the size of the UK – has been acquired in the last few years or is in the process of being negotiated by governments and wealthy investors working with state subsidies. The data used was collected by Grain, the International Institute for Environment and Development, the International Land Coalition, ActionAid and other non-governmental groups. The land rush, which is still accelerating, has been triggered by the worldwide food shortages which followed the sharp oil price rises in 2008, growing water shortages and the European Union's insistence that 10% of all transport fuel must come from plant-based biofuels by 2015. In many areas the deals have led to evictions, civil unrest and complaints of "land grabbing". The experience of Nyikaw Ochalla, an indigenous Anuak from the Gambella region of Ethiopia now living in Britain but who is in regular contact with farmers in his region, is typical. He said: "All of the land in the Gambella region is utilised. Each community has and looks after its own territory and the rivers and farmlands within it. It is a myth propagated by the government and investors to say that there is waste land or land that is not utilised in Gambella. "The foreign companies are arriving in large numbers, depriving people of land they have used for centuries. There is no consultation with the indigenous population. The deals are done secretly. The only thing the local people see is people coming with lots of tractors to invade their lands. "All the land round my family village of Illia has been taken over and is being cleared. People now have to work for an Indian company. Their land has been compulsorily taken and they have been given no compensation. People cannot believe what is happening. Thousands of people will be affected and people will go hungry." It is not known if the acquisitions will improve or worsen food security in Africa, or if they will stimulate separatist conflicts, but a major World Bank report due to be published this month is expected to warn of both the potential benefits and the immense dangers they represent to people and nature. Leading the rush are international agribusinesses, investment banks, hedge funds, commodity traders, sovereign wealth funds as well as UK pension funds, foundations and individuals attracted by some of the world's cheapest land. Together they are scouring Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana and elsewhere. Ethiopia alone has approved 815 foreign-financed agricultural projects since 2007. Any land there, which investors have not been able to buy, is being leased for approximately $1 per year per hectare. Saudi Arabia, along with other Middle Eastern emirate states such as Qatar, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, is thought to be the biggest buyer. In 2008 the Saudi government, which was one of the Middle East's largest wheat-growers, announced it was to reduce its domestic cereal production by 12% a year to conserve its water. It earmarked $5bn to provide loans at preferential rates to Saudi companies which wanted to invest in countries with strong agricultural potential . Meanwhile, the Saudi investment company Foras, backed by the Islamic Development Bank and wealthy Saudi investors, plans to spend $1bn buying land and growing 7m tonnes of rice for the Saudi market within seven years. The company says it is investigating buying land in Mali, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda. By turning to Africa to grow its staple crops, Saudi Arabia is not just acquiring Africa's land but is securing itself the equivalent of hundreds of millions of gallons of scarce water a year. Water, says the UN, will be the defining resource of the next 100 years. Since 2008 Saudi investors have bought heavily in Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya. Last year the first sacks of wheat grown in Ethiopia for the Saudi market were presented by al-Amoudi to King Abdullah. Some of the African deals lined up are eye-wateringly large: China has signed a contract with the Democratic Republic of Congo to grow 2.8m hectares of palm oil for biofuels. Before it fell apart after riots, a proposed 1.2m hectares deal between Madagascar and the South Korean company Daewoo would have included nearly half of the country's arable land. Land to grow biofuel crops is also in demand. "European biofuel companies have acquired or requested about 3.9m hectares in Africa. This has led to displacement of people, lack of consultation and compensation, broken promises about wages and job opportunities," said Tim Rice, author of an ActionAid report which estimates that the EU needs to grow crops on 17.5m hectares, well over half the size of Italy, if it is to meet its 10% biofuel target by 2015. "The biofuel land grab in Africa is already displacing farmers and food production. The number of people going hungry will increase," he said. British firms have secured tracts of land in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania to grow flowers and vegetables. Indian companies, backed by government loans, have bought or leased hundreds of thousands of hectares in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique, where they are growing rice, sugar cane, maize and lentils to feed their domestic market. Nowhere is now out of bounds. Sudan, emerging from civil war and mostly bereft of development for a generation, is one of the new hot spots. South Korean companies last year bought 700,000 hectares of northern Sudan for wheat cultivation; the United Arab Emirates have acquired 750,000 hectares and Saudi Arabia last month concluded a 42,000-hectare deal in Nile province. The government of southern Sudan says many companies are now trying to acquire land. "We have had many requests from many developers. Negotiations are going on," said Peter Chooli, director of water resources and irrigation, in Juba last week. "A Danish group is in discussions with the state and another wants to use land near the Nile." In one of the most extraordinary deals, buccaneering New York investment firm Jarch Capital, run by a former commodities trader, Philip Heilberg, has leased 800,000 hectares in southern Sudan near Darfur. Heilberg has promised not only to create jobs but also to put 10% or more of his profits back into the local community. But he has been accused by Sudanese of "grabbing" communal land and leading an American attempt to fragment Sudan and exploit its resources. Devlin Kuyek, a Montreal-based researcher with Grain, said investing in Africa was now seen as a new food supply strategy by many governments. "Rich countries are eyeing Africa not just for a healthy return on capital, but also as an insurance policy. Food shortages and riots in 28 countries in 2008, declining water supplies, climate change and huge population growth have together made land attractive. Africa has the most land and, compared with other continents, is cheap," he said. "Farmland in sub-Saharan Africa is giving 25% returns a year and new technology can treble crop yields in short time frames," said Susan Payne, chief executive of Emergent Asset Management, a UK investment fund seeking to spend $50m on African land, which, she said, was attracting governments, corporations, multinationals and other investors. "Agricultural development is not only sustainable, it is our future. If we do not pay great care and attention now to increase food production by over 50% before 2050, we will face serious food shortages globally," she said. But many of the deals are widely condemned by both western non-government groups and nationals as "new colonialism", driving people off the land and taking scarce resources away from people. We met Tegenu Morku, a land agent, in a roadside cafe on his way to the region of Oromia in Ethiopia to find 500 hectares of land for a group of Egyptian investors. They planned to fatten cattle, grow cereals and spices and export as much as possible to Egypt. There had to be water available and he expected the price to be about 15 birr (75p) per hectare per year – less than a quarter of the cost of land in Egypt and a tenth of the price of land in Asia. "The land and labour is cheap and the climate is good here. Everyone – Saudis, Turks, Chinese, Egyptians – is looking. The farmers do not like it because they get displaced, but they can find land elsewhere and, besides, they get compensation, equivalent to about 10 years' crop yield," he said. Oromia is one of the centres of the African land rush. Haile Hirpa, president of the Oromia studies' association, said last week in a letter of protest to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon that India had acquired 1m hectares, Djibouti 10,000 hectares, Saudi Arabia 100,000 hectares, and that Egyptian, South Korean, Chinese, Nigerian and other Arab investors were all active in the state. "This is the new, 21st-century colonisation. The Saudis are enjoying the rice harvest, while the Oromos are dying from man-made famine as we speak," he said. The Ethiopian government denied the deals were causing hunger and said that the land deals were attracting hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign investments and tens of thousands of jobs. A spokesman said: "Ethiopia has 74m hectares of fertile land, of which only 15% is currently in use – mainly by subsistence farmers. Of the remaining land, only a small percentage – 3 to 4% – is offered to foreign investors. Investors are never given land that belongs to Ethiopian farmers. The government also encourages Ethiopians in the diaspora to invest in their homeland. They bring badly needed technology, they offer jobs and training to Ethiopians, they operate in areas where there is suitable land and access to water." The reality on the ground is different, according to Michael Taylor, a policy specialist at the International Land Coalition. "If land in Africa hasn't been planted, it's probably for a reason. Maybe it's used to graze livestock or deliberately left fallow to prevent nutrient depletion and erosion. Anybody who has seen these areas identified as unused understands that there is no land in Ethiopia that has no owners and users." Development experts are divided on the benefits of large-scale, intensive farming. Indian ecologist Vandana Shiva said in London last week that large-scale industrial agriculture not only threw people off the land but also required chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, intensive water use, and large-scale transport, storage and distribution which together turned landscapes into enormous mono-cultural plantations. "We are seeing dispossession on a massive scale. It means less food is available and local people will have less. There will be more conflict and political instability and cultures will be uprooted. The small farmers of Africa are the basis of food security. The food availability of the planet will decline," she says. But Rodney Cooke, director at the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, sees potential benefits. "I would avoid the blanket term 'land-grabbing'. Done the right way, these deals can bring benefits for all parties and be a tool for development." Lorenzo Cotula, senior researcher with the International Institute for Environment and Development, who co-authored a report on African land exchanges with the UN fund last year, found that well-structured deals could guarantee employment, better infrastructures and better crop yields. But badly handled they could cause great harm, especially if local people were excluded from decisions about allocating land and if their land rights were not protected. Water is also controversial. Local government officers in Ethiopia told the Observer that foreign companies that set up flower farms and other large intensive farms were not being charged for water. "We would like to, but the deal is made by central government," said one. In Awassa, the al-Amouni farm uses as much water a year as 100,000 Ethiopians. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 8 19:56:41 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 19:56:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003080626j29cf830ejcebf2ef8332b0cb5@mail.gmail.com> Dear Readers , Before I am being misinterpreted once again , i wish to clarify that the subject line is not mine . This is a statement by Gen Hamid Gul of Pakistan. The reason I am sharing his interview is for the reason that I found his thoughts very similar to Lashkar & Taliban. Just wanted to know if others feel the same ? Pawan Durani http://generalhamidgul.com/home “America is history, Karzai is history, the Taliban are the future” You recently said 'the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in Afghanistan'. Isn't that a little far-fetched? The Americans are defeated. It isn't necessarily because their firepower and their might has weakened, but it is because their own people are sick and tired [of engagement in Afghanistan]. There is fatigue now, fatigue is the threat and is the worst thing for a nation to suffer from. There is no way that the Americans can hold on to Afghanistan. Could that lead to [Afghanistan President] Hamid Karzai's government being toppled? Karzai is no more. He is now fighting for his life. They have already started telling him that by the end of this year he will have to shoulder the responsibility of security in Afghanistan. But what are they giving him for this? Nothing at all. In fact, more civilian casualties in military operations are going to weaken Karzai's position. Some in Afghanistan believe that the extent of civilian casualties has empowered the Taliban's resurgence. It is not only that. While the civilian casualties have certainly made the Taliban a popular movement in Afghanistan - some 80 per cent of the population support them - the people of Afghanistan are fed up with corruption. They are sick of the influence of warlords and drug barons, and the continued American occupation. If it was a shot stint - come in and get out after completing the job - the situation would have been different. But the Americans didn't do that. If they wanted to disperse al-Qaeda, they succeeded after the first year, and after that they should have pulled out. The fact they stayed on betrays their real intentions in Afghanistan until Barack Obama, the US president, came and started talking about withdrawal. It was only last December that Obama announced that the US will pull out of Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton said the same thing, but there is a dichotomy. On the one hand they say 'We are not here to stay in Afghanistan', but on the other hand they carry out surges and want to prop up and build the Afghan Army. However, they don't give the money to build the Afghan Army - just $140mn. Compare this to how much it costs the US to keep just one soldier in Afghanistan - $1mn dollars per soldier per year in Afghanistan. They have now about 68,000 US troops. It is currently costing them $65bn just to maintain these troops. There are another 30,000 US troops now coming, so it will cost the US $100bn a year to maintain its forces in Afghanistan. The US is a heavily indebted nation so how are they going to afford this? Some 57 per cent of Americans in the polls say they don't like this war and want their boys to return home. The Americans can't take casualties, that is their problem. To compensate, they started employing security contractors, some 104,000 security contractors currently in Afghanistan. What does this mean? Mercenaries to be used where troops cannot be deployed? We have already seen what mercenaries did in Iraq. The Americans are more and more inclined - because the US military cannot suffer casualties - to employ mercenaries, not just from the US but also from the local population. This is a very dangerous trend if we are to believe that mercenaries can win wars and carry forward the political objectives of the country. This means that whoever has more money can employ more mercenaries, win wars, win territories, etc. Given everything you have just said, how do you think the latest US and Nato offensive against the Taliban is going to play out? It is not going to work. I think it is an 'eye wash', it has political purpose back home. But there is no political purpose for Afghanistan. They are saying that they are protecting the civilian population, but they are dislodging the civilians from their homes in very harsh weather conditions in Afghanistan. The cold winds from the steppes of Central Asia sweep these regions. When you launch such military operations, the people are inevitably dislodged and their fields abandoned. In this situation, what are the Americans trying to achieve - I don't know. There is much ambiguity about their political objectives. Every military conflict must have a political purpose. I cannot discern that there is any political purpose. >From a strategic point of view, Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan has been seen as setting up a buffer, or deterrent, to India. But now that Pakistan has nuclear capability, how important is Afghanistan to Islamabad? We want a friendly Afghanistan. We know India is playing havoc with us. The Pakistani Taliban are being sponsored by the Indian intelligence and the Mossad, by the way, to carry out their attacks in Pakistan. The Mossad is very active in Pakistan and they are providing all the guidance and technical support to the Indian intelligence. So, Pakistan has to have its back covered - no country can fight on two fronts. We have to have a friendly Afghanistan, this does not mean that we dominate Afghanistan. No one can dominate Afghanistan, a country which has already buried two superpowers and the third one is about to be buried there. No, that's not the purpose Pakistan has in Afghanistan. Is the failure to stabilise Afghanistan adversely affecting Pakistan's own security? Yes, indeed it is. The conflict is not just derivative of the failures of the Kabul government - that is a puppet government. The real cause of the conflict is the occupation of Afghanistan by the Americans. If they go out, and after such a time - post-US occupation, the OIC and the Muslim countries have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself. I do not think that Afghanistan will be another Vietnam for the Americans because they have said they will pull out. Obama is a president who is very clear. In his State of the Union address, I think it was clear he was not addressing terrorism but instead focusing on such internal issues as healthcare, unemployment and debt servicing. It appears he is more focused on the domestic front than foreign affairs. You can't focus on both at the same time. There has been a surge in violence in Pakistan since the exit of Pervez Musharraf, the former president. The Pakistani Taliban threaten towns and cities, and there are tensions between the PPP and MQM in key ports like Karachi. What is needed to stabilise Pakistan right now? Political cleaning up of the mess. The rule of law must take root in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the more powerful among the politicians and generals, when it comes to their turn - whether by martial law or civilian democracy - they want to run the affairs of the country according to their own predilections and propensities. And that is where we go wrong. The political institution has to be set right; the Supreme Court and Parliament must be empowered. Right now, all the power is vested under the 17th Amendment, which was an amendment to the constitution passed by the dictator Musharraf in 2003. This gave more power to the office of the president and the ability to bypass the constitution and remain in leadership irrespective of elections. Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, now has that power and he is refusing to budge. So, the 17th Amendment has to go, Parliament has to be empowered, rule of law by the Supreme Court has to be established and the army must not interfere. Then things will begin to fall in place and we will take the right direction. Do you think the US is helping Zardari stay in power because he is seen as co-operating in the so-called war on terror? I think there is ambivalence in their position and they sometimes do criticise him. The American press has in the past bashed Zardari, but it has gone quiet now. The Americans fear the return of the Supreme Court in Pakistan because it could rule that the US drone attacks are violations of the country's sovereignty. If that happens, Parliament would have to act on the Supreme Court's decision and reverse the policy. The Americans are sceptical and suspicious that if the Supreme Court is given free reign in Pakistan, it is likely to rule against their interests and agenda in Pakistan. Do you think the government will survive until the next national elections? The government will survive but I am almost certain Zardari will not. I do not want to appear to be clairvoyant, but I doubt Zardari has many days left in government. In recent years, US officials have accused you of having close ties with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. How do you respond to that? No, this is wrong, I have no such ties. As far as al-Qaeda is concerned, I simply say come up with the evidence for 911. You haven't even charged Osama bin Laden so far, that means you don't have hard evidence against him. The full story is yet to come out. In my opinion, all this is a gimmick, an inside job. In regards to the Taliban, I support their cause of Afghan resistance. I lend them my moral support because I have in the past had strong connections with them. Incidentally, I maintained strong connections with both sides. Many in the Afghan government are my good friends. But since the Taliban are representing the national spirit of resistance, I have given them my voice. The Americans sent my name to the UN Security Council to put me on a sanctions list and declare me an international terrorist. But they failed because the Chinese knew the truth well and blocked that move. Basically, the Americans have nothing against me. I saw the charges and I replied to them in the English-language press in Pakistan. I said if they have anything against me to bring it forward, put me on trial. Tell me what wrong I have done. I have been taking moral stands. The Americans talk of freedom of speech, but apparently my speech hurts them because it counters their excesses. I won't use the word 'interests' because what US policy-makers are doing runs against the interests of the American people. If I say this is right and this is wrong, I am exercising my right and ultimately, this is to the benefit of the American people. But Zardari once told a western journal that you are a "political ideologue of terror". I wrote a letter to Zardari that I am an ideologue of jihad, which is common between us. He is a Muslim like me and believes in the Quran. Terror is a totally different thing. I do not support terror at all, but jihad is our right when a nation is oppressed. According to the United Nations Charter, national resistance for liberation is a right. We call this a jihad. Source: Al-Jazeera From image.science at donau-uni.ac.at Tue Mar 9 03:08:32 2010 From: image.science at donau-uni.ac.at (Image Science) Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:38:32 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] LEONARDO SCHOLARSHIP for the 1st International Masters in MediaArtHistories Message-ID: <4B957C680200007D0000A228@gwgwia.donau-uni.ac.at> The Department for Image Science and Leonardo/ISAST are pleased to announce their new cooperative effort, a half-tuition scholarship for the Master of Arts (MA) course in MediaArtHistories, with a start in May 2010! => LEONARDO SCHOLARSHIP FOR MEDIA ART HISTORIES The scholarship is planned to answer the critical challenges of the 21st century, which require mobilization and cross-fertilization among the domains of art, science and technology by supporting the studies of a new researcher or artist. => FIRST INTERNATIONAL MASTER OF MEDIA.ART.HISTORIES (low-residency; English language, international faculty) The postgraduate program MediaArtHistories conveys the most important developments of contemporary art through a network of renowned international theorists, artists and curators like: Erkki HUHTAMO, Lev MANOVICH, Christiane PAUL, Paul SERMON, Edward SHANKEN, Jens HAUSER, Sean CUBITT, Christa SOMMERER, Gerfried STOCKER, Knowbotic Research, Frieder NAKE, Oliver GRAU and many others. Artists and programmers give new insights into the latest software, interface developments and their interdisciplinary and intercultural praxis. Keywords are: Strategies of Interaction & Interface Design, Social Software, Immersion & Emotion and Artistic Invention. Using online databases and other modern aids, knowledge of computer animation, netart, interactive, telematic and genetic art as well as the most recent reflections on nano art, augmented reality and wearables are introduced. Historical derivations that go far back into art and media history are tied in intriguing ways to digital art. Important approaches and methods from Image Science, Media Archaeology and the History of Science &Technology will be discussed. => DANUBE UNIVERSITY KREMS - located in the UNESCO world heritage Wachau, 70km from Vienna, is the only public university in Europe specializing in advanced continuing education by offering low-residency degree programs for working professionals and lifelong learners. Our students & faculty members come from the USA, Italy, Canada, Syria, Austria, Mexico, & Hong Kong, among others. Without interrupting their career, students have the opportunity to learn through direct experience, social learning in small groups and contacts with labs and industry. They gain key qualifications for the contemporary art and media marketplace. The Center in Monastery Goettweig, where most MediaArtHistories courses take place, is housed in a 14th century building, remodeled to fit the needs of modern research in singular surroundings. => LEONARDO/ISAST - Leonardo creates opportunities for the powerful exchange of ideas between practitioners in art, science and technology. Through publications, initiatives and public forums, Leonardo/ISAST facilitates cross-disciplinary research in these fields, seeking to catalyze fruitful solutions for the challenges of the 21st century. Among the challenges requiring cross-disciplinary approaches are establishing sustainable environmental practices, spreading global scientific and artistic literacy, creating technological equity, and encouraging freedom of thought and imagination. By enhancing communication between scientists, artists, and engineers, Leonardo supports experimental projects and interacts with established institutions of art and science to transform their research and educational practices. =>LEAF - The Leonardo Education and Art Forum promotes the advancement of artistic research and academic scholarship at the intersections of art, science, and technology. Serving practitioners, scholars, and students who are members of the Leonardo community, LEAF provides a forum for collaboration and exchange with other scholarly communities, including the College Art Association of America (CAA), of which it is an affiliate society. Application documents (digital) : - Letter of Motivation - Application form - Copies/scans of certificates - Copy/scan of passport Application Deadline: 28. March 2010 Further Information: http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/mah www.leonardo.info www.virtualart.at www.mediaarthistories.org Contact: Andrea Haberson Department for Image Science Danube University Krems Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Str. 30, A-3500 Krems Tel: +43(0)2732 893-2569 andrea.haberson at donau-uni.ac.at www.donau-uni.ac.at/dis From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 09:45:19 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:45:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hurriyat chairman wants stylish jeep Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003082015o1e2d17cxee48a15233b72536@mail.gmail.com> http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2010030920100309020103846fb6d48c6/Hurriyat-chairman-wants-stylish-jeep.html *Srinagar:* When it comes to availing facilities and using resources of the state for their personal security and convenience, separatist leaders in Kashmir are very much Indian subjects. Sources from the police department told *Mumbai Mirror* that Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has allegedly turned down the bullet-proof vehicle provided by the State Government because he wanted a more stylish bullet-proof jeep to roam in the valley. The Jammu and Kashmir police have upgraded security of separatist leaders, who are under threat from militants. The step was taken after Hurriyat Conference Fazal Haq Qureshi was shot by militants in Srinagar. Most of the leaders and politicians live in palatial houses in upmarket colonies. They are protected by security personnel armed with lethal weapons and are driven around in bullet-proof cars. Some of the leaders, who travel in bullet-proof vehicles and have a Z-plus security include Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Bilal Lone, Sajad Lone, Shahid-ul-Islam, Aga Sayeed Hassan, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Mirwaiz Umar among others. Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference is shadowed by a Gypsy both in the front and rear when he travels, carrying 10 policemen. His residence near the Hazratbal shrine is fortified by a platoon of policemen, who ensure that even journalists keep away from him From ravikant at sarai.net Tue Mar 9 11:33:11 2010 From: ravikant at sarai.net (ravikant) Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:33:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] some snaps from Ukrainian history Message-ID: <4B95E49F.3060500@sarai.net> Yes, Naim Saheb, Instant, poignant, awesome artwork! See the video first and read the guide pasted below later. ravikant I found it riveting. Apparently it's quite a popular art in that part of the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg Begin forwarded message: > > > > This video shows the winner of "Ukraine’s Got > > Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of > > pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary > > people were affected by the German invasion during World War > > II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is > > mesmeric to watch. > > > > > > > > > > The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in > > the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about > > £75,000. > > > > > > > > She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting > > holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then > > warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated. > > > > > > > > It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby > > arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns > > and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a > > young woman’s face appears. > > > > > > > > She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and > > sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown > > Soldier. > > > > > > > > This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the > > viewer is looking out on the monument from within a > > house. > > > > > > > > In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a > > man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the > > glass, saying goodbye. > > > > > > > > The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, > > resulted in one in four of the population being killed with > > eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 > > million. > > > > > > > > > > > > Kseniya Simonova says: > > > > "I find it difficult enough to create art using paper > > and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is > > beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the > > subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. > > And there’s surely no bigger compliment." > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Please take time out to see this amazing piece of art. > > > > > > > > click on the link below - > > > > > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg > > > From mitoo at sarai.net Tue Mar 9 12:57:35 2010 From: mitoo at sarai.net (Mitoo Das) Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:57:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Talk by Prof. Kathryn Hansen Message-ID: <4B95F867.1030103@sarai.net> *Talk at Sarai.* *Prof. Kathryn Hansen*, from the *University of Texas* will deliver a talk on *Passionate Refrains: The Theatricality of Urdu on the Parsi Stage * *Venue:* Seminar Room- CSDS *Date:* 18 March 2010 *Time:* 4:00 pm *Passionate Refrains: The Theatricality of Urdu on the Parsi Stage: *The Parsi theatre contributed to the development of Indian cinema in textual legacies of story and theme, genre and star roles. It also supplied technical expertise, personnel, and capital vital to the new industry. This paper considers another aspect of the Parsi theatre connection: the stylized structures of language, thought, and feeling associated with the Urdu language. Beginning with the popular pageant, the Indar Sabha, Parsi theatrical companies embraced the poetics of the Urdu ghazal with its declarations of ishq (passion) and recurring radifs (refrains). Why did Urdu win out over English and Gujarati as the dominant language of the then Bombay-based theatre? The analysis traces the contribution of Urdu munshis (playwrights), who together with their more illustrious actor-manager employers, co-created a distinctive Parsi-Urdu theatrical style. The performance of Urdu poetry together with Hindustani music and dance is seen as enhancing the literary appeal and musicality of new dramas, imparting a commercial advantage. Moreover, changes in playhouse design and the conventions of melodrama called for a forceful, rhythmic style of delivery, for which actors trained in Urdu were well-suited. The paper includes a case study of Agha Hashr Kashmiri, author of countless dramas and screeplays, focusing on his historical allegory, Yahudi ki Larki. A clip from the 1955 film version will be shown to illustrate the histrionic style of the great actor, Sohrab Modi. ------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nuaiman at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 14:10:52 2010 From: nuaiman at gmail.com (NUAIMAN) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 16:40:52 +0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Solidarity to Chtralekha's resistence: Message-ID: <9c57aafc1003090040t3d847230qb792be7353f34981@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dileep Raj Date: 9 March 2010 16:07 Subject: Solidarity to Chtralekha's resistence: Vahanajatha Thudangi To: Karivelloor, March9, 10.15 am Despite last minte withdrawals from 'flux artist' and threats to vehicle driver, the jatha started today from Karivelloore. Reshma Bharadwaj welcomed the gathering (rather brought the gathering into being, typical of Vahanajatha methodlogy). *Reshma Bharadwaj* Though neither payyannur nor Karivelloore is a familiar place, the very name Payyannur evokes pride and thrill of late thanks to Chitralekha's persistent resistance. Even in penury she showed that swimming against all odds is possible.Her struggle to assert the right to work inspires every woman who want to live without compromising selfrespect. That is why women activists are coming forward in public supporting her. Even in government projects the ideal space defined for women is home.That is the reason why statistics shows constant decrease in the number of working women in this 'progressive' land.Chitralekha came out of this imposing defintion and dared riding and owning an autorickshaw. Its the duty of everyone to stand by her in this fight. *Rekha Raj* (inauguaral speech) Its a pity that after five years I am revisiting Payyannur in connection with Chitralekha's experiences. my first visit was for a convention protesting casiest discriminations and insults against Chitralekha. The situation is worsening, not showing any signs of democratising, indicating the castiest foundations of North Malabar society and politics. Chitralekha refused to do traditional jobs and entered into a profession which is normally an all male domain.This very act marked her as an 'unusual' or 'abnormal' woman'. Normal women are expected to become good housewives, looking after husbands and children.Chitralekha's body language (which defies submission) and her refusal to comply to caste hierachy further helped her qulaify as 'bad' woman. She lacks most of the 'virtues' of goodwomen. But we. women who stand by her find these very charecteristics and attitudes as 'virtues' very rare among women in Kerala. Experinces of Chitralekha when she entered the heart of male world should provoke all of us who boast of 'progressive' Kerala to think about the absence of dalits in public sphere and the castiest hierarchies prevailing in the heart of left bastions. Campaigna agnist Chiltralekha deploys typical and predicatble straegies. Complaints raised against her are - she abuses - she uses 'foul language' - she drinks - her character is shady What is thoughtprovoking is the fact that the moment such allegations are propagated, a woman looses whatever little support she enjoys in the neighbourhood. These are the ultimate crimes that could be ascribed to women in our society. Once depicted thus, society could legitimately kill them.We have seen the xeperience of shari and many women in past. *But then why and how Chitralekha decides to resist ?* Why she refuses to surrender even when she and her husband faces continuos threates and attacks? That is hoping that there exist a democartic space in the interstices of our society.That exactly is the spirit and hope propelling us when we do something like this. That exactly is the energy enebling us to organise a convention like this. If one is to lead a discilined life obeying the rules set for becoming a good woman it will become practically impossible to go out of home.Dali women are even otherwise assumed to be bad women who are 'available'. They are to be 'civilised', 'set right'. When Reshma and Jaseela went to police station for applying for mike sanction, they repeated all thses complaints aganist Chitralekha and urged them to 'straighten' her! What are the criteria for this straightening? Who formed them? Who are we to reform others? Why is it so that Chitrlekha is viewed as somebody to be 'reformed'? *Nattukar* There are other myths which feeds into the fascist savarna commonsense. take for instance terms like 'nattukar', 'thozhilalikal', 'janangal'etc. who are they? How many women are member of that classes? How many dalits are included in such sets? Can we see a single woman in the mobs who claim to be 'people' and abuse couples who stay legally in a room or house ? Chitralekha's struggle need to be taken up as one for docratisation of citizenship and public sphere. *Baby* (Convenor, Streevedi, Kasargode District ) All women should take Chitralekha as model and resist evry single problem faced by them. Covering up or keeping silence wont help solving the problem. Thus supporting chitralekha's resistnece is significant for the womens' movement in Kerala. Apart from Rekha, Reshma , Baby Jaseela and Usha are taking part in the jatha. Todays' jatha will end with a public meeting in Edat, Chitralekha's home town in which K . Ajitha, anweshi president will take part. -- Dileep Raj -- From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 9 17:11:06 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 03:41:06 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003080626j29cf830ejcebf2ef8332b0cb5@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <421380.81469.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Pawan   I would agree with Gen Hamid Gul that "Taliban is the future". Not only for Afghanistan, which has been explicitly mentioned by Gen Gul but also for Pakistan, which Gen Gul might be hesitant in mentioning but about which there is no ambiguity that Gen Gul would like to see that happen.   Afghanistan is likely to see the dislodgement of the present (USA supported) government either, if Taliban agrees, by it being integrated with the Taliban (as Pakistan and USA also are attempting) , or by a takeover by the Taliban in case USA decides not to suffer any further losses in Afghanistan and vacates.   It is also likely that such a Taliban-Run Afghanistan will be a smaller geographical entity carved out from the present one.   Taliban is already integrated into Pakistan. The ideology of the Taliban is being furthered in Pakistan, not only by religious teaching and propagation but through clearly visible ideological expressions in the Politics, Military, Media, Education and Civil Society of Pakistan.   If Afghanistan were to go the way projected by me, it would not be long before there is an openly Talibanised shift in the governance of Pakistan.   I would term the currently seen actions by the Pakistan Military against TTP (Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan) as jostling for control between two different Talibanised entities.   Whatever be the scenarios emerging in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I think it is downright stupid of India  to be involved in any which way in Afghanistan in what appears to be India's vision of the grandeur of being termed a Regional Power.   India is better advised to concentrate on improving the lives of the citizens of India and altering it's adventures to defending and insulating India from the religious and political adventurism of inimical neighbours.   Kshmendra   --- On Mon, 3/8/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "reader-list" Date: Monday, March 8, 2010, 7:56 PM Dear Readers , Before I am being misinterpreted once again , i wish to clarify that the subject line is not mine . This is a statement by Gen Hamid Gul of Pakistan. The reason I am sharing his interview is for the reason that I found his thoughts very similar to Lashkar & Taliban. Just wanted to know if others feel the same ? Pawan Durani http://generalhamidgul.com/home “America is history, Karzai is history, the Taliban are the future” You recently said 'the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in Afghanistan'. Isn't that a little far-fetched? The Americans are defeated. It isn't necessarily because their firepower and their might has weakened, but it is because their own people are sick and tired [of engagement in Afghanistan]. There is fatigue now, fatigue is the threat and is the worst thing for a nation to suffer from. There is no way that the Americans can hold on to Afghanistan. Could that lead to [Afghanistan President] Hamid Karzai's government being toppled? Karzai is no more. He is now fighting for his life. They have already started telling him that by the end of this year he will have to shoulder the responsibility of security in Afghanistan. But what are they giving him for this? Nothing at all. In fact, more civilian casualties in military operations are going to weaken Karzai's position. Some in Afghanistan believe that the extent of civilian casualties has empowered the Taliban's resurgence. It is not only that. While the civilian casualties have certainly made the Taliban a popular movement in Afghanistan - some 80 per cent of the population support them - the people of Afghanistan are fed up with corruption. They are sick of the influence of warlords and drug barons, and the continued American occupation. If it was a shot stint - come in and get out after completing the job - the situation would have been different. But the Americans didn't do that. If they wanted to disperse al-Qaeda, they succeeded after the first year, and after that they should have pulled out. The fact they stayed on betrays their real intentions in Afghanistan until Barack Obama, the US president, came and started talking about withdrawal. It was only last December that Obama announced that the US will pull out of Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton said the same thing, but there is a dichotomy. On the one hand they say 'We are not here to stay in Afghanistan', but on the other hand they carry out surges and want to prop up and build the Afghan Army. However, they don't give the money to build the Afghan Army - just $140mn. Compare this to how much it costs the US to keep just one soldier in Afghanistan - $1mn dollars per soldier per year in Afghanistan. They have now about 68,000 US troops. It is currently costing them $65bn just to maintain these troops. There are another 30,000 US troops now coming, so it will cost the US $100bn a year to maintain its forces in Afghanistan. The US is a heavily indebted nation so how are they going to afford this? Some 57 per cent of Americans in the polls say they don't like this war and want their boys to return home. The Americans can't take casualties, that is their problem. To compensate, they started employing security contractors, some 104,000 security contractors currently in Afghanistan. What does this mean? Mercenaries to be used where troops cannot be deployed? We have already seen what mercenaries did in Iraq. The Americans are more and more inclined - because the US military cannot suffer casualties - to employ mercenaries, not just from the US but also from the local population. This is a very dangerous trend if we are to believe that mercenaries can win wars and carry forward the political objectives of the country. This means that whoever has more money can employ more mercenaries, win wars, win territories, etc. Given everything you have just said, how do you think the latest US and Nato offensive against the Taliban is going to play out? It is not going to work. I think it is an 'eye wash', it has political purpose back home. But there is no political purpose for Afghanistan. They are saying that they are protecting the civilian population, but they are dislodging the civilians from their homes in very harsh weather conditions in Afghanistan. The cold winds from the steppes of Central Asia sweep these regions. When you launch such military operations, the people are inevitably dislodged and their fields abandoned. In this situation, what are the Americans trying to achieve - I don't know. There is much ambiguity about their political objectives. Every military conflict must have a political purpose. I cannot discern that there is any political purpose. >From a strategic point of view, Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan has been seen as setting up a buffer, or deterrent, to India. But now that Pakistan has nuclear capability, how important is Afghanistan to Islamabad? We want a friendly Afghanistan. We know India is playing havoc with us. The Pakistani Taliban are being sponsored by the Indian intelligence and the Mossad, by the way, to carry out their attacks in Pakistan. The Mossad is very active in Pakistan and they are providing all the guidance and technical support to the Indian intelligence. So, Pakistan has to have its back covered - no country can fight on two fronts. We have to have a friendly Afghanistan, this does not mean that we dominate Afghanistan. No one can dominate Afghanistan, a country which has already buried two superpowers and the third one is about to be buried there. No, that's not the purpose Pakistan has in Afghanistan. Is the failure to stabilise Afghanistan adversely affecting Pakistan's own security? Yes, indeed it is. The conflict is not just derivative of the failures of the Kabul government - that is a puppet government. The real cause of the conflict is the occupation of Afghanistan by the Americans. If they go out, and after such a time - post-US occupation, the OIC and the Muslim countries have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself. I do not think that Afghanistan will be another Vietnam for the Americans because they have said they will pull out. Obama is a president who is very clear. In his State of the Union address, I think it was clear he was not addressing terrorism but instead focusing on such internal issues as healthcare, unemployment and debt servicing. It appears he is more focused on the domestic front than foreign affairs. You can't focus on both at the same time. There has been a surge in violence in Pakistan since the exit of Pervez Musharraf, the former president. The Pakistani Taliban threaten towns and cities, and there are tensions between the PPP and MQM in key ports like Karachi. What is needed to stabilise Pakistan right now? Political cleaning up of the mess. The rule of law must take root in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the more powerful among the politicians and generals, when it comes to their turn - whether by martial law or civilian democracy - they want to run the affairs of the country according to their own predilections and propensities. And that is where we go wrong. The political institution has to be set right; the Supreme Court and Parliament must be empowered. Right now, all the power is vested under the 17th Amendment, which was an amendment to the constitution passed by the dictator Musharraf in 2003. This gave more power to the office of the president and the ability to bypass the constitution and remain in leadership irrespective of elections. Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, now has that power and he is refusing to budge. So, the 17th Amendment has to go, Parliament has to be empowered, rule of law by the Supreme Court has to be established and the army must not interfere. Then things will begin to fall in place and we will take the right direction. Do you think the US is helping Zardari stay in power because he is seen as co-operating in the so-called war on terror? I think there is ambivalence in their position and they sometimes do criticise him. The American press has in the past bashed Zardari, but it has gone quiet now. The Americans fear the return of the Supreme Court in Pakistan because it could rule that the US drone attacks are violations of the country's sovereignty. If that happens, Parliament would have to act on the Supreme Court's decision and reverse the policy. The Americans are sceptical and suspicious that if the Supreme Court is given free reign in Pakistan, it is likely to rule against their interests and agenda in Pakistan. Do you think the government will survive until the next national elections? The government will survive but I am almost certain Zardari will not. I do not want to appear to be clairvoyant, but I doubt Zardari has many days left in government. In recent years, US officials have accused you of having close ties with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. How do you respond to that? No, this is wrong, I have no such ties. As far as al-Qaeda is concerned, I simply say come up with the evidence for 911. You haven't even charged Osama bin Laden so far, that means you don't have hard evidence against him. The full story is yet to come out. In my opinion, all this is a gimmick, an inside job. In regards to the Taliban, I support their cause of Afghan resistance. I lend them my moral support because I have in the past had strong connections with them. Incidentally, I maintained strong connections with both sides. Many in the Afghan government are my good friends. But since the Taliban are representing the national spirit of resistance, I have given them my voice. The Americans sent my name to the UN Security Council to put me on a sanctions list and declare me an international terrorist. But they failed because the Chinese knew the truth well and blocked that move. Basically, the Americans have nothing against me. I saw the charges and I replied to them in the English-language press in Pakistan. I said if they have anything against me to bring it forward, put me on trial. Tell me what wrong I have done. I have been taking moral stands. The Americans talk of freedom of speech, but apparently my speech hurts them because it counters their excesses. I won't use the word 'interests' because what US policy-makers are doing runs against the interests of the American people. If I say this is right and this is wrong, I am exercising my right and ultimately, this is to the benefit of the American people. But Zardari once told a western journal that you are a "political ideologue of terror". I wrote a letter to Zardari that I am an ideologue of jihad, which is common between us. He is a Muslim like me and believes in the Quran. Terror is a totally different thing. I do not support terror at all, but jihad is our right when a nation is oppressed. According to the United Nations Charter, national resistance for liberation is a right. We call this a jihad. Source: Al-Jazeera _________________________________________ 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 17:17:32 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 17:17:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <421380.81469.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <6b79f1a71003080626j29cf830ejcebf2ef8332b0cb5@mail.gmail.com> <421380.81469.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003090347g719688d3nd7ad5a83214918e9@mail.gmail.com> Dear Mr Kaul , My view on this is different . I believe that if we do not fight Taliban in Afghanisatn now , we would be fighting them in India 3 years from now. Choice is ours. Pawan On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Pawan > > I would agree with Gen Hamid Gul that "Taliban is the future". Not only for > Afghanistan, which has been explicitly mentioned by Gen Gul but also for > Pakistan, which Gen Gul might be hesitant in mentioning but about which > there is no ambiguity that Gen Gul would like to see that happen. > > Afghanistan is likely to see the dislodgement of the present (USA > supported) government either, if Taliban agrees, by it being integrated with > the Taliban (as Pakistan and USA also are attempting) , or by a takeover by > the Taliban in case USA decides not to suffer any further losses in > Afghanistan and vacates. > > It is also likely that such a Taliban-Run Afghanistan will be a smaller > geographical entity carved out from the present one. > > Taliban is already integrated into Pakistan. The ideology of the Taliban > is being furthered in Pakistan, not only by religious teaching and > propagation but through clearly visible ideological expressions in the > Politics, Military, Media, Education and Civil Society of Pakistan. > > If Afghanistan were to go the way projected by me, it would not be long > before there is an openly Talibanised shift in the governance of Pakistan. > > I would term the currently seen actions by the Pakistan Military against > TTP (Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan) as jostling for control between two > different Talibanised entities. > > Whatever be the scenarios emerging in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I think it > is downright stupid of India to be involved in any which way in Afghanistan > in what appears to be India's vision of the grandeur of being termed a > Regional Power. > > India is better advised to concentrate on improving the lives of the > citizens of India and altering it's adventures to defending and insulating > India from the religious and political adventurism of inimical neighbours. > > Kshmendra > > > --- On *Mon, 3/8/10, Pawan Durani * wrote: > > > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > To: "reader-list" > Date: Monday, March 8, 2010, 7:56 PM > > Dear Readers , > > Before I am being misinterpreted once again , i wish to clarify that the > subject line is not mine . This is a statement by Gen Hamid Gul of > Pakistan. > > The reason I am sharing his interview is for the reason that I found his > thoughts very similar to Lashkar & Taliban. Just wanted to know if others > feel the same ? > > Pawan Durani > > > http://generalhamidgul.com/home > > “America is history, Karzai is history, the Taliban are the future” > > You recently said 'the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in > Afghanistan'. Isn't that a little far-fetched? > > The Americans are defeated. It isn't necessarily because their firepower > and > their might has weakened, but it is because their own people are sick and > tired [of engagement in Afghanistan]. There is fatigue now, fatigue is the > threat and is the worst thing for a nation to suffer from. There is no way > that the Americans can hold on to Afghanistan. > > Could that lead to [Afghanistan President] Hamid Karzai's government being > toppled? > > Karzai is no more. He is now fighting for his life. They have already > started telling him that by the end of this year he will have to shoulder > the responsibility of security in Afghanistan. But what are they giving him > for this? Nothing at all. In fact, more civilian casualties in military > operations are going to weaken Karzai's position. > > Some in Afghanistan believe that the extent of civilian casualties has > empowered the Taliban's resurgence. > > It is not only that. While the civilian casualties have certainly made the > Taliban a popular movement in Afghanistan - some 80 per cent of the > population support them - the people of Afghanistan are fed up with > corruption. > > They are sick of the influence of warlords and drug barons, and the > continued American occupation. > If it was a shot stint - come in and get out after completing the job - the > situation would have been different. But the Americans didn't do that. If > they wanted to disperse al-Qaeda, they succeeded after the first year, and > after that they should have pulled out. The fact they stayed on betrays > their real intentions in Afghanistan until Barack Obama, the US president, > came and started talking about withdrawal. > > It was only last December that Obama announced that the US will pull out of > Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton said the same thing, but there is a dichotomy. > > On the one hand they say 'We are not here to stay in Afghanistan', but on > the other hand they carry out surges and want to prop up and build the > Afghan Army. > > However, they don't give the money to build the Afghan Army - just $140mn. > Compare this to how much it costs the US to keep just one soldier in > Afghanistan - $1mn dollars per soldier per year in Afghanistan. They have > now about 68,000 US troops. It is currently costing them $65bn just to > maintain these troops. There are another 30,000 US troops now coming, so it > will cost the US $100bn a year to maintain its forces in Afghanistan. > > The US is a heavily indebted nation so how are they going to afford this? > Some 57 per cent of Americans in the polls say they don't like this war and > want their boys to return home. The Americans can't take casualties, that > is > their problem. To compensate, they started employing security contractors, > some 104,000 security contractors currently in Afghanistan. > > What does this mean? Mercenaries to be used where troops cannot be > deployed? > We have already seen what mercenaries did in Iraq. The Americans are more > and more inclined - because the US military cannot suffer casualties - to > employ mercenaries, not just from the US but also from the local > population. > > This is a very dangerous trend if we are to believe that mercenaries can > win > wars and carry forward the political objectives of the country. This means > that whoever has more money can employ more mercenaries, win wars, win > territories, etc. > > Given everything you have just said, how do you think the latest US and > Nato > offensive against the Taliban is going to play out? > > It is not going to work. I think it is an 'eye wash', it has political > purpose back home. But there is no political purpose for Afghanistan. They > are saying that they are protecting the civilian population, but they are > dislodging the civilians from their homes in very harsh weather conditions > in Afghanistan. > The cold winds from the steppes of Central Asia sweep these regions. When > you launch such military operations, the people are inevitably dislodged > and > their fields abandoned. In this situation, what are the Americans trying to > achieve - I don't know. > > There is much ambiguity about their political objectives. Every military > conflict must have a political purpose. I cannot discern that there is any > political purpose. > > From a strategic point of view, Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan has > been seen as setting up a buffer, or deterrent, to India. But now that > Pakistan has nuclear capability, how important is Afghanistan to Islamabad? > > We want a friendly Afghanistan. We know India is playing havoc with us. The > Pakistani Taliban are being sponsored by the Indian intelligence and the > Mossad, by the way, to carry out their attacks in Pakistan. The Mossad is > very active in Pakistan and they are providing all the guidance and > technical support to the Indian intelligence. So, Pakistan has to have its > back covered - no country can fight on two fronts. > > We have to have a friendly Afghanistan, this does not mean that we dominate > Afghanistan. No one can dominate Afghanistan, a country which has already > buried two superpowers and the third one is about to be buried there. > > No, that's not the purpose Pakistan has in Afghanistan. > > Is the failure to stabilise Afghanistan adversely affecting Pakistan's own > security? > > Yes, indeed it is. The conflict is not just derivative of the failures of > the Kabul government - that is a puppet government. The real cause of the > conflict is the occupation of Afghanistan by the Americans. If they go out, > and after such a time - post-US occupation, the OIC and the Muslim > countries > have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself. > > I do not think that Afghanistan will be another Vietnam for the Americans > because they have said they will pull out. Obama is a president who is very > clear. In his State of the Union address, I think it was clear he was not > addressing terrorism but instead focusing on such internal issues as > healthcare, unemployment and debt servicing. > > It appears he is more focused on the domestic front than foreign affairs. > You can't focus on both at the same time. > > There has been a surge in violence in Pakistan since the exit of Pervez > Musharraf, the former president. The Pakistani Taliban threaten towns and > cities, and there are tensions between the PPP and MQM in key ports like > Karachi. What is needed to stabilise Pakistan right now? > > Political cleaning up of the mess. The rule of law must take root in > Pakistan. Unfortunately, the more powerful among the politicians and > generals, when it comes to their turn - whether by martial law or civilian > democracy - they want to run the affairs of the country according to their > own predilections and propensities. And that is where we go wrong. > > The political institution has to be set right; the Supreme Court and > Parliament must be empowered. Right now, all the power is vested under the > 17th Amendment, which was an amendment to the constitution passed by the > dictator Musharraf in 2003. This gave more power to the office of the > president and the ability to bypass the constitution and remain in > leadership irrespective of elections. > Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, now has that power and he is > refusing to budge. So, the 17th Amendment has to go, Parliament has to be > empowered, rule of law by the Supreme Court has to be established and the > army must not interfere. Then things will begin to fall in place and we > will > take the right direction. > > Do you think the US is helping Zardari stay in power because he is seen as > co-operating in the so-called war on terror? > I think there is ambivalence in their position and they sometimes do > criticise him. The American press has in the past bashed Zardari, but it > has > gone quiet now. The Americans fear the return of the Supreme Court in > Pakistan because it could rule that the US drone attacks are violations of > the country's sovereignty. > > If that happens, Parliament would have to act on the Supreme Court's > decision and reverse the policy. The Americans are sceptical and suspicious > that if the Supreme Court is given free reign in Pakistan, it is likely to > rule against their interests and agenda in Pakistan. > > Do you think the government will survive until the next national elections? > > The government will survive but I am almost certain Zardari will not. I do > not want to appear to be clairvoyant, but I doubt Zardari has many days > left > in government. > > In recent years, US officials have accused you of having close ties with > the > Taliban and al-Qaeda. How do you respond to that? > > No, this is wrong, I have no such ties. As far as al-Qaeda is concerned, I > simply say come up with the evidence for 911. You haven't even charged > Osama > bin Laden so far, that means you don't have hard evidence against him. The > full story is yet to come out. > In my opinion, all this is a gimmick, an inside job. > > In regards to the Taliban, I support their cause of Afghan resistance. I > lend them my moral support because I have in the past had strong > connections > with them. Incidentally, I maintained strong connections with both sides. > Many in the Afghan government are my good friends. > > But since the Taliban are representing the national spirit of resistance, I > have given them my voice. The Americans sent my name to the UN Security > Council to put me on a sanctions list and declare me an international > terrorist. But they failed because the Chinese knew the truth well and > blocked that move. > Basically, the Americans have nothing against me. I saw the charges and I > replied to them in the English-language press in Pakistan. I said if they > have anything against me to bring it forward, put me on trial. Tell me what > wrong I have done. I have been taking moral stands. The Americans talk of > freedom of speech, but apparently my speech hurts them because it counters > their excesses. > > I won't use the word 'interests' because what US policy-makers are doing > runs against the interests of the American people. If I say this is right > and this is wrong, I am exercising my right and ultimately, this is to the > benefit of the American people. > > But Zardari once told a western journal that you are a "political ideologue > of terror". > > I wrote a letter to Zardari that I am an ideologue of jihad, which is > common > between us. He is a Muslim like me and believes in the Quran. Terror is a > totally different thing. I do not support terror at all, but jihad is our > right when a nation is oppressed. According to the United Nations Charter, > national resistance for liberation is a right. We call this a jihad. > > > Source: Al-Jazeera > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 17:18:13 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 17:18:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION OF KALAT STATE Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003090348v19250a49kfaf65c3bfa932fec@mail.gmail.com> INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION OF KALAT STATE [image: Open in new window] WHEREAS the Indian Independence Act, 1947, provides that as from the fifteenth day of August, 1947, there shall be set up an independent Dominion known as PAKISTAN, and that the Government of India Act, 1935 shall, with such omissions, additions, adaptations and modifications as the Governor-General may by order specify, be applicable to the Dominion of Pakistan; AND WHEREAS the Government of India Act, 1935, as so adapted by the Governor-General provides that an Indian State may accede to the Dominion of Pakistan by an Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler thereof: NOW THEREFORE I, His Highness Baglar Begi Khan of Kalat (signed) Ruler of Kalat State in, the exercise of my sovereignt; in and over my said State DO hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession and 1. I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of Pakistan with the intent that the Governor-General of Pakistan, the Dominion Legislature, the Supreme Court and any other Dominion authority established for the purposes of the Dominion shall, by virtue of this my Instrument of Accession, but subject always to the terms thereof, and for the purposes only Dominion, exercise 1n relation to the State of Kalat (hereinafter referred to as “this State”) such functions as may be vested in them by or under the Government of India Act, 1935, as in force ,in the Dominion of Pakistan on the 15th day of August 1947 (which Act as so in force is hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). 2. I hereby assume the obligation of ensuring that due effect is given to the provisions of the Act within this State so far as they are applicable therein by virtue of this My Instrument of Accession. 3. I accept the matters specified in the Schedule hereto as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws for this State. 4. I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of Pakistan on the assurance that if an agreement is made between the Governor-General and the Ruler of this State whereby any functions in relation to the administration in this State of any law of the Dominion Legislature shall be exercised by the Ruler of this State, then any such agreement shall be deemed to form part of this Instrument and shall be construed end have effect accordingly. 5. Nothing in this Instrument shall empower the Dominion Legislature to make any law for this State authorising the compulsory acquisition of land for any purpose, but I hereby undertake that should the Dominion for the purposes of a Dominion law which applies in this State deem it necessary to acquire any land, I will at their request acquire the land at their expense or if the land belongs to me transfer it to them on such terms as may be agreed, or, in default of agreement, determined by an arbitrator to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan. 6. The terms of this my Instrument of Accession shall not be varied by any amendment of the Act or of the Indian Inde pendence Act, 1947, unless such amendment is accepted by me by an Instrument supplementary to this Instrument. 7. Nothing in this Instrument shall be deemed to commit me in any way to acceptance of any future constitution of Pakistan or to fetter my discretion to enter into arrangements with the Government of Pakistan under any such future constitution. 8. Nothing, in this Instrument affects the continuance of my sovereignty in and over this State, or, Save as provided by or under this Instrument, the exercise of any powers, authority and rights now enjoyed by me as Ruler of this State or the validity of any law at present in force in this State. 9. I hereby declare that I execute this Instrument on behalf of this State and that any reference in this Instrument to me or to the Ruler of the State is to be construed as including a reference to my heirs and successors. Given under my hand this 27th March 1948. Nineteen hundred and forty eight Signed by: His Highness Baglar Begi Khan of Kalat (Ruler of Kalat State) From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 17:21:21 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 17:21:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Kalat's occupation by Paki army in 1948 Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003090351l1e603535v7f5a123b3864f41c@mail.gmail.com> That Kalat is an independent and sovereign state its status is different from other princely states of British India, its relations with the British government being based on various mutual agreements and treaties. That Kalat is not an Indian state, its relations with India being of only a formal nature by virtue of Kalat's agreements with the British and that with the ceasing of the Agreement of 1876 with the Kalat government, Kalat would regain its complete independence, as it existed prior to 1876. All such regions including Quetta Municipality as were given under the control of the British in consequence of any treaty will be returned to the sovereignty of the Kalat state, and resume their original status as parts of the Kalat state. On March 22, 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the last of the Viceroys of India, arrived in Delhi to wind up British supremacy in this part of the British dominions. The final partition plan of June 3, 1947 stated in respect of transfer of power in India. Mr, Jinnah wrote to the Khan of Kalat that since the position of the Kalat State was different from the other Indian States, representation on behalf of the state should be made directly to the Viceroy in Delhi to discuss the future position of Kalat and the return of Baloch regions hitherto under the control of the British Government. Accordingly, the Chief Secretary of Kalat State was sent to Delhi with a draft of the new position of Kalat as prepared by legal experts. This resulted in a round table conference, held on August 4, 1947, in which Lord Mountbatten, Mr, Jinnah, Mr Liaqat Ali Khan, Chief Minister of Kalat, Sir Sultan Ahmed, the legal Advisor of Kalat State and the Khan of Kalat took part in the deliberations The following points were agreed upon: "Kalat State will be independent on August 5, 1947, enjoying the same status as it originally held in 1838, having friendly relations with its neighbours. In case the relations of Kalat with any future government got strained, Kalat will exercise its right of self-determination, and the British Government should take precautionary measures to help Kalat in the matter as per the Treaties of 1839 and 1841." As a corollary to the round table conference at Delhi, another agreement was signed between Kalat and Pakistan on August 4, 1947. The points agreed upon were broadcast on August 11, 1947, as under: "The Government of Pakistan agrees that Kalat is an independent state, being quite different in status from other states of India; and commits to its relations with the British Government as manifested in several agreements..... In the meantime, a Standstill Agreement will be made between Pakistan and Kalat by which Pakistan shall stand committed to all the responsibilities and agreements signed by Kalat and the British Government from 1839 to 1947 and by this,.... In order to discuss finally the relations between Kalat and Pakistan on matters of defense, foreign relations and deliberations will be held in the near future in Karachi." A few weeks after the agreement, the Agent to the Governor-General informed the rulers of Kharan and Lasbela that the control of their regions had been transferred to the Kalat State. Hence they once again came under the direct influence of Kalat. The Marri and Bugti tribal region was also returned into the Kalat fold soon after. Thus the whole of Balochistan came under the suzerainty of the Khan of Kalat in the same confederacy of Baloch tribes that Nasir Khan I, in 1666-67, was able to create. The Kalat government made a formal declaration of its independence on August 15, 1947, soon after the end of British supremacy, and a day after Pakistan's coming into being on the map of the subcontinent. Immediately, a delegation comprising the Kalat prime minister and foreign minister was sent to Karachi, the then capital of Pakistan, for discussions and an honorable settlement vis-a-vis relations with Pakistan in the light of the mutually endorsed Standstill Agreement of August 11, 1947. To shock and grief of Khan of Kalat Mr, Jinnah coarsely persuaded the Khan to expedite the merger. The Khan replied, "I have great respect for your advice......but Balochistan, being a land of numerous tribes, the people there must be duly consulted in the matter prior to any decision I take; for, according to the prevalent tribal convention, no decision can be binding upon them unless they are taken into confidence beforehand by their Khan." With this provisional agreement, the Khan returned to Kalat and promptly summoned the Kalat State Houses of Parliament, the Dar-ul-Awam and Dar-ul-Umra and proposed to the House to accord him a mandate on the matter of Kalat's merger with Pakistan. Both the Houses, however, contended unanimously that the proposal of Kalat's merger militated against the spirit of the earlier agreement arrived at between Kalat Government and the spokesmen of Pakistan on August 4, 1947, as also against the Independence Act of 1947. This decision of Kalat's Parliament was forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan, for necessary processing. Shortly afterwords, the Mr, Jinnah visited Sibi and during his stay there insisted upon the Khan to sign the merger documents in his personal capacity. Finding reluctance in Khan Govt: Pakistan Cabinet under the leadership and instruction of Mr, Jinnah working on a scheme to breakup the 500-year old state. The nature of their scheme, as it turned out subsequently, was tantamount to a political castration of the Baloch people. Illegally and in violation of of 4th August 1947 round table conference declaration and agreement made by Mr, Jinnah on the very day with Khan, Stand Still Agreement and also Govt; of Pakistan's earlier decion, it had decided to punish and encircle Kalat and Baloch people cut off Kharan and Lasbela by giving them an equal status as Kalat and obtaining their "mergers" with Pakistan directly. Makran, which had been a part of the Kalat State for the last 300 years, was made independent of Kalat on March 17, 1948; and one of the three Sardars made its ruler. Thus Makran, too, was made a part of Pakistan. These hasty, illogical, irrational and politically illegal and oppressive steps naturally disillusioned the Baloch people. They rightly felt that all their erstwhile services and sacrifices in the cause of Pakistan were now forgotten. So deep was their despair and frustration that several of them wanted to revolt. Meanwhile, the wave of hatred and animosity generated by the irrational policies of the Government of Pakistan against Kalat was fast gaining dangerous dimensions all over Balochistan. Feelings in the tribal areas particularly were running high against Pakistan and the Baloch people were calling the position of the Khan of Kalat himself into question. Things were moving fast towards a show down. The Government of Pakistan instructed the Brigadier in Command at Quetta to go on full alert for action against Kalat state and the Agent to the Governor General began to prepare for police action. This was the situation as it stood in the first quarter of 1948 triggered by the illogical actions of the Pakistan. Under duress Khan of Kalat signed the merger documents in his personal capacity on March 27, 1948, in an effort to diffuse the situation in Balochistan. In his autobiography, he admits that he did not have the mandate to sign the merger without the consent of the Houses of Parliament of Kalat State. A fortnight after the merger, on April 15, 1948, the Agent to the Governor General in Balochistan issued an order in the name of Mr, Jinnah, and the legal entity of the Khan of Kalat was abolished and within 20 hours of the order many of the members of the Balochistan Cabinet were arrested or exiled from Balochistan. Prince Abdul Karim's revolt and first Baloch armed struggle sarted in this back ground. By Hussain Bux Thebo 30.3.07 From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 9 17:59:59 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 04:29:59 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003090347g719688d3nd7ad5a83214918e9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <882476.44420.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Pawan   Why would you want to wait for 3 years? India is already fighting the Taliban within India.   One should not get confused by different names identifying groups. Al-Qaeda, Taliban, LET, HUJI etc etc etc; they are all the same ideologically.   That is why I stressed upon this that, instead of political/militaristic adventurism in alien lands, India should be "defending and insulating India from the religious and political adventurism of inimical neighbours."   I must add; what India also needs to do is to deal sensitively with the plaints of the citizens and by doing so shield them from being easy prey for recruitment by the religious extremists/terrorists from any religion.   Kshmendra     --- On Tue, 3/9/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "reader-list" Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 5:17 PM Dear Mr Kaul ,  My view on this is different .  I believe that if we do not fight Taliban in Afghanisatn now , we would be fighting them in India 3 years from now. Choice is ours. Pawan On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Pawan   I would agree with Gen Hamid Gul that "Taliban is the future". Not only for Afghanistan, which has been explicitly mentioned by Gen Gul but also for Pakistan, which Gen Gul might be hesitant in mentioning but about which there is no ambiguity that Gen Gul would like to see that happen.   Afghanistan is likely to see the dislodgement of the present (USA supported) government either, if Taliban agrees, by it being integrated with the Taliban (as Pakistan and USA also are attempting) , or by a takeover by the Taliban in case USA decides not to suffer any further losses in Afghanistan and vacates.   It is also likely that such a Taliban-Run Afghanistan will be a smaller geographical entity carved out from the present one.   Taliban is already integrated into Pakistan. The ideology of the Taliban is being furthered in Pakistan, not only by religious teaching and propagation but through clearly visible ideological expressions in the Politics, Military, Media, Education and Civil Society of Pakistan.   If Afghanistan were to go the way projected by me, it would not be long before there is an openly Talibanised shift in the governance of Pakistan.   I would term the currently seen actions by the Pakistan Military against TTP (Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan) as jostling for control between two different Talibanised entities.   Whatever be the scenarios emerging in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I think it is downright stupid of India  to be involved in any which way in Afghanistan in what appears to be India's vision of the grandeur of being termed a Regional Power.   India is better advised to concentrate on improving the lives of the citizens of India and altering it's adventures to defending and insulating India from the religious and political adventurism of inimical neighbours.   Kshmendra   --- On Mon, 3/8/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "reader-list" Date: Monday, March 8, 2010, 7:56 PM Dear Readers , Before I am being misinterpreted once again , i wish to clarify that the subject line is not mine . This is a statement by Gen Hamid Gul of Pakistan. The reason I am sharing his interview is for the reason that I found his thoughts very similar to Lashkar & Taliban. Just wanted to know if others feel the same ? Pawan Durani http://generalhamidgul.com/home “America is history, Karzai is history, the Taliban are the future” You recently said 'the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in Afghanistan'. Isn't that a little far-fetched? The Americans are defeated. It isn't necessarily because their firepower and their might has weakened, but it is because their own people are sick and tired [of engagement in Afghanistan]. There is fatigue now, fatigue is the threat and is the worst thing for a nation to suffer from. There is no way that the Americans can hold on to Afghanistan. Could that lead to [Afghanistan President] Hamid Karzai's government being toppled? Karzai is no more. He is now fighting for his life. They have already started telling him that by the end of this year he will have to shoulder the responsibility of security in Afghanistan. But what are they giving him for this? Nothing at all. In fact, more civilian casualties in military operations are going to weaken Karzai's position. Some in Afghanistan believe that the extent of civilian casualties has empowered the Taliban's resurgence. It is not only that. While the civilian casualties have certainly made the Taliban a popular movement in Afghanistan - some 80 per cent of the population support them - the people of Afghanistan are fed up with corruption. They are sick of the influence of warlords and drug barons, and the continued American occupation. If it was a shot stint - come in and get out after completing the job - the situation would have been different. But the Americans didn't do that. If they wanted to disperse al-Qaeda, they succeeded after the first year, and after that they should have pulled out. The fact they stayed on betrays their real intentions in Afghanistan until Barack Obama, the US president, came and started talking about withdrawal. It was only last December that Obama announced that the US will pull out of Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton said the same thing, but there is a dichotomy. On the one hand they say 'We are not here to stay in Afghanistan', but on the other hand they carry out surges and want to prop up and build the Afghan Army. However, they don't give the money to build the Afghan Army - just $140mn. Compare this to how much it costs the US to keep just one soldier in Afghanistan - $1mn dollars per soldier per year in Afghanistan. They have now about 68,000 US troops. It is currently costing them $65bn just to maintain these troops. There are another 30,000 US troops now coming, so it will cost the US $100bn a year to maintain its forces in Afghanistan. The US is a heavily indebted nation so how are they going to afford this? Some 57 per cent of Americans in the polls say they don't like this war and want their boys to return home. The Americans can't take casualties, that is their problem. To compensate, they started employing security contractors, some 104,000 security contractors currently in Afghanistan. What does this mean? Mercenaries to be used where troops cannot be deployed? We have already seen what mercenaries did in Iraq. The Americans are more and more inclined - because the US military cannot suffer casualties - to employ mercenaries, not just from the US but also from the local population. This is a very dangerous trend if we are to believe that mercenaries can win wars and carry forward the political objectives of the country. This means that whoever has more money can employ more mercenaries, win wars, win territories, etc. Given everything you have just said, how do you think the latest US and Nato offensive against the Taliban is going to play out? It is not going to work. I think it is an 'eye wash', it has political purpose back home. But there is no political purpose for Afghanistan. They are saying that they are protecting the civilian population, but they are dislodging the civilians from their homes in very harsh weather conditions in Afghanistan. The cold winds from the steppes of Central Asia sweep these regions. When you launch such military operations, the people are inevitably dislodged and their fields abandoned. In this situation, what are the Americans trying to achieve - I don't know. There is much ambiguity about their political objectives. Every military conflict must have a political purpose. I cannot discern that there is any political purpose. >From a strategic point of view, Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan has been seen as setting up a buffer, or deterrent, to India. But now that Pakistan has nuclear capability, how important is Afghanistan to Islamabad? We want a friendly Afghanistan. We know India is playing havoc with us. The Pakistani Taliban are being sponsored by the Indian intelligence and the Mossad, by the way, to carry out their attacks in Pakistan. The Mossad is very active in Pakistan and they are providing all the guidance and technical support to the Indian intelligence. So, Pakistan has to have its back covered - no country can fight on two fronts. We have to have a friendly Afghanistan, this does not mean that we dominate Afghanistan. No one can dominate Afghanistan, a country which has already buried two superpowers and the third one is about to be buried there. No, that's not the purpose Pakistan has in Afghanistan. Is the failure to stabilise Afghanistan adversely affecting Pakistan's own security? Yes, indeed it is. The conflict is not just derivative of the failures of the Kabul government - that is a puppet government. The real cause of the conflict is the occupation of Afghanistan by the Americans. If they go out, and after such a time - post-US occupation, the OIC and the Muslim countries have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself. I do not think that Afghanistan will be another Vietnam for the Americans because they have said they will pull out. Obama is a president who is very clear. In his State of the Union address, I think it was clear he was not addressing terrorism but instead focusing on such internal issues as healthcare, unemployment and debt servicing. It appears he is more focused on the domestic front than foreign affairs. You can't focus on both at the same time. There has been a surge in violence in Pakistan since the exit of Pervez Musharraf, the former president. The Pakistani Taliban threaten towns and cities, and there are tensions between the PPP and MQM in key ports like Karachi. What is needed to stabilise Pakistan right now? Political cleaning up of the mess. The rule of law must take root in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the more powerful among the politicians and generals, when it comes to their turn - whether by martial law or civilian democracy - they want to run the affairs of the country according to their own predilections and propensities. And that is where we go wrong. The political institution has to be set right; the Supreme Court and Parliament must be empowered. Right now, all the power is vested under the 17th Amendment, which was an amendment to the constitution passed by the dictator Musharraf in 2003. This gave more power to the office of the president and the ability to bypass the constitution and remain in leadership irrespective of elections. Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, now has that power and he is refusing to budge. So, the 17th Amendment has to go, Parliament has to be empowered, rule of law by the Supreme Court has to be established and the army must not interfere. Then things will begin to fall in place and we will take the right direction. Do you think the US is helping Zardari stay in power because he is seen as co-operating in the so-called war on terror? I think there is ambivalence in their position and they sometimes do criticise him. The American press has in the past bashed Zardari, but it has gone quiet now. The Americans fear the return of the Supreme Court in Pakistan because it could rule that the US drone attacks are violations of the country's sovereignty. If that happens, Parliament would have to act on the Supreme Court's decision and reverse the policy. The Americans are sceptical and suspicious that if the Supreme Court is given free reign in Pakistan, it is likely to rule against their interests and agenda in Pakistan. Do you think the government will survive until the next national elections? The government will survive but I am almost certain Zardari will not. I do not want to appear to be clairvoyant, but I doubt Zardari has many days left in government. In recent years, US officials have accused you of having close ties with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. How do you respond to that? No, this is wrong, I have no such ties. As far as al-Qaeda is concerned, I simply say come up with the evidence for 911. You haven't even charged Osama bin Laden so far, that means you don't have hard evidence against him. The full story is yet to come out. In my opinion, all this is a gimmick, an inside job. In regards to the Taliban, I support their cause of Afghan resistance. I lend them my moral support because I have in the past had strong connections with them. Incidentally, I maintained strong connections with both sides. Many in the Afghan government are my good friends. But since the Taliban are representing the national spirit of resistance, I have given them my voice. The Americans sent my name to the UN Security Council to put me on a sanctions list and declare me an international terrorist. But they failed because the Chinese knew the truth well and blocked that move. Basically, the Americans have nothing against me. I saw the charges and I replied to them in the English-language press in Pakistan. I said if they have anything against me to bring it forward, put me on trial. Tell me what wrong I have done. I have been taking moral stands. The Americans talk of freedom of speech, but apparently my speech hurts them because it counters their excesses. I won't use the word 'interests' because what US policy-makers are doing runs against the interests of the American people. If I say this is right and this is wrong, I am exercising my right and ultimately, this is to the benefit of the American people. But Zardari once told a western journal that you are a "political ideologue of terror". I wrote a letter to Zardari that I am an ideologue of jihad, which is common between us. He is a Muslim like me and believes in the Quran. Terror is a totally different thing. I do not support terror at all, but jihad is our right when a nation is oppressed. According to the United Nations Charter, national resistance for liberation is a right. We call this a jihad. Source: Al-Jazeera _________________________________________ 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 peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 19:13:59 2010 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 05:43:59 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] At the mercy of tanker lorries Message-ID: <3457ce861003090543t2fd85e8fo8429c94ed737be64@mail.gmail.com> At the mercy of tanker lorries Special Correspondent http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/09/stories/2010030960410300.htm Vizhinjam residents spend most of their earnings on murky drinking water Thiruvananthapuram: Impoverished residents in the coastal village of Vizhinjam barely two kilometres away from the Kovalam international beach resort dread the summer. Every year, they are forced to shell out most of their meagre daily earnings for drinking water supplied in tanker lorries. An average family in the fishing village spends about Rs.1,000 a month on water. The village is almost entirely dependent on a fleet of tanker lorries that make a killing from supplying water during the hot months. Piped water has remained a distant dream here. With no water supply scheme, the people are forced to depend on polluted sources, ignoring health hazards. Epidemics like cholera stalk the crowded colonies. Water-logging and accumulation of garbage add to the risk. Predictions of a severe drought have only added to their woes. Tanker operators have jacked up their prices to take advantage of the acute shortage of water throughout the district. A pot of water, which used to sell for Rs.2, now costs Rs.3. The residents have no idea of where the water supplied by tankers is sourced from or whether it is potable. With most of the families depending on fishing, fishermen have to be supplied with potable water to prevent dehydration at sea. “During the lean season, a fisherman earns hardly Rs.50 a day, out of which at least Rs.30 is spent on water that is often hard and brackish. We have no idea where the water is collected from. It is probably sourced from a dirty canal or an abandoned quarry, who knows?” laments T.Peter, State president of the Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF). “Most of us are aware of the health hazards of contaminated water but in the absence of a piped water supply scheme, we are forced to take the risk. It is ironic that the residents in Vizhinjam have to shell out so much money for water transported in tanker lorries when the swimming pools at the Kovalam beach resort nearby have adequate water supply from the Aruvikkara reservoir. Extending the pipeline towards Vizhinjam across a distance of just two km would be a good option. But a section of officials who are hand in glove with the tanker lorry operators have torpedoed the proposal,” he alleged. On Monday, the Theeradesa Mahila Vedi, the women's wing of KSMTF took out a march to the Secretariat demanding government intervention to resolve water scarcity at Vizhinjam. The protestors brandished empty pots to highlight their demand. The women vented their ire by hurling the pots over the police barricade into the Secretariat premises. Inaugurating the protest, Mr. Peter demanded free supply of drinking water to the parched coastal areas. He said the federation would be forced to spearhead an agitation if the Government continued to turn a deaf ear to its pleas. Leaders of KSMTF and Theeradesa Mahila Vedi addressed the protestors. KSMTF submitted a memorandum to Minister for Water Resources N.K.Premachandran urging the government to resolve the water scarcity in the densely populated coastal belt. From yasir.media at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 21:12:22 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 20:42:22 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <882476.44420.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <6b79f1a71003090347g719688d3nd7ad5a83214918e9@mail.gmail.com> <882476.44420.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003090742x7c4f420tf64aa39250466c97@mail.gmail.com> 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an islamist pov. always interesting to hear. yet he and his views have been marginalized in pk. let us us say it is the end of the zia era. 2. pk and afg are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet come back in afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as this would sour their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either being massacred or disappearing to resurface at some point later, the moment in northwest-pk. so this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there is no such problem for the rest of the country. foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata - a fact of life at the moment. but the country seems to have regained some agency of itself with upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt since the lawyers movement and the last elections. a good point for negotiations with india for instance, to streamline our own common regional agendas, which are overdue since at least partition, actually much before... 3. pk-taliban or their views, in fact islamist views are definitely on the margin in pk at the moment. so i totally disagree with KK (who is writing fron across the border wearing border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that the common enemy are the islamists in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally overblown) in india, where too, just like us, they love to make a circus out of it. lets hope the common bonds are stronger than the hate, of which there has been enough. best, y From yasir.media at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 21:18:32 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 20:48:32 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Kalat's occupation by Paki army in 1948 In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003090351l1e603535v7f5a123b3864f41c@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003090351l1e603535v7f5a123b3864f41c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003090748u456e8cdfhdf6dc4d6c1211322@mail.gmail.com> the problem exacerbated as a federal-prvincial, ie provincial autonomy issue which has hardened over the last 60 years as authoritarian and military rule, but the federal framework is capable of resolving this, through devolution, interprovincial/federal coordination etc. while there are separatists there are many refomists and deniers of the problem also. On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 4:51 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > That Kalat is an independent and sovereign state its status is different > from other princely states of British India, its relations with the British > government being based on various mutual agreements and treaties. > > That Kalat is not an Indian state, its relations with India being of only a > formal nature by virtue of Kalat's agreements with the British and that > with > the ceasing of the Agreement of 1876 with the Kalat government, Kalat would > regain its complete independence, as it existed prior to 1876. All such > regions including Quetta Municipality as were given under the control of > the > British in consequence of any treaty will be returned to the sovereignty of > the Kalat state, and resume their original status as parts of the Kalat > state. > > On March 22, 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the last of the Viceroys of India, > arrived in Delhi to wind up British supremacy in this part of the British > dominions. The final partition plan of June 3, 1947 stated in respect of > transfer of power in India. Mr, Jinnah wrote to the Khan of Kalat that > since > the position of the Kalat State was different from the other Indian States, > representation on behalf of the state should be made directly to the > Viceroy > in Delhi to discuss the future position of Kalat and the return of Baloch > regions hitherto under the control of the British Government. Accordingly, > the Chief Secretary of Kalat State was sent to Delhi with a draft of the > new > position of Kalat as prepared by legal experts. This resulted in a round > table conference, held on August 4, 1947, in which Lord Mountbatten, Mr, > Jinnah, Mr Liaqat Ali Khan, Chief Minister of Kalat, Sir Sultan Ahmed, the > legal Advisor of Kalat State and the Khan of Kalat took part in the > deliberations The following points were agreed upon: > > "Kalat State will be independent on August 5, 1947, enjoying the same > status > as it originally held in 1838, having friendly relations with its > neighbours. In case the relations of Kalat with any future government got > strained, Kalat will exercise its right of self-determination, and the > British Government should take precautionary measures to help Kalat in the > matter as per the Treaties of 1839 and 1841." > > As a corollary to the round table conference at Delhi, another agreement > was > signed between Kalat and Pakistan on August 4, 1947. The points agreed upon > were broadcast on August 11, 1947, as under: > > "The Government of Pakistan agrees that Kalat is an independent state, > being > quite different in status from other states of India; and commits to its > relations with the British Government as manifested in several > agreements..... In the meantime, a Standstill Agreement will be made > between > Pakistan and Kalat by which Pakistan shall stand committed to all the > responsibilities and agreements signed by Kalat and the British Government > from 1839 to 1947 and by this,.... In order to discuss finally the > relations > between Kalat and Pakistan on matters of defense, foreign relations and > deliberations will be held in the near future in Karachi." A few weeks > after > the agreement, the Agent to the Governor-General informed the rulers of > Kharan and Lasbela that the control of their regions had been transferred > to > the Kalat State. Hence they once again came under the direct influence of > Kalat. The Marri and Bugti tribal region was also returned into the Kalat > fold soon after. Thus the whole of Balochistan came under the suzerainty of > the Khan of Kalat in the same confederacy of Baloch tribes that Nasir Khan > I, in 1666-67, was able to create. The Kalat government made a formal > declaration of its independence on August 15, 1947, soon after the end of > British supremacy, and a day after Pakistan's coming into being on the map > of the subcontinent. Immediately, a delegation comprising the Kalat prime > minister and foreign minister was sent to Karachi, the then capital of > Pakistan, for discussions and an honorable settlement vis-a-vis relations > with Pakistan in the light of the mutually endorsed Standstill Agreement of > August 11, 1947. > > To shock and grief of Khan of Kalat Mr, Jinnah coarsely persuaded the Khan > to expedite the merger. The Khan replied, "I have great respect for your > advice......but Balochistan, being a land of numerous tribes, the people > there must be duly consulted in the matter prior to any decision I take; > for, according to the prevalent tribal convention, no decision can be > binding upon them unless they are taken into confidence beforehand by their > Khan." > > With this provisional agreement, the Khan returned to Kalat and promptly > summoned the Kalat State Houses of Parliament, the Dar-ul-Awam and > Dar-ul-Umra and proposed to the House to accord him a mandate on the matter > of Kalat's merger with Pakistan. Both the Houses, however, contended > unanimously that the proposal of Kalat's merger militated against the > spirit > of the earlier agreement arrived at between Kalat Government and the > spokesmen of Pakistan on August 4, 1947, as also against the Independence > Act of 1947. > > This decision of Kalat's Parliament was forwarded to the Ministry of > Foreign > Affairs, Government of Pakistan, for necessary processing. Shortly > afterwords, the Mr, Jinnah visited Sibi and during his stay there insisted > upon the Khan to sign the merger documents in his personal capacity. > Finding > reluctance in Khan Govt: Pakistan Cabinet under the leadership and > instruction of Mr, Jinnah working on a scheme to breakup the 500-year old > state. The nature of their scheme, as it turned out subsequently, was > tantamount to a political castration of the Baloch people. > > Illegally and in violation of of 4th August 1947 round table conference > declaration and agreement made by Mr, Jinnah on the very day with Khan, > Stand Still Agreement and also Govt; of Pakistan's earlier decion, it had > decided to punish and encircle Kalat and Baloch people cut off Kharan and > Lasbela by giving them an equal status as Kalat and obtaining their > "mergers" with Pakistan directly. Makran, which had been a part of the > Kalat > State for the last 300 years, was made independent of Kalat on March 17, > 1948; and one of the three Sardars made its ruler. > > Thus Makran, too, was made a part of Pakistan. These hasty, illogical, > irrational and politically illegal and oppressive steps naturally > disillusioned the Baloch people. They rightly felt that all their erstwhile > services and sacrifices in the cause of Pakistan were now forgotten. So > deep > was their despair and frustration that several of them wanted to revolt. > Meanwhile, the wave of hatred and animosity generated by the irrational > policies of the Government of Pakistan against Kalat was fast gaining > dangerous dimensions all over Balochistan. Feelings in the tribal areas > particularly were running high against Pakistan and the Baloch people were > calling the position of the Khan of Kalat himself into question. > > Things were moving fast towards a show down. The Government of Pakistan > instructed the Brigadier in Command at Quetta to go on full alert for > action > against Kalat state and the Agent to the Governor General began to prepare > for police action. This was the situation as it stood in the first quarter > of 1948 triggered by the illogical actions of the Pakistan. > > Under duress Khan of Kalat signed the merger documents in his personal > capacity on March 27, 1948, in an effort to diffuse the situation in > Balochistan. In his autobiography, he admits that he did not have the > mandate to sign the merger without the consent of the Houses of Parliament > of Kalat State. A fortnight after the merger, on April 15, 1948, the Agent > to the Governor General in Balochistan issued an order in the name of Mr, > Jinnah, and the legal entity of the Khan of Kalat was abolished and within > 20 hours of the order many of the members of the Balochistan Cabinet were > arrested or exiled from Balochistan. Prince Abdul Karim's revolt and first > Baloch armed struggle sarted in this back ground. By Hussain Bux Thebo > 30.3.07 > _________________________________________ > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 10:52:38 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:52:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining state subjects Message-ID: Shocker on Women¹s Day PR Bill again haunts govt NC allows PDP bill for discussion Rising Kashmir News Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator Murtaza Ahmad Khan to provide for disqualification from being Permanent Resident (PR) of the State on marriage of a female resident with a non-permanent resident was allowed in the House unopposed. The bill (LC Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by Khan was allowed unopposed in the House. The Bill favours disqualification from being Permanent Resident of the State on marriage of a female permanent resident with a non-permanent resident and on termination of marriage of a non-resident female with a permanent resident husband. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March 2004. However, Congress, which was then the coalition partner of PDP-Congress ruling alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. The bill was rejected by the House. NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was strongly opposed. The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC Private Members Bill No 01 of 2010) to provide for effective protection of women from domestic violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected by the House. Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill on Domestic Violence in the Assembly. ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women so that they can fight for their rights, the government is going to move a bill on Domestic Violence in the ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for Social Welfare had said. She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. ³We are sure that the government will give green signal for its implementation in the state.'' Sakina had said the complaints of domestic violence are rising in the state. From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 10 11:06:23 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 21:36:23 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining state subjects In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <785577.15764.qm@web112103.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Sonia Jee, Does the bill not go against the Basic Constitutional provision of Equality under Art 14 and can't it be challenged by some NGO on infringement of equality enshrined under the Constitution?It seems reservation and other things being talked about Women's welfare are all farce.Basic reality is women are still being treated as Second Class citizens and all political parties coolly acquiesce to it. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Wed, 3/10/10, S. Jabbar wrote: > From: S. Jabbar > Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining state subjects > To: "Sarai" > Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 10:52 AM > Shocker on Women¹s Day > > PR  Bill again haunts govt > NC allows PDP bill for discussion > > Rising Kashmir News > Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator Murtaza > Ahmad Khan to provide > for disqualification from being Permanent Resident (PR) of > the State on > marriage of a female resident with a non-permanent resident > was allowed in > the House unopposed. > > > The bill (LC Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by > Khan was allowed > unopposed in the House. The Bill  favours > disqualification from being > Permanent Resident of the State on marriage of a female > permanent resident > with a non-permanent resident and on termination of > marriage of a > non-resident female with a permanent resident husband. > > The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March > 2004. However, > Congress, which was then the coalition partner of > PDP-Congress ruling > alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. > The bill was > rejected by the House. > > NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was strongly > opposed. > > The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC > Private Members Bill > No 01 of 2010)   to provide for effective > protection of women from domestic > violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected > by the House. > > Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill > on Domestic > Violence in the Assembly. > > ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women so that they can > fight for their > rights, the government is going to move a bill on Domestic > Violence in the > ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for Social > Welfare had said. > > She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in the > Legislative Assembly. > ³We are sure that the government will give green signal > for its > implementation in the state.'' > > Sakina had said the complaints of domestic violence are > rising in the state. > > _________________________________________ > 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 veenashekar at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 11:18:42 2010 From: veenashekar at gmail.com (Veena Shekar) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:18:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] forthcoming Research Publication Message-ID: Releasing Shortly** *Historical Paintings of Srirangapatna-**A stylistic Study** **Author: Dr. Veena Shekar** *** The 18th century was an eventful one in the history of Karnataka. Several battles were fought for supremacy and power. This consequentially brought a change in the thematic rendering in the art of painting in Karnataka. Historic subjects as a result were commissioned for propagating the victories and achievements of the ruler. Introduction of Western concepts, new trends of art and new tools opened up novel theories in the Indian art scene forcing a deviation. The specific objectives of the study for the present book have been to trace the development of Historical paintings in India and study the social, cultural, political and artistic background of 18th century. A detail exploration of the paintings of Daria Daulat Bagh in Srirangapatna is undertaken and the development of style and influences on the paintings clearly explored. The book is an effort, unbiased, in understanding the life, predilection, and contacts cultivated by Tipu Sultan during his tenure as a ruler and his interest in portraying a historical event through the medium of painting. As a result, due to a thorough inspection of the paintings made by this study we get a clue of his artistic frame of mind, his interests political or personal and his contacts with other countries and his relations with his contemporaries. *Reserve Your Copy* Publisher: Harman Publishing House A-23, Naraina Industrial Area Phase-II New Delhi-110028 Phone: 011-41418581, 011-45073676 ,011-25704593 Email: harmanpublishing at yahoo.com *For more details visit* *www.srirangapatnapaintings.info * From kamalhak at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 11:30:48 2010 From: kamalhak at gmail.com (kamalhak at gmail.com) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:00:48 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remainingstate subjects In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1601763767-1268200834-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1290288846-@bda147.bisx.produk.on.blackberry> Hope the vigilante will not see an indian conspiracy in this. Apart from this there is nothing surprising in the bill. One needs to understand who all will be affected by this bill becoming a law. Though, it will be politically incorrect to say this, yet one can't deny the main sufferers will essentially be displaced Kashmiri Pandit women. The bill is, therefore, a yet another step in the process of preventing the displaced Kashmiri Pandits from seeking their rightful place in the land of their ancestors. One also needs to look through the paradox of facilitating the return and settlement with honour of wanna be militants on one side and preventing a rightful place to a Kashmiri women for her folly of marrying an Indian citizen. Going through the events and politics of Kashmir during last two decades, one can safely predict a legislation the strips the displaced Kashmiri Pandits of their permanent residency in Kashmir because of their two decade old absence from the state. Jai Ho!!! Kamal Hak Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel -----Original Message----- From: "S. Jabbar" Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:52:38 To: Sarai Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining state subjects Shocker on Women¹s Day PR Bill again haunts govt NC allows PDP bill for discussion Rising Kashmir News Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator Murtaza Ahmad Khan to provide for disqualification from being Permanent Resident (PR) of the State on marriage of a female resident with a non-permanent resident was allowed in the House unopposed. The bill (LC Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by Khan was allowed unopposed in the House. The Bill favours disqualification from being Permanent Resident of the State on marriage of a female permanent resident with a non-permanent resident and on termination of marriage of a non-resident female with a permanent resident husband. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March 2004. However, Congress, which was then the coalition partner of PDP-Congress ruling alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. The bill was rejected by the House. NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was strongly opposed. The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC Private Members Bill No 01 of 2010) to provide for effective protection of women from domestic violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected by the House. Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill on Domestic Violence in the Assembly. ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women so that they can fight for their rights, the government is going to move a bill on Domestic Violence in the ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for Social Welfare had said. She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. ³We are sure that the government will give green signal for its implementation in the state.'' Sakina had said the complaints of domestic violence are rising in the state. _________________________________________ 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 Mar 10 11:40:33 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:40:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining state subjects In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <002701cac018$659cbf80$30d63e80$@in> Recently RS has passed 33% woman reservation bill to empower woman in the politics supported by major opposition also to pass it and sidelined opportunist and caste base parties like RJD and BSP, which is good move for Indian politics and step forward towards 21st century and becoming super power for India. But, unfortunately parties like PDP of J&K thinking in reverse direction and forcing J&K to move backward. Congress did right thing by opposing the bill of J&K. In democracy woman must have equal right to choose their marriage partner. This applicable to J&K also where woman of J&K must have right to choose their marriage partner even from outside J&K, so there is no reason for her disqualification from PR of J&K. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of S. Jabbar Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:53 AM To: Sarai Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining state subjects Shocker on Women¹s Day PR Bill again haunts govt NC allows PDP bill for discussion Rising Kashmir News Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator Murtaza Ahmad Khan to provide for disqualification from being Permanent Resident (PR) of the State on marriage of a female resident with a non-permanent resident was allowed in the House unopposed. The bill (LC Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by Khan was allowed unopposed in the House. The Bill favours disqualification from being Permanent Resident of the State on marriage of a female permanent resident with a non-permanent resident and on termination of marriage of a non-resident female with a permanent resident husband. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March 2004. However, Congress, which was then the coalition partner of PDP-Congress ruling alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. The bill was rejected by the House. NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was strongly opposed. The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC Private Members Bill No 01 of 2010) to provide for effective protection of women from domestic violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected by the House. Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill on Domestic Violence in the Assembly. ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women so that they can fight for their rights, the government is going to move a bill on Domestic Violence in the ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for Social Welfare had said. She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. ³We are sure that the government will give green signal for its implementation in the state.'' Sakina had said the complaints of domestic violence are rising in the state. _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 12:06:51 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:06:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remainingstate subjects In-Reply-To: <1601763767-1268200834-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1290288846-@bda147.bisx.produk.on.blackberry> Message-ID: Please remember that J&K has a separate constitution from the Constitution of India and that the bill has to do with the idea of the 'State subject,' which, if I remember correctly was formulated in Maharaja Pratap Singh's time to prevent wealthy and educated Punjabis from the plains from acquiring land and government jobs. Since 1947 the idea of who is a 'State Subject' and who is not acquired great political overtones. For example, the newly elected Kashmir Assembly wanted to preserve the status of refugees who fled the state in 1947 and even today that person has the right to return. However, unlike Punjab where property on both sides of the border was declared 'enemy property' and refugees rehabilitated after their claims were assessed, no such thing was done in J&K. Thousands of refugees from Mirpur and Muzaffarabad displaced in 1947 still live in 'camps' in Jammu. But their condition is better than the terrible condition of the stateless refugees from say, Sialkot, who fled to Jammu, which was closer than cities in Indian Punjab. These poor people have been living in the most abject condition since 1947 without a strong lobby in Delhi or Srinagar to support their basic rights as citizens of this country. Kamal, both Hindu and Muslim who choose to marry men who are not state subjects will suffer and in this it controls the woman's choice. KP women who marry other KP women will not lose their status, but KP women who marry Bengalis or men from Delhi or Chandigarh would. Similarly, Muslim women who choose to marry outside their community of Kashmiri Muslims would lose their status and privileges. Not surprisingly, in the most blatant display of chauvinism both Kashmiri Muslim and Pandit men can marry whom they wish and retain their privileges of state subject. > From: > Reply-To: > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:00:48 +0000 > To: "S. Jabbar" , , > Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from > remainingstate subjects > > Hope the vigilante will not see an indian conspiracy in this. Apart from this > there is nothing surprising in the bill. One needs to understand who all will > be affected by this bill becoming a law. Though, it will be politically > incorrect to say this, yet one can't deny the main sufferers will essentially > be displaced Kashmiri Pandit women. The bill is, therefore, a yet another > step in the process of preventing the displaced Kashmiri Pandits from seeking > their rightful place in the land of their ancestors. > One also needs to look through the paradox of facilitating the return and > settlement with honour of wanna be militants on one side and preventing a > rightful place to a Kashmiri women for her folly of marrying an Indian > citizen. > Going through the events and politics of Kashmir during last two decades, one > can safely predict a legislation the strips the displaced Kashmiri Pandits of > their permanent residency in Kashmir because of their two decade old absence > from the state. > > Jai Ho!!! > > Kamal Hak > Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel > > -----Original Message----- > From: "S. Jabbar" > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:52:38 > To: Sarai > Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining > state subjects > > Shocker on Women¹s Day PR Bill again haunts govt NC allows PDP bill for > discussion Rising Kashmir News Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator > Murtaza Ahmad Khan to provide for disqualification from being Permanent > Resident (PR) of the State on marriage of a female resident with a > non-permanent resident was allowed in the House unopposed. The bill (LC > Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by Khan was allowed unopposed in the > House. The Bill favours disqualification from being Permanent Resident of the > State on marriage of a female permanent resident with a non-permanent resident > and on termination of marriage of a non-resident female with a permanent > resident husband. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March > 2004. However, Congress, which was then the coalition partner of PDP-Congress > ruling alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. The bill > was rejected by the House. NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was > strongly opposed. The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC > Private Members Bill No 01 of 2010) to provide for effective protection of > women from domestic violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected > by the House. Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill on > Domestic Violence in the Assembly. ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women > so that they can fight for their rights, the government is going to move a > bill on Domestic Violence in the ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for > Social Welfare had said. She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in > the Legislative Assembly. ³We are sure that the government will give green > signal for its implementation in the state.'' Sakina had said the complaints > of domestic violence are rising in the > state. _________________________________________ 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 kamalhak at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 12:48:59 2010 From: kamalhak at gmail.com (Kamal Hak) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:48:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remainingstate subjects In-Reply-To: References: <1601763767-1268200834-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1290288846-@bda147.bisx.produk.on.blackberry> Message-ID: Sonia, the separate constitution and the state subjects are two Kashmiri legacies I can't wish away no matter how much I may dislike these statutes. Also I am totally with you as far as the blatant display of male chauvinism is considered. The bill needs to be vociferously opposed if only for that. However, one can't deny the fact of the promoters or the supporters of the bill arguing against the voice of displaced Pandit women on the mere technicalities of the proposed provisions. The PDP would have done well to table the data of such Kashmiri Muslim women who for last fifty years have married non-state subjects and posed a threat to so called Kashmiri identity. I challenge them to produce a list of just fifty Kashmiri Muslim women who have done so in past fifty years. The mind set and the intentions behind the bill are starkly visible. Kamal Hak 2010/3/10 S. Jabbar > Please remember that J&K has a separate constitution from the Constitution > of India and that the bill has to do with the idea of the 'State subject,' > which, if I remember correctly was formulated in Maharaja Pratap Singh's > time to prevent wealthy and educated Punjabis from the plains from > acquiring > land and government jobs. > > Since 1947 the idea of who is a 'State Subject' and who is not acquired > great political overtones. For example, the newly elected Kashmir Assembly > wanted to preserve the status of refugees who fled the state in 1947 and > even today that person has the right to return. However, unlike Punjab > where property on both sides of the border was declared 'enemy property' > and > refugees rehabilitated after their claims were assessed, no such thing was > done in J&K. Thousands of refugees from Mirpur and Muzaffarabad displaced > in 1947 still live in 'camps' in Jammu. But their condition is better than > the terrible condition of the stateless refugees from say, Sialkot, who > fled > to Jammu, which was closer than cities in Indian Punjab. These poor people > have been living in the most abject condition since 1947 without a strong > lobby in Delhi or Srinagar to support their basic rights as citizens of > this > country. > > Kamal, both Hindu and Muslim who choose to marry men who are not state > subjects will suffer and in this it controls the woman's choice. KP women > who marry other KP women will not lose their status, but KP women who marry > Bengalis or men from Delhi or Chandigarh would. Similarly, Muslim women > who > choose to marry outside their community of Kashmiri Muslims would lose > their > status and privileges. > > Not surprisingly, in the most blatant display of chauvinism both Kashmiri > Muslim and Pandit men can marry whom they wish and retain their privileges > of state subject. > > > > From: > > Reply-To: > > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:00:48 +0000 > > To: "S. Jabbar" , >, > > Sarai > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from > > remainingstate subjects > > > > Hope the vigilante will not see an indian conspiracy in this. Apart from > this > > there is nothing surprising in the bill. One needs to understand who all > will > > be affected by this bill becoming a law. Though, it will be politically > > incorrect to say this, yet one can't deny the main sufferers will > essentially > > be displaced Kashmiri Pandit women. The bill is, therefore, a yet > another > > step in the process of preventing the displaced Kashmiri Pandits from > seeking > > their rightful place in the land of their ancestors. > > One also needs to look through the paradox of facilitating the return and > > settlement with honour of wanna be militants on one side and preventing > a > > rightful place to a Kashmiri women for her folly of marrying an Indian > > citizen. > > Going through the events and politics of Kashmir during last two decades, > one > > can safely predict a legislation the strips the displaced Kashmiri > Pandits of > > their permanent residency in Kashmir because of their two decade old > absence > > from the state. > > > > Jai Ho!!! > > > > Kamal Hak > > Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: "S. Jabbar" > > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:52:38 > > To: Sarai > > Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining > > state subjects > > > > Shocker on Women¹s Day > > PR Bill again haunts govt > NC allows PDP bill for > > discussion > > Rising Kashmir News > Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator > > Murtaza Ahmad Khan to provide > for disqualification from being Permanent > > Resident (PR) of the State on > marriage of a female resident with a > > non-permanent resident was allowed in > the House unopposed. > > > The bill (LC > > Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by Khan was allowed > unopposed in the > > House. The Bill favours disqualification from being > Permanent Resident of the > > State on marriage of a female permanent resident > with a non-permanent resident > > and on termination of marriage of a > non-resident female with a permanent > > resident husband. > > The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March > > 2004. However, > Congress, which was then the coalition partner of PDP-Congress > > ruling > alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. The bill > > was > rejected by the House. > > NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was > > strongly opposed. > > The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC > > Private Members Bill > No 01 of 2010) to provide for effective protection of > > women from domestic > violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected > > by the House. > > Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill on > > Domestic > Violence in the Assembly. > > ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women > > so that they can fight for their > rights, the government is going to move a > > bill on Domestic Violence in the > ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for > > Social Welfare had said. > > She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in > > the Legislative Assembly. > ³We are sure that the government will give green > > signal for its > implementation in the state.'' > > Sakina had said the complaints > > of domestic violence are rising in the > > state. > > _________________________________________ > 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/> > > > -- Kamal Hak "Zuv Shum Braman Ghara Gasa Ha" From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 10 15:19:29 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:49:29 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003090742x7c4f420tf64aa39250466c97@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <79806.39246.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Yasir   Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On the contrary, mine might be broader-glasses.     I would like to believe that I have greater objectivity regarding both Pakistan and India as compared to most who are living in either country.      This comment of yours was interesting - " foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata"   Have heard that mouthed very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to mention Iran (especially wrt Balochistan).   These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by India.   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an islamist pov. always interesting to hear. yet he and his views have been marginalized in pk. let us us say it is the end of the zia era. 2. pk and afg are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet come back in afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as this would sour their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either being massacred or disappearing to resurface at some point later, the moment in northwest-pk. so this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there is no such problem for the rest of the country. foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata - a fact of life at the moment. but the country seems to have regained some agency of itself with upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt since the lawyers movement and the last elections. a good point for negotiations with india for instance, to streamline our own common regional agendas, which are overdue since at least partition, actually much before... 3. pk-taliban or their views, in fact islamist views are definitely on the margin in pk at the moment. so i totally disagree with KK (who is writing fron across the border wearing border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that the common enemy are the islamists in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally overblown) in india, where too, just like us, they love to make a circus out of it. lets hope the common bonds are stronger than the hate, of which there has been enough. best, y _________________________________________ 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 Mar 10 16:08:07 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:38:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remainingstate subjects In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <978584.45392.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> @ Sonia - Dont know of any cases of "KP women who marry other KP women" (how does one type the 'smile' icon?)   @ Kamal - Your implication that the proposed Bill is specially meant to exclude KP Women is a ridiculous one. So is your challenge "to produce a list of just fifty Kashmiri Muslim women who have done so" (married non-State Subjects) in past fifty years. I personally know of 5 such cases.   It is important to understand the background.   A Division Bench of J&K High Court gave the ruling that on the issue of "State Subject" you cannot differentiate between sexes. A Special Leave Petition (SLP) was filed against this in the Supreme Court but was subsequently withdrawn.   Prior to this ruling:   - A State Subject (SS) Woman marrying a Non-SS, she was considered to have lost her SS Status and in any case her children were not considered a SS. The Non-SS man continued to be a Non-SS - If a SS Man married a Non-SS Woman, their children were considered as SS. - The status of the (prior to marriage) Non-SS woman was ambiguous as to whether she was a SS after marriage or not.   In the case that reached the High Court, the central issue was of Inheritance Rights of the one who used to be a Non-SS. Their being considered or not being considered a SS after marriage (to a SS entity) became contentiously important if the Inheritance included Immovable Property, which can be owned only by a SS.   The High Court ruling, did not declare whether the (prior to marriage) Non-SS (man or woman) became a SS after marriage to a SS or whether a SS Woman lost her SS status after marriage to a Non-SS. But it did secure their rights of Inheritance, including those on Immovable Property for all Man or Woman irrespective to their SS or Non-SS status prior to marriage.   The exact provisions of the New Bill are not known to me, but from the Press Report forwarded by Sonia, it does seem that one of the intentions is to treat Women differently from Men with the prejudice and bias being against Women. That is an attitude to be found commonly amongst both Muslims and Hindus.   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 3/10/10, S. Jabbar wrote: From: S. Jabbar Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remainingstate subjects To: kamalhak at gmail.com, reader-list-bounces at sarai.net, "Sarai" Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 12:06 PM Please remember that J&K has a separate constitution from the Constitution of India and that the bill has to do with the idea of the 'State subject,' which, if I remember correctly was formulated in Maharaja Pratap Singh's time to prevent wealthy and educated Punjabis from the plains from acquiring land and government jobs. Since 1947 the idea of who is a 'State Subject' and who is not acquired great political overtones.  For example, the newly elected Kashmir Assembly wanted to preserve the status of refugees who fled the state in 1947 and even today that person has the right to return.  However, unlike Punjab where property on both sides of the border was declared 'enemy property' and refugees rehabilitated after their claims were assessed, no such thing was done in J&K.  Thousands of refugees from Mirpur and Muzaffarabad displaced in 1947 still live in 'camps' in Jammu.  But their condition is better than the terrible condition of the stateless refugees from say, Sialkot, who fled to Jammu, which was closer than cities in Indian Punjab. These poor people have been living in the most abject condition since 1947 without a strong lobby in Delhi or Srinagar to support their basic rights as citizens of this country. Kamal, both Hindu and Muslim who choose to marry men who are not state subjects will suffer and in this it controls the woman's choice.  KP women who marry other KP women will not lose their status, but KP women who marry Bengalis or men from Delhi or Chandigarh would.  Similarly, Muslim women who choose to marry outside their community of Kashmiri Muslims would lose their status and privileges. Not surprisingly, in the most blatant display of chauvinism both Kashmiri Muslim and Pandit men can marry whom they wish and retain their privileges of state subject.     > From: > Reply-To: > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:00:48 +0000 > To: "S. Jabbar" , , > Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from > remainingstate subjects > > Hope the vigilante will not see an indian conspiracy in this. Apart from this > there is nothing surprising in the bill. One needs to understand who all will > be affected by this bill becoming a law. Though, it will be politically > incorrect to say this, yet one can't deny the main sufferers will essentially > be displaced Kashmiri Pandit  women. The bill is, therefore, a yet another > step in the process of preventing the displaced Kashmiri Pandits from seeking > their rightful place in the land of their ancestors. > One also needs to look through the paradox of facilitating the return and > settlement with honour  of wanna be militants on one side and preventing a > rightful place to a Kashmiri women for her folly of marrying an Indian > citizen. > Going through the events and politics of Kashmir during last two decades, one > can safely predict a legislation the strips the displaced Kashmiri Pandits of > their permanent residency in Kashmir because of their two decade old absence > from the state. > > Jai Ho!!! > > Kamal Hak > Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel > > -----Original Message----- > From: "S. Jabbar" > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:52:38 > To: Sarai > Subject: [Reader-list] Bill to disqualify Kashmiri women from remaining > state subjects > > Shocker on Women¹s Day PR  Bill again haunts govt NC allows PDP bill for > discussion Rising Kashmir News Jammu, March 8: A Bill moved by PDP legislator > Murtaza Ahmad Khan to provide for disqualification from being Permanent > Resident (PR) of the State on marriage of a female resident with a > non-permanent resident was allowed in the House unopposed. The bill (LC > Private Members Bill No 04 of 2010) moved by Khan was allowed unopposed in the > House. The Bill  favours disqualification from being Permanent Resident of the > State on marriage of a female permanent resident with a non-permanent resident > and on termination of marriage of a non-resident female with a permanent > resident husband. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly in March > 2004. However, Congress, which was then the coalition partner of PDP-Congress > ruling alliance voted against the bill in Legislative Assembly. The bill > was rejected by the House. NC had then supported the Bill but Congress was > strongly opposed. The PDP legislator Murtaza Khan also moved a Bill (LC > Private Members Bill No 01 of 2010)   to provide for effective protection of > women from domestic violence and for matters connected therewith was rejected > by the House. Earlier, the government had said that it will move a bill on > Domestic Violence in the Assembly. ''To empower the Jammu and Kashmir women > so that they can fight for their rights, the government is going to move a > bill on Domestic Violence in the ongoing session,'' Sakina Ittoo, Minister for > Social Welfare had said. She had said that the bill will soon be tabled in > the Legislative Assembly. ³We are sure that the government will give green > signal for its implementation in the state.'' Sakina had said the complaints > of domestic violence are rising in the > state. _________________________________________ 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 17:48:14 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:48:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders March 10th, 2010 By Cho Ramaswamy Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari society, hopefully not artistically clothed. His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the protests which do not harm him in any way. Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the literary world. - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of Tamil magazine Tughlak Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr-husain-go-paint-qatari-leaders-773 From aliens at dataone.in Wed Mar 10 18:21:39 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:21:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> Thanks Pawan for posting this article. Cho Ramaswami is absolutely right by saying ” All those who appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari society, hopefully not artistically clothed.” Actually it is his dirty mind inspires him to make goddess nude pictures and not the artistic mind. He is really psychic and needs psychiatric treatment. However, pseudo-secular readers here will sure to oppose this article. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:48 PM To: reader-list Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders March 10th, 2010 By Cho Ramaswamy Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari society, hopefully not artistically clothed. His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the protests which do not harm him in any way. Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the literary world. - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of Tamil magazine Tughlak Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr-husain-go-paint-qatari-leaders-773 _________________________________________ 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 Mar 10 18:47:29 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:47:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> References: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> Message-ID: <341380d01003100517k70ba8130u925531a62fdc688c@mail.gmail.com> after babri masjid, i am sure there is a conspiracy to demolish khajuraho also now after reading such pieces...it is a matter of shame that some of the reader's list members are worried about the paintings of an artist (who inspired thousands of young artists in this country for free expression) but you do not voice your concern with equal gusto when women are being raped and killed in the country. what makes you think that you own this culture? On 3/10/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Thanks Pawan for posting this article. > > Cho Ramaswami is absolutely right by saying ” All those who appreciate his > art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of > Qatari > society, hopefully not artistically clothed.” > > Actually it is his dirty mind inspires him to make goddess nude pictures and > not the artistic mind. He is really psychic and needs psychiatric treatment. > However, pseudo-secular readers here will sure to oppose this article. > > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:48 PM > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > March 10th, 2010 > By Cho Ramaswamy > > > Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total > freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on > freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now > eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari > society, hopefully not artistically clothed. > > His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities > alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted > his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being > the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to > remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with > seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? > > Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to > Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. > All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. > Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. > > I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I > want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the > force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict > the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to > paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. > > He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude > so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude > pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. > > And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning > to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to > avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a > liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the > protests which do not harm him in any way. > > Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not > an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And > now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner > for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully > plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that > red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the > literary world. > > - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political > analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of > Tamil magazine Tughlak > > Source : > http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr-husain-go-paint-qatari-leaders-773 > _________________________________________ > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 18:58:47 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:58:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future-- another, more imp Pakistani debate In-Reply-To: <79806.39246.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: >From The Daily Times, Pakistan Mar 10, 2010 A secular state is a moral state By Ishtiaq Ahmed The modern secular-democratic state must ensure that all individuals as well as majorities and minorities enjoy freedom of religion and conscience and the political right to choose their government In the last few weeks the Daily Times has carried a number of very interesting articles for and against making Pakistan a secular state. Babar Ayaz pleaded for amending the Pakistani constitution with a view to making it a secular state (‘Amendments for a secular constitution’, Daily Times, February 2, 2010). Dr S M Rahman of the Friends Foundation took a diametrically opposite stand, debunking the secular state as an immoral entity, which allegedly focuses entirely on the pursuit of hedonistic interests and pleasures (‘Is secularism that sacrosanct?’ Daily Times, February 22, 2010). Both authors have advanced seriously considered arguments in favour of their political and ideological preferences. I fully sympathise with Babar Ayaz as he has referred to the hard facts of the brutalisation of society that has taken place in Pakistan in recent years. Some further arguments can be adduced in support of the secular state. The basic flaw in Dr Rahman’s thesis is that instead of reviewing contemporary views on the secular state, he eclectically quotes fictional literature and with a broad sweep the history of 2,000 years of Christendom, the Renaissance, the Reformation and so on, but does not attempt a review of the development in political theory and practice with regard to the contemporary secular state. Not only Rousseau but some other Western writers have shown admiration for the state of Medina founded by the Prophet (PBUH) and sustained for a while by his pious successors (29 years according to the Sunnis and a mere six years according to the Shias). However, what those writers have not done but which any serious and honest scholar of today — Muslim or non-Muslim — cannot escape noticing is that subsequent attempts to resuscitate the ideal Islamic state have been unmitigated disasters. I have shown in my doctoral dissertation (‘The Concept of an Islamic State: An Analysis of the Ideological Controversy in Pakistan’ published in 1987 and again in 1992), that the Quran does not provide a general theory of the state or government; it at most provides a sui generis idea of a Prophet-in-Authority. The Prophet (PBUH) was a lawgiver, a law enforcer or and a law adjudicator. Upon his death the role of lawgiver was over. The pious caliphs could at most claim the right to enforce the law and to adjudicate it when it was violated. With the assassination of Ali in 661 AD, the ideal Islamic state ceased to exist. During the pre-modern period, education, information and knowledge were restricted to very small elites, pious or corrupt. In such circumstances, societies were lucky to have a benevolent despot in power but were mostly ruled by absolute rulers; many were tyrants. One can argue that at that period in history it was but natural that some gifted individuals could make a huge difference in the lives of people. Since the Prophet (PBUH) and his pious successors were in their own time revolutionaries who tried to establish a more just society than what was present contemporaneously in the 7th century, their achievements have admirers not only among Muslims but also others. With the advances in education, information, law, constitutionalism, moral philosophy and political theory, there is no need for pinning hope on gifted individuals. Rather the need is to build institutions that ensure respect for the rights of citizens. The modern conception of the state begins with Machiavelli — an authority that Dr Rahman probably is referring to with regard to morality. That view of the secular state has indeed visited great suffering on humanity during the period of nationalism, and the two World Wars and the Holocaust are examples of it. However, the state as an entity upholding the rule of law and itself accepting limits to its power and authority by law has a long pedigree. It origins are undoubtedly the British Isles. The rule of law meant recognition of the rights of individuals to certain inalienable freedoms. Those freedoms included the freedom to conscience and religion as well. It is such a secular state that has evolved during the 20th century into a welfare state, and after World War II it has become truly universal, requiring equal treatment of men and women, protection of the rights of minorities to their culture and religion, and committed the state to promote the welfare of its citizens. I do not find such developments immoral in any sense of the word. On the contrary, the modern secular state prescribes a very advanced morality — that its citizens have the right to be liberated from want and hunger, illiteracy and disempowerment, which has been the lot of the mass of the people throughout history. Moreover, the modern secular-democratic state must ensure that all individuals as well as majorities and minorities enjoy the freedom of religion and conscience and the political right to choose their government. There are of course many other rights that are now part of the UN conventions and national constitutions. The whole idea is that the government cannot arbitrarily repeal the human and civil rights of citizens. No doubt the secular-democratic state is no guarantee that its constitution and laws will never allow abuse of power — the unlawful invasion of Iraq in 2003 by religious freaks like US President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair are some indication of the need to extend the rule of law beyond the state to international relations. In other words, there is an urgent need to ensure that the violation of international law that results in the deaths of innocent people is criminalised even more strongly. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been assigned the task of ensuring that leaders who are guilty of crimes against humanity and acts of genocide are tried and punished. It represents a secular morality that is far superior to all the ‘might-is-right’ conquests that were normal when warrior nations such as the Romans and Arabs or later the Europeans could embark upon and subjugate other peoples. Secular political thought, tempered by the growing realisation that human beings have to be treated as equal and free without regard to race, nationality or religion, has created vastly different possibilities for human beings to live in peace and enjoy a life of dignity under the law. Therefore, the modern secular state is a moral state. Ishtiaq Ahmed is a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and the South Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore. He is also Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University. He has published extensively on South Asian politics. At ISAS, he is currently working on a book, Is Pakistan a Garrison State? He can be reached at isasia at nus.edu.sg > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:49:29 -0800 (PST) > To: Sarai Reader-list , yasir ~يا سر > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > > Dear Yasir   Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On > the contrary, mine might be broader-glasses.     I would like to believe > that I have greater objectivity regarding both Pakistan and India as compared > to most who are living in either country.      This comment of yours was > interesting - " foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, saudi, > india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional agendas in > the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata"   Have heard that mouthed > very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to mention Iran (especially wrt > Balochistan).   These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( > Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by > India.   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر > wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] > Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: > Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an > islamist pov. always interesting to hear. yet he and his views have been > marginalized in pk. let us us say it is the end of the zia era. 2. pk and afg > are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet come back in > afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as this would sour > their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either being massacred or > disappearing to resurface at some point later, the moment in northwest-pk. so > this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there is no such problem for > the rest of the country. foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, > saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional > agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata - a fact of life at > the moment. but the country seems to have regained some agency of itself with > upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt since the lawyers movement > and the last elections. a good point for negotiations with india for instance, > to streamline our own common regional agendas, which are overdue since at > least partition, actually much before... 3. pk-taliban or their views, in > fact islamist views are definitely on the margin in pk at the moment. so i > totally disagree with KK (who is writing fron across the border wearing > border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that the common enemy are the islamists > in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally overblown) in india, where too, just like > us, they love to make a circus out of it. lets hope the common bonds are > stronger than the hate, of which there has been enough. best, > y _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 19:03:25 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:03:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <79806.39246.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: 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. > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:49:29 -0800 (PST) > To: Sarai Reader-list , yasir ~يا سر > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > > Dear Yasir   Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On > the contrary, mine might be broader-glasses.     I would like to believe > that I have greater objectivity regarding both Pakistan and India as compared > to most who are living in either country.      This comment of yours was > interesting - " foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, saudi, > india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional agendas in > the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata"   Have heard that mouthed > very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to mention Iran (especially wrt > Balochistan).   These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( > Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by > India.   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر > wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] > Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: > Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an > islamist pov. always interesting to hear. yet he and his views have been > marginalized in pk. let us us say it is the end of the zia era. 2. pk and afg > are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet come back in > afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as this would sour > their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either being massacred or > disappearing to resurface at some point later, the moment in northwest-pk. so > this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there is no such problem for > the rest of the country. foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, > saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional > agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata - a fact of life at > the moment. but the country seems to have regained some agency of itself with > upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt since the lawyers movement > and the last elections. a good point for negotiations with india for instance, > to streamline our own common regional agendas, which are overdue since at > least partition, actually much before... 3. pk-taliban or their views, in > fact islamist views are definitely on the margin in pk at the moment. so i > totally disagree with KK (who is writing fron across the border wearing > border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that the common enemy are the islamists > in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally overblown) in india, where too, just like > us, they love to make a circus out of it. lets hope the common bonds are > stronger than the hate, of which there has been enough. best, > y _________________________________________ 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 rahul_capri at yahoo.com Wed Mar 10 20:58:07 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:28:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <553273.56904.qm@web53608.mail.re2.yahoo.com> I do not disagree with the major thrust of this article but calling the army pragmatic nationalist is really a disrespect to the nation and people of Pakistan. The secession of Bangladesh in 1971 primarily due to the brutalities of the army is only one datapoint. There are many others which will effectively rebut the so called nationalist identity of the army.As the cliche goes, Pakistan is not a nation with an army but an army with a nation, The best way to analyze the army is as a  well oiled corporate body intent on maximising its own profits.   ----- Original Message ---- From: S. Jabbar To: Kshmendra Kaul ; Sarai ; yasir ~يا سر Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 8:33:25 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future 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. > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:49:29 -0800 (PST) > To: Sarai Reader-list , yasir ~يا سر > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > > Dear Yasir   Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On > the contrary, mine might be broader-glasses.     I would like to believe > that I have greater objectivity regarding both Pakistan and India as compared > to most who are living in either country.      This comment of yours was > interesting - " foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, saudi, > india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional agendas in > the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata"   Have heard that mouthed > very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to mention Iran (especially wrt > Balochistan).   These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( > Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by > India.   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر > wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] > Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: > Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an > islamist pov. always interesting to hear. yet he and his views have been > marginalized in pk. let us us say it is the end of the zia era. 2. pk and afg > are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet come back in > afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as this would sour > their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either being massacred or > disappearing to resurface at some point later, the moment in northwest-pk. so > this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there is no such problem for > the rest of the country. foreign entities and money incl china, russia, US, > saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each others' regional > agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata - a fact of life at > the moment. but the country seems to have regained some agency of itself with > upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt since the lawyers movement > and the last elections. a good point for negotiations with india for instance, > to streamline our own common regional agendas, which are overdue since at > least partition, actually much before... 3. pk-taliban or their views, in > fact islamist views are definitely on the margin in pk at the moment. so i > totally disagree with KK (who is writing fron across the border wearing > border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that the common enemy are the islamists > in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally overblown) in india, where too, just like > us, they love to make a circus out of it. lets hope the common bonds are > stronger than the hate, of which there has been enough. best, > y _________________________________________ 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 rahul_capri at yahoo.com Wed Mar 10 23:38:53 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:08:53 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill Message-ID: <147830.10532.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi, >From browing the reports it was not clear to me if the reservation would be fixed or rotating. Does anyone know? If the reservation is rotating in different seats for each election that would mean incumbents can not contest in 33% of the seats, and incumbents are not likely to get party tickets in the other 33 % . Thanks Rahul From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 00:00:47 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <147830.10532.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <147830.10532.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi Rahul My response: 1) The reservation is rotating in the sense, that within 15 years, all seats would have been reserved at least once for women. Assume that a state has 3 governments which last their full terms. In such a case, in 15 years, there would have been 3 elections for the state assembly. In such a case, one third of the assembly seats would be reserved in say the first election, but in the next election, these seats would be de-reserved, and instead one-third of the total assembly seats (but not these dereserved ones) would be chosen for the 2nd election. In the third election, those seats which were dereserved for both the 1st and 2nd election would be reserved. 2) Women can contest even from dereserved seats, so there is no case of incumbent not being able to contest from a seat once it is dereserved. She can contest again. There is no restriction on doing so. But what it means is that a man would not be able to be contest three continuous times in both Assembly and Parliamentary elections from the same seat. Rakesh From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 11 00:14:38 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:44:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: References: <147830.10532.qm@web53601.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <532023.58453.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Thanks Rakesh. I agree that women incumbents can contest from open seats - but,firstly, it is less likely that they would be given tickets by major parties,since they are already giving tickets to women in the reserved constituencies.Secondly,if they do, the balance may shift in the other direction with men not getting a chance to stand for election in 66% of the seats. To sum up, in 66% of seats, its unlikely, though not impossible for the incumbents to stand for election ; and that I think is bad for accountability in particular and democarcy in general.It has the potential to create a big mess. On the other hand, fixed reservation is acceptable in my opinion. Thanks Rahul ________________________________ From: Rakesh Iyer To: Rahul Asthana Cc: Sarai Reader List Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:30:47 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill Hi Rahul My response: 1) The reservation is rotating in the sense, that within 15 years, all seats would have been reserved at least once for women. Assume that a state has 3 governments which last their full terms. In such a case, in 15 years, there would have been 3 elections for the state assembly. In such a case, one third of the assembly seats would be reserved in say the first election, but in the next election, these seats would be de-reserved, and instead one-third of the total assembly seats (but not these dereserved ones) would be chosen for the 2nd election. In the third election, those seats which were dereserved for both the 1st and 2nd election would be reserved. 2) Women can contest even from dereserved seats, so there is no case of incumbent not being able to contest from a seat once it is dereserved. She can contest again. There is no restriction on doing so. But what it means is that a man would not be able to be contest three continuous times in both Assembly and Parliamentary elections from the same seat. Rakesh From shuddha at sarai.net Thu Mar 11 00:01:42 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:01:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> References: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> Message-ID: <43483CC6-63FE-412F-AD71-035BE3806068@sarai.net> Dear All, I don't know whether or not I am secular or pseudo-secular. But actually, i do not oppose Cho Ramaswamy's article. Instead of reading it ironically, I want to read it seriously, to take it at its word. I think it works better if read as if it were written sincerely, than it does if read as if it were written as a second rate piece of satire. And seriously, I think Husain has every right to paint anyone he likes in any form he likes, whether nude or clothed. And so, if I were asked what my opinion would be on the hypothetical possibility of Husain (or any other artist for that matter) wanting to paint the royal family of Qatar, or Queen Elizabeth the Second, or Shivaji, or Razia Sultan, or Indira Gandhi, or Savarkar, or M.K. Gandhi (doesn't require much imagination to do that) or Bhagat Singh, Subhash Bose, Lenin, Mao, or any personage, religious or political, in the nude, or, if on the contrary, he wanted to paint a version of a nude by Ingres in a burqa, or wearing a boliler suit, frankly, I would say that it should be his prerogative to do that. As far as I am concerned, no painting ever killed anybody, or made people get infectious diseases. Paintings are good, or bad, and Husain's work, like the work of any other artist is open to criticism. But a work of art, in and of itself, is neither harmful, nor beneficial. We can derive harmful or beneficial interpretations of it, and if we grant that to be the case, then that could, arguably be a ground for restricting the liberty of viewership, ( a view I must clarify that I do not endorse, I am considering it here, only for the sake of argument), but even this cannot by any stretch of reasoning be construed into becoming a grounds for a restriction on the making of a work of art. If at all we consider such an argument, all that it can permit us to do is to imagine provisions for the restriction of the said work's universal exposition. And it should also be his (Husain's) prerogative to live where he wants (and this is true of anybody at all), work where he wants, and paint, or write, or sing or dance whatsoever he wants. As long as his actions do not restrict another person's liberty, I see no reason whatsoever to argue for restraints on his location or movements. His being in Quatar does not prevent me from being in India. His making a nude Durga does not restrict my liberty to either see, or not see the said painting. Seeing it, or not, being offended by it or not, is a choice that I am making. And an artist cannot be prosecuted for choices made by a viewer. If anyone is offended (or feel that they may be offended) by anything that any artist makes, they have to do one simple thing to ensure that the unpleasantness of offense does not mar their experience of life. Do not look at the work of art in question, simply do not read the offending book, or watch the offending play or film. Or, if you do, simply accept the fact that just as there are many things that you hold dear that others may find offensive or be indifferent to, so too, many things that you find offensive might be significant to others. A nude depiction of a goddess in the Hindu pantheon may be offensive to some, and sacred, or meaningful and beautiful, to others, for similar, and/or different reasons. No one should be in a position to take away your right not to see something, just as no one should be in a position to take away my right to see something. Frankly, I do not care whether Husain does or does not paint the rulers of Qatar in the nude, or Cho Ramaswami with a full head of hair. But if asked whether or not he has a right to do so, obviously, I would say he does. And so does any artist, anywhere in the world. best Shuddha On 10-Mar-10, at 6:21 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Thanks Pawan for posting this article. > > Cho Ramaswami is absolutely right by saying ” All those who > appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative > paintings of the leaders of Qatari > society, hopefully not artistically clothed.” > > Actually it is his dirty mind inspires him to make goddess nude > pictures and not the artistic mind. He is really psychic and needs > psychiatric treatment. However, pseudo-secular readers here will > sure to oppose this article. > > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list- > bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:48 PM > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > March 10th, 2010 > By Cho Ramaswamy > > > Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total > freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on > freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now > eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari > society, hopefully not artistically clothed. > > His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities > alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted > his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being > the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to > remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with > seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? > > Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to > Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. > All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. > Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. > > I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I > want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the > force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict > the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to > paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. > > He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude > so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude > pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. > > And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning > to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to > avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a > liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the > protests which do not harm him in any way. > > Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not > an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And > now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner > for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully > plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that > red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the > literary world. > > - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political > analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of > Tamil magazine Tughlak > > Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr- > husain-go-paint-qatari-leaders-773 > _________________________________________ > 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 pheeta.ram at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 01:53:08 2010 From: pheeta.ram at gmail.com (Pheeta Ram) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:53:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <43483CC6-63FE-412F-AD71-035BE3806068@sarai.net> References: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> <43483CC6-63FE-412F-AD71-035BE3806068@sarai.net> Message-ID: <5bedab661003101223ue00304ar465caad9c3938af8@mail.gmail.com> Dear Shuddhabrata Sengupta I don't know whether or not i am talking to myself or responding to your stand. But actually i am curious about one challenge that people, who have problems with Hussain's depiction of Hindu goddesses in the nude and who claim to represent the entire Hindu community, have thrown at Hussain: try painting Mohammed, and to top it all, in the nude. Those people who argue in the favour of Hussain by citing Khajuraho and the history of Indian art fail to see that a Hindu in the contemporary times don't worship in temples made like Khajuraho. You have a Kaali in the nude or a Durga in Begal but not Sarswati.You can get away with painting anybody and everybody in the nude but not the Prophet. I am vaguely reminded of one book, which people are even forbidden to name in public, which was written by a Hindu somewhere in the 1920s and which portrayed prophet Mohammed in bad light. If i am not wrong, the writer was killed by a Muslim for having written such a book. i buy this argument as to why Hussain doesn't paint prophet Mohammed and that too in the nude. Now i am not daring him to do it but trying to find out as to why Hussain's painterly imagination staggers at the thought of doing so. I think only Hussain can answer this question. Either because of being a Muslim he 'respects' the religious decree against depiction of the Prophet or he is afraid of the consequences. Or the Muslim religious imagination doesn't give itself so easily to a painterly imagination. Hussain has every right to paint whatever he likes, he has all the freedom to do so. But at the same time he should also be ready to bear the consequences of the 'artistic' rejoinders that the specific interest groups would draw in response to his work in the public space. The piece of art begins at Hussains end but it completes itself at the end of the people who protest against it and violently. I paint something in my studio and keep it hidden in my cellar and then one day burns it without anybody's knowledge. I paint something and shows it to my friend. He slaps on my face: I had painted his old mother in the nude and, to top it all, i am not a very good painter! My painting begins on the canvas but extends up to my reddened cheek. The canvas has been extended a bit. My cheek is a part of the larger canvas. Hussain paints a nude Saraswati, a group registers its protest by vandalising the exhibition space and tearing down the canvas. This 'event' in history is the actual painting and our stances for or against keep extending the canvas further. It all seems like a curious game. I have the right to paint everything i like, i am an artist. I have the right to respond to your painting and paint it the way i like and make it more complete. I have the right to take sides, to defend Hussain's right to paint and to defend the freedom of expression as the fundamental human right, and add my colours to it. And the painting gets painted. Its just that Hussain needs to share his earnings with everybody else who helps paint this huge canvas! Pheeta Ram On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 12:01 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear All, > > I don't know whether or not I am secular or pseudo-secular. But > actually, i do not oppose Cho Ramaswamy's article. Instead of reading > it ironically, I want to read it seriously, to take it at its word. I > think it works better if read as if it were written sincerely, than > it does if read as if it were written as a second rate piece of satire. > > And seriously, I think Husain has every right to paint anyone he > likes in any form he likes, whether nude or clothed. And so, if I > were asked what my opinion would be on the hypothetical possibility > of Husain (or any other artist for that matter) wanting to paint the > royal family of Qatar, or Queen Elizabeth the Second, or Shivaji, or > Razia Sultan, or Indira Gandhi, or Savarkar, or M.K. Gandhi (doesn't > require much imagination to do that) or Bhagat Singh, Subhash Bose, > Lenin, Mao, or any personage, religious or political, in the nude, > or, if on the contrary, he wanted to paint a version of a nude by > Ingres in a burqa, or wearing a boliler suit, frankly, I would say > that it should be his prerogative to do that. > > As far as I am concerned, no painting ever killed anybody, or made > people get infectious diseases. Paintings are good, or bad, and > Husain's work, like the work of any other artist is open to > criticism. But a work of art, in and of itself, is neither harmful, > nor beneficial. We can derive harmful or beneficial interpretations > of it, and if we grant that to be the case, then that could, arguably > be a ground for restricting the liberty of viewership, ( a view I > must clarify that I do not endorse, I am considering it here, only > for the sake of argument), but even this cannot by any stretch of > reasoning be construed into becoming a grounds for a restriction on > the making of a work of art. If at all we consider such an argument, > all that it can permit us to do is to imagine provisions for the > restriction of the said work's universal exposition. > > And it should also be his (Husain's) prerogative to live where he > wants (and this is true of anybody at all), work where he wants, and > paint, or write, or sing or dance whatsoever he wants. As long as his > actions do not restrict another person's liberty, I see no reason > whatsoever to argue for restraints on his location or movements. His > being in Quatar does not prevent me from being in India. His making a > nude Durga does not restrict my liberty to either see, or not see the > said painting. Seeing it, or not, being offended by it or not, is a > choice that I am making. And an artist cannot be prosecuted for > choices made by a viewer. > > If anyone is offended (or feel that they may be offended) by anything > that any artist makes, they have to do one simple thing to ensure > that the unpleasantness of offense does not mar their experience of > life. Do not look at the work of art in question, simply do not read > the offending book, or watch the offending play or film. Or, if you > do, simply accept the fact that just as there are many things that > you hold dear that others may find offensive or be indifferent to, so > too, many things that you find offensive might be significant to > others. A nude depiction of a goddess in the Hindu pantheon may be > offensive to some, and sacred, or meaningful and beautiful, to > others, for similar, and/or different reasons. No one should be in a > position to take away your right not to see something, just as no one > should be in a position to take away my right to see something. > > Frankly, I do not care whether Husain does or does not paint the > rulers of Qatar in the nude, or Cho Ramaswami with a full head of > hair. But if asked whether or not he has a right to do so, obviously, > I would say he does. And so does any artist, anywhere in the world. > > best > > Shuddha > > > > > On 10-Mar-10, at 6:21 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > > > Thanks Pawan for posting this article. > > > > Cho Ramaswami is absolutely right by saying ” All those who > > appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative > > paintings of the leaders of Qatari > > society, hopefully not artistically clothed.” > > > > Actually it is his dirty mind inspires him to make goddess nude > > pictures and not the artistic mind. He is really psychic and needs > > psychiatric treatment. However, pseudo-secular readers here will > > sure to oppose this article. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list- > > bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:48 PM > > To: reader-list > > Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > > > Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > > > March 10th, 2010 > > By Cho Ramaswamy > > > > > > Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total > > freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on > > freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now > > eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari > > society, hopefully not artistically clothed. > > > > His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities > > alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted > > his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being > > the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to > > remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with > > seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? > > > > Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to > > Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. > > All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. > > Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. > > > > I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I > > want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the > > force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict > > the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to > > paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. > > > > He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude > > so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude > > pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. > > > > And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning > > to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to > > avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a > > liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the > > protests which do not harm him in any way. > > > > Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not > > an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And > > now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner > > for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully > > plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that > > red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the > > literary world. > > > > - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political > > analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of > > Tamil magazine Tughlak > > > > Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr- > > husain-go-paint-qatari-leaders-773 > > _________________________________________ > > 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 > > > _________________________________________ > 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 Thu Mar 11 02:19:26 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:49:26 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <79806.39246.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5af37bb1003090742x7c4f420tf64aa39250466c97@mail.gmail.com> <79806.39246.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003101249w3ce1ce11gbd5b05a0048553f0@mail.gmail.com> i forgot iran but its definitely there, but those links are more explicit: there is a border with iran! and a baluchi population on either side which is sunni... i hope you dont think it is a random list. I dont have to go by what is said on tv or in the papers, kk. and so i would be skeptical of the ttp-india link if someone is mouthing it on tv. but think pipelinistan (and everone's got their own map of pipes) , think central asia, and china, saudi influence in the region, and china & russia hovering, uzbekistan having kickbed out the americans, bbc and rfe ...the stakes get higher and people get meddlesome. I have said nothing about india. its very common for ministers & officials to point to raw like you do to isi. i am sure its all true__ :) soon we'll have a pipline running from iran to india via pk :) best On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Yasir > > Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On the > contrary, mine might be broader-glasses. > > I would like to believe that I have greater objectivity regarding both > Pakistan and India as compared to most who are living in either country. > > This comment of yours was interesting - " foreign entities and money incl > china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each > others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata" > > Have heard that mouthed very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to > mention Iran (especially wrt Balochistan). > > These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( Tehrik-i-Taliban > Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by India. > > Kshmendra > > > --- On *Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر * wrote: > > > From: yasir ~يا سر > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM > > 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an islamist pov. always interesting to > hear. yet he and his views have been marginalized in pk. let us us say it > is > the end of the zia era. > > 2. pk and afg are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet > come back in afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as > this would sour their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either > being massacred or disappearing to resurface at some point later, the > moment > in northwest-pk. so this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there > is > no such problem for the rest of the country. foreign entities and money > incl > china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each > others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata > - a fact of life at the moment. but the country seems to have regained some > agency of itself with upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt > since the lawyers movement and the last elections. a good point for > negotiations with india for instance, to streamline our own common regional > agendas, which are overdue since at least partition, actually much > before... > > 3. pk-taliban or their views, in fact islamist views are definitely on the > margin in pk at the moment. so i totally disagree with KK (who is writing > fron across the border wearing border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that > the common enemy are the islamists in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally > overblown) in india, where too, just like us, they love to make a circus > out > of it. lets hope the common bonds are stronger than the hate, of which > there > has been enough. > > best, y > _________________________________________ > 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 yasir.media at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 02:31:28 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:01:28 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: References: <79806.39246.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003101301i6e1afbc6rb7d7a1ee26c191c@mail.gmail.com> > > The proliferation of ‘jihad’ in mainland Pakistan is but > the opportunity cost of strategy. > she is arguing that jihad and religion is instrumental for mainstream pk. and is skeptical of the claim either way for the military command as well. further by saying "a similar claim might not be made for society at large", she actually sez nothing about pakistani society at large, having only removed the certainty of a two-mode religious v secular military. best, y. On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 6:33 PM, S. Jabbar wrote: > > > 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 c > From pkray11 at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 03:13:49 2010 From: pkray11 at gmail.com (Prakash K Ray) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:13:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders Message-ID: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> कला में राष्ट्रीयता के मूल्य का प्रश्न का समाधान शायद असंभव है. - एडवर्ड हॉपर, 'अमेरिकी' चित्रकार. अपनी राष्ट्रीयता, भाषा और व्यक्तिगत रुचियों के बावजूद कुछ ऐसी वास्तविकताएं हैं जिससे हम सभी का वास्ता है. जैसे हमें भोजन की आवश्यकता होती है, वैसे ही हमें भावनात्मक पोषण- दूसरों से प्रेम, दया, प्रशंसा और सहयोग- की आवश्यकता होती है. -जे डोनाल्ड वाल्टर्स (स्वामी क्रियानंद), परमहंस योगानंद के शिष्य, मूलतः रोमानियाई, अब भारत में. बरसों पहले एम एफ़ हुसैन से आर्ट टुडे गैलेरी में मिला था. उस समय माधुरी दीक्षित पर आधारित चित्रों की प्रदर्शनी चल रही थी. पत्र-पत्रिकाओं में इस चित्र श्रृंखला को लेकर काफ़ी चर्चा थी. माधुरी तो सुपरस्टार थीं ही. और फिर हुसैन!! दोस्तों के साथ चित्रों को नज़र दौड़ाते, उनकी कीमत का अंदाजा लगाते, एक बड़ी सी पेंटिंग के पीछे बैठे हुसैन को बीच-बीच में निहारते हम गैलेरी का चक्कर लगा रहे थे और ऑटोग्राफ लेने की जुगत लगा रहे थे. तभी एक पेंटिंग पर नज़र पड़ी. अज़ीब से भाव उमड़े. कला की विराट दुनिया से एक बड़े परिचय का वह क्षण था. उस चित्र में हुसैन की माँ देहरी में रखा लालटेन जला रही हैं और शिशु हुसैन अपने दादा के साथ खाट पर खेल रहे हैं. हुसैन की माँ के चेहेरे पर माधुरी दीक्षित का अक्स है. हुसैन जब डेढ़ साल के थे, माँ चल बसी थीं. शायद याद के किसी कोने में हुसैन ने यह चित्र बचपन में ही उकेर कर रख दिया था. जिस माधुरी को हुसैन ने नाचते, खेलते, विक्टोरिया के रूप में, उत्तेजक मुद्राओं में, शहरी युवती, गाँव की गोरी आदि छवियों में रंगा था, उसी माधुरी को अपनी माँ के रूप में भी चित्रित किया था. कुछ साल बाद कहीं पढ़ा कि कब हुसैन ने जूता-चप्पल पहनना छोड़ दिया. बात 1964 की है. हिंदी के कवि मुक्तिबोध उस साल 11 सितम्बर को चल बसे थे. हुसैन अपने मित्र के अंतिम संस्कार के लिये शमशान घाट गए. विदाई दी और लौट आये. लौटते समय घाट के बाहर रखा जूता नहीं पहना और अब तक नहीं पहना. पचास के दशक में मुक्तिबोध की किताब का विरोध हुआ था और मध्य प्रदेश की तत्कालीन सरकार ने उस किताब को पाठ्यक्रम से वापस ले लिया था. तब मुक्तिबोध ने कहा था: ऐसा ही चलता रहा तो एक दिन ये फ़ासीवादी ताक़तें हमारी कलम छीन लेंगी. अफ़सोस तो मुझे है कि हुसैन एक अर्थ में पराये हो गए हैं आज, लेकिन मन में संतोष भी है कि उनकी उंगलियाँ और उनकी कूची सलामत हैं. प्रकाश From chandni_parekh at yahoo.com Thu Mar 11 11:07:44 2010 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:37:44 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] UN-HABITAT Funds Available for Youth-Led Initiatives Message-ID: <402052.89496.qm@web54409.mail.re2.yahoo.com> >From Sana Is your organisation led by youth aged 15-32 years? Is it working on innovative and sustainable projects that will improve your community and the lives of young people? If yes, your organisation could be eligible to receive a grant of between USD 5000 and USD 25,000. Deadline: April 15, 2010 For details, visit http://is.gd/ablpW From shuddha at sarai.net Thu Mar 11 00:27:14 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:27:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami Speaks Out on Prisoners Message-ID: <2807215E-D9DB-46B1-BE6B-98BD096465EE@sarai.net> Dear All, The situation in Iran continued to be in turmoil. The besieged, cynical, repressive regime that currently holds power in the name of an Islamic Republic has continued to face stiff opposition from Iranians from all walks of life, and so it continues to oppress them. Recently, the well known Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, has been arrested. Below is a report (from a blog associated with the New York Times) on his arrest, and a letter written in protest against his detention by Abbas Kiarostami, a much admired Iranian filmmaker. Many of us (especially at Sarai) have had occasion to see and enjoy the work of Panahi and Kiarostami. I hope that you will all join me in condemning this sad turn of events, and hope for the early demise of the repressive regime fronted by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cynical coterie. best Shuddha -------- Iranian Filmmaker Speaks Out on Prisoners By Robert Mackey The Lede, The New York Times Blog http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/iranian-filmmaker-speaks- out-on-prisoners/?scp=1&sq=kiarostami&st=cse March 9, 2010, 5:31 pm Abbas Kiarostami, a celebrated Iranian filmmaker who has won numerous international awards for films like “ Close-Up” and “ Through The Olive Trees,” published an open letter in a Tehran newspaper on Tuesday calling for the release of Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof, two directors recently detained by the authorities. Mr. Kiaorstami sent the original, Persian-language text of his letter and an English translation to The Lede from Iran through a mutual friend, Hooman Majd, the author of “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.” The complete text of the translation is below. The original text is available for download. Mr. Panahi, who has directed two films scripted by Mr. Kiarostami, “The White Balloon,” and “ Crimson Gold,” was arrested last week, as my colleague Nazila Fathi reported. In an interview uploaded to YouTube, he discussed the event that inspired his 2006 film “ Offside,” which is about a group of Iranian women who want to be allowed to watch a soccer match. According to The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a source close to him said: “Over the past years, Ministry of Intelligence authorities have summoned Jafar Panahi to different investigation offices of the Ministry in different locations and have questioned him. In one of these meetings he was told, ‘Just because you are a famous filmmaker, you mustn’t think that we are unable to arrest you. We can arrest you whenever we decide.’” Here is the complete text of Mr. Kiarostami’s open letter, written in response to that arrest. ---------- "...I don’t quite know to whom I am addressing this letter, but I do know why I’m writing it and I believe that under the circumstances it is both critical and inevitable because two Iranian filmmakers, both of whom are vital to the Iranian wave of independent cinema, have been incarcerated. As a filmmaker of the same independent cinema, it has been years since I lost hope of ever screening my films in my country. By making my own low-budget and personal films, it has also been years since I lost all hope of receiving any kind of aid or assistance from the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture, the custodian of Iranian cinema. In order to make a living, I have turned to photography and use that income to make short and low-budget films. I don’t even object to their illegal reproduction and distribution because that is my only means of communicating with my own people. For years now I have not even objected to this lack of attention from the ministry and cinema tic authorities . Even if we choose to disregard the fact that for years now, the cinematic administrators of the country, who constitute the main cultural body of the government, have differentiated between their own filmmakers (insiders) and independent filmmakers (outsiders), I am still of the opinion that they are oblivious of Iranian independent cinema. Filmmaking is not a crime. It is our sole means of making a living and thus not a choice, but a vital necessity. I have found my own solutions to the problem. Independent of the conventional and customary support granted to the cinematic community at large, I make my own short and independent films with hopes of gaining some credit for the people I love and a name for the country I come from. Sometimes the necessity to work calls for the making of films beyond the borders of my country, which is ultimately not out of personal choice or taste. However, others, like Jafar Panahi, have for years tried to summon official government support, exploring the same frustrating path, only to be confronted with the same closed doors. He too has for years held hopes of obtaining public screenings for his films and receiving official aid and assistance from the relevant governmental bodies. He still believes that based on the merits of his films and the acclaim they have brought the country, he can seek legal solutions to the problem. The Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture is directly responsible for what is happening to Jafar Panahi and his like. Any wrongdoing on his part, if there is any at all, is a direct result of the mismanagement of officials at the cinematic department of the Ministry of Guidance and it’s inadequate policies which in no way leave any choice for the filmmaker other than to resort to means that jeopardize his situation as a filmmaker. He too makes a living through cinema. For him too, filmmaking is a vital necessity. He needs to make himself heard and has the right to expect cinematic officials to facilitate the process, rather than become the major obstacles themselves. Perhaps the officials at the ministry can not at present be of help in solving Jafar Panahi’s dilemma, but they need to know that they are and have been responsible all these years, for the dreadful consequences and unpleasant and anti-cultural reflections of such policies in the world media. I may not be an advocate of Jafar Panahi’s radical and sensational methods but I do know that the cause for his plight is not a result of choice but an inevitable [compulsion]. He is paying for the conduct of officials who have for years closed all doors on him, leaving open small passages and dead end paths. Jafar Panahi’s problem will eventually be solved but there are numerous young people who have chosen the art of cinema as their means of expression and careers. This is where the duty of the government and the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture, as the government’s main cultural body, becomes even more critical, for they face a large group of Iranian youth who aim to work independently and away from complicated official procedures and existing prejudices. Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof are two filmmakers of the Iranian independent cinema, a cinema that for the past quarter of a century has served as an essential cultural element in expanding the name of this country across the globe. They belong to an expanded world culture, and are a part of international cinematic culture. I wish for their immediate release from prison knowing that the impossible is possible. My heartfelt wish is that artists no longer be imprisoned in this country because of their art and that the independent and young Iranian cinema no longer faces obstacles, lack of support, attention and prejudice. This is your responsibility and the ultimate definition of your existence." Abbas Kiarostami / 1388.12.18 [March 9, 2010] / Tehran --------------- Even though his films have been banned in Iran for years, Mr. Kiarostami, who recently made his first film abroad, dismissed the idea of leaving Iran permanently in an interview with The National, an Abu Dhabi newspaper, in October. “I don’t believe in leaving my home,” he told the newspaper. “The place where I sleep well at night is my home. We make films in order to live. No matter under whatever conditions, my home, at the end of a dead end, is where I’ve been living, and there’s nothing that’s persuaded me yet to leave it.” He added that in the face of difficulties, such as those confronting Iran’s filmmakers today, “It just depends on what your reaction is in the face of things that don’t appeal to you. You can find shelter in alcohol and opium. You might get depressed. Or you can think, since I’m not going to do those things, what can I do?” In the same interview, Mr. Kiarostami was asked to comment on the decision of another Iranian filmmaker, Bahman Ghobadi, to leave Iran. “Based on what I’ve witnessed of Iranians leaving Iran, I haven’t seen a very positive outcome,” he replied. “I have no criticism of anybody else that should choose to leave their home…. If Bahman Ghobadi believes that he will make films under better conditions outside of Iran, I only congratulate and praise him. So long as he does make them.” As my colleague Michael Slackman reported in January, Mr. Ghobadi took that as an attack of some sort and wrote a furious open letter denouncing Mr. Kiarostami for not taking a political stand against Iran’s government. In an email message to The Lede, Mr. Kiarostami said that his remarks about Mr. Ghobadi were not in any way an attack on him. Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 14:34:14 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:34:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I would say just one thing. In India, it's only possible to denigrate Hindu gods and goddesses, abuse them, paint them in nude, and then get sympathy of a large cross-section of people, including the secularists and the pseudo-secularists. But when it comes to Islam and Christianity, try doing that, and you will find violence being organized on the slightest of pretexts. And the pseudo-secularists would go on a humbug spree to stop this. And Hindus have started aping them too. Why this appeasement? What is this all about? Is it secularism? Are we willing to turn our country into a neo-Taliban society where any criticism about Islam and Christianity will be dealt with capital punishment and violence on the streets? @Shuddha: It's not the question of rights. It's the question of enforcement of these rights. Howsoever much Hussain may try, the state would never act to ensure that the rights are enforced. And it's one thing to say Muslims have rights to paint the Prophet in a 'negative' sense, it's another thing doing it. Remember the protests in India over cartoons published in a certain newspaper in a certain European country named 'Denmark'? Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 11 15:32:32 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:02:32 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <532023.58453.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Rahul / Rakesh   To supplement the comments already made by the two of you, Madhu Kishwar's article (reproduced below) might be of interest.     She lists what she sees as shortcomings in the Bill and talks about an Alternative Model (proposed by her organisation 'Manushi') and it's merits.   Kshmendra     "Women's Reservation Bill: Well intentioned but highly flawed" 9 Mar 2010   By Madhu Purnima Kishwar   Even though I firmly believe that special measures are indeed required to enhance the participation of women in our legislatures, I have been a steadfast critic of the women’s reservation bill in its present form because it is ill conceived and seriously flawed. It’s main shortcoming is that it provides a mechanical entry of women members to fill one-third of vacancies in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by reserving one third constituencies for women candidates. These will be rotated with every election. It is ill conceived because: The rotation system will automatically result in two-thirds of incumbent members –one third women and one third men — being forcibly unseated in every general election. The remaining one-third will be left in limbo until the last moment, not knowing if their constituency will form part of the one-third randomly reserved seats. This will require them to scramble at short notice to find another seat from which to contest. Such compulsory unseating violates the very basic principles of democratic representation. It jeopardises the possibility of sensible planning to contest and nurture a political constituency for both male and female candidates. Even though there will be no legal bar on women standing from general constituencies, it is highly unlikely that many women will obtain party tickets to run for office outside the reserved constituencies. This same pattern is evident with SCs and STs who have been permanently ghettoised to fixed reserved constituencies. It will make it harder for women to build their long-term credibility as effective representatives, since they will not be able to contest twice from the same constituency once it is de-reserved. There will be no incentive for a woman politician to nurse her constituency since it will be reserved only once in 15 years. They will thus will be deprived of a strong political base and will forever be regarded as ‘one time’ players. Reservation through territorial constituencies will restrict the choice of voters who would have no option but to elect women only, violating the basic principles of democratic representation. This is likely to lead to greater resentment against women, undermining the very objective of the Bill. Those men who get pushed out of their constituencies or who see their allies sidelined will either sabotage female contenders in revenge, or spend much of their political capital helping their own female relatives in cornering these reserved seats. Such proxies would be expected to keep the seat ‘safe’ for the men until the next election, when they would again try to reclaim their seats. This will further strengthen the culture feminine space being dominated by the” biwi beti” brigade. Women will be ghettoised to ‘women only’ constituencies leading to the zenana dabba mindset. Leadership acquired in such a manner will be seen as unnatural, artificial and foisted. Given these serious infirmities, Manushi proposed an alternative model, which addresses many of the flaws listed above. The important provisions of the proposed Alternative Bill are as follows: Through an amendment of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it should be mandatory for every recognised political party to nominate women candidates for election in one-third of the constituencies. This enables each party to choose where it wishes to nominate women candidates, duly taking local political and social factors into account. To prevent a party from nominating women candidates only in states or constituencies where the party’s chances of winning election are weak, and to ensure an even spread of women candidates, the unit for consideration (the unit in which at least one out of the three party candidates shall be a woman) for the Lok Sabha shall be a state or Union Territory; for the assembly, the unit shall be a cluster of three contiguous Lok Sabha constituencies. In the event of any recognised party failing to nominate one-third women candidates, for the shortfall of every single woman candidate, two male candidates of the party shall lose the party symbol and affiliation and all the recognition-related advantages. The advantages of this model are: Parties can nurture women candidates where they can offer a good fight rather than in pre-fixed lottery based constituencies, where they may or may not have viable women candidates. Thus there is flexibility and promotion of natural leadership. Though seats are not reserved, there will be a large pool of credible and serious women candidates in the fray. A woman candidate will be contesting both against female and/or male candidates of rival parties. Therefore, the democratic choice of voters is not restricted to compulsorily electing only women candidates. As women members will be elected in competition with male candidates — without reserving seats — they will be seen as legitimate representatives in the eyes of the public and not just beneficiaries of charitable measures or treated as political light weights. Parties will be able to nominate women from BCs, minorities and other communities for elective office in areas where there is electoral advantage to them. This obviates the need for a quota within quotas — an issue that has blocked the existing bill. Those who are concerned about BC representation need not settle merely for one-third quota for BC women within the 33% women’s quota, as they are demanding now. They can field as many BC or minority women as they think appropriate. Unlike with the lottery system of reserved constituencies, in which women’s presence is likely to get ossified at 33% since there would be resistance to letting women contest from non-reserved constituencies, this model allows for far greater flexibility in the number and proportion of women being elected to legislatures. If women are candidates for one-third of all seats contested by each party, theoretically they could even win the vast majority of seats — all on merit. The democratic choice of voters is not restricted to compulsorily electing only women candidates in one third constituencies while being denied the chance to elect women in the rest of constituencies. There will be no need for rotation or territorial reservation. Therefore elected women can nurture their constituencies and emerge as major political figures in their own right, with an independent power base. By making the unit of consideration the state or Union Territory for Lok Sabha, and a cluster of three Lok Sabha constituencies for the legislative assembly, the risk of parties shunting women in weak constituencies is avoided. Parties will have the incentive to nominate women in all states and regions or else twice the number of male candidates of the party will lose party nomination. No serious party seeking power can afford to deliberately undermine its own chances of election on such a large scale. The experience of fixed quotas in a few countries where it has been tried, such as Nepal, the Philippines, and the erstwhile Soviet Union, has produced very dismal results for women’s political participation. By contrast party-based quotas in many European democracies have allowed women to acquire majority participation in their respective legislatures. (The author is a professor at CSDS.)   http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Politics/Nation/Womens-Reservation-Bill-Well-intentioned-but-highly-flawed/articleshow/5661230.cms?curpg=1 --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: From: Rahul Asthana Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill To: "Rakesh Iyer" Cc: "Sarai Reader List" Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 12:14 AM Thanks Rakesh. I agree that women incumbents can contest from open seats - but,firstly, it is less likely that they would be given tickets by major parties,since they are already giving tickets to women in the reserved constituencies.Secondly,if they do, the balance may shift in the other direction with men not getting a chance to stand for election in 66% of the seats. To sum up, in 66% of seats, its unlikely, though not impossible for the incumbents to stand for election ; and that I think is bad for accountability in particular and democarcy in general.It has the potential to create a big mess. On the other hand, fixed reservation is acceptable in my opinion. Thanks Rahul ________________________________ From: Rakesh Iyer To: Rahul Asthana Cc: Sarai Reader List Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:30:47 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill Hi Rahul My response: 1) The reservation is rotating in the sense, that within 15 years, all seats would have been reserved at least once for women. Assume that a state has 3 governments which last their full terms. In such a case, in 15 years, there would have been 3 elections for the state assembly. In such a case, one third of the assembly seats would be reserved in say the first election, but in the next election, these seats would be de-reserved, and instead one-third of the total assembly seats (but not these dereserved ones) would be chosen for the 2nd election. In the third election, those seats which were dereserved for both the 1st and 2nd election would be reserved. 2) Women can contest even from dereserved seats, so there is no case of incumbent not being able to contest from a seat once it is dereserved. She can contest again. There is no restriction on doing so. But what it means is that a man would not be able to be contest three continuous times in both Assembly and Parliamentary elections from the same seat. 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 Thu Mar 11 15:35:11 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:35:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi I have forwarded this mail Anupam wanted to send to the forum but was only sent to me, probably as a mistake. Hope that is indeed the case. My views are also put up here verbatim as put up in a personal chat with him: i never said husain is right or wrong . i said that in india, one can do whatever he/she feels with hindu identities or not but for muslims and christian identities, if something is said or done there would be a hue and cry and apologists would try to beat each other in the name of minority appeasement if there is one field where appeasement is done, this is the field. this should stop Rakesh In reply to "Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders" ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: anupam chakravartty Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:27 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders To: Rakesh Iyer Dear Rakesh and all, What is wrong in painting a nude saraswati copulating with a tiger? what exactly do you find offensive here? gods marry, gods have children, but there it seems is a problem in explicitly stating that gods were also having sexual intercourse. is it a sign of a healthy society when only things not allowed to be asserted while others remain unstated as if it is some sort of an incestuous trade which is going on? You should ask for a ban on the hindu scriptures as well where direct and indirect references of copulation of gods are stated. there are written testimonies of incest, unnatural sex, of mythological gods impregnating mortals that have been documented very well in form of scriptures. Moreover, when i go to a shiva temple i worship the phallus of Shiva. in the so-called moral discourse being conjured here especially to suit the demands of zealots, this act of me going and worshiping a phallus should be seen as a crime. i should be jailed for worshiping the phallus of a god (how perverse is that!). but then believers including me and my mother, we pour milk on it. that's visually stimulating but since it is a ritual, we do not question it. since when, worshiping a god ( in monotheistic) has to do with respect and reverence? then what about this statement: 'Thou art that". praying comes from the word praise. singing is a form of reverence. painting the phallus is my respect. but my request to all vanguards of hindu religion, do not impose this outdated victorian model of worshiping on everyone. you are a disease, eroding the very same foundations on which you rest. and please! i do not want this do paise ka respect to a god by blaming an artist, when all other things about belief, about religion, about religiousity with a bunch of islamophobes, a set of hardened fundamentalists, crooks minting money in the name of religion have done nothing but disservice to humanity. over and over again, hussain is being asked to paint Prophet Mohammad. Do you have any kind of visual reference of Prophet Mohammad in which the above things being attributed to Indian deities from the very scriptures is also true in his case? Islamic thought to be specific doesnt have such thoughts associated with it. the old testament over the years have being "denigrated" several times. what would you say about renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch who painted Garden of Earthly Delights depicting biblical scenes? it is considered as a masterpiece. sometimes, stating the obvious is a little difficult, with general social order as a given. but we have moved beyond Renaissance. artists, writers, engineers, accountants, even soldiers, labourers, mostly everyone at some of point of time state the obvious or want answers for them. what are you going to do about all of them? did someone deny your faith in god, by painting the god in nude? it did not in my case. i felt overwhelmed a whole lot of us believe in gods (there are 33 crores of them according to several religious estimates). conjuring images of a pantheon linked by tragedies, relationships, alliances, the stories around them have always been a part of the visual tradition. hussain has been exploring these themes. he should be lauded for his efforts instead. - Anupam On 3/11/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > I would say just one thing. In India, it's only possible to denigrate Hindu > gods and goddesses, abuse them, paint them in nude, and then get sympathy of > a large cross-section of people, including the secularists and the > pseudo-secularists. But when it comes to Islam and Christianity, try doing > that, and you will find violence being organized on the slightest of > pretexts. And the pseudo-secularists would go on a humbug spree to stop > this. And Hindus have started aping them too. > > Why this appeasement? What is this all about? Is it secularism? Are we > willing to turn our country into a neo-Taliban society where any criticism > about Islam and Christianity will be dealt with capital punishment and > violence on the streets? > > @Shuddha: It's not the question of rights. It's the question of enforcement > of these rights. Howsoever much Hussain may try, the state would never act > to ensure that the rights are enforced. And it's one thing to say Muslims > have rights to paint the Prophet in a 'negative' sense, it's another thing > doing it. Remember the protests in India over cartoons published in a > certain newspaper in a certain European country named 'Denmark'? > > 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 Thu Mar 11 15:38:05 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:38:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <532023.58453.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Good article Kshamendra. I liked it. A good model. But then, are governments known to behave rationally? Specially, the Indian government and the Indian Parliament? Rakesh From pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 16:14:19 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:14:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003110244i6beccfc8y77f81c2433154834@mail.gmail.com> Anupam , One should learn not to quote on a subject if he / she doesnt have enough knowledge about it. And more so in a country like our ,,,,,where faith is not questioned. Your writing about Phallus in itself proves how little you know about your relegion. However I would like to correct people over here that even in Islamic era and in Islamic countries , people used to paint and even paint Prophet Mohammed [ p.b.u.h] . An Iranian artist Oranaus , is selling painted photograph of prophet online . Pls check this link : http://www.godweb.org/mohammedpaintings.htm However , if we in India feel hurt by any of these violations , as it seems to some sections ....the same needs to be avoided. Heavens wont fall. So can Hussein just let Hindus remain at peace by not painting Hindu deities. Why does he keep coming back to painting nudes ? Let us have peace but keeping these bare footed trouble makers at a distance.... Let him paint the Arabs and we should be at peace. Pawan On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Hi > > I have forwarded this mail Anupam wanted to send to the forum but was only > sent to me, probably as a mistake. Hope that is indeed the case. > > My views are also put up here verbatim as put up in a personal chat with > him: > > i never said husain is right or wrong . i said that in india, one can do > whatever he/she feels with hindu identities or not but for muslims and > christian identities, if something is said or done there would be a hue and > cry and apologists would try to beat each other in the name of minority > appeasement if there is one field where  appeasement is done, this is the > field. this should stop > > Rakesh > > In reply to "Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari > leaders" > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: anupam chakravartty > Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:27 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > To: Rakesh Iyer > > > Dear Rakesh and all, > > What is wrong in painting a nude saraswati copulating with a tiger? > what exactly do you find offensive here? gods marry, gods have > children, but there it seems is a problem in explicitly stating that > gods were also having sexual intercourse. is it a sign of a healthy > society when only things not allowed to be asserted while others > remain unstated as if it is some sort of an incestuous trade which is > going on? You should ask for a ban on the hindu scriptures as well > where direct and indirect references of copulation of gods are stated. > there are written testimonies of incest, unnatural sex, of > mythological gods impregnating mortals that have been documented very > well in form of scriptures. > > Moreover,  when i go to a shiva temple i worship the phallus of Shiva. > in the so-called moral discourse being conjured here especially to > suit the demands of zealots, this act of me going and worshiping a > phallus should be seen as a crime.  i should be jailed for worshiping > the phallus of a god (how perverse is that!). but then believers > including me and my mother, we pour milk on it. that's visually > stimulating but since it is a ritual, we do not question it. > > since when, worshiping a god ( in monotheistic) has to do with respect > and reverence? then what about this statement: 'Thou art that". > praying comes from the word praise. singing is a form of reverence. > painting the phallus is my respect. but my request to all vanguards of > hindu religion, do not impose this outdated victorian model of > worshiping on everyone. you are a disease, eroding the very same > foundations on which you rest. and please! i do not want this do paise > ka respect to a god by blaming an artist, when all other things about > belief, about religion, about religiousity  with a bunch of > islamophobes, a set of hardened fundamentalists, crooks minting money > in the name of religion have done nothing but disservice to humanity. > > over and over again, hussain is being asked to paint Prophet Mohammad. > Do you have any kind of visual reference of Prophet Mohammad in which > the above things being attributed to Indian deities from the very > scriptures is also true in his case? Islamic thought to be specific > doesnt have such thoughts associated with it. the old testament over > the years have being "denigrated" several times. what would you say > about renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch who painted Garden of > Earthly Delights depicting biblical scenes? it is considered as a > masterpiece. > > sometimes, stating the obvious is a little difficult, with general > social order as a given. but we have moved beyond Renaissance. > artists, writers, engineers, accountants, even soldiers, labourers, > mostly everyone at some of point of time state the obvious or want > answers for them. what are you going to do about all of them? did > someone deny your faith in god, by painting the god in nude? it did > not in my case. i felt overwhelmed > > a whole lot of us believe in gods (there are 33 crores of them > according to several religious estimates). conjuring images of a > pantheon linked by tragedies, relationships, alliances, the stories > around them have always been a part of the visual tradition. hussain > has been exploring these themes. he should be lauded for his efforts > instead. > > - Anupam > > On 3/11/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: >> I would say just one thing. In India, it's only possible to denigrate > Hindu >> gods and goddesses, abuse them, paint them in nude, and then get sympathy > of >> a large cross-section of people, including the secularists and the >> pseudo-secularists. But when it comes to Islam and Christianity, try doing >> that, and you will find violence being organized on the slightest of >> pretexts. And the pseudo-secularists would go on a humbug spree to stop >> this. And Hindus have started aping them too. >> >> Why this appeasement? What is this all about? Is it secularism? Are we >> willing to turn our country into a neo-Taliban society where any criticism >> about Islam and Christianity will be dealt with capital punishment and >> violence on the streets? >> >> @Shuddha: It's not the question of rights. It's the question of > enforcement >> of these rights. Howsoever much Hussain may try, the state would never act >> to ensure that the rights are enforced. And it's one thing to say Muslims >> have rights to paint the Prophet in a 'negative' sense, it's another thing >> doing it. Remember the protests in India over cartoons published in a >> certain newspaper in a certain European country named 'Denmark'? >> >> 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 m.rammohan70 at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 16:24:21 2010 From: m.rammohan70 at gmail.com (meera rammohan) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:24:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> Well, there are two things here: Is the work of offensive to someone? Did the artist, writer or filmmaker etc INTEND to denigrate Hindu gods? I think that the limits of decency cannot be specified, especially in art. This is because, they are generally considered to be expressions of creative energy of an artist. Even the smallest thing (if the climate is ripe for it) can give rise to offence. When an attitude of tolerance does not exist towards other religions (in this case Hindus towards Muslims and vice versa) the smallest remark, or gesture can be construed as offensive to the other party. This is the foundation of prejudice. The other thing is a lack of understanding of the process and value of art itself exists among a vast majority of conservative Hindus who feel that they need to constantly "protect" a culture and tradition which can very well take care of itself! Something so vital, close to the people's hearts cannot be taken away overnight because of a single painting, in my opinion! When I look at all the other paintings of Husain, I am amazed by the abstract expressionism, a free-wheeling and bold interpretation of several universal themes, as for instance in his Mahabharata series. From those huge canvasses which depict Ganga and Yamuna, Arjuna and Chariot, Bhishma, Bhima etc it seems like his conceptual abilities are extraordinarily creative---and his artistic skill is expansive and brilliant. It cannot be limited to just one world-view under narrow labels of "Hindu" "Islamic" and so forth. He has freely used imagery, iconic representations from one set of symbols based on Hindu religion and mythology----but the images transcend mere religion. Obviously these are not MEANT to be worshipped as one would the same goddesses at a temple----we need to only look upon them as art, without boundaries. I doubt that an artist of his calibre would have gone about purposely to "denigrate" these symbols. As Husain himself said "Nudity is to construed as purity". In Western European and modern art Nude paintings have their own value mainly due to their powerful, bold representation of form. When we see Durga astride the tiger, I feel a powerful force that is mightier than normal is at work. She has 3 faces (can it be because she received boons from all 3 gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) and I am not sure if there is any sexual act here at all! It is almost as though she has assumed the form of Narasimha (with the face and front part being lion and the back is Woman in her fierce aspect). The legs of Durga are as sturdy as trees, and she is capable of quelling and cutting off the head of any demon. She is therefore not any ordinary goddess (even according to conventional Hinduism). Similarly the nude Sita on Hanuman is not shocking to my mind---because I can see by the body language of Sita a certain despair, sorrow and pain---she is holding on for dear life. Hanuman is leaping, with one leg across mountains which he has left behind, while the other enormous leg has already leapt across the ranges in front. The whole picture is one of power and pathos put together. Also the goddess forms of Saraswati, Lakshmi, Sita, while being nude----still do not convey any idea of vulgarity or pornography (at least to me). The breasts themselves are drawn with elegance. I am not sure why I should feel offended by all this actually----the images do not speak to me of a depraved mind----but one that is steeped in visual expansiveness. My intention here is not to "defend" Husain----no, not at all. I think anyone can express their anguish and their sense of affront if they believe their religion is being purposely maligned. But the propanda around this is so full of hysteria that it does not allow for any sane discussion. The images have now been so besmirched, it is almost taken for granted that they are vulgar beyond all imagining. We need to cultivate a better climate for debate, discussion and opinion-making in this country. Meera On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Hi > > I have forwarded this mail Anupam wanted to send to the forum but was only > sent to me, probably as a mistake. Hope that is indeed the case. > > My views are also put up here verbatim as put up in a personal chat with > him: > > i never said husain is right or wrong . i said that in india, one can do > whatever he/she feels with hindu identities or not but for muslims and > christian identities, if something is said or done there would be a hue and > cry and apologists would try to beat each other in the name of minority > appeasement if there is one field where appeasement is done, this is the > field. this should stop > > Rakesh > > In reply to "Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari > leaders" > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: anupam chakravartty > Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:27 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > To: Rakesh Iyer > > > Dear Rakesh and all, > > What is wrong in painting a nude saraswati copulating with a tiger? > what exactly do you find offensive here? gods marry, gods have > children, but there it seems is a problem in explicitly stating that > gods were also having sexual intercourse. is it a sign of a healthy > society when only things not allowed to be asserted while others > remain unstated as if it is some sort of an incestuous trade which is > going on? You should ask for a ban on the hindu scriptures as well > where direct and indirect references of copulation of gods are stated. > there are written testimonies of incest, unnatural sex, of > mythological gods impregnating mortals that have been documented very > well in form of scriptures. > > Moreover, when i go to a shiva temple i worship the phallus of Shiva. > in the so-called moral discourse being conjured here especially to > suit the demands of zealots, this act of me going and worshiping a > phallus should be seen as a crime. i should be jailed for worshiping > the phallus of a god (how perverse is that!). but then believers > including me and my mother, we pour milk on it. that's visually > stimulating but since it is a ritual, we do not question it. > > since when, worshiping a god ( in monotheistic) has to do with respect > and reverence? then what about this statement: 'Thou art that". > praying comes from the word praise. singing is a form of reverence. > painting the phallus is my respect. but my request to all vanguards of > hindu religion, do not impose this outdated victorian model of > worshiping on everyone. you are a disease, eroding the very same > foundations on which you rest. and please! i do not want this do paise > ka respect to a god by blaming an artist, when all other things about > belief, about religion, about religiousity with a bunch of > islamophobes, a set of hardened fundamentalists, crooks minting money > in the name of religion have done nothing but disservice to humanity. > > over and over again, hussain is being asked to paint Prophet Mohammad. > Do you have any kind of visual reference of Prophet Mohammad in which > the above things being attributed to Indian deities from the very > scriptures is also true in his case? Islamic thought to be specific > doesnt have such thoughts associated with it. the old testament over > the years have being "denigrated" several times. what would you say > about renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch who painted Garden of > Earthly Delights depicting biblical scenes? it is considered as a > masterpiece. > > sometimes, stating the obvious is a little difficult, with general > social order as a given. but we have moved beyond Renaissance. > artists, writers, engineers, accountants, even soldiers, labourers, > mostly everyone at some of point of time state the obvious or want > answers for them. what are you going to do about all of them? did > someone deny your faith in god, by painting the god in nude? it did > not in my case. i felt overwhelmed > > a whole lot of us believe in gods (there are 33 crores of them > according to several religious estimates). conjuring images of a > pantheon linked by tragedies, relationships, alliances, the stories > around them have always been a part of the visual tradition. hussain > has been exploring these themes. he should be lauded for his efforts > instead. > > - Anupam > > On 3/11/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > > I would say just one thing. In India, it's only possible to denigrate > Hindu > > gods and goddesses, abuse them, paint them in nude, and then get sympathy > of > > a large cross-section of people, including the secularists and the > > pseudo-secularists. But when it comes to Islam and Christianity, try > doing > > that, and you will find violence being organized on the slightest of > > pretexts. And the pseudo-secularists would go on a humbug spree to stop > > this. And Hindus have started aping them too. > > > > Why this appeasement? What is this all about? Is it secularism? Are we > > willing to turn our country into a neo-Taliban society where any > criticism > > about Islam and Christianity will be dealt with capital punishment and > > violence on the streets? > > > > @Shuddha: It's not the question of rights. It's the question of > enforcement > > of these rights. Howsoever much Hussain may try, the state would never > act > > to ensure that the rights are enforced. And it's one thing to say Muslims > > have rights to paint the Prophet in a 'negative' sense, it's another > thing > > doing it. Remember the protests in India over cartoons published in a > > certain newspaper in a certain European country named 'Denmark'? > > > > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 16:56:11 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:56:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> Source : http://rummuser.com/?p=2993 A letter by Dr Mrs Hilda Raja to N.Ram Dear Ram, I have taken time to write this to you Ram — for the simple reason that we have known you for so many years — you and The Hindu bring back happy memories. Please take what I am putting down as those that come from an agonized soul. You know that I do not mince words and what I have to say I will — I call a spade a spade — now it is too late for me to learn the tricks of being called a ‘secularist’, if that means a bias for one, and a bias against another. Hussain is now a citizen of Qatar — this has generated enough of heat and less of light. Qatar you know better than me is not a country which respects democracy or freedom of expression. Hussain says he has complete freedom — I challenge him to paint a picture of Mohammed, fully clad. There is no second opinion that artists have the Right of Freedom of expression. Is such a right restricted only to Hussain? Will that right not flow to Dan Brown — why was his film Da Vinci Code not screened? Why was Satanic Verses banned — does Salman Rushdie not have that freedom of expression? Similarly, why is Taslima hunted and hounded and why fatwas have been issued on both these writers? Why has Qatar not offered citizenship to Taslima? In the present rioting in Shimoga in Karnataka against the article Taslima wrote against the tradition of burqa which appeared in the Out Look in Jan 2007. Nobody protested then either in Delhi or in any other part of the country; now when it reappears in a Karnataka paper there is rioting. Is there a political agenda to create a problem in Karnataka by the intolerant goons? Why has the media not condemned this insensitivity and intolerance of the Muslims against Taslima’s views? When it comes to the Sangh Parivar it is quick to call them goons and intolerant etc. Now, who are the goons and where is this tolerance and sensitivity? Regarding Hussain’s artistic freedom it seems to run unfettered in an expression of sexual perversion only when he envisages the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. There is no quarrel had he painted a nude woman sitting on the tail of a monkey. The point is he captioned it as Sita. Nobody would have protested against the sexual perversion and his orientatation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’? Next example is the painting of Saraswati copulating with a lion. Here again his perversion is evident and so is his intent. Even that, let’s concede, cannot be faulted — each one’s sexual orientation is each one’s business I suppose. But he captioned it as Saraswati. This is the problem. It is Hussain’s business to enjoy in painting his sexual perversion. But why use Saraswati and Sita for his perverted expressions? Use Fatima and watch the consequence. Let the media people come to his rescue then. Now that he is in a country that gives him complete freedom, let him go ahead and paint Fatima copulating with a lion or any other animal of his choice. And then turn around and prove to India — the Freedom of expression he enjoys in Qatar. Talking about Freedom of Expression — this is the Hussain who supported Emergency — painted Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying Jayaprakash Narayan. He supported the jailing of artists and writers. Where did this Freedom of Expression go? And you call him secularist? Would you support the jailing of artists and writers Ram – would you support the abeyance of the Constitution and all that we held sacred in democracy and the excessiveness of Indira Gandhi to gag the media writers – political opponents? Tell me, honestly why does Hussain expect this Freedom when he himself did not support others with the same freedom he wants? And the media has rushed to his rescue. Had it been a Ram who painted such obnoxious, degrading painting – the reactions of the media and the elite ‘secularists’ would have been different; because there is a different perception/ and index of secularism when it comes to Ram — and a different perception/and index of secularism when it comes to Rahim/Hussain. It brings back to my mind an episode that happened to The Hindu some years ago. [1991] You had a separate weekly page for children with cartoons, quizzes, and with poems and articles of school children. In one such weekly page The Hindu printed a venerable bearded man — fully robed with head dress, mouthing some passages of the Koran — trying to teach children. It was done not only in good faith but as a part of inculcating values to children from the Koran. All hell broke loose. Your office witnessed goons who rushed in — demanded an apology — held out threats. In Ambur, Vaniambadi and Vellore the papers stands were burned — the copies of The Hindu were consigned to the fire. A threat to raise the issue in Parliament through a Private Members Bill was held out — Hectic activities went on — I am not sure of the nature and the machinations behind the scene. But The Hindu next day brought out a public apology in its front page. Where were you Ram? How secular and tolerant were the Muslims? Well this is of the past — today it is worse because the communal temperature in this country is at a all high — even a small friction can ignite and demolish the country’s peace and harmony. It is against this background that one should view Hussain who is bent on abusing and insulting the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Respect for religious sentiments, need to maintain peace and harmony should also be part of the agenda of an artist — if he is great. If it is absent then he cannot say that he respects India and express his longing for India. Let’s face it — he is a fugitive of law. Age and religion are immaterial. What does the media want — that he be absolved by the courts? Even for that he has to appear in the courts — he cannot run away. After all this is the country where he lived and gave expression to his pervert sadist, erotic artistic mind under Freedom of Expression. I simply cannot jump onto the bandwagon of the elite ‘secularist’ and uphold what he had done. With his brush he had committed jihad — bloodletting. The issue is just not nudity — Yes the temples, the frescos in Konarak and Kajhuraho have nude figures. But does it say that they are Sita, Sarswati or any goddesses? We have the Yoni and the Phallus as sacred signs of Life-of Siva and Shakthi — take these icons to the streets, paint them — give it a caption it becomes vulgar. Times have changed. Even granted that our ancients sculptured and painted naked forms and figures, with a pervert mind to demean religion is no license to repeat that in today’s changed political and social scenario and is not a sign of secularism and tolerance. I repeat there is no quarrel with nudity — painters have time and again found in it the perfection of God’s handicraft. Let me wish Hussain peace in Qatar — the totalitarian regime with zero tolerance. May be he will convince the regime there to permit freedom of expression in word, writing and painting. For this he could start experimenting painting forms and figure of Mohamed the Prophet-and his family. And may I fervently wish that the media — especially The Hindu, does not discriminate goons — let it not substitute tolerance for intolerance when it comes to Rahim and Antony and another index for Ram. I hope you will read this in the same spirit that I have written. All the best to you Ram. Dr Mrs Hilda Raja From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 11 17:26:28 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:56:28 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <152464.31365.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Thanks for this article Kshmendra . I find it perplexing that something of this stature, which has the potential to disturb democracy in a major way finds so little coverage in the media. I can only hope this bill does not get passed in its current form. Thanks Rahul ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Rakesh Iyer ; Rahul Asthana Cc: Sarai Reader List Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 5:02:32 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill Dear Rahul / Rakesh To supplement the comments already made by the two of you, Madhu Kishwar's article (reproduced below) might be of interest. She lists what she sees as shortcomings in the Bill and talks about an Alternative Model (proposed by her organisation 'Manushi') and it's merits. Kshmendra "Women's Reservation Bill: Well intentioned but highly flawed" 9 Mar 2010 By Madhu Purnima Kishwar Even though I firmly believe that special measures are indeed required to enhance the participation of women in our legislatures, I have been a steadfast critic of the women’s reservation bill in its present form because it is ill conceived and seriously flawed. It’s main shortcoming is that it provides a mechanical entry of women members to fill one-third of vacancies in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by reserving one third constituencies for women candidates. These will be rotated with every election. It is ill conceived because: The rotation system will automatically result in two-thirds of incumbent members –one third women and one third men — being forcibly unseated in every general election. The remaining one-third will be left in limbo until the last moment, not knowing if their constituency will form part of the one-third randomly reserved seats. This will require them to scramble at short notice to find another seat from which to contest. Such compulsory unseating violates the very basic principles of democratic representation. It jeopardises the possibility of sensible planning to contest and nurture a political constituency for both male and female candidates. Even though there will be no legal bar on women standing from general constituencies, it is highly unlikely that many women will obtain party tickets to run for office outside the reserved constituencies. This same pattern is evident with SCs and STs who have been permanently ghettoised to fixed reserved constituencies. It will make it harder for women to build their long-term credibility as effective representatives, since they will not be able to contest twice from the same constituency once it is de-reserved. There will be no incentive for a woman politician to nurse her constituency since it will be reserved only once in 15 years. They will thus will be deprived of a strong political base and will forever be regarded as ‘one time’ players. Reservation through territorial constituencies will restrict the choice of voters who would have no option but to elect women only, violating the basic principles of democratic representation. This is likely to lead to greater resentment against women, undermining the very objective of the Bill. Those men who get pushed out of their constituencies or who see their allies sidelined will either sabotage female contenders in revenge, or spend much of their political capital helping their own female relatives in cornering these reserved seats. Such proxies would be expected to keep the seat ‘safe’ for the men until the next election, when they would again try to reclaim their seats. This will further strengthen the culture feminine space being dominated by the” biwi beti” brigade. Women will be ghettoised to ‘women only’ constituencies leading to the zenana dabba mindset. Leadership acquired in such a manner will be seen as unnatural, artificial and foisted. Given these serious infirmities, Manushi proposed an alternative model, which addresses many of the flaws listed above. The important provisions of the proposed Alternative Bill are as follows: Through an amendment of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it should be mandatory for every recognised political party to nominate women candidates for election in one-third of the constituencies. This enables each party to choose where it wishes to nominate women candidates, duly taking local political and social factors into account. To prevent a party from nominating women candidates only in states or constituencies where the party’s chances of winning election are weak, and to ensure an even spread of women candidates, the unit for consideration (the unit in which at least one out of the three party candidates shall be a woman) for the Lok Sabha shall be a state or Union Territory; for the assembly, the unit shall be a cluster of three contiguous Lok Sabha constituencies. In the event of any recognised party failing to nominate one-third women candidates, for the shortfall of every single woman candidate, two male candidates of the party shall lose the party symbol and affiliation and all the recognition-related advantages. The advantages of this model are: Parties can nurture women candidates where they can offer a good fight rather than in pre-fixed lottery based constituencies, where they may or may not have viable women candidates. Thus there is flexibility and promotion of natural leadership. Though seats are not reserved, there will be a large pool of credible and serious women candidates in the fray. A woman candidate will be contesting both against female and/or male candidates of rival parties. Therefore, the democratic choice of voters is not restricted to compulsorily electing only women candidates. As women members will be elected in competition with male candidates — without reserving seats — they will be seen as legitimate representatives in the eyes of the public and not just beneficiaries of charitable measures or treated as political light weights. Parties will be able to nominate women from BCs, minorities and other communities for elective office in areas where there is electoral advantage to them. This obviates the need for a quota within quotas — an issue that has blocked the existing bill. Those who are concerned about BC representation need not settle merely for one-third quota for BC women within the 33% women’s quota, as they are demanding now. They can field as many BC or minority women as they think appropriate. Unlike with the lottery system of reserved constituencies, in which women’s presence is likely to get ossified at 33% since there would be resistance to letting women contest from non-reserved constituencies, this model allows for far greater flexibility in the number and proportion of women being elected to legislatures. If women are candidates for one-third of all seats contested by each party, theoretically they could even win the vast majority of seats — all on merit. The democratic choice of voters is not restricted to compulsorily electing only women candidates in one third constituencies while being denied the chance to elect women in the rest of constituencies. There will be no need for rotation or territorial reservation. Therefore elected women can nurture their constituencies and emerge as major political figures in their own right, with an independent power base. By making the unit of consideration the state or Union Territory for Lok Sabha, and a cluster of three Lok Sabha constituencies for the legislative assembly, the risk of parties shunting women in weak constituencies is avoided. Parties will have the incentive to nominate women in all states and regions or else twice the number of male candidates of the party will lose party nomination. No serious party seeking power can afford to deliberately undermine its own chances of election on such a large scale. The experience of fixed quotas in a few countries where it has been tried, such as Nepal, the Philippines, and the erstwhile Soviet Union, has produced very dismal results for women’s political participation. By contrast party-based quotas in many European democracies have allowed women to acquire majority participation in their respective legislatures. (The author is a professor at CSDS.) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Politics/Nation/Womens-Reservation-Bill-Well-intentioned-but-highly-flawed/articleshow/5661230.cms?curpg=1 --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: >From: Rahul Asthana >Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill >To: "Rakesh Iyer" >Cc: "Sarai Reader List" >Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 12:14 AM > > >Thanks Rakesh. >I agree that women incumbents can contest from open seats - but,firstly, it is less likely that they would be given tickets by major parties,since they are already giving tickets to women in the reserved constituencies.Secondly,if they do, the balance may shift in the other direction with men not getting a chance to stand for election in 66% of the seats. >To sum up, in 66% of seats, its unlikely, though not impossible for the incumbents to stand for election ; and that I think is bad for accountability in particular and democarcy in general.It has the potential to create a big mess. >On the other hand, fixed reservation is acceptable in my opinion. > >Thanks >Rahul > > > > >________________________________ >From: Rakesh Iyer >To: Rahul > Asthana >Cc: Sarai Reader List >Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:30:47 PM >Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill > >Hi Rahul > >My response: > >1) The reservation is rotating in the sense, that within 15 years, all seats would have been reserved at least once for women. Assume that a state has 3 governments which last their full terms. In such a case, in 15 years, there would have been 3 elections for the state assembly. In such a case, one third of the assembly seats would be reserved in say the first election, but in the next election, these seats would be de-reserved, and instead one-third of the total assembly > seats (but not these dereserved ones) would be chosen for the 2nd election. In the third election, those seats which were dereserved for both the 1st and 2nd election would be reserved. > >2) Women can contest even from dereserved seats, so there is no case of incumbent not being able to contest from a seat once it is dereserved. She can contest again. There is no restriction on doing so. But what it means is that a man would not be able to be contest three continuous times in both Assembly and Parliamentary elections from the same seat. > >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 c.anupam at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 19:16:13 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:16:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> Dear Pawan, What makes you think that linga is not phallus? regards Anupam P.S. could you please also source an input which prove my claim as untrue? On 3/11/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Source : http://rummuser.com/?p=2993 > > A letter by Dr Mrs Hilda Raja to N.Ram > > Dear Ram, > I have taken time to write this to you Ram — for the simple reason > that we have known you for so many years — you and The Hindu bring > back happy memories. Please take what I am putting down as those that > come from an agonized soul. You know that I do not mince words and > what I have to say I will — I call a spade a spade — now it is too > late for me to learn the tricks of being called a ‘secularist’, if > that means a bias for one, and a bias against another. > Hussain is now a citizen of Qatar — this has generated enough of heat > and less of light. Qatar you know better than me is not a country > which respects democracy or freedom of expression. Hussain says he has > complete freedom — I challenge him to paint a picture of Mohammed, > fully clad. > There is no second opinion that artists have the Right of Freedom of > expression. Is such a right restricted only to Hussain? Will that > right not flow to Dan Brown — why was his film Da Vinci Code not > screened? Why was Satanic Verses banned — does Salman Rushdie not have > that freedom of expression? Similarly, why is Taslima hunted and > hounded and why fatwas have been issued on both these writers? Why has > Qatar not offered citizenship to Taslima? In the present rioting in > Shimoga in Karnataka against the article Taslima wrote against the > tradition of burqa which appeared in the Out Look in Jan 2007. Nobody > protested then either in Delhi or in any other part of the country; > now when it reappears in a Karnataka paper there is rioting. Is there > a political agenda to create a problem in Karnataka by the intolerant > goons? Why has the media not condemned this insensitivity and > intolerance of the Muslims against Taslima’s views? When it comes to > the Sangh Parivar it is quick to call them goons and intolerant etc. > Now, who are the goons and where is this tolerance and sensitivity? > > Regarding Hussain’s artistic freedom it seems to run unfettered in an > expression of sexual perversion only when he envisages the Hindu Gods > and Goddesses. There is no quarrel had he painted a nude woman sitting > on the tail of a monkey. The point is he captioned it as Sita. Nobody > would have protested against the sexual perversion and his > orientatation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to > caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’? > > Next example is the painting of Saraswati copulating with a lion. Here > again his perversion is evident and so is his intent. Even that, let’s > concede, cannot be faulted — each one’s sexual orientation is each > one’s business I suppose. But he captioned it as Saraswati. This is > the problem. It is Hussain’s business to enjoy in painting his sexual > perversion. But why use Saraswati and Sita for his perverted > expressions? Use Fatima and watch the consequence. Let the media > people come to his rescue then. Now that he is in a country that gives > him complete freedom, let him go ahead and paint Fatima copulating > with a lion or any other animal of his choice. And then turn around > and prove to India — the Freedom of expression he enjoys in Qatar. > > Talking about Freedom of Expression — this is the Hussain who > supported Emergency — painted Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying > Jayaprakash Narayan. He supported the jailing of artists and writers. > Where did this Freedom of Expression go? And you call him secularist? > Would you support the jailing of artists and writers Ram – would you > support the abeyance of the Constitution and all that we held sacred > in democracy and the excessiveness of Indira Gandhi to gag the media > writers – political opponents? Tell me, honestly why does Hussain > expect this Freedom when he himself did not support others with the > same freedom he wants? And the media has rushed to his rescue. Had it > been a Ram who painted such obnoxious, degrading painting – the > reactions of the media and the elite ‘secularists’ would have been > different; because there is a different perception/ and index of > secularism when it comes to Ram — and a different perception/and index > of secularism when it comes to Rahim/Hussain. > > It brings back to my mind an episode that happened to The Hindu some > years ago. [1991] You had a separate weekly page for children with > cartoons, quizzes, and with poems and articles of school children. In > one such weekly page The Hindu printed a venerable bearded man — fully > robed with head dress, mouthing some passages of the Koran — trying to > teach children. It was done not only in good faith but as a part of > inculcating values to children from the Koran. All hell broke loose. > Your office witnessed goons who rushed in — demanded an apology — held > out threats. In Ambur, Vaniambadi and Vellore the papers stands were > burned — the copies of The Hindu were consigned to the fire. A threat > to raise the issue in Parliament through a Private Members Bill was > held out — Hectic activities went on — I am not sure of the nature and > the machinations behind the scene. But The Hindu next day brought out > a public apology in its front page. Where were you Ram? How secular > and tolerant were the Muslims? > > Well this is of the past — today it is worse because the communal > temperature in this country is at a all high — even a small friction > can ignite and demolish the country’s peace and harmony. It is against > this background that one should view Hussain who is bent on abusing > and insulting the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Respect for religious > sentiments, need to maintain peace and harmony should also be part of > the agenda of an artist — if he is great. If it is absent then he > cannot say that he respects India and express his longing for India. > > Let’s face it — he is a fugitive of law. Age and religion are > immaterial. What does the media want — that he be absolved by the > courts? Even for that he has to appear in the courts — he cannot run > away. After all this is the country where he lived and gave expression > to his pervert sadist, erotic artistic mind under Freedom of > Expression. I simply cannot jump onto the bandwagon of the elite > ‘secularist’ and uphold what he had done. With his brush he had > committed jihad — bloodletting. > > The issue is just not nudity — Yes the temples, the frescos in Konarak > and Kajhuraho have nude figures. But does it say that they are Sita, > Sarswati or any goddesses? We have the Yoni and the Phallus as sacred > signs of Life-of Siva and Shakthi — take these icons to the streets, > paint them — give it a caption it becomes vulgar. Times have changed. > Even granted that our ancients sculptured and painted naked forms and > figures, with a pervert mind to demean religion is no license to > repeat that in today’s changed political and social scenario and is > not a sign of secularism and tolerance. I repeat there is no quarrel > with nudity — painters have time and again found in it the perfection > of God’s handicraft. > > Let me wish Hussain peace in Qatar — the totalitarian regime with zero > tolerance. May be he will convince the regime there to permit freedom > of expression in word, writing and painting. For this he could start > experimenting painting forms and figure of Mohamed the Prophet-and his > family. And may I fervently wish that the media — especially The > Hindu, does not discriminate goons — let it not substitute tolerance > for intolerance when it comes to Rahim and Antony and another index > for Ram. > > I hope you will read this in the same spirit that I have written. All > the best to you Ram. > > Dr Mrs Hilda Raja > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 19:30:03 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:30:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> Sir , I am not competent enough to explain what it represents . Any wrong description where it involves faith of millions would be a wrong thing to do. One explanation on videa you may find at following link http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7750003834905326157# in Sanskrit In Sanskrit, linga means “mark”. .. Also another explanation is : Lingam as an abstract symbol of God Some knowledgeable interpreters of Hindu scripture believe the lingam to be merely an abstract symbol, and point out that Lingams in many of the more important temples are not of the shape described above. Furthermore, many are the instances in Hindu lore where a sundry rock or pile of sand has been used by heroic personages as a Lingam or symbol of Shiva. For example, Arjuna fashioned a linga of clay when worshipping Siva. Thus, it is argued, too much should not be made of the usual shape of the Linga. This view is also consonant with philosophies that hold that God may be conceptualized and worshipped in any convenient form; the form itself is irrelevent, the divine power that it represents is all that matters. Sri K. Thirugna Sambantha, in his excellent web site of Saivism, explains that the Siva lingam is the ruparupa aspect because it is neither a manifested form of Siva, nor is it formless, because the linga is a tangible piece of stone, and a symbol of God. Thus, it is intermediate between the formless Absolute, Parasiva, which is beyond the sensory perception of man, and the many manifest forms of Siva. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains in the lexicon section of his book, Dancing with Siva, that "Sivalinga is the most prevalent icon of Siva, found in virtually all Siva temples. It is a rounded, elliptical, aniconic image, usually set on a circular base, or peetham. The Sivalinga is the simplest and most ancient symbol of Siva, especially of Parasiva, God beyond all forms and qualities. The Peetham represents Parashakti, the manifesting power of God. Lingas are usually of stone (either carved or naturally existing, svayambhu, such as shaped by a swift-flowing river), but may also be of metal, precious gems, crystal, wood, earth or transitory materials such as ice. According to the Karana Agama (6), a transitory Sivalinga may be made of 12 different materials: sand, rice, cooked food, river clay, cow dung, butter, rudraksha seeds, ashes, sandalwood, darbha grass, a flower garland, or molasses." Ref : http://www.thaiexotictreasures.com/shiva_lingam.html#Lingam%20as%20an%20abstract%20symbol%20of%20God Regards Pawan On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:16 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Dear Pawan, > > What makes you think that linga is not phallus? > > regards Anupam > > P.S. could you please also source an input which prove my claim as untrue? > > On 3/11/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Source : http://rummuser.com/?p=2993 >> >> A letter by Dr Mrs Hilda Raja to N.Ram >> >> Dear Ram, >> I have taken time to write this to you Ram — for the simple reason >> that we have known you for so many years — you and The Hindu bring >> back happy memories. Please take what I am putting down as those that >> come from an agonized soul. You know that I do not mince words and >> what I have to say I will — I call a spade a spade — now it is too >> late for me to learn the tricks of being called a ‘secularist’, if >> that means a bias for one, and a bias against another. >> Hussain is now a citizen of Qatar — this has generated enough of heat >> and less of light. Qatar you know better than me is not a country >> which respects democracy or freedom of expression. Hussain says he has >> complete freedom — I challenge him to paint a picture of Mohammed, >> fully clad. >> There is no second opinion that artists have the Right of Freedom of >> expression. Is such a right restricted only to Hussain? Will that >> right not flow to Dan Brown — why was his film Da Vinci Code not >> screened? Why was Satanic Verses banned — does Salman Rushdie not have >> that freedom of expression? Similarly, why is Taslima hunted and >> hounded and why fatwas have been issued on both these writers? Why has >> Qatar not offered citizenship to Taslima? In the present rioting in >> Shimoga in Karnataka against the article Taslima wrote against the >> tradition of burqa which appeared in the Out Look in Jan 2007. Nobody >> protested then either in Delhi or in any other part of the country; >> now when it reappears in a Karnataka paper there is rioting. Is there >> a political agenda to create a problem in Karnataka by the intolerant >> goons? Why has the media not condemned this insensitivity and >> intolerance of the Muslims against Taslima’s views? When it comes to >> the Sangh Parivar it is quick to call them goons and intolerant etc. >> Now, who are the goons and where is this tolerance and sensitivity? >> >> Regarding Hussain’s artistic freedom it seems to run unfettered in an >> expression of sexual perversion only when he envisages the Hindu Gods >> and Goddesses. There is no quarrel had he painted a nude woman sitting >> on the tail of a monkey. The point is he captioned it as Sita. Nobody >> would have protested against the sexual perversion and his >> orientatation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to >> caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’? >> >> Next example is the painting of Saraswati copulating with a lion. Here >> again his perversion is evident and so is his intent. Even that, let’s >> concede, cannot be faulted — each one’s sexual orientation is each >> one’s business I suppose. But he captioned it as Saraswati. This is >> the problem. It is Hussain’s business to enjoy in painting his sexual >> perversion. But why use Saraswati and Sita for his perverted >> expressions? Use Fatima and watch the consequence. Let the media >> people come to his rescue then. Now that he is in a country that gives >> him complete freedom, let him go ahead and paint Fatima copulating >> with a lion or any other animal of his choice. And then turn around >> and prove to India — the Freedom of expression he enjoys in Qatar. >> >> Talking about Freedom of Expression — this is the Hussain who >> supported Emergency — painted Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying >> Jayaprakash Narayan. He supported the jailing of artists and writers. >> Where did this Freedom of Expression go? And you call him secularist? >> Would you support the jailing of artists and writers Ram – would you >> support the abeyance of the Constitution and all that we held sacred >> in democracy and the excessiveness of Indira Gandhi to gag the media >> writers – political opponents? Tell me, honestly why does Hussain >> expect this Freedom when he himself did not support others with the >> same freedom he wants? And the media has rushed to his rescue. Had it >> been a Ram who painted such obnoxious, degrading painting – the >> reactions of the media and the elite ‘secularists’ would have been >> different; because there is a different perception/ and index of >> secularism when it comes to Ram — and a different perception/and index >> of secularism when it comes to Rahim/Hussain. >> >> It brings back to my mind an episode that happened to The Hindu some >> years ago. [1991] You had a separate weekly page for children with >> cartoons, quizzes, and with poems and articles of school children. In >> one such weekly page The Hindu printed a venerable bearded man — fully >> robed with head dress, mouthing some passages of the Koran — trying to >> teach children. It was done not only in good faith but as a part of >> inculcating values to children from the Koran. All hell broke loose. >> Your office witnessed goons who rushed in — demanded an apology — held >> out threats. In Ambur, Vaniambadi and Vellore the papers stands were >> burned — the copies of The Hindu were consigned to the fire. A threat >> to raise the issue in Parliament through a Private Members Bill was >> held out — Hectic activities went on — I am not sure of the nature and >> the machinations behind the scene. But The Hindu next day brought out >> a public apology in its front page. Where were you Ram? How secular >> and tolerant were the Muslims? >> >> Well this is of the past — today it is worse because the communal >> temperature in this country is at a all high — even a small friction >> can ignite and demolish the country’s peace and harmony. It is against >> this background that one should view Hussain who is bent on abusing >> and insulting the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Respect for religious >> sentiments, need to maintain peace and harmony should also be part of >> the agenda of an artist — if he is great. If it is absent then he >> cannot say that he respects India and express his longing for India. >> >> Let’s face it — he is a fugitive of law. Age and religion are >> immaterial. What does the media want — that he be absolved by the >> courts? Even for that he has to appear in the courts — he cannot run >> away. After all this is the country where he lived and gave expression >> to his pervert sadist, erotic artistic mind under Freedom of >> Expression. I simply cannot jump onto the bandwagon of the elite >> ‘secularist’ and uphold what he had done. With his brush he had >> committed jihad — bloodletting. >> >> The issue is just not nudity — Yes the temples, the frescos in Konarak >> and Kajhuraho have nude figures. But does it say that they are Sita, >> Sarswati or any goddesses? We have the Yoni and the Phallus as sacred >> signs of Life-of Siva and Shakthi — take these icons to the streets, >> paint them — give it a caption it becomes vulgar. Times have changed. >> Even granted that our ancients sculptured and painted naked forms and >> figures, with a pervert mind to demean religion is no license to >> repeat that in today’s changed political and social scenario and is >> not a sign of secularism and tolerance. I repeat there is no quarrel >> with nudity — painters have time and again found in it the perfection >> of God’s handicraft. >> >> Let me wish Hussain peace in Qatar — the totalitarian regime with zero >> tolerance. May be he will convince the regime there to permit freedom >> of expression in word, writing and painting. For this he could start >> experimenting painting forms and figure of Mohamed the Prophet-and his >> family. And may I fervently wish that the media — especially The >> Hindu, does not discriminate goons — let it not substitute tolerance >> for intolerance when it comes to Rahim and Antony and another index >> for Ram. >> >> I hope you will read this in the same spirit that I have written. All >> the best to you Ram. >> >> Dr Mrs Hilda Raja >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Mar 11 19:50:53 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:20:53 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003101249w3ce1ce11gbd5b05a0048553f0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <48116.38695.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Yasir   You did name India amongst the countries "stoking the fires .......... in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/f "   If India did it in past/present/future, how would one answer the question "Isnt India justified in doing it as a counter to Pakistan (State or Non-State-Actors) stoking Islamic and Seperatist fires in India?"   As far as 'pipelinistan' is concerned, I am of the belief that it would be foolish of India to receive 'gas' routed through Pakistan if interruption of such supplies will have any significantly adverse economic impact in India.   Some plainspeaking. It is not only the threat of disruption of supplies by violent elements in Pakistan who do not want such a supply line to go through to India, but the larger issue of whether Pakistan can be trusted not to play dirty.   Inspite of the propaganda against India in connection with the Indus Water Treaty, there is no credible evidence that India has stopped flow of waters to Pakistan at any time including when they were at war with each other.   Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah has this to say "Apart from the Baglihar dam, neither Pakistan nor India has had problems with the Indus Water Treaty."   (When I watched the interview on DAWN TV, his exact words were "India has never stopped the flow of waters")   It is an excellent interview where Shah talks of the nature of concerns Pakistan has had and is likely to have by the very form of the Indus Water treaty. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/02-jamaat-shah-02   Did I say it already? Let me repeat it. Pakistan is not to be trusted on "pipelinistan".   Pakistan is not to be trusted. Period.   Kshmendra   (there is some sort of a personal sadness in all of this for me ..... some friends from pakistan i dearly love ........ some music from pakistan that feeds my soul) --- On Thu, 3/11/10, yasir ~يا سر wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 2:19 AM i forgot iran but its definitely there, but those links are more explicit: there is a border with iran! and a baluchi population on either side which is sunni... i hope you dont think it is a random list. I dont have to go by what is said on tv or in the papers, kk. and so i would be skeptical of the ttp-india link if someone is mouthing it on tv. but think pipelinistan (and everone's got their own map of pipes) , think central asia, and china, saudi influence in the region, and china & russia hovering, uzbekistan having kickbed out the americans, bbc and rfe ...the stakes get higher and people get meddlesome. I have said nothing about india. its very common for ministers & officials  to point to raw like you do to isi. i am sure its all true__ :) soon we'll have a pipline running from iran to india via pk :) best On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: >  Dear Yasir > > Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On the > contrary, mine might be broader-glasses. > > I would like to believe that I have greater objectivity regarding both > Pakistan and India as compared to most who are living in either country. > > This comment of yours was interesting - " foreign entities and money incl > china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each > others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata" > > Have heard that mouthed very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to > mention Iran (especially wrt Balochistan). > > These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( Tehrik-i-Taliban > Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by India. > > Kshmendra > > > --- On *Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر * wrote: > > > From: yasir ~يا سر > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM > > 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an islamist pov. always interesting to > hear. yet he and his views have been marginalized in pk. let us us say it > is > the end of the zia era. > > 2. pk and afg are very different entities. while taliban are making a quiet > come back in afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban as > this would sour their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either > being massacred or disappearing to resurface at some point later, the > moment > in northwest-pk. so this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there > is > no such problem for the rest of the country. foreign entities and money > incl > china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each > others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/fata > - a fact of life at the moment. but the country seems to have regained some > agency of itself with upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt > since the lawyers movement and the last elections. a good point for > negotiations with india for instance, to streamline our own common regional > agendas, which are overdue since at least partition, actually much > before... > > 3. pk-taliban or their views, in fact islamist views are definitely on the > margin in pk at the moment. so i totally disagree with KK (who is writing > fron across the border wearing border-glasses), and agree with pawan, that > the common enemy are the islamists in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally > overblown) in india, where too, just like us, they love to make a circus > out > of it. lets hope the common bonds are stronger than the hate, of which > there > has been enough. > > best, y > _________________________________________ > 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/> > > > _________________________________________ 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 Mar 11 19:56:29 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:26:29 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003101301i6e1afbc6rb7d7a1ee26c191c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <220651.87355.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> A first step for considering any kind of 'secularity' in Pakistan would be:   - when Pakistan removes the word "Islamic" from its Constitution (and attendant clauses on Legislation and Laws)   - when Pakistan opts out of the membership of the OIC   Till such time, talking about anything secular about Pakistan are intellectual exercises; indulgences.   Kshmendra --- On Thu, 3/11/10, yasir ~يا سر wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 2:31 AM > > The proliferation of ‘jihad’ in mainland Pakistan is but > the opportunity cost of strategy. > she is arguing that jihad and religion is instrumental for mainstream pk. and is skeptical of the claim either way for the military command as well. further by saying "a similar claim might not be made for society at large", she actually sez nothing about pakistani society at large, having only removed the certainty of a two-mode religious v secular military. best, y. On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 6:33 PM, S. Jabbar wrote: > > > 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 c > _________________________________________ 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 20:02:22 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:02:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sir , As i repeat again , if my knowledge on subject is incomplete , i would restrict my comments . However i suggest you should read Swami Vivekanandas speech at "THE PARIS CONGRESS OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS " The Swami said that the worship of the Shiva-Linga originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman." Mr H.H Wilson writes Although, however, the Linga holds a prominent place...the spirit of the worship is as little influenced by the character of the type as can well be imagined. There is nothing like the phallic orgies of antiquity: it is all mystical and spiritual. The Linga is twofold, external and internal. The ignorant, who need a visible sign, worship Śiva through a 'mark' or 'type'--which is the proper meaning of the word 'Linga'--of wood or stone; but the wise look upon this outward emblem as nothing, and contemplate in their minds the invisible, inscrutable type, which is Śiva himself. Whatever may have been the origin of this form of worship in India, the notions upon which it was founded, according to the impure fancies of European writers, are not to be traced in even the Śaiva Puráńas. I would try to provide you some more on this , as i have to look down in my archive . You may study that as well. Regrds Pawan From c.anupam at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 20:26:18 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003110656t1c709a1fvad7068cec91cf4b3@mail.gmail.com> Dear Pawan, To add your wisdom, I am posting a debate thread on Linga-Phallus divide. I hope this would really add to your archive as there evidences from Skanda, Vamana and Linga Purana. But yes, these have been also refuted by several scholars: http://www.svabhinava.org/TransgressiveSacrality/Dialogues/Shivalinga/index.php Hope to hear from you soon. Anupam On 3/11/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Sir , > > As i repeat again , if my knowledge on subject is incomplete , i would > restrict my comments . However i suggest you should read Swami > Vivekanandas speech at "THE PARIS CONGRESS OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS > " > > The Swami said that the worship of the Shiva-Linga originated from the > famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the > Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn a description is > found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is > shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman." > > Mr H.H Wilson writes > > Although, however, the Linga holds a prominent place...the spirit of > the worship is as little influenced by the character of the type as > can well be imagined. There is nothing like the phallic orgies of > antiquity: it is all mystical and spiritual. The Linga is twofold, > external and internal. The ignorant, who need a visible sign, worship > Śiva through a 'mark' or 'type'--which is the proper meaning of the > word 'Linga'--of wood or stone; but the wise look upon this outward > emblem as nothing, and contemplate in their minds the invisible, > inscrutable type, which is Śiva himself. Whatever may have been the > origin of this form of worship in India, the notions upon which it was > founded, according to the impure fancies of European writers, are not > to be traced in even the Śaiva Puráńas. > > I would try to provide you some more on this , as i have to look down > in my archive . You may study that as well. > > > Regrds > > Pawan > From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 20:31:48 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:31:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <341380d01003110656t1c709a1fvad7068cec91cf4b3@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110656t1c709a1fvad7068cec91cf4b3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Forget about India being a secular country. The Indian state is pseudo-secularist, and so are its people. Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 20:35:16 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:35:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110656t1c709a1fvad7068cec91cf4b3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: May be it's time that each person who wishes to be a citizen of this country gives a written or signed assurance that he/she won't object to the freedom of speech and expression being used to denigrate, castigate or criticize or portray in satire the god/deity/idea/anything which he/she adheres strongly in his/her faith. And if that person is unwilling to do so, strip him/her of citizenship of the state and only allow that person to live as a refugee. Rakesh From c.anupam at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 20:50:24 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:50:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110656t1c709a1fvad7068cec91cf4b3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003110720w157165eao642dc09387a4eae1@mail.gmail.com> Dear Rakesh, it is not a question about objecting. one has the right to object, but let this be a valid ground. hussain painting a god/goddess should not bother you essentially. he is not coming to your house and asking you to buy his works. neither by painting the Prophet should irk you in any way. it is someone's expression not aspiration. so deriving such conclusions from the arguments which have been forwarded to you is absolutely unneccesary. -Anupam On 3/11/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > May be it's time that each person who wishes to be a citizen of this country > gives a written or signed assurance that he/she won't object to the freedom > of speech and expression being used to denigrate, castigate or criticize or > portray in satire the god/deity/idea/anything which he/she adheres strongly > in his/her faith. And if that person is unwilling to do so, strip him/her of > citizenship of the state and only allow that person to live as a refugee. > > Rakesh > From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 11 20:54:18 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:24:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami Speaks Out on Prisoners In-Reply-To: <2807215E-D9DB-46B1-BE6B-98BD096465EE@sarai.net> References: <2807215E-D9DB-46B1-BE6B-98BD096465EE@sarai.net> Message-ID: <39440.92852.qm@web53607.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Thanks Shuddha for this. Jafar Panahi's masterful work is a testimony to his humanism,love for his country and empathy towards the common Iranian. His opposition to the Iranian regime maybe political but as expressed through his work (I have seen Crimson Gold and Off Side) is couched in social terms.It should also be pointed out that while most of the Iranian artists tend to leave Iran to exercise their freedom of expression he lives there and continues to work in the most trying of conditions. To get a sense of perspective, we can look at the hue and cry made over the detention of Roman Polanski for, what, one may argue, entirely valid reasons. Panahi is no less a filmmaker than Polanski, and it is horrifying that the detention of an artist of such a stature is not raising more of a storm in world media. ----- Original Message ---- From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta To: sarai-list list Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:57:14 PM Subject: [Reader-list] Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami Speaks Out on Prisoners Dear All, The situation in Iran continued to be in turmoil. The besieged, cynical, repressive regime that currently holds power in the name of an Islamic Republic has continued to face stiff opposition from Iranians from all walks of life, and so it continues to oppress them. Recently, the well known Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, has been arrested. Below is a report (from a blog associated with the New York Times) on his arrest, and a letter written in protest against his detention by Abbas Kiarostami, a much admired Iranian filmmaker. Many of us (especially at Sarai) have had occasion to see and enjoy the work of Panahi and Kiarostami. I hope that you will all join me in condemning this sad turn of events, and hope for the early demise of the repressive regime fronted by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cynical coterie. best Shuddha -------- Iranian Filmmaker Speaks Out on Prisoners By Robert Mackey The Lede, The New York Times Blog http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/iranian-filmmaker-speaks- out-on-prisoners/?scp=1&sq=kiarostami&st=cse March 9, 2010, 5:31 pm Abbas Kiarostami, a celebrated Iranian filmmaker who has won numerous international awards for films like “ Close-Up” and “ Through The Olive Trees,” published an open letter in a Tehran newspaper on Tuesday calling for the release of Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof, two directors recently detained by the authorities. Mr. Kiaorstami sent the original, Persian-language text of his letter and an English translation to The Lede from Iran through a mutual friend, Hooman Majd, the author of “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.” The complete text of the translation is below. The original text is available for download. Mr. Panahi, who has directed two films scripted by Mr. Kiarostami, “The White Balloon,” and “ Crimson Gold,” was arrested last week, as my colleague Nazila Fathi reported. In an interview uploaded to YouTube, he discussed the event that inspired his 2006 film “ Offside,” which is about a group of Iranian women who want to be allowed to watch a soccer match. According to The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a source close to him said: “Over the past years, Ministry of Intelligence authorities have summoned Jafar Panahi to different investigation offices of the Ministry in different locations and have questioned him. In one of these meetings he was told, ‘Just because you are a famous filmmaker, you mustn’t think that we are unable to arrest you. We can arrest you whenever we decide.’” Here is the complete text of Mr. Kiarostami’s open letter, written in response to that arrest. ---------- "...I don’t quite know to whom I am addressing this letter, but I do know why I’m writing it and I believe that under the circumstances it is both critical and inevitable because two Iranian filmmakers, both of whom are vital to the Iranian wave of independent cinema, have been incarcerated. As a filmmaker of the same independent cinema, it has been years since I lost hope of ever screening my films in my country. By making my own low-budget and personal films, it has also been years since I lost all hope of receiving any kind of aid or assistance from the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture, the custodian of Iranian cinema. In order to make a living, I have turned to photography and use that income to make short and low-budget films. I don’t even object to their illegal reproduction and distribution because that is my only means of communicating with my own people. For years now I have not even objected to this lack of attention from the ministry and cinema tic authorities . Even if we choose to disregard the fact that for years now, the cinematic administrators of the country, who constitute the main cultural body of the government, have differentiated between their own filmmakers (insiders) and independent filmmakers (outsiders), I am still of the opinion that they are oblivious of Iranian independent cinema. Filmmaking is not a crime. It is our sole means of making a living and thus not a choice, but a vital necessity. I have found my own solutions to the problem. Independent of the conventional and customary support granted to the cinematic community at large, I make my own short and independent films with hopes of gaining some credit for the people I love and a name for the country I come from. Sometimes the necessity to work calls for the making of films beyond the borders of my country, which is ultimately not out of personal choice or taste. However, others, like Jafar Panahi, have for years tried to summon official government support, exploring the same frustrating path, only to be confronted with the same closed doors. He too has for years held hopes of obtaining public screenings for his films and receiving official aid and assistance from the relevant governmental bodies. He still believes that based on the merits of his films and the acclaim they have brought the country, he can seek legal solutions to the problem. The Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture is directly responsible for what is happening to Jafar Panahi and his like. Any wrongdoing on his part, if there is any at all, is a direct result of the mismanagement of officials at the cinematic department of the Ministry of Guidance and it’s inadequate policies which in no way leave any choice for the filmmaker other than to resort to means that jeopardize his situation as a filmmaker. He too makes a living through cinema. For him too, filmmaking is a vital necessity. He needs to make himself heard and has the right to expect cinematic officials to facilitate the process, rather than become the major obstacles themselves. Perhaps the officials at the ministry can not at present be of help in solving Jafar Panahi’s dilemma, but they need to know that they are and have been responsible all these years, for the dreadful consequences and unpleasant and anti-cultural reflections of such policies in the world media. I may not be an advocate of Jafar Panahi’s radical and sensational methods but I do know that the cause for his plight is not a result of choice but an inevitable [compulsion]. He is paying for the conduct of officials who have for years closed all doors on him, leaving open small passages and dead end paths. Jafar Panahi’s problem will eventually be solved but there are numerous young people who have chosen the art of cinema as their means of expression and careers. This is where the duty of the government and the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture, as the government’s main cultural body, becomes even more critical, for they face a large group of Iranian youth who aim to work independently and away from complicated official procedures and existing prejudices. Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof are two filmmakers of the Iranian independent cinema, a cinema that for the past quarter of a century has served as an essential cultural element in expanding the name of this country across the globe. They belong to an expanded world culture, and are a part of international cinematic culture. I wish for their immediate release from prison knowing that the impossible is possible. My heartfelt wish is that artists no longer be imprisoned in this country because of their art and that the independent and young Iranian cinema no longer faces obstacles, lack of support, attention and prejudice. This is your responsibility and the ultimate definition of your existence." Abbas Kiarostami / 1388.12.18 [March 9, 2010] / Tehran --------------- Even though his films have been banned in Iran for years, Mr. Kiarostami, who recently made his first film abroad, dismissed the idea of leaving Iran permanently in an interview with The National, an Abu Dhabi newspaper, in October. “I don’t believe in leaving my home,” he told the newspaper. “The place where I sleep well at night is my home. We make films in order to live. No matter under whatever conditions, my home, at the end of a dead end, is where I’ve been living, and there’s nothing that’s persuaded me yet to leave it.” He added that in the face of difficulties, such as those confronting Iran’s filmmakers today, “It just depends on what your reaction is in the face of things that don’t appeal to you. You can find shelter in alcohol and opium. You might get depressed. Or you can think, since I’m not going to do those things, what can I do?” In the same interview, Mr. Kiarostami was asked to comment on the decision of another Iranian filmmaker, Bahman Ghobadi, to leave Iran. “Based on what I’ve witnessed of Iranians leaving Iran, I haven’t seen a very positive outcome,” he replied. “I have no criticism of anybody else that should choose to leave their home…. If Bahman Ghobadi believes that he will make films under better conditions outside of Iran, I only congratulate and praise him. So long as he does make them.” As my colleague Michael Slackman reported in January, Mr. Ghobadi took that as an attack of some sort and wrote a furious open letter denouncing Mr. Kiarostami for not taking a political stand against Iran’s government. In an email message to The Lede, Mr. Kiarostami said that his remarks about Mr. Ghobadi were not in any way an attack on him. Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.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/> From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 20:57:42 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:57:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <341380d01003110720w157165eao642dc09387a4eae1@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110608i3d5c3411oc4690edb6a772d03@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110632x555e1e8fyf7939474b4fa5932@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110656t1c709a1fvad7068cec91cf4b3@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110720w157165eao642dc09387a4eae1@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Anupam This is the only country where objection means violence, or will lead to violence. So when I wrote that, I just meant that they will not indulge in violence, or as a penalty lead the life of refugees. That is the appropriate punishment for people. As far as unnecessary and necessary are concerned, what about the useless and frivolous emails one keeps getting on this forum regarding fights among people on issues of secularism and counter-secularism/communalism etc? Are they necessary? I know we can't have better discussions (I have lost hopes of that, with all the opposition I had over sending the Right to Food articles and also on other issues in the hope that people will get over it). What do such arguments serve the purpose of anyway? Did you ever change your ideas? Did those who object to your mails change from them? Never. Do you expect them to change? It would be a joke if you were to think so. Think about their necessity first, before commenting on others' necessary and unnecessary ideas and conclusions. Rakesh From aliens at dataone.in Thu Mar 11 21:40:12 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:40:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <341380d01003100515j5c52ec29oc980648389e48de@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> <341380d01003100515j5c52ec29oc980648389e48de@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <000001cac135$54a8b350$fdfa19f0$@in> I feel pity for your level of thinking that you compare Husain painting issue with woman rape and killing. There is no question of my concern for the issue of woman rape and killing since it is concern of common sense that it is always condemnable. I am least concern for judging my culture with your eye and level of thinking. -----Original Message----- From: anupam chakravartty [mailto:c.anupam at gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:45 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders after babri masjid, i am sure there is a conspiracy to demolish khajuraho also now after reading such pieces...it is a matter of shame that some of the reader's list members are worried about the paintings of an artist (who inspired thousands of young artists in this country for free expression) but you do not voice your concern with equal gusto when women are being raped and killed in the country. what makes you think that you own this culture? On 3/10/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Thanks Pawan for posting this article. > > Cho Ramaswami is absolutely right by saying " All those who appreciate his > art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of > Qatari > society, hopefully not artistically clothed." > > Actually it is his dirty mind inspires him to make goddess nude pictures and > not the artistic mind. He is really psychic and needs psychiatric treatment. > However, pseudo-secular readers here will sure to oppose this article. > > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:48 PM > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > > March 10th, 2010 > By Cho Ramaswamy > > > Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total > freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on > freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now > eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari > society, hopefully not artistically clothed. > > His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities > alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted > his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being > the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to > remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with > seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? > > Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to > Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. > All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. > Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. > > I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I > want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the > force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict > the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to > paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. > > He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude > so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude > pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. > > And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning > to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to > avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a > liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the > protests which do not harm him in any way. > > Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not > an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And > now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner > for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully > plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that > red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the > literary world. > > - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political > analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of > Tamil magazine Tughlak > > Source : > http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr-husain-go-paint-qat ari-leaders-773 > _________________________________________ > 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 Mar 11 22:26:02 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:26:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <43483CC6-63FE-412F-AD71-035BE3806068@sarai.net> References: <6b79f1a71003100418hae6c4cbseb390096f49666b2@mail.gmail.com> <000001cac050$6db89350$4929b9f0$@in> <43483CC6-63FE-412F-AD71-035BE3806068@sarai.net> Message-ID: <000701cac13b$bc002dc0$34008940$@in> Dear Shuddha and all, Human being grown from there ancestor from beginning of human life or say Adam & Eve from nude stage to today's cultured society. We have accepted some code of conduct to live in modern, well cultured and descent society, where we do not roam in the nude position as our ancestor does. To maintain this code, we have several laws against vulgarity. Even today in most modern internet era, we have applied code of conduct against porn sites. If someone capture nude photography has to phase consequences. So, I also believe that in the name of modern art, one cannot do/paint what they want to and they are also liable to obey certain society decency code. In our Indian society where people have ampoule of faith in variety of gods, one must keep in this mind while doing something against their faith. In society, we have to keep in mind all the people in all the religion which includes people with extreme religious in nature unlike all of us who we arguing here. No two persons are similar in nature, so you may think how much varieties are there in human nature. Argument is made that in the name of modern art, one must have right to paint anything in democracy and viewers have full right to see or not. But, whether it is viewable or not one has to see it once may be with his family and children then only one can decide about its stature. So, those extreme religious in nature has full right to oppose it may be by way of court cases. One must face the court cases instead of escapism. If anyone wants freedom for its acts must ready to face consequences. Husain has accepted Qatar citizenship for his own interest, since he got painting contract of Arabian culture from local govt. authorities and decided willingly to stay there for his own financial interest. However earlier through back door, he has begged and requested Indian govt. to withdraw court cases, which is not at all possible since govt. can't do anything. Thanks judiciary are independent here else what would have happened can be judged. I remember that Husain has written a letter to N. Ram, editor The Hindu. One sentence was like this, "Qatar govt. has respected me by giving Qatar citizenship and honors me that way and if Indian govt. wants to arrest me then they can do so". Just like Dawood Ebrahim, who on earlier days fled to Dubai and then tell the Indian govt. to arrest him. Husain must show guts to face the consequences instead of escapism. If he would have faced the court cases gracefully then he would be more respectable and may be forgiven by extremists. Everyone knows that he was after so many actresses (not actors) only like Meena Kumari, Mumtaz, Smita Patil, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit. His one painting of Madhuri was describing that one ox (madmast sandh) with naked Madhuri in vulgar pose. This shows his dirty mind and psychic nature. If anyone describes this as modern art, than feel sorry for him/her thought. Madhuri showed her decency and keep mum else would be in big trouble earlier only. He is now in Qatar and even if he just speak (not actually paint) to show will to make nude paint of someone living there like he did in case of Madhuri or nude paint of their god, I doubt he will remain alive even. Thanks Bipin From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta [mailto:shuddha at sarai.net] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 12:02 AM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders Dear All, I don't know whether or not I am secular or pseudo-secular. But actually, I do not oppose Cho Ramaswamy's article. Instead of reading it ironically, I want to read it seriously, to take it at its word. I think it works better if read as if it were written sincerely, than it does if read as if it were written as a second rate piece of satire. And seriously, I think Husain has every right to paint anyone he likes in any form he likes, whether nude or clothed. And so, if I were asked what my opinion would be on the hypothetical possibility of Husain (or any other artist for that matter) wanting to paint the royal family of Qatar, or Queen Elizabeth the Second, or Shivaji, or Razia Sultan, or Indira Gandhi, or Savarkar, or M.K. Gandhi (doesn't require much imagination to do that) or Bhagat Singh, Subhash Bose, Lenin, Mao, or any personage, religious or political, in the nude, or, if on the contrary, he wanted to paint a version of a nude by Ingres in a burqa, or wearing a boliler suit, frankly, I would say that it should be his prerogative to do that. As far as I am concerned, no painting ever killed anybody, or made people get infectious diseases. Paintings are good, or bad, and Husain's work, like the work of any other artist is open to criticism. But a work of art, in and of itself, is neither harmful, nor beneficial. We can derive harmful or beneficial interpretations of it, and if we grant that to be the case, then that could, arguably be a ground for restricting the liberty of viewership, ( a view I must clarify that I do not endorse, I am considering it here, only for the sake of argument), but even this cannot by any stretch of reasoning be construed into becoming a grounds for a restriction on the making of a work of art. If at all we consider such an argument, all that it can permit us to do is to imagine provisions for the restriction of the said work's universal exposition. And it should also be his (Husain's) prerogative to live where he wants (and this is true of anybody at all), work where he wants, and paint, or write, or sing or dance whatsoever he wants. As long as his actions do not restrict another person's liberty, I see no reason whatsoever to argue for restraints on his location or movements. His being in Quatar does not prevent me from being in India. His making a nude Durga does not restrict my liberty to either see, or not see the said painting. Seeing it, or not, being offended by it or not, is a choice that I am making. And an artist cannot be prosecuted for choices made by a viewer. If anyone is offended (or feel that they may be offended) by anything that any artist makes, they have to do one simple thing to ensure that the unpleasantness of offense does not mar their experience of life. Do not look at the work of art in question, simply do not read the offending book, or watch the offending play or film. Or, if you do, simply accept the fact that just as there are many things that you hold dear that others may find offensive or be indifferent to, so too, many things that you find offensive might be significant to others. A nude depiction of a goddess in the Hindu pantheon may be offensive to some, and sacred, or meaningful and beautiful, to others, for similar, and/or different reasons. No one should be in a position to take away your right not to see something, just as no one should be in a position to take away my right to see something. Frankly, I do not care whether Husain does or does not paint the rulers of Qatar in the nude, or Cho Ramaswami with a full head of hair. But if asked whether or not he has a right to do so, obviously, I would say he does. And so does any artist, anywhere in the world. best Shuddha On 10-Mar-10, at 6:21 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: Thanks Pawan for posting this article. Cho Ramaswami is absolutely right by saying " All those who appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari society, hopefully not artistically clothed." Actually it is his dirty mind inspires him to make goddess nude pictures and not the artistic mind. He is really psychic and needs psychiatric treatment. However, pseudo-secular readers here will sure to oppose this article. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 5:48 PM To: reader-list Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders Feel free, Mr Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders March 10th, 2010 By Cho Ramaswamy Now that M.F. Husain has settled in Qatar where there is total freedom, he is free of the shackles imposed by the Indian system on freedom of expression. All those who appreciate his art would now eagerly await his imaginative paintings of the leaders of Qatari society, hopefully not artistically clothed. His fans would not expect him to confine nudity to Hindu deities alone; it would extend to all the religions. Having already painted his mother, daughter and Muslim kings fully robed, Mr Husain, being the freed citizen that he is now in Qatar, should be prepared to remove those clothes. How can the artist in him be satisfied with seeing Saraswati and Parvati alone in the nude? Fortunately for art in the nude, the courts here cannot do anything to Mr Husain now that he has run away from the Indian judicial system. All the cases could be now buried amidst the pictures drawn by him. Both would mercifully go to the dustbin. I am very anxious not to get branded as communal in my thinking. I want to be hailed as a secularist and so I would say with all the force I can command that Mr Husain has the inalienable right to depict the Hindu deities in the most obscene manner while taking care to paint even non-religious Muslims fully clothed. He can claim that because he hates Hitler he painted him in the nude so he could humiliate him and in the same breath justify his nude pictures of Hindu goddesses as depiction of purity. And because I am secular, I would also assert that his not returning to India is only to gain freedom from the Indian fascism and not to avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers in this country. Being a liberal-minded artist, he naturally is not able to put up with the protests which do not harm him in any way. Shunning the Indian system and preferring the Qatar environment is not an act of hypocrisy but one of liberal, secular and free thought. And now that Mr Husain has established himself as such a stout campaigner for free expression, I must believe firmly that he will forcefully plead with his new protectors in Qatar to roll out of a bit of that red carpet to Taslima Nasreen, another hounded victim from the literary world. - Cho S. Ramaswamy is a well-known political analyst, actor, dramatist and editor of Tamil magazine Tughlak Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/blogs/others/feel-free-mr-husain-go-paint-qat ari-leaders-773 _________________________________________ 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 taraprakash at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 22:33:45 2010 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (TaraPrakash) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:03:45 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill References: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <152464.31365.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Rahul. There are times when right should be distinguished from perfect. If you keep waiting for the perfect, there will be no change. Reservation may not be the best alternative, but a lot of incumbents have started stinking. A lot of them are there because of their party, not because of their individual achievements. My belief is that if an incumbent has done enough in the interest of her constituents it will make sure that she is given ticket by the party. If her party ignores her even if she is winnable, she should go independent. In democracy the representatives should be accountable to their constituents, not to their party. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rahul Asthana" To: "Kshmendra Kaul" ; "Rakesh Iyer" Cc: "Sarai Reader List" Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:56 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill > Thanks for this article Kshmendra . > I find it perplexing that something of this stature, which has the > potential to disturb democracy in a major way finds so little coverage in > the media. I can only hope this bill does not get passed in its current > form. > > Thanks > Rahul > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Kshmendra Kaul > To: Rakesh Iyer ; Rahul Asthana > > Cc: Sarai Reader List > Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 5:02:32 AM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill > > > Dear Rahul / Rakesh > > To supplement the comments already made by the two of you, Madhu Kishwar's > article (reproduced below) might be of interest. > > She lists what she sees as shortcomings in the Bill and talks about an > Alternative Model (proposed by her organisation 'Manushi') and it's > merits. > > Kshmendra > > > "Women's Reservation Bill: Well intentioned but highly flawed" > 9 Mar 2010 > > By Madhu Purnima Kishwar > > Even though I firmly believe that special measures are indeed required to > enhance the participation of women in our legislatures, I have been a > steadfast critic of the women’s reservation bill in its present form > because it is ill conceived and seriously flawed. It’s main shortcoming is > that it provides a mechanical entry of women members to fill one-third of > vacancies in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by reserving one third > constituencies for women candidates. These will be rotated with every > election. > > It is ill conceived because: The rotation system will automatically result > in two-thirds of incumbent members –one third women and one third men — > being forcibly unseated in every general election. The remaining one-third > will be left in limbo until the last moment, not knowing if their > constituency will form part of the one-third randomly reserved seats. This > will require them to scramble at short notice to find another seat from > which to contest. Such compulsory unseating violates the very basic > principles of democratic representation. It jeopardises the possibility of > sensible planning to contest and nurture a political constituency for both > male and female candidates. > > Even though there will be no legal bar on women standing from general > constituencies, it is highly unlikely that many women will obtain party > tickets to run for office outside the reserved constituencies. This same > pattern is evident with SCs and STs who have been permanently ghettoised > to fixed reserved constituencies. > > It will make it harder for women to build their long-term credibility as > effective representatives, since they will not be able to contest twice > from the same constituency once it is de-reserved. There will be no > incentive for a woman politician to nurse her constituency since it will > be reserved only once in 15 years. They will thus will be deprived of a > strong political base and will forever be regarded as ‘one time’ players. > > Reservation through territorial constituencies will restrict the choice of > voters who would have no option but to elect women only, violating the > basic principles of democratic representation. This is likely to lead to > greater resentment against women, undermining the very objective of the > Bill. > > Those men who get pushed out of their constituencies or who see their > allies sidelined will either sabotage female contenders in revenge, or > spend much of their political capital helping their own female relatives > in cornering these reserved seats. Such proxies would be expected to keep > the seat ‘safe’ for the men until the next election, when they would again > try to reclaim their seats. This will further strengthen the culture > feminine space being dominated by the” biwi beti” brigade. > > Women will be ghettoised to ‘women only’ constituencies leading to the > zenana dabba mindset. Leadership acquired in such a manner will be seen as > unnatural, artificial and foisted. > > Given these serious infirmities, Manushi proposed an alternative model, > which addresses many of the flaws listed above. The important provisions > of the proposed Alternative Bill are as follows: > > Through an amendment of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it > should be mandatory for every recognised political party to nominate women > candidates for election in one-third of the constituencies. This enables > each party to choose where it wishes to nominate women candidates, duly > taking local political and social factors into account. > > To prevent a party from nominating women candidates only in states or > constituencies where the party’s chances of winning election are weak, and > to ensure an even spread of women candidates, the unit for consideration > (the unit in which at least one out of the three party candidates shall be > a woman) for the Lok Sabha shall be a state or Union Territory; for the > assembly, the unit shall be a cluster of three contiguous Lok Sabha > constituencies. > > > > In the event of any recognised party failing to nominate one-third women > candidates, for the shortfall of every single woman candidate, two male > candidates of the party shall lose the party symbol and affiliation and > all the recognition-related advantages. > > The advantages of this model are: > > Parties can nurture women candidates where they can offer a good fight > rather than in pre-fixed lottery based constituencies, where they may or > may not have viable women candidates. Thus there is flexibility and > promotion of natural leadership. > > Though seats are not reserved, there will be a large pool of credible and > serious women candidates in the fray. A woman candidate will be contesting > both against female and/or male candidates of rival parties. Therefore, > the democratic choice of voters is not restricted to compulsorily electing > only women candidates. > > As women members will be elected in competition with male candidates — > without reserving seats — they will be seen as legitimate representatives > in the eyes of the public and not just beneficiaries of charitable > measures or treated as political light weights. > > Parties will be able to nominate women from BCs, minorities and other > communities for elective office in areas where there is electoral > advantage to them. This obviates the need for a quota within quotas — an > issue that has blocked the existing bill. Those who are concerned about BC > representation need not settle merely for one-third quota for BC women > within the 33% women’s quota, as they are demanding now. They can field as > many BC or minority women as they think appropriate. > > Unlike with the lottery system of reserved constituencies, in which women’s > presence is likely to get ossified at 33% since there would be resistance > to letting women contest from non-reserved constituencies, this model > allows for far greater flexibility in the number and proportion of women > being elected to legislatures. If women are candidates for one-third of > all seats contested by each party, theoretically they could even win the > vast majority of seats — all on merit. > > The democratic choice of voters is not restricted to compulsorily electing > only women candidates in one third constituencies while being denied the > chance to elect women in the rest of constituencies. > > There will be no need for rotation or territorial reservation. Therefore > elected women can nurture their constituencies and emerge as major > political figures in their own right, with an independent power base. > > By making the unit of consideration the state or Union Territory for Lok > Sabha, and a cluster of three Lok Sabha constituencies for the legislative > assembly, the risk of parties shunting women in weak constituencies is > avoided. > > Parties will have the incentive to nominate women in all states and > regions or else twice the number of male candidates of the party will lose > party nomination. No serious party seeking power can afford to > deliberately undermine its own chances of election on such a large scale. > > The experience of fixed quotas in a few countries where it has been tried, > such as Nepal, the Philippines, and the erstwhile Soviet Union, has > produced very dismal results for women’s political participation. By > contrast party-based quotas in many European democracies have allowed > women to acquire majority participation in their respective legislatures. > > (The author is a professor at CSDS.) > > http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Politics/Nation/Womens-Reservation-Bill-Well-intentioned-but-highly-flawed/articleshow/5661230.cms?curpg=1 > > > --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: > > >>From: Rahul Asthana >>Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill >>To: "Rakesh Iyer" >>Cc: "Sarai Reader List" >>Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 12:14 AM >> >> >>Thanks Rakesh. >>I agree that women incumbents can contest from open seats - but,firstly, >>it is less likely that they would be given tickets by major parties,since >>they are already giving tickets to women in the reserved >>constituencies.Secondly,if they do, the balance may shift in the other >>direction with men not getting a chance to stand for election in 66% of >>the seats. >>To sum up, in 66% of seats, its unlikely, though not impossible for the >>incumbents to stand for election ; and that I think is bad for >>accountability in particular and democarcy in general.It has the potential >>to create a big mess. >>On the other hand, fixed reservation is acceptable in my opinion. >> >>Thanks >>Rahul >> >> >> >> >>________________________________ >>From: Rakesh Iyer >>To: Rahul >> Asthana >>Cc: Sarai Reader List >>Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:30:47 PM >>Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill >> >>Hi Rahul >> >>My response: >> >>1) The reservation is rotating in the sense, that within 15 years, all >>seats would have been reserved at least once for women. Assume that a >>state has 3 governments which last their full terms. In such a case, in 15 >>years, there would have been 3 elections for the state assembly. In such a >>case, one third of the assembly seats would be reserved in say the first >>election, but in the next election, these seats would be de-reserved, and >>instead one-third of the total assembly >> seats (but not these dereserved ones) would be chosen for the 2nd >> election. In the third election, those seats which were dereserved for >> both the 1st and 2nd election would be reserved. >> >>2) Women can contest even from dereserved seats, so there is no case of >>incumbent not being able to contest from a seat once it is dereserved. She >>can contest again. There is no restriction on doing so. But what it means >>is that a man would not be able to be contest three continuous times in >>both Assembly and Parliamentary elections from the same seat. >> >>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 rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 22:38:23 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:38:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: References: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <152464.31365.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Taraprakash It is very easy to say that one should contest as an independent candidate. If you really wish to know how elections are played like a drama, please read P.Sainath on www.indiatogether.org, for Maharashtra elections in 2009 (both Lok Sabha and assembly). Read on how millions were spent in the name of publicity by the candidates which were never accounted for, and in what great ways. An independent candidate will never be able to do that, unless of course he/she is corrupt. Indian democracy is a joke, not a democracy please! Even the elections are manipulated like anything. From media management to distributing sarees before the public, our democracy is indeed a joke. And when all of us are to blame for it, where can we hide at all? Rakesh From taraprakash at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 23:21:13 2010 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (TaraPrakash) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:51:13 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com><341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6274C1747D5B44BE9025EBF1FA6C6B85@shabori> The insane storm in the tea cup is waiting to happen yet again. The Muslim leaders are busy studying the women's reservation bill and are getting ready to create commotion when they find an opportune moment to make poor Muslims care for something more important than their daily wages. Not for the women's reservation bill that much, for the graphics being shown in some Swiss newspapers. The news hasn't yet sunk in. The prophet apparently cannot be painted due to the reasons given in the below mail forwarded by Rakesh. But yet we have another picture of prophet Mohammed, this time in a dog's form doing rounds in Swiss newspapers. Delhi should be prepared. An MLA in UP publicly offered 1 crore worth of reward for whoever kills the Danish cartoon. The Danish cartoonist probably offended God, this MLA offended law, yet neither has said a word yet. Neither law nor God exists for all. But both cause enough troubles for all. And both favor some over others. Whereas MF Hussein is living a lavish life in his new country, the Danish cartoonist feels like a prisoner at his home due to the increased security at his home. I don't even want to talk about Taslima Nasreen. It makes me hate CPI(M) all over again. Not because other political parties were fair to her, but I was expecting CPI(M) to be truely secular. So as they say, why settle for one standard, when you can have 2. Double standards help all of us. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rakesh Iyer" To: "sarai list" Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:05 AM Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > Hi > > I have forwarded this mail Anupam wanted to send to the forum but was only > sent to me, probably as a mistake. Hope that is indeed the case. > > My views are also put up here verbatim as put up in a personal chat with > him: > > i never said husain is right or wrong . i said that in india, one can do > whatever he/she feels with hindu identities or not but for muslims and > christian identities, if something is said or done there would be a hue > and > cry and apologists would try to beat each other in the name of minority > appeasement if there is one field where appeasement is done, this is the > field. this should stop > > Rakesh > > In reply to "Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari > leaders" > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: anupam chakravartty > Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:27 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders > To: Rakesh Iyer > > > Dear Rakesh and all, > > What is wrong in painting a nude saraswati copulating with a tiger? > what exactly do you find offensive here? gods marry, gods have > children, but there it seems is a problem in explicitly stating that > gods were also having sexual intercourse. is it a sign of a healthy > society when only things not allowed to be asserted while others > remain unstated as if it is some sort of an incestuous trade which is > going on? You should ask for a ban on the hindu scriptures as well > where direct and indirect references of copulation of gods are stated. > there are written testimonies of incest, unnatural sex, of > mythological gods impregnating mortals that have been documented very > well in form of scriptures. > > Moreover, when i go to a shiva temple i worship the phallus of Shiva. > in the so-called moral discourse being conjured here especially to > suit the demands of zealots, this act of me going and worshiping a > phallus should be seen as a crime. i should be jailed for worshiping > the phallus of a god (how perverse is that!). but then believers > including me and my mother, we pour milk on it. that's visually > stimulating but since it is a ritual, we do not question it. > > since when, worshiping a god ( in monotheistic) has to do with respect > and reverence? then what about this statement: 'Thou art that". > praying comes from the word praise. singing is a form of reverence. > painting the phallus is my respect. but my request to all vanguards of > hindu religion, do not impose this outdated victorian model of > worshiping on everyone. you are a disease, eroding the very same > foundations on which you rest. and please! i do not want this do paise > ka respect to a god by blaming an artist, when all other things about > belief, about religion, about religiousity with a bunch of > islamophobes, a set of hardened fundamentalists, crooks minting money > in the name of religion have done nothing but disservice to humanity. > > over and over again, hussain is being asked to paint Prophet Mohammad. > Do you have any kind of visual reference of Prophet Mohammad in which > the above things being attributed to Indian deities from the very > scriptures is also true in his case? Islamic thought to be specific > doesnt have such thoughts associated with it. the old testament over > the years have being "denigrated" several times. what would you say > about renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch who painted Garden of > Earthly Delights depicting biblical scenes? it is considered as a > masterpiece. > > sometimes, stating the obvious is a little difficult, with general > social order as a given. but we have moved beyond Renaissance. > artists, writers, engineers, accountants, even soldiers, labourers, > mostly everyone at some of point of time state the obvious or want > answers for them. what are you going to do about all of them? did > someone deny your faith in god, by painting the god in nude? it did > not in my case. i felt overwhelmed > > a whole lot of us believe in gods (there are 33 crores of them > according to several religious estimates). conjuring images of a > pantheon linked by tragedies, relationships, alliances, the stories > around them have always been a part of the visual tradition. hussain > has been exploring these themes. he should be lauded for his efforts > instead. > > - Anupam > > On 3/11/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: >> I would say just one thing. In India, it's only possible to denigrate > Hindu >> gods and goddesses, abuse them, paint them in nude, and then get sympathy > of >> a large cross-section of people, including the secularists and the >> pseudo-secularists. But when it comes to Islam and Christianity, try >> doing >> that, and you will find violence being organized on the slightest of >> pretexts. And the pseudo-secularists would go on a humbug spree to stop >> this. And Hindus have started aping them too. >> >> Why this appeasement? What is this all about? Is it secularism? Are we >> willing to turn our country into a neo-Taliban society where any >> criticism >> about Islam and Christianity will be dealt with capital punishment and >> violence on the streets? >> >> @Shuddha: It's not the question of rights. It's the question of > enforcement >> of these rights. Howsoever much Hussain may try, the state would never >> act >> to ensure that the rights are enforced. And it's one thing to say Muslims >> have rights to paint the Prophet in a 'negative' sense, it's another >> thing >> doing it. Remember the protests in India over cartoons published in a >> certain newspaper in a certain European country named 'Denmark'? >> >> 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 rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 11 23:26:51 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:56:51 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: References: <654107.16692.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <152464.31365.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <191011.26877.qm@web53608.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi Taraprakash, Besides the point made by Rakesh, my biggest problem with this scheme is the uncertainty involved about the next ticket. I do not have anything against reservation per se. Actually I do not like Madhu Kishwar's scheme either. Fixed constituencies are the best way forward, IMHO of course.Also, this is a very non trivial change that can potentially shake the very foundations of democracy. Hence I do not believe that experiment as you go is an option here. Maybe all parties can iron out the kinks.We should have more debate on this. Thanks Rahul   Dear Taraprakash It is very easy to say that one should contest as an independent candidate. If you really wish to know how elections are played like a drama, please read P.Sainath on www.indiatogether.org, for Maharashtra elections in 2009 (both Lok Sabha and assembly). Read on how millions were spent in the name of publicity by the candidates which were never accounted for, and in what great ways. An independent candidate will never be able to do that, unless of course he/she is corrupt. Indian democracy is a joke, not a democracy please! Even the elections are manipulated like anything. From media management to distributing sarees before the public, our democracy is indeed a joke. And when all of us are to blame for it, where can we hide at all? Rakesh ________________________________ From: Rakesh Iyer To: TaraPrakash Cc: Rahul Asthana ; Kshmendra Kaul ; Sarai Reader List Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 12:08:23 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 23:41:19 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:41:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <6274C1747D5B44BE9025EBF1FA6C6B85@shabori> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <6274C1747D5B44BE9025EBF1FA6C6B85@shabori> Message-ID: As I said, nobody is secular in this country. What all people, particularly political parties do, is to show their side of secularism, and hence they are pseudo-secularists. And such pseudo-secularists will keep playing politics when it suits them. Be it the Delhi pogrom (1984), Bhagalpur pogrom (1989), Babri Masjid demolition and riots (1992), Gujarat pogrom (2002), Karnataka-Orissa violence (2008) or the complete destruction of the ideas of liberty and freedom, they will do it for some sect or the other. I remember that Anupam used the word Renaissance in one of his mails. If really we need Renaissance in this country, the first objective is to burn these pseudo-secularists in public after telling them to either stop being politicians and ruling the country, or get burnt themselves. After all, I have no objections with ordinary citizens being fools of the millennium, but I am against leaders who have no sense and understanding acting to beat the citizens in achieving the coveted position. P.S: While other Islamic nations were removing the Triple Talaq, our Muslims became the benefactors of the Muslim Personal Law passed in the Parliament. And yes of course, with the BJP-led NDA coming to power, I had the privilege of studying a social science curriculum about which the less said the better. Not to forget, a pogrom also took place in 2002 for which the chief minister of the state in concern was heard quoting Newton's third law for explanation. Wonder if his death by a terrorist would mean that law being proven again or an exception to the law. From yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Mar 12 00:44:55 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:14:55 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <48116.38695.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5af37bb1003101249w3ce1ce11gbd5b05a0048553f0@mail.gmail.com> <48116.38695.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003111114l3afdd97frdac888c4596d6c37@mail.gmail.com> It is obviously not for India to say if Pk is credible on pipelinistan, until it comes to the iran-pk-india gas pipeline, in which case there is enough trust between the governments to go ahead. skeptics are skeptics. and cold warriors cold warriors. but then kabir is kabir. hadd unhadd. so obviously a different framework is required from the policy we've had of a border as wall, not that it has to follow kabir. isi can react at will. sorry i havent followed the water policy closely, apparently its under re-negotiation, like other things, which can't be bad. i suggest you make a trip, even though i do not know what you do. hope the visa situation relaxes soon. best yasir On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:20 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Yasir > > You did name India amongst the countries "stoking the fires .......... in > the border regions of baluchistan and nwfp/f " > > If India did it in past/present/future, how would one answer the question > "Isnt India justified in doing it as a counter to Pakistan (State or > Non-State-Actors) stoking Islamic and Seperatist fires in India?" > > As far as 'pipelinistan' is concerned, I am of the belief that it would be > foolish of India to receive 'gas' routed through Pakistan if interruption of > such supplies will have any significantly adverse economic impact in India. > > Some plainspeaking. It is not only the threat of disruption of supplies by > violent elements in Pakistan who do not want such a supply line to go > through to India, but the larger issue of whether Pakistan can be trusted > not to play dirty. > > Inspite of the propaganda against India in connection with the Indus Water > Treaty, there is no credible evidence that India has stopped flow of waters > to Pakistan at any time including when they were at war with each other. > > *Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah has this to say "*Apart > from the Baglihar dam, neither Pakistan nor India has had problems with the > Indus Water Treaty." > > (When I watched the interview on DAWN TV, his exact words were "India has > never stopped the flow of waters") > > It is an excellent interview where Shah talks of the nature of concerns > Pakistan has had and is likely to have by the very form of the Indus Water > treaty. > > http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/02-jamaat-shah-02 > > Did I say it already? Let me repeat it. Pakistan is not to be trusted on > "pipelinistan". > > Pakistan is not to be trusted. Period. > > Kshmendra > > (there is some sort of a personal sadness in all of this for me ..... some > friends from pakistan i dearly love ........ some music from pakistan that > feeds my soul) > > > --- On *Thu, 3/11/10, yasir ~يا سر * wrote: > > > From: yasir ~يا سر > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 2:19 AM > > i forgot iran but its definitely there, but those links are more explicit: > there is a border with iran! and a baluchi population on either side which > is sunni... > i hope you dont think it is a random list. I dont have to go by what is > said > on tv or in the papers, kk. and so i would be skeptical of the ttp-india > link if someone is mouthing it on tv. but think pipelinistan (and everone's > got their own map of pipes) , think central asia, and china, saudi > influence > in the region, and china & russia hovering, uzbekistan having kickbed out > the americans, bbc and rfe ...the stakes get higher and people get > meddlesome. I have said nothing about india. its very common for ministers > & > officials to point to raw like you do to isi. i am sure its all true__ :) > soon we'll have a pipline running from iran to india via pk :) > > best > > > On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > >wrote: > > > Dear Yasir > > > > Not 'writing from across the border'. So no 'border-glasses'. On the > > contrary, mine might be broader-glasses. > > > > I would like to believe that I have greater objectivity regarding both > > Pakistan and India as compared to most who are living in either country. > > > > This comment of yours was interesting - " foreign entities and money incl > > china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each > > others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and > nwfp/fata" > > > > Have heard that mouthed very often in/on Pakistani Media. You forgot to > > mention Iran (especially wrt Balochistan). > > > > These days one often hears Pakistanis claiming that TTP ( > Tehrik-i-Taliban > > Pakistan) is borne/reared/nurtured/promoted/financed by India. > > > > Kshmendra > > > > > > --- On *Tue, 3/9/10, yasir ~يا سر >* > wrote: > > > > > > From: yasir ~يا سر > > > > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > > > > Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 9:12 PM > > > > 1. Hamid Gul is a cold warrior, with an islamist pov. always interesting > to > > hear. yet he and his views have been marginalized in pk. let us us say it > > is > > the end of the zia era. > > > > 2. pk and afg are very different entities. while taliban are making a > quiet > > come back in afg, even they themselves are not supporting the pk-taliban > as > > this would sour their relations with pk. besides the pk-talibs are either > > being massacred or disappearing to resurface at some point later, the > > moment > > in northwest-pk. so this can be dicey for that region only ie fata. there > > is > > no such problem for the rest of the country. foreign entities and money > > incl > > china, russia, US, saudi, india, are all stoking the fires to thwart each > > others' regional agendas in the border regions of baluchistan and > nwfp/fata > > - a fact of life at the moment. but the country seems to have regained > some > > agency of itself with upsurge in popular sentiment and pressure on govt > > since the lawyers movement and the last elections. a good point for > > negotiations with india for instance, to streamline our own common > regional > > agendas, which are overdue since at least partition, actually much > > before... > > > > 3. pk-taliban or their views, in fact islamist views are definitely on > the > > margin in pk at the moment. so i totally disagree with KK (who is writing > > fron across the border wearing border-glasses), and agree with pawan, > that > > the common enemy are the islamists in afg/pk/and hardly so (ie totally > > overblown) in india, where too, just like us, they love to make a circus > > out > > of it. lets hope the common bonds are stronger than the hate, of which > > there > > has been enough. > > > > best, y > > _________________________________________ > > 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 > < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?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.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 yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Mar 12 00:58:03 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:28:03 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <220651.87355.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5af37bb1003101301i6e1afbc6rb7d7a1ee26c191c@mail.gmail.com> <220651.87355.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003111128l31d5ccccw8efa541e1c7d1d84@mail.gmail.com> absolutely not. why should we be under any illusion of 'secularism'. you did not find me saying that, in all that i wrote. these are your own barriers. as you well know secular institutions can be hijacked by religious parties and mafias. think neocons, think india. you are really being too harsh. india should just join the oic, india's muslim population is larger than pakistan. as it is saudis are mediating... is will probably join as observer. don't misquote me. although not so common, i think "islamic' frameworks can be sufficiently liberal, left and radical. you can quote me on that. best On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:26 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > A first step for considering any kind of 'secularity' in Pakistan would > be: > > - when Pakistan removes the word "Islamic" from its Constitution (and > attendant clauses on Legislation and Laws) > > - when Pakistan opts out of the membership of the OIC > > Till such time, talking about anything secular about Pakistan are > intellectual exercises; indulgences. > > Kshmendra > > > --- On *Thu, 3/11/10, yasir ~يا سر * wrote: > > > From: yasir ~يا سر > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 2:31 AM > > > > > The proliferation of ‘jihad’ in mainland Pakistan is but > > the opportunity cost of strategy. > > > > she is arguing that jihad and religion is instrumental for mainstream pk. > and is skeptical of the claim either way for the military command as well. > further by saying "a similar claim might not be made for society at large", > she actually sez nothing about pakistani society at large, having only > removed the certainty of a two-mode religious v secular military. best, y. > > > On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 6:33 PM, S. Jabbar > > wrote: > > > > > > > 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 c > > > _________________________________________ > 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 shuddha at sarai.net Fri Mar 12 01:46:42 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:46:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <593D90D1-036C-4635-84DA-B222BB9D90F4@sarai.net> Dear Rakesh, Thanks for your points. I think that anyone (regardless of whether or not they are believers) should have the right to be as critical or creative or heretical or blasphemous (or even flippant, or irreverent) with any figure or motifs in any religious tradition, be it Islam, Christianity, or Hinduism (or any other). This does not mean, that I will automatically agree with or endorse any and every such attempt. But who is to decide as to what is a serious engagement, and what is heretical, blasphemous or creative? Ultimately, tese are questions not only of intention, but also of interpretation and reading. And every question of interpretation and reading is deeply subjective. There simply cannot be objective criteria for the validation of one reading over another. To even pretend that there can is to profoundly misunderstand art and any form of human creative activity. In some Shia traditions, it is perfectly legitimate, even respectful, to make images of Imam Ali, even (in some rare cases) of the Prophet Muhammad himself. There is also a strong body of frankly erotic poetry that addresses the prophet as a beautiful and beloved man. It is not a reticent tradition. But the same image, and the same words may be counted as insulting and derogatory in certain streams of orthodox Sunni Islam. Now, why should only the latter, prohibitory, practice prevail, and not the former? The loss, and gradual shrinking of spaces of heterodoxy within Islamicate traditions in South Asia is a profound tragedy. Just as tragic as the attempt to straightjacket popular Hinduism in an unthinking, unreflecting, unfree space of cultural repression and denial by the Hindu right. Both need to be mourned, and combatted. Some years ago, a scholar by the name of Jeffrey Kripal wrote a book called 'Kali's Child' in which he argued, on the basis of his close reading of a memoir of the bengali mystic Ramakrishna by one of his dsiciples (identified as 'Sri M') that Ramakrishna Paramhansa (Swami Vivekananda's mentor) was homosexual, and that he was erotically attracted to the young Vivekananda. Now it is possible to argue against this contention, on the grounds that it is an interpretation that cannot be logically defended. But, we saw a call to ban the book. I think it is not an insult to Ramakrishna to suggest that he was homosexual. It may, or may not be accurate. I do not think that the author viewed his scholarship as insulting of Sri Ramakrishna by any stretch of imagination. But he (and his book) was treated not as parties to an argument, but as criminals. It is this illiberality that is profoundly debilitating. And, no, I do not think that either Hindus or Muslims have more of this illiberality in them. Frankly, there is intolerance, as well as open-mindedness in all traditions. So, I think to make this a 'Hindu versus Muslim' question is to pursue a red herring. I have at all times defended the rights of people like Taslima Nasrin, Irshad Manji and Salman Rushdie to have their work seen, read, and heard in India, (and elsewhere) and no amount of hysterical 'Islam in danger' rhetoric spouted by Muslim fundamentalists and obscurantists, or patronizing 'Muslims must be treated differently' by so called secular progressives will make me change my mind that the cases of M.F, Husain and Taslima Nasrin are identical, and should be treated identically. Both should be free to do, or not do whatever they choose, based on their own volition and understandiing. I think too much is made of the 'hurt sentiments' of the spokesmen of this or that community, and not enough is made of the fact that those of us who are comfortable contemplating a nude Durga or Saraswati or a frankly erotic 'naat' about the prophet Muhammad may also have sentiments worth defending. Finally, there is the point of 'why does Husain not paint Muslim personages', that has been raised on this forum, sometimes repeatedly. I do not think we have any business telling artists what they should be painting, just as we have no business telling artists what they should not be painting. There is nothing wrong in someone not wanting to make a particular work, or in a particular kind of way. I see absolutely no justification in demanding that just because an artist has done 'X' he or she should automatically also be expected to do 'Y'. An artist is not at any person's beck or call, and this kind of 'farmaishi' or command tyranny is totally antithetical to the spirit of the freedom in the arts. However, if any one (including Husain) were to decide one fine day that they wanted to paint an image of the prophet Muhammad, that they wanted to paint an erotic episode from his life, or that they wanted to represent say, Hazrat Ayesha, or Fatima, or even make what might be considered (by themselves, by others, by some, or by all) to be a derogatory image, I would categorically say that they should have the full freedom to do so. And I would defend their right to do so. Please understand that by defending their right to do such an act, I am not by any means defending the content of their actions. In the case of the Danish cartoons, I have said repeatedly, and will say again. I find the images to be in abysmally poor taste, and I am sharply critical of them. However, I think that if some people want to debase themselves by making or publishing such images, they should have the freedom to do so, and that freedom should be protected. I have argued this position at length elsewhere, and I have used precedents from within Islamicate history and the Muslim tradition to make my argument. I see no contradiction in these two positions. I think that the Danish cartoons must be relentlessly criticized, as all bad art should be, by all those who recognize it to be bad art. But that does not mean that we have the right to threaten people, or commit violence, or censor, or otherwise prevent such images from being circulated. The only exception that I make is for documentary, live-action photographs of children, animals or people who are not in a position to consent to be represented, for pornographic purposes. In such instances, I would call for a ban, because the taking of the photograph itself constitutes a violation of the right to consent or not consent to the making of an image. However debased or obscene an image of someone we consider holy may be, the mere fact of the production of the image does not constitute a violence on the person represented by the image. Hence, since we can all choose, either to not see, or to criticize such images, by our words, or by making 'counter-images' , I do not consider mere insult, or obscenity, or heresy or blasphemy to be sufficient grounds for the censoring of artwork. I hope I have made myself clear. best, Shuddha On 11-Mar-10, at 2:34 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > I would say just one thing. In India, it's only possible to > denigrate Hindu > gods and goddesses, abuse them, paint them in nude, and then get > sympathy of > a large cross-section of people, including the secularists and the > pseudo-secularists. But when it comes to Islam and Christianity, > try doing > that, and you will find violence being organized on the slightest of > pretexts. And the pseudo-secularists would go on a humbug spree to > stop > this. And Hindus have started aping them too. > > Why this appeasement? What is this all about? Is it secularism? Are we > willing to turn our country into a neo-Taliban society where any > criticism > about Islam and Christianity will be dealt with capital punishment and > violence on the streets? > > @Shuddha: It's not the question of rights. It's the question of > enforcement > of these rights. Howsoever much Hussain may try, the state would > never act > to ensure that the rights are enforced. And it's one thing to say > Muslims > have rights to paint the Prophet in a 'negative' sense, it's > another thing > doing it. Remember the protests in India over cartoons published in a > certain newspaper in a certain European country named 'Denmark'? > > 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/> Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From shuddha at sarai.net Fri Mar 12 01:58:26 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:58:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami Speaks Out on Prisoners In-Reply-To: <39440.92852.qm@web53607.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <2807215E-D9DB-46B1-BE6B-98BD096465EE@sarai.net> <39440.92852.qm@web53607.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Rahul, I totally agree with you. Roman Polanski, howsoever great he may be as a filmmaker, was a fugitive pedophile. And, in my opinion, his talent as a filmmaker, or his presently advanced age, cannot be an excuse not to hold him in custody. That's like saying Eichmann should have been left to tend gardens as a gentle pensioner rather than face trial for his role in the Holocaust. There can be no comparison whatsoever with the case of Jafar Panahi, who is a filmmaker and artist being persecuted by a venal dictatorship. The longer they hold him (and thousands of others in Iran) the tighter will be the noose that the people of Iran will tie one day to the neck of the Islamic Republic. best Shuddha On 11-Mar-10, at 8:54 PM, Rahul Asthana wrote: > Thanks Shuddha for this. Jafar Panahi's masterful work is a > testimony to his humanism,love for his country and empathy towards > the common Iranian. His opposition to the Iranian regime maybe > political but as expressed through his work (I have seen Crimson > Gold and Off Side) is couched in social terms.It should also be > pointed out that while most of the Iranian artists tend to leave > Iran to exercise their freedom of expression he lives there and > continues to work in the most trying of conditions. > To get a sense of perspective, we can look at the hue and cry made > over the detention of Roman Polanski for, what, one may argue, > entirely valid reasons. Panahi is no less a filmmaker than > Polanski, and it is horrifying that the detention of an artist of > such a stature is not raising more of a storm in world media. > > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta > To: sarai-list list > Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:57:14 PM > Subject: [Reader-list] Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami Speaks > Out on Prisoners > > Dear All, > > The situation in Iran continued to be in turmoil. The besieged, > cynical, repressive regime that currently holds power in the name of > an Islamic Republic has continued to face stiff opposition from > Iranians from all walks of life, and so it continues to oppress them. > Recently, the well known Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, has been > arrested. Below is a report (from a blog associated with the New York > Times) on his arrest, and a letter written in protest against his > detention by Abbas Kiarostami, a much admired Iranian filmmaker. Many > of us (especially at Sarai) have had occasion to see and enjoy the > work of Panahi and Kiarostami. I hope that you will all join me in > condemning this sad turn of events, and hope for the early demise of > the repressive regime fronted by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cynical > coterie. > > best > > Shuddha > -------- > > Iranian Filmmaker Speaks Out on Prisoners > By Robert Mackey > > The Lede, The New York Times Blog > http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/iranian-filmmaker-speaks- > out-on-prisoners/?scp=1&sq=kiarostami&st=cse > > March 9, 2010, 5:31 pm > > Abbas Kiarostami, a celebrated Iranian filmmaker who has won numerous > international awards for films like “ Close-Up” and “ Through The > Olive Trees,” published an open letter in a Tehran newspaper on > Tuesday calling for the release of Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof, > two directors recently detained by the authorities. > > Mr. Kiaorstami sent the original, Persian-language text of his letter > and an English translation to The Lede from Iran through a mutual > friend, Hooman Majd, the author of “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.” > The complete text of the translation is below. The original text is > available for download. > > Mr. Panahi, who has directed two films scripted by Mr. Kiarostami, > “The White Balloon,” and “ Crimson Gold,” was arrested last week, as > my colleague Nazila Fathi reported. > > In an interview uploaded to YouTube, he discussed the event that > inspired his 2006 film “ Offside,” which is about a group of Iranian > women who want to be allowed to watch a soccer match. > > According to The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a > source close to him said: “Over the past years, Ministry of > Intelligence authorities have summoned Jafar Panahi to different > investigation offices of the Ministry in different locations and have > questioned him. In one of these meetings he was told, ‘Just because > you are a famous filmmaker, you mustn’t think that we are unable to > arrest you. We can arrest you whenever we decide.’” > > Here is the complete text of Mr. Kiarostami’s open letter, written in > response to that arrest. > > ---------- > "...I don’t quite know to whom I am addressing this letter, but I do > know why I’m writing it and I believe that under the circumstances it > is both critical and inevitable because two Iranian filmmakers, both > of whom are vital to the Iranian wave of independent cinema, have > been incarcerated. > > As a filmmaker of the same independent cinema, it has been years > since I lost hope of ever screening my films in my country. By making > my own low-budget and personal films, it has also been years since I > lost all hope of receiving any kind of aid or assistance from the > Ministry of Guidance and Islamic culture, the custodian of Iranian > cinema. > > In order to make a living, I have turned to photography and use that > income to make short and low-budget films. I don’t even object to > their illegal reproduction and distribution because that is my only > means of communicating with my own people. For years now I have not > even objected to this lack of attention from the ministry and cinema > tic authorities . > > Even if we choose to disregard the fact that for years now, the > cinematic administrators of the country, who constitute the main > cultural body of the government, have differentiated between their > own filmmakers (insiders) and independent filmmakers (outsiders), I > am still of the opinion that they are oblivious of Iranian > independent cinema. Filmmaking is not a crime. It is our sole means > of making a living and thus not a choice, but a vital necessity. > > I have found my own solutions to the problem. Independent of the > conventional and customary support granted to the cinematic community > at large, I make my own short and independent films with hopes of > gaining some credit for the people I love and a name for the country > I come from. Sometimes the necessity to work calls for the making of > films beyond the borders of my country, which is ultimately not out > of personal choice or taste. > > However, others, like Jafar Panahi, have for years tried to summon > official government support, exploring the same frustrating path, > only to be confronted with the same closed doors. He too has for > years held hopes of obtaining public screenings for his films and > receiving official aid and assistance from the relevant governmental > bodies. He still believes that based on the merits of his films and > the acclaim they have brought the country, he can seek legal > solutions to the problem. The Ministry of Guidance and Islamic > culture is directly responsible for what is happening to Jafar Panahi > and his like. Any wrongdoing on his part, if there is any at all, is > a direct result of the mismanagement of officials at the cinematic > department of the Ministry of Guidance and it’s inadequate policies > which in no way leave any choice for the filmmaker other than to > resort to means that jeopardize his situation as a filmmaker. He too > makes a living through cinema. > For him too, filmmaking is a vital necessity. He needs to make > himself heard and has the right to expect cinematic officials to > facilitate the process, rather than become the major obstacles > themselves. Perhaps the officials at the ministry can not at present > be of help in solving Jafar Panahi’s dilemma, but they need to know > that they are and have been responsible all these years, for the > dreadful consequences and unpleasant and anti-cultural reflections of > such policies in the world media. > > I may not be an advocate of Jafar Panahi’s radical and sensational > methods but I do know that the cause for his plight is not a result > of choice but an inevitable [compulsion]. > > He is paying for the conduct of officials who have for years closed > all doors on him, leaving open small passages and dead end paths. > > Jafar Panahi’s problem will eventually be solved but there are > numerous young people who have chosen the art of cinema as their > means of expression and careers. > > This is where the duty of the government and the Ministry of Guidance > and Islamic Culture, as the government’s main cultural body, becomes > even more critical, for they face a large group of Iranian youth who > aim to work independently and away from complicated official > procedures and existing prejudices. > > Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof are two filmmakers of the Iranian > independent cinema, a cinema that for the past quarter of a century > has served as an essential cultural element in expanding the name of > this country across the globe. They belong to an expanded world > culture, and are a part of international cinematic culture. I wish > for their immediate release from prison knowing that the impossible > is possible. My heartfelt wish is that artists no longer be > imprisoned in this country because of their art and that the > independent and young Iranian cinema no longer faces obstacles, lack > of support, attention and prejudice. > This is your responsibility and the ultimate definition of your > existence." > > Abbas Kiarostami / 1388.12.18 [March 9, 2010] / Tehran > --------------- > > Even though his films have been banned in Iran for years, Mr. > Kiarostami, who recently made his first film abroad, dismissed the > idea of leaving Iran permanently in an interview with The National, > an Abu Dhabi newspaper, in October. “I don’t believe in leaving my > home,” he told the newspaper. “The place where I sleep well at night > is my home. We make films in order to live. No matter under whatever > conditions, my home, at the end of a dead end, is where I’ve been > living, and there’s nothing that’s persuaded me yet to leave it.” > > He added that in the face of difficulties, such as those confronting > Iran’s filmmakers today, “It just depends on what your reaction is in > the face of things that don’t appeal to you. You can find shelter in > alcohol and opium. You might get depressed. Or you can think, since > I’m not going to do those things, what can I do?” > In the same interview, Mr. Kiarostami was asked to comment on the > decision of another Iranian filmmaker, Bahman Ghobadi, to leave Iran. > “Based on what I’ve witnessed of Iranians leaving Iran, I haven’t > seen a very positive outcome,” he replied. “I have no criticism of > anybody else that should choose to leave their home…. If Bahman > Ghobadi believes that he will make films under better conditions > outside of Iran, I only congratulate and praise him. So long as he > does make them.” > > As my colleague Michael Slackman reported in January, Mr. Ghobadi > took that as an attack of some sort and wrote a furious open letter > denouncing Mr. Kiarostami for not taking a political stand against > Iran’s government. In an email message to The Lede, Mr. Kiarostami > said that his remarks about Mr. Ghobadi were not in any way an attack > on him. > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.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/> > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From shuddha at sarai.net Fri Mar 12 04:47:28 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:47:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Feel free, Mr. Husain. Go paint Qatari leaders In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> References: <98f331e01003101343x7e733b2v2bfb4f6e45b6d970@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110157s44b58908s7f07f16ac8259717@mail.gmail.com> <547929401003110254y1fa6ce33wa5b833c6fc8584fa@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110326l14fcea2apa78f2ad525bac43c@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003110546j5d5a001ao8782ba9b6d4eb117@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003110600k2c5e8bf8lb5a489f600ae9084@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <60203BFE-4D9D-4456-ACD9-69EBD53EACFA@sarai.net> Dear Pawan, My copy of the highly respected Sanskrit lexicographer Vaman Shivaram Apte's 'Practical Sanskrit English Dictionary' (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi), which I always keep close at hand, lists 19 meanings and forms of the word linga on page 1666, including some that approximate the 'Mark' and 'abstract symbol of god' that you refer to. However, definition 10, clearly states - Linga - is- "The genital organ of Shiva, worshipped as a Phallus". I think Vaman Shivaram Apte is competent to explain what the term 'Linga' represents in Sanksrit. If this were not the case, there would be no reason why his dictionary would have been in continued usage as a scholarly and pedagogical tool since it was first published in 1890. You could also check the more voluminous dictionary of Monier Monier Williams, (also Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi) which, though not as close at hand as the Apte, is still sufficiently close at hand for me to consult it readily. Monier Williams too, on page 901 glosses Linga - as the "male organ or phallus (especially that of Siva) worshipped in the form of a stone or marble column which generally rises out of a yoni, and is set up in temples dedicated to Siva". Of course there are several other senses of the word given, but undeniably, for Monier Monier Williams, as for Apte, the Linga is also Siva's phallus. The world of Sanskrit lexicography and dictionaries is more or less bracketed between Apte and Monier Williams. If anyone had to look for what 'Linga' means, he or she would have to look in one or both these books. I agree with you that any 'wrong description where it involves faith of millions would be a wrong thing to do'. Having said that, I wonder why you want to perpetuate an incomplete and partial explanation of the term 'Linga'. Clearly, one of its robust senses is that of being Shiva's phallus. If you think that this is not the case, or if you intend to indulge in dissimulation, as you seem to be doing, then you are in fact insulting the faith and practices of millions who know very well what the word 'Linga' means. As someone who has time and again seen countless depictions of Shiva with an erect phallus in tantrik Shaivite or Shakta contexts and temples in Bengal, I find your suggestion that this in fact inauthentic quite insulting and disturbing. It certainly does violence to some of the cultural inheritances that I can claim for my self. Bengali folklore's affection for 'Nangta Shib' and his prodigious member is something we could all celebrate for its joyous affirmation of erotic and procreative energies. Why on earth would you want me, or anyone else, to be ashamed of it instead? Perhaps you need a closer acquaintance with the traditions you say you revere. A close reading of any standard Sanskrit dictionary could be a start. best Shuddha On 11-Mar-10, at 7:30 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Sir , > > I am not competent enough to explain what it represents . Any wrong > description where it involves faith of millions would be a wrong thing > to do. > > One explanation on videa you may find at following link > > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7750003834905326157# > > in Sanskrit In Sanskrit, linga means “mark”. .. > > Also another explanation is : > > Lingam as an abstract symbol of God > > Some knowledgeable interpreters of Hindu scripture believe the lingam > to be merely an abstract symbol, and point out that Lingams in many of > the more important temples are not of the shape described above. > Furthermore, many are the instances in Hindu lore where a sundry rock > or pile of sand has been used by heroic personages as a Lingam or > symbol of Shiva. For example, Arjuna fashioned a linga of clay when > worshipping Siva. Thus, it is argued, too much should not be made of > the usual shape of the Linga. This view is also consonant with > philosophies that hold that God may be conceptualized and worshipped > in any convenient form; the form itself is irrelevent, the divine > power that it represents is all that matters. > > Sri K. Thirugna Sambantha, in his excellent web site of Saivism, > explains that the Siva lingam is the ruparupa aspect because it is > neither a manifested form of Siva, nor is it formless, because the > linga is a tangible piece of stone, and a symbol of God. Thus, it is > intermediate between the formless Absolute, Parasiva, which is beyond > the sensory perception of man, and the many manifest forms of Siva. > > Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains in the lexicon section of his > book, Dancing with Siva, that "Sivalinga is the most prevalent icon of > Siva, found in virtually all Siva temples. It is a rounded, > elliptical, aniconic image, usually set on a circular base, or > peetham. The Sivalinga is the simplest and most ancient symbol of > Siva, especially of Parasiva, God beyond all forms and qualities. The > Peetham represents Parashakti, the manifesting power of God. Lingas > are usually of stone (either carved or naturally existing, svayambhu, > such as shaped by a swift-flowing river), but may also be of metal, > precious gems, crystal, wood, earth or transitory materials such as > ice. According to the Karana Agama (6), a transitory Sivalinga may be > made of 12 different materials: sand, rice, cooked food, river clay, > cow dung, butter, rudraksha seeds, ashes, sandalwood, darbha grass, a > flower garland, or molasses." > > Ref : http://www.thaiexotictreasures.com/shiva_lingam.html#Lingam% > 20as%20an%20abstract%20symbol%20of%20God > > Regards > > Pawan > > > > On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:16 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> Dear Pawan, >> >> What makes you think that linga is not phallus? >> >> regards Anupam >> >> P.S. could you please also source an input which prove my claim as >> untrue? >> >> On 3/11/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Source : http://rummuser.com/?p=2993 >>> >>> A letter by Dr Mrs Hilda Raja to N.Ram >>> >>> Dear Ram, >>> I have taken time to write this to you Ram — for the simple reason >>> that we have known you for so many years — you and The Hindu bring >>> back happy memories. Please take what I am putting down as those >>> that >>> come from an agonized soul. You know that I do not mince words and >>> what I have to say I will — I call a spade a spade — now it is too >>> late for me to learn the tricks of being called a ‘secularist’, if >>> that means a bias for one, and a bias against another. >>> Hussain is now a citizen of Qatar — this has generated enough of >>> heat >>> and less of light. Qatar you know better than me is not a country >>> which respects democracy or freedom of expression. Hussain says >>> he has >>> complete freedom — I challenge him to paint a picture of Mohammed, >>> fully clad. >>> There is no second opinion that artists have the Right of Freedom of >>> expression. Is such a right restricted only to Hussain? Will that >>> right not flow to Dan Brown — why was his film Da Vinci Code not >>> screened? Why was Satanic Verses banned — does Salman Rushdie not >>> have >>> that freedom of expression? Similarly, why is Taslima hunted and >>> hounded and why fatwas have been issued on both these writers? >>> Why has >>> Qatar not offered citizenship to Taslima? In the present rioting in >>> Shimoga in Karnataka against the article Taslima wrote against the >>> tradition of burqa which appeared in the Out Look in Jan 2007. >>> Nobody >>> protested then either in Delhi or in any other part of the country; >>> now when it reappears in a Karnataka paper there is rioting. Is >>> there >>> a political agenda to create a problem in Karnataka by the >>> intolerant >>> goons? Why has the media not condemned this insensitivity and >>> intolerance of the Muslims against Taslima’s views? When it comes to >>> the Sangh Parivar it is quick to call them goons and intolerant etc. >>> Now, who are the goons and where is this tolerance and sensitivity? >>> >>> Regarding Hussain’s artistic freedom it seems to run unfettered >>> in an >>> expression of sexual perversion only when he envisages the Hindu >>> Gods >>> and Goddesses. There is no quarrel had he painted a nude woman >>> sitting >>> on the tail of a monkey. The point is he captioned it as Sita. >>> Nobody >>> would have protested against the sexual perversion and his >>> orientatation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to >>> caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’? >>> >>> Next example is the painting of Saraswati copulating with a lion. >>> Here >>> again his perversion is evident and so is his intent. Even that, >>> let’s >>> concede, cannot be faulted — each one’s sexual orientation is each >>> one’s business I suppose. But he captioned it as Saraswati. This is >>> the problem. It is Hussain’s business to enjoy in painting his >>> sexual >>> perversion. But why use Saraswati and Sita for his perverted >>> expressions? Use Fatima and watch the consequence. Let the media >>> people come to his rescue then. Now that he is in a country that >>> gives >>> him complete freedom, let him go ahead and paint Fatima copulating >>> with a lion or any other animal of his choice. And then turn around >>> and prove to India — the Freedom of expression he enjoys in Qatar. >>> >>> Talking about Freedom of Expression — this is the Hussain who >>> supported Emergency — painted Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying >>> Jayaprakash Narayan. He supported the jailing of artists and >>> writers. >>> Where did this Freedom of Expression go? And you call him >>> secularist? >>> Would you support the jailing of artists and writers Ram – would you >>> support the abeyance of the Constitution and all that we held sacred >>> in democracy and the excessiveness of Indira Gandhi to gag the media >>> writers – political opponents? Tell me, honestly why does Hussain >>> expect this Freedom when he himself did not support others with the >>> same freedom he wants? And the media has rushed to his rescue. >>> Had it >>> been a Ram who painted such obnoxious, degrading painting – the >>> reactions of the media and the elite ‘secularists’ would have been >>> different; because there is a different perception/ and index of >>> secularism when it comes to Ram — and a different perception/and >>> index >>> of secularism when it comes to Rahim/Hussain. >>> >>> It brings back to my mind an episode that happened to The Hindu some >>> years ago. [1991] You had a separate weekly page for children with >>> cartoons, quizzes, and with poems and articles of school >>> children. In >>> one such weekly page The Hindu printed a venerable bearded man — >>> fully >>> robed with head dress, mouthing some passages of the Koran — >>> trying to >>> teach children. It was done not only in good faith but as a part of >>> inculcating values to children from the Koran. All hell broke loose. >>> Your office witnessed goons who rushed in — demanded an apology — >>> held >>> out threats. In Ambur, Vaniambadi and Vellore the papers stands were >>> burned — the copies of The Hindu were consigned to the fire. A >>> threat >>> to raise the issue in Parliament through a Private Members Bill was >>> held out — Hectic activities went on — I am not sure of the >>> nature and >>> the machinations behind the scene. But The Hindu next day brought >>> out >>> a public apology in its front page. Where were you Ram? How secular >>> and tolerant were the Muslims? >>> >>> Well this is of the past — today it is worse because the communal >>> temperature in this country is at a all high — even a small friction >>> can ignite and demolish the country’s peace and harmony. It is >>> against >>> this background that one should view Hussain who is bent on abusing >>> and insulting the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Respect for religious >>> sentiments, need to maintain peace and harmony should also be >>> part of >>> the agenda of an artist — if he is great. If it is absent then he >>> cannot say that he respects India and express his longing for India. >>> >>> Let’s face it — he is a fugitive of law. Age and religion are >>> immaterial. What does the media want — that he be absolved by the >>> courts? Even for that he has to appear in the courts — he cannot run >>> away. After all this is the country where he lived and gave >>> expression >>> to his pervert sadist, erotic artistic mind under Freedom of >>> Expression. I simply cannot jump onto the bandwagon of the elite >>> ‘secularist’ and uphold what he had done. With his brush he had >>> committed jihad — bloodletting. >>> >>> The issue is just not nudity — Yes the temples, the frescos in >>> Konarak >>> and Kajhuraho have nude figures. But does it say that they are Sita, >>> Sarswati or any goddesses? We have the Yoni and the Phallus as >>> sacred >>> signs of Life-of Siva and Shakthi — take these icons to the streets, >>> paint them — give it a caption it becomes vulgar. Times have >>> changed. >>> Even granted that our ancients sculptured and painted naked forms >>> and >>> figures, with a pervert mind to demean religion is no license to >>> repeat that in today’s changed political and social scenario and is >>> not a sign of secularism and tolerance. I repeat there is no quarrel >>> with nudity — painters have time and again found in it the >>> perfection >>> of God’s handicraft. >>> >>> Let me wish Hussain peace in Qatar — the totalitarian regime with >>> zero >>> tolerance. May be he will convince the regime there to permit >>> freedom >>> of expression in word, writing and painting. For this he could start >>> experimenting painting forms and figure of Mohamed the Prophet- >>> and his >>> family. And may I fervently wish that the media — especially The >>> Hindu, does not discriminate goons — let it not substitute tolerance >>> for intolerance when it comes to Rahim and Antony and another index >>> for Ram. >>> >>> I hope you will read this in the same spirit that I have written. >>> All >>> the best to you Ram. >>> >>> Dr Mrs Hilda Raja >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 tarunbhartiya at gmail.com Fri Mar 12 08:38:30 2010 From: tarunbhartiya at gmail.com (Tarun Bhartiya) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:38:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] linga phallus bhagwati etc. Message-ID: Any one for literal translation for bhagwati? Or, for that matter will Kashmiri nationalist with their close relationship with Tantra please elucidate Vammargi Tantra? Or what do I do about the five M(s) of Tantra Madya, Mansa, Matsya, Mudra and Maithun? From pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 12 09:31:24 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:31:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Shiva in it's Form Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003112001g550eb997n32442dfbd4cfeb1f@mail.gmail.com> Dear Shuddha , My friend Rabindra had explained the Shiv Lingam as follows , I am quite sure that those who really intent to understand the logic would try to study it carefully and understand it . It is not about winning an email exchange competition , which i believe is also atleast not what you are looking for. Recently there have been several ignorant statements made regarding “LINGA” in several Hindu sites by the Hindus who are completely taken by the western scholars. Who in turn, either because of their devious motives or at best because of ignorance about the sanskruta vayaakarNa, have completely mistranslated or misconstrued the meanings of our scriptures and our sacred categories. In any case, since Hindus have stopped learning the Sanskruta language and west has spent millions to translate and interpret our tradition our old and young learn the tradition from the English translations created by the west. Because we have become linguistic aliens hence cultural aliens in our own land we lap-up all the non-sense the Christian-west dishes out about us. In order to bring out the systematic distortions brought in by the west about understanding our traditions we need to understand the notion of “pada” in sanskruta language. There are very many other aspects of the Sanskruta vayaakarna whose ignorance among the western Sanskruta experts, exponentially distorts the meanings. But the understanding of “pada” and its meaning will bring out the issue. VarNa is the basis of Sanskruta language. In Sanskrit language there is a concept called “pada”, which people who are English centered, translate as word. However the “pada” the smallest “finished” unit used in Sanskrit communication has in it aspects which have no parallel in any other language. These aspects render the construction of the lexical dictionary for the Sanskrit impossible. A Sanskrit “pada” is an end product of three aspects. A “pada” is constructed out of a “prakruti” (a base word) a pratyaya (a modifier) and prakriya (the process of joining together the base word (prakruti) its modifier (pratyaya) and the process (prakriya). Once a pada is complete its meaning is completely fixed. It has no alternative meanings. To make things simpler there are verb type prakrutis and the noun/pronoun type prakrutis. The standard Sanskruta provides a list of the verb type prakrutis and also a list of noun/pronoun type prakrutis. ( I may add that one can always add noun-type prakruti in the language with the assigned meaning, rest of its usage is completely governed by vayaakarNa.) However in order to construct a Vaakya, one has to fist construct the pada. But as pointed out above that needs “modifiers” and the “processors”. The verb type modifiers called “tiNganta” and the noun-type modifiers called “subanta” are also already given by the grammarians. Further more a “pada” may have gone to multiple turns through the above processes and the meaning will depend on the complete history of previous processing and at each stage on the “base, modifier, and processing” aspects. An Noun-type can become a verb type and vice-versa through these process back and forth. Since meaning depends upon all three aspects at each stage and the history of the intermediate changes, it is impossible to create a lexical Sanskruta dictionary. It is because of this impossibility, when ever you see a Sanskruta dictionary you find a plethora of meanings assigned to a Sanskruta word. Some times confusing the’ prakruti” with the “pada” and some times not even realizing the intermediate processes the “pada” may have gone through. Hence any one who uses these dictionaries, can pick any one of the tens or some time hundreds of meanings assigned in the dictionary and bring out a meaning they want to show. On the other hand the “pada” has a completely fixed meaning. What I have pointed out is only a tip of the iceberg. Most of the westerners do not go through the PANini or Sidhanta Kaumudi. They use a model of lerningthe sanskriut which may be suitable for other languages but not for Sanskruta. In fact even after going through PANini it will not be possible to understand veda completely. To understand the Veda one has to go through further studies of Nirukhta, shixsha etc. etc. Take the case of interpretation of the “Linga” in the Shiva Linga. It is always interpreted by the westerners as ‘Phallus”. Which lot of our ignorant Marxists and “pseudo-secularist” gulp down and start beating other Hindus who identify themselves with the tradition. In Agama we are told that “ लीय्ते यस्य तद् लिङ्गम्” , i.e Whatever brings the absorption “लय” occurs that is “लिङ्ग”. It goes onto enumerate five “लिङ्ग”. १. ब्र्ह्माङ्ढ लिङ्ग २. पिण्ढ लिङ्ग ३. आत्म लिङ्ग ४. ज्ञाण लिङ्ग ५. शिव लिङ्ग. Clearly linga here is meant either as the indicator in which one can get absorbed. Clearly the linga of Atma and Jnyanam can not be phallus unless of course some one has a different axe to grind. These are the Lingas in which one can get absorbed. If you see the “pulinga and striya linga” in this sense these also fit as indicators of that which can bring forth absorption. Next consider Prana-linga, in the sense of PraNa Shaktee it is also an indicator in which tradition talks of absorption. However as a “KauSha as in Prana-maya-KauSha” the linga can only be an indicator and not a phallus. Then there is a use of word Linga in VayaakarNa as follows, धातु-सूत्र-गणोणादि-वाक्य-लिङ्गानुशासनम् आगमप्र्त्य्यादेशा उपदेशा: प्र्कीर्तिता: Not even a highly diabolically motivated individual can translate it a anushasana of phallus of Vaakya. As in this case he will certainly set himself as a laughing stock among its readers. But then may be I ma being generousJ. Next time you read about Shivalinga in the aspect of phallus, don’t condemn Hindu tradition, instead condemn the ignorance of the author. Ravindra AkulasyAsya devasya kulaprathanashAlinee KOulikI sA parA shaktiraviyukto yayA prabhu: ArUpasya kuto dhyAnam nirguNasya cha nama kim pUrNasyAvAhanam kutra sarvAdhArasya chAsanam From rahulroy63 at gmail.com Tue Mar 9 18:09:15 2010 From: rahulroy63 at gmail.com (Rahul Roy) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 18:09:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [DFA NewsLetter] Fwd: Date Extension for Application- Course on Documentary & Performance In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: shohini ghosh Date: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 7:13 AM Subject: Date Extension for Application- Course on Documentary & Performance To: James Beveridge Media Resource Centre Cc: shohini.ghosh at gmail.com *JAMES BEVERIDGE MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE AJK Mass Communication Research Centre Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi 110025* *SPECIAL COURSE: * *PERFORMANCE AND THE DOCUMENTARY* Course instructor: *Nilita Vachani* *Dates*: Week 1: April 5 -8, 2010 Week 2: April 12-15, 2010 Timing: 11AM-4:30PM *CALL FOR APPLICATIONS* The JB MRC invites applications for a special course on Performance and the Documentary from MA/M.Phil/Ph.D students as well as teachers, scholars and media practitioners with at least 5 years of professional experience. *Course Description:* Most practitioners and scholars of documentary now agree that performance is an inevitable part of `documenting reality’. Yet documentary tends to get judged by certain truth criteria which are rarely applied to fiction filmmaking: How truthful is the film? How unmediated was the filming process? How unbiased is the filmmaker? How representative is the film of a larger reality? This course will examine the multiple ways in which performance permeates the fabric of documentary filmmaking creating a rich aesthetic experience and a new reality. Issues that will be discussed in class will concern · Performance and the non-actor · Stylistic choices that shape composition, structure and narrative · The filmmaker’s politics and narrative presence · Documentary spectatorship and multiple viewing experiences · Documentary as a performative tool signifying realness. While this course is not historically exhaustive, the eight illustrated lectures, accompanied by screenings and discussions will attempt a chronological exploration of the role of performance in the documentary from the very first films made by the Lumiere brothers, through prototypes of the American documentary movement, to contemporary Iranian cinema and ‘factual’ entertainment on television today. To Apply: Please send in your application letter along with a CV and a brief statement (500 words max) outlining your interest in attending the course. Your letter of application should have your contact details including a complete mailing address, email id and phone number. All application materials have to be submitted by hardcopy. Advance and back-up e-copies may be sent to mrc.jamia at gmail.com The envelope carrying your application material should be marked `For Course on Performance and the Documentary’ and should be mailed to: Pearl Sandhu Programme Officer James Beveridge Media Resource Centre AJK Mass Communication Research Centre Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi-110025 * Last date for applications: March 15, 2010 Course commencement date: April 5, 2010* Selected applicants will be charged a non-refundable course fee of Rs 1200/- Reading packages, lunch and refreshments will be provided by the JBMRC. Applicants should note that this is strictly a theoretical course and does not involve any hand-on production experience. Readings are compulsory as are regular attendance and punctuality. The JB MRC, AJK MCRC (JMI) reserves the right to select and restrict the number of applicants. -- 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 turbulence at turbulence.org Tue Mar 9 04:11:35 2010 From: turbulence at turbulence.org (Turbulence) Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 17:41:35 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Turbulence Commission: "I'm Not Stalking You; I'm Socializing: Black & White" by Liz Filardi Message-ID: <0C1DF3AA-D2F8-4F73-A0EA-7F600F231AC3@turbulence.org> March 8, 2010 Turbulence Commission: "I'm Not Stalking You; I'm Socializing: Black & White" by Liz Filardi http://turbulence.org/works/stalkingsocial/blacknwhite One of the original cases of criminal stalking in America is retold within the framework of a social network called "Black & White", which consists of two mirrored profiles, those of Laura Black and Richard Farley. The website extrapolates on the tongue-and-cheek usage of the term "stalking" to describe the accepted social protocol, a far cry from the original behavior that, in this case, lead to a massacre at a booming Silicon Valley company in 1988. This project points to new and different levels of trust, privacy and social order in our networked society, tells the story behind the first Anti-Stalking Law passed in California in 1991 in the language and structure of networks, and tragically binds together two tormented Americans, once at opposite ends of an ineffective restraining order. BIOGRAPHY Liz Filardi received an MFA in Design and Technology from The New School, where she also worked as teaching assistant to Ken Wark and Orit Halpern. In 2008, she was nominated for the William Randolph Hearst Scholarship for "Truth Recruit", a performance in which she visited a Bronx high school dressed as a military recruiter. Her performance video, "Viral Conversations" is currently on display with Iraqi Memorial at Sheppard Gallery in Reno, Nevada. Based in New York, Liz is a production manager and web designer at Kickstand Animation, Research and Design and has interned at Rhizome, Eyebeam and Rocketboom. Jo-Anne Green Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. 917.548.7780 or 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org Networked_Performance: http://turbulence.org/blog Networked_Music_Review: http://turbulence.org/networked_music_review Networked: http://networkedbook.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade_boston -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From logos.theword at gmail.com Wed Mar 10 21:06:31 2010 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:06:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fwd: Angels With Dirty faces In-Reply-To: <9c17c0ca1003100735m5c5851cbp78e0c23b09623e35@mail.gmail.com> References: <1a5555b1003072329o13d3cf34jf5bec8cd2924f62e@mail.gmail.com> <1a5555b1003072335m2b21c6e8h3fa25ca94ca6f0b8@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca1003100735m5c5851cbp78e0c23b09623e35@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <33bc2ee61003100736x58b5d1dfs75fd26bb7558c430@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jamghat Ventures Date: 8 March 2010 13:05 Subject: Angels With Dirty faces To: arka.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com Dear all, How many of us turn our faces away from little kids begging on the streets and at times also think ‘Wish, something could be done to help them’. This is your time to encourage them do better things in life ! The street children of Delhi will be performing a hip hop adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic ‘Oliver Twist’ entwined with Shakespeare’s love story ‘Romeo and Juliet’. All ticket donations will be invested back into the Jamghat children who are the budding actors of the show. Ticket Prices: Bronze seats (side view) – Rs 500 Silver seats (ok view) – Rs 750 Gold seats (great view- central) – Rs 1000 Going Solo has for the past year collaborated with Jamghat, a registered NGO that offers opportunities for street children and society to come together and make a positive change in each other’s lives. Jamghat provides an opportunity for children to leave the streets, be educated and receive vocational training while sharing their stories with volunteers. These volunteers come to offer guidance, care and organize empowering workshops for the children. Going Solo & Jamghat are proud to present this spectacular performance and we look forward to seeing you there Date: 13th & 14th March 2010 Time: 7.00pm - 9.00pm Venue: Akshara Theatre, Baba Kharak Singh Marg New Delhi, 110001 For tickets call: 099 5333 4086 or 097 1126 3211 Do also inform your friends/family/colleagues etc and please forward this flyer and help us spread the word. *Help us, to help them, so that they can help themselves!* Manisha Ashra Going Solo - From the streets to the stage! Website: www.goingsolo.org.uk E-mail: manisha at goingsolo.org.uk Delhi: +91 9953 334086 London: +44 7894 559344 -- Amit Sinha I Director I Jamghat - A Group of Street Children I 011 - 29522112 I www.jamghat.in -- Amit Sinha I Director I Jamghat - A Group of Street Children I 011 - 29522112 I www.jamghat.in -- Logos Theatre In the beginning was the word No. 126, 3rd Main Road, Jayamahal Extension, Bangalore 560046 -------------------------------------------------------- If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all. Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes? Let be. -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From logos.theword at gmail.com Thu Mar 11 19:55:41 2010 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:55:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Embodying Shakespeare's Voice In-Reply-To: <9c17c0ca1003110621w2fe937aflcb29fa88e7959835@mail.gmail.com> References: <9c17c0ca1003050948q50e6d688yc5e866646bf4618f@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca1003052119g254c518aheffdb90b6df815c7@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca1003070226s3d24d7bftac90c05640e4656c@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca1003070329w2c3fbbe6m8bb2bdb6618a46df@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca1003070333h5e9a558kdc22267d3d64d4bb@mail.gmail.com> <9c17c0ca1003110621w2fe937aflcb29fa88e7959835@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <33bc2ee61003110625o5d634f99hae39a725437e76ca@mail.gmail.com> 'Embodying Shakespeare's Voice' is a workshop for professional actors, dancers interested in voice, and teachers. The focus of the workshop will be on performing shakespeare 'from the body' - rather than character analysis, participants will work from the rhythms of the body. The emotional and spiritual foundation will be laid through meditation and breath focus, on which a vocabulary of movement will be built. All of this is based integrally on the belief that the voice is not something intellectual or merely technical, but is completely grounded in the body and spirit. Through the work on voice and movement, individual, partner manipulation and the whole group, participants will explore the navarasaas through Shakespeare's text, and vice versa. They will thus bring together rhythm, eye focus, body, and spiritual oneness into a complete immersion, breathing out the the inner melody of the text and the truth of the individual persona's universe at that moment, in the process both hiding and revealing their deepest selves. The workshop will be open to performers, preferably with some background in movement and some exposure to Shakespeare, or a keen interest in performing Shakespeare. It is also open to teachers. About the facilitator: Arka Mukhopadhyay is a poet and theatre practitioner. He was the recipient of the TFA Creative Writing Award, 2008; and is an Inlaks India Theatre Awards grant recipient for 2010. He has performed Shakespeare both in India and abroad, and has worked on this texts with both children and adults, both from urban and rural, as well as mainstream and underprivileged backgrounds, in a number of different languages. The workshop will be between the 22nd and 28th, from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Venue : E 597, GK II, New Delhi The fee will be 2000/- For more information, e-mail arka.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com, or call 9311689319. Warmth and peace, Arka -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From filmfestival at film-sharing.net Fri Mar 12 04:05:13 2010 From: filmfestival at film-sharing.net (NoBudget VideoFilmfestival) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:35:13 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Last Call for Entries Message-ID: <4B997021.7000303@film-sharing.net> LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES 2010 ! +++please forward+++ http://www.film-sharing.net/ 7th film sharing International Low & No Budget VideoFilmfestival Stuttgart/Heilbronn/Mainz, Germany & Tour 10 Deadline: 1st of April 2010 WE are looking for: ++ your old and new short films/ videos ++ short films and videos for the category "When push comes to shove..." The film sharing filmfestival is an unique alternative film festival with programme and open screenings. All entries, under the stipulated 15 minutes, will be screened providing an opportunity for the interested public beyond the internet. Send us your short films! There are no restrictions or censorship regarding theme, narrative or issue. Whether brand new or dusty old, we warmly welcome all entries. The Festival will take place in Stuttgart, Vienna, Heilbronn and later on tour in selected independent cinemas. The entry form & more information can be found on http://www.film-sharing.net Be quick and send us your works! a.s.a.p.- We are starting regular and public previewing events in early 2010. We believe the general public should see most of the entered films/videos before the actual festival starts. Deadline 1st of April 2010 http://www.film-sharing.net The film sharing festival is curated and organized by Ingo Klopfer and Albert Beckmann _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Fri Mar 12 13:32:07 2010 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:32:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Afghan Woman Parliamentarian Who Had Been Expelled from the Elected Post in 2005 Appraises the Latest Situation: INTERVIEW WITH MALALAI JOYA In-Reply-To: <1f9180971003112340p3a3d589ah3d00197b1797cdb9@mail.gmail.com> References: <1f9180971003112340p3a3d589ah3d00197b1797cdb9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1f9180971003120002x23f61ba7xd78b47bbfa11c48f@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Venugopalan K M Date: Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 1:10 PM Subject: Afghan Woman Parliamentarian Who Had Been Expelled from the Elected Post in 2005 Appraises the Latest Situation: INTERVIEW WITH MALALAI JOYA To: http://www.countercurrents.org/joya110310.htm "..Huma: You were elected to Parliament in 2005. Eighteen months later you were suspended. Why? Malalai Joya: At the opening ceremony of the parliamentary session I presented "my condolences to the Afghan people." Obviously, that didn't please a good number of deputies, who complained that they were offended. It's the war lords who wanted me out. I reminded that they had sacked Kabul during the 1992-96 civil war and that they were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people. I said they should be dragged in front of the international courts. I also denounced the corruption, fed by the millions given by the international community under the guise of rebuilding the country. Very quickly, I couldn't go on. They cut my microphone as soon as I took the floor and I had to scream at the top of my voice to make myself heard over the insults and threats. Some deputies defended me, men and women, but they were few. I was called a communist and an infidel. The worst insults possible in their eyes. In a television interview, I ended up comparing Parliament to a zoo! Worse than stables because there at least the animals serve some purpose..." -- 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 kmvenuannur at gmail.com Fri Mar 12 14:53:42 2010 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:53:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <1f9180971003120121h4b6ae2bbi55ca3f7bd5696fa3@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003080626j29cf830ejcebf2ef8332b0cb5@mail.gmail.com> <1f9180971003120121h4b6ae2bbi55ca3f7bd5696fa3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1f9180971003120123i1a1ca7ddw8b6b73bbe8401b66@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Venugopalan K M Date: Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 2:51 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: Pawan Durani Here is another interview with a woman deputy(ex-member of the paliament) who had been expelled in 2005 from her elected post. The interview beautifully articulates the dreams about a peaceful and democratic homeland held by majority of Afghan people. http://www.countercurrents.org/joya110310.htm On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 7:56 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Readers , > > Before I am being misinterpreted once again , i wish to clarify that the > subject line is not mine . This is a statement by Gen Hamid Gul of > Pakistan. > > The reason I am sharing his interview is for the reason that I found his > thoughts very similar to Lashkar & Taliban. Just wanted to know if others > feel the same ? > > Pawan Durani > > > http://generalhamidgul.com/home > > “America is history, Karzai is history, the Taliban are the future” > > You recently said 'the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in > Afghanistan'. Isn't that a little far-fetched? > > The Americans are defeated. It isn't necessarily because their firepower and > their might has weakened, but it is because their own people are sick and > tired [of engagement in Afghanistan]. There is fatigue now, fatigue is the > threat and is the worst thing for a nation to suffer from. There is no way > that the Americans can hold on to Afghanistan. > > Could that lead to [Afghanistan President] Hamid Karzai's government being > toppled? > > Karzai is no more. He is now fighting for his life. They have already > started telling him that by the end of this year he will have to shoulder > the responsibility of security in Afghanistan. But what are they giving him > for this? Nothing at all. In fact, more civilian casualties in military > operations are going to weaken Karzai's position. > > Some in Afghanistan believe that the extent of civilian casualties has > empowered the Taliban's resurgence. > > It is not only that. While the civilian casualties have certainly made the > Taliban a popular movement in Afghanistan - some 80 per cent of the > population support them - the people of Afghanistan are fed up with > corruption. > > They are sick of the influence of warlords and drug barons, and the > continued American occupation. > If it was a shot stint - come in and get out after completing the job - the > situation would have been different. But the Americans didn't do that. If > they wanted to disperse al-Qaeda, they succeeded after the first year, and > after that they should have pulled out. The fact they stayed on betrays > their real intentions in Afghanistan until Barack Obama, the US president, > came and started talking about withdrawal. > > It was only last December that Obama announced that the US will pull out of > Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton said the same thing, but there is a dichotomy. > > On the one hand they say 'We are not here to stay in Afghanistan', but on > the other hand they carry out surges and want to prop up and build the > Afghan Army. > > However, they don't give the money to build the Afghan Army - just $140mn. > Compare this to how much it costs the US to keep just one soldier in > Afghanistan - $1mn dollars per soldier per year in Afghanistan. They have > now about 68,000 US troops. It is currently costing them $65bn just to > maintain these troops. There are another 30,000 US troops now coming, so it > will cost the US $100bn a year to maintain its forces in Afghanistan. > > The US is a heavily indebted nation so how are they going to afford this? > Some 57 per cent of Americans in the polls say they don't like this war and > want their boys to return home. The Americans can't take casualties, that is > their problem. To compensate, they started employing security contractors, > some 104,000 security contractors currently in Afghanistan. > > What does this mean? Mercenaries to be used where troops cannot be deployed? > We have already seen what mercenaries did in Iraq. The Americans are more > and more inclined - because the US military cannot suffer casualties - to > employ mercenaries, not just from the US but also from the local population. > > This is a very dangerous trend if we are to believe that mercenaries can win > wars and carry forward the political objectives of the country. This means > that whoever has more money can employ more mercenaries, win wars, win > territories, etc. > > Given everything you have just said, how do you think the latest US and Nato > offensive against the Taliban is going to play out? > > It is not going to work. I think it is an 'eye wash', it has political > purpose back home. But there is no political purpose for Afghanistan. They > are saying that they are protecting the civilian population, but they are > dislodging the civilians from their homes in very harsh weather conditions > in Afghanistan. > The cold winds from the steppes of Central Asia sweep these regions. When > you launch such military operations, the people are inevitably dislodged and > their fields abandoned. In this situation, what are the Americans trying to > achieve - I don't know. > > There is much ambiguity about their political objectives. Every military > conflict must have a political purpose. I cannot discern that there is any > political purpose. > > From a strategic point of view, Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan has > been seen as setting up a buffer, or deterrent, to India. But now that > Pakistan has nuclear capability, how important is Afghanistan to Islamabad? > > We want a friendly Afghanistan. We know India is playing havoc with us. The > Pakistani Taliban are being sponsored by the Indian intelligence and the > Mossad, by the way, to carry out their attacks in Pakistan. The Mossad is > very active in Pakistan and they are providing all the guidance and > technical support to the Indian intelligence. So, Pakistan has to have its > back covered - no country can fight on two fronts. > > We have to have a friendly Afghanistan, this does not mean that we dominate > Afghanistan. No one can dominate Afghanistan, a country which has already > buried two superpowers and the third one is about to be buried there. > > No, that's not the purpose Pakistan has in Afghanistan. > > Is the failure to stabilise Afghanistan adversely affecting Pakistan's own > security? > > Yes, indeed it is. The conflict is not just derivative of the failures of > the Kabul government - that is a puppet government. The real cause of the > conflict is the occupation of Afghanistan by the Americans. If they go out, > and after such a time - post-US occupation, the OIC and the Muslim countries > have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself. > > I do not think that Afghanistan will be another Vietnam for the Americans > because they have said they will pull out. Obama is a president who is very > clear. In his State of the Union address, I think it was clear he was not > addressing terrorism but instead focusing on such internal issues as > healthcare, unemployment and debt servicing. > > It appears he is more focused on the domestic front than foreign affairs. > You can't focus on both at the same time. > > There has been a surge in violence in Pakistan since the exit of Pervez > Musharraf, the former president. The Pakistani Taliban threaten towns and > cities, and there are tensions between the PPP and MQM in key ports like > Karachi. What is needed to stabilise Pakistan right now? > > Political cleaning up of the mess. The rule of law must take root in > Pakistan. Unfortunately, the more powerful among the politicians and > generals, when it comes to their turn - whether by martial law or civilian > democracy - they want to run the affairs of the country according to their > own predilections and propensities. And that is where we go wrong. > > The political institution has to be set right; the Supreme Court and > Parliament must be empowered. Right now, all the power is vested under the > 17th Amendment, which was an amendment to the constitution passed by the > dictator Musharraf in 2003. This gave more power to the office of the > president and the ability to bypass the constitution and remain in > leadership irrespective of elections. > Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, now has that power and he is > refusing to budge. So, the 17th Amendment has to go, Parliament has to be > empowered, rule of law by the Supreme Court has to be established and the > army must not interfere. Then things will begin to fall in place and we will > take the right direction. > > Do you think the US is helping Zardari stay in power because he is seen as > co-operating in the so-called war on terror? > I think there is ambivalence in their position and they sometimes do > criticise him. The American press has in the past bashed Zardari, but it has > gone quiet now. The Americans fear the return of the Supreme Court in > Pakistan because it could rule that the US drone attacks are violations of > the country's sovereignty. > > If that happens, Parliament would have to act on the Supreme Court's > decision and reverse the policy. The Americans are sceptical and suspicious > that if the Supreme Court is given free reign in Pakistan, it is likely to > rule against their interests and agenda in Pakistan. > > Do you think the government will survive until the next national elections? > > The government will survive but I am almost certain Zardari will not. I do > not want to appear to be clairvoyant, but I doubt Zardari has many days left > in government. > > In recent years, US officials have accused you of having close ties with the > Taliban and al-Qaeda. How do you respond to that? > > No, this is wrong, I have no such ties. As far as al-Qaeda is concerned, I > simply say come up with the evidence for 911. You haven't even charged Osama > bin Laden so far, that means you don't have hard evidence against him. The > full story is yet to come out. > In my opinion, all this is a gimmick, an inside job. > > In regards to the Taliban, I support their cause of Afghan resistance. I > lend them my moral support because I have in the past had strong connections > with them. Incidentally, I maintained strong connections with both sides. > Many in the Afghan government are my good friends. > > But since the Taliban are representing the national spirit of resistance, I > have given them my voice. The Americans sent my name to the UN Security > Council to put me on a sanctions list and declare me an international > terrorist. But they failed because the Chinese knew the truth well and > blocked that move. > Basically, the Americans have nothing against me. I saw the charges and I > replied to them in the English-language press in Pakistan. I said if they > have anything against me to bring it forward, put me on trial. Tell me what > wrong I have done. I have been taking moral stands. The Americans talk of > freedom of speech, but apparently my speech hurts them because it counters > their excesses. > > I won't use the word 'interests' because what US policy-makers are doing > runs against the interests of the American people. If I say this is right > and this is wrong, I am exercising my right and ultimately, this is to the > benefit of the American people. > > But Zardari once told a western journal that you are a "political ideologue > of terror". > > I wrote a letter to Zardari that I am an ideologue of jihad, which is common > between us. He is a Muslim like me and believes in the Quran. Terror is a > totally different thing. I do not support terror at all, but jihad is our > right when a nation is oppressed. According to the United Nations Charter, > national resistance for liberation is a right. We call this a jihad. > > > Source: Al-Jazeera > _________________________________________ > 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 -- 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 vivek at sarai.net Sat Mar 13 10:10:56 2010 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:10:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Almost Island: Dialogues 4 Message-ID: <4B9B1758.1020807@sarai.net> Welcome to the fourth edition of the Almost Island Dialogues, to be held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, from 18th to 21st March 2010. The past three years of this conference have seen presentations and readings by major international figures like the Italian writer Claudio Magris and Chinese writer Bei Dao (both Nobel literature nominees) in mutual conversation with crucial and singular Indian writers like Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Irwin Allan Sealy or Vinod Kumar Shukla. This year we plan to continue that unfolding with more (equally singular) writers, in our usual format that emphasises intimacy and rigour. The mornings and some afternoons are kept for intense, extended, freewheeling talks and discussions; the evenings, for readings and performances. Please find below more details about the event, including schedule and writer biographies. For a note about the discussions from Almost Island editor Sharmistha Mohanty, see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27661953 For periodic updates, with links to work by the invited writers available online, visit or join our new facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=279757768380 If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ashwini Bhat at: almostisland.edit at gmail.com . With kind regards, Sharmistha Mohanty [Editor] Vivek Narayanan [Consulting Editor] Ashwini Bhat [Editorial Assistant] *Evening Readings on the IIC Annexe Lawns* (All are welcome…) Thursday, March 18, 6:30 p.m. Vivek Narayanan / Eliot Weinberger Friday, March 19, 6:30 p.m. Vahni Capildeo / Joy Goswami Saturday, March 20, 6:00 p.m. (Note earlier start time) Anita Agnihotri / Xu Xi / Charu Nivedita Sunday, March 21, 6:30 p.m. Sharmistha Mohanty / Tomaz Salamun *Panels and Discussions*: (Please note: panels are also open to all who wish to come, but *pre-registration is required*. Contact Ashwini Bhat -- almostisland.edit at gmail.com -- for more details.) The overarching objective of the morning panels will be a dialogue around “innovation, the making of the new, the originary.” See: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27661953 for a more detailed presentation. The writers’ presentations will be staggered as below. Each writer will have about 10-15 minutes for a basic laying out of thoughts; this is meant only to provoke a more extended, open-ended discussion among all the participants. March 19, 10 a.m-1:00 p.m. : Sharmistha Mohanty, Tomaz Salamun, Vahni Capildeo March 20, 10 a.m-1:00 p.m. : Vivek Narayanan, Eliot Weinberger, Charu Nivedita March 21, 10 a.m.-1:00 p.m. : Xu Xi, Anita Agnihotri, Joy Goswami There will also be a discussion with the invited audience on March 19, 2:30-4:00 *Writer Biographies* The Slovenian Tomaz Salamun is widely acknowledged to be one of the great post-war Central European poets, and indeed one of the “indispensable poets of [our] era” (Jorie Graham). He has over thirty books of poetry, including several in excellent translations, done by a range of poets. Recent titles in English include: The Book for My Brother (Harcourt), Poker (Ugly Duckling Presse) and The Selected Poems of Tomaz Salamun (Ecco Press). Eliot Weinberger is a translator and essayist who first came into prominence as the primary translator of Octavio Paz. He writes an innovative prose that takes the documentary essay to the borders of poetry. He is considered among the most significant of prose stylists writing in English; his own work regularly appears in translation and has been published in some thirty languages. Weinberger’s recent books of essays include An Elemental Thing, Karmic Traces, and Oranges and Peanuts for Sale (all from New Directions). Translations include Vicente Huidobro’s Altazor, books by Bei Dao, and Borges’ non fiction. Xu Xi is a fiction writer and essayist who pushes the borders of both, her fluidity a reflection of her life as a Hong Kong Chinese woman, born of Indonesian parents, writing in English. She is the author of seven books, including Overleaf Hong Kong, History's Fiction, The Unwalled City and, most recently, The Evanescent Isles. Vahni Capildeo is at the vanguard of a new generation of Caribbean poets who are both fully conscious of their literary inheritance and ready to extend and transform it in startling ways. She is the author of three collections: No Traveler Returns, Person Animal Figure (a Guardian Poetry Book of the Year for 2005) and, most recently, Undraining Sea. Capildeo is experimental, but “without fear of traditional subjects or language” (Bernard O’Donoghue). She often works through the long sequence or book length poem. Charu Nivedita was born and initially raised in rural Tamilnadu. He has four novels and many books of essays in Tamil. Zero Degree, his second novel, was published in English translation by Blaft Books in 2008. Deeply transgressive and radical in form and narrative structure, reminiscent of authors like William Burroughs or Kathy Acker, the book sent shock waves through the South Indian literary world (and became a huge success) when it first appeared in Tamil in 1998 and in Malayalam a year later. Joy Goswami is one of Bengal's foremost poets. He has created an original poetic idiom in the language and given new directions to contemporary Bengali poetry. He has more than 30 published books, including three volumes of compiled poems numbering close to a thousand, 12 novels, two of which are written in verse and 5 collections of essays. A book of poems in English translation by Sampurna Chattarji is to be published soon. Anita Agnihotri is a poet and fiction writer who writes intensely and genuinely about the marginalized in rural India, among whom she has lived and worked. She writes in Bengali, but has published two books in English translation—Forest Interludes and The Awakening (both from Zubaan books). Vivek Narayanan’s first book of poems, Universal Beach, appeared in 2006. Publications in anthologies include: 60 Indian Poets (Penguin) and Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond (W.W. Norton). He works at Sarai-CSDS and is Consulting Editor for Almost Island. Sharmistha Mohanty has published two novels, Book One and New Life, as well as a recent translation of Tagore's fiction, Broken Nest and Other Stories, for Tranquebar press. She is the founding Editor of Almost Island and the initiator of the Almost Island Dialogues. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 13 16:51:47 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:21:47 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <191011.26877.qm@web53608.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <957937.13691.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> See article below   Family equations will change at places.   "Always in the family" seats, hitherto won by the menfolk will identify prospective candidates from amongst:   - Wife, Wives, Daughters, Sisters, Mother(s) - Daughter(s)-In-Law, Sister(s)-In-Law, Mother(s)-In-Law   KK   "Lawmakers seek wives in bid to safeguard seats" (Women's Reservation Bill prompts rethink)   By Lata Rani, Correspondent Published: 00:00 March 13, 2010   Patna : The contentious Women's Reservation Bill which seeks to provide 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies has brought an immediate realisation to dozens of bachelor lawmakers in Bihar — they need to get married soon.   The desire for wives has been sparked by fears that under the new law, bachelor lawmakers could lose their "family" seats if they are declared reserved for women.   Political experts say Bihar could be the first state in India to be impacted by the bill if it is passed by both Houses of the Parliament. The bill has been passed by Rajya Sabha, the upper house, but it is yet to pass the lower house.   Significantly, state assembly elections in this eastern Indian state are scheduled later this year.   Although the five-year tenure of the ruling National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar expires on November 24, indications are that elections could be advanced.     Party meeting   The chief minister Nitish Kumar, at a party meeting in Patna on Thursday, asked his party to get ready for polls which could be announced anytime.   "Now, I will have to marry soon. There is no way out for bachelor legislators like me," independent legislator Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul said.   "Who will represent my seat if it was reserved for a woman? But if I am married, I can, at least, field my wife for that seat and keep it in my family," Another legislator Narendra Singh added: "I have nursed my constituency so assiduously and was elected to state assembly on my own strengths but I, too, am quite apprehensive about my seat."   He also says he will search for a bride so he can lay claim to the seat if it becomes reserved.     Lawmaker couples   The bachelor legislators, however, could take their cue from a number of lawmaker couples. Former Indian Federal Minister and Lok Sabha member Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi is member of the Bihar assembly.   Others like Kausal Yadav and Raju Singh are lawmakers along with their wives in the assembly.   At present, the total number of elected women lawmakers in Bihar is 25 with a maximum of 12 women getting elected on the ruling Janata Dal (United) tickets.   But once the bill comes into force, the number of seats to be reserved for women in the assembly will go up to 83.     http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/lawmakers-seek-wives-in-bid-to-safeguard-seats-1.596078 --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: From: Rahul Asthana Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill To: "Rakesh Iyer" , "TaraPrakash" Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "Sarai Reader List" Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 11:26 PM Hi Taraprakash, Besides the point made by Rakesh, my biggest problem with this scheme is the uncertainty involved about the next ticket. I do not have anything against reservation per se. Actually I do not like Madhu Kishwar's scheme either. Fixed constituencies are the best way forward, IMHO of course.Also, this is a very non trivial change that can potentially shake the very foundations of democracy. Hence I do not believe that experiment as you go is an option here. Maybe all parties can iron out the kinks.We should have more debate on this. Thanks Rahul   From: Rakesh Iyer To: TaraPrakash Cc: Rahul Asthana ; Kshmendra Kaul ; Sarai Reader List Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 12:08:23 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill Dear Taraprakash It is very easy to say that one should contest as an independent candidate. If you really wish to know how elections are played like a drama, please read P.Sainath on www.indiatogether.org, for Maharashtra elections in 2009 (both Lok Sabha and assembly). Read on how millions were spent in the name of publicity by the candidates which were never accounted for, and in what great ways. An independent candidate will never be able to do that, unless of course he/she is corrupt. Indian democracy is a joke, not a democracy please! Even the elections are manipulated like anything. From media management to distributing sarees before the public, our democracy is indeed a joke. And when all of us are to blame for it, where can we hide at all? Rakesh From aliens at dataone.in Sat Mar 13 17:08:31 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:08:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] LING MEANING Message-ID: <000301cac2a1$b5da8280$218f8780$@in> Dear All, I appreciate the lot of search work by Pawan and Shuddha on the meaning of Ling, (yes I prefer to spell it Ling only and not Linga in traditional Hindu pronunciation way. Similarly Ram and not Rama, Shiv and not Shiva, Ravan and not Ravana) but I think as far as individual's faith is concern it's of no use. Looking to synonyms on any word, there can be multiple meaning of single words in any language and so the Ling has also. But, important is to pick the right meaning of the word keeping in mind the sentence used in what context or surroundings. Important is individual's faith and they will go with their faith only irrespective of meaning of the word 'Ling' anyone tried to convince. When faith is involved, the meaning is immaterial and Ling can be consider as symbol of Shiv only. Thanks Bipin From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 13 17:31:07 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:01:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003111128l31d5ccccw8efa541e1c7d1d84@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <579909.7355.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Yasir   It was meant to be a comment on Ayesha Siddiqa's article and not anything you wrote. That is why I did not address you by name. Apologies for having seemed to convey it differently.   India join OIC? No! Sir!   India's attempt at Joining / Observer-Status at the OIC is just one of the idiocies that India indulges in every now and then.   Whatever else might be the uses and misuses of the OIC, it is a disgusting shame that the UNO should afford recognition to any such grouping put together by identification with a particular religion.   About possibilities in "Islamic-Frameworks":   - Left? Radical? Most certainly. In bits and pieces.   - Liberal? Most certainly not. It would no more be "Islamic". That is why "Islamic" and "Secular" do not go together.   Liberal = We accept you; You accept us; On a mutuality of terms   Islamic = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms.   This Non-Liberal facet of Islam holds true not only for Inter-Faith relationships, but also for Intra-Faith relationships depending on which is the dominating Group who can dictate terms.   Kshmendra   --- On Fri, 3/12/10, yasir ~يا سر wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Friday, March 12, 2010, 12:58 AM absolutely not. why should we be under any illusion of 'secularism'. you did not find me saying that, in all that i wrote. these are your own barriers. as you well know secular institutions can be hijacked by religious parties and mafias. think neocons, think india. you are really being too harsh. india should just join the oic, india's muslim population is larger than pakistan. as it is saudis are mediating... is will probably join as observer. don't misquote me. although not so common, i think "islamic' frameworks can be sufficiently liberal, left and radical. you can quote me on that. best On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:26 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: >  A first step for considering any kind of 'secularity' in Pakistan would > be: > > - when Pakistan removes the word "Islamic" from its Constitution (and > attendant clauses on Legislation and Laws) > > - when Pakistan opts out of the membership of the OIC > > Till such time, talking about anything secular about Pakistan are > intellectual exercises; indulgences. > > Kshmendra > > > --- On *Thu, 3/11/10, yasir ~يا سر * wrote: > > > From: yasir ~يا سر > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future > To: "Sarai Reader-list" > Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 2:31 AM > > > > > The proliferation of ‘jihad’ in mainland Pakistan is but > > the opportunity cost of strategy. > > > > she is arguing that jihad and religion is instrumental for mainstream pk. > and is skeptical of the claim either way for the military command as well. > further by saying "a similar claim might not be made for society at large", > she actually sez nothing about pakistani society at large, having only > removed the certainty of a two-mode religious v secular military. best, y. > > > On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 6:33 PM, S. Jabbar > > wrote: > > > > > > > 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 c > > > _________________________________________ > 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/> > > > _________________________________________ 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 Sat Mar 13 18:02:46 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:32:46 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] LING MEANING In-Reply-To: <000301cac2a1$b5da8280$218f8780$@in> Message-ID: <357033.56875.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Bipin Jee, You have made the things very simple and I fully agree with it. Really faith does not have any scientific reasoning or logic.Those who believe would take meaning of LING as God Shiv and those who don't will see it as Phallus.Having different meanings doen't affect the persons who interpret in thier own ways. The discussion, in any case has broadened our knowledge. Those who worship Sun or Moon don't get affected by knowing the true nature of these celestial bodies. They would continue to worship these as it is a question of faith.'Chand sa Mukhra' in poetic ways continues to be 'Chand sa Mukhra' in spite of knowing that there are craters in the moon and its surface is not lovely at all. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > From: Bipin Trivedi > Subject: [Reader-list] LING MEANING > To: "sarai-list" > Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 5:08 PM > Dear All, > > > > I appreciate the lot of search work by Pawan and Shuddha on > the meaning of > Ling, (yes I prefer to spell it Ling only and not Linga in > traditional Hindu > pronunciation way. Similarly Ram and not Rama, Shiv and not > Shiva, Ravan and > not Ravana) but I think as far as individual's faith is > concern it's of no > use. Looking to synonyms on any word, there can be multiple > meaning of > single words in any language and so the Ling has also. But, > important is to > pick the right meaning of the word keeping in mind the > sentence used in what > context or surroundings. > > > > Important is individual's faith and they will go with their > faith only > irrespective of meaning of the word 'Ling' anyone tried to > convince. When > faith is involved, the meaning is immaterial and Ling can > be consider as > symbol of Shiv only. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 Sat Mar 13 18:15:36 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:45:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <957937.13691.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <865875.61774.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Kaul, There seems to be a pre-conceived notion that our women-folks don't have minds of their own and they would do whatever their husbands, fathers, brothers ask them to to do as Laluji has said "If I aske Rabri to vote in a particular way, is she going to do it differently?". This may be true to some extent or for some time but is likely to change with time. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill > To: "Rakesh Iyer" , "TaraPrakash" , "Rahul Asthana" > Cc: "Sarai Reader List" > Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 4:51 PM > See article below >   > Family equations will change at places. >   > "Always in the family" seats, hitherto won by the menfolk > will identify prospective candidates from amongst: >   > - Wife, Wives, Daughters, Sisters, Mother(s) > - Daughter(s)-In-Law, Sister(s)-In-Law, Mother(s)-In-Law >   > KK >   > "Lawmakers seek wives in bid to safeguard seats" > (Women's Reservation Bill prompts rethink) >   > By Lata Rani, Correspondent > Published: 00:00 March 13, 2010 >   > Patna : The contentious Women's Reservation Bill which > seeks to provide 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok > Sabha and state assemblies has brought an immediate > realisation to dozens of bachelor lawmakers in Bihar — > they need to get married soon. >   > The desire for wives has been sparked by fears that under > the new law, bachelor lawmakers could lose their "family" > seats if they are declared reserved for women. >   > Political experts say Bihar could be the first state in > India to be impacted by the bill if it is passed by both > Houses of the Parliament. The bill has been passed by Rajya > Sabha, the upper house, but it is yet to pass the lower > house. >   > Significantly, state assembly elections in this eastern > Indian state are scheduled later this year. >   > Although the five-year tenure of the ruling National > Democratic Alliance government in Bihar expires on November > 24, indications are that elections could be advanced. >   >   > Party meeting >   > The chief minister Nitish Kumar, at a party meeting in > Patna on Thursday, asked his party to get ready for polls > which could be announced anytime. >   > "Now, I will have to marry soon. There is no way out for > bachelor legislators like me," independent legislator > Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul said. >   > "Who will represent my seat if it was reserved for a woman? > But if I am married, I can, at least, field my wife for that > seat and keep it in my family," Another legislator Narendra > Singh added: "I have nursed my constituency so assiduously > and was elected to state assembly on my own strengths but I, > too, am quite apprehensive about my seat." >   > He also says he will search for a bride so he can lay claim > to the seat if it becomes reserved. >   >   > Lawmaker couples >   > The bachelor legislators, however, could take their cue > from a number of lawmaker couples. > Former Indian Federal Minister and Lok Sabha member Lalu > Prasad's wife Rabri Devi is member of the Bihar assembly. >   > Others like Kausal Yadav and Raju Singh are lawmakers along > with their wives in the assembly. >   > At present, the total number of elected women lawmakers in > Bihar is 25 with a maximum of 12 women getting elected on > the ruling Janata Dal (United) tickets. >   > But once the bill comes into force, the number of seats to > be reserved for women in the assembly will go up to 83. >   >   > http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/lawmakers-seek-wives-in-bid-to-safeguard-seats-1.596078 > > > --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Rahul Asthana > wrote: > > > From: Rahul Asthana > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's > reservation bill > To: "Rakesh Iyer" , > "TaraPrakash" > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , > "Sarai Reader List" > Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 11:26 PM > > > > > > > Hi Taraprakash, > Besides the point made by Rakesh, my biggest problem with > this scheme is the uncertainty involved about the next > ticket. I do not have anything against reservation per se. > Actually I do not like Madhu Kishwar's scheme either. Fixed > constituencies are the best way forward, IMHO of > course.Also, this is a very non trivial change that can > potentially shake the very foundations of democracy. Hence I > do not believe that experiment as you go is an option here. > Maybe all parties can iron out the kinks.We should have more > debate on this. > Thanks > Rahul >   > > > > From: Rakesh Iyer > To: TaraPrakash > Cc: Rahul Asthana ; > Kshmendra Kaul ; > Sarai Reader List > Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 12:08:23 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's > reservation bill > > Dear Taraprakash > > It is very easy to say that one should contest as an > independent candidate. If you really wish to know how > elections are played like a drama, please read P.Sainath on > www.indiatogether.org, for Maharashtra elections in 2009 > (both Lok Sabha and assembly). Read on how millions were > spent in the name of publicity by the candidates which were > never accounted for, and in what great ways. An independent > candidate will never be able to do that, unless of course > he/she is corrupt. > > Indian democracy is a joke, not a democracy please! Even > the elections are manipulated like anything. From media > management to distributing sarees before the public, our > democracy is indeed a joke. And when all of us are to blame > for it, where can we hide at all? > > 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 aliens at dataone.in Sat Mar 13 21:30:22 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:30:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] LING MEANING In-Reply-To: <357033.56875.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000301cac2a1$b5da8280$218f8780$@in> <357033.56875.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <000401cac2c6$4ab3c910$e01b5b30$@in> Dear Malik, thanks agreement and view -----Original Message----- From: A.K. Malik [mailto:akmalik45 at yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 6:03 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Subject: Re: [Reader-list] LING MEANING Dear Bipin Jee, You have made the things very simple and I fully agree with it. Really faith does not have any scientific reasoning or logic.Those who believe would take meaning of LING as God Shiv and those who don't will see it as Phallus.Having different meanings doen't affect the persons who interpret in thier own ways. The discussion, in any case has broadened our knowledge. Those who worship Sun or Moon don't get affected by knowing the true nature of these celestial bodies. They would continue to worship these as it is a question of faith.'Chand sa Mukhra' in poetic ways continues to be 'Chand sa Mukhra' in spite of knowing that there are craters in the moon and its surface is not lovely at all. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > From: Bipin Trivedi > Subject: [Reader-list] LING MEANING > To: "sarai-list" > Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 5:08 PM > Dear All, > > > > I appreciate the lot of search work by Pawan and Shuddha on > the meaning of > Ling, (yes I prefer to spell it Ling only and not Linga in > traditional Hindu > pronunciation way. Similarly Ram and not Rama, Shiv and not > Shiva, Ravan and > not Ravana) but I think as far as individual's faith is > concern it's of no > use. Looking to synonyms on any word, there can be multiple > meaning of > single words in any language and so the Ling has also. But, > important is to > pick the right meaning of the word keeping in mind the > sentence used in what > context or surroundings. > > > > Important is individual's faith and they will go with their > faith only > irrespective of meaning of the word 'Ling' anyone tried to > convince. When > faith is involved, the meaning is immaterial and Ling can > be consider as > symbol of Shiv only. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 sbreitsameter at snafu.de Sat Mar 13 23:56:16 2010 From: sbreitsameter at snafu.de (Sabine Breitsameter) Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:26:16 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Noise level measurings and legislation in Mumbai and other Indian cities Message-ID: Hello, I am currently working on the comparison of noise levels during day and night in cities around the globe. My question: Are there any figures on noise levels especially on Mumbai (during day and during night, done on different spots within the city)? I would be also interested in the respective figures of any other Indian city. Where can I read an English translation of noise-legislation in Mumbai (or other Indian cities and/or states)? Thank you very much and kind regards, Sabine Breitsameter From yasir.media at gmail.com Sun Mar 14 04:02:37 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:32:37 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <579909.7355.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <5af37bb1003111128l31d5ccccw8efa541e1c7d1d84@mail.gmail.com> <579909.7355.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003131432q609a17b1k703cd761898f1315@mail.gmail.com> > > > Liberal = We accept you; You accept us; On a mutuality of terms > > Islamic = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms. > > This Non-Liberal facet of Islam holds true not only for Inter-Faith > relationships, but also for Intra-Faith relationships depending on which is > the dominating Group who can dictate terms. > i am sure you would't mind if i added: Hindu = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms. Indian Secularism = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms. (In case you are fooling yourself we are still Hindu) But i dont buy this self-fulfilling prophecy or logic. for one or the other religion, whether its muslims christians in india, hindus christians in pk, christians in syria, maronites, muslims druze in lebanon, jews in iran, muslims in israel, muslims orthodox xtians albanians, macedonians in ex-yougoslavia ....or whatever___ its a wrongly framed question. Religion is just that: an ideology being used by the group in power, which has various consequences, predictable and unpredictable, further below and much further below. The way things are run politically is purely that: political-social. If you are vouching for secularism, you better take out 'religion' as an explanatory factor, and see the groups, especially religious groups, in ways social-political. i agree that will give the right picture of the govt's position and make-up. to target religion for wrong doing is to add something extra which is not required. one can find religious principles to suit one's taste in ideology. In pk as in india the religious false principle is much abused in politics as well as by religious thanedars and thekadars to make a living. there is too much religion which is hardly religion, is much nationalism & fake idealism if not buffoonery chicanery & charlatanry, is blatantly populist, making for the worst examples of human behaviour on the planet. The positive examples are rare, short and has positive implications for 'religious freedom'. But then we will not be able to explain this through a 'religious' explanation, which i am arguing is totally flexible and in fact at the disposal of the group in power. I think this will settle the question. In actual practice the term secular is a problem in itself - its not talking about what it seems to be talking about. and i will interpret this differently from you, kk. In a total reversal, in the US govt buildings are prohibited from using religious symbols in /on buildings, but they you will see displays of symbols, on christmas, chanukkah, eid, _ _ _ - legally these are taken as cultural symbols rather than religious, as people may be non practicing celebrators of christmas, eid, hanukkah _ _ _ this is a much better interpretation than the opposite which holds in turkey and france that the identifcation of scarf as religious symbol to be banned in schools and government institutions - which is just flawed principle designed to irk a smaller of weaker scapegoated people endlessly for a populist / ruling group's cause - and not a bit more. so i might not have a problem with what you are calling 'secular' (altho you go a bit overboard with the anti-islamic bit) but with how the problem has been described & framed. best From cashmeeri at yahoo.com Sun Mar 14 15:48:50 2010 From: cashmeeri at yahoo.com (cashmeeri) Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:18:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] RTI Activists Arrested in Kashmir Message-ID: <426487.40079.qm@web112618.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Letters to Omar Abdullah from Dr Muzaffar Bhat, Convener, J&K Right to Information Movement and Madhu Kishwar on the subject "5 RTI Activists Arrested (dacoity,loot) Kashmir" (Received from Madhu Kishwar of MANUSHI, who received it from Dr.A.Mohamed Ajmal)   ........... aalok aima       Subject: 5 RTI Activists Arrested (dacoity,loot) Kashmir Mr Omar Abdullah Saheb Chief Minister J&K State Sir,Five of Our RTI Activists have been lodged in Chadoora police station of Budgam on false charges of robbery,assault etc.They were arrested today.The Police is being pressurized by the ruling local National conference leadership.We have been working on good governance and transparency in the area and this is the end result.On one hand CNN IBN confers Citizen Journalist award to our work and on the other hand we are being treated like criminals and booked under theft,robbery and other cheap cases. Our image has been tarnished by the workers of National Conference in Charai sharief constituency.The wife of Chowdhry Saifudin Numberdar (village head man) of Branwar in Chararisharief assembly constituency went to magistrate and leveled false charges against our RTI Activists including myself and Dr Sheikh Ghulam Rasool. She says that we beat them in the house and stole gold ornaments,Rs 30,000 etc.Can any civilized person believe this? I swear i even don't know that lady who might be of my mothers age.We were nearly killed if the Police or CRP would not have reached the spot on that fateful day ie 27th Feb 2010. I appeal Mr Chief Minister to answer me? RTI law is a new born baby in J&K.Less that 5% people are aware about this act.This all is happening with us who are the pioneers of RTI Movement in J&K,what can you expect with others? RTI will be a total failure Mr CM if you would not control these disgruntled elements who do not want to see J&K a corruption free state.We have exposed some bungling in Branwar area.We are fighting against timber smuggling and we are being rewarded with such awards.We are ready to sacrifice our lives for this sacred cause but your workers cannot muzzle our voice.The people who are in Chadoora police station are common poor young boys of Branwar village. I want an answer from you.We will otherwise protest at Jantar Mantar, India gate in the days to come and other RTI Activists of India will be supporting us for this. Dr Muzaffar Bhat ConvenerJ&K Right to Information Movement Srinagar   From: Madhu Kishwar Subject: [Manushi] RTI Activists Arrests -Kashmir - To: "Omar Abdullah" Cc: omar_abdullah at vsnl.com Date: Sunday, 14 March, 2010, 11:55 To, The Chief Minister of J&K Dear Mr Abdullah, This is to express our deep concern and protest against against the arrest of 5 RTI actvists in Kashmir on trumped up criminal charges. Dr Muzafar Bhat's email detailing their predicament is given below. There is no legislation which has created greater enthusiasm in J& K than the RTI Act. The best antidote to terrorist seccsessionist politics is responsive and accountable governance. RTI is one of the few legislations that empower citizens while most others empower Government officials to lord over citizens. You may recall that soon after you assumed power as Chief Minister, you had been gracious enough to seek inputs from some of us. One of the key suggestions I made at that time was that J&K should name its RTI legislation: " Duty to Provide Accurate Information Act" in order to make honest, mandatory disclosure a routine affair for all government departments. It is a matter of grave concern that the best of RTI activists are being hounded and punished in this way--that too soon after their group leader, Dr Muzaffar Bhat received a Citizen Journalist Award from CNN/IBN. This group is performing a vital public service by strengthening people's faith in democracy at great personal risk. By muzzling the voice of such public spirited citizens, your Government will only strengthen the nihilist forces in the state that are out to destroy Kashmir's pluralist society and its fragile democracy. We at Manushi urge you to release the five RTI activists unconditionally and without delay. Yours sincerely, Madhu Purnima Kishwar For Manushi   From cashmeeri at yahoo.com Sun Mar 14 16:16:40 2010 From: cashmeeri at yahoo.com (cashmeeri) Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:46:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Did Hindus borrow concepts of Monasticism & Celibacy from Buddhists? Message-ID: <287343.7624.qm@web112607.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Gautam Siddharth writes in the article "Sex and the Swami: Has saffron been irredeemably stained?" that "Hinduism borrowed the concept of monasteries - and its peculiar kind of celibacy - from Buddhism."   I would appreciate knowledgeable views on this, in agreement or in disagreement. Not to be confused with concept of Sanyas in old age.   Thanks     ............... aalok aima     from : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sex-and-the-Swami-Has-saffron-been-irredeemably-stained/articleshow/5679189.cms     "But there is a need to first understand the monastic order in Hinduism and its provenance. Hinduism borrowed the concept of monasteries - and its peculiar kind of celibacy - from Buddhism. This was because Buddhism had grown to become one massive umbrella that held vast swathes of the Indian subcontinent in near-total control by the 8th century. When Adi Shankaracharya arrived on the scene to take Sanatan Dharma out of the morass, he selected some of the attributes of Buddhism to reinvent Hinduism. It was also his own tribute to the success of Buddhism. In other words, there was no concept of renunciation in Hinduism until Shankara arrived, at least not in any organised sort of way. The best that exists in Sanatani philosophy on the subject is Patanjali's statement, 'Swa-ang jugupsa, parai asansargah'. It means that with increasing spiritual insights, with greater realisation, with the mind's constant attachment with truth, there develops apathy for the physical body, and it loses its physical affiliation with others. This is considered a high state of spiritual being, and that is what has made celibacy the plinth of sanyas. Before Shankara, Indian rishis were known to have families and children. Shankara was merely following the "market leader" of the time, Buddhism, and in the process institutionalised renunciation to help Hinduism survive the crisis it was in because of Buddhism. What's truly lamentable about those donning saffron but flouting the principles they erroneously pledged to uphold - including celibacy - is that they have forgotten the deep Sanatani value that their raiment represents. Interestingly, in this as well, in the idea of a single-colour garment to represent a monastic order, the competitive interplay between Buddhism and Hinduism is evident. The Buddha had selected yellow as the colour of renunciation; yellow being the shade of falling leaves at the end of the Indian winter. Yellow signified a bhikshu's final departure from the world of desires. Shankara, too, wanted to give the Sanatani monastic order he had created a mark of distinction out of the cultural necessity to successfully compete with Buddhism. He found the colour saffron - a bright orange - from the sacrificial fire. He said anyone who wears this robe must imagine himself sitting on 'chitaa' or the funerary pyre, burning all his past samskaras and making sure that no new ones are added. For it was only after all the samskaras were burnt that vairagya or dispassion could develop, and with it the spiritual insights for which one had made the conscious decision to become a sadhu or a sanyasi."   From aliens at dataone.in Sun Mar 14 16:32:55 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:32:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PSYCHIC HUSAIN Message-ID: <000001cac365$e6b38b80$b41aa280$@in> My view on MF Husain issue. Human being grown from there ancestor from beginning of human life or say Adam & Eve from nude stage to today's cultured society. We have accepted some code of conduct to live in modern, well cultured and descent society, where we do not roam in the nude position as our ancestor does. To maintain this code, we have several laws against vulgarity. Even today in most modern internet era, we have applied code of conduct against porn sites. If someone capture nude photography has to phase consequences. So, I also believe that in the name of modern art, one cannot do/paint what they want to and they are also liable to obey certain society decency code. In our Indian society where people have ampoule of faith in variety of gods, one must keep in this mind while doing something against their faith. In society, we have to keep in mind all the people in all the religion which includes people with extreme religious in nature unlike all of us who we arguing here. No two persons are similar in nature, so you may think how much varieties are there in human nature. Argument is made that in the name of modern art, one must have right to paint anything in democracy and viewers have full right to see or not. But, whether it is viewable or not one has to see it once may be with his family and children then only one can decide about its stature. So, those extreme religious in nature has full right to oppose it may be by way of court cases. One must face the court cases instead of escapism. If anyone wants freedom for its acts must ready to face consequences. Husain has accepted Qatar citizenship for his own interest, since he got painting contract of Arabian culture from local govt. authorities and decided willingly to stay there for his own financial interest. However earlier through back door, he has begged and requested Indian govt. to withdraw court cases, which is not at all possible since govt. can't do anything. Thanks judiciary are independent here else what would have happened can be judged. I remember that Husain has written a letter to N. Ram, editor The Hindu. One sentence was like this, "Qatar govt. has respected me by giving Qatar citizenship and honors me that way and if Indian govt. wants to arrest me then they can do so". Just like Dawood Ebrahim, who on earlier days fled to Dubai and then tell the Indian govt. to arrest him. Husain must show guts to face the consequences instead of escapism. If he would have faced the court cases gracefully then he would be more respectable and may be forgiven by extremists. Everyone knows that he was after so many actresses (not actors) only like Meena Kumari, Mumtaz, Smita Patil, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit. His one painting of Madhuri was describing that one ox (madmast sandh) with naked Madhuri in vulgar pose. This shows his dirty mind and psychic nature. If anyone describes this as modern art, than feel sorry for his/her thought. Madhuri showed her decency and keep mum else would be in big trouble earlier only. He is now in Qatar and even if he just speak (not actually paint) to show will to make nude paint of someone living there like he did in case of Madhuri or nude paint of their god, I doubt he will remain alive even. BIPIN From aliens at dataone.in Mon Mar 15 09:48:56 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:48:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=28no_subject=29?= Message-ID: <001001cac3f6$a181f420$e485dc60$@in> Sorry for posting again Husian article by mistake please regret Bipin From rashneek at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 10:22:41 2010 From: rashneek at gmail.com (rashneek kher) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:22:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Geelani supporters attack JKLF leaders with stones, knives Message-ID: <13df7c121003142152w4c1c9ebdn1aef1ba1e5800297@mail.gmail.com> *Geelani supporters attack JKLF leaders ** **with stones, knives* Excelsior Correspondent *Srinagar, Mar 14:** *The lines of division between pro-Pakistan and pro-Independence separatists came to the fore in Sopore town of Baramulla district as supporters of hard line Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani allegedly attacked Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and his supporters, leaving six persons injured. Malik had gone to Chinkipora village in Sopore town, where several houses were damaged during a fierce gun battle between militants and security forces last month, to distribute relief money among the victims. The trouble began when a group of youth raising pro-Geelani and pro-Pakistan slogans tried to disrupt the function organized by JKLF, sources said. They said Malik during his visit to Chinkipora, after the encounter, had reportedly told a gathering there that it would have been easier for the freedom movement had every Kashmiri supported an "Independent Jammu and Kashmir". The supporters of Geelani, who stand for a merger of the state Pakistan, were incensed by these remarks and decided to take on the JKLF activists today, the sources added. According to a JKLF spokesman, the party had organized a public gathering at Chinkipora for distribution of relief when some "hooligans" bearing allegiance to Geelani tried to create problems. "The people tried their best to keep these goondas at bay and even succeeded for some time," he said. The spokesman said when Malik was about to board his vehicle after the function, Geelani's supporters started stone-pelting and used knives to attack JKLF activists. "Several JKLF activists were injured in the stone-pelting while one activist received a deep wound in the neck and required 18 stitches," he added. The spokesman said JKLF will not be cowed down by such tactics of brow beating as similar attempts in the past have failed as well. "Any amount of condemnation of these cowardly attacks on those young boys who spent last nine days and nights to collect relief for the affected families will not be enough. JKLF also thanks those right thinking people of Sopore who chased away the hooligans," he added. The JKLF chairman had launched a donation collection campaign last week and collected more than Rs 12 lakh over the past nine days for the victims of Chinkipora and Dadsara in Tral area of Pulwama district where five houses were damaged in a similar gun battle. Rs 8 lakh were given to Chinkipora families while another Rs one lakh was given to families whose houses were damaged in similar operation four months back. Malik refused to comment on the incident saying his party has made its position clear in the statement. Ayaz Akbar, spokesman for Geelani-led Hurriyat, said the facts were being ascertained from the local representatives of the party. "We will not comment on the issue till a true picture emerges from the scene of the incident," he added. http://dailyexcelsior.com/ -- Rashneek Kher http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com From javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 15:20:05 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:20:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill Message-ID: ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP shot him twice Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat Airport on February 24. Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit during rescue operations.” DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding ‘passengers’ hostage. Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed is still to recover but is now out of danger. Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded service revolver. So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the statements of several airport staff who were also present there and statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” Jha said. When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to carry out a departmental inquiry. “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 15:26:20 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:26:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150256q2c5cc35aseb1ce02084c3d9b2@mail.gmail.com> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > shot him twice > > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > Airport on February 24. > > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > during rescue operations.” > > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > ‘passengers’ hostage. > > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > service revolver. > > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > Jha said. > > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > carry out a departmental inquiry. > > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 15:22:29 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:22:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > shot him twice > > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > Airport on February 24. > > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > during rescue operations.” > > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > ‘passengers’ hostage. > > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > service revolver. > > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > Jha said. > > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > carry out a departmental inquiry. > > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > _________________________________________ > 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 Mar 15 15:47:48 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:47:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003150317q15b25402vc416e12b6ddc58eb@mail.gmail.com> Pawan, Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. Anupam On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >> shot him twice >> >> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >> >> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >> >> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >> Airport on February 24. >> >> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >> during rescue operations.” >> >> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >> ‘passengers’ hostage. >> >> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >> >> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >> >> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >> >> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >> service revolver. >> >> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >> Jha said. >> >> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >> >> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >> carry out a departmental inquiry. >> >> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >> the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> _________________________________________ >> 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 dan.ayyaar at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 15:48:37 2010 From: dan.ayyaar at gmail.com (Dan Husain) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:48:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> Dear Pawan: I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too twice. My mind belies any accident. And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively encouraged this mindset. Thanks Danish PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > > shot him twice > > > > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > > > > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > > > > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > > Airport on February 24. > > > > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > > during rescue operations.” > > > > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > > ‘passengers’ hostage. > > > > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > > > > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > > > > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > > > > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > > service revolver. > > > > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > > Jha said. > > > > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > > > > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > > carry out a departmental inquiry. > > > > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > > > > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > > _________________________________________ > > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 15:55:26 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:55:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003150317q15b25402vc416e12b6ddc58eb@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003150317q15b25402vc416e12b6ddc58eb@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150325r5dd9288egc9dcc00d460b5c96@mail.gmail.com> Dear C.Anupam , Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come in newspapers . ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : Reader-List - SARAI If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of trying to eductae you on his intent. No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my suggestions may continue to do so. Remember ...till they come marching to your door. Pawan On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:47 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Pawan, > > Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you > assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not > brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there > will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. > > It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, > which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to > a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to > post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. > > Anupam > > > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>> shot him twice >>> >>> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>> >>> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>> >>> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>> Airport on February 24. >>> >>> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>> during rescue operations.” >>> >>> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>> ‘passengers’ hostage. >>> >>> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>> >>> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>> >>> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>> >>> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>> service revolver. >>> >>> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>> Jha said. >>> >>> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>> >>> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>> carry out a departmental inquiry. >>> >>> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>> the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>> >>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 dan.ayyaar at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 16:03:16 2010 From: dan.ayyaar at gmail.com (Dan Husain) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:03:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150325r5dd9288egc9dcc00d460b5c96@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003150252s111c6757r9f8973a3f35ad351@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003150317q15b25402vc416e12b6ddc58eb@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003150325r5dd9288egc9dcc00d460b5c96@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <61cdd2df1003150333y3de05631m8a08864afe5c4c7e@mail.gmail.com> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most important to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then it becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:55 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear C.Anupam , > > Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. > > Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come > in newspapers . > > ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI > > Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express > > Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India > > And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows > > Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : > Reader-List - SARAI > > If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of > trying to eductae you on his intent. > > No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my > suggestions may continue to do so. > > Remember ...till they come marching to your door. > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:47 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > > Pawan, > > > > Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you > > assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not > > brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there > > will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. > > > > It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, > > which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to > > a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to > > post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. > > > > Anupam > > > > > > > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > >> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > >> > >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > >>> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > >>> shot him twice > >>> > >>> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > >>> > >>> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > >>> > >>> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > >>> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > >>> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > >>> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > >>> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > >>> Airport on February 24. > >>> > >>> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > >>> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > >>> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > >>> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > >>> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > >>> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > >>> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > >>> during rescue operations.” > >>> > >>> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > >>> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > >>> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > >>> ‘passengers’ hostage. > >>> > >>> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > >>> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > >>> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > >>> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > >>> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > >>> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > >>> > >>> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > >>> is still to recover but is now out of danger. > >>> > >>> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > >>> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > >>> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > >>> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > >>> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > >>> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > >>> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > >>> > >>> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > >>> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > >>> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > >>> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > >>> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > >>> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > >>> service revolver. > >>> > >>> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > >>> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > >>> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > >>> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > >>> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > >>> Jha said. > >>> > >>> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > >>> > >>> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > >>> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > >>> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > >>> carry out a departmental inquiry. > >>> > >>> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > >>> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > >>> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > >>> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > >>> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > >>> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > >>> the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > >>> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > >>> > >>> > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > >>> _________________________________________ > >>> 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 javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 17:45:26 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:45:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150256q2c5cc35aseb1ce02084c3d9b2@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003150256q2c5cc35aseb1ce02084c3d9b2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Pawan I neither invented this title nor compared different news versions of this before posting. I had simply forwarded that message from a mailing list where this was the exact title - you can see on this link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/message/7180 I am sorry if my posting has hurt you in any way. But to make the matters worse for you, let me quote another posting on this accidental shooting by a "Muslim": "Khandwawala is reportedly a Modi man selected to be used for coverups. Nothing is likely to comeout of the departmental enquiry. It is very serious matter and warrants a trasparent enquiry by a creditable independent agency. DCP Subhash Trivedi must be thoroughly in vestigated with all the modern techniques including those that the Police use to extract confessions. Plnners of the mock-drill, CCTV cameras, statements of witnesses, p before they are turoredIt is not a small matter that a DCP who is supposed to act like a doctor and not supposed to carry any weapons, carries a loaded revolver and breaches a meticulously planned drill, grapples with an observer!!! HOW? HOW?HOW? Small wonder if DCP Subhash Trivedi takes a plea of insanity, he should be tried for murder by a fast-track court and hanged without any delay." By: ghouse quadri On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how > 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >> shot him twice >> >> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >> >> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >> >> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >> Airport on February 24. >> >> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >> during rescue operations.” >> >> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >> ‘passengers’ hostage. >> >> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >> >> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >> >> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >> >> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >> service revolver. >> >> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >> Jha said. >> >> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >> >> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >> carry out a departmental inquiry. >> >> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >> the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Mon Mar 15 17:46:12 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:16:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector "   The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the article as provided by Javed himself.   Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on the weblink provided by Javed)   One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" background.   It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so.   This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List.   I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings   Kshmendra       Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most important to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then it becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks.   Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 Dear C.Anupam , Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come in newspapers . ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : Reader-List - SARAI If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of trying to eductae you on his intent. No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my suggestions may continue to do so. Remember ...till they come marching to your door. Pawan   From: Dan Husain Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill To: Cc: "sarai list" Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM Dear Pawan: I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too twice. My mind belies any accident. And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively encouraged this mindset. Thanks Danish PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks.     anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Mar 15   Pawan, Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. Anupam   Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15   And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > > shot him twice > > > > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > > > > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > > > > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > > Airport on February 24. > > > > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > > during rescue operations.” > > > > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > > ‘passengers’ hostage. > > > > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > > > > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > > > > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > > > > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > > service revolver. > > > > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > > Jha said. > > > > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > > > > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > > carry out a departmental inquiry. > > > > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > > > > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 17:52:12 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:52:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003150256q2c5cc35aseb1ce02084c3d9b2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150522q26b5e49dka1de79efccde7cc0@mail.gmail.com> No wonder you pick up all these lines from such groups . Did you not even care to check how you resort to sensationalism and make it appear a Hindu Vs Muslim and cause apprehension and doubts in minds of many. Did you check even in the link which had appeared in the said group , it redirects to Indian Express . It also does not talk about any Muslim in subject line. So sad , that you find an easy prey in so called 'L' and try every opportunity to instigate them. Bye and God Bless Pawan On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:45 PM, Javed wrote: > Dear Pawan > I neither invented this title nor compared different news versions of > this before posting. I had simply forwarded that message from a > mailing list where this was the exact title - you can see on this > link: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/message/7180 > > I am sorry if my posting has hurt you in any way. But to make the > matters worse for you, let me quote another posting on this accidental > shooting by a "Muslim": > > "Khandwawala is reportedly a Modi man selected to be used for > coverups.  Nothing is likely to comeout of the departmental enquiry. > It is very serious matter and warrants a trasparent enquiry by a > creditable independent agency.  DCP Subhash Trivedi must be thoroughly > in vestigated with all the modern techniques including those that the > Police use to extract confessions.  Plnners of the mock-drill, CCTV > cameras, statements of witnesses, p before they are turoredIt is not a > small matter that a DCP who is supposed to act like a doctor and not > supposed to carry any weapons, carries a loaded revolver and breaches > a meticulously planned drill, grapples with an observer!!!  HOW? > HOW?HOW?  Small wonder if DCP Subhash Trivedi takes a plea of > insanity, he should be tried for murder by a fast-track court and > hanged without any delay." > > By: ghouse quadri > > > > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>> shot him twice >>> >>> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>> >>> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>> >>> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>> Airport on February 24. >>> >>> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>> during rescue operations.” >>> >>> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>> ‘passengers’ hostage. >>> >>> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>> >>> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>> >>> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>> >>> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>> service revolver. >>> >>> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>> Jha said. >>> >>> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>> >>> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>> carry out a departmental inquiry. >>> >>> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>> the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>> >>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 Mon Mar 15 17:54:37 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:24:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <573289.63464.qm@web112119.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Javed, You are writing as if you were witness to the crime. Similar things people have been telling about Batla House encounter while truth has emerged where an MP (unfortunately a Muslim one) helped the culprits run away and even paid money.I never intended to write a muslim MP but seeing your response that even Muslim police officers are not safe safe.What if the officer had been Hindu, then it would not have made any news.Let the investigation results come out, only then you should comment .If what you are saying is taken on its face value, there should not have been any Muslim police officer alive as the Hindu police officers outnumber substantially, there should be some sensibility limit to the interpretations being made. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed wrote: > From: Javed > Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:20 PM > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a > terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > shot him twice > > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake > encounters.... > > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector > Shabbirali > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner > of Police > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point > blank range > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the > Surat > Airport on February 24. > > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by > the senior > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms > and > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that > the entire > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact > role each cop > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been > briefed > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an > observer tasked > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials > commit > during rescue operations.” > > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other > officers were > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking > lot of the > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were > holding > ‘passengers’ hostage. > > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and > caught hold of > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. > I pleaded, > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the > observer.” But he > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left > struggling to > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service > revolver and > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost > consciousness.” > > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and > exited. Saiyed > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even > tasked to > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, > since he was > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot > who would only > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and > terrorists were in > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers > to pass on the > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so > that they > could plan and execute the operation,” according to > Inspector Saiyed. > > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. > “Saiyed was > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near > the entry > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a > doctor to > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being > held by how > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The > ‘doctor’, > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less > a loaded > service revolver. > > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no > answers to > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair > investigation. At this > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have > taken the > statements of several airport staff who were also present > there and > statements of several police officials who witnessed the > incident,” > Jha said. > > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to > comment. > > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS > chief Ajay > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station > soon after > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed > Tomar to > carry out a departmental inquiry. > > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the > incident was > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. > But we are > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic > experts > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked > if an FIR > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: > “Let the > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further > action. Both > the officials are from police department _ they are not > some criminals > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 18:02:24 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:02:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> Thank you Kshemendra , I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to convince the readers earlier as well . Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which has members from across the world. @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . Pawan On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " > > The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the article as provided by Javed himself. > > Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on the weblink provided by Javed) > > One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" background. > > It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. > > This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. > > I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings > > Kshmendra > > > > Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then > actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most important > to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent > people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then it > becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. > > > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Dear C.Anupam , > > Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. > > Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come > in newspapers . > > ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI > > Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express > > Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India > > And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows > > Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : > Reader-List - SARAI > > If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of > trying to eductae you on his intent. > > No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my > suggestions may continue to do so. > > Remember ...till they come marching to your door. > > Pawan > > > From: Dan Husain > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM > > Dear Pawan: > > I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, > insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. > Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned > out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot > twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just > doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is > outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when > there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP > carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too > twice. My mind belies any accident. > > And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the > wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of > theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for > his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively > encouraged this mindset. > > Thanks > > Danish > > PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. > > > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > > Pawan, > > Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you > assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not > brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there > will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. > > It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, > which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to > a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to > post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. > > Anupam > > > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > > And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how > 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > >> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >> > shot him twice >> > >> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >> > >> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >> > >> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >> > Airport on February 24. >> > >> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >> > during rescue operations.” >> > >> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >> > >> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >> > >> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >> > >> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >> > >> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >> > service revolver. >> > >> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >> > Jha said. >> > >> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >> > >> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >> > >> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >> > >> > >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 18:03:16 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:03:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar Message-ID: Everyday we see hundreds of maligning mails from the regulars on Sarai. So why not a little more sensationalizing via these old news items. Sorry for filling up your inboxes. --- Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, former director general of police R B Sreekumar said encounters were done by the state “as a matter of policy”. Recalling his interactions with the then chief secretary G S Subbarao, when Sreekumar was Gujarat’s intelligence chief during 2002 riots, the former director general of police said: “Subbarao told me that we will have to kill some people to prove that the Gujarat Police is very strong. I did not agree with him and said that it will amount to entering into a conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC.” With Judicial Magistrate S P Tamang’s report holding 21 police personnel responsible for the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others in June 2004, relatives of two other alleged victims of extra-judicial killing by the Gujarat Police, Mahendra Jadav and Jaffer Qasim, came here from Mumbai on Wednesday and demanded judicial inquiry into the two incidents. Sumitra Jadhav, mother of Mahendra, and Mariam, widow of Jaffer, have already moved the Supreme Court through Mumbai-based NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). They have also asked the state for compensation. Sreekumar, along with Teesta Setalvad of the CJP, was present at the press conference. Sumitra and Mariam narrated how their relatives were allegedly killed by the state police. Sreekumar said the statement of the state government spokesperson, Jay Narayan Vyas, regarding Tamang’s report “amounted to contempt of court”. Vyas had stated that the magistrate had submitted his inquiry report in a hurry by overstepping his jurisdiction and the government will challenge it in the high court. Sreekumar had earned the wrath of the state government for deposing against it before the Nanavati-Shah panel probing Godhra and post-Godhra riots of 2002. He was denied promotion by the Modi government. However, he got his promotion post-retirement after an order was issued by the Central Administrative Tribunal. New Delhi: Gujarat government on Wednesday opposed handing over the probe into the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter to the CBI or the Special Investigating Team (SIT) even as the Supreme Court said there was a need for going into the bottom of the case to erase all doubts. “The state has to go to the bottom of the case. The investigation has to be beyond all doubts,” a Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam said. Even as senior advocate Dushyant Dave, arguing on behalf of Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin, the petitioner, urged the court to hand over the probe from the state police to an independent agency like the SIT, state’s counsel opposed it saying that every time it cannot be assumed that the Gujarat Police was acting with prejudice. Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who defended the Modi government, submitted that when the state has admitted that Sohrabuddin was killed in a fake encounter and the chargesheet has been filed in the case, there’s not much left for apex court to monitor. “In this case, the monitoring by SC must come to an end,” he argued. “This is no less disturbing when you admit that this is a fake encounter,” the Bench remarked when Rohatgi opposed the suggestion to hand over the investigations to the SIT or CBI against the wishes of the state government. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/encounter-was-a-policy-in-gujarat-exdgp-sreekumar/515260/0 From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 18:06:24 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:06:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150536q127a0c7ew2af42333cea8c4b8@mail.gmail.com> Javed are you trying to justify your mischief. Do you know what is the difference between "Was" and "Is". And did encounters not happen in J&K , PUnjab , UP , Bihar < Karnataka , Maharashtra. I do not justify any of these either. But the way you have tried to make Gujarat 'accident' as a Hindu Vs Muslim was a desperate act. You should apologize to group. We can see through your intent. Pawan On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Javed wrote: > Everyday we see hundreds of maligning mails from the regulars on > Sarai. So why not a little more sensationalizing via these old news > items. Sorry for filling up your inboxes. > > --- > > Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar > > Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, former director > general of police R B Sreekumar said encounters were done by the state > “as a matter of policy”. Recalling his interactions with the then > chief secretary G S Subbarao, when Sreekumar was Gujarat’s > intelligence chief during 2002 riots, the former director general of > police said: “Subbarao told me that we will have to kill some people > to prove that the Gujarat Police is very strong. I did not agree with > him and said that it will amount to entering into a conspiracy under > Section 120-B of the IPC.” > > With Judicial Magistrate S P Tamang’s report holding 21 police > personnel responsible for the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three > others in June 2004, relatives of two other alleged victims of > extra-judicial killing by the Gujarat Police, Mahendra Jadav and > Jaffer Qasim, came here from Mumbai on Wednesday and demanded judicial > inquiry into the two incidents. Sumitra Jadhav, mother of Mahendra, > and Mariam, widow of Jaffer, have already moved the Supreme Court > through Mumbai-based NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). They > have also asked the state for compensation. > > Sreekumar, along with Teesta Setalvad of the CJP, was present at the > press conference. Sumitra and Mariam narrated how their relatives were > allegedly killed by the state police. > > Sreekumar said the statement of the state government spokesperson, Jay > Narayan Vyas, regarding Tamang’s report “amounted to contempt of > court”. Vyas had stated that the magistrate had submitted his inquiry > report in a hurry by overstepping his jurisdiction and the government > will challenge it in the high court. > > Sreekumar had earned the wrath of the state government for deposing > against it before the Nanavati-Shah panel probing Godhra and > post-Godhra riots of 2002. He was denied promotion by the Modi > government. However, he got his promotion post-retirement after an > order was issued by the Central Administrative Tribunal. > > New Delhi: Gujarat government on Wednesday opposed handing over the > probe into the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter to > the CBI or the Special Investigating Team (SIT) even as the Supreme > Court said there was a need for going into the bottom of the case to > erase all doubts. “The state has to go to the bottom of the case. The > investigation has to be beyond all doubts,” a Bench comprising > Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam said. > > Even as senior advocate Dushyant Dave, arguing on behalf of > Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin, the petitioner, urged the court to > hand over the probe from the state police to an independent agency > like the SIT, state’s counsel opposed it saying that every time it > cannot be assumed that the Gujarat Police was acting with prejudice. > Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who defended the Modi government, > submitted that when the state has admitted that Sohrabuddin was killed > in a fake encounter and the chargesheet has been filed in the case, > there’s not much left for apex court to monitor. “In this case, the > monitoring by SC must come to an end,” he argued. > > “This is no less disturbing when you admit that this is a fake > encounter,” the Bench remarked when Rohatgi opposed the suggestion to > hand over the investigations to the SIT or CBI against the wishes of > the state government. > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/encounter-was-a-policy-in-gujarat-exdgp-sreekumar/515260/0 > _________________________________________ > 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 Mon Mar 15 18:06:36 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:36:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <928476.38005.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Husain, What an interpretation justifying Javed's intent. This way you are riduculing all the citizens in this country. Even if an isolated incident has taken place, does it need to be interpreted the way you are doing? May God bless this country and its citizens. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Dan Husain wrote: > From: Dan Husain > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM > Dear Pawan: > > I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is > most flippant, > insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of > all laughable. > Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, > perfectly planned > out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly > you get shot > twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The > guy was just > doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute > nightmare. This is > outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this > experience. And when > there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, > why was the DCP > carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot > someone that too > twice. My mind belies any accident. > > And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd > eagerly defend the > wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for > no fault of > theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with > malice and for > his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he > has actively > encouraged this mindset. > > Thanks > > Danish > > PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me > personally. Thanks. > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed > wrote: > > > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ > pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > > > shot him twice > > > > > > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from > fake encounters.... > > > > > > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > > > > > > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > > > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) > inspector Shabbirali > > > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy > Commissioner of Police > > > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen > from point blank range > > > during the mock anti-terror drill that went > haywire at the Surat > > > Airport on February 24. > > > > > > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was > shot by the senior > > > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use > live arms and > > > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday > Express that the entire > > > drill had been meticulously planned, including > the exact role each cop > > > would play. “All the officials in the drill had > been briefed > > > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be > only an observer tasked > > > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other > officials commit > > > during rescue operations.” > > > > > > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few > other officers were > > > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the > parking lot of the > > > airport in which some officials acting as > terrorists were holding > > > ‘passengers’ hostage. > > > > > > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the > bus and caught hold of > > > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an > obeserver. I pleaded, > > > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am > the observer.” But he > > > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I > was left struggling to > > > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his > service revolver and > > > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and > lost consciousness.” > > > > > > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his > stomach and exited. Saiyed > > > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > > > > > > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was > not even tasked to > > > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in > the drill, since he was > > > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at > the spot who would only > > > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and > terrorists were in > > > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their > numbers to pass on the > > > information to the others in the actual rescue > team, so that they > > > could plan and execute the operation,” > according to Inspector Saiyed. > > > > > > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed > it. “Saiyed was > > > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was > standing near the entry > > > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to > act as a doctor to > > > recce the scene and find out how many hostages > were being held by how > > > many terrorists, and the weapons they > possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > > > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, > much less a loaded > > > service revolver. > > > > > > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim > they have no answers to > > > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair > investigation. At this > > > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. > We have taken the > > > statements of several airport staff who were also > present there and > > > statements of several police officials who > witnessed the incident,” > > > Jha said. > > > > > > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he > refused to comment. > > > > > > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s > deputy and ATS chief Ajay > > > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police > station soon after > > > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala > directed Tomar to > > > carry out a departmental inquiry. > > > > > > “After preliminary investigations, we have > found that the incident was > > > an accident and the firing had not been done > deliberately. But we are > > > waiting for the final report and the report from > ballistic experts > > > before coming to any conclusion,” said > Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > > > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, > Khandwawala said: “Let the > > > report come and later, on its basis, we will take > further action. Both > > > the officials are from police department _ they > are not some criminals > > > _ so it is premature to say anything at this > juncture.” > > > > > > > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 15 18:16:59 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:46:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <16947.99177.qm@web112104.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Javed, Just for your information see part of the news item: "The Haryana special task force (STF) is supposed to fight terrorists and serious crime, so it hurts the state when the team’s members were caught on camera robbing a stockbroker in Panipat. Seven STF men, dressed in plainclothes, struck twice on March 11. They first allegedly looted Rs 6 lakh from a stockbroker after tying him up. They then tried to extort Rs 10 lakh from jeweller V K Malhotra, claiming to be members of the Haryana vigilance department. Malhotra gave the STF men Rs one lakh and asked them to collect the remaining amount after 30 minutes." So this news item need to be converted to HARYANA POLICE STF LOOTS HINDU TRADERS.What if they happened to be muslims. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed wrote: > From: Javed > Subject: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar > To: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:03 PM > Everyday we see hundreds of maligning > mails from the regulars on > Sarai. So why not a little more sensationalizing via these > old news > items. Sorry for filling up your inboxes. > > --- > > Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar > > Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, former > director > general of police R B Sreekumar said encounters were done > by the state > “as a matter of policy”. Recalling his interactions > with the then > chief secretary G S Subbarao, when Sreekumar was > Gujarat’s > intelligence chief during 2002 riots, the former director > general of > police said: “Subbarao told me that we will have to kill > some people > to prove that the Gujarat Police is very strong. I did not > agree with > him and said that it will amount to entering into a > conspiracy under > Section 120-B of the IPC.” > > With Judicial Magistrate S P Tamang’s report holding 21 > police > personnel responsible for the fake encounter of Ishrat > Jahan and three > others in June 2004, relatives of two other alleged victims > of > extra-judicial killing by the Gujarat Police, Mahendra > Jadav and > Jaffer Qasim, came here from Mumbai on Wednesday and > demanded judicial > inquiry into the two incidents. Sumitra Jadhav, mother of > Mahendra, > and Mariam, widow of Jaffer, have already moved the Supreme > Court > through Mumbai-based NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace > (CJP). They > have also asked the state for compensation. > > Sreekumar, along with Teesta Setalvad of the CJP, was > present at the > press conference. Sumitra and Mariam narrated how their > relatives were > allegedly killed by the state police. > > Sreekumar said the statement of the state government > spokesperson, Jay > Narayan Vyas, regarding Tamang’s report “amounted to > contempt of > court”. Vyas had stated that the magistrate had submitted > his inquiry > report in a hurry by overstepping his jurisdiction and the > government > will challenge it in the high court. > > Sreekumar had earned the wrath of the state government for > deposing > against it before the Nanavati-Shah panel probing Godhra > and > post-Godhra riots of 2002. He was denied promotion by the > Modi > government. However, he got his promotion post-retirement > after an > order was issued by the Central Administrative Tribunal. > > New Delhi: Gujarat government on Wednesday opposed handing > over the > probe into the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake > encounter to > the CBI or the Special Investigating Team (SIT) even as the > Supreme > Court said there was a need for going into the bottom of > the case to > erase all doubts. “The state has to go to the bottom of > the case. The > investigation has to be beyond all doubts,” a Bench > comprising > Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam said. > > Even as senior advocate Dushyant Dave, arguing on behalf > of > Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin, the petitioner, urged > the court to > hand over the probe from the state police to an independent > agency > like the SIT, state’s counsel opposed it saying that > every time it > cannot be assumed that the Gujarat Police was acting with > prejudice. > Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who defended the Modi > government, > submitted that when the state has admitted that Sohrabuddin > was killed > in a fake encounter and the chargesheet has been filed in > the case, > there’s not much left for apex court to monitor. “In > this case, the > monitoring by SC must come to an end,” he argued. > > “This is no less disturbing when you admit that this is a > fake > encounter,” the Bench remarked when Rohatgi opposed the > suggestion to > hand over the investigations to the SIT or CBI against the > wishes of > the state government. > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/encounter-was-a-policy-in-gujarat-exdgp-sreekumar/515260/0 > _________________________________________ > 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 Mon Mar 15 18:30:09 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:00:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <706904.92505.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Javed   I went by the weblink you yourself provided.   But I apologise for saying that you had designed the Subject Field and the Comment.   I would still see it as an attempt to perpetuate this incident being seen through communal glasses. Khalid Azam might have done it in the 'arkitectindia' group but you did it here on SARAI Reader List.   You did read the article I presume and you too saw what Khalid Azam saw; that is was a "Muslim" Inspector.   So whether it is Khalid Azam or it is you, or it is a Praveen Togadia or a Varun Gandhi, you all are in a similar mould; illintentioned in the manner you give a 'communal spin'. Enemies of India.      Kshmendra --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed wrote: From: Javed Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 5:55 PM Dear Kshmendra A minute before you posted, I had sent a mail giving the link of where I obtained the text from. Could you please take a look at that. Thanks Yousuf On 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in > the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " > > The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the article > as provided by Javed himself. > > Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim > police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on > the weblink provided by Javed) > > One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in > making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the > incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" background. > > It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get > mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and > commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of > SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. > > This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. > > I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only throws > up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a site > called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings > > Kshmendra > > > > Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then > actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most important > to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent > people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then it > becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. > > > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Dear C.Anupam , > > Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. > > Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come > in newspapers . > > ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI > > Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express > > Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India > > And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows > > Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : > Reader-List - SARAI > > If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of > trying to eductae you on his intent. > > No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my > suggestions may continue to do so. > > Remember ...till they come marching to your door. > > Pawan > > > From: Dan Husain > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock > anti-terror drill > To: > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM > > Dear Pawan: > > I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, > insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. > Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned > out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot > twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just > doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is > outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when > there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP > carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too > twice. My mind belies any accident. > > And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the > wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of > theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for > his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively > encouraged this mindset. > > Thanks > > Danish > > PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. > > > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > > Pawan, > > Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you > assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not > brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there > will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. > > It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, > which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to > a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to > post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. > > Anupam > > > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > > And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how > 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > >> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >> > shot him twice >> > >> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >> > >> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >> > >> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >> > Airport on February 24. >> > >> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >> > during rescue operations.” >> > >> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >> > >> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >> > >> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >> > >> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >> > >> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >> > service revolver. >> > >> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >> > Jha said. >> > >> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >> > >> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >> > >> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >> > >> > >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 Mar 15 18:33:44 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:33:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a debate about reforms to be carried in policing. On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Thank you Kshemendra , > > I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . > > Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only > 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. > > And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to > convince the readers earlier as well . > > Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which > has members from across the world. > > @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: >> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in >> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >> >> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >> article as provided by Javed himself. >> >> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on >> the weblink provided by Javed) >> >> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >> background. >> >> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of >> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >> >> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >> >> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >> >> Kshmendra >> >> >> >> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >> important >> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >> it >> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Dear C.Anupam , >> >> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >> >> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >> in newspapers . >> >> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >> >> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >> >> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >> Reader-List - SARAI >> >> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >> trying to eductae you on his intent. >> >> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >> suggestions may continue to do so. >> >> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >> >> Pawan >> >> >> From: Dan Husain >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >> mock anti-terror drill >> To: >> Cc: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >> >> Dear Pawan: >> >> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, >> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. >> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP >> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >> twice. My mind belies any accident. >> >> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for >> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >> encouraged this mindset. >> >> Thanks >> >> Danish >> >> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >> >> >> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> Pawan, >> >> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >> >> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >> >> Anupam >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >> wrote: >> >>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>> > shot him twice >>> > >>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>> > >>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>> > >>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>> > Airport on February 24. >>> > >>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>> > during rescue operations.” >>> > >>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>> > >>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>> > >>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>> > >>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>> > >>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>> > service revolver. >>> > >>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>> > Jha said. >>> > >>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>> > >>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>> > >>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>> > >>> > >>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 18:37:45 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:37:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150607y6669fc15r2f50cdff6f33ef45@mail.gmail.com> Anupam , So why make it a a Hindu Vs Muslim issue ? The message if intended about reform in Indian Police must be welcomed. But not the way Javed did. And it is not the first time he has done so. Pawan On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 6:33 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I > would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I > can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, > carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever > pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. > Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to > read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your > benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show > the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand > their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank > Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a > debate about reforms to be carried in policing. > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . >> >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in >>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>> >>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>> >>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on >>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>> >>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>> background. >>> >>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of >>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >>> >>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>> >>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> >>> >>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>> important >>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >>> it >>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Dear C.Anupam , >>> >>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>> >>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>> in newspapers . >>> >>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >>> >>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>> >>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>> Reader-List - SARAI >>> >>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>> >>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>> >>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> From: Dan Husain >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>> mock anti-terror drill >>> To: >>> Cc: "sarai list" >>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>> >>> Dear Pawan: >>> >>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, >>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. >>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP >>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>> >>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for >>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>> encouraged this mindset. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Danish >>> >>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>> >>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> > shot him twice >>>> > >>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> > >>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> > >>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>> > >>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>> > >>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> > >>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>> > >>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>> > service revolver. >>>> > >>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> > Jha said. >>>> > >>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> > >>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> > >>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 Mon Mar 15 18:53:16 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:23:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <318494.51190.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Anupam   A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting.   Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it that is not public so far.   How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he discuss his intention with you?   Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector?   Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...."?   Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own.   Kshmendra   --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: From: anupam chakravartty Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill To: "Pawan Durani" Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a debate about reforms to be carried in policing. On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Thank you Kshemendra , > > I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . > > Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only > 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. > > And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to > convince the readers earlier as well . > > Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which > has members from across the world. > > @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: >> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in >> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >> >> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >> article as provided by Javed himself. >> >> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on >> the weblink provided by Javed) >> >> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >> background. >> >> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of >> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >> >> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >> >> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >> >> Kshmendra >> >> >> >> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >> important >> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >> it >> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Dear C.Anupam , >> >> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >> >> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >> in newspapers . >> >> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >> >> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >> >> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >> Reader-List - SARAI >> >> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >> trying to eductae you on his intent. >> >> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >> suggestions may continue to do so. >> >> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >> >> Pawan >> >> >> From: Dan Husain >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >> mock anti-terror drill >> To: >> Cc: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >> >> Dear Pawan: >> >> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, >> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. >> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP >> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >> twice. My mind belies any accident. >> >> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for >> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >> encouraged this mindset. >> >> Thanks >> >> Danish >> >> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >> >> >> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> Pawan, >> >> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >> >> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >> >> Anupam >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >> wrote: >> >>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>> > shot him twice >>> > >>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>> > >>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>> > >>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>> > Airport on February 24. >>> > >>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>> > during rescue operations.” >>> > >>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>> > >>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>> > >>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>> > >>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>> > >>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>> > service revolver. >>> > >>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>> > Jha said. >>> > >>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>> > >>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>> > >>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>> > >>> > >>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Mon Mar 15 19:02:32 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:02:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150607y6669fc15r2f50cdff6f33ef45@mail.gmail.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003150607y6669fc15r2f50cdff6f33ef45@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003150632v5ff2d687x1659c72a65e52be@mail.gmail.com> "And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others." And “Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this.” Are you ready to own these two statements made on this list, Pawan? Who stirred communal passions here Pawan. Who? Is it javed’s fault that despite so many assurances given by the government, proposals of Muslim quota (that gathers flak from you people in various ways), a simple mock drill is symbolically saying things about Gujarat police in the way it shouldn’t have? How long do you guys plan to run away from realities of policing in India? Before, any of you talk about the mindset of Gujarat police, there have been officers who have gone out of their way in 2002 and post-2002 Gujarat to stop the communal nonsense that goes on here. I agree there have been bad examples but NOT all the officials in Gujarat police have that kind of a mindset. This is from a personal experience of being here and reporting incidents from here. I would request the list members not to jump into conclusions. One line of investigating this would be to find out whether there are mock drill manuals for such forces. Any former police officials in this group would make our lives easier if one could post a comment or two on whether there are mock drill manuals followed during such operations. -Anupam On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Anupam , > > So why make it a a Hindu Vs Muslim issue ? The message if intended > about reform in Indian Police must be welcomed. > > But not the way Javed did. And it is not the first time he has done so. > > Pawan > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 6:33 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I >> would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I >> can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, >> carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever >> pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. >> Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to >> read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your >> benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show >> the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand >> their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank >> Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a >> debate about reforms to be carried in policing. >> >> On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Thank you Kshemendra , >>> >>> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused >>> . >>> >>> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >>> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >>> >>> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >>> convince the readers earlier as well . >>> >>> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >>> has members from across the world. >>> >>> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >>> . >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >>> wrote: >>>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>>> in >>>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>>> >>>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>>> >>>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >>>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>>> on >>>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>>> >>>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions >>>> in >>>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind >>>> the >>>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>>> background. >>>> >>>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>>> of >>>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do >>>> so. >>>> >>>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>>> >>>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>>> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>>> >>>> Kshmendra >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful >>>> then >>>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>>> important >>>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state >>>> then >>>> it >>>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> Dear C.Anupam , >>>> >>>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>>> >>>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>>> in newspapers . >>>> >>>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >>>> >>>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >>>> >>>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>>> >>>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>>> >>>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>>> Reader-List - SARAI >>>> >>>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>>> >>>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>>> >>>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>>> >>>> Pawan >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Dan Husain >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>>> mock anti-terror drill >>>> To: >>>> Cc: "sarai list" >>>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>>> >>>> Dear Pawan: >>>> >>>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>>> flippant, >>>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>>> laughable. >>>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >>>> planned >>>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And >>>> when >>>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>>> DCP >>>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>>> >>>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>>> for >>>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>>> encouraged this mindset. >>>> >>>> Thanks >>>> >>>> Danish >>>> >>>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >>>> Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> >>>> Pawan, >>>> >>>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>>> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >>>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>>> >>>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>>> >>>> Anupam >>>> >>>> >>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> >>>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>>> > shot him twice >>>>> > >>>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>>> > >>>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>>> > >>>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>>> > >>>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the >>>>> > entire >>>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each >>>>> > cop >>>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer >>>>> > tasked >>>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>>> > >>>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>>> > >>>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold >>>>> > of >>>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling >>>>> > to >>>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>>> > >>>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>>> > >>>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on >>>>> > the >>>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>>> > >>>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>>> > service revolver. >>>>> > >>>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At >>>>> > this >>>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>>> > Jha said. >>>>> > >>>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>>> > >>>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>>> > >>>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident >>>>> > was >>>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. >>>>> > Both >>>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some >>>>> > criminals >>>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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 epk at xs4all.nl Mon Mar 15 18:44:45 2010 From: epk at xs4all.nl (Eric Kluitenberg) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:14:45 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Final Call: Highlights of the ElectroSmog festival Message-ID: Final Call: Highlights of the ElectroSmog festival ElectroSmog - International Festival for Sustainable Immobility Amsterdam / New York / Madrid / Riga / London / Banff / New Zealand / Munich / & on-lIne March 18 – 20, 2010 www.electrosmogfestival.net The ElectroSmog festival develops a critique of the worldwide explosion of mobility, and investigates the oldest promise of the information age that new communication technology could lead to a radical reduction of hyper mobility, without giving up our connections to the rest of the world. The simple question if communication technology can help us to do something about the continuous growth of mobility reveals a world of complexity: Do these new technologies not lead to a dramatic increase of electro-magnetic pollution ("electrosmog" - think of the discussion around umts transmitters)? And isn't the desire for physical encounter actually heightened by all these new connections, leading to more travel instead of less? When is a remote experience rich enough so that a physical encounter is not always necessary? How do we design sustainable immobility? The format of the festival is an exploration of sustainable immobility in itself. As a collaborative project it is developed by a network of organisations and initiatives spread over more than ten countries and 5 continents. No one is allowed to travel and all connections are established on-line. ElectroSmog offers a diverse program with art projects by among others Bureau des Etudes, Karen Lancel en Hermen Maat, Costas Bissas, Esther Polak, Jon Cors and Kai-Oi Jay Yung, Sean Kerr, Kevin McCourt, live performances, screenings, book and project-presentations, and a series of live connected thematic discussions with participants from 5 continents, covering a time-difference of 20 hours. De Balie in Amsterdam is the initiator of the ElectroSmog festival and a central node in this extensive international network. The aim is locally to stage an intimate festival that links, reproduces and multiplies itself via the various participating locations. The festival can be followed on-line in its entirety, where audiences can actively contribute to discussions, follow live webcasts, or alternatively can participate via virtual theatres set up in second life. The ElectroSmog festival brings together a broad coalition of designers, environmentalists, urban and spatial planners, technologists, artists, theorists, and engaged and concerned citizens, to explore and ‘design’ sustainable immobility. www.electrosmogfestival.net ------------------------- High-lights from the festival program: HIGH-LIGHTS FROM THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM: The ElectroSmog festival-program is organised around a series of interlocking thematic programs, discussions and debates. www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#themes Around this main program a host of satellite events is organised locally and translocally, including • Art projects and local interventions www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#artprojects • On-line projects and environments designed specifically for the festival. www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#onlineprojects • ElectroSmog Specials: book presentations and screenings www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#specials • A program of connected and localised workshops www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#workshops Local Venues & Ticket Information: www.electrosmogfestival.net/tickets ART PROJECTS • Bureau d'Etudes: Electro-Magnetic Propaganda - the statement of industrial dogma www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#electroprop A downloadable do-it-yourself exhibition. Locations: Amsterdam (exhibition) / on-line The art collective Bureau d'Etudes (Paris/Strasbourg) created an enigmatic mapping of the influence of electromagnetic waves on the biological body. This map is now transformed for the ElectroSmog festival into a downloadable exhibition to print out and display in your own locality. The exhibition and download URL will be launched at the start of the festival. “Humanity has known electromagnetic waves for a century, but their massive use for technical applications only began with the Second World War. Since then, the density of electromagnetic radiation has doubled every four years, and electromagnetic pollution has been multiplied a hundredfold over the past thirty years. Medical and epidemiological research has accumulated over the past few decades showing the destructive effects of these fields on our organisms, affecting our health or even modifying our ways of apprehending the world.” (B.d.E.) See also: http://semaphore.blogs.com/semaphore/spectral_investigations_collective/ http://utangente.free.fr/index2.html • TeleTrust Participatory performance by Karen lancel & Hermen Maat www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#teletrust Daily: 9.00 – 11.00 & 20.00 – 22.00 hrs CET (GMT+1) Venues: De Balie, Amsterdam / Banff Center for the Arts / Dunedin, New Zealand Artists Karen Lancel and Hermen Maat are conducting a series of networked performances in public spaces involving a wearable ‘data-veil’ that covers the entire body. The veil is touch sensitive allowing the wearer to trigger stories he/she can listen to inside the veil, while the audience observes the same stories on public screens and via the web. All stories are interviews conducted around the public performances with the TeleTrust veil, and centre on issues of trust and veiled presence in public space: “Do I need to see your eyes in order to trust you?” How is trust established under veiled conditions? The project can also be seen as a metaphor for the hidden presence of people in digital networks, where ‘the design of trust’ (Nevejan) remains a highly problematic issue. The performance will be staged simultaneously in Banff, Canada, Dunedin, New Zealand and Amsterdam, The Netherlands – covering a time-zone stretch of 20 hours. www.lancelmaat.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128 • Urban Wilderness Action Center – John Cohrs (with Eyebeam New York) www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#urbanwilderness Venues: Eyebeam, New York / Skulpturenpark Berlin / De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: London Online linkup between New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam and elsewhere will take place at 21.00 CET (GMT+1). Follow live updates from each city on Twitter at #uwac from 15.00 – 24.00 CET (GMT+1). The Urban Wilderness Action Center (UWAC) is a project initiated by Eyebeam alum Jon Cohrs, in collaboration with the Eyebeam Student Residents (New York), Eyebeam Education Coordinator Stephanie Pereira, and Kai-Oi Jay Yung (UK). The UWAC project includes a web platform uwac.anewfuckingwilderness.com and a day of action where people from NYC, Berlin, and London will work together to design and disseminate specific guerrilla gardening projects. http://uwac.anewfuckingwilderness.com http://eyebeam.org/events/electrosmog-festival-urban-wilderness-action-center • NomadicMILK project www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#nomadicmilk Art project and installation by Esther Polak Venue: De Balie, Amsterdam (exhibition) The NomadicMILK project is a quest in the tradition of landscape painting. Based on a collaboration between the artist, robot engineers, anthropologists, documentary makers and philosophers, the project triggers new consciousness with new means. NomadicMILK project tracked the daily routes of two milk related economies between January and December 2009 in Nigeria. The resulting installation depicts the nomadic life of cow herders versus truckers by visualising their routes, stories and daily life. www.nomadicmilk.net This installation is related to the theme program "Food and global mobility", Saturday March 20, 16.00 - 18.00 CET (GMT+1). www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#food Join the on-line discussion in preparation of this program here: www.electrosmogfestival.net/discussions/ • LocalSoundScapes www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#localsound Sound project created by Costas Bissas Locations: Amsterdam / Forres / on-lne LocalSoundScapes is a collection of geography specific audio recordings created from the activities and processes of local businesses and their surrounding natural environment. The recordings reveal otherwise inconspicuous practices of everyday life and moments from the creation of various products. The project uses binaural microphone recordings to immerse the audience in the 3D sonic environment of the greater area of Forres in the highlands of Scotland. Supported by Distance Lab. www.distancalab.org ON-LINE PROJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTS www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#onlineprojects • Virtual theatres and second life hubs The live-streams of the ElectroSmog festival will be streamed at a number of virtual theatres and public spaces in open sims and second life. At these meta-locations various art projects and on-line performances will be staged along and in-between the ElectroSmog programs. Meta.Live.Nu 3D-Lab-Camp in Second Life. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Holland/22/222/22 Eyebeam has its own island in Second Life, and plans to stream their New York activities on the Island, as well as host a performance by Second Front (http://slfront.blogspot.com/) during the festival. Live performance art in the user created virtual world Second Life: Saturday march 20: 19:30 CET (=SL 10:30 PST) Ze Moo http://ZeMoo.live.nu - "The Future of Social Mass Media" on Ameland sim. thanks to http://Archipel.nu http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ameland/44/133/23 20:00 CET (=SL 11:00 PST) Avatar Orchestra Metaverse http://AvatarOrchestra.org - Audio-visual performance with virtual music instruments on secret sim. Audience welcome at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Holland/22/222/22 20:30 CET (=SL 11:30 PST) Second Front http://SecondFront.org - Conceptual live performance on Eyebeam sim http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eyebeam%20Island/133/133/33 --- • Korawiki – Kete of Remote Artworks wiki http://korawiki.aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/ A catalogue of projects from Aotearoa New Zealand using communications technologies to present, perform, and collaborate over time and distance.  • M4RI ( Music 4 Remote Improvisation) Ping Pong Pop A collaborative sound project by Sean Kerr. Four online multi-user sound nerds, performing from their bedroom, pinging each other sine wave tone with a few pops, bells and whistles. • ‘Backyard Dances’ - being everywhere at once, while staying at home, in our own backyard. Becca Wood + globally distributed collaborators ‘Backyard Dances’ transports the backyard as actuated space for live choreography using web cameras, chat rooms, transcriptions, the imagination, text to speech software and the dancing body. • Klanggang / Soundwalk Sam Hamilton and Luke Munn http://work.lukemunn.com/klanggang Two iconic streets from Auckland and Berlin are sonified and mapped in this web-based project, allowing users to explore the echoes and architecture of two spaces at once. THEMATIC DISCUSSIONS AND DEBATES www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#themes Thursday March 18 • Global perspectives on hyper-mobility 10.00 – 12.00 CET (GMT+1) Venue: De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: Delhi / Dhaka / Nairobi www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#globalviews A live-connected panorama of the worldwide mobility crisis: Global responses from a local perspective, drawing on first-hand impressions from some of the hotbeds of mobility-out-of-control, around the globe. Responses from among others Dhaka, Nairobi, Delhi, London, The Netherlands. Filtered, edited and commented by urban researchers and activists. With: Aarti Sethi, film maker, Sarai media lab, Delhi Mongrel Cities (Sarai media lab) Ralf Graf, SasHivi Media, Nairobi www.sasahivi.com Partha Pratim Sarker, co-founder of the South Asian network Bytes for All – Computing and the internet for the majority of the world, Dhaka, Bangladesh. www.bytesforall.net Program host: Eric Kluitenberg, De Balie, Amsterdam. • Witnessed Presence Research presentation and discussion, hosted by Caroline Nevejan 13.00 – 15.00 CET (GMT+1) Venue: De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: Cambridge www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#witnessedpresence Caroline Nevejan will present the extensive research she has been developing on witnessed presence and system engineering since the Fall of 2008, together with members of the Autonomous Systems group at Delft University of Technology, artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines. A scientific site is made on which the research design, academic publications as well as the source material of 21 interviews and work of 4 artists can be accessed: www.systemsdesign.tbm.tudelft.nl/witness/ With Mediamatic Lab an experimental site is being made to unfold knowledge from academia, the professional realm and the arts in relation to one another. This work in progress can be accessed at: http://witness.being-here.net Presentations: Dr. Caroline Nevejan http://www.nevejan.org Debra Solomon reflects in her work on urban agriculture and the formats in social structures that human beings need to be able to sustain and participate such communities of practice. Debra Solomon’s contribution to this research can be found at: http://witness.being-here.net/page/2112/en Debra Solomon’s work can be found at: http://culiblog.org/ Remote presentation: Dr. Satinder Gill, Center for Music and Science at Cambridge University. The interview with Dr. Satinder Gill that took place in the context of this research will become available at: http://www.systemsdesign.tbm.tudelft.nl/witness/interviews.html Ronald Ophuis paints scenes of suffering and victimisation. Ronald Ophuis contribution to this research can be found at: http://witness.being-here.net/page/2110/en Ronald Ophuis work can be found at: http://www.ronaldophuis.nl/ Dr. Martijn Warnier – Leaving the comfort zone This presentation focuses on the role of values in systems design, discussing the role of collaborative, interdisciplinary research along the way. The interview with Martijn Warnier that took place in the context of this research can be accessed at: http://www.systemsdesign.tbm.tudelft.nl/witness/interviews/mw/interview-mw.html Homepage of Martijn Warnier: http://homepage.tudelft.nl/68×7e/ The session concludes 14.45 with closing statements on 4 dimensions • Hyper-mobility and the urban condition 16.00 – 18.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: De Balie, Amsterdam / Medialab Prado Madrid www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#urbancondition Hyper-mobility poses a myriad of challenges for urban planners: How is urban planning responding to conditions of hyper-mobility? Are networking technologies playing a role in policies and actions? Can technology offer solutions in the urban zones most affected by the mobility catastrophe? With Bas Boorsma, Director, Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco, on Connected Urban Development (CUD): www.connectedurbandevelopment.org Nerea Calvillo & Medialab Prado, Madrid In the air - a visualisation project which aims to make visible the microscopic and invisible agents of Madrid’s air (gases, particles, pollen, diseases, etc), to see how they perform, react and interact with the rest of the city. The project proposes a platform for individual and collective awareness and decision making, where the interpretation of results can be used for real time navigation through the city, opportunistic selection of locations according to their air conditions and a base for political action.” www.intheair.es Jean-Paul Close: Stad van Morgen (Tomorrow’s City) A network of profits and non-profits for sustainable renewal of urban conditions set up from the city of Eindhoven. www.stadvanmorgen.com Martijn de Waal, writer, researcher, curator and consultant based in Amsterdam, specialised in the relation between technology, media and society. www.themobilecity.nl • City & country branding debate Discussion hosts: Merijn Oudenampsen & Ana Méndez 21.00 – 23.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: De Balie, Amsterdam / Eyebeam, New York / Medialab Prado Madrid / ADA Network, New Zealand www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#branding City and regional branding strategies contribute disproportionally to increased travel and mobility, both for touristic purposes as well as for professional travel and conference-mania. In a broader sense the critique of city branding addresses the question of whether it is a good idea to profile a cities as products (in an international market) instead of living environments for its inhabitants? Is an ecologically more responsible approach possible? Are cities and regions economically viable at all without effective branding and promotion strategies? With: Daniel van der Velden, designer and writer, Meta-haven, Brussels / Amsterdam www.metahaven.net Beka Economopoulos, Not An Alternative, New York Jason Jones, Not An Alternative, New York www.notanalternative.net Ana Méndez, Observatorio Metropolitano, Madrid Isidro López, Observatorio Metropolitano, Madrid www.observatoriometropolitano.org Eva Ramos López, Town Planning and Housing Area, Madrid City Council Merijn Oudenampsen, Amsterdam Essay: On Dog Shit and Open Source Urbanism Damoclash, Amsterdam Invited responses from the ADA network, New Zealand Friday March 19 • Deep local and remote technologies 10.00 – 12.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: ADA Network, New Zealand / De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: Montréal / Forres www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#deeplocal What does it mean to become Deep Local (again)? How can we reconnect to the local, without giving up the rest of the world and without burning up the last remaining carbon-hydrates? Can we reconnect the remote by means of the new networking and communication technologies without ravaging the environment? Can traditional life-styles be accommodated with global connectivity? With: Stefan Agamanolis, director of Distance Lab, Forres, Scotland. www.distancelab.org Julian Priest, artist and director of The Green Bench http://greenbench.org Matthew Biederman, artists and team member of the Arctic Perspectives project, an international group of individuals and organisations whose goal is to promote the creation of open authoring, communications and dissemination infrastructures for the circumpolar region. http://arcticperspective.org Susan Kennard, former director Banff New Media Institute. (tbc) www.banffcentre.ca/BNMI Hosted by: Zita Joyce & Eric Kluitenberg • Designing for (im)mobility Hosted by: John Thackara 13.00 – 15.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: De Balie Amsterdam / Land of NoR: Virtual World www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#design ICT developers have been working on video communication since 1946 – but the experience still ‘sucks’. If massive amounts of bandwidth are not the answer, are there more artful ways to enhance remote communication? John Thackara discusses how they would approach it with game designers, theatre directors and artists. With: John Thackara, director of Doors of Perception an international network that tries to find new ways of designing information and communication technology (ICT). He also blogs on design and mobility. www.doorsofperception.com www.doorsofperception.com/archives/mobility_design/ Martin Butler, artist, choreographer, and creator of the Girlfriend Experience project involving audience controlled real-life avatars in a paradoxical quasi game setting. www.liminalinstitute.nl/category/productions/2007-the-girlfriend-experience-2 Caroline Nevejan, researcher and designer focusing on the implications of technology on society, with a particular interest in interdisciplinary projects. • e-mobility versus immobility 17.00 – 19.00 CET (GMT+1) Venue: De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: Berlin / London www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#emobility The bandwidth in closed societies like for example Iran and Syria are low because of political reasons. Even though at the same time it slows down business opportunities. Thereby the system of filtering and blocking on line content is sophisticated. Both countries have a young population (50 – 70% younger than 30 years) and lots of them want to connect with and have access to information. No surprise that circumvention tools are widely used. How can this politically induced slowness of networks be addressed in a discussion of global connectivity? In collaboration with Monique Doppert, Hivos, The Hague & Tactical Technology Collective (London). With: Sami Ben Gharbia, co-founder of nawaat.org (which means the core in Arabic), a Tunisian collective blog about news and politics, and Advocacy Director at Global Voices. http://samibengharbia.com/ Menso Heus, consultant with Gendo on open innovation and smart applications of internet technology, member of the editorial team of HAR 2009 (Hacking At Random). https://wiki.har2009.org/page/Main_Page Reinder Rustema, board member ISOC.nl, advisor eParticipation at ICTU / Burgerlink and teacher at the University of Amsterdam. http://reinder.rustema.nl/ Tactical Technology Collective - Security in-a-box http://security.ngoinabox.org • Public media art projects and sustainability 20.00 – 22.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: Muffatwerk, München / De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: Boston / London www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#mediaart What are the prospects of making of on-line and media art practices more sustainable? How do artists and cultural initiatives position themselves in the discussion on the ecological impact of networking technology? What are the new models making more intelligent use of current media technologies and tools? With: Horst Konietzny, curator and director of Reframes, Munich. www.reframes.de Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, and editor of the Networked Performance blog, Boston. http://turbulence.org http://turbulence.org/blog Manu Luksch, intermedia artist, ambienttv.net, London www.ambienttv.net Karen Lancel & Hermen Maat Followed by 5 dancers performance and remote sound interventions from Banff. www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#5dancers Saturday March 20 • Energy and information 10.00 – 12.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: ADA Network, New Zealand / RIXC, Riga / De Balie, Amsterdam www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#energy Exploring the energetic implications of global communications. The most challenging direction of this debate revolves around the emergence of smart electricity grids that can monitor in detail actual energy use patterns and allocate peek capacities much more efficiently. Such smart grids raise important privacy concerns for individual customers, however. With the old idea of fusing energy and information infrastructures back on the table, these concerns increase exponentially. What are the trade-offs between sustainability and the necessary safeguards of the personal sphere? With: Julian Priest, artist and director of Green Bench, New Zealand http://greenbench.org Michiel Karskens, policy advisor on energy matters, Consumentenbond (national consumer association), The Netherlands. Rasa Smite, RIXC, Riga – organiser and curator of the 2009 art+communication festival: “ENERGY – Scientific and artistic, utopian and critical visions of future terrestrial energy”. http://rixc.lv/09/en/theme.html Sacha van Geffen, director of Greemhost.nl https://greenhost.nl/about/ • ElectroSmog is Good for You! Exploring artists’ engagements with the spectral ecology 13.00 – 15.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: RIXC, Riga / De Balie, Amsterdam / Remote: Strasbourg / ADA Network New Zealand This program brings together artists fascinated by the invisible and most ephemeral side of electronic media, the varying densities of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The program continues the discussion started at the RIXC’s Spectral Ecology event in 2007. Besides the exploration of the invisible and intangible, also critical environmental issues are addressed. How is the body, the brain and the nervous system affected by the increasing density of electromagnetic waves around us? Since the nervous system relies on electromagnetic energy flows there are certainly effects, but which? In many countries heated debates flared up in the past about the effects of new umts transmitters (high capacity mobile phone networks), and scandals erupted over transmitters fitted on apartment buildings, apparently making residents sick. With: Bureau des Etudes / Spectral Investigations Collective http://semaphore.blogs.com/semaphore/spectral_investigations_collective Zita Joyce, ADA Digital Arts Network, New Zealand www.aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/about Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits, RIXC, Riga www.rixc.lv/07/en/index.html • Food and global mobility Tracing the path of food to our kitchen-table 16.00 – 18.00 CET (GMT+1) Venues: De Balie, Amsterdam / Skulpturenpark, Berlin / Remote: Barcelona www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#food Join the on-line discussion on food and global mobility in the run up to the festival. www.electrosmogfestival.net/discussions/ What does food mean for us today? There is a growing understanding that food is not only a fuel to keep our bodies working, a source of pleasure, and for some also a source of income. It is also an important link between us and our environments, natural and social, local and global. More and more people are trying to rethink our relationships with the world through food and different forms of engagement with it. The issue of sustainability in the age of hyper-mobility is one of the most urgent ones. Should we reduce global food mobility and start buying more local products? But what then about farmers and communities in the developing countries for whom supplying us with fruits and vegetables is of great economic significance? What exactly would we like to know about the pre-shelf life of our food in order to make an informed responsible choice? How can we access this information? What alternative ideas for sustainable food strategies are out there? Is urban farming a promising way to reconnect to your food? And what does it actually mean – “sustainable food strategies”? This panel brings together people involved in practical and theoretical research related to sustainable food strategies. With: Tania Goryucheva, editor of the Food and Global Mobility theme, and co-founder of the Cool Mediators Foundation. www.coolmediators.net Artist Esther Polak will present findings from her project under development NomadicMILK http://nomadicmilk.net/?page_id=2 Ir. Toine Timmermans, program manager sustainable food chains of Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) www.wur.nl Hernani Dias, “Refarm the City” project: open software and hardware tools for urban farmers. www.refarmthecity.org Fairfood International, a non-profit campaign and lobby organisation, promoting sustainability in the food and beverage industry www.fairfood.org Dr. ir. Frank van der Hoeven, Associate Professor, Chair of Urban Design at Delft University of Technology http://urbandesign.bk.tudelft.nl/ Michiel de Lange, (moderator) researcher at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, involved in the Playful Identities research program and co-initiator of the Mobile City platform. www.bijt.org/wordpress ELECTROSMOG SPECIALS www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#specials • Première Screening of 10Tactics Thursday March 18, 19.00 – 20.30 CET (GMT+1) Venue: De Balie, Amsterdam / London Presented by Tactical Technology Collective & Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, and Hivos, The Hague & De Balie, Amsterdam. www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#10tactics This film is a work in progress, currently released one tactic at a time, about the use of digital technologies for advocacy projects. Stephanie Hankey, co-founder of Tactical Tech, about 10Tactics: “The project came about when we hosted an info-activism camp in India earlier this year. The event brought together more than 100 rights advocates, technologists and designers from around the world who we knew had really interesting stories to tell about how they had turned information into action using digital technologies. We decided to document and explore people’s stories throughout the camp. When we had finished we knew that what we had collected was pretty remarkable. Many of the stories highlighted ground-breaking use of the internet and digital technologies. They show what is possible for rights advocates to achieve now even with very few resources.” 10 tactics features 35 info-activism stories told from the point of view of advocates in 24 different countries including Lebanon, India, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya, Indonesia, South Africa and the UK. (…) www.informationactivism.org • Book Launch of Plan B, by John Thackara Friday March 19, 15.00 – 16.00 CET (GMT+1) Venue: De Balie, Amsterdam www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#planb At the occasion of the launch of the Dutch translation of John Thackara’s book “In the Bubble”, now titled “Plan B”, with 4 new chapters added, John Thackara will introduce the main topics of his book and devote special attention to the relationship of design, telepresence, and (im)mobility. www.thackara.com/inthebubble www.doorsofperception.com • Urban Wilderness Amsterdam ElectroSmog goes Schijnheilig Venue: Schijnheilg, Amsterdam (note alternate venue: Schijnheilig!) www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#wildamsterdam Amsterdam, a city once known as a happening place, is suffering from the bureaucratic drive to over regulate. In the nineties, an abundance of underground initiatives marked Amsterdam as a home of spontaneity and experimentation. Squatted cultural centres lined the waterfront, free radio stations populated the air waves. Due to sparked up property prices and an ever growing political pressure to formalise everything and anything, Amsterdam underground culture has dissipated. In stead of the metropolis it claims to be, it has become the village we all know it to be. Where one has little chance of running into the unexpected. As a necessary antidote, the closing event of the Amsterdam Electrosmog festival will take place in the squatted gallery Schijnheilig. There will be lectures on branding and public space, streamed guerilla gardening actions from around New York, London and Berlin, performances, ex-pirateers of radio 100 behind turntables, and much much more. Come along and play! Saturday March 20, 20.00 – till late… (CET) www.schijnheilig.org WORKSHOPS www.electrosmogfestival.net/program/#workshops • SkillShare on tools and models for online collaboration Venue: Eyebeam, New York Saturday, March 20, 2010 | 10AM – 5PM (Eastern Standard Time / 16.00 – 23.00 CET (GMT+1)) Free with RSVP Limit of 30 participants (in New York). http://eyebeam.org/events/electrosmog-skillshare-tools-and-models-for-online-collaboration On Saturday, March 20 Eyebeam will run a day-long series of presentations on tools and strategies for online creative collaboration. Eyebeam’s senior fellows will cover software solutions as well as practical and conceptual models for making and distributing collaborative work. This SkillShare was conceived as part of the ElectroSmog Festival, a new, three-day, international festival that will introduce and explore of concept of “Sustainable Immobility”: a critique of current systems of hyper mobility of people and products in travel and transport, and their ecological unsustainability. • Riverrun: A collective and experimental online artwork. Venue: Medialab Prado, Madrid Thursday, March 18, 18.00 - 20.00 CET (GMT+1) http://medialab-prado.es/article/electrosmog_festival Riverrun could be described as an emergent “Exquisite Corpse.” It focuses on social interaction, with more than a hundred creators collaborating in the making of a collective story in real time. Each person participates, using their own computer (client), by writing a small part of the collective story which is housed in a central computer (server). Each participant is asked to log on to the project from their own computer for a short period of time (the duration of the experiment). These creative experiments can be performed in different languages and the story will be available online to the general public. The project of artist Kevin McCourt and theoretical physicist Bartolo Luque is executed as an open, participatory workshop during ElectroSmog, organised and hosted by the Medialab Prado, Madrid. ---- www.electrosmogfestival.net/program From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 19:12:32 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:12:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003150632v5ff2d687x1659c72a65e52be@mail.gmail.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003150607y6669fc15r2f50cdff6f33ef45@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003150632v5ff2d687x1659c72a65e52be@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003150642r6bda4908q3cd274078d552d29@mail.gmail.com> Dear Anupam Ji , If you can still not understand the intent of Javed. I can hardly help you . Kshemendra has asked you some questions. You did not reply on that. I gave some web links where there is no mention of Hindu Muslim thing. Had you heard the name of Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala ? If you would have heard of him you would not have commented just for the sake of opposing me. You chose to ignore that and LIBERAL in you is now calling me communal. All i can say is God Bless You ... ... Regards Pawan On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 7:02 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > "And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how > 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others." > > And > > “Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this.” > > Are you ready to own these two statements made on this list, Pawan? > Who stirred communal passions here Pawan. Who? Is it javed’s fault > that despite so many assurances given by the government, proposals of > Muslim quota (that gathers flak from you people in various ways), a > simple mock drill is symbolically saying things about Gujarat police > in the way it shouldn’t have? How long do you guys plan to run away > from realities of policing in India? > > Before, any of you talk about the mindset of Gujarat police, there > have been officers who have gone out of their way in 2002 and > post-2002 Gujarat to stop the communal nonsense that goes on here. I > agree there have been bad examples but NOT all the officials in > Gujarat police have that kind of a mindset. This is from a personal > experience of being here and reporting incidents from here. I would > request the list members not to jump into conclusions. One line of > investigating this would be to find out whether there are mock drill > manuals for such forces. > > Any former police officials in this group would make our lives easier > if one could post a comment or two on whether there are mock drill > manuals followed during such operations. > > -Anupam > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Anupam , >> >> So why make it a a Hindu Vs Muslim issue ? The message if intended >> about reform in Indian Police must be welcomed. >> >> But not the way Javed did. And it is not the first time he has done so. >> >> Pawan >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 6:33 PM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >>> What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I >>> would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I >>> can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, >>> carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever >>> pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. >>> Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to >>> read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your >>> benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show >>> the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand >>> their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank >>> Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a >>> debate about reforms to be carried in policing. >>> >>> On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> Thank you Kshemendra , >>>> >>>> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused >>>> . >>>> >>>> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >>>> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >>>> >>>> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >>>> convince the readers earlier as well . >>>> >>>> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >>>> has members from across the world. >>>> >>>> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >>>> . >>>> >>>> Pawan >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >>>> wrote: >>>>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>>>> in >>>>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>>>> >>>>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>>>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>>>> >>>>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >>>>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>>>> on >>>>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>>>> >>>>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions >>>>> in >>>>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind >>>>> the >>>>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>>>> background. >>>>> >>>>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>>>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>>>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>>>> of >>>>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do >>>>> so. >>>>> >>>>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>>>> >>>>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>>>> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>>>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>>>> >>>>> Kshmendra >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful >>>>> then >>>>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>>>> important >>>>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>>>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state >>>>> then >>>>> it >>>>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>>> Dear C.Anupam , >>>>> >>>>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>>>> >>>>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>>>> in newspapers . >>>>> >>>>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >>>>> >>>>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >>>>> >>>>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>>>> >>>>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>>>> >>>>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>>>> Reader-List - SARAI >>>>> >>>>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>>>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>>>> >>>>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>>>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>>>> >>>>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>>>> >>>>> Pawan >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> From: Dan Husain >>>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>>>> mock anti-terror drill >>>>> To: >>>>> Cc: "sarai list" >>>>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>>>> >>>>> Dear Pawan: >>>>> >>>>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>>>> flippant, >>>>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>>>> laughable. >>>>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >>>>> planned >>>>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>>>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>>>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>>>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And >>>>> when >>>>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>>>> DCP >>>>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>>>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>>>> >>>>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>>>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>>>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>>>> for >>>>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>>>> encouraged this mindset. >>>>> >>>>> Thanks >>>>> >>>>> Danish >>>>> >>>>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >>>>> Thanks. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>>> >>>>> Pawan, >>>>> >>>>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>>>> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >>>>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>>>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>>>> >>>>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>>>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>>>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>>>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>>>> >>>>> Anupam >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>>> >>>>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>>>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>>>> > shot him twice >>>>>> > >>>>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>>>> > >>>>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>>>> > >>>>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the >>>>>> > entire >>>>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each >>>>>> > cop >>>>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer >>>>>> > tasked >>>>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>>>> > >>>>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold >>>>>> > of >>>>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling >>>>>> > to >>>>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>>>> > >>>>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on >>>>>> > the >>>>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>>>> > service revolver. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At >>>>>> > this >>>>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>>>> > Jha said. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>>>> > >>>>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident >>>>>> > was >>>>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. >>>>>> > Both >>>>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some >>>>>> > criminals >>>>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> 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 javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 19:13:47 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:13:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <318494.51190.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> <318494.51190.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear folks Whatever you say about my "evil intentions" of using the word Muslim in the subject field, I would not apologize for it because I am making a point which you are simply by-passing. Its fine if you condemn me for instigating communal feelings and so on. My point is simply that most people in Gujarat's police, ATS and administration are highly communal and corrupt. Everyday we are hearing horrid stories about the misuse of power which is often targeted towards the Muslims. So, what is wrong in stating the facts. You folks are bent upon my use of the word "Muslim", but no one took notice of the official line in the title where the ATS inspector shouted "Sir, don't.... I am not a terrorist". What does this mean? If this was a mock drill, why did the guy have to shout "Sir, don't.... I am not a terrorist"? Did he know that the gun was loaded? Was he already afraid of being shot? Even if it was a mistake by Subhash Trivedi (may be he didn't know that the gun was loaded), why did he shoot twice? And why did inspector Shabbirali clarify that he was not a terrorist, and pleaded not to be shot? Don't you all think that there is something deeper in this? Or do you think that I have invented this line too? Javed On 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Anupam > > A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a > target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. > > Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it that > is not public so far. > > How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he > discuss his intention with you? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the > "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police officers > are not safe from fake encounters...."? > > Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted > justification of your own. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock > anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" > > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM > > > What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I > would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I > can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, > carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever > pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. > Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to > read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your > benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show > the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand > their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank > Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a > debate about reforms to be carried in policing. > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . >> >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >> . >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>> in >>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>> >>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>> >>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even Muslim >>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>> on >>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>> >>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>> background. >>> >>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>> of >>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >>> >>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>> >>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>> throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> >>> >>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>> important >>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >>> it >>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Dear C.Anupam , >>> >>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>> >>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>> in newspapers . >>> >>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >>> >>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>> >>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>> Reader-List - SARAI >>> >>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>> >>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>> >>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> From: Dan Husain >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>> mock anti-terror drill >>> To: >>> Cc: "sarai list" >>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>> >>> Dear Pawan: >>> >>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>> flippant, >>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>> laughable. >>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>> DCP >>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>> >>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>> for >>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>> encouraged this mindset. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Danish >>> >>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not >>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>> >>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> > shot him twice >>>> > >>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> > >>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> > >>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>> > >>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>> > >>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> > >>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>> > >>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>> > service revolver. >>>> > >>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> > Jha said. >>>> > >>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> > >>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> > >>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:19:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <341380d01003150603k195385c3qec773f63cfbb6f9e@mail.gmail.com> <318494.51190.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003150649x4a6ceb34x461fe18a8f1fbfa5@mail.gmail.com> "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own." Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every occasion? -anupam On 3/15/10, Javed wrote: > Dear folks > Whatever you say about my "evil intentions" of using the word Muslim > in the subject field, I would not apologize for it because I am making > a point which you are simply by-passing. Its fine if you condemn me > for instigating communal feelings and so on. My point is simply that > most people in Gujarat's police, ATS and administration are highly > communal and corrupt. Everyday we are hearing horrid stories about the > misuse of power which is often targeted towards the Muslims. So, what > is wrong in stating the facts. > > You folks are bent upon my use of the word "Muslim", but no one took > notice of the official line in the title where the ATS inspector > shouted "Sir, don't.... I am not a terrorist". What does this mean? If > this was a mock drill, why did the guy have to shout "Sir, don't.... I > am not a terrorist"? Did he know that the gun was loaded? Was he > already afraid of being shot? Even if it was a mistake by Subhash > Trivedi (may be he didn't know that the gun was loaded), why did he > shoot twice? And why did inspector Shabbirali clarify that he was not > a terrorist, and pleaded not to be shot? Don't you all think that > there is something deeper in this? Or do you think that I have > invented this line too? > > Javed > > > > On 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: >> Dear Anupam >> >> A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a >> target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. >> >> Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it >> that >> is not public so far. >> >> How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he >> discuss his intention with you? >> >> Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the >> "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? >> >> Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police >> officers >> are not safe from fake encounters...."? >> >> Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted >> justification of your own. >> >> Kshmendra >> >> >> >> --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: >> >> >> From: anupam chakravartty >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >> mock >> anti-terror drill >> To: "Pawan Durani" >> Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" >> >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM >> >> >> What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I >> would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I >> can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, >> carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever >> pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. >> Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to >> read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your >> benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show >> the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand >> their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank >> Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a >> debate about reforms to be carried in policing. >> >> On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Thank you Kshemendra , >>> >>> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused >>> . >>> >>> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >>> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >>> >>> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >>> convince the readers earlier as well . >>> >>> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >>> has members from across the world. >>> >>> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >>> . >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >>> wrote: >>>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>>> in >>>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>>> >>>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>>> >>>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even Muslim >>>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>>> on >>>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>>> >>>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions >>>> in >>>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind >>>> the >>>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>>> background. >>>> >>>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>>> of >>>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do >>>> so. >>>> >>>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>>> >>>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>>> throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>>> >>>> Kshmendra >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful >>>> then >>>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>>> important >>>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state >>>> then >>>> it >>>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> Dear C.Anupam , >>>> >>>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>>> >>>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>>> in newspapers . >>>> >>>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >>>> >>>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >>>> >>>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>>> >>>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>>> >>>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>>> Reader-List - SARAI >>>> >>>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>>> >>>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>>> >>>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>>> >>>> Pawan >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Dan Husain >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>>> mock anti-terror drill >>>> To: >>>> Cc: "sarai list" >>>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>>> >>>> Dear Pawan: >>>> >>>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>>> flippant, >>>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>>> laughable. >>>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >>>> planned >>>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And >>>> when >>>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>>> DCP >>>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>>> >>>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>>> for >>>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>>> encouraged this mindset. >>>> >>>> Thanks >>>> >>>> Danish >>>> >>>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >>>> Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> >>>> Pawan, >>>> >>>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>>> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not >>>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>>> >>>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>>> >>>> Anupam >>>> >>>> >>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> >>>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>>> > shot him twice >>>>> > >>>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>>> > >>>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>>> > >>>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>>> > >>>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the >>>>> > entire >>>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each >>>>> > cop >>>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer >>>>> > tasked >>>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>>> > >>>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>>> > >>>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold >>>>> > of >>>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling >>>>> > to >>>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>>> > >>>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>>> > >>>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on >>>>> > the >>>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>>> > >>>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>>> > service revolver. >>>>> > >>>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At >>>>> > this >>>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>>> > Jha said. >>>>> > >>>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>>> > >>>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>>> > >>>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident >>>>> > was >>>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. >>>>> > Both >>>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some >>>>> > criminals >>>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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 javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 19:29:05 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:29:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Guj Refuses to Share Prajapati Killing Details With CBI Message-ID: "To cover up one lie, you have to invent a thousand." (a quote by Javed) ----- Guj Refuses to Share Prajapati Killing Details With CBI Mumbai | Mar 08, 2010 http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?676180 The probe into alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi in 2005 may hit a roadblock as Gujarat government has refused to hand over details about another death of a person in an encounter with police, which CBI claimed was linked to the shootout of the duo. CBI had approached Gujarat government for handing over the details of the case pertaining to police encounter of Tulsi Prajapati, an undertrial who was lodged at Udaipur jail. According to the police, he was killed while he tried to escape from custody while being shifted from Rajasthan to Gujarat. However, his killing had raised many eyebrows as he was perceived to be a sole witness to the killing of Sohrabuddin and his wife. They both were labelled as gangsters. CBI, which is investigating into the Sohrabuddin case, had asked Gujarat government to provide them with evidence pertaining to Tulsi's encounter. It was, however, turned down on the ground that CBI was directed by the Supreme court to investigate only Sohrabuddin's killing. Tulsi was eliminated by Gujarat police in an encounter in Banaskantha district and the police had said the accused was trying to escape after firing at the personnel escorting him, a claim challenged by the Forensic laboratory report and the Railway Police. According to the investigations, Prajapati had written a letter from Rajasthan jail to his brother in which he had claimed that he was the lone witness to the "cold-blooded murder" of Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi and Gujarat police was scheming to kill him. The deceased had asked his kin to file a writ petition in Rajasthan High court to prevent his transfer back to Gujarat police. However, before any such move could be made, Prajapati was killed in an encounter. CBI wants the forensic documents, which has questioned the the claims of Gujarat police that three people threw chilly powder on the police party escorting Prajapati back to Rajasthan by train and got him released. They also reportedly fired at the policemen on duty. However, Railway Police had reported that no chilly powder was thrown on policemen escorting Prajapati and the weapon recovered from the deceased was declared by the Forensic Scientific Laboratory as "jammed" and unable to fire. The bullet injuries on the cops were believed by the experts as self-inflicted. CBI had registered a case last month against Gujarat police officials to probe the alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kausarbi in 2005 and the case was taken up on directions of the Supreme Court which came down heavily on Gujarat government for failing to conduct impartial investigations and attempting to "mislead" the apex court by filing conflicting action taken reports (ATRs). From kalakamra at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 21:08:49 2010 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:38:49 +0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Pad.ma Newsletter 1 In-Reply-To: <33eee40c1003150837u1f281a1ib71148edd2b29678@mail.gmail.com> References: <4B9E5237.2010408@pad.ma> <33eee40c1003150837u1f281a1ib71148edd2b29678@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <33eee40c1003150838v6cffc1f5q11a4fdce1e6de0e7@mail.gmail.com> Hello readers, Pad.ma has just begun a series of monthly postings. We're posting the newsletter to the reader list because we feel its content will be of interest to many readers. Happy viewing. We look forward to feedback and to the beginning of a dialogue on interpretative archives and archiving practices. Warmth, Shaina Anand *Pad.ma Newsletter I *http://pad.ma/newsletter Pad.ma’s monthly newsletter contains information about new contributions to the archive (videos and writing), featured videos lists, announcements, Pad.ma projects and events, etc. This month, we bring you eight new video collections (55 new videos), a public call for Pad.ma fellowships, some highlights from the archive, and a new and updated ‘How to use Pad.ma’ guide. For Pad.ma, this is the beginning of a new phase of content development*. *It is also in anticipation of a new software framework and interface (expected in summer 2010), which will make working with Pad.ma easier and more rewarding. Meanwhile, we welcome your contributions (video, text or thoughts) to this growing public collection of material. Pad.ma is an interpretative web-based video archive, which works primarily with footage and not finished films. Pad.ma creates access to material which is easily lost in editing processes, in the filmmaking economy, and in changes of scale brought about by digital technology. Unlike Youtube, the focus here is on annotation, cross-linking, downloading and the reuse of video material for pedagogy, research and reference. For more, see http://pad.ma/about. *>>> What’s new <<< * ** > *Theatre Jam * In October 2009, Maraa, a media collective from Bangalore, did a 31-day marathon of performances in public spaces, in an effort to reclaim them for artistic expression. Theatre workshops, photography exhibitions and poetry readings took place in parks, markets and cafés. An on-going series that begins to document Maraa’s interventions in the city. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1i *> Politics of Change *Annemie Maes, an artist and researcher from Brussels, started the Politics of Change project when she visited Barefoot College, Tilonia, Rajasthan, in 2008. Maes was struck by the similarity between the bottom-up approach of the solar engineering programme for rural Rajasthani women and her own artistic practice at Okno, an organisation that works on collective technological research projects. Maes has uploaded to Pad.ma her film * Mahila*, video questionnaires from PoC workshops, and interviews with Rajasthani and African solar engineers, and friends and colleagues from Brussels. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1e *> People’s Panchayats against Homophobia *Action Plus, a network of 14 organisations working on HIV/AIDS in India, organised People’s Panchayats on stigma and homophobia in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Delhi in early 2009. Forefronted were the voices of survivors and resistors from sexual minority communities. Point of View, Mumbai, documented these panchayats: depositions, testimonies, audience responses, and the jury’s ‘verdict’ at the end. A large and growing collection of voices. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1j *> Lectures from CSCS, Bangalore *Lectures from the ‘Culture and Democracy’ course at the Centre for the Study of Society and Culture (CSCS), Bangalore. These lectures were recorded in 2007 and invited speakers included Ashish Rajadhyaksha, M. Madhava Prasad, S. V. Srinivas, Sitharamam Kakarala and Vivek Dhareshwar. Welcome to the online, annotation-friendly classroom. Stay logged in for future classes. Currently published: M. Madhava Prasad’s ‘Enthusiasm and Indian Politics: Problems in the Analysis of Aural Culture’ http://pad.ma/Vedx0jjp/info Ashish Rajadhyaksha’s ‘Cinematic Governance’ http://pad.ma/Ve2iazfj/info *> Motornama Roshanara *Rides through the industrial district around Roshanara Road, Delhi. Tours on cycle rickshaws with rickshaw wallahs as narrators and guides. Narratives of automation, pollution, labour and the closure of famed repair industries. All this across a landscape characterised by lost middle-class confidence, new migrants, old machines, bodily risk and emerging eco-politics in the city of Delhi. A project by Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran, as part of 48deg. C, Delhi, 2009. http://pad.ma/Vhmchrdp/info *> Al Jaar Qabla al Daar (The Neighbour before the house) *A series of video probes into the landscape of East Jerusalem. Shot with a security camera, these videos attempt to overflow the instrumental aspects of surveillance imaging. Looking from one’s home, obsessively or longingly, becomes a way of narrating over the architecture of a city in conflict. A continuing project by CAMP. This is footage from one location in Jerusalem. More from other neighbourhoods coming soon. http://pad.ma/Vs7c6mni *> Wharfage *Wharfage is another on-going CAMP project, which, in 2009, looked closely at Sharjah port from where a large number of wooden boats or dhows leave for Somalia. This movement of goods and sailors maps out a landscape of new and used objects, labour, Asian and African migration and oversized dhows now being built in Gujarat. Hakimuddin Liliyawala spent time on Sharjah creek, documenting the loading and unloading of the dhows, and wrote over these images. Nida Ghouse and Radhamohini Prasad did a follow-up visit to Jam Salaya, to meet sailor friends they had made in Sharjah. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1d *> Pad.ma Meta *On February 16, 2009, Pad.ma was launched as a public website. We had a day-long event in which people who have been engaging with Pad.ma, made presentations about their use of the archive. Presenters included Sanjay Kak, Agaaz, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, Ayisha Abraham, Sadanand Menon, and Priya Sen, among others. This collection has videos of these presentations and documentation of other Pad.ma events. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1m For a report on the Pad.ma 2009 event, see: http://camputer.org/event.php?this=padma09&tab=optBtn2 *>>> Pad.ma Highlight <<<* ** Pad.ma’s commitment to making video footage publicly available has motivated us to recirculate material under fair use. Contributors have uploaded clips from Hindi films to Pad.ma and more importantly, annotated them critically. This has created a innovative space for film studies on the web, where ideas and timelines can come together. Some examples: *> Queering Bollywood* A selection of some coded queer moments in seemingly mainstream and heteronormative Indian films. A collection of queer readings of such moments. And a database of video clips, film titles and articles on queer representations in cinema. This video selection, put together by Namita Malhotra, has clips from films like *Sholay*, *Sadak*, *Utsav*, *Silsila*and *Mera Naam Joker*. User contributions to this database are invited. Write to pad.ma at pad.ma http://pad.ma/find?l=L10 *> Cinematic Cities and Citizenship *Cinema constructs national consciousness: citizens and denizens, centres and margins. Cinema archives the urban: planners and gangsters, ambivalent modernities and urban villages. And cinema opens a virtual window to the world. All for eight rupees – at least it did till some time ago. A virtual tour of the city and the citizen in cinema with Lawrence Liang. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1h > *The sex worker in Bollywood* These clips from films like *Amar Prem*, *Umrao Jaan* and *Mandi* as well as the more recent *Julie*, *Chameli* and *Sadak*, explore the popular concern with and presence of the sex worker in many Hindi film genres (commercial, art house, historical and B-grade). The depictions traverse a range of characters, including gharwalis and pimps to name a few. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1q *>>> Announcements <<<* ** *> Fellowships* Pad.ma invites applications for fellowships from individuals and organisations interested in > contributing footage from a film or research project > annotating and researching material already in Pad.ma > experimenting with new ways of interpreting and using videos in the archive Fellows will be offered honorariums and interested persons can write to pad.ma at pad.ma *> Pad.ma @ Home Works , Beirut* Pad.ma will conduct a two week workshop and day-long colloquium at Home Works V in Beirut, Lebanon, from April 12-25, 2010. Titled ‘Don’t Wait for the Archive: Archiving practices and futures of the image’, this workshop/colloquium seeks to discuss the archive as neither a fixed concept nor as unbounded potential, but as a concrete set of negotiations, costs, transactions, tools and imaginations that constitute it. A key question will be: Is there something, in the density of our contemporary experiences in Bombay, Bangalore, Beirut or on the internet, that can lead to a shared theory of the archive, which goes beyond its dominant canons? For more, see http://www.ashkalalwan.org/ *> Technical Tips for Pad.ma *Feeling daunted by the Pad.ma interface? Can’t figure out how to browse, search, upload or download videos, transcribe or annotate? Or why you just can’t open Pad.ma in Internet Explorer? Fret not. The up-to-date ‘How to Use Pad.ma’ guide is here: http://wiki.pad.ma/wiki/HowTo * * This newsletter was compiled by Pad.ma’s Content Coordinator, Subuhi Jiwani, with the support of Zinnia Ambaripadwala, Pad.ma's Technical Coordinator. Send your feedback and comments to subuhi at pad.ma or pad.ma at pad.ma The Pad.ma project was initiated in 2008 by Oil21 from Berlin, the Alternative Law Forum from Bangalore, Majlis, Point of View and Chitrakarkhana/CAMP, Mumbai. To receive the Pad.ma newsletter, send a mail to padma-announce-subscribe at pad.ma To unsubscribe from this list, send a mail to padma-announce-unsubscribe at pad.ma From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 15 21:38:23 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:08:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <200168.60082.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Javed   The point you are making NOW seems to be an afterthought to serve as a justification for promoting the "communal" tinge to the incident.   All you did was to copy and forward what Khalid Azam had posted into "arkitectindia.com'" alongwith the Subject-Line and the Comment ""Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...."   One did not see any Point being made by you then. All that you were doing was "instigating communal feelings" and yes that is condemnable.    The point you are making NOW "that most people in Gujarat's police, ATS and administration are highly communal and corrupt." is a seperate issue altogether and might not be without merit.   Although Anupam, who claimed that he knew your 'intentions' , thought it was all about pleading for Police Reforms    Kshmendra     --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed wrote: From: Javed Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "Pawan Durani" , "anupam chakravartty" , "sarai list" Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 7:13 PM Dear folks Whatever you say about my "evil intentions" of using the word Muslim in the subject field, I would not apologize for it because I am making a point which you are simply by-passing. Its fine if you condemn me for instigating communal feelings and so on. My point is simply that most people in Gujarat's police, ATS and administration are highly communal and corrupt. Everyday we are hearing horrid stories about the misuse of power which is often targeted towards the Muslims. So, what is wrong in stating the facts. You folks are bent upon my use of the word "Muslim", but no one took notice of the official line in the title where the ATS inspector shouted "Sir, don't.... I am not a terrorist". What does this mean? If this was a mock drill, why did the guy have to shout "Sir, don't.... I am not a terrorist"? Did he know that the gun was loaded? Was he already afraid of being shot? Even if it was a mistake by Subhash Trivedi (may be he didn't know that the gun was loaded), why did he shoot twice? And why did inspector Shabbirali clarify that he was not a terrorist, and pleaded not to be shot? Don't you all think that there is something deeper in this? Or do you think that I have invented this line too? Javed On 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Anupam > > A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a > target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. > > Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it that > is not public so far. > > How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he > discuss his intention with you? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the > "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police officers > are not safe from fake encounters...."? > > Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted > justification of your own. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock > anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" > > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM > > > What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I > would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I > can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, > carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever > pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. > Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to > read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your > benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show > the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand > their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank > Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a > debate about reforms to be carried in policing. > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . >> >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >> . >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>> in >>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>> >>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>> >>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>> on >>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>> >>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>> background. >>> >>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>> of >>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >>> >>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>> >>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> >>> >>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>> important >>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >>> it >>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Dear C.Anupam , >>> >>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>> >>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>> in newspapers . >>> >>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >>> >>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>> >>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>> Reader-List - SARAI >>> >>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>> >>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>> >>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> From: Dan Husain >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>> mock anti-terror drill >>> To: >>> Cc: "sarai list" >>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>> >>> Dear Pawan: >>> >>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>> flippant, >>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>> laughable. >>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>> DCP >>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>> >>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>> for >>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>> encouraged this mindset. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Danish >>> >>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>> >>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> > shot him twice >>>> > >>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> > >>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> > >>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>> > >>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>> > >>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> > >>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>> > >>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>> > service revolver. >>>> > >>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> > Jha said. >>>> > >>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> > >>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> > >>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 21:47:41 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:47:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <200168.60082.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <200168.60082.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I really wonder what is the idea of all this fight: is this to turn this forum into a joke or what? Some very generalized statements have been made here, like the intentions of a person being discovered and made public, to the idea that Gujarat police is entirely corrupt and communal. I would seriously request the members of this forum not to make unsubstantiated allegations of such kind, and also please protest but with not animosity as being witnessed in this. This only generates heat without leading to any light, as one of my friends recently said to me. It also shames me here that the entire issue has lost its' sole focus, which should have been to debate the incident and as to why it has taken place. It is certainly in a long list of incidents for which Gujarat has been in the news (for wrong reasons mostly). And such incidents can't be a matter of respect. However, making such statements or attributing motives without an inquiry is something which should be condemned. If anybody wishes to attribute such a motive, please go ahead with facts and logical interpretations. After all, even Modi was condemned based on facts only, not on arbitrary assumptions. In that regard, the conduct of the inspector can be definitely questioned. But to attribute that to only a communal motive may not be necessarily true. It could be a money angle. It could be a mistake. So let's wait for the inquiry. Or you can turn into an investigative journalist, gather facts based on the past and the incident itself, and the present, and then put those facts here. They would be certainly appreciated. Rakesh From newsletter at pad.ma Mon Mar 15 20:58:55 2010 From: newsletter at pad.ma (Pad.ma Newsletter) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:28:55 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Pad.ma Newsletter 1 Message-ID: <4B9E5237.2010408@pad.ma> *Pad.ma Newsletter I *http://pad.ma/newsletter Pad.ma’s monthly newsletter contains information about new contributions to the archive (videos and writing), featured videos lists, announcements, Pad.ma projects and events, etc. This month, we bring you eight new video collections (55 new videos), a public call for Pad.ma fellowships, some highlights from the archive, and a new and updated ‘How to use Pad.ma’ guide. For Pad.ma, this is the beginning of a new phase of content development*. *It is also in anticipation of a new software framework and interface (expected in summer 2010), which will make working with Pad.ma easier and more rewarding. Meanwhile, we welcome your contributions (video, text or thoughts) to this growing public collection of material. Pad.ma is an interpretative web-based video archive, which works primarily with footage and not finished films. Pad.ma creates access to material which is easily lost in editing processes, in the filmmaking economy, and in changes of scale brought about by digital technology. Unlike Youtube, the focus here is on annotation, cross-linking, downloading and the reuse of video material for pedagogy, research and reference. For more, see http://pad.ma/about. *>>> What’s new <<< * ** > *Theatre Jam * In October 2009, Maraa, a media collective from Bangalore, did a 31-day marathon of performances in public spaces, in an effort to reclaim them for artistic expression. Theatre workshops, photography exhibitions and poetry readings took place in parks, markets and cafés. An on-going series that begins to document Maraa’s interventions in the city. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1i *> Politics of Change *Annemie Maes, an artist and researcher from Brussels, started the Politics of Change project when she visited Barefoot College, Tilonia, Rajasthan, in 2008. Maes was struck by the similarity between the bottom-up approach of the solar engineering programme for rural Rajasthani women and her own artistic practice at Okno, an organisation that works on collective technological research projects. Maes has uploaded to Pad.ma her film /Mahila/, video questionnaires from PoC workshops, and interviews with Rajasthani and African solar engineers, and friends and colleagues from Brussels. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1e *> People’s Panchayats against Homophobia *Action Plus, a network of 14 organisations working on HIV/AIDS in India, organised People’s Panchayats on stigma and homophobia in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Delhi in early 2009. Forefronted were the voices of survivors and resistors from sexual minority communities. Point of View, Mumbai, documented these panchayats: depositions, testimonies, audience responses, and the jury’s ‘verdict’ at the end. A large and growing collection of voices. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1j *> Lectures from CSCS, Bangalore *Lectures from the ‘Culture and Democracy’ course at the Centre for the Study of Society and Culture (CSCS), Bangalore. These lectures were recorded in 2007 and invited speakers included Ashish Rajadhyaksha, M. Madhava Prasad, S. V. Srinivas, Sitharamam Kakarala and Vivek Dhareshwar. Welcome to the online, annotation-friendly classroom. Stay logged in for future classes. Currently published: M. Madhava Prasad’s ‘Enthusiasm and Indian Politics: Problems in the Analysis of Aural Culture’ http://pad.ma/Vedx0jjp/info Ashish Rajadhyaksha’s ‘Cinematic Governance’ http://pad.ma/Ve2iazfj/info *> Motornama Roshanara *Rides through the industrial district around Roshanara Road, Delhi. Tours on cycle rickshaws with rickshaw wallahs as narrators and guides. Narratives of automation, pollution, labour and the closure of famed repair industries. All this across a landscape characterised by lost middle-class confidence, new migrants, old machines, bodily risk and emerging eco-politics in the city of Delhi. A project by Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran, as part of 48deg. C, Delhi, 2009. http://pad.ma/Vhmchrdp/info *> Al Jaar Qabla al Daar (The Neighbour before the house) *A series of video probes into the landscape of East Jerusalem. Shot with a security camera, these videos attempt to overflow the instrumental aspects of surveillance imaging. Looking from one’s home, obsessively or longingly, becomes a way of narrating over the architecture of a city in conflict. A continuing project by CAMP. This is footage from one location in Jerusalem. More from other neighbourhoods coming soon. http://pad.ma/Vs7c6mni *> Wharfage *Wharfage is another on-going CAMP project, which, in 2009, looked closely at Sharjah port from where a large number of wooden boats or dhows leave for Somalia. This movement of goods and sailors maps out a landscape of new and used objects, labour, Asian and African migration and oversized dhows now being built in Gujarat. Hakimuddin Liliyawala spent time on Sharjah creek, documenting the loading and unloading of the dhows, and wrote over these images. Nida Ghouse and Radhamohini Prasad did a follow-up visit to Jam Salaya, to meet sailor friends they had made in Sharjah. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1d *> Pad.ma Meta *On February 16, 2009, Pad.ma was launched as a public website. We had a day-long event in which people who have been engaging with Pad.ma, made presentations about their use of the archive. Presenters included Sanjay Kak, Agaaz, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, Ayisha Abraham, Sadanand Menon, and Priya Sen, among others. This collection has videos of these presentations and documentation of other Pad.ma events. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1m For a report on the Pad.ma 2009 event, see: http://camputer.org/event.php?this=padma09&tab=optBtn2 *>>> Pad.ma Highlight <<<* ** Pad.ma’s commitment to making video footage publicly available has motivated us to recirculate material under fair use. Contributors have uploaded clips from Hindi films to Pad.ma and more importantly, annotated them critically. This has created a innovative space for film studies on the web, where ideas and timelines can come together. Some examples: *> Queering Bollywood* A selection of some coded queer moments in seemingly mainstream and heteronormative Indian films. A collection of queer readings of such moments. And a database of video clips, film titles and articles on queer representations in cinema. This video selection, put together by Namita Malhotra, has clips from films like /Sholay/, /Sadak/, /Utsav/, /Silsila/ and /Mera Naam Joker/. User contributions to this database are invited. Write to pad.ma at pad.ma http://pad.ma/find?l=L10 *> Cinematic Cities and Citizenship *Cinema constructs national consciousness: citizens and denizens, centres and margins. Cinema archives the urban: planners and gangsters, ambivalent modernities and urban villages. And cinema opens a virtual window to the world. All for eight rupees – at least it did till some time ago. A virtual tour of the city and the citizen in cinema with Lawrence Liang. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1h > *The sex worker in Bollywood* These clips from films like /Amar Prem/, /Umrao Jaan/ and /Mandi/ as well as the more recent /Julie/, /Chameli/ and /Sadak/, explore the popular concern with and presence of the sex worker in many Hindi film genres (commercial, art house, historical and B-grade). The depictions traverse a range of characters, including gharwalis and pimps to name a few. http://pad.ma/find?l=L1q *>>> Announcements <<<* ** *> Fellowships* Pad.ma invites applications for fellowships from individuals and organisations interested in > contributing footage from a film or research project > annotating and researching material already in Pad.ma > experimenting with new ways of interpreting and using videos in the archive Fellows will be offered honorariums and interested persons can write to pad.ma at pad.ma *> Pad.ma @ Home Works , Beirut* Pad.ma will conduct a two week workshop and day-long colloquium at Home Works V in Beirut, Lebanon, from April 12-25, 2010. Titled ‘Don’t Wait for the Archive: Archiving practices and futures of the image’, this workshop/colloquium seeks to discuss the archive as neither a fixed concept nor as unbounded potential, but as a concrete set of negotiations, costs, transactions, tools and imaginations that constitute it. A key question will be: Is there something, in the density of our contemporary experiences in Bombay, Bangalore, Beirut or on the internet, that can lead to a shared theory of the archive, which goes beyond its dominant canons? For more, see http://www.ashkalalwan.org/ *> Technical Tips for Pad.ma *Feeling daunted by the Pad.ma interface? Can’t figure out how to browse, search, upload or download videos, transcribe or annotate? Or why you just can’t open Pad.ma in Internet Explorer? Fret not. The up-to-date ‘How to Use Pad.ma’ guide is here: http://wiki.pad.ma/wiki/HowTo * * This newsletter was compiled by Pad.ma’s Content Coordinator, Subuhi Jiwani, with the support of Zinnia Ambaripadwala, Pad.ma's Technical Coordinator. Send your feedback and comments to subuhi at pad.ma or pad.ma at pad.ma The Pad.ma project was initiated in 2008 by Oil21 from Berlin, the Alternative Law Forum from Bangalore, Majlis, Point of View and Chitrakarkhana/CAMP, Mumbai. To receive the Pad.ma newsletter, send a mail to padma-announce-subscribe at pad.ma To unsubscribe from this list, send a mail to padma-announce-unsubscribe at pad.ma -------------- next part -------------- From shuddha at sarai.net Tue Mar 16 02:21:10 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:21:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <573289.63464.qm@web112119.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <573289.63464.qm@web112119.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2BA83F21-7BD1-4CEC-BA41-CDB2B329B649@sarai.net> Dear All, In both the Gujarat case as well as the Batla House case, there is a possibility that the two police officers who were shot at, were shot at by their own colleauges for reasons best known to them. At least in the Gujrat case, we know this for a fact. And as we know, a detailed forensic investigation has always been stalled in the case of the killing of Mohan Chand Sharma. Evidence is contaminated, or (like Hemant Karkare's bullet proof jacket) simply missing. The bullets that killed Sharma were never found, (or were 'lost') and the exact exit wounds, and direction of fire, never properly established. And readers on this list will remember my remarks about the photograph with Mohan Chand Sharma's clean shirt front, which is certainly anomalous, given that he died from a serious abdominal injury. Police officers in Anti Terrorist squads dying mysterious deaths is nothing new. Rajbir Singh, the much decorated officer of the Delhi Police Special Cell was shot dead apparently because of his shady property dealings and underhand real estate business. But, till date, no motive has ever been established. Mohan Chand Sharma's un-bloodstained shirt has always left is ghostly presence behind. And the suspicions expressed by senior retired policmen about Hemant Karkare's death have also not died down. Recently, a policeman who was part of the team that apprently apprehended a young man caught as a 'suspect' in the Batla House case, died in a mysterious accident while on the way back to Delhi from the scene of the arrest. One cannot rule out the fact that in all these cases, the officers/ policemen concerned, either knew things they should not have known, or were being considered as liabilities for some reason, or that they simply needed to be done away with due to reasons to do with internal rivalries, and that the context of 'anti terrorist' special operations and encounters, simply acted as convenient buffers for an inner gangland killings, or targetted 'friendly fire; assasinations, except for the fact that the gangs involved happened to be in uniform. The 'identity' of the policemen in question may prove to be less significant than the simple fact that they were somehow inconvenient for people higher up, or sideways, in the chain of command. Stranger things than this have been known to happen. best Shuddha On 15-Mar-10, at 5:54 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Dear Mr Javed, > You are writing as if you were witness to the crime. > Similar things people have been telling about Batla House encounter > while truth has emerged where an MP (unfortunately a Muslim one) > helped the culprits run away and even paid money.I never intended > to write a muslim MP but seeing your response that even Muslim > police officers are not safe safe.What if the officer had been > Hindu, then it would not have made any news.Let the investigation > results come out, only then you should comment .If what you are > saying is taken on its face value, there should not have been any > Muslim police officer alive as the Hindu police officers outnumber > substantially, there should be some sensibility limit to the > interpretations being made. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed wrote: > >> From: Javed >> Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice >> in mock anti-terror drill >> To: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:20 PM >> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a >> terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >> shot him twice >> >> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake >> encounters.... >> >> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >> >> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector >> Shabbirali >> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner >> of Police >> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point >> blank range >> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the >> Surat >> Airport on February 24. >> >> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by >> the senior >> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms >> and >> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that >> the entire >> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact >> role each cop >> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been >> briefed >> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an >> observer tasked >> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials >> commit >> during rescue operations.” >> >> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other >> officers were >> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking >> lot of the >> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were >> holding >> ‘passengers’ hostage. >> >> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and >> caught hold of >> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. >> I pleaded, >> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the >> observer.” But he >> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left >> struggling to >> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service >> revolver and >> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost >> consciousness.” >> >> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and >> exited. Saiyed >> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >> >> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even >> tasked to >> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, >> since he was >> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot >> who would only >> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and >> terrorists were in >> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers >> to pass on the >> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so >> that they >> could plan and execute the operation,” according to >> Inspector Saiyed. >> >> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. >> “Saiyed was >> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near >> the entry >> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a >> doctor to >> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being >> held by how >> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The >> ‘doctor’, >> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less >> a loaded >> service revolver. >> >> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no >> answers to >> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair >> investigation. At this >> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have >> taken the >> statements of several airport staff who were also present >> there and >> statements of several police officials who witnessed the >> incident,” >> Jha said. >> >> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to >> comment. >> >> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS >> chief Ajay >> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station >> soon after >> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed >> Tomar to >> carry out a departmental inquiry. >> >> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the >> incident was >> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. >> But we are >> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic >> experts >> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked >> if an FIR >> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: >> “Let the >> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further >> action. Both >> the officials are from police department _ they are not >> some criminals >> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist- >> pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> _________________________________________ >> 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 shuddha at sarai.net Tue Mar 16 02:38:31 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:38:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Pawan, Spare us the piety. And the next time you want to get hypocritical, try and do it with a little more elegance. Last month, you sent a posting on this list with the following heading. [Reader-list] Pune: Islamic terror? Date: 16 February 2010 11:10:06 AM GMT+05:30 We know that there was an act of terrorism in Pune. We do not know as yet the identity of the perpetrators. They could be Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Believers in UFOs, anything. Investigations are underway. There as strong, albeit hypothetical, grounds for assuming that they could be linked to the 'Abhinav Bharat' group, who happen to be Hinduvadis. Pune is their stronghold. They have everything to gain from a 'false flag' operation, especially in the wake of the drubbing that the Shiv Sena received on the 'My Name is Khan' issue, and in anticipation of the way in which yet another attack would have queered the pitch on the resumption of the India-Pakistan dialogue process. There could be equally strong, and equally hypothetical grounds for assuming that the Pune attack was the work of Islamists. In such cases, it is best not to weigh in in any one direction. But you did not do that, did you? I have publicly said on the list that we should never jump to conclusions about the 'identity' of terrorism, and have even supported the right of known Hindu Fundamentalists to be considered innocent vis-a-vis terrorist outrages until and unless proved guilty in a free, fair and transparent trial. So, when you title a posting - " Pune: Islamic Terror? ", you are surely imposing your twisted and sick communal agenda on this list. At least in the case of the Gujarat incident, we know what the identity of the policeman who was shot happened to have been. I do not support putting 'identity' tags on the headings of any discussions on this list. But you, in particular, are in no position to adopt a holier than thou attitude on this matter. So, look before you leap. You don't want to end up falling on your face, do you? best Shuddha On 15-Mar-10, at 6:02 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Thank you Kshemendra , > > I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is > misused . > > Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only > 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. > > And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to > convince the readers earlier as well . > > Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which > has members from across the world. > > @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate > mischief . > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: >> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and >> places in the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >> >> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of >> the article as provided by Javed himself. >> >> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even >> Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not >> to be found on the weblink provided by Javed) >> >> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's >> intentions in making the incident "communal". Whatever be the >> actual 'story' behind the incident, as of now, there no reports of >> it having a "communal" background. >> >> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will >> get mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident >> and commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. >> But Javed of SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the >> first one to do so. >> >> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >> >> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It >> only throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a >> webpage from a site called coastaldigest.com with obvious >> ideological leanings >> >> Kshmendra >> >> >> >> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less >> harmful then >> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >> important >> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at >> innocent >> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the >> state then it >> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Dear C.Anupam , >> >> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >> >> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >> in newspapers . >> >> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >> >> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >> >> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >> Reader-List - SARAI >> >> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >> trying to eductae you on his intent. >> >> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >> suggestions may continue to do so. >> >> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >> >> Pawan >> >> >> From: Dan Husain >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector >> twice in mock anti-terror drill >> To: >> Cc: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >> >> Dear Pawan: >> >> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >> flippant, >> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >> laughable. >> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >> planned >> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get >> shot >> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was >> just >> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. >> And when >> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was >> the DCP >> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone >> that too >> twice. My mind belies any accident. >> >> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly >> defend the >> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no >> fault of >> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice >> and for >> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has >> actively >> encouraged this mindset. >> >> Thanks >> >> Danish >> >> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >> Thanks. >> >> >> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> Pawan, >> >> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are >> not >> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >> >> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >> which should discuss things about police reforms across the >> country to >> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's >> intention to >> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point >> here. >> >> Anupam >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >> wrote: >> >>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> shot him twice >>>> >>>> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> >>>> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> >>>> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector >>>> Shabbirali >>>> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of >>>> Police >>>> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank >>>> range >>>> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> Airport on February 24. >>>> >>>> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the >>>> senior >>>> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the >>>> entire >>>> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role >>>> each cop >>>> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer >>>> tasked >>>> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> during rescue operations.” >>>> >>>> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of >>>> the >>>> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> >>>> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught >>>> hold of >>>> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I >>>> pleaded, >>>> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left >>>> struggling to >>>> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost >>>> consciousness.” >>>> >>>> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. >>>> Saiyed >>>> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> >>>> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would >>>> only >>>> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists >>>> were in >>>> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass >>>> on the >>>> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector >>>> Saiyed. >>>> >>>> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held >>>> by how >>>> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a >>>> loaded >>>> service revolver. >>>> >>>> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no >>>> answers to >>>> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. >>>> At this >>>> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> Jha said. >>>> >>>> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> >>>> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief >>>> Ajay >>>> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> >>>> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the >>>> incident was >>>> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But >>>> we are >>>> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further >>>> action. Both >>>> the officials are from police department _ they are not some >>>> criminals >>>> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> >>>> >>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a- >>> terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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/> Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 16 11:09:05 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:09:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003152239k3cef1e0emf76f1280aa47486e@mail.gmail.com> Dear Shuddha , Happy Navreh, Much as I know that it is your compulsion to oppose my view , nevertheless it makes for an interesting reading . Well tried is all I can say. You have quoted my subject line dated 16th Feb, Please check the following link http://ibnlive.in.com/news/pune-blast-investigation-police-detain-two/110208-3.html It states "Investigators suspect the role of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) and the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba group in Saturday's blast in German Bakery in Pune in which 9 persons were killed. The Home Ministry is categorical that the attack was planned in Pakistan." Please read the complete article and you would come to know who are the suspects. What do I call Lashkar & Indian Mujahideen ? Do I deny the fact that these are Islamic Fascist ? You continue to remain denial mode for even Batla house as well . It is this compulsion of remaining obsessive to ones own thought that has bought down the ideology you follow .....across the world. And you continue to remain in denial. Please make a charter of what all false things I need to write to call myself a Liberal , Sickular , Pro Minority ? Do I have to be one line you to qualify ? Pawan On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 2:38 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear Pawan, > Spare us the piety. And the next time you want to get hypocritical, try and > do it with a little more elegance. > Last month, you sent a posting on this list with the following heading. > [Reader-list] Pune: Islamic terror? > Date: 16 February 2010 11:10:06 AM GMT+05:30 > We know that there was an act of terrorism in Pune. > We do not know as yet the identity of the perpetrators. > They could be Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Believers in UFOs, anything. > Investigations are underway. > There as strong, albeit hypothetical, grounds for assuming that they could > be linked to the 'Abhinav Bharat' group, who happen to be Hinduvadis. Pune > is their stronghold. They have everything to gain from a 'false flag' > operation, especially in the wake of the drubbing that the Shiv Sena > received on the 'My Name is Khan' issue, and in anticipation of the way in > which yet another attack would have queered the pitch on the resumption of > the India-Pakistan dialogue process. There could be equally strong, and > equally hypothetical grounds for assuming that the Pune attack was the work > of Islamists. In such cases, it is best not to weigh in in any one > direction. But you did not do that, did you? > I have publicly said on the list that we should never jump to conclusions > about the 'identity' of terrorism, and have even supported the right of > known Hindu Fundamentalists to be considered innocent vis-a-vis terrorist > outrages until and unless proved guilty in a free, fair and transparent > trial. > So, when you title a posting - " Pune: Islamic Terror? ", you are surely > imposing your twisted and sick communal agenda on this list. At least in the > case of the Gujarat incident, we know what the identity of the policeman who > was shot happened to have been. I do not support putting 'identity' tags on > the headings of any discussions on this list. But you, in particular, are in > no position to adopt a holier than thou attitude on this matter. > So, look before you leap. You don't want to end up falling on your face, do > you? > best > Shuddha > On 15-Mar-10, at 6:02 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > Thank you Kshemendra , > I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . > Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only > 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. > And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to > convince the readers earlier as well . > Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which > has members from across the world. > @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . > Pawan > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: > > Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in > the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " > The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the article > as provided by Javed himself. > Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim > police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on > the weblink provided by Javed) > One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in > making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the > incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" background. > It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get > mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and > commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of > SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. > This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. > I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only throws > up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a site > called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings > Kshmendra > > > Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then > actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most important > to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent > people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then it > becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. > > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Dear C.Anupam , > Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. > Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come > in newspapers . > ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI > Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express > Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India > And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows > Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : > Reader-List - SARAI > If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of > trying to eductae you on his intent. > No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my > suggestions may continue to do so. > Remember ...till they come marching to your door. > Pawan > > From: Dan Husain > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock > anti-terror drill > To: > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM > Dear Pawan: > I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, > insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. > Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned > out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot > twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just > doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is > outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when > there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP > carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too > twice. My mind belies any accident. > And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the > wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of > theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for > his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively > encouraged this mindset. > Thanks > Danish > PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. > > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Pawan, > Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you > assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not > brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there > will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. > It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, > which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to > a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to > post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. > Anupam > > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how > 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > shot him twice > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > Airport on February 24. > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > during rescue operations.” > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > ‘passengers’ hostage. > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > service revolver. > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > Jha said. > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > carry out a departmental inquiry. > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > > > > _________________________________________ > 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/> > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > From shuddha at sarai.net Tue Mar 16 11:24:57 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:24:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003152239k3cef1e0emf76f1280aa47486e@mail.gmail.com> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003152239k3cef1e0emf76f1280aa47486e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <315A1874-D5A9-4DAC-91AA-5E664D755918@sarai.net> Dear Pawan, You seem to forget, that I, contrary to your expectations of what you think a 'liberal' would say, have always spoken against a premature identification of the perpetrators of any terrorist outrages by communal tags. This applies even to the case of the Pune bombings, where even a piece by Praveen Swami, whom I think you admire for his work in and on Kashmir, suggested that there might be a 'hindu' hand. Even in that case, I cateogorically stated, that the 'identity' of terrorists is not an issue that should be played around with in loose terms. My comment on your posting was necessary because you objected against the use of the word 'Muslim' as a prefix in the title of a posting on this list concerning the policeman who was attacked by his colleague in Gujarat. I merely wished to point out that you, yourself, are guilty of the same practice in the title of your posting on the Pune terror attacks. I believe in being fair. I believe that if it is wrong to unnecessarily emphasize the identity of those who attack or are attacked, then this principle applies in all cases. I believe in freedom of expression for both M.F. Husain and for Taslima Nasreen. I do not distinguish between Hindu, Muslim, Maoists, Marxists or Scientologists when it comes to the discussion of their stupidities, weaknesses, venality, or of their being oppressed and put upon. However, I find that you, and others like you on this list constantly harangue us with the specialness of being who you are. I find your narcissism deeply disturbing, unhealthy and vicious. best Shuddha On 16-Mar-10, at 11:09 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Shuddha , > > Happy Navreh, > > Much as I know that it is your compulsion to oppose my view , > nevertheless it makes for an interesting reading . > > Well tried is all I can say. > > You have quoted my subject line dated 16th Feb, Please check the > following link > > http://ibnlive.in.com/news/pune-blast-investigation-police-detain- > two/110208-3.html > > It states "Investigators suspect the role of the Indian Mujahideen > (IM) and the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba group in Saturday's blast > in German Bakery in Pune in which 9 persons were killed. The Home > Ministry is categorical that the attack was planned in Pakistan." > > Please read the complete article and you would come to know who are > the suspects. > > What do I call Lashkar & Indian Mujahideen ? Do I deny the fact that > these are Islamic Fascist ? > > You continue to remain denial mode for even Batla house as well . It > is this compulsion of remaining obsessive to ones own thought that has > bought down the ideology you follow .....across the world. And you > continue to remain in denial. > > Please make a charter of what all false things I need to write to call > myself a Liberal , Sickular , Pro Minority ? > > Do I have to be one line you to qualify ? > > > > Pawan > > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 2:38 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > wrote: >> Dear Pawan, >> Spare us the piety. And the next time you want to get >> hypocritical, try and >> do it with a little more elegance. >> Last month, you sent a posting on this list with the following >> heading. >> [Reader-list] Pune: Islamic terror? >> Date: 16 February 2010 11:10:06 AM GMT+05:30 >> We know that there was an act of terrorism in Pune. >> We do not know as yet the identity of the perpetrators. >> They could be Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Believers in UFOs, anything. >> Investigations are underway. >> There as strong, albeit hypothetical, grounds for assuming that >> they could >> be linked to the 'Abhinav Bharat' group, who happen to be >> Hinduvadis. Pune >> is their stronghold. They have everything to gain from a 'false flag' >> operation, especially in the wake of the drubbing that the Shiv Sena >> received on the 'My Name is Khan' issue, and in anticipation of >> the way in >> which yet another attack would have queered the pitch on the >> resumption of >> the India-Pakistan dialogue process. There could be equally >> strong, and >> equally hypothetical grounds for assuming that the Pune attack was >> the work >> of Islamists. In such cases, it is best not to weigh in in any one >> direction. But you did not do that, did you? >> I have publicly said on the list that we should never jump to >> conclusions >> about the 'identity' of terrorism, and have even supported the >> right of >> known Hindu Fundamentalists to be considered innocent vis-a-vis >> terrorist >> outrages until and unless proved guilty in a free, fair and >> transparent >> trial. >> So, when you title a posting - " Pune: Islamic Terror? ", you are >> surely >> imposing your twisted and sick communal agenda on this list. At >> least in the >> case of the Gujarat incident, we know what the identity of the >> policeman who >> was shot happened to have been. I do not support putting >> 'identity' tags on >> the headings of any discussions on this list. But you, in >> particular, are in >> no position to adopt a holier than thou attitude on this matter. >> So, look before you leap. You don't want to end up falling on your >> face, do >> you? >> best >> Shuddha >> On 15-Mar-10, at 6:02 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: >> >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is >> misused . >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate >> mischief . >> Pawan >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> >> wrote: >> >> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and >> places in >> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of >> the article >> as provided by Javed himself. >> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even >> Muslim >> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be >> found on >> the weblink provided by Javed) >> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's >> intentions in >> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' >> behind the >> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >> background. >> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will >> get >> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But >> Javed of >> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to >> do so. >> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It >> only throws >> up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >> site >> called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >> Kshmendra >> >> >> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less >> harmful then >> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >> important >> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at >> innocent >> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the >> state then it >> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Dear C.Anupam , >> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >> in newspapers . >> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >> Reader-List - SARAI >> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >> trying to eductae you on his intent. >> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >> suggestions may continue to do so. >> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >> Pawan >> >> From: Dan Husain >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector >> twice in mock >> anti-terror drill >> To: >> Cc: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >> Dear Pawan: >> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >> flippant, >> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >> laughable. >> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >> planned >> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get >> shot >> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was >> just >> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. >> And when >> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was >> the DCP >> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone >> that too >> twice. My mind belies any accident. >> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly >> defend the >> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no >> fault of >> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice >> and for >> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has >> actively >> encouraged this mindset. >> Thanks >> Danish >> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >> Thanks. >> >> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Pawan, >> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are >> not >> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >> which should discuss things about police reforms across the >> country to >> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's >> intention to >> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point >> here. >> Anupam >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >> wrote: >> >> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >> >> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >> shot him twice >> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >> Airport on February 24. >> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the >> entire >> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each >> cop >> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer >> tasked >> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >> during rescue operations.” >> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >> ‘passengers’ hostage. >> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught >> hold of >> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left >> struggling to >> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >> is still to recover but is now out of danger. >> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on >> the >> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >> could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >> service revolver. >> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At >> this >> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >> statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >> statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >> Jha said. >> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >> carry out a departmental inquiry. >> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident >> was >> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. >> Both >> the officials are from police department _ they are not some >> criminals >> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >> >> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist- >> pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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/> >> >> Shuddhabrata Sengupta >> The Sarai Programme at CSDS >> Raqs Media Collective >> shuddha at sarai.net >> www.sarai.net >> www.raqsmediacollective.net >> >> Shuddhabrata Sengupta The Sarai Programme at CSDS Raqs Media Collective shuddha at sarai.net www.sarai.net www.raqsmediacollective.net From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 16 12:03:22 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:03:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <315A1874-D5A9-4DAC-91AA-5E664D755918@sarai.net> References: <61cdd2df1003150318i5a3d020fxc8f18aaca056215f@mail.gmail.com> <16743.97389.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <6b79f1a71003150532r159258fdi4735c161c4c20b91@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003152239k3cef1e0emf76f1280aa47486e@mail.gmail.com> <315A1874-D5A9-4DAC-91AA-5E664D755918@sarai.net> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003152333h5895286ue96909af3723a0cf@mail.gmail.com> Sir , What i stated regarding Pune blast was Police version. Even arrests have been made regarding that . If you wish to live in denial mode , that is your choice to live with. Being a nationalist , i find your thoughts very mischievous , objectionable, and devious. Lastly , the denial mode of yours still continue with Batla House encounter. Even our red neighboring country , with whom you share your ideological thought is suffering from a known terrorism. Do I have to write what ? Or would you blame Hindus for that as well. Obsessive word is so well defined in websters... Pawan On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:24 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear Pawan, > You seem to forget, that I, contrary to your expectations of what you think > a 'liberal' would say, have always spoken against a premature identification > of the perpetrators of any terrorist outrages by communal tags. This applies > even to the case of the Pune bombings, where even a piece by Praveen Swami, > whom I think you admire for his work in and on Kashmir, suggested that there > might be a 'hindu' hand. Even in that case, I cateogorically stated, that > the 'identity' of terrorists is not an issue that should be played around > with in loose terms. > My comment on your posting was necessary because you objected against the > use of the word 'Muslim' as a prefix in the title of a posting on this list > concerning the policeman who was attacked by his colleague in Gujarat. I > merely wished to point out that you, yourself, are guilty of the same > practice in the title of your posting on the Pune terror attacks. > I believe in being fair. I believe that if it is wrong to unnecessarily > emphasize the identity of those who attack or are attacked, then this > principle applies in all cases. I believe in freedom of expression for both > M.F. Husain and for Taslima Nasreen. I do not distinguish between Hindu, > Muslim, Maoists, Marxists or Scientologists when it comes to the discussion > of their stupidities, weaknesses, venality, or of their being oppressed and > put upon. > However, I find that you, and others like you on this list constantly > harangue us with the specialness of being who you are. I find your > narcissism deeply disturbing, unhealthy and vicious. > best > Shuddha > On 16-Mar-10, at 11:09 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > Dear Shuddha , > Happy Navreh, > Much as I know that it is your compulsion to oppose my view , > nevertheless it makes for an interesting reading . > Well tried is all I can say. > You have quoted my subject line dated 16th Feb, Please check the following > link > http://ibnlive.in.com/news/pune-blast-investigation-police-detain-two/110208-3.html > It states "Investigators suspect the role of the Indian Mujahideen > (IM) and the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba group in Saturday's blast > in German Bakery in Pune in which 9 persons were killed. The Home > Ministry is categorical that the attack was planned in Pakistan." > Please read the complete article and you would come to know who are > the suspects. > What do I call Lashkar & Indian Mujahideen ? Do I deny the fact that > these are Islamic Fascist ? > You continue to remain denial mode for even Batla house as well . It > is this compulsion of remaining obsessive to ones own thought that has > bought down the ideology you follow .....across the world. And you > continue to remain in denial. > Please make a charter of what all false things I need to write to call > myself a Liberal , Sickular , Pro Minority ? > Do I have to be one line you to qualify ? > > > Pawan > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 2:38 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta > wrote: > > Dear Pawan, > Spare us the piety. And the next time you want to get hypocritical, try and > do it with a little more elegance. > Last month, you sent a posting on this list with the following heading. > [Reader-list] Pune: Islamic terror? > Date: 16 February 2010 11:10:06 AM GMT+05:30 > We know that there was an act of terrorism in Pune. > We do not know as yet the identity of the perpetrators. > They could be Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Believers in UFOs, anything. > Investigations are underway. > There as strong, albeit hypothetical, grounds for assuming that they could > be linked to the 'Abhinav Bharat' group, who happen to be Hinduvadis. Pune > is their stronghold. They have everything to gain from a 'false flag' > operation, especially in the wake of the drubbing that the Shiv Sena > received on the 'My Name is Khan' issue, and in anticipation of the way in > which yet another attack would have queered the pitch on the resumption of > the India-Pakistan dialogue process. There could be equally strong, and > equally hypothetical grounds for assuming that the Pune attack was the work > of Islamists. In such cases, it is best not to weigh in in any one > direction. But you did not do that, did you? > I have publicly said on the list that we should never jump to conclusions > about the 'identity' of terrorism, and have even supported the right of > known Hindu Fundamentalists to be considered innocent vis-a-vis terrorist > outrages until and unless proved guilty in a free, fair and transparent > trial. > So, when you title a posting - " Pune: Islamic Terror? ", you are surely > imposing your twisted and sick communal agenda on this list. At least in the > case of the Gujarat incident, we know what the identity of the policeman who > was shot happened to have been. I do not support putting 'identity' tags on > the headings of any discussions on this list. But you, in particular, are in > no position to adopt a holier than thou attitude on this matter. > So, look before you leap. You don't want to end up falling on your face, do > you? > best > Shuddha > On 15-Mar-10, at 6:02 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Thank you Kshemendra , > I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . > Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only > 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. > And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to > convince the readers earlier as well . > Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which > has members from across the world. > @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . > Pawan > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: > Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in > the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " > The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the article > as provided by Javed himself. > Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim > police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on > the weblink provided by Javed) > One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in > making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the > incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" background. > It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get > mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and > commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of > SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. > This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. > I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only throws > up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a site > called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings > Kshmendra > > Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then > actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most important > to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent > people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then it > becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Dear C.Anupam , > Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. > Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come > in newspapers . > ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI > Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express > Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India > And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows > Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : > Reader-List - SARAI > If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of > trying to eductae you on his intent. > No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my > suggestions may continue to do so. > Remember ...till they come marching to your door. > Pawan > From: Dan Husain > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock > anti-terror drill > To: > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM > Dear Pawan: > I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, > insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. > Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned > out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot > twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just > doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is > outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when > there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP > carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too > twice. My mind belies any accident. > And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the > wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of > theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for > his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively > encouraged this mindset. > Thanks > Danish > PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > Pawan, > Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you > assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not > brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there > will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. > It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, > which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to > a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to > post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. > Anupam > Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 > And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how > 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP > shot him twice > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat > Airport on February 24. > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit > during rescue operations.” > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding > ‘passengers’ hostage. > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed > is still to recover but is now out of danger. > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded > service revolver. > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” > Jha said. > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to > carry out a departmental inquiry. > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 > > > _________________________________________ > 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/> > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > The Sarai Programme at CSDS > Raqs Media Collective > shuddha at sarai.net > www.sarai.net > www.raqsmediacollective.net > > From aliens at dataone.in Tue Mar 16 13:16:17 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:16:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] todays news on mock drill incident Message-ID: <000001cac4dc$c3ccd270$4b667750$@in> Today, 16th march 2010 newspaper report. Later, Khandwawala told media persons, "Sayyed denies having made any comment on the issue that would suggest that Subhas Trivedi was to blame. He believes that it was an accident. Sayyed was so pained by the news that he had offered to resign over the controversy surrounding the incident." http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIA &showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI please got to link open page 2 to see news TIMES NEWS NETWORK Ahmedabad: Director general of police, Gujarat, SS Khandwawala, met police inspector of anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Shabbir Ali Sayyed, at his house here on Monday. Sayyed had been shot accidentally during a mock drill at Surat airport earlier this month. Deputy commissioner of police, Subhash Trivedi, had accidentally shot the ATS cop, who was part of the team posing as terrorists. Along with Khandwawala, chief of ATS, Ajay Tomar too met Sayyed. The meeting was concerning a controversy that erupted around the incident. Later, Khandwawala told media persons, "Sayyed denies having made any comment on the issue that would suggest that Subhas Trivedi was to blame. He believes that it was an accident. Sayyed was so pained by the news that he had offered to resign over the controversy surrounding the incident." Khandwawala added that as Trivedi and Sayyed had no personal grudge, the question of intentional firing was out of question. "Investigators from ATS and Surat police are expected to submit their report on the issue soon. We have also roped in forensic experts to determine the cause of fire and how the incident took place," he said. He further said that it was Trivedi, who had ensured that all the police firearms were unloaded before the mock drill was conducted. "The incident was recorded on CCTV camera installed at Surat airport. I saw the video clip and it proves that the incident was an accident. Though there was an error. The police officials involved in this mock drill were asked to use rubber bullets. Why this directive was not followed is being probed," he said. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 16 13:58:09 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:58:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] todays news on mock drill incident In-Reply-To: <000001cac4dc$c3ccd270$4b667750$@in> References: <000001cac4dc$c3ccd270$4b667750$@in> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003160128k19f94531k97785fbca42c5b72@mail.gmail.com> Dear Bipin Ji , Thank you. Though L and apologists would surely dislike this news. It goes against their agenda. Pawan On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 1:16 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Today, 16th march 2010 newspaper report. > > > > Later, Khandwawala told media persons, "Sayyed denies having made any > comment on the issue that would suggest that Subhas Trivedi was to blame. > He > believes that it was an accident. Sayyed was so pained by the news that he > had offered to resign over the controversy surrounding the incident." > > > > http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIA > < > http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIA& > showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI> &showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI > > > > please got to link open page 2 to see news > > > > TIMES NEWS NETWORK > > Ahmedabad: Director general of police, Gujarat, SS Khandwawala, met police > inspector of anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Shabbir Ali Sayyed, at his house > here on Monday. > Sayyed had been shot accidentally during a mock drill at Surat airport > earlier this month. Deputy commissioner of police, Subhash Trivedi, had > accidentally shot the ATS cop, who was part of the team posing as > terrorists. > Along with Khandwawala, chief of ATS, Ajay Tomar too met Sayyed. The > meeting > was concerning a controversy that erupted around the incident. > Later, Khandwawala told media persons, "Sayyed denies having made any > comment on the issue that would suggest that Subhas Trivedi was to blame. > He > believes that it was an accident. Sayyed was so pained by the news that he > had offered to resign over the controversy surrounding the incident." > Khandwawala added that as Trivedi and Sayyed had no personal grudge, the > question of intentional firing was out of question. "Investigators from ATS > and Surat police are expected to submit their report on the issue soon. We > have also roped in forensic experts to determine the cause of fire and how > the incident took place," he said. He further said that it was Trivedi, who > had ensured that all the police firearms were unloaded before the mock > drill > was conducted. > "The incident was recorded on CCTV camera installed at Surat airport. I saw > the video clip and it proves that the incident was an accident. Though > there > was an error. The police officials involved in this mock drill were asked > to > use rubber bullets. Why this directive was not followed is being probed," > he > said. > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 Tue Mar 16 14:16:40 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:46:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar In-Reply-To: <16947.99177.qm@web112104.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <181761.37419.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear AKM   Excellently well made point   Kshmendra --- On Mon, 3/15/10, A.K. Malik wrote: From: A.K. Malik Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar To: "Javed" Cc: reader-list at sarai.net Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:16 PM Hi Javed,           Just for your information see part of the news item: "The Haryana special task force (STF) is supposed to fight terrorists and serious crime, so it hurts the state when the team’s members were caught on camera robbing a stockbroker in Panipat. Seven STF men, dressed in plainclothes, struck twice on March 11. They first allegedly looted Rs 6 lakh from a stockbroker after tying him up. They then tried to extort Rs 10 lakh from jeweller V K Malhotra, claiming to be members of the Haryana vigilance department. Malhotra gave the STF men Rs one lakh and asked them to collect the remaining amount after 30 minutes." So this news item need to be converted to HARYANA POLICE STF LOOTS HINDU TRADERS.What if they happened to be muslims. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed wrote: > From: Javed > Subject: [Reader-list] Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar > To: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:03 PM > Everyday we see hundreds of maligning > mails from the regulars on > Sarai. So why not a little more sensationalizing via these > old news > items. Sorry for filling up your inboxes. > > --- > > Encounter was a policy in Gujarat: Ex-DGP Sreekumar > > Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, former > director > general of police R B Sreekumar said encounters were done > by the state > “as a matter of policy”. Recalling his interactions > with the then > chief secretary G S Subbarao, when Sreekumar was > Gujarat’s > intelligence chief during 2002 riots, the former director > general of > police said: “Subbarao told me that we will have to kill > some people > to prove that the Gujarat Police is very strong. I did not > agree with > him and said that it will amount to entering into a > conspiracy under > Section 120-B of the IPC.” > > With Judicial Magistrate S P Tamang’s report holding 21 > police > personnel responsible for the fake encounter of Ishrat > Jahan and three > others in June 2004, relatives of two other alleged victims > of > extra-judicial killing by the Gujarat Police, Mahendra > Jadav and > Jaffer Qasim, came here from Mumbai on Wednesday and > demanded judicial > inquiry into the two incidents. Sumitra Jadhav, mother of > Mahendra, > and Mariam, widow of Jaffer, have already moved the Supreme > Court > through Mumbai-based NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace > (CJP). They > have also asked the state for compensation. > > Sreekumar, along with Teesta Setalvad of the CJP, was > present at the > press conference. Sumitra and Mariam narrated how their > relatives were > allegedly killed by the state police. > > Sreekumar said the statement of the state government > spokesperson, Jay > Narayan Vyas, regarding Tamang’s report “amounted to > contempt of > court”. Vyas had stated that the magistrate had submitted > his inquiry > report in a hurry by overstepping his jurisdiction and the > government > will challenge it in the high court. > > Sreekumar had earned the wrath of the state government for > deposing > against it before the Nanavati-Shah panel probing Godhra > and > post-Godhra riots of 2002. He was denied promotion by the > Modi > government. However, he got his promotion post-retirement > after an > order was issued by the Central Administrative Tribunal. > > New Delhi: Gujarat government on Wednesday opposed handing > over the > probe into the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake > encounter to > the CBI or the Special Investigating Team (SIT) even as the > Supreme > Court said there was a need for going into the bottom of > the case to > erase all doubts. “The state has to go to the bottom of > the case. The > investigation has to be beyond all doubts,” a Bench > comprising > Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam said. > > Even as senior advocate Dushyant Dave, arguing on behalf > of > Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin, the petitioner, urged > the court to > hand over the probe from the state police to an independent > agency > like the SIT, state’s counsel opposed it saying that > every time it > cannot be assumed that the Gujarat Police was acting with > prejudice. > Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who defended the Modi > government, > submitted that when the state has admitted that Sohrabuddin > was killed > in a fake encounter and the chargesheet has been filed in > the case, > there’s not much left for apex court to monitor. “In > this case, the > monitoring by SC must come to an end,” he argued. > > “This is no less disturbing when you admit that this is a > fake > encounter,” the Bench remarked when Rohatgi opposed the > suggestion to > hand over the investigations to the SIT or CBI against the > wishes of > the state government. > > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/encounter-was-a-policy-in-gujarat-exdgp-sreekumar/515260/0 > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 16 16:12:24 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:12:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003160342x7e1f6fata6ecb84d20500f84@mail.gmail.com> "Besides, the interrogation of the recently-arrested Indian Mujhaideen cadres including Ahmad Khwaja, Shahzad and Salman, has revealed the ISI-LeT’s plans to use local IM terrorists to launch attacks in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. While the government has recently arrested many fugitive IM leaders and cadres from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and a west Asian nation, the security agencies fear that some modules may already be lying dormant across Indian cities, waiting to be activated for a future terror attack. Even in Kerala, from where terror suspect T Nazir said several terror modules were recruited, fundamentalist political outfits such as PDP are said to be closely working with ISI and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Though leader Abdul Nasser Madani is not active, his aides are ensuring that new jihadis are recruited and logistics arranged for ISI-sponsored terror aimed against India." http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Liquid-jihad-Water-lies-to-boost-dampened-spirits/articleshow/5684003.cms From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Tue Mar 16 18:14:28 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:14:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Burmese Protest Message-ID: Invitation                                       Protest Rally against the SPDC¹s Electoral Laws     In response to the military regime¹s release of new electoral laws for 2010 elections, Burmese Democracy Activists in India will stage a protest rally against the undemocratic laws on 17th March in New Delhi, India.   On 8th March, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) released the five sets of new electoral laws to govern the upcoming elections in 2010, whose date has yet to be announced. The Political Parties Registration Law requires that parties register within 60 days, giving the National League for Democracy two months to decide whether to kick-out democratic leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as its leader or become a banned party. 2200 political prisoners are also not allowed to participate in the new elections.   This is totally against the will of the peoples of Burma and the international community including the United Nations. UN Secretary General has been urging the Burmese junta to release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi and start inclusive dialogue with key stakeholders from democracy groups and ethnic nationalities for the reconciliation. To protest against the undemocratic electoral laws Burmese democracy activists in India will stage a protest rally as per the schedule below. You are invited to join the rally to show your solidarity with the Burmese people in their struggle for democracy in Burma.   Schedule   Date  :  17th March 2010 , Wednesday Time :  11:00 AM Venue:  Janta Mantar, New Delhi     For more information :  Kim, BCD at +91-9810476273                                     : Thin Thin Aung , WLB at +91-9891252316                                     : Dr.Tint Swe, NCGUB at+ 91-9810003286                                     : Dr.Zaw Win Aung at +91-9871578569   From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Tue Mar 16 23:20:53 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:20:53 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <200168.60082.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <658090.33916.qm@web94711.mail.in2.yahoo.com> We cant blame Modi for this, surely. Yet the conduct of the DCp has to be questioned in such cases, you cant shoot anyone just because u r armed........... .... Is it not shocking to imagine civilians bearing similar ordeal. The guy is lucky that he's a muslim, at the same time we can't rubbish such incidents. They force us to remember forgotten and ignored questions. Like a muslim cop helpless before a hindu Senior. Or, that of a civilian, may be. But it is true that questions arise and are archived and linked to like this one reminds us of Guj Govt refusing to hand over to CBI another case wherein it's interest groups are affected. This obviously is not done. NOt because this guy is a muslim but so that innocent muslims or any person feel singled out and turn into a true Jihadi. ________________________________ From: Rakesh Iyer To: Kshmendra Kaul Cc: sarai list Sent: Mon, 15 March, 2010 9:47:41 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill I really wonder what is the idea of all this fight: is this to turn this forum into a joke or what? Some very generalized statements have been made here, like the intentions of a person being discovered and made public, to the idea that Gujarat police is entirely corrupt and communal. I would seriously request the members of this forum not to make unsubstantiated allegations of such kind, and also please protest but with not animosity as being witnessed in this. This only generates heat without leading to any light, as one of my friends recently said to me. It also shames me here that the entire issue has lost its' sole focus, which should have been to debate the incident and as to why it has taken place. It is certainly in a long list of incidents for which Gujarat has been in the news (for wrong reasons mostly). And such incidents can't be a matter of respect. However, making such statements or attributing motives without an inquiry is something which should be condemned. If anybody wishes to attribute such a motive, please go ahead with facts and logical interpretations. After all, even Modi was condemned based on facts only, not on arbitrary assumptions. In that regard, the conduct of the inspector can be definitely questioned. But to attribute that to only a communal motive may not be necessarily true. It could be a money angle. It could be a mistake. So let's wait for the inquiry. Or you can turn into an investigative journalist, gather facts based on the past and the incident itself, and the present, and then put those facts here. They would be certainly appreciated. 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/> Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Tue Mar 16 23:35:06 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:35:06 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: todays news on mock drill incident In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003160128k19f94531k97785fbca42c5b72@mail.gmail.com> References: <000001cac4dc$c3ccd270$4b667750$@in> <6b79f1a71003160128k19f94531k97785fbca42c5b72@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <792249.76659.qm@web94703.mail.in2.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: subhrodip sengupta To: Pawan Durani Sent: Tue, 16 March, 2010 11:34:42 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] todays news on mock drill incident Why isnt the video made public once the discussion is on media. And what urges Sayeed to resign just not pardon the accused. Khandelwal missed to answer this. Just put the blame on media and it'll shirk away! ________________________________ From: Pawan Durani To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Sent: Tue, 16 March, 2010 1:58:09 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] todays news on mock drill incident Dear Bipin Ji , Thank you. Though L and apologists would surely dislike this news. It goes against their agenda. Pawan On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 1:16 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Today, 16th march 2010 newspaper report. > > > > Later, Khandwawala told media persons, "Sayyed denies having made any > comment on the issue that would suggest that Subhas Trivedi was to blame. > He > believes that it was an accident. Sayyed was so pained by the news that he > had offered to resign over the controversy surrounding the incident." > > > > http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIA > < > http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIA& > showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI> &showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI > > > > please got to link open page 2 to see news > > > > TIMES NEWS NETWORK > > Ahmedabad: Director general of police, Gujarat, SS Khandwawala, met police > inspector of anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Shabbir Ali Sayyed, at his house > here on Monday. > Sayyed had been shot accidentally during a mock drill at Surat airport > earlier this month. Deputy commissioner of police, Subhash Trivedi, had > accidentally shot the ATS cop, who was part of the team posing as > terrorists. > Along with Khandwawala, chief of ATS, Ajay Tomar too met Sayyed. The > meeting > was concerning a controversy that erupted around the incident. > Later, Khandwawala told media persons, "Sayyed denies having made any > comment on the issue that would suggest that Subhas Trivedi was to blame. > He > believes that it was an accident. Sayyed was so pained by the news that he > had offered to resign over the controversy surrounding the incident." > Khandwawala added that as Trivedi and Sayyed had no personal grudge, the > question of intentional firing was out of question. "Investigators from ATS > and Surat police are expected to submit their report on the issue soon. We > have also roped in forensic experts to determine the cause of fire and how > the incident took place," he said. He further said that it was Trivedi, who > had ensured that all the police firearms were unloaded before the mock > drill > was conducted. > "The incident was recorded on CCTV camera installed at Surat airport. I saw > the video clip and it proves that the incident was an accident. Though > there > was an error. The police officials involved in this mock drill were asked > to > use rubber bullets. Why this directive was not followed is being probed," > he > said. > > > > _________________________________________ > 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/> ________________________________ The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 17 08:23:24 2010 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:53:24 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran Message-ID: <377696.52318.qm@web51401.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran By JASON REZAIAN / TEHRAN Jason Rezaian / Tehran For days, state-run television in Iran declared that, for their own safety, citizens should stay home and keep children indoors on the evening of March 16. And indeed, the streets of Iran did erupt into flames. But the opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not organize it. Tuesday evening was the beginning of Nowrooz, the two-week-long traditional Iranian New Year celebration, which for more than three millenniums marked the beginning of spring in the Persian world. The popular holiday, celebrated with bonfires and, more recently, illegal fireworks, is so hoary it predates the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - a fact that the mullahs who rule Iran are quite sensitive about. One ayatullah, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, called the first day of Nowrooz a "superstitious act and baseless. Pious and sensible Muslims will stay away from it." >From the time the sun set Tuesday evening, Tehran was filled with the sounds of small explosions and the smell of smoke. Police and Basij militia presence throughout the city was as high as it has been at any point since last year's controversial presidential election, but for the most part, the law-enforcement officers remained cool, with some officers even joining crowds around bonfires and chatting with the attendees. Some small scuffles broke out when Basij arrived to break up impromptu block parties. (See pictures of Iran's antigovernment demonstrations.) The explosions continued well past midnight, although the state did what it could to keep Iranians from attending the festivities, including airing Hollywood blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on television. None of those tactics worked; the streets were filled with people who for one night seemed to ignore the recent proscriptions of the ruling religious establishment. Said an attendee who asked to remain anonymous: "This isn't something that the government can take away from us. We've been doing this for 3,000 years. They should just accept it." ] The holiday is so sensitive that the opposition doesn't want to be anywhere near accusations that it is fomenting unrest during its celebration. The so-called Green Movement leadership actually asked its followers not to target the day for protest, as has been done with Muslim holy days and the anniversaries of important dates in the Islamic revolution led by the late Ayatullah Khomeini. The blowback would be worse for opposition leaders like Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi if they were seen as promoting demonstrations during a festival from the days before Iran converted to Islam. No one wants to be called un-Islamic. (See how Iran's opposition is searching for a new strategy.) Yet the first day of Nowrooz has always been irresistible to Iranians, because it is tied not to Muslim piety but to Persian pride. Its roots are in Zoroastrianism, the world's first monotheistic religion - the country's national faith before Islam - one in which fire is revered as a symbol of purity. Apart from the theocracy, most Iranians in and outside the country, irrespective of their religion, celebrate the ancient rites. The Tuesday-night event itself is known as Chaharshanbe Suri (literally "Wednesday Party," because dusk brings the new day in Iran) and was originally intended as a ritual to ward off evil spirits and negative energy collected in the previous year. That purification is done by leaping over a series of small bonfires. In recent times, however, the ritual has evolved into an opportunity for people to set off illegal fireworks, some of extremely dubious quality and reliability, creating what many residents of Tehran liken to a war zone. Some older residents even compare the night and the anxiety it brings to the eight-year-long war with Iraq when Saddam Hussein's air force intermittently and indiscriminately bombed Tehran. Says a Tehran taxi driver in his 60s: "People used to enjoy themselves on this day. This is supposed to be a family tradition, but it's not safe for women and children out here. This is a very dangerous night." (See the top 10 Ahmadinejad-isms.) Concerns have arisen about public buildings, including government-controlled banks, being targeted for arson. Sporadic explosions began on Monday night. "This is nothing," said Setareh, a 25-year-old graduate student in English studies, the night before the festival. Tuesday, she predicted, "will feel like you're in Gaza." Police in Tehran have attributed several deaths over the past few days to faulty fireworks. In the past 31 years, the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran have attempted to diminish the public's attachment to these holidays. Last week, the Friday-prayers leader in the seminary city of Qom, Ayatullah Reza Ostadi, said Chaharshanbe Suri "is no different from other days, and, given that the outsiders of the establishment have heavily invested in this day, we must turn our backs on it." Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei echoed those sentiments, issuing a statement on his website Sunday in which, in reference to the celebration, he wrote that it has "no basis in shari'a [Islamic law] and creates a lot of harm and corruption, [which is why] it is appropriate to avoid it." Police and Basij erected roadblocks and conducted car searches in much of the capital over the weekend. Last week, Tehran Governor Morteza Tamadon announced that 500 individuals involved in the illicit trade of fireworks had been arrested. "Tradition showcases the beauties of a culture," said Tamadon, adding that "the fire ritual offers nothing but ugliness, fear and worry ... With decisive action, we will try to wipe the problem called Chaharshanbe Suri from the mind of society within the next two years." That is unlikely to happen. http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100317/wl_time/08599197278600 From saifazmi at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 10:10:09 2010 From: saifazmi at gmail.com (saif azmi) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:40:09 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <658090.33916.qm@web94711.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <200168.60082.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <658090.33916.qm@web94711.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8147eff11003162140x177ebb3ak15bfdd3062212042@mail.gmail.com> I have been scanning the news with diligence and have not seen any reportage on this shooting incident, i think the blame game carries no meaning wether we blame Modi or the DCP (who is hindu ) the point is will the law order machinery work in the way its supposed to work ...meaning will justice be meted out to the perpetrator. On waking up this morning hence i checked the news channels and the newspapers and there was nothing ..zilch..no coverage on Syed's shooting..strange and sad ...is the media really hushing up this incident ??? can somebody give some answers Saif On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:50 AM, subhrodip sengupta < sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in> wrote: > We cant blame Modi for this, surely. Yet the conduct of the DCp has to be > questioned in such cases, you cant shoot anyone just because u r > armed........... .... > Is it not shocking to imagine civilians bearing similar ordeal. The guy is > lucky that he's a muslim, at the same time we can't rubbish such incidents. > They force us to remember forgotten and ignored questions. Like a muslim cop > helpless before a hindu Senior. > Or, that of a civilian, may be. But it is true that questions arise and are > archived and linked to like this one reminds us of Guj Govt refusing to hand > over to CBI another case wherein it's interest groups are affected. This > obviously is not done. NOt because this guy is a muslim but so that innocent > muslims or any person feel singled out and turn into a true Jihadi. > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Rakesh Iyer > To: Kshmendra Kaul > Cc: sarai list > Sent: Mon, 15 March, 2010 9:47:41 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in > mock anti-terror drill > > I really wonder what is the idea of all this fight: is this to turn this > forum into a joke or what? > > Some very generalized statements have been made here, like the intentions > of > a person being discovered and made public, to the idea that Gujarat police > is entirely corrupt and communal. I would seriously request the members of > this forum not to make unsubstantiated allegations of such kind, and also > please protest but with not animosity as being witnessed in this. This only > generates heat without leading to any light, as one of my friends recently > said to me. > > It also shames me here that the entire issue has lost its' sole focus, > which > should have been to debate the incident and as to why it has taken place. > It > is certainly in a long list of incidents for which Gujarat has been in the > news (for wrong reasons mostly). And such incidents can't be a matter of > respect. However, making such statements or attributing motives without an > inquiry is something which should be condemned. If anybody wishes to > attribute such a motive, please go ahead with facts and logical > interpretations. After all, even Modi was condemned based on facts only, > not > on arbitrary assumptions. > > In that regard, the conduct of the inspector can be definitely questioned. > But to attribute that to only a communal motive may not be necessarily > true. > It could be a money angle. It could be a mistake. So let's wait for the > inquiry. Or you can turn into an investigative journalist, gather facts > based on the past and the incident itself, and the present, and then put > those facts here. They would be certainly appreciated. > > 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: > > > Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! > http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:09:16 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003162239h2f982465k3283f4b3ff9b857c@mail.gmail.com> Source : http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians-by-muslims/ CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- CHILDREN AND WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE MUSLIMS HAD BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN OUT ONTO THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI’S CUT THEM DOWN- IT WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! 10,000 Christians have been slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. And Barack Obama says nothing. Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site has more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in January, took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with machetes and then put in fire. A witness who visited the village after the massacre reported that there were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. The Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the sleeping villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with machetes. Jos is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly Christian southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious riots. LINK Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious differences. 60% of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the country. Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia law 10 years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the country. In August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened to demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all businesses belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new law against clothing that is not compliant with Islamic law. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:20:34 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:20:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Curious Case of Dilip Patidar* Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003162250m418a5ceai3ef8fe1dd6c6763e@mail.gmail.com> Source :Satyameva Jayate Blog Most of you reading this would not have heard of Dilip Patidar.  I had not either.  Until November 2008, Dilip Patidar was another “ordinary Indian citizen” – or so it appears.  But since then, he has not been traceable. Here is the sad story of a creaking legal system, a missing person and an indifferent administration. Click on the link to read the complete article Link : http://bit.ly/amzrfy From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:33:44 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:33:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003162239h2f982465k3283f4b3ff9b857c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Pawan, talk about selective communal headlines that you recently accused Javed of posting! Why post someone's hysterical blog when more detailed and balanced news is freely available? The killings in Nigeria have a history located in tensions between different tribes, some who are cattle-herders and others who are settlers, and are not simply a case of communal violence. BTW this incident is seen as an act of vengeance when in January the cattle-herders (who happened to be Muslim) were attacked and scores were killed. > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > > Source > : http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians > -by-muslims/ CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- > CHILDREN AND WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE > MUSLIMS HAD BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN > OUT ONTO THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM > DOWN- IT WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! 10,000 Christians have been > slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. And Barack Obama says > nothing. Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site > has more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in > January, took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with > machetes and then put in fire. A witness who visited the village after the > massacre reported that there were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. The > Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the sleeping > villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with machetes. Jos > is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly Christian > southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious > riots. LINK Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most > populated country in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious > differences. 60% of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the > country. Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia > law 10 years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the > country. In August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened > to demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all > businesses belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new > law against clothing that is not compliant with Islamic > law. _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:35:08 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:35:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003162239h2f982465k3283f4b3ff9b857c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: FYI: >From the New York Times March 8, 2010 Toll From Religious and Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Rises to 500 By ADAM NOSSITER DAKAR, Senegal ‹ Officials and human rights groups in Nigeria sharply increased the count of the dead after a weekend of vicious ethnic violence, saying Monday that as many as 500 people ‹ many of them women and children ‹ may have been killed near the city of Jos, long a center of tensions between Christians and Muslims. The dead were Christians and members of an ethnic group that had been feuding with the Hausa-Fulani, Muslim herders whom witnesses and police officials identified as the attackers. Officials said the attack was in reprisal for violence in January, when dozens of Muslims were slaughtered in and around Jos, including more than 150 in one village. Early Sunday, the attackers set upon the villagers with machetes, killing women and children in their homes and ensnaring the men who tried to flee in fishnets and animal traps, then massacring them, according to a Nigerian rights group whose investigators went to the area. Some homes were set on fire. The latest attacks were ³a sort of vengeance from the Hausa-Fulani,² said the Rev. Emmanuel Joel, of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Jos. After the January attacks, ³the military watched over the city, and neglected the villages,² he said. The attackers ³began to massacre as early as 4 a.m.,² Mr. Joel said. ³They began to slaughter the people like animals.² The police said Monday that they had made 95 arrests, including a number of Hausa-Fulani. The clothes of many of the suspects were bloodstained, said Mohammed Larema, a police spokesman in Plateau State. The mood in Jos was tense Monday. Troops were deployed in the streets, shops closed early and residents remained indoors. A few miles south of the city nearly 400 of the victims were buried in a mass grave in Dogon Na Hauwa, the village where the worst violence occurred. Some of the bodies had been mutilated. There, women cried unconsolably amid crowds of mourners, and the smell of burned and decomposing flesh hung in the air. Officials combed a large area around the village, continuing to find bodies during the day. Shehu Sani, president of Civil Rights Congress, said in a phone interview on Monday that members of his group counted 492 bodies, mainly in Dogon Na Hauwa. He said that security forces had not been much in evidence in the ³vulnerable areas² south of Jos. Mr. Sani said that the attackers were motivated at least in part by a large theft of cattle by members of the same Christian ethnic group as the victims. ³We were at the scene of the violence,² Mr. Sani said, suggesting that the local government figure of 500 was not an exaggeration. ³We have counted as many bodies as that,² he said. ³There are not enough functional mortuaries to take them. It¹s possibly even more than that because many were buried without documentation.² Mr. Sani said the latest violence strongly resembled the killings in January. At that time, one predominantly Muslim village, Kuru Karama, was virtually wiped out, and bodies were thrown into pits and latrines. Jude Owuamanam contributed reporting from Dogon Na Hauwa and Jos, Nigeria. > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > > Source > : http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians > -by-muslims/ CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- > CHILDREN AND WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE > MUSLIMS HAD BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN > OUT ONTO THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM > DOWN- IT WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! 10,000 Christians have been > slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. And Barack Obama says > nothing. Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site > has more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in > January, took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with > machetes and then put in fire. A witness who visited the village after the > massacre reported that there were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. The > Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the sleeping > villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with machetes. Jos > is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly Christian > southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious > riots. LINK Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most > populated country in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious > differences. 60% of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the > country. Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia > law 10 years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the > country. In August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened > to demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all > businesses belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new > law against clothing that is not compliant with Islamic > law. _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:38:32 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:38:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003162239h2f982465k3283f4b3ff9b857c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: More from CNN Nigerian violence fed by ethnic, economic issues, ex-president says By Tom Evans, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTS At least 200 people have been killed in the recent sectarian violence Conflict does not have religious roots says former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka says next year's election will be crucial 150 Muslims were killed in violence in the Jos area in January (CNN) -- Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted Wednesday that this week's explosion of violence that claimed at least 200 lives is not driven by religious tensions between Christians and Muslims -- but by ethnic, social, and economic problems. In Sunday's violence near the central city of Jos, Christian villagers said a mob armed with guns, knives and machetes killed and burned at will, leaving a trail of death and destruction. The attack came in the same area that 150 Muslims were killed in January. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Obasanjo said, "If you have one group or a community that has land that's been encroached upon by another community or even by itinerant cattle farmers, then the people who lay claim to the land will fight back." "If there are job opportunities in an area, and persons believe they are indigenous to that area, and (are) not getting enough out of the jobs that are available, they will fight those who are getting the jobs," Obasanjo said. Obasanjo said he's convinced the conflict in the oil-rich nation does not have religious roots, because Nigerian religious leaders have come together and deliberated on the problems in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault-line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian south. The former president also said it will be very dangerous if the acting president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, fails to implement reforms quickly because that country -- Africa's most populous -- is full of expectations for change. Thousands of Nigerians Wednesday protested in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, demanding urgent action from the government on a host of issues ranging from corruption to unemployment. CNN's Christiane Purefoy, reporting from the scene, said there was a lot of tension between police and the protesters, who believe that local governors are trying to get away with as much as they can because there's no one in charge at the top. Acting President Jonathan continues to hold the reins of power, even though ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua has returned to Nigeria after three months treatment for an unspecified medical condition in Saudi Arabia. Purefoy reported that Jonathan hardly ever makes any public appearances, and seems to be acting president in name only, without exercising real power. Obasanjo said the whole episode with Yar'Adua is unusual. "I think ... the way it was handled by his handlers and the way it's been couched in secrecy and shrouded in mystery is strange. Somebody said it can only happen in 'wonderland' Nigeria." Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka told Amanpour the Nigerian people are demanding a sovereign national conference to empower the right people to restructure and reform the country. He said next year's general election will be crucial to the future of the nation. "Right now we're running a constitution that has been imposed on the people themselves," he added. Soyinka said the political system in Nigeria has been handed down first by the colonial past, and then by what he called "the internal colonial past," which is the military. Amanpour also spoke with another Nobel Prize laureate on the program, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who has always preached reconciliation over the urge for revenge. Tutu has written a new book "Made for Goodness" with his daughter, the Rev. Mpho Tutu. The book says that people are inherently good and there is inherent goodness on the earth. "All of history has demonstrated the truth that evil people, evil systems, don't last forever. They bite the dust," Archbishop Tutu said. "The fact of the matter is that evil is really an aberration. After God creates, God says, it is not just good, it's very good... and God rubs both hands and says 'ha, ha.'" Archbishop Tutu was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa that tried to heal the wounds in the country after decades of apartheid. Reports from Nigeria say lawmakers in the parliament there are proposing their own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to end the distrust that has fueled the violence in the center of the country. > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > > Source > : http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians > -by-muslims/ CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- > CHILDREN AND WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE > MUSLIMS HAD BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN > OUT ONTO THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM > DOWN- IT WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! 10,000 Christians have been > slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. And Barack Obama says > nothing. Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site > has more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in > January, took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with > machetes and then put in fire. A witness who visited the village after the > massacre reported that there were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. The > Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the sleeping > villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with machetes. Jos > is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly Christian > southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious > riots. LINK Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most > populated country in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious > differences. 60% of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the > country. Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia > law 10 years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the > country. In August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened > to demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all > businesses belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new > law against clothing that is not compliant with Islamic > law. _________________________________________ 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 indiaonedge at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:38:24 2010 From: indiaonedge at gmail.com (indiaonedge wordpress) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:38:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?India_=96_Seeking_Coherence?= Message-ID: <7b288a441003162308h7aed0cbfs63b07291d9b034eb@mail.gmail.com> An old piece, written at the height of the economic boom of 2007. Reproduced unedited. India – Seeking Coherence 16th September 2007 For those like the fool attempting to control the storm, every new day throws up a fresh set of reasons to lose hope in this nation of people we are born into. There are too many joyous proclamations of our impending greatness, and far too many peddlers of the dream of a new resurgence, for these to hold any real significance. Yet there are also moments of belief – few and fleeting – so heartening, that one wishes to record them, to piece together a truer picture of our future. And hopefully illuminate paths for those like oneself, drawn into the gloom of despair and bewilderment at a nation going wrong. Writing this is thus, imperative. GLOBALIZATION’S TERROR What is undeniable today is that it is globalization that is changing us. Now that we have had more than a fifteen years of integrating with the world economy, The medieval caste system in India is living proof of how cultural and mental mindsets are deeply affected by reinforced societal tradition – in this case, of imbibing in various designated groups, particular ways of life. Centuries of conditioned mindsets, belief, and self-image are not erased simply by words: “You are Free”. The Western tradition is consistently about a responsible, yet dominant position of man over nature. By separating himself from his surrounding, Western man has been engaged in ‘harnessing’, ‘conquering’ the natural world, by conscious will and a rational understanding of the physical world. And herein lie the fears of Marxists and their like. After a fifty year interval in a four hundred year period of being dominated, saying “India is Free” is not enough. Globalization is merely a perpetuation of powers that exist, and India will have a lot to lose, and little to gain from it. This is not very true. And one primary reason of why we need not fear too much this time, is because of our politics. Democratic politics has worked for us in a perverse, yet effective way. Our politics is almost always motivated by gain, self-interest and characterized by a lack of ideology. It therefore sees a brazen shifting of sides, groupings, affiliations and every interest colludes, conspires and undermines the other in a tumultuous ever-changing heap. It is a game of opportunities, and every one who has set foot into any of the nation’s cities knows its rules. For every politician trying to grab land for a developer, there are three others enticing those affected into groups, with promises of securing their benefit, and in the swinging of sides and bargains, the tides of power keep shifting. There is no absolute power, and none is unchanging. It is a symptom of most of India, as democracy makes deeper roots, the more fuzzy do issues of power become. In the end, everyone who has learned to be a bastard learns to get his interests secured. And that is the tragedy of our change. It is the cocky, gutkha chewing youth, with a cell phone, open shirt, coloured vest, and white sports shoes who gets the best for himself – not his gentle father, so entwined with the land that the roots of the trees seem to show in his veins, and his step indistinguishable from the light stepping of animals through the land. The only aspect that distinguishes the two is ironically, a formal education. So as our cities spread, as they communicate to the land, we have increasing outcrops of white shirted smart Ali’s who are very difficult to be taken for a ride, but who would love to try doing that to whomever they please. So yes, we will survive this ‘onslaught’. But sadly, we can never hope of being a great nation. Great nations may only be mythic, but all nations that have aspired for, and touched the flame of greatness at moments in history have always had mythic goals. No goal of a people that have transformed has been anything less than magnificent in its scope. We cannot be content with scraping together a few dollars by sweeping the corners of a materially magnificent West. Where must our targets lie? How do we be? We need to set our charts right, fly against the wind, learn and also invent, do and also think – to move as a slow powerful wave that does not go out for lack of fuel, does not stop at one place, never loses rhythm, that never destroys in haste, but which carries huge ideas, commitments and practices to newer shores; one that accepts at will, but does not lose a sense of itself, erodes what it must, slowly but surely, with a few moments of rage, but always at peace – a nation to sway the world, and when needed, sweep it off its feet. TRUE VALUE ENTERPRISE The current spurt of wealth in this country is the inevitability of contact with materially prosperous economies. There is a reason why beggars congregate to railway platforms in big cities. Out of the sheer magnitude of wealth passing around, even a fraction falling into his bowl far outweighs a days laboured begging at the village chowk. And with the mighty US of A trembling at the industrious China, the leaking tap leaks some more in India’s favour, as we go into raptures of regaining our place in the world. Let us suffer from no delusion. The textile mill boom of the 1860s brought similar hope to Indian industry. Besides offering cheap labour and minor geographical advantage, there was no real value that was being created then. And while situational advantages are transient, real value advantages stay. What Japan offered the world by mastering the age of Production was what few other nations could achieve. This is what India needs to aim at. There is no real value being brought by sending our intelligent young engineers to maintain computer networks around the world. There are other countries that will do the same soon enough – cost and locational advantages will even out. What is of importance is to ask the question ‘What real value are we creating?’ Ask this at a national level, and work at the answers. The first thrust area is obviously Information Technology. It privileges no one, and is the most democratic of all technologies we have seen so far, in that it values knowledge over goods. We can master the Information Age only if we value innovation, research, new thinking, independent development, and imbibe a fearless pursuit of new ideas, new processes, and new technologies. The second is an Agro-Based Industry. As a primarily agrarian nation, we have centuries-old traditions of working with the land. There can be no excuses gfor developing a professional, sound, reliable and well developed agro-based industry that again assigns value to efficiency but also creates new value in products that are healthy, varied and constantly undergoing development. The third is Clean Energy. This would most likely need to assume a form of diversified, decentralized, smaller products and projects with emphasis on sustainability, adaptability and innovation. This area is yet untapped, and offers huge potential in domestic and international markets for enterprises that are truly modern, and having real value. EMBEDDED CULTURE Sport and art are two precise barometers of the moral and cultural development of a nation. Indian cricket must then be our most embarrassing expose – a mascot for everything that is wrong with our inner selves. Bereft of self-belief, playing not to win but as actors on a stage to entertain, a karmic acceptance of their inferiority, and absolute inner instability and lack of courage are what we root for every time we throw ourselves behind our blue boys. There are few mass phenomena that we may be heartened to speak of as an assertion of a new developing culture. Somewhere deep and quiet though, is a silent amassing of strength. The popularity and spread of yoga must be seen as one of the most important cultural phenomena of modern urban India. An inner strength and spiritual understanding of the world is one of our greatest strengths, and using the medium of yoga in its modern form to penetrate deep into our spiritual self while clarifying and not confusing our material existence is truly a revolutionary moment. This should then act as the much needed shot in the arm for those advocating an interpretation of traditional systems of instruction into current curricula. Keeping this out of standard curricula for fear of missing out on modernity is like the West shunning technology or rational thought, for fear of missing out of spirituality in their schools. Traditions are meant to be built upon, not kept aside or forgotten. They are the invisible mountains that we stand on each day, from where we begin our journeys, and where we must leave behind our newer learnings for future generations. An education that builds inner strength is the only guarantee of a truly ‘free’ people that may act independently, not swept by the tides of external forces, or content – waiting for the dribbling of the tap to quench their thirsts. LEADERS, OTHERS, AND ME An important observation in the world of business is that employers that treat their employees with dignity are the ones who are able to charge a higher premium for work executed by them. Bestowing dignity is a cumulative, unending process that reaps rich dividends. For various reasons, we have wreaked havoc on our living spaces – especially our cities, with de-humanised standards of living for a vast majority of us. This is only counterproductive to ourselves. To allow ourselves to accept standards of living, working and interacting that lower standards of dignity for ourselves, or of others is counterproductive. Societies with dignity accorded to every individual is automatically seen and responded to as a developed society. The dignity of all forms of labour that has been fought for and achieved in the West is one of its greatest achievements. It does not take much for us to start expecting a dignity of conduct and living for others and for ourselves. Most of India has grown used to accepting a certain societal position accorded to them, and with that, an acceptance, though grudging, of the ‘higher’ powers – of richer classes, the powerful, leaders. Often in this acceptance lies a submission to the lack of dignity to oneself, and the lack of individual importance as a human being. The vast inequalities that exist are only a result of our acceptance of the inevitability of a top-down human society, where a few are leaders, and the rest mere followers. This is what capitalism can exploit and accentuate. Only when certain rights are made inalienable and strictly enforceable, when certain standards of living are strictly benchmarked, when a collective will that accepts the dignity of every human being arises, can true freedom and opportunity exist in this nation. A nation with a passive state is as good as having no state at all. For a top down system is a inevitability, and a truly developed state would not hold great pride in its unequal social system. At the cornerstone of our endeavours, we need to build, support, nurture and cherish a state such as that , to become a nation that is developed not partially, but completely. Not for a few, but for all. Not just developed materially, but intellectually, spiritually, culturally and socially. This is the India we need to believe in. http://indiaonedge.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/india-%E2%80%93-seeking-coherence/ From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 11:41:01 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:41:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003162239h2f982465k3283f4b3ff9b857c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Any further doubts should be cleared by this: Vatican: Nigeria violence not due to religion 3/8/2010, 9:07 a.m. EST ar/fd The Associated Press (AP) ‹ VATICAN CITY - The Vatican says that economic and social reasons, not religious hatred, are behind violence in Nigeria that has killed more than 200 people. The violence Sunday took place in three mostly Christian villages. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi condemned the violence and said Monday that the conflict must be interpreted in the light of social, economic, ethnic and cultural factors rather than religious hatred. Lombardi cited an interview by Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, in which he said the clashes resulted from conflict between Muslim shepherds and Christian farmers. The archbishop told Vatican Radio that the killings weren't due to religion. > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > > Source > : http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians > -by-muslims/ CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- > CHILDREN AND WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE > MUSLIMS HAD BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN > OUT ONTO THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM > DOWN- IT WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! 10,000 Christians have been > slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. And Barack Obama says > nothing. Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site > has more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in > January, took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with > machetes and then put in fire. A witness who visited the village after the > massacre reported that there were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. The > Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the sleeping > villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with machetes. Jos > is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly Christian > southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious > riots. LINK Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most > populated country in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious > differences. 60% of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the > country. Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia > law 10 years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the > country. In August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened > to demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all > businesses belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new > law against clothing that is not compliant with Islamic > law. _________________________________________ 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:09:05 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:09:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003162239h2f982465k3283f4b3ff9b857c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003162339ja95a981of5bc955beb276c78@mail.gmail.com> Hello Sonia , Belated Navreh Wishes Thank you for the information shared. Any life lost because of religious extremism is condemnable. I have shared the source . Since you have expressed your views on my posting , i would like to know from you whether my protest on Javeds post was justified. Regards Pawan On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 11:41 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > Any further doubts should be cleared by this: > > Vatican: Nigeria violence not due to religion > > 3/8/2010, 9:07 a.m. EST > ar/fd > The Associated Press > (AP) ‹ VATICAN CITY - The Vatican says that economic and social reasons, not > religious hatred, are behind violence in Nigeria that has killed more than > 200 people. > > The violence Sunday took place in three mostly Christian villages. > > Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi condemned the violence and said > Monday that the conflict must be interpreted in the light of social, > economic, ethnic and cultural factors rather than religious hatred. > > > > Lombardi cited an interview by Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, > in which he said the clashes resulted from conflict between Muslim shepherds > and Christian farmers. The archbishop told Vatican Radio that the killings > weren't due to religion. > > >> From: Pawan Durani >> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 >> To: reader-list >> Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians >> >> Source >> : > http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians >> -by-muslims/ > > CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- >> CHILDREN AND > WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE >> MUSLIMS HAD > BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN >> OUT ONTO > THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM >> DOWN- IT > WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! > > 10,000 Christians have been >> slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. > And Barack Obama says >> nothing. > Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site >> has > more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in >> January, > took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with >> machetes > and then put in fire. > > A witness who visited the village after the >> massacre reported that there > were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. > > The >> Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the > sleeping >> villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with > machetes. Jos >> is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly > Christian >> southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious >> riots. > LINK > > Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most >> populated country > in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious >> differences. 60% > of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the >> country. > Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia >> law 10 > years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the >> country. In > August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened >> to > demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all >> businesses > belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new >> law against > clothing that is not compliant with Islamic >> law. > _________________________________________ > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:25:50 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:25:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003162339ja95a981of5bc955beb276c78@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Happy Navreh Pawan. The point of my last intervention was that it was NOT about religious extremism. As for your exchange with Javed and others I can only say that I was dismayed by the personal nature of the attacks and quite frankly I stopped reading the posts after a while. If you ask me what I think happened in the mock drill, I believe there are only 2 possibilities-- this is because I happen to be trained in firearms- one, the DCP was stark raving mad or two, he intended to cause grievous injury. I cannot believe it was an accident. Even a novice trainee in handguns would not point with a loaded gun let alone shoot. BTW the gun must be cocked to be able to fire. Then the safety catch must be released. That the DCP had a loaded weapon and then managed to do both things is astonishing. Anyway, we will know the truth sooner or later. > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:09:05 +0530 > To: "S. Jabbar" > Cc: Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > > Hello Sonia , > > Belated Navreh Wishes > > Thank you for the information shared. Any life lost because of > religious extremism is condemnable. > > I have shared the source . > > Since you have expressed your views on my posting , i would like to > know from you whether my protest on Javeds post was justified. > > Regards > > Pawan > > On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 11:41 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >> Any further doubts should be cleared by this: >> >> Vatican: Nigeria violence not due to religion >> >> 3/8/2010, 9:07 a.m. EST >> ar/fd >> The Associated Press >> (AP) ‹ VATICAN CITY - The Vatican says that economic and social reasons, not >> religious hatred, are behind violence in Nigeria that has killed more than >> 200 people. >> >> The violence Sunday took place in three mostly Christian villages. >> >> Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi condemned the violence and said >> Monday that the conflict must be interpreted in the light of social, >> economic, ethnic and cultural factors rather than religious hatred. >> >> >> >> Lombardi cited an interview by Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, >> in which he said the clashes resulted from conflict between Muslim shepherds >> and Christian farmers. The archbishop told Vatican Radio that the killings >> weren't due to religion. >> >> >>> From: Pawan Durani >>> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 >>> To: reader-list >>> Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians >>> >>> Source >>> : >> http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians >>> -by-muslims/ >> >> CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- >>> CHILDREN AND >> WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE >>> MUSLIMS HAD >> BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN >>> OUT ONTO >> THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM >>> DOWN- IT >> WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! >> >> 10,000 Christians have been >>> slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. >> And Barack Obama says >>> nothing. >> Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site >>> has >> more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in >>> January, >> took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with >>> machetes >> and then put in fire. >> >> A witness who visited the village after the >>> massacre reported that there >> were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. >> >> The >>> Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the >> sleeping >>> villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with >> machetes. Jos >>> is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly >> Christian >>> southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious >>> riots. >> LINK >> >> Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most >>> populated country >> in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious >>> differences. 60% >> of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the >>> country. >> Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia >>> law 10 >> years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the >>> country. In >> August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened >>> to >> demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all >>> businesses >> belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new >>> law against >> clothing that is not compliant with Islamic >>> law. >> _________________________________________ >> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:28:39 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:28:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , did you miss this ? http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was injured in an altercation between two communities, died. Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to stone pelting by both sides, they said. A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the situation under control, police said. Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation in Patdi was under control. http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in Ahmedabad. Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured after attacked by group of local Muslims. People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to stone pelting by both sides, they said. A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the situation under control, police said. Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation in Patdi was under control. Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:31:43 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:31:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Why violence against women is widespread Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003170001q6d448c57oe0a3f501f3671bd6@mail.gmail.com> http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88446 OPT: Why violence against women is widespread Photo: Suhair Karam/IRIN A woman cries after the loss of one of her sons in Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian women face a range of hardships GAZA CITY, 16 March 2010 (IRIN) - Nahla*, aged 30, from Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said she was physically and mentally abused for more than 10 years by her husband before being granted a divorce three months ago. Fear and cultural factors prevented her from seeking help from women’s organizations. “I never tried to go to the police to complain about my husband's criminal acts, because he threatened to kill me if I did,” Nahla told IRIN. “And I never went to complain to any women’s rights organizations because I didn’t think they would be able to solve my problem - and I was also scared that my husband would find out.” Rights activists blame the economy, Hamas-Fatah tensions and the conflict with Israel for the rising number of cases of violence against women. Disinterest in domestic abuse by the judicial authorities and the apparent impunity of violators have made matters worse, they say. A March 2010 report by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) explores women’s perceptions of the organizations or legal bodies designed to protect them, based on focus group discussions and interviews with women and girls in the West Bank and Gaza between June and November 2009. The levels of violence against women in the Gaza Strip are higher than they were in previous years, and compared to other countries the rates are certainly higherSocial stigma “Women and girls revealed that their feelings of insecurity are related to the ongoing conflict, society’s tacit acceptance of violence against women, their own lack of awareness of service providers, and their distrust of the available services,” the report said. “Women and girls explained that they were reluctant to resort to women’s organizations, human rights organizations, or security and justice providers, such as the police and courts, because of the strong social stigma attached to reporting abuse.” The report said women recommended more awareness-raising events and education campaigns for all segments of society about women’s rights and the institutions in place to uphold them. They also felt better training was needed for members of the social services, women’s and human rights organizations and hospital staff and police - in addition to increased female representation in these organizations and political life in general. AWRAD survey A 2008 survey of 2,400 Palestinians by Ramallah-based independent research centre Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) found that 74 percent of Palestinians did not know of a women’s or human rights organization working in the field of women’s rights; and 77 percent of respondents believed that laws needed to be enacted to protect women from domestic violence. Nahla’s brothers called the police to report the fact that she was being beaten regularly and kept locked in her home without access to a telephone to make contact with her family. The police arrested her husband, kept him in custody for five hours and then released him, she said. The police then took Nahla to her mother’s house, where she stayed until she was granted a divorce by a local court, which ordered that her five children remain with their father. Against his will, the court has given her the right to visit her children one day a week. “My heart is torn apart because I live away from my kids, but my life with him was hell,” Nahla said. “I could never go back.” Gaza study In December 2009, a report by the Gaza-based Palestinian Women’s Information and Media Center (PWIC) noted an upsurge in violence against women since Israel imposed an economic blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas became the de facto authority there. Photo: Tom Spender/IRIN A study found that 77 percent of women in Gaza had experienced violence of various sorts (file photo) The study - based on 24 workshops and interviews with 350 other women in the last quarter of 2009 - found that 77 percent of women in Gaza had experienced violence of various sorts, 53 percent had experienced physical violence and 15 percent sexual abuse. "The levels of violence against women in the Gaza Strip are higher than they were in previous years, and compared to other countries the rates are certainly higher," Huda Hamouda, director of PWIC, said. “Women are exposed to hardships in every sphere, be it financial, social, political or lack of security.” She said widespread unemployment was one of the biggest contributors to household stress, and in turn male violence towards females. "It's hard to imagine a family living in dignity when they live on less than three dollars a day. Many say they don’t feel respected and suffer depression. Poverty affects education and public participation. It limits their social standing,” she said. Meanwhile, the Commission on the Status of Women, a commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), on 12 March approved a text on the status of and assistance to Palestinian women, to be sent to ECOSOC for adoption. The draft resolution expresses concern about the “grave situation of Palestinian women in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, resulting from the severe impact of the ongoing illegal Israeli occupation and all of its manifestations”. (*not her real name) From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:46:33 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:46:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> Pawan, I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of these riots. what would you say to that? i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you know why Hemant was killed? whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point over your opponents) is not enough. thanks anupam On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , > did you miss this ? > > > http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash > > Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi > town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was > injured in an altercation between two communities, died. > > Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured > in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. > > According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant > Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. > > People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house > where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to > stone pelting by both sides, they said. > > A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the > situation under control, police said. > > Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation > in Patdi was under control. > > > http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ > > Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh > Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 > > Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s > Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a > group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in > Ahmedabad. > > Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured > after attacked by group of local Muslims. > > People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house > where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to > stone pelting by both sides, they said. > > A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the > situation under control, police said. > > Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation > in Patdi was under control. > > Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:52:19 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:52:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> Dear Anupam C, Thank you for your post. You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why the inspector was shot ? I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news agency called PTI. Good going ..... God Bless.... #Mirchi Pawan On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Pawan, > > I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such > deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the > gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for > which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim > rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of > these riots. what would you say to that? > > i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu > youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members > should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. > you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away > with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), > when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the > incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you > know why Hemant was killed? > > whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from > the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but > your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on > communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point > over your opponents) is not enough. > > thanks anupam > > On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >> did you miss this ? >> >> >> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >> >> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >> >> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >> >> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant >> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >> >> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >> >> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >> situation under control, police said. >> >> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >> in Patdi was under control. >> >> >> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >> >> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >> >> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >> Ahmedabad. >> >> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >> >> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >> >> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >> situation under control, police said. >> >> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >> in Patdi was under control. >> >> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Mar 17 12:56:32 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:56:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> Pawan, Please substantiate what you are saying about my understanding. What do you think i know or have said in this reader's list about the police inspector being shot? If you think, what i have said is something illegal, unsubstantiated, then please expose me here. you have a chance. if you can't then stop peddling such ideas to this list. Anupam On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Anupam C, > > Thank you for your post. > > You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of > understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why > the inspector was shot ? > > I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news > agency called PTI. > > Good going ..... > > God Bless.... #Mirchi > > Pawan > > On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> Pawan, >> >> I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such >> deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the >> gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for >> which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim >> rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of >> these riots. what would you say to that? >> >> i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu >> youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members >> should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. >> you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away >> with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), >> when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the >> incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you >> know why Hemant was killed? >> >> whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from >> the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but >> your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on >> communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point >> over your opponents) is not enough. >> >> thanks anupam >> >> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>> did you miss this ? >>> >>> >>> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >>> >>> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >>> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >>> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >>> >>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >>> >>> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant >>> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >>> >>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>> >>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>> situation under control, police said. >>> >>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>> in Patdi was under control. >>> >>> >>> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >>> >>> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >>> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >>> >>> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >>> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >>> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >>> Ahmedabad. >>> >>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >>> >>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>> >>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>> situation under control, police said. >>> >>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>> in Patdi was under control. >>> >>> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 12:58:15 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:58:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> Sir , I have posted a news item. What is wrong in that ? Why does it cause you worry ? Not even a single word is mine. Even the subject line is original Pawan On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:56 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Pawan, > > Please substantiate what you are saying about my understanding. What > do you think i know or have said in this reader's list about the > police inspector being shot? > > If you think, what i have said is something illegal, unsubstantiated, > then please expose me here. you have a chance. if you can't then stop > peddling such ideas to this list. > > Anupam > > On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Dear Anupam C, >> >> Thank you for your post. >> >> You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of >> understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why >> the inspector was shot ? >> >> I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news >> agency called PTI. >> >> Good going ..... >> >> God Bless....  #Mirchi >> >> Pawan >> >> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >>> Pawan, >>> >>> I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such >>> deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the >>> gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for >>> which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim >>> rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of >>> these riots. what would you say to that? >>> >>> i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu >>> youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members >>> should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. >>> you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away >>> with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), >>> when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the >>> incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you >>> know why Hemant was killed? >>> >>> whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from >>> the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but >>> your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on >>> communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point >>> over your opponents) is not enough. >>> >>> thanks anupam >>> >>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>>> did you miss this ? >>>> >>>> >>>> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >>>> >>>> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >>>> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >>>> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >>>> >>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>>> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >>>> >>>> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant >>>> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >>>> >>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>> >>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>> situation under control, police said. >>>> >>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>> >>>> >>>> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >>>> >>>> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >>>> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >>>> >>>> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >>>> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >>>> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >>>> Ahmedabad. >>>> >>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>>> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >>>> >>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>> >>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>> situation under control, police said. >>>> >>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>> >>>> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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 Mar 17 12:59:19 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:59:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PETITION Message-ID: <001601cac5a3$8eed2dd0$acc78970$@in> http://www.greenpeace.org/india/nuclear-bill The petition says: "India must hold a public consultation before changing the liability rules for any nuclear accidents caused by U.S. corporations." In case of an accident at Indian nuclear plants, U.S. companies would get away by paying a small amount, and Indian tax payers would bear the bulk of the expenses involved. Imagine if this law passes, then we face a disaster even worse than Bhopal. As The Times of India reports: "Isolated over the civil nuclear liability bill, the government was forced to back off in the Lok Sabha on Monday when it decided to defer introducing the legislation in the face of spirited opposition..." [1] The victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy are still struggling to get their due 25 years later. In spite of this, the government is pushing for this ridiculous bill which violates our right to life. We cannot allow American companies to reap benefits without any responsibility. Sign the petition now to tell the PM what you want: From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 13:04:15 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:04:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003170034m17628e86v2dd9404359c0c13b@mail.gmail.com> "Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , did you miss this ?" Did the above line also come along with the news feed? Anupam On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Sir , > > I have posted a news item. What is wrong in that ? Why does it cause > you worry ? Not even a single word is mine. Even the subject line is > original > > Pawan > > On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:56 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> Pawan, >> >> Please substantiate what you are saying about my understanding. What >> do you think i know or have said in this reader's list about the >> police inspector being shot? >> >> If you think, what i have said is something illegal, unsubstantiated, >> then please expose me here. you have a chance. if you can't then stop >> peddling such ideas to this list. >> >> Anupam >> >> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Dear Anupam C, >>> >>> Thank you for your post. >>> >>> You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of >>> understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why >>> the inspector was shot ? >>> >>> I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news >>> agency called PTI. >>> >>> Good going ..... >>> >>> God Bless....  #Mirchi >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty >>> wrote: >>>> Pawan, >>>> >>>> I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such >>>> deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the >>>> gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for >>>> which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim >>>> rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of >>>> these riots. what would you say to that? >>>> >>>> i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu >>>> youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members >>>> should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. >>>> you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away >>>> with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), >>>> when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the >>>> incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you >>>> know why Hemant was killed? >>>> >>>> whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from >>>> the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but >>>> your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on >>>> communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point >>>> over your opponents) is not enough. >>>> >>>> thanks anupam >>>> >>>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>>> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>>>> did you miss this ? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >>>>> >>>>> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >>>>> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >>>>> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >>>>> >>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>>>> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >>>>> >>>>> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant >>>>> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >>>>> >>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>> >>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>> >>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >>>>> >>>>> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >>>>> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >>>>> >>>>> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >>>>> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >>>>> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >>>>> Ahmedabad. >>>>> >>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>>>> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >>>>> >>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>> >>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>> >>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>> >>>>> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> 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 rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 13:08:11 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:08:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003162339ja95a981of5bc955beb276c78@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7271ec561003170038j76706299n76d0b0807f34f364@mail.gmail.com> Dear all revered members of the reader list, my only expression about the list is it is becoming more and more "listless" when it ventures in to sane discussions. This may appear to some of you as gross generalisation, but well, that is my perception and I have regrets in expressing it. CSDS an iniative which has studies of developing societies should have have a media collective, which would reflect the various opinions of the developing socieities --- has an inmporant role in molding opinions for good of the developing society, in particular Indian society, which is perhaps only one of its kind of a society which has diverse cultires, faiths, languages and religions, (organised faiths) cuisines, which are basically, for unity in diversity, so also these different varieties of facets of living life should be cohesive to bond unity in society than divisive agendas of cote banks. In the comity of nations, all nations of societies, which are diverse, different but the ones that we see in other nations have witnessed democracies ruled by autocrats of organised faiths, dictatorships in nations with religious theocracy ruling the national society, all have resulted in failed governance including the rule of atheism combined with socialism and left idealogy which again created classes of masses, ruling and ruled masses.! List is becoming listless primarily because the fervent efforts by some ids to dominate the list with the agendas of assertion of organised faiths, not tolreating the thoughts of any good for the society. If one thought pertains to the food security, it is disgusting to see the "ontellect" of the list never even have a cursory thought on this issue which affects the poorest of the poor ofthe society, just as the middle class and the list and its moderator seems busy in personal attacks and showing off his verbal excellance at ridicule.! As to way of lifes, all faiths present different ways of life to live the life with intellect being used to have better of material lives, tempered with intellect and spiritual approach or to use the jargon, "holistic." Any individual who does not recognise the society that he lives in, the nation that sjeltors him is a joke on society as walking and talking republic in the nation, a parasite. 21sr century has given more importance to "individual " rights but individuals seem to forget that when they exercise these rights they can not infringe on the rights of others, individuals in the society, for then it means they do not have any respect for their individual duties. ! The system also, helps itself by keeping the like of CSDS and other "centres" for its own need to control the individuals in society, first by generating the verbal attack on dissent, next by grants and aids to individuals who are in these centres, so that these alsways tow the line in line with the system, generate public opinion, nay, mass hysteria when needed, so that system can always be inert, resist change, and those individuals in these centres and many other NGOs have an agenda of assisting the system by sheltoring the deviants in society, defending the criminal acts of the individuals if they are of the organised faith, defend them in courts of law with funds extended by faith and the system so that blasts accused are safe, with appeals, attack any political leader if he /she is not in line with the corrupt system.Ofcourse these "centres" are percieved as "honest" and sincere in the studies of societies, but if one scratches the surface, average intellect can percieve that these centres have their agenda of toppling the rule of laws, bring in the rule of select leaders who talk of socialism but live with seven star deluxe life.! So, "change" when any individual yearns for, is hard to come by, as the system has inertia, individuals do not, are not amenable to change for good of the society, some intellectuals want change as they percieve it, not as the society needs it.! With respectsful, Regards, rajen. On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:25 PM, S. Jabbar wrote: > Happy Navreh Pawan. The point of my last intervention was that it was NOT > about religious extremism. As for your exchange with Javed and others I > can > only say that I was dismayed by the personal nature of the attacks and > quite > frankly I stopped reading the posts after a while. If you ask me what I > think happened in the mock drill, I believe there are only 2 > possibilities-- > this is because I happen to be trained in firearms- one, the DCP was stark > raving mad or two, he intended to cause grievous injury. I cannot believe > it was an accident. Even a novice trainee in handguns would not point with > a loaded gun let alone shoot. BTW the gun must be cocked to be able to > fire. Then the safety catch must be released. That the DCP had a loaded > weapon and then managed to do both things is astonishing. Anyway, we will > know the truth sooner or later. > > > > From: Pawan Durani > > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:09:05 +0530 > > To: "S. Jabbar" > > Cc: Sarai > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > > > > Hello Sonia , > > > > Belated Navreh Wishes > > > > Thank you for the information shared. Any life lost because of > > religious extremism is condemnable. > > > > I have shared the source . > > > > Since you have expressed your views on my posting , i would like to > > know from you whether my protest on Javeds post was justified. > > > > Regards > > > > Pawan > > > > On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 11:41 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: > >> Any further doubts should be cleared by this: > >> > >> Vatican: Nigeria violence not due to religion > >> > >> 3/8/2010, 9:07 a.m. EST > >> ar/fd > >> The Associated Press > >> (AP) ‹ VATICAN CITY - The Vatican says that economic and social reasons, > not > >> religious hatred, are behind violence in Nigeria that has killed more > than > >> 200 people. > >> > >> The violence Sunday took place in three mostly Christian villages. > >> > >> Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi condemned the violence and > said > >> Monday that the conflict must be interpreted in the light of social, > >> economic, ethnic and cultural factors rather than religious hatred. > >> > >> > >> > >> Lombardi cited an interview by Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, > Nigeria, > >> in which he said the clashes resulted from conflict between Muslim > shepherds > >> and Christian farmers. The archbishop told Vatican Radio that the > killings > >> weren't due to religion. > >> > >> > >>> From: Pawan Durani > >>> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:09:16 +0530 > >>> To: reader-list > >>> Subject: [Reader-list] Nigeria:Massacre Of 500 Christians > >>> > >>> Source > >>> : > >> > http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/nigeriamassacre-of-500-christians > >>> -by-muslims/ > >> > >> CHANNEL 4 NEWS LAST NIGHT- SHOWED HUNDREDS OF BODIES PILED UP- > >>> CHILDREN AND > >> WOMEN WERE THE HIGHEST IN NUMBERS- BUT INCLUDED MEN TOO- THE > >>> MUSLIMS HAD > >> BEEN SHOOTING GUNS INTO THE AIR- WHEN THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN RAN > >>> OUT ONTO > >> THE STREETS THE MUSLIMS ARMED WITH SWORDS AND MACHETI¹S CUT THEM > >>> DOWN- IT > >> WAS DESCRIBED AS A MASSACRE!! > >> > >> 10,000 Christians have been > >>> slaughtered by Muslims in the past four years. > >> And Barack Obama says > >>> nothing. > >> Violence against Christians by Muslims in Jos in central Nigeria site > >>> has > >> more than one hundred deaths. Sectarian violence in the region in > >>> January, > >> took hundreds of lives. The Christian villagers were massacred with > >>> machetes > >> and then put in fire. > >> > >> A witness who visited the village after the > >>> massacre reported that there > >> were hundreds of bodies in stacked layers. > >> > >> The > >>> Muslim attackers came from the surrounding hills and attacked the > >> sleeping > >>> villagers, took them from their homes and slaughtered them with > >> machetes. Jos > >>> is located on the border of the Muslim north and predominantly > >> Christian > >>> southern Nigeria and is regularly the scene of religious > >>> riots. > >> LINK > >> > >> Approximately 140 million people inhabit Nigeria, the most > >>> populated country > >> in Africa. The country is divided by ethnic and religious > >>> differences. 60% > >> of the population is Muslim living mostly in the North of the > >>> country. > >> Christians mainly inhabit the South. The introduction of the Sharia > >>> law 10 > >> years ago in 12 states provoked a series of riots throughout the > >>> country. In > >> August 2004 the Islamic government in the Zamfara state threatened > >>> to > >> demolish all churches considered as illegal structures, close all > >>> businesses > >> belonging to Christians during Muslim prayers, and enforce a new > >>> law against > >> clothing that is not compliant with Islamic > >>> law. > >> _________________________________________ > >> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 13:23:43 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:23:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <341380d01003170034m17628e86v2dd9404359c0c13b@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170034m17628e86v2dd9404359c0c13b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003170053h4ca6bf10s206b625b10d25f71@mail.gmail.com> Dear Anupam Ji , Those were my comments above the main article . And the question was for Javed. As far as my posting goes , my intent was that let us not view Gujarat through a communal prism always as was intended by Javed. Communal clashes , unfortunately , have happened under every regime...even in communist rule states. Stop making villain out of Gujarat. Thanks ...Good wishes Pawan On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:04 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > "Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , > did you miss this ?" > > Did the above line also come along with the news feed? > > Anupam > > On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Sir , >> >> I have posted a news item. What is wrong in that ? Why does it cause >> you worry ? Not even a single word is mine. Even the subject line is >> original >> >> Pawan >> >> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:56 PM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Please substantiate what you are saying about my understanding. What >>> do you think i know or have said in this reader's list about the >>> police inspector being shot? >>> >>> If you think, what i have said is something illegal, unsubstantiated, >>> then please expose me here. you have a chance. if you can't then stop >>> peddling such ideas to this list. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> Dear Anupam C, >>>> >>>> Thank you for your post. >>>> >>>> You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of >>>> understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why >>>> the inspector was shot ? >>>> >>>> I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news >>>> agency called PTI. >>>> >>>> Good going ..... >>>> >>>> God Bless....  #Mirchi >>>> >>>> Pawan >>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty >>>> wrote: >>>>> Pawan, >>>>> >>>>> I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such >>>>> deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the >>>>> gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for >>>>> which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim >>>>> rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of >>>>> these riots. what would you say to that? >>>>> >>>>> i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu >>>>> youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members >>>>> should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. >>>>> you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away >>>>> with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), >>>>> when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the >>>>> incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you >>>>> know why Hemant was killed? >>>>> >>>>> whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from >>>>> the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but >>>>> your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on >>>>> communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point >>>>> over your opponents) is not enough. >>>>> >>>>> thanks anupam >>>>> >>>>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>>>> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>>>>> did you miss this ? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >>>>>> >>>>>> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >>>>>> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >>>>>> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >>>>>> >>>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>>>>> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >>>>>> >>>>>> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, Hemant >>>>>> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >>>>>> >>>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >>>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>>> >>>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>>> >>>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >>>>>> >>>>>> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >>>>>> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >>>>>> >>>>>> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >>>>>> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >>>>>> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >>>>>> Ahmedabad. >>>>>> >>>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously injured >>>>>> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >>>>>> >>>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >>>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>>> >>>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>>> >>>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>>> >>>>>> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >>>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 13:31:13 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:31:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Gay Terrorist - By Aram Roston Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003170101g5bf10479o4fe399c052d7c27@mail.gmail.com> http://www.observer.com/2010/politics/gay-terrorist?page=2 The Gay Terrorist By Aram Roston March 16, 2010 | 9:14 p.m It’s been more than eight years since 9/11, but the fallout continues to reverberate throughout today’s New York. The Obama administration’s waffling over how to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the attack’s mastermind, and the continuous, embarrassing delay in rebuilding the towers downtown have kept 9/11 more in the headlines than usual. Now, as those political battles roll on, a new story about the run-up to 9/11 has emerged—a previously undisclosed, covert C.I.A. effort to recruit a spy to penetrate Al Qaeda a year and a half before the planes crashed into the towers. The development is intriguing in part because the informant they were after was thought to be secretly gay—a fact that gave intelligence agents leverage in their efforts to turn him against his conservative Islamist circle. But the case may also help answer one of the long-standing mysteries of the 9/11 narrative: why a terrorist known to one part of the U.S. government wasn’t captured by other parts before he boarded a plane and helped carry out the most devastating attacks on the country. Intelligence officials tell The Observer that the character at the center of the intrigue was an enigmatic but jovial man named Ahmad Hikmat Shakir, or “Shakir el Iraqi.” “He was tall as a mushroom, fat and gay,” one source familiar with the case told The Observer, “and the idea was to exploit him as an agent against Al Qaeda.” The C.I.A.’s pursuit of Mr. Shakir, and the role he could have played in stopping, or at least complicating, the 9/11 plot, is a story that’s never been told, adding yet another piece in the puzzle leading up to the attacks. Mr. Shakir’s story began on Jan. 5, 2000, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He was there to meet a passenger on an incoming flight from Dubai—a Yemeni-born terrorist named Khalid al-Mihdhar. As it happens, the C.I.A. had its eyes on both of them. Mr. Shakir didn’t have much, if any, of a file at the time. Few knew much about him, except that he was an Iraqi Arab, in his late 30s, with a dead-end job as a VIP greeter for Malaysian Airlines. But Mr. Mihdhar flashed big on the C.I.A.’s radar. At 25, he was already a deeply seasoned terrorist, with battlefield experience in Bosnia and time spent at various jihadi camps, and the agency knew that he’d come to Malaysia for some kind of special terror summit. The agency had one other of key piece of intelligence: a U.S. visa had been stamped in Mr. Mihdhar’s green Saudi passport, meaning he almost certainly had been tapped for some kind of mission in America. Indeed, it was this multiple-entry visa that would allow Mr. Mihdhar to come to America shortly after the C.I.A. started tracking him, and then, 18 months later, hijack an airliner as part of the 9/11 attacks. Normally, the C.I.A. would have told the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the visa. That way he might have been arrested, or placed on a watch list, or at least questioned when he stepped into the U.S. Stopping him, some experts think, could well have stopped 9/11. But the agency didn’t tell the F.B.I. about that visa, an act of omission that has baffled 9/11 buffs ever since. As the C.I.A. watched, Messrs. Mihdhar and Shakir climbed into a taxi outside the airport and drove to an upscale apartment complex near a golf course. For the next three days, Mr. Mihdhar and about half a dozen other high-level terrorists planned future strikes against America, including the hijackings of 9/11, according to multiple intelligence experts. In anti-terrorism circles, Kuala Lumpur is seen as a critical stop on the road to the attacks. It’s uncertain whether Mr. Shakir participated in the meetings. But clearly, he was connected. And as the terror summit went on, the C.I.A. became convinced that it had found the perfect mole to help the agency crack the jihadi circle. Mr. Shakir seemed to have excellent contacts among the radical jihadists, and, according to intelligence sources, he certainly didn’t look like a terrorist or a spy. Another source described Mr. Shakir to The Observer as a potential “access agent,” espionage jargon for an informant whose function is to spot other potential spies and turncoats. Though he may not know secrets or terrorist plots himself, the access agent is likely to know people who do, and is expected to facilitate meetings. As this officer explained, the agency “looked to him as a social broker.” Mr. Shakir was no James Bond. In fact, he was short and fat and sociable, and was surmised to be gay, which would have opened him up to being flipped. (Mohamed Atta, the 9/11 hijacker from Egypt, was also rumored to be gay.) Islamic jihadists don’t take kindly to homosexuality, at least in public. Homosexuality is punishable by death in some Muslim traditions. And yet, of course, it exists throughout the Middle East, in secret. (Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for instance, was laughed at in the West when he told a conference at Columbia University that there were no homosexuals at all in Iran.) Since gays are forced deeper into the closet in the Middle East than in most other parts of the world, threats to expose someone’s sexual orientation could be a powerful motivator. It’s not hard to see how agents could use blackmail as a method to turn a suspect, though one ex–intelligence operative denied it was a common practice. “The gay issue?” he said. “Hostile recruitments almost never work. It is spy novel stuff.” UNFORTUNATELY, THE C.I.A.’s ambitions to employ Mr. Shakir as its terror mole didn’t pan out. Agents reached out to him and one day even reportedly rifled through his house for anything that they thought might be of use; Mr. Shakir rebuffed them. And then Mr. Mihdhar and the other terrorists fled Malaysia. When a F.B.I. agent drafted a memo at the time about Mr. Mihdhar’s U.S. visa and the possibility of his heading stateside, the C.I.A. shut the agent down, convincing him not to alert his bosses or colleagues. “Please hold off for now,” an officer wrote. Mr. Mihdhar disappeared altogether, as if he’d never existed, along with another known terrorist named Nawaf al-Hazmi. When the C.I.A. picked up their trail months later, it led to the U.S., where the men had traveled; in fact, the two were living in a bland apartment complex in San Diego, where, it turns out, they were advancing their September hijack plans. Yet even then, the agency kept the F.B.I. in the dark about Mr. Mihdhar. As the 9/11 Commission later wrote, “None of this information—about Mihdhar’s U.S. visa or Hazmi’s travel to the United States—went to the FBI..." When it finally did get to the F.B.I., in August 2001, just weeks before the attacks, it was too late. In the end, Messrs. Mihdhar and Hazmi boarded American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. It was a dramatic oversight; the F.B.I. might have foiled the bombings if that information had been shared earlier on. Thomas Kean, the 9/11 Commission’s co-chairman, pointed out that Mr. Mihdhar “was using his own name, so once they were after him, once you were looking for him in the country, it wouldn’t have been that hard to find him.” John Farmer, the former senior counsel at the commission, tended to agree. Had they found them—Messrs. Mihdhar and Hazmi—he said, “it is much more likely that the whole operation would have been compromised. Mission security was very important to Al Qaeda leaders, to the point that if they were that concerned, I think it is certainly possible that they would have called it off completely.” So the question has always been quite simple: Why wasn’t the Mihdhar information shared with the F.B.I.? “That is one of the big mysteries. Why was the information not passed on?” Mr. Farmer told The Observer. Mr. Farmer is also the author of a recent book about the attacks, Ground Truth. “And the explanations aren’t good,” he added. The 9/11 Commission, in its exhaustive report, never explained why such important intelligence disappeared into the C.I.A.’s black hole. (Complicating matters, the C.I.A. initially claimed it did tell the F.B.I.) One reason for the lapse, insiders have speculated, is that C.I.A. analysts concealed it out of spite—they simply hated the F.B.I. Cliques in national security agencies, of course, can rival those in high school. But the C.I.A.’s antipathy for the F.B.I. as an explanation has never fully satisfied observers, and that is where Mr. Shakir plays into the story. Telling the F.B.I. about Mr. Mihdhar would have blown the lid on the Shakir gambit—and recruitments are the most sensitive operations in the spook world. The C.I.A., as one source put it, “did not want the bureau messing up the operation.” He added, “The bureau might have demanded everything: ‘Who is this guy? Let’s target him!’” Philip Zelikow, the former executive director of the 9/11 Commission, said he couldn’t rule out the Shakir story and would like to hear more. “We looked at the issue very hard and with some care,” he told The Observer, “including the documentary record, but I would be glad to evaluate any new evidence that might surface.” Mr. Kean, the commission co-chair, said, “It’s a great story.” But he pointed out that no one raised Mr. Shakir during the investigation. “I can’t say it is not true, but it would have been unusual if they withheld that information from the 9/11 Commission. I just have no way of knowing whether it is true, whether part of it is true or whether none of it is true.” The C.I.A. declined to comment. In any case, it appears the recruitment of Mr. Shakir failed. Shortly after the Malaysian summit disbanded, he fled the country, which further raised the C.I.A.’s suspicions about him. The C.I.A. later explained in internal records that his “travel and past contacts linked him to a worldwide network of Sunni extremist groups and personalities,” including “senior al-Qaeda associates.” Weeks before the 9/11 attacks, the C.I.A. added him to its watch list, along with Messrs. Mihdhar and Hazmi. They also finally got around to briefing the F.B.I. RECENTLY, THERE WAS A strange twist in the story. Years after 9/11, and after the Bush administration sought to link Saddam Hussein to the attacks, Mr. Shakir briefly grew quite famous in neoconservative circles. The C.I.A.’s attempt to recruit him in Malaysia was never disclosed, nor was his alleged homosexuality. But word did leak out among intelligence officials that he was tied to the Kuala Lumpur summit, and neocons were intrigued by the fact that he was an Iraqi. Hawks eager to retroactively justify the Iraq invasion thought he might be the one to do it since he had met Mr. Mihdhar. And there seemed to be an Iraqi fedayeen officer with a name similar to Mr. Shakir’s. In 2004, the story broke on the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, positing that Mr. Shakir could constitute “a direct link between Iraq and the al Qaeda operatives who planned 9/11.” Such a link was the Holy Grail for neoconservatives, especially after it became clear that Iraq had no WMD. It was a desperate push to tie the Iraqi dictator to 9/11 and it failed, notably because whatever Mr. Shakir was, he was no Iraqi agent and he was no fedayeen officer. The last anyone saw of Mr. Shakir was right after the 9/11 attacks. Briefly in 2001, he was picked up in the Middle East, first by the Qatari authorities, and then in Amman, Jordan. But he was quickly released. No public pictures of him exist. Today, his whereabouts are unknown. Aram Roston is an Emmy Award–winning investigative reporter and author of The Man Who Pushed America to War, a biography of Ahmad Chalabi. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 17 14:10:30 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:40:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran In-Reply-To: <377696.52318.qm@web51401.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <467655.64621.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Kashmiri Pandits celebrate "NAVREH" (equivalent of NOVROZ) on the Vernal Equinox day as per the 'Hindu' lunar calendar.   This year it fell on 16th March = Nowrooz in Iran. Intriguing similarities amongst dissimilarities   The roots of NOWROOZ are said to be in Zoroastrianism. I wonder where the roots of the Kashmiri Pandit festival of NAVREH are. The rituals of Navreh are said to be elaborately described in the Nilmata Puraana.   The Sunni Muslims of Kashmir Valley  do not have any such festival (to the best of my knowledge). The Shia Muslims of Kashmir also celebrate Novroz which presumably is because of the Shia connection with Iran.   Kshmendra  --- On Wed, 3/17/10, Yousuf wrote: From: Yousuf Subject: [Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran To: "sarai list" , "Indo Persian" Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 8:23 AM Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran By JASON REZAIAN / TEHRAN Jason Rezaian / Tehran For days, state-run television in Iran declared that, for their own safety, citizens should stay home and keep children indoors on the evening of March 16. And indeed, the streets of Iran did erupt into flames. But the opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not organize it. Tuesday evening was the beginning of Nowrooz, the two-week-long traditional Iranian New Year celebration, which for more than three millenniums marked the beginning of spring in the Persian world. The popular holiday, celebrated with bonfires and, more recently, illegal fireworks, is so hoary it predates the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - a fact that the mullahs who rule Iran are quite sensitive about. One ayatullah, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, called the first day of Nowrooz a "superstitious act and baseless. Pious and sensible Muslims will stay away from it." >From the time the sun set Tuesday evening, Tehran was filled with the sounds of small explosions and the smell of smoke. Police and Basij militia presence throughout the city was as high as it has been at any point since last year's controversial presidential election, but for the most part, the law-enforcement officers remained cool, with some officers even joining crowds around bonfires and chatting with the attendees. Some small scuffles broke out when Basij arrived to break up impromptu block parties. (See pictures of Iran's antigovernment demonstrations.) The explosions continued well past midnight, although the state did what it could to keep Iranians from attending the festivities, including airing Hollywood blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on television. None of those tactics worked; the streets were filled with people who for one night seemed to ignore the recent proscriptions of the ruling religious establishment. Said an attendee who asked to remain anonymous: "This isn't something that the government can take away from us. We've been doing this for 3,000 years. They should just accept it." ] The holiday is so sensitive that the opposition doesn't want to be anywhere near accusations that it is fomenting unrest during its celebration. The so-called Green Movement leadership actually asked its followers not to target the day for protest, as has been done with Muslim holy days and the anniversaries of important dates in the Islamic revolution led by the late Ayatullah Khomeini. The blowback would be worse for opposition leaders like Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi if they were seen as promoting demonstrations during a festival from the days before Iran converted to Islam. No one wants to be called un-Islamic. (See how Iran's opposition is searching for a new strategy.) Yet the first day of Nowrooz has always been irresistible to Iranians, because it is tied not to Muslim piety but to Persian pride. Its roots are in Zoroastrianism, the world's first monotheistic religion - the country's national faith before Islam - one in which fire is revered as a symbol of purity. Apart from the theocracy, most Iranians in and outside the country, irrespective of their religion, celebrate the ancient rites. The Tuesday-night event itself is known as Chaharshanbe Suri (literally "Wednesday Party," because dusk brings the new day in Iran) and was originally intended as a ritual to ward off evil spirits and negative energy collected in the previous year. That purification is done by leaping over a series of small bonfires. In recent times, however, the ritual has evolved into an opportunity for people to set off illegal fireworks, some of extremely dubious quality and reliability, creating what many residents of Tehran liken to a war zone. Some older residents even compare the night and the anxiety it brings to the eight-year-long war with Iraq when Saddam Hussein's air force intermittently and indiscriminately bombed Tehran. Says a Tehran taxi driver in his 60s: "People used to enjoy themselves on this day. This is supposed to be a family tradition, but it's not safe for women and children out here. This is a very dangerous night." (See the top 10 Ahmadinejad-isms.) Concerns have arisen about public buildings, including government-controlled banks, being targeted for arson. Sporadic explosions began on Monday night. "This is nothing," said Setareh, a 25-year-old graduate student in English studies, the night before the festival. Tuesday, she predicted, "will feel like you're in Gaza." Police in Tehran have attributed several deaths over the past few days to faulty fireworks. In the past 31 years, the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran have attempted to diminish the public's attachment to these holidays. Last week, the Friday-prayers leader in the seminary city of Qom, Ayatullah Reza Ostadi, said Chaharshanbe Suri "is no different from other days, and, given that the outsiders of the establishment have heavily invested in this day, we must turn our backs on it." Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei echoed those sentiments, issuing a statement on his website Sunday in which, in reference to the celebration, he wrote that it has "no basis in shari'a [Islamic law] and creates a lot of harm and corruption, [which is why] it is appropriate to avoid it." Police and Basij erected roadblocks and conducted car searches in much of the capital over the weekend. Last week, Tehran Governor Morteza Tamadon announced that 500 individuals involved in the illicit trade of fireworks had been arrested. "Tradition showcases the beauties of a culture," said Tamadon, adding that "the fire ritual offers nothing but ugliness, fear and worry ... With decisive action, we will try to wipe the problem called Chaharshanbe Suri from the mind of society within the next two years." That is unlikely to happen. http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100317/wl_time/08599197278600       _________________________________________ 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 rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 16:21:19 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:21:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill In-Reply-To: <865875.61774.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <957937.13691.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <865875.61774.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <7271ec561003170351l6ea091e5x701baaae121e8be5@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, India and its population is always happy with token display of concern, women reservation bill is also no different, issue is, first step is taken, in tokenism, next will be may be in another 14 years, for the MPs know well that sitting lot have to give way to their wives, concumbines, daughters, live ins, for a period of 5 years , later cling back to the seat of power. No rules are framed, why all this fuss as this bill is introduced and passed in rajya sabha, which has absolutely no practical values, ecept the token display of "concern.?" Regards, rajen. On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 6:15 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Dear Mr Kaul, > There seems to be a pre-conceived notion that our women-folks > don't have minds of their own and they would do whatever their husbands, > fathers, brothers ask them to to do as Laluji has said "If I aske Rabri to > vote in a particular way, is she going to do it differently?". > This may be true to some extent or for some time but is likely to change > with time. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Sat, 3/13/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's reservation bill > > To: "Rakesh Iyer" , "TaraPrakash" < > taraprakash at gmail.com>, "Rahul Asthana" > > Cc: "Sarai Reader List" > > Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 4:51 PM > > See article below > > > > Family equations will change at places. > > > > "Always in the family" seats, hitherto won by the menfolk > > will identify prospective candidates from amongst: > > > > - Wife, Wives, Daughters, Sisters, Mother(s) > > - Daughter(s)-In-Law, Sister(s)-In-Law, Mother(s)-In-Law > > > > KK > > > > "Lawmakers seek wives in bid to safeguard seats" > > (Women's Reservation Bill prompts rethink) > > > > By Lata Rani, Correspondent > > Published: 00:00 March 13, 2010 > > > > Patna : The contentious Women's Reservation Bill which > > seeks to provide 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok > > Sabha and state assemblies has brought an immediate > > realisation to dozens of bachelor lawmakers in Bihar — > > they need to get married soon. > > > > The desire for wives has been sparked by fears that under > > the new law, bachelor lawmakers could lose their "family" > > seats if they are declared reserved for women. > > > > Political experts say Bihar could be the first state in > > India to be impacted by the bill if it is passed by both > > Houses of the Parliament. The bill has been passed by Rajya > > Sabha, the upper house, but it is yet to pass the lower > > house. > > > > Significantly, state assembly elections in this eastern > > Indian state are scheduled later this year. > > > > Although the five-year tenure of the ruling National > > Democratic Alliance government in Bihar expires on November > > 24, indications are that elections could be advanced. > > > > > > Party meeting > > > > The chief minister Nitish Kumar, at a party meeting in > > Patna on Thursday, asked his party to get ready for polls > > which could be announced anytime. > > > > "Now, I will have to marry soon. There is no way out for > > bachelor legislators like me," independent legislator > > Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul said. > > > > "Who will represent my seat if it was reserved for a woman? > > But if I am married, I can, at least, field my wife for that > > seat and keep it in my family," Another legislator Narendra > > Singh added: "I have nursed my constituency so assiduously > > and was elected to state assembly on my own strengths but I, > > too, am quite apprehensive about my seat." > > > > He also says he will search for a bride so he can lay claim > > to the seat if it becomes reserved. > > > > > > Lawmaker couples > > > > The bachelor legislators, however, could take their cue > > from a number of lawmaker couples. > > Former Indian Federal Minister and Lok Sabha member Lalu > > Prasad's wife Rabri Devi is member of the Bihar assembly. > > > > Others like Kausal Yadav and Raju Singh are lawmakers along > > with their wives in the assembly. > > > > At present, the total number of elected women lawmakers in > > Bihar is 25 with a maximum of 12 women getting elected on > > the ruling Janata Dal (United) tickets. > > > > But once the bill comes into force, the number of seats to > > be reserved for women in the assembly will go up to 83. > > > > > > > http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/lawmakers-seek-wives-in-bid-to-safeguard-seats-1.596078 > > > > > > --- On Thu, 3/11/10, Rahul Asthana > > wrote: > > > > > > From: Rahul Asthana > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's > > reservation bill > > To: "Rakesh Iyer" , > > "TaraPrakash" > > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , > > "Sarai Reader List" > > Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 11:26 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Taraprakash, > > Besides the point made by Rakesh, my biggest problem with > > this scheme is the uncertainty involved about the next > > ticket. I do not have anything against reservation per se. > > Actually I do not like Madhu Kishwar's scheme either. Fixed > > constituencies are the best way forward, IMHO of > > course.Also, this is a very non trivial change that can > > potentially shake the very foundations of democracy. Hence I > > do not believe that experiment as you go is an option here. > > Maybe all parties can iron out the kinks.We should have more > > debate on this. > > Thanks > > Rahul > > > > > > > > > > From: Rakesh Iyer > > To: TaraPrakash > > Cc: Rahul Asthana ; > > Kshmendra Kaul ; > > Sarai Reader List > > Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 12:08:23 PM > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Question regarding women's > > reservation bill > > > > Dear Taraprakash > > > > It is very easy to say that one should contest as an > > independent candidate. If you really wish to know how > > elections are played like a drama, please read P.Sainath on > > www.indiatogether.org, for Maharashtra elections in 2009 > > (both Lok Sabha and assembly). Read on how millions were > > spent in the name of publicity by the candidates which were > > never accounted for, and in what great ways. An independent > > candidate will never be able to do that, unless of course > > he/she is corrupt. > > > > Indian democracy is a joke, not a democracy please! Even > > the elections are manipulated like anything. From media > > management to distributing sarees before the public, our > > democracy is indeed a joke. And when all of us are to blame > > for it, where can we hide at all? > > > > 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: > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 17:27:24 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:27:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003170053h4ca6bf10s206b625b10d25f71@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170034m17628e86v2dd9404359c0c13b@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170053h4ca6bf10s206b625b10d25f71@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003170457n279c502cxeeaddf5b0c255615@mail.gmail.com> If i am not mistaken Pawan, soon as the article on the mock drill shootout was posted, you were the first one to say: "Yes, yes, now blame Modi". Enemy of Gujarat are those, who are eating away its reserves, exploiting its people into believing that there is an utopia, or those who are hiding actual villains. A landmass or its people are not blamed here. -anupam On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Anupam Ji , > > Those were my comments above the main article . And the question was for > Javed. > > As far as my posting goes , my intent was that let us not view Gujarat > through a communal prism always as was intended by Javed. > > Communal clashes , unfortunately , have happened under every > regime...even in communist rule states. > > Stop making villain out of Gujarat. > > Thanks ...Good wishes > > Pawan > > > > On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:04 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> "Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >> did you miss this ?" >> >> Did the above line also come along with the news feed? >> >> Anupam >> >> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Sir , >>> >>> I have posted a news item. What is wrong in that ? Why does it cause >>> you worry ? Not even a single word is mine. Even the subject line is >>> original >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:56 PM, anupam chakravartty >>> wrote: >>>> Pawan, >>>> >>>> Please substantiate what you are saying about my understanding. What >>>> do you think i know or have said in this reader's list about the >>>> police inspector being shot? >>>> >>>> If you think, what i have said is something illegal, unsubstantiated, >>>> then please expose me here. you have a chance. if you can't then stop >>>> peddling such ideas to this list. >>>> >>>> Anupam >>>> >>>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>>> Dear Anupam C, >>>>> >>>>> Thank you for your post. >>>>> >>>>> You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of >>>>> understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why >>>>> the inspector was shot ? >>>>> >>>>> I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news >>>>> agency called PTI. >>>>> >>>>> Good going ..... >>>>> >>>>> God Bless....  #Mirchi >>>>> >>>>> Pawan >>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty >>>>> wrote: >>>>>> Pawan, >>>>>> >>>>>> I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such >>>>>> deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the >>>>>> gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for >>>>>> which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim >>>>>> rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of >>>>>> these riots. what would you say to that? >>>>>> >>>>>> i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu >>>>>> youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members >>>>>> should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. >>>>>> you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away >>>>>> with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), >>>>>> when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the >>>>>> incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you >>>>>> know why Hemant was killed? >>>>>> >>>>>> whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from >>>>>> the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but >>>>>> your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on >>>>>> communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point >>>>>> over your opponents) is not enough. >>>>>> >>>>>> thanks anupam >>>>>> >>>>>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>>>>> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>>>>>> did you miss this ? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >>>>>>> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >>>>>>> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously >>>>>>> injured >>>>>>> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, >>>>>>> Hemant >>>>>>> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >>>>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >>>>>>> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >>>>>>> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >>>>>>> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >>>>>>> Ahmedabad. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously >>>>>>> injured >>>>>>> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >>>>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >>>>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>>> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 17 17:47:29 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:47:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <341380d01003170457n279c502cxeeaddf5b0c255615@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170034m17628e86v2dd9404359c0c13b@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170053h4ca6bf10s206b625b10d25f71@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170457n279c502cxeeaddf5b0c255615@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003170517j7c9db85br57531268de1ff338@mail.gmail.com> Dear Anupam Ji , "Yes, yes, now> blame Modi". That was what i believe was the intent of the person who did the 'sensational subject line' posting. I agree with you , villains are those who are eating away reserves ,exploiting people into believing that there is an utopia, or those who are hiding actual villains. A landmass or its people are not blamed here. And that happens in large parts of country , be it Kerela , Tripura , west Bengal , J&K , Andhra or elsewhere ... It is condemnable everywhere. Regards & Wishes Pawan On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 5:27 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > If i am not mistaken Pawan, soon as the article on the mock drill > shootout was posted, you were the first one to say: "Yes, yes, now > blame Modi". > > Enemy of Gujarat are those, who are eating away its reserves, > exploiting its people into believing that there is an utopia, or those > who are hiding actual villains. A landmass or its people are not > blamed here. > > -anupam > > > On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Dear Anupam Ji , >> >> Those were my comments above the main article . And the question was for >> Javed. >> >> As far as my posting goes , my intent was that let us not view Gujarat >> through a communal prism always as was intended by Javed. >> >> Communal clashes , unfortunately , have happened under every >> regime...even in communist rule states. >> >> Stop making villain out of Gujarat. >> >> Thanks ...Good wishes >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:04 PM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >>> "Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>> did you miss this ?" >>> >>> Did the above line also come along with the news feed? >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> Sir , >>>> >>>> I have posted a news item. What is wrong in that ? Why does it cause >>>> you worry ? Not even a single word is mine. Even the subject line is >>>> original >>>> >>>> Pawan >>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:56 PM, anupam chakravartty >>>> wrote: >>>>> Pawan, >>>>> >>>>> Please substantiate what you are saying about my understanding. What >>>>> do you think i know or have said in this reader's list about the >>>>> police inspector being shot? >>>>> >>>>> If you think, what i have said is something illegal, unsubstantiated, >>>>> then please expose me here. you have a chance. if you can't then stop >>>>> peddling such ideas to this list. >>>>> >>>>> Anupam >>>>> >>>>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>>>> Dear Anupam C, >>>>>> >>>>>> Thank you for your post. >>>>>> >>>>>> You have no idea why the Hindu youth was killed but you had a lot of >>>>>> understanding on why a police inspector was shot...Did you know why >>>>>> the inspector was shot ? >>>>>> >>>>>> I have just posted a news item which comes from a respectable news >>>>>> agency called PTI. >>>>>> >>>>>> Good going ..... >>>>>> >>>>>> God Bless....  #Mirchi >>>>>> >>>>>> Pawan >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:46 PM, anupam chakravartty >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> Pawan, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I can only sense that there is just one factor responsible for such >>>>>>> deaths, be it hindu or muslim. a cultivated divide made by the >>>>>>> gujarat's politicians. in gujarat, the riots have also happened for >>>>>>> which people placed bets on their occurence. forget hindu and muslim >>>>>>> rioting, people actually bet on the time and place of occurence of >>>>>>> these riots. what would you say to that? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> i have no idea what reasons were behind the killing of this Hindu >>>>>>> youth by Muslims. but i think not just you but even list members >>>>>>> should wait for the news to develop for the details come in to fore. >>>>>>> you cannot post wire messages of developing stories (and then get away >>>>>>> with it by explicitly attacking one list member or his intention), >>>>>>> when the reasons have not been stated as to the occurrence of the >>>>>>> incident, you could cite those and give your specific comments. do you >>>>>>> know why Hemant was killed? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> whereas, Javed had posted a news piece where the police official from >>>>>>> the ATS has clearly stated his case to the media. I am sorry Pawan but >>>>>>> your efforts to malign Javed by posting by various issues on >>>>>>> communalism (with a half hearted effort of scoring a brownie point >>>>>>> over your opponents) is not enough. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> thanks anupam >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 3/17/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>>>>>> Gujarat in news again . This time the victim is not a Muslim. Javed , >>>>>>>> did you miss this ? >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> http://www.ptinews.com/news/568220_Security-stepped-up-in-Gujarat-town-after-fresh-clash >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Rajkot, Mar 16 (PTI) Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi >>>>>>>> town of Gujarat's Surendranagar district after a youth, who was >>>>>>>> injured in an altercation between two communities, died. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously >>>>>>>> injured >>>>>>>> in an altercation between two communities over a petty issue. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> According to the police, fresh clash broke out after the youth, >>>>>>>> Hemant >>>>>>>> Thakore, died during treatment at a hospital in Ahmedabad. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant's house >>>>>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> http://deshgujarat.com/2010/03/17/hindu-youths-deathpatdi-tensestone-peltingtear-gasbandh/ >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hindu youth’s death,Patdi tense,stone pelting,tear gas,bandh >>>>>>>> Surendranagar, 16 March, 2010 >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Fresh communal clash broke out today in Patdi town of Gujarat’s >>>>>>>> Surendranagar district after a Hindu youth, who was attacked by a >>>>>>>> group of local Muslims on 6 March, died today at a hospital in >>>>>>>> Ahmedabad. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Tension gripped the town on March 6 when a youth was seriously >>>>>>>> injured >>>>>>>> after attacked by group of local Muslims. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> People belonging to the Thakore community rushed to Hemant’s house >>>>>>>> where members of a minority community had also assembled. This led to >>>>>>>> stone pelting by both sides, they said. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> A couple of rounds of teargas shells were lobbed to bring the >>>>>>>> situation under control, police said. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Surendranagar Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the situation >>>>>>>> in Patdi was under control. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Patdi observed complete strike today to protest Hemant’s death. >>>>>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>>>> 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 Mar 17 17:46:08 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:46:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Security stepped up in Gujarat town after fresh clash In-Reply-To: <341380d01003170457n279c502cxeeaddf5b0c255615@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003162358i60c93eefg18024a1153b1de75@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170016t703d286rc4eed82b8f022135@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170022y465af10fk8631be2dd9f8a04e@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170026i27d02fd7gc2ed65b1a3b5dd09@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170028g479cea63gf9d1906edd648f0b@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170034m17628e86v2dd9404359c0c13b@mail.gmail.com> <6b79f1a71003170053h4ca6bf10s206b625b10d25f71@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003170457n279c502cxeeaddf5b0c255615@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear all I must say this is one of the most disgusting mail series which I have got the chance to go through in recent times, even going by Sarai standards. Having myself done these things and then later realized that people don't change just because you want them to, I left it for people to realize themselves whether their perspective is right or not. But it seems the others have not yet learnt this. I request members not to treat this forum as one for slanging verbal matches with each other and instead concentrate on issues and put forth your arguments in a manner and have the patience to listen to the other person's views with respect. Please do not make your ego and your honour a bigger issue than the other issues you are talking about in the list. I do understand that some may not like Modi, some may not like Congress, some may not like Muslims, and some may not like anything. But that does not in any way mean that the freedom of posting mails be abused to just satisfy one's own ego at the expense of spamming others, which is how I believe other members (who don't post but receive mails) would be feeling. Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 17 18:57:34 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:27:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003160342x7e1f6fata6ecb84d20500f84@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <971332.21959.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Pawan   Thanks for sharing the weblink from Eco-Times.   The exporters of Jihadi Terror from Pakistan to India will use all kinds of stratgems to impassion people in Pakistan (or in India) against India. Not unexpected, it would be true to their form.   What is little understood (and perhaps little know amongst Indians unless they are monitoring Pakistani Media) that these accusations against India of “diverting the waters of Pakistani rivers.”  or "stopping flow of water to Pakistan" are regularly mentioned in Pakistani Print and Television.   The persons who make these accusations are from what is fondly often mentioned as 'Civil Society' in Pakistan and many of them would have little if any interest in exporting Jihadi Terror to India.   But anyone can sees where all of this goes. When the Jihadis use 'water' as an excuse for terror strikes against India, there would now be swathes of ill-informed Non-Jihadi Pakistanis who would possibly think that the Jihadis are doing it in the interest of Pakistan.   Coincidentally, just a few days earlier than the Eco-Times article, I had made the following comment in a conversation with Yasir:   "  Inspite of the propaganda against India in connection with the Indus Water Treaty, there is no credible evidence that India has stopped flow of waters to Pakistan at any time including when they were at war with each other.   Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah has this to say "Apart from the Baglihar dam, neither Pakistan nor India has had problems with the Indus Water Treaty."   (When I watched the interview on DAWN TV, his exact words were "India has never stopped the flow of waters")   It is an excellent interview where Shah talks of the nature of concerns Pakistan has had and is likely to have by the very form of the Indus Water treaty. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/02-jamaat-shah-02 "   Kshmendra     --- On Tue, 3/16/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad To: "reader-list" Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 4:12 PM "Besides, the interrogation of the recently-arrested Indian Mujhaideen cadres including Ahmad Khwaja, Shahzad and Salman, has revealed the ISI-LeT’s plans to use local IM terrorists to launch attacks in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. While the government has recently arrested many fugitive IM leaders and cadres from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and a west Asian nation, the security agencies fear that some modules may already be lying dormant across Indian cities, waiting to be activated for a future terror attack. Even in Kerala, from where terror suspect T Nazir said several terror modules were recruited, fundamentalist political outfits such as PDP are said to be closely working with ISI and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Though leader Abdul Nasser Madani is not active, his aides are ensuring that new jihadis are recruited and logistics arranged for ISI-sponsored terror aimed against India." http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Liquid-jihad-Water-lies-to-boost-dampened-spirits/articleshow/5684003.cms _________________________________________ 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 Mar 17 19:33:26 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:33:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: <971332.21959.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <6b79f1a71003160342x7e1f6fata6ecb84d20500f84@mail.gmail.com> <971332.21959.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear all It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread (as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions, breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become 'terrorists'). At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence (comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI, as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or Afghanistan. It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the purposes of the Army as the end-result. Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 17 20:09:05 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:39:05 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <944146.34320.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Rakesh   I personally do not subscribe to the "attack" formulation, in at least it's physical dimension.   No one can change Pakistan other than the Pakistanis themselves, just as no one can change India other than Indians themselves. In both cases hopefully change for the better   The problem is in the "All Is Well" attitude. "Haan problem toh hai, magar buss chandd hee logon mein, aur kuch hee baaton mein" (Yes there is a problem but it is confined to just a few people and just a few issues). That is the problem; the glossing over realities out of disinterest, or out of lack of knowledge, or out of embarrasment in acknowledging facts.   Such voices, those in Pakistan and their parroting buddies in India or (in similar situations)those in India and their parroting buddies in Pakistan are, in my opinion, amongst the worst enemies of the people of either country.   Such voices abound in the 'people to people' contact groups who (quite astonishingly so) think that their fraction of one percent of  the population represents the realities in the two countries. What they weave is perhaps sincerely what they believe in, but the fraction that they are, they reflect on similar fractions of the entireties and do little else but cover-up the realities.   Not unexpectedly they fail in amounting to much.      All does not become Well, little becomes Well by declarations of 'All Is Well, Buss Thoda Sa Problem Hai'.    Kshmendra --- On Wed, 3/17/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: From: Rakesh Iyer Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "reader-list" , "Pawan Durani" Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 7:33 PM Dear all It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread (as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions, breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become 'terrorists'). At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence (comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI, as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or Afghanistan. It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the purposes of the Army as the end-result. Rakesh From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 18 00:22:36 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:52:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003160342x7e1f6fata6ecb84d20500f84@mail.gmail.com> <971332.21959.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <165914.76005.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi Rakesh, A small correction "And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union " If you read Ahmed Rashid's book about the Taliban you will find that Taliban was created by Pak establishment;it had nothing to do with Russian invasion in the beginning. America of course used it, and is guilty of continuing to support the military monetarily and politically. Other than that, I disagree with Kshamendra regarding the degree,or nature, of support by the Pakistani people, though I agree with him about the magnitude of the problem.It is another matter that even a few can cause siginificant harm to India. The national narrative is managed by the power elite, just like it was done in America for Iraq war. In Pakistan;s case the national narrative is built around both religion and nationalism and that makes it doubly exploitative, but I am hopeful that with the Pakistani Army out of power India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out. The Pakistani civil society are the bigger stakeholder in this and they have to take the initiative. It is by no means an easy task because Pakistan army is firmly ensconced in the power structures and institutions of the country. To weed it out of power is probably as much, if not more, difficult than Indian army coming to power in India. But at least we should be clear on what we want and what our priorities should be. Thanks Rahul ----- Original Message ---- From: Rakesh Iyer To: Kshmendra Kaul Cc: reader-list Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 10:03:26 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad Dear all It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread (as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions, breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become 'terrorists'). At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence (comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI, as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or Afghanistan. It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the purposes of the Army as the end-result. 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 13:44:44 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:44:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The wells brim with water in drought-prone Gujarat Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003180114t285d51cbu4e191397b20adb30@mail.gmail.com> http://www.hindu.com/seta/2010/03/18/stories/2010031850221400.htm THE WELLS of Kalawad village in Junagadh district, Gujarat brim with water. The reason — construction of check dams by a peasant, Mr. Bhanjibhai Mathukiya. Till a few years ago, the drought-prone village forced many of its farmers to abandon agriculture. “Today, most of the wells brim with water and farmers are able to grow their crops without any fear of water shortage, thanks to the three check dams constructed by Mr. Bhanjibhai,” says Mr. Mahesh Patel, Chief Innovation Manager, Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network, (GIAN). Semi circular arches The farmer built the first dam across a small river running through the village. It consists of a series of semicircular arches beneath to support the weight (similar to railway bridges to support the weight of a running train). The dam not only costs less than conventional ones, but is also more stable and easy to construct. It resists maximum water pressure and force because of its unique design and structural strength. For constructing the dam the farmer used locally available stones and placed them in the flowing water maintaining a little distance between two stones. Later, he filled the gap with river sand, stones and cement. The total cost for building a dam worked to just Rs.10,000 including the labour cost. After completion of this, several villagers requested Mr. Bhanjibhai to build more check dams down stream. More dams So, the farmer built two more dams in the neighbouring villages with the support of a local community. Till date the farmer has built about 25 check dams in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Explaining the construction of his dam Mr. Bhanjibhai says: “Barriers are constructed at the ends to arrest water overflow through the sides. Overflowing weakens the dam by constant erosion. The conventional dams made by the government in our region are gravity type, deriving their strength in their weight. They are massive and hence require a large quantity of concrete for their construction. “To build a dam the expense could work out to anything between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh or more. But I spent only Rs. 10,000 for constructing one dam. “As most of the rivers are not perennial, the check dam saves wastage of surplus water from running off. After the monsoon, water shortage makes it difficult to irrigate the crops. Water table “The next major source for irrigation is the well. However, with the end of rainfall the underground level of water falls drastically. The check dam prevents water from running off and also recharges the water table,” explains the farmer. Presently the conventional dams in Gujarat are being constructed by the government with the help of the local farmers under the 40-60 schemes — 60 per cent of the cost of construction is borne by the government, with the farmers meeting the remaining 40 per cent. Mr. Bhanjibhai's check dam model can be constructed easily by individuals or co-operative work without waiting for the government's help. Natural scientists “In devising simple, low cost effective solutions for everyday problems, our country's rural innovators are simply backyard Edisons. “With a plethora of new ideas, technologies and innovations, these natural scientists are creating a strong impact in our villages which if properly recognized can play an important role in shaping the world's economy. “It would be great if the technology could be replicated on mass scale all over India and other countries for the benefit of rural agriculture,” says Mr. Mahesh Patel, Chief Innovation Manager, (GIAN) Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network. For more information readers can contact Mr. Bhanjibhai Mathukiya, Kalawad, Junagadh: 362130, Gujarat, mobile: 9825481528 and Mr. Mahesh Patel, Chief Innovation Manager at mahesh at gian.organd gian at gian.org, website:www.gian.org, phones : 079-26760398 and 26769686. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 18 15:32:18 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:02:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: <165914.76005.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <241582.17913.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Rahul wrote : "I am hopeful that ..........India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out."   I second that hope with these words of Ali Sardar Jafri:   Jiyain Tamaam Haseenaane Khaibar-o-Lahore   Jiyein Tamaam Jawaanan-e-Janaat-e-kashmir   Ho Lub Pe Naghma-e-Mehr-o-Wafa ki Taabaani   Kitaab-e-Dil Pe Fakat Harf-e-Ishq Ho Tehreer.     Kshmendra   --- On Thu, 3/18/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: From: Rahul Asthana Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad To: "Rakesh Iyer" , "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "reader-list" Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 12:22 AM Hi Rakesh, A small correction "And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union " If you read Ahmed Rashid's book about the Taliban you will find that Taliban was created by Pak establishment;it had nothing to do with Russian invasion in the beginning. America of course used it, and is guilty of continuing to support the military monetarily and politically. Other than that, I disagree with Kshamendra regarding the degree,or nature, of support by the Pakistani people, though I agree with him about the magnitude of the problem.It is another matter that even a few can cause siginificant harm to India. The national narrative is managed by the power elite, just like it was done in America for Iraq war. In Pakistan;s case the national narrative is built around both religion and nationalism and that makes it doubly exploitative, but I am hopeful that with the Pakistani Army out of power India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out. The Pakistani civil society are the bigger stakeholder in this and they have to take the initiative. It is by no means an easy task because Pakistan army is firmly ensconced in the power structures and institutions of the country. To weed it out of power is probably as much, if not more, difficult than Indian army coming to power in India. But at least we should be clear on what we want and what our priorities should be. Thanks Rahul ----- Original Message ---- From: Rakesh Iyer To: Kshmendra Kaul Cc: reader-list Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 10:03:26 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad Dear all It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread (as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions, breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become 'terrorists'). At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence (comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI, as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or Afghanistan. It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the purposes of the Army as the end-result. 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 15:40:02 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:40:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Auction_of_Gujarat_CM=92s_treasure?= =?windows-1252?q?_house_generates_Rs_1=2E25_crore?= Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003180310u30de4bb9kc65f2381a53c018e@mail.gmail.com> The public auctioning of gift articles from the collection of Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s treasure house generated Rs 1.25 crore, sources in district administration said today. The proceedings of public auction, held from March 2 to 5, would be spent on girls’ education in the state, they said. As many as 1,173 gift articles from Shri Narendra Modi’s treasure house were auctioned during the exhibition cum auction held at Vivekananda Art gallery here. 87 silver articles, 109 shields mementos and 185 art pieces were among other gifts that caught fancy of bidders. People from all walks of life, ranging from ordinary citizens to various associations and organisations, took part in the auction conducted by the district administration. Chief Minister deposits the gifts and mementos awarded to him, as a mark of respect and affection by citizens in various public functions held across the state, to the treasure house. The gift articles are then auctioned the proceeds of which are spent on girl child education in the state. Source: Economic Times From pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 15:41:18 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:41:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat -Why No 1 state in India ? Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003180311r3055be86i811c1658630a7d03@mail.gmail.com> Gujarat’s GDP has been growing at 12 per cent, as fast as China’s, under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi; this has left many states behind Not a month goes without news reports highlighting the achievement and development of Gujarat. Reports on the recent developments evince that Gujarat is a “happening state” which entitles it to be ranked first among all Indian states. Agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan rightly puts it, “Gujarat owes it to a scientific and integrated approach to agriculture during Narendra Modi’s tenure which is backed by a sharp vision.” Gujarat's GDP has been growing at 12 per cent, as fast as China's, under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi; this has left many states behind The initiative of Modi government to provide soil health cards to farmers has brought second ‘Green Revolution’ in Gujarat. The state has now changed gears to become an auto hub. After Tata, Hero Honda, the world’s largest two-wheeler maker, is set to establish a manufacturing unit in the state. Gujarat has highly diversified industries — from diamonds to denim, fertilisers to pharmaceuticals, automobile to milk products, cotton, art-silk, ceramics and oil seeds. Most of these industries have notched up top slots in terms of production — in India and world alike. Gujarat contributes to 40 per cent of the country’s pharma and art-silk industries, 80 per cent of polished diamond industry and 11 per cent of the world’s chemical exports. The state government has formed a land bank of 50,000 hectares for industrial houses to choose the sites online. For past 12 years, Gujarat’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been growing at 12 per cent — as fast as China’s. Gujaratis, who hold 30 per cent of scrips floating in the market, account for 16 per cent of Indian exports and 17 per cent of GDP. The state is India’s petro-gas capital. Political stability, entrepreneurial spirit and ever-improving infra-structure attract capital and entrepreneurs from East Asia, the West and even from the Middle East. Country’s largest social base of business class of Banias, Parsis, Khojas, Bohras constitutes Gujarat’s business community. A commercially-tuned culture and Modi’s resourceful leadership have made Gujarat the most “fast forward state of India”. Though critical issues like unemployment, low indicators of social development (HDI) and population living Below Poverty Line (BPL) cannot be overlooked, it was persistent under all regimes. Modi and Health Minister J N Vyas have floated several credible schemes to improve the state’s performance on HDI. The state government has also earmarked financial aid of Rs 1,500 crore for 25 lakh poor families which will be delivered by 2010. While 1.43 BPL families will get plots to build houses, about 2.59 lakh families will be given houses before May 2011. Modi government aims at providing jobs to 10 lakh youths, water supply to 12,000 villages and electricity to 17,940 villages. Also, the government departments will be graded according to their performance in achieving the goal. The state has sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore for Sakhi Mandals to micro-finance thousands of women. Gujarat has bagged several prestigious awards like UN Sasakawa Award for disaster mitigation, CAPAM award for innovation in governance, UNESCO award, CSI award for e-governance and Indiatech award in power sector. The state is front-runner in attracting industrial investment (MoUs). It is first in implementing major health care services. Besides, availability and utility of infrastructure and state-wide fibre-optic connectivity puts it on world map. Gujarat’s synergising relationship with its Diaspora demonstrates what Gujarat has achieved under the Modi government. Clinton Foundation has awarded Gujarat the world’s largest solar plant and 34 solar projects are in the pipeline. The state has the distinction of housing India’s first tidal energy project and the largest wind energy farm. Ahmedabad has a world class public transport system which serves 44 million people and helps in saving 37 lakh tonnes of carbon emission. The state has country’s biggest CNG and LNG infrastructure. Ahmedabad, which was derided as the most polluted city in 2003, was recognised as ‘Green City’ by the UN in 2009. But, Mahuva-pattern land satyagrahas alert us against the possibility of Gujarat becoming a mosaic of fragments of SEZ sub-states. All these have sculpted Gujarat’s image as a geo-economic power. New coastal ‘Silver Corridor’ with the development arc between its two gulfs and knowledge corridor has wooed global players. Asian Tigers seek access to its ports for taking goods to the Middle East and Europe. Japanese township near Dholera and Koreans’ near Valsad has raised the state’s international profile. Gujaratis ask: “Miles to go, but compared to other states isn’t our glass more than half full?” One of the city’s most eminent political analysts, Pravin Sheth dissects the twists and turns of policy in Gujarat From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 16:28:37 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:28:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat -Why No 1 state in India ? In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003180311r3055be86i811c1658630a7d03@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003180311r3055be86i811c1658630a7d03@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: My response: Link: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/26/stories/2009022650711900.htm * Gujarat economy sustains growth; human development index falls * *Our Bureau * Ahmedabad, Feb. 25 The economy of Gujarat is sustaining an overall growth rate of eight percentage points, but the incidence of rural poverty declined at the annual rate of 0.23 per cent, which is the worst Human Development Index (HDI) improvement record among all states. “The economy is growing at a rapid pace but the Human Development Index of the state is falling. It means that there is a mismatch somewhere,” said Professor Indira Hirway, Director and Professor of Economics at the Center for Development Alternatives. She was speaking at the Gujarat Annual Day event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry. According to the Planning Commission, incidence of rural poverty in Gujarat declined by 2.8 per cent during 1993 to 2005 as against 8.5 per cent in India during the same period. Meanwhile, the incidence of poverty in tribal areas in Gujarat increased during the same period. The rural per capita income in the State is half of the urban income. Urban poverty declined at an annual rate of 1.58 per cent, but it only reflects calorie consumption and not the poor quality of life rapidly increasing in the urban slums, which is reflected in the HDI, said Prof Hirway. >From 1996 to 2006, Gujarat slipped one rank each in education and health indices to eight and tenth positions, respectively, as compared to 20 other states. In improvement in Infant Mortality Rate, it ranked 13th. The state ranked 14th in Child Mortality Rate, 13th in TMR, 17th in stunted children and ninth in underweight children. Unemployment Though Gujarat employs 6.4 per cent of the total employable workforce of India, the rate of unemployment is high. Growth of employment has happened in the unorganised sector, which is unprotected in a quickly globalising scenario where it is open to volatility of the fluctuating global market. “Exports are good, but globalisation for the sake of globalisation is harmful. It should be done in a way to create more employment opportunities. This shows that the growth in the State is primarily a capital intensive one and not employment generative,” she said. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 18 16:28:43 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:58:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003131432q609a17b1k703cd761898f1315@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <169382.56723.qm@web57204.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Yasir   Thank you for your respose and the analyses therein. Always a pleasure to read you and get educated.   I absolutely dont mind your comments about "Hindu" and "Indian Secularism".   I am sure you applied your mind in the making of those statements. If that is what your aggregated understanding of  "Hindu" and "India Secularism" is, then I am sure it is an informed opinion from you.   Incidentally, I see myself as a Kashmiri Pandit (or rather a Koshur Bhatta) and not as a Hindu.   And incidentally I have a very low opinion of Indian Secularism. I see it as a convoluted interpretation of 'secular' and do believe that the way it is practised  and propagated is nowhere close to being 'secular' and has done immense harm to India.   And incidentally I have an identical opinion about Indian Democracy also.   And incidentally I am not "Anti-Islamic". If I am, then I am equally and perhaps more "Anti-Hindu" too. I am wondering whether it is so difficult to differentiate between a critical evaluation being done and it being an "Anti" attitude. I get identical judgements from many of my "Hindu" friends also. They believe I am a 'Anti-Hindu'-'Closet-Muslim'.   I will tell you who is Anti-Islamic. It is the Muslims themselves and few more so than those of Pakistan. Just as the Hindus themselves are Anti-Hindu. (AGGREGATED JUDGEMENT).   An offering of Love from Faiz:   Gulshan-e-yaad mein gar aaj dum-e-baad-e-saba Phir se chahay ke gul afshaan ho, toh ho janay do Umr-e-rafta ke kisi taak pe bisra hua dard Phir se chahay ke farozan ho, toh ho janay do Jaisay begaanay se milte ho vaisay hee sahi Aao doh char ghadee mere muqabil baitho Garche mil baithaingay hum tum to mulaqaat ke baad Apna ihsas-e-ziyaN aur ziada hoga Hum sukhan hongay hum donoN toh har baat ke beech Unkahi baat ka mohoom sa parda hoga Koi iqrar na maiN yaad dilaoonga na tum Koi mazmoon wafa ka na jafa ka hoga Gard-e-ayyam ki tehreer ko dhonay ke liye Tum se goya ho dum-e-deed jo meri palkein Tum jo chaho toh suno, aur jo na chaho na suno Aur jab harf karrain mujhsay guraizaan aankhein Tum jo chaho to kaho, aur na chaho, na kaho   Kshmendra   From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Taliban is the future To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010, 4:02 AM > > > Liberal = We accept you; You accept us; On a mutuality of terms > > Islamic = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms. > > This Non-Liberal facet of Islam holds true not only for Inter-Faith > relationships, but also for Intra-Faith relationships depending on which is > the dominating Group who can dictate terms. > i am sure you would't mind if i added: Hindu = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms. Indian Secularism = We accept you on our terms; You accept us on our terms. (In case you are fooling yourself we are still Hindu) But i dont buy this self-fulfilling prophecy or logic. for one or the other religion, whether its muslims christians in india, hindus christians in pk, christians in syria, maronites, muslims druze in lebanon, jews in iran, muslims in israel, muslims orthodox xtians albanians, macedonians in ex-yougoslavia ....or whatever___ its a wrongly framed question. Religion is just that: an ideology being used by the group in power, which has various consequences, predictable and unpredictable, further below and much further below. The way things are run politically is purely that: political-social. If you are vouching for secularism, you better take out 'religion' as an explanatory factor, and see the groups, especially religious groups, in ways social-political. i agree that will give the right picture of the govt's position and make-up. to target religion for wrong doing is to add something extra which is not required. one can find religious principles to suit one's taste in ideology. In pk as in india the religious false principle is much abused in politics as well as by religious thanedars and thekadars to make a living. there is too much religion which is hardly religion, is much nationalism & fake idealism if not buffoonery chicanery & charlatanry, is blatantly populist, making for the worst examples of human behaviour on the planet. The positive examples are rare, short and has positive implications for 'religious freedom'. But then we will not be able to explain this through a 'religious' explanation, which i am arguing is totally flexible and in fact at the disposal of the group in power.  I think this will settle the question. In actual practice the term secular is a problem in itself - its not talking about what it seems to be talking about. and i will interpret this differently from you, kk. In a total reversal, in the US govt buildings are prohibited from using religious symbols in /on buildings, but they you will see displays of symbols, on christmas, chanukkah, eid, _ _ _ -  legally these are taken as cultural symbols rather than religious, as people may be non practicing celebrators of christmas, eid, hanukkah _ _ _ this is a much better interpretation than the opposite which holds in turkey and france that the identifcation of scarf as religious symbol to be banned in schools and government institutions - which is just flawed principle designed to irk a smaller of weaker scapegoated people endlessly for a populist / ruling group's cause - and not a bit more. so i might not have a problem with what you are calling 'secular' (altho you go a bit overboard with the anti-islamic bit) but with how the problem has been described & framed. best _________________________________________ 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 Mar 18 17:02:26 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:32:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <318494.51190.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Anupam   You wrote : " will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are acting with Dan Hussain and Javed?"   Javed? Yes! Dan Hussain? No!   Will you please tell me where I have addressed Dan Hussain or mentioned Dan Hussain or commented upon anything that Dan Hussain wrote?   NOWHERE.   And that is exactly where you go with some of your responses Anupam; NOWHERE.   What does that tell us about you?   That you do not read what you think you are responding to OR that you do not read what you yourself write OR that you are so consumed by bias, prejudice and pre-judgements about people and issues that your brain froths and you get all muddled up.   That is sad since when you are sane, you do write thought-provoking mails.   Kshmendra   anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 IST 2010 "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own." Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every occasion? -anupam --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: From: Kshmendra Kaul Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill To: "Pawan Durani" , "anupam chakravartty" Cc: "sarai list" Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:53 PM Dear Anupam   A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting.   Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it that is not public so far.   How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he discuss his intention with you?   Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector?   Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...."?   Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own.   Kshmendra   --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: From: anupam chakravartty Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill To: "Pawan Durani" Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a debate about reforms to be carried in policing. On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Thank you Kshemendra , > > I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . > > Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only > 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. > > And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to > convince the readers earlier as well . > > Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which > has members from across the world. > > @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: >> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in >> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >> >> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >> article as provided by Javed himself. >> >> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment  "Even Muslim >> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on >> the weblink provided by Javed) >> >> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >> background. >> >> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of >> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >> >> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >> >> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >> throws up Javed's  SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >> >> Kshmendra >> >> >> >> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >> important >> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >> it >> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> Dear C.Anupam , >> >> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >> >> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >> in newspapers . >> >> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill  : PTI >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill  : Indian Express >> >> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >> >> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >> >> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >> Reader-List - SARAI >> >> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >> trying to eductae you on his intent. >> >> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >> suggestions may continue to do so. >> >> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >> >> Pawan >> >> >> From: Dan Husain >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >> mock anti-terror drill >> To: >> Cc: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >> >> Dear Pawan: >> >> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, >> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. >> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP >> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >> twice. My mind belies any accident. >> >> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for >> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >> encouraged this mindset. >> >> Thanks >> >> Danish >> >> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >> >> >> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> Pawan, >> >> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >> assuming? On what grounds?  On the other hand, if these things are not >> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >> >> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >> >> Anupam >> >> >> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 >> >> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >> wrote: >> >>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>> > shot him twice >>> > >>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>> > >>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>> > >>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>> > Airport on February 24. >>> > >>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the entire >>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each cop >>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer tasked >>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>> > during rescue operations.” >>> > >>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>> > >>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold of >>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling to >>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>> > >>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>> > >>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on the >>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>> > >>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>> > service revolver. >>> > >>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At this >>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>> > Jha said. >>> > >>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>> > >>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>> > >>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident was >>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. Both >>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some criminals >>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>> > >>> > >>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >> >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 17:04:16 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:04:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat -Why No 1 state in India ? In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003180311r3055be86i811c1658630a7d03@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Source of Pawan's article: http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/59/2010022520100225030851448ca24ad6/Why-is-Gujarat-state-No-1.html From pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 17:17:09 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:17:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat :Bar coded ration card Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003180447l461a91cco2a715d70caa8edce@mail.gmail.com> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-state-ration-cards-to-have-bar-code-says-minister/592347/ In order to bring more transparency in the public distribution system, the state government will issue ration cards with bar code. State Food and Civil Supply Minister Narottam Patel announced this here on Wednesday. Speaking on the budgetary demands of his department in the state Assembly, the minister said that new ration cards will be issued and monetary provision of Rs 4 crore has been made in the budget to implement the new initiative. The technology would help curb illegal use of ration cards, he said. Moreover, separate coloured ration cards will be issued to the families belonging to below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL). The minister stressed on the use of technology in the public distribution system to bring transparency. . From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Thu Mar 18 19:30:13 2010 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:00:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: <241582.17913.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <241582.17913.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <983489.6493.qm@web53605.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Here is an article which is making a very important point, rather explicitly, which was implicit in my earlier message. "But we do not want to leave India alone and let it live in peace. Not unless the Kashmir problem is solved to our satisfaction. However, is it not time we understood that all such attempts to ‘force’ India to the negotiating table and do our bidding have failed, and have little chance of succeeding in the future either? For, the reality today is not that solving the Kashmir problem is the prerequisite to peace and normalisation between India and Pakistan. It is the other way round. Once we have accepted that the old territorial basis of the dispute is now so much history, and that the real issue is the welfare of the Kashmiri people, then that will best be achieved slowly after we stop our cold war." Read the full article here. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010/03/10/story_10-3-2010_pg3_2 The point that this article has not dwelled upon is that even with so much going wrong internally in Pakistan, it is still in Pakistan Army's interest to continue the cold war. At the very least everyone else should recognize that it is only in their interest. ________________________________ From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Rakesh Iyer ; Rahul Asthana Cc: reader-list Sent: Thu, March 18, 2010 6:02:18 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad Rahul wrote : "I am hopeful that ..........India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out." I second that hope with these words of Ali Sardar Jafri: Jiyain Tamaam Haseenaane Khaibar-o-Lahore Jiyein Tamaam Jawaanan-e-Janaat-e-kashmir Ho Lub Pe Naghma-e-Mehr-o-Wafa ki Taabaani Kitaab-e-Dil Pe Fakat Harf-e-Ishq Ho Tehreer. Kshmendra --- On Thu, 3/18/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: >From: Rahul Asthana >Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad >To: "Rakesh Iyer" , "Kshmendra Kaul" >Cc: "reader-list" >Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 12:22 AM > > >Hi Rakesh, >A small correction >"And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union " >If you read Ahmed Rashid's book about the Taliban you will find that Taliban was created by Pak establishment;it had nothing to do with Russian invasion in the beginning. America of course used it, and is guilty of continuing to support the military monetarily and politically. >Other than that, I disagree with Kshamendra regarding the degree,or nature, of support by the Pakistani people, though I agree with him about the magnitude of the problem.It is another matter that even a few can cause siginificant harm to India. The national narrative is managed by the power elite, just like it was done in America for Iraq war. In Pakistan;s case the national narrative is built around both religion and nationalism and that makes it doubly exploitative, but I am hopeful that with the Pakistani Army out of power India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out. >The Pakistani civil society are the bigger stakeholder in this and they have to take the initiative. It is by no means an easy task because Pakistan army is firmly ensconced in the power structures and institutions of the country. To weed it out of power is probably as much, if not more, difficult than Indian army coming to power in India. >But at least we should be clear on what we want and what our priorities should be. > >Thanks >Rahul > > > >----- Original Message ---- >From: Rakesh Iyer >To: Kshmendra Kaul >Cc: reader-list >Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 10:03:26 AM >Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad > >Dear all > >It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread >(as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra >Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions, >breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to >sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the >streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created >to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all >those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic >caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say >that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become >'terrorists'). > >At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to >actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are >comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this >society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence >(comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders >who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as >autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI, >as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be >attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity >to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether >we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend >oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or >Afghanistan. > >It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start >moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving >massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the >purposes of the Army as the end-result. > >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 kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 18 19:55:01 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:25:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad In-Reply-To: <983489.6493.qm@web53605.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <943718.82491.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Rahul   Munir Attaullah is a very special person. A hedonist. A 'Malang'. And a brilliant 'Bridge' player.   Kshmendra  --- On Thu, 3/18/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: From: Rahul Asthana Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "Rakesh Iyer" Cc: "reader-list" Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 7:30 PM Here is an article which is making a very important point, rather explicitly, which was implicit in my earlier message. "But we do not want to leave India alone and let it live in peace. Not unless the Kashmir problem is solved to our satisfaction. However, is it not time we understood that all such attempts to ‘force’ India to the negotiating table and do our bidding have failed, and have little chance of succeeding in the future either? For, the reality today is not that solving the Kashmir problem is the prerequisite to peace and normalisation between India and Pakistan. It is the other way round. Once we have accepted that the old territorial basis of the dispute is now so much history, and that the real issue is the welfare of the Kashmiri people, then that will best be achieved slowly after we stop our cold war." Read the full article here. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010/03/10/story_10-3-2010_pg3_2 The point that this article has not dwelled upon is that even with so much going wrong internally in Pakistan, it is still in Pakistan Army's interest to continue the cold war. At the very least everyone else should recognize that it is only in their interest.     From: Kshmendra Kaul To: Rakesh Iyer ; Rahul Asthana Cc: reader-list Sent: Thu, March 18, 2010 6:02:18 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad Rahul wrote : "I am hopeful that ..........India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out."   I second that hope with these words of Ali Sardar Jafri:   Jiyain Tamaam Haseenaane Khaibar-o-Lahore   Jiyein Tamaam Jawaanan-e-Janaat-e-kashmir   Ho Lub Pe Naghma-e-Mehr-o-Wafa ki Taabaani   Kitaab-e-Dil Pe Fakat Harf-e-Ishq Ho Tehreer.     Kshmendra   --- On Thu, 3/18/10, Rahul Asthana wrote: From: Rahul Asthana Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad To: "Rakesh Iyer" , "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "reader-list" Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 12:22 AM Hi Rakesh, A small correction "And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union " If you read Ahmed Rashid's book about the Taliban you will find that Taliban was created by Pak establishment;it had nothing to do with Russian invasion in the beginning. America of course used it, and is guilty of continuing to support the military monetarily and politically. Other than that, I disagree with Kshamendra regarding the degree,or nature, of support by the Pakistani people, though I agree with him about the magnitude of the problem.It is another matter that even a few can cause siginificant harm to India. The national narrative is managed by the power elite, just like it was done in America for Iraq war. In Pakistan;s case the national narrative is built around both religion and nationalism and that makes it doubly exploitative, but I am hopeful that with the Pakistani Army out of power India and Pakistan can co-exist peacefully if not like good friends;and a solution to Kashmir can be worked out. The Pakistani civil society are the bigger stakeholder in this and they have to take the initiative. It is by no means an easy task because Pakistan army is firmly ensconced in the power structures and institutions of the country. To weed it out of power is probably as much, if not more, difficult than Indian army coming to power in India. But at least we should be clear on what we want and what our priorities should be. Thanks Rahul ----- Original Message ---- From: Rakesh Iyer To: Kshmendra Kaul Cc: reader-list Sent: Wed, March 17, 2010 10:03:26 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Liquid jihad Dear all It would certainly be most unfortunate that a canard of lies would be spread (as has been the practice of hawkish elements across nations, be it Narendra Modi, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden) in order to generate passions, breast-beating and calls for aggression and discarding of reconciliation to sort out issues. And such a phenomena certainly calls for action on the streets but in a non-violent manner. And the monster which America created to destroy the Soviet Union has now turned to destroy its' creator and all those who it thinks are the obstacles in the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, be it Israel, India or Europe (though it would be wrong to say that there are no genuine grievances among those who do become 'terrorists'). At this time, it requires further action by the civil society in Pakistan to actually ensure that such elements don't gain more strength, and are comprehensively defeated. The only hope of the entire world lies in this society actually combating the dangerous voices of treachery and violence (comprising of the dominant section of the Pakistan army, the ISI, leaders who side with the army, and the jihadis, who are often described as autonomous actors but can't survive without the support of the army and ISI, as well as the clergy preaching violence against innocents). They have to be attacked systematically on all fronts, be it ideologically or their capacity to create havoc and wreck our lives. All this has to be tackled. And whether we like it or not, at some point of time, force may be required to defend oneself, though it can't be of the form which Bush unleashed on Iraq or Afghanistan. It is certainly time this lesson is given to Pakistan and nations start moving in UN towards it with this objective in mind, instead of giving massive funds which are not monitored and are only diverted towards the purposes of the Army as the end-result. 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 Thu Mar 18 20:38:03 2010 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (TaraPrakash) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:08:03 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill References: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: This is how binaries operate. Whatever I am not, is You. Structuralism only knows binaries. It recognizes structures, not individuals. You can either be pro-muslim or anti-muslim, if you want me to put this explanation in this context. Whoever is not pro-muslim is anti-muslim. So now you know you are not Kshmendra, you represent a structure. For a lot of individuals, 1960s are yet to happen. Good luck ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kshmendra Kaul" To: "anupam chakravartty" Cc: "sarai list" Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:32 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill > Dear Anupam > > You wrote : " will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me > like how you are > acting with Dan Hussain and Javed?" > > Javed? Yes! Dan Hussain? No! > > Will you please tell me where I have addressed Dan Hussain or mentioned > Dan Hussain or commented upon anything that Dan Hussain wrote? > > NOWHERE. > > And that is exactly where you go with some of your responses Anupam; > NOWHERE. > > What does that tell us about you? > > That you do not read what you think you are responding to OR that you do > not read what you yourself write OR that you are so consumed by bias, > prejudice and pre-judgements about people and issues that your brain > froths and you get all muddled up. > > That is sad since when you are sane, you do write thought-provoking mails. > > Kshmendra > > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 IST 2010 "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on > giving some convoluted > justification of your own." > > Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may > look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are > you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, > what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting > or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you > approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are > acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a > muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your > horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that > man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u > cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's > lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every > occasion? > > -anupam > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in > mock anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" , "anupam chakravartty" > > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:53 PM > > > Dear Anupam > > A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a > target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. > > Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it > that is not public so far. > > How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he > discuss his intention with you? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the > "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police > officers are not safe from fake encounters...."? > > Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted > justification of your own. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in > mock anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" > > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM > > > What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I > would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I > can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, > carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever > pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. > Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to > read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your > benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show > the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand > their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank > Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a > debate about reforms to be carried in policing. > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused >> . >> >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >> . >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>> in >>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>> >>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>> >>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even Muslim >>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>> on >>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>> >>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions >>> in >>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind >>> the >>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>> background. >>> >>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>> of >>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do >>> so. >>> >>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>> >>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>> throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> >>> >>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful >>> then >>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>> important >>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state >>> then >>> it >>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Dear C.Anupam , >>> >>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>> >>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>> in newspapers . >>> >>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >>> >>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>> >>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>> Reader-List - SARAI >>> >>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>> >>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>> >>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> From: Dan Husain >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>> mock anti-terror drill >>> To: >>> Cc: "sarai list" >>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>> >>> Dear Pawan: >>> >>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>> flippant, >>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>> laughable. >>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >>> planned >>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And >>> when >>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>> DCP >>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>> >>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>> for >>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>> encouraged this mindset. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Danish >>> >>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >>> Thanks. >>> >>> >>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not >>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>> >>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> > shot him twice >>>> > >>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> > >>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> > >>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the >>>> > entire >>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each >>>> > cop >>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer >>>> > tasked >>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>> > >>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold >>>> > of >>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling >>>> > to >>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>> > >>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> > >>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on >>>> > the >>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>> > >>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>> > service revolver. >>>> > >>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At >>>> > this >>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> > Jha said. >>>> > >>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> > >>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> > >>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident >>>> > was >>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. >>>> > Both >>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some >>>> > criminals >>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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/> > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 Mar 18 21:10:50 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:10:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> Kshmendra I am not really interested in answering to your query Kshmendra. so you have a good night. i have said what i had to. you will eat your own words like you do every time. so nothing really new here. Thank you very much i do not need patrons here labeling me as sane or insane. if i am insane, it is after reading the trash that not just you kshmendra but a significant lobby of people have been doing so in the name of protection of culture. in the name of identity formation, in the name of religion, religiosity, in the name of development. this is clearly the fascism of democratic ideals. i am chained by them, that's why the only form of expression is this cynical approach towards what you call good. i have to counter everything including the GOOD THINGS. YES I AM A PRICK. SO NOW WHAT? DO YOU THINK that i am here to promote some good boy image of mine or do you think this is marriage portal, some adult friend finder group? do you think truth is good? do you know if there is anything called truth? is sanity defined by you? can you answer any of these questions? or would just leave it at that -- saying thought provoking stuff you tell anupam,... which thought did i ever provoke in you? ANUPAM From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 21:18:17 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:18:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> References: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Wow! Great to see adults take on each other in this forum, and that too on ego-based issues (as opposed to say discussions based on lesser important principles like rationality and respect). Alas, indeed as my friend said : 'If people were to change their lives based on other's requests or speeches, Laden and George Bush would have been transformed long ago' Rakesh @ Anupam Jee: One question: What's the use of being a prick? From yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 03:49:46 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:19:46 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran In-Reply-To: <467655.64621.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <377696.52318.qm@web51401.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <467655.64621.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003181519q56d0d6fdyad3f515ec22993c2@mail.gmail.com> half the grammar (hence structure) of farsi and hindustani is also the same - this link must be quite ancient. btw, nowruz is celebrated with fervour by most, the islamic/nonislamic debate is actually totally ignored, and hence only an intellectual one, or a political point to be scored as it seems in the article. many customs, older practices, sites, get folded into new globalizing religions. on the other hand some tribal customs and laws also make it in and shock the wits out of everyone else___ requiring drastic measures__ On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:40 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Kashmiri Pandits celebrate "NAVREH" (equivalent of NOVROZ) on the Vernal Equinox day as per the 'Hindu' lunar calendar. > > This year it fell on 16th March = Nowrooz in Iran. Intriguing similarities amongst dissimilarities > > The roots of NOWROOZ are said to be in Zoroastrianism. I wonder where the roots of the Kashmiri Pandit festival of NAVREH are. The rituals of Navreh are said to be elaborately described in the Nilmata Puraana. > > The Sunni Muslims of Kashmir Valley  do not have any such festival (to the best of my knowledge). The Shia Muslims of Kashmir also celebrate Novroz which presumably is because of the Shia connection with Iran. > > Kshmendra > > --- On Wed, 3/17/10, Yousuf wrote: > > > From: Yousuf > Subject: [Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran > To: "sarai list" , "Indo Persian" > Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 8:23 AM > > > Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran > By JASON REZAIAN / TEHRAN Jason Rezaian / Tehran > > For days, state-run television in Iran declared that, for their own safety, citizens should stay home and keep children indoors on the evening of March 16. And indeed, the streets of Iran did erupt into flames. But the opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not organize it. Tuesday evening was the beginning of Nowrooz, the two-week-long traditional Iranian New Year celebration, which for more than three millenniums marked the beginning of spring in the Persian world. The popular holiday, celebrated with bonfires and, more recently, illegal fireworks, is so hoary it predates the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - a fact that the mullahs who rule Iran are quite sensitive about. One ayatullah, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, called the first day of Nowrooz a "superstitious act and baseless. Pious and sensible Muslims will stay away from it." > > From the time the sun set Tuesday evening, Tehran was filled with the sounds of small explosions and the smell of smoke. Police and Basij militia presence throughout the city was as high as it has been at any point since last year's controversial presidential election, but for the most part, the law-enforcement officers remained cool, From yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 03:58:43 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:28:43 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Karachi Literary Festival March 20 & 21 In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003142354w787ae294uec80b1e9912a77ef@mail.gmail.com> References: <411c39591003140918scde9de0o9f2e7fbcbc302914@mail.gmail.com> <679ac5b91003142103l6c8fd0adyca10400698218c33@mail.gmail.com> <2b2a8be51003142113i7f6f0380w3e335056b10d265d@mail.gmail.com> <5af37bb1003142354w787ae294uec80b1e9912a77ef@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003181528nc59a9cbp185befab645a190e@mail.gmail.com> *Friday 19 March: Soft Launch, 7:00 pm onwards at the British Council Antrium Garden* * * * * * * *FESTIVAL VENUE: CARLTON HOTEL KARACHI* *SATURDAY 20 MARCH* * * * * * * *10am-11 am* *LAWN* Formal Inauguration *Speakers: *Mashhood Rizvi, Asif Farrukhi, Ameena Saiyid, Anita Ghulam Ali *11am-12 Noon* *MAHARANI* *Transplanted Flowers *Readings and in Conversation with Aamer Hussein *Moderator: *Muneeza Shamsie *MAHARAJA* Readings and in Conversation with Kishwar Naheed *Moderator: *Durdana Soomro *11am - 1pm* *SAHR 1* Workshop on Creative Writing conducted by Zulfikhar Ghose and Adrian Hussain *12 Noon - 1pm* *MAHARAJA* Panel Discussion *Literature from Pakistan: Old, New and Across Languages * *Moderator:* Asif Farrukhi *Panelists*: Kishwar Naheed, Aamer Hussein, Masood Ashar, Intizar Hussain *MAHARANI* Readings and in Conversation with Bapsi Sidhwa *Moderator:* Ishrat Lindblad *1pm - 2pm* *LUNCH AT SILVIS RESTAURANT* *2pm - 3pm* *MAHARAJA* Book Launches *50 Poems and Selected Essays* by Zulfikhar Ghose *Home Boy* by Husain Naqvi *Moderators*: Amberina Kazi, Ishrat Lindblad *MAHARANI* Literature and Humour. Sarfraz Manzoor *Moderator: *Asif Noorani *3pm – 4pm* *MAHARAJA* Panel Discussion on *Literature and Activism** Panelists*: Mohammad Hanif, Mohsin Hamid, Fahmida Riaz, Arfa Syeda Zehra *Moderator*: Sunil Sethi *MAHARANI* Book Launches *Zakhm Ka Nishan *by Susan Abulhawa translated by Masood Ashar *Shadianey *by Naguib Mehfouz translated by Fehmida Riaz *Moderators*: Obaid Siddiqui, Ghazi Salahuddin *4pm - 5pm* *MAHARAJA* Talk by Shams ur Rehman Farooqi *“Urdu ki Majmooi Sooretehaal” * *Moderator*: Iftikhar Arif *MAHARANI* Readings and in Conversation with Zulfikhar Ghose *Moderator *: Ishrat Lindblad *5pm - 6pm* *MAHARANI* *Music and Literature in Pakistan* In Conversation, Reading, and Singing of Faiz's Poetry: Ali Sethi *Moderator*: Raza Rumi** *5pm - 7pm* *SCILINAS* Urdu Poetry Reading (Mushaira) *Conductor:* Fatima Hassan *Participants*: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Iftikhar Arif, Zehra Nigah, Fahmida Riaz, Kishwar Naheed, Saher Ansari, Anwar Shaoor, Shahida Hassan, Harris Khalique, Ajmal Siraj, Imdad Hussaini, Kashif Hussain Ghayar *6pm - 7pm* *MAHARANI* In Conversation with Maniza Naqvi, Sehba Sarwar, and Husain Naqvi *Moderator*: Ayesha Tammy Haq *9pm onwards* *EVENING PROGRAMME - VENUE: ARTS COUNCIL KARACHI* *SUNDAY 21 MARCH* * * * * * * *10am-11 am* *MAHARANI* A tribute to Quratulain Haider Intizar Husain *Panelists*: Fahmida Riaz, Aamer Hussain *Moderator*: Raza Rumi *SAHR 1, MAHARAJA, BOARD ROOM 1/ BANQUET OFFICE* Reading and story telling sessions for children and families *Authors/ Story-tellers*: Saman Shamsie, Zara Mumtaz, Musharraf Ali Farooqi *Moderators: *Raheela Baqai/ Nida Dossa/ Seema Khan *11am-12 Noon* *MAHARANI* Readings and in Conversation with Mohammed Hanif *Moderator*: Sadia Shepard *SCILINAS* Launch of *Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories* Followed by discussion on the world of Urdu short stories Intizar Hussain to launch *Speakers*: Hassan Manzar, Asad Mohammad Khan, Aamer Hussein *Moderator*: Asif Farrukhi *12 Noon - 1pm* *MAHARANI* >From Manuscript to Bestseller: An interactive session with Ameena Saiyid, Asif Noorani, Chiki Sarkar *Moderator: *Ameena Saiyid *MAHARAJA* Panel Discussion on *Sufism and Literature **Panelists*: Sadia Shepard, Samina Quraeshi, Sadia Dehlvi *Moderator: *Raza Rumi *1pm - 2pm* *LUNCH AT SILVIS RESTAURANT* *2pm - 3pm* * * Book Launch *Look at the City from here: Karachi Writings * Selected and Edited by Asif Farrukhi Anita Ghulam Ali to launch *Moderator:* Obaid Siddiqui *Writers*: Amar Jaleel, Hasan Manzar, Fahmida Riaz, Harris Khalique *MAHARANI* Readings and in Conversation with Iftikhar Arif *Moderator: *Ghazi Salahuddin *3pm – 4pm* *MAHARAJA* Panel Discussion *Literature in Translation * Shamsur Rahman Faruqi * Panelists:* Fahmida Riaz/ Durdana Soomro *Moderator: *Musharraf Ali Farooqi *MAHARANI* *(TITLE TO BE DECIDED)* Intizar Hussain Asad Mohammad Khan *Moderator*: Harris Khalique** *4pm - 5pm* *MAHARANI* Readings and in Conversation with Mohsin Hamid *Moderator*: Sunil Sethi *MAHARAJA* Readings and in Conversation with Fahmida Riaz *Moderator: *Raza Rumi *5pm - 6pm* *SCILINAZ* Eqbal Ahmed: A Socially Committed Intellectual Speakers Fahmida Riaz and Wasif Rizvi *Moderator:* Zohra Yusuf *MAHARANI* Panel Discussion *Contemporary South Asian English Literature: Its role and challenges today **Panelists: *Mohammad Hanif, Sarfaraz Manzoor, Mohsin Hamid, Sadia Shepard *Moderator: *Muneeza Shamsie *6pm - 7pm* *MAHARANI* Readings and in Conversation with Victoria Schofield *Moderator: *Ayesha Tammy Haq *MAHARAJA* Readings and in Conversation with Zehra Nigah, *Moderator: *Dr Fatima Hasan *9pm onwards* *Play by Tehrik-e-Niswan (Sheema Kirmani and group), Venue: Arts Council Karachi* From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Fri Mar 19 11:59:28 2010 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:29:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The Bliss of Madhuri: Husain and His Muse - a public lecture Message-ID: <475528.90529.qm@web51407.mail.re2.yahoo.com> JAMES BEVERIDGE MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia invites you to a Public Lecture on THE BLISS OF MADHURI: HUSAIN AND HIS MUSE By Patricia Uberoi JB MRC Room, MCRC New Building, 2nd Floor Thursday, March 25, 2010, 2PM By all accounts, including his own, M.F. Husain has found artistic inspiration in several ‘muses’, but none so publicly acknowledged and well-publicized as his relationship with Bollywood screen goddess, Madhuri Dixit. Husain committed her image to canvas in a series of featureless portraits, and on celluloid through his five-million dollar film, Gaja Gamini, which he scripted and directed. ‘It took me 60 years to realize this dream’, Husain wrote, ‘of which 30 years were spent in allowing Madhuri to arrive.’ Following his trajectory from art to cinema, this illustrated presentation critically reflects upon Husain’s project of rendering in cinema the timeless attributes of Indian womanhood in relation to a universal ideal of the feminine. In particular it seeks to address two interconnected issues raised by Husain’s Gaja Gamini project and the public discourse that has surrounded it: (i) the problematics of the female ‘muse’; or, should one say bluntly, the gender politics of male artistic production; and (ii) Husain’s spectacularisation of the female body of Madhuri Dixit. Admittedly, linking these two themes is no straightforward matter, located as they are in very different discursive universes. However, addressing these questions might lead us to understand how Husain’s infatuation with his muse is actually pertinent to an understanding of the public controversies in which he has become so conspicuously embroiled in recent years. Patricia UBEROI was formerly Professor of Social Change and Development at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and Honorary Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. She has published widely in the fields of family, kinship, gender, sexuality and popular culture with reference to both India and China. In addition to her book Freedom and Destiny: Gender, Family and Popular Culture in India (2006), she has edited Family, Kinship and Marriage in India (1993), Social Reform, Sexuality and the State (1996), Tradition, Pluralism and Identity (co-ed., 1999), Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian Sociology and Anthropology (co-ed., 2007), Marriage, Migration and Gender (co-ed, 2008) and Rise of the Asian Giants: Dragon-Elephant Tango (2008). (The JB MRC is supported by funds from the SRTT.) From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 12:42:57 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:42:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003190012m6ec48009wadaf9736d453a350@mail.gmail.com> Rakesh, I may have hurt the sensibilities of quite a good number of people on this list by posting which could have been addressed on a personal, one on one basis. I understand and i will explain as well. Being a prick, not just a state of mind but also a position, and it is political. When we generally argue, we provide contrasting scenarios or hypothesis. If you think that pricks like me do not do any good ( propose nothing 'good' but doubt all the intentions), you may be right. Pricks like me are worst than scavengers. However, some questions I have posed for Kshmendra and now it is certainly open to others: if truth is something good? if it is something good, why is it that it is not accessible to a lot of people? why are truths not being told to people (who participate, pay taxes and essentially form what is considered as a country, established through a rule of written or unwritten laws)? and also for (media practitioners) is truth a developing story or if there is a finality to what has been written in newspapers or given as news feed? As Taraprakashji writes for a good number of individuals (including me perhaps), that 60s are yet to happen in their lives. that this good number of people are yet to arrive at post-structuralist experience (pardon me if i am not interpreting it correctly). i found this statement to be extremely illuminating therefore i had to say that in this post-structuralist we are all pricks and perhaps, gooders at the same time. if i say binaries exist therefore, political positions have to be established keeping in mind, the personal, which will be more accurate than aligning with a structure or a discourse. at least, i am not pressurised to make certain statements which i do not agree with because on other occasions i have supported this same cause. i have already declared (my property if i were a judge) that i am a prick [as opposed to the elusive 'good', 'sane' or 'descent' (as described by bipin trivedi) so it will be some kind of yardstick for any further discussion] "who wants to talk to a prick?" may be a pertinent question here. or something like: "a prick lurks in this reader's list". at least, it will save you from saying that "Wow! Great to see adults take on each other in this forum, and that too on ego-based issues (as opposed to say discussions based on lesser important principles like rationality and respect)" it will save you from even thinking about implications of such discussions, further strengthen you to work for the change. Moreover, change is not makeover. so please do not describe it as an event. it is not something to be celebrated. it is intrinsic. change is not final, it is a mean. so do not be disillusioned. there is lot to discuss here. -anupam On 3/18/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Wow! Great to see adults take on each other in this forum, and that too on > ego-based issues (as opposed to say discussions based on lesser important > principles like rationality and respect). > > Alas, indeed as my friend said : 'If people were to change their lives based > on other's requests or speeches, Laden and George Bush would have been > transformed long ago' > > Rakesh > > @ Anupam Jee: One question: What's the use of being a prick? > From pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 13:03:23 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:03:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hizbul bets on My Name is Khan Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003190033x6531722dp69d48387826aeb4d@mail.gmail.com> Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hizbul-bets-on-my-name-is-khan/592887/0 No matter if an Asperger’s Syndrome-afflicted Rizwan Khan goes on to actually help nab a terror mastermind during his self-vindication journey through the reels of My Name is Khan, the movie has found endorsement from an unlikely quarter: the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). At least, this is what the Gujarat Anti Terror Squad (ATS) has stumbled on, while interrogating the HM’s alleged terror agent Bashir Ahmed Baba, suspected to have been scouting in Gujarat for impressionable recruits for terror training in HM facilities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The 32-year-old Bashir, known in his home state Kashmir as the Pepsi Bomber (for his alleged expertise in turning empty cans of soft drinks into explosive devices), had been asked by his HM handler in PoK , Bilal Shera, to use the movie as an indoctrination tool. ATS sources say Bashir was specifically told to use the movie to propagate the idea that Muslim youth across the world were perennially facing humiliation and derision, and they need to come together for jihad. Baba was nabbed on March 13 from Anand, while using the alleged cover of a medical camp trainer as he went about getting a network together to recruit young men for the HM. Sources said the ATS recovered from Bashir a ticket for the Shah Rukh Khan movie at the Fun Republic Theatre in Ahmedabad and grilled him on it. Bashir, the sources said, confessed that he had gone to see the movie as instructed by his boss in PoK, Bilal Shera. After watching the movie, he made a call to Bilal who asked him to describe its content and what he thought of it. According to ATS sources, Bashir told Bilal that it was a “nice movie, Shahrukh Khan acted well.” Bilal snubbed him and told him that he was sent to watch the movie to realise how it conveyed that Muslims were being subjected to atrocities and discrimination all over the world. The handler asked Bashir to get as many young Muslims as possible to watch the movie and drive home the point. ATS sources added that following his handler’s instructions, Bashir focussed on at least three specific areas in Ahmedabad _ Law Gardern, Lal Darwaza and Kankaria _ to take groups of young men to watch the movie. Sources also added that Bashir even had got pirated CDs of the movie made and handed them to some of them for distribution. Gujarat ATS chief Ajay Tomar declined to discuss the issue, insisting it would hamper the ATS probe into Bashir’s links. “I would not like to say anything on this, it will harm our investigation. We will let you know about this at an appropriate time,” he added. Tomar, however, added that the ATS had not found if the movie’s CDs were actually distributed. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 14:40:14 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:40:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Department of Justice-US: Headley Pleads Guilty - Press Release Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003190210gc086383mb12f87db7cee7d85@mail.gmail.com> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, March 18, 2010 Chicago Resident David Coleman Headley Pleads Guilty to Role in India and Denmark Terrorism Conspiracies Admits Conducting Surveillance for Lashkar e Tayyiba in Planning 2008 Mumbai Attacks David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen of partial Pakistani descent, pleaded guilty today to a dozen federal terrorism charges, admitting that he participated in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, as well as later planning to attack a Danish newspaper. In pleading guilty to all 12 counts that were brought against him in December and were repeated in a subsequent indictment in January, Headley admitted that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar e Tayyiba, a designated foreign terrorist organization, on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from three members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed six Americans among approximately 164 people and wounded hundreds more. A written plea agreement containing a detailed recitation of Headley’s participation in the foreign terrorism conspiracies was presented when Headley, 49, of Chicago, changed his plea to guilty this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in Federal Court in Chicago. Headley has cooperated with the Government since he was arrested on Oct. 3, 2009, and the plea agreement states that he "has provided substantial assistance to the criminal investigation, and also has provided information of significant intelligence value." In light of Headley’s past cooperation and expected future cooperation, the Attorney General has authorized the U.S. Attorney in Chicago not to seek the death penalty against Headley. When directed by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Headley must fully and truthfully participate in any debriefings for the purpose of gathering intelligence or national security information, and Headley further agrees that, when directed by the United States Attorney’s Office, he will fully and truthfully testify in any foreign judicial proceedings held in the United States by way of deposition, video-conferencing or letters rogatory. Regarding sentencing, which will be deferred until after the conclusion of Headley’s cooperation, the plea agreement calculates an anticipated advisory sentencing guideline of life in prison. Provided that Headley continues to provide full and truthful cooperation, the Government will ask the Court to grant an unspecified departure from the sentencing guidelines, which will be solely up to the Court to decide. "Today’s guilty plea is a crucial step forward in our efforts to achieve justice for the more than 160 people who lost their lives in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Working with our domestic and international partners, we will not rest until all those responsible for the Mumbai attacks and the terror plot in Denmark are held accountable," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "Not only has the criminal justice system achieved a guilty plea in this case, but David Headley is now providing us valuable intelligence about terrorist activities. As this case demonstrates, we must continue to use every tool available to defeat terrorism both at home and abroad." Headley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bomb public places in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India; six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark; and conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar. According to the plea agreement, Headley attended the following training camps operated by Lashkar: a three-week course starting in February 2002 that provided indoctrination on the merits of waging jihad; a three-week course starting in August 2002 that provided training in the use of weapons and grenades; a three-month course starting in April 2003 that taught close combat tactics, the use of weapons and grenades and survival skills; a three-week course starting in August 2003 that taught counter-surveillance skills; and a three-month course starting in December 2003 that provided combat and tactical training. Mumbai Terror Attacks After receiving instructions from three Lashkar members in late 2005 to travel to India to conduct surveillance, in February 2006, in Philadelphia, Headley changed his name from Daood Gilani to facilitate his activities on behalf of Lashkar by portraying himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani. In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley eventually made five extended trips to Mumbai — in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008 — each time making videotapes of various potential targets, including those attacked in November 2008. Before each trip, Lashkar members and associates allegedly instructed Headley regarding specific locations where he was to conduct surveillance, and Headley traveled to Pakistan after each trip to meet with Lashkar members and associates, report on the results of his surveillance, and provide the surveillance videos. Before the April 2008 surveillance trip, Headley met with co-conspirators in Pakistan and discussed potential landing sites in Mumbai for a team of attackers who would arrive by sea. Headley returned to Mumbai with a global positioning system device and took boat trips around the Mumbai harbor and entered various locations into the device, according to the plea agreement. Starting Nov. 26, 2008, and continuing through Nov. 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Leopold Café, the Chabad House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance, killing approximately 164 victims and wounding hundreds more. The six Americans killed during the three-day siege are identified in the charges as Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum. In March 2009, Headley made a sixth trip to India to conduct additional surveillance, including of the National Defense College in Delhi, and of Chabad Houses in several cities. Denmark Terror Plot Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley admitted that in early November 2008, he met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Copenhagen and Aarhus offices of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in preparation for an attack in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. After this meeting, Headley informed co-defendant Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), also known as "Pasha," of his assignment. Abdur Rehman stated to Headley words to the effect that if Lashkar did not go through with the attack, Abdur Rehman knew someone who would. Although not identified by name at the time, Headley later learned this individual to be co-defendant Ilyas Kashmiri. Abdur Rehman previously had told Headley that he had been working with Kashmiri and that Kashmiri was in direct contact with a senior leader for al Qaeda, the plea agreement states. In late December 2008 and early January 2009, while in Chicago, Headley exchanged emails with Abdur Rehman to continue planning for the attack and to coordinate his travel to Denmark to conduct surveillance. In January 2009, Headley traveled from Chicago to Copenhagen to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus and scouted and videotaped the surrounding areas. In late January 2009, Headley met separately with Abdur Rehman and a Lashkar member in Pakistan to discuss the planned attack on the newspaper and provided them with videos of his surveillance. About the same time, Abdur Rehman provided Headley a video produced by the media wing of al Qaeda in approximately August 2008, which claimed credit for the June 2008 attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and called for further attacks against Danish interests to avenge the publication of the offending cartoons. In February 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman meet with Kashmiri in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, where they discussed the video surveillance and ways to carry out the attack. Kashmiri told Headley that he could provide manpower for the operation and that Lashkar’s participation was not necessary. In March 2009, a Lashkar member advised Headley that Lashkar put the newspaper attack on hold because of pressure resulting from the Mumbai attacks. In May 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman again met with Kashmiri in Waziristan. Kashmiri told Headley to meet with a European contact who could provide Headley with money, weapons and manpower for the newspaper attack, and relate Kashmiri’s instructions that this should be a suicide attack and the attackers should prepare martyrdom videos beforehand. Kashmiri also stated that the attackers should behead captives and throw their heads out of the newspaper building to heighten the response from Danish authorities, and added that the "elders," whom Headley understood to be al Qaeda leadership, wanted the attack to happen as soon as possible. In late July and early August 2009, Headley traveled from Chicago to various places in Europe, and met with and attempted to obtain assistance from Kashmiri’s contacts and, while in Copenhagen, he made approximately 13 additional surveillance videos. When he returned to the United States on Aug. 5, 2009, Headley falsely told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector in Atlanta that he had visited Europe for business reasons. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/March/10-ag-277.html Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs After returning to Chicago, Headley spoke with Abdur Rehman by phone and, using code, described his surveillance activities and his meeting with Kashmiri’s European contact. On multiple occasions throughout August and September 2009, Headley communicated with Abdur Rehman about planning the attack and media reports that Kashmiri had been killed. On Oct. 3, 2009, Headley was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, intending ultimately to travel to Pakistan to deliver the approximately 13 surveillance videos to Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri, the plea agreement states. One of Headley’s co-defendants, Tahawwur Rana, 49, of Chicago, who was indicted in January on three counts — conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks; conspiracy to provide material support to the Denmark plot; and providing material support to Lashkar — has pleaded not guilty and remains in federal custody in Chicago while awaiting trial. Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri, who were charged in the same indictment with conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark and providing material support to the Denmark plot, are not in U.S. custody. The government is being represented by Chicago Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Victoria J. Peters and Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, as well as Los Angeles Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Grigg and Janet Hudson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The investigation has been conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the FBI, with assistance from the FBI offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security. From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 15:12:08 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:12:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003190012m6ec48009wadaf9736d453a350@mail.gmail.com> References: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003190012m6ec48009wadaf9736d453a350@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Anupam ji (and others) I read your explanation and would just say, that from my experience, it's difficult (though not impossible) for me to say that people can change permanently going by just words. What Sarai does is for people to express their views and hear others' arguments. And who knows, one may realize that one's perspective was flawed and change it. What I meant in all these mails is this (and this message is for all, including you and even me): Why not first generate light and then generate heat? And even in heat generation, the extent of heat generated petrifies me, as if people would just indulge in violence if given the chance to do so. That's what I hope can be toned down. Otherwise differences are always there, and they should be welcome. Rakesh From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 16:25:55 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:25:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hizbul bets on My Name is Khan In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003190033x6531722dp69d48387826aeb4d@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003190033x6531722dp69d48387826aeb4d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003190355s72b69370u6de06325fcaa2155@mail.gmail.com> http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?677087 Kin and neighbours of Bashir Ahmad Baba alias "Pepsi Bomber", a suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant arrested by Gujarat police, staged a peaceful demonstration today and sought intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his release. "We request Abdullah to intervene as Bashir is innocent and was implicated by Gujarat police in a false case," Nazir Ahmad, brother of Bashir, told reporters here. He termed the Gujarat police allegations that Bashir was recruiting youth for training in Pakistan, as baseless and unfounded "My brother is not affiliated with any militant outfit. The Gujarat police has not substantiated its claim that he was recruiting youth for training. Tell us who has been recruited by our brother for training?" he asked. Gujarat police on Sunday claimed to have foiled a plan by Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen to set up base in the state with the arrest of Baba. Police alleged that Baba was recruiting youths and had conducted a Reece many sites, including ISRO and Akshardham. Ahmed, a resident of Rainawari locality of old city, said the family approached Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and submitted an application seeking intervention of the state government. "Three days have passed but we have not been informed about the outcome" he added. The protestors, including women, chanted slogans and said they will continue the peaceful protests till Bashir is released. EOM On 3/19/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > Source : > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hizbul-bets-on-my-name-is-khan/592887/0 > > No matter if an Asperger’s Syndrome-afflicted Rizwan Khan goes on to > actually help nab a terror mastermind during his self-vindication > journey through the reels of My Name is Khan, the movie has found > endorsement from an unlikely quarter: the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). > > At least, this is what the Gujarat Anti Terror Squad (ATS) has > stumbled on, while interrogating the HM’s alleged terror agent Bashir > Ahmed Baba, suspected to have been scouting in Gujarat for > impressionable recruits for terror training in HM facilities in > Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. > > The 32-year-old Bashir, known in his home state Kashmir as the Pepsi > Bomber (for his alleged expertise in turning empty cans of soft drinks > into explosive devices), had been asked by his HM handler in PoK , > Bilal Shera, to use the movie as an indoctrination tool. > > ATS sources say Bashir was specifically told to use the movie to > propagate the idea that Muslim youth across the world were perennially > facing humiliation and derision, and they need to come together for > jihad. > > Baba was nabbed on March 13 from Anand, while using the alleged cover > of a medical camp trainer as he went about getting a network together > to recruit young men for the HM. Sources said the ATS recovered from > Bashir a ticket for the Shah Rukh Khan movie at the Fun Republic > Theatre in Ahmedabad and grilled him on it. > > Bashir, the sources said, confessed that he had gone to see the movie > as instructed by his boss in PoK, Bilal Shera. After watching the > movie, he made a call to Bilal who asked him to describe its content > and what he thought of it. > > According to ATS sources, Bashir told Bilal that it was a “nice movie, > Shahrukh Khan acted well.” Bilal snubbed him and told him that he was > sent to watch the movie to realise how it conveyed that Muslims were > being subjected to atrocities and discrimination all over the world. > The handler asked Bashir to get as many young Muslims as possible to > watch the movie and drive home the point. > > ATS sources added that following his handler’s instructions, Bashir > focussed on at least three specific areas in Ahmedabad _ Law Gardern, > Lal Darwaza and Kankaria _ to take groups of young men to watch the > movie. Sources also added that Bashir even had got pirated CDs of the > movie made and handed them to some of them for distribution. > > Gujarat ATS chief Ajay Tomar declined to discuss the issue, insisting > it would hamper the ATS probe into Bashir’s links. “I would not like > to say anything on this, it will harm our investigation. We will let > you know about this at an appropriate time,” he added. > > Tomar, however, added that the ATS had not found if the movie’s CDs > were actually distributed. > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 19 16:31:32 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:31:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Jammu and Kashmir government to rehabilitate stone pelters Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003190401o23aeccd0v844f4adc978d1004@mail.gmail.com> Highlights : Stone pelter's to get Government jobs or given money and land for setting up self-income generating units http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/jandk/J-amp-K-government-to-rehabilitate-stone-pelters/Article1-520799.aspx The Jammu and Kashmir government will frame a policy to rehabilitate stone pelters in the valley. According to official sources, the policy seeks to provide employment opportunities to the youth. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also confirmed that such a policy was in the offing when he told the state assembly late Wednesday that stone pelters were "our boys" and they would be rehabilitated. He also promised that they would be released and handed over to their parents and elders of their locality who have assured the local police that, in future, they would not indulge in such acts. Official sources disclosed that they would be absorbed in government jobs or given money and land for setting up self-income generating units, like kiosks in Srinagar and elsewhere in the valley. Stone pelters have become a persistent headache for the government as they have disrupted day-to-day life in the valley and have projected Kashmir as a land of stone throwers. Some of them were booked under the Public Safety Act, a strict law that enables the police to arrest a person and keep him in jail without any trial for a year. Last month, an 11-day-old infant died in his mother's lap when stone pelters targeted the car in which the family was travelling in Kashmir's Baramullah town. From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Fri Mar 19 21:33:16 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:33:16 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Jammu and Kashmir government to rehabilitate stone pelters In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003190401o23aeccd0v844f4adc978d1004@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003190401o23aeccd0v844f4adc978d1004@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <805977.92981.qm@web94708.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Victory at last? For the govt.? In West Bengal it makes sense, let time tell what in J&K......... We say it is 'buying'. ________________________________ From: Pawan Durani To: reader-list Sent: Fri, 19 March, 2010 4:31:32 PM Subject: [Reader-list] Jammu and Kashmir government to rehabilitate stone pelters Highlights : Stone pelter's to get Government jobs or given money and land for setting up self-income generating units http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/jandk/J-amp-K-government-to-rehabilitate-stone-pelters/Article1-520799.aspx The Jammu and Kashmir government will frame a policy to rehabilitate stone pelters in the valley. According to official sources, the policy seeks to provide employment opportunities to the youth. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also confirmed that such a policy was in the offing when he told the state assembly late Wednesday that stone pelters were "our boys" and they would be rehabilitated. He also promised that they would be released and handed over to their parents and elders of their locality who have assured the local police that, in future, they would not indulge in such acts. Official sources disclosed that they would be absorbed in government jobs or given money and land for setting up self-income generating units, like kiosks in Srinagar and elsewhere in the valley. Stone pelters have become a persistent headache for the government as they have disrupted day-to-day life in the valley and have projected Kashmir as a land of stone throwers. Some of them were booked under the Public Safety Act, a strict law that enables the police to arrest a person and keep him in jail without any trial for a year. Last month, an 11-day-old infant died in his mother's lap when stone pelters targeted the car in which the family was travelling in Kashmir's Baramullah town. _________________________________________ 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/> The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Fri Mar 19 22:02:31 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:02:31 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Recent Judgement regaring dyslexia ( check out TOI, PTI) Message-ID: <880084.55051.qm@web94713.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Just check the links. I doubt if anyone had serious Interests here but a few. Interesting issues on a latest Supreme Court Judgement in Jain vs. CBSE. http://rajeshuttarpradesh.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-supreme-courts-rejection-of-dyslexic.html. Rajesh is a teaching trainee, when he gets his hands on; he'll realise that not only the entire system, despite so many incentives is uninterested but also tries to protect itself. Just wondering why after so many years of IITS we really need more IIT's.  Most teachers for example, like doctors however irked, and however enlightened wouldn't dare to breach trust and stand out.  Saying this I'd point that I had very good ones. In such a competition neither Humanity exists, nor rationality. Another plight for a strange species, but a rather strong one. Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From a at 3kta.net Sat Mar 20 00:09:22 2010 From: a at 3kta.net (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9_Rangel?=) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:39:22 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] IntermediaFestival Message-ID: Festival Press Release, March 17 March 17th, 2010 | Filed under General Announcing the Intermedia Festival: Indianapolis, April 23-25 The Intermedia Festival (http://music.iupui.edu/intermedia/) is a unique series of concerts and events presenting futuristic modes of artistic performance. The Intermedia Festival will highlight new telematic and media arts performed by artists throughout North America and Europe. Telematic art synthesizes live traditional performing arts with computers, media and telecommunications. While more than 100 performers will travel to Indianapolis, others will participate through the Internet interactively with collaborators at the festival. Events for the Festival will be held in the new downtown Indianapolis Public Library and in the Informatics and Computer Technology Complex at IUPUI. Admission is free and open to the public for all events. “We want the public to be involved in this event and particularly hope that other artists embrace this Festival and come to learn and explore new ways of doing things,” said Scott Deal, a professor at IUPUI’s Department of Music and Arts Technology and the director of the Festival. “As an artist, one is always hoping to present work in a way that gets people thinking. Our hope is that the Festival audience takes away a renewed sense of potential.” For IUPUI’s Department of Music and Arts Technology, this festival is a departmental effort involving faculty and students. The festival will also involve collaborating with a variety of community arts groups such as Dance Kaleidoscope and Butler University Dance Program. Concerts The Festival will present ten media-rich concerts between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, April 23-25. Live dance, music, visual arts, drama, videography, scientific presentation, commentary and discussion will come together to create a provocative and compelling set of experiences. Noted guest artists featured at the Festival will include San Francisco-based singer Pamela Z, New York composer and computer artist Luke Dubois, singer Bora Yoon, eco-acoustic composer Matthew Burtner, Indianapolis-based electro-acoustic ensemble Big Robot, and Dance Kaleidoscope. The Friday evening opening concert will feature Pamela Z followed by a Dance concert that will feature the Indianapolis-based Dance Kaleidoscope in concert with other dancers and media onstage, and with dancers from Florida State University interacting online and on-screen. Installations Several groups will be presenting mobile art installations throughout the Festival in the downtown vicinity. The Washington DC-based Floating Lab Collective will present their work titled “Scream At The Economy”, a participatory project that invites people to call a phone number and scream at the economy. The archived screams will be recorded as mp3 files. The musical composition will be played in the “screamer”, a portable speaker system, that will perform in public spaces. The Florida-based Mobile Performance Group is a collective of new media artists who disseminate their works by using automobiles, video projection, cell phones, FM transmission, wireless hotspots, and any other technologies that allow artists to engage the public. The Occupation Forces Project, by New York artists Mark Skwarek, Joseph Hocking, and Serial Krusher, is a piece that simulates of an invasion of earth by an alien occupation force. The project will be a free, downloadable, mobile application or projected augmented reality, which will allow users to view an alien invasion army through their mobile devices at various stations throughout the Indianapolis Library and in the downtown area. Portuguese computer- artist Andre Rangel will present “Graffonic”, a work utilizing video tracking and laser pointers to assist participants in creating a reactive work of art. Fixed Media Works The Virtual Reality Theater (VRT) at IUPUI is a 3-D environment in which interactive and immersive art works will be presented, created specifically for this space in the ICTC building at IUPUI. Additionally, screenings of cutting-edge video pieces that combine visual art with music and sound will occur at Library. New York computer artist and composer Luke Dubois and IU Bloomington Professor Margaret Dolinsky will present multi-media works in spaces inside the public library downtown. The Festival will also highlight the work of over a dozen video artists from throughout North America, including notable artists such as Phil Kline, Maggie Payne, and Tom Lopez. Additional Information The Intermedia Festival is made possible by an Indiana University New Frontiers grant from the Lilly Foundation. The Festival is being produced in partnership with the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library, the Indiana University Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL), and the Donald Tavel Arts and Technology Research Center, “We want the public to be involved in this event and particularly hope that other artists embrace this Festival and come to learn and explore new ways of doing things,” said Scott Deal, a professor at IUPUI’s Department of Music and Arts Technology and the director of the Festival. “As an artist, one is always hoping to present work in a way that gets people thinking. Our hope is that the Festival audience takes away a renewed sense of potential.” For IUPUI’s Department of Music and Arts Technology, this festival is a departmental effort involving faculty and students. The festival will also involve collaborating with a variety of community arts groups such as Dance Kaleidoscope and Butler University Dance Program. and the Music and Arts Technology Department at IUPUI. Free tickets for the Intermedia Festival will be available in April, or at the door during the festival. Over 100 performing artists will travel to Indianapolis to present their works. In addition to the featured guest artists, participants will be coming from Vancouver, New York, Lisbon Portugal, Chicago, Washington DC, Yale University, Oberlin College, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, University of Virginia, Florida State University, University of Miami, Duke University, Bowling Green University, Temple University, Emory University and Virginia Tech University, to name a few. Regional participants will include artists from institutions such as IUPUI, Indiana University Bloomington, Ball State University, Butler University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and University of Cincinnati. Telematic performances between artists over the Internet will occur as a result of new technologies developed in the Telematics Lab at the Donald Tavel Arts Technology Research Center at IUPUI.  ANDRÉ RANGEL Scholarship Fellow FCT, 2009 Science and Technology of Art Researcher, UCP 2008 PhD Student, UCP 2008 MFA, UCP 2002 http://andrerangel.pt ........................................................................ ...... Guest Assistant FBAUP - University of Porto, School of Arts http://fba.up.pt/ ........................................................................ ...... Art Director - 3kta Custom Software and Intermedia Concepts http://3kta.net ........................................................................ ...... CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and may be privileged. If you are not a named recipient, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to another person, use it for any purpose or store or copy the information in any medium. From yasir.media at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 04:38:07 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:08:07 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: References: <834828.40381.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> <341380d01003190012m6ec48009wadaf9736d453a350@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5af37bb1003191608j7ad15f7dp890688dc1d76e252@mail.gmail.com> from the report it seems the DCP has problems following instructions, or he had a predetermined intention to shoot the person. in both cases most likely this person hasa serious problem. Thats where the focus should be, unless the report is completely false, which it does not seem to be. The rest of the arguments are diversionary. They may be contextual and possibly unrelated to the incident. Back to the DCP___ best On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 2:42 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Anupam ji (and others) > > I read your explanation and would just say, that from my experience, it's > difficult (though not impossible) for me to say that people can change > permanently going by just words. What Sarai does is for people to express > their views and hear others' arguments. And who knows, one may realize that > one's perspective was flawed and change it. > > What I meant in all these mails is this (and this message is for all, > including you and even me): Why not first generate light and then generate > heat? And even in heat generation, the extent of heat generated petrifies > me, as if people would just indulge in violence if given the chance to do > so. > > That's what I hope can be toned down. Otherwise differences are always > there, and they should be welcome. > > 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 yasir.media at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 12:24:55 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:54:55 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] which punjab police ? Message-ID: <5af37bb1003192354i33ad3606ne5fcb602849ab190@mail.gmail.com> which punjab police ? http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27883 From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 13:48:06 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:18:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] which punjab police ? In-Reply-To: <5af37bb1003192354i33ad3606ne5fcb602849ab190@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <786206.13444.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Delightfully brilliant.   Official Indian Ad (National Girl Child Day) features Pakistan's Air Force Chief and  Punjab Police (Pakistan's) official Ad (Anti-Terrorism) has logo of Punjab Police of India.   Akhand Bharat? Or Confederation of Dunces?   I could not help making this bizzare connection that in the 1965 War between India and Pakistan, India's ground-forces had penetrated deep into Pakistan's Punjab and the Pakistani Air Force had beaten the shit out of the Indian Air Force.   Kshmendra     --- On Sat, 3/20/10, yasir ~يا سر wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: [Reader-list] which punjab police ? To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 12:24 PM which punjab police ? http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=27883 _________________________________________ 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 Sat Mar 20 13:52:19 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:52:19 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Recent Judgement regaring dyslexia ( check out TOI, PTI) Message-ID: <434293.27604.qm@web94707.mail.in2.yahoo.com> sorry for re-posting! ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Fri, 19 March, 2010 10:02:31 PM Subject: [Reader-list] Recent Judgement regaring dyslexia ( check out TOI, PTI) Just check the links. I doubt if anyone had serious Interests here but a few. Interesting issues on a latest Supreme Court Judgement in Jain vs. CBSE. http://rajeshuttarpradesh.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-supreme-courts-rejection-of-dyslexic.html. Rajesh is a teaching trainee, when he gets his hands on; he'll realise that not only the entire system, despite so many incentives is uninterested but also tries to protect itself. Just wondering why after so many years of IITS we really need more IIT's.  Most teachers for example, like doctors however irked, and however enlightened wouldn't dare to breach trust and stand out.  Saying this I'd point that I had very good ones. In such a competition neither Humanity exists, nor rationality. Another plight for a strange species, but a rather strong one.       Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ _________________________________________ 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/> Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From javedmasoo at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 14:49:01 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:49:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Voices Against Terror: Indian Ulema on Islam, Jihad and Communal Harmony Message-ID: New Book Voices Against Terror: Indian Ulema on Islam, Jihad and Communal Harmony Edited and Translated by Yoginder Sikand Publisher: Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai (vak at bom3.vsnl.net.in) Pages: 207, Year: 2010, Price: Rs. 100 Islam, like all other religions, can be interpreted in diverse ways. Not surprisingly, therefore, there is no unanimity among Muslim scholars on the details of the Islamic concept of jihad and Islamic teachings about relations between Muslims and others. Radical Islamists regard jihad, in the form of physical warfare, as a permanent duty binding on all Muslims. Like some conservative ulema, they also believe that Muslims must necessarily hate what they regard as ‘disbelievers’ and ‘infidels’, seeing that as an expression of their love for Islam and as being mandated by the Quran. These supremacist understandings emerge from their own reading of the Quran and Hadith, the corpus of sayings attributed to or about the Prophet Muhammad. They are also reflected in some strands of traditional Islamic jurisprudence or fiqh, which developed in the centuries after the demise of the Prophet. On the other hand, numerous other Muslim ideologues and scholars vehemently disagree with radical jihadists on their understanding of jihad, their political vision and their interpretation of Islamic teachings about relations between Muslims and others. The essays included in this volume, translated from Urdu, all deal with the issue of Islamic teachings on jihad and inter-religious and inter-community relations. What unites the authors of these essays, Indian ulema who represent different Islamic sectarian and ideological tendencies, is a strident opposition to what they regard as the jihadists’ gross misinterpretation and misuse of the concept of jihad and by, like some traditional ulema, their unconcealed hostility towards people of other faiths and persuasions. Simultaneously, these authors also seek to address widespread misgivings among non-Muslims about Islam, particularly with regard to Islamic injunctions about jihad and inter-community relations. Unbeknown to many, a number of Indian Muslim scholars or ulema do indeed differ from, critique and oppose the arguments of radical Islamists and obscurantist ulema on jihad and relations between Muslims and others. Some of them have written extensively on these matters. However, the vast majority of them write only in Urdu, a language that, for various reasons, few non-Muslims read and that increasing numbers of Indian Muslims do not know. Hence, few non-Muslims and other non-Urdu knowing people have access to their valuable critiques, argued from within a broad Islamic paradigm, of the politics and theology of radical Islamists and certain obscurantist traditional ulema. Some of the boldest such critiques are today being articulated by Indian ulema who have received a traditional madrasa education, thus indicating that many commonly-held and facile generalizations about madrasas and traditional ulema need to be interrogated and revised. In a sense, these critiques are a reaction to the rise of radical jihadist trends in large parts of the world. Their proponents are consciously engaged in a conversation with, and against, radical Islamists, concerned that the latter are, as they see it, misinterpreting and misusing Islamic teachings, thereby defaming Islam itself. By questioning the very credentials of radical jihadists to speak for Islam and dismissing their arguments as ‘un-Islamic’, they serve a valuable purpose in seeking to convince Muslims that the radical jihadists’ positions on jihad and inter-community relations lack Islamic validity. In this way, they can prove to be major, indeed the most effective, actors in the struggle against radical jihadism and the obscurantism of certain influential sections of the ulema. The first essay in the volume is an edited and considerably shortened version of a book titled Islam Aur Dehshatgardi (‘Islam and Terrorism’) [Hyderi Kutub Khana, Mumbai, 2003] by the noted Indian Shia scholar and community leader, Maulana Mirza Muhammad Athar, President of the All-India Shia Personal Law Board. The book consists of transcripts of majalis or lectures delivered by Maulana Athar over ten days in the Islamic month of Muharram in 2003 at the Masjid Iraniyan, Mumbai, to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. In his majalis, Maulana Athar presents the Shias as being characterized, from the very inception of the community more than 1400 years ago, as victims of terrorism in the name of Islam. He depicts as the archetypical terrorist the figure of Yazid (680-83), a Sunni Muslim Caliph, son of the Caliph Muawiyah (d.680), founder of the Umayyad dynasty, and grandson of Abu Sufiyan (d.650), an arch-enemy of the Prophet Muhammad. In the month of Muharram in the year 680, Imam Husain and several dozens of his disciples and relatives were slaughtered at Karbala, a town now in Iraq, by the army of the tyrant Yazid, a turning point in the history of the Shias and Shia-Sunni relations. Mirza Muhammad Athar depicts the slaying of Imam Husain and his followers at the Battle of Karbala as epitomizing terrorism in the name of Islam. At the same time, in line with Shia beliefs, he presents the valiant resistance put up by the Imam against the forces of evil, oppression and tyranny represented by Yazid’s army to be the highest form of jihad. The battle of Karbala, he points out, was fought between two groups of Muslims. One of these groups, represented by the figure of Yazid, upheld a false Islam, the Islam of monarchs who sought to use and abuse Islam and the Islamic concept of jihad to bolster their own power by resorting to terrorism in the name of the faith. The other group, represented by Imam Husain, championed the authentic Islam, the Islam of the Prophet Muhammad, his son-in law and Imam Husain’s father, Imam Ali, and the Ahl ul-Bayt, the Family of the Prophet. They stood for what Mirza Muhammad Athar describes as the authentic Islamic jihad. This struggle between the two forms of Islam and the two contrasting interpretations of jihad, he says, continues down to our own times. In this way, he articulates an inspiring response to, and critique of, terrorism in the name of Islamic jihad. The second essay is a translation of a chapter of an Urdu booklet titled Ikisvin Sadi Mai Islam, Musalman Aur Tehrik-e Islami (‘Islam, Muslims and the Islamic Movement in the Twenty-First Century’) [Markazi Maktaba-e Islami, New Delhi, 2005]. The author, Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqui, is a leading Indian Islamic scholar, whose specialisation is ‘Islamic Economics’. Recipient of the King Faisal Award for Islamic Studies, he has taught at the Aligarh Muslim University and the King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah. A prolific writer, he served for sixteen years as member of the Central Committee of the Jama‘at-e Islami Hind. Siddiqui critiques the excesses committed by self-styled jihadist movements and points to the futility of armed struggle by Muslim groups against the West as a reaction to real or perceived injustices, arguing that this is causing much more damage to Muslims themselves than to others. He pleads for the need for inter-faith dialogue, in particular for Muslims to join hands with people of other faiths for issues of common concern, including in the struggle for peace and justice. The third essay is a translation of portions of an Urdu book titled Al-Jihad by a young Sunni Deobandi scholar from Lucknow, Maulana Yahya Nomani, who works with the popular Islamic journal Al-Furqan. Nomani begins by noting and lamenting widespread anti-Islamic prejudices among many non-Muslims, based on ignorance and misunderstandings, which he regards, in part, as the outcome of the deliberate efforts of some forces inimical to Islam. At the same time, he acknowledges that certain self-styled jihadist groups have, through their violent actions and rhetoric, only further solidified Islamophobic prejudices, thereby giving Islam a bad name. Nomani focuses particularly on the doctrine of jihad itself, including the conditions under which, according to the Sunni theorists he supports, jihad can be waged and the strict rules and ethical limits that it must follow. Of particular interest in this regard is his discussion about proxy and guerilla war and war in the name of jihad waged by non-state actors, in which his differences with radical Islamists clearly emerge. Nomani also devotes considerable attention to critiquing Muslim ideologues who insist that Muslims must not befriend or help or work with people of other faiths or be law-abiding citizens of non-Muslim states, arguing that this represents an extremist position that is not in conformity with the Quran and the Sunnah or the practice of the Prophet. The fourth chapter consists of translations of excerpts put together of three lengthy articles by the well-known New Delhi-based Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, a prolific Sunni scholar and a leading proponent of inter-community dialogue. These articles are taken from two Urdu books of his, Aman-e Alam (‘Global Peace’) [Goodword Books, New Delhi, 2005] and Islam Aur Intiha Pasandi (‘Islam and Extremism’) [Positive Thinkers Forum, Bangalore, n.d.]. Khan points out the distinction between jihad, understood as struggle in the path of God, and qital or armed struggle, and argues that Muslims as well as others have, unfortunately, taken the two to be largely synonymous. He critiques traditional Muslim historiographers for presenting the Prophet’s mission in largely political terms and his life as being a series of wars. Khan argues to the contrary, and points out that jihad, in the sense of qital, is only possible in very extreme cases. It is not a permanently operating principle, unlike what both radical jihadists as well as certain traditional ulema make it out to be. Khan opines that peace is basic to Islam. It is the norm, while war is only an exception, and that, too, in extreme and unavoidable situations. He regards as the Muslims’ fundamental duty the task of da‘wah or ‘inviting’ others to Islam, and argues that this duty can only be fulfilled in a climate of peace and good relations with people of other persuasions. Hence, he insists, radical Islamists are not just theologically wrong. They are also the major obstacle to what he regards as the Islamic mission for they are inherently and viscerally opposed to peace and good relations between Muslims and others. The fifth chapter is a collection of excerpts put together from three articles written by Maulana Waris Mazhari, a graduate of the Dar ul-Ulum at Deoband and editor of the New Delhi-based journal Tarjuman Dar ul-Ulum, the official organ of the Deoband Madrasa’s Graduates’ Association. These articles have been published on various websites and in the journal that Mazhari edits. Mazhari articulates an Islamic ethic of inter-faith dialogue, which he sees not just as important in today’s context in order to counter anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic prejudices but also as a basic Islamic imperative. In this regard, and like Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, he critiques the notions of dar ul-islam (‘land of Islam’) and dar ul-harb or ‘land of war’ as contained in the corpus of medieval fiqh and which radical jihadists also espouse. He also critically interrogates Pakistan-based radical Islamists, such as the Lashkar-e Tayyeba, for what he regards as their deliberate misinterpretation of certain alleged statements of the Prophet in order to justify their acts of terrorism in India. The sixth, and final, essay is a translation of excerpts from the Presidential address delivered by the noted Deobandi scholar, Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri (1875-1933), to the meeting of the Jami‘at ul-Ulama-i Hind (‘The Union of the Ulema of India’) in Peshawar in 1927. In his lecture, Maulana Kashmiri argues against proponents of Muslim separatism and lends support to the notion of a united India, consisting of Muslims, Hindus and others. Invoking the Treaty of Medina, or what some Muslims refer to as the ‘Constitution of Medina’, he argues that the Prophet Muhammad accepted the Jews and some other non-Muslim groups of Medina as members of the same qaum or ‘nation’, with equal rights as Muslims. Hence, he says, arguing against both Muslim as well as Hindu opponents of Hindu-Muslim unity and united Indian nationalism, Islam is not a barrier to better relations between Hindus and Muslims. Nor, he stresses, does it insist on Muslim political separatism, contrary to what, for instance, the Muslim League in pre-Partition India claimed or what radical jihadists today would argue. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 15:17:08 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:17:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Geelani rejects any unity with those advocating secularism Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003200247p49ad58c3g125da8232be94510@mail.gmail.com> http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showheadlines.php?subaction=showfull&id=1269079401&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&var0news=value0news From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 16:43:40 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:43:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] No Kashmiri migrant has returned to Valley: J&K Minister Message-ID: <6353c691003200413pa18b78dq6b48457b370c2e5@mail.gmail.com> No Kashmiri migrant has returned to Valley: MinisterIANS Over 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits had fled the Valley two decades ago when Islamic militancy erupted and not a single migrant has returned in all these years, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla said. “So far, no migrant has returned to the Valley,” Mr. Bhalla said in a written reply in the assembly Friday to a question by Hakim Mohammad Yaseen, an independent legislator. Thousands of Hindus who fled the Valley 20 years ago have settled down in migrant camps in Jammu region and other parts of the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in April 2008 announced a relief, return and rehabilitation package for the migrants and the state has reserved 3,000 posts for Kashmiri Pandit youth in various departments in the Valley, but so far no one had been recruited. “The government has referred the posts to the recruitment board,” the minister said in his reply. From aliens at dataone.in Sat Mar 20 17:05:26 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:05:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE Message-ID: <000d01cac821$7047cc70$50d76550$@in> From: Bipin Trivedi [mailto:aliens at dataone.in] Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 4:47 PM To: 'bleditor at thehindu.co.in' Cc: mailto:indira.hirway at cfda.ac.in; mailto:Indira_hirway at yahoo.com Subject: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE The Editor Hindu Business Line I refer to article by Dr. Indira Hirway in Hindu Business Line on Gujarat economy sustains growth; human development index falls Feb. 25, 2010. You are mentioning report of the period 1993 to 2005 in 2010 and highlighting the issue. Do you have current figure or figure upto March 2009 of the same or even upto March 2008? How can you highlight 4 years old news? Gujarat has much changed thereafter. Please be updated and publish accordingly. Gujarat is on very much development path even in the HDI parameters also. Please search latest figure and publish accordingly and stop tarnishing Gujarat image just because Narendra Modi will not get credit. I am not belonging to any political party and not fan of Narendra Modi but I am fan of development, whoever does it. Actually you are indirectly helping Narendra Modi popularity in Gujarati people by repeating attempts of tarnishing Gujarat image. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From pawan.durani at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 17:29:19 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:29:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] How did Gujarat Become a Farming Paradise? Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003200459l503b1edfpf0b82032573b1d2e@mail.gmail.com> How did Gujarat Become a Farming Paradise? Destiny willed it to be an agricultural laggard. But Gujarat is today a farming paradise by RN Bhaskar | Mar 18, 2010 http://business.in.com/article/india-budget-2010/how-did-gujarat-become-a-farming-paradise/11322/0 IT'S ALL TIED UP: Gujarat's new policy helped Jitesh Patel of Dolpur benefit from contract farming The onset of summer in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat can be a frightening prospect. The rocky terrain of low hills and the semi-arid plains begin to radiate immense heat. Rivers and wells dry up in tandem. Water shortage looms large and the memory of the severe drought of 1999-2000 returns to haunt. God bless the man who tries to indulge in cultivation of crops in these parts. But that’s exactly what hundreds of farmers do several times a year in the heart of this unfriendly terrain. Wheat, cotton, banana, papaya, sugarcane, tomatoes and a variety of other crops sprout all over, erasing forever the cliché of Saurashtra being a parched expanse. Today, one can spot crops that weren’t grown in these parts just four or five years ago. In Adtala village, farmer Vallabhai Patel, who was previously cultivating cotton, grows papayas. With a limited supply of water, he got plentiful yield. In Sarangpur, also in Saurashtra, Swami Arunibhagat is surely a God-blessed man. A leader of the liberal religious group, Swaminarayan Movement, he has converted 175 acres of dry land into a lush haven for sugarcane, tomatoes and genetically modified cotton. He has achieved record yields that have attracted farmers from more fertile lands to come and learn how he did it. It almost looks like a miracle wrought by Lord Hanuman of the famous temple in Sarangpur. The swamiji is not alone. The entire region of Saurashtra, along with neighbouring Kutch, a half-desert, half-salty marsh region, has become the engine of a farming revolution in Gujarat, propelling the state into one of the fastest growing agricultural economies in the country. Gujarat’s agriculture has grown 9.6 percent per year in the last decade or so, surpassing the national growth rate of 2.9 percent and boosting rural incomes. Agriculture in India has been condemned to an annual growth of 4 percent or less ever since the nation’s economic reforms pushed it towards a service-oriented economy. The share of agriculture in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen to just 16.6 percent from 46.3 percent about six decades ago. Somewhere, policymakers seemed to have ignored the importance of farming to the economy. But Gujarat hasn’t allowed its keenness to promote industry overshadow its farming sector. “Although widely lauded for adopting an aggressive industrial policy that has made Gujarat a much-favoured destination for investment, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has actually devoted a great deal of energy and resources to accelerating agricultural growth in the state through a broad spectrum of policy initiatives,” say agricultural scientist Ashok Gulati and four others in an article published by the Economic and Political Weekly. Studying the various points of attack that the state has used to revive agriculture could thus unveil important lessons for the whole country. After all, if the water-starved Saurashtra and Kutch could do it, why not the rest of India? Fertile Policies At first glance, the agricultural miracle in Gujarat seems to have been supported by factors such as good monsoon for most of the decade, increasing minimum support prices from the Centre and the spread of BT cotton, a lucrative cash crop. But all these benefits were available to other parts of the country as well and the superlative performance of Gujarat is not explained by them. Gujarat was early to amend the laws governing the marketing of agricultural produce and allow farmers to sell their output directly to private buyers. Even today, many states haven’t done so and keep the farmer tied to the official procurement hubs. Some have gone back on reforms. But Gujarat has persisted with opening up market access to farmers. This also opened up contract farming. In 2004-05, Gujarat took an unusual step. It allowed companies to buy crops from farmers a year in advance. This helped the farmers hedge against price upheavals and guaranteed a minimum price. What’s more, there is also some flexibility to allow higher payments if prices rose at the time of transaction. While it reduced market risks for the farmer, it also encouraged companies to invest in farming indirectly. The result is obvious everywhere, but nowhere more so than in the 500-acre farm of the Patel brothers in Dolpur in the district of Sabarkantha, in the northeast of the state. Jitesh and Bhavesh, both having done masters in agricultural science, have managed to bring together plots owned by family members and friends and grow potato with modern techniques. They contract out their future production to Balaji, ITC and Pepsi. Their high yields have won them admirers. Each week, their farm sees at least 300 visitors from the state as well as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, keen to learn their key to success. The brothers now act as consultants to other farmers. Very soon, the Patels will be investing Rs. 4 crore on a greenhouse to grow capsicum, tomatoes and muskmelons. Gujarat has also stepped up its extension services significantly in the last decade, taking knowledge from research campuses to the farms. In the last five years, Krushi Mahotsavs (Farm Festivals) have grown in scope. As many as 18,600 villages host the event on the Akshaya Tritiya day (an auspicious day in the Hindu Calendar falling in May-June). University professors, government officers and even ministers are required to spend time with farmers, listening to their problems and developing solutions. While the quality of work in these fairs needs to improve according to farmers, and the researchers need to gain more practical experience, their impact in spreading awareness about things such as soil quality is undeniable. But the big change in Gujarat has come from the conservation of the most crucial resource for farming – water. Gujarat started by planning large dam projects such as Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) to achieve a breakthrough in agriculture. To this day, its progress remains limited. Only a small portion of the potential command area has been covered with irrigation facilities. The canal irrigation system of Gujarat, while improving, is not adequate for its needs. To take water to the really dry areas, the Narmada dam’s height must be raised which the government is trying to accomplish. However, even that high-cost strategy will not be enough to fulfil the demand for water. “Agriculture suffered for centuries in Gujarat primarily because it did not have water,” says P.K. Laheri, formerly chief secretary of Gujarat and managing director of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam and now a director with Torrent Power. “It improved when we began taking the waters of the Narmada to irrigate our fields. Then, when the dam was built, more land came under cultivation. But a lot of land continues to be rain-fed.” That’s why Gujarat has embarked on a major exercise to conserve water and use it more efficiently in the fields. The most important turning point in the state’s agriculture has been the innovative management of its groundwater resources. The state has adopted a combination of rainwater harvesting – that traps water that would otherwise drain away – and micro irrigation – that supplies each drop of water more efficiently and directly to the plant. The movement has been a roaring success and stories abound of conversion of barren lands into fertile farms, rising yields and falling costs of cultivation across the state. Between 2001 and 2006, Chief Minister Narendra Modi ordered the building of check dams wherever possible. His slogan was that rain water in the fields should remain there and the water in rivulets should remain there too. There was little sense in letting all this water drain into the sea. The strategy worked. And farmers began to see a rise in water tables year after year. Modi also streamlined the supply of electricity to water pumps. Because they were getting subsidised power, farmers had little incentive to save on its use or keep pumps in good order to lower power consumption. As a result, much power was wasted. Also, power theft was widely prevalent. Further, farmers faced the problem of low-voltage power that helped nobody. Modi, in his second year in power, ordered the uninterrupted supply of quality power to farms for three-phase pumps for at least four hours a day, but only in night. This ensured that farmers could use the pumps only for a limited time and had to make the most of it. During the day, industry got quality power. The scope for power theft reduced. Farmer groups were initially angry with the changes, but came around after some persuasion. The government was still painfully aware that the key bottleneck would be availability of water. Higher water tables and taller dams could go only so far. The real need was to save water and use it more efficiently. There was a need to champion micro irrigation. That’s when the government formed Gujarat Green Revolution Company (GGRC). The new company adopted a twin strategy. First, it made the subsidy for micro irrigation available to all farmers, not just the poor ones. The initial investment to install the plumbing for micro irrigation could be prohibitive. Even after the subsidy, it would come to a big sum and poor farmers would hesitate to make that investment. But for the richer ones, the subsidy made it a compelling proposition and they jumped in. This, in turn, showed the way for poorer farmers who followed. Second, GGRC tightened norms for the subsidy scheme ensuring that companies didn’t sell pipes and move on to clinch more sales. It insisted that micro irrigation technology providers also offer extension services. To ensure compliance, it introduced a series of norms – like how many agronomists must be employed for a given expanse of land, how many field visits the experts must make and even the price at which the systems could be sold. “The farmer needs handholding,” says C.L.N. Rao, head agronomist with Netafim India, market leader for micro irrigation systems in the state. “And once a farmer sees money coming in... [the farmer] becomes the champion for other farmers as well.” Now there is even talk in Gujarat that the government will order that power connections will be granted only if a farm has micro irrigation facilities. This is so because drip, sprinkling and spraying systems that come under the definition of micro irrigation deliver water very close to the plant or even to the roots. They avoid delivering water where it is not needed, thus reducing the growth of weeds. They don’t allow water to seep too deep into earth. Gujarat is also studying a policy adopted in Raipur, where electricity tariffs for pumps of more than five horsepower invite the higher industry-level tariffs and the smaller pumps enjoy the subsidised agricultural tariffs. This is to encourage farmers to draw less water. It is also aimed at making sure all farms get irrigated, not only those owned by rich farmers. Micro irrigation is spreading fast across Gujarat. Back in the Dolpur farm of the Patel brothers, a modern drip irrigation system is at work. They have had to pay the full price for it because they chose to go in for micro irrigation before the subsidy scheme was set in motion. The brothers bring scientific knowledge of soil, water and weather to their farming practices. They have even built a small soil and water analysis laboratory. “We know that while one well would normally irrigate three to four acres, using newer automated techniques, we could irrigate 15-20 acres,” says Jitesh Patel. The modern systems have made sure that the four hours of power are plenty for their large farm. “We sleep better, have saved on labour and also on water,” he says adding, quite proudly, “We now enjoy a higher status in society.” From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 18:25:33 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:25:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <000d01cac821$7047cc70$50d76550$@in> References: <000d01cac821$7047cc70$50d76550$@in> Message-ID: Dear Bipin ji For your kind information, the data for 2009 has used data only upto 2006 for rankings. And this is true for all states of India, be it Kerala or Gujarat. Don't see conspiracies where there aren't any. Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 18:41:56 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:11:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <512617.84712.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Anupam   In this response of yours, why did you not reproduce my mail which you were responding to?   It is reproduced by me down below your response.   In you last 36 mails (20 in Feb '10 + 16 in Mar '10) every single time, without fail, you have, alongwith your response, reproduced the mail you were responding to. Why not this time?   It is because Anupam you did not have the moral or ethical courage to admit that you were in error when you accused me of ........ "a tirade ...... like how you are acting with Dan Hussain..."   My last mail wasnt a "query" from me. It was a polite reminder to you that you had mis-stated and mis-represented what I had written.   Ahhh!!!!! And Yes!!!!      Dont you you think it is mighty hypocritical of you to ask me a series of questions (brain froths) after having, at the very outset informed me .......    " I am not really interested in answering to your query Kshmendra."    Kshmendra     --- On Thu, 3/18/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: From: anupam chakravartty Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill To: "TaraPrakash" Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 9:10 PM Kshmendra I am not really interested in answering to your query Kshmendra. so you have a good night. i have said what i had to. you will eat your own words like you do every time. so nothing really new here. Thank you very much i do not need patrons here labeling me as sane or insane. if i am insane, it is after reading the trash that not just you kshmendra but a significant lobby of people have been doing so in the name of protection of culture. in the name of identity formation, in the name of religion, religiosity, in the name of development. this is clearly the fascism of democratic ideals. i am chained by them, that's why the only form of expression is this cynical approach towards what you call good. i have to counter everything including the GOOD THINGS. YES I AM A PRICK. SO NOW WHAT? DO YOU THINK that i am here to promote some good boy image of mine or do you think this is marriage portal, some adult friend finder group? do you think truth is good? do you know if there is anything called truth? is sanity defined by you? can you answer any of these questions? or would just leave it at that -- saying thought provoking stuff you tell anupam,... which thought did i ever provoke in you? ANUPAM     --- On Thu, 3/18/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: Dear Anupam   You wrote : " will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are acting with Dan Hussain and Javed?"   Javed? Yes! Dan Hussain? No!   Will you please tell me where I have addressed Dan Hussain or mentioned Dan Hussain or commented upon anything that Dan Hussain wrote?   NOWHERE.   And that is exactly where you go with some of your responses Anupam; NOWHERE.   What does that tell us about you?   That you do not read what you think you are responding to OR that you do not read what you yourself write OR that you are so consumed by bias, prejudice and pre-judgements about people and issues that your brain froths and you get all muddled up.   That is sad since when you are sane, you do write thought-provoking mails.   Kshmendra     anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 IST 2010   "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own." Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every occasion? -anupam From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 18:44:01 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:44:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <512617.84712.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <341380d01003180840v18b536dbw587f3a752c970ae0@mail.gmail.com> <512617.84712.qm@web57203.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Kshamendra ji Will you too stop behaving like a child please? You can carry out such fights by sending personal e-mails, but seriously, from my own experience I can tell, these are childish and only show egotism. Please, this is the only time I am going to request you. I can't keep fighting for this. Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 19:00:30 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:30:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <166593.29947.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Rakesh   Does 'ethics' amount to nothing?   Isnt all commentary on the ills that plague the world invariably linked with questioning mis-statements and mis-represtentation?   Is such questioning childish?   Is such questioning egoistical?   Kshmendra   --- On Sat, 3/20/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: From: Rakesh Iyer Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "anupam chakravartty" , "sarai list" Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 6:44 PM Kshamendra ji Will you too stop behaving like a child please? You can carry out such fights by sending personal e-mails, but seriously, from my own experience I can tell, these are childish and only show egotism. Please, this is the only time I am going to request you. I can't keep fighting for this. Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 19:04:31 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:04:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <166593.29947.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <166593.29947.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Kshamendra Questioning is not unethical. But the way you two are fighting over issues completely side-steps the issue. Instead, we are now involved in a personal no-holds-barred verbal sparring, which benefits no one, be it Anupam, Kshamendra, or anyone else (myself included). Let us not do all this. As Yasir said, let's come back and restrict ourselves to such issues. And by the way, neither are you nor Anupam jee in any position of authority (from the point of view of this article)that your mis-statements or mis-representations may really matter. If you are indeed so and are doing mis-representations or making false statements, your questioning would indeed serve a very helpful purpose (which again should be for both punishment and reform of the authority-holding person). Otherwise such questioning should be done with the intention of 'reforming' the person, not putting him/her in a corner, for doing so never changes the person but makes him/her more stubborn on his/her point. Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 19:13:17 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:43:17 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <671602.12526.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Rakesh   Hopefully my last mail on this. Just a clarification.   The questioning of "ethics" and of "mis-statements and mis-representations" had nothing to do with the "article".   It was about something ascribed to me personally (in my communication), which I had not indulged in.   Kshmendra --- On Sat, 3/20/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: From: Rakesh Iyer Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "sarai list" Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 7:04 PM Dear Kshamendra Questioning is not unethical. But the way you two are fighting over issues completely side-steps the issue. Instead, we are now involved in a personal no-holds-barred verbal sparring, which benefits no one, be it Anupam, Kshamendra, or anyone else (myself included). Let us not do all this. As Yasir said, let's come back and restrict ourselves to such issues. And by the way, neither are you nor Anupam jee in any position of authority (from the point of view of this article)that your mis-statements or mis-representations may really matter. If you are indeed so and are doing mis-representations or making false statements, your questioning would indeed serve a very helpful purpose (which again should be for both punishment and reform of the authority-holding person). Otherwise such questioning should be done with the intention of 'reforming' the person, not putting him/her in a corner, for doing so never changes the person but makes him/her more stubborn on his/her point. Rakesh From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 19:32:51 2010 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:02:51 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Faiz=2C_Iqbal_Bano_resonate_in_India?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99s_Maoist_heartland?= Message-ID: <23720.75712.qm@web51407.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Faiz, Iqbal Bano resonate in India’s Maoist heartland By Arundhati Roy Saturday, 20 Mar, 2010 Very recently, quietly, unannounced, Arundhati Roy became a rare writer to visit the forbidding and forbidden precincts of Central India’s Dandakaranya Forests, home to a melange of tribespeople many of whom have taken up arms to protect their people against state-backed marauders and exploiters. She recorded in considerable detail the first face-to-face journalistic “encounter” with armed guerrillas, their families and comrades, for which she combed the forests for weeks at personal risk. The essay was published on Friday in Delhi’s Outlook magazine. Here are some highlights from the 20,000 word essay she wrote on the doubts, hopes and struggles of a people who are known to the rest of the world only as dreaded Maoists. The full text of the essay is expected to be available on dawn.com on Sunday. -- “The antagonists in the forest are disparate and unequal in almost every way. On one side is a massive paramilitary force armed with the money, the firepower, the media, and the hubris of an emerging Superpower. On the other, ordinary villagers armed with traditional weapons, backed by a superbly organised, hugely motivated Maoist guerrilla fighting force with an extraordinary and violent history of armed rebellion. The Maoists and the paramilitary are old adversaries and have fought older avatars of each other several times before: Telengana in the ’50s, West Bengal, Bihar, Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh in the late ’60s and ’70s, and then again in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra from the ’80s all the way through to the Present… “It’s easier on the liberal conscience to believe that the war in the forests is a war between the Government of India and the Maoists, who call elections a sham, Parliament a pigsty and have openly declared their intention to overthrow the Indian state. It’s convenient to forget that tribal people in Central India have a history of resistance that pre-dates Mao by centuries. (That’s a truism of course. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t exist.) The Ho, the Oraon, the Kols, the Santhals, the Mundas and the Gonds have all rebelled several times, against the British, against zamindars and moneylenders. The rebellions were cruelly crushed, many thousands killed, but the people were never conquered… “…This legacy of rebellion has left behind a furious people who have been deliberately isolated and marginalised by the Indian Government. The Indian Constitution, the moral underpinning of Indian democracy, was adopted by Parliament in 1950. It was a tragic day for tribal people. The Constitution ratified colonial policy and made the State custodian of tribal homelands. Overnight, it turned the entire tribal population into squatters on their own land. It denied them their traditional rights to forest produce, it criminalised a whole way of life. In exchange for the right to vote it snatched away their right to livelihood and dignity… “…We pass Kanker, famous for its Counter Terrorism & Jungle Warfare Training School run by Brigadier B.K. Ponwar, Rumpelstiltskin of this war, charged with the task of turning corrupt, sloppy policemen (straw) into jungle commandos (gold). “Fight a guerrilla like a guerrilla”, the motto of the warfare training school, is painted on the rocks. The men are taught to run, slither, jump on and off air-borne helicopters, ride horses (for some reason), eat snakes and live off the jungle. The Brigadier takes great pride in training street dogs to fight ‘terrorists’. Eight hundred policemen graduate from the Warfare Training School every six weeks. Twenty similar schools are being planned all over India. The police force is gradually being turned into an army. (In Kashmir it’s the other way around. The army is being turned into a bloated, administrative, police force.) Upside down. Inside out. Either way, the Enemy is the People… “…In the morning Kamla presents me with a yellow polythene packet with one corner snipped off. Once it used to contain Abis Gold Refined Soya Oil. Now it was my Loo Mug. Nothing’s wasted on the Road to the Revolution… “… (Even now I think of Comrade Kamla all the time, every day. She’s 17. She wears a homemade pistol on her hip. And boy, what a smile. But if the police come across her, they will kill her. They might rape her first. No questions will be asked. Because she’s an Internal Security Threat.)… “… In April, the BJP government in Chhattisgarh signed two MOUs to set up integrated steel plants (the terms of which are secret). One for Rs7000 crore with Essar Steel in Bailadila, and the other for Rs10,000 crore with Tata Steel in Lohandiguda. That same month Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made his famous statement about the Maoists being the “Gravest Internal Security Threat” to India. (It was an odd thing to say at the time, because actually the opposite was true. The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh had just out-manoeuvred the Maoists, decimated them. They had lost about 1600 of their cadre and were in complete disarray.) The PM’s statement sent the share-value of mining companies soaring. It also sent a signal to the media that the Maoists were fair game for anyone who chose to go after them… “…It’s dark. There’s a lot of activity in the camp, but I can’t see anything. Just points of light moving around. It’s hard to tell whether they are stars or fireflies or Maoists on the move. Little Mangtu appears from nowhere. I found out that he’s one of a group of ten kids who are part of the first batch of the Young Communists Mobile School, who are being taught to read and write, and tutored in basic communist principles. (“Indoctrination of young minds!” our corporate media howls. The TV advertisements that brainwash children before they can even think, are not seen as a form of indoctrination.) The young communists are not allowed to carry guns or wear uniforms. But they trail the PLGA squads, with stars in their eyes, like groupies of a rock band... “…The dancing will go on all night. I walk back to the camp. Maase is there, awake. We chat late into the night. I give her my copy of Neruda’s Captain’s Verses (I brought it along, just in case). She asks again and again, “What do they think of us outside? What do students say? Tell me about the women’s movement, what are the big issues now? She asks about me, my writing. I try and give her an honest account of my chaos. Then she starts to talk about herself, how she joined the Party. She tells me that her partner was killed last May, in a fake encounter. He was arrested in Nashik, and taken to Warangal to be killed. “They must have tortured him badly.” She was on her way to meet him when she heard he had been arrested. She’s been in the forest ever since. After a long silence she tells me she was married once before, years ago. “He was killed in an encounter too,” she says, and adds with heart-breaking precision, “but in a real one.”… “…I lie awake on my jhilli, thinking of Maase’s protracted sadness, listening to the drums and the sounds of protracted happiness from the grounds, and thinking about Charu Mazumdar’s idea of protracted war, the central precept of the Maoist Party. This is what makes people think the Maoists offer to enter ‘peace talks’ is a hoax, a ploy to get breathing space to regroup, re-arm themselves and go back to waging protracted war. What is protracted war? Is it a terrible thing in itself, or does it depend on the nature of the war? What if the people here in Dandakaranya had not waged their protracted war for the last thirty years, where would they be now?... “…Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines it as: “Any of the following Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (or) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group… “…Jungle post arrives. Two biscuits for me. A poem and a pressed flower from Comrade Narmada. A lovely letter from Maase. (Who is she? Will I ever know?) “Comrade Sukhdev asks if he can download the music from my Ipod into his computer. We listen to a recording of Iqbal Bano singing Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s ‘Hum Dekhenge’ (We will Witness the Day) at the famous concert in Lahore at the height of the repression during the Ziaul Haq years. Fifty thousand people in the audience in that Pakistan begin a defiant chant: Inqilab Zindabad! Inqilab Zindabad! All these years later, that chant reverberates around this forest. Strange, the alliances that get made. “…The Home Minister has been issuing veiled threats to those who ‘erroneously offer intellectual and material support to the Maoists’. Does sharing Iqbal Bano qualify?...” http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/faiz,-iqbal-bano-resonate-in-indias-maoist-heartland-030 From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 19:36:35 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:06:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <145794.57306.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Tara   Such a mail, as this one from you, makes it worthwhile for me to continue stalking this List.   Uneducated as I am in these terms such as 'binaries' and 'structuralism', a mail like yours provides me leads to read a bit, understand a bit. And when a 'case study' in context is highlighted (as you have), it gives me an excellently helpful start.   Thanks   Kshmendra --- On Thu, 3/18/10, TaraPrakash wrote: From: TaraPrakash Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "anupam chakravartty" Cc: "sarai list" Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 8:38 PM This is how binaries operate. Whatever I am not, is You. Structuralism only knows binaries. It recognizes structures, not individuals. You can either be pro-muslim or anti-muslim, if you want me to put this explanation in this context. Whoever is not pro-muslim is anti-muslim. So now you know you are not Kshmendra, you represent a structure. For a lot of individuals, 1960s are yet to happen. Good luck ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kshmendra Kaul" To: "anupam chakravartty" Cc: "sarai list" Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:32 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill > Dear Anupam > > You wrote : " will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are > acting with Dan Hussain and Javed?" > > Javed? Yes! Dan Hussain? No! > > Will you please tell me where I have addressed Dan Hussain or mentioned Dan Hussain or commented upon anything that Dan Hussain wrote? > > NOWHERE. > > And that is exactly where you go with some of your responses Anupam; NOWHERE. > > What does that tell us about you? > > That you do not read what you think you are responding to OR that you do not read what you yourself write OR that you are so consumed by bias, prejudice and pre-judgements about people and issues that your brain froths and you get all muddled up. > > That is sad since when you are sane, you do write thought-provoking mails. > > Kshmendra > > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 IST 2010 "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted > justification of your own." > > Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may > look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are > you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, > what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting > or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you > approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are > acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a > muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your > horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that > man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u > cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's > lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every > occasion? > > -anupam > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" , "anupam chakravartty" > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:53 PM > > > Dear Anupam > > A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. > > Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it that is not public so far. > > How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he discuss his intention with you? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...."? > > Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM > > > What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I > would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I > can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, > carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever > pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. > Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to > read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your > benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show > the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand > their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank > Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a > debate about reforms to be carried in policing. > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . >> >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in >>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>> >>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>> >>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even Muslim >>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on >>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>> >>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>> background. >>> >>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of >>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >>> >>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>> >>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>> throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> >>> >>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>> important >>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >>> it >>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Dear C.Anupam , >>> >>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>> >>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>> in newspapers . >>> >>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >>> >>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>> >>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>> Reader-List - SARAI >>> >>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>> >>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>> >>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> From: Dan Husain >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>> mock anti-terror drill >>> To: >>> Cc: "sarai list" >>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>> >>> Dear Pawan: >>> >>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, >>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. >>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP >>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>> >>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for >>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>> encouraged this mindset. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Danish >>> >>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not >>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>> >>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> > shot him twice >>>> > >>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> > >>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> > >>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the > entire >>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each > cop >>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer > tasked >>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>> > >>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold > of >>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling > to >>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>> > >>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> > >>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on > the >>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>> > >>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>> > service revolver. >>>> > >>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At > this >>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> > Jha said. >>>> > >>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> > >>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> > >>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident > was >>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. > Both >>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some > criminals >>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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/> > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 19:48:40 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:48:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The mysterious case of the grey lady of Bagram Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003200718x6be1cea5ibaa8809c3fcb9ebc@mail.gmail.com> Source : dawn.com By Robert Fisk Saturday, 20 Mar, 2010 Why didn’t Aafia Siddiqui's family report her missing in 2003, asks Robert Fisk. – PAKISTAN Witnesses’ accounts differ at Dr. Aafia’s trial ISLAMABAD: Dr Shams Hassan Faruqi sits amid his rocks and geological records, shakes his bearded head and stares at me. “I strongly doubt if the children are alive,” he says. “Probably, they have expired.” He says this in a strange way, mournful but resigned, yet somehow he seems oddly unmoved. As a witness, supposedly, to the mysterious 2008 re-appearance of Aafia Siddiqui – the “most wanted woman in the world”, according to former US attorney general John Ashcroft – I guess this 73-year-old Pakistani geologist is used to the limelight. But the children, I ask him again. What happened to the children? Dr Faruqi is Aafia Siddiqui’s uncle and he produces a photograph of his niece at the age of 13, picnicking in the Margalla hills above Islamabad, a smiling girl in a yellow shalwar khameez, half-leaning against a tree. She does not look like the stuff of which Al-Qaeda operatives are made. Yet she is now a semi-icon in Pakistan, a country which may well have been involved in her original kidnapping and which now oh-so-desperately wants her back from an American prison. Her children, weirdly, disconcertingly, have been forgotten. Aafia Siddiqui’s story is now as famous in Pakistan as it is notorious in a New York City courtroom where her trial for trying to kill an American soldier in the Afghan city of Ghazni in 2008 – she was convicted this month and faces a minimum of 20 years in prison on just one of the charges against her – is regarded as a symbol of American injustice. “Shame on America,” posters scream in all of Pakistan’s major cities. She is known as the “grey lady of Bagram”, supposedly tortured for five years in America’s cruel Afghan prison. President Asif Ali Zardari has asked American envoy Richard Holbrooke to repatriate Siddiqui under the Pakistan-US prisoner exchange scheme, while the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has dubbed her a “daughter of the nation”. Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif promises to demand her release. But none of them mention the children. Ahmed, Sulieman and Maryam are their names. Ahmed was returned to Pakistan from Afghanistan in 2008, but Dr Faruqi tells me he doesn’t believe for a moment that it is Aafia Siddiqui’s son. “He came here to stay with me, but he said he didn’t know Aafia until he was taken to Ghazni. He said to me: ‘I was in the big earthquake in Afghanistan and my brothers and sisters were killed in their home while I was out fetching water – that’s what saved my life.’ He told me that after the earthquake, he was put in an orphanage in Kabul. He was shown a photograph of my niece Aafia and said he did not know this lady, that he had never seen her before. Then he was taken to Ghazni and told to sit next to this woman – my niece. The boy is intelligent. He is simple. He is honest.” All such mysteries require a “story-so-far”. It goes like this. Aafia Siddiqui, a 38-year-old neuroscientist, an MIT alumna and Brandeis university PhD, disappeared after leaving her sister’s home for Karachi airport in 2003, taking Ahmed, Sulieman and Maryam with her. The Americans say she was a leading Al-Qaeda operative. So does her ex-husband. She had re-married Ammar al-Baluchi, currently in Guantanamo Bay, a cousin of Ramzi Yousef who was convicted for the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. Not, you might, say, a healthy curriculum vitae in the West’s obsessive “war on terror”. In 2004, the UN identified her as an Al-Qaeda operative. But released inmates from the notorious American prison at Bagram near Kabul– where torture is commonplace and at least three prisoners have been murdered – have stated that there was a woman held there, a woman whose nightly screams prompted them to go on hunger strike. She was dubbed the “grey lady of Bagram”. At her New York trial, Siddiqui demanded that Jewish members of the jury be dismissed, she fired her own defence lawyers who said she had become unbalanced after torture; Siddiqui blurted out that she had been tortured in secret prisons before her arrest. “If you were in a secret prison ... where children were murdered...” she said. And so to the town of Ghazni, south of Kabul. It was here that Afghan police stopped her in 2008, carrying a handbag which supposedly contained details of chemical weapons and radiological agents, notes on mass casualty attacks on US targets and maps of Ghazni. American soldiers and FBI agents were summoned to question her and arrived in Ghazni without realising that Siddiqui was in the same room, sitting behind a curtain. According to their evidence, she managed to take one of their M-4 assault rifles and opened fire. She missed but was cut down by two bullets from a 9mm pistol fired by one of the soldiers. Hence the charges. Hence the conviction. She wasn’t helped by an alleged statement by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – the man who supposedly planned 9/11 and who is the uncle of her second husband, Ammar al-Baluchi – who claimed that Aafia Siddiqui was a senior Al-Qaeda agent. But then, he’d just been waterboarded 183 times in a month – which hardly makes his evidence, to use a phrase, water-tight. The questions are obvious. What on earth was a Pakistani American with a Brandeis degree doing in Ghazni with a handbag containing American targets? And why, if her family was so fearful for her, didn’t they report her missing in 2003, go to the press and tell the story of the children? Ahmed – son of Siddiqui or Afghan orphan, depending on your point of view – is now staying with Siddiqui’s sister, Fauzia, in Karachi; but she refuses to let him talk to journalists. The Americans have shown no interest in him – even less in the other two, younger children. Why not? It’s odd, to say the least, that Dr Faruqi also maintains that in 2008 – before the Ghazni incident – Aafia Siddiqui turned up at his home in the suburbs of Islamabad. “She was wearing a burqa and got out of the car, just outside here,” he says, pointing to the tree-lined street outside his office window. “I only caught sight of her once, and I said ‘You have changed your nose’. But it was her. We talked about the past, her memories, it was her voice. She said the ISI (the Inter-Services Intelligence) had let her come here. She wanted to get away, to go back to Afghanistan where she said the Taliban would protect her. She said that since her arrest, she knew nothing of her children. Someone told her they had been sent to Australia.” More questions. If Siddiqui was a “ghost prisoner” in Afghanistan, how come she turned up at Dr Faruqi’s home in Islamabad? Why would she wear an Afghan “burqa” in the cosmopolitan capital of her own country? Why did she not talk more about her children? Why could she not show her face to her own uncle? Did she really come to Islamabad? Fauzia Siddiqui is now touring Pakistan to publicise her sister’s “unfair” trial, her torture at the hands of Americans. Most of the Pakistan press have taken up her story with little critical attention to the allegations against her. She has become a proto-martyr, a martyr-in-being; if her story is comprehensible, it requires a willing suspension of disbelief. But America’s constant protestations of ignorance about her whereabouts before 2008 have an unhappy ring about them. And the children? Rarely written about in Pakistan, they, too, in a sense, were “disappeared” from the story – until the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, paid an uneasy visit to Pakistan this week and, according to Fauzia, told the Interior minister, Rehman Malik, that “the children of Aafia Siddiqui will be sent home soon”. Was Karzai referring to the other two children? Or to all three, including the “real” Ahmed? And if Aafia’s two/three children are in Afghanistan, where have they been kept? In an orphanage? In a prison? And who kept them? The Afghans? The Americans?—Dawn/The Independent News Service From pawan.durani at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 19:52:00 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:52:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] We shall overrun Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003200722h23cd1758lf00cafde74f7cf23@mail.gmail.com> http://www.new-pakistan.com/2010/3/20/we-shall-overrun We shall overrun March 20th, 2010 This blog was co-authored by Nadeem F. Paracha and Abbas Baloch for DawnBlog. The young, urban, middle-class Pakistani’s manifesto: 1. Asif Ali Zardari is the devil incarnate. 2. The Pakistan Army is the saviour. 3. The Taliban are resisting American imperialism. 4. We hate American foreign policy unless it suits us. We are against American imperialism if it means we have to ditch the Taliban as that would be against the aspirations of our founding father, Mohammed Bin Qasim. We will no longer shop at Marks and Spencer because they are somehow connected to Israel. However, that does not mean we will switch off our computers and cell phones whose chip technology has been made possible due to major contributions from Israeli scientists. 5. We don’t want to sell our honour for American money unless it is for our private hospitals, textile exports, NGOs, or for completing degrees at American universities. 6. It’s not just Zardari who is the culprit. It’s also Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Fatima Bhutto is fine, though; she is dating George Clooney. 7. It was all milk and honey till Bhutto came along. Damn him for nationalising my father’s 15 mills, seven textile units, and 11 banks! I still remember the good old days when Nani ji, Dada ji and their friends brought hundreds of textile licenses from Gohar Ayub for US $ 200,000 a pop. There was no corruption and no labour unions until this Sindhi feudal and closet Hindu agent named Z.A. Bhutto came along and enforced his Zionist agenda and made all our urban serfs so uppity. 8. We are against feudalism unless the feudals in question do not support the PPP and allow us to rape the ecology of Sindh and the Punjab on our weekend hunting trips. Some crates of mangoes from their farms also help. 9. Some of us feel we know what’s best for the PPP, i.e. to banish Zardari and his kids and ditch the legacies of ZAB and BB. We have never voted for or supported the PPP (actually we never vote all!) but we still feel that we are in a better position to understand the party’s dynamics. Also, as educated, refined and objective leaders and captains of industry, we are against dynastic politics. However, we are fine with Fatima Bhutto, Hamza Sharif, Solaiman/Essa Khan, Monis Chaudhary as well as the privileged alumni of Karachi Grammar School, Aitchison and Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, ruling us. Just as long as they are not descended from the Zionist agent Benazir and her corrupt husband, Zardari. 10. Democracy is a deeply flawed system that has destroyed the world. Totalitarian monarchies with entrenched security and bureaucracies are much better and in line with our Arab origins. Please do not compare us to India. We have nothing in common with them except our DNA, culture, cuisine, language, music, and geography. 11. Our ideal form of government is the modern day Caliphate, or, as we like to call it, the rule of technocrats. In this form of government, our posh uncles will pass stern orders in their clipped Oxbridge accents and Italian suits that will be supported by a medieval council of jurists whom we like to call the independent judiciary. 12. Lately, we have been reading some Chomsky, Klein and Zinn (all five articles) and appreciate how these believing Muslims provide us with the intellectual ammo on exposing how the perfidious Jews conspire to rule the world. 13. We are essentially a good people who are suffering because the world wants to take over our nukes and is conspiring to destroy our country. They are using the Taliban, who themselves are essentially good people who are bravely fighting American imperialism. The Taliban just suffer from bad press, and we know who controls the press abroad. Here, the press is controlled by democratically elected anchors and media analysts who are fighting for justice and against corruption. 14. The Taliban who are killed in the drone attacks are simply pious Muslims who are doing charity work, such as digging canals in arid, mountainous zones – it’s called the Mars project. Also, the burning of Christian villages by Taliban affiliated and state-sponsored sectarian militias is a figment of the imagination of the liberal fascists. They are doing their best to curb crusaders of truth and justice such as Geo TV. The real problem is Blackwater/Xe, fools. 15. The Taliban are an expression of Pushtoon nationalism as they have done their best to cleanse the United Emirates of Peshawar and FARTA from pagan Pukhtoon influence. The Taliban are a legitimate resistance movement against the occupation of the United Emirates of Peshawar and FARTA by ANP, Shia parachinaris, Sikhs and, of course, female students. The only genuine Pathans are Imran Khan, Hamid Gul, and Zaid Hamid. 16. Sipah Sahaba, Jaish, Lashkar Taiba, Lashkar Jhangvi, Jamaat Islami … who the are they? Figments of the imagination of liberal fascists. We should be more concerned about the Ahmed Rashids, Kamran Shafis, Amir Mirs, Arif Jamals, Najam Sethis, Tarek Fatahs, Irfan Hussains, Pervaiz Hoodbhoys, Fasi Zakas, Ayesha Siddiquas, and Nadeem Parachas.… They are CIA agents. 17. India is stealing our water and is destroying the country via its Sindhi/Balochi/Pushtoon/Gilgiti/Hazara/Hingora/Makrani/Seraiki proxies. Damn this fifth column riff-raff. We brought them the glorious Islamic civilization from the latest Nasim Hejazi novel and look at how uppity they have gotten since. We gave them commerce (Gujrati), language (Urdu), and agriculture (Punjabi) and they still want to maintain their identities and celebrate their vernacular religious practices which our pure Arab background forbids. Feed them to the Taliban. 18. We, the members of civil society, are essentially a liberal lot who are imbued with socialist values. Our ability to engage in massive socialising (through Facebook) makes us socialist in the true sense of the word. Lately, we have also dabbled in Marxism at cafes where we blow off half a month’s average national salary on lattes and cappuccinos whilst we construct our neo- Marxism around the tacit acceptance of the Taliban’s superior Arab cultural identity. We salute Abul Ala Marx, Lenin Bin Laden, and Mulla Mao! 19. These are difficult times for civil society. While the tyrant Zardari is destroying the country with a ‘progressive agenda’ (another Zionist conspiracy) that involves legislation about women’s rights and the enfranchisement and autonomy of minority provinces, our brave and independent judiciary is fighting a Herculean battle to free the champions of our true Arab identity like Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Aziz, and Masood Azhar. These tireless crusaders are fighting our battle against Hindu hegemony in Pakistan. We need to applaud the efforts of the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court in exposing the Hindus. 20. As Zardari loots and pillages Pakistan via the nefarious use of his handle bar moustache and cheery demeanour, we have to appreciate how our Taliban investment is saving our economy by killing thousands of our citizens and costing billions of dollars in damages and lost investment and trade opportunities. We are a financially and arithmetically gifted segment of society that can expand US $66 million to $1,500 million if it means that we can lynch Zardari (and free Aafia). 21. While our existential adversary India is investing billions of dollars in Afghanistan’s infrastructure and municipal training, we are using our billions to create the ultimate strategic depth in Afghanistan: macho Islamist brutes who will eventually recreate the Islamic State that made Afghanistan the model of peace and prosperity from 1996 till 2001. In conclusion we would like to part with a speech from one of our greatest representatives, Zen Farman Wamid, which he made at the historic Dillee Kebab House. The topic of this grand speech was, “Today Dillee Kebab House, tomorrow Delhi Fort”: “Assalamualaikum, my dear and superior Muslim Pakistanis. By the grace of God, I am proud to announce from this wonderful kebab house that we are now ready to invade India. This invasion has taken a lot of planning and effort by my young upwardly mobile comrades and for this we would also like to thank our friends in the electronic media and inspirations such as Yahya Khan and Ziaul Haq. Dear muscular Muslim boys and petite Muslim girls, I had been planning this invasion for a very long time, even before my blessed birth when I was just a spirit floating over Pakistan – even before Pakistan was made. My spirit swooped down when it saw the great Muhammad Bin Qasim invading Sindh and defeating Hindu scoundrels as well as Mohajir, Sindhi, Balochi and Pakhtun nationalists. We will vanquish them in the Islamic Emirate Caliphate of Punjab … I mean, Pakistan. Damn those who say that Pakistan was made in 1947. That’s a lie, I tell you. It was made in the seventh century, when Kalashnikov Bin Qasim, Allama F-16 Iqbal, and Inzimamul Haq defeated a million-strong army of that secular tyrant and usurper Raja Bhutto and his side-kick Mohindar Singh Dhoni and announced the creation of the Islamic Caliphate of Punj … I mean Pakistan. So wake up, Pakistan, and let’s invade, loot and plunder like those great Muslim leaders, Mahmud Ghazni and Mr. T. My next address to you all will be from Delhi Fort and anyone who disagrees is a traitor, a Hindu agent, or a student of the Peshawar University. Allah Hafiz! Punj … I mean, Pakistan, marhabba marhabba.” From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 20:07:07 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:37:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> I can't comprehend why people see problems only with Gujarat? (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/20/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > From: Rakesh Iyer > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE > To: "Bipin Trivedi" > Cc: "sarai-list" > Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 6:25 PM > Dear Bipin ji > > For your kind information, the data for 2009 has used data > only upto 2006 > for rankings. And this is true for all states of India, be > it Kerala or > Gujarat. > > Don't see conspiracies where there aren't any. > > 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 Sat Mar 20 20:10:49 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:10:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik ji I have no issues on commenting on other states as well. Since someone put up an article on Gujarat highlighting its' glory, I state a claim made by someone which runs counter on it, thereby asking people to decide on themselves what could be the possible truth. If you wish the same be done for other states, I would welcome it. But unfortunately, I don't like putting posts singing paeans for any state government, since there's hardly any one which has been doing very well, and that includes Gujarat too. Most of the economic growth jargon which is talked about is because of many factors, like history and society, which are inter-linked. To assume that without Modi, Gujarat would be reduced to penury is nothing short of a pipe-dream. Even you can become the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and the show will go on. Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Mar 20 20:14:03 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:14:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: References: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik ji I forgot to add this. I would be very happy to work with anyone on studying about any state (not Gujarat necessarily) and then put facts on that state in this forum. I would be quite happy about that. That can certainly put the real achievements in perspective. It would be, a critique of that administration certainly. Rakesh From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 20 20:18:03 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:48:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <713709.96109.qm@web112106.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Rakesh,                       Don't you see the difference in Governance by Nitish Kumar, CM Bihar as also Ms Mayawati, CM Uttar Pradesh. Individualistic governance/style does make a difference. If Governance doesn't make a difference, think of Ms Mayawati ruling Gujarat. If some one does a good job what is the problem if he he/she gets a pat. (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/20/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: From: Rakesh Iyer Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE To: "A.K. Malik" Cc: "Bipin Trivedi" , "Sarai List" Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 8:10 PM Dear Malik ji I have no issues on commenting on other states as well. Since someone put up an article on Gujarat highlighting its' glory, I state a claim made by someone which runs counter on it, thereby asking people to decide on themselves what could be the possible truth. If you wish the same be done for other states, I would welcome it. But unfortunately, I don't like putting posts singing paeans for any state government, since there's hardly any one which has been doing very well, and that includes Gujarat too. Most of the economic growth jargon which is talked about is because of many factors, like history and society, which are inter-linked. To assume that without Modi, Gujarat would be reduced to penury is nothing short of a pipe-dream. Even you can become the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and the show will go on. Rakesh From aliens at dataone.in Sat Mar 20 21:12:34 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:12:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: References: <000d01cac821$7047cc70$50d76550$@in> Message-ID: <001301cac843$f6398810$e2ac9830$@in> Dear Rakesh, There after so many datas also have come up and in this computer age one has to get updated with the latest and media should update themselves before making any posting/conclusion. In this computer age, we can have our day to day business analysis the moment 31st March passes we can have our year update. Same thing applicable in the case of country/state in this computer age and this article data was for average data of 1993 to 2005 and came out in 2006. Not now. There after so many rankings has came up and old data proved wrong. Wasted interest persons utilize for their selfish motto nothing else. One must take updated available data into consideration. Thanks Bipin From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:26 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE Dear Bipin ji For your kind information, the data for 2009 has used data only upto 2006 for rankings. And this is true for all states of India, be it Kerala or Gujarat. Don't see conspiracies where there aren't any. Rakesh From aliens at dataone.in Sat Mar 20 21:22:16 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:22:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <001801cac845$561d9b80$0258d280$@in> Yes, that's the problem dear we have to tackle and fight. -----Original Message----- From: A.K. Malik [mailto:akmalik45 at yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 8:07 PM To: Rakesh Iyer; Bipin Trivedi Cc: Sarai List Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE I can't comprehend why people see problems only with Gujarat? (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/20/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > From: Rakesh Iyer > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE > To: "Bipin Trivedi" > Cc: "sarai-list" > Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 6:25 PM > Dear Bipin ji > > For your kind information, the data for 2009 has used data > only upto 2006 > for rankings. And this is true for all states of India, be > it Kerala or > Gujarat. > > Don't see conspiracies where there aren't any. > > 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 Sat Mar 20 21:50:02 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:50:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <001801cac845$561d9b80$0258d280$@in> References: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <001801cac845$561d9b80$0258d280$@in> Message-ID: Dear Malik Since you mentioned Bihar, I was devoting my time for the past one hour to find about Bihar, and so here is Bihar's story. My views are also mentioned with it. The references mentioned can be seen, and they are the work of those who study the budgets properly. The story of Bihar’s growth: 1) According to the figures released by the CSO (Central Statistical Organization), the average growth rate for Bihar was 11.03% for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09. This includes one year of Lalu-Rabri rule and 3 ½ years of Nitish Kumar rule. However, if we were to go by the Economic Survey report tabled in the Bihar Assembly by Sushil Kumar Modi, the average growth rate of Bihar for the same period as mentioned above was 7.34%. This is astonishing considering that both figures have the same source. Obviously, either there is miscommunication or fudging of figures, and since the Bihar govt. has not said anything on this difference in the figures, I would assume the latter to be the case. By the way, India’s average growth rate was 7.9% for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09. Hope that can give an idea as to how Bihar is performing. 2) The growth rate of Bihar was 5.87% for the last four years (2001-02 to 2004-05) of RJD rule. For the period from 1992-93 to 2003-04, it was 4.89%. Under Nitish Kumar rule, the figures are 6.35% (2006-09). Is this enough to say that there is a turnaround in Bihar economy? (A difference of about 0.5% in growth rates for four years of Lalu-Rabri and Nitish Kumar rule) 3) The next question is about this: what constitutes this growth which is talked about? The primary sector (mainly agriculture and related activities) have grown at less than 1% for the entire period. This is a shame considering that a large proportion of Bihar’s population is dependent on agriculture (81% of the entire workforce) and it contributes to about 42% of the state GDP, as compared to say India (where the corresponding figures are 60% of the entire workforce and 18% of India’s GDP). The growth in the tertiary sector (services sector) is less (at 6.9%) than the national average as stated in one of the references. While I don’t have data for the entire period, it was 9.2% in 2007-08 and 9.6% for 2006-07 for India. And I don’t think the services sector would have got a huge shock which changed that trend, as they don’t also depend on rain or other factors unlike say the primary sector. Then certainly the growth must come from the secondary sector, and yes, it does. The question then comes: where from? Construction. The growth rate for the secondary sector was 12.9%. And on further disaggregation, most of this growth rate is found in construction. Construction sector has grown by 41% for the stated period under Nitish rule only (exclude 2004-05 from the stated period) 4) Let’s now discuss the relative importance of the sectors first. The agrarian sector has actually grown by – 0.77% (minus 0.77% or negative growth rate) under Nitish Kumar rule. And agriculture has grown by -0.87% (or minus 0.87%) under his rule. And this agriculture along with allied activities is supposed to support 80% of the workforce. When agriculture is on a decline, it’s obvious that the incomes due to agriculture would also be on a decline. Is this a success or a failure? You decide. On the other hand, the construction sector has grown by huge value primarily due to investments made in public infrastructure as well as booming construction drive going on in the cities of Bihar. The first is primarily due to the financial assistance given by the ADB (Asian Development Bank for state road programs) and the programmes run by the Central Govt (like NHDP, National Highway Development Programme). The second is being seen across all Tier-I(major) and Tier-II cities (mostly state capitals and emerging important cities), and in that sense, the Bihar govt. can’t take credit for it. What is a major shame though is that the allocations for constructing national highways was four times that being spent for making rural roads, even though rural connectivity in Bihar is one of the worst across the entire country. And even on this money, about 62% came from the PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, a central-govt assistance) while the rest came from funds of the state govt. How can the state govt. claim the achievements to be its’ own then? The only change here is that since the law and order situation has improved to the extent that extortions are not the norm but the exception, this boom of construction is taking place. 5) The next achievement which Nitish Kumar may want to talk about is the idea about education and health. On this front, the govt. can be easily checkmated. The claim that under his rule, SC and ST students’ enrolment in schools has increased has already been alleged by the local media to be a farce as the figures are being claimed to having been fudged to lift more food under the mid-day meal programme. The only ‘real’ activity going on is said to be construction of schools, another offshoot of the construction sector. Leaving the above allegation aside for a moment, (as it may or may not be true), since the health programme is run on Central money and medicines, the Bihar govt. can’t claim the achievement as only its’ own, but a joint one. 6) The Bihar govt. then makes a claim which can be only termed as ‘dubious’. On one hand, it claims that the income in agricultural sector has fallen by about 4,000 crores and on the other hand, another document termed ‘Road Map for Agriculture’ released by the same govt. claims that there is no data on income which farmers receive for their produce in the state. Then how was this assessment made, is anybody’s guess. 7) The Bihar govt., had in one of its first acts, repealed the APMC Act (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act), in the name of protecting the farmers from scrupulous traders who manipulate prices thereby affecting farmers and consumers both. The result was disastrous. Under this act, prices were decided for commodities and the intention was to ensure better and timely payment of farm produce. Now thanks to dismantling of these committees which were supposed to fix prices, Bihar is enjoying a high rate of inflation, and with the policies at the Centre also contributing to the same, Bihar people can turn to religion and God to salvage their hopes. References: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/r-nagaraj-demystifying-bihar%5Cs-growth/387412/ http://www.bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/Feb/Newsbihar27Feb1.html http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2010/March/Newsbihar12March7.html http://www.epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/14459.pdf From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sun Mar 21 00:13:32 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:43:32 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Rakesh,                         I think and consider the betterment of the Law and Order situation in Bihar without going into the nitty-gritty of the statistics to be good enough to commend the CM. I don't go by the stats but what is the feeling of a common man about the general administration system and well being. You can come out with similar data even for UP and say Mayawati has done well where today I read the news of 100 Brahmin advocates being sacked from Govt responsibilty ( will try to find out the news item), sacking of the Addl Cabinet Secretary for not handing media for BSP celebrations properly.(Also see today's NDTV Big Fight discussion). It is general governance which makes a CM good, bad ,better ,commendable and as also the perceptions whether right or wrong by the common man. By the way Nitish Kumar got some NDTV award as well for good governance. You may justify Mr Lalu Prasad/Rabri Devi to be good CMs but I consider the current CM to be better and that is all.It is more of attitudnal than of statistical things I meant. If you feel differently you are definitely entitled to keep your views, the question of discussion was only Gujarat.Good deeds need to be commended and bad ones condemned be it Gujarat or any other state or even a person.That was what was my intention. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sat, 3/20/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: From: Rakesh Iyer Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE To: "Bipin Trivedi" Cc: "A.K. Malik" , "sarai-list" Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 9:50 PM Dear Malik Since you mentioned Bihar, I was devoting my time for the past one hour to find about Bihar, and so here is Bihar's story. My views are also mentioned with it. The references mentioned can be seen, and they are the work of those who study the budgets properly. The story of Bihar’s growth:   1)      According to the figures released by the CSO (Central Statistical Organization), the average growth rate for Bihar was 11.03% for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09. This includes one year of Lalu-Rabri rule and 3 ½ years of Nitish Kumar rule.   However, if we were to go by the Economic Survey report tabled in the Bihar Assembly by Sushil Kumar Modi, the average growth rate of Bihar for the same period as mentioned above was 7.34%.   This is astonishing considering that both figures have the same source. Obviously, either there is miscommunication or fudging of figures, and since the Bihar govt. has not said anything on this difference in the figures, I would assume the latter to be the case.   By the way, India’s average growth rate was 7.9% for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09. Hope that can give an idea as to how Bihar is performing.   2)      The growth rate of Bihar was 5.87% for the last four years (2001-02 to 2004-05) of RJD rule. For the period from 1992-93 to 2003-04, it was 4.89%. Under Nitish Kumar rule, the figures are 6.35% (2006-09). Is this enough to say that there is a turnaround in Bihar economy? (A difference of about 0.5% in growth rates for four years of Lalu-Rabri and Nitish Kumar rule)   3)    The next question is about this: what constitutes this growth which is talked about?   The primary sector (mainly agriculture and related activities) have grown at less than 1% for the entire period. This is a shame considering that a large proportion of Bihar’s population is dependent on agriculture (81% of the entire workforce) and it contributes to about 42% of the state GDP, as compared to say India (where the corresponding figures are 60% of the entire workforce and 18% of India’s GDP).   The growth in the tertiary sector (services sector) is less (at 6.9%)  than the national average as stated in one of the references. While I don’t have data for the entire period, it was 9.2% in 2007-08 and 9.6% for 2006-07 for India. And I don’t think the services sector would have got a huge shock which changed that trend, as they don’t also depend on rain or other factors unlike say the primary sector.   Then certainly the growth must come from the secondary sector, and yes, it does. The question then comes: where from? Construction. The growth rate for the secondary sector was 12.9%. And on further disaggregation, most of this growth rate is found in construction. Construction sector has grown by 41% for the stated period under Nitish rule only (exclude 2004-05 from the stated period)   4)    Let’s now discuss the relative importance of the sectors first. The agrarian sector has actually grown by – 0.77% (minus 0.77% or negative growth rate) under Nitish Kumar rule. And agriculture has grown by -0.87% (or minus 0.87%) under his rule. And this agriculture along with allied activities is supposed to support 80% of the workforce. When agriculture is on a decline, it’s obvious that the incomes due to agriculture would also be on a decline.   Is this a success or a failure? You decide.   On the other hand, the construction sector  has grown by huge value primarily due to investments made in public infrastructure as well as booming construction drive going on in the cities of Bihar. The first is primarily due to the financial assistance given by the ADB (Asian Development Bank for state road programs) and the programmes run by the Central Govt (like NHDP, National Highway Development Programme). The second is being seen across all Tier-I(major) and Tier-II cities (mostly state capitals and emerging important cities), and in that sense, the Bihar govt. can’t take credit for it.   What is a major shame though is that the allocations for constructing national highways was four times that being spent for making rural roads, even though rural connectivity in Bihar is one of the worst across the entire country. And even on this money, about 62% came from the PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, a central-govt assistance) while the rest came from funds of the state govt.   How can the state govt. claim the achievements to be its’ own then?   The only change here is that since the law and order situation has improved to the extent that extortions are not the norm but the exception, this boom of construction is taking place.   5)   The next achievement which Nitish Kumar may want to talk about is the idea about education and health. On this front, the govt. can be easily checkmated.   The claim that under his rule, SC and ST students’ enrolment in schools has increased has already been alleged by the local media to be a farce as the figures are being claimed to having been fudged to lift more food under the mid-day meal programme. The only ‘real’ activity going on is said to be construction of schools, another offshoot of the construction sector.   Leaving the above allegation aside for a moment, (as it may or may not be true), since the health programme is run on Central money and medicines, the Bihar govt. can’t claim the achievement as only its’ own, but a joint one.   6)    The Bihar govt. then makes a claim which can be only termed as ‘dubious’. On one hand, it claims that the income in agricultural sector has fallen by about 4,000 crores and on the other hand, another document termed ‘Road Map for Agriculture’ released by the same govt. claims that there is no data on income which farmers receive for their produce in the state. Then how was this assessment made, is anybody’s guess.   7)   The Bihar govt., had in one of its first acts, repealed the APMC Act (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act), in the name of protecting the farmers from scrupulous traders who manipulate prices thereby affecting farmers and consumers both. The result was disastrous. Under this act, prices were decided for commodities and the intention was to ensure better and timely payment of farm produce. Now thanks to dismantling of these committees which were supposed to fix prices, Bihar is enjoying a high rate of inflation, and with the policies at the Centre also contributing to the same, Bihar people can turn to religion and God to salvage their hopes.   References:   http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/r-nagaraj-demystifying-bihar%5Cs-growth/387412/   http://www.bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/Feb/Newsbihar27Feb1.html   http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2010/March/Newsbihar12March7.html   http://www.epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/14459.pdf   From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sun Mar 21 00:35:53 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:35:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik My views: 1) I would like to clarify here about one point you made that I may feel that Lalu is a better CM than Nitish. I don't agree on it one bit. Lalu Yadav made a mess of Bihar in ways which only he could have done. And I do agree that Nitish has brought a change in Bihar. But to believe that Nitish is doing wonders is a farcical argument. 2) The common man won't perceive anything different from the statistics I put up, contrary to what you may believe. The problem with most newspapers and famous magazines and site links (from where most of the people on this forum seem to post articles) is that they think that the middle class working person is the aam aadmi. That is not the aam aadmi I refer to, although the person is as human as the poor who I refer to as the aam aadmi. And when there is development, people feel it. It's not like something invisible like a ghost, which people can't understand. And hence, you should have taken some time going through the statistics rather than just writing a mail in haste. (My request or suggestion, depending on how you take it) 3) Many people admonish the Lalu regime for many reasons. What people however forget was the one decisive thing which Lalu gave to the backwards and the oppressed castes, be it Dalits, Musahars or even tribals: sense of dignity. Lalu meant dignity for them. He managed to win elections because they knew that an upper caste ruling the state would mean upper castes raping their women and destroying their dignity. Lalu rule brought that down to a degree. Add to that the sense of protection he gave to Muslims, and you get to understand why he was considered invincible. Ironically, Lalu lost because of himself. Once he allowed this measure of dignity the oppressed castes wanted development (which meant better education and health services). Instead he promoted corruption and deterioration of law and order. Most importantly, an upper caste CM candidate from the opposition would have brought Lalu again. But Nitish Kumar is from a backward caste, which is why the other oppressed castes thought that he would ensure their sense of dignity remains. However, figures prove otherwise. Infact, the cases on domestic violence and violence against women in general have increased under Nitish rule, whereas under Lalu, it was the kidnapping industry which was much more in the news. Please read another issue on law and order here, on this link. http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?653718 I have a request again for all here on forum of Sarai. Instead of making generalized useless statements, let's come out with facts and then debate. And if you are instead only harping on your idea being right without facts to support you, then please, don't expect me to believe you (howsoever much others may be impressed with your jargon of words) Rakesh From taraprakash at gmail.com Sun Mar 21 01:48:33 2010 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (TaraPrakash) Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:18:33 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill References: <145794.57306.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Thanks Kshmendra. My intention was neither to condemn or endorse what you have been saying on this thread. I was just responding to your question why a lister associated your name with something you never said. I think this entire thread was mostly unnecessary. Javed forwarded a mail from some other list in which the original author demonstrated that he cared about the murder because the person who was murdered was a Muslim and not because a human being was murdered. Whatever were Javed's intentions, a mail with sectarian streaks was not new to Sarai readers. I think the matter was blown out of proportions. Javed was magnanimous enough to apologize in one of his mails. Even though I don't think he needed to. I would like to add that I have a lot of friends who are Muslims. Many of them are Pakistani nationals. They do not like Muslims who try to separate musalman from insan. They hate fanatics but more than them they hate halal hippies. We have halal hippies all over the world who think that Muslims are weak and need to be defended, spoken for, patronized. They are always available to criticize their own culture, to criticize those who speak for it, as it makes them look more emancipated. I think you do raise a lot of valuable points in your mails. I can clearly distinguish your mails from the remaining structure you were being forced upon. Your remaining active on the list will be good for the list. So keep writing. In my asessment you are on a higher moral grounds than halal hippies. Best ----- Original Message ----- From: Kshmendra Kaul To: TaraPrakash Cc: sarai list Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:06 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill Dear Tara Such a mail, as this one from you, makes it worthwhile for me to continue stalking this List. Uneducated as I am in these terms such as 'binaries' and 'structuralism', a mail like yours provides me leads to read a bit, understand a bit. And when a 'case study' in context is highlighted (as you have), it gives me an excellently helpful start. Thanks Kshmendra --- On Thu, 3/18/10, TaraPrakash wrote: From: TaraPrakash Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "anupam chakravartty" Cc: "sarai list" Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 8:38 PM This is how binaries operate. Whatever I am not, is You. Structuralism only knows binaries. It recognizes structures, not individuals. You can either be pro-muslim or anti-muslim, if you want me to put this explanation in this context. Whoever is not pro-muslim is anti-muslim. So now you know you are not Kshmendra, you represent a structure. For a lot of individuals, 1960s are yet to happen. Good luck ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kshmendra Kaul" To: "anupam chakravartty" Cc: "sarai list" Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:32 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill > Dear Anupam > > You wrote : " will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are > acting with Dan Hussain and Javed?" > > Javed? Yes! Dan Hussain? No! > > Will you please tell me where I have addressed Dan Hussain or mentioned Dan Hussain or commented upon anything that Dan Hussain wrote? > > NOWHERE. > > And that is exactly where you go with some of your responses Anupam; NOWHERE. > > What does that tell us about you? > > That you do not read what you think you are responding to OR that you do not read what you yourself write OR that you are so consumed by bias, prejudice and pre-judgements about people and issues that your brain froths and you get all muddled up. > > That is sad since when you are sane, you do write thought-provoking mails. > > Kshmendra > > anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com > Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 IST 2010 "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted > justification of your own." > > Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may > look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are > you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, > what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting > or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you > approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are > acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a > muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your > horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that > man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u > cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's > lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every > occasion? > > -anupam > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" , "anupam chakravartty" > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:53 PM > > > Dear Anupam > > A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. > > Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it that is not public so far. > > How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he discuss his intention with you? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? > > Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters...."? > > Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted justification of your own. > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > > > From: anupam chakravartty > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM > > > What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I > would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I > can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, > carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever > pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. > Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to > read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your > benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show > the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand > their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank > Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a > debate about reforms to be carried in policing. > > On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> Thank you Kshemendra , >> >> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused . >> >> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >> >> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >> convince the readers earlier as well . >> >> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >> has members from across the world. >> >> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief . >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >> wrote: >>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places in >>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>> >>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>> >>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even Muslim >>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found on >>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>> >>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions in >>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind the >>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>> background. >>> >>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed of >>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do so. >>> >>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>> >>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>> throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>> >>> Kshmendra >>> >>> >>> >>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful then >>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>> important >>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state then >>> it >>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> Dear C.Anupam , >>> >>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>> >>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>> in newspapers . >>> >>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >>> >>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>> >>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>> >>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>> Reader-List - SARAI >>> >>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>> >>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>> >>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> From: Dan Husain >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>> mock anti-terror drill >>> To: >>> Cc: "sarai list" >>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>> >>> Dear Pawan: >>> >>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most flippant, >>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all laughable. >>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly planned >>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And when >>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the DCP >>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>> >>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and for >>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>> encouraged this mindset. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Danish >>> >>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. Thanks. >>> >>> >>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not >>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>> >>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>> >>> Anupam >>> >>> >>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>> Mon Mar 15 >>> >>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>> > shot him twice >>>> > >>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>> > >>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>> > >>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the > entire >>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each > cop >>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer > tasked >>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>> > >>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>> > >>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold > of >>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling > to >>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>> > >>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>> > >>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on > the >>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>> > >>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>> > service revolver. >>>> > >>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At > this >>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>> > Jha said. >>>> > >>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>> > >>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>> > >>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident > was >>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. > Both >>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some > criminals >>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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/> > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 Sun Mar 21 11:38:20 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:38:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mockanti-terror drill In-Reply-To: <145794.57306.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <145794.57306.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003202308l251dd64bq54ee41de64ff40a@mail.gmail.com> Dear Kshmendra, I strongly recommend breathing exercises for you to understand post structural and structural debate. As for my moral and ethical courage, such things do not apply to me. I am not the Prime Minister here. These are really big words. -Anupam On 3/20/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Tara > > Such a mail, as this one from you, makes it worthwhile for me to continue > stalking this List. > > Uneducated as I am in these terms such as 'binaries' and 'structuralism', a > mail like yours provides me leads to read a bit, understand a bit. And when > a 'case study' in context is highlighted (as you have), it gives me an > excellently helpful start. > > Thanks > > Kshmendra > > --- On Thu, 3/18/10, TaraPrakash wrote: > > > From: TaraPrakash > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in > mockanti-terror drill > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "anupam chakravartty" > > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 8:38 PM > > > This is how binaries operate. Whatever I am not, is You. > > Structuralism only knows binaries. It recognizes structures, not > individuals. You can either be pro-muslim or anti-muslim, if you want me to > put this explanation in this context. Whoever is not pro-muslim is > anti-muslim. So now you know you are not Kshmendra, you represent a > structure. > > For a lot of individuals, 1960s are yet to happen. > > Good luck > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kshmendra Kaul" > > To: "anupam chakravartty" > Cc: "sarai list" > Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:32 AM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in > mockanti-terror drill > > >> Dear Anupam >> >> You wrote : " will you approach moderators or launch a tirade against me >> like how you are >> acting with Dan Hussain and Javed?" >> >> Javed? Yes! Dan Hussain? No! >> >> Will you please tell me where I have addressed Dan Hussain or mentioned >> Dan Hussain or commented upon anything that Dan Hussain wrote? >> >> NOWHERE. >> >> And that is exactly where you go with some of your responses Anupam; >> NOWHERE. >> >> What does that tell us about you? >> >> That you do not read what you think you are responding to OR that you do >> not read what you yourself write OR that you are so consumed by bias, >> prejudice and pre-judgements about people and issues that your brain >> froths and you get all muddled up. >> >> That is sad since when you are sane, you do write thought-provoking mails. >> >> Kshmendra >> >> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >> Mon Mar 15 19:19:02 IST 2010 "Dont bother to answer if you are intent on >> giving some convoluted >> justification of your own." >> >> Instead of probing other's intention on this reader's list, you may >> look into you own intentions of writing such things Kshmendra. Who are >> you to tell me not to answer? say i answer in the most convoluted way, >> what will you do? have you been able to something better than reacting >> or answering in the most rotten way for such a long time? will you >> approach moderators or launch a tirade against me like how you are >> acting with Dan Hussain and Javed? that official who was shot was a >> muslim. there are no two versions about it. so kindly, hold your >> horses before you launch a personal tirade against each other. that >> man Saiyyad, who was shot is alive. lets wait for the probe. and if u >> cannot encourage a healthy debate here, then form your own reader's >> lists. why peddle this hatred into this mailing list on every >> occasion? >> >> -anupam >> >> >> --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: >> >> >> From: Kshmendra Kaul >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >> mock anti-terror drill >> To: "Pawan Durani" , "anupam chakravartty" >> >> Cc: "sarai list" >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:53 PM >> >> >> Dear Anupam >> >> A 'fake encounter' is a 'fake encounter', irrespective of a Muslim being a >> target or a Hindu, as you yourself seem to be suggesting. >> >> Was this incident a 'fake encounter'? Maybe you know something about it >> that is not public so far. >> >> How do you know what Javed's intention was in posting the article? Did he >> discuss his intention with you? >> >> Was Javed justified in retaining the Subject-Line highlighting the >> "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector? >> >> Was Javed justified in retaining the comment " "Even Muslim police >> officers are not safe from fake encounters...."? >> >> Dont bother to answer if you are intent on giving some convoluted >> justification of your own. >> >> Kshmendra >> >> >> >> --- On Mon, 3/15/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: >> >> >> From: anupam chakravartty >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >> mock anti-terror drill >> To: "Pawan Durani" >> Cc: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "sarai list" >> >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:33 PM >> >> >> What would you call if a Hindu were killed in such a fake encounter? I >> would say even Hindus are not spared in fake encounters in gujarat. I >> can see the fervour with which a bunch hooligans lurking on this list, >> carry out sporadic attacks on Muslim members of the list without ever >> pondering over the issues being discussed here in a pragmatic manner. >> Most of the arguments are extremely racist and I find it disgusting to >> read such. The intention of posting the news item was not for your >> benefit or score a brownie point over a communal battle. It is show >> the mindset with which police forces, that they need to understand >> their roles as watchdogs is what I gather from the news item. I thank >> Javed for posting this. If not for anything else, let there be a >> debate about reforms to be carried in policing. >> >> On 3/15/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> Thank you Kshemendra , >>> >>> I hope the moderators of SARAI would look into how this forum is misused >>> . >>> >>> Indeed when we type Gujarat Muslim DCP Muslim inspector the only >>> 'proof' we get is Javed's posting on SARAI. >>> >>> And this is not the first time Javed has done that . I had tried to >>> convince the readers earlier as well . >>> >>> Hope the moderators look into this and prevent misuse of Forum which >>> has members from across the world. >>> >>> @Javed : you need to apologize to this group for your deliberate mischief >>> . >>> >>> Pawan >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Kshmendra Kaul >>> wrote: >>>> Javed very keenly identifies the ATS Inspector as a 'Muslim' and places >>>> in >>>> the Subject Field " Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector " >>>> >>>> The word "Muslim" is nowhere to be found on the very weblink of the >>>> article as provided by Javed himself. >>>> >>>> Not satisfied with having done so, Javed adds the comment "Even Muslim >>>> police officers are not safe from fake encounters...." (not to be found >>>> on >>>> the weblink provided by Javed) >>>> >>>> One would have to be quite idiotic to not recognise Javed's intentions >>>> in >>>> making the incident "communal". Whatever be the actual 'story' behind >>>> the >>>> incident, as of now, there no reports of it having a "communal" >>>> background. >>>> >>>> It is quite likely that the "Muslimness" of the ATS Inspector will get >>>> mentioned and highlighted in further reporting of the incident and >>>> commentaries on it. There are many Javed's around to do that. But Javed >>>> of >>>> SARAI "Reader List" will have the honour of being the first one to do >>>> so. >>>> >>>> This should please the Moderator(s) of SARAI Reader List. >>>> >>>> I just did a string-search for gujarat-dcp-muslim-inspector. It only >>>> throws up Javed's SARAI Reader List mail. Oh Yes! Also a webpage from a >>>> site called coastaldigest.com with obvious ideological leanings >>>> >>>> Kshmendra >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Dan Husain dan.ayyaar at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> Javed's intent, even if to sensationalize the event, is less harmful >>>> then >>>> actually shooting a man twice for no fault of his. And it is most >>>> important >>>> to tackle the intent of the man with a loaded gun shooting at innocent >>>> people. Whoever that man be. And if he is a functionary of the state >>>> then >>>> it >>>> becomes even more imperative to tackle it. Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> Dear C.Anupam , >>>> >>>> Did I say that any line has been said about Modi. >>>> >>>> Would you google this news and check the subject line which has come >>>> in newspapers . >>>> >>>> ATS inspector injured by bullet during mock drill : PTI >>>> >>>> Gujarat DCP shoots cop during mock-drill : Indian Express >>>> >>>> Drill that mocked precautions & exposed inadequacies : Times Of India >>>> >>>> And then you have a subject line in SARAI ,as follows >>>> >>>> Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill : >>>> Reader-List - SARAI >>>> >>>> If you do not understand the intent of Javed's mail, then i regret of >>>> trying to eductae you on his intent. >>>> >>>> No more discussion on this from my side . Those who wish to ignore my >>>> suggestions may continue to do so. >>>> >>>> Remember ...till they come marching to your door. >>>> >>>> Pawan >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Dan Husain >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in >>>> mock anti-terror drill >>>> To: >>>> Cc: "sarai list" >>>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:48 PM >>>> >>>> Dear Pawan: >>>> >>>> I seldom respond on this list. But I think your response is most >>>> flippant, >>>> insensitive, callous, off the cuff, prejudiced, and most of all >>>> laughable. >>>> Think of it. It's like a nightmare. You go for a drill, perfectly >>>> planned >>>> out, everyone presumably knowing their roles, and suddenly you get shot >>>> twice in your stomach. What for? For what reason? Why? The guy was just >>>> doing his job. And he gets shot! Bizarre! Absolute nightmare. This is >>>> outrageous. I am sure no one would like to live this experience. And >>>> when >>>> there were clear instructions that no arms to be taken in, why was the >>>> DCP >>>> carrying a loaded gun. And if he was why would he shoot someone that too >>>> twice. My mind belies any accident. >>>> >>>> And I wonder what would turn you so blind that you'd eagerly defend the >>>> wrong too. I don't think anyone will like to be shot at for no fault of >>>> theirs. And yes if proven that the DCP shot at the guy with malice and >>>> for >>>> his religious identity then Modi is to be blamed because he has actively >>>> encouraged this mindset. >>>> >>>> Thanks >>>> >>>> Danish >>>> >>>> PS: Please respond to this mailing list and not to me personally. >>>> Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> anupam chakravartty c.anupam at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> >>>> Pawan, >>>> >>>> Not single line has been said against modi or BJP. Why are you >>>> assuming? On what grounds? On the other hand, if these things are not >>>> brought towards the notice of the machinery which is at work, there >>>> will be more such Saiyads dying in this way. >>>> >>>> It is unfortunate that you are diverting the focus of the debate, >>>> which should discuss things about police reforms across the country to >>>> a political issue. You are absolutely wrong about Javed's intention to >>>> post this news item and also using Narendra Modi to make a point here. >>>> >>>> Anupam >>>> >>>> >>>> Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com >>>> Mon Mar 15 >>>> >>>> And what a convenient subject line made aptly for Sarai . This is how >>>> 'Liberals' are used by Javed and others. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Pawan Durani >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Yes Yes .. Let us blame Modi for this. >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Javed wrote: >>>>> > ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP >>>>> > shot him twice >>>>> > >>>>> > Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake encounters.... >>>>> > >>>>> > Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs >>>>> > >>>>> > “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.” >>>>> > This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector Shabbirali >>>>> > Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner of Police >>>>> > Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point blank range >>>>> > during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the Surat >>>>> > Airport on February 24. >>>>> > >>>>> > Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by the senior >>>>> > officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms and >>>>> > ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that the > >>>>> > entire >>>>> > drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact role each > >>>>> > cop >>>>> > would play. “All the officials in the drill had been briefed >>>>> > thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an observer > >>>>> > tasked >>>>> > to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials commit >>>>> > during rescue operations.” >>>>> > >>>>> > DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other officers were >>>>> > tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking lot of the >>>>> > airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were holding >>>>> > ‘passengers’ hostage. >>>>> > >>>>> > Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and caught hold > >>>>> > of >>>>> > me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver. I pleaded, >>>>> > “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the observer.” But he >>>>> > refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left struggling > >>>>> > to >>>>> > get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service revolver and >>>>> > opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost consciousness.” >>>>> > >>>>> > The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and exited. Saiyed >>>>> > is still to recover but is now out of danger. >>>>> > >>>>> > Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even tasked to >>>>> > take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill, since he was >>>>> > acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot who would only >>>>> > recce the scene to find out how many hostages and terrorists were in >>>>> > the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers to pass on > >>>>> > the >>>>> > information to the others in the actual rescue team, so that they >>>>> > could plan and execute the operation,” according to Inspector Saiyed. >>>>> > >>>>> > Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it. “Saiyed was >>>>> > deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near the entry >>>>> > door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a doctor to >>>>> > recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being held by how >>>>> > many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The ‘doctor’, >>>>> > apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less a loaded >>>>> > service revolver. >>>>> > >>>>> > So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no answers to >>>>> > share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair investigation. At > >>>>> > this >>>>> > moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have taken the >>>>> > statements of several airport staff who were also present there and >>>>> > statements of several police officials who witnessed the incident,” >>>>> > Jha said. >>>>> > >>>>> > When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to comment. >>>>> > >>>>> > The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS chief Ajay >>>>> > Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station soon after >>>>> > Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed Tomar to >>>>> > carry out a departmental inquiry. >>>>> > >>>>> > “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the incident > >>>>> > was >>>>> > an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately. But we are >>>>> > waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic experts >>>>> > before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked if an FIR >>>>> > would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said: “Let the >>>>> > report come and later, on its basis, we will take further action. > >>>>> > Both >>>>> > the officials are from police department _ they are not some > >>>>> > criminals >>>>> > _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.” >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist-pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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/> >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 subuhimjiwani at yahoo.com Sun Mar 21 12:52:38 2010 From: subuhimjiwani at yahoo.com (Subuhi Jiwani) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:22:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore Message-ID: <130992.74773.qm@web51308.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear all, It would wonderful if you could circulate this widely and help us spread the word. Best, Subuhi Jiwani Content Coordinator Pad.ma (http://pad.ma) ----------------------------------- Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore Pad.ma (Public Access Digital Media Archive, http://pad.ma) is an interpretative, web-based video archive, which was launched as a public website in February 2009. It works primarily with footage and not finished films. Pad.ma creates access to material which is easily lost in editing processes, in the filmmaking economy, and in changes of scale brought about by digital technology. Unlike Youtube, the focus here is on annotation, cross-linking, downloading and the reuse of video material for pedagogy, research and reference. For more, see http://pad.ma/about. Pad.ma proposes that film and video-based "production" can be thought of as an expanded field of activity. For example, as a filmmaker publishing video that is not a film, a researcher probing documentary images, a film editor organising footage using the archive, a writer commenting on one or many video pieces, or an institution offering material for public use. Currently, the archive has some 500 contributions of densely-annotated video material and 7 days 21 hours 53 minutes 35 seconds of fully transcribed video footage. It contains full-length interviews, footage often left out of documentaries, clips from commercial cinema, some finished films, recordings of theatrical and dance performances, public talks and academic seminars, etc. It covers a gamut of topics like redevelopment, transport, livelihoods, community media, gender, sexuality, surveillance technologies, CopyLeft, representational politics in cinema, and neighbourhoods in Mumbai, to name a few. For a report on the ways in which users have engaged with Pad.ma, see: http://camputer.org/event.php?this=padma09&tab=optBtn2 (To read through annotations use the 9 and 0 keys to move forwards and backwards.) A person doing transcription and/or annotation would > Prepare videos for exhibition online: Transcribe them in detail, add keywords and map videos on Google maps. See ‘Collateral Damage of Breaking News’: http://pad.ma/Vt3ss7b7/editor > Assist Pad.ma users and contributors to do research for their Pad.ma annotations. See the NGO Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan’s annotations: http://pad.ma/Vtowua9j/L2kv9 > Research specific topics that emerge from existing Pad.ma material and write annotations. See Lawrence Liang’s critical annotations on cinema: http://pad.ma/Vgpe12kp/editor We are looking for people who > are passionate about moving images and life around them. > are keen to do a combination of transcribing, writing and research. > are comfortable working with computers and people. Transcribers and annotators can work out of the offices of CAMP, Mumbai (http://camputer.org),or the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore (http://www.altlawforum.org), or as freelancers. They will report on a day-to-day basis to the Pad.ma Content Coordinator. Salary is commensurate with the applicant’s experience. Technical skills, especially video editing, are a plus but not necessary. We welcome applications from working professionals and students, from a variety of fields and disciplines. Please send us your CV and a paragraph outlining your responses to the Pad.ma project. You can write to the Content Coordinator at subuhi at pad.ma. ***Pad.ma is best viewed in Firefox or Safari. It is not yet compatible with Internet Explorer.*** From javedmasoo at gmail.com Sun Mar 21 20:38:46 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:38:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT Message-ID: Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi avoids SIT team PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for not showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat riots case, Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and showed that he "loves to hide". "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it shows the seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the apex court," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is contemptuous and would show that he loves to hide," he said Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint filed by Zakia Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 Gulburg society riots case. Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on advertisements, minister of state for communications and technology Sachin Pilot said that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self praise". Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in the state, demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had launched any scheme. He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in ensuring jobs in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural development. UPA is the only government to announce unemployment allowance for jobless, Pilot said. Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a great skill to divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake claims. Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer saying there is no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has slapped 23% to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister Narendra Modi would depose before the Special Investigation Team in connection with a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall act as per the law". Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme Court-appointed SIT, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall act as per the law. This government has always supported and respected the law and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the Supreme Court order and directions," he told PTI. Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an attempt to tarnish Modi. "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to malign an tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader in the country," Rudy said. BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last week saying he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the Prime Minister. "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in an interview to a news channel, hailing the development works being carried out in Gujarat. Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a complaint of Zakia Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by a mob along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms From ambarien at yahoo.co.uk Sun Mar 21 20:59:07 2010 From: ambarien at yahoo.co.uk (ambarien qadar) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:29:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw:Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore Message-ID: <528391.46766.qm@web24103.mail.ird.yahoo.com> hi,Thought someone might be interested.Cheers, ambarien alqadar --- On Sun, 21/3/10, shaina a wrote: From: shaina a Subject: [vikalp] Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore To: vikalpmum at yahoogroups.com Cc: vikalp at yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, 21 March, 2010, 13:56 *Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore* Pad.ma (Public Access Digital Media Archive, http://*pad*.*ma*) is an interpretative, web-based video archive, which was launched as a public website in February 2009. It works primarily with footage and not finished films. Pad.ma creates access to material which is easily lost in editing processes, in the filmmaking economy, and in changes of scale brought about by digital technology. Unlike Youtube, the focus here is on annotation, cross-linking, downloading and the reuse of video material for pedagogy, research and reference. For more, see http://pad.ma/about. Pad.ma proposes that film and video-based "production" can be thought of as an expanded field of activity. For example, as a filmmaker publishing video that is not a film, a researcher probing documentary images, a film editor organising footage using the archive, a writer commenting on one or many video pieces, or an institution offering material for public use. Currently, the archive has some 500 contributions of densely-annotated video material and 7 days 21 hours 53 minutes 35 seconds of fully transcribed video footage. It contains full-length interviews, footage often left out of documentaries, clips from commercial cinema, some finished films, recordings of theatrical and dance performances, public talks and academic seminars, etc. It covers a gamut of topics like redevelopment, transport, livelihoods, community media, gender, sexuality, surveillance technologies, CopyLeft, representational politics in cinema, and neighbourhoods in Mumbai, to name a few. For a report on the ways in which users have engaged with Pad.ma, see: http://camputer.org/event.php?this=padma09&tab=optBtn2 (To read through annotations use the 9 and 0 keys to move forwards and backwards.) *A person doing transcription and/or annotation would* * * > Prepare videos for exhibition online: Transcribe them in detail, add keywords and map videos on Google maps. See ‘Collateral Damage of Breaking News’: http://pad.ma/Vt3ss7b7/editor * * > Assist Pad.ma users and contributors to do research for their Pad.ma annotations. See the NGO Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan’s annotations: http://pad.ma/Vtowua9j/L2kv9 > Research specific topics that emerge from existing Pad.ma material and write annotations. See Lawrence Liang’s critical annotations on cinema: http://pad.ma/Vgpe12kp/editor *We are looking for people who* > are passionate about moving images and life around them. > are keen to do a combination of transcribing, writing and research. > are comfortable working with computers and people. Transcribers and annotators can work out of the offices of CAMP, Mumbai ( http://camputer.org),  or the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore ( http://www.altlawforum.org), or as freelancers. They will report on a day-to-day basis to the Pad.ma Content Coordinator. Salary is commensurate with the applicant’s experience. Technical skills, especially video editing, are a plus but not necessary. We welcome applications from working professionals and students, from a variety of fields and disciplines. Please send us your CV and a paragraph outlining your responses to the Pad.ma project. You can write to the Content Coordinator at subuhi at pad.ma. ***Pad.ma is best viewed in Firefox or Safari. It is not yet compatible with Internet Explorer.*** -- camputer.org pad.ma chitrakarkhana.net [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vikalp/ <*> Your email settings:     Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to:     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vikalp/join     (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email:     vikalp-digest at yahoogroups.com     vikalp-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:     vikalp-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Sun Mar 21 21:28:04 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:28:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Khuda Hafiz Pakistan by Nirupama Subramanian Message-ID: <6353c691003210858yb4238b1w197445dff32e4024@mail.gmail.com> Khuda Hafiz Pakistan Nirupama Subramanian, The Hindu “There is a Pakistani in every Indian; and an Indian in every Pakistani,” President Asif Ali Zardari famously said two years ago. Those words rang in my head with new resonance as I packed my bags and left Pakistan recently after a nearly four-year-long assignment as this newspaper's Islamabad-based correspondent. It should have been easy to leave a country that is by word and deed hostile to India, and where the state machinery treats every Indian as a “RAW agent”, spending considerable human and material resources on the surveillance of the only two Indian journalists — from *The Hindu *and Press Trust India — that are permitted to be based there. Yet, saying goodbye to Pakistan was much more difficult than I imagined. Like other Indians who have experienced Pakistan first-hand, I gained a vast number of friends for life and multitudes of warm memories. Against this reality, it seems absurdly unbelievable that these two countries are not even talking properly to each other, that I cannot visit my Pakistani friends easily, that they cannot come and see me. Even texting, one of the easiest and cost-efficient ways of keeping in touch these days, is not possible — or erratic, at best — between India and Pakistan. *Huge distance* Walking across the Wagah border into India took me less than five minutes. But as I turned at the gates to wave to a Pakistani friend who had come to see me off, the distance between the two countries seemed huge and daunting. At home, family and friends greeted me with relief, and asked me how I had managed to survive four years in “a country of terrorists.” Despite the close geographical proximity of the two countries, and the reams written and spoken in India about Pakistan, there seemed little patience for or understanding of the complexities of, an important neighbouring country, the shades of political, social and religious opinion among Pakistanis on such issues as terrorism and extremism. There is similarly much in the way Pakistanis react to India that can send even the mildest Indian's blood pressure rising. For instance, even well-educated Pakistanis continue to believe that the Mumbai attacks were staged by RAW to defame Pakistan with the ultimate aim of snatching its nuclear weapons or dismembering the country. Young and old alike will assert that India is behind the wave of terrorist attacks in Pakistan because “no Muslim will kill fellow Muslims”, even though they have no explanation for why Shias routinely get killed by Sunni extremists. I would have heated debates with Pakistanis who consider themselves modern, enlightened, liberal and secular but would suddenly go all Islamic and religious when it came to an issue such as Kashmir, seeming no different from their ultra-conservative compatriots who protest against the clamping down on Islamic militancy in Pakistan as harassment of “brother Muslims.” They could tout jihad in Kashmir as legitimate even while condemning the Taliban who threaten their own modern, liberal lifestyle, despite the knowledge that the distinction between the two kinds of jihad, or the two categories of militants, is at best an illusion. But at the end of the day, the goodwill I experienced in my daily interactions with ordinary Pakistanis, even during the most heated debates, was overwhelming and more powerful than anything else. Despite the heavy hand of the state in every sphere of life, I found people who were willing to set aside long internalised stereotypes and prejudices about Indians and Hindus to try and understand me and my point of view, and they accepted with good faith that I was trying to do the same. We may not have entirely convinced each other every time but we managed to build little bridges of our own and find our own *modus vivendi*. If there is anything I learnt from those personal experiences in Pakistan, it is that these little bridges are the key to peace. And for this reason, peace-making cannot be left to rulers. It is the people on both sides that have to take charge of it. What the people have now is a unique and contradictory chemistry of love and hate, curiosity and suspicion, friendliness and antagonism, admiration and envy, not to speak of nostalgia and convenient memory lapses. Forget about which of these is natural and which deliberately created. What is required for a stable relationship is a rational middle-ground between these emotional extremes. If we acknowledge that war or even just a simmering long-term enmity is not an option, that middle-ground would be easy to locate. There, on that middle-ground, we need not be the best of friends, but we need not be the worst of enemies either. We can just live as two civilised neighbours. It is evident that the political leadership of both countries, which includes the military in Pakistan, cannot be entrusted with finding this middle-ground. The political class on both sides has specialised in hyping the emotional in India-Pakistan relations over the rational, finding it a useful instrument for domestic political gain. Blame communally driven politics on the Indian side, and in Pakistan, the tight grip of a military that needs to perpetuate its predominance in national affairs. *Narrow prism of state* Most of the celebrated India-Pakistan people-to-people contact since 2004, including the interaction between the media, film and fashion worlds of the two countries, has tended to be driven by the governments on both sides, or blessed, encouraged or sponsored by the two states in some way. With rare exceptions, such contact has mirrored the official point of view, providing no room for building genuine bridges. No wonder they fell apart so easily in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks to a point where goodwill seems almost irretrievable. But even now, the first thing that Pakistanis and Indians ask each other is: “We eat the same food, speak the same language, we even look the same, so why can't we be friends?” The short answer to that is that we cannot be friends as long as we continue looking at each other through the narrow prism of our respective states. Pakistanis must locate the Indian within themselves, and Indians must discover their inner Pakistani. It would help understand each other better, and free us from state-manipulated attitudes. In our own interests, it is up to us, the people, to find ways to do this. For now, Khuda Hafiz Pakistan. Link - http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article258515.ece -- Aditya Raj Kaul Cell - +91-9873297834 Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Mon Mar 22 00:29:30 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:29:30 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <292348.76447.qm@web94707.mail.in2.yahoo.com> First, os Modi afraid, reports say he's also contemplating a written statement. There are allegations to the Authority of the SIT. He could just wait for that. The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 08:49:04 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:49:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] terrifying world of Pakistan's 'disappeared' Message-ID: Robert Fisk: Into the terrifying world of Pakistan's 'disappeared' In the first of a series of reports from Pakistan, our correspondent meets the wife of one of 8,000 citizens who have gone 'missing' at the hands of the state Thursday, 18 March 2010 If you want to know how brutally Pakistan treats its people, you should meet Amina Janjua. An intelligent painter and interior designer, she sits on the vast sofa of her living room in Rawalpindi – a room that somehow accentuates her loneliness – scarf wound tightly round her head, serving tea and biscuits like the middle-class woman she is. And although neither a soldier nor a policeman has ever laid a hand on her, she is a victim of her country's cruel oppression. Because, five years ago, her husband Masood became one of Pakistan's "disappeared". It is a scandal and a disgrace and, of course, a crime against humanity. Ask not where Masood Janjua has gone – Amina does ask, of course, all the way up to the President – for he has entered that dark world wherein dwell up to 8,000 of Pakistan's missing citizens, men, for the most part, seized from their homes or from the streets by cops and soldiers on the orders of spies and intelligence agents and Americans since 11 September, 2001. In Lahore alone, there are 120 "torture houses" just for the missing of the Punjab. Their shrieks of pain from the basements could be heard by residents – who complained only that the buildings might provoke bomb attacks. In Pakistan today, preservation counts for more than compassion. Masood Janjua was 44 when he was "disappeared" on 30 July 2005. He ran an IT college and a travel agency, the father of two boys – Mohamed and Ali, and a girl, Aisha. He just never came home. Nobody saw what happened. Amina, who was 40 at the time, glows when she speaks of him. "We were so extremely close, so happy, our world was so heavenly – we were always visiting friends, having parties at home. He was so caring and kind to our children, so affectionate. That he should be taken from me! I think it was a very big mistake that they did. But when they do it – like this – they never say they were wrong." Related articles * Robert Fisk: The mysterious case of the Grey Lady of Bagram * More Robert Fisk articles * Search the news archive for more stories "They". Everyone I talk to here talks about "they". Many refuse to talk in case it provokes "them" to undertake a quick execution. "They" is the Inter-Services Intelligence. "They" is military intelligence. "They" are the Americans, some of them present – according to the few "disappeared" who have been released – during torture sessions. The Defence of Human Rights Pakistan (DHRP), the movement which Amina founded with 25 other bereft families, has gathered evidence of English-speaking interrogators who calmly ask victims questions during their torment. Ironically, Amina lives in a military district of Rawalpindi, beside an old British barracks, where US soldiers are observed in Pakistani uniforms – sometimes female American soldiers dressed, so she says, in the uniforms of Pakistani military paramedics. Even more ironic was the first word she had of her husband after he disappeared. "When I went to the Supreme Court to demand his return, witnesses came forward to say they saw Masood inside an army barracks here in Rawalpindi, very close to his family. Just think – it was within walking distance from our home! He was inside a cell at 111 Brigade barracks. It was so sad for me – it was as if they were being cynical, to keep him so close to his family." Amina Janjua found that one of the court witnesses lived in Peshawar and she travelled to the North West Frontier Province to speak to him five months after her husband disappeared. "He had been in the army facility in Rawalpindi. The prisoners were kept in solitary confinement and only when they were taken to the lavatory did they come close to other prisoners. They were forced to wear big hoods – hoods that went right down and covered their shoulders – and the detainees would get no chance to talk to another human being. This man said my husband was there – he even heard the guard call him 'Janjua'." There is evidence that Pakistan's "disappeared" are moved around, between barracks and interrogation centres and underground torture facilities in different towns and cities. There are also terrible rumours – fostered, some say, by the security authorities – that the army has thrown detainees from helicopters, that the cops dispose of bodies at night by dumping them in swamps or in open countryside so that decay and animal mutilation will cover the marks of torture before the bodies are found. But Amina Janjua believes most of them are alive. You might say she has to believe that. "After 9/11, everyone was worried. People were ruthlessly disappeared after the New York attacks. No one knew why their loved ones were taken. The first few months were like hell for me. Then I regained my consciousness and said I could not accept all this. I said I would fight. I said I would get my husband back." Brave words. Brave lady. So she turned to the only brave institution still fighting in Pakistan: the lawyers and the judges and the courts. So far, the Supreme Court in Islamabad and the Lahore High Court have squeezed around 200 detainees out of the maw of the country's security apparatus – those, that is, who were still in Pakistan. Many are known to have been freighted off to the tender mercies of the Americans at Bagram in Afghanistan, where Arab detainees have long ago testified to being beaten and sodomised with broom sticks. There have been prisoner murders, too, in Bagram, the jail that President Barack Obama refuses to close. "At the beginning, I went to the International Red Cross about Masood," Amina Janjua says. "I saw them over several months. There was no progress. My father-in-law went to many people, he even went to President Musharraf – he trained in the military with Musharraf and they knew each other very well – and Musharraf said, 'I will do something for you'– but he never did. After that, when we called the President's house, they would start avoiding us. We wrote to all the Pakistan intelligence agencies. All said my husband could not be found." Many families have been given false hopes. "In some villages way out in the country," Amina recalls, "families were told by the authorities that their sons were coming home. These were poor people but they were so happy, so delighted. They would hold a party and give out sweets and slaughter valuable animals to show their happiness. But then the sons didn't come home. Can you imagine treating people like this?" Amina Janjua's fraudulent hope came in a phone call in 2006, a year after Masood's disappearance. "We had our first breakthrough when the military secretary of the President called Masood's father to say that his son was alive and that they had heard about him, though he had been ill – in a fever. That was our first sign of relief. "Then he started avoiding us again. There was no message after that. Then we were told 'No, he is not with us, but we are making every effort because the President has made this request to help you.' I went on asking senior people in the army what had happened to my husband, and they – I put it like this – they started shivering. They would shudder. They could not disclose any information." Teaching herself law and fighting her own case, Amina Janjua returned to the Supreme Court. "When I did this, I started hearing of many other cases and things that are happening. And that's when I realised. It's not about 'missing' people – this is about abduction. I started organising files on these abducted people and eventually I had 788 families on my list and I started conducting research. And we got about 200 prisoners released. The courts ordered this. They were all still in Pakistan. Others, we know, had been taken to Bagram, three or four to Guantanamo Bay where at least we knew they were alive." But Amina's research could prove terrifying. She discovered not only that abducted men were alive. They were also dead. "I suspected some of them had died," she said. "I know of three prisoners who are dead. One was Mohamed Shafiq; he was a coach driver and they released his death certificate – it said he died of 'some illness'. He was in his 40s. One of the prisoners, a businessman called Said Menon, died shortly after he was released. "All of the 200 we got released had been tortured. Initially, it was very ruthless – they were not allowed to sleep; there were beatings and thrashings; they were hanged upside down. There was loud music. There were actual torture rooms where the things were done to them. The prisoners told us they didn't think their torturers were human beings at all. The faces of the torturers, they said, were horrifying. It was no longer a real world for them. The torturers seemed so powerful, like monsters, so big." The questions they were asked were repetitive, according to Amina Janjua. Where are the guns? Where are the weapons? Where is Mullah Omar? Two prisoners described to Amina's committee how they were made to wear orange jumpsuits, shaven till they were bald and taken for questioning to Islamabad. "They were interrogated by foreigners – they could see them. They were English-speaking. They didn't know if they were Americans or British." The DHRP now holds public protests in all the cities of Pakistan where the prisoners have their homes – in Lahore, Sagoda, Quetta, Faisalabad, Karachi, Peshawar – but the families focus on Islamabad where they demonstrate their fury and their anguish outside the Supreme Court and the offices of President Asif Ali Zardari and the Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani. The DHRP files show that there are 1,700 missing from Baluchistan alone. At least 4,000 appear to be in the hands of the Pakistani interior ministry, while 2,000 have been handed over to what the DHRP describes as "foreign agencies" – usually, the Americans. Perhaps 750 of the missing Pakistanis are believed to have been taken by the Americans – illegally, of course – to Bagram, the Policharki prison outside Kabul, or to Herat in western Afghanistan. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-into-the-terrifying-world-of-pakistans-disappeared-1923153.html From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 11:10:10 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:10:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing Communities Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003212240m3a79cda9ga67019f5c2144d0f@mail.gmail.com> "In a recent investigative report it is described how young girls, as young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted to Islam, and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu girls like this has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to sign stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” said Laljee Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council of village leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have taken place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and Larkana districts." Source : http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: Latest, Opinion and Editorials | I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani journalist friend. Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, where Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated I noticed that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest incidents of organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling Chakma tribals in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a preliminary account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. I had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani Christians. I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and Ahmadiya (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require international attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary has so far condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and Ahmadiya communities. I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission and several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed the pitiable condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are drowned in wilderness. The normal civil society members are also ashamed of these developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing visitations by the ISI goons. Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, called Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, for which he fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct Action Pogrom of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national minorities, after 3 millions were killed in communal riots and several million escaped to the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the State…We are starting with this fundamental principles that we are all citizens and equal citizens of our State.” People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal Muslim leader (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah Kathiawadi lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta visit, breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic attitude of the people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a Shia), but pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue Muslim politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the person who boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central Legislative Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or organized the fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless suppression of the Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the Governor General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of Jinnah’s bunches of lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in collaboration with Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the Mountbatten Plan for partition, backing out from original agreement that Mountbatten would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan and finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a day of Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and falsehood Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority was then and even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a democrat he would have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop killing of the Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he assumed the gaddi of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since Jinnah the Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and now they have become an endangered community. Those interested may read Jinnah of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report on the Last Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of Pakistan was limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, Balochistan, NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and Assam and other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan theory of Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to amalgamate Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in the absence of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he had commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem of Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous situation in common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the national song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the national songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath Azad, son of Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days before the creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first national anthem. It had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that Jinnah sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to write the national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national anthem composed by a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great disrespect to the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers correctly said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu elixir. Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source Wikipedia) At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of Pakistan was estimated at approximately a quarter of the total population. For example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was 450,000, of which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, Karachi’s population had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of 600,000 Muslim refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of Karachi was 96% and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu population in all of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would certainly be expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic trends and further diminution of Hindu population. According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly over 4,924 Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population is 1,921. After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military operations hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand of Jizya, a Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for freedom of religion. In practice, however, the government imposes limits on this freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan proclaimed itself an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has become a core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle for separate homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the Hindus and not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with hatred against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to law, public order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. Actions or speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not protected. In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be consistent with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both Muslims and religious minorities. This observation has been supported even by the U.S. State Department’s report on International Religious Freedom report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani Christians the IRF had expressed similar views. Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia injunctions discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other minorities in Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates the death sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration of the Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, and the accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions once the accusation has been made, although most such allegations of desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March 24, 2005, Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating the mention of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. The Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in chair, had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the rule after its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. The move was seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s former President General Pervez Musharraf. The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming pace in Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued Islamization of Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the 1980s. Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the rights of religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadiyas, diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the fear of threats to their lives and property, desecration of their places of worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of death. Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s Muslims winning by intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by threatening it, by abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out or succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni militant outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the large-scale riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His report is an eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to agree on a definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called heads of all Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of a Muslim. No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of our so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard of the beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, New age Islam. Violence against women in general continues throughout the world, but more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. Violence against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor killings, and domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two hours on average, and at least ten women a day die in honor killings. Moreover, Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison thousands of women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of laws that were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the then President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended “to bring in conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects of the criminal justice system and make certain offences punishable by hadd, which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy Quran or Sunnah.” The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February 1979, preamble and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . The laws introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences of Zina (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf (wrongful accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property and Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the Ordinance, whenever “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse without being validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina Ordinance. Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally meaning ‘forced adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred without the consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina Ordinance excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four male witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. If the victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped for adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is banned in Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human rights groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, the Pakistan government has yet to take action. Readers may have not forgotten the famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international indignation. Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the majority sections of people in a country that still lives in the barbaric Middle Ages. Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration and destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting of Hindu property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu females. Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted human rights abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the continued decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also because reports of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local media or completely ignored. In most cases police do not register cases reported by Hindu victims. A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind province, is that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to convert to Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and kidnapping of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On September 14, Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter in Sind, and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to Islam. The authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court dismissed the case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement that she willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a legislator in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should be categorized as rape and should be registered as such an offense for the abductors. In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine in the Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married man and father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi Abdul Aziz converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and married her to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, Muslim extremists deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. Sapna, terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her parents, who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, is claimed to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain contact with kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” In a recent investigative report it is described how young girls, as young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted to Islam, and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu girls like this has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to sign stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” said Laljee Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council of village leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have taken place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and Larkana districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for Interior, had upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was quoted by the state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are taking place to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been living for the past 5,000 years.” In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young Hindu girls had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena (21), Usha (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, a Hindu couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, Pakistan – went missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely circulated report in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion losses,” the London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, described the shock experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned home after work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters had unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to the police, the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ conversions to Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from chaperones and even police officers that have supervised their only interactions thus far, have been consistently denied. After their disappearance from home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic seminary) in the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied the freedom to return home. Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she was gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of providing her with medical treatment, officials drugged her into unconsciousness for three days and then transported her to a psychiatric hospital to prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence of reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in Karachi. The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her house meant that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband has stood by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi disgraced the family and should be killed. Although violence against women transcends their religion, it is disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In May 2005, a group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration for equal rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and took them to police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma Jahangir, a U.N. special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence official close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the (expletive) a lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her shirt off and tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, the Kargil invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated country. Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of Hindu women were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two other temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According to estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly occupied in Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students studying in government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the Baloch people and had written two essays in this portal. However, in Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are several instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released after hefty ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch elements and the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that the Hindus are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. Only in 2009 five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. Only three lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in cash, but paid with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, continue to face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President Musharraf in October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely degraded status since the occupation. Although the exact number is unknown, more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the unrest in Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups have desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and destroyed Hindu shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly school students, are forcibly converted to Islam. On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one hundred and fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when Pakistan’s Frontier Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, rockets, and indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were innocent Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti tribesmen The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley of Hingol river is however, respected by the Baloch political leaders. In 2008 Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency to confirm a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. Balochistan’s Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo and other provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the assembly over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam being constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where an annual festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly resolution warned that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under water sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of all Hindus. It requested the federal government to have the dam constructed elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the Hindus in Sind and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally enjoy trust of the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure from Punjabi settlers. Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways that Hindu, Sikh and Christian students are automatically discriminated. Extracts, translated from Urdu to English, from the government-sponsored textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and inflammatory portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good things, and the Hindus did not respect women.” Grade V: “The Hindu has always been an enemy of Islam.” Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and cruelty.” Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as a nation and several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim culture and civilization.” Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery all over the world.” Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and brotherhood…There is no such concept in Hinduism.” Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani system. Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees fundamental human rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. However, Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of Islam in the country. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article 20 which states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion; and every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions.” Unfortunately, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in Pakistan today despite the assurance provided by the Constitution. Temples are desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk persecution, particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law…There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.” Rape, honor killings, and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the women of Pakistan face. Despite the constitutional guarantee of equal protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as the Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. They continue to face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and will continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not repealed. Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the marriage, the family, the mother and the child.” Article 36 states, “The State shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in the Federal and Provincial services.” In reality, however, neither families nor minorities are being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced conversions of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the felons. Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or signing the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), although it did ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, 1966. However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some visible presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are more concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice green colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus are classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, night soil carrying job and other menial works. Except for the appointment of Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on Quran) no other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder in the Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of national activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks on the Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this essay. Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan have organized a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and other causes with the provincial and federal governments: * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha * Pakistan Hindu Council * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces important towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the provincial Nazims (district collectors), police officials and political leaders. Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad representative body which works in close liaison with the Human Rights activists in Pakistan. ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other Hindu MNAs walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest against highly derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court judge. “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that Hindus were financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu members of Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest on Wednesday. “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt by Justice Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan People’s Party lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu lawmakers who then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, joined in. Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s national assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the remark while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of Afghan Taliban leaders on Monday. The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s observation that a US security firm was responsible for the blasts in Pakistan, including the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him saying, “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in Pakistan. Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for intervention from president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of Pakistani Hindus had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the “highly objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to the assembly after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on March 18. 2010. On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic community-slightly more than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and a few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is more than 96% Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic inspector from the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, a poetess and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban rampage in Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and settled with their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. They were again uprooted from FATA area when Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) as Jizya. About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released after paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted Sikhs are still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA locations. Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The Sikh temple at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims in August 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB) had recently taken over lands worth millions of rupees which belonged to Samadh Bhai Man Singh and Gurdwara Deh. Recent kidnapping of the Sikhs in NWPF area, beheading of two and quarantine of the others demanding Jizya has sent shiver of fear amongst the Sikhs of Pakistan and the world community has also been rattled. The Taliban and local Nazims are demanding Jizya from the Hindus and the Sikhs-a detestable religious tax revived in India by the bigoted Mughal Empire Aurangzeb, which was prevalent off and on till the British had put an end to the barbaric system. Sikh affairs in Pakistan were in disarray. Pakistan constituted a Gurdwara management body in April 1999 with Lt. General Javed Nasir, the hardcore Tablighi and former ISI chief as the chief. He opened his office inside Gurdwara Nanakmatta, Lahore. After one year the body was disbanded and one Shyam Singh (Sindhi) was appointed Chiarman. Shyam Singh had earlier acted ac coordinator between the Sikh terrorists and the ISI. However, there has not been any formal election to the committee and the chairman, a front man of the ISI, manages the religious affairs of the Sikh community in Pakistan. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee of India poses as self appointed caretaker of the Sikhs of Pakistan. They are treated as a pliable tool by Pakistan. It is alleged by certain Pakistani journalists that some figures in the SGPC receive underhand money from Pakistan. It is difficult for the author to probe authenticity of such allegations. There are several comments in Pak media that Pakistan gives some preferred treatment to the Sikhs because of its hidden agenda in “Indian Punjab.” Pakistan had earlier encouraged, assisted and armed the Sikh terrorists and even now the ISI has sheltered leaders of the Khalistan Zindabad Force, Babbar Khalsa, Khalistan Commando Force, Khalistan Liberation Force and the International Sikh Youth Federation. Important leaders who live in Pakistan as guests of the ISI are Lakhbir Singh Rode (nephew of Bhindranwale), Wadhwa Singh, Mehal Singh, Vikram Singh Canada, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Ranjit Singh Nita etc. Pakistan is trying to revive terrorism in Punjab through these desperate tools living at the mercy of the ISI. However, collusion between the Sikh terrorists and the Pakistan establishment does not offer any solace to common Sikhs. They live on the point of threat of the Saif (sword) of Islam. The Hindus of Pakistan, now reduced in number, have lost all leverages in political, economic and administrative systems of Pakistan. There are only two Captain rank doctors in Pakistan military hospital; Capt. Danish and Capt. Aneel Kumar. There are no Hindu officers in the fighting ranks. In the administrative services no Hindu holds high position and to come by any Hindu in strategic lower position even in the provinces of Punjab and Sind is rather impossible. They are not simply trusted and are not given preference in spite of the fact that some of them are better qualified. We must not forget Dipak Kaneria, the Pakistani leg spinner, who is more shunted out of the team than allowed to display his cricketing skill. A major issue Hindus faced until 2002 was that of the separate electorates for Muslims and non-Muslims. In the system of separate electorates, members of religious minorities could only vote for members of their group, which resulted in their marginalization in the National Assembly. The Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association convened a national conference on the issue in December 2000. In 2001, Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyas successfully conducted a partial boycott of the elections. In 2002, Musharraf granted religious minorities the right to vote for mainstream general seats of National and Provincial assemblies, which they did in 2002. While this was definitely a positive step for the well being of Hindus and the democratization of Pakistan, it remains to be seen how this will affect their overall status. Politically the Hindus have no voice in any power structure in Pakistan, whereas in India the Muslims are gaining more political stature. Despite Musharraf’s assurances minorities are still elected to the National Assembly from reserved constituencies. They are mostly elected from Sind, Punjab (Multan), NWFP (Bannu) etc places. Majority of them were elected to the NA from PPP tickets, though PML, PML N and MQM also had fielded minority candidates in their own concentration areas. Shabaz Bhatti, MNA from Lahore, belongs to an influential family and is minister in charge of minority affairs. But his portfolio has very little to do with minority welfare. Bhatti is treated more as a minority face to a system that is squarely poised against the minorities including the Ahmadiyas (treated as non-Muslims). The Hindus, who had received assurance from Jinnah, despite his not so mute encouragement to communal killings, the community that counted for one fourth of Pakistan’s population after independence is now shrinking by the day; now they count for 1.6% of the population. Not only the Hindus are discriminated in matters of jobs, services and any other means of livelihood that require some sort of state patronage, they are threatened, induced and even forced to convert to Islam. Their landed properties are forcibly grabbed, their temples destroyed and their women kidnapped systematically. Under such pressure thousands of Hindus have escaped to India from Sind, Punjab and Balochistan. In Rajasthan alone over 20,000 refugees from Pakistan are living in temporary encampments or with relatives. Neither the government of India nor the present Rajasthan government has taken up any welfare programme to settle these refugees from Pakistan. According to Seemant Lok Sangathan (SLS), a group working for refugees in Rajasthan, over 10,000 Hindu migrants from Pakistan is living in Jodhpur alone. Nearly 20,000 others are scattered in Jaisalmer and other areas of Rajasthan areas bordering Pakistan. Efforts of the SLS resulted in granting of long term visa by the government of India, but no relief work was initiated. Only during the last BJP government in Rajasthan more than 4, 50,000 refugees from Pakistan were given voting rights and one refugee was given ticket to contest election. In contrast to this the new Congress government closes eyes when hundreds of Pir Pagaro followers of Sind (Muslims) cross over to India and settle down in the bordering villages with their relatives and clansmen. The illegal Pir Pagaro followers are given voting right, issued ration cards and are pampered by the vote-bank political sharks. Here exist a situation similar to West Bengal and Assam where political patronage by the ruling parties encourage Pakistani Muslims to settle down on the bordering region. Unfortunately for last 20 years the government has not undertaken any survey of these Muslim dominated villages. Interview of several Hindu refugees conducted during November-December 2009 indicate that they were physically assaulted, they were paid paltry remuneration as against the Muslim employees. Parents have to keep Muslim names for their children with a view to get admission in schools. Besides destruction of temples, desecration of deities the Hindus, mostly of lower casts are subjected to extortion and their women are kidnapped, raped and converted to Islam. Hindus in Pakistan are persecuted for their religious belief. Even the Sindhi rural Muslim landlords indulge in forcible grabbing of lands belonging to Hindu farmers. Few summed up points of inhuman condition in which the Hindus have to live in Pakistan are enumerated below: Hindu Children do not get admission into schools. Hindus are converted into Islam by force. Hindu Girls & Women are abducted, molested & raped. Hindus and Sikhs are forced to pay Jizya Tax by Talibans. Hindu Employees are beaten to death in the factory complex. Provocations against Hindus are inserted in the school text books. Hindu children are forced to pray Namaz & generally called as ‘Kaffir Kutta’ – Infidel Dogs. Hindu farmers and labours are forced to do their jobs as bonded labours, with very paltry payment. 80% of lands are snatched from the Kaffir Hindus to fortify total Islamisation of Pakistan. The about 20% population of Hindus in Pak in 1947 came down to 1.6% in 1991. Hindus in Pakistan are treated as 3rd Class citizens or not the citizen of Pakistan at all. The migrating Pakistani Hindus in India also face various troubles to get long term visa. The Government of India takes a very biased stand. They do not push back the Pakistani Muslims to Pakistan from India, though their presence is reported by agencies. The Hindus migrating from Pakistan are treated as unwelcome guests and the vote-bank secularists treat them as possible voters for their political opponents. Besides these general observations certain specific instances may drive home the message that Indians are not all concerned about the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian minorities in Bangladesh and Hindu-Sikh and Christian minorities in Paksitan. Destruction of one mosque at Ayaodhya by Hindu fundamentalists had divided the country communally as well as politically. However, when Hindu, Sikh and Christian temples in Pakistan are destroyed these very “secularists” prefer to look the other way. We have mentioned about the destruction of Rangmahal Hindu temple in Lahore. In the heart of Liyari area of Karachi a part of the Hindu temple at Baghdadi area was forcibly taken over by a group of butchers and the sacred place is now used for slaughtering animals. A huge portion of the temple land has been taken over by the land mafia by forcing the Hindus to surrender the land at a minimal cost. The Human Rights Commission of Punjab protested against these incidents. But the governments at Karachi and Islamabad did very little to restore the temple and the land in question to the Hindu trustees. According to BBC reporter Riaz Sohail (March 2007) Garish Kumar, an engineer from Hyderabad was kidnapped and his mutilated body was later discovered near a madrasa. Though police passed on this as an offence by a militant organisation it was known in the area that Garish was kidnapped for ransom and later killed. His is not the isolated case. Kumar’s father Saspal Das is a trader at Kunri town in Umerkot district. He was of the opinion that though more than 90% Hindus of Pakistan live in PPP president and national president Zardari’s home province he has very little time for minority welfare. However, Kishenchand Parwani, adviser on minority affairs to the provincial government openly refutes any atrocity against the Hindus but admits that Hindus are targeted even in Karachi town by the communal Muslim elements. In recent years kidnapping for ransom has become a routine in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Larkana etc areas. Ramesh Lal, MNA agrees that nearly 20 traders were kidnapped by the communal goons and only 12 could buy their release. Others were not rich enough to pay ransom and lost their lives. >From upper Sukkur four Hindu women were kidnapped in late October by a known fundamentalist listed as a leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They were taken to a mosque, forcibly converted and married away to middle aged married persons with children. Surprisingly, the Indian Human Rights activists and secular protagonists, who labour beyond all conceivable elasticity of the Indian system, do not shed even crocodile’s tears for the Hindu-Sikh-Christian minorities in Pakistan. These matters are not even taken up either in first track or second track diplomatic talks with Pakistan. Systematic destruction of Hindu temples and desecration of Sikh temples do not attract attention of the Indian political leaders and so-called secularist compradors. They are busy in distributing largesse among the minorities (Muslim) in India but are averse to even look at the plights of the Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The minority situation was created by the partition of the country. Plight of the minorities is an unfinished agenda of of the partition. India is attending to that duty rather with pathological urgency in respect of Indian Muslims. On the other hand in Pakistan and Bangladesh the minorities are persecuted with pathological criminal intentions. Can India not use diplomatic pressure, like other unfinished agenda of the partition, to ensure better deals to the minorities in the neighbouring countries? Would our secular, democratic and human rightist political leaders dare to answer the angry questions asked by the beleaguered Pakistani and Bangladeshi minorities? One Kandhamal incident in Orissa had created political storm amongst certain secularists, but systematic attack on Pakistani Christians, Sikhs and Hindus do not ruffle the feathers of so called secular and democratic leaders, NGO professionals and societal organisations. Mera Bharat Mahan? Courtesy: Maloy Krishna Dhar/ From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 22 11:17:03 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm@web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Javed, The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to play POLITICS. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: > From: Javed > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT > To: "sarai list" > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi > avoids SIT team > > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST > > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi > for not > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat > riots case, > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and > showed that he > "loves to hide". > > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it > shows the > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the > apex court," > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. > > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is > contemptuous > and would show that he loves to hide," he said > > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint > filed by Zakia > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 > Gulburg > society riots case. > > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on > advertisements, > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin > Pilot said > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self > praise". > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in > the state, > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had > launched any > scheme. > > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in > ensuring jobs > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural > development. UPA > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance > for jobless, > Pilot said. > > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a > great skill to > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake > claims. > > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer > saying there is > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has > slapped 23% > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. > > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister > Narendra Modi > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in > connection with > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall > act as per > the law". > > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme > Court-appointed SIT, BJP > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. > > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall > act as per > the law. This government has always supported and respected > the law > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the > Supreme Court > order and directions," he told PTI. > > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an > attempt to tarnish Modi. > > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to > malign an > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader > in the > country," Rudy said. > > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last > week saying > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the > Prime > Minister. > > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in > an > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works > being > carried out in Gujarat. > > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a > complaint of Zakia > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by > a mob > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms > _________________________________________ > 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 Mon Mar 22 11:25:16 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing Communities In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003212240m3a79cda9ga67019f5c2144d0f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm@web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Durani, If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any noise on this news item? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing Communities > To: "reader-list" > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM > "In a recent investigative report it > is described how young girls, as > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted > to Islam, > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu > girls like this > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to > sign > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” > said Laljee > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council > of village > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have > taken > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and > Larkana > districts." > > > Source : http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ > > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: > Latest, Opinion > and Editorials | > > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani > journalist friend. > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, > where > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated > I noticed > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest > incidents of > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling > Chakma tribals > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a > preliminary > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in > Pakistan. I > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani > Christians. > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and > Ahmadiya > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require > international > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary > has so far > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and > Ahmadiya > communities. > > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights > Commission and > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed > the pitiable > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are > drowned in > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also > ashamed of these > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing > visitations > by the ISI goons. > > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, > called > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, > for which he > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct > Action Pogrom > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national > minorities, after 3 > millions were killed in communal riots and several million > escaped to > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to > your temples, > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place > of worship > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or > caste or > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the > State…We are > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all > citizens and > equal citizens of our State.” > > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal > Muslim leader > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah > Kathiawadi > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta > visit, > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic > attitude of the > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a > Shia), but > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue > Muslim > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the > person who > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central > Legislative > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or > organized the > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless > suppression of the > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the > Governor > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of > Jinnah’s bunches of > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in > collaboration with > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the > Mountbatten Plan > for partition, backing out from original agreement that > Mountbatten > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan > and > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a > day of > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). > > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and > falsehood > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority > was then and > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a > democrat he would > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop > killing of the > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he > assumed the gaddi > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since > Jinnah the > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and > now they > have become an endangered community. Those interested may > read Jinnah > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report > on the Last > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. > > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of > Pakistan was > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, > Balochistan, > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and > Assam and > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan > theory of > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to > amalgamate > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. > > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in > the absence > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he > had > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem > of > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous > situation in > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the > national > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the > national > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath > Azad, son of > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days > before the > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first > national anthem. It > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that > Jinnah > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to > write the > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national > anthem composed by > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great > disrespect to > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers > correctly > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu > elixir. > > > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source > Wikipedia) > > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of > Pakistan was > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total > population. For > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was > 450,000, of > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, > Karachi’s population > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of > 600,000 Muslim > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of > Karachi was 96% > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu > population in all > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would > certainly be > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic > trends and > further diminution of Hindu population. > > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly > over 4,924 > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population > is 1,921. > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military > operations > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand > of Jizya, a > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. > > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for > freedom of > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes > limits on this > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan > proclaimed itself > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has > become a > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle > for separate > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the > Hindus and > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with > hatred > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to > law, public > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. > Actions or > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not > protected. > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be > consistent > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both > Muslims > and religious minorities. This observation has been > supported even by > the U.S. State Department’s report on International > Religious Freedom > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani > Christians > the IRF had expressed similar views. > > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia > injunctions > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other > minorities in > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates > the death > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration > of the > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, > and the > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions > once the > accusation has been made, although most such allegations > of > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March > 24, 2005, > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating > the mention > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. > The > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz > in chair, > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the > rule after > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. > The move was > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), > a coalition > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s > former > President General Pervez Musharraf. > > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming > pace in > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights > Commission of > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued > Islamization of > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the > 1980s. > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the > rights of > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and > Ahmadiyas, > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the > fear of > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their > places of > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of > death. > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s > Muslims winning by > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by > threatening it, by > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out > or > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” > > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by > the > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni > militant > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the > large-scale > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His > report is an > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to > agree on a > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called > heads of all > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of > a Muslim. > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of > our > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard > of the > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, > New age Islam. > > Violence against women in general continues throughout the > world, but > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. > Violence > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor > killings, and > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two > hours on > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor > killings. Moreover, > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison > thousands of > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of > laws that > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the > then > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended > “to bring in > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects > of the > criminal justice system and make certain offences > punishable by hadd, > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy > Quran or Sunnah.” > > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of > Hudood) > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February > 1979, preamble > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . > The laws > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences > of Zina > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf > (wrongful > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property > and > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the > Ordinance, whenever > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse > without being > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina > Ordinance. > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally > meaning ‘forced > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred > without the > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina > Ordinance > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. > > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four > male > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. > If the > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped > for > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is > banned in > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human > rights > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, > the Pakistan > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not > forgotten the > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international > indignation. > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the > majority > sections of people in a country that still lives in the > barbaric > Middle Ages. > > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration > and > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting > of Hindu > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu > females. > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted > human rights > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the > continued > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also > because reports > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local > media or > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register > cases > reported by Hindu victims. > > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind > province, is > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to > convert to > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and > kidnapping > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On > September 14, > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter > in Sind, > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to > Islam. The > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court > dismissed the > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement > that she > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a > legislator > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should > be > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an > offense for > the abductors. > > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine > in the > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married > man and > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi > Abdul Aziz > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and > married her > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, > Muslim extremists > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. > Sapna, > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her > parents, > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, > is claimed > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain > contact with > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” > > In a recent investigative report it is described how young > girls, as > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted > to Islam, > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu > girls like this > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to > sign > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” > said Laljee > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council > of village > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have > taken > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and > Larkana > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for > Interior, had > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was > quoted by the > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are > taking place > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been > living for > the past 5,000 years.” > > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young > Hindu girls > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena > (21), Usha > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, > a Hindu > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, > Pakistan – went > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely > circulated report > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion > losses,” the > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, > described the shock > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned > home after > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters > had > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to > the police, > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ > conversions to > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from > chaperones and > even police officers that have supervised their only > interactions thus > far, have been consistently denied. After their > disappearance from > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic > seminary) in > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied > the freedom > to return home. > > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she > was > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of > providing her > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into > unconsciousness for > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric > hospital to > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence > of > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in > Karachi. > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her > house meant > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband > has stood > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi > disgraced > the family and should be killed. > > Although violence against women transcends their religion, > it is > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In > May 2005, a > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration > for equal > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and > took them to > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma > Jahangir, a U.N. > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human > Rights > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence > official > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the > (expletive) a > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her > shirt off and > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, > the Kargil > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated > country. > > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of > Hindu women > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two > other > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According > to > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly > occupied in > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students > studying in > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. > > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the > Baloch > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, > in > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are > several > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released > after hefty > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch > elements and > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that > the Hindus > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. > Only in 2009 > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. > Only three > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in > cash, but paid > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, > continue to > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where > Pakistan > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President > Musharraf in > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely > degraded > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is > unknown, > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the > unrest in > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups > have > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and > destroyed Hindu > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly > school > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. > > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one > hundred and > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when > Pakistan’s Frontier > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, > rockets, and > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were > innocent > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti > tribesmen > > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley > of Hingol > river is however, respected by the Baloch political > leaders. In 2008 > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency > to confirm > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. > Balochistan’s > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo > and other > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the > assembly > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam > being > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where > an annual > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly > resolution warned > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under > water > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of > all Hindus. > It requested the federal government to have the dam > constructed > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the > Hindus in Sind > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally > enjoy trust of > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure > from Punjabi > settlers. > > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways > that Hindu, > Sikh and Christian students are automatically > discriminated. Extracts, > translated from Urdu to English, from the > government-sponsored > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the > Federal > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and > inflammatory > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: > > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good > things, and > the Hindus did not respect women.” > Grade V:  “The Hindu has always been an enemy of > Islam.” > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and > cruelty.” > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as > a nation and > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim > culture and > civilization.” > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery > all over the world.” > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and > brotherhood…There is no > such concept in Hinduism.” > > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani > system. > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees > fundamental human > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. > However, > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen > shall have the > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall > be freedom > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions > imposed by law in > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, > security or > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of > Islam in the > country.  Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article > 20 which > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, > practice and > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination > and every > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain > and manage > its religious institutions.”  Unfortunately, Hindus, > Sikhs, > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in > Pakistan > today despite the assurance provided by the > Constitution.  Temples are > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk > persecution, > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. > > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens > are equal > before law and are entitled to equal protection of > law…There shall be > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.”  Rape, > honor killings, > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the > women of > Pakistan face.  Despite the constitutional guarantee > of equal > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as > the > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection.  > They continue to > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and > will > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not > repealed. > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the > marriage, the > family, the mother and the child.”  Article 36 > states, “The State > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of > minorities, > including their due representation in the Federal and > Provincial > services.”  In reality, however, neither families > nor minorities are > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced > conversions > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the > felons. > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or > signing > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political > Rights (CCPR), > although it did ratify the International Convention on the > Elimination > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, > 1966. > > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some > visible > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are > more > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice > green > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus > are > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, > night soil > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the > appointment of > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on > Quran) no > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder > in the > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of > national > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks > on the > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this > essay. > > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan > have organized > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and > other causes > with the provincial and federal governments: > > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha > > * Pakistan Hindu Council > > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) > > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat > > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) > > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association > > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) > > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha > > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces > important > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the > provincial > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and > political leaders. > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad > representative body > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights > activists in > Pakistan. > > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other > Hindu MNAs > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest > against highly > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court > judge. > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that > Hindus were > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu > members of > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest > on Wednesday. > > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt > by Justice > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan > People’s Party > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu > lawmakers who > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, > joined in. > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s > national > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the > remark > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of > Afghan Taliban > leaders on Monday. > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s > observation that a > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in > Pakistan, including > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him > saying, > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in > Pakistan. > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” > > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for > intervention from > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza > Gilani, > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of > Pakistani Hindus > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme > Court chief > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the > “highly > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to > the assembly > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on > March 18. > 2010. > > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic > community-slightly more > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana > Sahib and a > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is > more than 96% > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic > inspector from > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, > a poetess > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban > rampage in > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and > settled with > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. > > They were again uprooted from FATA area when > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) > as Jizya. > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released > after > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted > Sikhs are > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA > locations. > > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The > Sikh temple > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims > in August > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 22 11:29:26 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:59:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing Communities In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003212240m3a79cda9ga67019f5c2144d0f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <332951.7348.qm@web112118.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Durani, If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any noise on this news item? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing Communities > To: "reader-list" > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM > "In a recent investigative report it > is described how young girls, as > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted > to Islam, > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu > girls like this > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to > sign > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” > said Laljee > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council > of village > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have > taken > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and > Larkana > districts." > > > Source : http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ > > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: > Latest, Opinion > and Editorials | > > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani > journalist friend. > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, > where > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated > I noticed > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest > incidents of > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling > Chakma tribals > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a > preliminary > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in > Pakistan. I > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani > Christians. > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and > Ahmadiya > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require > international > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary > has so far > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and > Ahmadiya > communities. > > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights > Commission and > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed > the pitiable > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are > drowned in > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also > ashamed of these > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing > visitations > by the ISI goons. > > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, > called > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, > for which he > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct > Action Pogrom > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national > minorities, after 3 > millions were killed in communal riots and several million > escaped to > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to > your temples, > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place > of worship > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or > caste or > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the > State…We are > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all > citizens and > equal citizens of our State.” > > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal > Muslim leader > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah > Kathiawadi > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta > visit, > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic > attitude of the > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a > Shia), but > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue > Muslim > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the > person who > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central > Legislative > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or > organized the > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless > suppression of the > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the > Governor > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of > Jinnah’s bunches of > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in > collaboration with > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the > Mountbatten Plan > for partition, backing out from original agreement that > Mountbatten > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan > and > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a > day of > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). > > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and > falsehood > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority > was then and > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a > democrat he would > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop > killing of the > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he > assumed the gaddi > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since > Jinnah the > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and > now they > have become an endangered community. Those interested may > read Jinnah > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report > on the Last > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. > > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of > Pakistan was > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, > Balochistan, > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and > Assam and > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan > theory of > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to > amalgamate > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. > > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in > the absence > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he > had > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem > of > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous > situation in > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the > national > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the > national > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath > Azad, son of > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days > before the > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first > national anthem. It > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that > Jinnah > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to > write the > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national > anthem composed by > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great > disrespect to > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers > correctly > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu > elixir. > > > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source > Wikipedia) > > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of > Pakistan was > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total > population. For > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was > 450,000, of > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, > Karachi’s population > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of > 600,000 Muslim > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of > Karachi was 96% > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu > population in all > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would > certainly be > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic > trends and > further diminution of Hindu population. > > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly > over 4,924 > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population > is 1,921. > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military > operations > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand > of Jizya, a > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. > > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for > freedom of > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes > limits on this > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan > proclaimed itself > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has > become a > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle > for separate > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the > Hindus and > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with > hatred > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to > law, public > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. > Actions or > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not > protected. > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be > consistent > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both > Muslims > and religious minorities. This observation has been > supported even by > the U.S. State Department’s report on International > Religious Freedom > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani > Christians > the IRF had expressed similar views. > > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia > injunctions > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other > minorities in > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates > the death > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration > of the > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, > and the > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions > once the > accusation has been made, although most such allegations > of > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March > 24, 2005, > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating > the mention > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. > The > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz > in chair, > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the > rule after > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. > The move was > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), > a coalition > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s > former > President General Pervez Musharraf. > > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming > pace in > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights > Commission of > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued > Islamization of > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the > 1980s. > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the > rights of > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and > Ahmadiyas, > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the > fear of > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their > places of > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of > death. > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s > Muslims winning by > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by > threatening it, by > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out > or > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” > > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by > the > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni > militant > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the > large-scale > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His > report is an > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to > agree on a > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called > heads of all > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of > a Muslim. > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of > our > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard > of the > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, > New age Islam. > > Violence against women in general continues throughout the > world, but > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. > Violence > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor > killings, and > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two > hours on > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor > killings. Moreover, > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison > thousands of > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of > laws that > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the > then > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended > “to bring in > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects > of the > criminal justice system and make certain offences > punishable by hadd, > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy > Quran or Sunnah.” > > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of > Hudood) > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February > 1979, preamble > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . > The laws > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences > of Zina > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf > (wrongful > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property > and > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the > Ordinance, whenever > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse > without being > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina > Ordinance. > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally > meaning ‘forced > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred > without the > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina > Ordinance > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. > > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four > male > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. > If the > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped > for > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is > banned in > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human > rights > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, > the Pakistan > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not > forgotten the > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international > indignation. > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the > majority > sections of people in a country that still lives in the > barbaric > Middle Ages. > > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration > and > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting > of Hindu > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu > females. > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted > human rights > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the > continued > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also > because reports > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local > media or > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register > cases > reported by Hindu victims. > > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind > province, is > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to > convert to > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and > kidnapping > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On > September 14, > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter > in Sind, > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to > Islam. The > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court > dismissed the > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement > that she > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a > legislator > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should > be > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an > offense for > the abductors. > > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine > in the > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married > man and > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi > Abdul Aziz > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and > married her > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, > Muslim extremists > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. > Sapna, > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her > parents, > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, > is claimed > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain > contact with > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” > > In a recent investigative report it is described how young > girls, as > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted > to Islam, > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu > girls like this > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to > sign > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” > said Laljee > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council > of village > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have > taken > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and > Larkana > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for > Interior, had > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was > quoted by the > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are > taking place > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been > living for > the past 5,000 years.” > > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young > Hindu girls > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena > (21), Usha > (19) and Rima (17) – daugh From aliens at dataone.in Mon Mar 22 11:49:41 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:49:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: References: <962803.37563.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <001801cac845$561d9b80$0258d280$@in> Message-ID: <002a01cac987$b51ac980$1f505c80$@in> Dear Rakesh/Malik I appreciate your assessment on Bihar issue in very short span searching the various sites. But, basic difference Nitishkumar brought is to curtail Goonda element and minimize their influence from politics. This is not a small achievement. This was proved in the recent parliament election where criminal MPs did not got permission to contest the election and all have came up with their wives to contest, but they all were defeated this time. So called 20 years of regime of Lalu who made criminalization of politics and things worse, did not allow reforms in Bihar just to keep people back-word to save their votes. So, 20 years of rule cannot be changed overnight and even one term (five years) is also not enough to get result by way various physical reports. You yourself said that its turnaround of marginal difference of 0.48% (6.35-5.87%) and looking to above facts it is counted as achievement only. You cannot expect turnaround in all the criteria like agriculture, education at a time in 4 years of Nitishkumar rule. For all the reforms, availability of funds is important. So, funds available for the purpose by central govt. were utilized first to start with. You said it is central govt. fund so Nitishkumar alone cannot take credit. Note that only funds is not important. Important is utilization of fund and implement it efficiently is very important and that is the difference. So, much more credit goes to state govt. in this part. Thanks Bipin From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 9:50 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: A.K. Malik; sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE Dear Malik Since you mentioned Bihar, I was devoting my time for the past one hour to find about Bihar, and so here is Bihar's story. My views are also mentioned with it. The references mentioned can be seen, and they are the work of those who study the budgets properly. The story of Bihar’s growth: 1) According to the figures released by the CSO (Central Statistical Organization), the average growth rate for Bihar was 11.03% for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09. This includes one year of Lalu-Rabri rule and 3 ½ years of Nitish Kumar rule. However, if we were to go by the Economic Survey report tabled in the Bihar Assembly by Sushil Kumar Modi, the average growth rate of Bihar for the same period as mentioned above was 7.34%. This is astonishing considering that both figures have the same source. Obviously, either there is miscommunication or fudging of figures, and since the Bihar govt. has not said anything on this difference in the figures, I would assume the latter to be the case. By the way, India’s average growth rate was 7.9% for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09. Hope that can give an idea as to how Bihar is performing. 2) The growth rate of Bihar was 5.87% for the last four years (2001-02 to 2004-05) of RJD rule. For the period from 1992-93 to 2003-04, it was 4.89%. Under Nitish Kumar rule, the figures are 6.35% (2006-09). Is this enough to say that there is a turnaround in Bihar economy? (A difference of about 0.5% in growth rates for four years of Lalu-Rabri and Nitish Kumar rule) 3) The next question is about this: what constitutes this growth which is talked about? The primary sector (mainly agriculture and related activities) have grown at less than 1% for the entire period. This is a shame considering that a large proportion of Bihar’s population is dependent on agriculture (81% of the entire workforce) and it contributes to about 42% of the state GDP, as compared to say India (where the corresponding figures are 60% of the entire workforce and 18% of India’s GDP). The growth in the tertiary sector (services sector) is less (at 6.9%) than the national average as stated in one of the references. While I don’t have data for the entire period, it was 9.2% in 2007-08 and 9.6% for 2006-07 for India. And I don’t think the services sector would have got a huge shock which changed that trend, as they don’t also depend on rain or other factors unlike say the primary sector. Then certainly the growth must come from the secondary sector, and yes, it does. The question then comes: where from? Construction. The growth rate for the secondary sector was 12.9%. And on further disaggregation, most of this growth rate is found in construction. Construction sector has grown by 41% for the stated period under Nitish rule only (exclude 2004-05 from the stated period) 4) Let’s now discuss the relative importance of the sectors first. The agrarian sector has actually grown by – 0.77% (minus 0.77% or negative growth rate) under Nitish Kumar rule. And agriculture has grown by -0.87% (or minus 0.87%) under his rule. And this agriculture along with allied activities is supposed to support 80% of the workforce. When agriculture is on a decline, it’s obvious that the incomes due to agriculture would also be on a decline. Is this a success or a failure? You decide. On the other hand, the construction sector has grown by huge value primarily due to investments made in public infrastructure as well as booming construction drive going on in the cities of Bihar. The first is primarily due to the financial assistance given by the ADB (Asian Development Bank for state road programs) and the programmes run by the Central Govt (like NHDP, National Highway Development Programme). The second is being seen across all Tier-I(major) and Tier-II cities (mostly state capitals and emerging important cities), and in that sense, the Bihar govt. can’t take credit for it. What is a major shame though is that the allocations for constructing national highways was four times that being spent for making rural roads, even though rural connectivity in Bihar is one of the worst across the entire country. And even on this money, about 62% came from the PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, a central-govt assistance) while the rest came from funds of the state govt. How can the state govt. claim the achievements to be its’ own then? The only change here is that since the law and order situation has improved to the extent that extortions are not the norm but the exception, this boom of construction is taking place. 5) The next achievement which Nitish Kumar may want to talk about is the idea about education and health. On this front, the govt. can be easily checkmated. The claim that under his rule, SC and ST students’ enrolment in schools has increased has already been alleged by the local media to be a farce as the figures are being claimed to having been fudged to lift more food under the mid-day meal programme. The only ‘real’ activity going on is said to be construction of schools, another offshoot of the construction sector. Leaving the above allegation aside for a moment, (as it may or may not be true), since the health programme is run on Central money and medicines, the Bihar govt. can’t claim the achievement as only its’ own, but a joint one. 6) The Bihar govt. then makes a claim which can be only termed as ‘dubious’. On one hand, it claims that the income in agricultural sector has fallen by about 4,000 crores and on the other hand, another document termed ‘Road Map for Agriculture’ released by the same govt. claims that there is no data on income which farmers receive for their produce in the state. Then how was this assessment made, is anybody’s guess. 7) The Bihar govt., had in one of its first acts, repealed the APMC Act (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act), in the name of protecting the farmers from scrupulous traders who manipulate prices thereby affecting farmers and consumers both. The result was disastrous. Under this act, prices were decided for commodities and the intention was to ensure better and timely payment of farm produce. Now thanks to dismantling of these committees which were supposed to fix prices, Bihar is enjoying a high rate of inflation, and with the policies at the Centre also contributing to the same, Bihar people can turn to religion and God to salvage their hopes. References: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/r-nagaraj-demystifying-bihar%5Cs -growth/387412/ http://www.bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/Feb/Newsbihar27Feb1.html http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2010/March/Newsbihar12March7.html http://www.epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/14459.pdf From aliens at dataone.in Mon Mar 22 11:50:15 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:50:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> Dear Rakesh/Malik, Aam admi is applicable to all including poor to middle/upper middle class. You can fool the people once but you can't fool them all the time. Lalu tried to fool the people all the time, but one get success with this for some time but not all the time. Someone, arguing that he succeeded as railway minister, but railway reform was ongoing process and whoever will be there as railway minister would have been done it. Since 20 years of rule, he proved wrong in Bihar with his administration, there is no question to give credit to him as railway minister. No doubt curtsey acknowledgement given by congress leaders/PM as an important ally is different thing. SC/ST (or say adivasi, shudra and others) and even Muslims also are poor for their own reason and don't want to come out of their fence, don’t want to amalgamate with India and don't want to develop themselves. They are having much more children and could not able to take care of them upto the standard and remain poor. Even I have heard from many SC/ST families that we will produce more children since govt. reserves job for us so not to worry. So, reservation policy is actually act as a tool of population increment. Think over it positively. Due to more children, they are unable to give proper education, personalize care and remain backward in humanity also. (we talk to increase HDI in this situation is remote possibility) Those who comes out of their fence are definitely came up and living their healthy life. You will find many such families not only in city even in the villages. For all these if you can make survey, I am sure you will find that they are having small family of maximum 2 or 3 children and one wife. Adivasi don't allow industry or development in their area and they willingly like to live with his traditional way of living. In the situation will you think any govt. can do anything? Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Rakesh Iyer Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2010 12:36 AM To: A.K. Malik Cc: Sarai List Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE Dear Malik My views: 1) I would like to clarify here about one point you made that I may feel that Lalu is a better CM than Nitish. I don't agree on it one bit. Lalu Yadav made a mess of Bihar in ways which only he could have done. And I do agree that Nitish has brought a change in Bihar. But to believe that Nitish is doing wonders is a farcical argument. 2) The common man won't perceive anything different from the statistics I put up, contrary to what you may believe. The problem with most newspapers and famous magazines and site links (from where most of the people on this forum seem to post articles) is that they think that the middle class working person is the aam aadmi. That is not the aam aadmi I refer to, although the person is as human as the poor who I refer to as the aam aadmi. And when there is development, people feel it. It's not like something invisible like a ghost, which people can't understand. And hence, you should have taken some time going through the statistics rather than just writing a mail in haste. (My request or suggestion, depending on how you take it) 3) Many people admonish the Lalu regime for many reasons. What people however forget was the one decisive thing which Lalu gave to the backwards and the oppressed castes, be it Dalits, Musahars or even tribals: sense of dignity. Lalu meant dignity for them. He managed to win elections because they knew that an upper caste ruling the state would mean upper castes raping their women and destroying their dignity. Lalu rule brought that down to a degree. Add to that the sense of protection he gave to Muslims, and you get to understand why he was considered invincible. Ironically, Lalu lost because of himself. Once he allowed this measure of dignity the oppressed castes wanted development (which meant better education and health services). Instead he promoted corruption and deterioration of law and order. Most importantly, an upper caste CM candidate from the opposition would have brought Lalu again. But Nitish Kumar is from a backward caste, which is why the other oppressed castes thought that he would ensure their sense of dignity remains. However, figures prove otherwise. Infact, the cases on domestic violence and violence against women in general have increased under Nitish rule, whereas under Lalu, it was the kidnapping industry which was much more in the news. Please read another issue on law and order here, on this link. http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?653718 I have a request again for all here on forum of Sarai. Instead of making generalized useless statements, let's come out with facts and then debate. And if you are instead only harping on your idea being right without facts to support you, then please, don't expect me to believe you (howsoever much others may be impressed with your jargon of words) 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 parikhjigish at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 12:08:54 2010 From: parikhjigish at gmail.com (Jigish Parikh) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:38:54 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT Message-ID: Mr. Javed, Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I fully agree with Mr. Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination with certain personalities and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH more pressing issues in our country to worry about. One such is tragic/vision-less policies in the foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of Congress party have no clue how to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in London and having no plan B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian Embassy in Kabul, they look stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally to Pakistan for peace dialogue without explanation to the country for such sudden change in foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror infrastructure or handing over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is Defence ministry which is stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our forces. NEVER explaining why every year funds allocated are returned unused despite the dire need of equipments/modernization/weapons/resources. Let's talk such important issues without meddling in what is less of a problem for nation for NOW. Jigish. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) > From: "A.K. Malik" > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of > SIT > To: Javed > Cc: Sarai List > Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Dear Mr Javed, > The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law > Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors > Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is > to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a > case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished > according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights > to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary > citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to > Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to > play POLITICS. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: > > > From: Javed > > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT > > To: "sarai list" > > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM > > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi > > avoids SIT team > > > > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST > > > > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi > > for not > > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat > > riots case, > > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and > > showed that he > > "loves to hide". > > > > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it > > shows the > > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the > > apex court," > > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. > > > > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is > > contemptuous > > and would show that he loves to hide," he said > > > > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint > > filed by Zakia > > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 > > Gulburg > > society riots case. > > > > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on > > advertisements, > > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin > > Pilot said > > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self > > praise". > > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in > > the state, > > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had > > launched any > > scheme. > > > > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in > > ensuring jobs > > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural > > development. UPA > > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance > > for jobless, > > Pilot said. > > > > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a > > great skill to > > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake > > claims. > > > > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer > > saying there is > > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has > > slapped 23% > > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. > > > > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister > > Narendra Modi > > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in > > connection with > > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall > > act as per > > the law". > > > > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme > > Court-appointed SIT, BJP > > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. > > > > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall > > act as per > > the law. This government has always supported and respected > > the law > > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the > > Supreme Court > > order and directions," he told PTI. > > > > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an > > attempt to tarnish Modi. > > > > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to > > malign an > > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader > > in the > > country," Rudy said. > > > > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last > > week saying > > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the > > Prime > > Minister. > > > > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in > > an > > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works > > being > > carried out in Gujarat. > > > > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a > > complaint of Zakia > > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by > > a mob > > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. > > > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms > > _________________________________________ > > 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/> > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) > From: "A.K. Malik" > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The > Vanishing Communities > To: Pawan Durani > Cc: Sarai List > Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Dear Mr Durani, > If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all > hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This > is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any > noise on this news item? > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > From: Pawan Durani > > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing > Communities > > To: "reader-list" > > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM > > "In a recent investigative report it > > is described how young girls, as > > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted > > to Islam, > > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu > > girls like this > > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to > > sign > > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” > > said Laljee > > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council > > of village > > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have > > taken > > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and > > Larkana > > districts." > > > > > > Source : > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ > > > > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: > > Latest, Opinion > > and Editorials | > > > > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani > > journalist friend. > > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, > > where > > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated > > I noticed > > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest > > incidents of > > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling > > Chakma tribals > > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a > > preliminary > > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in > > Pakistan. I > > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani > > Christians. > > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and > > Ahmadiya > > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require > > international > > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary > > has so far > > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and > > Ahmadiya > > communities. > > > > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights > > Commission and > > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed > > the pitiable > > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are > > drowned in > > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also > > ashamed of these > > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing > > visitations > > by the ISI goons. > > > > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, > > called > > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, > > for which he > > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct > > Action Pogrom > > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national > > minorities, after 3 > > millions were killed in communal riots and several million > > escaped to > > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to > > your temples, > > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place > > of worship > > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or > > caste or > > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the > > State…We are > > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all > > citizens and > > equal citizens of our State.” > > > > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal > > Muslim leader > > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah > > Kathiawadi > > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta > > visit, > > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic > > attitude of the > > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a > > Shia), but > > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue > > Muslim > > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the > > person who > > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central > > Legislative > > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or > > organized the > > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless > > suppression of the > > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the > > Governor > > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of > > Jinnah’s bunches of > > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in > > collaboration with > > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the > > Mountbatten Plan > > for partition, backing out from original agreement that > > Mountbatten > > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan > > and > > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a > > day of > > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). > > > > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and > > falsehood > > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority > > was then and > > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a > > democrat he would > > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop > > killing of the > > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he > > assumed the gaddi > > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since > > Jinnah the > > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and > > now they > > have become an endangered community. Those interested may > > read Jinnah > > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report > > on the Last > > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. > > > > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of > > Pakistan was > > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, > > Balochistan, > > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and > > Assam and > > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan > > theory of > > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to > > amalgamate > > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. > > > > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in > > the absence > > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he > > had > > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem > > of > > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous > > situation in > > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the > > national > > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the > > national > > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath > > Azad, son of > > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days > > before the > > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first > > national anthem. It > > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that > > Jinnah > > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to > > write the > > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national > > anthem composed by > > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great > > disrespect to > > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers > > correctly > > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu > > elixir. > > > > > > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source > > Wikipedia) > > > > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of > > Pakistan was > > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total > > population. For > > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was > > 450,000, of > > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, > > Karachi’s population > > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of > > 600,000 Muslim > > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of > > Karachi was 96% > > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu > > population in all > > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would > > certainly be > > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic > > trends and > > further diminution of Hindu population. > > > > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly > > over 4,924 > > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population > > is 1,921. > > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military > > operations > > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand > > of Jizya, a > > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. > > > > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for > > freedom of > > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes > > limits on this > > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan > > proclaimed itself > > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has > > become a > > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle > > for separate > > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the > > Hindus and > > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with > > hatred > > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to > > law, public > > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. > > Actions or > > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not > > protected. > > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be > > consistent > > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both > > Muslims > > and religious minorities. This observation has been > > supported even by > > the U.S. State Department’s report on International > > Religious Freedom > > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani > > Christians > > the IRF had expressed similar views. > > > > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia > > injunctions > > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other > > minorities in > > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates > > the death > > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration > > of the > > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, > > and the > > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions > > once the > > accusation has been made, although most such allegations > > of > > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March > > 24, 2005, > > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating > > the mention > > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. > > The > > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz > > in chair, > > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the > > rule after > > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. > > The move was > > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), > > a coalition > > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s > > former > > President General Pervez Musharraf. > > > > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming > > pace in > > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights > > Commission of > > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued > > Islamization of > > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the > > 1980s. > > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the > > rights of > > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and > > Ahmadiyas, > > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the > > fear of > > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their > > places of > > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of > > death. > > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s > > Muslims winning by > > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by > > threatening it, by > > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out > > or > > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” > > > > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by > > the > > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni > > militant > > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the > > large-scale > > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His > > report is an > > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to > > agree on a > > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called > > heads of all > > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of > > a Muslim. > > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of > > our > > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard > > of the > > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, > > New age Islam. > > > > Violence against women in general continues throughout the > > world, but > > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. > > Violence > > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor > > killings, and > > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two > > hours on > > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor > > killings. Moreover, > > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison > > thousands of > > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of > > laws that > > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the > > then > > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended > > “to bring in > > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects > > of the > > criminal justice system and make certain offences > > punishable by hadd, > > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy > > Quran or Sunnah.” > > > > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of > > Hudood) > > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February > > 1979, preamble > > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . > > The laws > > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences > > of Zina > > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf > > (wrongful > > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property > > and > > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the > > Ordinance, whenever > > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse > > without being > > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina > > Ordinance. > > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally > > meaning ‘forced > > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred > > without the > > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina > > Ordinance > > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. > > > > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four > > male > > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. > > If the > > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped > > for > > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is > > banned in > > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human > > rights > > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, > > the Pakistan > > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not > > forgotten the > > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international > > indignation. > > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the > > majority > > sections of people in a country that still lives in the > > barbaric > > Middle Ages. > > > > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and > > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration > > and > > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting > > of Hindu > > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu > > females. > > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted > > human rights > > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the > > continued > > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also > > because reports > > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local > > media or > > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register > > cases > > reported by Hindu victims. > > > > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind > > province, is > > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to > > convert to > > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and > > kidnapping > > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On > > September 14, > > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter > > in Sind, > > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to > > Islam. The > > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court > > dismissed the > > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement > > that she > > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a > > legislator > > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should > > be > > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an > > offense for > > the abductors. > > > > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine > > in the > > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married > > man and > > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi > > Abdul Aziz > > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and > > married her > > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, > > Muslim extremists > > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. > > Sapna, > > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her > > parents, > > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, > > is claimed > > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain > > contact with > > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” > > > > In a recent investigative report it is described how young > > girls, as > > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted > > to Islam, > > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu > > girls like this > > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to > > sign > > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” > > said Laljee > > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council > > of village > > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have > > taken > > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and > > Larkana > > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for > > Interior, had > > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was > > quoted by the > > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are > > taking place > > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been > > living for > > the past 5,000 years.” > > > > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young > > Hindu girls > > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena > > (21), Usha > > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, > > a Hindu > > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, > > Pakistan – went > > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely > > circulated report > > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion > > losses,” the > > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, > > described the shock > > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned > > home after > > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters > > had > > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to > > the police, > > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ > > conversions to > > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from > > chaperones and > > even police officers that have supervised their only > > interactions thus > > far, have been consistently denied. After their > > disappearance from > > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic > > seminary) in > > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied > > the freedom > > to return home. > > > > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she > > was > > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of > > providing her > > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into > > unconsciousness for > > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric > > hospital to > > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence > > of > > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in > > Karachi. > > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her > > house meant > > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband > > has stood > > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi > > disgraced > > the family and should be killed. > > > > Although violence against women transcends their religion, > > it is > > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In > > May 2005, a > > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration > > for equal > > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and > > took them to > > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma > > Jahangir, a U.N. > > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human > > Rights > > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence > > official > > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the > > (expletive) a > > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her > > shirt off and > > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, > > the Kargil > > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated > > country. > > > > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of > > Hindu women > > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two > > other > > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According > > to > > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly > > occupied in > > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students > > studying in > > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. > > > > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the > > Baloch > > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, > > in > > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are > > several > > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released > > after hefty > > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch > > elements and > > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that > > the Hindus > > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. > > Only in 2009 > > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. > > Only three > > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in > > cash, but paid > > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, > > continue to > > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where > > Pakistan > > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President > > Musharraf in > > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely > > degraded > > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is > > unknown, > > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the > > unrest in > > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups > > have > > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and > > destroyed Hindu > > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly > > school > > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. > > > > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one > > hundred and > > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when > > Pakistan’s Frontier > > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, > > rockets, and > > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were > > innocent > > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti > > tribesmen > > > > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley > > of Hingol > > river is however, respected by the Baloch political > > leaders. In 2008 > > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency > > to confirm > > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. > > Balochistan’s > > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo > > and other > > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the > > assembly > > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam > > being > > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where > > an annual > > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly > > resolution warned > > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under > > water > > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of > > all Hindus. > > It requested the federal government to have the dam > > constructed > > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the > > Hindus in Sind > > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally > > enjoy trust of > > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure > > from Punjabi > > settlers. > > > > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways > > that Hindu, > > Sikh and Christian students are automatically > > discriminated. Extracts, > > translated from Urdu to English, from the > > government-sponsored > > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the > > Federal > > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and > > inflammatory > > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: > > > > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good > > things, and > > the Hindus did not respect women.” > > Grade V: “The Hindu has always been an enemy of > > Islam.” > > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and > > cruelty.” > > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as > > a nation and > > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim > > culture and > > civilization.” > > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery > > all over the world.” > > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and > > brotherhood…There is no > > such concept in Hinduism.” > > > > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani > > system. > > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees > > fundamental human > > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. > > However, > > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen > > shall have the > > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall > > be freedom > > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions > > imposed by law in > > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, > > security or > > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of > > Islam in the > > country. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article > > 20 which > > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, > > practice and > > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination > > and every > > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain > > and manage > > its religious institutions.” Unfortunately, Hindus, > > Sikhs, > > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in > > Pakistan > > today despite the assurance provided by the > > Constitution. Temples are > > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk > > persecution, > > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. > > > > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens > > are equal > > before law and are entitled to equal protection of > > law…There shall be > > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.” Rape, > > honor killings, > > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the > > women of > > Pakistan face. Despite the constitutional guarantee > > of equal > > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as > > the > > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. > > They continue to > > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and > > will > > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not > > repealed. > > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the > > marriage, the > > family, the mother and the child.” Article 36 > > states, “The State > > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of > > minorities, > > including their due representation in the Federal and > > Provincial > > services.” In reality, however, neither families > > nor minorities are > > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced > > conversions > > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the > > felons. > > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or > > signing > > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political > > Rights (CCPR), > > although it did ratify the International Convention on the > > Elimination > > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, > > 1966. > > > > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some > > visible > > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are > > more > > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice > > green > > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus > > are > > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, > > night soil > > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the > > appointment of > > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on > > Quran) no > > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder > > in the > > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of > > national > > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks > > on the > > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this > > essay. > > > > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan > > have organized > > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and > > other causes > > with the provincial and federal governments: > > > > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha > > > > * Pakistan Hindu Council > > > > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) > > > > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat > > > > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) > > > > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association > > > > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) > > > > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha > > > > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces > > important > > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the > > provincial > > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and > > political leaders. > > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad > > representative body > > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights > > activists in > > Pakistan. > > > > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other > > Hindu MNAs > > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest > > against highly > > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court > > judge. > > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that > > Hindus were > > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu > > members of > > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest > > on Wednesday. > > > > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt > > by Justice > > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan > > People’s Party > > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu > > lawmakers who > > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, > > joined in. > > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s > > national > > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the > > remark > > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of > > Afghan Taliban > > leaders on Monday. > > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s > > observation that a > > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in > > Pakistan, including > > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him > > saying, > > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in > > Pakistan. > > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” > > > > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for > > intervention from > > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza > > Gilani, > > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of > > Pakistani Hindus > > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme > > Court chief > > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the > > “highly > > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to > > the assembly > > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on > > March 18. > > 2010. > > > > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic > > community-slightly more > > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana > > Sahib and a > > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is > > more than 96% > > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, > > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic > > inspector from > > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, > > a poetess > > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban > > rampage in > > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and > > settled with > > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. > > > > They were again uprooted from FATA area when > > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan > > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) > > as Jizya. > > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released > > after > > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted > > Sikhs are > > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA > > locations. > > > > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The > > Sikh temple > > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims > > in August > > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > reader-list mailing list > reader-list at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 > ******************************************* > -- Thank you, Jigish Parikh. http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Thu Mar 18 18:26:14 2010 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:26:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Protest to mark World Water Day, Monday, March 22nd. Message-ID: <564b2fca1003180556m19e34b35pc1e84b821d87278b@mail.gmail.com> WATER FOR ALL, SAFE WATER FOR ALL JALSAMVAAD (A recently formed collective comprising organizations working on issues of water equity in Delhi and beyond) invites ALL to come together and mark World Water Day on Monday, the 22nd of March. 1. A call for united action on water issues in Delhi- listening, learning, dialogue. 2. A Call for equity and equal access of quality water for all. Does Delhi want water at the cost of other people? Program: 4:45-5 Assemble at Indraprastha Post Office on Bahadurshah Marg, near ITO 6:30-7:30 Film screening and discussion at Sannidhi opposite Samata Sthal, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg. For further info, contact: Tarini 9350163480 Vimal Bhai 9891814707 Arun Bidani 9313942460 -- The Groundwater Up Project www.groundwaterup.com Intercultural Resources, Delhi -- The Groundwater Up Project www.groundwaterup.com Intercultural Resources, Delhi From shankhajeet at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 12:32:03 2010 From: shankhajeet at gmail.com (shankhajeet de) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:32:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Film Appreciation workshop by P. K. Nair at Twilight Film Club, Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi Message-ID: <668dbb3d1003220002g7f2767b9r1f04bc7ae0765495@mail.gmail.com> Twilight Film Club of Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication organizes a 5 day introductory workshop on Film appreciation with legendary film historian and archivist P. K. Nair. This course will initiate the participants into better understanding of cinematic expression with a historical over view. The workshop will be held from 9.30 am – 8.30pm I Monday 29th March – Friday 2nd April 2010. The workshop requires online registration atwww.sac.ac.in/fapkn10 along with a participation fee of Rs. 2,500/- and Rs.1,500/- for alumni of SACAC. The seats are limited and the last date of registration is Saturday 27th March 2010. -- Shankhajeet De 0 - 9313012087 Deputy Director - Academics Twilight Film Festival Coordinator Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication www.sac.ac.in From 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com Mon Mar 22 12:34:46 2010 From: 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com (Taha Mehmood) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:04:46 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Faiz=2C_Iqbal_Bano_resonate_in_Ind?= =?windows-1252?q?ia=92s_Maoist_heartland?= In-Reply-To: <23720.75712.qm@web51407.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <23720.75712.qm@web51407.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <65be9bf41003220004j3afa8329naff884e2ba0a4536@mail.gmail.com> Dear Yousuf, Thanks for this. I think from the perspective of UIDAI, this is an important article. I have tried to juxtapose the views of Arundhati with Nilekani. Please have a look Warm regards Taha Regarding poverty- (a cause) Arundhati writes- The Constitution ratified colonial policy and made the State custodian of tribal homelands. Overnight, it turned the entire tribal population into squatters on their own land. It denied them their traditional rights to forest produce, it criminalised a whole way of life. In exchange for the right to vote, it snatched away their right to livelihood and dignity. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264738 Nandan Nilekani says- “We definitely think it (Unique Identity Number) has great value, especially for the poor and the marginalised, because they are the ones that are suffering today due to the lack of acknowledged existence by the state,” http://ibnlive.in.com/news/unique-identity-project-nilekani-says-privacy-safe/110831-3.html Regarding Identity- (an effect) Arundhati's description- He said his name was Mangtu. I soon learned that Dandakaranya, the forest I was about to enter, was full of people who had many names and fluid identities. It was like balm to me, that idea. How lovely not to be stuck with yourself, to become someone else for a while. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264738 Nandan Nilekani's argument- I think there are many roles for technology, particularly information technology, in the Indian context. First, we can use it for better delivery of public services – whether it is government, health care, education, or whatever. Second, we can use technology for identifying beneficiaries, especially the poor, so the correct people get entitlements from government. http://www.ciol.com/News/Interviews/Nandan-Nilekani-Exporting-Indian-innovation/9709122087/0/ Arundhati's reportage- As part of the Hindutva drive, the names of villages were changed in land records, as a result of which most have two names now, people’s names and government names. Innar village, for example, became Chinnari. On voters’ lists, tribal names were changed to Hindu names. (Massa Karma became Mahendra Karma.) Those who did not come forward to join the Hindu fold were declared ‘Katwas’ (by which they meant untouchables) who later became the natural constituency for the Maoists. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264738-0 My dilemma- Sarkaari Logic- To provide marginalized people with goods we need to identify the marginalized. A unique ID number is a token of that identification. Arundhati's intervention- Marginalized have multiple identities. My questions- Assuming Arundhati is describing a reality as it is, if it's true then how is Mr. Nilekani's team going to identify the most marginalized people of India? People who are so frustrated with the State that they have taken up arms against it? If the poorest of the poor in India, are rendered uniquely unidentifiable because of various practices of governance then what is the moral legitimacy of an organization like UIDAI? Why waste public money? From c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 15:53:00 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:53:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> Message-ID: <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> "SC/ST (or say adivasi, shudra and others) and even Muslims also are poor for their own reason and don't want to come out of their fence, don’t want to amalgamate with India and don't want to develop themselves." Aren't you really fortunate to type these words on a reader's forum and get away with it? I guess this is your yardstick then. You are one of those who will not only knock off people from the road but also make sure that they are maimed for rest of their lives. Because you have very categorically stated that essentially people are oppressed because of their own fault. This is deplorable. And you are writing in defence of Gujarat and its people. what a lie! On 3/22/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Dear Rakesh/Malik, > > Aam admi is applicable to all including poor to middle/upper middle class. > You can fool the people once but you can't fool them all the time. Lalu > tried to fool the people all the time, but one get success with this for > some time but not all the time. Someone, arguing that he succeeded as > railway minister, but railway reform was ongoing process and whoever will be > there as railway minister would have been done it. Since 20 years of rule, > he proved wrong in Bihar with his administration, there is no question to > give credit to him as railway minister. No doubt curtsey acknowledgement > given by congress leaders/PM as an important ally is different thing. > > SC/ST (or say adivasi, shudra and others) and even Muslims also are poor for > their own reason and don't want to come out of their fence, don’t want to > amalgamate with India and don't want to develop themselves. They are having > much more children and could not able to take care of them upto the standard > and remain poor. Even I have heard from many SC/ST families that we will > produce more children since govt. reserves job for us so not to worry. So, > reservation policy is actually act as a tool of population increment. Think > over it positively. Due to more children, they are unable to give proper > education, personalize care and remain backward in humanity also. (we talk > to increase HDI in this situation is remote possibility) Those who comes out > of their fence are definitely came up and living their healthy life. You > will find many such families not only in city even in the villages. For all > these if you can make survey, I am sure you will find that they are having > small family of maximum 2 or 3 children and one wife. Adivasi don't allow > industry or development in their area and they willingly like to live with > his traditional way of living. In the situation will you think any govt. can > do anything? > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Rakesh Iyer > Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2010 12:36 AM > To: A.K. Malik > Cc: Sarai List > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE > > > > Dear Malik > > > > My views: > > > > 1) I would like to clarify here about one point you made that I may feel > > that Lalu is a better CM than Nitish. I don't agree on it one bit. Lalu > > Yadav made a mess of Bihar in ways which only he could have done. And I do > > agree that Nitish has brought a change in Bihar. But to believe that Nitish > > is doing wonders is a farcical argument. > > > > 2) The common man won't perceive anything different from the statistics I > > put up, contrary to what you may believe. The problem with most newspapers > > and famous magazines and site links (from where most of the people on this > > forum seem to post articles) is that they think that the middle class > > working person is the aam aadmi. That is not the aam aadmi I refer to, > > although the person is as human as the poor who I refer to as the aam aadmi. > > > > > > And when there is development, people feel it. It's not like something > > invisible like a ghost, which people can't understand. > > > > And hence, you should have taken some time going through the statistics > > rather than just writing a mail in haste. (My request or suggestion, > > depending on how you take it) > > > > 3) Many people admonish the Lalu regime for many reasons. What people > > however forget was the one decisive thing which Lalu gave to the backwards > > and the oppressed castes, be it Dalits, Musahars or even tribals: sense of > > dignity. Lalu meant dignity for them. He managed to win elections because > > they knew that an upper caste ruling the state would mean upper castes > > raping their women and destroying their dignity. Lalu rule brought that down > > to a degree. Add to that the sense of protection he gave to Muslims, and you > > get to understand why he was considered invincible. > > > > Ironically, Lalu lost because of himself. Once he allowed this measure of > > dignity the oppressed castes wanted development (which meant better > > education and health services). Instead he promoted corruption and > > deterioration of law and order. > > > > Most importantly, an upper caste CM candidate from the opposition would have > > brought Lalu again. But Nitish Kumar is from a backward caste, which is why > > the other oppressed castes thought that he would ensure their sense of > > dignity remains. > > > > However, figures prove otherwise. Infact, the cases on domestic violence and > > violence against women in general have increased under Nitish rule, whereas > > under Lalu, it was the kidnapping industry which was much more in the news. > > > > Please read another issue on law and order here, on this link. > > > > http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?653718 > > > > I have a request again for all here on forum of Sarai. Instead of making > > generalized useless statements, let's come out with facts and then debate. > > And if you are instead only harping on your idea being right without facts > > to support you, then please, don't expect me to believe you (howsoever much > > others may be impressed with your jargon of words) > > > > 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 rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 16:06:54 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:06:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Bipin jee My views: 1) I have already stated and I would repeat it: let us debate and discuss not through using perceptions (although they are important and their forming is not wrong), but through statistics or logical arguments. To state that SC/ST and Muslims are poor because of themselves, without any statistic to back you, or any logical arguments doesn't bring about any value of the things which you have said, to this debate or discussion. The same can be said about the rest of the mail too, particularly when reservation is being claimed as a method to increase one's own section of the population. 2) Secondly, the very subject title as tarnishing Gujarat's image is absolutely wrong. Different people can have different images of Gujarat. For a person like you, Gujarat may be in the Golden era. For me, it can be in the Disaster era. For someone else, it may be same as say Maharashtra. Gujarat has as many images as people wish to see. Just because my thoughts or my reading or interpretation of events doesn't support your image of Gujarat, doesn't mean that the image of Gujarat is tarnished. (though in your eyes it may remain that way because how I look at it doesn't support your theory or perception) Yes, you can say that lies are being spread about Gujarat. But to the best of my knowledge, there are no lies being spread about Gujarat on this forum. I, and even others, have used data from relevant and authentic sources to put across the same. 3) The arguments made by you make it seem like you are an insider in administrative politics. I am not one to comment on whether Railway reform was ongoing or not, and right now I don't have facts (or the time to find them out) regarding railway reforms being carried out or not. What I do know about Laloo being the Railway Minister is this: i) all long distance trains were declared as Superfast trains by him, and hence for each train, passengers who reserved seats had to pay the Superfast charge. This was not the case before he became the Railway Minister. ii) Earlier, for freight transport, there were certain restrictions to be followed as per law, regarding the tonnage limits of any wagon. These were relaxed. The end result was higher earnings of the Railways Ministry. I even don't know what's the argument about accounting formula used under him, which was brought to notice by Mamata Banerjee in her white paper. 4) I haven't met anybody in my life who believes that due to reservation being provided to his/her community, he/she should produce more children. So I can't comment on that. May be you can advise such people to understand such things are dubious for their own health and their own economic standards. Rakesh From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Mon Mar 22 16:26:33 2010 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de ([artNET}) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:56:33 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?Program_-_week_13_-_NewMediaFest=272?= =?iso-8859-1?q?010?= Message-ID: <20100322115633.5EDB555E.9545A6DB@192.168.0.3> NewMediaFest'2010 ------------------------------------- Program - week 13 -->22-28 March 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=695 ------------------------------------- 1. Feature of the Month March 2010 Violence Online Festival - 2002-2004 hundreds of artists reflect the phenomenon of violence - on 18 March 2003, the war started simultaneously online and in Iraq in physical space more details on http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=647 2. JIP - JavaMuseum Interview Project- a series of interviews with artists and experts in the fields of netart, electronic and digital art this week --> Alex Perl (USA), Carla Della Beffa (Italy), Genco Gulan (Turkey) Humberto Ramirez (USA), Tamara Lai (Belgium), Philippe Langlois (F), Robert Sloon (RSA) 3. VIP - VideoChannel Interview Project- a series of interviews - with film and videomakers participating in VideoChannel - this week: : Margarida Paiva (Portugal), Gabriel Shalom (USA), Marco Battista (Slovenia) Mara Castillho (UK), Hervé Constant (UK), Yoko Fukushima (Japan), Elyasaf Kowner (Israel) 4. Daily and weekly features of film & videoart CologneOFF IV - 4th Cologne Online Film Festival 2008 was standing under theme:- Here We Are! - complete festival program to be presented in daily features - starting on 1 February 2010 - -->this week: Martina Skender (Croatia), Antti Salvela (Sweden), Felipe Matilla Alonso (Spain), Ebert Brothers (Germany), Liu Wei (China), Sam Holden (UK), Nicole Rademacher (USA) ------------------------------------------------------------- NewMediaFest'2010 10 Years [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne global heritage of digital culture 1 January - 31 December 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org director and chief curator: Wilfried Agricola de Cologne calls for entries --> http://2010.newmediafest.org/?page_id=78 2010 [at] newmediafest.org ---------------------------------------------------- Join NewMediaFest'2010 on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=404197070650 ---------------------------------------------------- From c.anupam at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 16:33:02 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:33:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE In-Reply-To: References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <341380d01003220403u3e74014u6d4272d7fda4088c@mail.gmail.com> Who are you people to decide whether Gujarat's image is tarnished or not? Why are you bothered about a thing like image? When you say, "Image", it also means that something deliberately constructed so that it appears as one whole. >From the above discussion, it appears that if people are suffering in a given geographical area, its image is going down. so this discussion is aimed to attract more foreign investments to Gujarat? isnt? how parochial can you get here by discussing an issue with such a heading? Gujarat belongs to me too. I have suffered, enjoyed and experienced the people here in all hues -- if i bring forth certain issues pertaining to its people, am i tarnishing its image? that means there is something to hide. that means there is one set of people, who are hellbent on covering up the real issues of people by invoking this one image...that should be constant all the time. On 3/22/10, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Dear Bipin jee > > My views: > > 1) I have already stated and I would repeat it: let us debate and discuss > not through using perceptions (although they are important and their forming > is not wrong), but through statistics or logical arguments. To state that > SC/ST and Muslims are poor because of themselves, without any statistic to > back you, or any logical arguments doesn't bring about any value of the > things which you have said, to this debate or discussion. > > The same can be said about the rest of the mail too, particularly when > reservation is being claimed as a method to increase one's own section of > the population. > > 2) Secondly, the very subject title as tarnishing Gujarat's image is > absolutely wrong. Different people can have different images of Gujarat. For > a person like you, Gujarat may be in the Golden era. For me, it can be in > the Disaster era. For someone else, it may be same as say Maharashtra. > Gujarat has as many images as people wish to see. Just because my thoughts > or my reading or interpretation of events doesn't support your image of > Gujarat, doesn't mean that the image of Gujarat is tarnished. (though in > your eyes it may remain that way because how I look at it doesn't support > your theory or perception) > > Yes, you can say that lies are being spread about Gujarat. But to the best > of my knowledge, there are no lies being spread about Gujarat on this forum. > I, and even others, have used data from relevant and authentic sources to > put across the same. > > 3) The arguments made by you make it seem like you are an insider in > administrative politics. I am not one to comment on whether Railway reform > was ongoing or not, and right now I don't have facts (or the time to find > them out) regarding railway reforms being carried out or not. What I do know > about Laloo being the Railway Minister is this: > > i) all long distance trains were declared as Superfast trains by him, and > hence for each train, passengers who reserved seats had to pay the Superfast > charge. This was not the case before he became the Railway Minister. > > ii) Earlier, for freight transport, there were certain restrictions to be > followed as per law, regarding the tonnage limits of any wagon. These were > relaxed. > > The end result was higher earnings of the Railways Ministry. I even don't > know what's the argument about accounting formula used under him, which was > brought to notice by Mamata Banerjee in her white paper. > > 4) I haven't met anybody in my life who believes that due to reservation > being provided to his/her community, he/she should produce more children. So > I can't comment on that. May be you can advise such people to understand > such things are dubious for their own health and their own economic > standards. > > Rakesh > From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 16:46:06 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:46:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] SIMI terror threatens Gujarat, cops on alert Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003220416m64304db9m677c4028455c15fd@mail.gmail.com> The Gujarat Police has issued an alert following an intelligence input that the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) could launch a terror strike in the state. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89365/India/SIMI+terror+threatens+Gujarat,+cops+on+alert.html The Intelligence Bureau (IB) had warned that SIMI had resumed its covert activities in the state. The alert has been forwarded to all district headquarters and police stations by the Gujarat Police. Vadodara and Surat have been specially put on the radar. According to IB sources, SIMI has started operating under a pseudonym 'Wahadat-e-Islami' and is recruiting local youths. Under the guise of social work for educational institutes and hospitals, SIMI cadres are networking with unemployed youth to indoctrinate and recruit them. The SIMI members were in contact with the Pakistan-based Al Sabab group operating from the Maldives. The input has been corroborated by Salman, an Indian Mujahideen operative arrested recently From javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 16:57:05 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:57:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Jigish and Malik You are right and I agree that we should wait for the law to take its own course. Why should we worry about it if we have the law - we should be concerned with many other problems of the country, such as what Jigish ji pointed out. But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order could be ensured, we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra was an unfortunate incident which probably took place even before law and police could reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after the Godhra incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to happen since we are in a country where law and order machinery is supposed to work to prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be controlled, and for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will again take its course and treat everyone with justice. We all know that Modi is too arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings and is thus avoiding SIT. This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" as you mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for people who have been affected in the riot. And this is not just for what happened in the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns the future of this country. If politicians want to go to any extreme (including abetting communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as important for everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or whatever. Thanks Javed On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh wrote: > Mr. Javed, > Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I fully agree with Mr. > Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination with certain personalities > and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH more pressing issues in > our country to worry about. One such is tragic/vision-less policies in the > foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of Congress party have no clue how > to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in London and having no plan > B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian Embassy in Kabul, they look > stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally to Pakistan for peace > dialogue without explanation to the country for such sudden change in > foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror infrastructure or handing > over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is Defence ministry which is > stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our forces. NEVER explaining why > every year funds allocated are returned unused despite the dire need of > equipments/modernization/weapons/resources.  Let's talk such important > issues without meddling in what is less of a problem for nation for NOW. > Jigish. > >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) >> From: "A.K. Malik" >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of >>        SIT >> To: Javed >> Cc: Sarai List >> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >> >> Dear Mr Javed, >>              The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law >> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors >> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is >> to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a >> case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished >> according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights >> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary >> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to >> Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to >> play POLITICS. >> Regards, >> >> (A.K.MALIK) >> >> >> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: >> >> > From: Javed >> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT >> > To: "sarai list" >> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM >> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi >> > avoids SIT team >> > >> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST >> > >> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi >> > for not >> > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat >> > riots case, >> > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and >> > showed that he >> > "loves to hide". >> > >> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it >> > shows the >> > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the >> > apex court," >> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. >> > >> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is >> > contemptuous >> > and would show that he loves to hide," he said >> > >> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint >> > filed by Zakia >> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 >> > Gulburg >> > society riots case. >> > >> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on >> > advertisements, >> > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin >> > Pilot said >> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self >> > praise". >> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in >> > the state, >> > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had >> > launched any >> > scheme. >> > >> > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in >> > ensuring jobs >> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural >> > development. UPA >> > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance >> > for jobless, >> > Pilot said. >> > >> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a >> > great skill to >> > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake >> > claims. >> > >> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer >> > saying there is >> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has >> > slapped 23% >> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. >> > >> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister >> > Narendra Modi >> > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in >> > connection with >> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall >> > act as per >> > the law". >> > >> > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme >> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP >> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. >> > >> > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall >> > act as per >> > the law. This government has always supported and respected >> > the law >> > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the >> > Supreme Court >> > order and directions," he told PTI. >> > >> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an >> > attempt to tarnish Modi. >> > >> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to >> > malign an >> > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader >> > in the >> > country," Rudy said. >> > >> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last >> > week saying >> > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the >> > Prime >> > Minister. >> > >> > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in >> > an >> > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works >> > being >> > carried out in Gujarat. >> > >> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a >> > complaint of Zakia >> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by >> > a mob >> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. >> > >> > >> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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/> >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Message: 2 >> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) >> From: "A.K. Malik" >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The >>        Vanishing       Communities >> To: Pawan Durani >> Cc: Sarai List >> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >> >> Dear Mr Durani, >>               If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all >> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This >> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any >> noise on this news item? >> Regards, >> >> (A.K.MALIK) >> >> >> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> >> > From: Pawan Durani >> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing >> > Communities >> > To: "reader-list" >> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM >> > "In a recent investigative report it >> > is described how young girls, as >> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >> > to Islam, >> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >> > girls like this >> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >> > sign >> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >> > said Laljee >> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >> > of village >> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >> > taken >> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >> > Larkana >> > districts." >> > >> > >> > Source : >> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ >> > >> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: >> > Latest, Opinion >> > and Editorials | >> > >> > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani >> > journalist friend. >> > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, >> > where >> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated >> > I noticed >> > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest >> > incidents of >> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling >> > Chakma tribals >> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a >> > preliminary >> > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in >> > Pakistan. I >> > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani >> > Christians. >> > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and >> > Ahmadiya >> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require >> > international >> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary >> > has so far >> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and >> > Ahmadiya >> > communities. >> > >> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights >> > Commission and >> > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed >> > the pitiable >> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are >> > drowned in >> > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also >> > ashamed of these >> > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing >> > visitations >> > by the ISI goons. >> > >> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, >> > called >> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, >> > for which he >> > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct >> > Action Pogrom >> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national >> > minorities, after 3 >> > millions were killed in communal riots and several million >> > escaped to >> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to >> > your temples, >> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place >> > of worship >> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or >> > caste or >> > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the >> > State…We are >> > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all >> > citizens and >> > equal citizens of our State.” >> > >> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal >> > Muslim leader >> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah >> > Kathiawadi >> > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta >> > visit, >> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic >> > attitude of the >> > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a >> > Shia), but >> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue >> > Muslim >> > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the >> > person who >> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central >> > Legislative >> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or >> > organized the >> > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless >> > suppression of the >> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the >> > Governor >> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of >> > Jinnah’s bunches of >> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in >> > collaboration with >> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the >> > Mountbatten Plan >> > for partition, backing out from original agreement that >> > Mountbatten >> > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan >> > and >> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a >> > day of >> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). >> > >> > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and >> > falsehood >> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority >> > was then and >> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a >> > democrat he would >> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop >> > killing of the >> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he >> > assumed the gaddi >> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since >> > Jinnah the >> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and >> > now they >> > have become an endangered community. Those interested may >> > read Jinnah >> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report >> > on the Last >> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. >> > >> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of >> > Pakistan was >> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, >> > Balochistan, >> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and >> > Assam and >> > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan >> > theory of >> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to >> > amalgamate >> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. >> > >> > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in >> > the absence >> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he >> > had >> > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem >> > of >> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous >> > situation in >> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the >> > national >> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the >> > national >> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath >> > Azad, son of >> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days >> > before the >> > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first >> > national anthem. It >> > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that >> > Jinnah >> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to >> > write the >> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national >> > anthem composed by >> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great >> > disrespect to >> > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers >> > correctly >> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu >> > elixir. >> > >> > >> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source >> > Wikipedia) >> > >> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of >> > Pakistan was >> > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total >> > population. For >> > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was >> > 450,000, of >> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, >> > Karachi’s population >> > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of >> > 600,000 Muslim >> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of >> > Karachi was 96% >> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu >> > population in all >> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would >> > certainly be >> > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic >> > trends and >> > further diminution of Hindu population. >> > >> > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly >> > over 4,924 >> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population >> > is 1,921. >> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military >> > operations >> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand >> > of Jizya, a >> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. >> > >> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for >> > freedom of >> > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes >> > limits on this >> > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan >> > proclaimed itself >> > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has >> > become a >> > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle >> > for separate >> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the >> > Hindus and >> > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with >> > hatred >> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to >> > law, public >> > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. >> > Actions or >> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not >> > protected. >> > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be >> > consistent >> > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both >> > Muslims >> > and religious minorities. This observation has been >> > supported even by >> > the U.S. State Department’s report on International >> > Religious Freedom >> > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani >> > Christians >> > the IRF had expressed similar views. >> > >> > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia >> > injunctions >> > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other >> > minorities in >> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates >> > the death >> > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration >> > of the >> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, >> > and the >> > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions >> > once the >> > accusation has been made, although most such allegations >> > of >> > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March >> > 24, 2005, >> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating >> > the mention >> > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. >> > The >> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz >> > in chair, >> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the >> > rule after >> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. >> > The move was >> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), >> > a coalition >> > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s >> > former >> > President General Pervez Musharraf. >> > >> > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming >> > pace in >> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights >> > Commission of >> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued >> > Islamization of >> > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the >> > 1980s. >> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the >> > rights of >> > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and >> > Ahmadiyas, >> > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the >> > fear of >> > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their >> > places of >> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of >> > death. >> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s >> > Muslims winning by >> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by >> > threatening it, by >> > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out >> > or >> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” >> > >> > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by >> > the >> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni >> > militant >> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the >> > large-scale >> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His >> > report is an >> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to >> > agree on a >> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called >> > heads of all >> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of >> > a Muslim. >> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of >> > our >> > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard >> > of the >> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, >> > New age Islam. >> > >> > Violence against women in general continues throughout the >> > world, but >> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. >> > Violence >> > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor >> > killings, and >> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two >> > hours on >> > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor >> > killings. Moreover, >> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison >> > thousands of >> > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of >> > laws that >> > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the >> > then >> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended >> > “to bring in >> > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects >> > of the >> > criminal justice system and make certain offences >> > punishable by hadd, >> > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy >> > Quran or Sunnah.” >> > >> > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of >> > Hudood) >> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February >> > 1979, preamble >> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . >> > The laws >> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences >> > of Zina >> > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf >> > (wrongful >> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property >> > and >> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the >> > Ordinance, whenever >> > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse >> > without being >> > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina >> > Ordinance. >> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally >> > meaning ‘forced >> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred >> > without the >> > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina >> > Ordinance >> > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. >> > >> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four >> > male >> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. >> > If the >> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped >> > for >> > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is >> > banned in >> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human >> > rights >> > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, >> > the Pakistan >> > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not >> > forgotten the >> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international >> > indignation. >> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the >> > majority >> > sections of people in a country that still lives in the >> > barbaric >> > Middle Ages. >> > >> > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and >> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration >> > and >> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting >> > of Hindu >> > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu >> > females. >> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted >> > human rights >> > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the >> > continued >> > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also >> > because reports >> > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local >> > media or >> > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register >> > cases >> > reported by Hindu victims. >> > >> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind >> > province, is >> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to >> > convert to >> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and >> > kidnapping >> > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On >> > September 14, >> > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter >> > in Sind, >> > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to >> > Islam. The >> > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court >> > dismissed the >> > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement >> > that she >> > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a >> > legislator >> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should >> > be >> > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an >> > offense for >> > the abductors. >> > >> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine >> > in the >> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married >> > man and >> > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi >> > Abdul Aziz >> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and >> > married her >> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, >> > Muslim extremists >> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. >> > Sapna, >> > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her >> > parents, >> > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, >> > is claimed >> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain >> > contact with >> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” >> > >> > In a recent investigative report it is described how young >> > girls, as >> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >> > to Islam, >> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >> > girls like this >> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >> > sign >> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >> > said Laljee >> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >> > of village >> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >> > taken >> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >> > Larkana >> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for >> > Interior, had >> > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was >> > quoted by the >> > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are >> > taking place >> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been >> > living for >> > the past 5,000 years.” >> > >> > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young >> > Hindu girls >> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena >> > (21), Usha >> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, >> > a Hindu >> > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, >> > Pakistan – went >> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely >> > circulated report >> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion >> > losses,” the >> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, >> > described the shock >> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned >> > home after >> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters >> > had >> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to >> > the police, >> > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ >> > conversions to >> > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from >> > chaperones and >> > even police officers that have supervised their only >> > interactions thus >> > far, have been consistently denied. After their >> > disappearance from >> > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic >> > seminary) in >> > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied >> > the freedom >> > to return home. >> > >> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she >> > was >> > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of >> > providing her >> > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into >> > unconsciousness for >> > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric >> > hospital to >> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence >> > of >> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in >> > Karachi. >> > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her >> > house meant >> > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband >> > has stood >> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi >> > disgraced >> > the family and should be killed. >> > >> > Although violence against women transcends their religion, >> > it is >> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In >> > May 2005, a >> > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration >> > for equal >> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and >> > took them to >> > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma >> > Jahangir, a U.N. >> > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human >> > Rights >> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence >> > official >> > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the >> > (expletive) a >> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her >> > shirt off and >> > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, >> > the Kargil >> > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated >> > country. >> > >> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of >> > Hindu women >> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two >> > other >> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According >> > to >> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly >> > occupied in >> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students >> > studying in >> > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. >> > >> > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the >> > Baloch >> > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, >> > in >> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are >> > several >> > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released >> > after hefty >> > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch >> > elements and >> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that >> > the Hindus >> > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. >> > Only in 2009 >> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. >> > Only three >> > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in >> > cash, but paid >> > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, >> > continue to >> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where >> > Pakistan >> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President >> > Musharraf in >> > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely >> > degraded >> > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is >> > unknown, >> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the >> > unrest in >> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups >> > have >> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and >> > destroyed Hindu >> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly >> > school >> > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. >> > >> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one >> > hundred and >> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when >> > Pakistan’s Frontier >> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, >> > rockets, and >> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were >> > innocent >> > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti >> > tribesmen >> > >> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley >> > of Hingol >> > river is however, respected by the Baloch political >> > leaders. In 2008 >> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency >> > to confirm >> > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. >> > Balochistan’s >> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo >> > and other >> > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the >> > assembly >> > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam >> > being >> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where >> > an annual >> > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly >> > resolution warned >> > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under >> > water >> > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of >> > all Hindus. >> > It requested the federal government to have the dam >> > constructed >> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the >> > Hindus in Sind >> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally >> > enjoy trust of >> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure >> > from Punjabi >> > settlers. >> > >> > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways >> > that Hindu, >> > Sikh and Christian students are automatically >> > discriminated. Extracts, >> > translated from Urdu to English, from the >> > government-sponsored >> > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the >> > Federal >> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and >> > inflammatory >> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: >> > >> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good >> > things, and >> > the Hindus did not respect women.” >> > Grade V:  “The Hindu has always been an enemy of >> > Islam.” >> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and >> > cruelty.” >> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as >> > a nation and >> > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim >> > culture and >> > civilization.” >> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery >> > all over the world.” >> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and >> > brotherhood…There is no >> > such concept in Hinduism.” >> > >> > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani >> > system. >> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees >> > fundamental human >> > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. >> > However, >> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen >> > shall have the >> > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall >> > be freedom >> > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions >> > imposed by law in >> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, >> > security or >> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of >> > Islam in the >> > country.  Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article >> > 20 which >> > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, >> > practice and >> > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination >> > and every >> > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain >> > and manage >> > its religious institutions.”  Unfortunately, Hindus, >> > Sikhs, >> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in >> > Pakistan >> > today despite the assurance provided by the >> > Constitution.  Temples are >> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk >> > persecution, >> > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. >> > >> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens >> > are equal >> > before law and are entitled to equal protection of >> > law…There shall be >> > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.”  Rape, >> > honor killings, >> > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the >> > women of >> > Pakistan face.  Despite the constitutional guarantee >> > of equal >> > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as >> > the >> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. >> > They continue to >> > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and >> > will >> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not >> > repealed. >> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the >> > marriage, the >> > family, the mother and the child.”  Article 36 >> > states, “The State >> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of >> > minorities, >> > including their due representation in the Federal and >> > Provincial >> > services.”  In reality, however, neither families >> > nor minorities are >> > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced >> > conversions >> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the >> > felons. >> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or >> > signing >> > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political >> > Rights (CCPR), >> > although it did ratify the International Convention on the >> > Elimination >> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, >> > 1966. >> > >> > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some >> > visible >> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are >> > more >> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice >> > green >> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus >> > are >> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, >> > night soil >> > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the >> > appointment of >> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on >> > Quran) no >> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder >> > in the >> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of >> > national >> > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks >> > on the >> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this >> > essay. >> > >> > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan >> > have organized >> > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and >> > other causes >> > with the provincial and federal governments: >> > >> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha >> > >> > * Pakistan Hindu Council >> > >> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) >> > >> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat >> > >> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) >> > >> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association >> > >> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) >> > >> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha >> > >> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces >> > important >> > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the >> > provincial >> > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and >> > political leaders. >> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad >> > representative body >> > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights >> > activists in >> > Pakistan. >> > >> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other >> > Hindu MNAs >> > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest >> > against highly >> > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court >> > judge. >> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that >> > Hindus were >> > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu >> > members of >> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest >> > on Wednesday. >> > >> > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt >> > by Justice >> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan >> > People’s Party >> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu >> > lawmakers who >> > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, >> > joined in. >> > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s >> > national >> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the >> > remark >> > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of >> > Afghan Taliban >> > leaders on Monday. >> > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s >> > observation that a >> > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in >> > Pakistan, including >> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him >> > saying, >> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in >> > Pakistan. >> > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” >> > >> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for >> > intervention from >> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza >> > Gilani, >> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of >> > Pakistani Hindus >> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme >> > Court chief >> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the >> > “highly >> > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to >> > the assembly >> > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on >> > March 18. >> > 2010. >> > >> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic >> > community-slightly more >> > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana >> > Sahib and a >> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is >> > more than 96% >> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, >> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic >> > inspector from >> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, >> > a poetess >> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban >> > rampage in >> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and >> > settled with >> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. >> > >> > They were again uprooted from FATA area when >> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan >> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) >> > as Jizya. >> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released >> > after >> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted >> > Sikhs are >> > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA >> > locations. >> > >> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The >> > Sikh temple >> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims >> > in August >> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> reader-list mailing list >> reader-list at sarai.net >> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> >> >> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 >> ******************************************* > > > > -- > Thank you, > Jigish Parikh. > > http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish > From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 17:03:30 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:03:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat Muslims register highest literacy rate Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003220433w29ad299eg9bae5acba30fc009@mail.gmail.com> Gujarat Muslims register highest literacy rate The literacy rate among Muslims in Gujarat has increased by 10 per cent in the last decade and at 73 per cent is higher than the overall literacy rate in the state. Gujarat Muslims: Modi failed to stop progress Julaya Shabnam is the first literate in her family and now is just a year away from becoming the first graduate. Living in Jamalpur in the walled city of Ahmedabad, Julaya's parents ensured that their daughter got a proper education. According to them, education is the only solution to the problems faced by Muslims. "We have to stand on our own legs. The situation is not what it used to be. You can no longer remain an illiterate," said Shamima Bano, a student. While a college for Muslim women in Ahmedabad, which had only 80 students in 1993, today has over 1,000 students. This goes to show the increasing consciousness about importance of education in the community. The Census data too reflects the growing significance of this trend. The literacy rate of Muslims in Gujarat has increased by over 10 per cent in ten years to 73.9 per cent. This is much higher than the state's average of 69.1 per cent and the all-India Muslim literacy rate of 59 per cent. Female literacy too is higher than the national average at 54 per cent. It's a response, social activists say, to the insecurity the community has faced in Gujarat for many years. But instead of being pushed into ghettos, access to colleges and awareness campaigns have meant that even the orthodox sections, chose more liberal education systems to madrasas. "After the Babri mosque demolition there has been a growing consciousness amongst the community on the importance of liberal secular education and this has forced even orthodox people to send their children to liberal education systems," said Dr Hanif Lakdawala, a social activist. Another reason for the high literacy rate among Muslims is due to the rapid urbanisation in Gujarat with Muslims concentrated in many of the bigger cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodra and Surat. "Naturally in urban areas the literacy rate is higher and so in Gujarat the literacy rate amongst Muslims is higher than the all-India Muslim literacy rate," said Dr Jaffer Hussain Laliwala, former Professor of Economics, Gujarat University. While the scars of the communal frenzy of 2002 have not quite healed, the silent literacy revolution in Gujarat is a powerful rejoinder to those who have tried to stereotype the Gujarati Muslim. (ndtv.com) From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 17:04:59 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:04:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Godhra Muslims invite Modi as a Chief Guest in their grand function Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003220434x691c686axea4b51a40557363c@mail.gmail.com> Godhra Muslims invite Modi as a Chief Guest in their grand function By our correspondent Gandhinagar, DeshGujarat, 22 March, 2010 A group of Dawoodi Bohra Muslim leaders today visited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar and invited him to grace the Dawoodi Bohra Chief Priest Dr. Saiyadna Saheb’s 99th Birth day celebration function as a Chief Guest. A grand birth day celebration function of Saiyadna Saheb will be held on 4th April 2010. The Bohras thanked Gujarat Chief Minister for appointment of one of the leading community members Rukaiyaben Gulam Husainwala as BJP’s Panchamahal district national council member. Sheikh Imranbhai, Abbasbhai, Dr. Nuruddin were part of the delegation among others. From subuhimjiwani at yahoo.com Mon Mar 22 17:09:56 2010 From: subuhimjiwani at yahoo.com (Subuhi Jiwani) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:39:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore In-Reply-To: <6df6732b1003210855x97a51fdoba1c758e0562fe9b@mail.gmail.com> References: <130992.74773.qm@web51308.mail.re2.yahoo.com> <6df6732b1003210855x97a51fdoba1c758e0562fe9b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <930076.72755.qm@web51306.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Geeta, Thanks for your response. We're looking for people who can transcribe video in any of the following languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, etc. The videos that are not in English would, as you rightly point out, have to translated as well. Our content is quite diverse and we're constantly adding new material. So, anyone with a knowledge of one or more Indian languages (including those not listed here) and English could apply. We're also open to people who have knowledge of non-Indian languages, such as French and Arabic. Hope that answers your question. Best, Subuhi ____________________ With nothing can one approach a work of art so little as with critical words: they always come down to more or less happy misunderstandings... A work of art is good if it has sprung from necessity. In this nature of its origin lies the judgement of it: there is no other. Rainer Maria Rilke, in a letter to Franz Xaver Kappus, 1903; from 'Letters to a young poet', 1934 ________________________________ From: geeta seshu To: Subuhi Jiwani Sent: Sun, March 21, 2010 9:25:16 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and Bangalore which languages please? geeta seshu On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 12:52 PM, Subuhi Jiwani wrote: Dear all, > >It would wonderful if you could circulate this widely and help us spread the word. > >>Best, > >Subuhi Jiwani >Content Coordinator >Pad.ma(http://pad.ma/) > >----------------------------------- > > >Pad.ma is looking for transcribers and annotators in Mumbai and >>Bangalore > >Pad.ma (Public Access Digital Media Archive, http://pad.ma) >is an interpretative, web-based video archive, which was launched as a public >website in February 2009. It works primarily with footage and not finished >>films. Pad.ma creates access to material which is easily >lost in editing processes, in the filmmaking economy, and in changes of scale >brought about by digital technology. Unlike Youtube, the focus here is on >annotation, cross-linking, downloading and the reuse of video material for >>pedagogy, research and reference. For more, see http://pad.ma/about. > >Pad.ma proposes that film and video-based "production" >can be thought of as an expanded field of activity. For example, as a filmmaker >>publishing video that is not a film, a researcher probing documentary images, a >film editor organising footage using the archive, a writer commenting on one or >many video pieces, or an institution offering material for public use. > >Currently, the archive has some 500 contributions of densely-annotated >video material and 7 days 21 hours >53 minutes 35 seconds of fully transcribed video footage. It contains full-length interviews, footage often >>left out of documentaries, clips from commercial cinema, some finished films, >recordings of theatrical and dance performances, public talks and academic >seminars, etc. It covers a gamut of topics like redevelopment, transport, >>livelihoods, community media, gender, sexuality, surveillance technologies, >CopyLeft, representational politics in cinema, and neighbourhoods in Mumbai, to >name a few. > >For a report on the ways in which users have engaged with Pad.ma, >>see: http://camputer.org/event.php?this=padma09&tab=optBtn2 >(To read through annotations use the 9 and 0 keys to move forwards and >>backwards.) > >A person doing transcription and/or annotation would > >> Prepare videos for exhibition online: Transcribe >them in detail, add keywords and map videos on Google maps. >See ‘Collateral Damage of Breaking News’: http://pad.ma/Vt3ss7b7/editor > >> Assist Pad.ma users and contributors to do >research for their Pad.ma annotations. >See the NGO Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan’s annotations: http://pad.ma/Vtowua9j/L2kv9 > >> Research specific topics that emerge from existing >Pad.ma material and write annotations. >See Lawrence Liang’s critical annotations on cinema: http://pad.ma/Vgpe12kp/editor > >We are looking for people who > >> are passionate about moving images and life around them. >> are keen to do a combination of transcribing, writing and research. >> are comfortable working with computers and people. > >Transcribers and annotators can work out of the offices of CAMP, Mumbai (http://camputer.org/),or the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore >(http://www.altlawforum.org/), or as >>freelancers. They will report on a day-to-day basis to the Pad.ma Content >Coordinator. > >Salary is commensurate with the applicant’s experience. Technical >skills, especially video editing, are a plus but not necessary. We welcome >>applications from working professionals and students, from a variety of fields >and disciplines. > >Please send us your CV and a paragraph >outlining your responses to the Pad.ma project. You can write to the Content >>Coordinator at subuhi at pad.ma. > >***Pad.ma is best viewed in Firefox or Safari. It is not yet compatible >with Internet Explorer.*** > > > >_________________________________________ >>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 aliens at dataone.in Mon Mar 22 17:53:12 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:53:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] no title! In-Reply-To: References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <001101cac9ba$715b7680$54126380$@in> Dear Rakesh, Everything should not see in the eye of statistics. Just use common sense. Unless and until people does not come out of their caste circle, no reservation policy is able to uplift them. They themselves has made fence around them. However, now slowly and gradually people are coming out from their caste factor and this is good sign, but this process is very slow. When they come out from that factor, automatically improve their standard and even no reservation required. Same thing applicable to Muslim. But, for them also things changing and they are lauding their voices and coming out of their leader/imam/clerics trap. if you ask your society man who collects garbage about their no. of children and ask why you don't go for small family you will receive astonishing reply. From many I have received such reply what I have mentioned in earlier mail due to reservation we don't bother for more children since they will get job. Let me ask, how many brothers/sisters are you? I have never said that Gujarat is in golden era. The Hindu today is wide circulated paper and you have taken article published in it and I have not challenged that data, but, I have just said that be updated and when you are putting and arguing something in 2010, don't try to prove something from data published in 2006. That's all. Hindu also publishing the same data of 2006 in 2010, what's meaning of it. They understand well that in 2010 things would have been changed, still they publish it that's objectionable and trying to prove something actually not there today. You are master in searching the data in internet, why don't you search the fact that overloading of wagon tonnage was tried earlier on trial base before Lalu regime and it was on the way to put in practice and Lalu became railway minister coincidently at that time. BY THE WAY, I WAS PUTTING MY POINT ON BIHAR ISSUE THEN WHERE THE GUJARAT COMES IN THE PICTURE I DON'T UNDERSTAND. THAT WAS YOUR MAIL TITLE AND I WAS SIMPLY REPLYING TO YOUR MAIL, SO NATUARALLY WILL HAVE THE SAME TITLE. Thanks Bipin From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 4:07 PM To: anupam chakravartty Cc: Bipin Trivedi; sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE Dear Bipin jee My views: 1) I have already stated and I would repeat it: let us debate and discuss not through using perceptions (although they are important and their forming is not wrong), but through statistics or logical arguments. To state that SC/ST and Muslims are poor because of themselves, without any statistic to back you, or any logical arguments doesn't bring about any value of the things which you have said, to this debate or discussion. The same can be said about the rest of the mail too, particularly when reservation is being claimed as a method to increase one's own section of the population. 2) Secondly, the very subject title as tarnishing Gujarat's image is absolutely wrong. Different people can have different images of Gujarat. For a person like you, Gujarat may be in the Golden era. For me, it can be in the Disaster era. For someone else, it may be same as say Maharashtra. Gujarat has as many images as people wish to see. Just because my thoughts or my reading or interpretation of events doesn't support your image of Gujarat, doesn't mean that the image of Gujarat is tarnished. (though in your eyes it may remain that way because how I look at it doesn't support your theory or perception) Yes, you can say that lies are being spread about Gujarat. But to the best of my knowledge, there are no lies being spread about Gujarat on this forum. I, and even others, have used data from relevant and authentic sources to put across the same. 3) The arguments made by you make it seem like you are an insider in administrative politics. I am not one to comment on whether Railway reform was ongoing or not, and right now I don't have facts (or the time to find them out) regarding railway reforms being carried out or not. What I do know about Laloo being the Railway Minister is this: i) all long distance trains were declared as Superfast trains by him, and hence for each train, passengers who reserved seats had to pay the Superfast charge. This was not the case before he became the Railway Minister. ii) Earlier, for freight transport, there were certain restrictions to be followed as per law, regarding the tonnage limits of any wagon. These were relaxed. The end result was higher earnings of the Railways Ministry. I even don't know what's the argument about accounting formula used under him, which was brought to notice by Mamata Banerjee in her white paper. 4) I haven't met anybody in my life who believes that due to reservation being provided to his/her community, he/she should produce more children. So I can't comment on that. May be you can advise such people to understand such things are dubious for their own health and their own economic standards. Rakesh From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 18:20:31 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:20:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003220550q684d628cp4d9466c96fe10a88@mail.gmail.com> Not summoned to appear before panel on March 21: Modi http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gujarat-riots-probe-modi-speaks-out-on-summons-18241.php Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not summoned to appear before a Supreme-Court-appointed panel probing riots cases on March 21. In a strong statement issued on Monday, a day after he was reported as having kept the panel waiting for him to appear before it, Modi said: "It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as to why and who started spreading lies that Narendra Modi has been summoned by SIT (Special Investigation Team) on March 21." He pointed out that March 21 happened to be "a Sunday and a public holiday," and said the "purveyors of lies did not even bother to check whether the SIT officers appointed by Supreme Court were present in Gujarat on March 21." The date March 21, he alleged, was given out by "some vested interests and as part of the effort to interfere in the due process of law." Modi said in his statement that he would respond to the SIT, "fully respecting law and keeping in view the dignity of the body appointed by the Supreme Court. The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this month before the Special Investigating Team, headed by K R Raghavan, which is looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked to appear in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former Congress MP was burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by his wife charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of conspiring to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were ignored. Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to the Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, whether it too would summon Narendra Modi as part of its inquiry on the Gujarat riots of 2002. On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Javed wrote: > Dear Jigish and Malik > You are right and I agree that we should wait for the law to take its > own course. Why should we worry about it if we have the law - we > should be concerned with many other problems of the country, such as > what Jigish ji pointed out. > > But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order could be ensured, > we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra was an unfortunate > incident which probably took place even before law and police could > reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after the Godhra > incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to happen since we > are in a country where law and order machinery is supposed to work to > prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be controlled, and > for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will again take its > course and treat everyone with justice. We all know that Modi is too > arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings and is thus > avoiding SIT. > > This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" as you > mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for people who have > been affected in the riot. And this is not just for what happened in > the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns the future of this > country. If politicians want to go to any extreme (including abetting > communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as important for > everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or whatever. > > Thanks > > Javed > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh wrote: >> Mr. Javed, >> Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I fully agree with Mr. >> Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination with certain personalities >> and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH more pressing issues in >> our country to worry about. One such is tragic/vision-less policies in the >> foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of Congress party have no clue how >> to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in London and having no plan >> B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian Embassy in Kabul, they look >> stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally to Pakistan for peace >> dialogue without explanation to the country for such sudden change in >> foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror infrastructure or handing >> over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is Defence ministry which is >> stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our forces. NEVER explaining why >> every year funds allocated are returned unused despite the dire need of >> equipments/modernization/weapons/resources.  Let's talk such important >> issues without meddling in what is less of a problem for nation for NOW. >> Jigish. >> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>> Message: 1 >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) >>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of >>>        SIT >>> To: Javed >>> Cc: Sarai List >>> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>> >>> Dear Mr Javed, >>>              The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law >>> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors >>> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is >>> to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a >>> case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished >>> according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights >>> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary >>> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to >>> Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to >>> play POLITICS. >>> Regards, >>> >>> (A.K.MALIK) >>> >>> >>> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: >>> >>> > From: Javed >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT >>> > To: "sarai list" >>> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM >>> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi >>> > avoids SIT team >>> > >>> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST >>> > >>> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi >>> > for not >>> > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat >>> > riots case, >>> > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and >>> > showed that he >>> > "loves to hide". >>> > >>> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it >>> > shows the >>> > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the >>> > apex court," >>> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. >>> > >>> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is >>> > contemptuous >>> > and would show that he loves to hide," he said >>> > >>> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint >>> > filed by Zakia >>> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 >>> > Gulburg >>> > society riots case. >>> > >>> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on >>> > advertisements, >>> > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin >>> > Pilot said >>> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self >>> > praise". >>> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in >>> > the state, >>> > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had >>> > launched any >>> > scheme. >>> > >>> > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in >>> > ensuring jobs >>> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural >>> > development. UPA >>> > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance >>> > for jobless, >>> > Pilot said. >>> > >>> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a >>> > great skill to >>> > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake >>> > claims. >>> > >>> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer >>> > saying there is >>> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has >>> > slapped 23% >>> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. >>> > >>> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister >>> > Narendra Modi >>> > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in >>> > connection with >>> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall >>> > act as per >>> > the law". >>> > >>> > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme >>> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP >>> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. >>> > >>> > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall >>> > act as per >>> > the law. This government has always supported and respected >>> > the law >>> > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the >>> > Supreme Court >>> > order and directions," he told PTI. >>> > >>> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an >>> > attempt to tarnish Modi. >>> > >>> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to >>> > malign an >>> > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader >>> > in the >>> > country," Rudy said. >>> > >>> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last >>> > week saying >>> > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the >>> > Prime >>> > Minister. >>> > >>> > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in >>> > an >>> > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works >>> > being >>> > carried out in Gujarat. >>> > >>> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a >>> > complaint of Zakia >>> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by >>> > a mob >>> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. >>> > >>> > >>> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms >>> > _________________________________________ >>> > 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/> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> Message: 2 >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) >>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The >>>        Vanishing       Communities >>> To: Pawan Durani >>> Cc: Sarai List >>> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >>> >>> Dear Mr Durani, >>>               If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all >>> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This >>> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any >>> noise on this news item? >>> Regards, >>> >>> (A.K.MALIK) >>> >>> >>> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> >>> > From: Pawan Durani >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing >>> > Communities >>> > To: "reader-list" >>> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM >>> > "In a recent investigative report it >>> > is described how young girls, as >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>> > to Islam, >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>> > girls like this >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>> > sign >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>> > said Laljee >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>> > of village >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>> > taken >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>> > Larkana >>> > districts." >>> > >>> > >>> > Source : >>> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ >>> > >>> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: >>> > Latest, Opinion >>> > and Editorials | >>> > >>> > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani >>> > journalist friend. >>> > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, >>> > where >>> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated >>> > I noticed >>> > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest >>> > incidents of >>> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling >>> > Chakma tribals >>> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a >>> > preliminary >>> > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in >>> > Pakistan. I >>> > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani >>> > Christians. >>> > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and >>> > Ahmadiya >>> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require >>> > international >>> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary >>> > has so far >>> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and >>> > Ahmadiya >>> > communities. >>> > >>> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights >>> > Commission and >>> > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed >>> > the pitiable >>> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are >>> > drowned in >>> > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also >>> > ashamed of these >>> > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing >>> > visitations >>> > by the ISI goons. >>> > >>> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, >>> > called >>> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, >>> > for which he >>> > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct >>> > Action Pogrom >>> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national >>> > minorities, after 3 >>> > millions were killed in communal riots and several million >>> > escaped to >>> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to >>> > your temples, >>> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place >>> > of worship >>> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or >>> > caste or >>> > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the >>> > State…We are >>> > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all >>> > citizens and >>> > equal citizens of our State.” >>> > >>> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal >>> > Muslim leader >>> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah >>> > Kathiawadi >>> > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta >>> > visit, >>> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic >>> > attitude of the >>> > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a >>> > Shia), but >>> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue >>> > Muslim >>> > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the >>> > person who >>> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central >>> > Legislative >>> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or >>> > organized the >>> > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless >>> > suppression of the >>> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the >>> > Governor >>> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of >>> > Jinnah’s bunches of >>> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in >>> > collaboration with >>> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the >>> > Mountbatten Plan >>> > for partition, backing out from original agreement that >>> > Mountbatten >>> > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan >>> > and >>> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a >>> > day of >>> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). >>> > >>> > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and >>> > falsehood >>> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority >>> > was then and >>> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a >>> > democrat he would >>> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop >>> > killing of the >>> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he >>> > assumed the gaddi >>> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since >>> > Jinnah the >>> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and >>> > now they >>> > have become an endangered community. Those interested may >>> > read Jinnah >>> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report >>> > on the Last >>> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. >>> > >>> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of >>> > Pakistan was >>> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, >>> > Balochistan, >>> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and >>> > Assam and >>> > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan >>> > theory of >>> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to >>> > amalgamate >>> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. >>> > >>> > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in >>> > the absence >>> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he >>> > had >>> > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem >>> > of >>> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous >>> > situation in >>> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the >>> > national >>> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the >>> > national >>> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath >>> > Azad, son of >>> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days >>> > before the >>> > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first >>> > national anthem. It >>> > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that >>> > Jinnah >>> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to >>> > write the >>> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national >>> > anthem composed by >>> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great >>> > disrespect to >>> > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers >>> > correctly >>> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu >>> > elixir. >>> > >>> > >>> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source >>> > Wikipedia) >>> > >>> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of >>> > Pakistan was >>> > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total >>> > population. For >>> > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was >>> > 450,000, of >>> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, >>> > Karachi’s population >>> > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of >>> > 600,000 Muslim >>> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of >>> > Karachi was 96% >>> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu >>> > population in all >>> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would >>> > certainly be >>> > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic >>> > trends and >>> > further diminution of Hindu population. >>> > >>> > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly >>> > over 4,924 >>> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population >>> > is 1,921. >>> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military >>> > operations >>> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand >>> > of Jizya, a >>> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. >>> > >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for >>> > freedom of >>> > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes >>> > limits on this >>> > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan >>> > proclaimed itself >>> > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has >>> > become a >>> > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle >>> > for separate >>> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the >>> > Hindus and >>> > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with >>> > hatred >>> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to >>> > law, public >>> > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. >>> > Actions or >>> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not >>> > protected. >>> > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be >>> > consistent >>> > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both >>> > Muslims >>> > and religious minorities. This observation has been >>> > supported even by >>> > the U.S. State Department’s report on International >>> > Religious Freedom >>> > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani >>> > Christians >>> > the IRF had expressed similar views. >>> > >>> > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia >>> > injunctions >>> > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other >>> > minorities in >>> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates >>> > the death >>> > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration >>> > of the >>> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, >>> > and the >>> > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions >>> > once the >>> > accusation has been made, although most such allegations >>> > of >>> > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March >>> > 24, 2005, >>> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating >>> > the mention >>> > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. >>> > The >>> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz >>> > in chair, >>> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the >>> > rule after >>> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. >>> > The move was >>> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), >>> > a coalition >>> > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s >>> > former >>> > President General Pervez Musharraf. >>> > >>> > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming >>> > pace in >>> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights >>> > Commission of >>> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued >>> > Islamization of >>> > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the >>> > 1980s. >>> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the >>> > rights of >>> > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and >>> > Ahmadiyas, >>> > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the >>> > fear of >>> > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their >>> > places of >>> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of >>> > death. >>> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s >>> > Muslims winning by >>> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by >>> > threatening it, by >>> > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out >>> > or >>> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” >>> > >>> > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by >>> > the >>> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni >>> > militant >>> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the >>> > large-scale >>> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His >>> > report is an >>> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to >>> > agree on a >>> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called >>> > heads of all >>> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of >>> > a Muslim. >>> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of >>> > our >>> > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard >>> > of the >>> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, >>> > New age Islam. >>> > >>> > Violence against women in general continues throughout the >>> > world, but >>> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. >>> > Violence >>> > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor >>> > killings, and >>> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two >>> > hours on >>> > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor >>> > killings. Moreover, >>> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison >>> > thousands of >>> > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of >>> > laws that >>> > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the >>> > then >>> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended >>> > “to bring in >>> > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects >>> > of the >>> > criminal justice system and make certain offences >>> > punishable by hadd, >>> > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy >>> > Quran or Sunnah.” >>> > >>> > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of >>> > Hudood) >>> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February >>> > 1979, preamble >>> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . >>> > The laws >>> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences >>> > of Zina >>> > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf >>> > (wrongful >>> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property >>> > and >>> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the >>> > Ordinance, whenever >>> > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse >>> > without being >>> > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina >>> > Ordinance. >>> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally >>> > meaning ‘forced >>> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred >>> > without the >>> > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina >>> > Ordinance >>> > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. >>> > >>> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four >>> > male >>> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. >>> > If the >>> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped >>> > for >>> > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is >>> > banned in >>> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human >>> > rights >>> > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, >>> > the Pakistan >>> > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not >>> > forgotten the >>> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international >>> > indignation. >>> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the >>> > majority >>> > sections of people in a country that still lives in the >>> > barbaric >>> > Middle Ages. >>> > >>> > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and >>> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration >>> > and >>> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting >>> > of Hindu >>> > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu >>> > females. >>> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted >>> > human rights >>> > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the >>> > continued >>> > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also >>> > because reports >>> > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local >>> > media or >>> > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register >>> > cases >>> > reported by Hindu victims. >>> > >>> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind >>> > province, is >>> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to >>> > convert to >>> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and >>> > kidnapping >>> > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On >>> > September 14, >>> > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter >>> > in Sind, >>> > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to >>> > Islam. The >>> > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court >>> > dismissed the >>> > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement >>> > that she >>> > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a >>> > legislator >>> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should >>> > be >>> > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an >>> > offense for >>> > the abductors. >>> > >>> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine >>> > in the >>> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married >>> > man and >>> > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi >>> > Abdul Aziz >>> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and >>> > married her >>> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, >>> > Muslim extremists >>> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. >>> > Sapna, >>> > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her >>> > parents, >>> > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, >>> > is claimed >>> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain >>> > contact with >>> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” >>> > >>> > In a recent investigative report it is described how young >>> > girls, as >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>> > to Islam, >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>> > girls like this >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>> > sign >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>> > said Laljee >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>> > of village >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>> > taken >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>> > Larkana >>> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for >>> > Interior, had >>> > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was >>> > quoted by the >>> > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are >>> > taking place >>> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been >>> > living for >>> > the past 5,000 years.” >>> > >>> > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young >>> > Hindu girls >>> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena >>> > (21), Usha >>> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, >>> > a Hindu >>> > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, >>> > Pakistan – went >>> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely >>> > circulated report >>> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion >>> > losses,” the >>> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, >>> > described the shock >>> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned >>> > home after >>> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters >>> > had >>> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to >>> > the police, >>> > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ >>> > conversions to >>> > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from >>> > chaperones and >>> > even police officers that have supervised their only >>> > interactions thus >>> > far, have been consistently denied. After their >>> > disappearance from >>> > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic >>> > seminary) in >>> > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied >>> > the freedom >>> > to return home. >>> > >>> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she >>> > was >>> > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of >>> > providing her >>> > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into >>> > unconsciousness for >>> > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric >>> > hospital to >>> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence >>> > of >>> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in >>> > Karachi. >>> > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her >>> > house meant >>> > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband >>> > has stood >>> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi >>> > disgraced >>> > the family and should be killed. >>> > >>> > Although violence against women transcends their religion, >>> > it is >>> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In >>> > May 2005, a >>> > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration >>> > for equal >>> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and >>> > took them to >>> > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma >>> > Jahangir, a U.N. >>> > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human >>> > Rights >>> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence >>> > official >>> > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the >>> > (expletive) a >>> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her >>> > shirt off and >>> > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, >>> > the Kargil >>> > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated >>> > country. >>> > >>> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of >>> > Hindu women >>> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two >>> > other >>> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According >>> > to >>> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly >>> > occupied in >>> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students >>> > studying in >>> > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. >>> > >>> > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the >>> > Baloch >>> > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, >>> > in >>> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are >>> > several >>> > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released >>> > after hefty >>> > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch >>> > elements and >>> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that >>> > the Hindus >>> > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. >>> > Only in 2009 >>> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. >>> > Only three >>> > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in >>> > cash, but paid >>> > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, >>> > continue to >>> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where >>> > Pakistan >>> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President >>> > Musharraf in >>> > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely >>> > degraded >>> > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is >>> > unknown, >>> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the >>> > unrest in >>> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups >>> > have >>> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and >>> > destroyed Hindu >>> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly >>> > school >>> > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. >>> > >>> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one >>> > hundred and >>> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when >>> > Pakistan’s Frontier >>> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, >>> > rockets, and >>> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were >>> > innocent >>> > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti >>> > tribesmen >>> > >>> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley >>> > of Hingol >>> > river is however, respected by the Baloch political >>> > leaders. In 2008 >>> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency >>> > to confirm >>> > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. >>> > Balochistan’s >>> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo >>> > and other >>> > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the >>> > assembly >>> > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam >>> > being >>> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where >>> > an annual >>> > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly >>> > resolution warned >>> > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under >>> > water >>> > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of >>> > all Hindus. >>> > It requested the federal government to have the dam >>> > constructed >>> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the >>> > Hindus in Sind >>> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally >>> > enjoy trust of >>> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure >>> > from Punjabi >>> > settlers. >>> > >>> > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways >>> > that Hindu, >>> > Sikh and Christian students are automatically >>> > discriminated. Extracts, >>> > translated from Urdu to English, from the >>> > government-sponsored >>> > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the >>> > Federal >>> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and >>> > inflammatory >>> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: >>> > >>> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good >>> > things, and >>> > the Hindus did not respect women.” >>> > Grade V:  “The Hindu has always been an enemy of >>> > Islam.” >>> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and >>> > cruelty.” >>> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as >>> > a nation and >>> > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim >>> > culture and >>> > civilization.” >>> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery >>> > all over the world.” >>> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and >>> > brotherhood…There is no >>> > such concept in Hinduism.” >>> > >>> > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani >>> > system. >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees >>> > fundamental human >>> > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. >>> > However, >>> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen >>> > shall have the >>> > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall >>> > be freedom >>> > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions >>> > imposed by law in >>> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, >>> > security or >>> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of >>> > Islam in the >>> > country.  Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article >>> > 20 which >>> > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, >>> > practice and >>> > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination >>> > and every >>> > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain >>> > and manage >>> > its religious institutions.”  Unfortunately, Hindus, >>> > Sikhs, >>> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in >>> > Pakistan >>> > today despite the assurance provided by the >>> > Constitution.  Temples are >>> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk >>> > persecution, >>> > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. >>> > >>> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens >>> > are equal >>> > before law and are entitled to equal protection of >>> > law…There shall be >>> > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.”  Rape, >>> > honor killings, >>> > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the >>> > women of >>> > Pakistan face.  Despite the constitutional guarantee >>> > of equal >>> > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as >>> > the >>> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. >>> > They continue to >>> > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and >>> > will >>> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not >>> > repealed. >>> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the >>> > marriage, the >>> > family, the mother and the child.”  Article 36 >>> > states, “The State >>> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of >>> > minorities, >>> > including their due representation in the Federal and >>> > Provincial >>> > services.”  In reality, however, neither families >>> > nor minorities are >>> > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced >>> > conversions >>> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the >>> > felons. >>> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or >>> > signing >>> > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political >>> > Rights (CCPR), >>> > although it did ratify the International Convention on the >>> > Elimination >>> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, >>> > 1966. >>> > >>> > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some >>> > visible >>> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are >>> > more >>> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice >>> > green >>> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus >>> > are >>> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, >>> > night soil >>> > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the >>> > appointment of >>> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on >>> > Quran) no >>> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder >>> > in the >>> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of >>> > national >>> > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks >>> > on the >>> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this >>> > essay. >>> > >>> > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan >>> > have organized >>> > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and >>> > other causes >>> > with the provincial and federal governments: >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Council >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) >>> > >>> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha >>> > >>> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces >>> > important >>> > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the >>> > provincial >>> > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and >>> > political leaders. >>> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad >>> > representative body >>> > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights >>> > activists in >>> > Pakistan. >>> > >>> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other >>> > Hindu MNAs >>> > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest >>> > against highly >>> > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court >>> > judge. >>> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that >>> > Hindus were >>> > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu >>> > members of >>> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest >>> > on Wednesday. >>> > >>> > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt >>> > by Justice >>> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan >>> > People’s Party >>> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu >>> > lawmakers who >>> > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, >>> > joined in. >>> > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s >>> > national >>> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the >>> > remark >>> > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of >>> > Afghan Taliban >>> > leaders on Monday. >>> > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s >>> > observation that a >>> > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in >>> > Pakistan, including >>> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him >>> > saying, >>> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in >>> > Pakistan. >>> > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” >>> > >>> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for >>> > intervention from >>> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza >>> > Gilani, >>> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of >>> > Pakistani Hindus >>> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme >>> > Court chief >>> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the >>> > “highly >>> > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to >>> > the assembly >>> > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on >>> > March 18. >>> > 2010. >>> > >>> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic >>> > community-slightly more >>> > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana >>> > Sahib and a >>> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is >>> > more than 96% >>> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, >>> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic >>> > inspector from >>> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, >>> > a poetess >>> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban >>> > rampage in >>> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and >>> > settled with >>> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. >>> > >>> > They were again uprooted from FATA area when >>> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan >>> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) >>> > as Jizya. >>> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released >>> > after >>> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted >>> > Sikhs are >>> > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA >>> > locations. >>> > >>> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The >>> > Sikh temple >>> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims >>> > in August >>> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> reader-list mailing list >>> reader-list at sarai.net >>> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> >>> >>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 >>> ******************************************* >> >> >> >> -- >> Thank you, >> Jigish Parikh. >> >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish >> > _________________________________________ > 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 Mon Mar 22 18:40:01 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:40:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] no title! In-Reply-To: <001101cac9ba$715b7680$54126380$@in> References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> <001101cac9ba$715b7680$54126380$@in> Message-ID: Dear Bipin Since you stated those points, let me further address those issues one by one: 1) On the issue of reservations, I am at a total loss. The reason is that the issue has not been understood at all by many people. I will put across my own views on reservation later, but I don't know whether it benefits people or it is harmful. Hence, I will not comment. But I feel that being a controversial issue, other affirmative actions must be used to help students. In this regard, scholarships are a good step, and they must be used to help all those who are economically backward. In case someone's social background acts as a handicap (say being a Muslim or SC), then scholarships can be used there also. 2) I do agree with you that overloading was being done on a trial basis before Lalu came, but overloading was mostly illegal. It was being done illegally through connivance of railway officials for filling their own pockets. Lalu made it legal and ensured that the money instead of filling the pockets of officers was entering the revenues of the Railways. Unfortunately for him, overloading still continued. However, I can't say that he became the minister at an opportune moment. The move was introduced in 2005 after Bihar elections, going by the link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/railways-relax-norms-for-wagon-overloading/229695/ And anyways, it seems ironical that while Lalu implementing something is a case of being opportune, Modi implementing something or enjoying fruits of Gujarat economy in his initial years is not a case of being opportune. 3) I was commenting on the title of the subject. But since you were referring to Bihar, thank you. Yes, the law and order has improved in the cities. But to say it has done for the poor may not be the right assessment. The no. of cases registered as 'atrocities against Dalits' has gone up. So has the no. of cases on 'domestic violence against women'. Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 18:48:42 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:48:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat Muslims register highest literacy rate In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003220433w29ad299eg9bae5acba30fc009@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003220433w29ad299eg9bae5acba30fc009@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Pawan While I knew this before also, it is certainly good to remember this fact keeping in mind the worse situation of Muslims in states like West Bengals run by the Left. At the same time, stereotyping of Muslims is also done by parties like the BJP and their cohorts (the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the RSS) and also by the so-called secularists (Congress, RJD, SP, BSP, Left etc.) both with the intention of securing Hindu and Muslim en-bloc votes respectively. It would be certainly better if such parties concentrated on winning elections by showing their development work rather than dividing society along communal lines. And if they do so, they should be given a shocking defeat for having tried to do so. That has been a failure in 1984 and 2002. Narendra Modi may or may not be credited for anything, but he can be credited for one big thing: Muslims before 2002 may have not realized the importance of vote, but due to the pogrom, they have definitely realized the importance of voting. Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Mar 22 18:55:45 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:55:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of Gujarat - No.1 in pollution Message-ID: Hi An article, specially for those who keep singing paeans about Narendra Modi and his administration on this forum, without trying to see the other way. Rakesh Link: http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm Article: Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra 2ndThe Central Pollution Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most polluted state in India [ Images ]. The conclusion has been based on the increasing levels of pollution and toxic wastes. There are seven states in the country that account for 80 per cent of the total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat tops the list, followed by Maharashtra [ Images] and Andhra Pradesh. Even after being declared as the most polluted state, the Gujarat government has not taken any necessary measures to prevent the problem aggravating further, environmental activists say. Criticising the state government for not taking any adequate remedial measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, director of an NGO named Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held the authorities and industrialists responsible for such an alarming polluted environment. "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in Ankleshwar, one in Vadodara and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of Gujarat has recognised these waste sites. But till today the government has not mentioned anything to clear up these waste sites. So who are responsible ultimately," said Pandya. "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, they ask the association of industries to clear it up. These associations say it's not their responsibility. Now the toxics are creating pollution and affecting the masses," he added. People residing near the industrial estates have developed health and breathing related problems, the forum said. People have blamed the toxic smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. "Because of the air pollution, the village environment is getting affected. Villagers have been here since ages but the industries were set up after a long period of time. We face so much difficulty. We cannot leave food in open or even the clothes outside for drying," said Kirit Patel, a resident of Narol industrial area. "We are even becoming prone to breathing and health problems. Pollution is indeed a big problem," he added. According to a recent report by the central government, Gujarat accounts for 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste, while it is 25 per cent in Maharashtra. Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in generation of hazardous waste, followed by Rajasthan [ Images] with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ Images ] and Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. Source: ANI From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 23 09:32:34 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:32:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of Gujarat - No.1 in pollution In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003222102k7612d7d5ya7be25e6cebe0399@mail.gmail.com> Dear Rakesh , The said article had been reported by IANS. However on further investigation , there seems to be some doubt in the authenticity of the article itself. Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC Non of these releases has anything to mention on above subject. Regards Pawan On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > Hi > > An article, specially for those who keep singing paeans about Narendra Modi > and his administration on this forum, without trying to see the other way. > > Rakesh > > Link: > http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm > > Article: > > Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra 2ndThe Central Pollution > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most polluted state in India [ > Images ]. The > conclusion has been based on the increasing levels of pollution and toxic > wastes. > > There are seven states in the country that account for 80 per cent of the > total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat tops the list, followed by > Maharashtra [ Images] > and Andhra Pradesh. > > Even after being declared as the most polluted state, the Gujarat government > has not taken any necessary measures to prevent the problem aggravating > further, environmental activists say. > > Criticising the state government for not taking any adequate remedial > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, director of an NGO named > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held the authorities and > industrialists responsible for such an alarming polluted environment. > > "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in Ankleshwar, one in Vadodara > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of Gujarat has recognised these > waste sites. But till today the government has not mentioned anything to > clear up these waste sites. So who are responsible ultimately," said Pandya. > > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, they ask the association of > industries to clear it up. These associations say it's not their > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating pollution and affecting the > masses," he added. > > People residing near the industrial estates have developed health and > breathing related problems, the forum said. People have blamed the toxic > smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. > > "Because of the air pollution, the village environment is getting affected. > Villagers have been here since ages but the industries were set up after a > long period of time. We face so much difficulty. We cannot leave food in > open or even the clothes outside for drying," said Kirit Patel, a resident > of Narol industrial area. > > "We are even becoming prone to breathing and health problems. Pollution is > indeed a big problem," he added. > > According to a recent report by the central government, Gujarat accounts for > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste, while it is 25 per > cent in Maharashtra. > > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in generation of hazardous > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ > Images] > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ > Images ] and > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. > Source: ANI > _________________________________________ > 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 elkamath at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 09:42:18 2010 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:12:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] open access in academia: from user pays to author pays? Message-ID: <970881.58495.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> I thought this might be an article of interest to the group- it has stimulated a longer conversation and people can follow the thread on the link to read more. H-ASIA March 22, 2010 Further thoughts on Open Access ****************************** ****************************************** Ed. note: This issue was raised in a new item reported by Profesor Kirkpatrick on March 20. The issued raised by Paul Kratoska merit careful consideration; I would also wonder whether all universities who embrace the open access policy will be as willing to advance support for "mere" articles in the humanities? The whole higher education model appears to be undergoing a translation into a scientific-industrial one. FFC ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Paul H. Kratoska Open Access is an important response to the high prices charges by commercial academic presses, particularly for science, technology and medicine journals. However, academics need to understand that open access is a shift from a user pays system to an author pays arrangement. Fees currently charged to authors to have articles included in open access journals are listed below. (This information comes from the University of California at Berkeley; see http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/scholarlycommunication/oa_fees.html for the complete list.) Before embracing open access, scholars need to consider whether they would be willing, or able, to pay a fee of $3,000 to get an article published. Major universities in the US are gearing up to pay these fees on behalf of their staff (e.g., the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity created by Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley http://www.oacompact.org/ ). But how many scholars in the developing world are going to be able to come up with these sums? If scholars around the world are able to read work from North America free of charge but unable to contribute to the discussion, it doesn't seem like a very good outcome. Fees charged by Publishers of Open Access materials * BioMed Central: US$625-$2,365 (Standard = $1,535) * Public Library of Science: US$1,250-$2750 * Elsevier: $3,000 * Cambridge $1,700 * Oxford Journals: $2,250 * Taylor & Francis $3,100 * Wiley InterScience $3,000 * World Scientific $2,500 Paul Dr Paul H. KRATOSKA :: Managing Director, NUS Press (Pte) Ltd (A Business Unit of NUS Enterprise) :: National University of Singapore :: AS3-01-02, 3 Arts Link, Singapore 117569 Tel +65 6516-5474 :: Fax +65 6774-0652 For NUS Press titles please see http://www.nus.edu.sg/sup/ ****************************************************************** To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to: For holidays or short absences send post to: with message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 23 09:57:02 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:57:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 79 Years Ago Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003222127n7d604868h95c026e6996e2ba8@mail.gmail.com> O mera rang de basanti chola mera rang de, O mera rang de basanti chola maai rang de basanti chola... When one hears/reads these lines, the one name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. On the fateful day of March 23, 1931 Bhagat Singh was hanged in Lahore I hereby pay my tributes to the three revolutionaries who laid their lives so their posterity saw the dawn of Independence. Such was the popularity of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev that the British Government was afraid of public outrage. In a very strategic manner, the hanging of the three was preponed. According to then SP of the Lahore Jail, V N Smith: “it was decided to act at once before the public could become aware of what had happened...At about 7pm slogans of Inquilab Zindabad were heard from inside the jail...a signal that the final curtain was about to be dropped. Since his childhood, Bhagat Singh was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s views. As a child of 13, he would should slogans against the British and promote the Non-Cooperation Movement of Gandhi. But when Gandhi called off the movement he was disheartened. He was deeply affected by the Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab. After witnessing the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the British Police Chief Scott, Bhagat vowed revenge. Along with fellow revolutionaries Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev Thapar and Jai Gopal (who identified Scott) Bhagat planned to kill Scott. However, in a case of mistaken identify, Gopal signaled at J P Saunders and they shot at DSP of Police Saunders instead of Scott. They went underground. Bhagat shaved off his beard and cut his hair (against the tenets of Sikhism) to escape the police and left Lahore. Later, Bhagat Singh and Batukehswar Dutt (B K Dutt) were sentenced to ‘transportation of life’ for bombing the Assembly in 1929. The British Government came to know of his involvement in the Saunders’ murder case, and nabbed Rajguru and Sukhdev also. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were prosecuted for the murder charges and were given life sentence and were hanged on March 23, 1931. Bhagat Singh was an outstanding revolutionary and martyr of the Indian anti-colonial movement. He represented the youth who were dissatisfied with Gandhian politics and groped for revolutionary alternatives. Bhagat Singh studied the European revolutionary movement and was attracted to anarchism and communism. He became a confirmed atheist, socialist and communist. Source : http://my-utterances.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/03/tribute-to-bhagat-singh-rajguru-sukhdev-on-march.htm From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 23 10:01:36 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:01:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Don't let Jamia become `fundamentalist', says Arjun Singh Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003222131n51e9a224y8b049bbaa503bcd4@mail.gmail.com> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dont-let-Jamia-become-fundamentalist-says-Arjun-Singh/articleshow/5713041.cms NEW DELHI: With concerted pressure on HRD ministry by a group of conservative Muslims to change the character of Jamia Milia Islamia, former HRD minister Arjun Singh has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing fear that the prestigious central university might fall into the hands of fundamentalist forces. Singh, sources said, has blamed a member of the Union council of ministers for giving patronage to divisive forces in the university. Not only is Jamia refusing to honour 27% reservation for OBCs in admission, the conservative section has been raising the bogey of under-representation of Muslims as students and teachers. They are demanding that the university should give preference to Muslims in jobs and admissions. But the larger issue being debated is can the "secular character" of Jamia, enshrined in the Act, be changed at the behest of fundamentalist forces. HRD ministry officials refused to get drawn into the controversy. But it is unlikely that the ministry will amend the Jamia Act. A perusal of the file on setting up of Jamia, through RTI, reveals that in 1987, when the university became a central university, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and the HRD ministry refused to bow to pressure from the then chancellor Khurshid Alam Khan that specific mention be made that Jamia would "promote especially the educational and cultural advancement of Muslims in India". Similarly, there were five other suggestions by Khurshid Alam Khan that the ministry refused to entertain on the ground that none of the other central universities had these features. Khan wanted reservation for educationally backwards in admission but the ministry said "government has not provided for any reservation for educationally backward classes". The ministry added, "The suggestion of the chancellor could create controversies." On the lines of Aligarh Muslim University, Khan wanted the chancellor to be elected by the university's court and not appointed by the visitor (President). But the CCPA decided that chancellor will be appointed by the visitor. The ministry also did not agree with the chancellor's demand that honorary treasurer be made a member of the university court. HRD ministry said since a wholetime finance officer would be appointed, there was no need for honorary treasurer. From ravig64 at gmail.com Tue Mar 23 11:29:50 2010 From: ravig64 at gmail.com (Ravi Agarwal) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:29:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of Gujarat - No.1 in pollution In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003222102k7612d7d5ya7be25e6cebe0399@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003222102k7612d7d5ya7be25e6cebe0399@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear all, For details of this analysis - "Comprehensive Environment Assessment of Industrial Areas" please refer to the recent (Dec 2009) Central Pollution Control Board Document at http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_152_Final-Book_2.pdf Pages 26/27/28 are state wise pollution indicies and these can be compiled for each state. If i am not wrong, Gujarat has 8 sites mentioned above the cutt- off level defining 'critical level of pollution,' (amongst the highest) and 1 site at the borderline. Similarly data for other sites can be compiled here. This is a first such report done by a premier Govt agency and verifies what other independent studies have been showing in the recent past. Best wishes ravi agarwal On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Rakesh , > > The said article had been reported by IANS. However on further > investigation , there seems to be some doubt in the authenticity of > the article itself. > > Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all > PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC > > Non of these releases has anything to mention on above subject. > > Regards > > Pawan > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer > wrote: > > Hi > > > > An article, specially for those who keep singing paeans about Narendra > Modi > > and his administration on this forum, without trying to see the other > way. > > > > Rakesh > > > > Link: > > > http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm > > > > Article: > > > > Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra 2ndThe Central > Pollution > > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most polluted state in India [ > > Images ]. The > > conclusion has been based on the increasing levels of pollution and toxic > > wastes. > > > > There are seven states in the country that account for 80 per cent of the > > total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat tops the list, followed by > > Maharashtra [ Images< > http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=maharashtra>] > > and Andhra Pradesh. > > > > Even after being declared as the most polluted state, the Gujarat > government > > has not taken any necessary measures to prevent the problem aggravating > > further, environmental activists say. > > > > Criticising the state government for not taking any adequate remedial > > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, director of an NGO named > > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held the authorities and > > industrialists responsible for such an alarming polluted environment. > > > > "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in Ankleshwar, one in > Vadodara > > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of Gujarat has recognised these > > waste sites. But till today the government has not mentioned anything to > > clear up these waste sites. So who are responsible ultimately," said > Pandya. > > > > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, they ask the association of > > industries to clear it up. These associations say it's not their > > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating pollution and affecting the > > masses," he added. > > > > People residing near the industrial estates have developed health and > > breathing related problems, the forum said. People have blamed the toxic > > smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. > > > > "Because of the air pollution, the village environment is getting > affected. > > Villagers have been here since ages but the industries were set up after > a > > long period of time. We face so much difficulty. We cannot leave food in > > open or even the clothes outside for drying," said Kirit Patel, a > resident > > of Narol industrial area. > > > > "We are even becoming prone to breathing and health problems. Pollution > is > > indeed a big problem," he added. > > > > According to a recent report by the central government, Gujarat accounts > for > > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste, while it is 25 > per > > cent in Maharashtra. > > > > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in generation of hazardous > > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ > > Images] > > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ > > Images ] > and > > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. > > Source: ANI > > _________________________________________ > > 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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 12:28:32 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:58:32 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim minister beats and kicks Party Activist Message-ID: <41564.53421.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi,         News;"Muslim minister beats and kicks Muslim Party Activist." Since this has happened outside Gujarat and a Muslim minister has beaten and kicked a Muslim party activist, MUSLIMS ARE SAFE IN THIS COUNTRY.What if one of the two happened to be a Hindu and what if the incident had occurred in Gujarat, the only solution would have been to HANG MODI.Please for GOD'S sake let us all be nationalists instead of being only Hindus/Muslims. Let us stop seeing news in the garb of Hindu/Muslim. (A.K.MALIK) From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 13:41:39 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:11:39 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim minister beats and kicks Party Activist In-Reply-To: <41564.53421.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <408054.53560.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear AKM   Where is this 'NEWS' reported in this manner? I could not locate it on the Web.   You might have been trying to make a point but the strongest condemnation should first be against any Media outlet that reported the incident in this manner.   Kshmendra   --- On Tue, 3/23/10, A.K. Malik wrote: From: A.K. Malik Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim minister beats and kicks Party Activist To: "Sarai List" Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 12:28 PM Hi,         News;"Muslim minister beats and kicks Muslim Party Activist." Since this has happened outside Gujarat and a Muslim minister has beaten and kicked a Muslim party activist, MUSLIMS ARE SAFE IN THIS COUNTRY.What if one of the two happened to be a Hindu and what if the incident had occurred in Gujarat, the only solution would have been to HANG MODI.Please for GOD'S sake let us all be nationalists instead of being only Hindus/Muslims. Let us stop seeing news in the garb of Hindu/Muslim. (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/> From aliens at dataone.in Tue Mar 23 15:29:56 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:29:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat Muslims register highest literacy rate In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003220433w29ad299eg9bae5acba30fc009@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <000901caca6f$97bee090$c73ca1b0$@in> Dear Rakesh, Muslims were voting on mass basis since independence and not at all started voting on mass basis after 2002 as you are mentioning. If what you say is true then after 2002 Modi would have not elected with thumping majority in 2002 election where voting % was just about 45 %. So, in all over India Muslims are always voting on mass basis compared to Hindu vote that is why vote bank politics of congress worked for a long time. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Rakesh Iyer Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:49 PM To: Pawan Durani Cc: reader-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Gujarat Muslims register highest literacy rate Dear Pawan While I knew this before also, it is certainly good to remember this fact keeping in mind the worse situation of Muslims in states like West Bengals run by the Left. At the same time, stereotyping of Muslims is also done by parties like the BJP and their cohorts (the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the RSS) and also by the so-called secularists (Congress, RJD, SP, BSP, Left etc.) both with the intention of securing Hindu and Muslim en-bloc votes respectively. It would be certainly better if such parties concentrated on winning elections by showing their development work rather than dividing society along communal lines. And if they do so, they should be given a shocking defeat for having tried to do so. That has been a failure in 1984 and 2002. Narendra Modi may or may not be credited for anything, but he can be credited for one big thing: Muslims before 2002 may have not realized the importance of vote, but due to the pogrom, they have definitely realized the importance of voting. 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 aliens at dataone.in Tue Mar 23 15:29:56 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:29:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] no title! In-Reply-To: References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> <001101cac9ba$715b7680$54126380$@in> Message-ID: <000a01caca6f$9aa1dc40$cfe594c0$@in> Dear Rakesh, It was overloading of wagon was legalized in Lalu regime and before that this activity was going on illegally in some section. But, that was during Nitishkumar time official trial taking was started and studied in detailed for impact of overloading on track for quite a long time and then it was made legally during Lalu regime. In the initial tenure of Modi, no one has given credit to him. He somewhat started getting credit after about 2005/2006 only where he achieved started making profit of many Govt. PSU including GEB, while almost all the PSU's were making heavy losses earlier and this was noticed by all the leading newspaper/magazines. Same way, there after he was got noticed his achievement in many criteria which was described earlier also. So, when he took CM post in 2002 no one has given him credit at that time whatever good going on Gujarat at that time by way of coincidence even. Modi has no bad track record of governance what Lalu did for 20 years in Bihar. Thanks Bipin From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:40 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: no title! Dear Bipin Since you stated those points, let me further address those issues one by one: 1) On the issue of reservations, I am at a total loss. The reason is that the issue has not been understood at all by many people. I will put across my own views on reservation later, but I don't know whether it benefits people or it is harmful. Hence, I will not comment. But I feel that being a controversial issue, other affirmative actions must be used to help students. In this regard, scholarships are a good step, and they must be used to help all those who are economically backward. In case someone's social background acts as a handicap (say being a Muslim or SC), then scholarships can be used there also. 2) I do agree with you that overloading was being done on a trial basis before Lalu came, but overloading was mostly illegal. It was being done illegally through connivance of railway officials for filling their own pockets. Lalu made it legal and ensured that the money instead of filling the pockets of officers was entering the revenues of the Railways. Unfortunately for him, overloading still continued. However, I can't say that he became the minister at an opportune moment. The move was introduced in 2005 after Bihar elections, going by the link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/railways-relax-norms-for-wagon-o verloading/229695/ And anyways, it seems ironical that while Lalu implementing something is a case of being opportune, Modi implementing something or enjoying fruits of Gujarat economy in his initial years is not a case of being opportune. 3) I was commenting on the title of the subject. But since you were referring to Bihar, thank you. Yes, the law and order has improved in the cities. But to say it has done for the poor may not be the right assessment. The no. of cases registered as 'atrocities against Dalits' has gone up. So has the no. of cases on 'domestic violence against women'. Rakesh From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Mar 23 15:35:26 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:35:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] no title! In-Reply-To: <000a01caca6f$9aa1dc40$cfe594c0$@in> References: <964327.66590.qm@web112108.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <002f01cac987$bd0c7a80$37256f80$@in> <341380d01003220323y5a5b3361m6462c4bb5ee99b92@mail.gmail.com> <001101cac9ba$715b7680$54126380$@in> <000a01caca6f$9aa1dc40$cfe594c0$@in> Message-ID: Bipin, People pay Rs 7 per unit here for electricity. however, an additional quality is that it is uninterrupted. -Anupam On 3/23/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Dear Rakesh, > > > > It was overloading of wagon was legalized in Lalu regime and before that > this activity was going on illegally in some section. But, that was during > Nitishkumar time official trial taking was started and studied in detailed > for impact of overloading on track for quite a long time and then it was > made legally during Lalu regime. > > > > In the initial tenure of Modi, no one has given credit to him. He somewhat > started getting credit after about 2005/2006 only where he achieved started > making profit of many Govt. PSU including GEB, while almost all the PSU's > were making heavy losses earlier and this was noticed by all the leading > newspaper/magazines. Same way, there after he was got noticed his > achievement in many criteria which was described earlier also. So, when he > took CM post in 2002 no one has given him credit at that time whatever good > going on Gujarat at that time by way of coincidence even. Modi has no bad > track record of governance what Lalu did for 20 years in Bihar. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin > > > > > > From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:40 PM > To: Bipin Trivedi > Cc: sarai-list > Subject: Re: no title! > > > > Dear Bipin > > Since you stated those points, let me further address those issues one by > one: > > 1) On the issue of reservations, I am at a total loss. The reason is that > the issue has not been understood at all by many people. I will put across > my own views on reservation later, but I don't know whether it benefits > people or it is harmful. Hence, I will not comment. But I feel that being a > controversial issue, other affirmative actions must be used to help > students. In this regard, scholarships are a good step, and they must be > used to help all those who are economically backward. In case someone's > social background acts as a handicap (say being a Muslim or SC), then > scholarships can be used there also. > > 2) I do agree with you that overloading was being done on a trial basis > before Lalu came, but overloading was mostly illegal. It was being done > illegally through connivance of railway officials for filling their own > pockets. Lalu made it legal and ensured that the money instead of filling > the pockets of officers was entering the revenues of the Railways. > Unfortunately for him, overloading still continued. > > However, I can't say that he became the minister at an opportune moment. The > move was introduced in 2005 after Bihar elections, going by the link: > > http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/railways-relax-norms-for-wagon-o > verloading/229695/ > > And anyways, it seems ironical that while Lalu implementing something is a > case of being opportune, Modi implementing something or enjoying fruits of > Gujarat economy in his initial years is not a case of being opportune. > > 3) I was commenting on the title of the subject. But since you were > referring to Bihar, thank you. Yes, the law and order has improved in the > cities. But to say it has done for the poor may not be the right assessment. > The no. of cases registered as 'atrocities against Dalits' has gone up. So > has the no. of cases on 'domestic violence against women'. > > 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 aliens at dataone.in Tue Mar 23 16:16:46 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:16:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003220550q684d628cp4d9466c96fe10a88@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003220550q684d628cp4d9466c96fe10a88@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <000f01caca76$22ecb3d0$68c61b70$@in> Dear Pawan, Thanks for this posting. Who is responsible for this? It must have been gimmick of Teesta and Mrs. Jaffri both since they both were present in ndtv 24x7/India talk show for this matter and putting their views that Modi must appear against SIT summon. But, where is the summon? Who will answer? Will SIT answer? Will SC or SIT scroll the culprit? Once again Teesta proved wrong and exposed for her gimmick similarly as in case of Jahira. Poor Teesta will not get more fund now for this from their foreign bosses. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:21 PM To: Javed Cc: reader-list at sarai.net; Jigish Parikh Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT Not summoned to appear before panel on March 21: Modi http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gujarat-riots-probe-modi-speaks-out-on-summons-18241.php Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not summoned to appear before a Supreme-Court-appointed panel probing riots cases on March 21. In a strong statement issued on Monday, a day after he was reported as having kept the panel waiting for him to appear before it, Modi said: "It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as to why and who started spreading lies that Narendra Modi has been summoned by SIT (Special Investigation Team) on March 21." He pointed out that March 21 happened to be "a Sunday and a public holiday," and said the "purveyors of lies did not even bother to check whether the SIT officers appointed by Supreme Court were present in Gujarat on March 21." The date March 21, he alleged, was given out by "some vested interests and as part of the effort to interfere in the due process of law." Modi said in his statement that he would respond to the SIT, "fully respecting law and keeping in view the dignity of the body appointed by the Supreme Court. The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this month before the Special Investigating Team, headed by K R Raghavan, which is looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked to appear in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former Congress MP was burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by his wife charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of conspiring to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were ignored. Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to the Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, whether it too would summon Narendra Modi as part of its inquiry on the Gujarat riots of 2002. On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Javed wrote: > Dear Jigish and Malik > You are right and I agree that we should wait for the law to take its > own course. Why should we worry about it if we have the law - we > should be concerned with many other problems of the country, such as > what Jigish ji pointed out. > > But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order could be ensured, > we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra was an unfortunate > incident which probably took place even before law and police could > reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after the Godhra > incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to happen since we > are in a country where law and order machinery is supposed to work to > prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be controlled, and > for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will again take its > course and treat everyone with justice. We all know that Modi is too > arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings and is thus > avoiding SIT. > > This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" as you > mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for people who have > been affected in the riot. And this is not just for what happened in > the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns the future of this > country. If politicians want to go to any extreme (including abetting > communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as important for > everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or whatever. > > Thanks > > Javed > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh wrote: >> Mr. Javed, >> Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I fully agree with Mr. >> Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination with certain personalities >> and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH more pressing issues in >> our country to worry about. One such is tragic/vision-less policies in the >> foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of Congress party have no clue how >> to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in London and having no plan >> B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian Embassy in Kabul, they look >> stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally to Pakistan for peace >> dialogue without explanation to the country for such sudden change in >> foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror infrastructure or handing >> over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is Defence ministry which is >> stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our forces. NEVER explaining why >> every year funds allocated are returned unused despite the dire need of >> equipments/modernization/weapons/resources. Let's talk such important >> issues without meddling in what is less of a problem for nation for NOW. >> Jigish. >> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>> Message: 1 >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) >>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of >>> SIT >>> To: Javed >>> Cc: Sarai List >>> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>> >>> Dear Mr Javed, >>> The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law >>> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors >>> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is >>> to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a >>> case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished >>> according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights >>> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary >>> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to >>> Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to >>> play POLITICS. >>> Regards, >>> >>> (A.K.MALIK) >>> >>> >>> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: >>> >>> > From: Javed >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT >>> > To: "sarai list" >>> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM >>> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi >>> > avoids SIT team >>> > >>> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST >>> > >>> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi >>> > for not >>> > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat >>> > riots case, >>> > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and >>> > showed that he >>> > "loves to hide". >>> > >>> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it >>> > shows the >>> > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the >>> > apex court," >>> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. >>> > >>> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is >>> > contemptuous >>> > and would show that he loves to hide," he said >>> > >>> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint >>> > filed by Zakia >>> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 >>> > Gulburg >>> > society riots case. >>> > >>> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on >>> > advertisements, >>> > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin >>> > Pilot said >>> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self >>> > praise". >>> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in >>> > the state, >>> > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had >>> > launched any >>> > scheme. >>> > >>> > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in >>> > ensuring jobs >>> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural >>> > development. UPA >>> > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance >>> > for jobless, >>> > Pilot said. >>> > >>> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a >>> > great skill to >>> > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake >>> > claims. >>> > >>> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer >>> > saying there is >>> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has >>> > slapped 23% >>> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. >>> > >>> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister >>> > Narendra Modi >>> > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in >>> > connection with >>> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall >>> > act as per >>> > the law". >>> > >>> > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme >>> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP >>> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. >>> > >>> > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall >>> > act as per >>> > the law. This government has always supported and respected >>> > the law >>> > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the >>> > Supreme Court >>> > order and directions," he told PTI. >>> > >>> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an >>> > attempt to tarnish Modi. >>> > >>> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to >>> > malign an >>> > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader >>> > in the >>> > country," Rudy said. >>> > >>> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last >>> > week saying >>> > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the >>> > Prime >>> > Minister. >>> > >>> > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in >>> > an >>> > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works >>> > being >>> > carried out in Gujarat. >>> > >>> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a >>> > complaint of Zakia >>> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by >>> > a mob >>> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. >>> > >>> > >>> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms >>> > _________________________________________ >>> > 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/> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> Message: 2 >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) >>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The >>> Vanishing Communities >>> To: Pawan Durani >>> Cc: Sarai List >>> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >>> >>> Dear Mr Durani, >>> If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all >>> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This >>> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any >>> noise on this news item? >>> Regards, >>> >>> (A.K.MALIK) >>> >>> >>> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> >>> > From: Pawan Durani >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing >>> > Communities >>> > To: "reader-list" >>> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM >>> > "In a recent investigative report it >>> > is described how young girls, as >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>> > to Islam, >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>> > girls like this >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>> > sign >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>> > said Laljee >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>> > of village >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>> > taken >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>> > Larkana >>> > districts." >>> > >>> > >>> > Source : >>> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ >>> > >>> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: >>> > Latest, Opinion >>> > and Editorials | >>> > >>> > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani >>> > journalist friend. >>> > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, >>> > where >>> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated >>> > I noticed >>> > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest >>> > incidents of >>> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling >>> > Chakma tribals >>> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a >>> > preliminary >>> > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in >>> > Pakistan. I >>> > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani >>> > Christians. >>> > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and >>> > Ahmadiya >>> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require >>> > international >>> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary >>> > has so far >>> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and >>> > Ahmadiya >>> > communities. >>> > >>> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights >>> > Commission and >>> > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed >>> > the pitiable >>> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are >>> > drowned in >>> > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also >>> > ashamed of these >>> > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing >>> > visitations >>> > by the ISI goons. >>> > >>> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, >>> > called >>> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, >>> > for which he >>> > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct >>> > Action Pogrom >>> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national >>> > minorities, after 3 >>> > millions were killed in communal riots and several million >>> > escaped to >>> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to >>> > your temples, >>> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place >>> > of worship >>> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or >>> > caste or >>> > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the >>> > State…We are >>> > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all >>> > citizens and >>> > equal citizens of our State.” >>> > >>> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal >>> > Muslim leader >>> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah >>> > Kathiawadi >>> > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta >>> > visit, >>> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic >>> > attitude of the >>> > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a >>> > Shia), but >>> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue >>> > Muslim >>> > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the >>> > person who >>> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central >>> > Legislative >>> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or >>> > organized the >>> > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless >>> > suppression of the >>> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the >>> > Governor >>> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of >>> > Jinnah’s bunches of >>> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in >>> > collaboration with >>> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the >>> > Mountbatten Plan >>> > for partition, backing out from original agreement that >>> > Mountbatten >>> > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan >>> > and >>> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a >>> > day of >>> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). >>> > >>> > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and >>> > falsehood >>> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority >>> > was then and >>> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a >>> > democrat he would >>> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop >>> > killing of the >>> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he >>> > assumed the gaddi >>> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since >>> > Jinnah the >>> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and >>> > now they >>> > have become an endangered community. Those interested may >>> > read Jinnah >>> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report >>> > on the Last >>> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. >>> > >>> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of >>> > Pakistan was >>> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, >>> > Balochistan, >>> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and >>> > Assam and >>> > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan >>> > theory of >>> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to >>> > amalgamate >>> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. >>> > >>> > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in >>> > the absence >>> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he >>> > had >>> > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem >>> > of >>> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous >>> > situation in >>> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the >>> > national >>> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the >>> > national >>> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath >>> > Azad, son of >>> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days >>> > before the >>> > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first >>> > national anthem. It >>> > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that >>> > Jinnah >>> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to >>> > write the >>> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national >>> > anthem composed by >>> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great >>> > disrespect to >>> > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers >>> > correctly >>> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu >>> > elixir. >>> > >>> > >>> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source >>> > Wikipedia) >>> > >>> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of >>> > Pakistan was >>> > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total >>> > population. For >>> > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was >>> > 450,000, of >>> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, >>> > Karachi’s population >>> > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of >>> > 600,000 Muslim >>> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of >>> > Karachi was 96% >>> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu >>> > population in all >>> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would >>> > certainly be >>> > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic >>> > trends and >>> > further diminution of Hindu population. >>> > >>> > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly >>> > over 4,924 >>> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population >>> > is 1,921. >>> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military >>> > operations >>> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand >>> > of Jizya, a >>> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. >>> > >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for >>> > freedom of >>> > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes >>> > limits on this >>> > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan >>> > proclaimed itself >>> > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has >>> > become a >>> > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle >>> > for separate >>> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the >>> > Hindus and >>> > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with >>> > hatred >>> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to >>> > law, public >>> > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. >>> > Actions or >>> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not >>> > protected. >>> > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be >>> > consistent >>> > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both >>> > Muslims >>> > and religious minorities. This observation has been >>> > supported even by >>> > the U.S. State Department’s report on International >>> > Religious Freedom >>> > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani >>> > Christians >>> > the IRF had expressed similar views. >>> > >>> > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia >>> > injunctions >>> > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other >>> > minorities in >>> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates >>> > the death >>> > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration >>> > of the >>> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, >>> > and the >>> > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions >>> > once the >>> > accusation has been made, although most such allegations >>> > of >>> > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March >>> > 24, 2005, >>> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating >>> > the mention >>> > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. >>> > The >>> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz >>> > in chair, >>> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the >>> > rule after >>> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. >>> > The move was >>> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), >>> > a coalition >>> > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s >>> > former >>> > President General Pervez Musharraf. >>> > >>> > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming >>> > pace in >>> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights >>> > Commission of >>> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued >>> > Islamization of >>> > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the >>> > 1980s. >>> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the >>> > rights of >>> > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and >>> > Ahmadiyas, >>> > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the >>> > fear of >>> > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their >>> > places of >>> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of >>> > death. >>> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s >>> > Muslims winning by >>> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by >>> > threatening it, by >>> > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out >>> > or >>> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” >>> > >>> > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by >>> > the >>> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni >>> > militant >>> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the >>> > large-scale >>> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His >>> > report is an >>> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to >>> > agree on a >>> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called >>> > heads of all >>> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of >>> > a Muslim. >>> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of >>> > our >>> > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard >>> > of the >>> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, >>> > New age Islam. >>> > >>> > Violence against women in general continues throughout the >>> > world, but >>> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. >>> > Violence >>> > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor >>> > killings, and >>> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two >>> > hours on >>> > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor >>> > killings. Moreover, >>> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison >>> > thousands of >>> > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of >>> > laws that >>> > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the >>> > then >>> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended >>> > “to bring in >>> > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects >>> > of the >>> > criminal justice system and make certain offences >>> > punishable by hadd, >>> > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy >>> > Quran or Sunnah.” >>> > >>> > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of >>> > Hudood) >>> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February >>> > 1979, preamble >>> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . >>> > The laws >>> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences >>> > of Zina >>> > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf >>> > (wrongful >>> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property >>> > and >>> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the >>> > Ordinance, whenever >>> > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse >>> > without being >>> > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina >>> > Ordinance. >>> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally >>> > meaning ‘forced >>> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred >>> > without the >>> > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina >>> > Ordinance >>> > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. >>> > >>> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four >>> > male >>> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. >>> > If the >>> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped >>> > for >>> > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is >>> > banned in >>> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human >>> > rights >>> > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, >>> > the Pakistan >>> > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not >>> > forgotten the >>> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international >>> > indignation. >>> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the >>> > majority >>> > sections of people in a country that still lives in the >>> > barbaric >>> > Middle Ages. >>> > >>> > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and >>> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration >>> > and >>> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting >>> > of Hindu >>> > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu >>> > females. >>> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted >>> > human rights >>> > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the >>> > continued >>> > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also >>> > because reports >>> > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local >>> > media or >>> > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register >>> > cases >>> > reported by Hindu victims. >>> > >>> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind >>> > province, is >>> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to >>> > convert to >>> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and >>> > kidnapping >>> > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On >>> > September 14, >>> > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter >>> > in Sind, >>> > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to >>> > Islam. The >>> > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court >>> > dismissed the >>> > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement >>> > that she >>> > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a >>> > legislator >>> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should >>> > be >>> > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an >>> > offense for >>> > the abductors. >>> > >>> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine >>> > in the >>> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married >>> > man and >>> > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi >>> > Abdul Aziz >>> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and >>> > married her >>> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, >>> > Muslim extremists >>> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. >>> > Sapna, >>> > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her >>> > parents, >>> > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, >>> > is claimed >>> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain >>> > contact with >>> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” >>> > >>> > In a recent investigative report it is described how young >>> > girls, as >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>> > to Islam, >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>> > girls like this >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>> > sign >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>> > said Laljee >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>> > of village >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>> > taken >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>> > Larkana >>> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for >>> > Interior, had >>> > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was >>> > quoted by the >>> > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are >>> > taking place >>> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been >>> > living for >>> > the past 5,000 years.” >>> > >>> > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young >>> > Hindu girls >>> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena >>> > (21), Usha >>> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, >>> > a Hindu >>> > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, >>> > Pakistan – went >>> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely >>> > circulated report >>> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion >>> > losses,” the >>> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, >>> > described the shock >>> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned >>> > home after >>> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters >>> > had >>> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to >>> > the police, >>> > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ >>> > conversions to >>> > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from >>> > chaperones and >>> > even police officers that have supervised their only >>> > interactions thus >>> > far, have been consistently denied. After their >>> > disappearance from >>> > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic >>> > seminary) in >>> > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied >>> > the freedom >>> > to return home. >>> > >>> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she >>> > was >>> > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of >>> > providing her >>> > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into >>> > unconsciousness for >>> > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric >>> > hospital to >>> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence >>> > of >>> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in >>> > Karachi. >>> > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her >>> > house meant >>> > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband >>> > has stood >>> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi >>> > disgraced >>> > the family and should be killed. >>> > >>> > Although violence against women transcends their religion, >>> > it is >>> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In >>> > May 2005, a >>> > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration >>> > for equal >>> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and >>> > took them to >>> > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma >>> > Jahangir, a U.N. >>> > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human >>> > Rights >>> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence >>> > official >>> > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the >>> > (expletive) a >>> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her >>> > shirt off and >>> > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, >>> > the Kargil >>> > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated >>> > country. >>> > >>> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of >>> > Hindu women >>> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two >>> > other >>> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According >>> > to >>> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly >>> > occupied in >>> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students >>> > studying in >>> > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. >>> > >>> > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the >>> > Baloch >>> > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, >>> > in >>> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are >>> > several >>> > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released >>> > after hefty >>> > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch >>> > elements and >>> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that >>> > the Hindus >>> > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. >>> > Only in 2009 >>> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. >>> > Only three >>> > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in >>> > cash, but paid >>> > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, >>> > continue to >>> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where >>> > Pakistan >>> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President >>> > Musharraf in >>> > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely >>> > degraded >>> > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is >>> > unknown, >>> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the >>> > unrest in >>> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups >>> > have >>> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and >>> > destroyed Hindu >>> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly >>> > school >>> > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. >>> > >>> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one >>> > hundred and >>> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when >>> > Pakistan’s Frontier >>> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, >>> > rockets, and >>> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were >>> > innocent >>> > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti >>> > tribesmen >>> > >>> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley >>> > of Hingol >>> > river is however, respected by the Baloch political >>> > leaders. In 2008 >>> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency >>> > to confirm >>> > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. >>> > Balochistan’s >>> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo >>> > and other >>> > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the >>> > assembly >>> > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam >>> > being >>> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where >>> > an annual >>> > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly >>> > resolution warned >>> > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under >>> > water >>> > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of >>> > all Hindus. >>> > It requested the federal government to have the dam >>> > constructed >>> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the >>> > Hindus in Sind >>> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally >>> > enjoy trust of >>> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure >>> > from Punjabi >>> > settlers. >>> > >>> > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways >>> > that Hindu, >>> > Sikh and Christian students are automatically >>> > discriminated. Extracts, >>> > translated from Urdu to English, from the >>> > government-sponsored >>> > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the >>> > Federal >>> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and >>> > inflammatory >>> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: >>> > >>> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good >>> > things, and >>> > the Hindus did not respect women.” >>> > Grade V: “The Hindu has always been an enemy of >>> > Islam.” >>> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and >>> > cruelty.” >>> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as >>> > a nation and >>> > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim >>> > culture and >>> > civilization.” >>> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery >>> > all over the world.” >>> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and >>> > brotherhood…There is no >>> > such concept in Hinduism.” >>> > >>> > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani >>> > system. >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees >>> > fundamental human >>> > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. >>> > However, >>> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen >>> > shall have the >>> > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall >>> > be freedom >>> > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions >>> > imposed by law in >>> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, >>> > security or >>> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of >>> > Islam in the >>> > country. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article >>> > 20 which >>> > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, >>> > practice and >>> > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination >>> > and every >>> > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain >>> > and manage >>> > its religious institutions.” Unfortunately, Hindus, >>> > Sikhs, >>> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in >>> > Pakistan >>> > today despite the assurance provided by the >>> > Constitution. Temples are >>> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk >>> > persecution, >>> > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. >>> > >>> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens >>> > are equal >>> > before law and are entitled to equal protection of >>> > law…There shall be >>> > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.” Rape, >>> > honor killings, >>> > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the >>> > women of >>> > Pakistan face. Despite the constitutional guarantee >>> > of equal >>> > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as >>> > the >>> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. >>> > They continue to >>> > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and >>> > will >>> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not >>> > repealed. >>> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the >>> > marriage, the >>> > family, the mother and the child.” Article 36 >>> > states, “The State >>> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of >>> > minorities, >>> > including their due representation in the Federal and >>> > Provincial >>> > services.” In reality, however, neither families >>> > nor minorities are >>> > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced >>> > conversions >>> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the >>> > felons. >>> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or >>> > signing >>> > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political >>> > Rights (CCPR), >>> > although it did ratify the International Convention on the >>> > Elimination >>> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, >>> > 1966. >>> > >>> > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some >>> > visible >>> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are >>> > more >>> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice >>> > green >>> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus >>> > are >>> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, >>> > night soil >>> > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the >>> > appointment of >>> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on >>> > Quran) no >>> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder >>> > in the >>> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of >>> > national >>> > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks >>> > on the >>> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this >>> > essay. >>> > >>> > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan >>> > have organized >>> > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and >>> > other causes >>> > with the provincial and federal governments: >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Council >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association >>> > >>> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) >>> > >>> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha >>> > >>> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces >>> > important >>> > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the >>> > provincial >>> > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and >>> > political leaders. >>> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad >>> > representative body >>> > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights >>> > activists in >>> > Pakistan. >>> > >>> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other >>> > Hindu MNAs >>> > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest >>> > against highly >>> > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court >>> > judge. >>> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that >>> > Hindus were >>> > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu >>> > members of >>> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest >>> > on Wednesday. >>> > >>> > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt >>> > by Justice >>> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan >>> > People’s Party >>> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu >>> > lawmakers who >>> > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, >>> > joined in. >>> > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s >>> > national >>> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the >>> > remark >>> > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of >>> > Afghan Taliban >>> > leaders on Monday. >>> > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s >>> > observation that a >>> > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in >>> > Pakistan, including >>> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him >>> > saying, >>> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in >>> > Pakistan. >>> > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” >>> > >>> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for >>> > intervention from >>> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza >>> > Gilani, >>> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of >>> > Pakistani Hindus >>> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme >>> > Court chief >>> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the >>> > “highly >>> > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to >>> > the assembly >>> > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on >>> > March 18. >>> > 2010. >>> > >>> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic >>> > community-slightly more >>> > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana >>> > Sahib and a >>> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is >>> > more than 96% >>> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, >>> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic >>> > inspector from >>> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, >>> > a poetess >>> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban >>> > rampage in >>> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and >>> > settled with >>> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. >>> > >>> > They were again uprooted from FATA area when >>> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan >>> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) >>> > as Jizya. >>> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released >>> > after >>> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted >>> > Sikhs are >>> > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA >>> > locations. >>> > >>> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The >>> > Sikh temple >>> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims >>> > in August >>> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> reader-list mailing list >>> reader-list at sarai.net >>> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> >>> >>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 >>> ******************************************* >> >> >> >> -- >> Thank you, >> Jigish Parikh. >> >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish >> > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 23 16:33:09 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:33:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: <000f01caca76$22ecb3d0$68c61b70$@in> References: <6b79f1a71003220550q684d628cp4d9466c96fe10a88@mail.gmail.com> <000f01caca76$22ecb3d0$68c61b70$@in> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003230403p6b69c8b8vcd751cf670a701dc@mail.gmail.com> Dear Bipin Ji , In actual , the story was 'spread' by The Hindu on 12 March 4: 45 PM . The Hindu also claims "The Hindu broke the story on its web site, beta.thehindu.com, at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday. The exclusive was immediately picked up by television channels, news agencies, and other websites without crediting the original source." Check these two links http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article236613.ece http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031261090100.htm Now would The Hindu apologize to Mr Modi and rest of country for a misleading news. The question would still remain ...What was the motive ? And at whose behest ? What is the conspiracy ? Regards Pawan On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 4:16 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Dear Pawan, > Thanks for this posting. > Who is responsible for this? It must have been gimmick of Teesta and Mrs. Jaffri both since they both were present in ndtv 24x7/India talk show for this matter and putting their views that Modi must appear against SIT summon. But, where is the summon? Who will answer? Will SIT answer? Will SC or SIT scroll the culprit? > Once again Teesta proved wrong and exposed for her gimmick similarly as in case of Jahira. Poor Teesta will not get more fund now for this from their foreign bosses. > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:21 PM > To: Javed > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net; Jigish Parikh > Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT > > Not summoned to appear before panel on March 21: Modi > http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gujarat-riots-probe-modi-speaks-out-on-summons-18241.php > > Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not summoned to > appear before a Supreme-Court-appointed panel probing riots cases on > March 21. > > In a strong statement issued on Monday, a day after he was reported as > having kept the panel waiting for him to appear before it, Modi said: > "It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as to why and > who started spreading lies that Narendra Modi has been summoned by SIT > (Special Investigation Team) on March 21." > > He pointed out that March 21 happened to be "a Sunday and a public > holiday," and said the "purveyors of lies did not even bother to check > whether the SIT officers appointed by Supreme Court were present in > Gujarat on March 21." > > The date March 21, he alleged, was given out by "some vested interests > and as part of the effort to interfere in the due process of law." > > Modi said in his statement that he would respond to the SIT, "fully > respecting law and keeping in view the dignity of the body appointed > by the Supreme Court. > > The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this month before > the Special Investigating Team, headed by K R Raghavan, which is > looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked to appear > in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former Congress MP was > burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by his wife > charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of conspiring > to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were ignored. > > Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to the > Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, whether it too > would summon Narendra Modi  as part of its inquiry on the Gujarat > riots of 2002. > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Javed wrote: >> Dear Jigish and Malik >> You are right and I agree that we should wait for the law to take its >> own course. Why should we worry about it if we have the law - we >> should be concerned with many other problems of the country, such as >> what Jigish ji pointed out. >> >> But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order could be ensured, >> we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra was an unfortunate >> incident which probably took place even before law and police could >> reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after the Godhra >> incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to happen since we >> are in a country where law and order machinery is supposed to work to >> prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be controlled, and >> for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will again take its >> course and treat everyone with justice. We all know that Modi is too >> arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings and is thus >> avoiding SIT. >> >> This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" as you >> mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for people who have >> been affected in the riot. And this is not just for what happened in >> the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns the future of this >> country. If politicians want to go to any extreme (including abetting >> communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as important for >> everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or whatever. >> >> Thanks >> >> Javed >> >> On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh wrote: >>> Mr. Javed, >>> Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I fully agree with Mr. >>> Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination with certain personalities >>> and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH more pressing issues in >>> our country to worry about. One such is tragic/vision-less policies in the >>> foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of Congress party have no clue how >>> to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in London and having no plan >>> B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian Embassy in Kabul, they look >>> stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally to Pakistan for peace >>> dialogue without explanation to the country for such sudden change in >>> foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror infrastructure or handing >>> over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is Defence ministry which is >>> stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our forces. NEVER explaining why >>> every year funds allocated are returned unused despite the dire need of >>> equipments/modernization/weapons/resources.  Let's talk such important >>> issues without meddling in what is less of a problem for nation for NOW. >>> Jigish. >>> >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> >>>> Message: 1 >>>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) >>>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of >>>>        SIT >>>> To: Javed >>>> Cc: Sarai List >>>> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>>> >>>> Dear Mr Javed, >>>>              The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law >>>> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors >>>> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is >>>> to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a >>>> case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished >>>> according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights >>>> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary >>>> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to >>>> Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to >>>> play POLITICS. >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> (A.K.MALIK) >>>> >>>> >>>> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: >>>> >>>> > From: Javed >>>> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT >>>> > To: "sarai list" >>>> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM >>>> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi >>>> > avoids SIT team >>>> > >>>> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST >>>> > >>>> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi >>>> > for not >>>> > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat >>>> > riots case, >>>> > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and >>>> > showed that he >>>> > "loves to hide". >>>> > >>>> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it >>>> > shows the >>>> > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the >>>> > apex court," >>>> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. >>>> > >>>> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is >>>> > contemptuous >>>> > and would show that he loves to hide," he said >>>> > >>>> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint >>>> > filed by Zakia >>>> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 >>>> > Gulburg >>>> > society riots case. >>>> > >>>> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on >>>> > advertisements, >>>> > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin >>>> > Pilot said >>>> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self >>>> > praise". >>>> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in >>>> > the state, >>>> > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had >>>> > launched any >>>> > scheme. >>>> > >>>> > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in >>>> > ensuring jobs >>>> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural >>>> > development. UPA >>>> > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance >>>> > for jobless, >>>> > Pilot said. >>>> > >>>> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a >>>> > great skill to >>>> > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake >>>> > claims. >>>> > >>>> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer >>>> > saying there is >>>> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has >>>> > slapped 23% >>>> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. >>>> > >>>> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister >>>> > Narendra Modi >>>> > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in >>>> > connection with >>>> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall >>>> > act as per >>>> > the law". >>>> > >>>> > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme >>>> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP >>>> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. >>>> > >>>> > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall >>>> > act as per >>>> > the law. This government has always supported and respected >>>> > the law >>>> > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the >>>> > Supreme Court >>>> > order and directions," he told PTI. >>>> > >>>> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an >>>> > attempt to tarnish Modi. >>>> > >>>> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to >>>> > malign an >>>> > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader >>>> > in the >>>> > country," Rudy said. >>>> > >>>> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last >>>> > week saying >>>> > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the >>>> > Prime >>>> > Minister. >>>> > >>>> > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in >>>> > an >>>> > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works >>>> > being >>>> > carried out in Gujarat. >>>> > >>>> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a >>>> > complaint of Zakia >>>> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by >>>> > a mob >>>> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms >>>> > _________________________________________ >>>> > 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/> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> >>>> Message: 2 >>>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) >>>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The >>>>        Vanishing       Communities >>>> To: Pawan Durani >>>> Cc: Sarai List >>>> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >>>> >>>> Dear Mr Durani, >>>>               If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all >>>> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This >>>> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any >>>> noise on this news item? >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> (A.K.MALIK) >>>> >>>> >>>> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> >>>> > From: Pawan Durani >>>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing >>>> > Communities >>>> > To: "reader-list" >>>> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM >>>> > "In a recent investigative report it >>>> > is described how young girls, as >>>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>>> > to Islam, >>>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>>> > girls like this >>>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>>> > sign >>>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>>> > said Laljee >>>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>>> > of village >>>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>>> > taken >>>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>>> > Larkana >>>> > districts." >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > Source : >>>> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ >>>> > >>>> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: >>>> > Latest, Opinion >>>> > and Editorials | >>>> > >>>> > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani >>>> > journalist friend. >>>> > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, >>>> > where >>>> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated >>>> > I noticed >>>> > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest >>>> > incidents of >>>> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling >>>> > Chakma tribals >>>> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a >>>> > preliminary >>>> > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in >>>> > Pakistan. I >>>> > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani >>>> > Christians. >>>> > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and >>>> > Ahmadiya >>>> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require >>>> > international >>>> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary >>>> > has so far >>>> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and >>>> > Ahmadiya >>>> > communities. >>>> > >>>> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights >>>> > Commission and >>>> > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed >>>> > the pitiable >>>> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are >>>> > drowned in >>>> > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also >>>> > ashamed of these >>>> > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing >>>> > visitations >>>> > by the ISI goons. >>>> > >>>> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, >>>> > called >>>> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, >>>> > for which he >>>> > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct >>>> > Action Pogrom >>>> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national >>>> > minorities, after 3 >>>> > millions were killed in communal riots and several million >>>> > escaped to >>>> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to >>>> > your temples, >>>> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place >>>> > of worship >>>> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or >>>> > caste or >>>> > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the >>>> > State…We are >>>> > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all >>>> > citizens and >>>> > equal citizens of our State.” >>>> > >>>> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal >>>> > Muslim leader >>>> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah >>>> > Kathiawadi >>>> > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta >>>> > visit, >>>> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic >>>> > attitude of the >>>> > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a >>>> > Shia), but >>>> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue >>>> > Muslim >>>> > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the >>>> > person who >>>> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central >>>> > Legislative >>>> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or >>>> > organized the >>>> > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless >>>> > suppression of the >>>> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the >>>> > Governor >>>> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of >>>> > Jinnah’s bunches of >>>> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in >>>> > collaboration with >>>> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the >>>> > Mountbatten Plan >>>> > for partition, backing out from original agreement that >>>> > Mountbatten >>>> > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan >>>> > and >>>> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a >>>> > day of >>>> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). >>>> > >>>> > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and >>>> > falsehood >>>> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority >>>> > was then and >>>> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a >>>> > democrat he would >>>> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop >>>> > killing of the >>>> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he >>>> > assumed the gaddi >>>> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since >>>> > Jinnah the >>>> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and >>>> > now they >>>> > have become an endangered community. Those interested may >>>> > read Jinnah >>>> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report >>>> > on the Last >>>> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. >>>> > >>>> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of >>>> > Pakistan was >>>> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, >>>> > Balochistan, >>>> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and >>>> > Assam and >>>> > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan >>>> > theory of >>>> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to >>>> > amalgamate >>>> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. >>>> > >>>> > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in >>>> > the absence >>>> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he >>>> > had >>>> > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem >>>> > of >>>> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous >>>> > situation in >>>> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the >>>> > national >>>> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the >>>> > national >>>> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath >>>> > Azad, son of >>>> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days >>>> > before the >>>> > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first >>>> > national anthem. It >>>> > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that >>>> > Jinnah >>>> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to >>>> > write the >>>> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national >>>> > anthem composed by >>>> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great >>>> > disrespect to >>>> > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers >>>> > correctly >>>> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu >>>> > elixir. >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source >>>> > Wikipedia) >>>> > >>>> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of >>>> > Pakistan was >>>> > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total >>>> > population. For >>>> > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was >>>> > 450,000, of >>>> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, >>>> > Karachi’s population >>>> > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of >>>> > 600,000 Muslim >>>> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of >>>> > Karachi was 96% >>>> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu >>>> > population in all >>>> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would >>>> > certainly be >>>> > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic >>>> > trends and >>>> > further diminution of Hindu population. >>>> > >>>> > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly >>>> > over 4,924 >>>> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population >>>> > is 1,921. >>>> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military >>>> > operations >>>> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand >>>> > of Jizya, a >>>> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. >>>> > >>>> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for >>>> > freedom of >>>> > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes >>>> > limits on this >>>> > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan >>>> > proclaimed itself >>>> > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has >>>> > become a >>>> > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle >>>> > for separate >>>> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the >>>> > Hindus and >>>> > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with >>>> > hatred >>>> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to >>>> > law, public >>>> > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. >>>> > Actions or >>>> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not >>>> > protected. >>>> > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be >>>> > consistent >>>> > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both >>>> > Muslims >>>> > and religious minorities. This observation has been >>>> > supported even by >>>> > the U.S. State Department’s report on International >>>> > Religious Freedom >>>> > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani >>>> > Christians >>>> > the IRF had expressed similar views. >>>> > >>>> > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia >>>> > injunctions >>>> > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other >>>> > minorities in >>>> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates >>>> > the death >>>> > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration >>>> > of the >>>> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, >>>> > and the >>>> > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions >>>> > once the >>>> > accusation has been made, although most such allegations >>>> > of >>>> > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March >>>> > 24, 2005, >>>> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating >>>> > the mention >>>> > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. >>>> > The >>>> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz >>>> > in chair, >>>> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the >>>> > rule after >>>> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. >>>> > The move was >>>> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), >>>> > a coalition >>>> > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s >>>> > former >>>> > President General Pervez Musharraf. >>>> > >>>> > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming >>>> > pace in >>>> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights >>>> > Commission of >>>> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued >>>> > Islamization of >>>> > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the >>>> > 1980s. >>>> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the >>>> > rights of >>>> > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and >>>> > Ahmadiyas, >>>> > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the >>>> > fear of >>>> > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their >>>> > places of >>>> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of >>>> > death. >>>> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s >>>> > Muslims winning by >>>> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by >>>> > threatening it, by >>>> > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out >>>> > or >>>> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” >>>> > >>>> > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by >>>> > the >>>> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni >>>> > militant >>>> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the >>>> > large-scale >>>> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His >>>> > report is an >>>> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to >>>> > agree on a >>>> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called >>>> > heads of all >>>> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of >>>> > a Muslim. >>>> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of >>>> > our >>>> > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard >>>> > of the >>>> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, >>>> > New age Islam. >>>> > >>>> > Violence against women in general continues throughout the >>>> > world, but >>>> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. >>>> > Violence >>>> > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor >>>> > killings, and >>>> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two >>>> > hours on >>>> > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor >>>> > killings. Moreover, >>>> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison >>>> > thousands of >>>> > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of >>>> > laws that >>>> > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the >>>> > then >>>> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended >>>> > “to bring in >>>> > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects >>>> > of the >>>> > criminal justice system and make certain offences >>>> > punishable by hadd, >>>> > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy >>>> > Quran or Sunnah.” >>>> > >>>> > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of >>>> > Hudood) >>>> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February >>>> > 1979, preamble >>>> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . >>>> > The laws >>>> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences >>>> > of Zina >>>> > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf >>>> > (wrongful >>>> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property >>>> > and >>>> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the >>>> > Ordinance, whenever >>>> > “a man and a woman… willfully have sexual intercourse >>>> > without being >>>> > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina >>>> > Ordinance. >>>> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally >>>> > meaning ‘forced >>>> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred >>>> > without the >>>> > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina >>>> > Ordinance >>>> > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. >>>> > >>>> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four >>>> > male >>>> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. >>>> > If the >>>> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped >>>> > for >>>> > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is >>>> > banned in >>>> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human >>>> > rights >>>> > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, >>>> > the Pakistan >>>> > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not >>>> > forgotten the >>>> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international >>>> > indignation. >>>> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the >>>> > majority >>>> > sections of people in a country that still lives in the >>>> > barbaric >>>> > Middle Ages. >>>> > >>>> > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and >>>> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration >>>> > and >>>> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting >>>> > of Hindu >>>> > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu >>>> > females. >>>> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted >>>> > human rights >>>> > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the >>>> > continued >>>> > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also >>>> > because reports >>>> > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local >>>> > media or >>>> > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register >>>> > cases >>>> > reported by Hindu victims. >>>> > >>>> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind >>>> > province, is >>>> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to >>>> > convert to >>>> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and >>>> > kidnapping >>>> > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On >>>> > September 14, >>>> > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter >>>> > in Sind, >>>> > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to >>>> > Islam. The >>>> > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court >>>> > dismissed the >>>> > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement >>>> > that she >>>> > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a >>>> > legislator >>>> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should >>>> > be >>>> > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an >>>> > offense for >>>> > the abductors. >>>> > >>>> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine >>>> > in the >>>> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married >>>> > man and >>>> > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi >>>> > Abdul Aziz >>>> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and >>>> > married her >>>> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, >>>> > Muslim extremists >>>> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. >>>> > Sapna, >>>> > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her >>>> > parents, >>>> > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, >>>> > is claimed >>>> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain >>>> > contact with >>>> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” >>>> > >>>> > In a recent investigative report it is described how young >>>> > girls, as >>>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>>> > to Islam, >>>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>>> > girls like this >>>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>>> > sign >>>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>>> > said Laljee >>>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>>> > of village >>>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>>> > taken >>>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>>> > Larkana >>>> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for >>>> > Interior, had >>>> > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was >>>> > quoted by the >>>> > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are >>>> > taking place >>>> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been >>>> > living for >>>> > the past 5,000 years.” >>>> > >>>> > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young >>>> > Hindu girls >>>> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena >>>> > (21), Usha >>>> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, >>>> > a Hindu >>>> > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, >>>> > Pakistan – went >>>> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely >>>> > circulated report >>>> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion >>>> > losses,” the >>>> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, >>>> > described the shock >>>> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned >>>> > home after >>>> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters >>>> > had >>>> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to >>>> > the police, >>>> > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ >>>> > conversions to >>>> > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from >>>> > chaperones and >>>> > even police officers that have supervised their only >>>> > interactions thus >>>> > far, have been consistently denied. After their >>>> > disappearance from >>>> > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic >>>> > seminary) in >>>> > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied >>>> > the freedom >>>> > to return home. >>>> > >>>> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she >>>> > was >>>> > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of >>>> > providing her >>>> > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into >>>> > unconsciousness for >>>> > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric >>>> > hospital to >>>> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence >>>> > of >>>> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in >>>> > Karachi. >>>> > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her >>>> > house meant >>>> > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband >>>> > has stood >>>> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi >>>> > disgraced >>>> > the family and should be killed. >>>> > >>>> > Although violence against women transcends their religion, >>>> > it is >>>> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In >>>> > May 2005, a >>>> > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration >>>> > for equal >>>> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and >>>> > took them to >>>> > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma >>>> > Jahangir, a U.N. >>>> > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human >>>> > Rights >>>> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence >>>> > official >>>> > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the >>>> > (expletive) a >>>> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her >>>> > shirt off and >>>> > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, >>>> > the Kargil >>>> > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated >>>> > country. >>>> > >>>> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of >>>> > Hindu women >>>> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two >>>> > other >>>> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According >>>> > to >>>> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly >>>> > occupied in >>>> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students >>>> > studying in >>>> > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. >>>> > >>>> > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the >>>> > Baloch >>>> > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, >>>> > in >>>> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are >>>> > several >>>> > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released >>>> > after hefty >>>> > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch >>>> > elements and >>>> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that >>>> > the Hindus >>>> > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. >>>> > Only in 2009 >>>> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. >>>> > Only three >>>> > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in >>>> > cash, but paid >>>> > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, >>>> > continue to >>>> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where >>>> > Pakistan >>>> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President >>>> > Musharraf in >>>> > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely >>>> > degraded >>>> > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is >>>> > unknown, >>>> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the >>>> > unrest in >>>> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups >>>> > have >>>> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and >>>> > destroyed Hindu >>>> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly >>>> > school >>>> > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. >>>> > >>>> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one >>>> > hundred and >>>> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when >>>> > Pakistan’s Frontier >>>> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, >>>> > rockets, and >>>> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were >>>> > innocent >>>> > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti >>>> > tribesmen >>>> > >>>> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley >>>> > of Hingol >>>> > river is however, respected by the Baloch political >>>> > leaders. In 2008 >>>> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency >>>> > to confirm >>>> > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. >>>> > Balochistan’s >>>> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo >>>> > and other >>>> > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the >>>> > assembly >>>> > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam >>>> > being >>>> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where >>>> > an annual >>>> > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly >>>> > resolution warned >>>> > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under >>>> > water >>>> > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of >>>> > all Hindus. >>>> > It requested the federal government to have the dam >>>> > constructed >>>> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the >>>> > Hindus in Sind >>>> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally >>>> > enjoy trust of >>>> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure >>>> > from Punjabi >>>> > settlers. >>>> > >>>> > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways >>>> > that Hindu, >>>> > Sikh and Christian students are automatically >>>> > discriminated. Extracts, >>>> > translated from Urdu to English, from the >>>> > government-sponsored >>>> > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the >>>> > Federal >>>> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and >>>> > inflammatory >>>> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: >>>> > >>>> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good >>>> > things, and >>>> > the Hindus did not respect women.” >>>> > Grade V:  “The Hindu has always been an enemy of >>>> > Islam.” >>>> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and >>>> > cruelty.” >>>> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as >>>> > a nation and >>>> > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim >>>> > culture and >>>> > civilization.” >>>> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery >>>> > all over the world.” >>>> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and >>>> > brotherhood…There is no >>>> > such concept in Hinduism.” >>>> > >>>> > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani >>>> > system. >>>> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees >>>> > fundamental human >>>> > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. >>>> > However, >>>> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen >>>> > shall have the >>>> > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall >>>> > be freedom >>>> > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions >>>> > imposed by law in >>>> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, >>>> > security or >>>> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of >>>> > Islam in the >>>> > country.  Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article >>>> > 20 which >>>> > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, >>>> > practice and >>>> > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination >>>> > and every >>>> > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain >>>> > and manage >>>> > its religious institutions.”  Unfortunately, Hindus, >>>> > Sikhs, >>>> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in >>>> > Pakistan >>>> > today despite the assurance provided by the >>>> > Constitution.  Temples are >>>> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk >>>> > persecution, >>>> > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. >>>> > >>>> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens >>>> > are equal >>>> > before law and are entitled to equal protection of >>>> > law…There shall be >>>> > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.”  Rape, >>>> > honor killings, >>>> > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the >>>> > women of >>>> > Pakistan face.  Despite the constitutional guarantee >>>> > of equal >>>> > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as >>>> > the >>>> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. >>>> > They continue to >>>> > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and >>>> > will >>>> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not >>>> > repealed. >>>> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the >>>> > marriage, the >>>> > family, the mother and the child.”  Article 36 >>>> > states, “The State >>>> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of >>>> > minorities, >>>> > including their due representation in the Federal and >>>> > Provincial >>>> > services.”  In reality, however, neither families >>>> > nor minorities are >>>> > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced >>>> > conversions >>>> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the >>>> > felons. >>>> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or >>>> > signing >>>> > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political >>>> > Rights (CCPR), >>>> > although it did ratify the International Convention on the >>>> > Elimination >>>> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, >>>> > 1966. >>>> > >>>> > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some >>>> > visible >>>> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are >>>> > more >>>> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice >>>> > green >>>> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus >>>> > are >>>> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, >>>> > night soil >>>> > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the >>>> > appointment of >>>> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on >>>> > Quran) no >>>> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder >>>> > in the >>>> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of >>>> > national >>>> > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks >>>> > on the >>>> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this >>>> > essay. >>>> > >>>> > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan >>>> > have organized >>>> > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and >>>> > other causes >>>> > with the provincial and federal governments: >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Council >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) >>>> > >>>> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha >>>> > >>>> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces >>>> > important >>>> > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the >>>> > provincial >>>> > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and >>>> > political leaders. >>>> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad >>>> > representative body >>>> > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights >>>> > activists in >>>> > Pakistan. >>>> > >>>> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other >>>> > Hindu MNAs >>>> > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest >>>> > against highly >>>> > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court >>>> > judge. >>>> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that >>>> > Hindus were >>>> > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu >>>> > members of >>>> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest >>>> > on Wednesday. >>>> > >>>> > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt >>>> > by Justice >>>> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan >>>> > People’s Party >>>> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu >>>> > lawmakers who >>>> > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, >>>> > joined in. >>>> > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s >>>> > national >>>> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the >>>> > remark >>>> > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of >>>> > Afghan Taliban >>>> > leaders on Monday. >>>> > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s >>>> > observation that a >>>> > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in >>>> > Pakistan, including >>>> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him >>>> > saying, >>>> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in >>>> > Pakistan. >>>> > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” >>>> > >>>> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for >>>> > intervention from >>>> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza >>>> > Gilani, >>>> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of >>>> > Pakistani Hindus >>>> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme >>>> > Court chief >>>> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the >>>> > “highly >>>> > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to >>>> > the assembly >>>> > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on >>>> > March 18. >>>> > 2010. >>>> > >>>> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic >>>> > community-slightly more >>>> > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana >>>> > Sahib and a >>>> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is >>>> > more than 96% >>>> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, >>>> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic >>>> > inspector from >>>> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, >>>> > a poetess >>>> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban >>>> > rampage in >>>> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and >>>> > settled with >>>> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. >>>> > >>>> > They were again uprooted from FATA area when >>>> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan >>>> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) >>>> > as Jizya. >>>> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released >>>> > after >>>> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted >>>> > Sikhs are >>>> > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA >>>> > locations. >>>> > >>>> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The >>>> > Sikh temple >>>> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims >>>> > in August >>>> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> reader-list mailing list >>>> reader-list at sarai.net >>>> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>> >>>> >>>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 >>>> ******************************************* >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Thank you, >>> Jigish Parikh. >>> >>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish >>> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Tue Mar 23 16:40:49 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:40:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003230403p6b69c8b8vcd751cf670a701dc@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003220550q684d628cp4d9466c96fe10a88@mail.gmail.com> <000f01caca76$22ecb3d0$68c61b70$@in> <6b79f1a71003230403p6b69c8b8vcd751cf670a701dc@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <001501caca79$7ef46580$7cdd3080$@in> Dear Pawan, Thanks for this detail. Hindu anti Gujarat stance proved once again and so there is no surprise for publishing 2006 data of Gujarat in 2010. Mail I have sent to editor Mr. N. Ram and Mrs. Indira Hirway is absolutely true and justifiable. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: Pawan Durani [mailto:pawan.durani at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 4:33 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT Dear Bipin Ji , In actual , the story was 'spread' by The Hindu on 12 March 4: 45 PM . The Hindu also claims "The Hindu broke the story on its web site, beta.thehindu.com, at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday. The exclusive was immediately picked up by television channels, news agencies, and other websites without crediting the original source." Check these two links http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article236613.ece http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031261090100.htm Now would The Hindu apologize to Mr Modi and rest of country for a misleading news. The question would still remain ...What was the motive ? And at whose behest ? What is the conspiracy ? Regards Pawan On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 4:16 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Dear Pawan, > Thanks for this posting. > Who is responsible for this? It must have been gimmick of Teesta and Mrs. Jaffri both since they both were present in ndtv 24x7/India talk show for this matter and putting their views that Modi must appear against SIT summon. But, where is the summon? Who will answer? Will SIT answer? Will SC or SIT scroll the culprit? > Once again Teesta proved wrong and exposed for her gimmick similarly as in case of Jahira. Poor Teesta will not get more fund now for this from their foreign bosses. > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:21 PM > To: Javed > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net; Jigish Parikh > Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT > > Not summoned to appear before panel on March 21: Modi > http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gujarat-riots-probe-modi-speaks-out-on-summon s-18241.php > > Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not summoned to > appear before a Supreme-Court-appointed panel probing riots cases on > March 21. > > In a strong statement issued on Monday, a day after he was reported as > having kept the panel waiting for him to appear before it, Modi said: > "It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as to why and > who started spreading lies that Narendra Modi has been summoned by SIT > (Special Investigation Team) on March 21." > > He pointed out that March 21 happened to be "a Sunday and a public > holiday," and said the "purveyors of lies did not even bother to check > whether the SIT officers appointed by Supreme Court were present in > Gujarat on March 21." > > The date March 21, he alleged, was given out by "some vested interests > and as part of the effort to interfere in the due process of law." > > Modi said in his statement that he would respond to the SIT, "fully > respecting law and keeping in view the dignity of the body appointed > by the Supreme Court. > > The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this month before > the Special Investigating Team, headed by K R Raghavan, which is > looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked to appear > in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former Congress MP was > burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by his wife > charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of conspiring > to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were ignored. > > Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to the > Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, whether it too > would summon Narendra Modi  as part of its inquiry on the Gujarat > riots of 2002. > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Javed wrote: >> Dear Jigish and Malik >> You are right and I agree that we should wait for the law to take its >> own course. Why should we worry about it if we have the law - we >> should be concerned with many other problems of the country, such as >> what Jigish ji pointed out. >> >> But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order could be ensured, >> we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra was an unfortunate >> incident which probably took place even before law and police could >> reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after the Godhra >> incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to happen since we >> are in a country where law and order machinery is supposed to work to >> prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be controlled, and >> for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will again take its >> course and treat everyone with justice. We all know that Modi is too >> arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings and is thus >> avoiding SIT. >> >> This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" as you >> mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for people who have >> been affected in the riot. And this is not just for what happened in >> the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns the future of this >> country. If politicians want to go to any extreme (including abetting >> communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as important for >> everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or whatever. >> >> Thanks >> >> Javed >> >> On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh wrote: >>> Mr. Javed, >>> Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I fully agree with Mr. >>> Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination with certain personalities >>> and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH more pressing issues in >>> our country to worry about. One such is tragic/vision-less policies in the >>> foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of Congress party have no clue how >>> to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in London and having no plan >>> B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian Embassy in Kabul, they look >>> stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally to Pakistan for peace >>> dialogue without explanation to the country for such sudden change in >>> foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror infrastructure or handing >>> over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is Defence ministry which is >>> stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our forces. NEVER explaining why >>> every year funds allocated are returned unused despite the dire need of >>> equipments/modernization/weapons/resources.  Let's talk such important >>> issues without meddling in what is less of a problem for nation for NOW. >>> Jigish. >>> >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> >>>> Message: 1 >>>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) >>>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of >>>>        SIT >>>> To: Javed >>>> Cc: Sarai List >>>> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>>> >>>> Dear Mr Javed, >>>>              The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let The Law >>>> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they have scuttled the Bofors >>>> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, Let the Law find what next is >>>> to be done.Is there a punishment for not appearing before the SIT? So file a >>>> case and punish him for not appearing before SIT. Let Modi be punished >>>> according to the prevalent law of the land.Even Kasab is being given rights >>>> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even have the rights of an ordinary >>>> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be punished but according to >>>> Law.No one including Congress Party wants justice to be done but wants to >>>> play POLITICS. >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> (A.K.MALIK) >>>> >>>> >>>> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed wrote: >>>> >>>> > From: Javed >>>> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is innocent, why is he afraid of SIT >>>> > To: "sarai list" >>>> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM >>>> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi >>>> > avoids SIT team >>>> > >>>> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST >>>> > >>>> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi >>>> > for not >>>> > showing up before the SIT in connection with a Gujarat >>>> > riots case, >>>> > Congress on Sunday said that it was "contemptuous" and >>>> > showed that he >>>> > "loves to hide". >>>> > >>>> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to appear before it >>>> > shows the >>>> > seriousness and importance attached to the issue by the >>>> > apex court," >>>> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said. >>>> > >>>> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any ground or pretext is >>>> > contemptuous >>>> > and would show that he loves to hide," he said >>>> > >>>> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard to a complaint >>>> > filed by Zakia >>>> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan Jaffrey in the 2002 >>>> > Gulburg >>>> > society riots case. >>>> > >>>> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending lavishly on >>>> > advertisements, >>>> > minister of state for communications and technology Sachin >>>> > Pilot said >>>> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge money for "self >>>> > praise". >>>> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of Central schemes in >>>> > the state, >>>> > demanding that he comes out with a white paper if he had >>>> > launched any >>>> > scheme. >>>> > >>>> > He was all praise for UPA government for its efforts in >>>> > ensuring jobs >>>> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 crore for rural >>>> > development. UPA >>>> > is the only government to announce unemployment allowance >>>> > for jobless, >>>> > Pilot said. >>>> > >>>> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander said Modi has a >>>> > great skill to >>>> > divert people's mind and to misguide them by making fake >>>> > claims. >>>> > >>>> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as anti-farmer >>>> > saying there is >>>> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi government has >>>> > slapped 23% >>>> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on fertilizers in the state. >>>> > >>>> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether chief minister >>>> > Narendra Modi >>>> > would depose before the Special Investigation Team in >>>> > connection with >>>> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state government "shall >>>> > act as per >>>> > the law". >>>> > >>>> > Asked if Modi would depose before the Supreme >>>> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP >>>> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a direct reply. >>>> > >>>> > "The government of Gujarat has made it clear that it shall >>>> > act as per >>>> > the law. This government has always supported and respected >>>> > the law >>>> > and will abide by it. It has the highest respect for the >>>> > Supreme Court >>>> > order and directions," he told PTI. >>>> > >>>> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole process may be an >>>> > attempt to tarnish Modi. >>>> > >>>> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and conspiracy to >>>> > malign an >>>> > tarnish the image of the most progressive state and leader >>>> > in the >>>> > country," Rudy said. >>>> > >>>> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped praise on Modi last >>>> > week saying >>>> > he was a capable leader who had the qualities to become the >>>> > Prime >>>> > Minister. >>>> > >>>> > "Modi is a role model for the country...," Gadkari said in >>>> > an >>>> > interview to a news channel, hailing the development works >>>> > being >>>> > carried out in Gujarat. >>>> > >>>> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in connection with a >>>> > complaint of Zakia >>>> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery who was killed by >>>> > a mob >>>> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society in February 2002. >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi -avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms >>>> > _________________________________________ >>>> > 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/> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> >>>> Message: 2 >>>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) >>>> From: "A.K. Malik" >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The >>>>        Vanishing       Communities >>>> To: Pawan Durani >>>> Cc: Sarai List >>>> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> >>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >>>> >>>> Dear Mr Durani, >>>>               If a similar thing is done in India to a Muslim girl,see all >>>> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This >>>> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you heard of any one making any >>>> noise on this news item? >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> (A.K.MALIK) >>>> >>>> >>>> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> >>>> > From: Pawan Durani >>>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing >>>> > Communities >>>> > To: "reader-list" >>>> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM >>>> > "In a recent investigative report it >>>> > is described how young girls, as >>>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>>> > to Islam, >>>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>>> > girls like this >>>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>>> > sign >>>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>>> > said Laljee >>>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>>> > of village >>>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>>> > taken >>>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>>> > Larkana >>>> > districts." >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > Source : >>>> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing- communities/632/ >>>> > >>>> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 | Category: >>>> > Latest, Opinion >>>> > and Editorials | >>>> > >>>> > I was inspired to write this essay by a Pakistani >>>> > journalist friend. >>>> > Later, during a lecture tour in South East Asian countries, >>>> > where >>>> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are also discriminated >>>> > I noticed >>>> > that the minorities are palpably anguished. The latest >>>> > incidents of >>>> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on hill dwelling >>>> > Chakma tribals >>>> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my decision to chronicle a >>>> > preliminary >>>> > account of the conditions of the non-Muslim minorities in >>>> > Pakistan. I >>>> > had earlier written a piece on the plight of the Pakistani >>>> > Christians. >>>> > I have not touched upon the plight of the Shia and >>>> > Ahmadiya >>>> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, which require >>>> > international >>>> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim religious seminary >>>> > has so far >>>> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment of the Shia and >>>> > Ahmadiya >>>> > communities. >>>> > >>>> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan Human Rights >>>> > Commission and >>>> > several young Pakistani writers who have boldly portrayed >>>> > the pitiable >>>> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. Their voices are >>>> > drowned in >>>> > wilderness. The normal civil society members are also >>>> > ashamed of these >>>> > developments. However, I do not want to name them fearing >>>> > visitations >>>> > by the ISI goons. >>>> > >>>> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new nation created, >>>> > called >>>> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure that his fiefdom, >>>> > for which he >>>> > fought relentlessly and even organized the Great Direct >>>> > Action Pogrom >>>> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the national >>>> > minorities, after 3 >>>> > millions were killed in communal riots and several million >>>> > escaped to >>>> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; free to go to >>>> > your temples, >>>> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to any other place >>>> > of worship >>>> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or >>>> > caste or >>>> > creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the >>>> > State We are >>>> > starting with this fundamental principles that we are all >>>> > citizens and >>>> > equal citizens of our State.” >>>> > >>>> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as a rabid communal >>>> > Muslim leader >>>> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) know that Jinnah >>>> > Kathiawadi >>>> > lived by deceit and died in neglect (recall his Quetta >>>> > visit, >>>> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi and apathetic >>>> > attitude of the >>>> > people in power). He was not even a practicing Muslim (a >>>> > Shia), but >>>> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never tried to rescue >>>> > Muslim >>>> > politics from the clutches of the maulanas. He was the >>>> > person who >>>> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in the Central >>>> > Legislative >>>> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He fabricated or >>>> > organized the >>>> > fabrication of charges against Congress’ ruthless >>>> > suppression of the >>>> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was submitted to the >>>> > Governor >>>> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand finale of >>>> > Jinnah’s bunches of >>>> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta pogrom in >>>> > collaboration with >>>> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal to sign the >>>> > Mountbatten Plan >>>> > for partition, backing out from original agreement that >>>> > Mountbatten >>>> > would be the common Governor General for India and Pakistan >>>> > and >>>> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch on 16th August, a >>>> > day of >>>> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). >>>> > >>>> > With such track record of prevarication, fabrication and >>>> > falsehood >>>> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech assuring the minority >>>> > was then and >>>> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. If he were a >>>> > democrat he would >>>> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He could not stop >>>> > killing of the >>>> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan even after he >>>> > assumed the gaddi >>>> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood style. Since >>>> > Jinnah the >>>> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer in Pakistan and >>>> > now they >>>> > have become an endangered community. Those interested may >>>> > read Jinnah >>>> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and Mountbatten’s Report >>>> > on the Last >>>> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. >>>> > >>>> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? His idea of >>>> > Pakistan was >>>> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole of Punjab, Sind, >>>> > Balochistan, >>>> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no plan for Bengal and >>>> > Assam and >>>> > other Muslim majority areas in India. Later the Bangistan >>>> > theory of >>>> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the Pakistan protagonists to >>>> > amalgamate >>>> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern wing of Pakistan. >>>> > >>>> > However, it must be said to the credit of Jinnah that in >>>> > the absence >>>> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he could trust, he >>>> > had >>>> > commissioned a Hindu to write the original national anthem >>>> > of >>>> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another anomalous >>>> > situation in >>>> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of Pakistan, had composed the >>>> > national >>>> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still used as one of the >>>> > national >>>> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had summoned Jagannath >>>> > Azad, son of >>>> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, just three days >>>> > before the >>>> > creation of Pakistan, to write the country’s first >>>> > national anthem. It >>>> > had stirred up a debate in that country. It is claimed that >>>> > Jinnah >>>> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting Jagannath Azad to >>>> > write the >>>> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s first national >>>> > anthem composed by >>>> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in 1950. What a great >>>> > disrespect to >>>> > the father of the nation! Some leading Pakistani thinkers >>>> > correctly >>>> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of anti-Hindu >>>> > elixir. >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in Pakistan (source >>>> > Wikipedia) >>>> > >>>> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the Hindu population of >>>> > Pakistan was >>>> > estimated at approximately a quarter of the total >>>> > population. For >>>> > example, the population of Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 was >>>> > 450,000, of >>>> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. By 1951, >>>> > Karachi’s population >>>> > had increased to 1.137 million because of the influx of >>>> > 600,000 Muslim >>>> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim population of >>>> > Karachi was 96% >>>> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, the Hindu >>>> > population in all >>>> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent census would >>>> > certainly be >>>> > expected to demonstrate consistent dwindling demographic >>>> > trends and >>>> > further diminution of Hindu population. >>>> > >>>> > According to certain official estimates NWFP has slightly >>>> > over 4,924 >>>> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known Hindu population >>>> > is 1,921. >>>> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and military >>>> > operations >>>> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual pressure-demand >>>> > of Jizya, a >>>> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army harassment. >>>> > >>>> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, provides for >>>> > freedom of >>>> > religion. In practice, however, the government imposes >>>> > limits on this >>>> > freedom by using several subterfuges. Since Pakistan >>>> > proclaimed itself >>>> > an Islamic republic at the time of independence, Islam has >>>> > become a >>>> > core element of the national ideology. Since the struggle >>>> > for separate >>>> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly waged against the >>>> > Hindus and >>>> > not the British Pakistan’s political soul is filled with >>>> > hatred >>>> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious freedom is subject to >>>> > law, public >>>> > order, and morality as decided by the reigning government. >>>> > Actions or >>>> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to its Prophet are not >>>> > protected. >>>> > In addition, the Constitution requires that laws must be >>>> > consistent >>>> > with Islam and imposes some elements of Quranic law on both >>>> > Muslims >>>> > and religious minorities. This observation has been >>>> > supported even by >>>> > the U.S. State Department’s report on International >>>> > Religious Freedom >>>> > report of 2004. After spate of riots against the Pakistani >>>> > Christians >>>> > the IRF had expressed similar views. >>>> > >>>> > Government regulations and laws shaped by Islamic Sharia >>>> > injunctions >>>> > discriminate against the Hindu minority as well as other >>>> > minorities in >>>> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code mandates >>>> > the death >>>> > sentence for blasphemy against the Prophet or desecration >>>> > of the >>>> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are pending in the courts, >>>> > and the >>>> > accused spend long periods in jails under brutal conditions >>>> > once the >>>> > accusation has been made, although most such allegations >>>> > of >>>> > desecration are the result of personal grudges. On March >>>> > 24, 2005, >>>> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory practice of mandating >>>> > the mention >>>> > of religious identity of individuals in all new passports. >>>> > The >>>> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz >>>> > in chair, >>>> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to reintroduce the >>>> > rule after >>>> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan Jamali government. >>>> > The move was >>>> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), >>>> > a coalition >>>> > of hard-line religious parties that supported Pakistan’s >>>> > former >>>> > President General Pervez Musharraf. >>>> > >>>> > The rights of minorities continue to erode at an alarming >>>> > pace in >>>> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the Human Rights >>>> > Commission of >>>> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with the continued >>>> > Islamization of >>>> > Pakistan that President General Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the >>>> > 1980s. >>>> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an Islamic republic, the >>>> > rights of >>>> > religious minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, and >>>> > Ahmadiyas, >>>> > diminished dramatically. These minorities live under the >>>> > fear of >>>> > threats to their lives and property, desecration of their >>>> > places of >>>> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that carries a penalty of >>>> > death. >>>> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation adds, “It’s >>>> > Muslims winning by >>>> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a culture by >>>> > threatening it, by >>>> > abducting young girls so that an entire community moves out >>>> > or >>>> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” >>>> > >>>> > There are several instances of attacks against the Shias by >>>> > the >>>> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two hardcore Sunni >>>> > militant >>>> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission investigated the >>>> > large-scale >>>> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in Pakistan in 1953. His >>>> > report is an >>>> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are not even able to >>>> > agree on a >>>> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice Munir had called >>>> > heads of all >>>> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them the definition of >>>> > a Muslim. >>>> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the pusillanimity of >>>> > our >>>> > so-called scholars of Islam and their near-total disregard >>>> > of the >>>> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan Shahin, Editor, >>>> > New age Islam. >>>> > >>>> > Violence against women in general continues throughout the >>>> > world, but >>>> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu women. >>>> > Violence >>>> > against women is rampant in the forms of rape, honor >>>> > killings, and >>>> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is raped every two >>>> > hours on >>>> > average, and at least ten women a day die in honor >>>> > killings. Moreover, >>>> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is used to imprison >>>> > thousands of >>>> > women who report rapes. The Hudood Ordinances are a set of >>>> > laws that >>>> > were introduced by Presidential decree in 1979 under the >>>> > then >>>> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws were intended >>>> > “to bring in >>>> > conformity with the injunctions of Islam” certain aspects >>>> > of the >>>> > criminal justice system and make certain offences >>>> > punishable by hadd, >>>> > which is defined as “punishment ordained by the Holy >>>> > Quran or Sunnah.” >>>> > >>>> > The quotations are from the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of >>>> > Hudood) >>>> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of 1979, 9 February >>>> > 1979, preamble >>>> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: Zina Ordinance. . >>>> > The laws >>>> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances cover the offences >>>> > of Zina >>>> > (various forms of unlawful sexual intercourse) Qazf >>>> > (wrongful >>>> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences Against Property >>>> > and >>>> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, under the >>>> > Ordinance, whenever >>>> > “a man and a woman willfully have sexual intercourse >>>> > without being >>>> > validly married to each other.” Section 4 of the Zina >>>> > Ordinance. >>>> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr (literally >>>> > meaning ‘forced >>>> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as they have occurred >>>> > without the >>>> > consent of the victim. Significantly, however, the Zina >>>> > Ordinance >>>> > excludes marital rape from the definition of that offence. >>>> > >>>> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim must present four >>>> > male >>>> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove the rape occurred. >>>> > If the >>>> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk for being whipped >>>> > for >>>> > adultery because she has acknowledged illicit sex, which is >>>> > banned in >>>> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by women’s rights and human >>>> > rights >>>> > groups for the reform and repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, >>>> > the Pakistan >>>> > government has yet to take action. Readers may have not >>>> > forgotten the >>>> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had created international >>>> > indignation. >>>> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very little from the >>>> > majority >>>> > sections of people in a country that still lives in the >>>> > barbaric >>>> > Middle Ages. >>>> > >>>> > Hindus continue to be the target of kidnappings, rape, and >>>> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are reports of desecration >>>> > and >>>> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, theft and looting >>>> > of Hindu >>>> > property, discrimination, abuse, and abduction of Hindu >>>> > females. >>>> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific and targeted >>>> > human rights >>>> > abuses against Hindus are available, not only due to the >>>> > continued >>>> > decreasing population of Hindus in Pakistan, but also >>>> > because reports >>>> > of such attacks are either poorly covered in the local >>>> > media or >>>> > completely ignored. In most cases police do not register >>>> > cases >>>> > reported by Hindu victims. >>>> > >>>> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, particularly in the Sind >>>> > province, is >>>> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls and forcing them to >>>> > convert to >>>> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of intimidation and >>>> > kidnapping >>>> > of young Hindu women occurred in September 2005. On >>>> > September 14, >>>> > Hindu parents alleged that four men abducted their daughter >>>> > in Sind, >>>> > and forced her to marry one of the accused and convert to >>>> > Islam. The >>>> > authorities arrested two of the abductors, but the court >>>> > dismissed the >>>> > case when the girl was forced to provide a legal statement >>>> > that she >>>> > willfully married and converted. Gayan Chand Singh, than a >>>> > legislator >>>> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the kidnapping should >>>> > be >>>> > categorized as rape and should be registered as such an >>>> > offense for >>>> > the abductors. >>>> > >>>> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was taken to a shrine >>>> > in the >>>> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a Muslim married >>>> > man and >>>> > father of two children. The custodian of the shrine, Maulvi >>>> > Abdul Aziz >>>> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her name to Mehek, and >>>> > married her >>>> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was presented in court, >>>> > Muslim extremists >>>> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted religious verses. >>>> > Sapna, >>>> > terrified by the setting, could not manage to speak to her >>>> > parents, >>>> > who were also present in court. Aziz, also in attendance, >>>> > is claimed >>>> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain >>>> > contact with >>>> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” >>>> > >>>> > In a recent investigative report it is described how young >>>> > girls, as >>>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in Sind, converted >>>> > to Islam, >>>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. “Kidnapping Hindu >>>> > girls like this >>>> > has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to >>>> > sign >>>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve become Muslims,” >>>> > said Laljee >>>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu Panchayat (council >>>> > of village >>>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar abduction cases have >>>> > taken >>>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the Jacobabad and >>>> > Larkana >>>> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of State for >>>> > Interior, had >>>> > upset legislators in the National Assembly when he was >>>> > quoted by the >>>> > state-run APP news agency as saying, “These incidents are >>>> > taking place >>>> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan where they have been >>>> > living for >>>> > the past 5,000 years.” >>>> > >>>> > In a shocking incident, it was reported that three young >>>> > Hindu girls >>>> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The three girls, Reena >>>> > (21), Usha >>>> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno Amra and Champa, >>>> > a Hindu >>>> > couple living in the Punjab Colony section of Karachi, >>>> > Pakistan – went >>>> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to a widely >>>> > circulated report >>>> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled “Conversion >>>> > losses,” the >>>> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan Hussain, >>>> > described the shock >>>> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when they returned >>>> > home after >>>> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover their three daughters >>>> > had >>>> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after desperate queries to >>>> > the police, >>>> > the parents received affidavits stating the daughters’ >>>> > conversions to >>>> > Islam. Private visits with their daughters, free from >>>> > chaperones and >>>> > even police officers that have supervised their only >>>> > interactions thus >>>> > far, have been consistently denied. After their >>>> > disappearance from >>>> > home, the girls have been living at a madrassa (Islamic >>>> > seminary) in >>>> > the vicinity of their home and may potentially be denied >>>> > the freedom >>>> > to return home. >>>> > >>>> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, reported that she >>>> > was >>>> > gang-raped in a government natural gas plant. Instead of >>>> > providing her >>>> > with medical treatment, officials drugged her into >>>> > unconsciousness for >>>> > three days and then transported her to a psychiatric >>>> > hospital to >>>> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due to her persistence >>>> > of >>>> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed under house arrest in >>>> > Karachi. >>>> > The police insinuated that the presence of cash in her >>>> > house meant >>>> > that she was working as a prostitute. Although her husband >>>> > has stood >>>> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as saying that Dr. Shazi >>>> > disgraced >>>> > the family and should be killed. >>>> > >>>> > Although violence against women transcends their religion, >>>> > it is >>>> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women in Pakistan. In >>>> > May 2005, a >>>> > group of middle-class Pakistani women held a demonstration >>>> > for equal >>>> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police beat them and >>>> > took them to >>>> > police stations. In particular, they targeted Asma >>>> > Jahangir, a U.N. >>>> > special rapporteur, who was also the head of the Human >>>> > Rights >>>> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said an intelligence >>>> > official >>>> > close to General Musharraf told the police to “teach the >>>> > (expletive) a >>>> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The police tore her >>>> > shirt off and >>>> > tried to remove her trouser. That was General Musharraf, >>>> > the Kargil >>>> > invader and soldier of fortune in a military dominated >>>> > country. >>>> > >>>> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of kidnapping of >>>> > Hindu women >>>> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a temple in Lahore two >>>> > other >>>> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were desecrated. According >>>> > to >>>> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land were forcibly >>>> > occupied in >>>> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc places. Hindu students >>>> > studying in >>>> > government schools are made to read Quran and offer namaj. >>>> > >>>> > I have personal respect for the liberation struggle of the >>>> > Baloch >>>> > people and had written two essays in this portal. However, >>>> > in >>>> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 Hindus. There are >>>> > several >>>> > instances of Hindu traders being kidnapped and released >>>> > after hefty >>>> > ransom. They are pressed both by the rebellious Baloch >>>> > elements and >>>> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed forces suspect that >>>> > the Hindus >>>> > are used as conduit by the Indian Intelligence agencies. >>>> > Only in 2009 >>>> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from Quetta for ransom. >>>> > Only three >>>> > lucky traders returned; the two others could not pay in >>>> > cash, but paid >>>> > with life. Minorities, particularly Hindus and Ahmadiyas, >>>> > continue to >>>> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, the area where >>>> > Pakistan >>>> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders of President >>>> > Musharraf in >>>> > October 1999. The native Balochis experience a severely >>>> > degraded >>>> > status since the occupation. Although the exact number is >>>> > unknown, >>>> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to escape from the >>>> > unrest in >>>> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. Militant Muslim groups >>>> > have >>>> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes on fire, and >>>> > destroyed Hindu >>>> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu females, particularly >>>> > school >>>> > students, are forcibly converted to Islam. >>>> > >>>> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were killed and one >>>> > hundred and >>>> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, Balochistan when >>>> > Pakistan’s Frontier >>>> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery shelling, >>>> > rockets, and >>>> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among those killed were >>>> > innocent >>>> > Hindu women and children as well as dozens of Bugti >>>> > tribesmen >>>> > >>>> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, in a narrow valley >>>> > of Hingol >>>> > river is however, respected by the Baloch political >>>> > leaders. In 2008 >>>> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch provincial agency >>>> > to confirm >>>> > a resolution for construction of a damn on Hingol River. >>>> > Balochistan’s >>>> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo >>>> > and other >>>> > provincial ministers moved a resolution on the floor of the >>>> > assembly >>>> > over the weekend that categorically objected to the dam >>>> > being >>>> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj Mata Temple, where >>>> > an annual >>>> > festival is held every April. The Baloch Assembly >>>> > resolution warned >>>> > that if the dam was constructed, the temple could go under >>>> > water >>>> > sooner than later, and this would hurt the sentiments of >>>> > all Hindus. >>>> > It requested the federal government to have the dam >>>> > constructed >>>> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the plight of the >>>> > Hindus in Sind >>>> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi Hindus generally >>>> > enjoy trust of >>>> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are under pressure >>>> > from Punjabi >>>> > settlers. >>>> > >>>> > Pakistan’s education system is constructed in such ways >>>> > that Hindu, >>>> > Sikh and Christian students are automatically >>>> > discriminated. Extracts, >>>> > translated from Urdu to English, from the >>>> > government-sponsored >>>> > textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the >>>> > Federal >>>> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the derogatory and >>>> > inflammatory >>>> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of Pakistan: >>>> > >>>> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did not teach them good >>>> > things, and >>>> > the Hindus did not respect women.” >>>> > Grade V:  “The Hindu has always been an enemy of >>>> > Islam.” >>>> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on injustice and >>>> > cruelty.” >>>> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to crush the Muslims as >>>> > a nation and >>>> > several attempts were made by the Hindus to erase Muslim >>>> > culture and >>>> > civilization.” >>>> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived in untold misery >>>> > all over the world.” >>>> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of peace and >>>> > brotherhood There is no >>>> > such concept in Hinduism.” >>>> > >>>> > Minority hatred and persecution is built in the Pakistani >>>> > system. >>>> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value guarantees >>>> > fundamental human >>>> > rights and equality in front of the law to its citizens. >>>> > However, >>>> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, “Every citizen >>>> > shall have the >>>> > right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall >>>> > be freedom >>>> > of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions >>>> > imposed by law in >>>> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, >>>> > security or >>>> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the supremacy of >>>> > Islam in the >>>> > country.  Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article >>>> > 20 which >>>> > states, “Every citizen shall have the right to profess, >>>> > practice and >>>> > propagate his religion; and every religious denomination >>>> > and every >>>> > sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain >>>> > and manage >>>> > its religious institutions.”  Unfortunately, Hindus, >>>> > Sikhs, >>>> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to be persecuted in >>>> > Pakistan >>>> > today despite the assurance provided by the >>>> > Constitution.  Temples are >>>> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and they risk >>>> > persecution, >>>> > particularly because of the Blasphemy Act. >>>> > >>>> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, “All citizens >>>> > are equal >>>> > before law and are entitled to equal protection of >>>> > law There shall be >>>> > no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.”  Rape, >>>> > honor killings, >>>> > and domestic abuse are common types of violence that the >>>> > women of >>>> > Pakistan face.  Despite the constitutional guarantee >>>> > of equal >>>> > protection, these women are left to fend for themselves, as >>>> > the >>>> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate protection. >>>> > They continue to >>>> > face a myriad of inequalities in the judicial system, and >>>> > will >>>> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood Ordinance is not >>>> > repealed. >>>> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall protect the >>>> > marriage, the >>>> > family, the mother and the child.”  Article 36 >>>> > states, “The State >>>> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of >>>> > minorities, >>>> > including their due representation in the Federal and >>>> > Provincial >>>> > services.”  In reality, however, neither families >>>> > nor minorities are >>>> > being protected by Pakistan today as kidnappings or forced >>>> > conversions >>>> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without convictions of the >>>> > felons. >>>> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action toward ratifying or >>>> > signing >>>> > the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political >>>> > Rights (CCPR), >>>> > although it did ratify the International Convention on the >>>> > Elimination >>>> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 19, >>>> > 1966. >>>> > >>>> > However, only in rural and semi urban Sind Hindus have some >>>> > visible >>>> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map the Hindus are >>>> > more >>>> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas bordering India (notice >>>> > green >>>> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, most of the Hindus >>>> > are >>>> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in scavenging work, >>>> > night soil >>>> > carrying job and other menial works. Except for the >>>> > appointment of >>>> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (took oath on >>>> > Quran) no >>>> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in climbing up the ladder >>>> > in the >>>> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and other spheres of >>>> > national >>>> > activities. We propose to discuss several atrocious attacks >>>> > on the >>>> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later chapters of this >>>> > essay. >>>> > >>>> > Though numerically insignificant the Hindus of Pakistan >>>> > have organized >>>> > a few representative bodies to espouse their welfare and >>>> > other causes >>>> > with the provincial and federal governments: >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Council >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association >>>> > >>>> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council (PMWC) >>>> > >>>> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha >>>> > >>>> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in all the provinces >>>> > important >>>> > towns. They hold annual conferences and represent with the >>>> > provincial >>>> > Nazims (district collectors), police officials and >>>> > political leaders. >>>> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also a broad >>>> > representative body >>>> > which works in close liaison with the Human Rights >>>> > activists in >>>> > Pakistan. >>>> > >>>> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a PPP MNA and other >>>> > Hindu MNAs >>>> > walked out of the Pakistan National Assembly in protest >>>> > against highly >>>> > derogatory and biased comments by a Pakistani High Court >>>> > judge. >>>> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court judge’s comment that >>>> > Hindus were >>>> > financing terror attacks in that country, nine Hindu >>>> > members of >>>> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a walkout in protest >>>> > on Wednesday. >>>> > >>>> > “The sentiments of four million Pakistani Hindus are hurt >>>> > by Justice >>>> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for remarks,” said Pakistan >>>> > People’s Party >>>> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined by other Hindu >>>> > lawmakers who >>>> > then walked out. Members of the Awami National Party, too, >>>> > joined in. >>>> > Their protest was described as the first in Pakistan’s >>>> > national >>>> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice Sharif had made the >>>> > remark >>>> > while hearing a petition on barring the deportation of >>>> > Afghan Taliban >>>> > leaders on Monday. >>>> > The apparent trigger for the comment was a lawyer’s >>>> > observation that a >>>> > US security firm was responsible for the blasts in >>>> > Pakistan, including >>>> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif rebutted him >>>> > saying, >>>> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved in terror acts in >>>> > Pakistan. >>>> > Hindus might be the financiers of such attacks.” >>>> > >>>> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal called for >>>> > intervention from >>>> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza >>>> > Gilani, >>>> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the patriotism of >>>> > Pakistani Hindus >>>> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He also asked Supreme >>>> > Court chief >>>> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo motu note of the >>>> > “highly >>>> > objectionable” remark. The protesters later returned to >>>> > the assembly >>>> > after some persuasion.” As reported in Times of India on >>>> > March 18. >>>> > 2010. >>>> > >>>> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a microscopic >>>> > community-slightly more >>>> > than 20,000. They live mostly in Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana >>>> > Sahib and a >>>> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s population is >>>> > more than 96% >>>> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % and rest are Sikhs, >>>> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is one traffic >>>> > inspector from >>>> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army officer, one singer, >>>> > a poetess >>>> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab (PPP). After Taliban >>>> > rampage in >>>> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated to Pakistan and >>>> > settled with >>>> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore areas. >>>> > >>>> > They were again uprooted from FATA area when >>>> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan >>>> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 crores (200 million) >>>> > as Jizya. >>>> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and they were released >>>> > after >>>> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most of the uprooted >>>> > Sikhs are >>>> > still living in camps and have not gone back to FATA >>>> > locations. >>>> > >>>> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been persecuted. The >>>> > Sikh temple >>>> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken over by the Muslims >>>> > in August >>>> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------ >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> reader-list mailing list >>>> reader-list at sarai.net >>>> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>>> >>>> >>>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 >>>> ******************************************* >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Thank you, >>> Jigish Parikh. >>> >>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish >>> >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Mar 23 17:26:26 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:26:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat Muslims register highest literacy rate In-Reply-To: <000901caca6f$97bee090$c73ca1b0$@in> References: <6b79f1a71003220433w29ad299eg9bae5acba30fc009@mail.gmail.com> <000901caca6f$97bee090$c73ca1b0$@in> Message-ID: Dear Bipin ji The vote percentage in Gujarat officially for 2002 Assembly election was 61.54% as per the statistics made by the Election Commission. The report in this regard can be obtained on the link: http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_2002/StatReport_GUJ2002.pdf Secondly, on the idea that Muslims vote en-bloc, here are two articles related: http://indian-election2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/myths-about-muslim-vote.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7973477.stm The second link is an article by Yogendra Yadav. Rakesh From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 19:32:46 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:02:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <746105.81189.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Ravi   Thank you for posting the weblink. What follows is not directed at you. It is a general note.   MY DISCLAIMER : I am not a supporter of Modi, or of the BJP or RSS or VHP or BD or SS. I consider Hindutvavaad to be contemptible and Anti-India.   It is sickening that I need to  make such a disclaimer. The quality of understanding displayed by some on this List and their obvious prejudgments, prejudice and bias, forces me to do this.   Now the CPCB Report:   1. It is not a report about pollution in States as a composite whole but about pollution in selected 88 Industrial Clusters spread over the country.       It would highly incorrect to transpose the data into a comment on the whole State based on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) of selected Industrial Clusters in the State.       If it is so revealed, then a better statement would be """""Out of the Industrial Clusters (ICs) studied by CPCB, some of the " most critically polluted" and "severely polluted" are in Gujarat"""".  That is for those who are interested in focusing on Gujarat.   2. What does the report reveal:       - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, 43 of the 88 ICs are "critically polluted"       - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, 32 of the 88 ICs are "severely polluted"       - Top 20 culprits in descending severity Ankleshwar (Gujarat); Vapi (Gujarat); Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); Chandrapur (Maharashtra); Korba (Chhatisgarh); Bhiwadi (Rajasthan); Angul Talcher (Orissa); Vellore (North Arcot) (Tamilnadu); Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh); Ludhiana (Punjab); Nazafgarh drain basin (Delhi); Noida (Uttar Pradesh); Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Dombivalli (Maharashtra); Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh); Cuddalore (Tamilnadu); Aurangabad (Maharashtra); Faridabad (Haryana); Agra (Uttar Pradesh); Manali (Tamilnadu)       - Statewise share of the 88 ICs studied by CPCB: * Andhra Pradesh       Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= 1        Other= 2 * Assam                    Total= 2     Critical= 0        Severe= 0        Other= 2 * Bihar                       Total= 2     Critical= 0        Severe= 1        Other= 1 * Chattisgarh              Total= 3     Critical= 1        Severe= 1        Other= 1 * Delhi                       Total= 1     Critical= 1        Severe= 0        Other= 0 * Gujarat                    Total= 9     Critical= 6        Severe= 2        Other= 1 * Haryana                   Total= 2     Critical= 2        Severe= 0        Other= 0 * Himachal Pradesh    Total= 3     Critical= 0        Severe= 3        Other= 0 * Jharkhand                Total= 5     Critical= 1        Severe= 4        Other= 0 * Karnataka                Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= 3        Other= 0 * Kerala                     Total= 1     Critical= 1         Severe= 0        Other= 0 * Madhya Pradesh      Total= 5      Critical= 1        Severe= 3        Other= 1 * Maharashtra             Total= 8      Critical= 5        Severe= 3       Other= 0 * Orissa                     Total= 4     Critical= 3        Severe= 1         Other= 0 * Punjab                    Total= 4      Critical= 2        Severe= 2        Other= 0 * Rajasthan                Total= 4      Critical= 3        Severe= 1        Other= 0 * Tamilnadu                Total= 7      Critical= 4        Severe= 2        Other= 1 * Uttar Pradesh           Total= 12    Critical= 6        Severe= 3        Other= 3 * Uttarakhand             Total= 2       Critical= 0        Severe= 1       Other= 1 * West Bengal            Total= 4       Critical= 3        Severe= 1       Other= 0 The above results can be interpreted and summarised in a variety of ways. My (hopefully objective) summary would be:   a. 88 Industrial Clusters/Areas  ICs spread over 20 States were selected by CPBC   b. 43 of these were evaluated as being "Critically Polluted" and 32 as "Severely Polluted"   c. Of the selected ICs, the top ranking 2 evaluated as "Most Critically Polluted" are from Gujarat.   d. In the top 20 "Most Critically Polluted" list, 5 ICs figure from Uttar Pradesh, 3 each from Maharashtra and Tamilnadu and 2 from Gujarat.   e. Cent percent of the selected ICs from Delhi (1), Haryana (2), Kerala (1) were evaluated as "Critically Polluted"   f. The number of  "Critically Polluted" ICs was the most in Gujarat (6 out of 9); Maharashtra (5 out of 8); Uttar Pradesh (6 out of 12); Tamilnadu (4 out of 7); and then Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal placed similarly (3 out of 4)   g. The combined number of ICs that were found to be "Critically Polluted" and "Severely Polluted" were the most in Uttar Pradesh (9 out of 12, - 75%);  Gujarat (8 out of 9, - 89%);  Maharashtra  (8 out of 8, - 100%); Tamilnadu (6 out of 7, - 86%); Jharkhand (5 out of 5, - 100%); Karnataka (5 out of 5, - 100%); Madhya Pradesh (4 out of 5, - 80%); Orissa (4 out of 4, - 100%); Punjab (4 out of 4, - 100%);  Rajasthan (4 out of 4, - 100%); West Bengal (4 out of 4, - 100%)   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Ravi Agarwal wrote: From: Ravi Agarwal Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of Gujarat - No.1 in pollution To: "Pawan Durani" Cc: "sarai list" Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:29 AM Dear all, For details of this analysis - "Comprehensive Environment Assessment of Industrial Areas" please refer to the recent (Dec 2009)  Central Pollution Control Board Document at http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_152_Final-Book_2.pdf Pages 26/27/28 are state wise pollution indicies and these can be compiled for each state. If i am not wrong, Gujarat has 8 sites mentioned above the cutt- off level defining 'critical level of pollution,' (amongst the highest) and 1 site at the borderline. Similarly data for other sites can be compiled here. This is a first such report done by a premier Govt agency and verifies what other independent studies have been showing in the recent past. Best wishes ravi agarwal On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > Dear Rakesh , > > The said article had been reported by IANS. However on further > investigation , there seems to be some doubt in the authenticity of > the article itself. > > Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all > PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC > > Non of these releases has anything to mention on above subject. > > Regards > > Pawan > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer > wrote: > > Hi > > > > An article, specially for those who keep singing paeans about Narendra > Modi > > and his administration on this forum, without trying to see the other > way. > > > > Rakesh > > > > Link: > > > http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm > > > > Article: > > > > Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra 2ndThe Central > Pollution > > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most polluted state in India [ > > Images ]. The > > conclusion has been based on the increasing levels of pollution and toxic > > wastes. > > > > There are seven states in the country that account for 80 per cent of the > > total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat tops the list, followed by > > Maharashtra [ Images< > http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=maharashtra>] > > and Andhra Pradesh. > > > > Even after being declared as the most polluted state, the Gujarat > government > > has not taken any necessary measures to prevent the problem aggravating > > further, environmental activists say. > > > > Criticising the state government for not taking any adequate remedial > > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, director of an NGO named > > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held the authorities and > > industrialists responsible for such an alarming polluted environment. > > > > "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in Ankleshwar, one in > Vadodara > > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of Gujarat has recognised these > > waste sites. But till today the government has not mentioned anything to > > clear up these waste sites. So who are responsible ultimately," said > Pandya. > > > > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, they ask the association of > > industries to clear it up. These associations say it's not their > > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating pollution and affecting the > > masses," he added. > > > > People residing near the industrial estates have developed health and > > breathing related problems, the forum said. People have blamed the toxic > > smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. > > > > "Because of the air pollution, the village environment is getting > affected. > > Villagers have been here since ages but the industries were set up after > a > > long period of time. We face so much difficulty. We cannot leave food in > > open or even the clothes outside for drying," said Kirit Patel, a > resident > > of Narol industrial area. > > > > "We are even becoming prone to breathing and health problems. Pollution > is > > indeed a big problem," he added. > > > > According to a recent report by the central government, Gujarat accounts > for > > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste, while it is 25 > per > > cent in Maharashtra. > > > > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in generation of hazardous > > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ > > Images] > > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ > > Images ] > and > > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. > > Source: ANI > > _________________________________________ > > 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 Tue Mar 23 19:40:44 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:40:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) In-Reply-To: <746105.81189.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <746105.81189.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: in context of the debate: from an 1968 article titled "The tragedy of the commons" by Garett Hardin. some of the excerpts from http://dieoff.org/page95.htm Pollution In a reverse way, the tragedy of the commons reappears in problems of pollution. Here it is not a question of taking something out of the commons, but of putting something in -- sewage, or chemical, radioactive, and heat wastes into water; noxious and dangerous fumes into the air; and distracting and unpleasant advertising signs into the line of sight. The calculations of utility are much the same as before. The rational man finds that his share of the cost of the wastes he discharges into the commons is less than the cost of purifying his wastes before releasing them. Since this is true for everyone, we are locked into a system of "fouling our own nest," so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free enterprisers. The tragedy of the commons as a food basket is averted by private property, or something formally like it. But the air and waters surrounding us cannot readily be fenced, and so the tragedy of the commons as a cesspool must be prevented by different means, by coercive laws or taxing devices that make it cheaper for the polluter to treat his pollutants than to discharge them untreated. We have not progressed as far with the solution of this problem as we have with the first. Indeed, our particular concept of private property, which deters us from exhausting the positive resources of the earth, favors pollution. The owner of a factory on the bank of a stream -- whose property extends to the middle of the stream -- often has difficulty seeing why it is not his natural right to muddy the waters flowing past his door. The law, always behind the times, requires elaborate stitching and fitting to adapt it to this newly perceived aspect of the commons. The pollution problem is a consequence of population. It did not much matter how a lonely American frontiersman disposed of his waste. "Flowing water purifies itself every ten miles," my grandfather used to say, and the myth was near enough to the truth when he was a boy, for there were not too many people. But as population became denser, the natural chemical and biological recycling processes became overloaded, calling for a redefinition of property rights. How to Legislate Temperance? Analysis of the pollution problem as a function of population density uncovers a not generally recognized principle of morality, namely: the morality of an act is a function of the state of the system at the time it is performed. [10] Using the commons as a cesspool does not harm the general public under frontier conditions, because there is no public; the same behavior in a metropolis is unbearable. A hundred and fifty years ago a plainsman could kill an American bison, cut out only the tongue for his dinner, and discard the rest of the animal. He was not in any important sense being wasteful. Today, with only a few thousand bison left, we would be appalled at such behavior. In passing, it is worth noting that the morality of an act cannot be determined from a photograph. One does not know whether a man killing an elephant or setting fire to the grassland is harming others until one knows the total system in which his act appears. "One picture is worth a thousand words," said an ancient Chinese; but it may take ten thousand words to validate it. It is as tempting to ecologists as it is to reformers in general to try to persuade others by way of the photographic shortcut. But the essence of an argument cannot be photographed: it must be presented rationally -- in words. That morality is system-sensitive escaped the attention of most codifiers of ethics in the past. "Thou shalt not…" is the form of traditional ethical directives which make no allowance for particular circumstances. The laws of our society follow the pattern of ancient ethics, and therefore are poorly suited to governing a complex, crowded, changeable world. Our epicyclic solution is to augment statutory law with administrative law. Since it is practically impossible to spell out all the conditions under which it is safe to burn trash in the back yard or to run an automobile without smog­control, by law we delegate the details to bureaus. The result is administrative law, which is rightly feared for an ancient reason -- Quis custodies ipsos custodes? --Who shall watch the watchers themselves? John Adams said that we must have a "government of laws and not men." Bureau administrators, trying to evaluate the morality of acts in the total system, are singularly liable to corruption, producing a government by men, not laws. Prohibition is easy to legislate (though not necessarily to enforce); but how do we legislate temperance? Experience indicates that it can be accomplished best through the mediation of administrative law. We limit possibilities unnecessarily if we suppose that the sentiment of Quis custodiet denies us the use of administrative law. We should rather retain the phrase as a perpetual reminder of fearful dangers we cannot avoid. The great challenge facing us now is to invent the corrective feedbacks that are needed to keep custodians honest. We must find ways to legitimate the needed authority of both the custodians and the corrective feedbacks. ends On 3/23/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Ravi > > Thank you for posting the weblink. What follows is not directed at you. It > is a general note. > > MY DISCLAIMER : I am not a supporter of Modi, or of the BJP or RSS or VHP or > BD or SS. I consider Hindutvavaad to be contemptible and Anti-India. > > It is sickening that I need to  make such a disclaimer. The quality of > understanding displayed by some on this List and their obvious prejudgments, > prejudice and bias, forces me to do this. > > Now the CPCB Report: > > 1. It is not a report about pollution in States as a composite whole but > about pollution in selected 88 Industrial Clusters spread over the country. > >     It would highly incorrect to transpose the data into a comment on the > whole State based on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) > of selected Industrial Clusters in the State. > >     If it is so revealed, then a better statement would be """""Out of the > Industrial Clusters (ICs) studied by CPCB, some of the " most critically > polluted" and "severely polluted" are in Gujarat"""".  That is for those who > are interested in focusing on Gujarat. > > 2. What does the report reveal: > >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, 43 of the 88 ICs are > "critically polluted" > >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, 32 of the 88 ICs are > "severely polluted" > >     - Top 20 culprits in descending severity Ankleshwar (Gujarat); Vapi > (Gujarat); Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); Chandrapur (Maharashtra); Korba > (Chhatisgarh); Bhiwadi (Rajasthan); Angul Talcher (Orissa); Vellore (North > Arcot) (Tamilnadu); Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh); Ludhiana (Punjab); Nazafgarh > drain basin (Delhi); Noida (Uttar Pradesh); Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Dombivalli > (Maharashtra); Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh); Cuddalore (Tamilnadu); Aurangabad > (Maharashtra); Faridabad (Haryana); Agra (Uttar Pradesh); Manali (Tamilnadu) > >     - Statewise share of the 88 ICs studied by CPCB: > > * Andhra Pradesh       Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= > 1        Other= 2 > * Assam                    Total= 2     Critical= 0        Severe= 0 > Other= 2 > * Bihar                       Total= 2     Critical= 0 > Severe= 1        Other= 1 > * Chattisgarh              Total= 3 > Critical= 1        Severe= 1        Other= 1 > * Delhi > Total= 1     Critical= 1        Severe= 0        Other= 0 > * Gujarat > Total= 9     Critical= 6        Severe= 2        Other= 1 > * Haryana                   Total= 2     Critical= 2        Severe= > 0        Other= 0 > * Himachal Pradesh    Total= 3     Critical= 0        Severe= > 3        Other= 0 > * Jharkhand                Total= 5     Critical= > 1        Severe= 4        Other= 0 > * Karnataka                Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= 3 > Other= 0 > * Kerala                     Total= 1     Critical= 1 > Severe= 0        Other= 0 > * Madhya Pradesh      Total= 5      Critical= 1        Severe= 3 > Other= 1 > * Maharashtra             Total= 8 > Critical= 5        Severe= 3       Other= 0 > * Orissa                     Total= 4     Critical= 3 > Severe= 1         Other= 0 > * Punjab                    Total= 4      Critical= 2 > Severe= 2        Other= 0 > * Rajasthan > Total= 4      Critical= 3        Severe= 1        Other= 0 > * Tamilnadu                Total= 7      Critical= 4        Severe= 2 > Other= 1 > * Uttar Pradesh           Total= 12    Critical= 6        Severe= 3 > Other= 3 > * Uttarakhand             Total= 2       Critical= > 0        Severe= 1       Other= 1 > * West Bengal            Total= 4       Critical= 3        Severe= 1 > Other= 0 > The above results can be interpreted and summarised in a variety of ways. My > (hopefully objective) summary would be: > > a. 88 Industrial Clusters/Areas  ICs spread over 20 States were selected by > CPBC > > b. 43 of these were evaluated as being "Critically Polluted" and 32 as > "Severely Polluted" > > c. Of the selected ICs, the top ranking 2 evaluated as "Most Critically > Polluted" are from Gujarat. > > d. In the top 20 "Most Critically Polluted" list, 5 ICs figure from Uttar > Pradesh, 3 each from Maharashtra and Tamilnadu and 2 from Gujarat. > > e. Cent percent of the selected ICs from Delhi (1), Haryana (2), Kerala (1) > were evaluated as "Critically Polluted" > > f. The number of  "Critically Polluted" ICs was the most in Gujarat (6 out > of 9); Maharashtra (5 out of 8); Uttar Pradesh (6 out of 12); Tamilnadu (4 > out of 7); and then Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal placed similarly (3 > out of 4) > > g. The combined number of ICs that were found to be "Critically Polluted" > and "Severely Polluted" were the most in Uttar Pradesh (9 out of 12, - 75%); >  Gujarat (8 out of 9, - 89%);  Maharashtra  (8 out of 8, - 100%); Tamilnadu > (6 out of 7, - 86%); Jharkhand (5 out of 5, - 100%); Karnataka (5 out of 5, > - 100%); Madhya Pradesh (4 out of 5, - 80%); Orissa (4 out of 4, - 100%); > Punjab (4 out of 4, - 100%);  Rajasthan (4 out of 4, - 100%); West Bengal (4 > out of 4, - 100%) > > Kshmendra > > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Ravi Agarwal wrote: > > > From: Ravi Agarwal > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of Gujarat - No.1 in > pollution > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:29 AM > > > Dear all, > > For details of this analysis - "Comprehensive Environment Assessment of > Industrial Areas" please refer to the recent (Dec 2009)  Central Pollution > Control Board Document at > > http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_152_Final-Book_2.pdf > > > Pages 26/27/28 are state wise pollution indicies and these can be compiled > for each state. If i am not wrong, Gujarat has 8 sites mentioned above the > cutt- off level defining 'critical level of pollution,' (amongst the > highest) and 1 site at the borderline. Similarly data for other sites can be > compiled here. > > This is a first such report done by a premier Govt agency and verifies what > other independent studies have been showing in the recent past. > > Best wishes > ravi agarwal > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > >> Dear Rakesh , >> >> The said article had been reported by IANS. However on further >> investigation , there seems to be some doubt in the authenticity of >> the article itself. >> >> Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all >> PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC >> >> Non of these releases has anything to mention on above subject. >> >> Regards >> >> Pawan >> >> On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer >> wrote: >> > Hi >> > >> > An article, specially for those who keep singing paeans about Narendra >> Modi >> > and his administration on this forum, without trying to see the other >> way. >> > >> > Rakesh >> > >> > Link: >> > >> http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm >> > >> > Article: >> > >> > Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra 2ndThe Central >> Pollution >> > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most polluted state in India [ >> > Images ]. The >> > conclusion has been based on the increasing levels of pollution and >> > toxic >> > wastes. >> > >> > There are seven states in the country that account for 80 per cent of >> > the >> > total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat tops the list, followed >> > by >> > Maharashtra [ Images< >> http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=maharashtra>] >> > and Andhra Pradesh. >> > >> > Even after being declared as the most polluted state, the Gujarat >> government >> > has not taken any necessary measures to prevent the problem aggravating >> > further, environmental activists say. >> > >> > Criticising the state government for not taking any adequate remedial >> > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, director of an NGO named >> > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held the authorities and >> > industrialists responsible for such an alarming polluted environment. >> > >> > "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in Ankleshwar, one in >> Vadodara >> > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of Gujarat has recognised >> > these >> > waste sites. But till today the government has not mentioned anything to >> > clear up these waste sites. So who are responsible ultimately," said >> Pandya. >> > >> > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, they ask the association >> > of >> > industries to clear it up. These associations say it's not their >> > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating pollution and affecting the >> > masses," he added. >> > >> > People residing near the industrial estates have developed health and >> > breathing related problems, the forum said. People have blamed the toxic >> > smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. >> > >> > "Because of the air pollution, the village environment is getting >> affected. >> > Villagers have been here since ages but the industries were set up after >> a >> > long period of time. We face so much difficulty. We cannot leave food in >> > open or even the clothes outside for drying," said Kirit Patel, a >> resident >> > of Narol industrial area. >> > >> > "We are even becoming prone to breathing and health problems. Pollution >> is >> > indeed a big problem," he added. >> > >> > According to a recent report by the central government, Gujarat accounts >> for >> > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste, while it is 25 >> per >> > cent in Maharashtra. >> > >> > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in generation of hazardous >> > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ >> > Images] >> > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ >> > Images ] >> and >> > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. >> > Source: ANI >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 23:07:56 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:37:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: <000f01caca76$22ecb3d0$68c61b70$@in> Message-ID: <75869.61214.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Bipin, I have a little doubt. The news of Modi being asked to appear before SIT came about two weeks. Why Modi kept silence and spoke only on 21st about not having received summons. Is it some strategy on his part? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > From: Bipin Trivedi > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT > To: "'Pawan Durani'" > Cc: "sarai-list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 4:16 PM > Dear Pawan, > Thanks for this posting. > Who is responsible for this? It must have been gimmick of > Teesta and Mrs. Jaffri both since they both were present in > ndtv 24x7/India talk show for this matter and putting their > views that Modi must appear against SIT summon. But, where > is the summon? Who will answer? Will SIT answer? Will SC or > SIT scroll the culprit? > Once again Teesta proved wrong and exposed for her gimmick > similarly as in case of Jahira. Poor Teesta will not get > more fund now for this from their foreign bosses. > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net > [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:21 PM > To: Javed > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net; > Jigish Parikh > Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of > SIT > > Not summoned to appear before panel on March 21: Modi > http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gujarat-riots-probe-modi-speaks-out-on-summons-18241.php > > Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not > summoned to > appear before a Supreme-Court-appointed panel probing riots > cases on > March 21. > > In a strong statement issued on Monday, a day after he was > reported as > having kept the panel waiting for him to appear before it, > Modi said: > "It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as > to why and > who started spreading lies that Narendra Modi has been > summoned by SIT > (Special Investigation Team) on March 21." > > He pointed out that March 21 happened to be "a Sunday and a > public > holiday," and said the "purveyors of lies did not even > bother to check > whether the SIT officers appointed by Supreme Court were > present in > Gujarat on March 21." > > The date March 21, he alleged, was given out by "some > vested interests > and as part of the effort to interfere in the due process > of law." > > Modi said in his statement that he would respond to the > SIT, "fully > respecting law and keeping in view the dignity of the body > appointed > by the Supreme Court. > > The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this > month before > the Special Investigating Team, headed by K R Raghavan, > which is > looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked > to appear > in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former > Congress MP was > burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by > his wife > charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of > conspiring > to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were > ignored. > > Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice > to the > Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, > whether it too > would summon Narendra Modi  as part of its inquiry on > the Gujarat > riots of 2002. > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Javed > wrote: > > Dear Jigish and Malik > > You are right and I agree that we should wait for the > law to take its > > own course. Why should we worry about it if we have > the law - we > > should be concerned with many other problems of the > country, such as > > what Jigish ji pointed out. > > > > But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order > could be ensured, > > we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra > was an unfortunate > > incident which probably took place even before law and > police could > > reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after > the Godhra > > incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to > happen since we > > are in a country where law and order machinery is > supposed to work to > > prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be > controlled, and > > for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will > again take its > > course and treat everyone with justice. We all know > that Modi is too > > arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings > and is thus > > avoiding SIT. > > > > This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" > as you > > mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for > people who have > > been affected in the riot. And this is not just for > what happened in > > the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns > the future of this > > country. If politicians want to go to any extreme > (including abetting > > communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as > important for > > everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or > whatever. > > > > Thanks > > > > Javed > > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh > wrote: > >> Mr. Javed, > >> Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I > fully agree with Mr. > >> Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination > with certain personalities > >> and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH > more pressing issues in > >> our country to worry about. One such is > tragic/vision-less policies in the > >> foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of > Congress party have no clue how > >> to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in > London and having no plan > >> B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian > Embassy in Kabul, they look > >> stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally > to Pakistan for peace > >> dialogue without explanation to the country for > such sudden change in > >> foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror > infrastructure or handing > >> over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is > Defence ministry which is > >> stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our > forces. NEVER explaining why > >> every year funds allocated are returned unused > despite the dire need of > >> equipments/modernization/weapons/resources.  > Let's talk such important > >> issues without meddling in what is less of a > problem for nation for NOW. > >> Jigish. > >> > >>> > >>> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>> > >>> Message: 1 > >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) > >>> From: "A.K. Malik" > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is > innocent, why is he afraid of > >>>        SIT > >>> To: Javed > >>> Cc: Sarai List > >>> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > >>> > >>> Dear Mr Javed, > >>>            >   The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let > The Law > >>> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they > have scuttled the Bofors > >>> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, > Let the Law find what next is > >>> to be done.Is there a punishment for not > appearing before the SIT? So file a > >>> case and punish him for not appearing before > SIT. Let Modi be punished > >>> according to the prevalent law of the > land.Even Kasab is being given rights > >>> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even > have the rights of an ordinary > >>> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be > punished but according to > >>> Law.No one including Congress Party wants > justice to be done but wants to > >>> play POLITICS. > >>> Regards, > >>> > >>> (A.K.MALIK) > >>> > >>> > >>> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed > wrote: > >>> > >>> > From: Javed > >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is > innocent, why is he afraid of SIT > >>> > To: "sarai list" > >>> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM > >>> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi > >>> > avoids SIT team > >>> > > >>> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST > >>> > > >>> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief > minister Narendra Modi > >>> > for not > >>> > showing up before the SIT in connection > with a Gujarat > >>> > riots case, > >>> > Congress on Sunday said that it was > "contemptuous" and > >>> > showed that he > >>> > "loves to hide". > >>> > > >>> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to > appear before it > >>> > shows the > >>> > seriousness and importance attached to > the issue by the > >>> > apex court," > >>> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi > said. > >>> > > >>> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any > ground or pretext is > >>> > contemptuous > >>> > and would show that he loves to hide," he > said > >>> > > >>> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard > to a complaint > >>> > filed by Zakia > >>> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan > Jaffrey in the 2002 > >>> > Gulburg > >>> > society riots case. > >>> > > >>> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending > lavishly on > >>> > advertisements, > >>> > minister of state for communications and > technology Sachin > >>> > Pilot said > >>> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge > money for "self > >>> > praise". > >>> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of > Central schemes in > >>> > the state, > >>> > demanding that he comes out with a white > paper if he had > >>> > launched any > >>> > scheme. > >>> > > >>> > He was all praise for UPA government for > its efforts in > >>> > ensuring jobs > >>> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 > crore for rural > >>> > development. UPA > >>> > is the only government to announce > unemployment allowance > >>> > for jobless, > >>> > Pilot said. > >>> > > >>> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander > said Modi has a > >>> > great skill to > >>> > divert people's mind and to misguide them > by making fake > >>> > claims. > >>> > > >>> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as > anti-farmer > >>> > saying there is > >>> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi > government has > >>> > slapped 23% > >>> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on > fertilizers in the state. > >>> > > >>> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether > chief minister > >>> > Narendra Modi > >>> > would depose before the Special > Investigation Team in > >>> > connection with > >>> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state > government "shall > >>> > act as per > >>> > the law". > >>> > > >>> > Asked if Modi would depose before the > Supreme > >>> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP > >>> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a > direct reply. > >>> > > >>> > "The government of Gujarat has made it > clear that it shall > >>> > act as per > >>> > the law. This government has always > supported and respected > >>> > the law > >>> > and will abide by it. It has the highest > respect for the > >>> > Supreme Court > >>> > order and directions," he told PTI. > >>> > > >>> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole > process may be an > >>> > attempt to tarnish Modi. > >>> > > >>> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and > conspiracy to > >>> > malign an > >>> > tarnish the image of the most progressive > state and leader > >>> > in the > >>> > country," Rudy said. > >>> > > >>> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped > praise on Modi last > >>> > week saying > >>> > he was a capable leader who had the > qualities to become the > >>> > Prime > >>> > Minister. > >>> > > >>> > "Modi is a role model for the > country...," Gadkari said in > >>> > an > >>> > interview to a news channel, hailing the > development works > >>> > being > >>> > carried out in Gujarat. > >>> > > >>> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in > connection with a > >>> > complaint of Zakia > >>> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery > who was killed by > >>> > a mob > >>> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society > in February 2002. > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms > >>> > > _________________________________________ > >>> > 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/> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------ > >>> > >>> Message: 2 > >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) > >>> From: "A.K. Malik" > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh > Minorities in Pakistan: The > >>>        Vanishing  >      Communities > >>> To: Pawan Durani > >>> Cc: Sarai List > >>> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > >>> > >>> Dear Mr Durani, > >>>            >    If a similar thing is done in India to a > Muslim girl,see all > >>> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from > Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This > >>> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you > heard of any one making any > >>> noise on this news item? > >>> Regards, > >>> > >>> (A.K.MALIK) > >>> > >>> > >>> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani > wrote: > >>> > >>> > From: Pawan Durani > >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh > Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing > >>> > Communities > >>> > To: "reader-list" > >>> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM > >>> > "In a recent investigative report it > >>> > is described how young girls, as > >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in > Sind, converted > >>> > to Islam, > >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. > “Kidnapping Hindu > >>> > girls like this > >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls > are then forced to > >>> > sign > >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve > become Muslims,” > >>> > said Laljee > >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu > Panchayat (council > >>> > of village > >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar > abduction cases have > >>> > taken > >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the > Jacobabad and > >>> > Larkana > >>> > districts." > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > Source : > >>> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ > >>> > > >>> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 > | Category: > >>> > Latest, Opinion > >>> > and Editorials | > >>> > > >>> > I was inspired to write this essay by a > Pakistani > >>> > journalist friend. > >>> > Later, during a lecture tour in South > East Asian countries, > >>> > where > >>> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are > also discriminated > >>> > I noticed > >>> > that the minorities are palpably > anguished. The latest > >>> > incidents of > >>> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on > hill dwelling > >>> > Chakma tribals > >>> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my > decision to chronicle a > >>> > preliminary > >>> > account of the conditions of the > non-Muslim minorities in > >>> > Pakistan. I > >>> > had earlier written a piece on the plight > of the Pakistani > >>> > Christians. > >>> > I have not touched upon the plight of the > Shia and > >>> > Ahmadiya > >>> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, > which require > >>> > international > >>> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim > religious seminary > >>> > has so far > >>> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment > of the Shia and > >>> > Ahmadiya > >>> > communities. > >>> > > >>> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan > Human Rights > >>> > Commission and > >>> > several young Pakistani writers who have > boldly portrayed > >>> > the pitiable > >>> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. > Their voices are > >>> > drowned in > >>> > wilderness. The normal civil society > members are also > >>> > ashamed of these > >>> > developments. However, I do not want to > name them fearing > >>> > visitations > >>> > by the ISI goons. > >>> > > >>> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new > nation created, > >>> > called > >>> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure > that his fiefdom, > >>> > for which he > >>> > fought relentlessly and even organized > the Great Direct > >>> > Action Pogrom > >>> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the > national > >>> > minorities, after 3 > >>> > millions were killed in communal riots > and several million > >>> > escaped to > >>> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; > free to go to > >>> > your temples, > >>> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to > any other place > >>> > of worship > >>> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong > to any religion or > >>> > caste or > >>> > creed-that has nothing to do with the > business of the > >>> > State…We are > >>> > starting with this fundamental principles > that we are all > >>> > citizens and > >>> > equal citizens of our State.” > >>> > > >>> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as > a rabid communal > >>> > Muslim leader > >>> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) > know that Jinnah > >>> > Kathiawadi > >>> > lived by deceit and died in neglect > (recall his Quetta > >>> > visit, > >>> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi > and apathetic > >>> > attitude of the > >>> > people in power). He was not even a > practicing Muslim (a > >>> > Shia), but > >>> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never > tried to rescue > >>> > Muslim > >>> > politics from the clutches of the > maulanas. He was the > >>> > person who > >>> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in > the Central > >>> > Legislative > >>> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He > fabricated or > >>> > organized the > >>> > fabrication of charges against > Congress’ ruthless > >>> > suppression of the > >>> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was > submitted to the > >>> > Governor > >>> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand > finale of > >>> > Jinnah’s bunches of > >>> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta > pogrom in > >>> > collaboration with > >>> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal > to sign the > >>> > Mountbatten Plan > >>> > for partition, backing out from original > agreement that > >>> > Mountbatten > >>> > would be the common Governor General for > India and Pakistan > >>> > and > >>> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch > on 16th August, a > >>> > day of > >>> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). > >>> > > >>> > With such track record of prevarication, > fabrication and > >>> > falsehood > >>> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech > assuring the minority > >>> > was then and > >>> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. > If he were a > >>> > democrat he would > >>> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He > could not stop > >>> > killing of the > >>> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan > even after he > >>> > assumed the gaddi > >>> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood > style. Since > >>> > Jinnah the > >>> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer > in Pakistan and > >>> > now they > >>> > have become an endangered community. > Those interested may > >>> > read Jinnah > >>> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and > Mountbatten’s Report > >>> > on the Last > >>> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. > >>> > > >>> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? > His idea of > >>> > Pakistan was > >>> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole > of Punjab, Sind, > >>> > Balochistan, > >>> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no > plan for Bengal and > >>> > Assam and > >>> > other Muslim majority areas in India. > Later the Bangistan > >>> > theory of > >>> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the > Pakistan protagonists to > >>> > amalgamate > >>> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern > wing of Pakistan. > >>> > > >>> > However, it must be said to the credit of > Jinnah that in > >>> > the absence > >>> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he > could trust, he > >>> > had > >>> > commissioned a Hindu to write the > original national anthem > >>> > of > >>> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another > anomalous > >>> > situation in > >>> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of > Pakistan, had composed the > >>> > national > >>> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still > used as one of the > >>> > national > >>> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had > summoned Jagannath > >>> > Azad, son of > >>> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, > just three days > >>> > before the > >>> > creation of Pakistan, to write the > country’s first > >>> > national anthem. It > >>> > had stirred up a debate in that country. > It is claimed that > >>> > Jinnah > >>> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting > Jagannath Azad to > >>> > write the > >>> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s > first national > >>> > anthem composed by > >>> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in > 1950. What a great > >>> > disrespect to > >>> > the father of the nation! Some leading > Pakistani thinkers > >>> > correctly > >>> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of > anti-Hindu > >>> > elixir. > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in > Pakistan (source > >>> > Wikipedia) > >>> > > >>> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the > Hindu population of > >>> > Pakistan was > >>> > estimated at approximately a quarter of > the total > >>> > population. For > >>> > example, the population of Karachi, > Pakistan in 1947 was > >>> > 450,000, of > >>> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. > By 1951, > >>> > Karachi’s population > >>> > had increased to 1.137 million because of > the influx of > >>> > 600,000 Muslim > >>> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim > population of > >>> > Karachi was 96% > >>> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, > the Hindu > >>> > population in all > >>> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent > census would > >>> > certainly be > >>> > expected to demonstrate consistent > dwindling demographic > >>> > trends and > >>> > further diminution of Hindu population. > >>> > > >>> > According to certain official estimates > NWFP has slightly > >>> > over 4,924 > >>> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known > Hindu population > >>> > is 1,921. > >>> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan > and military > >>> > operations > >>> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual > pressure-demand > >>> > of Jizya, a > >>> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army > harassment. > >>> > > >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, > provides for > >>> > freedom of > >>> > religion. In practice, however, the > government imposes > >>> > limits on this > >>> > freedom by using several subterfuges. > Since Pakistan > >>> > proclaimed itself > >>> > an Islamic republic at the time of > independence, Islam has > >>> > become a > >>> > core element of the national ideology. > Since the struggle > >>> > for separate > >>> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly > waged against the > >>> > Hindus and > >>> > not the British Pakistan’s political > soul is filled with > >>> > hatred > >>> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious > freedom is subject to > >>> > law, public > >>> > order, and morality as decided by the > reigning government. > >>> > Actions or > >>> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to > its Prophet are not > >>> > protected. > >>> > In addition, the Constitution requires > that laws must be > >>> > consistent > >>> > with Islam and imposes some elements of > Quranic law on both > >>> > Muslims > >>> > and religious minorities. This > observation has been > >>> > supported even by > >>> > the U.S. State Department’s report on > International > >>> > Religious Freedom > >>> > report of 2004. After spate of riots > against the Pakistani > >>> > Christians > >>> > the IRF had expressed similar views. > >>> > > >>> > Government regulations and laws shaped by > Islamic Sharia > >>> > injunctions > >>> > discriminate against the Hindu minority > as well as other > >>> > minorities in > >>> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan > penal code mandates > >>> > the death > >>> > sentence for blasphemy against the > Prophet or desecration > >>> > of the > >>> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are > pending in the courts, > >>> > and the > >>> > accused spend long periods in jails under > brutal conditions > >>> > once the > >>> > accusation has been made, although most > such allegations > >>> > of > >>> > desecration are the result of personal > grudges. On March > >>> > 24, 2005, > >>> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory > practice of mandating > >>> > the mention > >>> > of religious identity of individuals in > all new passports. > >>> > The > >>> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime > Minister Shaukat Aziz > >>> > in chair, > >>> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to > reintroduce the > >>> > rule after > >>> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan > Jamali government. > >>> > The move was > >>> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida > Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), > >>> > a coalition > >>> > of hard-line religious parties that > supported Pakistan’s > >>> > former > >>> > President General Pervez Musharraf. > >>> > > >>> > The rights of minorities continue to > erode at an alarming > >>> > pace in > >>> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the > Human Rights > >>> > Commission of > >>> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with > the continued > >>> > Islamization of > >>> > Pakistan that President General > Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the > >>> > 1980s. > >>> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an > Islamic republic, the > >>> > rights of > >>> > religious minorities, particularly > Hindus, Christians, and > >>> > Ahmadiyas, > >>> > diminished dramatically. These minorities > live under the > >>> > fear of > >>> > threats to their lives and property, > desecration of their > >>> > places of > >>> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that > carries a penalty of > >>> > death. > >>> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation > adds, “It’s > >>> > Muslims winning by > >>> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a > culture by > >>> > threatening it, by > >>> > abducting young girls so that an entire > community moves out > >>> > or > >>> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” > >>> > > >>> > There are several instances of attacks > against the Shias by > >>> > the > >>> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two > hardcore Sunni > >>> > militant > >>> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission > investigated the > >>> > large-scale > >>> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in > Pakistan in 1953. His > >>> > report is an > >>> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are > not even able to > >>> > agree on a > >>> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice > Munir had called > >>> > heads of all > >>> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them > the definition of > >>> > a Muslim. > >>> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the > pusillanimity of > >>> > our > >>> > so-called scholars of Islam and their > near-total disregard > >>> > of the > >>> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan > Shahin, Editor, > >>> > New age Islam. > >>> > > >>> > Violence against women in general > continues throughout the > >>> > world, but > >>> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against > Hindu women. > >>> > Violence > >>> > against women is rampant in the forms of > rape, honor > >>> > killings, and > >>> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is > raped every two > >>> > hours on > >>> > average, and at least ten women a day die > in honor > >>> > killings. Moreover, > >>> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is > used to imprison > >>> > thousands of > >>> > women who report rapes. The Hudood > Ordinances are a set of > >>> > laws that > >>> > were introduced by Presidential decree in > 1979 under the > >>> > then > >>> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws > were intended > >>> > “to bring in > >>> > conformity with the injunctions of > Islam” certain aspects > >>> > of the > >>> > criminal justice system and make certain > offences > >>> > punishable by hadd, > >>> > which is defined as “punishment > ordained by the Holy > >>> > Quran or Sunnah.” > >>> > > >>> > The quotations are from the Offence of > Zina (Enforcement of > >>> > Hudood) > >>> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of > 1979, 9 February > >>> > 1979, preamble > >>> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: > Zina Ordinance. . > >>> > The laws > >>> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances > cover the offences > >>> > of Zina > >>> > (various forms of unlawful sexual > intercourse) Qazf > >>> > (wrongful > >>> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences > Against Property > >>> > and > >>> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, > under the > >>> > Ordinance, whenever > >>> > “a man and a woman… willfully have > sexual intercourse > >>> > without being > >>> > validly married to each other.” Section > 4 of the Zina > >>> > Ordinance. > >>> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr > (literally > >>> > meaning ‘forced > >>> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as > they have occurred > >>> > without the > >>> > consent of the victim. Significantly, > however, the Zina > >>> > Ordinance > >>> > excludes marital rape from the definition > of that offence. > >>> > > >>> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim > must present four > >>> > male > >>> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove > the rape occurred. > >>> > If the > >>> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk > for being whipped > >>> > for > >>> > adultery because she has acknowledged > illicit sex, which is > >>> > banned in > >>> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by > women’s rights and human > >>> > rights > >>> > groups for the reform and repeal of the > Hudood Ordinance, > >>> > the Pakistan > >>> > government has yet to take action. > Readers may have not > >>> > forgotten the > >>> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had > created international > >>> > indignation. > >>> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very > little from the > >>> > majority > >>> > sections of people in a country that > still lives in the > >>> > barbaric > >>> > Middle Ages. > >>> > > >>> > Hindus continue to be the target of > kidnappings, rape, and > >>> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are > reports of desecration > >>> > and > >>> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, > theft and looting > >>> > of Hindu > >>> > property, discrimination, abuse, and > abduction of Hindu > >>> > females. > >>> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific > and targeted > >>> > human rights > >>> > abuses against Hindus are available, not > only due to the > >>> > continued > >>> > decreasing population of Hindus in > Pakistan, but also > >>> > because reports > >>> > of such attacks are either poorly covered > in the local > >>> > media or > >>> > completely ignored. In most cases police > do not register > >>> > cases > >>> > reported by Hindu victims. > >>> > > >>> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, > particularly in the Sind > >>> > province, is > >>> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls > and forcing them to > >>> > convert to > >>> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of > intimidation and > >>> > kidnapping > >>> > of young Hindu women occurred in > September 2005. On > >>> > September 14, > >>> > Hindu parents alleged that four men > abducted their daughter > >>> > in Sind, > >>> > and forced her to marry one of the > accused and convert to > >>> > Islam. The > >>> > authorities arrested two of the > abductors, but the court > >>> > dismissed the > >>> > case when the girl was forced to provide > a legal statement > >>> > that she > >>> > willfully married and converted. Gayan > Chand Singh, than a > >>> > legislator > >>> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the > kidnapping should > >>> > be > >>> > categorized as rape and should be > registered as such an > >>> > offense for > >>> > the abductors. > >>> > > >>> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was > taken to a shrine > >>> > in the > >>> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a > Muslim married > >>> > man and > >>> > father of two children. The custodian of > the shrine, Maulvi > >>> > Abdul Aziz > >>> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her > name to Mehek, and > >>> > married her > >>> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was > presented in court, > >>> > Muslim extremists > >>> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted > religious verses. > >>> > Sapna, > >>> > terrified by the setting, could not > manage to speak to her > >>> > parents, > >>> > who were also present in court. Aziz, > also in attendance, > >>> > is claimed > >>> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl > live and maintain > >>> > contact with > >>> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” > >>> > > >>> > In a recent investigative report it is > described how young > >>> > girls, as > >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in > Sind, converted > >>> > to Islam, > >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. > “Kidnapping Hindu > >>> > girls like this > >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls > are then forced to > >>> > sign > >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve > become Muslims,” > >>> > said Laljee > >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu > Panchayat (council > >>> > of village > >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar > abduction cases have > >>> > taken > >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the > Jacobabad and > >>> > Larkana > >>> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of > State for > >>> > Interior, had > >>> > upset legislators in the National > Assembly when he was > >>> > quoted by the > >>> > state-run APP news agency as saying, > “These incidents are > >>> > taking place > >>> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan > where they have been > >>> > living for > >>> > the past 5,000 years.” > >>> > > >>> > In a shocking incident, it was reported > that three young > >>> > Hindu girls > >>> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The > three girls, Reena > >>> > (21), Usha > >>> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno > Amra and Champa, > >>> > a Hindu > >>> > couple living in the Punjab Colony > section of Karachi, > >>> > Pakistan – went > >>> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to > a widely > >>> > circulated report > >>> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled > “Conversion > >>> > losses,” the > >>> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan > Hussain, > >>> > described the shock > >>> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when > they returned > >>> > home after > >>> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover > their three daughters > >>> > had > >>> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after > desperate queries to > >>> > the police, > >>> > the parents received affidavits stating > the daughters’ > >>> > conversions to > >>> > Islam. Private visits with their > daughters, free from > >>> > chaperones and > >>> > even police officers that have supervised > their only > >>> > interactions thus > >>> > far, have been consistently denied. After > their > >>> > disappearance from > >>> > home, the girls have been living at a > madrassa (Islamic > >>> > seminary) in > >>> > the vicinity of their home and may > potentially be denied > >>> > the freedom > >>> > to return home. > >>> > > >>> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, > reported that she > >>> > was > >>> > gang-raped in a government natural gas > plant. Instead of > >>> > providing her > >>> > with medical treatment, officials drugged > her into > >>> > unconsciousness for > >>> > three days and then transported her to a > psychiatric > >>> > hospital to > >>> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due > to her persistence > >>> > of > >>> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed > under house arrest in > >>> > Karachi. > >>> > The police insinuated that the presence > of cash in her > >>> > house meant > >>> > that she was working as a prostitute. > Although her husband > >>> > has stood > >>> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as > saying that Dr. Shazi > >>> > disgraced > >>> > the family and should be killed. > >>> > > >>> > Although violence against women > transcends their religion, > >>> > it is > >>> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women > in Pakistan. In > >>> > May 2005, a > >>> > group of middle-class Pakistani women > held a demonstration > >>> > for equal > >>> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police > beat them and > >>> > took them to > >>> > police stations. In particular, they > targeted Asma > >>> > Jahangir, a U.N. > >>> > special rapporteur, who was also the head > of the Human > >>> > Rights > >>> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said > an intelligence > >>> > official > >>> > close to General Musharraf told the > police to “teach the > >>> > (expletive) a > >>> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The > police tore her > >>> > shirt off and > >>> > tried to remove her trouser. That was > General Musharraf, > >>> > the Kargil > >>> > invader and soldier of fortune in a > military dominated > >>> > country. > >>> > > >>> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of > kidnapping of > >>> > Hindu women > >>> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a > temple in Lahore two > >>> > other > >>> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were > desecrated. According > >>> > to > >>> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land > were forcibly > >>> > occupied in > >>> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc > places. Hindu students > >>> > studying in > >>> > government schools are made to read Quran > and offer namaj. > >>> > > >>> > I have personal respect for the > liberation struggle of the > >>> > Baloch > >>> > people and had written two essays in this > portal. However, > >>> > in > >>> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 > Hindus. There are > >>> > several > >>> > instances of Hindu traders being > kidnapped and released > >>> > after hefty > >>> > ransom. They are pressed both by the > rebellious Baloch > >>> > elements and > >>> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed > forces suspect that > >>> > the Hindus > >>> > are used as conduit by the Indian > Intelligence agencies. > >>> > Only in 2009 > >>> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from > Quetta for ransom. > >>> > Only three > >>> > lucky traders returned; the two others > could not pay in > >>> > cash, but paid > >>> > with life. Minorities, particularly > Hindus and Ahmadiyas, > >>> > continue to > >>> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, > the area where > >>> > Pakistan > >>> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders > of President > >>> > Musharraf in > >>> > October 1999. The native Balochis > experience a severely > >>> > degraded > >>> > status since the occupation. Although the > exact number is > >>> > unknown, > >>> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to > escape from the > >>> > unrest in > >>> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. > Militant Muslim groups > >>> > have > >>> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes > on fire, and > >>> > destroyed Hindu > >>> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu > females, particularly > >>> > school > >>> > students, are forcibly converted to > Islam. > >>> > > >>> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were > killed and one > >>> > hundred and > >>> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, > Balochistan when > >>> > Pakistan’s Frontier > >>> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery > shelling, > >>> > rockets, and > >>> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among > those killed were > >>> > innocent > >>> > Hindu women and children as well as > dozens of Bugti > >>> > tribesmen > >>> > > >>> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, > in a narrow valley > >>> > of Hingol > >>> > river is however, respected by the Baloch > political > >>> > leaders. In 2008 > >>> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch > provincial agency > >>> > to confirm > >>> > a resolution for construction of a damn > on Hingol River. > >>> > Balochistan’s > >>> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar > Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo > >>> > and other > >>> > provincial ministers moved a resolution > on the floor of the > >>> > assembly > >>> > over the weekend that categorically > objected to the dam > >>> > being > >>> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj > Mata Temple, where > >>> > an annual > >>> > festival is held every April. The Baloch > Assembly > >>> > resolution warned > >>> > that if the dam was constructed, the > temple could go under > >>> > water > >>> > sooner than later, and this would hurt > the sentiments of > >>> > all Hindus. > >>> > It requested the federal government to > have the dam > >>> > constructed > >>> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the > plight of the > >>> > Hindus in Sind > >>> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi > Hindus generally > >>> > enjoy trust of > >>> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are > under pressure > >>> > from Punjabi > >>> > settlers. > >>> > > >>> > Pakistan’s education system is > constructed in such ways > >>> > that Hindu, > >>> > Sikh and Christian students are > automatically > >>> > discriminated. Extracts, > >>> > translated from Urdu to English, from > the > >>> > government-sponsored > >>> > textbooks approved by the National > Curriculum Wing of the > >>> > Federal > >>> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the > derogatory and > >>> > inflammatory > >>> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of > Pakistan: > >>> > > >>> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did > not teach them good > >>> > things, and > >>> > the Hindus did not respect women.” > >>> > Grade V:  “The Hindu has always > been an enemy of > >>> > Islam.” > >>> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on > injustice and > >>> > cruelty.” > >>> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to > crush the Muslims as > >>> > a nation and > >>> > several attempts were made by the Hindus > to erase Muslim > >>> > culture and > >>> > civilization.” > >>> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived > in untold misery > >>> > all over the world.” > >>> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of > peace and > >>> > brotherhood…There is no > >>> > such concept in Hinduism.” > >>> > > >>> > Minority hatred and persecution is built > in the Pakistani > >>> > system. > >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value > guarantees > >>> > fundamental human > >>> > rights and equality in front of the law > to its citizens. > >>> > However, > >>> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, > “Every citizen > >>> > shall have the > >>> > right to freedom of speech and > expression, and there shall > >>> > be freedom > >>> > of the press, subject to any reasonable > restrictions > >>> > imposed by law in > >>> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the > integrity, > >>> > security or > >>> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the > supremacy of > >>> > Islam in the > >>> > country.  Freedom of religion is > guaranteed by Article > >>> > 20 which > >>> > states, “Every citizen shall have the > right to profess, > >>> > practice and > >>> > propagate his religion; and every > religious denomination > >>> > and every > >>> > sect thereof shall have the right to > establish, maintain > >>> > and manage > >>> > its religious institutions.”  > Unfortunately, Hindus, > >>> > Sikhs, > >>> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to > be persecuted in > >>> > Pakistan > >>> > today despite the assurance provided by > the > >>> > Constitution.  Temples are > >>> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and > they risk > >>> > persecution, > >>> > particularly because of the Blasphemy > Act. > >>> > > >>> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, > “All citizens > >>> > are equal > >>> > before law and are entitled to equal > protection of > >>> > law…There shall be > >>> > no discrimination on the basis of sex > alone.”  Rape, > >>> > honor killings, > >>> > and domestic abuse are common types of > violence that the > >>> > women of > >>> > Pakistan face.  Despite the > constitutional guarantee > >>> > of equal > >>> > protection, these women are left to fend > for themselves, as > >>> > the > >>> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate > protection. > >>> > They continue to > >>> > face a myriad of inequalities in the > judicial system, and > >>> > will > >>> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood > Ordinance is not > >>> > repealed. > >>> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall > protect the > >>> > marriage, the > >>> > family, the mother and the > child.”  Article 36 > >>> > states, “The State > >>> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and > interests of > >>> > minorities, > >>> > including their due representation in the > Federal and > >>> > Provincial > >>> > services.”  In reality, however, > neither families > >>> > nor minorities are > >>> > being protected by Pakistan today as > kidnappings or forced > >>> > conversions > >>> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without > convictions of the > >>> > felons. > >>> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action > toward ratifying or > >>> > signing > >>> > the UN’s International Covenant on > Civil and Political > >>> > Rights (CCPR), > >>> > although it did ratify the International > Convention on the > >>> > Elimination > >>> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on > September 19, > >>> > 1966. > >>> > > >>> > However, only in rural and semi urban > Sind Hindus have some > >>> > visible > >>> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map > the Hindus are > >>> > more > >>> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas > bordering India (notice > >>> > green > >>> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, > most of the Hindus > >>> > are > >>> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in > scavenging work, > >>> > night soil > >>> > carrying job and other menial works. > Except for the > >>> > appointment of > >>> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of > Pakistan (took oath on > >>> > Quran) no > >>> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in > climbing up the ladder > >>> > in the > >>> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and > other spheres of > >>> > national > >>> > activities. We propose to discuss several > atrocious attacks > >>> > on the > >>> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later > chapters of this > >>> > essay. > >>> > > >>> > Though numerically insignificant the > Hindus of Pakistan > >>> > have organized > >>> > a few representative bodies to espouse > their welfare and > >>> > other causes > >>> > with the provincial and federal > governments: > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Council > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council > (PMWC) > >>> > > >>> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha > >>> > > >>> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in > all the provinces > >>> > important > >>> > towns. They hold annual conferences and > represent with the > >>> > provincial > >>> > Nazims (district collectors), police > officials and > >>> > political leaders. > >>> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also > a broad > >>> > representative body > >>> > which works in close liaison with the > Human Rights > >>> > activists in > >>> > Pakistan. > >>> > > >>> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a > PPP MNA and other > >>> > Hindu MNAs > >>> > walked out of the Pakistan National > Assembly in protest > >>> > against highly > >>> > derogatory and biased comments by a > Pakistani High Court > >>> > judge. > >>> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court > judge’s comment that > >>> > Hindus were > >>> > financing terror attacks in that country, > nine Hindu > >>> > members of > >>> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a > walkout in protest > >>> > on Wednesday. > >>> > > >>> > “The sentiments of four million > Pakistani Hindus are hurt > >>> > by Justice > >>> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for > remarks,” said Pakistan > >>> > People’s Party > >>> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined > by other Hindu > >>> > lawmakers who > >>> > then walked out. Members of the Awami > National Party, too, > >>> > joined in. > >>> > Their protest was described as the first > in Pakistan’s > >>> > national > >>> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice > Sharif had made the > >>> > remark > >>> > while hearing a petition on barring the > deportation of > >>> > Afghan Taliban > >>> > leaders on Monday. > >>> > The apparent trigger for the comment was > a lawyer’s > >>> > observation that a > >>> > US security firm was responsible for the > blasts in > >>> > Pakistan, including > >>> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif > rebutted him > >>> > saying, > >>> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved > in terror acts in > >>> > Pakistan. > >>> > Hindus might be the financiers of such > attacks.” > >>> > > >>> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal > called for > >>> > intervention from > >>> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime > minister Yousuf Raza > >>> > Gilani, > >>> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the > patriotism of > >>> > Pakistani Hindus > >>> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He > also asked Supreme > >>> > Court chief > >>> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo > motu note of the > >>> > “highly > >>> > objectionable” remark. The protesters > later returned to > >>> > the assembly > >>> > after some persuasion.” As reported in > Times of India on > >>> > March 18. > >>> > 2010. > >>> > > >>> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a > microscopic > >>> > community-slightly more > >>> > than 20,000. They live mostly in > Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana > >>> > Sahib and a > >>> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s > population is > >>> > more than 96% > >>> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % > and rest are Sikhs, > >>> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is > one traffic > >>> > inspector from > >>> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army > officer, one singer, > >>> > a poetess > >>> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab > (PPP). After Taliban > >>> > rampage in > >>> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated > to Pakistan and > >>> > settled with > >>> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore > areas. > >>> > > >>> > They were again uprooted from FATA area > when > >>> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan > >>> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 > crores (200 million) > >>> > as Jizya. > >>> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and > they were released > >>> > after > >>> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most > of the uprooted > >>> > Sikhs are > >>> > still living in camps and have not gone > back to FATA > >>> > locations. > >>> > > >>> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been > persecuted. The > >>> > Sikh temple > >>> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken > over by the Muslims > >>> > in August > >>> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------ > >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ > >>> reader-list mailing list > >>> reader-list at sarai.net > >>> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >>> > >>> > >>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 > >>> ******************************************* > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Thank you, > >> Jigish Parikh. > >> > >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish > >> > > _________________________________________ > > 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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 23:13:42 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:43:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim minister beats and kicks Party Activist In-Reply-To: <408054.53560.qm@web57201.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <260513.54989.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Mr Kaul, It is not reported but gathered and given by me in mail as a PUNCH for Javed's mail on some Muslim police officer being fired upon by a Hindu Police Officer  and concluding Muslims not safe here.The name of the party activist, if I remember correctly gathered from only one TV news report, was Musharraf and the Maharashtra minister's name is Abdul Sattar. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: From: Kshmendra Kaul Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Muslim minister beats and kicks Party Activist To: "Sarai List" , "A.K. Malik" Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 1:41 PM Dear AKM   Where is this 'NEWS' reported in this manner? I could not locate it on the Web.   You might have been trying to make a point but the strongest condemnation should first be against any Media outlet that reported the incident in this manner.   Kshmendra   --- On Tue, 3/23/10, A.K. Malik wrote: From: A.K. Malik Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim minister beats and kicks Party Activist To: "Sarai List" Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 12:28 PM Hi,         News;"Muslim minister beats and kicks Muslim Party Activist." Since this has happened outside Gujarat and a Muslim minister has beaten and kicked a Muslim party activist, MUSLIMS ARE SAFE IN THIS COUNTRY.What if one of the two happened to be a Hindu and what if the incident had occurred in Gujarat, the only solution would have been to HANG MODI.Please for GOD'S sake let us all be nationalists instead of being only Hindus/Muslims. Let us stop seeing news in the garb of Hindu/Muslim. (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/> From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 23:28:35 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:58:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) In-Reply-To: <746105.81189.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <348465.95085.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Mr Kaul, I can't gather why people in this list are out to show Gujarat State is in shambles and why have you to give a disclaimer, what scares you? As part of the Central team, I have visited Bihar on several occasions and travelled extensively, had discussions privately with the DMs, Commissioners, Govt functionaries and people on the roads, residences, I have seen substantial improvements during the current regime,but discussions in this list seem to suggest otherwise.Gujarat visits have not been that much extensive but I have seen the differences.What are we going to achieve to convince people who have a stagnating mind set? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) > To: "Pawan Durani" , ravig64 at gmail.com > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 7:32 PM > Dear Ravi >   > Thank you for posting the weblink. What follows is not > directed at you. It is a general note. >   > MY DISCLAIMER : I am not a supporter of Modi, or of the BJP > or RSS or VHP or BD or SS. I consider Hindutvavaad to be > contemptible and Anti-India. >   > It is sickening that I need to  make such a disclaimer. > The quality of understanding displayed by some on this List > and their obvious prejudgments, prejudice and bias, forces > me to do this. >   > Now the CPCB Report: >   > 1. It is not a report about pollution in States as a > composite whole but about pollution in selected 88 > Industrial Clusters spread over the country. >   >     It would highly incorrect to transpose the data > into a comment on the whole State based on the Comprehensive > Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) of selected Industrial > Clusters in the State. >   >     If it is so revealed, then a better statement would > be """""Out of the Industrial Clusters (ICs) studied by > CPCB, some of the " most critically polluted" and "severely > polluted" are in Gujarat"""".  That is for those who are > interested in focusing on Gujarat. >   > 2. What does the report reveal: >   >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, 43 of > the 88 ICs are "critically polluted" >   >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, > 32 of the 88 ICs are "severely polluted" >   >     - Top 20 culprits in descending severity Ankleshwar > (Gujarat); Vapi (Gujarat); Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); > Chandrapur (Maharashtra); Korba (Chhatisgarh); Bhiwadi > (Rajasthan); Angul Talcher (Orissa); Vellore (North Arcot) > (Tamilnadu); Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh); Ludhiana (Punjab); > Nazafgarh drain basin (Delhi); Noida (Uttar Pradesh); > Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Dombivalli (Maharashtra); Kanpur (Uttar > Pradesh); Cuddalore (Tamilnadu); Aurangabad (Maharashtra); > Faridabad (Haryana); Agra (Uttar Pradesh); Manali > (Tamilnadu) >   >     - Statewise share of the 88 ICs studied by CPCB: > > * Andhra Pradesh       Total= 5     > Critical= 2        Severe= 1        Other= > 2 > * Assam                    > Total= 2     Critical= 0        Severe= 0        > Other= 2 > * > Bihar                       Total= 2     Critical= 0        > Severe= 1        Other= 1 > * Chattisgarh              Total= 3     > Critical= 1        Severe= 1        Other= > 1 > * Delhi                       > Total= 1     Critical= 1        Severe= 0        Other= > 0 > * Gujarat                    > Total= 9     Critical= 6        Severe= 2        Other= > 1 > * Haryana                   > Total= 2     Critical= 2        Severe= > 0        Other= 0 > * Himachal Pradesh    > Total= 3     Critical= 0        Severe= > 3        Other= 0 > * Jharkhand                > Total= 5     Critical= > 1        Severe= 4        Other= 0 > * Karnataka                > Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= 3        > Other= 0 > * Kerala                     Total= > 1     Critical= 1         > Severe= 0        Other= 0 > * Madhya > Pradesh      Total= 5      Critical= 1        > Severe= 3        Other= 1 > * Maharashtra             Total= 8      > Critical= 5        Severe= 3       Other= > 0 > * Orissa                     > Total= 4     Critical= 3        > Severe= 1         Other= 0 > * Punjab                    > Total= 4      Critical= 2        > Severe= 2        Other= 0 > * Rajasthan                > Total= 4      Critical= 3        Severe= 1        Other= > 0 > * Tamilnadu                > Total= 7      Critical= 4        > Severe= 2        Other= 1 > * Uttar Pradesh           Total= > 12    Critical= 6        > Severe= 3        Other= 3 > * Uttarakhand             > Total= 2       Critical= > 0        Severe= 1       Other= 1 > * West Bengal            Total= 4       > Critical= 3        Severe= 1       Other= 0 > The above results can be interpreted and summarised in a > variety of ways. My (hopefully objective) summary would be: >   > a. 88 Industrial Clusters/Areas  ICs spread over 20 > States were selected by CPBC >   > b. 43 of these were evaluated as being "Critically > Polluted" and 32 as "Severely Polluted" >   > c. Of the selected ICs, the top ranking 2 evaluated as > "Most Critically Polluted" are from Gujarat. >   > d. In the top 20 "Most Critically Polluted" list, 5 ICs > figure from Uttar Pradesh, 3 each from Maharashtra and > Tamilnadu and 2 from Gujarat. >   > e. Cent percent of the selected ICs from Delhi (1), > Haryana (2), Kerala (1) were evaluated as "Critically > Polluted" >   > f. The number of  "Critically Polluted" ICs was the most > in Gujarat (6 out of 9); Maharashtra (5 out of 8); Uttar > Pradesh (6 out of 12); Tamilnadu (4 out of 7); and > then Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal placed similarly (3 > out of 4) >   > g. The combined number of ICs that were found to > be "Critically Polluted" and "Severely Polluted" were the > most in Uttar Pradesh (9 out of 12, - 75%);  Gujarat (8 > out of 9, - 89%);  Maharashtra  (8 out of 8, - 100%); > Tamilnadu (6 out of 7, - 86%); Jharkhand (5 out of 5, - > 100%); Karnataka (5 out of 5, - 100%); Madhya Pradesh (4 out > of 5, - 80%); Orissa (4 out of 4, - 100%); Punjab (4 out of > 4, - 100%);  Rajasthan (4 out of 4, - 100%); West Bengal (4 > out of 4, - 100%) >   > Kshmendra > > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Ravi Agarwal > wrote: > > > From: Ravi Agarwal > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of > Gujarat - No.1 in pollution > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:29 AM > > > Dear all, > > For details of this analysis - "Comprehensive Environment > Assessment of > Industrial Areas" please refer to the recent (Dec 2009)  > Central Pollution > Control Board Document at > > http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_152_Final-Book_2.pdf > > > Pages 26/27/28 are state wise pollution indicies and these > can be compiled > for each state. If i am not wrong, Gujarat has 8 sites > mentioned above the > cutt- off level defining 'critical level of pollution,' > (amongst the > highest) and 1 site at the borderline. Similarly data for > other sites can be > compiled here. > > This is a first such report done by a premier Govt agency > and verifies what > other independent studies have been showing in the recent > past. > > Best wishes > ravi agarwal > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > Dear Rakesh , > > > > The said article had been reported by IANS. However on > further > > investigation , there seems to be some doubt in the > authenticity of > > the article itself. > > > > Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all > > PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC > > > > Non of these releases has anything to mention on above > subject. > > > > Regards > > > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer > > wrote: > > > Hi > > > > > > An article, specially for those who keep singing > paeans about Narendra > > Modi > > > and his administration on this forum, without > trying to see the other > > way. > > > > > > Rakesh > > > > > > Link: > > > > > http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm > > > > > > Article: > > > > > > Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra > 2ndThe Central > > Pollution > > > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most > polluted state in India [ > > > Images > ]. The > > > conclusion has been based on the increasing > levels of pollution and toxic > > > wastes. > > > > > > There are seven states in the country that > account for 80 per cent of the > > > total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat > tops the list, followed by > > > Maharashtra [ Images< > > http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=maharashtra>] > > > and Andhra Pradesh. > > > > > > Even after being declared as the most polluted > state, the Gujarat > > government > > > has not taken any necessary measures to prevent > the problem aggravating > > > further, environmental activists say. > > > > > > Criticising the state government for not taking > any adequate remedial > > > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, > director of an NGO named > > > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held > the authorities and > > > industrialists responsible for such an alarming > polluted environment. > > > > > > "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in > Ankleshwar, one in > > Vadodara > > > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of > Gujarat has recognised these > > > waste sites. But till today the government has > not mentioned anything to > > > clear up these waste sites. So who are > responsible ultimately," said > > Pandya. > > > > > > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, > they ask the association of > > > industries to clear it up. These associations say > it's not their > > > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating > pollution and affecting the > > > masses," he added. > > > > > > People residing near the industrial estates have > developed health and > > > breathing related problems, the forum said. > People have blamed the toxic > > > smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. > > > > > > "Because of the air pollution, the village > environment is getting > > affected. > > > Villagers have been here since ages but the > industries were set up after > > a > > > long period of time. We face so much difficulty. > We cannot leave food in > > > open or even the clothes outside for drying," > said Kirit Patel, a > > resident > > > of Narol industrial area. > > > > > > "We are even becoming prone to breathing and > health problems. Pollution > > is > > > indeed a big problem," he added. > > > > > > According to a recent report by the central > government, Gujarat accounts > > for > > > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of > hazardous waste, while it is 25 > > per > > > cent in Maharashtra. > > > > > > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in > generation of hazardous > > > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ > > > Images] > > > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ > > > Images > ] > > and > > > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. > > > Source: ANI > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 23:32:23 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:02:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Don't let Jamia become `fundamentalist', says Arjun Singh In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003222131n51e9a224y8b049bbaa503bcd4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <831960.73649.qm@web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Mr Durani, Is there still a doubt even after reading the news reports coming almost daily? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: [Reader-list] Don't let Jamia become `fundamentalist', says Arjun Singh > To: "reader-list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 10:01 AM > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dont-let-Jamia-become-fundamentalist-says-Arjun-Singh/articleshow/5713041.cms > > NEW DELHI: With concerted pressure on HRD ministry by a > group of > conservative Muslims to change the character of Jamia Milia > Islamia, > former HRD minister Arjun Singh has written to Prime > Minister Manmohan > Singh expressing fear that the prestigious central > university might > fall into the hands of fundamentalist forces. > > Singh, sources said, has blamed a member of the Union > council of > ministers for giving patronage to divisive forces in the > university. > > Not only is Jamia refusing to honour 27% reservation for > OBCs in > admission, the conservative section has been raising the > bogey of > under-representation of Muslims as students and teachers. > They are > demanding that the university should give preference to > Muslims in > jobs and admissions. > > But the larger issue being debated is can the "secular > character" of > Jamia, enshrined in the Act, be changed at the behest of > fundamentalist forces. HRD ministry officials refused to > get drawn > into the controversy. But it is unlikely that the ministry > will amend > the Jamia Act. > > A perusal of the file on setting up of Jamia, through RTI, > reveals > that in 1987, when the university became a central > university, the > Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and the HRD ministry > refused to > bow to pressure from the then chancellor Khurshid Alam Khan > that > specific mention be made that Jamia would "promote > especially the > educational and cultural advancement of Muslims in India". > > Similarly, there were five other suggestions by Khurshid > Alam Khan > that the ministry refused to entertain on the ground that > none of the > other central universities had these features. Khan wanted > reservation > for educationally backwards in admission but the ministry > said > "government has not provided for any reservation for > educationally > backward classes". The ministry added, "The suggestion of > the > chancellor could create controversies." > > On the lines of Aligarh Muslim University, Khan wanted the > chancellor > to be elected by the university's court and not appointed > by the > visitor (President). But the CCPA decided that chancellor > will be > appointed by the visitor. > > The ministry also did not agree with the chancellor's > demand that > honorary treasurer be made a member of the university > court. HRD > ministry said since a wholetime finance officer would be > appointed, > there was no need for honorary treasurer. > _________________________________________ > 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 Mar 23 23:45:33 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:45:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) In-Reply-To: <348465.95085.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <746105.81189.qm@web57207.mail.re3.yahoo.com> <348465.95085.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: @ Dear Malik I have never said that Bihar has not changed. I have placed the facts before the public. Let the people decide for themselves how much is that change relevant and whether things need to improve or not. By the way, even rural people acknowledge development taking place and do realize the good intentions of Nitish administration. But certain trends under the current regime are not good, which is what I highlighted. And also, the Nitish Kumar govt. is deliberately fudging figures to show a goody-goody image rather than the reality which is somewhat better than Lalu but not goody-goody (like say Kal ho na Ho, the Shahrukh Khan film). I don't know where this stagnating mindset comes from. And as for the Bihar govt. , it's real intentions will come to the fore when we find out whether it has the guts to implement the recommendations of the land reforms and the education committee which it had constituted. @ Kshamendra ji: I am certainly disgusted if I am one of the persons behind that disclaimer to be put up. It does not and should not matter whether you are a Hindutva supporter or not. For me, it certainly doesn't with regard to your idea. @ All: I am sorry but I have not been able to find any news link in ANI which corresponds to the article I put up. Hence I am sorry for that. The facts may be right (and some certainly are), but they seem to have been distorted to put up the wrong idea. Gujarat may have more hazardous waste generation, but I haven't seen any link on CPCB or official one which states Gujarat as the most polluting state. However, they have been put up on many news links. I don't know what that means. It may be wrong or right. Since I haven't found it, I apologize for the article I put up. I guess that settles the issue. I also wish to state what I believe about the Narendra Modi administration. According to me, he has a very skewed notion of development. The basis of that originates from the way he won the election, on the plank of communal polarization (where Mian Musharraf was his favorite go-to word). The failure has also been that the state administration has not attempted to help even now either those who suffered economically or personally (loss of lives of dear ones) through getting them justice, nor has tried to improve the communication amongst communities and thereby solve problems. As for all the talk about economic growth, I am not certain that without Modi, Gujarat would not have achieved it. May be yes, may be not. But yes, he does deserve some credit for it (even if it's just plain luck and nothing else), as much as the other actors responsible for it deserve. But for one indicator doing well, another indicator seems to be going haywire. So if the female-male sex ratio improves, the PDS distribution becomes worse. Hence his rule is not the 'golden period' of Gujarat. As for his becoming PM, I would oppose it for one simple reason: anybody who wants to become the Prime Minister of India should both be a 'People's man' and believe in the idea of India. And his idea of India was stated long back in 2002 Gujarat pogrom, when both Godhra and post-Godhra took place. Rakesh From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 23 23:47:00 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:17:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Running Out Of Steam Message-ID: <665244.24085.qm@web112106.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi All, Those interested to read on Lalu Yadav, please look at the article by Rajdeep Sardesai http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/rajdeepsardesai/1/61631/running-out-of-steam.html (A.K.MALIK) From hanybabu at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 01:40:19 2010 From: hanybabu at gmail.com (hany babu) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:40:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Running Out Of Steam In-Reply-To: <665244.24085.qm@web112106.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <665244.24085.qm@web112106.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5f4dddc71003231310i32f53d5cmd24fa4524a6f2895@mail.gmail.com> i found the blog post quite funny... while the author seems to be supporting reservation for women, he categorically says that the politics the yadavs represent is "the past tense of Indian politics, a politics where identity mattered more than issues". my question is this: isn't gender a part of one's identity? or is it an "issue"? in my opinion, gender is as much part of one's identity as anything else. so if one supports reservation based on gender, then shouldn't that politics also be part of the "past tense of indian politics"? but strangely, those who support reservation for women (as it exists in the current bill) are seen to be the most progressive futurists. what makes "gender" as a thing of the future and "caste" as a thing of the past? according to rajdeep sardesai's logic, both should belong to the past. but the tenor of the article doesn't seem to suggest so. talk about a text deconstructing itself.... one last comment: at least in an article where it is argued that caste is a thing of past, the author could have taken care not to use casteist remarks like "yadav troika"... regards hany. On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 11:47 PM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Hi All, > Those interested to read on Lalu Yadav, please look at the article > by Rajdeep Sardesai > > > http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/rajdeepsardesai/1/61631/running-out-of-steam.html > > (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: From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 24 08:05:58 2010 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:35:58 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The amazing true story of Zeitoun Message-ID: <227401.83019.qm@web51403.mail.re2.yahoo.com> The amazing true story of Zeitoun Abdulrahman Zeitoun is the real-life hero of Dave Eggers's new book. In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina he paddled from house to house in a canoe, offering help to his neighbours. For his trouble, he was arrested as a suspected terrorist Saturday afternoon and the Zeitoun household is bustling with activity, as you quickly get the impression it always is. Kathy Zeitoun, dressed in a blue silk shirt and matching hijab, is fluttering around making spiced pumpkin-flavoured coffee and answering the constantly ringing phone. Noises emanating from four of her five children bubble up like broth from the back room where they are watching Kung Fu Panda on a giant flat-screen TV. Kathy seats me in the neat and orderly living room, which is dominated by cream leather sofas and a watercolour of a street scene from her husband's native Syria. Beside it is a framed 3D model of the Qur'an. Gradually, out of this domestic pleasure dome, telltale signs emerge of the calamity that struck the Zeitouns almost five years ago. An outside wall of the house is stained with a faint but still clearly discernible line at about shoulder height, a record etched in paint of where the flood waters settled. "Most of the time I don't think about what happened at all," Kathy says, as she pours the coffee. "Until I step out on to the street – then it all comes back to me." In recent days Kathy has been forced to think back a lot on the events leading up to and following 29 August 2005, when hurricane Katrina ripped through her city of New Orleans, breaching its levees and immersing much of it, including her home, in several feet of water. The reason for her current preoccupation is the publication of the new book by that one-man literary factory Dave Eggers, whose best-known previous work is the memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. The book, entitled Zeitoun, is, as its name suggests, a very personal telling of a national tragedy. It explores what happens when the entire fabric of society collapses, plunging a city into a parallel universe where there is no justice, no government, no protection, no respect. It does so exclusively through the eyes of the Zeitouns. Eggers spent three years on and off interviewing the family, then translating their memories into his trademark vivid yet restrained prose. At the centre of the book is Kathy's husband, Abdulrahman, or Zeitoun as he is universally known, a New Orleans building contractor who has attained almost mythical status. Not only is he the dominant character in the 339 pages of Eggers's book, but in the US press he has been dubbed an "all-American hero" for the phlegmatic way he conducted himself in the midst of catastrophe. That said, when I arrive at his house he is nowhere to be seen. He turns up an hour and a half late, which Kathy insists is wholly true to form and actually not that bad: he kept her waiting for two hours on their wedding day. He could have turned up 10 hours late and still you'd forgive him, just as soon as you felt his firm handshake and the embrace of his warm smile. "Zeitoun," he says in self-introduction, as though there were any doubt. He comes into the room straight from a building site with his trousers splattered in mud. "I really don't feel we deserve all this attention," he says in a thick Middle-Eastern accent. "I only did what I had been brought up to do." What he did was to stay in New Orleans when the hurricane struck, driven by a conviction that that is where he belonged. While Kathy and the kids joined the mass evacuation from the city, he hunkered down at home; and when the levees broke and the flood water poured in, he put to use a battered old canoe he owned to navigate the streets of his neighbourhood, now turned into canals. Zeitoun paddling through New Orleans in his canoe may well become one of the enduring images of Katrina. A line drawing of him in the boat is printed on the cover of Eggers's book, and the film director Jonathan Demme plans to make an animated movie of his story next year. Zeitoun takes us on a guided tour of the route that he negotiated in his canoe in the days after the storm. He begins by pointing to a pillar at the front of his house. "That's where I kept the canoe tied, like you'd tie up your horse." We set off by car along the maze of streets around his neighbourhood. On every street corner he has a tale to tell. The first stop we make is at a house of grey clapboard standing on stilts. In the hurricane, the flood waters reached almost up to its windows. As he paddled by, Zeitoun explains, he heard a voice faintly crying "Help!". He swam to the front door and inside found a woman in her 70s hovering above him. In one of the most memorable phrases of the book, Eggers writes: "Her patterned dress was spread out on the surface of the water like a great floating flower." "She was inside the house holding on to the bookshelf with water up to her shoulder," Zeitoun recalls, as we stand outside the house. "She must have been in the water for about 24 hours by then." Zeitoun helped the woman reach safety in a fishing boat, which was no small feat given that she weighed 90kg (14st). His construction skills and great strength proved invaluable as he levered her on a ladder out to the vessel. Our tour continues and we pass the house of a local Baptist church pastor and his wife whom the Zeitouns had known for years and who similarly cried out for help. Further on, we come to the residence of a man who was stranded and to whom Zeitoun brought food and water every day while he still had his canoe and his liberty. All in all, Zeitoun reckons he must have helped to save or rescue more than 10 neighbours. "The way I thought of it was, anything you can do to help. God left me here for a reason. I did what I was brought up to do – to help people." At this point, our journey begins its descent to a much darker place. Zeitoun points out the spot where he saw a human body floating in the filthy water. Then we arrive at Claiborne Avenue where the weirdness truly began. It was 6 September, six days after the hurricane, and he was in the house – his own property, which he rents out – along with a Syrian friend, Nasser Dayoob, his tenant Todd Gambino and Ronnie, a white man Zeitoun didn't know but who had asked to stay in the house for shelter. Zeitoun was on the phone to his brother in Syria when six unidentified police officers and National Guardsmen burst through the front door dressed in military fatigues and bullet-proof vests and carrying M16s and pistols. Zeitoun explained he was the landlord, but the only response was a demand from one of the National Guardsmen for his identity card. "All he did was look at my ID," Zeitoun says, "and that was enough. Nothing else. No other questions. The moment he saw my name he said, 'Get into the boat!'" We get back into the car and retrace the route of that boat ride, stopping at the Greyhound bus station near the city centre. Today it's back to a semblance of normality, with its familiar canine logo and silver buses lined in rows. But when Zeitoun was carted off there, he and his three companions found themselves surrounded by 80 or so men with assault rifles and dogs, a mixture of National Guardsmen, prison wardens and soldiers, some of whom had recently been serving in Iraq and who seemed to approach the situation in New Orleans with a war-zone mentality. The closest thing it reminded him of was Guantánamo. 'You guys are al-Qaida,' said one soldier. 'Taliban,' said another He takes us to see a concrete compound at the back of the bus station and describes the network of chain-fence pens that had been erected overnight to convert the area into a makeshift detention centre. Zeitoun and his companions were flung into one such cage, with armed soldiers standing guard over them on the roof. "Why are we here?" they asked a passing soldier. "You guys are al-Qaida," came the reply. Another soldier said as he passed: "Taliban." It was like a dagger blow for Zeitoun, for himself personally and for his vision of America, the country where he had come to live as a young merchant seaman from Syria and which he had always believed was a land of fairness and opportunity. He had come initially in search of work, never expecting to stay, but he then met Kathy, a local Louisiana woman who had converted to Islam four years previously. They had built a life together, grown their construction business and had children. And now here he was being called a terrorist. "I felt very bad. It was very hurtful. These guys wanted revenge on us, no matter what." He was kept penned up at the bus station for three days and nights, and interviewed by officers from homeland security who seemed to think they had caught a big fish. He says now that whenever he drives by the Greyhound station – or Camp Greyhound as it was dubbed – dark thoughts enter his mind. What dark thoughts? "Being called those terrible names. The memory of people refusing to help. Imagine you see a doctor and you shout at him, 'Can you help me?', because your foot is infected and hurting badly, and he's wearing a green medical gown and a stethoscope around his neck, and he says, 'I'm not a doctor,' and walks on. How would you feel?" While Zeitoun was incarcerated, first at Camp Greyhound and then in a maximum-security prison, Kathy was, as she puts it, "battling her own demons". One of the gross injustices against them both was that Zeitoun was allowed no phone call, which left her in mounting despair. For two weeks she had no word from her husband, concluding in the end that he must be dead. Then, on 19 September, she learned of his detention from a missionary who called her after having seen Zeitoun in prison. She dashed back to the city from Texas, where she had been staying with friends. The nadir came for her when she tried to find out the address of the courthouse where he was due to appear, charged with looting. Court officials told her they couldn't divulge such information as it was private. "I cracked open at that point," she tells me. "How could the address of a courthouse be private? I cried harder then than I did at any other time. I felt like I was a little kid again – with no say-so, no rights, no voice. I felt lost." Zeitoun was detained for almost a month before he was released on $75,000 (£50,000) bail for having looted his own house. The others fared worse: Dayoob, Gambino and Ronnie spent five, six and eight months in prison respectively, despite Zeitoun's efforts to prise them out. Eventually, the charges against all four of them were dropped. Their experiences were just a blip in the civil rights catastrophe that was Katrina. Camp Greyhound held a total of 1,200 detainees in the aftermath of the hurricane, most of whom were African-Americans and all of whom suffered the indignity of having their right to habeas corpus removed. As they approach the fifth anniversary of those events, the Zeitouns have managed with striking success to put their lives back together. The children are starting to sleep in their own beds again having for years insisted on cramming into their parents' for security. Kathy has been diagnosed with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including memory loss and dizziness. "Katrina was a great reality slap. I was naive before – I felt I had things under control. But I've come to the conclusion that I don't control anything. I'm in control of nothing," she says. Zeitoun still gets angry about the way he was treated, particularly as an American Muslim. "Muslim is a very simple word. Translated into English it means peace or believers. So why have these two nice, beautiful words been changed in people's minds to 'terrorist'?" he asks. Despite that, he refuses to be bitter and vengeful. Instead, he dedicates his time to rebuilding the city, which is what he was doing when he was so late for our meeting. So far he has renovated a museum, some schools and about 250 houses damaged in the floods. He says he is more disciplined now about his religious observance, making sure he at least is punctual for his five daily prayer sessions. He is also extra careful to follow all the civil rules – he doesn't speed or cut through red lights or park where he shouldn't. "I don't want to give these guys the chance to do the same thing to me again." He has never even thought of abandoning the US. He refuses to bear a grudge, and says, for him, it remains a great country – you don't judge 300 million people on the behaviour of a few bad guys. Nor will he contemplate quitting New Orleans. "This is my home, my city. My life is here now," he says. To prove the point to himself, perhaps, he plans to buy another boat; his canoe went missing following his arrest. This time, though, he wants a bigger model that would allow him to rescue people more easily. But surely that suggests that he fears another Katrina, I ask him. "It happened before," he says. "It can happen again." Zeitoun by Dave Eggers is published by Hamish Hamilton in hardback on 15 March, £18.99. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/11/dave-eggers-zeitoun-hurricane-katrina From pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 09:28:37 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:28:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=22We_are_ready_for_jihad=2C_we_ar?= =?windows-1252?q?e_ready_for_jihad!=94?= Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003232058t696534b9k16a6a995e9e9612b@mail.gmail.com> http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\24\story_24-3-2010_pg7_11 Hardliners vow jihad to liberate Held Kashmir * 5,000 people attend a rally held in Kotli to mark Pakistan Day KOTLI: Militants on Tuesday vowed to wage jihad to liberate Kashmir from Indian control. About 5,000 people attended a rally in Kotli in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, shouting, “We are ready for jihad, we are ready for jihad!” The gathering marked the anniversary of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution, in which Indian Muslims decided to struggle for a separate country following independence from British rule. Pakistan was born seven years later. “Diplomacy, talks and negotiations spanning several decades have not worked,” said Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the United Jihad Council, which consists of 16 religious groups, militant outfits and political parties. “The only way to liberate Kashmir is jihad,” said Salahuddin, who also leads Hizbul Mujahideen. He denied that jihadi groups were behind attacks within the country. Tuesday’s rally was also attended by leaders of Jamaatud Dawa. A resolution adopted after the meeting said, “Jihad will continue until India ends its occupation of Kashmir.” India and Pakistan have remained arch foes, with relations between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals further strained since the 2008 attacks on India’s financial capital Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit. In late February, the two sides held their first official talks since the Mumbai siege, but they ended with few concrete developments. More than 3,100 people have been killed in suicide attacks and bomb blasts across the nation since July 2007, which are blamed on militants opposed to the government’s alliance with the United States. afp From pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 09:38:26 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003232108k13d5c6f6se170f72c80a6e74c@mail.gmail.com> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & Islamic fanatics" http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley-news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley 2010-03-23 19:00:00 A massive demographic change has taken place in Kashmir valley which now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against more than 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla said Tuesday. Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the minister said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in the valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the community there 'is 3,445'. Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community members led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. Though the minister did not specify it, the number of the families living in the valley included 31 families of Kashmiri Pandits living in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district and also the officials working in the banks and central government departments and organisations. Their exact number is however not known. More than 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. Those who stayed back, migrated after massacres of the community members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in March 1997, Wandhama in Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg in south Kashmir in March 2003. Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in Jammu and Udhampur within the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to bring the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to construct the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would be housed before their original properties are restored to them. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief and rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the 'land of their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his visit to Jammu April 25, 2008. From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 10:13:59 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:13:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003232108k13d5c6f6se170f72c80a6e74c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: 7 million? > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 > To: reader-list > Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & Islamic > fanatics" http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley > -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > valley 2010-03-23 19:00:00 A massive demographic change has taken place in > Kashmir valley which now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against > more than 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla > said Tuesday. Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the > minister said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in > the valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the community > there 'is 3,445'. Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the > valley in 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community > members led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that > 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. Though the minister did not specify > it, the number of the families living in the valley included 31 families of > Kashmiri Pandits living in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district > and also the officials working in the banks and central government departments > and organisations. Their exact number is however not known. More than 350,000 > Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. Those who stayed back, migrated > after massacres of the community members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in > March 1997, Wandhama in Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg > in south Kashmir in March 2003. Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in > Jammu and Udhampur within the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and > Maharashtra. Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to > bring the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to > construct the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would > be housed before their original properties are restored to them. Prime > Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief and > rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the 'land of > their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his visit to Jammu April > 25, 2008. _________________________________________ 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 10:14:44 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003232108k13d5c6f6se170f72c80a6e74c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003232144n1b5f2ad7u65d82b62965f6d58@mail.gmail.com> Yes ! On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > 7 million? > > >> From: Pawan Durani >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >> To: reader-list >> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >> >> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & > Islamic >> fanatics" > > http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html > > > Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >> valley > > 2010-03-23 19:00:00 > A massive demographic change has taken place in >> Kashmir valley which > now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >> more than > 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >> said > Tuesday. > > Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >> minister > said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >> the > valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the > community >> there 'is 3,445'. > > Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >> valley in > 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >> members > led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >> 219 > Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. > > Though the minister did not specify >> it, the number of the families > living in the valley included 31 families of >> Kashmiri Pandits living > in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >> and also the > officials working in the banks and central government departments >> and > organisations. Their exact number is however not known. > > More than 350,000 >> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. > > Those who stayed back, migrated >> after massacres of the community > members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >> March 1997, Wandhama in > Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >> in south > Kashmir in March 2003. > > Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >> Jammu and Udhampur within > the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >> Maharashtra. > > Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >> bring > the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >> construct > the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >> be > housed before their original properties are restored to them. > > Prime >> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief > and >> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to > the 'land of >> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his > visit to Jammu April >> 25, 2008. > _________________________________________ > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 10:16:21 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:16:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003232144n1b5f2ad7u65d82b62965f6d58@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Are you serious? Please explain. I am truly baffled. > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 > To: "S. Jabbar" > Cc: Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > Yes ! > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >> 7 million? >> >> >>> From: Pawan Durani >>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>> To: reader-list >>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>> >>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >> Islamic >>> fanatics" >> >> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >> >> >> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>> valley >> >> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>> Kashmir valley which >> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>> more than >> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>> said >> Tuesday. >> >> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>> minister >> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>> the >> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >> community >>> there 'is 3,445'. >> >> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>> valley in >> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>> members >> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>> 219 >> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >> >> Though the minister did not specify >>> it, the number of the families >> living in the valley included 31 families of >>> Kashmiri Pandits living >> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>> and also the >> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>> and >> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >> >> More than 350,000 >>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >> >> Those who stayed back, migrated >>> after massacres of the community >> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>> March 1997, Wandhama in >> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>> in south >> Kashmir in March 2003. >> >> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>> Jammu and Udhampur within >> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>> Maharashtra. >> >> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>> bring >> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>> construct >> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>> be >> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >> >> Prime >>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >> and >>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >> the 'land of >>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >> visit to Jammu April >>> 25, 2008. >> _________________________________________ >> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 10:18:41 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003232144n1b5f2ad7u65d82b62965f6d58@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003232148t54a95257y48587b759ebcfbf@mail.gmail.com> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > Are you serious?  Please explain.  I am truly baffled. > > >> From: Pawan Durani >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >> To: "S. Jabbar" >> Cc: Sarai >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >> >> Yes ! >> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >>> 7 million? >>> >>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>> To: reader-list >>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>> >>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>> Islamic >>>> fanatics" >>> >>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>> >>> >>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>> valley >>> >>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>> Kashmir valley which >>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>> more than >>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>> said >>> Tuesday. >>> >>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>> minister >>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>> the >>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>> community >>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>> >>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>> valley in >>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>> members >>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>> 219 >>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>> >>> Though the minister did not specify >>>> it, the number of the families >>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>> and also the >>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>> and >>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>> >>> More than 350,000 >>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>> >>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>> after massacres of the community >>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>> in south >>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>> >>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>> Maharashtra. >>> >>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>> bring >>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>> construct >>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>> be >>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>> >>> Prime >>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>> and >>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>> the 'land of >>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>> visit to Jammu April >>>> 25, 2008. >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 10:34:31 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:34:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003232148t54a95257y48587b759ebcfbf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around 350,000. This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. Also pl see this report: Date:24/03/2010 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² Shujaat Bukhari 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were among the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that ³219 Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,² Mr. Bhalla said. A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants were registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh for each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since the eruption of militancy,² he said. An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to January, 2010. Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return to Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government decided to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at Sheikhpora Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which possession of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be completed during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning and Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a package of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, exclusively for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts have already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the selection of these posts is on,² he said. But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still living in the Valley. ³These families have never migrated,² he said. © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > From: Pawan Durani > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 > To: "S. Jabbar" > Cc: Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I > got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >> Are you serious?  Please explain.  I am truly baffled. >> >> >>> From: Pawan Durani >>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >>> To: "S. Jabbar" >>> Cc: Sarai >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>> >>> Yes ! >>> >>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >>>> 7 million? >>>> >>>> >>>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>>> To: reader-list >>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>>> >>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>>> Islamic >>>>> fanatics" >>>> >>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>>> >>>> >>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>> valley >>>> >>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>>> Kashmir valley which >>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>>> more than >>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>>> said >>>> Tuesday. >>>> >>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>>> minister >>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>>> the >>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>>> community >>>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>>> >>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>>> valley in >>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>>> members >>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>>> 219 >>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>>> >>>> Though the minister did not specify >>>>> it, the number of the families >>>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>>> and also the >>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>>> and >>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>>> >>>> More than 350,000 >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>>> >>>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>>> after massacres of the community >>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>>> in south >>>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>>> >>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>>> Maharashtra. >>>> >>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>>> bring >>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>>> construct >>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>>> be >>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>>> >>>> Prime >>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>>> and >>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>>> the 'land of >>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>>> visit to Jammu April >>>>> 25, 2008. >>>> _________________________________________ >>>> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 10:59:14 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:59:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003232148t54a95257y48587b759ebcfbf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003232229m5cf81d3v580fd449d3fd931b@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sonia , There are two reports , one in which the minister is quoted as saying that 219 Pandits were killed in 1990 and the other one in Hindu where Shujaat Bukhari quotes timeline between 1989-2004. We had filed an RTI with the home ministry few years back which quoted around 16K people having died in Kashmir. The government figure in terms of killing does not contain those where no police complaint had been filed or where the people were straight away termed as missing. Regarding the number of people who have been uprooted , we unfortunately do not have a specific data . I estimate it to be 700K , My estimate is based on rough estimate in major cities across Indian and abroad. The Government report may be based on number of people who are registered as "migrants" .. Just quoting my own family of 6 which includes my parents , only my mother was registered as a migrant [ No to draw financial support ] as she was a Government school teacher. In my maternal home , non of the 9 members are registered as 'Migrants' Regards Pawan On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around > 350,000.  This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. > > Also pl see this report: > > > Date:24/03/2010 URL: > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm > > ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² > > >  Shujaat Bukhari > > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil > > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants > > > > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were among > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. > > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that ³219 > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,² Mr. > Bhalla said. > > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants were > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. > > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh for > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since > the eruption of militancy,² he said. > > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to > January, 2010. > > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return to > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. > > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government decided > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at Sheikhpora > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which possession > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be completed > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the Jammu > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. > > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning and > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the return > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a package > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. > > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, exclusively > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts have > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the > selection of these posts is on,² he said. > > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. > > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still > living in the Valley. > > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > > > >> From: Pawan Durani >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 >> To: "S. Jabbar" >> Cc: Sarai >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >> >> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I >> got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. >> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >>> Are you serious?  Please explain.  I am truly baffled. >>> >>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >>>> To: "S. Jabbar" >>>> Cc: Sarai >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>> >>>> Yes ! >>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >>>>> 7 million? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>>>> To: reader-list >>>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>>>> >>>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>>>> Islamic >>>>>> fanatics" >>>>> >>>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>>> valley >>>>> >>>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>>>> Kashmir valley which >>>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>>>> more than >>>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>>>> said >>>>> Tuesday. >>>>> >>>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>>>> minister >>>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>>>> the >>>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>>>> community >>>>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>>>> >>>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>>>> valley in >>>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>>>> members >>>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>>>> 219 >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>>>> >>>>> Though the minister did not specify >>>>>> it, the number of the families >>>>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>>>> and also the >>>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>>>> and >>>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>>>> >>>>> More than 350,000 >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>>>> >>>>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>>>> after massacres of the community >>>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>>>> in south >>>>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>>>> Maharashtra. >>>>> >>>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>>>> bring >>>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>>>> construct >>>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>>>> be >>>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>>>> >>>>> Prime >>>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>>>> and >>>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>>>> the 'land of >>>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>>>> visit to Jammu April >>>>>> 25, 2008. >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 13:08:45 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:08:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Shopian - No Rage ? Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003240038jb44fd7fh5b38e842d9a92e03@mail.gmail.com> http://www.earlytimes.in/earlytimes1/newsdet.aspx?q=51510 Suspended CMO’s clinic sealed by Pulwama Auqaf, Police Place of doctor’s rape on woman identified as religious property 3/22/2010 11:54:53 PM AHMED ALI FAYYAZ SRINAGAR, Mar 22: Auqaf Committee of Pulwama township in South Kashmir today sealed the building which had been allegedly used by a doctor to commit rape on a woman. However, Police swiftly swung into action and put its own seal on the room that used to be the suspended Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ghulam Sofi’s clinic until recently. Informed sources in south Kashmir told Early Times that after two days of investigation, Pulwama Police succeeded in identifying the place where the suspended CMO Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi had allegedly committed rape on a woman that had been recorded by unidentified persons on a mobile phone and later circulated in the Valley. Sources said that Police conducted inspection of at least three particular spots, including CMO’s office and District Hospital of Pulwama, but ultimately Dr Sofi’s clinic, situated on the first floor of a building owned by the local Auqaf, at Rajpora Chowk in the township matched with the video clip that has been seized by Police. Even before Police would take further action, members of the local Auqaf Committee, followed by a large number of residents, sealed the building and put their locks on the clinic. SSP Pulwama, Syed Kifayat Haider, said that Police immediately swung into action and made it clear to the people that taking the clinic into custody and making the investigation were the job of Police in which there was no room for such civilian action. He said that members of the local Auqaf and the residents cooperated with Police which later sealed the clinic. He said that Police had registered the criminal case (rape) under section 376 (D) and the investigation was underway. He said that efforts were underway to identify and interrogate the woman exploited as well as the people who made video of the criminal act. He said that Police were questioning the doctor for few hours of the day but clarified that he had not been formally arrested as sufficient material evidence to take such action was not available as of now. Residents said that there was a lot of anger against the doctor as well as some politicians, including a Member of Parliament, who were allegedly trying to shield the criminals. “Be it PDP, National Conference or Hurriyat, all of them are selective in such matters. They have been all exposed by their criminal silence in this matter. Only an Independent MLA has shown some concern in the Assembly”, complained one of the members of Pulwama Auqaf. He said it was strange that entire Kashmir valley had erupted on a rape in Shopian that was based on speculations but everybody was tightlipped on the one in which there was substantial material proof. Dr Sofi, who is now facing charges of committing rape on a woman in addition to a departmental inquiry, was among the six doctors who had publicly confirmed “rape and murder” of a 17-year-old unmarried woman, namely Asiya Jan, and her 25-year-old married sister-in-law, Neelofar Jan, who had been found dead in mysterious circumstances in Rambiara nullah in Shopian on May 29th, 2009. However, an investigation, carried out by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alongwith teams of doctors and forensic experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) later established that both the young women had died due to drowning in the nullah and no rape or murder had taken place. CBI’s observation was primarily based on the fact that the unmarried woman’s hymen was found intact when the dead bodies were exhumed nearly six months after the burial. However, mainstream as well as separatist political parties had dismissed the CBI investigation as a “cover up” to shield the Police officials. During the course of investigation, CBI claimed to have found that six doctors, including then Deputy CMO of Pulwama Dr Sofi, had fudged and fabricated evidences so as to implicate innocent Police officials in a criminal matter in which the guilty are liable to capital punishment. In a startling revelation, gynecologist Dr Nighat Shaheen had narrated to CBI how she had actually collected vaginal swab slides from a number of married woman examined at District Hospital of Pulwama and sent the same to CFSL as the vaginal swab of the two women found dead. She had claimed to the interrogators that Dr Sofi had influenced her to collect and send the fudged swab to the CFSL. Public statements of Dr Nighat Shaheen and Dr Sofi had led to violent anti-India and anti-Government demonstrations in which at least 8 persons got killed and over a thousand injured. CBI has filed the chargesheet against six doctors and five Shopian-based lawyers in a court of law which has granted bail to all the accused who include now suspended CMO of Pulwama, Dr Sofi, and the state government’s Public Prosecutor in District and Sessions Court of Shopian, Sheikh Mubarak. From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 13:28:36 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:28:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003232148t54a95257y48587b759ebcfbf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6353c691003240058y327a96o1a6e94c81306253b@mail.gmail.com> Soniaji, Just like you believed other Pandits, believe Pawanji too. :) It is important here to mention that no one, just no one which includes Pandits themselves, Government of J&K (instrumental in tampering with figures) and Government of India have the appropriate statistics in relation with Pandits. Most Pandit groups are however clear on this that 4,00,000 Pandits have been forced to move out after terrorism erupted in the valley. Few months back J&K Police quoted by Muzamil Jaleel of Indian Express said 209 Pandits were killed in last 20 years. Now yesterday Raman Bhalla has said in the assembly that the number is 219. KPSS, the Pandit body in Kashmir has a list of more than 1000 people killed. Panun Kashmir quotes a much higher figure. I wonder sometimes if the 'One lakh' killings claim of valley separatists baffles anyone from the civil society groups. regards On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around > 350,000. This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. > > Also pl see this report: > > > Date:24/03/2010 URL: > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm > > ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² > > > Shujaat Bukhari > > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil > > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants > > > > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were > among > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. > > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that ³219 > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,² Mr. > Bhalla said. > > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants > were > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. > > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh > for > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since > the eruption of militancy,² he said. > > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to > January, 2010. > > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return > to > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. > > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government > decided > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at Sheikhpora > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which > possession > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be > completed > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the Jammu > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. > > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning > and > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the return > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a package > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. > > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, > exclusively > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts > have > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the > selection of these posts is on,² he said. > > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. > > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still > living in the Valley. > > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > > > > > From: Pawan Durani > > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 > > To: "S. Jabbar" > > Cc: Sarai > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > > > My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I > > got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. > > > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: > >> Are you serious? Please explain. I am truly baffled. > >> > >> > >>> From: Pawan Durani > >>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 > >>> To: "S. Jabbar" > >>> Cc: Sarai > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > valley > >>> > >>> Yes ! > >>> > >>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: > >>>> 7 million? > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>> From: Pawan Durani > >>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 > >>>>> To: reader-list > >>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > >>>>> > >>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & > >>>> Islamic > >>>>> fanatics" > >>>> > >>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley > >>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > >>>>> valley > >>>> > >>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 > >>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in > >>>>> Kashmir valley which > >>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against > >>>>> more than > >>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla > >>>>> said > >>>> Tuesday. > >>>> > >>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the > >>>>> minister > >>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in > >>>>> the > >>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the > >>>> community > >>>>> there 'is 3,445'. > >>>> > >>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the > >>>>> valley in > >>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community > >>>>> members > >>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that > >>>>> 219 > >>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. > >>>> > >>>> Though the minister did not specify > >>>>> it, the number of the families > >>>> living in the valley included 31 families of > >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living > >>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district > >>>>> and also the > >>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments > >>>>> and > >>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. > >>>> > >>>> More than 350,000 > >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. > >>>> > >>>> Those who stayed back, migrated > >>>>> after massacres of the community > >>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in > >>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in > >>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg > >>>>> in south > >>>> Kashmir in March 2003. > >>>> > >>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in > >>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within > >>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and > >>>>> Maharashtra. > >>>> > >>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to > >>>>> bring > >>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to > >>>>> construct > >>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would > >>>>> be > >>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. > >>>> > >>>> Prime > >>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief > >>>> and > >>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to > >>>> the 'land of > >>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his > >>>> visit to Jammu April > >>>>> 25, 2008. > >>>> _________________________________________ > >>>> 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/> > -- Aditya Raj Kaul Cell - +91-9873297834 Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. From aliens at dataone.in Wed Mar 24 15:11:51 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:11:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT In-Reply-To: <75869.61214.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000f01caca76$22ecb3d0$68c61b70$@in> <75869.61214.qm@web112107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <002b01cacb36$3b491c00$b1db5400$@in> Dear Malik, Perhaps he don't want this to be debated much. So, he swiftly passed away the date and before anyone ask question why he did not appear, he elaborate the truth. Even SIT has not denied about content of the Modi's letter till date. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: A.K. Malik [mailto:akmalik45 at yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 11:08 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: Sarai List Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT Hi Bipin, I have a little doubt. The news of Modi being asked to appear before SIT came about two weeks. Why Modi kept silence and spoke only on 21st about not having received summons. Is it some strategy on his part? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > From: Bipin Trivedi > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of SIT > To: "'Pawan Durani'" > Cc: "sarai-list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 4:16 PM > Dear Pawan, > Thanks for this posting. > Who is responsible for this? It must have been gimmick of > Teesta and Mrs. Jaffri both since they both were present in > ndtv 24x7/India talk show for this matter and putting their > views that Modi must appear against SIT summon. But, where > is the summon? Who will answer? Will SIT answer? Will SC or > SIT scroll the culprit? > Once again Teesta proved wrong and exposed for her gimmick > similarly as in case of Jahira. Poor Teesta will not get > more fund now for this from their foreign bosses. > Thanks > Bipin > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net > [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] > On Behalf Of Pawan Durani > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 6:21 PM > To: Javed > Cc: reader-list at sarai.net; > Jigish Parikh > Subject: [Reader-list] Modi is innocent, and not afraid of > SIT > > Not summoned to appear before panel on March 21: Modi > http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/gujarat-riots-probe-modi-speaks-out-on-summons-18241.php > > Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not > summoned to > appear before a Supreme-Court-appointed panel probing riots > cases on > March 21. > > In a strong statement issued on Monday, a day after he was > reported as > having kept the panel waiting for him to appear before it, > Modi said: > "It is a matter of grave concern and needs investigation as > to why and > who started spreading lies that Narendra Modi has been > summoned by SIT > (Special Investigation Team) on March 21." > > He pointed out that March 21 happened to be "a Sunday and a > public > holiday," and said the "purveyors of lies did not even > bother to check > whether the SIT officers appointed by Supreme Court were > present in > Gujarat on March 21." > > The date March 21, he alleged, was given out by "some > vested interests > and as part of the effort to interfere in the due process > of law." > > Modi said in his statement that he would respond to the > SIT, "fully > respecting law and keeping in view the dignity of the body > appointed > by the Supreme Court. > > The Gujarat Chief Minister has been asked to appear this > month before > the Special Investigating Team, headed by K R Raghavan, > which is > looking into 9 cases of communal riots. Modi has been asked > to appear > in connection with the Ehsan Jafri case. The former > Congress MP was > burnt alive in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg society. A case filed by > his wife > charges Modi and many of his ministers and bureaucrats of > conspiring > to ensure that calls for help by Jafri and others were > ignored. > > Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice > to the > Nanavati Commission asking it to explain, by April 1, > whether it too > would summon Narendra Modi as part of its inquiry on > the Gujarat > riots of 2002. > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Javed > wrote: > > Dear Jigish and Malik > > You are right and I agree that we should wait for the > law to take its > > own course. Why should we worry about it if we have > the law - we > > should be concerned with many other problems of the > country, such as > > what Jigish ji pointed out. > > > > But that LAW is the whole problem. If law and order > could be ensured, > > we won't have the Gujarat riots. I know that Godhra > was an unfortunate > > incident which probably took place even before law and > police could > > reach the spot to prevent it. But what happened after > the Godhra > > incident in Gujarat is exactly what we expected not to > happen since we > > are in a country where law and order machinery is > supposed to work to > > prevent riots. If such enormous rioting could not be > controlled, and > > for several weeks, then how do we expect that law will > again take its > > course and treat everyone with justice. We all know > that Modi is too > > arrogant and bullish to accept any of his wrong-doings > and is thus > > avoiding SIT. > > > > This is not a "fascination with certain personalities" > as you > > mentioned Mr.Jigish. It is a question of justice for > people who have > > been affected in the riot. And this is not just for > what happened in > > the past (which can be forgotten). It also concerns > the future of this > > country. If politicians want to go to any extreme > (including abetting > > communal riots) to get votes, then such a trend is as > important for > > everyone as Af-Pak situation or the defence budget or > whatever. > > > > Thanks > > > > Javed > > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jigish Parikh > wrote: > >> Mr. Javed, > >> Replying with an assumption that you are Indian. I > fully agree with Mr. > >> Malik..Why people can't give up their fascination > with certain personalities > >> and let law take its own due course? We have MUCH > more pressing issues in > >> our country to worry about. One such is > tragic/vision-less policies in the > >> foreign affairs ministry where the idiots of > Congress party have no clue how > >> to deal with Af-Pak Situation. Being side-lined in > London and having no plan > >> B in the aftermath of second bombing of Indian > Embassy in Kabul, they look > >> stupid on world table. They approach unilaterally > to Pakistan for peace > >> dialogue without explanation to the country for > such sudden change in > >> foreign policy without Pakistan acting on terror > infrastructure or handing > >> over the 26/11 master-minds. Another area is > Defence ministry which is > >> stalling the BASIC MINIMUM requirements of our > forces. NEVER explaining why > >> every year funds allocated are returned unused > despite the dire need of > >> equipments/modernization/weapons/resources. > Let's talk such important > >> issues without meddling in what is less of a > problem for nation for NOW. > >> Jigish. > >> > >>> > >>> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>> > >>> Message: 1 > >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:47:03 -0700 (PDT) > >>> From: "A.K. Malik" > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] If Modi is > innocent, why is he afraid of > >>> SIT > >>> To: Javed > >>> Cc: Sarai List > >>> Message-ID: <179820.63240.qm at web112105.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > >>> > >>> Dear Mr Javed, > >>> > The Congress Party has all along been advocating "Let > The Law > >>> Have its own Course". Every one knows how they > have scuttled the Bofors > >>> Case. If Modi has not appeared before the SIT, > Let the Law find what next is > >>> to be done.Is there a punishment for not > appearing before the SIT? So file a > >>> case and punish him for not appearing before > SIT. Let Modi be punished > >>> according to the prevalent law of the > land.Even Kasab is being given rights > >>> to defend himself, but poor Modi doesn't even > have the rights of an ordinary > >>> citizen.Mr Modi, if he is guilty, needs to be > punished but according to > >>> Law.No one including Congress Party wants > justice to be done but wants to > >>> play POLITICS. > >>> Regards, > >>> > >>> (A.K.MALIK) > >>> > >>> > >>> --- On Sun, 3/21/10, Javed > wrote: > >>> > >>> > From: Javed > >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] If Modi is > innocent, why is he afraid of SIT > >>> > To: "sarai list" > >>> > Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 8:38 PM > >>> > Gulburg riots case: CM Narendra Modi > >>> > avoids SIT team > >>> > > >>> > PTI, Mar 21, 2010, 07.08pm IST > >>> > > >>> > NEW DELHI: Attacking Gujarat chief > minister Narendra Modi > >>> > for not > >>> > showing up before the SIT in connection > with a Gujarat > >>> > riots case, > >>> > Congress on Sunday said that it was > "contemptuous" and > >>> > showed that he > >>> > "loves to hide". > >>> > > >>> > "The SIT's direction to Narendra Modi to > appear before it > >>> > shows the > >>> > seriousness and importance attached to > the issue by the > >>> > apex court," > >>> > party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi > said. > >>> > > >>> > "For Modi to avoid appearing on any > ground or pretext is > >>> > contemptuous > >>> > and would show that he loves to hide," he > said > >>> > > >>> > Modi was summoned by the SIT with regard > to a complaint > >>> > filed by Zakia > >>> > Jaffery, wife of slain former MP Eshan > Jaffrey in the 2002 > >>> > Gulburg > >>> > society riots case. > >>> > > >>> > Slamming Gujarat government for spending > lavishly on > >>> > advertisements, > >>> > minister of state for communications and > technology Sachin > >>> > Pilot said > >>> > that Narendra Modi has been spending huge > money for "self > >>> > praise". > >>> > Pilot alleged that Modi took credit of > Central schemes in > >>> > the state, > >>> > demanding that he comes out with a white > paper if he had > >>> > launched any > >>> > scheme. > >>> > > >>> > He was all praise for UPA government for > its efforts in > >>> > ensuring jobs > >>> > in rural areas allotment of Rs 60,000 > crore for rural > >>> > development. UPA > >>> > is the only government to announce > unemployment allowance > >>> > for jobless, > >>> > Pilot said. > >>> > > >>> > Arjun Modhvadiya an MLA from Porbander > said Modi has a > >>> > great skill to > >>> > divert people's mind and to misguide them > by making fake > >>> > claims. > >>> > > >>> > Modhvadiya termed the state government as > anti-farmer > >>> > saying there is > >>> > no additional tax on fertilizers but Modi > government has > >>> > slapped 23% > >>> > to 25%t VAT (Value Added Tax) on > fertilizers in the state. > >>> > > >>> > The BJP remained non-committal on whether > chief minister > >>> > Narendra Modi > >>> > would depose before the Special > Investigation Team in > >>> > connection with > >>> > a Gujarat riots case but said the state > government "shall > >>> > act as per > >>> > the law". > >>> > > >>> > Asked if Modi would depose before the > Supreme > >>> > Court-appointed SIT, BJP > >>> > spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy evaded a > direct reply. > >>> > > >>> > "The government of Gujarat has made it > clear that it shall > >>> > act as per > >>> > the law. This government has always > supported and respected > >>> > the law > >>> > and will abide by it. It has the highest > respect for the > >>> > Supreme Court > >>> > order and directions," he told PTI. > >>> > > >>> > Rudy, however, alleged that the whole > process may be an > >>> > attempt to tarnish Modi. > >>> > > >>> > "The BJP feels this is a larger ploy and > conspiracy to > >>> > malign an > >>> > tarnish the image of the most progressive > state and leader > >>> > in the > >>> > country," Rudy said. > >>> > > >>> > BJP president Nitin Gadkari had heaped > praise on Modi last > >>> > week saying > >>> > he was a capable leader who had the > qualities to become the > >>> > Prime > >>> > Minister. > >>> > > >>> > "Modi is a role model for the > country...," Gadkari said in > >>> > an > >>> > interview to a news channel, hailing the > development works > >>> > being > >>> > carried out in Gujarat. > >>> > > >>> > Modi has been summoned by SIT in > connection with a > >>> > complaint of Zakia > >>> > Jaffery, widow of former MP Eshan Jaffery > who was killed by > >>> > a mob > >>> > along with 69 others at Gulburg society > in February 2002. > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gulburg-riots-case-CM-Narendra-Modi-avoids-SIT-team/articleshow/5708917.cms > >>> > > _________________________________________ > >>> > 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/> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------ > >>> > >>> Message: 2 > >>> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:55:16 -0700 (PDT) > >>> From: "A.K. Malik" > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh > Minorities in Pakistan: The > >>> Vanishing > Communities > >>> To: Pawan Durani > >>> Cc: Sarai List > >>> Message-ID: <976371.81148.qm at web112111.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > >>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > >>> > >>> Dear Mr Durani, > >>> > If a similar thing is done in India to a > Muslim girl,see all > >>> hell being loose. Protests will be 90% from > Hindus and 10% from Muslims.This > >>> is price of Secularism in our country.Have you > heard of any one making any > >>> noise on this news item? > >>> Regards, > >>> > >>> (A.K.MALIK) > >>> > >>> > >>> --- On Mon, 3/22/10, Pawan Durani > wrote: > >>> > >>> > From: Pawan Durani > >>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Hindu-Sikh > Minorities in Pakistan: The Vanishing > >>> > Communities > >>> > To: "reader-list" > >>> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:10 AM > >>> > "In a recent investigative report it > >>> > is described how young girls, as > >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in > Sind, converted > >>> > to Islam, > >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. > “Kidnapping Hindu > >>> > girls like this > >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls > are then forced to > >>> > sign > >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve > become Muslims,” > >>> > said Laljee > >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu > Panchayat (council > >>> > of village > >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar > abduction cases have > >>> > taken > >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the > Jacobabad and > >>> > Larkana > >>> > districts." > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > Source : > >>> > http://frontierindia.net/wa/hindu-sikh-minorities-in-pakistan-the-vanishing-communities/632/ > >>> > > >>> > By Maloy Krishna Dhar | March 19th, 2010 > | Category: > >>> > Latest, Opinion > >>> > and Editorials | > >>> > > >>> > I was inspired to write this essay by a > Pakistani > >>> > journalist friend. > >>> > Later, during a lecture tour in South > East Asian countries, > >>> > where > >>> > Indian and Chinese origin minorities are > also discriminated > >>> > I noticed > >>> > that the minorities are palpably > anguished. The latest > >>> > incidents of > >>> > organized attacks by Bengali Muslims on > hill dwelling > >>> > Chakma tribals > >>> > in Khagrachari areas firmed up my > decision to chronicle a > >>> > preliminary > >>> > account of the conditions of the > non-Muslim minorities in > >>> > Pakistan. I > >>> > had earlier written a piece on the plight > of the Pakistani > >>> > Christians. > >>> > I have not touched upon the plight of the > Shia and > >>> > Ahmadiya > >>> > (non-Muslim) communities in Pakistan, > which require > >>> > international > >>> > attention. Not a single Indian Muslim > religious seminary > >>> > has so far > >>> > condemned Pakistan for inhuman treatment > of the Shia and > >>> > Ahmadiya > >>> > communities. > >>> > > >>> > I am indebted to a member of the Pakistan > Human Rights > >>> > Commission and > >>> > several young Pakistani writers who have > boldly portrayed > >>> > the pitiable > >>> > condition of the minorities in Pakistan. > Their voices are > >>> > drowned in > >>> > wilderness. The normal civil society > members are also > >>> > ashamed of these > >>> > developments. However, I do not want to > name them fearing > >>> > visitations > >>> > by the ISI goons. > >>> > > >>> > Jinnah had said in his speech to the new > nation created, > >>> > called > >>> > Pakistan, on August 17, 1947 to assure > that his fiefdom, > >>> > for which he > >>> > fought relentlessly and even organized > the Great Direct > >>> > Action Pogrom > >>> > of Calcutta in August 1946, to assure the > national > >>> > minorities, after 3 > >>> > millions were killed in communal riots > and several million > >>> > escaped to > >>> > the safety of Hindustan: “You are free; > free to go to > >>> > your temples, > >>> > you are free to go to your mosques, or to > any other place > >>> > of worship > >>> > in the State of Pakistan. You may belong > to any religion or > >>> > caste or > >>> > creed-that has nothing to do with the > business of the > >>> > State…We are > >>> > starting with this fundamental principles > that we are all > >>> > citizens and > >>> > equal citizens of our State.” > >>> > > >>> > People conversant with Jinnah’s rise as > a rabid communal > >>> > Muslim leader > >>> > (Jaswant Singh’s white washing aside) > know that Jinnah > >>> > Kathiawadi > >>> > lived by deceit and died in neglect > (recall his Quetta > >>> > visit, > >>> > breakdown of his car on way to Karachi > and apathetic > >>> > attitude of the > >>> > people in power). He was not even a > practicing Muslim (a > >>> > Shia), but > >>> > pleaded fanatic Muslim causes. He never > tried to rescue > >>> > Muslim > >>> > politics from the clutches of the > maulanas. He was the > >>> > person who > >>> > boycotted the 1937 interim governments in > the Central > >>> > Legislative > >>> > Assembly and Congress led provinces. He > fabricated or > >>> > organized the > >>> > fabrication of charges against > Congress’ ruthless > >>> > suppression of the > >>> > Muslims. One after another memorandum was > submitted to the > >>> > Governor > >>> > General; all bundles of lies. The grand > finale of > >>> > Jinnah’s bunches of > >>> > lies and prevarication included Calcutta > pogrom in > >>> > collaboration with > >>> > Suhrawardy government, deceitful refusal > to sign the > >>> > Mountbatten Plan > >>> > for partition, backing out from original > agreement that > >>> > Mountbatten > >>> > would be the common Governor General for > India and Pakistan > >>> > and > >>> > finally throwing a grand inaugural lunch > on 16th August, a > >>> > day of > >>> > Ramadan (later shifted to dinner). > >>> > > >>> > With such track record of prevarication, > fabrication and > >>> > falsehood > >>> > Jinnah’s 17th August 1947 speech > assuring the minority > >>> > was then and > >>> > even now treated as crocodile’s tears. > If he were a > >>> > democrat he would > >>> > have not chosen the machetes to kill. He > could not stop > >>> > killing of the > >>> > Hindu and other minorities in Pakistan > even after he > >>> > assumed the gaddi > >>> > of the Governor General in true Hollywood > style. Since > >>> > Jinnah the > >>> > Hindu minorities have continued to suffer > in Pakistan and > >>> > now they > >>> > have become an endangered community. > Those interested may > >>> > read Jinnah > >>> > of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert and > Mountbatten’s Report > >>> > on the Last > >>> > Viceroyalty, edited by Lionel Carter. > >>> > > >>> > For which Pakistan Jinnah had struggled? > His idea of > >>> > Pakistan was > >>> > limited to the vision of Dr. Iqbal-whole > of Punjab, Sind, > >>> > Balochistan, > >>> > NWFP, FATA areas and Kashmir. He had no > plan for Bengal and > >>> > Assam and > >>> > other Muslim majority areas in India. > Later the Bangistan > >>> > theory of > >>> > Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propelled the > Pakistan protagonists to > >>> > amalgamate > >>> > Bengal and Assam and create the eastern > wing of Pakistan. > >>> > > >>> > However, it must be said to the credit of > Jinnah that in > >>> > the absence > >>> > of Dr. Iqbal and any other Muslim poet he > could trust, he > >>> > had > >>> > commissioned a Hindu to write the > original national anthem > >>> > of > >>> > Pakistan. India and Pakistan have another > anomalous > >>> > situation in > >>> > common. Iqbal, the progenitor of > Pakistan, had composed the > >>> > national > >>> > song Sare Jahan se Accha—. It is still > used as one of the > >>> > national > >>> > songs. Jinnah, on the other hand had > summoned Jagannath > >>> > Azad, son of > >>> > Lahore-based poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, > just three days > >>> > before the > >>> > creation of Pakistan, to write the > country’s first > >>> > national anthem. It > >>> > had stirred up a debate in that country. > It is claimed that > >>> > Jinnah > >>> > sowed the seed of secularism by inviting > Jagannath Azad to > >>> > write the > >>> > national anthem. However, Pakistan’s > first national > >>> > anthem composed by > >>> > a Hindu was discarded by Pakistan in > 1950. What a great > >>> > disrespect to > >>> > the father of the nation! Some leading > Pakistani thinkers > >>> > correctly > >>> > said that Pakistan exists on the venom of > anti-Hindu > >>> > elixir. > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > Demographic distribution of Hindus in > Pakistan (source > >>> > Wikipedia) > >>> > > >>> > At the time of Partition in 1947, the > Hindu population of > >>> > Pakistan was > >>> > estimated at approximately a quarter of > the total > >>> > population. For > >>> > example, the population of Karachi, > Pakistan in 1947 was > >>> > 450,000, of > >>> > which 51% was Hindu, and 42% was Muslim. > By 1951, > >>> > Karachi’s population > >>> > had increased to 1.137 million because of > the influx of > >>> > 600,000 Muslim > >>> > refugees from India. In 1951, the Muslim > population of > >>> > Karachi was 96% > >>> > and the Hindu population was 2%. In 1998, > the Hindu > >>> > population in all > >>> > of Pakistan was 1.6%, and the most recent > census would > >>> > certainly be > >>> > expected to demonstrate consistent > dwindling demographic > >>> > trends and > >>> > further diminution of Hindu population. > >>> > > >>> > According to certain official estimates > NWFP has slightly > >>> > over 4,924 > >>> > Hindus, whereas in FATA area total known > Hindu population > >>> > is 1,921. > >>> > After the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan > and military > >>> > operations > >>> > hundreds of Hindus had escaped under dual > pressure-demand > >>> > of Jizya, a > >>> > Sharia tax by the Taliban and army > harassment. > >>> > > >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution, prima facie, > provides for > >>> > freedom of > >>> > religion. In practice, however, the > government imposes > >>> > limits on this > >>> > freedom by using several subterfuges. > Since Pakistan > >>> > proclaimed itself > >>> > an Islamic republic at the time of > independence, Islam has > >>> > become a > >>> > core element of the national ideology. > Since the struggle > >>> > for separate > >>> > homeland for the Muslims was seemingly > waged against the > >>> > Hindus and > >>> > not the British Pakistan’s political > soul is filled with > >>> > hatred > >>> > against the Hindus. Thus, religious > freedom is subject to > >>> > law, public > >>> > order, and morality as decided by the > reigning government. > >>> > Actions or > >>> > speech deemed derogatory to Islam or to > its Prophet are not > >>> > protected. > >>> > In addition, the Constitution requires > that laws must be > >>> > consistent > >>> > with Islam and imposes some elements of > Quranic law on both > >>> > Muslims > >>> > and religious minorities. This > observation has been > >>> > supported even by > >>> > the U.S. State Department’s report on > International > >>> > Religious Freedom > >>> > report of 2004. After spate of riots > against the Pakistani > >>> > Christians > >>> > the IRF had expressed similar views. > >>> > > >>> > Government regulations and laws shaped by > Islamic Sharia > >>> > injunctions > >>> > discriminate against the Hindu minority > as well as other > >>> > minorities in > >>> > Pakistan. Section 295-C of the Pakistan > penal code mandates > >>> > the death > >>> > sentence for blasphemy against the > Prophet or desecration > >>> > of the > >>> > Koran. Dozens of blasphemy cases are > pending in the courts, > >>> > and the > >>> > accused spend long periods in jails under > brutal conditions > >>> > once the > >>> > accusation has been made, although most > such allegations > >>> > of > >>> > desecration are the result of personal > grudges. On March > >>> > 24, 2005, > >>> > Pakistan restored the discriminatory > practice of mandating > >>> > the mention > >>> > of religious identity of individuals in > all new passports. > >>> > The > >>> > Pakistan federal cabinet, with Prime > Minister Shaukat Aziz > >>> > in chair, > >>> > had directed the Ministry of Interior to > reintroduce the > >>> > rule after > >>> > its repeal under the Zafaraullah Khan > Jamali government. > >>> > The move was > >>> > seen as a concession to the Muttahida > Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), > >>> > a coalition > >>> > of hard-line religious parties that > supported Pakistan’s > >>> > former > >>> > President General Pervez Musharraf. > >>> > > >>> > The rights of minorities continue to > erode at an alarming > >>> > pace in > >>> > Pakistan. I.A. Rehman, Director of the > Human Rights > >>> > Commission of > >>> > Pakistan, associates this erosion with > the continued > >>> > Islamization of > >>> > Pakistan that President General > Zia-ul-Haq initiated in the > >>> > 1980s. > >>> > Upon Pakistan’s declaration as an > Islamic republic, the > >>> > rights of > >>> > religious minorities, particularly > Hindus, Christians, and > >>> > Ahmadiyas, > >>> > diminished dramatically. These minorities > live under the > >>> > fear of > >>> > threats to their lives and property, > desecration of their > >>> > places of > >>> > worship, and the Blasphemy Act that > carries a penalty of > >>> > death. > >>> > Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation > adds, “It’s > >>> > Muslims winning by > >>> > intimidation. It’s Muslims overcoming a > culture by > >>> > threatening it, by > >>> > abducting young girls so that an entire > community moves out > >>> > or > >>> > succumbs to the Muslim murderers.” > >>> > > >>> > There are several instances of attacks > against the Shias by > >>> > the > >>> > Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipha Sahaba, two > hardcore Sunni > >>> > militant > >>> > outfits. “Justice M. Munir commission > investigated the > >>> > large-scale > >>> > riots against the Ahmadiya sect in > Pakistan in 1953. His > >>> > report is an > >>> > eye-opener. It shows that our ulema are > not even able to > >>> > agree on a > >>> > definition of who a Muslim is. Justice > Munir had called > >>> > heads of all > >>> > Islamic schools of thought and asked them > the definition of > >>> > a Muslim. > >>> > No two ulema agreed. It also exposes the > pusillanimity of > >>> > our > >>> > so-called scholars of Islam and their > near-total disregard > >>> > of the > >>> > beauty and generosity of Islam.” Sultan > Shahin, Editor, > >>> > New age Islam. > >>> > > >>> > Violence against women in general > continues throughout the > >>> > world, but > >>> > more so in Pakistan, particularly against > Hindu women. > >>> > Violence > >>> > against women is rampant in the forms of > rape, honor > >>> > killings, and > >>> > domestic abuse. In Pakistan, a woman is > raped every two > >>> > hours on > >>> > average, and at least ten women a day die > in honor > >>> > killings. Moreover, > >>> > Pakistan’s existing Hudood Ordinance is > used to imprison > >>> > thousands of > >>> > women who report rapes. The Hudood > Ordinances are a set of > >>> > laws that > >>> > were introduced by Presidential decree in > 1979 under the > >>> > then > >>> > President General Zia Ul Haq. These laws > were intended > >>> > “to bring in > >>> > conformity with the injunctions of > Islam” certain aspects > >>> > of the > >>> > criminal justice system and make certain > offences > >>> > punishable by hadd, > >>> > which is defined as “punishment > ordained by the Holy > >>> > Quran or Sunnah.” > >>> > > >>> > The quotations are from the Offence of > Zina (Enforcement of > >>> > Hudood) > >>> > Ordinance, 1979, Ordinance No. VII of > 1979, 9 February > >>> > 1979, preamble > >>> > and sec. 2(b), respectively. Hereinafter: > Zina Ordinance. . > >>> > The laws > >>> > introduced under the Hudood Ordinances > cover the offences > >>> > of Zina > >>> > (various forms of unlawful sexual > intercourse) Qazf > >>> > (wrongful > >>> > accusation of Zina crimes), and offences > Against Property > >>> > and > >>> > Prohibition. An offence of Zina occurs, > under the > >>> > Ordinance, whenever > >>> > “a man and a woman… willfully have > sexual intercourse > >>> > without being > >>> > validly married to each other.” Section > 4 of the Zina > >>> > Ordinance. > >>> > Offences of rape are called Zina bil Jabr > (literally > >>> > meaning ‘forced > >>> > adultery’ in the Arabic original) as > they have occurred > >>> > without the > >>> > consent of the victim. Significantly, > however, the Zina > >>> > Ordinance > >>> > excludes marital rape from the definition > of that offence. > >>> > > >>> > According to the Ordinance, a rape victim > must present four > >>> > male > >>> > witnesses to the crime in order to prove > the rape occurred. > >>> > If the > >>> > victim is unable to do so, she is at risk > for being whipped > >>> > for > >>> > adultery because she has acknowledged > illicit sex, which is > >>> > banned in > >>> > Islam. Despite repeated calls by > women’s rights and human > >>> > rights > >>> > groups for the reform and repeal of the > Hudood Ordinance, > >>> > the Pakistan > >>> > government has yet to take action. > Readers may have not > >>> > forgotten the > >>> > famous case of Mukhtar Mai that had > created international > >>> > indignation. > >>> > Women, Muslim or Hindu, can expect very > little from the > >>> > majority > >>> > sections of people in a country that > still lives in the > >>> > barbaric > >>> > Middle Ages. > >>> > > >>> > Hindus continue to be the target of > kidnappings, rape, and > >>> > intimidation in Pakistan. There are > reports of desecration > >>> > and > >>> > destruction of Hindu temples and lands, > theft and looting > >>> > of Hindu > >>> > property, discrimination, abuse, and > abduction of Hindu > >>> > females. > >>> > Unfortunately, few reports about specific > and targeted > >>> > human rights > >>> > abuses against Hindus are available, not > only due to the > >>> > continued > >>> > decreasing population of Hindus in > Pakistan, but also > >>> > because reports > >>> > of such attacks are either poorly covered > in the local > >>> > media or > >>> > completely ignored. In most cases police > do not register > >>> > cases > >>> > reported by Hindu victims. > >>> > > >>> > A worrisome trend in Pakistan, > particularly in the Sind > >>> > province, is > >>> > that of Muslims kidnapping Hindu girls > and forcing them to > >>> > convert to > >>> > Islam. One of the most egregious cases of > intimidation and > >>> > kidnapping > >>> > of young Hindu women occurred in > September 2005. On > >>> > September 14, > >>> > Hindu parents alleged that four men > abducted their daughter > >>> > in Sind, > >>> > and forced her to marry one of the > accused and convert to > >>> > Islam. The > >>> > authorities arrested two of the > abductors, but the court > >>> > dismissed the > >>> > case when the girl was forced to provide > a legal statement > >>> > that she > >>> > willfully married and converted. Gayan > Chand Singh, than a > >>> > legislator > >>> > in Pakistan’s Parliament, said that the > kidnapping should > >>> > be > >>> > categorized as rape and should be > registered as such an > >>> > offense for > >>> > the abductors. > >>> > > >>> > In a similar case, Sapna Giyanchand was > taken to a shrine > >>> > in the > >>> > Shikarpur District by Shamsuddin Dasti, a > Muslim married > >>> > man and > >>> > father of two children. The custodian of > the shrine, Maulvi > >>> > Abdul Aziz > >>> > converted Sapna to Islam, changed her > name to Mehek, and > >>> > married her > >>> > to Dasti. When Sapna’s case was > presented in court, > >>> > Muslim extremists > >>> > deluged her with rose petals and chanted > religious verses. > >>> > Sapna, > >>> > terrified by the setting, could not > manage to speak to her > >>> > parents, > >>> > who were also present in court. Aziz, > also in attendance, > >>> > is claimed > >>> > to have said, “How can a Muslim girl > live and maintain > >>> > contact with > >>> > kafirs; non-believers of Islam?” > >>> > > >>> > In a recent investigative report it is > described how young > >>> > girls, as > >>> > young as 12 or 13, have been kidnapped in > Sind, converted > >>> > to Islam, > >>> > and forcibly married to Muslim boys. > “Kidnapping Hindu > >>> > girls like this > >>> > has become a normal practice. The girls > are then forced to > >>> > sign > >>> > stamped papers stating that they’ve > become Muslims,” > >>> > said Laljee > >>> > Menghwar, a member of Karachi’s Hindu > Panchayat (council > >>> > of village > >>> > leaders). At least twenty nine similar > abduction cases have > >>> > taken > >>> > place in Karachi alone, and six in the > Jacobabad and > >>> > Larkana > >>> > districts. Wasim Shahzad, the Minister of > State for > >>> > Interior, had > >>> > upset legislators in the National > Assembly when he was > >>> > quoted by the > >>> > state-run APP news agency as saying, > “These incidents are > >>> > taking place > >>> > to force the Hindus to leave Pakistan > where they have been > >>> > living for > >>> > the past 5,000 years.” > >>> > > >>> > In a shocking incident, it was reported > that three young > >>> > Hindu girls > >>> > had suddenly converted to Islam. The > three girls, Reena > >>> > (21), Usha > >>> > (19) and Rima (17) – daughters of Sanno > Amra and Champa, > >>> > a Hindu > >>> > couple living in the Punjab Colony > section of Karachi, > >>> > Pakistan – went > >>> > missing on October 18, 2005. According to > a widely > >>> > circulated report > >>> > in the Pakistan newspaper Dawn, entitled > “Conversion > >>> > losses,” the > >>> > London based Pakistani commentator, Irfan > Hussain, > >>> > described the shock > >>> > experienced by Sanno Amra and Champa when > they returned > >>> > home after > >>> > work on October 18, 2005 to discover > their three daughters > >>> > had > >>> > unexpectedly disappeared. Only after > desperate queries to > >>> > the police, > >>> > the parents received affidavits stating > the daughters’ > >>> > conversions to > >>> > Islam. Private visits with their > daughters, free from > >>> > chaperones and > >>> > even police officers that have supervised > their only > >>> > interactions thus > >>> > far, have been consistently denied. After > their > >>> > disappearance from > >>> > home, the girls have been living at a > madrassa (Islamic > >>> > seminary) in > >>> > the vicinity of their home and may > potentially be denied > >>> > the freedom > >>> > to return home. > >>> > > >>> > Earlier in 2005, Shazia Khalid, a doctor, > reported that she > >>> > was > >>> > gang-raped in a government natural gas > plant. Instead of > >>> > providing her > >>> > with medical treatment, officials drugged > her into > >>> > unconsciousness for > >>> > three days and then transported her to a > psychiatric > >>> > hospital to > >>> > prevent her from reporting the rape. Due > to her persistence > >>> > of > >>> > reporting the rape, Khalid was placed > under house arrest in > >>> > Karachi. > >>> > The police insinuated that the presence > of cash in her > >>> > house meant > >>> > that she was working as a prostitute. > Although her husband > >>> > has stood > >>> > by her, his grandfather was quoted as > saying that Dr. Shazi > >>> > disgraced > >>> > the family and should be killed. > >>> > > >>> > Although violence against women > transcends their religion, > >>> > it is > >>> > disproportionately focused on Hindu women > in Pakistan. In > >>> > May 2005, a > >>> > group of middle-class Pakistani women > held a demonstration > >>> > for equal > >>> > rights in Lahore. In response, the police > beat them and > >>> > took them to > >>> > police stations. In particular, they > targeted Asma > >>> > Jahangir, a U.N. > >>> > special rapporteur, who was also the head > of the Human > >>> > Rights > >>> > Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir said > an intelligence > >>> > official > >>> > close to General Musharraf told the > police to “teach the > >>> > (expletive) a > >>> > lesson (and) strip her in public.” The > police tore her > >>> > shirt off and > >>> > tried to remove her trouser. That was > General Musharraf, > >>> > the Kargil > >>> > invader and soldier of fortune in a > military dominated > >>> > country. > >>> > > >>> > Between 2003 and 2009 about 100 cases of > kidnapping of > >>> > Hindu women > >>> > were reported from Punjab. Besides a > temple in Lahore two > >>> > other > >>> > temples in Multan and Gujranwala were > desecrated. According > >>> > to > >>> > estimates over 900 acres of Hindu land > were forcibly > >>> > occupied in > >>> > Sialkot, Lahore, Multan, Zhang etc > places. Hindu students > >>> > studying in > >>> > government schools are made to read Quran > and offer namaj. > >>> > > >>> > I have personal respect for the > liberation struggle of the > >>> > Baloch > >>> > people and had written two essays in this > portal. However, > >>> > in > >>> > Balochistan there are about 36, 686 > Hindus. There are > >>> > several > >>> > instances of Hindu traders being > kidnapped and released > >>> > after hefty > >>> > ransom. They are pressed both by the > rebellious Baloch > >>> > elements and > >>> > the Pakistan army. The police and armed > forces suspect that > >>> > the Hindus > >>> > are used as conduit by the Indian > Intelligence agencies. > >>> > Only in 2009 > >>> > five Hindu traders were kidnapped from > Quetta for ransom. > >>> > Only three > >>> > lucky traders returned; the two others > could not pay in > >>> > cash, but paid > >>> > with life. Minorities, particularly > Hindus and Ahmadiyas, > >>> > continue to > >>> > face a wave of violations in Balochistan, > the area where > >>> > Pakistan > >>> > conducted its nuclear tests on the orders > of President > >>> > Musharraf in > >>> > October 1999. The native Balochis > experience a severely > >>> > degraded > >>> > status since the occupation. Although the > exact number is > >>> > unknown, > >>> > more than 5,000 Hindus were forced to > escape from the > >>> > unrest in > >>> > Balochistan and enter Sind in 2005. > Militant Muslim groups > >>> > have > >>> > desecrated Hindu temples, set their homes > on fire, and > >>> > destroyed Hindu > >>> > shops and property. Here too, Hindu > females, particularly > >>> > school > >>> > students, are forcibly converted to > Islam. > >>> > > >>> > On March 21, 2005, sixty civilians were > killed and one > >>> > hundred and > >>> > fifty were injured in Dera Bugti, > Balochistan when > >>> > Pakistan’s Frontier > >>> > Corps attacked the town with “artillery > shelling, > >>> > rockets, and > >>> > indiscriminate machine gun fire.” Among > those killed were > >>> > innocent > >>> > Hindu women and children as well as > dozens of Bugti > >>> > tribesmen > >>> > > >>> > The famous Hindu temple town of Hinglaj, > in a narrow valley > >>> > of Hingol > >>> > river is however, respected by the Baloch > political > >>> > leaders. In 2008 > >>> > Pakistan government had urged the Baloch > provincial agency > >>> > to confirm > >>> > a resolution for construction of a damn > on Hingol River. > >>> > Balochistan’s > >>> > Irrigation and Power Minister Sardar > Mohammad Aslam Bizenjo > >>> > and other > >>> > provincial ministers moved a resolution > on the floor of the > >>> > assembly > >>> > over the weekend that categorically > objected to the dam > >>> > being > >>> > constructed near the historical Hinglaj > Mata Temple, where > >>> > an annual > >>> > festival is held every April. The Baloch > Assembly > >>> > resolution warned > >>> > that if the dam was constructed, the > temple could go under > >>> > water > >>> > sooner than later, and this would hurt > the sentiments of > >>> > all Hindus. > >>> > It requested the federal government to > have the dam > >>> > constructed > >>> > elsewhere. Taking into consideration the > plight of the > >>> > Hindus in Sind > >>> > and Punjab it can be said that Balochi > Hindus generally > >>> > enjoy trust of > >>> > the original Baloch tribes; but they are > under pressure > >>> > from Punjabi > >>> > settlers. > >>> > > >>> > Pakistan’s education system is > constructed in such ways > >>> > that Hindu, > >>> > Sikh and Christian students are > automatically > >>> > discriminated. Extracts, > >>> > translated from Urdu to English, from > the > >>> > government-sponsored > >>> > textbooks approved by the National > Curriculum Wing of the > >>> > Federal > >>> > Ministry of Education demonstrate the > derogatory and > >>> > inflammatory > >>> > portrayal of Hinduism to the youth of > Pakistan: > >>> > > >>> > Grade IV: “The religion of Hindus did > not teach them good > >>> > things, and > >>> > the Hindus did not respect women.” > >>> > Grade V: “The Hindu has always > been an enemy of > >>> > Islam.” > >>> > Grade VI: “The Hindu setup was based on > injustice and > >>> > cruelty.” > >>> > Grade VII: “Hindus always desired to > crush the Muslims as > >>> > a nation and > >>> > several attempts were made by the Hindus > to erase Muslim > >>> > culture and > >>> > civilization.” > >>> > Grade VIII: “Before Islam people lived > in untold misery > >>> > all over the world.” > >>> > Grade X: “Islam gives a message of > peace and > >>> > brotherhood…There is no > >>> > such concept in Hinduism.” > >>> > > >>> > Minority hatred and persecution is built > in the Pakistani > >>> > system. > >>> > Pakistan’s Constitution at face value > guarantees > >>> > fundamental human > >>> > rights and equality in front of the law > to its citizens. > >>> > However, > >>> > Article 19 of the Constitution states, > “Every citizen > >>> > shall have the > >>> > right to freedom of speech and > expression, and there shall > >>> > be freedom > >>> > of the press, subject to any reasonable > restrictions > >>> > imposed by law in > >>> > the interest of the glory of Islam or the > integrity, > >>> > security or > >>> > defense of Pakistan,” thus securing the > supremacy of > >>> > Islam in the > >>> > country. Freedom of religion is > guaranteed by Article > >>> > 20 which > >>> > states, “Every citizen shall have the > right to profess, > >>> > practice and > >>> > propagate his religion; and every > religious denomination > >>> > and every > >>> > sect thereof shall have the right to > establish, maintain > >>> > and manage > >>> > its religious institutions.” > Unfortunately, Hindus, > >>> > Sikhs, > >>> > Christians, and the Ahmadiyas continue to > be persecuted in > >>> > Pakistan > >>> > today despite the assurance provided by > the > >>> > Constitution. Temples are > >>> > desecrated, deities are destroyed, and > they risk > >>> > persecution, > >>> > particularly because of the Blasphemy > Act. > >>> > > >>> > Article 25 of the Constitution maintains, > “All citizens > >>> > are equal > >>> > before law and are entitled to equal > protection of > >>> > law…There shall be > >>> > no discrimination on the basis of sex > alone.” Rape, > >>> > honor killings, > >>> > and domestic abuse are common types of > violence that the > >>> > women of > >>> > Pakistan face. Despite the > constitutional guarantee > >>> > of equal > >>> > protection, these women are left to fend > for themselves, as > >>> > the > >>> > Pakistani laws do not provide adequate > protection. > >>> > They continue to > >>> > face a myriad of inequalities in the > judicial system, and > >>> > will > >>> > continue to do so, as long as the Hudood > Ordinance is not > >>> > repealed. > >>> > Article 35 mandates, “The State shall > protect the > >>> > marriage, the > >>> > family, the mother and the > child.” Article 36 > >>> > states, “The State > >>> > shall safeguard the legitimate rights and > interests of > >>> > minorities, > >>> > including their due representation in the > Federal and > >>> > Provincial > >>> > services.” In reality, however, > neither families > >>> > nor minorities are > >>> > being protected by Pakistan today as > kidnappings or forced > >>> > conversions > >>> > of Hindu girls continue to occur without > convictions of the > >>> > felons. > >>> > Curiously, Pakistan has taken no action > toward ratifying or > >>> > signing > >>> > the UN’s International Covenant on > Civil and Political > >>> > Rights (CCPR), > >>> > although it did ratify the International > Convention on the > >>> > Elimination > >>> > of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on > September 19, > >>> > 1966. > >>> > > >>> > However, only in rural and semi urban > Sind Hindus have some > >>> > visible > >>> > presence, 12, 3821. As shown on the map > the Hindus are > >>> > more > >>> > concentrated in Hyderabad and areas > bordering India (notice > >>> > green > >>> > colour in the map). Besides Soda Rajput, > most of the Hindus > >>> > are > >>> > classified as “Low Caste”, engaged in > scavenging work, > >>> > night soil > >>> > carrying job and other menial works. > Except for the > >>> > appointment of > >>> > Bhagwan Das as the Chief Justice of > Pakistan (took oath on > >>> > Quran) no > >>> > other Hindu has so far succeeded in > climbing up the ladder > >>> > in the > >>> > Pakistani armed force, civil services and > other spheres of > >>> > national > >>> > activities. We propose to discuss several > atrocious attacks > >>> > on the > >>> > Hindu minority in Pakistan in later > chapters of this > >>> > essay. > >>> > > >>> > Though numerically insignificant the > Hindus of Pakistan > >>> > have organized > >>> > a few representative bodies to espouse > their welfare and > >>> > other causes > >>> > with the provincial and federal > governments: > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Balmiki Sabha > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Council > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Panchayat > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Party (PHP) > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association > >>> > > >>> > * Pakistan Minority Welfare Council > (PMWC) > >>> > > >>> > * Walmik Gur Mukh Sabha > >>> > > >>> > Pakistan Hindu Panchayat has branches in > all the provinces > >>> > important > >>> > towns. They hold annual conferences and > represent with the > >>> > provincial > >>> > Nazims (district collectors), police > officials and > >>> > political leaders. > >>> > Pakistan Minority Welfare Council is also > a broad > >>> > representative body > >>> > which works in close liaison with the > Human Rights > >>> > activists in > >>> > Pakistan. > >>> > > >>> > ” In a latest development Ramesh Lal, a > PPP MNA and other > >>> > Hindu MNAs > >>> > walked out of the Pakistan National > Assembly in protest > >>> > against highly > >>> > derogatory and biased comments by a > Pakistani High Court > >>> > judge. > >>> > “Chafing at a Lahore high court > judge’s comment that > >>> > Hindus were > >>> > financing terror attacks in that country, > nine Hindu > >>> > members of > >>> > Pakistan’s national assembly staged a > walkout in protest > >>> > on Wednesday. > >>> > > >>> > “The sentiments of four million > Pakistani Hindus are hurt > >>> > by Justice > >>> > Khwaja Sharif’s uncalled for > remarks,” said Pakistan > >>> > People’s Party > >>> > lawmaker Ramesh Lal. He was then joined > by other Hindu > >>> > lawmakers who > >>> > then walked out. Members of the Awami > National Party, too, > >>> > joined in. > >>> > Their protest was described as the first > in Pakistan’s > >>> > national > >>> > assembly against the judiciary. Justice > Sharif had made the > >>> > remark > >>> > while hearing a petition on barring the > deportation of > >>> > Afghan Taliban > >>> > leaders on Monday. > >>> > The apparent trigger for the comment was > a lawyer’s > >>> > observation that a > >>> > US security firm was responsible for the > blasts in > >>> > Pakistan, including > >>> > the recent ones in Lahore. Justice Sharif > rebutted him > >>> > saying, > >>> > “Muslims, and not Hindus, are involved > in terror acts in > >>> > Pakistan. > >>> > Hindus might be the financiers of such > attacks.” > >>> > > >>> > As a member of ruling PPP, Ramesh Lal > called for > >>> > intervention from > >>> > president Asif Ali Zardari and prime > minister Yousuf Raza > >>> > Gilani, > >>> > saying Justice Sharif’s questioning the > patriotism of > >>> > Pakistani Hindus > >>> > had left the latter hurt and angry. He > also asked Supreme > >>> > Court chief > >>> > justice Iftikhar Chaudhary to take suo > motu note of the > >>> > “highly > >>> > objectionable” remark. The protesters > later returned to > >>> > the assembly > >>> > after some persuasion.” As reported in > Times of India on > >>> > March 18. > >>> > 2010. > >>> > > >>> > On the other hand, the Sikhs are a > microscopic > >>> > community-slightly more > >>> > than 20,000. They live mostly in > Peshawar, Lahore, Nankana > >>> > Sahib and a > >>> > few other places of worship. Pakistan’s > population is > >>> > more than 96% > >>> > Muslims; Hindus 1.6%, Christians 1.6 % > and rest are Sikhs, > >>> > Zoroastrians, and Buddhists etc. There is > one traffic > >>> > inspector from > >>> > the Sikh community in Punjab, one army > officer, one singer, > >>> > a poetess > >>> > and a MLA in the province of Punjab > (PPP). After Taliban > >>> > rampage in > >>> > Afghanistan a few hundred Sikhs migrated > to Pakistan and > >>> > settled with > >>> > their relatives in FATA, NWFP and Lahore > areas. > >>> > > >>> > They were again uprooted from FATA area > when > >>> > Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan > >>> > of Baitullah Mehsud demanded rupees 20 > crores (200 million) > >>> > as Jizya. > >>> > About 5 Sikhs were taken to custody and > they were released > >>> > after > >>> > paying rupees 20 lakhs (2 million). Most > of the uprooted > >>> > Sikhs are > >>> > still living in camps and have not gone > back to FATA > >>> > locations. > >>> > > >>> > Like the Hindus, the Sikhs have also been > persecuted. The > >>> > Sikh temple > >>> > at Naulakha Bazar in Lahore was taken > over by the Muslims > >>> > in August > >>> > 2007. The Pakistan Evacuee T > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------ > >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ > >>> reader-list mailing list > >>> reader-list at sarai.net > >>> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > >>> > >>> > >>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 76 > >>> ******************************************* > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Thank you, > >> Jigish Parikh. > >> > >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish > >> > > _________________________________________ > > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 16:07:25 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:07:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <6353c691003240058y327a96o1a6e94c81306253b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Always wondered about the need to inflate figures. For me one person killed, one woman raped, one boy missing, one minority community member lynched, one maimed, one exiled is terrible tragedy enough. It's not arithmetic. In my head the tragedy doesn't multiply because people feel compelled to add zeros. That is all. > From: Aditya Raj Kaul > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:28:36 +0530 > To: sarai list > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > Soniaji, Just like you believed other Pandits, believe Pawanji too. :) It is > important here to mention that no one, just no one which includes Pandits > themselves, Government of J&K (instrumental in tampering with figures) and > Government of India have the appropriate statistics in relation with Pandits. > Most Pandit groups are however clear on this that 4,00,000 Pandits have been > forced to move out after terrorism erupted in the valley. Few months back J&K > Police quoted by Muzamil Jaleel of Indian Express said 209 Pandits were killed > in last 20 years. Now yesterday Raman Bhalla has said in the assembly that the > number is 219. KPSS, the Pandit body in Kashmir has a list of more than 1000 > people killed. Panun Kashmir quotes a much higher figure. I wonder sometimes > if the 'One lakh' killings claim of valley separatists baffles anyone from the > civil society groups. regards On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: > But the news item you just posted quoted a > figure of 'over 380,000.' Over > the years I was told by Pandits themselves > that the population was around > 350,000. This is the first time I've come > across your figure of 700,000. > Please substantiate/explain/quote a > source. > > Also pl see this report: > > > Date:24/03/2010 URL: > > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm > > ³219 > Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² > > > Shujaat Bukhari > > > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil > > Centre > sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants > > > > > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri > > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were > > among > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to > turmoil. > > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed > Basharat > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu > that ³219 > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no > killing of > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till > now,² Mr. > Bhalla said. > > A total number of 38,119 families comprising > 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants > were > registered with the Revenue and Relief > Ministry till now. > > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex > gratia of Rs.1 lakh > for > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. > 39,64,91,838 has been paid as > compensation to the Pandits on account of > damage to their properties since > the eruption of militancy,² he said. > > An > amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other > facilities > to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in > 2007-08, > Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to > January, > 2010. > > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their > return > to > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various > plans and > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their > return. > > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the > government > decided > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 > crore at Sheikhpora > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed > of which > possession > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and > inspection of other 60 > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 > flats shall be > completed > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been > constructed through the Jammu > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² > he told the House. > > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance > Commissioner, Planning > and > Development Department, was formed to prepare > an action plan for the return > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the > Valley. In its report > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee > recommended a package > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. > > > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by> > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. > > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, > > exclusively > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. > These posts > have > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the > process for the > selection of these posts is on,² he said. > > But, despite > all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri > migrant has > returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. > > He said that 808 Pandit > families consisting of 3,445 people were still > living in the Valley. > > > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ? > Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > > > > > From: Pawan Durani > > > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 > > To: "S. > Jabbar" > > Cc: Sarai > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley> > > > > My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I > > > got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. > > > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 > at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: > >> Are you serious? > Please explain. I am truly baffled. > >> > >> > >>> From: Pawan Durani > > >>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 > >>> To: > "S. Jabbar" > >>> Cc: Sarai > > >>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > > valley > >>> > >>> Yes ! > >>> > >>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. > Jabbar > wrote: > >>>> 7 million? > >>>> > >>>> > > >>>>> From: Pawan Durani > >>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar > 2010 09:38:26 +0530 > >>>>> To: reader-list > >>>>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > >>>>> > >>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis > & > >>>> Islamic > >>>>> fanatics" > >>>> > >>>> > http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley > >>>>> > -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits > left in Kashmir > >>>>> valley > >>>> > >>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 > >>>> A > massive demographic change has taken place in > >>>>> Kashmir valley which > > >>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against > >>>>> more than > > >>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla > >>>>> > said > >>>> Tuesday. > >>>> > >>>> Making the disclosure in the state > legislative assembly, the > >>>>> minister > >>>> said that 'only 808 families > of Kashmiri Pandits were living in > >>>>> the > >>>> valley' and the total > number of men, women and children of the > >>>> community > >>>>> there 'is > 3,445'. > >>>> > >>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled > the > >>>>> valley in > >>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing > of community > >>>>> members > >>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' > he said, adding that > >>>>> 219 > >>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in > 1990. > >>>> > >>>> Though the minister did not specify > >>>>> it, the number > of the families > >>>> living in the valley included 31 families of > >>>>> > Kashmiri Pandits living > >>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam > district > >>>>> and also the > >>>> officials working in the banks and > central government departments > >>>>> and > >>>> organisations. Their exact > number is however not known. > >>>> > >>>> More than 350,000 > >>>>> Kashmiri > Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. > >>>> > >>>> Those who stayed back, > migrated > >>>>> after massacres of the community > >>>> members in > Sangrampora in Budgam district in > >>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in > >>>> > Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg > >>>>> in south > >>>> > Kashmir in March 2003. > >>>> > >>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living > in > >>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within > >>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya > Pradesh and > >>>>> Maharashtra. > >>>> > >>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the > state government's resolve to > >>>>> bring > >>>> the community back to the > valley. He said that work is on to > >>>>> construct > >>>> the transit > accommodation for them in the valley, where they would > >>>>> be > >>>> > housed before their original properties are restored to them. > >>>> > >>>> > Prime > >>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief > > >>>> and > >>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits > to > >>>> the 'land of > >>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' > during his > >>>> visit to Jammu April > >>>>> 25, 2008. > >>>> > _________________________________________ > >>>> 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/> > -- Aditya Raj > Kaul Cell - +91-9873297834 Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ For a > man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to > live. _________________________________________ 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 Mar 24 16:19:00 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:49:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003232229m5cf81d3v580fd449d3fd931b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <229957.43193.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Sonia   I will hazard no guess or estimate on number of KPs who were killed in Kashmir 1980s onwards.    I will also not guesstimate the number of KPs 'displaced' from Kashmir.   But I  agree with the principle of the point that Pawan has tried to make and which is most often (always) overlooked.   Let me give my own example.   Our family was not from amongst those who were displaced from Kashmir because of the post 1988 violence.   We had ancestral property in Karan Nagar. Sold as a 'distress sale' due to pressure from my father's cousins.   We had our own House in Jawahar Nagar and Land in Nishat which, seeing the security situation in Kashmir, we sold. Those were not 'distress sales' in terms of fair value received, but were from another point of view "distress sales". The family's visits to Kashmir stopped post 1988 violence and the House was lying unused and rotting away and the Land we were advised is better sold as otherwise it might get 'occupied'.   Pre 1989, we used to visit Kashmir every year and often more than once a year. My parents, after retirement used to spend sometimes upto 6 months in Kashmir although it no longer was home-base.   Our family might not have been kicked out or forced by the security situation to leave but we could no longer go back every year as we used to.   Am I displaced from Kashmir? Is our family displaced?  Were we tourists that went back every year?     Which statistic do I belong to?   It is not just me or my family, it is many a thousand families who's components might not have had gainful employment or businesses  in Kashmir and might have been resident out of Kashmir (J&K) through most of the year but continued to have a residence in Kashmir (be it in some cases only a small portion in ancestral property) and were year on year regularly spending time in Kashmir. They were in Kashmir for marriages, for other religious and social gatherings, or simply for a holiday.   Simply for a holiday in exactly the same manner as many a million other go back "home" on Annual Leave, Vacations (students) whichever other part of India or the World (away from "home") they might be employed in, studying in or living in most of the year.   What statistics do those many a tens of thousands KPs (just like me) belong to?  Those who do not back back every year. Those who cannot go back every year . Those to whom Kashmir is lost?    Kshmendra   PS. Why so many KPs were, even Pre-1989, living/working/studying  outside Kashmir (J&K) is another story.         --- On Wed, 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley To: "S. Jabbar" Cc: "Sarai" Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 10:59 AM Dear Sonia , There are two reports , one in which the minister is quoted as saying that 219 Pandits were killed in 1990 and the other one in Hindu where Shujaat Bukhari quotes timeline between 1989-2004. We had filed an RTI with the home ministry few years back which quoted around 16K people having died in Kashmir. The government figure in terms of killing does not contain those where no police complaint had been filed or where the people were straight away termed as missing. Regarding the number of people who have been uprooted , we unfortunately do not have a specific data . I estimate it to be 700K , My estimate is based on rough estimate in major cities across Indian and abroad.  The Government report may be based on number of people who are registered as "migrants" .. Just quoting my own family of 6 which includes my parents , only my mother was registered as a migrant [ No to draw financial support ] as she was a Government school teacher. In my maternal home , non of the 9 members are registered as 'Migrants' Regards Pawan On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around > 350,000.  This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. > > Also pl see this report: > > > Date:24/03/2010 URL: > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm > > ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² > > >  Shujaat Bukhari > > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil > > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants > > > > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were among > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. > > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that ³219 > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,² Mr. > Bhalla said. > > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants were > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. > > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh for > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since > the eruption of militancy,² he said. > > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to > January, 2010. > > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return to > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. > > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government decided > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at Sheikhpora > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which possession > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be completed > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the Jammu > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. > > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning and > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the return > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a package > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. > > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, exclusively > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts have > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the > selection of these posts is on,² he said. > > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. > > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still > living in the Valley. > > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > > > >> From: Pawan Durani >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 >> To: "S. Jabbar" >> Cc: Sarai >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >> >> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I >> got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. >> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >>> Are you serious?  Please explain.  I am truly baffled. >>> >>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >>>> To: "S. Jabbar" >>>> Cc: Sarai >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>> >>>> Yes ! >>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar wrote: >>>>> 7 million? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>>>> To: reader-list >>>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>>>> >>>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>>>> Islamic >>>>>> fanatics" >>>>> >>>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>>> valley >>>>> >>>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>>>> Kashmir valley which >>>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>>>> more than >>>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>>>> said >>>>> Tuesday. >>>>> >>>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>>>> minister >>>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>>>> the >>>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>>>> community >>>>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>>>> >>>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>>>> valley in >>>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>>>> members >>>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>>>> 219 >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>>>> >>>>> Though the minister did not specify >>>>>> it, the number of the families >>>>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>>>> and also the >>>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>>>> and >>>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>>>> >>>>> More than 350,000 >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>>>> >>>>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>>>> after massacres of the community >>>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>>>> in south >>>>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>>>> Maharashtra. >>>>> >>>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>>>> bring >>>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>>>> construct >>>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>>>> be >>>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>>>> >>>>> Prime >>>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>>>> and >>>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>>>> the 'land of >>>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>>>> visit to Jammu April >>>>>> 25, 2008. >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> 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 Wed Mar 24 16:55:23 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:25:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=22We_are_ready_for_jihad=2C_we_are_ready?= =?utf-8?q?_for_jihad!=E2=80=9D?= In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003232058t696534b9k16a6a995e9e9612b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <439910.55408.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Jihad! Jihad! Jihad! Nothing new. Maybe this news item will serve as some education for those idiotic Indians who have very little understanding about the realities of Pakistan.   Something else in the news item caught my attention.   It is astonishing how many Pakistanis have no idea that the "Lahore Resolution" 23rd March,1940 cannot be called "Pakistan Resolution" since no such concept as "Pakistan" featured in that Resolution.   One would have expected journalists to know better but I guess some Pakistani journalists are just like some India journalists not bothered with facts.   The 1940 Lahore Resolution did not even have any mention of one separate country. It said: "Resolved that it is the considered view of this Session of the All-India Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, viz., that geographically contiguous units’ are demarcated into regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute Independent States in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign."   That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in these units in the regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultations with them and in other parts of (British) India where the Mussalmans (Muslims) are in a majority adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them." It was at this session of the Muslim League that Jinnah shared the following thoughts: "The Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religions, philosophies, social customs, and literature. They neither inter-marry, nor inter-dine together, and indeed they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their aspects on life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Muslims derive their inspirations from different sources of history. They have different epics, their heroes are different, and they have different episodes. Very often the hero of one is foe of the other, and likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and the final destruction of any fabric that may be so built for the government of such a state."   Kshmendra     --- On Wed, 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: [Reader-list] "We are ready for jihad, we are ready for jihad!” To: "reader-list" Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 9:28 AM http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\24\story_24-3-2010_pg7_11 Hardliners vow jihad to liberate Held Kashmir * 5,000 people attend a rally held in Kotli to mark Pakistan Day KOTLI: Militants on Tuesday vowed to wage jihad to liberate Kashmir from Indian control. About 5,000 people attended a rally in Kotli in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, shouting, “We are ready for jihad, we are ready for jihad!” The gathering marked the anniversary of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution, in which Indian Muslims decided to struggle for a separate country following independence from British rule. Pakistan was born seven years later. “Diplomacy, talks and negotiations spanning several decades have not worked,” said Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the United Jihad Council, which consists of 16 religious groups, militant outfits and political parties. “The only way to liberate Kashmir is jihad,” said Salahuddin, who also leads Hizbul Mujahideen. He denied that jihadi groups were behind attacks within the country. Tuesday’s rally was also attended by leaders of Jamaatud Dawa. A resolution adopted after the meeting said, “Jihad will continue until India ends its occupation of Kashmir.” India and Pakistan have remained arch foes, with relations between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals further strained since the 2008 attacks on India’s financial capital Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit. In late February, the two sides held their first official talks since the Mumbai siege, but they ended with few concrete developments. More than 3,100 people have been killed in suicide attacks and bomb blasts across the nation since July 2007, which are blamed on militants opposed to the government’s alliance with the United States. afp _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 17:56:55 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:56:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <229957.43193.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Kshmendra, What is the principle of Pawan¹s point, which you agree with and which is always overlooked? The RTI was filed by Rashneek if I remember correctly and the deflated GoI figure did not distinguish between KP and Muslims killed. I reacted to Pawan¹s assertion of the population of Pandits before exile being 7 million, which he then admitted was a mistake and said that the figure was 7 lakh. When I pressed further about the source, he said it was his estimate, which Aditya then urged me to believe. I find it strange that I am being urged to drop the testimonies of scores of KP¹s I have interviewed over the years in the Valley, in Jammu, in Delhi all of whom estimated the population to be around 250-350,000‹ and that too by young men who claim to further the interests of their community. As much as I find your story poignant, I see it part and parcel of the larger tragedy of war as it is played out in many parts of the world, be it Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Tibet, Burma or Palestine, and not with the specific statistics quoted by Pawan. What you describe is what both my father¹s side of the family and my mother¹s side of the family suffered in different ways when India was partitioned in 1947. I have a Sinhala friend who lives in exile and cannot return to her home because she questioned the Rajpaksha government in its mad drive against the Tamils of Sri Lanka. I met Kashmiris in Pakistan who wept and begged me to do something so that they could return home. I have Tibetan friends who ask me to tell and re-tell my stories of traveling in Tibet, the now-forbidden land. I make common cause with Burmese students in their annual sit-ins in Jantar Mantar, with the Afghans I meet in Bhogal or Nizamuddin, with my Palestinian friend who is walled into one tiny part of her homeland. War is a terrible thing. And as I said earlier, if you have the capacity to feel, one person¹s suffering is suffering enough. Sonia From: Kshmendra Kaul Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:49:00 -0700 (PDT) To: "S. Jabbar" , Pawan Durani Cc: Sarai Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley Dear Sonia I will hazard no guess or estimate on number of KPs who were killed in Kashmir 1980s onwards. I will also not guesstimate the number of KPs 'displaced' from Kashmir. But I agree with the principle of the point that Pawan has tried to make and which is most often (always) overlooked. Let me give my own example. Our family was not from amongst those who were displaced from Kashmir because of the post 1988 violence. We had ancestral property in Karan Nagar. Sold as a 'distress sale' due to pressure from my father's cousins. We had our own House in Jawahar Nagar and Land in Nishat which, seeing the security situation in Kashmir, we sold. Those were not 'distress sales' in terms of fair value received, but were from another point of view "distress sales". The family's visits to Kashmir stopped post 1988 violence and the House was lying unused and rotting away and the Land we were advised is better sold as otherwise it might get 'occupied'. Pre 1989, we used to visit Kashmir every year and often more than once a year. My parents, after retirement used to spend sometimes upto 6 months in Kashmir although it no longer was home-base. Our family might not have been kicked out or forced by the security situation to leave but we could no longer go back every year as we used to. Am I displaced from Kashmir? Is our family displaced? Were we tourists that went back every year? Which statistic do I belong to? It is not just me or my family, it is many a thousand families who's components might not have had gainful employment or businesses in Kashmir and might have been resident out of Kashmir (J&K) through most of the year but continued to have a residence in Kashmir (be it in some cases only a small portion in ancestral property) and were year on year regularly spending time in Kashmir. They were in Kashmir for marriages, for other religious and social gatherings, or simply for a holiday. Simply for a holiday in exactly the same manner as many a million other go back "home" on Annual Leave, Vacations (students) whichever other part of India or the World (away from "home") they might be employed in, studying in or living in most of the year. What statistics do those many a tens of thousands KPs (just like me) belong to? Those who do not back back every year. Those who cannot go back every year . Those to whom Kashmir is lost? Kshmendra PS. Why so many KPs were, even Pre-1989, living/working/studying outside Kashmir (J&K) is another story. --- On Wed, 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > To: "S. Jabbar" > Cc: "Sarai" > Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 10:59 AM > > Dear Sonia , > > There are two reports , one in which the minister is quoted as saying > that 219 Pandits were killed in 1990 and the other one in Hindu where > Shujaat Bukhari quotes timeline between 1989-2004. > > We had filed an RTI with the home ministry few years back which quoted > around 16K people having died in Kashmir. > > The government figure in terms of killing does not contain those where > no police complaint had been filed or where the people were straight > away termed as missing. > > Regarding the number of people who have been uprooted , we > unfortunately do not have a specific data . I estimate it to be 700K , > My estimate is based on rough estimate in major cities across Indian > and abroad. The Government report may be based on number of people > who are registered as "migrants" .. Just quoting my own family of 6 > which includes my parents , only my mother was registered as a migrant > [ No to draw financial support ] as she was a Government school > teacher. In my maternal home , non of the 9 members are registered as > 'Migrants' > > Regards > > Pawan > > > > > > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: >> > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over >> > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around >> > 350,000. This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. >> > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. >> > >> > Also pl see this report: >> > >> > >> > Date:24/03/2010 URL: >> > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm >> > >> > ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² >> > >> > >> > Shujaat Bukhari >> > >> > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil >> > >> > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants >> > >> > >> > >> > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri >> > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were >> among >> > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. >> > >> > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat >> > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that ³219 >> > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of >> > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,² Mr. >> > Bhalla said. >> > >> > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants >> were >> > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. >> > >> > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh >> for >> > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as >> > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since >> > the eruption of militancy,² he said. >> > >> > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other >> > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in >> > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to >> > January, 2010. >> > >> > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return >> to >> > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and >> > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. >> > >> > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government >> decided >> > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at Sheikhpora >> > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which >> possession >> > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 >> > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be >> completed >> > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the Jammu >> > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. >> > >> > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning >> and >> > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the return >> > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report >> > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a package >> > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. >> > >> > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by >> > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. >> > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, >> exclusively >> > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts >> have >> > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the >> > selection of these posts is on,² he said. >> > >> > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri >> > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. >> > >> > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still >> > living in the Valley. >> > >> > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu >> > >> > >> > >>> >> From: Pawan Durani >> > >>> >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 >>> >> To: "S. Jabbar" >> > >>> >> Cc: Sarai >> > >>> >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>> >> >>> >> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I >>> >> got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. >>> >> >>> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar >> > >>> wrote: >>>> >>> Are you serious? Please explain. I am truly baffled. >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>> > >>>>> >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >>>>> >>>> To: "S. Jabbar" >>>> > >>>>> >>>> Cc: Sarai >>>> > >>>>> >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>> valley >>>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>> Yes ! >>>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar >>>> > >>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>> 7 million? >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>>>>> >>>>>> To: reader-list >>>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>>>>> >>>>> Islamic >>>>>>> >>>>>> fanatics" >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>>>>> >>>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>>>> >>>>>> valley >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>>>>> >>>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmir valley which >>>>>> >>>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>>>>> >>>>>> more than >>>>>> >>>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>>>>> >>>>>> said >>>>>> >>>>> Tuesday. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>>>>> >>>>>> minister >>>>>> >>>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>>>>> >>>>>> the >>>>>> >>>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>>>>> >>>>> community >>>>>>> >>>>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>>>>> >>>>>> valley in >>>>>> >>>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>>>>> >>>>>> members >>>>>> >>>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>>>>> >>>>>> 219 >>>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Though the minister did not specify >>>>>>> >>>>>> it, the number of the families >>>>>> >>>>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>>>>> >>>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>>>>> >>>>>> and also the >>>>>> >>>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>>>>> >>>>>> and >>>>>> >>>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> More than 350,000 >>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>>>>> >>>>>> after massacres of the community >>>>>> >>>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>>>>> >>>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>>>>> >>>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>>>>> >>>>>> in south >>>>>> >>>>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>>>>> >>>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>>>>> >>>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>>>>> >>>>>> Maharashtra. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>>>>> >>>>>> bring >>>>>> >>>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>>>>> >>>>>> construct >>>>>> >>>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>>>>> >>>>>> be >>>>>> >>>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> Prime >>>>>>> >>>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>>>>> >>>>> and >>>>>>> >>>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>>>>> >>>>> the 'land of >>>>>>> >>>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>>>>> >>>>> visit to Jammu April >>>>>>> >>>>>> 25, 2008. >>>>>> >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>> >>>>> 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 >>>>>>> >>>>>> 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 18:15:55 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:15:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our hands.” Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set of bombs planted in Surat. Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important insights into the jihadist movement in India. Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; India's jihadists are natives of the new world. Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a Lucknow college. Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian Mujahideen. Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan Qureshi. In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived his expulsion. Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was killed in the 2008 shootout. The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from the Jamiat-ul-Falah. Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our hands.” Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism suspects. Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 18:27:51 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:27:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Pawan, I must praise you for being a chalta pheerta advertisement for extremism. you have successfully advertised all forms of extremism on this list. good going. anupam On 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by > our hands.” > > > Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI > > http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true > > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. > > Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad > on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer > religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. > > Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen > the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged > in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete > with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of > judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban > rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce > graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly > programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set > of bombs planted in Surat. > > Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned > instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of > just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out > the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots > that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri > Masjid. > > It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these > decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's > aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important > insights into the jihadist movement in India. > > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to > specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, > specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps > debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by > madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme > Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, > would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists > revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; > India's jihadists are natives of the new world. > > Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar > Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists > associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an > enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail > Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to > execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say > Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing > intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received > training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a > safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just > 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the > 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high > school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a > Lucknow college. > > Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — > which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, > served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked > jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian > Mujahideen. > > Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key > members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — > Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of > time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in > their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all > faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly > middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 > shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business > administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history > graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was > studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr > Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was > enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. > > Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in > Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri > Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from > hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in > mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian > state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent > Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known > Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an > inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the > Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many > young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India > — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan > Qureshi. > > In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the > Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the > Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and > political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived > his expulsion. > > Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project > advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began > addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the > Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and > edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from > the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi > introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical > with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years > as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian > Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn > recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was > killed in the 2008 shootout. > > The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among > them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped > build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional > Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did > not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. > Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his > employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. > > Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of > which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the > traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich > anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar > Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami > establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah > seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on > the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon > embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. > > SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana > Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's > old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become > increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for > organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with > authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official > students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by > founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which > charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its > calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” > Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah > well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist > organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United > States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that > followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from > the Jamiat-ul-Falah. > > Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct > “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at > Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including > food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 > students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just > based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the > specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the > Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices > to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, > too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations > that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on > Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by > the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. > > “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by > our hands.” > > Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: > demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the > perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism > suspects. > > Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and > intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around > rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives > and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. > _________________________________________ > 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 kauladityaraj at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 18:36:47 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:36:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6353c691003240606m5ea9b2b4o51b79ecdfe5cb5bf@mail.gmail.com> Is posting an investigative piece on the list which exposes extremists, a crime ? Its not about advertising. Its about reality, perspective and games being played in dark. Games which kill people in the name of religion. Be enlightened. Cheers On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Pawan, > > I must praise you for being a chalta pheerta advertisement for > extremism. you have successfully advertised all forms of extremism on > this list. good going. > > anupam > > On 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > > "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty > > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols > > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto > > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at > > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by > > our hands.” > > > > > > Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI > > > > http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true > > > > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious > > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian > > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The > > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought > > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. > > > > Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad > > on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer > > religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. > > > > Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen > > the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged > > in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete > > with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of > > judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban > > rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce > > graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly > > programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set > > of bombs planted in Surat. > > > > Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned > > instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of > > just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out > > the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots > > that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri > > Masjid. > > > > It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these > > decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's > > aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important > > insights into the jihadist movement in India. > > > > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious > > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian > > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The > > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought > > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to > > specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, > > specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps > > debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by > > madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme > > Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, > > would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists > > revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; > > India's jihadists are natives of the new world. > > > > Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar > > Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists > > associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an > > enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail > > Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to > > execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say > > Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing > > intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received > > training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a > > safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just > > 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the > > 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high > > school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a > > Lucknow college. > > > > Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — > > which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, > > served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked > > jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian > > Mujahideen. > > > > Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key > > members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — > > Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of > > time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in > > their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all > > faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly > > middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 > > shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business > > administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history > > graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was > > studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr > > Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was > > enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. > > > > Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in > > Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri > > Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from > > hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in > > mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian > > state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent > > Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known > > Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an > > inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the > > Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many > > young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India > > — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan > > Qureshi. > > > > In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the > > Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the > > Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and > > political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived > > his expulsion. > > > > Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project > > advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began > > addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the > > Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and > > edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from > > the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi > > introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical > > with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years > > as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian > > Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn > > recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was > > killed in the 2008 shootout. > > > > The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among > > them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped > > build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional > > Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did > > not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. > > Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his > > employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. > > > > Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of > > which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the > > traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich > > anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar > > Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami > > establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah > > seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on > > the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon > > embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. > > > > SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana > > Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's > > old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become > > increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for > > organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with > > authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official > > students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by > > founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which > > charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its > > calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” > > Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah > > well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist > > organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United > > States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that > > followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from > > the Jamiat-ul-Falah. > > > > Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct > > “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at > > Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including > > food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 > > students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just > > based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the > > specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the > > Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices > > to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, > > too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations > > that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on > > Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by > > the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. > > > > “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty > > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols > > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto > > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at > > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by > > our hands.” > > > > Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: > > demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the > > perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism > > suspects. > > > > Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and > > intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around > > rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives > > and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. > > _________________________________________ > > 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/> > -- Aditya Raj Kaul Cell - +91-9873297834 Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 18:39:28 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:39:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: <6353c691003240606m5ea9b2b4o51b79ecdfe5cb5bf@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> <6353c691003240606m5ea9b2b4o51b79ecdfe5cb5bf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: aditya, im enlightened. i suffer from this enlightenment every morning. so much enlightenment everywhere. it is like an overdose. thanks for reacting anyway anupam On 3/24/10, Aditya Raj Kaul wrote: > Is posting an investigative piece on the list which exposes extremists, a > crime ? > > Its not about advertising. Its about reality, perspective and games being > played in dark. Games which kill people in the name of religion. > > Be enlightened. > > Cheers > > On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: > >> Pawan, >> >> I must praise you for being a chalta pheerta advertisement for >> extremism. you have successfully advertised all forms of extremism on >> this list. good going. >> >> anupam >> >> On 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> > "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >> > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >> > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto >> > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at >> > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >> > our hands.” >> > >> > >> > Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI >> > >> > http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true >> > >> > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >> > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >> > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >> > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >> > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. >> > >> > Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad >> > on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer >> > religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. >> > >> > Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen >> > the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged >> > in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete >> > with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of >> > judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban >> > rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce >> > graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly >> > programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set >> > of bombs planted in Surat. >> > >> > Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned >> > instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of >> > just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out >> > the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots >> > that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri >> > Masjid. >> > >> > It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these >> > decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's >> > aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important >> > insights into the jihadist movement in India. >> > >> > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >> > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >> > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >> > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >> > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to >> > specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, >> > specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps >> > debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by >> > madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme >> > Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, >> > would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists >> > revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; >> > India's jihadists are natives of the new world. >> > >> > Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar >> > Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists >> > associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an >> > enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail >> > Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to >> > execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say >> > Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing >> > intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received >> > training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a >> > safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just >> > 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the >> > 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high >> > school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a >> > Lucknow college. >> > >> > Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — >> > which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, >> > served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked >> > jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian >> > Mujahideen. >> > >> > Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key >> > members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — >> > Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of >> > time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in >> > their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all >> > faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly >> > middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 >> > shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business >> > administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history >> > graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was >> > studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr >> > Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was >> > enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. >> > >> > Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in >> > Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri >> > Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from >> > hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in >> > mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian >> > state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent >> > Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known >> > Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an >> > inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the >> > Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many >> > young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India >> > — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan >> > Qureshi. >> > >> > In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the >> > Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the >> > Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and >> > political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived >> > his expulsion. >> > >> > Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project >> > advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began >> > addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the >> > Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and >> > edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from >> > the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi >> > introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical >> > with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years >> > as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian >> > Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn >> > recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was >> > killed in the 2008 shootout. >> > >> > The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among >> > them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped >> > build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional >> > Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did >> > not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. >> > Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his >> > employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. >> > >> > Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of >> > which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the >> > traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich >> > anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar >> > Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami >> > establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah >> > seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on >> > the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon >> > embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. >> > >> > SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana >> > Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's >> > old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become >> > increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for >> > organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with >> > authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official >> > students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by >> > founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which >> > charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its >> > calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” >> > Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah >> > well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist >> > organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United >> > States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that >> > followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from >> > the Jamiat-ul-Falah. >> > >> > Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct >> > “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at >> > Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including >> > food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 >> > students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just >> > based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the >> > specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the >> > Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices >> > to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, >> > too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations >> > that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on >> > Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by >> > the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. >> > >> > “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >> > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >> > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto >> > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at >> > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >> > our hands.” >> > >> > Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: >> > demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the >> > perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism >> > suspects. >> > >> > Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and >> > intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around >> > rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives >> > and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. >> > _________________________________________ >> > 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/> >> > > > > -- > Aditya Raj Kaul > > Cell - +91-9873297834 > Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ > > For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 18:44:20 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:44:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003240614h7678d656r764f01b294c14995@mail.gmail.com> Dear Anupam Ji , NamaskAr The said article has appeared in a national paper from what i assume a respectable author. The source is given in my mail. If you disagree with any content , there is a comment section on the web page where you can share your views. Or you can debate the content here , with those who would be interested in. Thanks & regards Pawan Durani On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Pawan, > > I must praise you for being a chalta pheerta advertisement for > extremism. you have successfully advertised all forms of extremism on > this list. good going. > > anupam > > On 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >> mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >> of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto >> released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at >> all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >> our hands.” >> >> >> Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI >> >> http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true >> >> Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >> fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >> Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >> manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >> religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. >> >> Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad >> on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer >> religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. >> >> Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen >> the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged >> in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete >> with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of >> judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban >> rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce >> graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly >> programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set >> of bombs planted in Surat. >> >> Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned >> instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of >> just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out >> the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots >> that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri >> Masjid. >> >> It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these >> decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's >> aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important >> insights into the jihadist movement in India. >> >> Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >> fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >> Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >> manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >> religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to >> specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, >> specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps >> debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by >> madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme >> Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, >> would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists >> revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; >> India's jihadists are natives of the new world. >> >> Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar >> Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists >> associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an >> enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail >> Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to >> execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say >> Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing >> intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received >> training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a >> safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just >> 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the >> 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high >> school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a >> Lucknow college. >> >> Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — >> which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, >> served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked >> jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian >> Mujahideen. >> >> Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key >> members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — >> Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of >> time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in >> their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all >> faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly >> middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 >> shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business >> administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history >> graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was >> studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr >> Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was >> enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. >> >> Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in >> Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri >> Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from >> hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in >> mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian >> state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent >> Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known >> Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an >> inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the >> Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many >> young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India >> — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan >> Qureshi. >> >> In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the >> Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the >> Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and >> political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived >> his expulsion. >> >> Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project >> advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began >> addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the >> Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and >> edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from >> the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi >> introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical >> with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years >> as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian >> Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn >> recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was >> killed in the 2008 shootout. >> >> The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among >> them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped >> build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional >> Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did >> not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. >> Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his >> employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. >> >> Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of >> which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the >> traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich >> anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar >> Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami >> establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah >> seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on >> the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon >> embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. >> >> SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana >> Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's >> old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become >> increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for >> organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with >> authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official >> students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by >> founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which >> charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its >> calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” >> Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah >> well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist >> organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United >> States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that >> followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from >> the Jamiat-ul-Falah. >> >> Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct >> “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at >> Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including >> food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 >> students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just >> based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the >> specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the >> Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices >> to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, >> too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations >> that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on >> Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by >> the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. >> >> “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >> mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >> of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto >> released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at >> all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >> our hands.” >> >> Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: >> demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the >> perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism >> suspects. >> >> Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and >> intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around >> rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives >> and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. >> _________________________________________ >> 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 Mar 24 18:50:22 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:50:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> <6353c691003240606m5ea9b2b4o51b79ecdfe5cb5bf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: As cited by Pawan as an excerpt of the Hindu article by Praveen Swami. Some similar strands could be also seen in variations of other religions as well. I do not doubt Swami's research. I would appreciate if you take this as my contribution to this discussion which was being highlighted by Pawan as an example about what Swami describes as a propaganda of the so-called Indian Mujaheddin. "So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it." -- Ezekiel 36:18 "the bhakta is not to case either adoring or hateful glances on the idols of other gods; nor should be visit places of their worship (Sankaradeva, Bhag, p-2) -- Bhakti Saint, Shankardeva however, the Guru himself also says "No hostility however, is to be exhibited by him towards the adherents of other creeds while engaging himself in the worship of Visnu, who alone is considered as being Suddha-sattava, of pureexixtence (narayanakalah santa bhajani by anasuyavah, Bhag, p. 1.2.26)" -regards Anupam On 3/24/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > aditya, > > im enlightened. i suffer from this enlightenment every morning. so > much enlightenment everywhere. it is like an overdose. > > thanks for reacting anyway > anupam > > On 3/24/10, Aditya Raj Kaul wrote: >> Is posting an investigative piece on the list which exposes extremists, a >> crime ? >> >> Its not about advertising. Its about reality, perspective and games being >> played in dark. Games which kill people in the name of religion. >> >> Be enlightened. >> >> Cheers >> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty >> wrote: >> >>> Pawan, >>> >>> I must praise you for being a chalta pheerta advertisement for >>> extremism. you have successfully advertised all forms of extremism on >>> this list. good going. >>> >>> anupam >>> >>> On 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>> > "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >>> > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >>> > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto >>> > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at >>> > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >>> > our hands.” >>> > >>> > >>> > Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI >>> > >>> > http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true >>> > >>> > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >>> > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >>> > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >>> > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >>> > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. >>> > >>> > Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad >>> > on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer >>> > religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. >>> > >>> > Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen >>> > the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged >>> > in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete >>> > with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of >>> > judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban >>> > rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce >>> > graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly >>> > programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set >>> > of bombs planted in Surat. >>> > >>> > Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned >>> > instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of >>> > just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out >>> > the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots >>> > that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri >>> > Masjid. >>> > >>> > It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these >>> > decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's >>> > aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important >>> > insights into the jihadist movement in India. >>> > >>> > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >>> > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >>> > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >>> > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >>> > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to >>> > specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, >>> > specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps >>> > debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by >>> > madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme >>> > Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, >>> > would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists >>> > revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; >>> > India's jihadists are natives of the new world. >>> > >>> > Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar >>> > Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists >>> > associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an >>> > enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail >>> > Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to >>> > execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say >>> > Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing >>> > intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received >>> > training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a >>> > safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just >>> > 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the >>> > 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high >>> > school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a >>> > Lucknow college. >>> > >>> > Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — >>> > which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, >>> > served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked >>> > jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian >>> > Mujahideen. >>> > >>> > Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key >>> > members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — >>> > Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of >>> > time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in >>> > their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all >>> > faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly >>> > middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 >>> > shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business >>> > administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history >>> > graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was >>> > studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr >>> > Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was >>> > enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. >>> > >>> > Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in >>> > Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri >>> > Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from >>> > hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in >>> > mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian >>> > state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent >>> > Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known >>> > Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an >>> > inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the >>> > Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many >>> > young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India >>> > — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan >>> > Qureshi. >>> > >>> > In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the >>> > Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the >>> > Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and >>> > political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived >>> > his expulsion. >>> > >>> > Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project >>> > advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began >>> > addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the >>> > Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and >>> > edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from >>> > the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi >>> > introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical >>> > with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years >>> > as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian >>> > Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn >>> > recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was >>> > killed in the 2008 shootout. >>> > >>> > The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among >>> > them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped >>> > build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional >>> > Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did >>> > not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. >>> > Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his >>> > employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. >>> > >>> > Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of >>> > which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the >>> > traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich >>> > anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar >>> > Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami >>> > establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah >>> > seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on >>> > the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon >>> > embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. >>> > >>> > SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana >>> > Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's >>> > old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become >>> > increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for >>> > organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with >>> > authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official >>> > students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by >>> > founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which >>> > charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its >>> > calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” >>> > Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah >>> > well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist >>> > organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United >>> > States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that >>> > followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from >>> > the Jamiat-ul-Falah. >>> > >>> > Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct >>> > “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at >>> > Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including >>> > food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 >>> > students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just >>> > based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the >>> > specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the >>> > Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices >>> > to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, >>> > too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations >>> > that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on >>> > Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by >>> > the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. >>> > >>> > “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >>> > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >>> > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto >>> > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at >>> > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >>> > our hands.” >>> > >>> > Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: >>> > demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the >>> > perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism >>> > suspects. >>> > >>> > Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and >>> > intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around >>> > rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives >>> > and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. >>> > _________________________________________ >>> > 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/> >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Aditya Raj Kaul >> >> Cell - +91-9873297834 >> Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ >> >> For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. >> _________________________________________ >> 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 yahoo.com Wed Mar 24 18:54:43 2010 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:24:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Needed: Info on training/courses in health/health care Message-ID: <528631.2160.qm@web54408.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Chandni, Could you pass this on to your contacts? Thanks Sana. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Elita A Date: Wed, Mar 24, 2010 Subject: HELP -- Info on training/courses in health/health care Dear Sana, This is with reference to our telephonic conversation this evening. I am a student of social worker currently placed at Prayas for concurrent fieldwork. Prayas is a field action project of the Centre for Criminology and Justice of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences; working towards rehabilitation of youth and women vulnerable to crime and/or sexual exploitation as well as destitutes residing in the community or State shelter homes. The intervention conducted by Prayas concentrates on social work services within the Criminal Justice System. Ever since its inception in February 1990, Prayas, which started services at the women and men youth sections of the Mumbai Central Prison, and over the last 20 years, has expanded its reach to a wide range of vulnerable persons who are custodialised in pre-penal, penal and protective custody. In an effort to rehabilitate the clients Prayas facilitates various vocational training and apprenticeship programs for its clients. We are currently in the process of creating a database of trainings/certificate/short term courses offered in the area of health/healthcare that could be taken up by its clients. The aim is to enable clients to be absorbed by the health care system as health care workers. For this purpose any information regarding any such training/courses would be appreciated. It should be noted that most clients have not been able to have access to the formal educational system per se. Consequently the medium of instruction would preferably be Hindi or Marathi. Thanking you, Elita Almeida (Student Social Worker - MSW II, S.N.D.T. Women's University, Churchgate) From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Wed Mar 24 18:59:29 2010 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de ([VCH}) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:29:29 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?Final_call=3A_One_minute_films_=26_v?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ideos?= Message-ID: <20100324142931.F4751A7E.F3EB007B@192.168.0.3> Final call: --> One minute film & videos deadline: 2 April 2010 http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=447 ------------------------------------------- VideoChannel Cologne http://videochannel.newmediafest.org videochannel (at) newmediafest.org From shankhajeet at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 19:06:07 2010 From: shankhajeet at gmail.com (shankhajeet de) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:06:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Reminder for Film Appreciation workshop by P. K. Nair at Twilight Film Club, Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi Message-ID: <668dbb3d1003240636k10b27dcg20d5cb45b4dcc45@mail.gmail.com> Twilight Film Club of Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication organizes a 5 day introductory workshop on Film appreciation with legendary film historian and archivist P. K. Nair. This course will initiate the participants into better understanding of cinematic expression with a historical over view. The workshop will be held from 9.30 am – 8.30pm I Monday 29th March – Friday 2nd April 2010. The workshop requires online registration at www.sac.ac.in/fapkn10.asp along with a participation fee of Rs. 2,500/- and Rs.1,500/- for alumni of SACAC. The seats are limited and the last date of registration is Saturday 27th March 2010. -- Shankhajeet De 0 - 9313012087 Deputy Director - Academics Twilight Film Festival Coordinator Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication www.sac.ac.in From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 19:19:30 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:19:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> <6353c691003240606m5ea9b2b4o51b79ecdfe5cb5bf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Pawan asked me in a personal mail that what was the point i am trying to make by citing the religious texts from other religions on this issue. I think intelligence agencies find it difficult to digest the fact a propaganda piece denigrating idol worship represents an radically conservative islamist point of view but there have been several parallel strands who were critical about idol worship in a way in indian history. anupam On 3/24/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: > As cited by Pawan as an excerpt of the Hindu article by Praveen Swami. > Some similar strands could be also seen in variations of other > religions as well. I do not doubt Swami's research. I would appreciate > if you take this as my contribution to this discussion which was being > highlighted by Pawan as an example about what Swami describes as a > propaganda of the so-called Indian Mujaheddin. > > "So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed > in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it." -- Ezekiel > 36:18 > > "the bhakta is not to case either adoring or hateful glances on the > idols of other gods; nor should be visit places of their worship > (Sankaradeva, Bhag, p-2) -- Bhakti Saint, Shankardeva > however, the Guru himself also says "No hostility however, is to be > exhibited by him towards the adherents of other creeds while engaging > himself in the worship of Visnu, who alone is considered as being > Suddha-sattava, of pureexixtence (narayanakalah santa bhajani by > anasuyavah, Bhag, p. 1.2.26)" > > -regards > Anupam > > On 3/24/10, anupam chakravartty wrote: >> aditya, >> >> im enlightened. i suffer from this enlightenment every morning. so >> much enlightenment everywhere. it is like an overdose. >> >> thanks for reacting anyway >> anupam >> >> On 3/24/10, Aditya Raj Kaul wrote: >>> Is posting an investigative piece on the list which exposes extremists, >>> a >>> crime ? >>> >>> Its not about advertising. Its about reality, perspective and games >>> being >>> played in dark. Games which kill people in the name of religion. >>> >>> Be enlightened. >>> >>> Cheers >>> >>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Pawan, >>>> >>>> I must praise you for being a chalta pheerta advertisement for >>>> extremism. you have successfully advertised all forms of extremism on >>>> this list. good going. >>>> >>>> anupam >>>> >>>> On 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >>>> > "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore >>>> > dirty >>>> > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >>>> > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen >>>> > manifesto >>>> > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not >>>> > at >>>> > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >>>> > our hands.” >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI >>>> > >>>> > http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true >>>> > >>>> > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >>>> > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >>>> > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >>>> > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >>>> > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. >>>> > >>>> > Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad >>>> > on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer >>>> > religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. >>>> > >>>> > Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen >>>> > the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged >>>> > in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video >>>> > replete >>>> > with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of >>>> > judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban >>>> > rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce >>>> > graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly >>>> > programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set >>>> > of bombs planted in Surat. >>>> > >>>> > Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned >>>> > instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account >>>> > of >>>> > just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out >>>> > the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots >>>> > that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri >>>> > Masjid. >>>> > >>>> > It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these >>>> > decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's >>>> > aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important >>>> > insights into the jihadist movement in India. >>>> > >>>> > Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious >>>> > fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian >>>> > Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The >>>> > manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought >>>> > religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to >>>> > specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, >>>> > specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps >>>> > debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by >>>> > madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme >>>> > Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, >>>> > would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists >>>> > revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with >>>> > modernity; >>>> > India's jihadists are natives of the new world. >>>> > >>>> > Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar >>>> > Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists >>>> > associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an >>>> > enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz >>>> > Ismail >>>> > Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to >>>> > execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say >>>> > Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing >>>> > intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received >>>> > training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a >>>> > safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just >>>> > 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in >>>> > the >>>> > 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high >>>> > school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a >>>> > Lucknow college. >>>> > >>>> > Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — >>>> > which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, >>>> > served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked >>>> > jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian >>>> > Mujahideen. >>>> > >>>> > Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key >>>> > members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals >>>> > — >>>> > Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of >>>> > time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in >>>> > their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all >>>> > faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly >>>> > middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 >>>> > shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a >>>> > business >>>> > administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history >>>> > graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was >>>> > studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr >>>> > Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was >>>> > enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. >>>> > >>>> > Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in >>>> > Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri >>>> > Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from >>>> > hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in >>>> > mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian >>>> > state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent >>>> > Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known >>>> > Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an >>>> > inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the >>>> > Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many >>>> > young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in >>>> > India >>>> > — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan >>>> > Qureshi. >>>> > >>>> > In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the >>>> > Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the >>>> > Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and >>>> > political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived >>>> > his expulsion. >>>> > >>>> > Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project >>>> > advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began >>>> > addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the >>>> > Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and >>>> > edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from >>>> > the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi >>>> > introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical >>>> > with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years >>>> > as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian >>>> > Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn >>>> > recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was >>>> > killed in the 2008 shootout. >>>> > >>>> > The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among >>>> > them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped >>>> > build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional >>>> > Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did >>>> > not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. >>>> > Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and >>>> > his >>>> > employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. >>>> > >>>> > Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of >>>> > which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the >>>> > traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich >>>> > anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar >>>> > Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami >>>> > establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah >>>> > seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on >>>> > the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon >>>> > embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. >>>> > >>>> > SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana >>>> > Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's >>>> > old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become >>>> > increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for >>>> > organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with >>>> > authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official >>>> > students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by >>>> > founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which >>>> > charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its >>>> > calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” >>>> > Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah >>>> > well before the Government of India finally acted against the >>>> > jihadist >>>> > organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United >>>> > States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that >>>> > followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders >>>> > from >>>> > the Jamiat-ul-Falah. >>>> > >>>> > Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct >>>> > “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at >>>> > Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including >>>> > food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 >>>> > students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just >>>> > based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the >>>> > specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the >>>> > Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices >>>> > to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, >>>> > so, >>>> > too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations >>>> > that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on >>>> > Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by >>>> > the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. >>>> > >>>> > “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty >>>> > mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols >>>> > of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen >>>> > manifesto >>>> > released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not >>>> > at >>>> > all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by >>>> > our hands.” >>>> > >>>> > Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: >>>> > demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of >>>> > the >>>> > perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism >>>> > suspects. >>>> > >>>> > Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and >>>> > intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around >>>> > rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious >>>> > neoconservatives >>>> > and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. >>>> > _________________________________________ >>>> > 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/> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Aditya Raj Kaul >>> >>> Cell - +91-9873297834 >>> Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ >>> >>> For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. >>> _________________________________________ >>> 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 Mar 24 19:39:40 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:09:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <907595.62970.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Sonia   The principle (in the point that Pawan sought to make) that I agree with:   Apart from those KPs who are statistically registered as "migrants", there was a substantial number (not registered as 'migrants' and not physically dislocated in the post 1980s violence) who were connected to Kashmir, who regularly visited  Kashmir, who had property in Kashmir, for whom Kashmir continued to be "Home" even if they were not physically present in Kashmir through most of the year.   These people too (apart from the registered 'migrants) got disconnected from Kashmir. These people too got dislocated from Kashmir. These people too got displaced from Kashmir. These people too lost Kashmir   I do not have the resources to estimate the numbers of such people (certainly many tens of thousands) but they have to be added to those who were registered as KP 'migrants'.   Since I do not have any fair estimation of numbers, I do not want to quibble over numbers or what someone said or someone did.    The "principle" for understanding that I was trying to put across goes much beyond RTIs and Registrations and Testimonies.   I agree with you about the "tragedies of war" and  I do not see the KP problem as the only problem of displacement in the World.   Try as I will to be dispassionate, I cannot, when I see the erasure of a unique socio-cultural-religious group taking place. The primary reason for that being it getting disconnected from it's environment where it was nurtured and grew.  Since that identity is an intrinsic part of me, each time I reflect on that identity dying out, a part of me dies too.   This is not about individual cases but about a socio-cultural-religious sub-set of the human species. It is about Aborginese and Maoiris and Native-Americans, about the Hangul and the Garyal and the Gir Lion and the Bengal Tiger.   Guess I do not make  much sense.   Take care   K             --- On Wed, 3/24/10, S. Jabbar wrote: From: S. Jabbar Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "Pawan Durani" Cc: "Sarai" Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 5:56 PM Dear Kshmendra, What is the principle of Pawan’s point, which you agree with and which is always overlooked?   The RTI was filed by Rashneek if I remember correctly and the deflated GoI figure did not distinguish between KP and Muslims killed.  I reacted to Pawan’s assertion of the population of Pandits before exile being 7 million, which he then admitted was a mistake and said that the figure was 7 lakh.  When I pressed further about the source, he said it was his estimate, which Aditya then urged me to believe.   I find it strange that I am being urged to drop the testimonies of scores of KP’s I have interviewed over the years in the Valley, in Jammu, in Delhi all of whom estimated the population to be around 250-350,000— and that too by young men who claim to further the interests of their community. As much as I find your story poignant, I see it part and parcel of the larger tragedy of war as it is played out in many parts of the world, be it Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Tibet, Burma or Palestine, and not  with the specific statistics quoted by Pawan. What you describe is what both my father’s side of the family and my mother’s side of the family suffered in different ways when India was partitioned in 1947.  I have a Sinhala friend who lives in exile and cannot return to her home because she questioned the Rajpaksha government in its mad drive against the Tamils of Sri Lanka.  I met Kashmiris in Pakistan who wept and begged me to do something so that they could return home.  I have Tibetan friends who ask me to tell and re-tell my stories of traveling in Tibet, the now-forbidden land.  I make common cause with Burmese students in their annual sit-ins in Jantar Mantar, with the Afghans I meet in Bhogal or Nizamuddin, with my Palestinian friend who is walled into one tiny part of her homeland.  War is a terrible thing.  And as I said earlier, if you have the capacity to feel, one person’s suffering is suffering enough.   Sonia From: Kshmendra Kaul Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:49:00 -0700 (PDT) To: "S. Jabbar" , Pawan Durani Cc: Sarai Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley Dear Sonia   I will hazard no guess or estimate on number of KPs who were killed in Kashmir 1980s onwards.   I will also not guesstimate the number of KPs 'displaced' from Kashmir.   But I  agree with the principle of the point that Pawan has tried to make and which is most often (always) overlooked.   Let me give my own example.   Our family was not from amongst those who were displaced from Kashmir because of the post 1988 violence.   We had ancestral property in Karan Nagar. Sold as a 'distress sale' due to pressure from my father's cousins.   We had our own House in Jawahar Nagar and Land in Nishat which, seeing the security situation in Kashmir, we sold. Those were not 'distress sales' in terms of fair value received, but were from another point of view "distress sales". The family's visits to Kashmir stopped post 1988 violence and the House was lying unused and rotting away and the Land we were advised is better sold as otherwise it might get 'occupied'.   Pre 1989, we used to visit Kashmir every year and often more than once a year. My parents, after retirement used to spend sometimes upto 6 months in Kashmir although it no longer was home-base.   Our family might not have been kicked out or forced by the security situation to leave but we could no longer go back every year as we used to.   Am I displaced from Kashmir? Is our family displaced?  Were we tourists that went back every year?     Which statistic do I belong to?   It is not just me or my family, it is many a thousand families who's components might not have had gainful employment or businesses  in Kashmir and might have been resident out of Kashmir (J&K) through most of the year but continued to have a residence in Kashmir (be it in some cases only a small portion in ancestral property) and were year on year regularly spending time in Kashmir. They were in Kashmir for marriages, for other religious and social gatherings, or simply for a holiday.   Simply for a holiday in exactly the same manner as many a million other go back "home" on Annual Leave, Vacations (students) whichever other part of India or the World (away from "home") they might be employed in, studying in or living in most of the year.   What statistics do those many a tens of thousands KPs (just like me) belong to?  Those who do not back back every year. Those who cannot go back every year . Those to whom Kashmir is lost?   Kshmendra   PS. Why so many KPs were, even Pre-1989, living/working/studying  outside Kashmir (J&K) is another story.         --- On Wed, 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: From: Pawan Durani Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley To: "S. Jabbar" Cc: "Sarai" Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 10:59 AM Dear Sonia , There are two reports , one in which the minister is quoted as saying that 219 Pandits were killed in 1990 and the other one in Hindu where Shujaat Bukhari quotes timeline between 1989-2004. We had filed an RTI with the home ministry few years back which quoted around 16K people having died in Kashmir. The government figure in terms of killing does not contain those where no police complaint had been filed or where the people were straight away termed as missing. Regarding the number of people who have been uprooted , we unfortunately do not have a specific data . I estimate it to be 700K , My estimate is based on rough estimate in major cities across Indian and abroad.  The Government report may be based on number of people who are registered as "migrants" .. Just quoting my own family of 6 which includes my parents , only my mother was registered as a migrant [ No to draw financial support ] as she was a Government school teacher. In my maternal home , non of the 9 members are registered as 'Migrants' Regards Pawan On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around > 350,000.  This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. > > Also pl see this report: > > > Date:24/03/2010 URL: > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm > > “219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989” > > >  Shujaat Bukhari > > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil > > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants > > > > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were among > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. > > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that “219 > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,” Mr. > Bhalla said. > > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants were > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. > > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh for > each death. “Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since > the eruption of militancy,” he said. > > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to > January, 2010. > > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return to > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. > > “With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government decided > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at Sheikhpora > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which possession > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be completed > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the Jammu > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,” he told the House. > > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning and > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the return > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a package > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. > > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. > “Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, exclusively > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts have > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the > selection of these posts is on,” he said. > > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. > > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still > living in the Valley. > > “These families have never migrated,” he said. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > > > >> From: Pawan Durani > >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 >> To: "S. Jabbar" > >> Cc: Sarai > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >> >> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I >> got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. >> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: >>> Are you serious?  Please explain.  I am truly baffled. >>> >>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani > >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >>>> To: "S. Jabbar" > >>>> Cc: Sarai > >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>> >>>> Yes ! >>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar > wrote: >>>>> 7 million? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> From: Pawan Durani > >>>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>>>> To: reader-list > >>>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>>>> >>>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>>>> Islamic >>>>>> fanatics" >>>>> >>>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>>> valley >>>>> >>>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>>>> Kashmir valley which >>>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>>>> more than >>>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>>>> said >>>>> Tuesday. >>>>> >>>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>>>> minister >>>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>>>> the >>>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>>>> community >>>>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>>>> >>>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>>>> valley in >>>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>>>> members >>>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>>>> 219 >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>>>> >>>>> Though the minister did not specify >>>>>> it, the number of the families >>>>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>>>> and also the >>>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>>>> and >>>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>>>> >>>>> More than 350,000 >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>>>> >>>>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>>>> after massacres of the community >>>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>>>> in south >>>>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>>>> Maharashtra. >>>>> >>>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>>>> bring >>>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>>>> construct >>>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>>>> be >>>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>>>> >>>>> Prime >>>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>>>> and >>>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>>>> the 'land of >>>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>>>> visit to Jammu April >>>>>> 25, 2008. >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>> 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 Mar 24 20:20:52 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:20:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> <6353c691003240606m5ea9b2b4o51b79ecdfe5cb5bf@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: The Indian Mujhaideen may realize it better that it's their very own Allah who ensures that killing of innocents doesn't serve any kind of purpose at all. If it's the idea of instilling fear, it doesn't help, for people still venture out, even with fear. If it's the idea of making our politicians and citizens feel impotent, I don't think that necessarily changes the way people function. And most importantly, unlike Spain, 26/11 didn't have any affects on the election verdict, be it Maharashtra or India. Except for the strategic naivety and fulfilling of one's own ego and useless pride, such bomb blasts don't achieve anything, not even reduction in human right violations against Muslims. And if they are conducted by some Hindu organizations, the polarization is still not getting to change demographics of the country overnight. Even a full majority for the BJP in Parliament will not ensure that the Muslims of India will be thrown into the sea. Even if internal dynamics were to allow it, the chances of multiple sanctions imposed against India will force the BJP not to go beyond a point. So what's their objective anyway? That's the entire point of the argument we should stress on. It is a useless fight to conduct terror blasts. If the idea is to weaken India and make it negotiate with Pakistan, it's useless, for any such blast will make India move further away from negotiation. If it's to ensure that Pakistan army can sustain it's prime role in their country, RAW at some time will start doing something which will hit their own citizens and their inability to protect will come back to hit them sooner or later. (thanks to some psychotic PM who will ask RAW to hit back). And if it's to stop atrocities against Muslims, that's not stopping either thanks to these blasts. Rakesh From aliens at dataone.in Wed Mar 24 22:27:11 2010 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:27:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003240545w31e8ba35t219ae163a4d204f3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <000301cacb73$0c522cb0$24f68610$@in> Thanks for posting this article Dear Pawan. Nice article and it is proved that Azamgarh is root of terrorist activity. But, our so called congress leader Digvijaysingh visiting arrested terrorist family just for sake of their vote bank in coming UP election. It is now high time for government to keep watch or put censorship on madrasas activities. Will congress dare to do this? What today required is organization like Deoband or Imam/clarics must issued fatwa against terrorists or terrorists group specifically. This is what actually required today to pressurize them. The organization like Deoband and others should pressurize their few muslim brothers to stop support to outside terrorists group, may be by way of sleeper cell or active cell, since its much more chances that they will listen and believe them. If they do this much then also terrorism can be controlled heavily in India and country will be highly oblige/respect them. Thanks Bipin -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Pawan Durani Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 6:16 PM To: reader-list Subject: [Reader-list] Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI "“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our hands.” Islamism, modernity & Indian Mujahideen - PRAVEEN SWAMI http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article267670.ece?homepage=true Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. Days before 21 improvised explosive devices ripped through Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, a young cleric from Azamgarh arrived to offer religious instruction to the Indian Mujahideen's bombers. Sheikh Abul Bashar hoped, Gujarat Police investigators say, to deepen the bombers' theological understanding of the war they were engaged in. He came armed with Salamat-e-Kayamat, an evangelical video replete with scriptural prophecies of the triumph of Islam before the day of judgment. He also acquired a copy of Faruk Camp, a paean to Taliban rule in Afghanistan, from Usman Aggarbattiwala, a young commerce graduate from Vadodara's Maharaja Sayaji University who allegedly programmed the integrated circuits used as timers for a separate set of bombs planted in Surat. Bored by the religious polemic, though, Bashar's students turned instead to Anurag Kashyap's movie Black Friday — a riveting account of just how a group of hard-drinking, womanising gangsters carried out the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai to avenge the anti-Muslim riots that that tore apart the city after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. It seems improbable that the earnest cleric approved of these decidedly irreligious role-models — and the Indian Mujahideen's aesthetic choices — may point us in the direction of important insights into the jihadist movement in India. Many believe the jihadist movement in India to be driven by religious fanaticism. There is little doubt that the idiom of the Indian Mujahideen drew on Islam, or at least a certain reading of Islam. The manifestos the organisation released after its operations sought religious legitimacy for the jihadist project. They also point to specific secular political problems facing India's Muslims, specifically communal violence. Bashar's Black Friday story helps debunk notions that the jihadist movement in India is spearheaded by madrasa-educated fanatics indoctrinated in something called “extreme Islam.” Both SIMI, and the Jamaat-e-Islami from which it was born, would rail against watching films; Indian Mujahideen terrorists revelled in them. Many seminaries are still struggling with modernity; India's jihadists are natives of the new world. Azamgarh and the Indian Mujahideen: Early last month, police in Uttar Pradesh arrested Salman Ahmad, one of a string of alleged jihadists associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba's so-called “Karachi Project”: an enterprise run by Karachi-based fugitive Indian jihadists Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri, his brother Iqbal Shahbandri, and Abdul Subhan Qureshi to execute a renewed wave of bombings across the country. Police say Ahmad, who was arrested after the Research and Analysis Wing intercepted phone calls he made from Nepal to Pakistan, had received training at a Lashkar camp in Karachi before being tasked to set up a safe-house in Kathmandu for routing new recruits to the Lashkar. Just 15, his lawyers claim, when he was alleged to have participated in the 2008 bombings in New Delhi, Ahmad studied at a government-run high school and had enrolled for a computer-applications course at a Lucknow college. Ahmad's profile closely resembles that of many Azamgarh jihadists — which, along with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bhatkal, near Mangalore, served as a core recruitment base for the Lashkar-e-Taiba — linked jihadist cells which are today collectively referred to as the Indian Mujahideen. Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was enrolled in a computer-educaiton course. Bashar's story casts some light on just how the jihadist cells in Azamgarh in fact formed. In the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Jamaat-e-Islami came under intense pressure from hardliners calling for militant action. The party, deeply entwined in mainstream politics and suspicious of a confrontation with the Indian state, resisted. Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi — a prominent Hyderabad-based cleric who had graduated from Azamgarh's well-known Madrasat-ul-Islah — earned the party's wrath by authoring an inflammatory tract challenging its line. Expelled from the Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Islahi became an ideological mentor to many young radicals who played a key role in the jihadist movement in India — among them, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Abdul Subhan Qureshi. In the summer of 2005, Maulana Islahi offered Bashar a job at the Jamaiat Sheikh ul-Maududi, a seminary named for the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The cleric and Bashar's father had been friends and political allies in the Jamaat; their relationship evidently survived his expulsion. Later, though, Bashar was increasingly drawn to the jihadist project advocated by Maulana Islahi's son, Salim. He left his job, began addressing gatherings of the pro-jihadist organisations like the Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam, and edited the Islamist magazine Nishaan-e-Rah, which drew its name from the seminal ideologue Syed Qutb's key work, Milestones. Salim Islahi introduced Bashar to Sadiq Israr Sheikh, a Mumbai-based SIMI radical with Azamgarh roots who had studied at a madrasa there for some years as a child. Sheikh, who was linked through SIMI to the Indian Mujahideen's fugitive commanders Qureshi and Shahbandri, in turn recruited jihadists in Azamgarh — key among them Atif Amin, who was killed in the 2008 shootout. The “Islamist Class”: Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah. Part of the reason for this may be that the jihadist movement, of which SIMI was the most visible face, stood in opposition to both the traditional clerics and organised Islamist politics. In his rich anthropological study Islamism and Democracy in India, the scholar Irfan Ahmad explored the frictions between the Jamaat-e-Islami establishment and SIMI at the Jamaat-e-Islami-run Jamiat-ul-Falah seminary in Azamgarh. Founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami to capitalise on the new political space that opened up after the Emergency, SIMI soon embarrassed the party's elders by its support for jihadists. SIMI mounted polemical attacks on the Jamaat-e-Islami scholar Maulana Mohammad Rahmani, and sought to take control of the Jamiat-ul-Falah's old-students' association. In 1999, a time when it had become increasingly vocal in its calls for jihad and support for organisations like the Taliban, SIMI members provoked a showdown with authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah. The Jamaat-e-Islami's official students' wing, the Students Islamic Organisation, responded by founding a parallel student body, the Tanzeem Tulba-e-Qadim, which charged SIMI with propagating “katta [gun] culture”, saying that its calls for jihad were “lethal for Islam, Muslims and the country.” Notably, SIMI was proscribed by authorities at the Jamiat-ul-Falah well before the Government of India finally acted against the jihadist organisation in the wake of the Al Qaeda's attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. During the police crackdown that followed the SIO refused to join in protests against SIMI leaders from the Jamiat-ul-Falah. Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society. “Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our hands.” Below, though, were five demands, each entirely secular in character: demands for restitution against police outrages, the punishment of the perpetrators of communal violence, and the legal defence of terrorism suspects. Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe. _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 24 22:28:12 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:28:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: <907595.62970.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Kshmendra, I feel a bit ashamed to nitpick with anyone who has lost or suffered, and believe me when I say that I do this with some reluctance. Only abt a little over 1.5 lakh KPs were registered. So therefore when people estimated between 2.5-3.5 lakh, I took their word for it without quibbling, knowing most researchers working on statistics would keep the margin of error as not more than 10%. I understand and sympathize with your heartbreak over the loss of identity, but I tend to look at this a little differently. All compounded phenomena are subject to change. Cultures are not static and neither are identities. They have always been dynamic, always in flux, always ready to change into something else whether it is from an event like a road bringing in traders from another part of the world, or invaders or an idea. Culture and identity is always in the making and will metamorphose into something else. Don¹t mourn its loss. Something positive is also happening to your community. Look for it. I always take great pleasure in listening to the Dalai Lama who interprets his painful exile as a necessary karmic journey to bring the Buddha¹s word back to the land of its birth after a 1000 years of absence. I see this happening across hundreds of monasteries across Himachal, Sikkim, Darjeeling and Ladakh, and then in the amazing Tibetan colleges of Sera, Ganden, in south India and the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala. How truly wonderful! Best wishes, sj From: Kshmendra Kaul Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:09:40 -0700 (PDT) To: Pawan Durani , "S. Jabbar" Cc: Sarai Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley Dear Sonia The principle (in the point that Pawan sought to make) that I agree with: Apart from those KPs who are statistically registered as "migrants", there was a substantial number (not registered as 'migrants' and not physically dislocated in the post 1980s violence) who were connected to Kashmir, who regularly visited Kashmir, who had property in Kashmir, for whom Kashmir continued to be "Home" even if they were not physically present in Kashmir through most of the year. These people too (apart from the registered 'migrants) got disconnected from Kashmir. These people too got dislocated from Kashmir. These people too got displaced from Kashmir. These people too lost Kashmir I do not have the resources to estimate the numbers of such people (certainly many tens of thousands) but they have to be added to those who were registered as KP 'migrants'. Since I do not have any fair estimation of numbers, I do not want to quibble over numbers or what someone said or someone did. The "principle" for understanding that I was trying to put across goes much beyond RTIs and Registrations and Testimonies. I agree with you about the "tragedies of war" and I do not see the KP problem as the only problem of displacement in the World. Try as I will to be dispassionate, I cannot, when I see the erasure of a unique socio-cultural-religious group taking place. The primary reason for that being it getting disconnected from it's environment where it was nurtured and grew. Since that identity is an intrinsic part of me, each time I reflect on that identity dying out, a part of me dies too. This is not about individual cases but about a socio-cultural-religious sub-set of the human species. It is about Aborginese and Maoiris and Native-Americans, about the Hangul and the Garyal and the Gir Lion and the Bengal Tiger. Guess I do not make much sense. Take care K --- On Wed, 3/24/10, S. Jabbar wrote: > > From: S. Jabbar > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "Pawan Durani" > > Cc: "Sarai" > Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 5:56 PM > > Dear Kshmendra, > > What is the principle of Pawan¹s point, which you agree with and which is > always overlooked? > > The RTI was filed by Rashneek if I remember correctly and the deflated GoI > figure did not distinguish between KP and Muslims killed. I reacted to > Pawan¹s assertion of the population of Pandits before exile being 7 million, > which he then admitted was a mistake and said that the figure was 7 lakh. > When I pressed further about the source, he said it was his estimate, which > Aditya then urged me to believe. > > I find it strange that I am being urged to drop the testimonies of scores of > KP¹s I have interviewed over the years in the Valley, in Jammu, in Delhi all > of whom estimated the population to be around 250-350,000‹ and that too by > young men who claim to further the interests of their community. > > > As much as I find your story poignant, I see it part and parcel of the larger > tragedy of war as it is played out in many parts of the world, be it > Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Tibet, Burma or Palestine, and not with the > specific statistics quoted by Pawan. What you describe is what both my > father¹s side of the family and my mother¹s side of the family suffered in > different ways when India was partitioned in 1947. I have a Sinhala friend > who lives in exile and cannot return to her home because she questioned the > Rajpaksha government in its mad drive against the Tamils of Sri Lanka. I met > Kashmiris in Pakistan who wept and begged me to do something so that they > could return home. I have Tibetan friends who ask me to tell and re-tell my > stories of traveling in Tibet, the now-forbidden land. I make common cause > with Burmese students in their annual sit-ins in Jantar Mantar, with the > Afghans I meet in Bhogal or Nizamuddin, with my Palestinian friend who is > walled into one tiny part of her homeland. War is a terrible thing. And as I > said earlier, if you have the capacity to feel, one person¹s suffering is > suffering enough. > > Sonia > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:49:00 -0700 (PDT) > To: "S. Jabbar" , Pawan Durani > > Cc: Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > Dear Sonia > > I will hazard no guess or estimate on number of KPs who were killed in Kashmir > 1980s onwards. > > I will also not guesstimate the number of KPs 'displaced' from Kashmir. > > But I agree with the principle of the point that Pawan has tried to make and > which is most often (always) overlooked. > > Let me give my own example. > > Our family was not from amongst those who were displaced from Kashmir because > of the post 1988 violence. > > We had ancestral property in Karan Nagar. Sold as a 'distress sale' due to > pressure from my father's cousins. > > We had our own House in Jawahar Nagar and Land in Nishat which, seeing the > security situation in Kashmir, we sold. Those were not 'distress sales' in > terms of fair value received, but were from another point of view "distress > sales". The family's visits to Kashmir stopped post 1988 violence and the > House was lying unused and rotting away and the Land we were advised is better > sold as otherwise it might get 'occupied'. > > Pre 1989, we used to visit Kashmir every year and often more than once a year. > My parents, after retirement used to spend sometimes upto 6 months in Kashmir > although it no longer was home-base. > > Our family might not have been kicked out or forced by the security situation > to leave but we could no longer go back every year as we used to. > > Am I displaced from Kashmir? Is our family displaced? Were we tourists that > went back every year? > > Which statistic do I belong to? > > It is not just me or my family, it is many a thousand families who's > components might not have had gainful employment or businesses in Kashmir and > might have been resident out of Kashmir (J&K) through most of the year but > continued to have a residence in Kashmir (be it in some cases only a small > portion in ancestral property) and were year on year regularly spending time > in Kashmir. They were in Kashmir for marriages, for other religious and social > gatherings, or simply for a holiday. > > Simply for a holiday in exactly the same manner as many a million other go > back "home" on Annual Leave, Vacations (students) whichever other part of > India or the World (away from "home") they might be employed in, studying in > or living in most of the year. > > What statistics do those many a tens of thousands KPs (just like me) belong > to? Those who do not back back every year. Those who cannot go back every > year . Those to whom Kashmir is lost? > > Kshmendra > > PS. Why so many KPs were, even Pre-1989, living/working/studying outside > Kashmir (J&K) is another story. > > > > > --- On Wed, 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: >> >> From: Pawan Durani >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >> To: "S. Jabbar" >> Cc: "Sarai" >> Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 10:59 AM >> >> Dear Sonia , >> >> There are two reports , one in which the minister is quoted as saying >> that 219 Pandits were killed in 1990 and the other one in Hindu where >> Shujaat Bukhari quotes timeline between 1989-2004. >> >> We had filed an RTI with the home ministry few years back which quoted >> around 16K people having died in Kashmir. >> >> The government figure in terms of killing does not contain those where >> no police complaint had been filed or where the people were straight >> away termed as missing. >> >> Regarding the number of people who have been uprooted , we >> unfortunately do not have a specific data . I estimate it to be 700K , >> My estimate is based on rough estimate in major cities across Indian >> and abroad. The Government report may be based on number of people >> who are registered as "migrants" .. Just quoting my own family of 6 >> which includes my parents , only my mother was registered as a migrant >> [ No to draw financial support ] as she was a Government school >> teacher. In my maternal home , non of the 9 members are registered as >> 'Migrants' >> >> Regards >> >> Pawan >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar > > >> wrote: >>> > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' Over >>> > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was around >>> > 350,000. This is the first time I've come across your figure of 700,000. >>> > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. >>> > >>> > Also pl see this report: >>> > >>> > >>> > Date:24/03/2010 URL: >>> > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm >>> > >>> > ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² >>> > >>> > >>> > Shujaat Bukhari >>> > >>> > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil >>> > >>> > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of migrants >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 Kashmiri >>> > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families were >>> among >>> > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil. >>> > >>> > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed Basharat >>> > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu that >>> ³219 >>> > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no killing of >>> > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till now,² Mr. >>> > Bhalla said. >>> > >>> > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants >>> were >>> > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. >>> > >>> > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh >>> for >>> > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as >>> > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties since >>> > the eruption of militancy,² he said. >>> > >>> > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other >>> > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in >>> > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to >>> > January, 2010. >>> > >>> > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their return >>> to >>> > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans and >>> > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. >>> > >>> > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government >>> decided >>> > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at >>> Sheikhpora >>> > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which >>> possession >>> > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other 60 >>> > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be >>> completed >>> > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the >>> Jammu >>> > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. >>> > >>> > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, Planning >>> and >>> > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the >>> return >>> > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report >>> > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a >>> package >>> > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. >>> > >>> > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was sanctioned by >>> > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the migrants. >>> > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, >>> exclusively >>> > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These posts >>> have >>> > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for the >>> > selection of these posts is on,² he said. >>> > >>> > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri >>> > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. >>> > >>> > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were still >>> > living in the Valley. >>> > >>> > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>> >> From: Pawan Durani >>> > >>>> >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 >>>> >> To: "S. Jabbar" >>> > >>>> >> Cc: Sarai >>> > >>>> >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>> valley >>>> >> >>>> >> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR ....I >>>> >> got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. >>>> >> >>>> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar >>> > >>>> wrote: >>>>> >>> Are you serious? Please explain. I am truly baffled. >>>>> >>> >>>>> >>> >>>>>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>> > >>>>>> >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 >>>>>> >>>> To: "S. Jabbar" >>>>> > >>>>>> >>>> Cc: Sarai >>>>> > >>>>>> >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>>> valley >>>>>> >>>> >>>>>> >>>> Yes ! >>>>>> >>>> >>>>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar >>>>> > >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>> 7 million? >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>>>> > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 >>>>>>>> >>>>>> To: reader-list >>>>>>> > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley >>>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by Jihadis & >>>>>>> >>>>> Islamic >>>>>>>> >>>>>> fanatics" >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley >>>>>>>> >>>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir >>>>>>>> >>>>>> valley >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 >>>>>>> >>>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmir valley which >>>>>>> >>>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against >>>>>>>> >>>>>> more than >>>>>>> >>>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla >>>>>>>> >>>>>> said >>>>>>> >>>>> Tuesday. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the >>>>>>>> >>>>>> minister >>>>>>> >>>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living in >>>>>>>> >>>>>> the >>>>>>> >>>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of the >>>>>>> >>>>> community >>>>>>>> >>>>>> there 'is 3,445'. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the >>>>>>>> >>>>>> valley in >>>>>>> >>>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community >>>>>>>> >>>>>> members >>>>>>> >>>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding that >>>>>>>> >>>>>> 219 >>>>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Though the minister did not specify >>>>>>>> >>>>>> it, the number of the families >>>>>>> >>>>> living in the valley included 31 families of >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living >>>>>>> >>>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district >>>>>>>> >>>>>> and also the >>>>>>> >>>>> officials working in the banks and central government departments >>>>>>>> >>>>>> and >>>>>>> >>>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> More than 350,000 >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Those who stayed back, migrated >>>>>>>> >>>>>> after massacres of the community >>>>>>> >>>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in >>>>>>>> >>>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in >>>>>>> >>>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg >>>>>>>> >>>>>> in south >>>>>>> >>>>> Kashmir in March 2003. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within >>>>>>> >>>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Maharashtra. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to >>>>>>>> >>>>>> bring >>>>>>> >>>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to >>>>>>>> >>>>>> construct >>>>>>> >>>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they would >>>>>>>> >>>>>> be >>>>>>> >>>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. >>>>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>> Prime >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore relief >>>>>>> >>>>> and >>>>>>>> >>>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to >>>>>>> >>>>> the 'land of >>>>>>>> >>>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his >>>>>>> >>>>> visit to Jammu April >>>>>>>> >>>>>> 25, 2008. >>>>>>> >>>>> _________________________________________ >>>>>>> >>>>> 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 >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> .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 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com Thu Mar 25 00:51:45 2010 From: 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com (Taha Mehmood) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:21:45 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Heathrow_guard_=91used_scanner_to_?= =?windows-1252?q?leer_at_colleague=92s_naked_body=92?= Message-ID: <65be9bf41003241221w76338882o917c7ef9b8b9db7c@mail.gmail.com> http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818223-airport-worker-receives-police-warning-for-ogling-bodyscanner-images-of-woman.do Heathrow guard ‘used scanner to leer at colleague’s naked body’ Rashid Razaq Rashid Razaq 24.03.10 A Heathrow security guard faces the sack after a woman colleague reported him for using a body scanner to take “naked” pictures of her. Airport bosses have launched an investigation after John Laker, 25, was alleged to have used the device meant to detect bombs and explosives to look at a fellow employee's breasts. Jo Margetson, 29, reported the guard as saying “I love those gigantic tits” when she walked through the X-ray machine, and then said he pressed a button to take a revealing photo. Ms Margetson has taken leave following the incident. She said: “I can't bear to think about the body scanner thing. I'm totally traumatised. I've spoken to the police about it. I'm in too much of a state to go to work.” Mr Laker is the first airport worker to have been allegedly caught abusing the body scanners, which were introduced by the Government in the wake of the Christmas Day bomb plot by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The machines work by producing full-body “nude” images of passengers to locate hidden weapons or objects and give detailed outlines of the genitalia. Civil rights campaigners, who have opposed the devices for invasion of privacy, said the case highlighted the potential for abuse and they should be withdrawn immediately. Heathrow and Manchester airports already have the scanners, with Gatwick and Birmingham to follow this year. Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said: “This latest case serves to highlight the massive problems behind the Government's speedy roll-out of the body scanner. “There needs to be much more thought — how are those being employed being trained and vetted and how dangerous is the radiation these machines produce? Until that is done, Big Brother Watch is campaigning for a complete suspension in the national roll-out of airport body scanners.” Heathrow refused to confirm whether Mr Laker has been suspended from his job while the investigation is conducted. A spokeswoman for airport operator BAA said: “We treat any allegations of inappropriate behaviour or misuse of security equipment very seriously and these claims are being investigated thoroughly. If found to be substantiated, we will take appropriate action.” From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Thu Mar 25 01:40:11 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:40:11 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Heathrow_guard_=E2=80=98used_scanner_to_l?= =?utf-8?q?eer_at_colleague=E2=80=99s_naked_body=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: <65be9bf41003241221w76338882o917c7ef9b8b9db7c@mail.gmail.com> References: <65be9bf41003241221w76338882o917c7ef9b8b9db7c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <738504.75645.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Guess what Tahaji, we have these at some of our airports too, and some of our red-eyed guards regularly have the fun. Why not wlak naked then, if govt should be allowed to strip for security, coz we are not really ashamed of our bodiez, r we? LET THE SOCIETY ASK FOR AN ANSWER. Hidden cam Images get leaked and the enacters are at large, here......... ________________________________ From: Taha Mehmood <2tahamehmood at googlemail.com> To: Sarai Reader-list Sent: Thu, 25 March, 2010 12:51:45 AM Subject: [Reader-list] Heathrow guard ‘used scanner to leer at colleague’s naked body’ http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818223-airport-worker-receives-police-warning-for-ogling-bodyscanner-images-of-woman.do Heathrow guard ‘used scanner to leer at colleague’s naked body’ Rashid Razaq Rashid Razaq 24.03.10 A Heathrow  security guard faces the sack after a woman colleague reported him for using a body scanner to take “naked” pictures of her. Airport bosses have launched an investigation after John Laker, 25, was alleged to have used the device meant to detect bombs and explosives to look at a fellow employee's breasts. Jo Margetson, 29, reported the guard as saying “I love those gigantic tits” when she walked through the X-ray machine, and then said he pressed a button to take a revealing photo. Ms Margetson has taken leave following the incident. She said: “I can't bear to think about the body scanner thing. I'm totally traumatised. I've spoken to the police about it. I'm in too much of a state to go to work.” Mr Laker is the first airport worker to have been allegedly caught abusing the body scanners, which were introduced by the Government in the wake of the Christmas Day bomb plot by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The machines work by producing full-body “nude” images of passengers to locate hidden weapons or objects and give detailed outlines of the genitalia. Civil rights campaigners, who have opposed the devices for invasion of privacy, said the case highlighted the potential for abuse and they should be withdrawn immediately. Heathrow and Manchester airports already have the scanners, with Gatwick and Birmingham to follow this year. Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said: “This latest case serves to highlight the massive problems behind the Government's speedy roll-out of the body scanner. “There needs to be much more thought — how are those being employed being trained and vetted and how dangerous is the radiation these machines produce? Until that is done, Big Brother Watch is campaigning for a complete suspension in the national roll-out of airport body scanners.” Heathrow refused to confirm whether Mr Laker has been suspended from his job while the investigation is conducted. A spokeswoman for airport operator BAA said: “We treat any allegations of inappropriate behaviour or misuse of security equipment very seriously and these claims are being investigated thoroughly. If found to be substantiated, we will take appropriate action.” _________________________________________ 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/> The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Thu Mar 25 02:20:27 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:20:27 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Heathrow_guard_=E2=80=98used_scanner_to_l?= =?utf-8?q?eer_at_colleague=E2=80=99s_naked_body=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: <738504.75645.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <65be9bf41003241221w76338882o917c7ef9b8b9db7c@mail.gmail.com> <738504.75645.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <646581.6099.qm@web94706.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Appologise, am purified, Just serached extensively for scanner. No kind a porn is possible, but resolution must be verified. So a couple of safeguards need to be kept to suritise the gender security and neutrality. I believe better techologies and image viewing softwares can be devised. i DONT THINK HE REALLY HAD A REAL NUDE IMAGE. hE HAD AN x RAY EXTENTION OF HIS IMAGINATION. many people down the years have had ray extentions. The problem is that the gurad faced the audience, and could communicate his non sense to her. Think of Indian Police mis behaving with women. Nothing to do with scanners, but the way of implementation. Some people have seriuos problems with strip-search. instead more acceptable proceedures should be implemented, and Images should be recorded, so that future study may be possible. Defence some how thinks itself to be too strong for Emotions. Then to do Bull shit with any form that hurts sentiments of the society. ________________________________ From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Thu, 25 March, 2010 1:40:11 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Heathrow guard ‘used scanner to leer at colleague’s naked body’ Guess what Tahaji, we have these at some of our airports too, and some of our red-eyed guards regularly have the fun. Why not wlak naked then, if govt should be allowed to strip for security, coz we are not really ashamed of our bodiez, r we? LET THE SOCIETY ASK FOR AN ANSWER. Hidden cam Images get leaked and the enacters are at large, here......... ________________________________ From: Taha Mehmood <2tahamehmood at googlemail.com> To: Sarai Reader-list Sent: Thu, 25 March, 2010 12:51:45 AM Subject: [Reader-list] Heathrow guard ‘used scanner to leer at colleague’s naked body’ http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818223-airport-worker-receives-police-warning-for-ogling-bodyscanner-images-of-woman.do Heathrow guard ‘used scanner to leer at colleague’s naked body’ Rashid Razaq Rashid Razaq 24.03.10 A Heathrow  security guard faces the sack after a woman colleague reported him for using a body scanner to take “naked” pictures of her. Airport bosses have launched an investigation after John Laker, 25, was alleged to have used the device meant to detect bombs and explosives to look at a fellow employee's breasts. Jo Margetson, 29, reported the guard as saying “I love those gigantic tits” when she walked through the X-ray machine, and then said he pressed a button to take a revealing photo. Ms Margetson has taken leave following the incident. She said: “I can't bear to think about the body scanner thing. I'm totally traumatised. I've spoken to the police about it. I'm in too much of a state to go to work.” Mr Laker is the first airport worker to have been allegedly caught abusing the body scanners, which were introduced by the Government in the wake of the Christmas Day bomb plot by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The machines work by producing full-body “nude” images of passengers to locate hidden weapons or objects and give detailed outlines of the genitalia. Civil rights campaigners, who have opposed the devices for invasion of privacy, said the case highlighted the potential for abuse and they should be withdrawn immediately. Heathrow and Manchester airports already have the scanners, with Gatwick and Birmingham to follow this year. Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said: “This latest case serves to highlight the massive problems behind the Government's speedy roll-out of the body scanner. “There needs to be much more thought — how are those being employed being trained and vetted and how dangerous is the radiation these machines produce? Until that is done, Big Brother Watch is campaigning for a complete suspension in the national roll-out of airport body scanners.” Heathrow refused to confirm whether Mr Laker has been suspended from his job while the investigation is conducted. A spokeswoman for airport operator BAA said: “We treat any allegations of inappropriate behaviour or misuse of security equipment very seriously and these claims are being investigated thoroughly. If found to be substantiated, we will take appropriate action.” _________________________________________ 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/>       The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.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/> The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Mar 25 07:22:27 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:22:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Grandma's postcards Message-ID: A beautiful piece by Anu Kumar http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/03/21/stories/2010032150160500.htm From rashneek at gmail.com Thu Mar 25 08:37:42 2010 From: rashneek at gmail.com (rashneek kher) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:37:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley In-Reply-To: References: <907595.62970.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <13df7c121003242007r54cc9598qbc93a6e48bef6371@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sonia and others, The total number of registered families is 56,714 in Jammu and Delhi.These are figures from relief commisioners office in Jammu.Considering that there were joint families at the time of exodus,I assume 6-7 persons per family.That should peg the figure at approx 3.5 lacs for those who faced exodus.This figure has approx 2000 muslim amd sikh families too. Then obviously there were many(i dont have the numbers) families of Pandits who worked in India and abroad but had roots in Kashmir,ones' like Kshmendra. PK claims that Pandits are 7.5 lacs though there is no ststistics to back it,but as they say,there are lies,damned lies and statisctics. Yet we must have them.So Pandits need to build a worldwide data base since the community prides itself on its technological prowess in the new world.Our requests to GoI to enquire on what caused exodus and how many Pandits are there exactly have fallen on deaf ears.So Pandits need to do it themselves. One fact that the news item makes is about ethnic cleansing.Assuming even if Pandits were only 3 lacs and now reduced to 3000 itself is a gory description of cleansing of ethnicity and a gene pool.I am leaving the customs,culture,religion and other such issues for a dfifferent debate on a different day. With Love Rashneek On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:28 PM, S. Jabbar wrote: > Dear Kshmendra, > I feel a bit ashamed to nitpick with anyone who has lost or suffered, and > believe me when I say that I do this with some reluctance. > > Only abt a little over 1.5 lakh KPs were registered. So therefore when > people estimated between 2.5-3.5 lakh, I took their word for it without > quibbling, knowing most researchers working on statistics would keep the > margin of error as not more than 10%. > > I understand and sympathize with your heartbreak over the loss of identity, > but I tend to look at this a little differently. All compounded phenomena > are subject to change. Cultures are not static and neither are identities. > They have always been dynamic, always in flux, always ready to change into > something else whether it is from an event like a road bringing in traders > from another part of the world, or invaders or an idea. Culture and > identity is always in the making and will metamorphose into something else. > Don¹t mourn its loss. Something positive is also happening to your > community. Look for it. I always take great pleasure in listening to the > Dalai Lama who interprets his painful exile as a necessary karmic journey > to > bring the Buddha¹s word back to the land of its birth after a 1000 years of > absence. I see this happening across hundreds of monasteries across > Himachal, Sikkim, Darjeeling and Ladakh, and then in the amazing Tibetan > colleges of Sera, Ganden, in south India and the Institute of Buddhist > Dialectics in Dharamsala. How truly wonderful! > > Best wishes, > sj > > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:09:40 -0700 (PDT) > To: Pawan Durani , "S. Jabbar" > > Cc: Sarai > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > Dear Sonia > > The principle (in the point that Pawan sought to make) that I agree with: > > Apart from those KPs who are statistically registered as "migrants", there > was a substantial number (not registered as 'migrants' and not physically > dislocated in the post 1980s violence) who were connected to Kashmir, who > regularly visited Kashmir, who had property in Kashmir, for whom Kashmir > continued to be "Home" even if they were not physically present in Kashmir > through most of the year. > > These people too (apart from the registered 'migrants) got disconnected > from > Kashmir. These people too got dislocated from Kashmir. These people too got > displaced from Kashmir. These people too lost Kashmir > > I do not have the resources to estimate the numbers of such people > (certainly many tens of thousands) but they have to be added to those who > were registered as KP 'migrants'. > > Since I do not have any fair estimation of numbers, I do not want to > quibble > over numbers or what someone said or someone did. > > The "principle" for understanding that I was trying to put across goes much > beyond RTIs and Registrations and Testimonies. > > I agree with you about the "tragedies of war" and I do not see the KP > problem as the only problem of displacement in the World. > > Try as I will to be dispassionate, I cannot, when I see the erasure of a > unique socio-cultural-religious group taking place. The primary reason for > that being it getting disconnected from it's environment where it was > nurtured and grew. Since that identity is an intrinsic part of me, each > time I reflect on that identity dying out, a part of me dies too. > > This is not about individual cases but about a socio-cultural-religious > sub-set of the human species. It is about Aborginese and Maoiris and > Native-Americans, about the Hangul and the Garyal and the Gir Lion and the > Bengal Tiger. > > Guess I do not make much sense. > > Take care > > K > > > > > > > > --- On Wed, 3/24/10, S. Jabbar wrote: > > > > From: S. Jabbar > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" , "Pawan Durani" > > > > Cc: "Sarai" > > Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 5:56 PM > > > > Dear Kshmendra, > > > > What is the principle of Pawan¹s point, which you agree with and which is > > always overlooked? > > > > The RTI was filed by Rashneek if I remember correctly and the deflated > GoI > > figure did not distinguish between KP and Muslims killed. I reacted to > > Pawan¹s assertion of the population of Pandits before exile being 7 > million, > > which he then admitted was a mistake and said that the figure was 7 lakh. > > When I pressed further about the source, he said it was his estimate, > which > > Aditya then urged me to believe. > > > > I find it strange that I am being urged to drop the testimonies of scores > of > > KP¹s I have interviewed over the years in the Valley, in Jammu, in Delhi > all > > of whom estimated the population to be around 250-350,000‹ and that too > by > > young men who claim to further the interests of their community. > > > > > > As much as I find your story poignant, I see it part and parcel of the > larger > > tragedy of war as it is played out in many parts of the world, be it > > Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Tibet, Burma or Palestine, and not with > the > > specific statistics quoted by Pawan. What you describe is what both my > > father¹s side of the family and my mother¹s side of the family suffered > in > > different ways when India was partitioned in 1947. I have a Sinhala > friend > > who lives in exile and cannot return to her home because she questioned > the > > Rajpaksha government in its mad drive against the Tamils of Sri Lanka. I > met > > Kashmiris in Pakistan who wept and begged me to do something so that they > > could return home. I have Tibetan friends who ask me to tell and re-tell > my > > stories of traveling in Tibet, the now-forbidden land. I make common > cause > > with Burmese students in their annual sit-ins in Jantar Mantar, with the > > Afghans I meet in Bhogal or Nizamuddin, with my Palestinian friend who is > > walled into one tiny part of her homeland. War is a terrible thing. And > as I > > said earlier, if you have the capacity to feel, one person¹s suffering is > > suffering enough. > > > > Sonia > > > > > > From: Kshmendra Kaul > > Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:49:00 -0700 (PDT) > > To: "S. Jabbar" , Pawan Durani > > > > Cc: Sarai > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir valley > > > > Dear Sonia > > > > I will hazard no guess or estimate on number of KPs who were killed in > Kashmir > > 1980s onwards. > > > > I will also not guesstimate the number of KPs 'displaced' from Kashmir. > > > > But I agree with the principle of the point that Pawan has tried to make > and > > which is most often (always) overlooked. > > > > Let me give my own example. > > > > Our family was not from amongst those who were displaced from Kashmir > because > > of the post 1988 violence. > > > > We had ancestral property in Karan Nagar. Sold as a 'distress sale' due > to > > pressure from my father's cousins. > > > > We had our own House in Jawahar Nagar and Land in Nishat which, seeing > the > > security situation in Kashmir, we sold. Those were not 'distress sales' > in > > terms of fair value received, but were from another point of view > "distress > > sales". The family's visits to Kashmir stopped post 1988 violence and the > > House was lying unused and rotting away and the Land we were advised is > better > > sold as otherwise it might get 'occupied'. > > > > Pre 1989, we used to visit Kashmir every year and often more than once a > year. > > My parents, after retirement used to spend sometimes upto 6 months in > Kashmir > > although it no longer was home-base. > > > > Our family might not have been kicked out or forced by the security > situation > > to leave but we could no longer go back every year as we used to. > > > > Am I displaced from Kashmir? Is our family displaced? Were we tourists > that > > went back every year? > > > > Which statistic do I belong to? > > > > It is not just me or my family, it is many a thousand families who's > > components might not have had gainful employment or businesses in > Kashmir and > > might have been resident out of Kashmir (J&K) through most of the year > but > > continued to have a residence in Kashmir (be it in some cases only a > small > > portion in ancestral property) and were year on year regularly spending > time > > in Kashmir. They were in Kashmir for marriages, for other religious and > social > > gatherings, or simply for a holiday. > > > > Simply for a holiday in exactly the same manner as many a million other > go > > back "home" on Annual Leave, Vacations (students) whichever other part of > > India or the World (away from "home") they might be employed in, studying > in > > or living in most of the year. > > > > What statistics do those many a tens of thousands KPs (just like me) > belong > > to? Those who do not back back every year. Those who cannot go back > every > > year . Those to whom Kashmir is lost? > > > > Kshmendra > > > > PS. Why so many KPs were, even Pre-1989, living/working/studying outside > > Kashmir (J&K) is another story. > > > > > > > > > > --- On Wed, 3/24/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > >> > >> From: Pawan Durani > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > valley > >> To: "S. Jabbar" > >> Cc: "Sarai" > >> Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 10:59 AM > >> > >> Dear Sonia , > >> > >> There are two reports , one in which the minister is quoted as saying > >> that 219 Pandits were killed in 1990 and the other one in Hindu where > >> Shujaat Bukhari quotes timeline between 1989-2004. > >> > >> We had filed an RTI with the home ministry few years back which quoted > >> around 16K people having died in Kashmir. > >> > >> The government figure in terms of killing does not contain those where > >> no police complaint had been filed or where the people were straight > >> away termed as missing. > >> > >> Regarding the number of people who have been uprooted , we > >> unfortunately do not have a specific data . I estimate it to be 700K , > >> My estimate is based on rough estimate in major cities across Indian > >> and abroad. The Government report may be based on number of people > >> who are registered as "migrants" .. Just quoting my own family of 6 > >> which includes my parents , only my mother was registered as a migrant > >> [ No to draw financial support ] as she was a Government school > >> teacher. In my maternal home , non of the 9 members are registered as > >> 'Migrants' > >> > >> Regards > >> > >> Pawan > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM, S. Jabbar >> > > >> wrote: > >>> > But the news item you just posted quoted a figure of 'over 380,000.' > Over > >>> > the years I was told by Pandits themselves that the population was > around > >>> > 350,000. This is the first time I've come across your figure of > 700,000. > >>> > Please substantiate/explain/quote a source. > >>> > > >>> > Also pl see this report: > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > Date:24/03/2010 URL: > >>> > http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm > >>> > > >>> > ³219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989² > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > Shujaat Bukhari > >>> > > >>> > 24,202 Pandit families migrated out of the Valley due to turmoil > >>> > > >>> > Centre sanctioned special package for return, rehabilitation of > migrants > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said 219 > Kashmiri > >>> > Pandits were killed by militants since 1989 while 24,202 families > were > >>> among > >>> > the total 38,119 families which migrated out of the Valley due to > turmoil. > >>> > > >>> > Replying to a question from People's Democratic Party member Syed > Basharat > >>> > Bukhari, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla told the Assembly in Jammu > that > >>> ³219 > >>> > Pandits were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From 2004, no > killing of > >>> > any person from the community [Kashmiri Pandits] took place till > now,² Mr. > >>> > Bhalla said. > >>> > > >>> > A total number of 38,119 families comprising 1,42,042 Kashmiri > migrants > >>> were > >>> > registered with the Revenue and Relief Ministry till now. > >>> > > >>> > The Minister said the government had also paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 > lakh > >>> for > >>> > each death. ³Besides, an amount of Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as > >>> > compensation to the Pandits on account of damage to their properties > since > >>> > the eruption of militancy,² he said. > >>> > > >>> > An amount of Rs.71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other > >>> > facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts > in > >>> > 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from 2009 up to > >>> > January, 2010. > >>> > > >>> > Mr. Bhalla said the government was committed to facilitating their > return > >>> to > >>> > Kashmir but regretted that no action could be taken on various plans > and > >>> > recommendations as the situation was not conducive for their return. > >>> > > >>> > ³With the improvement in the situation in the Valley, the government > >>> decided > >>> > to construct 200 flats at an estimated cost of Rs.22.90 crore at > >>> Sheikhpora > >>> > Budgam in 2004. And 120 flats have so far been completed of which > >>> possession > >>> > of 60 flats was taken over by the department and inspection of other > 60 > >>> > flats is going on. The construction of remaining 80 flats shall be > >>> completed > >>> > during 2010. Besides, 18 flats have also been constructed through the > >>> Jammu > >>> > and Kashmir Housing Board at Mattan Anantnag,² he told the House. > >>> > > >>> > A committee headed by M.L. Koul, the then Finance Commissioner, > Planning > >>> and > >>> > Development Department, was formed to prepare an action plan for the > >>> return > >>> > and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. In its report > >>> > submitted to the government in 1997-98, the committee recommended a > >>> package > >>> > of Rs.2,799.11 crore for the return of migrants. > >>> > > >>> > Mr. Bhalla said a special package of Rs. 1,618.40 crore was > sanctioned by > >>> > the Government of India for the return and rehabilitation of the > migrants. > >>> > ³Under this scheme, 3,000 supernumerary posts have been created, > >>> exclusively > >>> > for the Kashmiri migrants, willing to return to the Valley. These > posts > >>> have > >>> > already been referred to the recruiting agencies and the process for > the > >>> > selection of these posts is on,² he said. > >>> > > >>> > But, despite all these rehabilitation packages, not a single Kashmiri > >>> > migrant has returned to the Valley, the Minister rued. > >>> > > >>> > He said that 808 Pandit families consisting of 3,445 people were > still > >>> > living in the Valley. > >>> > > >>> > ³These families have never migrated,² he said. > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > © Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>>> >> From: Pawan Durani >>>> > > > >>>> >> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:18:41 +0530 > >>>> >> To: "S. Jabbar" >>>> > > > >>>> >> Cc: Sarai >>>> > > > >>>> >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > >>>> valley > >>>> >> > >>>> >> My apologies..... My whole days goes into $ conversion into INR > ....I > >>>> >> got lost into that . It should have been 700 K. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM, S. Jabbar < > sonia.jabbar at gmail.com > >>>> > > > >>>> wrote: > >>>>> >>> Are you serious? Please explain. I am truly baffled. > >>>>> >>> > >>>>> >>> > >>>>>> >>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>>> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pawan.durani at gmail.com> > > >>>>>> >>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:14:44 +0530 > >>>>>> >>>> To: "S. Jabbar" >>>>>> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> > > >>>>>> >>>> Cc: Sarai >>>>>> > > > >>>>>> >>>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in > Kashmir > >>>>>> valley > >>>>>> >>>> > >>>>>> >>>> Yes ! > >>>>>> >>>> > >>>>>> >>>> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM, S. Jabbar < > sonia.jabbar at gmail.com > >>>>>> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> > > >>>>>> wrote: > >>>>>>> >>>>> 7 million? > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> From: Pawan Durani >>>>>>>> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pawan.durani at gmail.com> > > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:38:26 +0530 > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> To: reader-list >>>>>>>> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=reader-list at sarai.net> > > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Less than 3,500 Pandits left in > Kashmir > valley > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> "A Seven million community reduced to three thousand by > Jihadis > & > >>>>>>> >>>>> Islamic > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> fanatics" > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> > http://sify.com/news/Less-than-3-500-Pandits-left-in-Kashmir-valley > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> -news-National-kdxtabhbiji.html > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Less than 3,500 Pandits left in Kashmir > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> valley > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> 2010-03-23 19:00:00 > >>>>>>> >>>>> A massive demographic change has taken place in > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmir valley which > >>>>>>> >>>>> now has a mere 3,445 Kashmiri Pandits left as against > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> more than > >>>>>>> >>>>> 380,000 in 1990, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister Raman > Bhalla > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> said > >>>>>>> >>>>> Tuesday. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Making the disclosure in the state legislative assembly, the > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> minister > >>>>>>> >>>>> said that 'only 808 families of Kashmiri Pandits were living > in > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> the > >>>>>>> >>>>> valley' and the total number of men, women and children of > the > >>>>>>> >>>>> community > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> there 'is 3,445'. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Bhalla said that most of the Kashmiri Pandits had fled the > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> valley in > >>>>>>> >>>>> 1990 because of fear of militants. 'The killing of community > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> members > >>>>>>> >>>>> led to a fear psychosis in the community,' he said, adding > that > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> 219 > >>>>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits were killed in 1990. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Though the minister did not specify > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> it, the number of the families > >>>>>>> >>>>> living in the valley included 31 families of > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits living > >>>>>>> >>>>> in a protected zone in Sheikhpora in Budgam district > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> and also the > >>>>>>> >>>>> officials working in the banks and central government > departments > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> and > >>>>>>> >>>>> organisations. Their exact number is however not known. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> More than 350,000 > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Kashmiri Pandits had fled the valley in 1990. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Those who stayed back, migrated > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> after massacres of the community > >>>>>>> >>>>> members in Sangrampora in Budgam district in > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> March 1997, Wandhama in > >>>>>>> >>>>> Ganderbal, near Srinagar, in January 1998 and Nadimarg > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> in south > >>>>>>> >>>>> Kashmir in March 2003. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Kashmiri Pandits are now mostly living in > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Jammu and Udhampur within > >>>>>>> >>>>> the state, and in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Maharashtra. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Bhalla, however, reiterated the state government's resolve to > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> bring > >>>>>>> >>>>> the community back to the valley. He said that work is on to > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> construct > >>>>>>> >>>>> the transit accommodation for them in the valley, where they > would > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> be > >>>>>>> >>>>> housed before their original properties are restored to them. > >>>>>>> >>>>> > >>>>>>> >>>>> Prime > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a Rs.1,618 crore > relief > >>>>>>> >>>>> and > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> rehabilitation package for the return of the Kashmiri > Pandits to > >>>>>>> >>>>> the 'land of > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> their grandfathers and great grandfathers,' during his > >>>>>>> >>>>> visit to Jammu April > >>>>>>>> >>>>>> 25, 2008. > >>>>>>> >>>>> _________________________________________ > >>>>>>> >>>>> 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 > >>>>>>>> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?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 > >> < > http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Thu Mar 25 09:58:06 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:58:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] How 7 Dogs Got Between the US and Pakistan Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003242128i36fb3125r94aa8e9eb9d57090@mail.gmail.com> http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/dog-rescue-part-of-a-larger-pakistani-issue/19406942 (March 24) -- J.T. Gabriel received a message just before Thanksgiving from the wife of a Marine: Seven U.S.-supplied drug dogs were facing a certain death in Pakistan and needed to find adoptive homes. But what began as a simple message about dogs soon became embroiled in a larger issue of U.S.-Pakistan relations. The seven dogs were the only ones believed to be left from a group of more than two dozen specially trained canines provided to Pakistan under a counternarcotics program funded by the Pentagon. Unused and abused, the dogs were going to be euthanized within a month. K9 Soldiers Several of the dogs saved from certain death in Pakistan take a dip following their return to the United States. The wife of the Marine contacted the Defense Department, hoping to save the dogs. U.S. officials were sympathetic but not in a position to help. So she turned to Gabriel, who runs a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization called K9 Soldiers. K9 Soldiers, which Gabriel founded to support military dogs, wasn't meant to be a dog-rescue organization. But then she saw pictures of surviving dogs living in horrific conditions in Karachi, Pakistan, where they were supposed to be used by customs officials looking for narcotics. "Of course, when I looked into the e-mail and opened the picture of the abuse these dogs had suffered, it was impossible to say no," Gabriel said. Three dogs were taken in by U.S. Embassy personnel in Pakistan. The only option for the other four was to bring them back to the United States because Pakistan doesn't have a culture of dog adoption, Gabriel said. A private individual agreed to take possession of the dogs, but K9 Soldiers still needed several thousand dollars per dog to cover the shipping costs to the United States. Gabriel was concerned about raising those funds in time. But the money started pouring in when she posted pictures of the dogs on the Web. "We were able to raise $20,000 in two weeks," she said, "which just floored me." Still, Gabriel encountered bureaucratic problems getting the dogs out of Pakistan, she said. She asked a congressman and the State Department for an inquiry into the issue, hoping to draw attention to the story of abuse. Then she got word from someone she describes as "high up in counternarcotics in Pakistan" who asked that she take down the pictures of the abused dogs she had posted on her Web site. Apparently, the photos were embarrassing the Pakistani government. "I was spitting bullets," she recalled. "If they don't want to be embarrassed, don't treat a living thing like that." But she agreed to take down the pictures to move the process forward. The dogs were soon handed over and ready to be sent back to the United States. The last one, a black Labrador named "Sammy," arrived last month. This is not just a shaggy dog tale. The canines are part of a larger problem that has characterized U.S. security and military aid for Pakistan, which has reached more than $10 billion since 9/11. The assistance has been aimed at helping Pakistan combat militants and police its border with Afghanistan, but it has long been fraught with allegations of misuse. One problem is that Pakistan will often accept equipment, such as helicopters, but not the training that goes with it, according to Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. "In terms of the broader security assistance, what the U.S. has tried to do is ensure that appropriate training is provided," Curtis said. "I think in the past that has not always been the case." Richard Douglas, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics under George W. Bush, said he couldn't comment on the specific case of the Pakistan canines. However, he recalled declining to fund a similar drug dog program for a foreign country because of concerns that the animals would not be properly cared for. K9 Soldiers The last of the dogs, who were among more than two dozen canines given to Pakistan for a counternarcoctics program, was returned to the United States in February. But Douglas also said it is important to understand the unique difficulties that Pakistan faces. "I know from personal experience that Pakistani public security forces carry a counterterror and counterdrug burden whose magnitude is not fully perceived in the West," he said. "They do so without adequate resources and in harsh and unforgiving terrain, both topographically and politically." The Defense Department was not able to provide comment about the drug dogs by publication time. A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. Pakistan's army chief is in Washington this week to meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other senior military officials as part of a weeklong strategic dialogue meant to strengthen bilateral relations. For Gabriel, the issue is not relations with Pakistan, but making sure there is proper training in those countries that receive canines and proper oversight of the private contractors that supply them. "We don't want to unnecessarily embarrass the Pakistanis," Gabriel insisted. Nor is providing trained dogs to allied countries always a bad thing, she noted. "I know that our military had an international canine force in Iraq, and I have heard and received pictures of Iraqis training with our American military," she said. "They come to love the dogs and understand they aren't wild dogs; these are dogs that have a unique talent to save citizens and military personnel from explosives and narcotics." In the case of the surviving Pakistan dogs, the story at least has a happy ending. The four dogs are recovering. Gabriel has found permanent homes for all of them, including one that was placed with a U.S. Navy canine handler. "They are the happiest dogs I've ever seen," she said. "Somehow they know they're back in America." From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Thu Mar 25 10:05:45 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:05:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] How 7 Dogs Got Between the US and Pakistan In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003242128i36fb3125r94aa8e9eb9d57090@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003242128i36fb3125r94aa8e9eb9d57090@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi Both America and Pakistan must be castigated for this military expenditure as it simply ensures the divergence of money away from what should be in the interests of the people living in South Asia. And India too can't avoid its' own share in criticism. It is utterly disgusting that while India and Pakistan keep spending money on defence purposes and nuclear materials to bomb each other (in the name of maintaining a nuclear deterrence, which is useless), the USA is giving funds to Pakistan in the name of FMF (Foreign Military Financing) so that their companies can get the necessary contracts and the American defence industry can churn out equipments and earn profits, besides ensuring that India too participates in the arms race for their benefit. All funds for development could have been diverted through agencies like UNICEF, UNESCO and World Bank with expert monitoring of the situation on the ground to check misuse of money, and yet this misuse, while known to USA is allowed in the name of ensuring Pakistan remains stable. Rakesh From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Mar 25 10:23:51 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:23:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] For 'book activists' and community libraries Message-ID: >From http://blog.prathambooks.org/2010/03/shall-i-give-you-good-book.html On my recent trip to Varanasi, I discovered an unassuming little treasure called क्या मैं तुम्हें एक अच्छी किताब दूं? शौकिया पुस्तक कर्मियों के लिए एक किताब (translated as Shall I Give You a Good Book? A Book for Amateur Book Activists), that was published way back in 2003. As I savoured page after page, there was absolute admiration for the sincerity and sheer commitment on the part of the authors -- Usha Rao, T. Vijayendra, and Shailaja Kalle. As the preface will tell you, none of them are native speakers of Hindi, and have not studied the language beyond high school. While they apologise for the inaccuracies that might have crept into their use of the language, they also express a conviction that the earnestness of their intent will more than compensate. They have put together an excellent resource for people who want to start community libraries in villages and small towns, or hold book exhibitions to create awareness about the vast amount of reading material that is available, or even run small bookshops. The book starts off as a letter written by Usha to her friends Damayanti and Shyama, and spans the whole gamut of practical details involved in such an enterprise; from initiating contact with publishers, to filing correspondence, keeping accounts, selecting and ordering books, classifying books based on age group and genre, generating interest in reading, and sustaining a culture of reading. In addition to this, the book also offers you publisher contact information and lists of books classified under various categories. It is a low-budget publication, in keeping with the constituency it sets out to serve. The book may not be printed on fancy and colourful paper, but the anecdotes and sketches liven it up. Priced at a modest Rs. 25, it is a collaborative venture by eight publishers from various parts of the country. I am reproducing here the address of each, so that you can pick up your copy from the one that you find most convenient. Manchi Pustakam, 12-13-452 Street No. 1, Tarnaka, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500017. Tel. 040-27015295/6 http://manchipustakam.in/contact.asp Bal Sahitya Bhandar, Chaurai, Post Barginagar, Dist. Jabalpur 482056. Madhya Pradesh Rupantar, A 26, Surya Apartments, Katora Taalaab, Raipur 492001, Chhattisgarh. Tel. 0771-2424669 Shishu Milap, 1, Shrihari Apartments, Behind Express Hotel, Alkapuri, Vadodara 390007. Gujarat. Tel. 0265-2342539 Sahitya Chayan, 91, L. I. G., Hastal, Uttamnagar, New Delhi 110059. Tel. 011-25633254 Bal Sahiti, Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, S. C. F., 18/1, Sector 10-D, Chandigarh 160011. Tel. 0172-543557 Roshnai Prakashan, 212 C.L./A., Ashok Mitra Road, Near Circus Maidan, Kanchrapada, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Jeevan Mangalya, Near Telephone Exchange, Kausani, Dist. Almora 263639, Uttarakhand. PS: Many thanks to Hema-ji for introducing me to this wonderful book From shuddha at sarai.net Thu Mar 25 10:31:06 2010 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:31:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] For 'book activists' and community libraries In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Chintan, Thank you for this wonderful and inspiring post. best Shuddha On 25-Mar-10, at 10:23 AM, Chintan wrote: > From http://blog.prathambooks.org/2010/03/shall-i-give-you-good- > book.html > > On my recent trip to Varanasi, I discovered an unassuming little > treasure > called क्या मैं तुम्हें एक > अच्छी किताब दूं? शौकिया > पुस्तक कर्मियों के लिए एक > किताब (translated as Shall I Give You a Good Book? A Book > for Amateur Book > Activists), that was published way back in 2003. > > > As I savoured page after page, there was absolute admiration for the > sincerity and sheer commitment on the part of the authors -- Usha > Rao, T. > Vijayendra, and Shailaja Kalle. As the preface will tell you, none > of them > are native speakers of Hindi, and have not studied the language > beyond high > school. While they apologise for the inaccuracies that might have > crept into > their use of the language, they also express a conviction that the > earnestness of their intent will more than compensate. > > > They have put together an excellent resource for people who want to > start > community libraries in villages and small towns, or hold book > exhibitions to > create awareness about the vast amount of reading material that is > available, or even run small bookshops. > > > The book starts off as a letter written by Usha to her friends > Damayanti and > Shyama, and spans the whole gamut of practical details involved in > such an > enterprise; from initiating contact with publishers, to filing > correspondence, keeping accounts, selecting and ordering books, > classifying > books based on age group and genre, generating interest in reading, > and > sustaining a culture of reading. In addition to this, the book also > offers > you publisher contact information and lists of books classified under > various categories. > > > It is a low-budget publication, in keeping with the constituency it > sets out > to serve. The book may not be printed on fancy and colourful paper, > but the > anecdotes and sketches liven it up. Priced at a modest Rs. 25, it is a > collaborative venture by eight publishers from various parts of the > country. > I am reproducing here the address of each, so that you can pick up > your copy > from the one that you find most convenient. > > > Manchi Pustakam, 12-13-452 Street No. 1, Tarnaka, Secunderabad, Andhra > Pradesh 500017. Tel. 040-27015295/6 > > http://manchipustakam.in/contact.asp > > > Bal Sahitya Bhandar, Chaurai, Post Barginagar, Dist. Jabalpur > 482056. Madhya > Pradesh > > > Rupantar, A 26, Surya Apartments, Katora Taalaab, Raipur 492001, > Chhattisgarh. Tel. 0771-2424669 > > > > Shishu Milap, 1, Shrihari Apartments, Behind Express Hotel, Alkapuri, > Vadodara 390007. Gujarat. Tel. 0265-2342539 > > > Sahitya Chayan, 91, L. I. G., Hastal, Uttamnagar, New Delhi 110059. > Tel. > 011-25633254 > > > Bal Sahiti, Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, S. C. F., 18/1, > Sector > 10-D, Chandigarh 160011. Tel. 0172-543557 > > > Roshnai Prakashan, 212 C.L./A., Ashok Mitra Road, Near Circus Maidan, > Kanchrapada, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. > > > Jeevan Mangalya, Near Telephone Exchange, Kausani, Dist. Almora > 263639, > Uttarakhand. > > > PS: Many thanks to Hema-ji for introducing me to this wonderful book > _________________________________________ > 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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Thu Mar 25 11:05:27 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:05:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] For 'book activists' and community libraries In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks, Shuddha. Loved writing it. On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 10:31 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote: > Dear Chintan, > > Thank you for this wonderful and inspiring post. > > best > > Shuddha > > On 25-Mar-10, at 10:23 AM, Chintan wrote: > > From > http://blog.prathambooks.org/2010/03/shall-i-give-you-good-book.html > > On my recent trip to Varanasi, I discovered an unassuming little treasure > called क्या मैं तुम्हें एक अच्छी किताब दूं? शौकिया पुस्तक कर्मियों के लिए > एक > किताब (translated as Shall I Give You a Good Book? A Book for Amateur Book > Activists), that was published way back in 2003. > > > As I savoured page after page, there was absolute admiration for the > sincerity and sheer commitment on the part of the authors -- Usha Rao, T. > Vijayendra, and Shailaja Kalle. As the preface will tell you, none of them > are native speakers of Hindi, and have not studied the language beyond high > school. While they apologise for the inaccuracies that might have crept > into > their use of the language, they also express a conviction that the > earnestness of their intent will more than compensate. > > > They have put together an excellent resource for people who want to start > community libraries in villages and small towns, or hold book exhibitions > to > create awareness about the vast amount of reading material that is > available, or even run small bookshops. > > > The book starts off as a letter written by Usha to her friends Damayanti > and > Shyama, and spans the whole gamut of practical details involved in such an > enterprise; from initiating contact with publishers, to filing > correspondence, keeping accounts, selecting and ordering books, classifying > books based on age group and genre, generating interest in reading, and > sustaining a culture of reading. In addition to this, the book also offers > you publisher contact information and lists of books classified under > various categories. > > > It is a low-budget publication, in keeping with the constituency it sets > out > to serve. The book may not be printed on fancy and colourful paper, but the > anecdotes and sketches liven it up. Priced at a modest Rs. 25, it is a > collaborative venture by eight publishers from various parts of the > country. > I am reproducing here the address of each, so that you can pick up your > copy > from the one that you find most convenient. > > > Manchi Pustakam, 12-13-452 Street No. 1, Tarnaka, Secunderabad, Andhra > Pradesh 500017. Tel. 040-27015295/6 > > http://manchipustakam.in/contact.asp > > > Bal Sahitya Bhandar, Chaurai, Post Barginagar, Dist. Jabalpur 482056. > Madhya > Pradesh > > > Rupantar, A 26, Surya Apartments, Katora Taalaab, Raipur 492001, > Chhattisgarh. Tel. 0771-2424669 > > > > Shishu Milap, 1, Shrihari Apartments, Behind Express Hotel, Alkapuri, > Vadodara 390007. Gujarat. Tel. 0265-2342539 > > > Sahitya Chayan, 91, L. I. G., Hastal, Uttamnagar, New Delhi 110059. Tel. > 011-25633254 > > > Bal Sahiti, Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, S. C. F., 18/1, Sector > 10-D, Chandigarh 160011. Tel. 0172-543557 > > > Roshnai Prakashan, 212 C.L./A., Ashok Mitra Road, Near Circus Maidan, > Kanchrapada, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. > > > Jeevan Mangalya, Near Telephone Exchange, Kausani, Dist. Almora 263639, > Uttarakhand. > > > PS: Many thanks to Hema-ji for introducing me to this wonderful book > _________________________________________ > 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 Thu Mar 25 15:33:07 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 03:03:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "AVAZ" - voice for children with Cereberal Palsy Message-ID: <750625.12056.qm@web57206.mail.re3.yahoo.com> "AVAZ" ‘AVAZ’ – a product created by Invention Labs, Chennai.   AVAZ is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). AVAZ is a portable speech synthesizer which can be controlled by gross motor movements of a child with CP, such as approximate movement of the head or of large muscle groups. These movements are captured by the use of a touch-screen or an external switch to allow the child to create text sentences on the device using predictive software, and this text is read out by the device. AVAZ is thus an artificial voice for the child.   "About Invention Labs" Invention Labs is a startup based out of Chennai and incubated at IIT Madras. Voted one of the hottest startups in India by Business Today in 2009, Invention Labs was founded by alumni of IIT Madras. With a diversity of experience gained from working for multinational corporations at different locations worldwide, the founding members of Invention Labs returned to India in 2007 to set up Invention Labs as an organization that invents products for the unmet needs of the Indian consumer.   Read more about "AVAZ" at   http://www.thebetterindia.com/1287/avaz-voice-support-speech-impaired/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBetterIndia+%28The+Better+India%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail   AND   http://www.slideshare.net/InventionLabs/introduction-to-avaz-an-aac-device   From mitoo at sarai.net Thu Mar 25 15:42:55 2010 From: mitoo at sarai.net (Mitoo Das) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:42:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Invite for cycle rickshaw and handcart pullers rally 29 March 2010 Message-ID: <4BAB3727.1080903@sarai.net> Manushi Sangathan invites you to come and express solidarity with and make a personal statement of support for the cycle rickshaw, trolley rickshaw pliers and hand cart pullers at a first of its kind rally being organized on March 29, 2010 to celebrate and demand the speedy implementation of the historic Order of the Delhi High Court passed on 10th February, 2010 striking down the existing exploitative cycle rickshaw policy as unconstitutional. The event is being organized in collaboration with Kalyankari Cycle Theli Samiti and Haath Thela Mazdoor Union. The rally will start at 11 a.m. on March 29 from Parade Ground, Red Fort and conclude at Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi at Rajghat. From there a delegation will go and present a Memorandum on behalf of cycle rickshaw and hand cart puller to the Chief Secretary Delhi Govt, Mr Rakesh Mehta and to MCD Commissioner, Mr Mehra. Several eminent citizens have agreed to flag off and lead a procession of cycle rickshaws and hand pulled carts tied together in a single file to claim legitimate road space for non motorized vehicles. The single file of rickshaws will ensure that we do not cause any obstruction for regular traffic. The above mentioned High Court Order was passed after lengthy hearings by a full constitutional Bench of the Delhi High Court in a petition filed by Manushi Sangathan in 2007. The bench comprised of three of the finest judges of India--Justice Ravindra Bhat, Justice S. Murlidhar and the recently retired Chief Justice AP Shah of the Delhi High Court —one of the most learned, fair minded and compassionate legal luminaries of India. The High Court directed the Chief Secretary of Delhi Govt to constitute a special Task Force “to review all aspects pertaining to traffic flow, registration of vehicles, restrictions in respect of vehicular movement (of all classes of vehicles – heavy, light, private, non-motorized,) and make such recommendations, as would promote the objectives of ensuring equitable access to all kinds of vehicles, minimizing harmful impact on the environment, smoothening the flow of traffic, and at the same time accommodate the concerns of all interests.” We are particularly happy that the High Court will be monitoring the workings of the Task Force on a monthly basis on the 2nd Wednesday of each month to ensure that the Task Force actually evolves a more a rational, non discriminatory policy to include cycle rickshaws and other Non Motorized Vehicles as an integral part of Delhi's transport system. Our Demands * As per the orders of Delhi High Court, the discriminatory and highly exploitative License Quota Raid Raj imposed on cycle rickshaw sector be dismantled and licenses be available on demand as for other motorized vehicles. * The new cycle rickshaw policy proposed by Manushi and under consideration of the Expert Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi should be approved and implemented speedily. * Separate tracks for Non Motorized Vehicles be created as per the mandate of the Delhi Master Plan. * Cycle Rickshaws, hand carts and other NMVs be treated as an integral part of Delhi’s transport system and their use encouraged, especially considering that they are eco friendly since they do not consume carbon fuels and do not cause air or noise pollution. * Authorized cycle rickshaw stands should be provided all over the city so that pullers are not unduly harassed and beaten up by the Traffic Police on the absurd charge of causing obstruction and being “encroachers” on public land. * End to arbitrary penalties, extortionist bribes, harassment of pullers, end to confiscation and destruction of cycle rickshaws and hand carts by the police and municipal authorities.The Task Force should expeditiously evolve and submit a non discriminatory, realistic traffic management regime with provisions for an empowered implementation authority for approval of the Hon’ble High Court. Manushi’s fight for dismantling the License Quota Raid Raj for cycle rickshaws and hand cart pullers is part of a larger Bottom up Agenda of Economic Reforms. We hope you will not only join us for the Rally on March 29 at 11 a.m. but also do your bit to press upon city authorities to provide due recognition to and road space for non motorized eco friendly vehicles. For more details of Manushi's 16 year long battle on behalf of cycle rickshaw pullers and the policy reforms recommended by Manushi, we invite you to visit our website www.manushi.in We would appreciate a line confirming your participation. Look forward to your joining us on the 29th. Sincerely, Madhu Kishwar Madhu Purnima Kishwar Editor, Manushi Journal, Founder, Manushi Sangathan Tel: 011 23978851, 23916437. Manushi website: www.manushi.in Madhu Kishwar blog at www.madhukishwar.in _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 25 18:09:10 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:39:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) In-Reply-To: <348465.95085.qm@web112109.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <672227.18468.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear AKM   That disclaimer was important so that there is no clouding of  what actually is contained in the CPCB report. I had spent quite some time analysing it and didnt want that wasted since it revealed to me that declaring Gujarat to be the 'most polluted State' was a misrepresentation of the actual contents of the report.   As it happens to be, it was not a disclaimer of convienience but factual and out of conviction.   It should be understood that the attacks you referred to are not attacks on Gujarat but on Modi. Modi is the target. Gujarat just happens to be the State of which he was/is CM and so gets mentioned.    Modi 'was' the CM of Gujarat when some of the most horrific incidents of violence took place in 2002.   Such incidents of violence have taken place in other parts of the country too, why should Modi specially be targetted? The answer to that is quite simple.   Modi is specially targetted, not primarily because he was the CM but because of substantial suspicion that he and the Administration under his control (and indeeed his directions) was complicit in the incidents of violence.   One could say to that, that Modi is 'innocent' until proven 'guilty' by due processes of Law.    That would be a fair point to make.   Let me tell you now why I too look at Modi with intense suspicion:   - Day in and day out Modi is accused in the Media (and every now and then in public speeches) by someone or the other of being 'guilty'. He is declared as 'guilty' without any margin of error.   - What kind of a person is Modi that through all these years, under such a barrage of declarations of his 'guilt', Modi has not countered it by proceeding Legally against such accusers? Shouldnt Modi be launching Legal Cases against such accusers and telling them "C'mon, prove your accusation, or apologise and suffer penalties".   - I would do that. Wouldnt you? Especially if one had the facility of the whole State Legal Establishment to aid you in proving your innocence as the Chief Minister.    - Any excuse that the matter is sub-judice would be quite simply nonsensical. No Legalities can or should be allowed to hamper the availability of the basic provisions of Justice. Has Modi even tried to do so? No!   - Oh but this one did not do it in a similar such and such case. Oh but that one didnt do it a similar that and that case. No!. No such excuse either can be anywhere good enough to justify Modi's (seemingly) lack of concern about the accusations.    - Please remember, it not just any citizen who is being constantly accused of 'murders' and 'complicity in organised killings' but the Chief Minister of a State.   It might so be that there not much purchase for Political-Morality and Political-Ethics in India anymore. Maybe.   That does not assuage my intense suspicions about Modi, seeing how Modi is quite shamelessly not reacting Legaly to being constantly called a 'murderer'.    Kshmendra     --- On Tue, 3/23/10, A.K. Malik wrote: From: A.K. Malik Subject: Re: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) To: "Kshmendra Kaul" Cc: "Sarai List" Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:28 PM Hi Mr Kaul,             I can't gather why people in this list are out to show Gujarat State is in shambles and why have you to give a disclaimer, what scares you? As part of the Central team, I have visited Bihar on several occasions and travelled extensively, had discussions privately with the DMs, Commissioners, Govt functionaries and people on the roads, residences, I have seen substantial improvements during the current regime,but discussions in this list seem to suggest otherwise.Gujarat visits have not been that much extensive but I have seen the differences.What are we going to achieve to convince people who have a stagnating mind set? Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) > To: "Pawan Durani" , ravig64 at gmail.com > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 7:32 PM > Dear Ravi >   > Thank you for posting the weblink. What follows is not > directed at you. It is a general note. >   > MY DISCLAIMER : I am not a supporter of Modi, or of the BJP > or RSS or VHP or BD or SS. I consider Hindutvavaad to be > contemptible and Anti-India. >   > It is sickening that I need to  make such a disclaimer. > The quality of understanding displayed by some on this List > and their obvious prejudgments, prejudice and bias, forces > me to do this. >   > Now the CPCB Report: >   > 1. It is not a report about pollution in States as a > composite whole but about pollution in selected 88 > Industrial Clusters spread over the country. >   >     It would highly incorrect to transpose the data > into a comment on the whole State based on the Comprehensive > Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) of selected Industrial > Clusters in the State. >   >     If it is so revealed, then a better statement would > be """""Out of the Industrial Clusters (ICs) studied by > CPCB, some of the " most critically polluted" and "severely > polluted" are in Gujarat"""".  That is for those who are > interested in focusing on Gujarat. >   > 2. What does the report reveal: >   >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, 43 of > the 88 ICs are "critically polluted" >   >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers set by CPCB, > 32 of the 88 ICs are "severely polluted" >   >     - Top 20 culprits in descending severity Ankleshwar > (Gujarat); Vapi (Gujarat); Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); > Chandrapur (Maharashtra); Korba (Chhatisgarh); Bhiwadi > (Rajasthan); Angul Talcher (Orissa); Vellore (North Arcot) > (Tamilnadu); Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh); Ludhiana (Punjab); > Nazafgarh drain basin (Delhi); Noida (Uttar Pradesh); > Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Dombivalli (Maharashtra); Kanpur (Uttar > Pradesh); Cuddalore (Tamilnadu); Aurangabad (Maharashtra); > Faridabad (Haryana); Agra (Uttar Pradesh); Manali > (Tamilnadu) >   >     - Statewise share of the 88 ICs studied by CPCB: > > * Andhra Pradesh       Total= 5     > Critical= 2        Severe= 1        Other= > 2 > * Assam                    > Total= 2     Critical= 0        Severe= 0        > Other= 2 > * > Bihar                       Total= 2     Critical= 0        > Severe= 1        Other= 1 > * Chattisgarh              Total= 3     > Critical= 1        Severe= 1        Other= > 1 > * Delhi                       > Total= 1     Critical= 1        Severe= 0        Other= > 0 > * Gujarat                    > Total= 9     Critical= 6        Severe= 2        Other= > 1 > * Haryana                   > Total= 2     Critical= 2        Severe= > 0        Other= 0 > * Himachal Pradesh    > Total= 3     Critical= 0        Severe= > 3        Other= 0 > * Jharkhand                > Total= 5     Critical= > 1        Severe= 4        Other= 0 > * Karnataka                > Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= 3        > Other= 0 > * Kerala                     Total= > 1     Critical= 1         > Severe= 0        Other= 0 > * Madhya > Pradesh      Total= 5      Critical= 1        > Severe= 3        Other= 1 > * Maharashtra             Total= 8      > Critical= 5        Severe= 3       Other= > 0 > * Orissa                     > Total= 4     Critical= 3        > Severe= 1         Other= 0 > * Punjab                    > Total= 4      Critical= 2        > Severe= 2        Other= 0 > * Rajasthan                > Total= 4      Critical= 3        Severe= 1        Other= > 0 > * Tamilnadu                > Total= 7      Critical= 4        > Severe= 2        Other= 1 > * Uttar Pradesh           Total= > 12    Critical= 6        > Severe= 3        Other= 3 > * Uttarakhand             > Total= 2       Critical= > 0        Severe= 1       Other= 1 > * West Bengal            Total= 4       > Critical= 3        Severe= 1       Other= 0 > The above results can be interpreted and summarised in a > variety of ways. My (hopefully objective) summary would be: >   > a. 88 Industrial Clusters/Areas  ICs spread over 20 > States were selected by CPBC >   > b. 43 of these were evaluated as being "Critically > Polluted" and 32 as "Severely Polluted" >   > c. Of the selected ICs, the top ranking 2 evaluated as > "Most Critically Polluted" are from Gujarat. >   > d. In the top 20 "Most Critically Polluted" list, 5 ICs > figure from Uttar Pradesh, 3 each from Maharashtra and > Tamilnadu and 2 from Gujarat. >   > e. Cent percent of the selected ICs from Delhi (1), > Haryana (2), Kerala (1) were evaluated as "Critically > Polluted" >   > f. The number of  "Critically Polluted" ICs was the most > in Gujarat (6 out of 9); Maharashtra (5 out of 8); Uttar > Pradesh (6 out of 12); Tamilnadu (4 out of 7); and > then Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal placed similarly (3 > out of 4) >   > g. The combined number of ICs that were found to > be "Critically Polluted" and "Severely Polluted" were the > most in Uttar Pradesh (9 out of 12, - 75%);  Gujarat (8 > out of 9, - 89%);  Maharashtra  (8 out of 8, - 100%); > Tamilnadu (6 out of 7, - 86%); Jharkhand (5 out of 5, - > 100%); Karnataka (5 out of 5, - 100%); Madhya Pradesh (4 out > of 5, - 80%); Orissa (4 out of 4, - 100%); Punjab (4 out of > 4, - 100%);  Rajasthan (4 out of 4, - 100%); West Bengal (4 > out of 4, - 100%) >   > Kshmendra > > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Ravi Agarwal > wrote: > > > From: Ravi Agarwal > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement of > Gujarat - No.1 in pollution > To: "Pawan Durani" > Cc: "sarai list" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:29 AM > > > Dear all, > > For details of this analysis - "Comprehensive Environment > Assessment of > Industrial Areas" please refer to the recent (Dec 2009)  > Central Pollution > Control Board Document at > > http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_152_Final-Book_2.pdf > > > Pages 26/27/28 are state wise pollution indicies and these > can be compiled > for each state. If i am not wrong, Gujarat has 8 sites > mentioned above the > cutt- off level defining 'critical level of pollution,' > (amongst the > highest) and 1 site at the borderline. Similarly data for > other sites can be > compiled here. > > This is a first such report done by a premier Govt agency > and verifies what > other independent studies have been showing in the recent > past. > > Best wishes > ravi agarwal > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > Dear Rakesh , > > > > The said article had been reported by IANS. However on > further > > investigation , there seems to be some doubt in the > authenticity of > > the article itself. > > > > Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all > > PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC > > > > Non of these releases has anything to mention on above > subject. > > > > Regards > > > > Pawan > > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer > > wrote: > > > Hi > > > > > > An article, specially for those who keep singing > paeans about Narendra > > Modi > > > and his administration on this forum, without > trying to see the other > > way. > > > > > > Rakesh > > > > > > Link: > > > > > http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm > > > > > > Article: > > > > > > Gujarat most polluted state in India, Maharashtra > 2ndThe Central > > Pollution > > > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the most > polluted state in India [ > > > Images > ]. The > > > conclusion has been based on the increasing > levels of pollution and toxic > > > wastes. > > > > > > There are seven states in the country that > account for 80 per cent of the > > > total hazardous wastes and among these Gujarat > tops the list, followed by > > > Maharashtra [ Images< > > http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=maharashtra>] > > > and Andhra Pradesh. > > > > > > Even after being declared as the most polluted > state, the Gujarat > > government > > > has not taken any necessary measures to prevent > the problem aggravating > > > further, environmental activists say. > > > > > > Criticising the state government for not taking > any adequate remedial > > > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh Pandya, > director of an NGO named > > > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), held > the authorities and > > > industrialists responsible for such an alarming > polluted environment. > > > > > > "There are six toxic waste sites in Vapi, two in > Ankleshwar, one in > > Vadodara > > > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government of > Gujarat has recognised these > > > waste sites. But till today the government has > not mentioned anything to > > > clear up these waste sites. So who are > responsible ultimately," said > > Pandya. > > > > > > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state government, > they ask the association of > > > industries to clear it up. These associations say > it's not their > > > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating > pollution and affecting the > > > masses," he added. > > > > > > People residing near the industrial estates have > developed health and > > > breathing related problems, the forum said. > People have blamed the toxic > > > smoke and wastes discharged by the factories. > > > > > > "Because of the air pollution, the village > environment is getting > > affected. > > > Villagers have been here since ages but the > industries were set up after > > a > > > long period of time. We face so much difficulty. > We cannot leave food in > > > open or even the clothes outside for drying," > said Kirit Patel, a > > resident > > > of Narol industrial area. > > > > > > "We are even becoming prone to breathing and > health problems. Pollution > > is > > > indeed a big problem," he added. > > > > > > According to a recent report by the central > government, Gujarat accounts > > for > > > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of > hazardous waste, while it is 25 > > per > > > cent in Maharashtra. > > > > > > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent in > generation of hazardous > > > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ > > > Images] > > > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ > > > Images > ] > > and > > > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. > > > Source: ANI > > > _________________________________________ > > > 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 kauladityaraj at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 09:02:10 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:02:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] People protest shifting of Army camp In-Reply-To: <451047181003251241h5441ab9dy488e849cb9aaaa1f@mail.gmail.com> References: <451047181003251241h5441ab9dy488e849cb9aaaa1f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <6353c691003252032r65b22101o2ce7b6a36ceb8f6f@mail.gmail.com> *People protest shifting of Army camp* Daily Excelsior Correspondent *Srinagar, Mar 24: *In a major development, a large number of people of Gadbad village in Lolab valley of Kupwara district in North Kashmir today protested against the proposed shifting of an Army camp located in the area. The residents blocked all roads leading out of the camp area to prevent troops from moving from the place. They also petitioned senior officers including Commander 8 Sector Rashtriya Rifles to reconsider the decision to relocate the camp. "We do not want the Army to shift its camp from here. They have protected us from militants and their excesses. We do not want the dark days to return. If required, we will approach the highest possible authority including in Delhi", said 75-year-old Ghulam Ahmad Sheikh. Sheikh's two daughterswere killed by militants in late 1990s. Defence sources said it was the first instance where people have openly come out against shifting of a security forces camp from their area as they fear return of militancy there. Earlier, several protests have been held at many places including Bomai in Sopore area and Pakharpora in Pulwama by local residents, demanding shifting of security forces' camps from their areas. A Defence spokesman said the Lolab Valley was a hotbed of militancy till the establishment of various Rashtriya Rifles camps in the area provided a sense of security to the locals. Defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said "readjustment of troops in active counter insurgency operations is a dynamic and ongoing process. However, this is a very heartening development. The senior officers are aware of the matter and the security grid will not be affected." -- Aditya Raj Kaul Cell - +91-9873297834 Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 10:39:24 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:39:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Jalandhar boys wins the Street Child World Cup Football Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003252209h1114121dl746fd60c0e4b976@mail.gmail.com> http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100326/main6.htm Chandigarh, March 25 The IPL is in full swing. Crowds in the stadiums are teeming, TRPs are phenomenal and cricket, like always, is making waves. Even in these times of forced oblivion, football in India has taken a big, but modest step forward. Thanks to Youth Football Club, Rurka Kalan (Jalandhar), India won the inaugural Street Child World Cup held in South Africa from March 15 to 21 by beating Tanzania in the final. The YFC team was representing India and fought it out with Tanzania, Philippines, Brazil, UK, Nicaragua, Ukraine and hosts South Africa. The tournament, which was organised by Amos Trust, UK, was held with the purpose of highlighting the issues faced by people from deprived corners of the world. That India, a country with poor footballing credentials, won means it was a double whammy, the cause and the sport being winners. YFC got the chance of becoming a part of this tournament due to their collaboration with Khalsa Football Academy, UK. YFC, which was set up by the young people of Rurka Kalan village, is run by a self-sustaining model. It raises funds through winning prize money tournaments and has been able to build sufficient infrastructure with the help of NRIs. This model has produced the highest-paid defender in Indian football, Anwar, and shows that even if you don’t have the diet to burn endless calories on the field, a burning desire to do well can fit just right in. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 10:45:21 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:45:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Pandits cry foul over casualty data Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003252215w57408d8dk739018c365c1e2d7@mail.gmail.com> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100325/jsp/nation/story_12259946.jsp Srinagar, March 24: Only 219 Kashmiri Pandits have died during the last two decades of militancy, the Omar Abdullah government told the Assembly today, drawing scorn from the community which claims the figure is many times more. Revenue minister Raman Bhalla said the 219 deaths at the hands of militants occurred between 1989, when the militancy started, and 2004, adding that no Pandit was killed in the last six years. These are the first government figures of casualties among Pandits, whose exodus from the Valley because of militancy has stirred debates in the state and outside. Agnishekhar, president of Panun Kashmir Movement, a key community group, dubbed the figures political manipulation. “The purpose is to defame us, trivialise our sufferings. The fact is that no less than 1,200 Pandits were killed by militants and around 30,000 more died in exile from natural and unnatural causes.” Estimates of casualties put out by other Pandit groups over the past few years have varied from 1,000 to 5,000. The Pandits also disputed the figures on the scale of the exodus. Minister Bhalla said 34,202 Pandit families out of a total of 38,119 (around 1.4 lakh people) — the rest being Muslims and Sikhs — migrated to Jammu. State relief commissioner Vinod Kaul, whose department is tasked with the head-count and helping migrants, appeared to accept that the numbers could be more. “The estimated number of migrant families registered in Jammu and elsewhere is around 57,000 (most of them Pandits) but there are families who have not registered themselves with our department,” he said. That may put the number of registered Pandits in the entire country at close to 2.5 lakh. Around 808 families — 3,445 people — still live in the Valley. Agnishekhar alleged that the migration figures were also manipulated. “We believe the number is 3.5 lakh. But these are the Pandits and their children who migrated after 1989, which we call the seventh migration. Many Pandits migrated before that as well and we believe our number globally is around seven lakh,” he said. The government has initiated steps for the return and rehabilitation of Pandits. Last year, the Centre announced a special package of Rs 1,618.40 crore for the community. The state, on its part, recently created 3,000 posts for the community, and asked recruiting agencies to start the process of selecting the candidates. From 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com Mon Mar 22 18:37:41 2010 From: 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com (Taha Mehmood) Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:07:41 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Godhra Muslims invite Modi as a Chief Guest in their grand function In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003220434x691c686axea4b51a40557363c@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003220434x691c686axea4b51a40557363c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <65be9bf41003220607t7f078958q34f6e81fd22b1574@mail.gmail.com> If subset A is part of a Universal set B, then can A represent B? Can a wheel represent a car? Can a dome of Sansad bhavan be made to represent the Parliament house of India? If so, then how? Can members of Dawoodi Bohra community who follow one of the interpretation of the broader Shiite interpretation of the Koran and the Sunnah be made to represent all Muslims of Godhra? Is Syedna a representative of all Muslims of Godhra? If not then when shall the media stop this mind numbing illogical labeling? From heitjohann at web.de Tue Mar 23 18:08:49 2010 From: heitjohann at web.de (Jens Heitjohann) Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:38:49 +0100 (CET) Subject: [Reader-list] RESONANZEN Festival for Audio Culture - 2010 April 15th-18th - Leipzig/Germany Message-ID: <23335801.526817.1269347929732.JavaMail.fmail@mwmweb001> RESONANZEN Festival for Audio Culture 2010 April 15th - 18th Schaubuehne Lindenfels and Tapetenwerk Leipzig, Germany Performances & Concerts // Exhibition // Symposium + + + + + + + At the festival RESONANZEN contemporary radioplays, sound installations, concerts and performances will be presented and discussed. The various contributions are dedicated to different questions concerning the staging of the listener and the listening. + + + + + + + www.resonanzen-leipzig.de ___________________________________________________________ GRATIS für alle WEB.DE-Nutzer: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! Jetzt freischalten unter http://movieflat.web.de From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 13:11:25 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:11:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Required Research Analyst | Gender and Development | UNRISD, Geneva In-Reply-To: <6292b08b1003260036l3050b7e3x5a0324da0a46340d@mail.gmail.com> References: <151f29c01003251008q4a5e05abm16815c458abcee49@mail.gmail.com> <6292b08b1003260036l3050b7e3x5a0324da0a46340d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Vasudha Dhingra Date: Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 10:38 PM Subject: [Opportunity1205] Required Research Analyst | Gender and Development | UNRISD, Geneva To: * Research Analyst: Gender and Development (posted on 24 Mar 2010) UNRISD requires the assistance of a researcher familiar with literature and debates on the politics of gender and social policy, the political economy of care, and gender dimensions of employment and labour markets. http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BF3C2/setLanguageCookie?OpenAgent&langcode=en&url=/80256B3C005BF3C2/search/D3D7309C5AB787D9C12576F0003CECDC?OpenDocument ------------------------------------------------------------ From javedmasoo at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 13:24:48 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:24:48 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] giving passport to Israelis can be risky Message-ID: Beware: It seems you are at a risk if you are handing over your passport to any Israeli official such as Isreali airlines officer, immigration officer or any other official - at the pretext of showing your documents to their senior officer, they may go "inside" for a few minutes and be back. There is an official scheme to clone passports and use them for acitivies against Hamas: http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2010/03/israeli-security-passport-cloners-in-uniform/ http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/24-Mar-2010/Israeli-cloning-of-British-passports-was-intolerable-Miliband http://themancommon.blogspot.com/2010/03/clone-wars-mossads-london-chief.html http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1158345.html http://www.pault.com/hotfeed/c/57049-uk-israe-pass-kill/ http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/03/25/israels-passport-farm/ http://tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=216345 From kmvenuannur at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 14:24:56 2010 From: kmvenuannur at gmail.com (Venugopalan K M) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:24:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Fwd=3A_Mossad_Angle_About_Indian_S?= =?windows-1252?q?tate=27s_Counter-Offensive=3F_=5BSee_also-_Mossad?= =?windows-1252?q?=92s_Murderous_Reach=3A_The_Larger_Political_Issu?= =?windows-1252?q?es_By_James_Petras=5D?= In-Reply-To: <1f9180971003252319o8a5725bubf9d5fc696de7402@mail.gmail.com> References: <1f9180971003252319o8a5725bubf9d5fc696de7402@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1f9180971003260154y795cd0f3sf97f16dd5f68891c@mail.gmail.com> !. Arundhati Roy: "....An article on the internet says that Israel’s Mossad is training 30 high-ranking Indian police officers in the techniques of targeted assassinations, to render the Maoist organisation “headless”. There’s talk in the press about the new hardware that has been bought from Israel: laser range-finders, thermal imaging equipment and unmanned drones, so popular with the US army. Perfect weapons to use against the poor.." http://www.countercurrents.org/roy220310.htm -- 2. James Petras: "..So far, most critical comments, in Israel and elsewhere, of Mossad’s recent murder in Dubai focus on the agents’ “incompetence”, including allowing their faces to be captured on numerous security videos as they clumsily changed their wigs and costumes under the camera gaze . Other critics complain that the bungling Mossad is “tarnishing Israel’s image” as a democratic state and providing ammunition for the anti-Semites. None of these superficial criticisms have been repeated by the US Congress, White House or the Presidents of the Major Jewish American organizations, where the mafia rule of Omerga, or silence, reigns supreme and criminal complicity is the rule Conclusion While the critics bemoan the clumsy Mossad job, making it harder for Western powers to provide Israel with diplomatic cover for its operations abroad, the fundamental issue is never addressed: The Mossad’s acquisition and alteration of official British, French, German and Irish passports of dual Israeli citizen’s underscores the cynical and sinister nature of Israel’s exploitation of its dual citizens in the pursuit of its own bloody foreign policy goals. Mossad’s use of genuine passports issued by four sovereign European nations to its citizens in order to murder a Palestinian in a Dubai hotel room raises the question of to whom ‘dual’ Israeli citizens really owe their allegiance and just how far they are willing to go in defending or promoting Israel’s overseas assassinations. Thanks to Israel’s use of British passports to enter Dubai and murder an adversary, every British businessperson or tourist traveling in the Middle East will be suspected of links to Israeli death squads. With elections this year and the Labor and Conservative parties counting heavenly on Zionist millionaires for campaign funding, it remains to be seen whether Prime Minister Gordon Brown will do more than whimper and cringe!" http://www.countercurrents.org/petras220210.htm -- 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 From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 21:39:38 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:39:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Consultant needed for UNICEF Project: Protecting Child Rights in the Metal ware Communities in Moradabad Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: nupur UNICEF Invites applications for Consultant – for the project on Protecting Child Rights in the Metal ware Communities in Moradabad Duration: Eleven months Location: Moradabad Major Duties and Responsibilities: The Programme Officer will report to the Project Coordinator and be supervised by the Education Specialist, UNICEF UP on technical aspects of education component plan and implementation. S/he will ensure the following actions: • Promote adoption of appropriate multi-level teaching methods to improve teaching learning process at primary level for all schools. • Work with the Labour Department’s Transitional Education Centers, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan’s alternative learning centres, private-unaided-schools to enhance their effectiveness in terms of teaching, learning practices and progression of children to mainstream educational system. • Develop capacities of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) in school management and performance assessments of schools. • With help from PTAs and community based organizations, introduce processes in school which promote inclusion and treat children with dignity. • Provide technical assistance to the education department, and promote access to education for children working in the hazardous metal ware communities. • Train teachers, para-teachers on multi-level teaching process and joyful learning techniques/pedagogy in mainstream government, private-unaided-schools and TECs. Qualifications • Post-graduate degree in social sciences including education, development studies; urban studies; or gender studies. • Two years or more working in the development sector, with a strong focus on education; rights based approaches; and integrated approaches to addressing development. • Experience of working with marginalized sections, particularly in slum areas. • Knowledge of various Government sponsored education programmes and schemes of the state government. • Strong report writing and monitoring skills. From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Fri Mar 26 22:32:46 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:32:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Making the Grade: CBSE's big switch from marks to grades In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: From http://www.teacherplus.org/cover-story/making-the-grade Excerpts from the article: "The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s new mandate on continuous and comprehensive evaluation requiring schools to make a shift from marks to grades is meeting with a mixed response. While on the one hand, there is relief and even celebration, there’s uncertainty and skepticism on the other. We spoke with a few people to get a sense of how the change is being received." "Grades are being seen as a healthier alternative to marks, because grades do not equate the child’s capability with a number that might provide an incomplete picture of the child’s attainment levels." "The CBSE’s new grading scheme will take into account a child’s participation in extra-curricular activities, life skills, attitudes and values, along with his or her performance in academic subjects. How one can award grades for ‘honesty’, ‘respect towards teachers’, ‘emotional skills’, ‘creative thinking’, ‘ability to handle criticism’ is something worth mulling over." "Sure, one can produce a list of indicators that attempt to place controls on teachers’ subjectivity, or even ensure grading by multiple teachers. However, is it even desirable to grade all of these things in the first place, and artificially produce normative behaviour? Would such grading create another kind of pressure – the pressure to be seen as a well-behaved, law-abiding, goody-two-shoes student, for without it one’s grade sheet would make a sorry picture?" "The switch from grades to marks necessitates a change in teachers’ attitudes as well as administrative procedures. And this change can be unsettling on several counts – the subjectivity involved in awarding a grade, the maintenance of elaborate records, working with colleagues to mutually decide upon a grade, giving up the idea of using a number/mark to sum up a child’s performance, and the sudden increase in workload. Any teacher training programmes that seek to initiate teachers into the new grading system must take these issues into consideration." From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 27 02:02:08 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:32:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) In-Reply-To: <672227.18468.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <154238.23748.qm@web112116.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Kaul, You may be right or you may be wrong. Just because some one doesn't file a case for defamation does not mean he/she has accepted the accusations.May be a defamation could damage some one politically. Same inaction we have seen with the police and subsequently with Administration with our own eyes at the time of Sikhs massacre in 1984. Congress functionaries have also never filed any defamation cases against the accusations.I am not trying to prove two wrongs make it a right.My feeling is the inner inhibitions remain with everyone whether at politcal/administrative or even judicial levels and that may at times get reflected in actions or inactions. Let us see what happens in his appearnace with SIT and what comes out. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Thu, 3/25/10, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > From: Kshmendra Kaul > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - It is not about pollution in a State (my take) > To: "A.K. Malik" > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 6:09 PM > Dear AKM >   > That disclaimer was important so that there is no > clouding of  what actually is contained in the CPCB > report. I had spent quite some time analysing it and didnt > want that wasted since it revealed to me that declaring > Gujarat to be the 'most polluted State' was a > misrepresentation of the actual contents of the > report. >   > As it happens to be, it was not a disclaimer of > convienience but factual and out of conviction. >   > It should be understood that the attacks you referred > to are not attacks on Gujarat but on Modi. Modi is the > target. Gujarat just happens to be the State of which > he was/is CM and so gets mentioned.  >   > Modi 'was' the CM of Gujarat when some of the > most horrific incidents of violence took place in 2002. > >   > Such incidents of violence have taken place in other > parts of the country too, why should Modi specially be > targetted? The answer to that is quite simple. >   > Modi is specially targetted, not primarily because he > was the CM but because of substantial suspicion that he and > the Administration under his control (and indeeed his > directions) was complicit in the incidents of > violence. >   > One could say to that, that Modi is 'innocent' > until proven 'guilty' by due processes of > Law.  >   > That would be a fair point to make. >   > Let me tell you now why I too look at Modi with > intense suspicion: >   > - Day in and day out Modi is accused in the Media (and > every now and then in public speeches) by someone or the > other of being 'guilty'. He is declared as > 'guilty' without any margin of error. >   > - What kind of a person is Modi that through all these > years, under such a barrage of declarations of his > 'guilt', Modi has not countered it by proceeding > Legally against such accusers? Shouldnt Modi be launching > Legal Cases against such accusers and telling them > "C'mon, prove your accusation, or apologise and > suffer penalties". >   > - I would do that. Wouldnt you? Especially if one had > the facility of the whole State Legal Establishment to aid > you in proving your innocence as the Chief > Minister.  >   > - Any excuse that the matter is sub-judice would be > quite simply nonsensical. No Legalities can or should > be allowed to hamper the availability of the basic > provisions of Justice. Has Modi even tried to do so? > No! >   > - Oh but this one did not do it in a similar such and > such case. Oh but that one didnt do it a similar that and > that case. No!. No such excuse either can be anywhere > good enough to justify Modi's (seemingly) lack of > concern about the accusations.  >   > - Please remember, it not just any citizen who is > being constantly accused of 'murders' and > 'complicity in organised killings' but the Chief > Minister of a State. >   > It might so be that there not much purchase for > Political-Morality and Political-Ethics in India anymore. > Maybe. >   > That does not assuage my intense suspicions about > Modi, seeing how Modi is quite shamelessly not reacting > Legaly to being constantly called a > 'murderer'.  >   > Kshmendra >   >   > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, A.K. Malik > wrote: > > > From: A.K. Malik > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - > It is not about pollution in a State (my take) > To: "Kshmendra Kaul" > > Cc: "Sarai List" > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:28 PM > > > Hi Mr Kaul, >             I can't > gather why people in this list are out to show Gujarat State > is in shambles and why have you to give a disclaimer, what > scares you? > As part of the Central team, I have visited Bihar on > several occasions and travelled extensively, had discussions > privately with the DMs, Commissioners, Govt functionaries > and people on the roads, residences, I have seen substantial > improvements during the current regime,but discussions in > this list seem to suggest otherwise.Gujarat visits have not > been that much extensive but I have seen the > differences.What are we going to achieve to convince people > who have a stagnating mind set? > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Kshmendra Kaul > wrote: > > > From: > Kshmendra Kaul > > Subject: [Reader-list] The CPCB report on Pollution - > It is not about pollution in a State (my take) > > To: "Pawan Durani" , > ravig64 at gmail.com > > Cc: "sarai list" > > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 7:32 PM > > Dear Ravi > >   > > Thank you for posting the weblink. What follows is > not > > directed at you. It is a general note. > > >   > > MY DISCLAIMER : I am not a supporter of Modi, or of > the BJP > > or RSS or VHP or BD or SS. I consider Hindutvavaad to > be > > contemptible and Anti-India. > >   > > It is sickening that I need to  make such a > disclaimer. > > The quality of understanding displayed by some on this > List > > and their obvious prejudgments, prejudice and > bias, forces > > me to do this. > >   > > Now the CPCB Report: > >   > > 1. It is not a report about pollution in States as a > > composite whole but about pollution in selected > 88 > > Industrial Clusters spread over the country. > >   > >     It would highly incorrect > to transpose the data > > into a comment on the whole State based on the > Comprehensive > > Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) of selected > Industrial > > Clusters in the State. > >   > > >     If it is so revealed, then a better > statement would > > be """""Out of the > Industrial Clusters (ICs) studied by > > CPCB, some of the " most critically > polluted" and "severely > > polluted" are in > Gujarat"""".  That is for those who > are > > interested in focusing on Gujarat. > >   > > 2. What does the report reveal: > >   > >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers > set by CPCB, 43 of > > the 88 ICs are "critically polluted" > >   > >     - Based on the CEPI value-markers > set by CPCB, > > 32 of the 88 ICs are "severely > polluted" > >   > >     - Top 20 culprits in descending > severity Ankleshwar > > (Gujarat); Vapi (Gujarat); Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); > > Chandrapur (Maharashtra); Korba (Chhatisgarh); > Bhiwadi > > (Rajasthan); Angul Talcher (Orissa); Vellore (North > Arcot) > > > (Tamilnadu); Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh); Ludhiana > (Punjab); > > Nazafgarh drain basin (Delhi); Noida (Uttar Pradesh); > > Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Dombivalli (Maharashtra); Kanpur > (Uttar > > Pradesh); Cuddalore (Tamilnadu); Aurangabad > (Maharashtra); > > Faridabad (Haryana); Agra (Uttar Pradesh); Manali > > (Tamilnadu) > >   > >     - Statewise share of the 88 > ICs studied by CPCB: > > > > * Andhra Pradesh       > Total= 5     > > > Critical= 2        Severe= > 1        Other= > > 2 > > * > Assam               >      > > > > Total= 2     Critical= 0        Severe= 0        > > Other= 2 > > * > > > Bihar                       Total= 2     Critical= 0        > > > Severe= 1        > Other= 1 > > * Chattisgarh       >        > Total= 3     > > > Critical= 1        Severe= 1        Other= > > 1 > > * > Delhi                >        > > > > Total= 1     Critical= 1        Severe= 0        Other= > > 0 > > * > Gujarat             >        > > > Total= 9     Critical= 6        Severe= 2        Other= > > 1 > > * > Haryana            >        > > > Total= 2     Critical= 2        Severe= > > > 0        Other= 0 > > * Himachal Pradesh    > > > > Total= 3     Critical= 0        Severe= > > > 3        Other= 0 > > * > Jharkhand                > > Total= 5     Critical= > > > 1        Severe= 4        Other= > 0 > > * > Karnataka          >       > > > Total= 5     Critical= 2        Severe= 3        > > Other= 0 > > * > Kerala                     Total= > > > > 1     Critical= 1         > > > Severe= 0        > Other= 0 > > * Madhya > > > Pradesh      Total= 5      Critical= 1        > > > Severe= 3        > Other= 1 > > * Maharashtra     >         > Total= 8      > > > Critical= 5        Severe= 3       Other= > > 0 > > * > Orissa               >       > > > Total= 4     Critical= 3        > > > > Severe= 1         > Other= 0 > > * > Punjab             >        > > > Total= 4      Critical= 2        > > > Severe= 2        > Other= 0 > > * > Rajasthan         >        > > > Total= 4      Critical= 3        Severe= 1        Other= > > 0 > > * > Tamilnadu         >        > > > Total= 7      Critical= 4        > > > Severe= 2        > Other= 1 > > * Uttar Pradesh    >        Total= > > > 12    Critical= 6        > > > Severe= 3        > Other= 3 > > * Uttarakhand      >        > > > Total= 2       Critical= > > > 0        Severe= 1       Other= > 1 > > * West Bengal     >        > Total= 4       > > > Critical= 3        > Severe= 1       Other= 0 > > The above results can be interpreted and summarised in > a > > variety of ways. My (hopefully > objective) summary would be: > >   > > a. 88 Industrial Clusters/Areas  ICs spread over > 20 > > States were selected by CPBC > >   > > b. 43 of these were evaluated as being > "Critically > > Polluted" and 32 as "Severely > Polluted" > >   > > c. Of the selected ICs, the top ranking 2 evaluated > as > > "Most Critically Polluted" are from > Gujarat. > >   > > d. In the top 20 "Most Critically Polluted" > list, 5 ICs > > figure from Uttar Pradesh, 3 each from Maharashtra > and > > Tamilnadu and 2 from Gujarat. > >   > > e. Cent percent of the selected ICs from Delhi > (1), > > Haryana (2), Kerala (1) were evaluated as > "Critically > > Polluted" > >   > > f. The number of  "Critically > Polluted" ICs was the most > > in Gujarat (6 out of 9); Maharashtra (5 out of 8); > Uttar > > Pradesh (6 out of 12); Tamilnadu (4 out of 7); > and > > then Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal placed > similarly (3 > > out of 4) > >   > > g. The combined number of ICs that were found to > > be "Critically Polluted" > and "Severely Polluted" were the > > most in Uttar Pradesh (9 out of 12, - 75%); >  Gujarat (8 > > out of 9, - 89%);  Maharashtra  (8 out of 8, > - 100%); > > Tamilnadu (6 out of 7, - 86%); Jharkhand (5 out of 5, > - > > 100%); Karnataka (5 out of 5, - 100%); Madhya Pradesh > (4 out > > of 5, - 80%); Orissa (4 out of 4, - 100%); > Punjab (4 out of > > 4, - 100%);  Rajasthan (4 out of 4, - 100%); West > Bengal (4 > > out of 4, - 100%) > >   > > Kshmendra > > > > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Ravi Agarwal > > wrote: > > > > > > From: Ravi > Agarwal > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Reg: Another achievement > of > > Gujarat - No.1 in pollution > > To: "Pawan Durani" > > Cc: "sarai list" > > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11:29 AM > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > For details of this analysis - "Comprehensive > Environment > > Assessment of > > Industrial Areas" please refer to the recent (Dec > 2009)  > > Central Pollution > > Control Board Document at > > > > http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_152_Final-Book_2.pdf > > > > > > Pages 26/27/28 are state wise pollution indicies and > these > > can be compiled > > for each state. If i am not wrong, Gujarat has 8 > sites > > mentioned above the > > cutt- off level defining 'critical level of > pollution,' > > (amongst the > > highest) and 1 site at the borderline. Similarly data > for > > other sites can be > > compiled here. > > > > This is a first such report done by a premier Govt > agency > > and verifies what > > other independent studies have been showing in the > recent > > past. > > > > Best wishes > > ravi agarwal > > > > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Pawan Durani wrote: > > > > > Dear Rakesh , > > > > > > The said article had been reported by IANS. > However on > > further > > > investigation , there seems to be some doubt in > the > > authenticity of > > > the article itself. > > > > > > Pls find All PIB releases mentioning Gujarat http://is.gd/aSOUJ all > > > PIB releases mentioning CPCB http://is.gd/aSOXC > > > > > > Non of these releases has anything to mention on > above > > subject. > > > > > > Regards > > > > > > Pawan > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 6:55 PM, Rakesh Iyer > > > > wrote: > > > > Hi > > > > > > > > An article, specially for those who keep > singing > > paeans about Narendra > > > Modi > > > > and his administration on this forum, > without > > trying to see the other > > > way. > > > > > > > > Rakesh > > > > > > > > Link: > > > > > > > http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/22/gujarat-most-polluted-state-in-india.htm > > > > > > > > Article: > > > > > > > > Gujarat most polluted state in India, > Maharashtra > > 2ndThe Central > > > Pollution > > > > Control Board has declared Gujarat as the > most > > polluted state in India [ > > > > > Images > > ]. The > > > > conclusion has been based on the increasing > > levels of pollution and toxic > > > > wastes. > > > > > > > > There are seven states in the country that > > account for 80 per cent of the > > > > total hazardous wastes and among these > Gujarat > > tops the list, followed by > > > > Maharashtra [ Images< > > > http://search.rediff.com/imgsrch/default.php?MT=maharashtra>] > > > > and Andhra Pradesh. > > > > > > > > Even after being declared as the most > polluted > > state, the Gujarat > > > government > > > > has not taken any necessary measures to > prevent > > the problem aggravating > > > > further, environmental activists say. > > > > > > > > Criticising the state government for not > taking > > any adequate remedial > > > > measures to tackle this problem, Mahesh > Pandya, > > director of an NGO named > > > > Paryavaran Mitra (Friends of Environment), > held > > the authorities and > > > > industrialists responsible for such an > alarming > > polluted environment. > > > > > > > > "There are six toxic waste sites in > Vapi, two in > > Ankleshwar, one in > > > Vadodara > > > > and one in Valadgaon. Even the government > of > > Gujarat has recognised these > > > > waste sites. But till today the government > has > > not mentioned anything to > > > > clear up these waste sites. So who are > > responsible ultimately," said > > > Pandya. > > > > > > > > > "If we pursue the (Gujarat) state > government, > > they ask the association of > > > > industries to clear it up. These > associations say > > it's not their > > > > responsibility. Now the toxics are creating > > pollution and affecting the > > > > masses," he added. > > > > > > > > People residing near the industrial estates > have > > developed health and > > > > breathing related problems, the forum said. > > People have blamed the toxic > > > > smoke and wastes discharged by the > factories. > > > > > > > > "Because of the air pollution, the > village > > environment is getting > > > affected. > > > > Villagers have been here since ages but the > > industries were set up after > > > a > > > > long period of time. We face so much > difficulty. > > We cannot leave food in > > > > > open or even the clothes outside for drying," > > said Kirit Patel, a > > > resident > > > > of Narol industrial area. > > > > > > > > "We are even becoming prone to > breathing and > > health problems. Pollution > > > is > > > > indeed a big problem," he added. > > > > > > > > According to a recent report by the central > > government, Gujarat accounts > > > for > > > > 29 per cent of the 6.2 million tonnes of > > hazardous waste, while it is 25 > > > per > > > > cent in Maharashtra. > > > > > > > > Andhra Pradesh is rated next with 9 per cent > in > > generation of hazardous > > > > waste, followed by Rajasthan [ > > > > Images] > > > > > with 5 per cent and West Bengal [ > > > > Images > > ] > > > and > > > > Tamil Nadu reckoned at 4 per cent each. > > > > Source: ANI > > > > _________________________________________ > > > > 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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Sat Mar 27 09:50:33 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:50:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia Message-ID: Hello friends I just received a mail from a teacher of mine whose cousin's son has borderline dyslexia. The child lives in Mumbai, and feels miserable at his current school. He is hardworking and and very sincere and needs to be in a place that will nurture his latent talents and creativity in a way that would enhance his confidence. The child's parents would appreciate any suggestions you can offer to help them find a good school. Thanks Chintan From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Sat Mar 27 11:42:43 2010 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:42:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Why I Won't Be Turning Out My Lights During Earth Hour Message-ID: <564b2fca1003262312h6697f76ahd2bcf98fc38e4b@mail.gmail.com> http://www.greenlightdhaba.org/2010/03/earth-hour-guest-post-delhi-activist.html Why I Won’t Be Turning My Lights Out During Earth Hour Earth Hour is upon us again. “Cities across the globe”, says an ad today in the Hindustan Times, “will switch off lights between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm.” Millions across the world will doubtless join in. I won’t be among them. Don’t get me wrong. Taken by itself, I’m not against symbolic acts such as these. For one, they take issues like climate change, sustainability, urban consumption, energy saving, etc to a whole lot of people, young and old, some of whom may possibly not have engaged with these issues before. Actually participating in such an event helps many people engage even more deeply. Two, by being observed across the world, it hints at the worldwide nature of some of these problems and the recognition that these issues are being debated all over. Having said that, events such as these may give many the feeling that they are doing something to save the environment when actually the direness and urgency of the crises suggest that a lot more need to be done. When someone is having a heart attack, one does not take a Dispirin, we rush them to hospital and intervene to the degree necessary. Well, the Earth is having a heart attack. How has it been manifesting itself? In climate change. In ongoing loss of species, at a rate so staggering that Edward Leakey and other folks refer to it as the 6th mass extinction of species in history (the fifth was when the dinosaurs were wiped out). In the loss of biodiversity. In peaking oil production, which is imminent. In declining groundwater, deepening across India. In stagnating food production. In polluted rivers. It has been having this multi-pronged heart attack for a while; some very respected folks talked about some aspects of it 20 years ago, some even earlier. And what are we doing 20 years later? Turning our lights out for an hour. The second thing that bothers me is that the Delhi government is actively involved in this. It promoted it last year. This year, the CM Sheila Dixit is inaugurating the main programme at India Gate. She heads the very government that is emitting tonnes of CO2 by spending crores on useless events like the Commonwealth Games, that has been cutting trees to widen roads for cars, and to build parking lots. The Indian government’s policy for two decades has been completely directed towards higher carbon emissions via consumption by the rich. Governments and elites tend to play up such symbolic events to hide the systemic nature of issues like climate change. By systemic I mean the system of industrial capitalism, which is at its core. Unless we take that head on, collectively, there’s no way that we are going to be able to deal with climate change or any of the other ecological crises it engenders. So I’m not saying turning your lights out is a bad thing. I’m saying one needs to do a lot, lot more. (And by that I mean us better-off; the poor are anyhow consuming less and emitting less CO2 than is their right.) At an individual or household level, doing more would mean identifying all the daily things that consume a lot of energy, water, etc. Taking the bus where possible instead of an auto or car, the train instead of flying. Speed is bad. Cutting out or minimizing the use of gadgets that consume high levels of electricity. It may make life more boring for a while but there are no shortcuts to cutting consumption. The elites promote shortcuts and call it energy efficiency; it does not work. Doing more also means doing things collectively. Now, that is not easy in this fragmented world we live in. But there’s little option, as that is possibly the key way large social change happens. If we want the BRT bus corridor to extend beyond Moolchand, if you don’t want trees cut in your neighbourhood to make way for car parks, if we all want adequate water harvesting and cycle lanes, we need to get together and make sure it happens. And all these things are only a start if we want to intervene in large issues like climate change. Switching off one’s lights is nice, but we need to do a hell of a lot more. Urgently. Nagraj Adve 26 March 2010 From 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com Sat Mar 27 12:08:37 2010 From: 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com (Taha Mehmood) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:38:37 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] You're being watched Message-ID: <65be9bf41003262338s18278b6bw673bee7f9317adc9@mail.gmail.com> Finally it appears that some sectors of the so called main-stream media in India are slowly waking up to a dark reality which to a few people, in the privacy sector, arts sector and the academic sector, seemed a nightmare India was going to enter into, since almost a decade back. Not to mention, a surveillance society in India, which many people in the technology sector, security sector and the business sector had been dreaming about for almost last twenty five years is slowing becoming a delicious reality. Please read the adjoining article on the uses of marrying the data collected through the UID with Natgrid. If the use of numbers will help us to imagine ourselves as mathematical objects, more as a type really, a practice of image making of our bodies, on an everyday basis will assist in creating an archive of artifacts. If numbers will make us stand apart, image making of our bodies will make us merge where only those who don't gel in will be distinguished. Like the Delhi police advisory asks us to be on a look out for those who are wearing winter clothes in summer. The need of the hour, it seems, is an complementary emergence of a strong, vibrant, privacy sector in Inida. A group of people who are deft with the use of words and images could make a big difference. http://www.timeoutdelhi.net/client_coverstory/client_coverstory_details.asp?coverstoyrcode=105&coverpage=true You're being watched As Indians grow more concerned about their personal security, surveillance cameras are keeping watch everywhere. They’re springing up at Mumbai traffic lights, Bangalore malls and Delhi’s Metro. But are they actually making us safer? The Mumbai attacks of November 2008 were among the most recorded terror strikes ever. Cameras at CST railway station, the Taj and Trident hotels followed the Pakistani invaders as they mowed down 173 people. But though those images are important bits of evidence in the trial of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only gunman who was captured, they didn’t actually help to curtail the siege of the hotels or prevent any deaths. What is clear, however, is that the proliferation of cheap video technology, coupled with the easy distribution of recorded images on the internet, is posing a grave threat to our privacy. Time Out reporters across the country explore the rise of the surveillance industry – and look at how it’s changing urban India. We also give you a sneak preview of director Dibakar Banerjee’s new film Love Sex aur Dhokha, a triptych about how digital film technology has invaded the private lives of Indians. Finally, in the Gay & Lesbian section, Ally Gator explains why queer people are especially nervous about spycams society. http://desicritics.org/2010/03/21/194559.php A Gathering Storm – How the UID Project Will Tranform India Into a Police State March 21, 2010 Ruchi Various initiatives within the government are converging to transform India into a classic police state. Enabling this transformation is everyone’s darling, the UID project. The UID project is a triumph of marketing over reality. Marketed as a fundamental enabler for targeted delivery of government services, UID numbers will instead form the bedrock for pervasive state surveillance. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) however, has repeatedly downplayed the use of UID numbers for surveillance and security functions by consistently omitting this topic in official communication through their website and press releases. Nevertheless the context and limited scope of the Authority reveal its real intent. While conceptually the project has been in discussion since the Vajpayee government (2002), renewed impetus came in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008. The UIDAI was established in February 2009, less than three months of the attack. Despite the altruistic marketing, the Authority refuses responsibility for improved service delivery stating, “The UIDAI is only in the identity business. The responsibility of tracking beneficiaries and the governance of service delivery will continue to remain with the respective agencies”. Concurrently with setting up the UIDAI, the Indian Parliament substantially amended the Information Technology Act 2000 in December 2008 to give the government power to tap all communications without a court order or a warrant. Section 69 of ITA 2008 states “[…] necessary or expedient to do in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defense of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above or for investigation of any offence, it may […] direct any agency of the appropriate Government to intercept, monitor or decrypt or cause to be intercepted or monitored or decrypted any information transmitted received or stored through any computer resource.” Against this legislative and infrastructural background, the government is setting up a national intelligence grid (NATGRID). The NATGRID under Raghu Raman (ex-CEO, Mahindra Special Services Group) will interlink 21 categories of databases (railway and air travel, Income Tax, phone calls, bank account details, credit card transactions, visa and immigration records, property records, driving licence) for real-time monitoring of all residents in the country. NATGRID is expected to be fully operation by May 2011 and will eventually use UID numbers for these inter-database linkages. Simultaneously work has begun on the National Population Register (NPR) which will collect information such as name, sex, date of birth, current marital status, name of father, mother and spouse, educational level attained, nationality, occupation, activity pursued, present and permanent addresses along with individual biometrics. Chidambaram has cautioned that due care needs to be taken to ensure that “illegal” residents in border districts (Bangladesh, Nepal) don’t worm their way into the NPR giving the census an ominous policing quality. The NPR will depend on UID for de-duplication. UID numbers will also facilitate the advance of a neoliberal state. There’s trepidation amongst many in the civil society about data convergence using UID numbers, and its monetization for private profit. This is not just a remote possibility but part of the official intent. The government is licensing credit information companies (CICs) under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act 2005 to develop consumers’ credit profiles based on their transaction history from banks, NBFCs, telecoms and insurance companies. CICs will use UID numbers to collect and collate this information. This will inevitably lead to the type of predatory marketing seen in the United States (on the basis of social security numbers) and on the other side facilitate financial exclusion not inclusion of the poor. The Authority itself takes a predictably hands-off approach to data convergence stating, “Convergence of existing databases will need to be addressed and governed under a larger data protection regime applicable to the whole country and therefore this is a matter beyond the mandate of the UIDAI”. While terror is a high-profile and charged topic in the country, mass surveillance cannot be justified in the name of improved security. There are other alternatives to track organized terror outfits without undertaking blanket real-time citizen monitoring. In fact there is substantial evidence that identity cards/numbers would not have prevented many recent terror attacks (e.g., Madrid bombings in 2004, 9/11, London underground attacks in 2005, Israel suicide bombings, Pakistan bombings). Moreover surveillance in India is not just limited to identifying alleged terrorists but any activity that can be twisted into “defense/sovereignty of India” or cognizable offence. The potential for misuse is tremendous (e.g., inconvenient activists, purported Maoists). UID project’s basic premise of fundamentally improving delivery of welfare services does not withstand scrutiny. UID deployment will come at a prohibitively high cost and only address a small subset of leakages in marked contrast to other more effective governance mechanisms inexplicably snubbed by the government. At the same UID deployment will enable a mass surveillance police state leading to both invasion of individual privacy and curtailment of civil liberties. There is immediate need for transparency about the objectives of the project and a vigorous public debate on its need and relevance. From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Sat Mar 27 13:11:29 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:11:29 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Making the Grade: CBSE's big switch from marks to grades In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <971284.92933.qm@web94708.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Dear Girish, Good move, when it comes to securing the precious lives of children, than concentrating on papers that do not reflect the chil'ds ability to work under pressurised circumstances like being pressed for time . Someone said that Revolution had an internal aspect, self critique as well. Though. such moves are welcome, would force the system to find out healthier alternatives regarding selection criterion, admission etc.; more practical problems persist and one might just refer to local newspapers if not simply think, for for some thinking is like dreaming. For example Ugc's guidelines to paper disclosure is still a dream, when it comes to the very University of Delhi. Some thing on CBSE I didn't like: http://tinyurl.com/ydrodys U do know, CBSE is still elite concentrated, paper checkers can tell by sample of 'mugged up' answers from which school the paper has come in Delhi, for the scripts of 'good' schools go to 'good schools'. I have lost the meaning of good and bad a while ago, it seems void to me, in case u still have it............................. Still, the grading system would place emphasis on getting into so-called best elite institutions, and I fear Schools name might get in front of all this. When shall we start having public reports of student surveys regarding precise training etc? Till then we may have tell tales, YO! Why not go on to reduce the stressors in the system, ensure comfortortable exams and give protective feeling to the children, prectical trainings etc., ensure proper activity span other than exams(and see it is not elite based acitivities, we have IB board in India, already!) so that the feeling of all is lost does not persisist? For example, clearing a professional exam itself is a matter of pride, but when placed in wrong situation a child may feel all is lost simply beacuse his hard work didn't allow him to get a rank, a top seat. Incentives to further competitions are thus lost............ What would happen if we had more in number and more often exams, like continuous evelution say every six months. Bad news for some, but would it change our outlook in the future? ________________________________ From: Chintan To: sarai list Sent: Fri, 26 March, 2010 10:32:46 PM Subject: [Reader-list] Making the Grade: CBSE's big switch from marks to grades From http://www.teacherplus.org/cover-story/making-the-grade Excerpts from the article: "The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s new mandate on continuous and comprehensive evaluation requiring schools to make a shift from marks to grades is meeting with a mixed response. While on the one hand, there is relief and even celebration, there’s uncertainty and skepticism on the other. We spoke with a few people to get a sense of how the change is being received." "Grades are being seen as a healthier alternative to marks, because grades do not equate the child’s capability with a number that might provide an incomplete picture of the child’s attainment levels." "The CBSE’s new grading scheme will take into account a child’s participation in extra-curricular activities, life skills, attitudes and values, along with his or her performance in academic subjects. How one can award grades for ‘honesty’, ‘respect towards teachers’, ‘emotional skills’, ‘creative thinking’, ‘ability to handle criticism’ is something worth mulling over." "Sure, one can produce a list of indicators that attempt to place controls on teachers’ subjectivity, or even ensure grading by multiple teachers. However, is it even desirable to grade all of these things in the first place, and artificially produce normative behaviour? Would such grading create another kind of pressure – the pressure to be seen as a well-behaved, law-abiding, goody-two-shoes student, for without it one’s grade sheet would make a sorry picture?" "The switch from grades to marks necessitates a change in teachers’ attitudes as well as administrative procedures. And this change can be unsettling on several counts – the subjectivity involved in awarding a grade, the maintenance of elaborate records, working with colleagues to mutually decide upon a grade, giving up the idea of using a number/mark to sum up a child’s performance, and the sudden increase in workload. Any teacher training programmes that seek to initiate teachers into the new grading system must take these issues into consideration." _________________________________________ 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/> Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Sat Mar 27 13:20:07 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:20:07 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <952781.91558.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Are 'good' schools in Mumbai turning their backs to the Dyslexic? I think the envoirnment factor, how much the teachers ponder on students, how frequently they meet family members matter, and the envoirnment factor, 'discipline' the child may have problems with excess of discipline matters. If all is well, all parents need is to find a special educator(not a counsellor) and mediate the issues with finding of teachers. I guess then the child could get practical guidelines on framing short answers, developing core concepts etc. The willingness of the school authorities and teachers to devote time to the student is the key. I dont think borderline or even moderate cases need Special trainers in schools, or special schools. That would make them more apprehensive towards society in general, wheas many suffer from cognitive difficulties at one stage or the other. One way out is to locate the Principals and to start early so that these guys are not too busy. ________________________________ From: Chintan To: learningnet-india at yahoogroups.com; sarai list Sent: Sat, 27 March, 2010 9:50:33 AM Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia Hello friends I just received a mail from a teacher of mine whose cousin's son has borderline dyslexia. The child lives in Mumbai, and feels miserable at his current school. He is hardworking and and very sincere and needs to be in a place that will nurture his latent talents and creativity in a way that would enhance his confidence. The child's parents would appreciate any suggestions you can offer to help them find a good school. Thanks Chintan _________________________________________ 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/> Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in Sat Mar 27 14:37:27 2010 From: sub_sengupta at yahoo.co.in (subhrodip sengupta) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:37:27 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia In-Reply-To: <952781.91558.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <952781.91558.qm@web94712.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <245581.12557.qm@web94705.mail.in2.yahoo.com> U know we are still viewing the grade problem from a view of equating a child with 88 and 99% marks and so on.................... The problem also lies with one who suddenly discovers the shock of a low grade, SUDDENLY........................... or the one who can not bear with a f grade in his family. Yeah, we all know that marks cannot be equated, but classes still can. One needs to be more transparent and predictable in such matters, with access open to students, as well as teachers, (apolitically), and students too must be able to communicate, and the schools should bear a major responsibility.  The CBSE may be a board, the same may be an organisation with so many schools under it. We must try to cure the problem at the root, numbing it, u know the act of equating such grades is to appease the elitist sections, which possess a serious threat to the board's reps; only makes the problem worse. Life nowadays cant afford to be simplistic. A general opinion on this point to both Delhi HC and 'the board'. ________________________________ From: subhrodip sengupta To: Readers list Yousuf Sarai. Sent: Sat, 27 March, 2010 1:20:07 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia Are 'good' schools in Mumbai turning their backs to the Dyslexic? I think the envoirnment factor, how much the teachers ponder on students, how frequently they meet family members matter, and the envoirnment factor, 'discipline' the child may have problems with excess of discipline matters. If all is well, all parents need is to find a special educator(not a counsellor) and mediate the issues with finding of teachers. I guess then the child could get practical guidelines on framing short answers, developing core concepts etc. The willingness of the school authorities and teachers to devote time to the student is the key. I dont think borderline or even moderate cases need Special trainers in schools, or special schools. That would make them more apprehensive towards society in general, wheas many suffer from cognitive difficulties at one stage or the other. One way out is to locate the Principals and to start early so that these guys are not too busy. ________________________________ From: Chintan To: learningnet-india at yahoogroups.com; sarai list Sent: Sat, 27 March, 2010 9:50:33 AM Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia Hello friends I just received a mail from a teacher of mine whose cousin's son has borderline dyslexia. The child lives in Mumbai, and feels miserable at his current school. He is hardworking and and very sincere and needs to be in a place that will nurture his latent talents and creativity in a way that would enhance his confidence. The child's parents would appreciate any suggestions you can offer to help them find a good school. Thanks Chintan _________________________________________ 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/>       Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ _________________________________________ 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/> Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/ From khurramparvez at yahoo.com Sat Mar 27 14:38:30 2010 From: khurramparvez at yahoo.com (Khurram Parvez) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:08:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Kashmir Tribunal, Arundhati Roy, and Peace and Justice Grant Message-ID: <29049.79575.qm@web31803.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ANNOUNCEMENT Srinagar, March 27, 2010   INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE'S TRIBUNAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE IN INDIAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR   (IPTK) www.kashmirprocess.org   Re.: Kashmir Tribunal, Arundhati Roy, and Peace and Justice Grant   On March 26, 2010, Haymarket Books hosted renowned author and global justice activist, Arundhati Roy, in San Francisco, California, reading from her latest collection of essays, Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers.   Arundhati Roy dedicated this event as a benefit for the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir (IPTK).   On behalf of IPTK, Co-founders and Co-conveners Dr. Angana Chatterji (Professor, Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies, CIIS) and Advocate Parvez Imroz (Founder, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society) convey their sincere gratitude to Ms. Roy for her incisive solidarity, and for generously volunteering to gift the proceeds from the March 26th event to IPTK.   The event was attended by approximately 1000 people from the San Francisco Bay Area, and co-sponsored by various groups, including Against the Cuts, Center for Economic Research and Social Change, Code Pink Women for Peace, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at CIIS, Middle East Children's Alliance, National Radio Project, Oakland Institute, Producers of Making Contact, Student Alliance at CIIS, and Voices of a People's History of the United States. Dr. Chatterji and Advocate Imroz convey their heartfelt appreciation to Anthony Arnove of Haymarket Books and members of the Haymarket staff, David Barsamian of Alternative Radio, Richard Shapiro of CIIS, and eminent public intellectual Alice Walker.   Peace and Justice Grant IPTK will use the proceeds from this event to institute the Peace and Justice Grant for Scholarship and the Arts in Indian-administered Kashmir. [Note: This is in keeping with IPTK's approach to finance the work of the Tribunal through the income of its office-bearers.] The Grant will be housed at CIIS, with the kind support of CIIS President Joseph Subbiondo, to whom Dr. Chatterji and Advocate Imroz extend their thanks.   The Peace and Justice Grant will be awarded to individuals residing in Indian-administered Kashmir. The Grant will support critical and meaningful contributions in scholarship and the arts that research, document, and give creative expression to life, culture, and present history in Kashmir, in ways that evoke imagination and possibility for social justice, and ethical and peaceable conflict resolution. For details, please visit www.kashmirprocess.org.   The People's Tribunal IPTK was instituted on April 05, 2008, by Dr. Angana Chatterji and Advocate Parvez Imroz, together with Gautam Navlakha (Editorial Consultant, Economic and Political Weekly), Zahir-Ud-Din (Vice-President, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society), Advocate Mihir Desai (Lawyer, Mumbai High Court and Supreme Court of India), and Khurram Parvez (Programme Coordinator, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society).   IPTK is constituted as a people's collective, convened in alliance by persons from Indian-administered Kashmir and India. Its purpose is to inquire into the culture of grief in Indian-administered Kashmir, and the architecture and fabric of militarization, regularized violences, and crimes against humanity, and the resultant and continuing cycles of repression. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Sat Mar 27 14:49:01 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:19:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "Then and now...an emotional journey" (Kashmiriyat, J&K Permanent Resident's Bill) Message-ID: <811671.67365.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> from the blogspot "Searching for laughter around and inside"     Friday, March 26, 2010   "Then and now...an emotional journey"   It is a little emotional. You can consider this as musings of a Kashmiri who has left ‘home’ 25 years back and who measures Kashmiriyat by that standard. Let me take you there first. Remember those days when a lady used to walk on the street, we were taught to keep our eyes on the ground while walking past so as to make them feel comfortable? I still have a slouch in my back because of that. Irrespective of what our background was, when a lady used to board a bus, we used to make her sit. We never had 'reserved' seats for women in any buses which we see in many other cities because we had a courtesy to stand up for them. I also remember when there was a girl's marriage in our locality, we used to go to work for that family (to serve or to prepare) and do everything possible to receive their guests well. To top this all up; we never used to have food in that house to reduce the burden on that family. People from all walks of life, all religions and all necessary skills would come, work and go. That to me is selflessness which we are known for and that to me is Kashmiriyat in simplest terms as I am no scholar or politician. A small glimpse of where I come from and I want the readers to imagine this since many would either have forgotten and some may not have even experienced this. It was marriage of my aunts in the family and we had Rashid Uncle boiling milk one night earlier. He worked the whole night, made my father sleep that night so that my father wakes up fresh in the morning and Rashid Uncle served food the next day – hak, I remember with his hands. Later, when it was time for my aunts to leave, I remember him crying while holding them and saying “I never felt that you were not my own sister and now that you are leaving, I will get alone”. Since my childhood I don’t remember even a single occasion, be it Shivratri or Eid or any mourning, we used to be together – that to me is Kashmiriyat which I am proud of. Many years and episodes later, when we met in Goa, he forced me and my wife (new nosh he had not seen) to have dinner with them and there, for the first 30 minutes everyone including his wife, Lauket Mauj (Little Mom) & three kids, had huddled up hugging & kissing and remembering how we used to exchange food or how I used to play with their youngest daughter and my kid sister alike, Syama. Before we left, Rashid Uncle gave Rs 200 as ‘shagun’ to my wife saying if she was in Kashmir, he would have received her as a new bride in the family. That and much more is Kashmiriyat for me. As I am writing this, tears roll from my eyes thinking about those good times of Kashmir. This bill has demolished my ‘dream world’. Till now, it was only migration which haunted me and the fact that I have not been home since 1990 but now what haunts me more is that as a society to even conceptualize this bill, we have degraded. Let us accept that first. Who elected such people with this mindset? What culture do we want to give our kids and what would be the next similar ‘revolutionary’ bill which gets tabled? Do we have to tell Syama to be conscious of this bill while choosing her mate for life? If this bill passes, would I tell my sons that they belong to a place where women are treated unequally? I rather tell them that they are global citizens. My prayer to whoever reads this is to please do whatever possible to get this bill rejected. We as a community and generation have a lot to answer anyway, without this bill as well. At the time of final judgment, each one of us will be asked this question – did you do whatever it takes to stop injustice? And there everyone has to answer for himself. We all have enough black spots to explain and this would be the worst as I consider this bill a crime which violates the honor of a woman. Please walk on the path laid by our forefathers - of Kashmiriyat, honoring women, saving brotherhood and spreading happiness. Let my Syama be free. Almighty – Please grant us right sense, strengths to counter evil and forgive us for our sins due to which we are seeing what we are today.   Posted by RKachroo   http://searchlaughter.blogspot.com/2010/03/then-and-nowan-emotional-journey.html   From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Sat Mar 27 23:10:28 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:10:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] '170 temples damaged in Kashmir in two decades' Message-ID: <6353c691003271040y7d90c1e0i8e7eca08b91f6229@mail.gmail.com> *'170 temples damaged in Kashmir in two decades'* * * *STAFF WRITER 16:43 HRS IST* *Jammu, Mar 27 (PTI)* Jammu and Kashmir government today admitted in the State Assembly that 170 temples had been damaged in the militancy-related incidents in Kashmir valley in past 20 years. Replying to a question from Jugal Kishore of BJP, Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla said in written reply that as many as 170 temples had been damaged during past two decades of militancy in Kashmir valley. He further said there were 430 temples in the valley before the migration of Kashmiri pandits (KPs) in wake of eruption of terrorism in 1989. Bhalla said 90 temples have also been renovated in the valley for which Rs 33 lakh have been spent. The ex-gratia relief is provided for renovation of temples which suffered damage as result of militancy related incidents, he said. The district administration and police authorities ensure that religious places and temples are protected, the minister said. -- Aditya Raj Kaul Cell - +91-9873297834 Blog: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live. From fsrnkashmir at gmail.com Sat Mar 27 23:41:08 2010 From: fsrnkashmir at gmail.com (Shahnawaz Khan) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:41:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] "Then and now...an emotional journey" (Kashmiriyat, J&K Permanent Resident's Bill) In-Reply-To: <811671.67365.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <811671.67365.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2ad82fd31003271111w4797358dhd03b484b30246650@mail.gmail.com> The problem lies in confusing the bill that deals with citizenship rights with women's rights. Many of you are not comfortable with the fact that J&K has its own state subject laws, that bars Indian citizens from getting j&k citizenship rights. So when you talk of PRC bill, which in its crude form was implemented in the state since Maharaja rule, and also during the times you are talking about, is about state subject laws. Do foreigners who marry Indian women get Indian citizenship by default. What about their children. Are they Indian citizens. All countries have their own set of citizenship rules, dealing with inter national marriages. Some grant citizenship to either genders, most are gender sensitive. that is they grant citizenship to foreign spouses of their men only (Like Sonia Gandhi). Whether you like it or not, J&K is a like a sovereign state when it comes to its citizenship laws. these are in fact more severe, as unlike any other country, nobody can acquire a state subject in J&K by procedures like prolonged stay, request, etc. As for the bill, it has in fact tried to put in safeguards of women;s rights, like women will continue to have their citizenship rights after marrying outside the state, they can own immovable properties, what they cannot do, if the bill is ever passed,(which it will not be) is to transfer the property rights to their children who happen to be the J&K citizens. (i guess India also grants citizenship by paternal descent only, so do most of the third world) she can however, dispose off the immovable property and pass off the money to her children. This is just a rider put in to secure the state subject laws. Again, the practise is not new to J&K. It was implemented, since Maharaja Hari Singh introduced the law after lobbying by Kashmir Pandits - yes Kashmiri Pandits- who were growing insecure by the Muslim (afghan, pathan, etc) immigration and marriages in Kashmir then. Sorry if I am not clear enough. On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > from the blogspot "Searching for laughter around and inside" > > > Friday, March 26, 2010 > > "Then and now...an emotional journey" > > It is a little emotional. You can consider this as musings of a Kashmiri > who has left ‘home’ 25 years back and who measures Kashmiriyat by that > standard. Let me take you there first. > > Remember those days when a lady used to walk on the street, we were taught > to keep our eyes on the ground while walking past so as to make them feel > comfortable? I still have a slouch in my back because of that. Irrespective > of what our background was, when a lady used to board a bus, we used to make > her sit. We never had 'reserved' seats for women in any buses which we see > in many other cities because we had a courtesy to stand up for them. I also > remember when there was a girl's marriage in our locality, we used to go to > work for that family (to serve or to prepare) and do everything possible to > receive their guests well. To top this all up; we never used to have food in > that house to reduce the burden on that family. People from all walks of > life, all religions and all necessary skills would come, work and go. That > to me is selflessness which we are known for and that to me is Kashmiriyat > in simplest terms as I am no scholar or politician. > > A small glimpse of where I come from and I want the readers to imagine this > since many would either have forgotten and some may not have even > experienced this. It was marriage of my aunts in the family and we had > Rashid Uncle boiling milk one night earlier. He worked the whole night, made > my father sleep that night so that my father wakes up fresh in the morning > and Rashid Uncle served food the next day – hak, I remember with his hands. > Later, when it was time for my aunts to leave, I remember him crying while > holding them and saying “I never felt that you were not my own sister and > now that you are leaving, I will get alone”. Since my childhood I don’t > remember even a single occasion, be it Shivratri or Eid or any mourning, we > used to be together – that to me is Kashmiriyat which I am proud of. > > Many years and episodes later, when we met in Goa, he forced me and my wife > (new nosh he had not seen) to have dinner with them and there, for the first > 30 minutes everyone including his wife, Lauket Mauj (Little Mom) & three > kids, had huddled up hugging & kissing and remembering how we used to > exchange food or how I used to play with their youngest daughter and my kid > sister alike, Syama. Before we left, Rashid Uncle gave Rs 200 as ‘shagun’ to > my wife saying if she was in Kashmir, he would have received her as a new > bride in the family. That and much more is Kashmiriyat for me. As I am > writing this, tears roll from my eyes thinking about those good times of > Kashmir. > > This bill has demolished my ‘dream world’. Till now, it was only migration > which haunted me and the fact that I have not been home since 1990 but now > what haunts me more is that as a society to even conceptualize this bill, we > have degraded. Let us accept that first. Who elected such people with this > mindset? What culture do we want to give our kids and what would be the next > similar ‘revolutionary’ bill which gets tabled? Do we have to tell Syama to > be conscious of this bill while choosing her mate for life? If this bill > passes, would I tell my sons that they belong to a place where women are > treated unequally? I rather tell them that they are global citizens. > > My prayer to whoever reads this is to please do whatever possible to get > this bill rejected. We as a community and generation have a lot to answer > anyway, without this bill as well. At the time of final judgment, each one > of us will be asked this question – did you do whatever it takes to stop > injustice? And there everyone has to answer for himself. We all have enough > black spots to explain and this would be the worst as I consider this bill a > crime which violates the honor of a woman. Please walk on the path laid by > our forefathers - of Kashmiriyat, honoring women, saving brotherhood and > spreading happiness. Let my Syama be free. > > Almighty – Please grant us right sense, strengths to counter evil and > forgive us for our sins due to which we are seeing what we are today. > > Posted by RKachroo > > > http://searchlaughter.blogspot.com/2010/03/then-and-nowan-emotional-journey.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: From pheeta.ram at gmail.com Sun Mar 28 02:11:53 2010 From: pheeta.ram at gmail.com (Pheeta Ram) Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:11:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Why I Won't Be Turning Out My Lights During Earth Hour In-Reply-To: <564b2fca1003262312h6697f76ahd2bcf98fc38e4b@mail.gmail.com> References: <564b2fca1003262312h6697f76ahd2bcf98fc38e4b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5bedab661003271341p21f884e5nca2d0d5cb9b13452@mail.gmail.com> Very, very interesting! I don't need to sound pedantic to underline the politics of the "earth hour." Its...its...i don't know! Its the worst form of dirty politics that i can, atleast, think of! EARTH HOUR! But, guy! I don't have any electricity in my thatched home that i call a home. Neither any water supply! I have always drank from the springs and never have had any government representative come to my hut to fetch my children for school! I am told, India, that people call their country, was under foreign rule, and its only now that it has managed to come out of the yoke of the British. But, as far as i know and so do my ancestors and their ancestors before them, the things have always been like this. No body has bothered to provide us with clean water, a better dwelling place as also a "school" as they name a place where children are groomed to be 'obedient' citizens. Now, these government representatives come to our huts and have the temerity to bark at us that we are the 'subjects' or 'citizens' of a country called 'India' and we need to get out of the places our ancestors have been staying for, i don't know, centuries. Some of us who are grown up enough or to rephrase it in academese: are thoroughly co-opted or reified, tell me that i, and my father who is living in our ancestral home in the forest, need to observe the 'Earth Hour.' Now i am at loss, as also my parents and my relatives and all the people who have been living in the forest for centuries now! I am told there is something called AC in the city, a gadget which helps in keeping the city dwellers at ease. It doesn't matter for them whether they are in their office or in a mall or in their home: the temperature remains constant. At their service, as though. If i am being kept at ease because of the AC, it certainly means that i am putting hundreds of people at unease, whether i acknowledge it or not! And i won't acknowledge it! And if you have the temerity to tell me that i need to pay my electricity bills then, let me tell you, i am an obedient citizen of the Indian Union, and i pay my taxes in time as also my electricity bills! How dare you ask me or rather accuse me of all this apathy against my fellow citizens! Holier than thou? You pay your taxes, so do a beggar! my dear! Even if a beggar buys a matchstick, he pays the state the taxes it levies on the matchstick. But who are these amenities being built for! Flyovers ( they fly-over all of our problems as also their ethical responsibilities!), metros, discotheques, parks, airports, subways and what not! I am at loss! Frankly! I don't know what to say. I can't say anything that endangers my existence itself! I can't utter a word that eats me away! Verily, all the discourses in this world, and this is the primary condition for a discourse to exist and have its say, perpetuate themselves only as far and as long as they don't eat themselves away, that is, what's the utility of calling for my beloved if my words eat her up! Every discourse is engaged in the politics of perpetuating its lifespan. And any effective counter-discourse, if it really deserves the epithet "counter", should effectively decimate, annihilate, destruct the hegemonic, oppressive, immoral, inhuman discourse that comes before! In all likelihood, the history threatens to repeat itself, but so should the counter-discourses or revolutions. All ye who are afraid of the word "revolution" may kindly, please, raise their hands up! On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 11:42 AM, Nagraj Adve wrote: > > http://www.greenlightdhaba.org/2010/03/earth-hour-guest-post-delhi-activist.html > > Why I Won’t Be Turning My Lights Out During Earth Hour > > Earth Hour is upon us again. “Cities across the globe”, says an ad > today in the Hindustan Times, “will switch off lights between 8.30 pm > and 9.30 pm.” Millions across the world will doubtless join in. I > won’t be among them. > > Don’t get me wrong. Taken by itself, I’m not against symbolic acts > such as these. For one, they take issues like climate change, > sustainability, urban consumption, energy saving, etc to a whole lot > of people, young and old, some of whom may possibly not have engaged > with these issues before. Actually participating in such an event > helps many people engage even more deeply. Two, by being observed > across the world, it hints at the worldwide nature of some of these > problems and the recognition that these issues are being debated all > over. > > Having said that, events such as these may give many the feeling that > they are doing something to save the environment when actually the > direness and urgency of the crises suggest that a lot more need to be > done. When someone is having a heart attack, one does not take a > Dispirin, we rush them to hospital and intervene to the degree > necessary. Well, the Earth is having a heart attack. How has it been > manifesting itself? In climate change. In ongoing loss of species, at > a rate so staggering that Edward Leakey and other folks refer to it as > the 6th mass extinction of species in history (the fifth was when the > dinosaurs were wiped out). In the loss of biodiversity. In peaking oil > production, which is imminent. In declining groundwater, deepening > across India. In stagnating food production. In polluted rivers. It > has been having this multi-pronged heart attack for a while; some very > respected folks talked about some aspects of it 20 years ago, some > even earlier. And what are we doing 20 years later? Turning our lights > out for an hour. > > The second thing that bothers me is that the Delhi government is > actively involved in this. It promoted it last year. This year, the CM > Sheila Dixit is inaugurating the main programme at India Gate. She > heads the very government that is emitting tonnes of CO2 by spending > crores on useless events like the Commonwealth Games, that has been > cutting trees to widen roads for cars, and to build parking lots. The > Indian government’s policy for two decades has been completely > directed towards higher carbon emissions via consumption by the rich. > > Governments and elites tend to play up such symbolic events to hide > the systemic nature of issues like climate change. By systemic I mean > the system of industrial capitalism, which is at its core. Unless we > take that head on, collectively, there’s no way that we are going to > be able to deal with climate change or any of the other ecological > crises it engenders. > > So I’m not saying turning your lights out is a bad thing. I’m saying > one needs to do a lot, lot more. (And by that I mean us better-off; > the poor are anyhow consuming less and emitting less CO2 than is their > right.) At an individual or household level, doing more would mean > identifying all the daily things that consume a lot of energy, water, > etc. Taking the bus where possible instead of an auto or car, the > train instead of flying. Speed is bad. Cutting out or minimizing the > use of gadgets that consume high levels of electricity. It may make > life more boring for a while but there are no shortcuts to cutting > consumption. The elites promote shortcuts and call it energy > efficiency; it does not work. > > Doing more also means doing things collectively. Now, that is not easy > in this fragmented world we live in. But there’s little option, as > that is possibly the key way large social change happens. If we want > the BRT bus corridor to extend beyond Moolchand, if you don’t want > trees cut in your neighbourhood to make way for car parks, if we all > want adequate water harvesting and cycle lanes, we need to get > together and make sure it happens. And all these things are only a > start if we want to intervene in large issues like climate change. > Switching off one’s lights is nice, but we need to do a hell of a lot > more. Urgently. > > Nagraj Adve > 26 March 2010 > _________________________________________ > 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Sun Mar 28 10:46:29 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:46:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nandini Bedi's response to Arundhati Roy's 'Walking with the Comrades.' Message-ID: I don¹t see this essay as a fantastic piece of journalism. I see it as the work of a writer/activist who has already made her position very clear through her earlier writings and actions. She stands for the poor, the dispossessed, and the ones whose voices are not heard no matter how hard they shout. I do however, for the first time, have some serious difficulties accepting what Arundhati Roy tells us here and how she does it. The romantic picture of comrades in the jungles does not speak for all of what is going on in and around Dandakaranya forest. At the end of 2008, I was in Gadchiroli to do some research. For two weeks, I traveled and stayed in different villages Throughout my stay, the term Naxalite or Œmama¹ (maternal uncle) was used broadly to define the gun toting men and women of the Dandakaranya and they had cadres in every village. The stories I heard were quite different from those in this essay. I heard about the murder of a local leader trying to organize his community. More than one person told me that a politician, afraid of the man¹s rising popularity paid the Naxalites to kill him. A man, who was in the jeep the leader had been hauled out of when it stopped because a felled tree blocked the forest road, pointed out the spot to me where he had been told to return the same evening. The body of his boss was hung on a tree once they had shot him. I heard that Ballarpur Paper Mills pays the Naxlas to cut the bamboo from the forest and that the Naxals in exchange allow the mill owner to develop the road leading to those forests just enough to let him carry the bamboo out. Once that is over, the rains wash away the badly constructed road. The village residential schools at the top of the bamboo rich hills that receive government subsidy to feed tribal children, have to tank up on food supplies before the road disappears for the whole of the monsoon season. I heard that there are two job opportunities for people in these villages ­ the state or the Naxalites. That people from the same families are either in the police force or Naxal force ­ killing each other with guns. All poor. All desperate. All with little other choice. Unless of course they can manage to feed their families with one rice crop a year. That is, if it rains. I heard the Naxalites will not allow Œdevelopment¹, yet traders from Bengal have been allowed to set up businesses ­ for a price. I heard that nurses and doctors sent to posts in these areas don¹t just see is as Œa¹ punishment posting but a punishment posting to the power of a hundred. They vent their hatred on the tribals they are supposed to treat. Same goes for the teachers. I heard that a non-violent Gandhian doctor providing desperately needed medical help was threatened so badly by the Naxalites that he had to escape at night from the area never to return. I heard that gun toting Naxals had walked into the compound of the devoted doctors Prakash and Mandakini Amte, who have been the only hope to injured and diseased people, including the Naxals themselves, for 40 years. They had shot somebody who was recuperating on the premises of the hospital. These premises are also where I stayed for a few days with my husband and two seven year old boys. Very close to the gate with the unarmed chowkidaar. Unlike Arundhati Roy, I didn¹t fall into deep sleep at night in the Dandakaranya forest. There was little chance to enjoy the forest, stars and the beauty of the villages with their Œsimplicity¹ for me. Because one Œnecessity¹ was missing. I didn¹t have a friend or a comrade with a gun. I lived in terror and I didn¹t sleep much. Could this be true of others like me, without guns and/or comrades with AK 47s to protect or surround themselves with? Unlike Arundhati Roy, I wouldn¹t dare to post the images of the people I made photos of with quotes of what they told me. They don¹t have guns slinging from their shoulders so I can¹t possibly give them a Œname¹ and a Œface¹ on my blog or any other magazine that would want to hear their story. But I do remember the face of one such man very clearly. He told me he was caught between the guns of the state machinery and the guns of the Naxalites. Then he went on to work on the renovation of his hut. The tools he was using could have belonged to the Stone Age. I am no fan of the machinery deployed by various official, corporate and media forces that work overtime to push the poor and dispossessed who are increasingly Œfalling into the hole¹ as Arundhati so eloquently puts it. However, I have heard with my own ears in Gadchiroli the voices of ordinary villagers ­the poor, dispossessed and unarmed say in no uncertain terms, that the Naxalites are the one stop shop for the violent settling of scores. Any scores. Unfortunately no one told me of water harvesting schemes and the like that Roy got to witness in the part of Dandakaranya that she was in. And unfortunately after the first few days of hearing the stories I heard, I didn¹t ask because I never made the connection between murders and water harvesting. My fault. In the TV interview in the program ŒThe devil¹s advocate¹, Karan Thapar asks Arundhati Roy if she would be willing to talk to the Maoists if the state would stop Operation Greenhunt. She smiles and replies that she is Œjust an individual¹ who can do little to influence them. I think Roy doesn¹t project herself as Œjust an individual¹. She writes and expresses herself in any forum she is in like she knows she has clout and she can and will use it. And in ŒWalking with the Comrades¹, she claims she bonds in friendship with the highest in the Maoist echelons. So I feel I also have to ask her if she would be willing, for the sake of the dispossessed for whom she stands, to walk and talk with the comrades, if Operation Greenhunt is indeed lifted. NANDINI BEDI AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 08:36:42 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:36:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Right to Education Act: Private schools as catalysts? Message-ID: Excerpt from http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/03/28/stories/2010032850120400.htm The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, to be notified on April 1, could alter the educational landscape. But can private institutions contribute to its application? Dr. A.Kumaraswamy and Alok Mathur give some pointers… The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) will be notified on April 1. The Act attempts to address the historical problem of continuing illiteracy as well as the lack of educational opportunities that persist for sections of our population even sixty years after adoption of the Indian constitution. The socio-political, legal and financial aspects of the Act have been much debated and its final form much critiqued. As we draw nearer its implementation stage, it is clear that this Act will change the educational landscape of the country. However, the specific educational steps needed to meet its wide-ranging provisions remain far from clear. Taking the perspective of a non-profit institution with a commitment to quality education for urban and rural children, we indicate some likely pitfalls in the implementation of the RTE Act. We then make some suggestions on the possible roles that private schools may play in order to support the quality-related and egalitarian provisions of the RTE Act. Dr. A. Kumaraswamy is Principal, Rishi Valley School. Alok Mathur is Director, Teacher Education, Rishi Valley School. For the entire article, visit http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/03/28/stories/2010032850120400.htm From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 09:36:00 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:36:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003282106v5711900dt9295e34f4a28f290@mail.gmail.com> PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist; police and courts fail to act The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that four men who allegedly assisted in the rape of a young Hindu girl have been granted pre-arrest bail by a session court. Rape is a non-bailable offense in Pakistan and this is against criminal procedure and the law. Attempts by the family to file an FIR and obtain a medical report have been obstructed by local police, who later arrested the victim's father on a false offense. Meanwhile members of an illegal tribal court have reportedly proposed that the victim marry her rapist and convert to Islam. She has threatened public self immolation if the perpetrators are not arrested and brought to justice by the authorities. CASE DETAILS: According to information received from local NGOs, the Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network and All Kohli, Ms. Kastoori, seen in the video clip below (also here), is 17 years old and was abducted on 24 January 2010. After being taken in the evening by Ramzan Khoso, Habib Ullah Khoso and Ghulam Nabi Khoso, with the help of their armed guard Verio Gur-Ro, Kastoori was allegedly raped by Ramzan, the eldest of the brothers. She was recovered the next day from the mens' residence by a group from her community, where she was found tied up. On 26 January Kastoori's parents tried to register a First Information Report at Nagar Parker police station but were turned away. Because of this they could not obtain an official medical checkup for her at the civil hospital or the Nagar Parker hospital, which they attempted to arrange on 27 January. The family rejected an out of court sum offered to them by the father of the three perpetrators, Muhammad Bachaal Khoso, who is an office bearer for the local ruling political party and reportedly wields political influence. He arranged a jirga – an illegal tribal court – on 9 February, allegedly within the knowledge of Nagar Parker police officers. The jirga members allegedly pressured the victim's family to accept the marriage of the victim to her rapist and her conversion Islam. The family rejected this proposal and continued to try to use legal channels. With the help of NGOs Kastoori's father was able to file a petition with the Sindh High Court on February 12, which ordered the filing of an FIR and a medical examination on 17 February. The report noted that due to the length of time since the alleged rape it could not find the necessary evidence. Although an FIR was finally lodged on February 17 under Section 365-B, the perpetrators were not arrested because they had successfully applied for pre-arrest bail from the Sessions Court in Mithi, even though the court is not authorized to do so at that level. We are told that the police then arrested the father of the victim (along with 12 others) on February 18 for stealing valuable sap from a Guggal plant, although Guggal is not cultivated in the area. At the Hyderabad press club Kastoori (featured in the You Tube video, embedded) has threatened to publically kill herself if the perpetrators are not arrested. Mr. Hameed Chand, Assistant Sub Inspector in Naga Parker, and the investigation officer have told human rights activists that they are being prevented from pursuing the case by ruling party members and local landlords. The victim and her family are in hiding, and civil society protests have reportedly not resulted in further action from the authorities. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The AHRC received frequent reports of forced marriages of minority girls with Muslim men in areas along the Indian borders that have large Dalit Hindu populations, such as Thar Parker, Nagar Parker, Umer Kot, Mithi and Karoonjhar. The term Dalits are members of a scheduled caste, and due to the position of many as bonded labourers, female Dalits are particularly vulnerable to abuse. It is not unknown for Muslim seminaries to urge the forced conversion of Dalit women. The AHRC has documented several such cases, including UA-008-2006 and UG-020-2006 and is aware of many more, in which Hindu scheduled caste and Christian women and girls have been abducted by Muslim men and raped. When confronted by the authorities perpetrators are often able to produce a marriage certificate from a seminary confirming the marriage and conversion of the victim. The girls are often taken out of contact with their families entirely, and various cases have been documented in which the courts have condoned such marriages with girls below the age of consent. SUGGESTED ACTION: Please write to the authorities listed below asking them to intervene to ensure that the perpetrators of this crime are arrested, and any police officers proven to be involved in their protection also face legal action. Please also urge for protection of the victim and her family. The AHRC has written a separate letter to UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences and the Independent Expert on Minority Issues calling for their intervention into this case. ------------------------------------------------------ SAMPLE LETTER: Dear __________, Re: PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist; police and courts fail to act Name of victim: Miss Kastoori, daughter of Nawo Kalhi, resident of Mokrio village, Nagar Parker town, Thar Parker district, Sindh province Name of alleged perpetrators: 1. Mr. Ramzan Khoso 2. Mr. Habib Ullah Khoso, 3. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Khoso All sons of Muhammad Bachaal Khoso and residents of Mokrio village, Nagar Parker town, Thar Parker district, Sindh province. 4. Mr. Verio Gur-Ro, resident of Mokrio village, Nagar Parker town, Thar Parker district, Sindh province. 5. Mr. Hameed Chand, assistant sub inspector, investigation officer at Nagar Parker police station, Nagar Parker, district Thar Parker, Sindh province 6. Inspector Mohammad Khan Rind, Station Head Officer at the time of incident of Nagar Parker police station, Nagar Parker, district Thar Parker, Sindh province Date of incident: January 24, 2010 Place of incident: Mokrio village, Nagar Parker, Thar Parker district, Sindh province I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the actions taken by Mithi Sessions Court and Nagar Parker police in response to the alleged rape of a teenage girl. I am told that the victim, Ms. Kastoori is 17 years old and was raped by Mr. Ramzan Khoso with the help of three other perpetrators named above. On 26 January Ms. Kastoori's parents tried to register a First Information Report at Nagar Parker police station but were turned away. Because of this they could not obtain an official medical checkup for her at the civil hospital or the Nagar Parker hospital, which they attempted to arrange on 27 January. I am told that police officers were aware that the family rejected an out of court sum offered to them by the father of the three perpetrators, Mr. Muhammad Bachaal Khoso – an office bearer for the local ruling political party – and of the jirga that he then organized. In this jirga on 9 February I am told that the victim's family was pressured, unsuccessfully, to accept the marriage of the victim to her rapist and her conversion Islam. With the help of NGOs, Kastoori's father Mr. Nawo Kalhi was able to file a petition with the Sindh High Court on February 12, leading to the filing of an FIR and a medical examination on 17 February. However the medical report noted that due to the length of time since the alleged rape it could not find the necessary evidence. Although an FIR was finally lodged on February 17 under Section 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, the perpetrators were not arrested because they had successfully applied for pre-arrest bail from the Sessions Court in Mithi. The court is not authorized to do so at that level. I understand that the police then arrested the father of the victim (along with 12 others) on February 18 for a fabricated crime relating to forestry. Mr. Hameed Chand, the Assistant Sub Inspector in Nagar Parker and the investigating officer of this case has reportedly told human rights activists that he is being prevented from pursuing the case by ruling party members and local landlords. I urge that these allegations be immediately investigated. I am told that the victim and her family are in hiding and need state protection. I understand that this is one of numerous cases coming from border areas with large Hindu Dalit populations, involving the rape of a Dalit girl and the attempt to forcibly convert her to Islam by marriage. This issue clearly needs addressing at the highest levels. Many Dalits in these areas are engaged in bonded labour, and women of the caste need strong institutional support and protection from abuse. Intervention is therefore urgently needed to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators, and of any police officers proven to have obstructed the course of justice. It is absolutely necessary that the authorities send a message of zero tolerance for impunity, particularly regarding violations against women and minorities. Yours sincerely, ----------------- PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: 1. Prime Minister Prime Minister House Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: +92 51 922 1596 Tel: +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 E-mail: secretary at cabinet.gov.pk 2. Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Governor of Sindh province Karachi, Sindh Province PAKISTAN Fax: +92 21 920 5043 Tel: +92 21 920 1201 +92 21 920 1201 E-mail: governor at governorsindh.gov.pk 3. Syed Qaim Ali Shah Chief Minister Karachi, Sindh Province PAKISTAN Fax: +92 21 920 2000 Email: pressecy at cmsindh.gov.pk 4. Mr.Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani Federal Minister for Human Rights Ministry of Human Rights Old US Aid building Ata Turk Avenue G-5, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: +9251-9204108 Email: sarfaraz_yousuf at yahoo.com 5. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court High Court Building Saddar, Karachi Sindh Province PAKISTAN Fax: +92 21 9213220 E-mail: registrar at sindhhighcourt.gov.pk 6. Ms. Nadia Gabol Minister for Human Rights Government of Sindh, Pakistan secretariat, Barrack 92, Karachi, Sindh Province PAKISTAN Fax: +92 21 9207044 Tel: +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043 E-mail: lukshmil at yahoo.com 7. Dr. Faqir Hussain Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan Constitution Avenue, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: + 92 51 9213452 E-mail: mail at supremecourt.gov.pk -------------------------------- Thank you. Urgent Appeals Programme Asian Human Rights Commission (ua at ahrchk.org) Thank you. SOURCE : http://www.voxpublica.org/2010/03/pakistan_a_hindu_teenager_is_t.html From pawan.durani at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 11:52:22 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:52:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Pakistani Christian couple refuses to convert: husband is burnt alive, wife raped by police Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003282322w6bdc9de3u482c9fe4c0a728ac@mail.gmail.com> http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pakistani-Christian-couple-refuses-to-convert:-husband-is-burnt-alive,-wife-raped-by-police-17949.html Pakistani Christian couple refuses to convert: husband is burnt alive, wife raped by police by Fareed Khan Both husband and wife worked for a wealthy Muslim businessman in Rawalpindi. Their three children, ranging from 7 and 12, were forced to watch their parents brutalised. The man has suffered 80 per cent burns, and hospital doctors do not think he will survive. Christian organisations stage protests. Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Arshed Masih, 38, is still fighting for his life in Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, a city not far from Pakistan’s capital. With the help of police, Muslim extremists last Friday set him on fire for refusing to convert to Islam and raped his wife, local sources told AsiaNews. The incident occurred in front of a local police station. In 2005, Masih and his wife began working for a wealthy Muslim businessman, he as driver and she as his wife’s maid. Recently, the two fell out of favour with their employer and his family because they insisted on remaining Christian. During the incident, Masih’s wife, Martha, “was raped by police agents,” local sources said. The couple’s three children, ranging in age from 7 and 12, were forced to watch their parents being brutalised. “Masih and his wife are currently being treated in hospital,” Holy Family Hospital officials said. “He was listed in serious condition with about 80 per cent of his body burned,” the BosNewsLife agency reported. With that kind of burns, hospital officials said the 38-year-old victim (pictured) is not likely to survive. On Sunday, the Government of Punjab government announced an investigation into what happened. “The matter will be investigated and the culprits will be arrested,” Punjab’s Minister of Law Rana Sanaullah said. The Christian couple lived with their children in the servant quarters of Sheikh Mohammad Sultan’s estate in Rawalpindi. In January, religious leaders and Sultan reportedly told Arshed to convert to Islam with his whole family. After he refused, they threatened him with "dire consequences". Arshed offered to quit his job, but the businessman allegedly said he would "kill" him if he were to leave. Last week, tensions rose after Sultan reported the theft of 500,000 Pakistani rupees (almost US$ 6,000), and an official complaint (First Information Report) was filed with police. Although the Christian couple was not named as suspect, the businessman offered them to drop the case if they converted to Islam or "else that both would not see their children again." The rest is known. Arshed Masih chose to remain loyal to his Christian faith, and last Friday he was set on fire and his wife raped by police. Federal Minority Minister Shahbaz Batti, a Catholic, has so far refused to make any comment because he was “busy”. He did say however, that he would issue a statement in the next few days. Christian organisations in Rawalpindi and Lahore planned protests for today. From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Mar 29 11:55:28 2010 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:25:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003282106v5711900dt9295e34f4a28f290@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <948316.10892.qm@web112114.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> My Dear Sir, Human Rights are available only to a specific religious community whether in India or Pakistan.What if it was reverse, a Muslim girl having been raped by a Hindu male.The fellow would been dead by now and would anyone have asked the girl to convert to Hinduism and marry the fellow? All hell would have broken loose. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) --- On Mon, 3/29/10, Pawan Durani wrote: > From: Pawan Durani > Subject: [Reader-list] PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged rapist > To: "reader-list" > Date: Monday, March 29, 2010, 9:36 AM > PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to > marry her alleged rapist; police > and courts fail to act > > The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that > four men who > allegedly assisted in the rape of a young Hindu girl have > been granted > pre-arrest bail by a session court. Rape is a non-bailable > offense in > Pakistan and this is against criminal procedure and the > law. Attempts > by the family to file an FIR and obtain a medical report > have been > obstructed by local police, who later arrested the victim's > father on > a false offense. Meanwhile members of an illegal tribal > court have > reportedly proposed that the victim marry her rapist and > convert to > Islam. She has threatened public self immolation if the > perpetrators > are not arrested and brought to justice by the > authorities. > > CASE DETAILS: > > According to information received from local NGOs, the > Pakistan Dalit > Solidarity Network and All Kohli, Ms. Kastoori, seen in the > video clip > below (also here), is 17 years old and was abducted on 24 > January > 2010. > > After being taken in the evening by Ramzan Khoso, Habib > Ullah Khoso > and Ghulam Nabi Khoso, with the help of their armed guard > Verio > Gur-Ro, Kastoori was allegedly raped by Ramzan, the eldest > of the > brothers. She was recovered the next day from the mens' > residence by a > group from her community, where she was found tied up. > > On 26 January Kastoori's parents tried to register a First > Information > Report at Nagar Parker police station but were turned away. > Because of > this they could not obtain an official medical checkup for > her at the > civil hospital or the Nagar Parker hospital, which they > attempted to > arrange on 27 January. > > The family rejected an out of court sum offered to them by > the father > of the three perpetrators, Muhammad Bachaal Khoso, who is > an office > bearer for the local ruling political party and reportedly > wields > political influence. He arranged a jirga – an illegal > tribal court – > on 9 February, allegedly within the knowledge of Nagar > Parker police > officers. The jirga members allegedly pressured the > victim's family to > accept the marriage of the victim to her rapist and her > conversion > Islam. The family rejected this proposal and continued to > try to use > legal channels. > > With the help of NGOs Kastoori's father was able to file a > petition > with the Sindh High Court on February 12, which ordered the > filing of > an FIR and a medical examination on 17 February. The report > noted that > due to the length of time since the alleged rape it could > not find the > necessary evidence. > Although an FIR was finally lodged on February 17 under > Section 365-B, > the perpetrators were not arrested because they had > successfully > applied for pre-arrest bail from the Sessions Court in > Mithi, even > though the court is not authorized to do so at that level. > We are told > that the police then arrested the father of the victim > (along with 12 > others) on February 18 for stealing valuable sap from a > Guggal plant, > although Guggal is not cultivated in the area. > > At the Hyderabad press club Kastoori (featured in the You > Tube video, > embedded) has threatened to publically kill herself if the > perpetrators are not arrested. Mr. Hameed Chand, Assistant > Sub > Inspector in Naga Parker, and the investigation officer > have told > human rights activists that they are being prevented from > pursuing the > case by ruling party members and local landlords. The > victim and her > family are in hiding, and civil society protests have > reportedly not > resulted in further action from the authorities. > > ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: > > The AHRC received frequent reports of forced marriages of > minority > girls with Muslim men in areas along the Indian borders > that have > large Dalit Hindu populations, such as Thar Parker, Nagar > Parker, Umer > Kot, Mithi and Karoonjhar. The term Dalits are members of a > scheduled > caste, and due to the position of many as bonded labourers, > female > Dalits are particularly vulnerable to abuse. It is not > unknown for > Muslim seminaries to urge the forced conversion of Dalit > women. > > The AHRC has documented several such cases, including > UA-008-2006 and > UG-020-2006 and is aware of many more, in which Hindu > scheduled caste > and Christian women and girls have been abducted by Muslim > men and > raped. When confronted by the authorities perpetrators are > often able > to produce a marriage certificate from a seminary > confirming the > marriage and conversion of the victim. The girls are often > taken out > of contact with their families entirely, and various cases > have been > documented in which the courts have condoned such marriages > with girls > below the age of consent. > > SUGGESTED ACTION: > > Please write to the authorities listed below asking them to > intervene > to ensure that the perpetrators of this crime are arrested, > and any > police officers proven to be involved in their protection > also face > legal action. Please also urge for protection of the victim > and her > family. > > The AHRC has written a separate letter to UN Special > Rapporteur on > Violence against women, its causes and consequences and > the > Independent Expert on Minority Issues calling for their > intervention > into this case. > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > SAMPLE LETTER: > > Dear __________, > > Re: PAKISTAN: A Hindu teenager is told to marry her alleged > rapist; > police and courts fail to act > > Name of victim: > Miss Kastoori, daughter of Nawo Kalhi, resident of Mokrio > village, > Nagar Parker town, Thar Parker district, Sindh province > > Name of alleged perpetrators: > 1. Mr. Ramzan Khoso > 2. Mr. Habib Ullah Khoso, > 3. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Khoso > All sons of Muhammad Bachaal Khoso and residents of Mokrio > village, > Nagar Parker town, Thar Parker district, Sindh province. > 4. Mr. Verio Gur-Ro, resident of Mokrio village, Nagar > Parker town, > Thar Parker district, Sindh province. > 5. Mr. Hameed Chand, assistant sub inspector, investigation > officer at > Nagar Parker police station, Nagar Parker, district Thar > Parker, Sindh > province > 6. Inspector Mohammad Khan Rind, Station Head Officer at > the time of > incident of Nagar Parker police station, Nagar Parker, > district Thar > Parker, Sindh province > > Date of incident: January 24, 2010 > Place of incident: Mokrio village, Nagar Parker, Thar > Parker district, > Sindh province > > I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the actions > taken by > Mithi Sessions Court and Nagar Parker police in response to > the > alleged rape of a teenage girl. > > I am told that the victim, Ms. Kastoori is 17 years old and > was raped > by Mr. Ramzan Khoso with the help of three other > perpetrators named > above. On 26 January Ms. Kastoori's parents tried to > register a First > Information Report at Nagar Parker police station but were > turned > away. Because of this they could not obtain an official > medical > checkup for her at the civil hospital or the Nagar Parker > hospital, > which they attempted to arrange on 27 January. > > I am told that police officers were aware that the family > rejected an > out of court sum offered to them by the father of the > three > perpetrators, Mr. Muhammad Bachaal Khoso – an office > bearer for the > local ruling political party – and of the jirga that he > then > organized. In this jirga on 9 February I am told that the > victim's > family was pressured, unsuccessfully, to accept the > marriage of the > victim to her rapist and her conversion Islam. > > With the help of NGOs, Kastoori's father Mr. Nawo Kalhi was > able to > file a petition with the Sindh High Court on February 12, > leading to > the filing of an FIR and a medical examination on 17 > February. However > the medical report noted that due to the length of time > since the > alleged rape it could not find the necessary evidence. > > Although an FIR was finally lodged on February 17 under > Section 365-B > of the Pakistan Penal Code, the perpetrators were not > arrested because > they had successfully applied for pre-arrest bail from the > Sessions > Court in Mithi. The court is not authorized to do so at > that level. I > understand that the police then arrested the father of the > victim > (along with 12 others) on February 18 for a fabricated > crime relating > to forestry. > > Mr. Hameed Chand, the Assistant Sub Inspector in Nagar > Parker and the > investigating officer of this case has reportedly told > human rights > activists that he is being prevented from pursuing the case > by ruling > party members and local landlords. I urge that these > allegations be > immediately investigated. I am told that the victim and her > family are > in hiding and need state protection. > > I understand that this is one of numerous cases coming from > border > areas with large Hindu Dalit populations, involving the > rape of a > Dalit girl and the attempt to forcibly convert her to Islam > by > marriage. This issue clearly needs addressing at the > highest levels. > Many Dalits in these areas are engaged in bonded labour, > and women of > the caste need strong institutional support and protection > from abuse. > > Intervention is therefore urgently needed to ensure the > arrest of the > perpetrators, and of any police officers proven to have > obstructed the > course of justice. It is absolutely necessary that the > authorities > send a message of zero tolerance for impunity, particularly > regarding > violations against women and minorities. > > Yours sincerely, > > > ----------------- > > > PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: > > 1. Prime Minister > Prime Minister House > Islamabad > PAKISTAN > Fax: +92 51 922 1596 > Tel: +92 51 920 6111 +92 51 920 6111 > E-mail: secretary at cabinet.gov.pk > > 2. Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan > Governor of Sindh province > Karachi, Sindh Province > PAKISTAN > Fax: +92 21 920 5043 > Tel: +92 21 920 1201 +92 21 920 1201 > E-mail: governor at governorsindh.gov.pk > > 3. Syed Qaim Ali Shah > Chief Minister > Karachi, Sindh Province > PAKISTAN > Fax: +92 21 920 2000 > Email: pressecy at cmsindh.gov.pk > > 4. Mr.Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani > Federal Minister for Human Rights > Ministry of Human Rights > Old US Aid building > Ata Turk Avenue > G-5, Islamabad > PAKISTAN > Fax: +9251-9204108 > Email: sarfaraz_yousuf at yahoo.com > > 5. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court > High Court Building > Saddar, Karachi > Sindh Province > PAKISTAN > Fax: +92 21 9213220 > E-mail: registrar at sindhhighcourt.gov.pk > > 6. Ms. Nadia Gabol > Minister for Human Rights > Government of Sindh, > Pakistan secretariat, Barrack 92, > Karachi, Sindh Province > PAKISTAN > Fax: +92 21 9207044 > Tel: +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043 > E-mail: lukshmil at yahoo.com > > 7. Dr. Faqir Hussain > Registrar > Supreme Court of Pakistan > Constitution Avenue, Islamabad > PAKISTAN > Fax: + 92 51 9213452 > E-mail: mail at supremecourt.gov.pk > > -------------------------------- > > Thank you. > > Urgent Appeals Programme > Asian Human Rights Commission (ua at ahrchk.org) > Thank you. > > > SOURCE : http://www.voxpublica.org/2010/03/pakistan_a_hindu_teenager_is_t.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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 13:40:35 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:40:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Papers | International Conference on Multiculturalism and Global Community In-Reply-To: <6292b08b1003290102j10537cc3rf89e41bd1d10e222@mail.gmail.com> References: <151f29c01003281309p6c15b414mab64412fdbaec9ee@mail.gmail.com> <6292b08b1003290102j10537cc3rf89e41bd1d10e222@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Vasudha Dhingra International Conference on Multiculturalism and Global Community 24-27 July 2010 Tehran, Iran Culture: Diversity or Integrity 1. Multiculturalism and Global Peace 2. Asia: Diversity or Unity in Cultures 3. Intercultural Dialogue: Approaches and Outcomes 4. Media, Communication and Common Good 5. Globalization, Religion and Common Good Islam: New Challenges, New Perspectives 1. Islam and the Crisis of Modern Man 2. Islam and Other Faiths: Truth or Salvation 3. Islam and Woman: Rights and Commitments 4. Islam: Traditionalism or Modernism 5. Islam and Revivalism: Needs and Necessities 6. Islam: Spirituality, Morality and Jurisprudence Iran: Realities and Appearances 1. Iran, Religious State and International Challenges 2. Iran and the Middle East 3. Iran and New Generation: Gap or Conflict 4. Iran and International Society: Contraction or Expansion 5. Cultures and Religions in Iran: Heterogeneous or Homogeneous Society The deadline for submission of abstracts is April 10th. Abstracts must be submitted via email to: conference at mcgc.ir Enquiries: conference at mcgc.ir Web address: http://www.mcgc.ir ------------------------------ The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage . -- 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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 13:42:17 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:42:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Conflict Transformation and Peace-building in Disaster Management In-Reply-To: <6292b08b1003290107x35f6bfd4i4e18b696d1db3601@mail.gmail.com> References: <6292b08b1003290107x35f6bfd4i4e18b696d1db3601@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sana Contractor *Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding in Disaster Management* *A five-day training programme organised by* *the Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management* *of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai* * 12th - 16th of April 2010* ** *Context* Emergencies in the South Asian region particularly have increased in the last ten years including disasters and conflicts. Natural disasters have more than doubled since the 1980s and apart from natural disasters, which are partially human-made; the region has also witnessed conflicts. Since 2000, the world has witnessed over 35 major conflicts and some 2,500 disasters. Every year, more than 35 million people are displaced as a result of war, crime, political unrest, and natural disasters and there were over 14 million refugees at the beginning of 2008 most of them originating from and residing in the developing countries. Wide-ranging challenges, such as persistent poverty, rising epidemics, terrorism, environmental degradation and the collapse of social systems compounded with high levels of violence call for specialized and specific responses. However, most of the aforementioned challenges and issues are intertwined and interdependent and hence cannot be addressed in isolation. Nor can they be effectively addressed without dealing with the internal tensions or divergent interests. Further dimensions are added by processes of political transition and the forces of globalisation that have led to rising ethnic tensions and identity politics, especially in the midst of economic crisis. Although development policies are designed to eradicate poverty, injustice and minimize the destruction of natural resources, as well as contribute to peaceful resolution of crises and conflicts rooted in poor development and social transition, newer approaches, effective instruments and efficient services will need to be further developed on a continuous basis to respond to ever new conflicts. While each conflict is unique owing to different underlying causes and trajectory leading to different impacts and solutions, it is possible to identify some common threads on how these conflicts have evolved and can be addressed. Careful examination of the causes, the stakeholders, the stages of the conflict, the external factors and the context is required to gain insight into opportunities for interventions in the form of mediation or preventive diplomacy, whereas other strategies could help transform the conflict leading to stability and peace. There is a need therefore to create tools, mechanisms and methods to manage conflicts and find common areas of interest, which are central to conflict transformation efforts. Conflict transformation processes cut across a range of initiatives including violence prevention, restoring social cohesion, peace-building and reconciliation. in order to ensure that communities and societies can live more equitably and peacefully together. Conflict transformation processes help in finding common ground and focus on building the structures essential to prevent conflict and achieving sustainable peace. However, very often conflict resolution initiatives focus on short-term solutions that fail to address deeprooted anxieties and do not support or translate into conflict transformation. There is a variety of factors underlying any conflict which requires strategic as well as multipronged responses. It is impossible for any one stakeholder or institution to respond at all stages and to every aspect of the conflict. Hence, conflict transformation is a multi stakeholder led process operating both locally and internationally. Increasingly, it has been recognised that short term solutions are shortlived and continue to threaten peace and security resulting in resurgence of violence in post-conflict societies impacting other parts of the region. Hence, there is a need for the regional and international communities to work towards political solutions and framework for sustainable peace. This training programme seeks to combine an in-depth understanding of the theory and practice of conflict transformation from a regional and international perspective offering participants an opportunity to A. gain a conceptual understanding about conflicts and conflict transformation, B. learn about ways of integrating conflict management into existing development processes and C. learn the significance of human rights principles in conflict transformation. *Learning objectives* - To understand the complexities of various conflicts. - To situate the understanding of peace and conflict within the broader context of development work. - To develop an understanding of the range of skills required in addressing conflicts across social, cultural and political contexts. - To identify forces that trigger and fuel inter-communal differences resulting in violence and extremism. - To appreciate and begin to develop skills in conflict transformation such as communication, negotiation, facilitation, mediation and reconciliation. - To understand the significance of regional and international organizations, civil society, academia, experts and media in the mediation, management and transformation of conflicts and peacebuilding.** ** *Expected outcomes* - Participants are able to identify issues, needs, interests, differences (positions) and common approaches among stakeholders in peacebuilding. - Participants will begin to develop insights into skills required for sustaining peace and for conflict transformation. - Participants will have an opportunity to explore their communication skills in facilitating conflict transformation processes. *Curriculum *** (i) Conflict transformation and peace-building: understanding the dynamics of conflict; understanding the processes of negotiation and communication, strategies of peacebuilding and conflict escalation. (ii) Human rights awareness: the idea of social justice and human rights and a rights based approach to peacebuilding. (iii) Gender concerns in conflict transformation and peacebuilding. (iv) Cultural issues: the importance of cultural awareness in conflict transformation and social reconstruction; the cultural content of conflict escalation; the significance of religion, language, gender; the central importance of 'identity' in the dynamics of contemporary conflicts; *Participant profile* The programme is meant for middle and senior level professionals in government and non-governmental organizations engaged in development work in general and disaster management in particular. *Total number of seats* The programme will admit *only 30* participants. The *medium of instruction* of the programme is *English*. *Methodology* The programme design includes presentations by resource persons followed and interspersed with spaces for interaction and experience sharing, problem-solving exercises, group work and film-screenings. *Resource Persons* Leading experts from the sector with rich and diverse experience of organizing such interventions and capacity building programmes will be invited to facilitate the sessions. ** *Duration* The training programme is residential and will be facilitated over 5 full days *(12th to 16th of April 2010).* ** ** ** *Fees * Selected participants will have to pay a registration fees of Rs. 7500, which will cover costs of food, accommodation, training material and field trip expenses, if any. Fees are payable by Bank Demand Draft in favour of 'Tata Institute of Social Sciences', payable in Mumbai which are to be couriered to: ** *Ms. Evon D'Souza* *Training Assistant* *Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management * *Tata Institute of Social Sciences* *Malti and Jal A D Naoroji Campus* *Deonar, Mumbai – 400 088.* ** *Venue: * Tata Institute of Social Sciences, V.N Purav Marg, Deonar, Mumbai – 400 088 ** *Registration Form* Aspiring candidates need to fill in and send the *registration form* which can be downloaded and posted on the TISS address mentioned in the FEES section or forwarded via e-mail: jtcdmtraining at gmail.com ** Registration forms need to be accompanied with an updated resume of the candidate** ** *Last date for registration – Monday, 31st March, 2010* ** *Tata Institute of Social Sciences:* Established in 1936, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has demonstrated pioneering work in teaching, research, training and field action in promoting sustainable, equitable and participatory development. TISS has been involved in voluntary action in response to most national emergencies in India, the post partition refugee crisis in 1947 being one of the first such instances. Consolidating nearly 60 years of work in disasters, the Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management (JTCDM) was established with a vision of enhancing disaster studies in India and working towards a holistic, accountable and participatory system of disaster response and mitigation. It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on the 6th of May, 2006. *Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management (JTCDM)* Disaster Management is emerging globally as a full-fledged academic discipline. Since disaster response has primarily been a practitioner's domain, its boundaries have been permeable. people from diverse backgrounds – including relief workers, engineers, social scientists and medical professionals – have worked in disaster management. This has facilitated the growth of disaster management as a substantive field. However, as a field of practice, it demands specialization to meet with the dynamic challenges posed by disasters and the contexts in which they occur. Recognizing this the Centre offers a wide variety of educational and training programmes, undertakes disaster interventions, engages in research, publication and policy work. *For queries please call Ms. Evon D’Souza, Training Assistant, JTCDM on 022-25525880 between 10.30 am and 5.30 pm (Mon to Fri except public holidays)* ** *OR* ** *Write to: The Training Coordinator - jtcdmtraining at gmail.com* ** *Suggested Terms:* 1. Payment should be made by Demand Draft in favour of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, payable at Mumbai and mailed to the above mentioned address. 2. Course fee can be paid through bank transfer to Account No. 10895954226, State Bank of India, Deonar Branch, Mumbai. 3. Registrations without payments will NOT be accepted. 4. Only 50% fee is refundable in case of cancellation on part of participant. 5. Full refund will be given in case of cancellation on part of the organizers. 6. Participants need to make their own travel arrangements to and from the training venue including local conveyance. 7. Duly filled registration forms along with resume and DD must reach on or before November 20, 2009. 8. Accommodation will be offered on a twin-sharing basis only. 9. Organisers reserve the right to alter course curriculum and of permitting admission to the programme. 10. Changes in venue and other particulars, if any, will be informed, to the participants. 11. Certificates of participation will be awarded to all participants who attend all sessions. From babuubab at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 15:13:28 2010 From: babuubab at gmail.com (SUNDARA BABU) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:13:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Dalits and tribals women brutally attacked in Sonbhadra In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <66ec95311003290243h17b531a3mba242d1fe6590241@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kaveri Rajaraman Dear friends, This contains an update on the situation in Sonbhadra. If anyone can help we can set up a fax email action alert out of this, do let me know! thanks Kaveri Dalits and tribals women brutally attacked by Forest Dept in connivance with local feudal elements, police in Sonbhadra ** *Lalti devi badly injured has been beaten and jailed along with 3 others in Indian Forest Act 1927, bail denied* ** *A pregnent lady profoundly bleeding due to miscarriage, medical examination being denied to wounded'* ** *District Administration openly supporting Forest dept * Dear all, In a shocking incident on 16th march 2010 hundreds of tribals and dalits activists were brutally attacked and heavily injured when they launched a movement to reclaim thier lands from where they were evicted in august 2009. Around 200 families in Magardah forest, Satdwari, PS kon, district Sonbhdara, UP, were already in possession of land. In order to deny them rights to them the forest dept connived with local feudal elements in August 2009 and evicted all these tribals and dalits claiming that they actually belonged to Jharkhand and Bihar. They were beaten and their houses were looted, and 11 of them were booked under various sections of IPC. Apart from the clearly illegal beatings and looting, the forest dept doesn't have the right to stop them from staying on the land as it is the duty of collector to decide whose land is it. No action was against those who evicted tribals despite the issue being raised with the administration a number of times. The tribals with help of National Fourm of Forest People and Forest Workers launched democratic struggles but District authorities did not make any effort to resettle these families from where they were evicted. On 29th nov 2009 tribals gheraod the police station Kon in protest of the eviction and with many other demands. Many letters were written to the CM. From 3-6th march tribals led a procession to reoccupy their lands and when stopped on the way, they staged a 3 day dharna. The officials asked them to end their dharna and threatened their leaders Lalti and Shyamlal, saying that they would be killed or sent to jail. (These two leaders had also been jailed previously and scores of false cases have been filed against them). The tribals ended their dharna after SDM assured them that they will get their rights. The tribals gave them four days time and announced that they will start thier agitation again on 12th march. After hearing no response from the district administration, tribals marched to their land on 15th march 2010. On 16th march 2010 armed force of forest dept and local feudal elements attacked tribal and dalit leaders. They brutally beat women with sticks and the butts of guns. Four of the tribal leaders: Shayamlal, Laltidevi, Budhinarayan, Naresh were beaten and were illegally forced into forest dept vehicle. They were kidnapped and taken to an unknown place by the forest dept. No one knew their whereabouts until morning of 17 March. During this period, there were not given any food. They were not accompanied by a female constable, and the forestry department misbehaved grossly with Laltidevi. Lalita devi, a pregnent women, was beaten so much that she had a miscarriage. Another woman was apparently raped by these forest staff. Naresh was beaten to the point where his leg was broken. In addition to those kidnapped, around 150 men women and childeren were injured in the course of the beating. Medical examination to all injured was denied. Laltidevi is bleeding heavily in jail without getting any proper treament there. No FIR was done and the collector and SP connived with the forest department and did not take any action against them. All of the kidnapped people were produced before Magistrate on 17th march and were sent to jail. Their bail has been denied on the pretext of existing criminal cases. The said criminal cases have not been decided upon as yet and all the cases are under the colonial act Indian forest act 1927, which is a general act that should not be operative after the enactment of the recently passed special Forest Rights Act. The ACJM who denied bail admitted in private conversation that there was lot of pressure from the district administration to deny bai. All four jailed are adivasi and dalits. Those who were injured in the beating are staging a dharna outside DM office to the Commissioner who will be visiting Sonbhadra on 20th March. The attack is on the leadership of women and on the preservation of colonial laws despite the special Forest Rights Act. We ask for: - an FIR against the forest staff for their acts of rape, molestation, causing injury to preganent women, beating, outraging the modesty of women, troubling the sc/st community and kidnapping. - Following an inquiry, the forest officials, staff, collector and SP should be suspended - The people's rights to live on their land should be recognized. The forest dept has openly come against the implementation of FRA since they are involved in huge illegal works in the forest areas which the dalit leaders have been raising since long. The district authority are also in hand and glove with the forest dept and totally reluctant in understanding the spirit of the FRA. Ironically, the state government is serious in implementation of the act but the forest mafia, feudal elements nexus with the coruupt distirct admin does not want the act to be implemented. This kind of torture and bad administration can give a free way to maoists to take over the public space. *The newspaper clipps of janadesh, TOI are attached.Letter to CM and photos of their houses being looted are also attached. * *Kindly condemn this act and write to * ** *1 CM : Mayawati fax no - 05222236181* * 2. Sh Anil Sant( sect CM) - 0522-2239536(f)* *3. Chief sect - 0522-2239283(f)* *4. Principal Sect Social welfare - 0522-2239421* Times of India, 18th March 2010, ** *Janadesh story* http://janadesh.in/InnerPage.aspx?Story_ID=2074&Title=%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%9F%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%20%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%80,%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%87%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%96%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%8A%E0%A4%82 *18th march 2010, Times of India, Luknow* *NFFPFW asks government to ensure justice to tribals* The National Forum for Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW) on Wednesday drew attention of Mayawati government towards the displacement and attack on the tribals and Dalits in Kon area of Sonbhadra. NFFPFW has shot off a letter to senior officers in the state government asking them to intervene and ensure justice for the tribals and Dalits. NFFPFW national convener Ashok Chaudhary told TOI that 200 tribals and Dalit families living in the Magardah village under Kon police station were displaced by the forest and police officials in August last year. TNN 19th March 2010, Times of India, Lucknow *Displaced tribals on an indefinite dharna* *TIMES NEWS NETWORK * Lucknow: Tribal and Dalit families, which were displaced from the Magardah village of Sonbhadra district and brutally assaulted when they tried to get back into their houses, on Thursday started an indefinite dharna outside district magistrate’s office. They also protested against arrest of their leaders, including a Dalit woman, while nothing has been done against those involved in the attack. Over 200 families were forcibly displaced by forest and police officials in August last year on grounds that they were residents of Jharkhand and Bihar. They were charged with encroaching upon forest land. However, in the cases lodged against them in August last year, the families were shown as natives of Sonbhadra in police files. Arguing how can a person be a resident of two places at the same time, the families launched a peaceful agitation. But nothing was done for five months. In March, 2010, they wrote to chief minister for justice. But no help came. Finally, the families decided to occupy their houses again. But while they were on their way, a group of people alleged to be from the neighbouring villages attacked them leaving many injured. The attackers allegedly had support of some local police officials and forest officials said to be on the payrolls of forest mafia. Four leaders of the agitating families were arrested by the police, while no action has been taken against the attackers, so far. On Wednesday, those arrested were produced before the court where they showed their injury marks to the judge. The woman leader, Lalti was also assaulted mercilessly. The court directed the police to provide medical aid to injured. On Thursday, many from the victim families sat on a dharna outside district magistrate’s office. The National Forum for Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW) also shot off letters to the senior officers in Mayawati government towards the issue. Such incidents, said NFFPFW members, give open invitation to Maoists and Naxals, who use public resentment to establish their base in the district. “If there is any dispute, it should be resolved through negotiations rather than use of force. Injustice helps Naxals and Maoists to gain ground,” Ashok Chaudhary, NFFPFW national convener told TOI, when contacted. Officers of the district administration, however, claimed that these people belong to the states of Jharkhand and Bihar but encroached upon land in Magardah village under Kon police station to reap benefit under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which provides for giving ownership titles of land to tribal and forest dwellers. Distribution of land to these people would have led to resentment among original natives, they said. But displaced families claimed that they have been living there since long and were displaced at the behest of forest mafia, who operate in the area with the help of a few local forest and police officials. -- http://picasaweb.google.co.in/romamyphotograph/MagardahPhotoaLooting?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3ahbSf9YTX2QE&feat=email# NFFPFW (Kaimur) / Human Rights Law Centre Purab Mohal, Near Sarita Printing Press, Munsifi Chauraha Robertsganj, District Sonbhadra 231216 Uttar Pradesh Tel : 91-9415233583, 05444-222473 Email : romasnb at gmail.com/ hrlkaimoor at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- You have received this message because either you were part of the first YAM in Sept-Oct 2006 or your name was recommended by one of the Yammers. ******** The list is to talk, discuss, share, laugh on issues 'personal', 'political' or beyond these two categories with respect and love. If you wish to subscribe send an empty mail mentioning name, location, profession and other relevant details to youngactivists-subscribe at lists.riseup.net ******** If you feel traffic is too much then you can choose the digest option and by any chance you want to leave our community then write to youngactivists-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net ******** It is very important that you do not forward conversations from YAM to any other lists. You may forward individual messages to your friends and others you can trust, but with the rider that they should exercise similar caution. Please recommend only those members to be part of YAM who will ensure this list remains protected from unnecessary publicity. ******** List maintained (not moderated) by napm.madhuresh at gmail.com Do send your suggestions and feedback... From cashmeeri at yahoo.com Mon Mar 29 15:41:20 2010 From: cashmeeri at yahoo.com (cashmeeri) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:11:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia Message-ID: <445715.4260.qm@web112615.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> chintan   i enquired from friend nirja mattoo in mumbai, who said:   "These days most of the schools have inclusive education policy, however Jamnabhai Narsee School (Juhu) and RajHans(Bhavans,Andheri) surely accept children with dyslexia.The schools create an environment and space for children to use their creativity with different methodology.The architecture of the syllybus is customised as per the need and understanding of the child."   .......... aalok aima  From cubbykabi at yahoo.com Mon Mar 29 19:58:48 2010 From: cubbykabi at yahoo.com (kabi cubby sherman) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:58:48 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia In-Reply-To: <445715.4260.qm@web112615.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <445715.4260.qm@web112615.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <13751.16038.qm@web94714.mail.in2.yahoo.com> chintan, there was a school in bombay called nalanda that was especially for children with dyslexia. it was on breach candy then it moved to byculla on the grounds of the synagogue there. (jacob sassoon? i think that is the name). I did an internet search but didn't see a website. I don't know if it is still around. does anyone know? best kabi Meter Down - काली पीली की कहानी blog: http://meterdown.wordpress.com podcast: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/meterdown ________________________________ From: cashmeeri To: Sarai Sent: Mon, 29 March, 2010 3:41:20 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia chintan i enquired from friend nirja mattoo in mumbai, who said: "These days most of the schools have inclusive education policy, however Jamnabhai Narsee School (Juhu) and RajHans(Bhavans,Andheri) surely accept children with dyslexia.The schools create an environment and space for children to use their creativity with different methodology.The architecture of the syllybus is customised as per the need and understanding of the child." .......... aalok aima _________________________________________ 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/> The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/ From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 21:23:50 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:23:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Voices Against Terror: Indian Ulema on Islam, Jihad and Communal Harmony In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7271ec561003290853m299d0b0bndc13f8f021ba41b5@mail.gmail.com> thanks for the thought provoking post, Javed, issue here is about the thoughts, thoughts of faiths and the holy books of faith, these belong to entire mankind, but unfortunate part is the very same holy books are used to first dominate the followers of faith, then others who do not follow the faith, hence the constant friction in societal life, system of governance also likes to dominate the individuals with ruled getting dominated by the rulers, in kingdoms or in democracies, thus we see the leaders of nations searching weapons of mass destruction in their adventures, destroying the nations, then re-building them, with devote fervour, crusades and jihaads have been the agonies of mankind, humanity, then came another kind of brutality, intellectual terrorism, of those who believed that they are marxists, mao thoughts are the rule to kill the innocents to "change" the system, humans like to dominate others, be it with "culture and speriority, or with faith and being the only saviors of faith and then radical methods of killing the poor to remove poverty.! Regards, rajen On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Javed wrote: > New Book > > Voices Against Terror: Indian Ulema on Islam, Jihad and Communal Harmony > > Edited and Translated by Yoginder Sikand > Publisher: Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai (vak at bom3.vsnl.net.in) > Pages: 207, Year: 2010, Price: Rs. 100 > > Islam, like all other religions, can be interpreted in diverse ways. > Not surprisingly, therefore, there is no unanimity among Muslim > scholars on the details of the Islamic concept of jihad and Islamic > teachings about relations between Muslims and others. Radical > Islamists regard jihad, in the form of physical warfare, as a > permanent duty binding on all Muslims. Like some conservative ulema, > they also believe that Muslims must necessarily hate what they regard > as ‘disbelievers’ and ‘infidels’, seeing that as an expression of > their love for Islam and as being mandated by the Quran. These > supremacist understandings emerge from their own reading of the Quran > and Hadith, the corpus of sayings attributed to or about the Prophet > Muhammad. They are also reflected in some strands of traditional > Islamic jurisprudence or fiqh, which developed in the centuries after > the demise of the Prophet. On the other hand, numerous other Muslim > ideologues and scholars vehemently disagree with radical jihadists on > their understanding of jihad, their political vision and their > interpretation of Islamic teachings about relations between Muslims > and others. > > The essays included in this volume, translated from Urdu, all deal > with the issue of Islamic teachings on jihad and inter-religious and > inter-community relations. What unites the authors of these essays, > Indian ulema who represent different Islamic sectarian and ideological > tendencies, is a strident opposition to what they regard as the > jihadists’ gross misinterpretation and misuse of the concept of jihad > and by, like some traditional ulema, their unconcealed hostility > towards people of other faiths and persuasions. Simultaneously, these > authors also seek to address widespread misgivings among non-Muslims > about Islam, particularly with regard to Islamic injunctions about > jihad and inter-community relations. > > Unbeknown to many, a number of Indian Muslim scholars or ulema do > indeed differ from, critique and oppose the arguments of radical > Islamists and obscurantist ulema on jihad and relations between > Muslims and others. Some of them have written extensively on these > matters. However, the vast majority of them write only in Urdu, a > language that, for various reasons, few non-Muslims read and that > increasing numbers of Indian Muslims do not know. Hence, few > non-Muslims and other non-Urdu knowing people have access to their > valuable critiques, argued from within a broad Islamic paradigm, of > the politics and theology of radical Islamists and certain > obscurantist traditional ulema. Some of the boldest such critiques are > today being articulated by Indian ulema who have received a > traditional madrasa education, thus indicating that many commonly-held > and facile generalizations about madrasas and traditional ulema need > to be interrogated and revised. > > In a sense, these critiques are a reaction to the rise of radical > jihadist trends in large parts of the world. Their proponents are > consciously engaged in a conversation with, and against, radical > Islamists, concerned that the latter are, as they see it, > misinterpreting and misusing Islamic teachings, thereby defaming Islam > itself. By questioning the very credentials of radical jihadists to > speak for Islam and dismissing their arguments as ‘un-Islamic’, they > serve a valuable purpose in seeking to convince Muslims that the > radical jihadists’ positions on jihad and inter-community relations > lack Islamic validity. In this way, they can prove to be major, indeed > the most effective, actors in the struggle against radical jihadism > and the obscurantism of certain influential sections of the ulema. > > The first essay in the volume is an edited and considerably shortened > version of a book titled Islam Aur Dehshatgardi (‘Islam and > Terrorism’) [Hyderi Kutub Khana, Mumbai, 2003] by the noted Indian > Shia scholar and community leader, Maulana Mirza Muhammad Athar, > President of the All-India Shia Personal Law Board. The book consists > of transcripts of majalis or lectures delivered by Maulana Athar over > ten days in the Islamic month of Muharram in 2003 at the Masjid > Iraniyan, Mumbai, to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husain, > grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. In his majalis, Maulana Athar > presents the Shias as being characterized, from the very inception of > the community more than 1400 years ago, as victims of terrorism in the > name of Islam. He depicts as the archetypical terrorist the figure of > Yazid (680-83), a Sunni Muslim Caliph, son of the Caliph Muawiyah > (d.680), founder of the Umayyad dynasty, and grandson of Abu Sufiyan > (d.650), an arch-enemy of the Prophet Muhammad. In the month of > Muharram in the year 680, Imam Husain and several dozens of his > disciples and relatives were slaughtered at Karbala, a town now in > Iraq, by the army of the tyrant Yazid, a turning point in the history > of the Shias and Shia-Sunni relations. Mirza Muhammad Athar depicts > the slaying of Imam Husain and his followers at the Battle of Karbala > as epitomizing terrorism in the name of Islam. At the same time, in > line with Shia beliefs, he presents the valiant resistance put up by > the Imam against the forces of evil, oppression and tyranny > represented by Yazid’s army to be the highest form of jihad. The > battle of Karbala, he points out, was fought between two groups of > Muslims. One of these groups, represented by the figure of Yazid, > upheld a false Islam, the Islam of monarchs who sought to use and > abuse Islam and the Islamic concept of jihad to bolster their own > power by resorting to terrorism in the name of the faith. The other > group, represented by Imam Husain, championed the authentic Islam, the > Islam of the Prophet Muhammad, his son-in law and Imam Husain’s > father, Imam Ali, and the Ahl ul-Bayt, the Family of the Prophet. They > stood for what Mirza Muhammad Athar describes as the authentic Islamic > jihad. This struggle between the two forms of Islam and the two > contrasting interpretations of jihad, he says, continues down to our > own times. In this way, he articulates an inspiring response to, and > critique of, terrorism in the name of Islamic jihad. > > The second essay is a translation of a chapter of an Urdu booklet > titled Ikisvin Sadi Mai Islam, Musalman Aur Tehrik-e Islami (‘Islam, > Muslims and the Islamic Movement in the Twenty-First Century’) > [Markazi Maktaba-e Islami, New Delhi, 2005]. The author, Mohammad > Nejatullah Siddiqui, is a leading Indian Islamic scholar, whose > specialisation is ‘Islamic Economics’. Recipient of the King Faisal > Award for Islamic Studies, he has taught at the Aligarh Muslim > University and the King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah. A prolific > writer, he served for sixteen years as member of the Central Committee > of the Jama‘at-e Islami Hind. Siddiqui critiques the excesses > committed by self-styled jihadist movements and points to the futility > of armed struggle by Muslim groups against the West as a reaction to > real or perceived injustices, arguing that this is causing much more > damage to Muslims themselves than to others. He pleads for the need > for inter-faith dialogue, in particular for Muslims to join hands with > people of other faiths for issues of common concern, including in the > struggle for peace and justice. > > The third essay is a translation of portions of an Urdu book titled > Al-Jihad by a young Sunni Deobandi scholar from Lucknow, Maulana Yahya > Nomani, who works with the popular Islamic journal Al-Furqan. Nomani > begins by noting and lamenting widespread anti-Islamic prejudices > among many non-Muslims, based on ignorance and misunderstandings, > which he regards, in part, as the outcome of the deliberate efforts of > some forces inimical to Islam. At the same time, he acknowledges that > certain self-styled jihadist groups have, through their violent > actions and rhetoric, only further solidified Islamophobic prejudices, > thereby giving Islam a bad name. Nomani focuses particularly on the > doctrine of jihad itself, including the conditions under which, > according to the Sunni theorists he supports, jihad can be waged and > the strict rules and ethical limits that it must follow. Of particular > interest in this regard is his discussion about proxy and guerilla war > and war in the name of jihad waged by non-state actors, in which his > differences with radical Islamists clearly emerge. Nomani also devotes > considerable attention to critiquing Muslim ideologues who insist that > Muslims must not befriend or help or work with people of other faiths > or be law-abiding citizens of non-Muslim states, arguing that this > represents an extremist position that is not in conformity with the > Quran and the Sunnah or the practice of the Prophet. > > The fourth chapter consists of translations of excerpts put together > of three lengthy articles by the well-known New Delhi-based Maulana > Wahiduddin Khan, a prolific Sunni scholar and a leading proponent of > inter-community dialogue. These articles are taken from two Urdu books > of his, Aman-e Alam (‘Global Peace’) [Goodword Books, New Delhi, 2005] > and Islam Aur Intiha Pasandi (‘Islam and Extremism’) [Positive > Thinkers Forum, Bangalore, n.d.]. Khan points out the distinction > between jihad, understood as struggle in the path of God, and qital or > armed struggle, and argues that Muslims as well as others have, > unfortunately, taken the two to be largely synonymous. He critiques > traditional Muslim historiographers for presenting the Prophet’s > mission in largely political terms and his life as being a series of > wars. Khan argues to the contrary, and points out that jihad, in the > sense of qital, is only possible in very extreme cases. It is not a > permanently operating principle, unlike what both radical jihadists as > well as certain traditional ulema make it out to be. Khan opines that > peace is basic to Islam. It is the norm, while war is only an > exception, and that, too, in extreme and unavoidable situations. He > regards as the Muslims’ fundamental duty the task of da‘wah or > ‘inviting’ others to Islam, and argues that this duty can only be > fulfilled in a climate of peace and good relations with people of > other persuasions. Hence, he insists, radical Islamists are not just > theologically wrong. They are also the major obstacle to what he > regards as the Islamic mission for they are inherently and viscerally > opposed to peace and good relations between Muslims and others. > > The fifth chapter is a collection of excerpts put together from three > articles written by Maulana Waris Mazhari, a graduate of the Dar > ul-Ulum at Deoband and editor of the New Delhi-based journal Tarjuman > Dar ul-Ulum, the official organ of the Deoband Madrasa’s Graduates’ > Association. These articles have been published on various websites > and in the journal that Mazhari edits. Mazhari articulates an Islamic > ethic of inter-faith dialogue, which he sees not just as important in > today’s context in order to counter anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic > prejudices but also as a basic Islamic imperative. In this regard, and > like Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, he critiques the notions of dar ul-islam > (‘land of Islam’) and dar ul-harb or ‘land of war’ as contained in the > corpus of medieval fiqh and which radical jihadists also espouse. He > also critically interrogates Pakistan-based radical Islamists, such as > the Lashkar-e Tayyeba, for what he regards as their deliberate > misinterpretation of certain alleged statements of the Prophet in > order to justify their acts of terrorism in India. > > The sixth, and final, essay is a translation of excerpts from the > Presidential address delivered by the noted Deobandi scholar, Maulana > Anwar Shah Kashmiri (1875-1933), to the meeting of the Jami‘at > ul-Ulama-i Hind (‘The Union of the Ulema of India’) in Peshawar in > 1927. In his lecture, Maulana Kashmiri argues against proponents of > Muslim separatism and lends support to the notion of a united India, > consisting of Muslims, Hindus and others. Invoking the Treaty of > Medina, or what some Muslims refer to as the ‘Constitution of Medina’, > he argues that the Prophet Muhammad accepted the Jews and some other > non-Muslim groups of Medina as members of the same qaum or ‘nation’, > with equal rights as Muslims. Hence, he says, arguing against both > Muslim as well as Hindu opponents of Hindu-Muslim unity and united > Indian nationalism, Islam is not a barrier to better relations between > Hindus and Muslims. Nor, he stresses, does it insist on Muslim > political separatism, contrary to what, for instance, the Muslim > League in pre-Partition India claimed or what radical jihadists today > would argue. > _________________________________________ > 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 shumonagoel at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 22:14:26 2010 From: shumonagoel at gmail.com (Shumona Goel) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:14:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia In-Reply-To: <13751.16038.qm@web94714.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <445715.4260.qm@web112615.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <13751.16038.qm@web94714.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43bd75951003290944vf36e69cnaee892664f6618ec@mail.gmail.com> You could also check with the Waldorf school in Ville Parle. On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 7:58 PM, kabi cubby sherman wrote: > chintan, > > there was a school in bombay called nalanda that was especially for > children with dyslexia. it was on breach candy then it moved to byculla on > the grounds of the synagogue there. (jacob sassoon? i think that is the > name). I did an internet search but didn't see a website. I don't know if it > is still around. does anyone know? > > best > kabi > > > Meter Down - काली पीली की कहानी > blog: http://meterdown.wordpress.com > podcast: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/meterdown > > > > > > ________________________________ > From: cashmeeri > To: Sarai > Sent: Mon, 29 March, 2010 3:41:20 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with > borderline dyslexia > > chintan > > i enquired from friend nirja mattoo in mumbai, who said: > > "These days most of the schools have inclusive education policy, however > Jamnabhai Narsee School (Juhu) and RajHans(Bhavans,Andheri) surely accept > children with dyslexia.The schools create an environment and space for > children to use their creativity with different methodology.The architecture > of the syllybus is customised as per the need and understanding of the > child." > > .......... aalok aima > > > > _________________________________________ > 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: > > > The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. > http://in.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 chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Mon Mar 29 23:32:50 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:32:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child with borderline dyslexia In-Reply-To: <43bd75951003290944vf36e69cnaee892664f6618ec@mail.gmail.com> References: <445715.4260.qm@web112615.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <13751.16038.qm@web94714.mail.in2.yahoo.com> <43bd75951003290944vf36e69cnaee892664f6618ec@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Shumona, Kabi and Aalok Thank you so much for reaching out, and offering advice. I have forwarded your mails to the child's family. Warmly, Chintan On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:14 PM, Shumona Goel wrote: > You could also check with the Waldorf school in Ville Parle. > > On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 7:58 PM, kabi cubby sherman >wrote: > > > chintan, > > > > there was a school in bombay called nalanda that was especially for > > children with dyslexia. it was on breach candy then it moved to byculla > on > > the grounds of the synagogue there. (jacob sassoon? i think that is the > > name). I did an internet search but didn't see a website. I don't know if > it > > is still around. does anyone know? > > > > best > > kabi > > > > > > Meter Down - काली पीली की कहानी > > blog: http://meterdown.wordpress.com > > podcast: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/meterdown > > > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: cashmeeri > > To: Sarai > > Sent: Mon, 29 March, 2010 3:41:20 PM > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Help find a good school in Mumbai for child > with > > borderline dyslexia > > > > chintan > > > > i enquired from friend nirja mattoo in mumbai, who said: > > > > "These days most of the schools have inclusive education policy, however > > Jamnabhai Narsee School (Juhu) and RajHans(Bhavans,Andheri) surely accept > > children with dyslexia.The schools create an environment and space for > > children to use their creativity with different methodology.The > architecture > > of the syllybus is customised as per the need and understanding of the > > child." > > > > .......... aalok aima > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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: > > > > > > The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. > > http://in.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 nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Tue Mar 30 00:28:27 2010 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de ([NMF2010}) Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:58:27 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?Program_-_week_14_-_NewMediaFest=272?= =?iso-8859-1?q?010?= Message-ID: <20100329205828.8B687569.90E4F312@192.168.0.2> NewMediaFest'2010 program : week 14 - 29 March - 4 April 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=703 ---------------------------------------------------- Feature & Venue of the week 14 http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=710 --> Manipulated Image Santa Fe (USA) - 02 April 2010 screening event: memory & identiy US videoart curated by Alysse Stepanian for VideoChannel Cologne http://videochannel.newmediafest.org including Lana Z. Caplan, Brian DeLevie, Ron Diorio, Michael Greathouse, Soyeon Jung , Laleh Mehran, Joe Merrell, David Montgomery, Christine Schiavo, Brooks Williams Feature of the month March 2010 is Violence Online Festival (active 2002-2004) --> on 20 March 2003 the Iraq war began and the war on Violence Online Festival started by chance the same day. http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=647 The weekly program includes also daily interviews on JIP - JavaMuseum Interviw Project and SIP - SoundLAB Interview Project and video features: Videoart from Italy curated by Laura Chiari (Rome) and Wilfried Agricola de Cologne all details on http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=703 ---------------------------------------------------- NewMediaFest'2010 10 Years [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne global heritage of digital culture 1 January - 31 December 2010 http://2010.newmediafest.org director and chief curator: Wilfried Agricola de Cologne 2010 [at] newmediafest.org ---------------------------------------------------- From babuubab at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 11:39:24 2010 From: babuubab at gmail.com (SUNDARA BABU) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:39:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Support the Karama project in Palestine by signing the Pledge In-Reply-To: <4d1f63e1003290544w649c5db9yc48f6f78a9cac281@mail.gmail.com> References: <4d1f63e1003290245q166390f4x2de20dbdb375bc55@mail.gmail.com> <4d1f63e1003290544w649c5db9yc48f6f78a9cac281@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <66ec95311003292309v213b39d1m6fa1308dbe062de@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jorgen Johansen http://www.karama.ps/index.php?page=page&pid=1 And please forward this to more friends of the Palestinian People. All the best from jj -- -- Jørgen Johansen Skype: jj_ahimsa Cellullar: +46 761481011 Home: +46 534 30123 E-mail: johansen.jorgen at gmail.com From waliarifi3 at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 11:39:42 2010 From: waliarifi3 at gmail.com (Wali Arifi) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:39:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?In_Defence_Of_The_Bitch=85?= Message-ID: <4fcaee301003292309t41ab1195i3c7b3499df2b84f9@mail.gmail.com> http://www.countercurrents.org/selvam280310.htm In Defence Of The Bitch… *By Trevor Selvam* 28 March, 2010 *Countercurrents.org* For the past few years, I have seen the hate that has been spewed out at Arundhuti Roy. There are various categories of Indian men and women who do not like her. Let us deal with the men first, as their hatred (camouflaged or obvious) for an intelligent female writer is nearly reflexive. Women on the other hand do not seem to have their hate mongering so mordant and merciless and generally do not spew out sexist hatred. So, by all accounts she is a bitch, a cunt, a Muslim arse-licker and so much more. Who are these people who have such wonderful things to say about her? In the beginning I would not bother to read the responses and letters to various articles on the web. Now, I do scan through them, unpalatable as most of them are. Because they reflect on the psyche of the nation. They mirror the incredible mental descent and cultural depravity of a post-Bollywood, web-savvy class, cut off from historical precedent, unaware of India’s socio-economic past, unaware of rational, sensible discourse and debate, ignorant about India’s own philosophical traditions, let alone world history-- about colonization and the genocide against aboriginal people. What vitriol, filth and misogyny runs through the veins of these Indians! When Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali, Mridula Sarabhai and other women spoke and wrote essays about their feelings about the people of India not a single misogynist invective was hurled at them. Today, when Medha Patkar, Vandana Shiva, Arundhuti Roy, Nandini Haksar and even Sania Mirza reflect on their experiences, Indian men of the above variety unleash their religious, sexual, tribal, super-nationalist, obscurantist prejudices immediately. So, first there are the flag waivers and false-pride upholders of the Bharat Shining Bajrang Brigade. No matter what, for these people, there are certain aspects about their notion of India that immediately induces a knee-jerk response. And they have been toilet trained from birth to have this Pavlovian response. They must defecate on intelligent, conscious, articulate women who bring the facts out bluntly. With them you don’t bring up issues like India’s miserable record after 62 years of independence in literacy, social hygiene, health, body mass index of 80% of the population, female survival rate, diarrheal deaths, farmer suicides, mass deforestation (except in Maoist areas as agreed upon by the GOI) human development index (in the sub Sahara category), mass increase in poverty, (please do not compare with China or Brazil—because China doctors the numbers, no matter what and Brazil is a flash in the pan!! Even though the UN and the Economist have praised their performance in these areas in the last five years). So for them, Arundhuti Roy is a bitch. And they say so in responses to blogs, websites, newsline sites etc. They have no use for her. Rather than deal with the irrefutable facts and the content of what she raises, they end up fermenting in an anti-intellectualist bog. Responses sprinkled with undertones of religious and communalist hatred are rolled out. Like Barack Obama had to deal with his middle name of Hussein, Arundhuti has to deal with Suzanna. Like the USA has its pot bellied, red-necked, tea party activists shouting “nigger socialist” at Obama, India’s pan-chewing inarticulate Modi-men call her a Christian-Commie bitch. Then there are the other men and some women, who say they have a problem with her politics! They write the blogs. They are guest columnists. They say she is “sleepwalking”, “moonwalking”, that she is romanticizing tribals, that she is exploiting her Booker fame and going where she does not have acumen and others do! She is pushing the boundaries of journalism, rushing to immature conclusions, raising issues that should not be discussed or have been thrashed out in the annals of deconstructionist academic journals or need to be understood in the terminology of Eurocentric terminology from a hundred years gone by. They talk about the “rumours of Maoism,” the discourse of counter-terrorism, warning about not being influenced by the discourse of insurgency and substitutionalist rhetoric, because it has become sophisticated and unlike the times of Birsa Munda and Sidhu Kanu. In those times when the Brits called anyone “badmash” they were really meaning peasant militants and “dacoit village” meant a community that was in a mood of resistance. Today, they warn, there is a Maoist discourse that overshadows the tribal voice. So, whatever you hear, even if you have been there and talked to ground level tribal activists and villagers, it is still coloured by Maoist rhetoric. Who is whitewashing whom? The Adivasis have become automatons in the hands of the Maoists! Like the blue skinned avatars with long tails, they need urban-skinned, wheel chair bound (many skirmishes in many journals!) what-nuts to show the way! Because, there is no unfiltered tribal discourse anymore. It is all elite discourse. And all this is expertly analyzed and blogged-out from Delhi and Mumbai (without venturing out once to Maoist guerrilla zones) while holding on dearly to obscurantist and pedantic rhetoric from the time of Leon Trotsky. If there is any group or cult that latches on to a Marxist nameplate and lobs stones and pebbles from collapsing rooftops at the masses below, it is this variant. They have a handful of disconnected souls, desperately seeking a space on the “negotiating table with PCC” through statements of disunity, discovering the theory of “sandwiches”, appearing regal-like on TV panels with the nutjob circus of Arnab and Barkha and through their hobbit-like blogs. And for these folks, suddenly, unconditional non-violence has become gospel. It is somewhat pedestrian, is it not, to suggest that violence must be a last resort? Do these folks really believe that the Maoist organizers have a pathological need to initiate violence? Do they really think that the last few years of active and physical dispossession instituted by the state and police forces, have been carried out with benign persuasion? Do these folks really comprehend the nature of the sadness and deprivation that Adivasis have had to contend with for decades, before there was some sort of organized resistance which led to some minimum gains, which they now want to defend? Sometimes, if it were not for the complicated academic language they use, their logic is no different from that in the mainstream media, whose definitions of violence, “caught in-between”, democracy, upholding the recourse to legal institutions seem paranormally identical. It is like there is no difference between the rant of the Times of India and the refined sardonic comments of those who want to cut down Arundhuti Roy in their fussy, chintzy blogs. They want to call her a bitch too. But they won’t. So they say she moonwalks and sleepwalks; like an imbecile, like a whiny errant spoilt girl, like a non-academic truant who has not studied their gospels on Permanent Revolution. In the beginning they said, that Naxalites have not given up the tactics of annihilation, although if they bothered to read carefully through the documents of the Maoists, the old annihilation politics had long ago been dispensed with. In those days, small groups of individuals, invariably with college cadre forming a sizable section would swoop down on a local jotedar or landlord without initiating any mass movement or mass activity in the region. The idea was that “action” would create mass initiative and interest. Today, the Maoists reportedly use execution only after there has been a verdict passed in the Local government (Janathan Sarkar). Of course, one could be totally cynical about such exercises, but would that not be a flagrant case of urban elitism? Sometimes, the tribal community has been far more insistent on instituting violent retribution than the guerrilla units themselves. Whenever an informer is executed, especially those who have been responsible for killing Maoists and tribal sympathizers by bringing in the police and the COBRA/EFR/CRPF, the media and their “left” wing democratic proselytizers have ridiculed the process of arriving at such “peoples’ court” decisions, without investigating on the ground. The incident becomes the politics, and the perfunctory analysis of the incident becomes the planted discourse. No effort is made to find out what was behind the incident. That cadres and leaders of the CPI(M) operate as police informers and “dalals” is not a major mystery for the people in these areas. But, for these “left” wing bloggers, who until yesterday denied the existence of aboriginal people ,(only 8% of the population thanks to centuries of genocide against them), “now tribals are killing tribals.” Then they started writing articles that said “It will be hard to find a single Bhattacharya, Banerjee, Mukherjee, Basu or such like among the dead.” Well, that has also started happening. As of yesterday a top Maoist squad leader Bikram alias Abhisek Mukherjee — a former Jadavpur University student—was killed along with three other rebels in an encounter with COBRA commandos in Hathilot forest of Jangalmahal’s Lakhanpur on Thursday night. Either way you are damned. Whether it is Adivasis or non-Adivasis. Even crocodiles, if they could, would sue for the usage of their non-existent tears by such charlatans. In the beginning they said, that these Maoists do not seem to build any mass movements. It is all secretive and militarist. Then articles started appearing about twenty years of sustained land distribution, cooperative farming, tax collection and distribution, medical clinics, irrigation programs, alternative energy and environmental programs, literacy campaigns, mobile health clinics and the participation of ten of thousands of people. Pictures started appearing of mass gatherings (never mind Arundhuti Roy’s pictures of the Bhumkal celebrations). Do mass movements have to be urban trade union organizations, petition campaigns and “Maidan Chullo” processions only? In the beginning they said Maoists do not have any urban presence, they do not have any support amongst city intellectuals. They even ruefully said, it’s not like the old Naxalite days! Belatedly they have started a campaign to attack those intellectuals who have stated their clear cut opposition to the policies of the Indian government and in support of the Maoists. They are discovering that more and more city intellectuals and academics find that it is more important to oppose the government’s proto-fascist tactics than to criticize the Maoists for their failings. So they have started attacking these progressive intellectuals through their blogs, writings and attempted caricatures of the Maoists. In the beginning they also said the Maoists had no tribal and women leaders and when the State started killing Maoist commanders who were women and tribals, and there were more and more spokespersons of tribal origins speaking through mass organizations, they started saying that they do not have any women in their Politburo! What Arundhuti Roy has been saying for the past several years is nothing new to the Maoists. For years they have been trying to bring to the forefront (their media consciousness and ability to engage the interest of mainstream journalists, domestic and international, is relatively new) ---is the collapse of the possibilities of bringing about social change in India though regular mechanisms. India does not have the organs to promote social equity anymore. They have collapsed completely since the neo-liberalist drive to convert the entire Indian economy into a “do it or otherwise” coercive entity subservient to a handful of large anti-environmentalist business houses. India’s parliament is a sty, full of criminal millionaires. The Congress Party has been running the Salwa Judum and their new avatar, the SPO force. Who is going to negotiate with those who have knives to the throats of the Adivasis? Who is kidding who about exhausting legal channels for change? Where is the scope for challenging national laws that permit USA-like detention without trial systems? Even the Supreme Court’s verdict to produce missing Adivasis within 24 hours has gone completely ignored. Where is the mechanism for implementing seriously the various commissions on minority status and women’s status? Everyone knows that passing bills in Assembly and Parliament are symbolic gestures. One can dispute many of the tactics of the Maoists and one can critique many of their actions, but it is time for India’s intellectuals to comprehend that diminishing and ridiculing the stand taken by Arundhuti Roy will be a permanent scar on the evolving history of this nation. She is merely stating that the regular channels for genuine change in India are exhausted. Someone has to state this very clearly. That those who are attempting alternate methods are being violently suppressed. And it is their story that she wants to tell. It is time for all the alternative left and democratic opposition to come together on a common platform (even if they disagree on many issues) and jointly oppose this horrendous Green Hunt that is in full swing now, before full scale massacres start happening. From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 12:29:50 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:29:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Jihadi Cool: Terrorist Recruiters' Latest Weapon - by DINA TEMPLE-RASTON Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003292359q6ff309d3hdbf5e5c4758f62ba@mail.gmail.com> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125186382 March 26, 2010 With so many terrorism cases emerging in the U.S. in the past nine months, experts are trying to understand why so much is happening now. One explanation has less to do with religion than with adventure. The latest wave of jihadists traveling to Pakistan and elsewhere for training may have been motivated by a sense of jihadi cool. The recent Jihad Jane case may be the latest example of this trend. Colleen LaRose, 46, was a housebound woman from the Philadelphia area. She converted to Islam, but investigators say she was never connected to any particular mosque. Even her live-in boyfriend says he didn't know she was Muslim. And yet, she is accused of calling herself Jihad Jane in Internet chat rooms, and soon after her conversion allegedly went trolling for people who might join forces with her to wage jihad on behalf of other Muslims. Recruitment More MTV Than Mosque That's a far cry from what is seen as the traditional route to jihad. It used to be that jihadi recruitment videos opened with the call to prayer and readings from the Quran. These days, many of them are decidedly less religious. They look more like something that would appear on MTV. If you type "jihadi rap videos" into any Internet search engine, you'll find dozens of videos with thumping bass lines and forced rhymes about beheading non-Muslims and making them pay for the indignities they have leveled against Islam. Traditionally, jihadi recruitment videos opened with the call to prayer and readings from the Quran. Now, they look and sound more like something that would appear on MTV and seem to be targeting people with resentments and who are seeking thrills. The productions are clearly aimed at young people nursing resentments and looking for thrills. One video raps about the "angels in green, helping the mujahedeen" while cutting to photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and homemade videos of holy warriors firing rocket-propelled grenades in the desert and shooting up cars with machine guns. 'A New Generation Of Lazy Muslims' Intelligence officials say there is a wave of young people who are attracted to the adventure of jihad but would like to skip all the rigors of Islam, such as reading the Quran and fasting. "I think what we are seeing is sort of what I like to term a new generation of lazy Muslims," says Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights lawyer and the former national legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "These are people who might not be theologically devout or even have a sound religious foundation, but they are using this new jihadi cool to justify criminal acts of terrorism," Iftikhar says. Experts who study these kinds of movements say that while religion may be an initial motivation to sign up, in the fullness of time, it becomes less important. Seeking Adventure Consider the case of the two dozen young Somali-Americans from Minneapolis who were recruited to join a militant group in Somalia a couple of years ago. Initially, investigators say recruiters used a religious pitch. Ethiopians — who were largely Christian — had invaded Somalia, a Muslim country. The young Minnesotans were told it was their duty, both as Somalis and Muslims, to go to Somalia and fight there for an Islamist group called al-Shabab. We have ethnographies where they actually ask militants what drew you to this movement. The top three answers were motorcycles, guns and access to women. You had to go pretty far down the list to get to religious motivation. - Christine Fair, Georgetown University When the Ethiopian troops withdrew, FBI officials say the pitch changed. Recruiters told the young men that going to Somalia would be, in their words, fun. The young men would get to shoot guns. They would become jihad warriors. It would be cool. Christine Fair is a professor at Georgetown University who is an expert in these kinds of religious movements. She says jihad chic is not so unusual. "We have ethnographies where they actually ask militants what drew you to this movement," she says. "The top three answers were motorcycles, guns and access to women. You had to go pretty far down the list to get to religious motivation." The Web And Jihad Warriors The Internet appears to have made signing up for a holy war infinitely easier — and because it is open to all comers, the standards have dropped. People who might not have even considered becoming a Muslim, much less turning to jihad, can do both with just the click of a mouse. That's what officials think happened with Jihad Jane. They allege that she trolled the Internet while she was housebound, caring for her boyfriend's ailing father, and that signing up for a holy war was something that attracted a lonely woman. It gave her something to belong to, officials say. "Just putting my human hat on, I don't think it is remotely remarkable that Jihad Jane happened," says Fair, who is also a fellow at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center. "In fact, if you sort of think about misfits — I'm a social misfit so I feel somewhat comfortable saying this — the Internet is one of the best places for social misfits to reside," Fair says. "They can be whomever they want to be, so I am just surprised we haven't had more Jihad Janes." This is not to minimize what is going on for the past year on the terrorism front. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, 2009 was the busiest year for U.S. counterterrorism officials. They prosecuted more than a dozen cases; the annual average is generally one-third of that. FBI Director Robert Mueller says the Internet is partly to blame for speeding up the recruitment process. He says the Web now not only radicalizes young Muslims but helps connect them to organizations that launch attacks. Jihadi cool may be a different motivation for taking up arms, but it isn't necessarily any less lethal. From javedmasoo at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 15:18:36 2010 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:18:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages Message-ID: Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages PTI, Mar 30, 2010, 12.47pm IST NEW DELHI: Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have earned the dubious distinction of being at the top two spots in the list of child marriages in the country accounting for 40 per cent of such incidents in a single year. Even the national capital has recorded one such incident in the year 2008, according to the latest government data prepared by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This is only the second case reported from Delhi in this decade. It had recorded one such incident in 2003. A total of 104 cases of child marriage were reported across the country in 2008, which is an 8.3 per cent increase over the previous year's figure of 96. While 23 cases were reported from Gujarat, the NCRB report noted that Andhra Pradesh reported 19. In 2007, Andhra topped the list with 19 cases while Gujarat was at second spot with 14 cases. According to previous reports of the NCRB, Gujarat had found its place among states recording highest cases of child marriage every year this decade. Since 2001, Gujarat has recorded 164 cases of child marriages with the state recording the highest of 38 in the year 2002. It had reported 11 cases the previous year. In 2003, Gujarat has 11 cases while it had 30 cases in 2004, 25 in 2005 and 12 cases in 2006. The other states which reported child marriage cases in 2008 are: Karnataka (9), Bihar (8), Punjab and West Bengal (6 each), Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra (5 each), Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (4 each), Rajasthan (3), Himachal and Madhya Pradesh (2 each) and Assam, Goa and Orissa (one each). Child marriage is prohibited in the country under Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. As per the Act, a child is a person who, if a male, has not completed 21 years of age and if a female, has not completed 18 years of age. According to the Act, for a child marriage, the parent or guardian concerned may be punished with a simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and a fine. Those who solemnise the wedding also face the same punishment. Similarly, a male above 18 years and below 21, entering into wedlock with a child, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to 15 days or with fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or both. A male above 21 years marrying a child shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable to fine. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarat-AP-top-list-of-child-marriages/articleshow/5742216.cms From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 30 15:28:25 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:58:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "The English Class System" by Sankrant Sanu Message-ID: <964003.57497.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> The document "The English Class System" by Sankrant Sanu  (SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGE REVIEW - VOL.XVII. No. 1, January 2007.) is available at http://salr.net/Documents/Sankrant.pdf   What led me to this very interesting document are the following comments made by Sankrant Sanu in a different context:   """"""""" This collective irrationality exists because, often times, the problems we are solving are not the real problems—but imagined or received problems; similarly the solutions that we are proposing are equally not real solutions but irrational ideas that create more problems than they solve. This is a result of the fact that we operate from a colonial mind—and have retained the colonial system, colonial institutions and a colonial academic basis, little of which is rooted in our own cultural moorings or existing  reality. Take a few examples:   1.       The English-based Class system is a far greater reality of everyday social consciousness in urban India than “caste” is. We judge people, in everyday social interactions, on their knowledge of English, and further on the “accent” by which they speak it, and we relegate people from villages into “yeh log aise hi hain” based on their differentiated existence in the English-based class hierarchy. Note that these” lower people” may be “Brahmins”—as many railway coolies are—and the employers may be “SC’s” but the social reality is actually determined based on a combination of English class and their current profession. Yet, how many social scientists in India study the actual class system they inhabit rather than obsessively studying the categories of caste that British Indologists had established as the unchanging reality of India and, later, the British had enshrined as a fixed reality through the census. As a result we legislate based on this artificially static reality—and that legislation further moulds us into a caricature of that colonial description and prevents us from addressing the real problems of inequality and social justice. (see for instance, The English Class System: http://salr.net/Documents/Sankrant.pdf)   2.       Similarly, if we look at other one’s of our “favorite” problems—dowry, “female foeticide”, “child marriage” and so on, we will find that these are the exact problems that the British had defined as the “ills of Indian society”—largely as a justification for their civilizing mission. We have pre-determined, for instance, that our skewed sex ratio in certain areas is due to selective sex abortions. This may very well be the case, but I have yet to see a scientific study that actually proves this—that goes through the number of abortions in the population that would be required for the gender imbalance, determine the number of clinics that are providing this service, looks at how many abortions per clinic must be happening and actually presents evidence that this is happening in that magnitude in reality. Rather than a scientific study, this “fact” that skewed sex ratio is due selective sex abortion is taken as gospel that needs no scientific proof other than anecdotal data—and legislation is created on that basis. To question this would be heresy. Therefore, relatively few social scientists would look for other explanatory factors. This Harvard study (incidentally by a non-Indian) that  hypothesizes that the gender imbalance may be due to the hepatitis B virus( http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/pdf/grad_student/007.pdf) is rare.   3.       Rare also is Manushi’s campaign for rickshaw pullers-- a breath of fresh air. It goes against the grain of “shame”—where we have determined that this work is demeaning and an embarrassing reminder of our primitive state— and legislating based on an imaginary ideology than the reality as it exists.   To rectify it we need a strong empirical basis for our legislative work and establishing new paradigms for serious academic work in the social domains. I highly recommend Prof. Balagangadhara’s work in this regard, starting from his book, “The Heathen in His Blindness.” """""""" (Quoted comment by Sankrant Sanu)   Kshmendra From pawan.durani at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 15:30:49 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:30:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Google India targets Gujarat SMBs for online advertising campaign Message-ID: <6b79f1a71003300300k583ae476h7cc9e71b1cf67ef1@mail.gmail.com> How the world is getting attracted to Gujarat ! Great Indian City ! Congratulations Mr Modi http://gujaratmoney.com/2010/02/18/google-india-targets-gujarat-smbs-for-online-advertising-campaign/ Google India is eying small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Gujarat for its online advertisement programme AdWords by the end of this year, the company’s online sales head, Sridhar Seshadri, said. “Gujarat with over 7,000 SMBs is the hub of entrepreneurship in the country and has tremendous potential of online advertising,” Seshadri said while announcing Google India’s new service called ‘JumpStart’ for the state. Under this service Google will offer free expert support to SMBs to build an online advertising campaign to attract new customers. “This service was first tried out on a pilot basis in Chandigarh and, based on the results, we are extending this initiative to empower more SMBs,” Seshadri said. Google India wants to reach out to 70-80% of the SMBs in Gujarat in the next one year to get them to advertise online using AdWords, he said. Seshadri said that for this, Google is planing a number of workshops with the SMBs. “Google’s AdWords programme provides a cost-effective platform to SMBs who can start advertising online with low budgets and grow as per their business demands,” he said. SMBs constitute 80% of business enterprises which often face advertising challenges owing to the high costs involved, he said. He also said that Google AdWords enables SMBs to target precisely, pay only for results, and stay firmly in charge of costs. According to him, there are about 15,000 enterprises which are currently using AdWords for online advertising, of which about 20% are from Gujarat. Seshadri said Google’s focus would be primarily on export units, those providing financial services, and manufacturing and ancillary units. About JumpStart, he said it will provide a quick and easy way to SMBs to get their Google advertising campaign off to a successful start. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Tue Mar 30 16:06:40 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:36:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <898120.75286.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> This is one of the funniest News Items I have read in a long time.   My 'curiosity was piqued' when I saw Gujarat and AP at top of the List instead of Rajasthan. Laughably, Rajasthan is not mentioned anywhere.   National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) should be ashamed that it is issuing statistics that show only 104 cases of Child Marriage in India in 2008.   Actually they are being honest since these are "REPORTED" cases.    All the more a terrible shame for NCRB since it shows how pathetically inadequate their collection of data on 'crimes' is.   Thanks to WIKI for this reality-check:   """""" According to UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children-2009” report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas. http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09_Table_9.pdf   The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India. http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/18/stories/2009011855981100.htm """"""""""   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/30/10, Javed wrote: From: Javed Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages To: "sarai list" Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 3:18 PM Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages PTI, Mar 30, 2010, 12.47pm IST NEW DELHI: Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have earned the dubious distinction of being at the top two spots in the list of child marriages in the country accounting for 40 per cent of such incidents in a single year. Even the national capital has recorded one such incident in the year 2008, according to the latest government data prepared by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This is only the second case reported from Delhi in this decade. It had recorded one such incident in 2003. A total of 104 cases of child marriage were reported across the country in 2008, which is an 8.3 per cent increase over the previous year's figure of 96. While 23 cases were reported from Gujarat, the NCRB report noted that Andhra Pradesh reported 19. In 2007, Andhra topped the list with 19 cases while Gujarat was at second spot with 14 cases. According to previous reports of the NCRB, Gujarat had found its place among states recording highest cases of child marriage every year this decade. Since 2001, Gujarat has recorded 164 cases of child marriages with the state recording the highest of 38 in the year 2002. It had reported 11 cases the previous year. In 2003, Gujarat has 11 cases while it had 30 cases in 2004, 25 in 2005 and 12 cases in 2006. The other states which reported child marriage cases in 2008 are: Karnataka (9), Bihar (8), Punjab and West Bengal (6 each), Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra (5 each), Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (4 each), Rajasthan (3), Himachal and Madhya Pradesh (2 each) and Assam, Goa and Orissa (one each). Child marriage is prohibited in the country under Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. As per the Act, a child is a person who, if a male, has not completed 21 years of age and if a female, has not completed 18 years of age. According to the Act, for a child marriage, the parent or guardian concerned may be punished with a simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and a fine. Those who solemnise the wedding also face the same punishment. Similarly, a male above 18 years and below 21, entering into wedlock with a child, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to 15 days or with fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or both. A male above 21 years marrying a child shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable to fine. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarat-AP-top-list-of-child-marriages/articleshow/5742216.cms _________________________________________ 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 yahoo.com Tue Mar 30 16:35:15 2010 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:05:15 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Rediff Article: 'India's wealthiest are the least generous' Message-ID: <981974.63264.qm@web54409.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Excerpts from http://z.pe/4ZPQ - This is the great Indian paradox. The country's economy is booming, with the number of millionaires and billionaires rising by the day. According to a research by Bain & Co, there are over 115,000 high-networth individuals in India. While this may be good news, here is the other side of the India growth story. Today, more than 400 million people live below the poverty line in India. The global meltdown has pushed an additional 25 million to 40 million citizens below the poverty line. "The wealthiest have the lowest level of giving at 1.6 % of household income. While the 'high class', which is ranked one level below the 'upper class' on the income and education scale, donates 2.1% to charity, the middle class gives 1.9% of household income to philanthropy," says Arpan Sheth, partner, Bain & Company. Nearly 40 per cent of the nation's wealth is controlled by the top 5 per cent of India's households. So about 1 per cent controls about 16 per cent of the national wealth, says the Bain study. The charitable initiatives in India accounted to about $7.5 billion in 2009, according to the study, equivalent to about 0.6 per cent of the country's GDP. There are three major factors that curb philanthropy in India. From kauladityaraj at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 17:02:45 2010 From: kauladityaraj at gmail.com (Aditya Raj Kaul) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:02:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 25 Hindu girls abducted every month, claims HRCP official Message-ID: <6353c691003300432qace0a83j88f9e86426967b0@mail.gmail.com> *25 Hindu girls abducted every month, claims HRCP official* *Tuesday, March 30, 2010 By Rabia Ali* Link - http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=231616 As many as 20 to 25 girls from the Hindu community are abducted every month and converted forcibly, said Amarnath Motumal, an advocate and council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “There is no official record to support this statement, but according to estimates, in Karachi alone, a large number of Hindu girls are being kidnapped on a routine basis,” Motumal told The News. “The families of the victims are scared to register cases against the influential perpetrators as death threats are issued to them in case they raise their voice. So, the victims choose to remain silent to save their lives,” he said. Motumal said the word ‘Hindu’ had become an insult and a kind of abuse for the Hindu community. “Almost 90 per cent of the Hindu community comprise poor and impoverished families whose needs and rights have been neglected by the ones at the helms of power,” he said, adding that since a majority of the people feel helpless, only a few families come to him with their cases. A former MPA, Bherulal Balani, said that the Hindu girls, especially the ones belonging to scheduled castes, were mostly being abducted from the Lyari area. “Once the girls are converted, they are then sold to other people or are forced to do illegal and immoral activities,” Balani said. He added the perpetrators were very powerful and that was the reason that no cases were being registered against them. The number of attacks against the Hindu community has increased in the interior Sindh during the last three months. At least nine incidents have been reported which range from forced conversion of Hindus to rape and murders. In one incident, a 17-year-old girl ‘K’ was gang-raped in Nagarparker area. In another incident, a 15-year-old girl ‘D’ was allegedly abducted from Aaklee village, Tharparkar, and was forced to convert. About 71 families migrated from the village in protest against the girl’s abduction. Moreover, the Hindu communities were not even spared on the occasion of their joyous festival of Holi as two girls, Anita and Kishni, were kidnapped in Kotri. Moreover, two Hindu boys, Ajay and Sagar, were abducted from another place on the same day. One Amir Gul was murdered in the beginning of March in Tando Haider, Umerkot, allegedly by a landlord. Later in the month, a boy, Kishan Kumar, was kidnapped from Kandhkot, Jacobabad. MPA Pitamber Sewani told The News that these acts were being done by certain elements who believe that these minority communities might support the government in the upcoming local bodies’ elections, and these elements want to harass them. However, President Pakistan Hindu Council Ramesh Kumar criticised the minorities’ representatives for not raising their voice at relevant forums. He said that they were simply representing their respective parties and not the poor people. He added that poor economic conditions had led to an increase in kidnapping cases in the province, especially in the Kandhkot and Jacobabad areas. Coordinator HRCP Task Force Sindh Dr Ashothama Lohano told The News the according to their one fact-finding report, the most affected persons of violence belonged to Hindu and Christian communities. He said that various reasons have been cited for this. “The recent wave of extremism is one reason, which has destroyed the harmony of the land of Sufis. Another reason is the destruction of the agriculture sector and small markets that has led to frustration and lawlessness. Yet another reason is that the elected representatives are working only for the party and not for the community,” Dr Lohano added. He further said that minority communities were easy targets as the Hindus were generally hesitant to raise voice against the injustices. “When the Hindu communities become politically active, they are blamed for having Indian connections,” doctor Lohano said. From c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 17:51:33 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:51:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages In-Reply-To: <898120.75286.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <898120.75286.qm@web57208.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Why should NCRB be ashamed? why would describe NCRB to be pathetically inadequate in collecting data about child marriages? Why should a statistical bureau be answerable for a social stigma? and what is so funny about it? On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 4:06 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > This is one of the funniest News Items I have read in a long time. > > My 'curiosity was piqued' when I saw Gujarat and AP at top of the List instead of Rajasthan. Laughably, Rajasthan is not mentioned anywhere. > > National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) should be ashamed that it is issuing statistics that show only 104 cases of Child Marriage in India in 2008. > > Actually they are being honest since these are "REPORTED" cases. > > All the more a terrible shame for NCRB since it shows how pathetically inadequate their collection of data on 'crimes' is. > > Thanks to WIKI for this reality-check: > > """""" > According to UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children-2009” report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas. http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09_Table_9.pdf > > The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India. http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/18/stories/2009011855981100.htm """""""""" > > Kshmendra > > > --- On Tue, 3/30/10, Javed wrote: > > > From: Javed > Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages > To: "sarai list" > Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 3:18 PM > > > Gujarat, AP top list of child marriages > PTI, Mar 30, 2010, 12.47pm IST > > NEW DELHI: Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have earned the dubious > distinction of being at the top two spots in the list of child > marriages in the country accounting for 40 per cent of such incidents > in a single year. > > Even the national capital has recorded one such incident in the year > 2008, according to the latest government data prepared by National > Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). > > This is only the second case reported from Delhi in this decade. It > had recorded one such incident in 2003. > > A total of 104 cases of child marriage were reported across the > country in 2008, which is an 8.3 per cent increase over the previous > year's figure of 96. > > While 23 cases were reported from Gujarat, the NCRB report noted that > Andhra Pradesh reported 19. > > In 2007, Andhra topped the list with 19 cases while Gujarat was at > second spot with 14 cases. > > According to previous reports of the NCRB, Gujarat had found its place > among states recording highest cases of child marriage every year this > decade. > > Since 2001, Gujarat has recorded 164 cases of child marriages with the > state recording the highest of 38 in the year 2002. It had reported 11 > cases the previous year. > > In 2003, Gujarat has 11 cases while it had 30 cases in 2004, 25 in > 2005 and 12 cases in 2006. > > The other states which reported child marriage cases in 2008 are: > Karnataka (9), Bihar (8), Punjab and West Bengal (6 each), > Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra (5 each), Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu > (4 each), Rajasthan (3), Himachal and Madhya Pradesh (2 each) and > Assam, Goa and Orissa (one each). > > Child marriage is prohibited in the country under Child Marriage > Restraint Act of 1929. > > As per the Act, a child is a person who, if a male, has not completed > 21 years of age and if a female, has not completed 18 years of age. > > According to the Act, for a child marriage, the parent or guardian > concerned may be punished with a simple imprisonment which may extend > to three months and a fine. Those who solemnise the wedding also face > the same punishment. > > Similarly, a male above 18 years and below 21, entering into wedlock > with a child, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may > extend to 15 days or with fine which may extend to Rs 1,000 or both. > > A male above 21 years marrying a child shall be punishable with simple > imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable > to fine. > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarat-AP-top-list-of-child-marriages/articleshow/5742216.cms > _________________________________________ > 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 c.anupam at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 18:01:26 2010 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:01:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Jihadi Cool: Terrorist Recruiters' Latest Weapon - by DINA TEMPLE-RASTON In-Reply-To: <6b79f1a71003292359q6ff309d3hdbf5e5c4758f62ba@mail.gmail.com> References: <6b79f1a71003292359q6ff309d3hdbf5e5c4758f62ba@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: this clearly means that americans are funding jehad knowingly or unknowingly. thanks Pawan for posting this gem of a piece. anupam On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 12:29 PM, Pawan Durani wrote: > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125186382 > March 26, 2010 > > With so many terrorism cases emerging in the U.S. in the past nine > months, experts are trying to understand why so much is happening now. > One explanation has less to do with religion than with adventure. The > latest wave of jihadists traveling to Pakistan and elsewhere for > training may have been motivated by a sense of jihadi cool. > > The recent Jihad Jane case may be the latest example of this trend. > > Colleen LaRose, 46, was a housebound woman from the Philadelphia area. > She converted to Islam, but investigators say she was never connected > to any particular mosque. Even her live-in boyfriend says he didn't > know she was Muslim. > > And yet, she is accused of calling herself Jihad Jane in Internet chat > rooms, and soon after her conversion allegedly went trolling for > people who might join forces with her to wage jihad on behalf of other > Muslims. > > Recruitment More MTV Than Mosque > > That's a far cry from what is seen as the traditional route to jihad. > It used to be that jihadi recruitment videos opened with the call to > prayer and readings from the Quran. > > These days, many of them are decidedly less religious. They look more > like something that would appear on MTV. > > If you type "jihadi rap videos" into any Internet search engine, > you'll find dozens of videos with thumping bass lines and forced > rhymes about beheading non-Muslims and making them pay for the > indignities they have leveled against Islam. > > > Traditionally, jihadi recruitment videos opened with the call to > prayer and readings from the Quran. Now, they look and sound more like > something that would appear on MTV and seem to be targeting people > with resentments and who are seeking thrills. > The productions are clearly aimed at young people nursing resentments > and looking for thrills. One video raps about the "angels in green, > helping the mujahedeen" while cutting to photographs of prisoner abuse > at Abu Ghraib and homemade videos of holy warriors firing > rocket-propelled grenades in the desert and shooting up cars with > machine guns. > > 'A New Generation Of Lazy Muslims' > > Intelligence officials say there is a wave of young people who are > attracted to the adventure of jihad but would like to skip all the > rigors of Islam, such as reading the Quran and fasting. > > "I think what we are seeing is sort of what I like to term a new > generation of lazy Muslims," says Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights > lawyer and the former national legal director of the Council on > American-Islamic Relations. > > "These are people who might not be theologically devout or even have a > sound religious foundation, but they are using this new jihadi cool to > justify criminal acts of terrorism," Iftikhar says. > > Experts who study these kinds of movements say that while religion may > be an initial motivation to sign up, in the fullness of time, it > becomes less important. > > Seeking Adventure > > Consider the case of the two dozen young Somali-Americans from > Minneapolis who were recruited to join a militant group in Somalia a > couple of years ago. > > Initially, investigators say recruiters used a religious pitch. > Ethiopians — who were largely Christian — had invaded Somalia, a > Muslim country. The young Minnesotans were told it was their duty, > both as Somalis and Muslims, to go to Somalia and fight there for an > Islamist group called al-Shabab. > > We have ethnographies where they actually ask militants what drew you > to this movement. The top three answers were motorcycles, guns and > access to women. You had to go pretty far down the list to get to > religious motivation. > - Christine Fair, Georgetown University > When the Ethiopian troops withdrew, FBI officials say the pitch > changed. Recruiters told the young men that going to Somalia would be, > in their words, fun. The young men would get to shoot guns. They would > become jihad warriors. It would be cool. > > Christine Fair is a professor at Georgetown University who is an > expert in these kinds of religious movements. She says jihad chic is > not so unusual. > > "We have ethnographies where they actually ask militants what drew you > to this movement," she says. "The top three answers were motorcycles, > guns and access to women. You had to go pretty far down the list to > get to religious motivation." > > The Web And Jihad Warriors > > The Internet appears to have made signing up for a holy war infinitely > easier — and because it is open to all comers, the standards have > dropped. People who might not have even considered becoming a Muslim, > much less turning to jihad, can do both with just the click of a > mouse. > > That's what officials think happened with Jihad Jane. They allege that > she trolled the Internet while she was housebound, caring for her > boyfriend's ailing father, and that signing up for a holy war was > something that attracted a lonely woman. It gave her something to > belong to, officials say. > > "Just putting my human hat on, I don't think it is remotely remarkable > that Jihad Jane happened," says Fair, who is also a fellow at West > Point's Combating Terrorism Center. > > "In fact, if you sort of think about misfits — I'm a social misfit so > I feel somewhat comfortable saying this — the Internet is one of the > best places for social misfits to reside," Fair says. "They can be > whomever they want to be, so I am just surprised we haven't had more > Jihad Janes." > > This is not to minimize what is going on for the past year on the > terrorism front. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, 2009 was the busiest year > for U.S. counterterrorism officials. They prosecuted more than a dozen > cases; the annual average is generally one-third of that. > > FBI Director Robert Mueller says the Internet is partly to blame for > speeding up the recruitment process. He says the Web now not only > radicalizes young Muslims but helps connect them to organizations that > launch attacks. Jihadi cool may be a different motivation for taking > up arms, but it isn't necessarily any less lethal. > _________________________________________ > 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 patrice at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 30 19:43:39 2010 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:13:39 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Rediff Article: 'India's wealthiest are the least generous' In-Reply-To: <981974.63264.qm@web54409.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <981974.63264.qm@web54409.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6a68041763e78fed9de1a6e2aa0268b1.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> > > > Excerpts from http://z.pe/4ZPQ - > > This is the great Indian > paradox. The country's economy is booming, with the number of > millionaires and billionaires rising by the day. According to a > research by Bain & Co, there are over 115,000 high-networth > individuals in India. > As as I am aware of, the traditionally wealthy Indians (aka 'old money') are relatively generous (and quite discreet about it). the much more numerous 'new rich' are, temporarily one my hope, a different breed: "Many people who became rich recently are not willing to part with their wealth." Also the argument as per which "many believe that the funding networks are not professionally managed and their donations may be misappropriated." is not entirely devoid of merit. The obvious answer is: start your own charity, a la Soros, or Gates (with the [+]ses and [-]ses this entails. So it's probably a question of times. Bill Gates was famously accused, less than 10 years ago, to sit on his wealth like a cockerel on a heap of manure, now he runs one of the world's largest charity. (Is it a good one? Well, let's keep it at 'better that than nothing' ...) There is an even better way of make wealth work for the destitute eople: transfer ownership of your company to a charity (the 'Bernard van Leer' model, a very lean and mean multinational you've probably never heard of - that's why). Is it true that Tata (no small fish) is 70% charity-owned? Cheerio, p+3D! From rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 23:06:22 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:06:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Bliss of Madhuri: Husain and His Muse - a public lecture In-Reply-To: <475528.90529.qm@web51407.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <475528.90529.qm@web51407.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <7271ec561003301036v26867fb3l6c136c699312524e@mail.gmail.com> Yousuf, there is nothing special about the fact that mindset of "muse", it is quite obivious mindset of few followers of a faith, as conquerers, to have woman of different faith in the present time, as if to live with past glories, as exhibited by the likes of a Mahesh Bhatt, shahrukh khan Amir Khan, in bollywood as well as that of Rizvis and many and many thousands who still make all out efforts to have faithful "harmony" and the fate of those wives with triple talaqs is well known in "secular India. ! Atleast, individuals like a Harish Salve, Vayalar ravi who have married outside the faith, have been more sensitive unlike the My name is khan clan.! Regards, rajen. On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 11:59 AM, Yousuf wrote: > JAMES BEVERIDGE MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE > AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia > > invites you to a Public Lecture on > THE BLISS OF MADHURI: HUSAIN AND HIS MUSE > By > Patricia Uberoi > > JB MRC Room, MCRC New Building, 2nd Floor > Thursday, March 25, 2010, 2PM > > By all accounts, including his own, M.F. Husain has found artistic > inspiration in several ‘muses’, but none so publicly acknowledged and > well-publicized as his relationship with Bollywood screen goddess, Madhuri > Dixit. Husain committed her image to canvas in a series of featureless > portraits, and on celluloid through his five-million dollar film, Gaja > Gamini, which he scripted and directed. ‘It took me 60 years to realize > this dream’, Husain wrote, ‘of which 30 years were spent in allowing Madhuri > to arrive.’ > Following his trajectory from art to cinema, this illustrated presentation > critically reflects upon Husain’s project of rendering in cinema the > timeless attributes of Indian womanhood in relation to a universal ideal of > the feminine. In particular it seeks to address two interconnected issues > raised by Husain’s Gaja Gamini project and the public discourse that has > surrounded it: (i) the problematics of the female ‘muse’; or, should one say > bluntly, the gender politics of male artistic production; and (ii) Husain’s > spectacularisation of the female body of Madhuri Dixit. Admittedly, linking > these two themes is no straightforward matter, located as they are in very > different discursive universes. However, addressing these questions might > lead us to understand how Husain’s infatuation with his muse is actually > pertinent to an understanding of the public controversies in which he has > become so conspicuously embroiled in recent years. > > Patricia UBEROI was formerly Professor of Social Change and Development at > the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and Honorary Director of the > Institute of Chinese Studies, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, > Delhi. She has published widely in the fields of family, kinship, gender, > sexuality and popular culture with reference to both India and China. In > addition to her book Freedom and Destiny: Gender, Family and Popular Culture > in India (2006), she has edited Family, Kinship and Marriage in India > (1993), Social Reform, Sexuality and the State (1996), Tradition, Pluralism > and Identity (co-ed., 1999), Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian > Sociology and Anthropology (co-ed., 2007), Marriage, Migration and Gender > (co-ed, 2008) and Rise of the Asian Giants: Dragon-Elephant Tango (2008). > > (The JB MRC is supported by funds from the SRTT.) > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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 rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com Tue Mar 30 23:09:39 2010 From: rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com (Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:09:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Jihadi Cool: Terrorist Recruiters' Latest Weapon - by DINA TEMPLE-RASTON In-Reply-To: References: <6b79f1a71003292359q6ff309d3hdbf5e5c4758f62ba@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7271ec561003301039o482a6a0at1638b5da4dbdc15a@mail.gmail.com> America has a special section in covert and operations all over the world, for the interests of the nation, America has neither the ethics nor the morals as a nation of survivors, immigrents with 3 centuries of history which only records victory at any cost, not the fair means to that victory.! Rajen. On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 6:01 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > this clearly means that americans are funding jehad knowingly or > unknowingly. thanks Pawan for posting this gem of a piece. > > anupam > > > On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 12:29 PM, Pawan Durani > wrote: > > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125186382 > > March 26, 2010 > > > > With so many terrorism cases emerging in the U.S. in the past nine > > months, experts are trying to understand why so much is happening now. > > One explanation has less to do with religion than with adventure. The > > latest wave of jihadists traveling to Pakistan and elsewhere for > > training may have been motivated by a sense of jihadi cool. > > > > The recent Jihad Jane case may be the latest example of this trend. > > > > Colleen LaRose, 46, was a housebound woman from the Philadelphia area. > > She converted to Islam, but investigators say she was never connected > > to any particular mosque. Even her live-in boyfriend says he didn't > > know she was Muslim. > > > > And yet, she is accused of calling herself Jihad Jane in Internet chat > > rooms, and soon after her conversion allegedly went trolling for > > people who might join forces with her to wage jihad on behalf of other > > Muslims. > > > > Recruitment More MTV Than Mosque > > > > That's a far cry from what is seen as the traditional route to jihad. > > It used to be that jihadi recruitment videos opened with the call to > > prayer and readings from the Quran. > > > > These days, many of them are decidedly less religious. They look more > > like something that would appear on MTV. > > > > If you type "jihadi rap videos" into any Internet search engine, > > you'll find dozens of videos with thumping bass lines and forced > > rhymes about beheading non-Muslims and making them pay for the > > indignities they have leveled against Islam. > > > > > > Traditionally, jihadi recruitment videos opened with the call to > > prayer and readings from the Quran. Now, they look and sound more like > > something that would appear on MTV and seem to be targeting people > > with resentments and who are seeking thrills. > > The productions are clearly aimed at young people nursing resentments > > and looking for thrills. One video raps about the "angels in green, > > helping the mujahedeen" while cutting to photographs of prisoner abuse > > at Abu Ghraib and homemade videos of holy warriors firing > > rocket-propelled grenades in the desert and shooting up cars with > > machine guns. > > > > 'A New Generation Of Lazy Muslims' > > > > Intelligence officials say there is a wave of young people who are > > attracted to the adventure of jihad but would like to skip all the > > rigors of Islam, such as reading the Quran and fasting. > > > > "I think what we are seeing is sort of what I like to term a new > > generation of lazy Muslims," says Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights > > lawyer and the former national legal director of the Council on > > American-Islamic Relations. > > > > "These are people who might not be theologically devout or even have a > > sound religious foundation, but they are using this new jihadi cool to > > justify criminal acts of terrorism," Iftikhar says. > > > > Experts who study these kinds of movements say that while religion may > > be an initial motivation to sign up, in the fullness of time, it > > becomes less important. > > > > Seeking Adventure > > > > Consider the case of the two dozen young Somali-Americans from > > Minneapolis who were recruited to join a militant group in Somalia a > > couple of years ago. > > > > Initially, investigators say recruiters used a religious pitch. > > Ethiopians — who were largely Christian — had invaded Somalia, a > > Muslim country. The young Minnesotans were told it was their duty, > > both as Somalis and Muslims, to go to Somalia and fight there for an > > Islamist group called al-Shabab. > > > > We have ethnographies where they actually ask militants what drew you > > to this movement. The top three answers were motorcycles, guns and > > access to women. You had to go pretty far down the list to get to > > religious motivation. > > - Christine Fair, Georgetown University > > When the Ethiopian troops withdrew, FBI officials say the pitch > > changed. Recruiters told the young men that going to Somalia would be, > > in their words, fun. The young men would get to shoot guns. They would > > become jihad warriors. It would be cool. > > > > Christine Fair is a professor at Georgetown University who is an > > expert in these kinds of religious movements. She says jihad chic is > > not so unusual. > > > > "We have ethnographies where they actually ask militants what drew you > > to this movement," she says. "The top three answers were motorcycles, > > guns and access to women. You had to go pretty far down the list to > > get to religious motivation." > > > > The Web And Jihad Warriors > > > > The Internet appears to have made signing up for a holy war infinitely > > easier — and because it is open to all comers, the standards have > > dropped. People who might not have even considered becoming a Muslim, > > much less turning to jihad, can do both with just the click of a > > mouse. > > > > That's what officials think happened with Jihad Jane. They allege that > > she trolled the Internet while she was housebound, caring for her > > boyfriend's ailing father, and that signing up for a holy war was > > something that attracted a lonely woman. It gave her something to > > belong to, officials say. > > > > "Just putting my human hat on, I don't think it is remotely remarkable > > that Jihad Jane happened," says Fair, who is also a fellow at West > > Point's Combating Terrorism Center. > > > > "In fact, if you sort of think about misfits — I'm a social misfit so > > I feel somewhat comfortable saying this — the Internet is one of the > > best places for social misfits to reside," Fair says. "They can be > > whomever they want to be, so I am just surprised we haven't had more > > Jihad Janes." > > > > This is not to minimize what is going on for the past year on the > > terrorism front. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, 2009 was the busiest year > > for U.S. counterterrorism officials. They prosecuted more than a dozen > > cases; the annual average is generally one-third of that. > > > > FBI Director Robert Mueller says the Internet is partly to blame for > > speeding up the recruitment process. He says the Web now not only > > radicalizes young Muslims but helps connect them to organizations that > > launch attacks. Jihadi cool may be a different motivation for taking > > up arms, but it isn't necessarily any less lethal. > > _________________________________________ > > 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 yasir.media at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 02:41:00 2010 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?eWFzaXIgftmK2Kcg2LPYsQ==?=) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:11:00 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] shoaibmalik.pk + saniamirza.in Message-ID: "has anyone been watching geo? they seem to be in love with the couple. there was an interview of zaheer abbas and her indian wife where they referred to her as the barhi bahu and asked her to give advice to sania, the choti bahu. shadi kar k geo." heard on fb and then there is the baraat (groom's wedding party) that would go across the wagah border to bring back the bhabi :D From jcm at ata.org.pe Wed Mar 31 07:06:36 2010 From: jcm at ata.org.pe (Jose-Carlos Mariategui) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:36:36 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Photographer_Shahidul_Alam_of_=93C?= =?windows-1252?q?rossfire=94_exhibition_threatened_with_=91crossfire=92?= Message-ID: <83F7EE99-BE99-44E8-B0D0-C1137F1FD25D@ata.org.pe> dear Collegues: As many of you are aware the exhibition "Crossfire" with photographs of Shahidul Alam and curated by Jorge Villacorta is sadly is still closed and the police are still surrounding Drik. There is a somewhat more alarming situation as Drik have now been receiving death threats. The last threat was made in front of a large group of people including the police. We are including the press release of Drik in the hope that it circulates in the hope it pressures the government of Bangladesh in order to take action against these threats. Press Release For Immediate Release 29th March 2010 Photographer of “Crossfire” exhibition threatened with ‘crossfire’. A general diary (GD) was filed today by photographer Dr. Shahidul Alam at Dhanmondi Police Station, to register death threats placed upon the photographer. Following the closure of the exhibition “Crossfire” depicting allegorical images depicting the extra judicial killings by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that have been going on since 2004, an unknown youth came to Drik premises in the morning of the 27th March 2010 and wanted to know who this Shahidul Alam was. Whether he had a wife and family. Whether he had children. “Is he not scared for his life? Does he not have any fear at all?” the young man asked the guard. He refused to give his name, but told the guard to tell Alam that “He will meet his death in the streets, by bullets. Don’t forget to tell him.” When asked again for his name he said, “Tell him I’m a member of the public.” The following day the man returned in the afternoon along with another young man, and in the presence of a large number of people, including police, said “It is the person who organised this exhibition who should be crossfired.” The GD was filed with S.I. Anwarul Islam. GD NO: 1542/29TH March 2010. Earlier in the day, Drik Picture Library Ltd. Filed a write petition (No: 2543/29th March 2010) against the government demanding that the blockade of the exhibition “Crossfire” be removed. Contact: A S M Rezaur Rahman General Manager Drik Picture Library Ltd. reza at drik.net, +8801819226294 From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 09:08:40 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:08:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Two thoughtful responses to Arundhati Roy's 'Walking with the Comrades' Message-ID: Moonwalking with the Comrades: by ANIRBAN GUPTA NIGAM The last book François Furet wrote before his death in 1997 was called The Passing of an Illusion. At the very beginning of the first chapter of that book, Furet spelt out the central question driving his study: What is surprising is not that certain intellectuals should share the spirit of the times, but that they should fall prey to it, without making any effort to mark it with their own stamp. [Š] twentieth century French writers aligned themselves with parties, especially radical ones hostile to democracy. They always played the same (provisional) role as supernumeraries, were manipulated as one man, and were sacrificed when necessary, to the will of the party. So we are bound to wonder what it was that made those ideologies so alluring, that gave them an attraction so general yet so mysterious. Furet¹s book emerged from an autopsy of his own past as a as a Communist ³between 1949 and 1956.² He wrote, further, that his years as a Communist bequeathed to him an enduring desire to unlock the mystique of revolutionary ideology. Given this, it¹s not difficult to see why he pioneered some of the most brilliant historiographical work on the French Revolution. The question we are concerned with here is the one I have quoted at length above; for it seems that in our own day, this strange romance between (formerly) fiercely independent intellectuals, scholars, activists and the ­ a ­ party, continues. The latest document of this affair is a long essay by Arundhati Roy (once famous for her declaration of herself as an²independent mobile republic²), titled ŒWalking with the Comrades,¹ published in the latest issue of Outlook. It makes for exciting reading, as a lot of well-written travel literature does; but it is significant for another reason: in the current debate over ŒOperation Green Hunt,¹ with many versions of Œground realities¹ fighting amongst themselves, this document is Roy¹s attempt at producing an (her) authentic truth, so immersed in the charming details of revolutionary existence that everything else becomes secondary. If we were ever to perform an autopsy of our twentieth century¹s ŒCommunist¹ pasts, ŒWalking with the Comrades¹ would probably be as good a place to start as any. In the article Roy speaks of her travels across Dandakaranya as personal guest of the CPI (Maoist.) Armed with her idealism she traverses forests and villages in search of truth. Before she leaves Delhi, her mother calls to announce (³with a mother¹s weird instinct²) that what India needs is a revolution. She sets out to find it. Two tropes underpin Roy¹s rhetoric throughout: the constant equation of weaponry with beauty and joy, and the repeated emphasis ­ if without much insight ­ on the militarisation of daily life. Both seem to suggest to her, the epitome of revolutionary spirit ­ the one we have learnt India needs right now. But this affinity of death with beauty harks back to another ­ perhaps more accurate ­ tradition that Susan Sontag spoke of in her 1975 essay ŒFascinating Fascism.¹ National Socialism, she wrote, stood for values which at the time she was writing, were deeply cherished by Œopen societies.¹ Among these were ³the cult of beauty, the fetishism of courage, the dissolution of alienation in ecstatic feelings of community.² Roy¹s representation of the Maoists is nothing short of similar fetishisation. Chandu, a twenty-year old cadre, meets her with a ³lovely smile.² They trek and she wonders about his ³bemused village boy air.² Eventually she discovers ³he could handle every kind of weapon, Œexcept for an LMG¹, he informed me cheerfully.² At a Maoist camp she meets hundreds of comrades lined up in two rows, each with ³a weapon and a smile.² Roy is at her elegiac best when she speaks of comrade Niti who is ³considered to be so dangerous and is being hunted with such desperation not because she has led many ambushes (which she has), but because she is an adivasi woman who is loved by people in the village and is a real inspiration to young people. She speaks with her AK on her shoulder. (It¹s a gun with a story. Almost everyone¹s gun has a story: who it was snatched from, how, and by whom).² Is this a commentator on politics, or the PR department of the American National Rifle Association? (³Almost everyone¹s gun has a story² ­ someone should sell this!) Roy¹s wanderings are not the first or only documentation we have of the complete militarisation of everyday life in these regions. But there¹s something else at work here, which we might wish to pay attention to: ³Comrade Raju is briefing the group. It¹s all in Gondi, I don¹t understand a thing, but I keep hearing the word RV. Later Raju tells me it stands for Rendezvous! It¹s a Gondi word now.² Other words with tribals here understand are: Cordon and Search, Firing, Advance, Retreat, Down, Action. She speaks of a celebratory ritual where armed cadre surround locals and then join in, proving to her that ³what Chairman Mao said about the guerrillas being the fish and people being the water they swim in, is, at this moment, literally true.² (Emphasis added.) Then there is this gem: BBC says there¹s been an attack on a camp of Eastern Frontier Rifles in Lalgarh, West Bengal. Sixty Maoists on motorcycles. Fourteen policemen killed. Ten missing. Weapons snatched. There¹s a murmur of pleasure in the ranks. Maoist leader Kishenji is being interviewed. When will you stop this violence and come for talks? When Operation Green Hunt is called off. Any time. Tell Chidambaram we will talk. Next question: it¹s dark now, you have laid landmines, reinforcements have been called in, will you attack them too? Kishenji: Yes, of course, otherwise people will beat me. There¹s laughter in the ranks. Sukhdev the clarifier says, ³They always say landmines. We don¹t use landmines. We use IEDs. ² (Emphasis added.) But perhaps the most revealing instance of this absolute internalisation of violence comes when Roy finds the comrades watching Mother India one night, and asks Kamla if she likes to watch films. Kamla replies: ³Nahin didi. Sirf ambush video (No didi. Only ambush videos).² We wonder along with Roy, what these Œambush videos¹ are. It turns out that one of them ³starts with shots of Dandakaranya, rivers, waterfalls, the close-up of a bare branch of a tree, a brainfever bird calling. Then suddenly a comrade is wiring up an IED, concealing it with dry leaves. A cavalcade of motorcycles is blown up. There are mutilated bodies and burning bikes. The weapons are being snatched. Three policemen, looking shell-shocked, have been tied up.² We are, by now, far away from the usual argument of Œviolence-counter-violence¹ that frames discussions around the Maoists. The impulse to record, archive and then consume acts of violence, paradoxically, is the quintessential part of the culture of capitalist modernity that the Maoists claim to despise. Of course, none of this makes a difference to Roy. These narratives do not indicate to her anything about the nature of the Communist Party of India (Maoist.) They do not suggest to her, for instance, that a tendency towards destructive (dare we say creative) violence is embedded in the culture of the party. Watching mutilated bodies of people is not a response to state violence. It is a precursor to the cultural fetishisation of death in much the same way that Nazi paraphernalia was eroticised in the aftermath of the war. ŒRevolutionary justice¹ is just another name for murder. Scant surprise then, that our travel advisor has a bordering-on-kind word for the ³rude justice² of peoples¹ courts. By the time we stumble onto these facts, we have already learnt the Maoist version of Indian tribal history ­ one which our author endorses ­ one where unproblematic lines are drawn from the colonial era to Naxalbari and now, ŒOperation Green Hunt.¹ By this time we also know what our tour-guide is looking for: not just her mother¹s intuitive revolution, but something more modest: a dream. And she finds this in the teachings of Charu Mazumdar. Although the Naxal movement was full of contradictions, although it committed some excesses, we cannot deny she writes, that ³Charu Mazumdar was a visionary in much of what he wrote and said. The party he founded (and its many splinter groups) has kept the dream of revolution real and present in India. Imagine a society without that dream. For that alone, we cannot judge him too harshly. Especially not while we swaddle ourselves with Gandhi¹s pious humbug about the superiority of ³the non-violent way² and his notion of trusteeship.² (Emphasis added.) (As if the only counterpoint to the Maoist ideology today in India is Gandhian humbug. But then, that¹s the easiest effigy to demolish.) Further: ³When the Party is a suitor (as it is now in Dandakaranya), wooing the people, attentive to their every need, then it genuinely is a People¹s Party, its army genuinely a People¹s Army. But after the Revolution how easily this love affair can turn into a bitter marriage. How easily the People¹s Army can turn upon the people. Today in Dandakaranya, the Party wants to keep the bauxite in the mountain. Tomorrow, will it change its mind? But can we, should we let apprehensions about the future immobilise us in the present?² A fancy way of phrasing a simple question. We know by now that the population being produced as Œtribal¹ by our author is actually either Maoist cadre, or live in the presence of people who laugh while wielding their guns and watching their victims on tape. If this is not reason enough to worry about such an organisation, perhaps the history of twentieth century revolutionary projects could throw a light on the matter. But of course, the actual history of these movements doesn¹t count. Only the dreams they were born with. If ³big dams are a crime against humanity,² if the Nehruvian dream of modernity is over, perhaps it is time for our author to reflect on the fact that with the twentieth century, that other modernist dream ­ revolution ­ has also passed. ------------------------------ And Shuddha¹s response: Many thanks for your guest post on Kafila. I found it very fruitful to read and think with. As also, the debate that has persisted on the list since it has been posted. Which, when it does not stoop to defend or attack Arundhati Roy¹s person, does leave us with things to think about. I have many mixed feelings about Arundhati Roy¹s essay on Outlook, as in some ways I have about the Maoists themselves (though not about Maoism). And what I write here is not necessarily thought our systematically or cogently, but more thought out aloud. As a set of first responses. As a clearing of the throat if you like. I hope you will forgive the rambling nature of my response. On the one hand, I think some of Roy¹s account is riveting, and I have no doubt that her essay makes it clear that there is a degree of unprecedented and genuine mass support that the Maoists do command (and for good reason, regardless of whether or not we choose to endorse it) in the forest belt of Central India. I think she also reveals the bitter extent of the state¹s assault on the indigenous peoples in India in order to unleash a particularly vile form of crony-capitalism. All that is well taken. I say this even as I admit that I am disturbed by Roy¹s stomach-churning peans to beauty as a substitute for political sense, which in agreement with you, Anirban, I think, can only lead us down a slippery slope to an Œaestheticization¹ of politics that opens a door to something quite dark. I have personally seen some ­ Œbeautiful¹ ­ cadre in the RSS, in the travesty that is the CPI(M), and have been moved by their dedication and their transparent sincerity, by the shine in their eyes and the power of their dreams (which remain my nightmares). A state fashioned on Maoist lines in India would be as much of a nightmare as a society that danced to the tune of the hard-right. Both would be authoritarian, militarized, intolerant of dissent. I would want neither. Nor can I tolerate the state that we have at present. But I refuse to be boxed into a situation where the rejection of one option is the automatic endorsement of another. An intellectual¹s final responsibility lies in choosing the discomfort of refusing to see solutions when there is none available. Reticence can also be revolutionary at times. I wish sometimes, that Arundhati Roy chose reticence over the hurry to be seen with the camp that made an effective noise. A good writer¹s silence can be occasionally more powerful than a good writer¹s slips of tongue. Many amongst those who join the far right do so because they are fed up of the predatory nature of the society they live in at the moment. Their motivations can be as worthy of respect as that of any naxal. It is the ends that both seek that I have reservations about. I do not disrespect Naxals or hold them in contempt. I would, like Roy, defend the genuineness that they might embody anyday. But I have no illusion about the fact that by doing so, I am making any worthwhile political point. However, I also cannot help thinking that the Maoists do perform the function of sending a token shiver of fear down the spine of our ruling classes (and I am not unhappy to get an occasional glimpse of that shiver in the smooth steel frames of our Minister of Home Affairs and his erstwhile clients in the Mining business ). On the other hand, I am deeply disturbed by some of the things that Roy writes in this essay. Here i have to say that her up-front honesty in the episode of a Maoist combatant admitting to liking Œambush videos¹ is not amongst them. It need not necessarily be taken as the writer¹s automatic endorsement of the aesthetic pleasure to be had from watching mutilation, it could just be (though I am not necessarily saying it is) an attempt to come to terms with a fractured moral universe, even amongst those one supports, and, consider this, ­ a lesser writer might simply have airbrushed away such a discomfiting detail. I have to admit that I have a profound revulsion against Maoism, as I would have against any form of third-worldist nationalism (what else is Maoism?) that aims to seize the state to make it a Œbetter¹ state, especially through the force of arms. To the extent that Roy chooses to evade the authoritarian legacies of Maoism (her caveats about Mao and Charu Mazumdar, and her not-insincere gesture in the direction of the horrors of the Gulag, the Khmer Rouge and the genocidial policies of Mao Ze Dong in China, not withstanding)I think she writes a-politically. She has a sharply political critique of capitalism, and its operations in India, (we could quibble over details, but not over the thrust of her argument against the state and capital) but at the same time, she exhibits a profoundly a-political understanding of Maoism. This is the opposition that is never going to be the opposition, because it is wedded to as harsh a vision of state power as that which it claims to combat. Roy either does not know this, or chooses to ignore it, or chooses to underestimate its similarity to the contours of the state we are familiar with, and by doing so, betrays an a-political sense of what this so-called opposition is. I can understand the rage and the anger that drives people, especially the dispossessed, to Maoism in India. But I mourn the fact that the only thing that it drives them to today is Maoism. And so, I try and make a distinction (albeit not always successfully) between Maoists, and Maoism. While I can appreciate the fact that many, perhaps a majority of those, especially tribals, especially women, who join Maoist, or Maoist affiliated militias and the PLGA do so because they feel a measure of respect and dignity in being part of a resistance against a regime that is truly disgusting and rapacious, I also feel that this alone cannot redeem an authoritarian and statist ideology that acts exactly like a state (with its organs of formal armed power) whenever and wherever it takes power. My general response to the essay is one of mourning. I mourn the fact that we are in a situation where Maoism, especially of the variety that inhabits the forests of Central India, can appear as a genuinely revolutionary current to some of the best and brightest amongst us, and also, the fact that the strategy of Œprotracted peoples war¹ is one of the options that seems valid to some of the most oppressed and marginalized people in our social environment. To me, these two realities (the attraction that Maoism holds out to a very wide spectrum of people) represent the failure, and I underscore, our failure, the failure of all those who locate themselves on the left outside Maoism today to propose, or to be seen as proposing, a cogent revolutionary alternative to global capitalism. For me, this is the most important point. The fact that we have not yet been able to forge a living politics on the left that while rejecting parliamentrary cretinism, makes the fetishization of guns, the cult of an authoritarian party structure (that cannot but be an inevitable consequence of the militarization of resistance) and the pointlessness of standing armies (the pointlessness being an old Marxist idea) and a protracted war un-necessary. The Maoists are not fighting a revolutionary battle, but they are successful in producing an image, or mirage, of revolutionary practice. At best, they are fighting to save a dying world (a struggle that I have sympathy for, because to not have sympathy for the resistance of the most oppressed against a predatory captialism would be unthinkable) but they are not fighting to usher in any fundamental transformation of class relations. The Janatana Sarkar¹s, no matter how much water harvesting they do, no matter how much organic agricultural production they undertake, are not fundamental organs of revolutionary power. At best, they are defences against a currently predatory state. At worst, they anticipate the production of another predatory structure. They do not usher in a new language of politics, they just speak an old language of politics, on Œbehalf of the people¹. Take them out of the forests, take them into the industrial rust belt, take them into factories and cities, and they will wither like anthills under a bulldozer. They are a holding operation. Maneouvres that keep at bay, for the moment, in some places, in the forests the guns of the state and the power of the corporations. At the same time, they are invitations to the guns of the state to enter, and they are dependent on the same corporations (through a people¹s Œlevy¹) that they claim to combat. They do not represent an alternative. They never have. The issue for me, is not violence and non-violence. It is the form that resistance takes. It is about asking whether resistance is condemned to repeat the tragedies of the decadence of the left in the twentieth century, or whether it is possible to another language of politics. Arundhati Roy asks us to consider whether or not rebels have the time to think about the form that the state can take. Whether the urgencies of the struggle have a greater claim to attention than the messy and boring and unglamourous questions of thinking about what the history of the world working class movement has to offer. The leadership of the Maoist party claims that all the answers to the world¹s problems lie in what they call ŒM-L-M¹ or Marxism-Leninism-Mao Ze Dong thought. This is the stock answer to the impatience of rebellion. Rebel now, do not think, the answers are available. That is enough to make me climb up the wall. Anyone, who, when sober, can say that Mao, who coolly contemplated, and even welcomed the possibility of a nuclear holocaust (because he had a confidence in numbers, the numbers of the Chinese people) has the answers, cannot be trusted to even repair a small neighbourhood¹s sanitation infrastructure, let alone be entrusted with the responsibility of thinking about the world¹s problems, or the possible alternatives to Capitalism. To endorse Mao Ze Dong thought or the genocidial record of Stalin, or the venality of regimes like Cuba or North Korea is to endorse the worst and most pathetic form of state capitalism, one that dresses up in fancy rebel clothes while it builds furnaces on the backs of starving millions. Even if, and especially if, one has a sense of solidarity for the rank and file that joins the Maoist movement, out of rage or desparation, or for the sake of a dream of a better world, then, one cannot but realize the utter delusion or cynicism of a leadership that steers that rank and file as if it continues to take Mao Ze Dong thought seriously. If they really do not take Mao¹s wild bourgeouis nationalist fantasies of ¹state building¹ and Œpeople moulding¹ seriously, then one fails to see why they dissimulate, and if they do take them seriously, they are delusional. If they persist with Mao, and Stalin, and their pronouncements, not as actual guides to action and policy, but as fetishes, then I fail to see how they are any different from any authoritarian millenerian religious cullt. Either way, the rank and file are nothing but tools in the hands of the Maoist leadership. The politically astute thing to do would be to engage with the rank and file, and engage with them critically, constantly exposing the hollowness of their leadership¹s understanding of the world, and the disastrous consequences of that understanding. Constantly doing what any Marxist should do to any soldier in any war. Ask the soldiers to disobey their commanders. Revolutionary defeatism, even in a so called revolutionary war. By being in the war, the PLGA gives more power to the Indian state¹s military machines. The only way, in the long run, to disarm the state is to totally reject the logic of war. Any war. That Arundhati Roy should even take the people who take Mao seriously, seriously, is cause for alarm. It means that sometimes, even the sharpest of the minds amongst us, is carried away by rage into the arms of a counter-revolution that masquerades (perhaps unbeknownst to most of its cadres) in revolutionary fancy dress. In this instance, I am with Marx, who wanted revolutionaries to wait so that he had more time to think. And I say this, not facetiously, as a Zizek, on occasion, might, but with a great urgency, because a militancy of thought, the attempt to make ideas walk the good walk, the hard walk, is sometimes more important than the trek with guns in the jungle. Ideas that can withstand the rigour of history, that can make people disobey orders, rather than listen to commands, are sharper weapons than IEDs and AKs. I wish that the women who held the guns that Roy rhapsodizes were part of a movement that sharpened and polished its ideas, its politics, and its arguments more than its ordnance. I am afraid, Arundhati Roy, despite her intellectual integrity and her courage, and the unquestioning, unwavering commitment that she has to forge a critique of capital and the state, is in this instance, misled, and appears at least, to be willing to be misled. I say this in solidarity and friendship with her, and others like her, because I know that each one of us, regardless of whether or not we have her courage, and the intensity of her anger, walks that wire that hangs over an abyss of illusions and misplaced enthusiasms. Any one of us could fall, any time. We must be prepared to at least spread a net below that wire. A net made, not of our schaudenfraude at each other¹s (or Roy¹s descent) but of a long overdue attempt to forge a general practice of revolutionary politics that is open, transparent and not hidden in the forests, not backed by armies, not empowered by summary capital punishment, not dreaming of prison camps even as it sings rousing revolutionary songs. This must mean that we have to reject the Œpeoples war-parliamentary democracy¹ binary or even the Œviolence-non-violence¹ binary, and think more creatively, more urgently. To forsake the sham of bourgeoise democracy cannot mean that we have to adopt the bourgeoisie¹s greatest invention ­ the standing army and the firing squad. We want a revolution that can shake our cities, that can disarm the army (all armies) and the apparatus of repression, that can make capital capitulate by the power of the working people¹s general refusal of labour and that can make the prison house of the nation state crumble. That kind of politics requires just as much, if not much more, militancy and audacity, than the Œdadas¹ in the forests have put in. It requires the longest of marches, experiments with all forms of political organization, and a willingness to countenance at all times, the demise of the state the criterion of organizing human life Let us ensure that the one good thing that the Maoists and those who have spoken for them might do ­ is to force us out of our slumber and our dejection, to re-imagine what a revolutionary left that is out, open, industrial, international, urban and rural and sharp and pleasurable, can be. I hope Kafila can be a place where some of that can happen. Then, perhaps, Arundhati Roy, (or those who take her stance as passionately, as courageously and as genuinely as she does) will not have to hide away in forests to walk with the comrades. We would welcome her (and anyone like her) beside us, in the streets of our cities. From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Wed Mar 31 12:47:02 2010 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de ([artNET}) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:17:02 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?netEX_-_calls_=26_deadlines_--=3E_AP?= =?iso-8859-1?q?RIL__2010?= Message-ID: <20100331091703.187CA29B.B3279D0C@192.168.0.2> netEX: calls & deadlines -->APRIL 2010 ------------------------------------- NewMediafest'2010 10 Years [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne ------------------------------------- newsletter contents a) . news b) calls & deadlines --> 04 Calls: 2010 deadlines internal 15 Calls: April 2010 deadlines external 11 Calls: ongoing external/internal ------------------------------------------------ a) news NewMediaFest'2010 10 Years [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne global heritage of digital culture 1 January -31 December 2010 http://2010.newmedaifest.org includes in April following venues --> 2 April Manipulated Image @ The Complex Santa Fe (USA) "memory & identity"- experimental US videoart curated by Alysse Stepanian for VideoChannel Cologne http://2010.newmediafest.org/?p=710 http://manipulatedimage.com/ 10-25 April Emergenza Videoarte Villa Farsetti (Veneto/Italy) videos by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne http://www.xx912fabrika.com/ ------------------------------------------------ b) Calls & deadlines ---> ------------------------------------------------ April 2010: deadlines internal ------------------------------------------------ NewMediaFest'2010 has currently 4 calls running CologneOFF VI - Cologne International Videoart Festival extended deadline 4 May 2010 Call for film & videoart http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1907 VideoChannel - deadline 2 April 2010 One Minute Films http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=447 NewMediaFest'2010 VideoChannel - deadline 31 May 2010 Family Affair II - Father // Brothers and Sisters http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2155 NewMediaFest'2010 *ongoing deadline 1 September 2009 - 1 September 2010 Java Museum - Forum for internet Technology in Contemporary 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 ------------------------------------------------ April 2010 deadlines: external ------------------------------------------------ 30 April SoundFjord - Gallery for soundart London (UK) http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2203 30 April 29th Asolo International Film Festival - Asolo/Italy http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1826 30 April K3: Villach int. Shortfilm festival - Villach/Austria) http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1956 30 April Aesthetica Short Film Competition http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1856 23 April Visions from the Future - Torino/It http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1986 19 April Interactivos? 10: - Neighbourhood Science - workshop Madrid/Spain http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2207 16 April Antimatter Film Festival Victoria/Canada http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2103 15 April EMERGEANDSEE Media Arts Festival Berlin http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2178 15 April One Night Stand - SITE Santa Fe (USA) http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2143 15 April FF600 Short Film Festival Lubljana/Slovenia http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2137 15 April Videoart Festival Miden Kalamata/Greece http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2113 9 April 22th Onion City Experimental Film Festival Chicago/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2106 2 April One Minute Film Collection - VideoChannel Cologne http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=447 1 April 7th Film Sharing VideoFestival 2010 - Stuggrat, Heilbronn etc (Germany) http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=1897 1 April Terminal Short Film Festival Austin/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2099 ----------------------------------------------- Ongoing calls: external/internal ----------------------------------------------- ---> SFC - Shoah Film Collection by VideoChannel & A Virtual Memorial Foundation ---> Selfshadows 2.= - net based project by Javier Bedrina -->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 From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 31 13:57:52 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:27:52 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] shoaibmalik.pk + saniamirza.in In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <266171.19803.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Yasir   Yes saw the fervent appeal from Zaheer's wife Samina to Sania to adopt Pakistan as her own.   Both GEO and ARY have been frequently showing the  Valentiny Love Montages of Shoaib and Sania.   What was interesting was Shoaib-Sania being the lead-news in many a bulletin. That when there is that PML-N generated stalling of agreement on the Constitutional Reforms which when passed in the Legislatures would possibly be one of the most postive and significant developments in Pakistan.   Another interesting comment heard was that when Mohammed Yousuf announced his retirement from cricket and there should have been intensive wooing of him to withdraw his decision, his adversary in the team Shoaib Malik managed to steal his retirement-thunder.   Kshmendra   --- On Wed, 3/31/10, yasir ~يا سر wrote: From: yasir ~يا سر Subject: [Reader-list] shoaibmalik.pk + saniamirza.in To: "Sarai Reader-list" Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 2:41 AM "has anyone been watching geo? they seem to be in love with the couple. there was an interview of zaheer abbas and her indian wife where they referred to her as the barhi bahu and asked her to give advice to sania, the choti bahu. shadi kar k geo." heard on fb and then there is the baraat (groom's wedding party) that would go across the wagah border to bring back the bhabi :D _________________________________________ 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 ramanchima at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 14:39:17 2010 From: ramanchima at gmail.com (Raman Chima) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:39:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Parliamentary Notice calling for comments on the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules Message-ID: FYI for all those interested in the Domestic Violence Act. The Rajya Sabha Secretariat coordinates the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation. This Standing Committee has put out a public notice calling for comments on an apparent move to examine the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006, and suggest possible amendments. Note that comments are to be submitted in by approximately April 29th (the ad was published on March 29th, and gives a one month deadline). I post this as somebody interested in open government matters, and who noted that this call for comments hadn't really been caught on most radars :-) Apologies if this was posted before on the list and I didn't notice. -------------------------------------- COMMITTEE ON SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION, RAJYA SABHA ON PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RULES, 2006 The Committee on Subordinate Legislation of Rajya Sabha headed by Dr. (Smt.) Najma A. Heptulla has decided to examine the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 framed to implement the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The need for the examination of the Rules was felt necessary in the light of increasing incidence of domestic violence and the accused being able to take benefit of the loopholes in it. 2. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 seek to protect the rights of the women, specially the victims of violence occurring within the family. The Rules provide legal remedies to such women. The Committee invites comments/suggestion s from individuals/ organizations/ institutions/ experts on the working and efficacy of the said Rules. Views/suggestions on the subject may be sent to Shri Mahesh Tiwari, Joint Director, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Room No. 528 A, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi-110001 (Tel: No. 23034353, Fax: 23017548; E-mail: mtiwari at sansad. nic.in) within a month of publication of this advertisement. 3. Copies of the Rule may be obtained from the above-mentioned office or downloaded from the website of Rajya Sabha (http://rajyasabha. nic.in), under caption "Bill with Committees". [ed. note: actually, just see http://164.100.47.5/newsite/press_release/bill_committee.aspx and http://164.100.47.5/newcommittee/press_release/bill/Committee%20on%20Subordinate%20Legislation/domesticviolenceact05.pdf] 4. Comments, etc. submitted to the Committee would form part of its records and would be treated as confidential. Any violation in this regard may attract breach of privilege of the Committee. 5. Those who are willing to appear before the Committee, besides submitting written comments may indicate so. However, the Committee's decision in this regard shall be final. New Delhi Date: 164.100.47.5/ newcommittee/ .../Committee% 20on%20Subordina te%20Legislation /Press_Release- Com.. ----------------------------- From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 31 16:09:55 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:39:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] The Bliss of Madhuri: Husain and His Muse - a public lecture In-Reply-To: <7271ec561003301036v26867fb3l6c136c699312524e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <461579.77234.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear Rajendra   I thought your mail was quite disgusting.   But please ignore such thoughts of mine. Instead I would like to be educated by you through answers to the following two questions:   1. What should India do with these disgusting Muslims and all their disgusting practices?   AND   2. What should India do with these disgusting Hindus and all their disgusting practices?   These two questions need to be answered simultaneously so that we can make the roadmap for a better India.   Kshmendra --- On Tue, 3/30/10, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi wrote: From: Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi Subject: Re: [Reader-list] The Bliss of Madhuri: Husain and His Muse - a public lecture To: "Yousuf" Cc: "sarai list" , "jmi list" Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 11:06 PM Yousuf, there is nothing special about the fact that mindset of "muse", it is quite obivious mindset of few followers of a faith, as conquerers, to have woman of different faith in the present time, as if to live with past glories, as exhibited by the likes of a Mahesh Bhatt, shahrukh khan Amir Khan, in bollywood as well as that of Rizvis and many and many thousands who still make all out efforts to have faithful "harmony" and the fate of those wives with triple talaqs is well known in "secular India. ! Atleast, individuals like a Harish Salve, Vayalar ravi who have married outside the faith, have been more sensitive unlike the My name is khan clan.! Regards, rajen. On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 11:59 AM, Yousuf wrote: > JAMES BEVERIDGE MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE > AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia > > invites you to a Public Lecture on > THE BLISS OF MADHURI: HUSAIN AND HIS MUSE > By > Patricia Uberoi > > JB MRC Room, MCRC New Building, 2nd Floor > Thursday, March 25, 2010, 2PM > > By all accounts, including his own, M.F. Husain has found artistic > inspiration in several ‘muses’, but none so publicly acknowledged and > well-publicized as his relationship with Bollywood screen goddess, Madhuri > Dixit. Husain committed her image to canvas in a series of featureless > portraits, and on celluloid through his five-million dollar film, Gaja > Gamini, which he scripted and directed.  ‘It took me 60 years to realize > this dream’, Husain wrote, ‘of which 30 years were spent in allowing Madhuri > to arrive.’ > Following his trajectory from art to cinema, this illustrated presentation > critically reflects upon Husain’s project of rendering in cinema the > timeless attributes of Indian womanhood in relation to a universal ideal of > the feminine. In particular it seeks to address two interconnected issues > raised by Husain’s Gaja Gamini project and the public discourse that has > surrounded it: (i) the problematics of the female ‘muse’; or, should one say > bluntly, the gender politics of male artistic production; and (ii) Husain’s > spectacularisation of the female body of Madhuri Dixit.  Admittedly, linking > these two themes is no straightforward matter, located as they are in very > different discursive universes. However, addressing these questions might > lead us to understand how Husain’s infatuation with his muse is actually > pertinent to an understanding of the public controversies in which he has > become so conspicuously embroiled in recent years. > > Patricia UBEROI was formerly Professor of Social Change and Development at > the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and Honorary Director of the > Institute of Chinese Studies, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, > Delhi. She has published widely in the fields of family, kinship, gender, > sexuality and popular culture with reference to both India and China. In > addition to her book Freedom and Destiny: Gender, Family and Popular Culture > in India (2006), she has edited Family, Kinship and Marriage in India > (1993), Social Reform, Sexuality and the State (1996), Tradition, Pluralism > and Identity (co-ed., 1999), Anthropology in the East:  Founders of Indian > Sociology and Anthropology (co-ed., 2007), Marriage, Migration and Gender > (co-ed, 2008) and Rise of the Asian Giants:  Dragon-Elephant Tango (2008). > > (The JB MRC is supported by funds from the SRTT.) > > > > > _________________________________________ > 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: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 16:25:53 2010 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:25:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Bliss of Madhuri: Husain and His Muse - a public lecture In-Reply-To: <461579.77234.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <7271ec561003301036v26867fb3l6c136c699312524e@mail.gmail.com> <461579.77234.qm@web57205.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Kshamendra While I personally have not been asked the questions by you, I think the entire country, willingly or unwillingly decided the path long back in 1947 during Partition, when it said that all kinds of people, disgusting or undisgusting, communists or right-wing champions or centrist, capitalists or socialists, social democrats or dictator-democrats (who perpetrate dictatorship through democracy, ala Indira Gandhi), cynics and hopefuls, and various opposites who were attracted. This was the character even of our independence movement, when we believed that 'sabko saath lekar chalna chahiye'. Such communalists or secularists or Muslim or Hindu propagandists or centrists will always be there. They were there during 1947 also. They were there during the independence movement. What worries me, and I would state it clearly, is when people start championing the causes of those who conduct mass pogroms and treating it as if it were completely irrelevant. 1947 was no 1984 (Delhi Sikh pogrom), 1989 (Bhagalpur Muslim pogrom), 1992-93 (Babri Masjid demolition and riots after that, including the terrible Mumbai pogrom of Muslims), and of course, 2002 (Gujarat pogrom along with Godhra). It worries me when there are massive cases of corruption because of corrupt people in our society which leads to so many scams. It is a shame when our Centrist party, namely, the Congress, succumbs to dynasty pressures and organizes a pogrom to win elections, and then following pseudo-secularism in the name of securing minority votes without doing anything for them. That worries me. And it equally worries me when Indian elites remain focused on useless issues like India becoming a superpower, rather than realizing the brutal realities of India. India has slowly become a nation of harsh inequalities, as figures will testify. (compared to 1947). Rakesh P.S. : What probably Modi forgot was that Rajiv Gandhi had presided over the idea of violence when he was the Prime Minister and the 1984 pogrom took place, and he also died a violent death in 1991. Before that, Indira Gandhi also presided over violence in the name of the Golden temple being cleansed of terrorists. She too died a violent death, having created her own Bhindranwale. Not for nothing after all, did Gandhi and Christ say regularly: 'violence begets violence'. On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 4:09 PM, Kshmendra Kaul wrote: > Dear Rajendra > > I thought your mail was quite disgusting. > > But please ignore such thoughts of mine. Instead I would like to be > educated by you through answers to the following two questions: > > 1. What should India do with these disgusting Muslims and all their > disgusting practices? > > AND > > 2. What should India do with these disgusting Hindus and all their > disgusting practices? > > These two questions need to be answered simultaneously so that we can make > the roadmap for a better India. > > Kshmendra > > > --- On Tue, 3/30/10, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi < > rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com> wrote: > > > From: Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] The Bliss of Madhuri: Husain and His Muse - a > public lecture > To: "Yousuf" > Cc: "sarai list" , "jmi list" < > jamia_millia_alumni_directory at yahoogroups.com> > Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 11:06 PM > > > Yousuf, there is nothing special about the fact that mindset of "muse", it > is quite obivious mindset of few followers of a faith, as conquerers, to > have woman of different faith in the present time, as if to live with past > glories, as exhibited by the likes of a Mahesh Bhatt, shahrukh khan Amir > Khan, in bollywood as well as that of Rizvis and many and many thousands > who > still make all out efforts to have faithful "harmony" and the fate of those > wives with triple talaqs is well known in "secular India. ! > Atleast, individuals like a Harish Salve, Vayalar ravi who have married > outside the faith, have been more sensitive unlike the My name is khan > clan.! > > Regards, > rajen. > > On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 11:59 AM, Yousuf wrote: > > > JAMES BEVERIDGE MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE > > AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia > > > > invites you to a Public Lecture on > > THE BLISS OF MADHURI: HUSAIN AND HIS MUSE > > By > > Patricia Uberoi > > > > JB MRC Room, MCRC New Building, 2nd Floor > > Thursday, March 25, 2010, 2PM > > > > By all accounts, including his own, M.F. Husain has found artistic > > inspiration in several ‘muses’, but none so publicly acknowledged and > > well-publicized as his relationship with Bollywood screen goddess, > Madhuri > > Dixit. Husain committed her image to canvas in a series of featureless > > portraits, and on celluloid through his five-million dollar film, Gaja > > Gamini, which he scripted and directed. ‘It took me 60 years to realize > > this dream’, Husain wrote, ‘of which 30 years were spent in allowing > Madhuri > > to arrive.’ > > Following his trajectory from art to cinema, this illustrated > presentation > > critically reflects upon Husain’s project of rendering in cinema the > > timeless attributes of Indian womanhood in relation to a universal ideal > of > > the feminine. In particular it seeks to address two interconnected issues > > raised by Husain’s Gaja Gamini project and the public discourse that has > > surrounded it: (i) the problematics of the female ‘muse’; or, should one > say > > bluntly, the gender politics of male artistic production; and (ii) > Husain’s > > spectacularisation of the female body of Madhuri Dixit. Admittedly, > linking > > these two themes is no straightforward matter, located as they are in > very > > different discursive universes. However, addressing these questions might > > lead us to understand how Husain’s infatuation with his muse is actually > > pertinent to an understanding of the public controversies in which he has > > become so conspicuously embroiled in recent years. > > > > Patricia UBEROI was formerly Professor of Social Change and Development > at > > the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and Honorary Director of the > > Institute of Chinese Studies, Centre for the Study of Developing > Societies, > > Delhi. She has published widely in the fields of family, kinship, gender, > > sexuality and popular culture with reference to both India and China. In > > addition to her book Freedom and Destiny: Gender, Family and Popular > Culture > > in India (2006), she has edited Family, Kinship and Marriage in India > > (1993), Social Reform, Sexuality and the State (1996), Tradition, > Pluralism > > and Identity (co-ed., 1999), Anthropology in the East: Founders of > Indian > > Sociology and Anthropology (co-ed., 2007), Marriage, Migration and Gender > > (co-ed, 2008) and Rise of the Asian Giants: Dragon-Elephant Tango > (2008). > > > > (The JB MRC is supported by funds from the SRTT.) > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > 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: > From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 16:28:06 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:28:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] International Youth Conference on Biodiversity (Japan, expenses covered) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Archi Rastogi Message below may be of interest. Please forward to your networks. Archi -- Link: http://www.biodic.go.jp/biodiversity/youth/call_e.html Call for Participation International Youth Conference on Biodiversity in Aichi 2010 The Ministry of the Environment of Japan ("MOE") will hold the "International Youth Conference on Biodiversity in Aichi 2010" in Japan in August 2010 in order to promote communication among young people from around the world and to improve their mutual awareness of biodiversity. The conference is associated with the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (so-called "CBD COP10") that will be held in Aichi in October 2010. This conference takes impetus from a previous international youth conference held just before COP9 in Germany in May 2008 and the Asia Youth Conference held in Japan in August 2009, and is intended to (1) Provide young people who will lead the next generation with opportunities to improve their understanding of and participation in conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; (2) Enhance development of young people who will lead the next generation through participation in a forum of international discussions and activities; (3) Facilitate building of an international network for youths and mutual understanding among them. The MOE is now inviting applications from individuals in colleges, universities and high schools all over the world to participate in the conference. From chandni_parekh at yahoo.com Wed Mar 31 16:29:57 2010 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:59:57 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Join the Tribe of Greedy Givers Message-ID: <901107.98981.qm@web54404.mail.re2.yahoo.com> From: Ranjan Malik Thought-stuck? Give and Get original insights from diverse people right here, right now! Get un-stuck! Just ask and the fellow tribes-people will respond by gifting you some really 'fresh tomatoes' (fresh insights). We believe in free sharing. Greedy Givers is a tribe of kindred souls across the world, across age groups and across interests, who believe in freely sharing their original perspectives with their fellow tribes-people. If you are one of us, you'll never be thought-stuck! :) More about the Tribe: http://greedygiverstribe.blogspot.com/2010/03/word-about-tribe.html About a Fresh Tomato in the Tribe: http://greedygiverstribe.blogspot.com/2010/03/wheres-your-first-fresh-tomatoes-for.html Read and comment on (49 comments already) Ranjan's Fresh & Juicy Tomato No. 1 - 'Quick & Dirty. And much better than processed and polished': http://greedygiverstribe.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-fresh-juicy-tomato-no-1-quick-dirty.html Ranjan's Fresh & Juicy Tomato No. 2 - 'Have Undo will Do': http://greedygiverstribe.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-fresh-juicy-tomato-no-2-have-undo.html From chintangirishmodi at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 16:32:41 2010 From: chintangirishmodi at gmail.com (Chintan) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:32:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Assistant needed for the Sea Turtle Symposium Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: varsha patel Date: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 1:37 PM ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Manju Menon From: Aarthi gmail [mailto:aarthi77 at gmail.com] Hi, The International Sea Turtle Society (ISTS) along with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the Bombay Natural History Society, Daksih Foundation, the Wildlife Institute of India, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, WWF-India and over 30 other international and Indian partners is conducting the 30th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation in April, 2010 at Goa. http://india.seaturtle.org/symposium2010/ As part of a fund raising initiative, the renowned painter Shri Jatin Das has offered to make a painting, the sale of whose proceeds will go towards raising funding for symposium participants from local organisations. The painting will be done by Mr. Das who has informed us that the production of the prints of the painting will take place in Delhi itself. However, we require a volunteer to assist Mr. Das in logistics and in coordinating the completion of the prints and so on. Essentially this person will have to work with Mr. Das in his studio and oversee printing related tasks and basically ensure that the final product reaches us in Goa in time for the Symposium. The requirements are for a person who is fluent in English, familiar with computers and who can undertake local travel in Delhi. The studio is in Shahpur Jat and he lives in Asiad Games Village. We can pay some remuneration for the volunteer and will bear all local transport costs. The person has to start work rightaway as well as the painting and its prints will have to be ready by the 15th April. Please do contact me on my phone (+919900113216) ASAP if someone is interested in this assignment. We will be extremely grateful for any assistance. Best, Aarthi ````````````````````````````` Aarthi Sridhar Dakshin Foundation, C-305, Samvriddhi Gardenia Apartments, 88/3, Bytaranpura, Near Sahakarnagar A Block, Bangalore 560 092. India. Ph: +919900113216 -- To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Options Unlimited" group. To post to this group, send email to options-unlimited at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to options-unlimited+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/options-unlimited?hl=en. From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 31 17:13:45 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:43:45 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] "Children of the Taliban" Video Message-ID: <940457.76125.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> The Video from PBS is a year old.   Not much has changed in Pakistan since then wrt the Taliban, except for the country trying to differentiate between the Good-Taliban (Afghanistani) and Bad-Taliban (Pakistani)   That was subsequent to the collapse of the deal for implementation of Shariah in Swat Valley that was agreed upon between the Govt of Pakistan and the Tahreek-e-Nafaz-e- Shariat-e-Muhammadi (Maulana Sufi Mohammad and his son-in-law Mullah Fazlullah)   Kshmendra     VIDEO at :   http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/pakistan802/video/video_index.html   SYNOPSIS The city of Peshawar is on high alert. The Taliban are closing in, regularly attacking police convoys, kidnapping diplomats, and shooting foreigners. The fighting across this volatile region has driven thousands of families from their homes and many have found shelter in Peshawar. Correspondent Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is traveling across her fractured homeland to investigate the rising popularity of a new Pakistani branch of the Taliban, now threatening the major cities, blowing up girls’ schools and declaring war on the Pakistani state. Her journey begins at a rehabilitation center in Peshawar, where she talks with many young victims caught in the crossfire of this war.  “We saw the dead body of a policeman tied to a pole,” an articulate young girl named Qainat tells the reporter quietly.  “His head had been chopped off. It was hanging between his legs. There was a note saying that if anyone moved the dead body, they would share its fate.” Before the Taliban took control of Qainat’s village, the women in her family attended university and worked. But now the Taliban has banned girls from going to school. Qainat is from Swat, a 100-mile-long valley in the north of Pakistan, three hours drive from Peshawar. Until recently, Swat was known as the Switzerland of the east, and had a thriving tourist industry. Two years ago, hundreds of Taliban fighters moved into the valley from the adjoining tribal areas, when the Pakistani Army drove them out. Driving through the streets of Swat filming surreptitiously, Obaid-Chinoy sees Swati women wearing the burqa. This never used to be the case. The Taliban often use radio broadcasts to drive home their message. In one typical address, a preacher proclaims:   “Sharia Law is our right, and we will exercise this right whatever happens. We will make ourselves suicide bombers! I swear to God if our leader orders me, I will sacrifice myself… and blow myself up in the middle of our enemies.“   The Taliban have destroyed more than 200 government schools in Swat since they took control of the region.  Walking through the rubble of a school that once taught 400 girls, the reporter comes across two nine-year-old girls who used to study there. “Why did you like school?” she asks one of them. “Because education is like a ray of light and I want that light,” she replies. When the sound of mortar fire cuts the conversation short, the film crew leaves quickly, passing through the main square. Locals have renamed it “Khooni Chowk” (“bloody square”) for all the public beheadings the Taliban now carry out there. Several weeks after FRONTLINE/World filmed in Swat, the Pakistani government signed a peace deal with the Taliban, allowing the imposition of a brutal brand of Shania Law on a million people across the valley.   It’s a significant deal, reports Obaid-Chinoy. Swat lies outside the tribal area, showing that Taliban influence is growing, and the militants now have a new safe haven.   In Taliban strongholds near the Afghan border, they have been running their own schools for years, targeting poor families and often providing food and shelter.   One Swat teenager explains how he joined the Taliban a year ago, when he was 13. First it was the sermons at the mosque, then being recruited to a madrassa, and finally spending months in military training.   “They teach us to use a machine gun, Kalashnikov…Then they teach us how to do a suicide attack,” he tells our reporter.   Despite the Swat peace deal, the Pakistan Army has been battling the Taliban for several months, deep inside the tribal belt. In Bajaur, just 10 miles from the Afghan border, flattened buildings are all that remain of this former trading hub, once home to 7,000 people.   The Army claims it destroyed the town because it was the only way to free it from militants. This hard line approach has left hundreds of thousands of refugees, many winding up in makeshift camps on the edge of the Tribal belt.   It’s the largest internal displacement Pakistan has ever seen, Obaid-Chinoy reports. Almost a million people have been forced to leave their homes.   Visiting one such camp in Peshawar, we meet two young men among the 15,000 children displaced there. Wasifullah and Abdurrahman are best friends, but they have different ideas of who is to blame for this war. Both boys fled their village when the Pakistani Army began bombing. Their district was also targeted by American missile strikes. In one of those strikes, Wasifullah’s 12-year-old cousin was killed.   “We brought his remains home in bags,” he explains with little expression. “We could only find his legs so we buried them in our village.”   There have been more than 30 U.S. missile strikes in the tribal areas in the last year. They target Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders, but civilians are often killed as well. It’s an easy recruiting tool for the Taliban, and Wasifullah is eager to sign up.   But his best friend Abdurrahman blames Al Qaeda for the destruction of their village. He would prefer to become a captain in the Pakistan Army. The two friends sadly represent the fault lines in this unstable nation.   The Army has also suffered in its campaign against the Taliban. In the last five years, thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been wounded. And more than 1,500 have been killed.   Visiting some of the wounded in a local hospital, Obaid-Chinoy asks one soldier why the Taliban hate the Pakistani Army so much.   “The American policies we adopted; that’s why the Taliban are angry at the Army.  That’s why we’re suffering,” he whispers.   Meanwhile, the Taliban are growing bolder by the day, openly inviting journalists to the heart of the tribal areas for a show of strength. As a woman, Obaid-Chinoy is told she is not welcome and that she will be killed if she goes. A local cameraman sets out to film there instead. In a village 6 hours from Peshawar, it is the first time that the new deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been filmed. Arriving in an American Humvee his men have just captured in an attack on a NATO convoy, he tells the cameraman, “If America continues bombing the tribal areas… and martyrs innocent people…then we are compelled to attack them.” He also sends a message to Islamabad: “If the Pakistani leaders and army maintain their stance… then we will take control of Peshawar and other cities.”   This is no empty threat. The war has already arrived in the capital and Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi.   Back in Karachi, Obaid-Chinoy finds that her native city has become a new safe haven for the Taliban. She visits one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, which local police concede has become heavily infiltrated by the Taliban. Most of the children here already study at small madrassas.   After their lessons, some of the boys play cricket on a strip of wasteland close to school. One of them is Shaheed, which means “martyr.” He is 14 and one of 200 pupils at the school, most of whom come from extremely poor families.   The state education system in Pakistan has virtually collapsed, leaving more than 1.5 million children studying at schools like this one. Sitting down to be interviewed, Shaheed explains what Sharia Law has taught him about women. “The government should forbid women and girls from wandering around outside,” he says calmly.  “Just like the government banned plastic bags -- no one uses them any more -- we should do the same with women.”   Shaheed’s teacher defends the school, saying it promotes only peace and harmony, not terrorism, but away from the camera, he tells another story.   When asked who he thinks will win this war, his response is chilling:   “No matter how many Muslims die, we will never run out of sacrificial lambs.”   It also confirms something Shaheed said during his interview: “When I look at suicide bombers younger than me, or my age, I get so inspired by their terrific attacks.”   Leaving Karachi, the reporter tries to make contact with the Taliban leadership in the tribal areas. She wants to talk to the men who are recruiting children from these religious schools for suicide operations.   After lengthy negotiations, she meets with Qari Abdullah, who makes no attempt to hide his face.     “We never used to fight against Pakistan, because we thought the Army were Muslims,” he tells her. “But when they started bombing us, we had to do jihad against them.”   When she asks him about using young children to carry out such attacks, he replies: “Children are tools to achieve God’s will. And whatever comes your way, you sacrifice it.” He then reveals that he recruits children as young as 5, 6, and 7 years old. Coming to the end of her bleak journey, Obaid-Chinoy reminds us that there are 80 million children in Pakistan, many of them living in poverty. If the militants continue to expand their war and to recruit children freely, as they do now, then Pakistan may soon belong to them.   From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 17:22:11 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:22:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics Message-ID: RAPE OF POLITICS ....and where are those Mehboobas, Shameemas, Asiyas today? Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics Ahmed Ali Fayyaz JAMMU, Mar 30: Hullabaloo over then widely perceived rape-cum-murder of two young woman, married Neelofar Jan and unmarried Asiya Jan, of Shopian in May last year was understandable as well as justifiable. Jostling for the limelight, female politicians of all hues had done whatever possible to undercut one another in the race of smudging the men in uniform. There were initially efforts to involve the Balpora-based formation of Rashtriya Rifles. Soon the campaign was downgraded to a unit of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). But once both proved to be the hard nuts, convenience zeroed in on Police. Even as two of the Police personnel, detained for their alleged involvement in destroying the evidences, were just a vegetarian target, counter-insurgency profile of then SP and Dy SP of Shopian made it a perfect case for a mass movement. For weeks together, Kashmir was yet again in flames. Eight people got killed, and around 1,000 sustained injuries in clashes with Police and armed forces. Over a thousand vehicles, including 50 ambulances of different hospitals in the Valley, were damaged in stone pelting. There was shutdown after shutdown for four months. Damage caused to the Kashmir economy is estimated to be in hundreds of Crores of Rupees. Loss suffered by the student community remained incalculable. Why all that? Obviously because government officials, supposed to protect the honour and life of women, were perceived to be involved in the sinister act of outraging the modesty of the victims and doing away with them. Within months, yet another government official---this time a doctor on whose evidence stood the ³rape-cum-murder² of the Shopian duo---has been found to have outraged the chastity of a hapless woman at his clinic at the nearby district headquarters of Pulwama. There are few differences between the two. First one was fully based on surmise, speculation and perception. Post mortem reports of two teams of doctors made it an explosive case of gang rape and murder. Actors need not to be searched in such kind of incidents in the strife torn Valley. Second one has been purportedly shot on camera and the actor stands not only identified but also placed under suspension, arrested and jailed. In case of Shopian, the victims were found to have died once. In case of Pulwama, the victim has been left to die a hundred times every day as long as she lives. The latest revelation is that she happens to be the mother of a girl doing first year of her MBBS and a 17-year-old son who is in class 11th. Shopian happened by night in a nullah and Pulwama in broad daylight during the holy month of Ramazan, at a property owned by a religious trust. Then, why an uproar on Shopian and a silence of convenience on Pulwama? The biggest poser of the cruel times in Kashmir: Is it the outfits of an actor that categorizes rapes in the Valley? Had the Pulwama actor been in Khaki, would the Kashmiri politicians have maintained this silence. The questions ahead: Are the Kashmiri female politicians concerned over the outrage of the modesty of hapless women by government officials or are they exploiting such incidents selectively to create space for themselves in the politics of deceit and camouflage that has had a bullish market from New Delhi to Islamabad? PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, and the pro-Pakistan Dukhataraan-e-Millat supremo, Asiya Andrabi, stole the show in Shopian as they left no stone unturned in berating the men in uniform. That was understandable for one was the queen of the mainstream opposition and another indisputably the highest profile female political activist in the separatist camp. But the ruling National Conference¹s MLA, Shameema Firdaus, appeared to outsmart all and sundry in the agitation when she led a procession of workers on Residency Road in Srinagar, chanting slogans against the Shopian rapists and killers and demanding exemplary punishment for them all. Of late, Shameema Firdaus, has been appointed by Omar Abdullah government as the Chairperson of the State Women¹s Commission. While Asiya and her ilk in the separatist camp must have now realized the dangers of walking into the trap of pro-India politicians, PDP chief has never been sighted in Assembly since the day Pulwama surfaced on March 21. Ms Firdaus remained in attendance but did not utter a word of condemnation even when the independent MLA from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, raised his lonely voice on the floor of the House and demanded termination of the doctor¹s services. Until yesterday, the big question was: How could the two women have drowned to death in ³ankle deep waters² of Rambiara ? After CBI exonerated all the four Policemen and filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including six doctors---notably then deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, now booked for raping a woman at his clinic---a bigger question surfaced: How do the gang rapes in Valley take place while leaving hymen of an unmarried woman intact? Now a far bigger question: Is it all politics on rape or rape of politics---to spare the rapists in civvies and target only the rapists in uniform? From kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com Wed Mar 31 19:07:29 2010 From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com (Kshmendra Kaul) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 06:37:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <504441.28007.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Continuing the question (it is a continual one where incidents and characters change):   Where today are the Miss Marples, the whodunit experts, the Umas (Chakravarty), Ushas (Ramanathan), Seemas (Misra), Vrindas (Grover), Dr. Ajitas, Anuradhas (Bhasin Jamwal), those members of "Independent Women’s Initiative for Justice" and authors of "Shopian: Manufacturing a Suitable Story"   Kshmendra --- On Wed, 3/31/10, S. Jabbar wrote: From: S. Jabbar Subject: [Reader-list] Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics To: "Sarai" Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 5:22 PM RAPE OF POLITICS ....and where are those Mehboobas, Shameemas, Asiyas today? Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics Ahmed Ali Fayyaz JAMMU, Mar 30: Hullabaloo over then widely perceived rape-cum-murder of two young woman, married Neelofar Jan and unmarried Asiya Jan, of Shopian in May last year was understandable as well as justifiable. Jostling for the limelight, female politicians of all hues had done whatever possible to undercut one another in the race of smudging the men in uniform. There were initially efforts to involve the Balpora-based formation of Rashtriya Rifles. Soon the campaign was downgraded to a unit of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). But once both proved to be the hard nuts, convenience zeroed in on Police. Even as two of the Police personnel, detained for their alleged involvement in destroying the evidences, were just a vegetarian target, counter-insurgency profile of then SP and Dy SP of Shopian made it a perfect case for a mass movement. For weeks together, Kashmir was yet again in flames. Eight people got killed, and around 1,000 sustained injuries in clashes with Police and armed forces. Over a thousand vehicles, including 50 ambulances of different hospitals in the Valley, were damaged in stone pelting. There was shutdown after shutdown for four months. Damage caused to the Kashmir economy is estimated to be in hundreds of Crores of Rupees. Loss suffered by the student community remained incalculable. Why all that? Obviously because government officials, supposed to protect the honour and life of women, were perceived to be involved in the sinister act of outraging the modesty of the victims and doing away with them. Within months, yet another government official---this time a doctor on whose evidence stood the ³rape-cum-murder² of the Shopian duo---has been found to have outraged the chastity of a hapless woman at his clinic at the nearby district headquarters of Pulwama. There are few differences between the two. First one was fully based on surmise, speculation and perception. Post mortem reports of two teams of doctors made it an explosive case of gang rape and murder. Actors need not to be searched in such kind of incidents in the strife torn Valley. Second one has been purportedly shot on camera and the actor stands not only identified but also placed under suspension, arrested and jailed. In case of Shopian, the victims were found to have died once. In case of Pulwama, the victim has been left to die a hundred times every day as long as she lives. The latest revelation is that she happens to be the mother of a girl doing first year of her MBBS and a 17-year-old son who is in class 11th. Shopian happened by night in a nullah and Pulwama in broad daylight during the holy month of Ramazan, at a property owned by a religious trust. Then, why an uproar on Shopian and a silence of convenience on Pulwama? The biggest poser of the cruel times in Kashmir: Is it the outfits of an actor that categorizes rapes in the Valley? Had the Pulwama actor been in Khaki, would the Kashmiri politicians have maintained this silence. The questions ahead: Are the Kashmiri female politicians concerned over the outrage of the modesty of hapless women by government officials or are they exploiting such incidents selectively to create space for themselves in the politics of deceit and camouflage that has had a bullish market from New Delhi to Islamabad? PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, and the pro-Pakistan Dukhataraan-e-Millat supremo, Asiya Andrabi, stole the show in Shopian as they left no stone unturned in berating the men in uniform. That was understandable for one was the queen of the mainstream opposition and another indisputably the highest profile female political activist in the separatist camp. But the ruling National Conference¹s MLA, Shameema Firdaus, appeared to outsmart all and sundry in the agitation when she led a procession of workers on Residency Road in Srinagar, chanting slogans against the Shopian rapists and killers and demanding exemplary punishment for them all. Of late, Shameema Firdaus, has been appointed by Omar Abdullah government as the Chairperson of the State Women¹s Commission. While Asiya and her ilk in the separatist camp must have now realized the dangers of walking into the trap of pro-India politicians, PDP chief has never been sighted in Assembly since the day Pulwama surfaced on March 21. Ms Firdaus remained in attendance but did not utter a word of condemnation even when the independent MLA from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, raised his lonely voice on the floor of the House and demanded termination of the doctor¹s services. Until yesterday, the big question was: How could the two women have drowned to death in ³ankle deep waters² of Rambiara ? After CBI exonerated all the four Policemen and filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including six doctors---notably then deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, now booked for raping a woman at his clinic---a bigger question surfaced: How do the gang rapes in Valley take place while leaving hymen of an unmarried woman intact? Now a far bigger question: Is it all politics on rape or rape of politics---to spare the rapists in civvies and target only the rapists in uniform? _________________________________________ 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 sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 19:47:26 2010 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (S. Jabbar) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:47:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics In-Reply-To: <504441.28007.qm@web57202.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Kshmendra, it is unfair to condemn them as such. The Shopian case was an extremely complicated case, which was manipulated and presented to the world as fact. Sadly, this group of well-meaning women are not the first to get misled with half-facts and half-truths in Kashmir. I think the admission by Dr.Nighat last year of forging the vaginal samples genuinely shocked many people in Kashmir― after all she had sworn upon the Qur’an. That coupled with the 2 cases of murder in Maisuma (where near riots had broken out as people had initially suspected the security forces) will, hopefully cause some introspection. Ahmed Ali Fayyaz’s article is a move in that direction. --sj From: Kshmendra Kaul Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 06:37:29 -0700 (PDT) To: "S. Jabbar" Cc: sarai list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics Continuing the question (it is a continual one where incidents and characters change): Where today are the Miss Marples, the whodunit experts, the Umas (Chakravarty), Ushas (Ramanathan), Seemas (Misra), Vrindas (Grover), Dr. Ajitas, Anuradhas (Bhasin Jamwal), those members of "Independent Women’s Initiative for Justice" and authors of "Shopian: Manufacturing a Suitable Story" Kshmendra --- On Wed, 3/31/10, S. Jabbar wrote: > > From: S. Jabbar > Subject: [Reader-list] Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become > bane of J&K politics > To: "Sarai" > Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 5:22 PM > > RAPE OF POLITICS > > ....and where are those Mehboobas, Shameemas, Asiyas today? > > Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics > > Ahmed Ali Fayyaz > > JAMMU, Mar 30: Hullabaloo over then widely perceived rape-cum-murder of two > young woman, married Neelofar Jan and unmarried Asiya Jan, of Shopian in May > last year was understandable as well as justifiable. Jostling for the > limelight, female politicians of all hues had done whatever possible to > undercut one another in the race of smudging the men in uniform. There were > initially efforts to involve the Balpora-based formation of Rashtriya > Rifles. Soon the campaign was downgraded to a unit of Central Reserve Police > Force (CRPF). But once both proved to be the hard nuts, convenience zeroed > in on Police. Even as two of the Police personnel, detained for their > alleged involvement in destroying the evidences, were just a vegetarian > target, counter-insurgency profile of then SP and Dy SP of Shopian made it a > perfect case for a mass movement. > > For weeks together, Kashmir was yet again in flames. Eight people got > killed, and around 1,000 sustained injuries in clashes with Police and armed > forces. Over a thousand vehicles, including 50 ambulances of different > hospitals in the Valley, were damaged in stone pelting. There was shutdown > after shutdown for four months. Damage caused to the Kashmir economy is > estimated to be in hundreds of Crores of Rupees. Loss suffered by the > student community remained incalculable. Why all that? Obviously because > government officials, supposed to protect the honour and life of women, were > perceived to be involved in the sinister act of outraging the modesty of the > victims and doing away with them. > > Within months, yet another government official---this time a doctor on whose > evidence stood the ³rape-cum-murder² of the Shopian duo---has been found to > have outraged the chastity of a hapless woman at his clinic at the nearby > district headquarters of Pulwama. There are few differences between the two. > First one was fully based on surmise, speculation and perception. Post > mortem reports of two teams of doctors made it an explosive case of gang > rape and murder. Actors need not to be searched in such kind of incidents in > the strife torn Valley. Second one has been purportedly shot on camera and > the actor stands not only identified but also placed under suspension, > arrested and jailed. > > In case of Shopian, the victims were found to have died once. In case of > Pulwama, the victim has been left to die a hundred times every day as long > as she lives. The latest revelation is that she happens to be the mother of > a girl doing first year of her MBBS and a 17-year-old son who is in class > 11th. Shopian happened by night in a nullah and Pulwama in broad daylight > during the holy month of Ramazan, at a property owned by a religious trust. > Then, why an uproar on Shopian and a silence of convenience on Pulwama? The > biggest poser of the cruel times in Kashmir: Is it the outfits of an actor > that categorizes rapes in the Valley? Had the Pulwama actor been in Khaki, > would the Kashmiri politicians have maintained this silence. The questions > ahead: Are the Kashmiri female politicians concerned over the outrage of the > modesty of hapless women by government officials or are they exploiting such > incidents selectively to create space for themselves in the politics of > deceit and camouflage that has had a bullish market from New Delhi to > Islamabad? > > PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, and the pro-Pakistan Dukhataraan-e-Millat > supremo, Asiya Andrabi, stole the show in Shopian as they left no stone > unturned in berating the men in uniform. That was understandable for one was > the queen of the mainstream opposition and another indisputably the highest > profile female political activist in the separatist camp. But the ruling > National Conference¹s MLA, Shameema Firdaus, appeared to outsmart all and > sundry in the agitation when she led a procession of workers on Residency > Road in Srinagar, chanting slogans against the Shopian rapists and killers > and demanding exemplary punishment for them all. > > Of late, Shameema Firdaus, has been appointed by Omar Abdullah government as > the Chairperson of the State Women¹s Commission. While Asiya and her ilk in > the separatist camp must have now realized the dangers of walking into the > trap of pro-India politicians, PDP chief has never been sighted in Assembly > since the day Pulwama surfaced on March 21. Ms Firdaus remained in > attendance but did not utter a word of condemnation even when the > independent MLA from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, raised his lonely > voice on the floor of the House and demanded termination of the doctor¹s > services. > > Until yesterday, the big question was: How could the two women have drowned > to death in ³ankle deep waters² of Rambiara ? After CBI exonerated all the > four Policemen and filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including six > doctors---notably then deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ghulam Qadir > Sofi, now booked for raping a woman at his clinic---a bigger question > surfaced: How do the gang rapes in Valley take place while leaving hymen of > an unmarried woman intact? Now a far bigger question: Is it all politics on > rape or rape of politics---to spare the rapists in civvies and target only > the rapists in uniform? > _________________________________________ > 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 pawan.durani at gmail.com Wed Mar 31 23:39:22 2010 From: pawan.durani at gmail.com (Pawan Durani) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:39:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 97% of human rights violation complaints in Jammu and Kashmir are false Message-ID: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_97pct-of-human-rights-violation-complaints-in-jammu-and-kashmir-are-false_1365368 New Delhi: Over 97% of complaints of human rights excesses received against the Army and central paramilitary forces in Jammu and Kashmir were found to be false. "Since, January, 1994 till December, 2009, out of 1,206 complaints of human rights excesses received against personnel of the army and central para military forces (CPMFS), 1,180 have been investigated and 1,147 found false," the Annual Report for2009-10 of the ministry of home affairs said. It said in 33 cases where the complaints were found genuine, penalties have been imposed on 74 personnel of the army and CPMFs while in six cases compensation have been awarded. The report said the government attaches highest importance to the subject of human rights and said security forces are under instruction to respect the human rights of all people and work steadfastly with humane face while performing their day-to-day operational duties. From jcm at ata.org.pe Wed Mar 31 06:48:07 2010 From: jcm at ata.org.pe (Jose-Carlos Mariategui) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:18:07 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Photographer_of_=93Crossfire=94_ex?= =?windows-1252?q?hibition_threatened_with_=91crossfire=92=2E?= References: <506EC8FF-B001-439B-B340-AE547C0FD8FB@drik.net> Message-ID: <98AB1620-FB10-482B-A232-19E603474F6C@ata.org.pe> > > ===ENGLISH BELOW===== SPANISH Nuestro apoyo a DRIK / carta del Gerente General de DRIK Mar, 30/03/2010 - 1:59pm — anonimo Hoy Martes 30 de Marzo, nuestro Director Académico Jorge Villacorta estará llegando en la noche desde Dhaka, Bangladesh, en donde curó una muestra de fotografías de nuestro amigo Shahidul Alam y se reunió con nuestros partners de la fundación Principe Claus. Sin embargo, Nuestros amigos de DRIK están pasando una situación cada vez más complicada, por lo que seguiremos apoyandolos. Aquí, la traducción de un correo que nos escribió nuestro amigo Reza, el Gerente general de DRIK, con adjunto el comunicado de prensa de DRIK: [Traducción de la carta de Rezaur Rahman]. Gerente general de la Organización Drik. "Como muchos de ustedes ya saben, lamentablemente la muestra Crossfire(fuego Cruzado) de las fotografías de Shahidul Alam (curada por Jorge Villacorta) sigue clausurada y la policía sigue rondando las instalaciones de Drik. Sin embargo, hay algo que nos preocupa mucho más que esta penosa situación, y es que los miembros de Drik han estado recibiendo amenazas de muerte. La última amenaza fue hecha en frente de gran grupo de personas y de la policía. Estamos incluyéndoles el comunicado de prensa de Drik, con la esperanza de éste circule, y así, aumentar la presión sobre el gobierno de Bangladesh para que tomen cartas en el asunto, y se detengan las amenazas." Comunicado de prensa Para emisión inmediata 29 de Marzo 2010 Fotógrafo de Crossfire (fuego cruzado) amenazado de entrar en el “fuego cruzado”. Una denuncia ha sido presentada en la estación de la policía de Dhanmondi por el fotógrafo Shahidul Alam respecto a las amenazas de muertes que ha recibido estos últimos días. Tras el cierre de la exposición "Crossfire" de imágenes alegóricas a los asesinatos extrajudiciales que se han sucedido desde 2004 y de los que son acusados el Batallón de Acción Rápida (RAB) un joven desconocido llegó a los locales de Drik en la mañana del 27 de marzo 2010 buscando saber quién es Shahidul Alam, si tenía esposa y si tenía hijos. -¿No tiene acaso miedo por su vida? ¿No tiene ningún miedo en lo absoluto?- Le preguntó el joven desconocido al portero de Drik. Se negó a dar su nombre, pero insistió en que el guardia de Drik le diga a Shahidul que “se reunirá con su muerte en las calles, perseguido por las balas”, y añadió “no se olvide de decirle”. Cuando se le preguntó de nuevo por su nombre, dijo “dígale que soy un miembro del público”. El dia siguiente, el joven regresó en la tarde con otro joven más, y en presencia de un gran grupo de personas y de la policía, dijo: “el que organizó esta exhibición es el que debería ser disparado en medio del fuego cruzado”(traducción no literal de “It is the person who organized this exhibition who should be crossfired”). La denuncia fue archivada con S.I. Anwarul Islam, GD NO: 1542/29 de marzo 2010. Temprano en la mañana, Drik Picture Library Ltd presentó una petición escrita (No: 2543/29 de Marzo 2010) en contra del gobierno, demandando que el bloqueo de la exhibición Crossfire sea removida. ===SPANISH ABOVE===== ENGLISH dear Collegues: As many of you are aware the exhibition "Crossfire" with photographs of Shahidul Alam and curated by Jorge Villacorta is sadly is still closed and the police are still surrounding Drik. There is a somewhat more alarming situation as Drik have now been receiving death threats. The last threat was made in front of a large group of people including the police. We are including the press release of Drik in the hope that it circulates in the hope it pressures the government of Bangladesh in order to take action against these threats. Press Release For Immediate Release 29th March 2010 Photographer of “Crossfire” exhibition threatened with ‘crossfire’. A general diary (GD) was filed today by photographer Dr. Shahidul Alam at Dhanmondi Police Station, to register death threats placed upon the photographer. Following the closure of the exhibition “Crossfire” depicting allegorical images depicting the extra judicial killings by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that have been going on since 2004, an unknown youth came to Drik premises in the morning of the 27th March 2010 and wanted to know who this Shahidul Alam was. Whether he had a wife and family. Whether he had children. “Is he not scared for his life? Does he not have any fear at all?” the young man asked the guard. He refused to give his name, but told the guard to tell Alam that “He will meet his death in the streets, by bullets. Don’t forget to tell him.” When asked again for his name he said, “Tell him I’m a member of the public.” The following day the man returned in the afternoon along with another young man, and in the presence of a large number of people, including police, said “It is the person who organised this exhibition who should be crossfired.” The GD was filed with S.I. Anwarul Islam. GD NO: 1542/29TH March 2010. Earlier in the day, Drik Picture Library Ltd. Filed a write petition (No: 2543/29th March 2010) against the government demanding that the blockade of the exhibition “Crossfire” be removed. Contact: A S M Rezaur Rahman General Manager Drik Picture Library Ltd. reza at drik.net, +8801819226294 From turbulence at turbulence.org Sat Mar 27 21:53:15 2010 From: turbulence at turbulence.org (Turbulence) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:23:15 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Open Call for Participation: Upgrade International 2010, Sao Paulo Message-ID: <05BC5326-9996-4FD6-BE3E-DA3F7097BCF6@turbulence.org> Upgrade International 2010: Soft Borders http://www.softborders.art.br/ October 18-21, 2010 Sao Paulo, Brazil Open Call for Participation — Deadline: April 30, 2010 We invite proposals of papers, posters and workshops for Soft Borders – the 4th Upgrade! International Conference & Festival on New Media Art, that will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from October 18-21, 2010. Information about submitting proposals and the event can be found online at the official conference website: http:// www.softborders.art.br/ A brief summary is required for the selection process. This should be submitted electronically via the online submission system, by April 30, 2010. You will be asked to create an account within the system before uploading your summary. Jo-Anne Green Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. 917.548.7780 or 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org Networked_Performance: http://turbulence.org/blog Networked_Music_Review: http://turbulence.org/networked_music_review Networked: http://networkedbook.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade_boston -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements