From chandni_parekh at yahoo.com Sat Jan 1 12:04:55 2011 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 22:34:55 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Film Screenings in January Message-ID: <140833.26488.qm@web161402.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Chandni Parekh sent a message to the members of the Vikalp at Prithvi group on facebook. Hello, We screened 'Beating the Bomb' earlier this week. The post-screening discussion between Meera Patel, the director and Anand Patwardhan (Founder, Vikalp: Films for Freedom and Director of 'War and Peace') was quite insightful. Several issues related to nuclear power were discussed, including the pitfalls of nuclear energy, the costs involved, the role of media and governments, and the difficulty to motivate people to learn about the issue and speak up when there is no threat of war. If you're interested in seeing the film or organising a screening, a free copy may be made available. Mail maddmovies at gmail.com to request a copy. And now for info on films being shown this month by various groups: Documentary Film Festival, Jan 2-Feb 20, Bangalore 'The Garden of the Finzi Continis' by Vittorio De Sica (Italian), Jan 4, Delhi 'Hotel Meina' by Carlo Lizzani (Italian), Jan 5 and 8, Delhi 'Koi Sunta Hai' by Shabnam Virmani, Jan 6, Bombay 'Shout from the Plain' by Harri Rantala and 'Mawla's Wedding' by Zoltan Enevold, Jan 7, Chennai 'You And Me' by Julie Lopes-Curval (French), Jan 7, Bombay 'Handlebar Moustache' by Javad Ardakani (Iranian), Jan 8, Bombay Short Films presented by Shamiana, Jan 8, Ahmedabad 3rd 'Cut.In' Students' Film Festival, Jan 8-9, Bombay 'Someone to Run With' by Oded Davidoff (Hebrew), Jan 10, Delhi 'Cannes in Mumbai' Film Festival, Jan 10-14, Bombay 'Traffic' by Jacques Tati (French), Jan 12, Bombay 'The Lark Farm' by Paolo Taviani (Italian), Jan 12 and 15, Delhi 'Mee Sindhutai Sapkal' by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan (Marathi), Jan 14, Bombay Vikalp at Alliance presents Four Short Films, Jan 18, Bombay 'Unfair Competition' by Ettore Scola (Italian), Jan 19 and 22, Delhi 'Chalo Hamara Des' by Shabnam Virmani, Jan 20, Bombay 'Frenchmen' by Marc Esposito (French), Jan 20, Bombay Short Films presented by Shamiana, Jan 21, Delhi 'Donkey Skin' by Jacques Demy (French), Jan 25, Bombay 'The Demons of St. Petersburg' by Giuliano Montaldo (Italian), Jan 29, Delhi Vikalp at Prithvi presents 'Lakshmi and Me' by Nishtha Jain, Jan 31, 7 pm, Prithvi House, Juhu, Bombay 'Relatives' by Szabo Istvan (Hungarian), Jan 31, Delhi For details of these screenings, check the Discussion Board on http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46819848804 Best, Chandni From javedmasoo at gmail.com Sat Jan 1 18:32:04 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 18:32:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Shaking the mountains Message-ID: Kashmir's Troubles: Shaking the mountains India’s response to an uprising in Kashmir has been, by turns, repressive and complacent. It is storing up trouble for the future Kashmir's troubles Dec 29th 2010 | SRINAGAR A GROUP of special Indian police barged into a white-painted, single-storey house on the crisp morning of October 27th. They let their lathis do the talking. The wooden batons were first rammed through all the windows, furniture and a television. When the grey-haired owners protested, the rods were turned on them. The police broke the husband’s leg and beat his wife’s flesh a sickly purple. Before leaving, the officers added an insult, hurling religious books, including a Koran, to the floor. Such intrusions are common in Palhallan, a hillside settlement in the north of Indian-run Kashmir. It looks like an idyllic rural spot, where bushels of red chilies hang from the eves of steep-roofed wooden houses and hay wains jostle with shepherds in narrow streets. But the village has been caught up in months of violent protests that have roiled Kashmir. In 2010 an uprising led by youthful Kashmiri separatists left over 110 people dead and thousands injured. Youngsters daub anti-India slogans on walls, yell at Indian police and soldiers to “go home”, and hurl stones. In turn its residents have taken a beating. A young man lifts his hand to his head, showing a zip-like scar running from the crown of his skull to his neck. It is the result, he says, of a police battering. His lament is typical: “I am an unpolitical person, but they treat me like a terrorist.” Locals say they suffer collective punishment. Enraged officers usually fail to catch stone-lobbers, so lash out instead at families and residents nearby, accusing them, usually unfairly, of collusion. As a military helicopter buzzes overhead, a resident counts eight people killed and many more hurt in the area in the previous three months. Bitterness deepens with each injury and funeral. “The police,” he says, “they want to start a war.” A return to war, or widespread armed insurgency, is unlikely for the moment. But fury has spread, spurring some young Kashmiris to demand a more violent, more bloody response than mere strikes and stones. On November 10th three men in Pattan, a small town a few minutes’ drive down the hill from Palhallan, took matters into their own hands. Hidden in the crowd of a bustling market they marched up to a pair of police constables, shot them at close range, snatched their rifles and fled. Both the policemen died. The Kashmiris have aped Palestinian methods, mobbing India’s ill-trained, sometimes panicky, police, by raining stones and broken bricks on them. The police—more in the habit of using sticks and bamboo shields—have struggled, fighting back with huge quantities of tear-gas (tens of thousands of canisters were fired in 2010) and then bullets. They have reckoned that any protesters who die have themselves to blame. Officials in Delhi bristle at any comparison between the year’s events and Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland or the unrest in neighbouring Tibet. Kashmiris, they insist, have their own land and state, enjoy religious freedom, are by no means the poorest in India and take part in elections, most notably in 2008. But there are severe limits to their democracy. Peaceful protests are prevented, jails are crammed with political detainees, detention without charge is common, phones are partially blocked, the press censored and reporters beaten, broadcasters muffled and curfews imposed. Those who complain too fiercely online are locked away. The authorities in Kashmir and Delhi say these measures are temporary. They say that to prevent abuses, the police are now being trained and re-equipped. (Soldiers, for the most part, have been kept away from street clashes.) Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Kashmir, says that police officers may even be prosecuted for misdeeds. But the repression persists, and risks causing ever greater resentment and instability. Seen from Delhi the uprising appears manageable. Kashmiris have dropped their guns and shooed away Islamic insurgents who a decade or so ago skulked in the postcard-perfect mountains. The presence of a 350,000-strong Indian security force (some say the number is much higher), amid a population of just 11m, has also kept the armed militants at bay. It helps India that Pakistan, the eternal trouble-stirrer in Kashmir, is in disarray. And India takes heart from the weakness and fractiousness of local leaders in Srinagar. Many have been bought off with well-paid posts, or jailed, or both. Moderates who attempt to reunite the parts have been locked up or worse (one was shot and paralysed by a mystery assailant). Some of the highest-profile ones, such as the stone-pelters’ elderly icon, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, are kept under house-arrest. Sticks and stones Some Kashmiris darkly hint of picking up guns again, but the local leaders have no appetite for large-scale violence, fearful of a return to the carnage of the 1990s when thousands died each year. Instead they encourage low-casualty options such as throwing stones and prolonged stay-at-homes (hartals). If such gestures have a goal, it is to gain attention. Young Kashmiris expose themselves to Indian bullets, hoping to draw compassionate outsiders—Barack Obama perhaps—to put pressure on India. Yet the strategy has so far achieved little. Outsiders, especially Western democracies once so cocksure and outspoken on human rights, now fret that their power is ebbing eastward. The Kashmiri separatists who suggest that “you people” or “Britain and America” could somehow chide India into a less repressive stance in Kashmir do not appreciate how eager Westerners are to court India as an ally. The Kashmiris who have died in recent months have at least embarrassed India, which may yet respond by moderating the repression. But the radical separatists, who define azadi, the Kashmiri word for freedom, as outright independence from India—or even, for a shrinking number, incorporation with Pakistan—will not be placated. And nor will India consider letting Kashmir go. Time appears to be on India’s side. With each passing year it will have more resources to throw north. The local economy, at least until recently, had been chugging along quite well, thanks to horticulture, tourism, funds from central India and heavy spending by the armed forces. A few Kashmiri expats had started returning and investing before the uprising in 2010. Development in itself will not fix Kashmir. But faster economic growth could at least prove a useful balm. The government has made some political gestures. In September, an all-party delegation of Indian politicians—including even the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party—visited Kashmir. India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, made reassuring comments about addressing grievances there. The government in Delhi also pledged to send a high-ranking team of interlocutors to prepare a series of reports on Kashmir after consulting all sides in the conflict. A three-person team was eventually named in October. These initiatives have started to persuade some in Kashmir of progress. But the team is made up merely of two academics and a journalist, people who carry no political weight. Nor does it help that they have already fallen into public squabbling. Kashmiris have watched their saga wearily. Some leaders have refused to meet the delegates, dismissing them as a joke. Conspiracy theorists in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, accuse India’s generals of sabotaging politicians’ peace efforts because the armed forces reap big rewards in the territory. More likely the central government in Delhi, run by the Congress party, is shy of Indian nationalists, who complain whenever concessions are considered for Kashmir. In October, a writer, Arundhati Roy, suggested Kashmiris might have legitimate complaints, and that Pakistan might have a justifiable interest in Kashmir. Hindu nationalists demanded she be tried for sedition. So Kashmir is left to smoulder, with dire consequences for its citizens. A visit to Srinagar’s psychiatric hospital shows throngs of patients, crowding around its overworked chief consultant. They relate a dismal roll-call of anxiety, stress, depression, alcohol and opiate addictions, child abuse and suicides. As Dr Mushtaq Margoob takes a break to munch a chapati and sip milky tea, he talks of Kashmir as a broken society. Some patients become destructive, he says, describing a mother who watched her son shot dead on the street and who then went on to burn down her own home and that of her neighbours. The most damaged, he concludes, are the youngest. “We see a collective anger, an aggressive, traumatised generation”, he says. The head of a think-tank talks of 600,000 young, educated, Kashmiri adults who are now jobless, waiting for some sort of guidance. Religious and political leaders fret that their youngest followers, teenagers, excited by the stone-pelters, are increasingly attracted by more radical ideas. Militancy stirs Worryingly, the youngsters talk openly of religious antagonism. Some ask why Kashmir’s Muslims do not turn on Hindus (many Hindu pilgrims visit a sacred spot in the state, but have so far been left unmolested) to seek communal revenge for repression. The head of a student movement, a man who has spent most of his adult life in prison and who is now on the run and hiding from police in the backstreets of Srinagar, warns of infuriated youngsters turning to a “battle of extinction” in which “others, not only Kashmiris, will be killed”. As long as political leaders exist to channel, and moderate, the rage of the stone-pelters and innocent victims, such excited talk might be discounted. Mr Geelani, a frail octogenarian, is one such. He condemns India as “an occupying imperialist power”, but he is largely a moderating influence. He opposes any return to arms. He supports the pelters’ goals, but not their methods. His practical demands, for the repeal of draconian laws, the end of police abuse and talks with the central government, are hardly off the wall. Geelani awaits the call from Delhi But Mr Geelani’s influence is waning, along with his health. It is doubtful that anyone among a handful of potential successors could command as much local respect. The alternative could be more troubling. Some observers fear that as India succeeds in neutering Kashmir’s nationalist politicians, religious groups will flourish. A Wahhabi welfare organisation, al Hadith, which almost certainly benefits from generous Saudi funds, is quietly emerging as a powerful welfare, religious and cultural force. As others bicker, it has gone about building community centres, mosques, primary and secondary schools and clinics. It is seeking permission to set up a university. Its genial leaders deny being extremists, pointing to their love of education and computers; they say that in the planned university, women and non-Muslims will be enrolled too. As for claims that the group, which says it has 1.5m members, is spreading conservative values in a territory long known for its Muslims’ religious tolerance, one leader concedes only a “little, little component of cultural shifting”. A few more women are wearing burqas, or staying at home, than did in the past. More Arab-style mosques are springing up. The non-Muslim minority in Kashmir is much less sanguine, seeing al Hadith as a proxy for Saudi interests and a powerful example of the spreading “pan-Islamisation” of Kashmir. They fret that ties may exist to Wahhabis elsewhere, including terrorists, and warn that a powerful new force is rising in the territory, filling a vacuum created by India. Just now their concerns seem overblown. But the government in Delhi would be wrong to think of Kashmir as yesterday’s problem. http://www.economist.com/node/17797630 From c.anupam at gmail.com Sat Jan 1 19:11:59 2011 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 19:11:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] On Aqeel Shatir Message-ID: http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/01/stories/2011010163691800.htm *In Gujarat, a poet takes on Urdu Academy* Manas Dasgupta AHMEDABAD: Aqeel Shatir, a budding Urdu poet of the city, has decided to take on the Gujarat Urdu Sahitya Academy, which has penalised him for including an allegedly defamatory paragraph on Chief Minister Narendra Modi in a foreword to his book of poems published with government aid. Claiming that the copies of the book on sale do not contain the objectionable paragraph, Mr. Shatir has questioned the Academy's wisdom in seeking refund. “Will my mere returning the money restore Mr. Modi's image among the people?” But the Academy has not stated why Mr. Shatir's explanation is not amenable to it; nor has it taken up his challenge to prove that the copies on sale did not carry the objectionable paragraph. “Not me, but the Academy should be blamed for damaging the Chief Minister's image by putting back on the public domain a non-existent and long-forgotten issue,” he says. “How can the damage be repaired by my paying back the money as asked by the Academy?” The paragraph critical of Mr. Modi for the 2002 communal riots was written by another poet Raunaq Afroz Bhiwandi, one of the famous Urdu writers who wrote the foreword to Mr. Shatir's first book of poems Abhi Zinda Hoon Main (I am Still Alive). The book was published in October 2008, with the Academy's assistance of Rs.10, 000, which is meant for budding writers who need help to bring out their works. Mr. Shatir maintains that his poems were not based on the riots. But Mr. Bhiwandi thought so and incorporated a paragraph against Mr. Modi in his five-page foreword. Unfortunately, the book with the contentious paragraph was printed before Mr. Shatir's attention was drawn to it by another Urdu writer and Academy member Mohiuddin Bombaywala, who was among the 80-odd recipients of the book “gifted” by Mr. Shatir during the launch. “As soon as my attention was drawn to it, I removed the pages containing the paragraph from all the remaining copies before they were put up for sale in the market,” claims Mr. Shatir. “The copies gifted to the noted writers that carried the objectionable paragraph were only meant for private circulation.” However, the Academy served a notice on him on November 15, more than two years after the book was published. It asked him to explain why he should not be directed to refund the money “with interest” for “publicly damaging” Mr. Modi's image. His December 1 reply, explaining the position and refuting the allegation that the copies on sale continued to carry the paragraph, was rejected by the Academy. A three-line order, issued by Academy Registrar Harshad Trivedi on December 24, told Mr. Shatir that his explanation “has not been accepted, and you should immediately return the amount with interest to the Academy.” “I am going to fight it out,” says Mr. Shatir, an amateur photo-journalist and an STD-PCO owner. Further, the order did not mention when he must pay back the money and the rate of interest as well as the period of interest. “How can the government-run Academy ask me to pay back without specifying the necessary details?” In the past, Mr. Shatir tapped the Right to Information Act to pose questions about the Academy's style of functioning and the alleged irregularities in the disbursement of funds “in the name of rewards and awards to the deserving writers.” And he has vowed to carry on his work. “Whether or not I am forced to refund the money, I am going to bombard the Academy with more searching questions under the RTI and expose its wrongdoings.” EOM ** From aliens at dataone.in Sun Jan 2 12:32:42 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2011 12:32:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] IMMATURE RAHUL Message-ID: <000001cbaa4b$0d979c60$28c6d520$@in> After Rahul Gandhi statement in wikileaks to foreign diplomats shows height of immaturity and if Rahul Gandhi becomes a PM as congress eagerly awaited, would be an big disastrous and truly unfortunate of this country. If someone tries to compare a small mountain with Himalaya or Everest what you will say? That's what he did. He compared islamic terrorist groups with Hindu extremists. When this news was aired (17/12/10), same day Russia told Pakistan in very strong and hard language that, TERRORIST CAMP RUNNING IN PAK LAND ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREADING HORRIBLE INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM LIKE CANCER FROM Moscow to Mumbai and Mumbai to London. Even earlier also he gave many immature statements and with such immaturity, he is not even eligible to become sarpanch even. With such immaturity, he is indirectly helping to Pakistan military mentality, ISI and terrorist and giving message that we will liberal against Pak terrorism. What we describe these immature attitude of so called Rajkunwar of congress: SECULAR COMMUNALISM! This is nothing but shear vote bank politics. But, Indian Muslim are coming out of such trap now. After this statement, one news was aired from Muslim leader that if congress thinks that they will vote now with such tactics than they are mistaken. No doubt few Hindu persons involved in bomb blasts and they must be punished, it does not mean all Hindu organization are terrorists. Pragna, PurohitEven, Asimanand if found guilty should be punished immediately and if they are eligible for death sentence than also. Unlike Afsal guru, where also congress playing shear vote bank politics. Any of Pak authority or even General Musharraf will not think to compare LeT with Hindu organization. When people like Digvijaysingh and Rahul is there in India and congress party keeps mum on such statement, terrorist need not to worry. They have safe haven in India and with such attitude from so called responsible and oldest party of India, India can never fight with the terrorism. Sorry for misfortune of our country. God save us. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Jan 3 11:52:59 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2011 01:22:59 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Bharat Rang Mahotsav Festival Schedule for January 8- 12, 2011 : The Play Synopsis & Tickets details Message-ID: <8CD7925CD65380A-128C-9217F@Webmail-d123.sysops.aol.com> 1. Charandas Chor 7 January 2011, Kamani, 5:30 pm Details Playwright: Habib Tanvir Direction: Anup Hazarika Group: Ba (The Creative Breeze), Guwahati Language: Assamese Duration: 1 hr 35 mins The Play The play is about a thief who promises his guru that he will never to tell a lie. Charan attempts to show his sincerity by offering never to do four things - eat off golden plates, ride an elephant at the head of a procession, marry a queen and accept the throne of a country. The guru then tells him that since he had so generously undertaken to give up four things on his own account, he should also undertake to give up one little thing - lying - at his guru’s request. The thief consents and that is how the promise comes to pass. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- 2. An Autobiography of a devil 7 January 2011, Abhimanch, 9:30 pm Details Playwright: Kakarkapudi Narasimha Yoga Patanjali Director: Shiva Group: National School of Drama Student Diploma Production Language: Hindi Duration: 1 hour The Play Once up on a time a devil who lives in a forest decides to write his autobiography. As he does so, the forest is visited by Gandharva who comes to eat the mahua flower with his peacock, and the autobiography is read by him. The argument between the devil and Gandharva generates four stories, after which Gandharva suggests that the devil stop writing the autobiography. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- 3.Park 8 January 2011, SRC, 4:30 pm Details Playwright: Manav Kaul Director: Kumud Mishra Group: Aranya Theatre Group, Maharashtra Language: Hindi Duration: 1 hr 20 mins The Play Any park. In...just about anywhere. With three regular benches. And three men...just any men...squabble about the choicest of seats. Because each one’s claim is the greatest, and the most fundamental. And.....just about anywhere, there is never enough room for everyone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4.Santa Maria de Iquique: Revenge of Ramón Ramón 8 January 2011, LTG, 5:30 pm Details Director: Manuel Loyola Group: El Oraculo Theatre Company, Chile Language: Non-verbal Duration: 55 mins The Play In 1907 there was a massive killing of miners and their families in the North of Chile in which four thousand people were murdered. The play is based on the mission of a survivor worker, Antonio Ramon Ramon, who decides to avenge the death of his brother by executing General Silva Renard, who was responsible for the genocide. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- 5.Great Expectations 8 January 2011, Bahumukh, 6:00 pm Details (Inspired by the original by Charles Dickens) Dir: Swati Mittal Group: NSD Diploma Production, Delhi Lang: Hindi Dur: 1 hr 10 min The Play Pip, an orphan, lives with his old sister and her husband. He meets an escaped convict named Abel Magwitch and helps him against his will. Magwitch is recaptured and Pip is taken care of by Miss Havisham. He falls in love with the cold-hearted Estella, Miss Havisham's ward. With the help of an anonymous benefactor, Pip is properly educated and he becomes a snob. But eventually, through a series of unfolding mysteries Pip's 'great expectations' are ruined. Finally, life makes him work as a clerk in a trading firm with his friend, and that is where he eventually finds his peace. ---------------------- 6.Le Barbier de Seville 8 January 2011, Kamani, 7:00 pm Details Author: Pierre-Augustin Caron De Beaumarchais Director - Éric Vigner Group: CDDB de Lorient, France and National Theatre of Tirana, Albania Lang: Albanian with English subtitles Dur: 1 hr 17 min The Play The Barber of Seville is a love comedy confronting desire and feelings, reason and impulses.The plot involves a Spanish count, Almaviva, who has fallen in love at first sight with Rosine. To ensure that she really loves him and not just his money, the Count disguises himself as a poor college student named Lindor, and attempts to woo her. His plans are foiled by Rosine's guardian, Doctor Bartholo, who keeps her locked up in his house and intends to marry her himself. The Count's luck changes after a chance reunion with an ex-servant of his, Figaro, who is currently working as a barber and therefore has access to the Doctor's home. Figaro devises a variety of ways for the Count to access Bartholo’s home and talk to Rosine. After many developments, the story culminates in the marriage of the Count and Rosine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- 7.Salaam India 8 January 2011, Abhimanch, 9:30 pm Details Playwright: Nicholas Khar Kongor (Inspired by Pavan Verma's bestseller Being Indian) Director: Lushin Dubey Group: Theatre World, New Delhi Lang: Hindi/English Dur: 1 hr 30 min The Play The play has four actors who portray sixteen characters altogether. Different situational excerpts from their life bring about contradictions, joy, humor, hope and aspirations that drive them. Inspired by Pavan Verma's bestseller Being Indian, four intertwined vignettes in the play explore the issues of regionalism, dowry, and the growth of technology in a traditional society. The stories cover all classes of society in contemporary India. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- 8.Bitter Belief of Cotrone the Magician 8 January 2011, NSD Open space, 6:30 pm Details Playwright & Dir: Andrea Cusumano Group: CeSDAS, UK, in collaboration with Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Italian Cultural Institute in New Delhi Lang: English & Italian Dur: 55 min The Play A nomadic site-specific performance, the play draws inspiration from Luigi Pirendellos's The Giants of the Mountains, and is a stunning visual theatre piece fusing puppetry, projections, performance and live soundscapes. The creative process extends beyond the original site, continuing to evolve throughout the duration of the project; reaching, influencing and being influenced by multiple spaces, narratives and audiences. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- 9. Mahakabyer Pare 9 January 2011 , SRC, 4:30 pm Details Playwright & Director: Kallol Bhattacharya Group: Ebong Amra, West Bengal Language: Bengali & Santhali Duration: 1 hour The Play Mahakabyer Pare is based on the story of Eklabya from the Mahabarata, though the main theme has been changed. Here, the Kshatriyas are still rulers of the world and engage in wars in which the innocent Shudras become victims. They are tortured, killed, and deprived for ages. In order to break free from their tormentors, the Shudras announce war against the Kshatriyas. They send Eklabya to Dronacharya to learn the art of warfare, but since Eklabya is a shudra, Dronacharya refuses to teach him. Yet, Eklabya manages to learn these skills, driven solely by his desire. When Dronacharya’s Kshatriya disciples inform him of this, their teacher meets Eklabya and asks for his right hand thumb as gurudakshina. Although Eklabya is ready to pay this price, the Shudras stop him by claiming his thumb as a weapon of the entire community. He refuses, and Dronacharya along with his Kshatriya disciples are imprisoned by the Shudras. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- 10. En un Sol Amarillo (In a Yellow Sun: Memories of an Earthquake ) 9 January 2011, LTG, 5:30 pm Details Written & Directed by: Cesar Brie Group: Teatro de los Andes, Bolivia Lang: Spanish, with English subtitles Dur: 1 hr 10 min The Play Equal parts docu-play, physical theatre and comic burlesque, En Un Sol Amarillo sheds light on tragedy and corruption with wit and pathos. Fusing actual testimonies with electrifying theatrical imagery, it recreates the feverish atmosphere of Bolivia in 1998, when a massive earthquake rocked the country’s foundations. An emotionally-charged retelling of a community faced with devastation, it is timeless in its urgency, and sheds light on the calamity wrought by the earthquake and the corruption that followed. A gripping story told with wit, pathos, simplicity and creativity that resonates the world over. ----------------------------------------------- 11. About Ram 9 January 2011, Sammukh, 6:00 pm Details Director: Anurupa Roy Animation Visualization: Vishal Dar Group: Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust, Delhi Language: Non-verbal Duration: 1 hour The Play As the name suggests, the performance is about Ram, the prince who is sent on a long journey far away from his home when he is exiled by his father along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman. About Ram was created with a performance grant from the India Foundation for the Arts and in collaboration with animator Vishal Dar. It is an experimental theatrical piece using excerpts from Bhavbhuti’s Ramayana and told through animation, projected images, dance, masks and puppets. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- 12. Ms. Meena 9 January 2011, Kamani, 7:00 pm Details Playwright: Rashmi Ruth Devadasann (Inspired by Friedrich Durrenmatt’ The Visit) Director: Rajiv Krishnan Group: Perch, Chennai Language: English (with a smattering of other Indian languages) Duration: 1 hr 40 mins (with 10 min. intermission) The Play Ms.Meena, formerly known as Asha, is an iconic film star. She returns to her native village Pichampuram, which has descended into a state of dire poverty. after two decades to make her final film. With news of her arrival there is a new burst of energy and hope in the village and she is hailed as their saviour, while Ravi, her former lover, is pushed to appeal to her on the village's behalf. Ms. Meena arrives and seems quite willing to help the village. She promises to make the villagers prosperous beyond their wildest dreams. But in return, she demands a terrible price. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- 13. Hamlet Machine 9 January 2011, Abhimanch, 9:30 pm Details Group: National School of Drama Student Diploma Production Playwright: Adapted from Heiner Muller's Hamlet Machine Director: Anjali Shinde Language: Hindi Duration: 1 hour The Play Hamlet Machine is supposed to be a historical play depicting the fall of Communism in Germany. It comprises characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet and also borrows a few situations from the original play, while departing from it in other ways. The play is about the broken dreams of revolution, motherhood, art, survival and humanity; about individuals who move with the times and those who get left behind. -------------------------------------------- 14. Pueta Peralta 9 January 2011, TIE Space, 6:30 pm Details Dir: Francisca Bernardi and Maria Pas Vicens Group: Chile de Papel, Chile Lang: Spanish with English subtitles Dur: 45 min The Play The voice of the popular sectors of Chilean society at the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century was the Lira popular, single-sheet published poems in décimas that where illustrated with simple woodcuts, commenting from a distinctive perspective on national occurrences and local events affecting the poet. One of these poets was Juan Bautista Peralta. This is his story, the story of a poor, illiterate and blind man who became a poet, a singer and a trade union leader; and it is the history of Chile in that era, seen from the perspective of the people, from the singing to the humane and the divine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- 15. Aattramai 10 January 2011, SRC, 4:30 pm Details Playwrights: N.Muthuswamy, Sundara Ramaswamy, Ku.Pa.Rajagopalan & Siranjeevi Dir: N. Muthuswamy Group: Koothu-p-Pattarai Trust, Chennai Lang: Tamil Dur: 1 hr 30min The Play The entire production is a compilation of 4 short - Aattramai deals with the contrasting lives of to young two newly married women; Prasadam is about a poor policeman who wants to celebrate his daughter’s birthday but lacks the money to do so; Karuvelamaram revolves around a tree that has grown in a disputed public land; and Jothidappuli is about a poor person trying desperately and unsuccessfully to get a job. The stories depict the irony and vices prevalent in our society, and strike just the right balance with their subtle and effective acting, authentic Tamil dialogues, countryside music, and tongue-in-cheek commentary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- 16. Andhere Akele 10 January 2011, LTG, 5:30 pm Details Playwright: Debashis Sengupta (Inspired by Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden) Dir: Biplab Bandyopadhyay Group: NIVA Arts, Kolkata Lang: Bengali Dur: 2 hrs 5 min (with 10 min intermission) The Play The play takes place in a closed room now occupied by three persons-- Dr. Sadashib Samanta, a psychiatrist; Jayanta Sarkar, a young lecturer with his own set of aspirations; and Parna, a woman believing in the philosophy of life drenched in the songs of Rabindranath Tagore, yet aware of the stark reality of the pain suffered by her body and soul. As these three people try to establish their own versions of truth, the play looks at the dynamics of negotiations, interactions and conflicts that develop between them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- 17. Reshmi Rumaal 10 January 2011, Bahumukh, 6:00 pm Details Based on Shakespeare's Othello Dir: Prashant Parmar Group: NSD Diploma Production, Delhi Lang: Hindi Dur: 1 hr 5 min The Play A non-professional theatre company is rehearsing Shakespeare's Othello. The actors playing the roles of Iago and Desdemona, Narendra and Nega respectively, are a couple in real life. However, Neha has a suspicion that Narendra is involved in an extra-marital affair with Priya, who is playing the role of Emilia in the play. Because of this suspicion, Neha is assailed by doubts that disrupt the rehearsals of the play. The climax is reached during the handkerchief sequence, and Neha is finally left feeling as heartbroken as Desdemona, who was also betrayed and killed in a parallel tragic pattern. -------------------------------------------- 18. Ugetsu Monogatari 10 January 2011, Kamani, 7:00 pm Details Play: Ugetsu Monogatari Written & Directed by: Madoka Okada Group: Kaden Theatrical Art Company, Katsushika, Japan Lang: Japanese Dur: 1 hour The Play The play that unfolds in 10th century Japan, opens on a seashore, where a beautiful lady named Manago comes to the house of Toyoo, a son of a rich fisherman, to take shelter from the rain. Toyoo lends her his umbrella and promises to meet her again. One day he goes to her house on the pretext of getting back his umbrella, and gets intimate with her. due to a series of incidents he discovers that she is not human but a serpent who transforms herself into a woman. Driven by her deep passion for Toyoo, Manago, the serpent, stalks him. As the play develops, one is left with the question of whether or not her non-human love will be accepted by him? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- 19. My Country, Life for Remembrance & The Quest 10 January 2011, Abhimanch, 9:30 pm Details Playwrights: Eva Balzer, Saleh Saad, and Nora Amin Dir: Nora Amin Group: Lamusica Independent Theatre Group, Egypt Lang: English,Arabic & Non-verbal respectively Dur: 1 hr 25 min (with 10 min intermission) The Play Between the search for a personal and true homeland, the struggle to survive or even to die in dignity and be remembered, and the quest to grasp the soul and find one's own transcendence, this triple bill My Country, Life for Remembrance and The Quest navigates between three different theatre styles, all heavily incorporating physical expression. My Country is a highly poetic and metaphoric dance theatre piece. Set between Germany, Egypt and India, it tells a journey of a young woman who gathers pieces of herself in different cultures to recreate her own identity. Life for Remembrance is an unusual account of the incidents of Saleh Saad, a theatre maker who died on 5 September 2005 along with almost seventy theatre artist in a horrifying fire in a theatre venue in Upper Egypt. The Quest is a piece based on vocal expression and physicality, combining live music and physical and dramatic inspiration from sufism, on how to find our own spirituality within and to affirm our being ------------------------------------------------------------------ 20.Siddhartha Gautama Dekhi Buddha Samma…Ek Yatra 11 January 2011, SRC, 4:30 pm Details Playwright: Vijay Mishra Direction: Bipin Kumar Group: Srijana Natya Manch, Sikkim Language: Nepali Duration: 1 hr 45 mins The Play The play is based on an incident that occurred between Icchamati and Nillohith, two newcomers who wanted to join the Sangh started by Gautama Buddha and run by his disciple, Ananda. As Icchamati and Nillohith are about to enter the Sangh, a certain situation arises that takes Icchamati to the verge of violating its disciple. Ananda arrives on the scene and unable to answer her questions, he orders her to leave. Icchamati then expresses her desire to meet the Buddha, but is not allowed to do so. She, therefore, leaves, but only after accusing her accusers of misrepresenting the Buddha and with a promise to return someday. The play looks at what happens after this incident and stresses the multi-dimensional nature of truth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- 21. Ojha Fanoosh 11 January 2011, LTG, 5:30 pm Details (Based on Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus) Dir: Gunakar Dev Goswami Group: Purbaranga, Assam Lang: Assamese Dur: 1 hr 20 min The Play Inspired and based on Christopher Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus", this play is its Assamese adaptation presented in a traditional theatre form. Ojha Fanoosh himself is not just a man, he is a myth. He is the tireless seeker, searching for knowledge, forbidden and otherwise. He is the driving force of curiosity and the ambitious yearning for control over knowledge and the universe, that lurks within all humanity. Since he is not definable as a historical being whose life can be substantiated in documentary evidence, in this play his mystic nature has been highlighted. ---------------------------------------------- 22.Muaré 11 January 2011, Sammukh, 6:00 pm Details Concept &Direction: Marina Quesada and Natalia Lopez Lopez Group: Marina Quesada and Natalia Lopez, Argentina Lang: Spanish with English subtitles Dur: 55 min The Play 'Movement and stillness' are the first in a vast game of oppositions that find their ground in the body of the characters in Muaré. Wandering around at the edge of a party, two slim, frail figures help each other between fantasies, worries, and hope. They remain in suspension, without leaving or entering. They seem trapped in a system that includes being marginalized as part of it. Muaré is like a transparent prism that rotates, sometimes slowly, sometimes fast, showing many faces of the same thing, revealing pieces of the intimacy of those who stand at the border. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 23. Begam Ka Takiya 11 January 2011, Kamani, 7:00 pm Details Author: Pandit Anand Kumar Director: Ranjit Kapur Group: NSD Repertory Company, New Delhi. Lang: Hindi Dur: 2 hrs 30 min (with 10 min intermission) The Play Begum Ka Takia is the tale of two brothers who share the same blood, the same bread and the same roof. But wealth and women create a chasm between them. Greed, desire, karma and non-karma are locked in a tussle. The intricate and absorbing patterns of the vicissitudes of life are unraveled by Faqir Darya Shah and their reality revealed to us through the eyes of his disciple, Qatra Shah. --------------------------------------------- 24. Pedro Paramo 11 January 2011, Abhimanch, 9:30 pm Details (Adaptation of Juan Rulpho's short novel Pedro Paramo) Dir: Firoz Group: NSD Diploma Production, Delhi Lang: Hindi Dur: 1 hr 20 min The Play Since the world around us has been formed because of continuous change and the rise and fall of civilizations, it is possible that our present world order may also follow the same path and get wiped out to give place to a new order. The play contains several interesting characters and is full of incidents structured around an entire world teeming with life and creatures that are in contact with our present world. The non-linearity of the text can be seen as symbolic of the ever-changing shifts and points of view in our lives, its pace, complexities, etc. -------------------------------------------------------- 25. Miruga Vidhusagam 11 January 2011, NSD Open space, 6:30 pm Details Playwright & Director: S. Murugaboopathy Group: Manalmagudi, Tamil Nadu Language: Tamil Duration: 1 hr 45 mins The Play Donning animal masks and motifs and carrying totem poles, miruga vidusagas (animal jesters), journey into war-torn lands, highlighting the plight of refugees affected by war calamities and drawing attention towards the problems faced by migratory population due to industrialization. They stop briefly to speak about the issues and concerns of indigenous people and women, questioning the control of people by the government and misuse of power by media, and finally appealing to the people for the creation of a world based on love, justice, respect and dignity for natural resources and people. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 26. Drowa Jhagmu: Ek Devi ki Kahani 12 January 2011, SRC, 4:30 pm Details Written & Directed by: Suk Bahadur Group: Central Institute of Himalayan Cultural Studies, Arunachal Pradesh Lang: Arunachali Hindi Dur:1 hr 30 min The Play The play is based on a story from a 1400-year old region of Arunachal Pradesh. The reign of king Kalawangphu is one characterized by violence. One day he comes across a beautiful fairy called Dowra Jhangmu, falls in love with her and marries her after promising to change his ways. He converts to Buddhism and starts a family. But then, the king’s evil first wife, Hachang, returns and tries to kill the children. The plot then moves on to what happens next and how the story comes to a happy ending. ----------------------------------------------------- 27. Before the Germination 12 January 2011, LTG, 5:30 pm Details Play: Before the Germination (Inspired by Oriana Fallaci's Letter to a Child Never Born) Playwright & Director: Manish Mitra Group: Kasba Arghya, West Bengal Language: Bengali & English Duration: 1 hr 10 mins The Play A simple story, being simply told, Before the Germination, is about a mother's talk with her unborn child describing the world into which the child would be born in. after hearing what the mother tells it, the unborn child refuses to take birth in such a world. Inspired by Oriana Fallaci's "Letter to a Child Never Born," the play addresses the various crises and power structures in contemporary societies and also the aspects of deviant human behaviour. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 28. Some Stage Directions for Henrik Insen's John Gabriel Borkman 12 January 2011, Bahumukh, 6:00 pm Details Based on Henrik Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman and Texts by the Raqs Media Collective (Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddhabrahta Sengupta) Director: Zuleikha Chaudhari Group: Zuleikha Chaudhari Productions, Delhi Language: English and Hinidi Duration: 1 hr 10 mins The Play he play revolves around John Gabriel Borkman, former bank manager imprisoned for financial fraud and released eight years ago; Ella, John's former lover; Gunhild, Ella's twin sister married to John; and Erhart, John and Gunhild's son. While John was in prison, Ella took great care of Erhart. When the play unfolds, she shares the fact that she suffers from a terminal illness and requests permission for him to live with her and take her name. Borkman agrees but Gunhild refuses; Erhart turns up to say that he cannot live for either of them, or for his father. John leaves the house, goes out into the winter night with Ella, and eventually dies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- 29. Bisarjan 12 January 2011, Kamani, 7:00 pm Details Playwright: Rabindranath Tagore Director: Suman Mukhopadhyay Group: Tritiyo Sutra Performance Company, Kolkata Lang: Bengali Dur: 2 hr15 min (with 10 min intermission) The Play Gobindamanikya, Tripura’s monarch, on realizing the futility of blood sacrifices, issues a ban on these unnecessary slaughters at the altar of the Goddess, which causes a general discontent in the state that is encouraged by high priest Raghupati. In the fray is caught Jayasingha, a Rajput by birth, who has unquestionable faith in the deity and his mentor. Caught between blind faith and a mixed sense of morality, it seems that the only way he can break the stalemate is by his own sacrifice that would make possible the offering so cherished by Raghupati and would save the noble king as well. ------------------------------------------------ Tickets DENOMINATION: Kamani and Shri Ram Centre - Rs.100/-, Rs.50/-, Rs.30/- Abhimanch and LTG - Rs.100/- and Rs.50/- Sammukh, Bahumukh - Rs.50/- TIE Space, Abhikalp and Open Air - By Invitation. AVAILABILITY: Advance booking will start on 5th Jan 2011 at NSD Campus from 10.00am to 3.00 pm Booking will be divided in three phases. First phase booking starts on 5th for plays from 8th Jan-12th Jan 2011. Second phase booking starts on 10th for plays from 13th Jan-17th Jan 2011. Third phase booking starts on 16th for plays from 18th Jan-22nd Jan 2011. Maximum four tickets per person per play for each phase at a time will be permitted. Current booking will start at the respective theatres one hour before the show. Invitations for TIE Space, Abhikalp and Open Air available at the Reception of National School of Drama from 10 am on the day of the perfortmance. A small percentage of tickets of all denominations will be available at www.bookmyshow.com and also over the phone with Bookmyshow - +91-11-39895050 . The online booking will close at midnight before the day of the show. Children below 8 years not allowed. OTHER RULES: Food and drinks not allowed in the auditoriums Handbags will be subjected to security check. No vehicle will be allowed in side the Bahawalpur House campus during the festival period. Parking of vehicle on Bhagwandas Lane or Bhagwandas Road, would be at owners risk. Still photography and videography are strictly prohibited. Program subject to change. From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Mon Jan 3 14:22:52 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 08:52:52 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Hurriyat_leader_says_=91end_lies?= =?windows-1252?q?=92=2C_our_own_killed_Lone=2C_Mirwaiz_Sr?= Message-ID: 3-1-2011 Der ast, durust ast…… ‘TRUTH’ the biggest causality of the pan Islamism inspired turmoil appears to be re-emerging in Kashmir for now at least. Too late & too little though, Hurriyat founder’s candid admission of ‘who’ killed ‘whom’ & ‘why’ & his call for ‘introspection’ might upset other separatists ; their sympathisers; propagandists & agent provocateurs alike including those on this forum but could go a long way in ‘awakening’ of the Kashmiri masses. It is also time to admit the genocide of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits. Rgds all LA http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hurriyat-leader-says-end-lies-our-own-killed-lone-mirwaiz-sr/732364/ Hurriyat leader says ‘end lies’, our own killed Lone, Mirwaiz Sr RIYAZ WANI Posted online: Mon Jan 03 2011, 09:18 hrs/Indian Express. Srinagar : In the first such admission by a separatist leader in the state, top Hurriyat leader Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat said here today that Abdul Ghani Lone and Maulvi Farooq weren’t killed by government forces but “their own people”. “Time has come to speak the truth. Neither the Army nor the police killed Lone sahib and Maulvi Farooq sahib but our own people,” Bhat said while addressing a seminar on the role of intellectuals in the separatist movement. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the son of Maulvi Farooq, didn’t contradict Bhat in his subsequent speech, and neither did Bilal Lone, the son of Abdul Ghani Lone. “This movement started with the assassinations of thinkers and the people who held an opinion,” Bhat said, adding that if the separatist movement had to get anywhere, its leaders in the state needed to take into account their own follies. “We have to first accept and speak the truth about ourselves. We can’t build a movement on lies,” Bhat said in what may be one of the boldest criticisms of the separatist movement. A former Hurriyat chairman, Bhat is a moderate separatist and one of the ideologues of the conglomerate. Maulvi Farooq and Lone were killed in 1990 and 2002, respectively. The seminar was organised by the JKLF in the memory of academician Abdul Ahad Wani, a JKLF ideologue who was also assassinated by unidentified gunmen in December 1993. Bhat said Wani too was the victim of “mutual rivalry” between militant organisations. “India didn’t kill him either.” Bhat also obliquely took on Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, saying the policy of hartals and martyrdom, without any strategy, had only damaged the Kashmir cause. “There was a hartal for five months and 112 people died. And at the end of it there is nothing by way of achievement. This is what happens when there is no thinking, no strategy,” Bhat said. “If you want to rid people of Kashmir of sentimentalism bordering on insanity, you have to speak the truth.” Criticising deaths of people in endless strikes, Bhat said: “These leaders still hail these sacrifices as if their only purpose is to get people killed... for the sake of it.” Ruling out unity between the Hurriyat factions, he said the Geelani camp only wanted a “unity of hegemony”. “We are ready for unity. But if it is unity for dominance and unity for aggrandisement, we don’t want it,” Bhat said, referring to Geelani’s insistence that his hardline policies on Kashmir be the agenda of a united separatist alliance. He criticised Geelani for rejecting a dialogue with the Centre when it comes to other separatists, but expressing himself game for it. “When Geelani sahib meets parliamentarians, it is okay. When we do it, we are infidels,” Bhat said. “This dichotomy in Kashmir politics has to go.” From patrice at xs4all.nl Mon Jan 3 22:03:12 2011 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 17:33:12 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan Message-ID: <38ad990704f353181f2dbd240e99258f.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> bwo Multitudes-infos list/ Harsh Kapoor A creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan poses the serious question of whether the kingdom has really set itself on the path to secular democracy. http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/01/creeping-clampdown-on-christianity-in.html -- January 03, 2011 Creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan Kagyupa only by I P Adhikari (in: Himal South Asian, January 2011) A creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan poses the serious question of whether the kingdom has really set itself on the path to secular democracy. Centuries of theological guidance by a strong clergy has had a tremendous influence in shaping Bhutanese society. Propelled by the principles of Buddhism as generally understood, one would think that this would have led to abiding religious tolerance, allowing for the co-existence of multiple faiths. Yet in recent years, a series of incidents have indicated a continued resolve – indeed, some would say an official hardening of position – by the Thimphu establishment not only to continue to support the state-backed version of Buddhism above all others, but to actively work to stamp out ‘competing’ or emerging religious schools. Some of the starkest examples can be seen in the clear anti-Christian bent on the part of the government. In principle, the Constitution of 2008 guarantees religious freedoms. To a certain extent this, coupled with the evolution of two-party politics, has given significant leverage to religious minorities in Bhutan, including Hindus in their significant numbers, in seeking international attention for their rights. The Constitution states that a Bhutanese citizen is guaranteed ‘the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion’ and that no one can be compelled to belong to another faith. Further, the National Security Act (NSA) prohibits any word ‘spoken or written’ that promotes ‘hatred’ between different groups, including on the basis of religion. Violating the NSA is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment. Declaring Buddhism as the state religion is not necessarily a problem, but a demonisation of other religions and sects is a worrying sign in the context of Bhutan as an emerging democracy. Indeed, for many people other faiths are looked upon as posing an active threat to the state’s version of Buddhism. The state seems to find it difficult to accept religious heterogeneity in the country, regarding the largest minority of Hindus as well as the other sects of Buddhism. However, it is in the treatment of the small community of Christians that this intolerance is breaking to the surface and provides an indication of the state’s proclivities. Religious intolerance in the kingdom was vividly highlighted some years ago when a burial site was denied for Father William Joseph Mackey when he died in 1995. The missionary is recognised as having helped to establish the modern education system in the country, starting with its first high school. As a Jesuit priest, Fr Mackey moved to Bhutan from Darjeeling in 1963. He proceeded to dedicate the following three decades to building up and strengthening the national education system. In recognition, he was granted Bhutanese citizenship in 1985, and even the title Son of Bhutan. Yet he could not be buried in Druk Yul for being Christian. He was finally interred in Darjeeling. ‘Mentoring’ minorities Historically, the Bhutanese state has used all means available to eliminate religious minorities, though the ruling elite themselves are mostly descended from those who fled religious oppression in Tibet at different times. The oppressed minorities in Bhutan include other Buddhist schools, with everyone forced to follow the Drukpa Kagyu form of Mahayana Buddhism that has strengthened through powerful political pressure over the past couple of centuries. Over time, those of other sects – including the Barawa, Kadampa, Chazampa and Bon – were attacked or forced to convert to Kagyu. Places of worship were either demolished or brought under Kagyu ‘mentoring’. For the most part, these religious communities, present when Bhutan was evolving as a nation state, no longer exist today. There are no official figures available on how many people belong to the various Buddhist faiths in Bhutan, but Kagyu followers far outnumber the others. The followers of Buddhism in Bhutan, including the dominant Kagyu, follow the larger Mahayana line, as opposed to Theravada, as found in Sri Lanka and Thailand. The increasing penetration of Theravada, the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, in India and Nepal in recent years is certain to influence the Kagyu community of Bhutan. As such, the Kagyu clergy is making increasingly concerted efforts to ensure that Theravada does not deplete the strength of their school. Government support, financial or legal, has never been allowed to go to any other religious institution due to anxieties over ‘national harmony’. During the last two decades, Bhutan has banned or demolished many Hindu places of worship in order to minimise the perceived threat that Nepali speakers, most of whom profess Hinduism, would become increasingly dominant – ‘as in Sikkim’, goes the common refrain. Sanskrit pathshalas have also been closed. Since the mid-1980s, a group of Buddhist lamas has been ordered to oversee religious functions in the south, where the Nepali-speaking Lothshampa are concentrated. There, Nepali-speakers have been compelled and, in certain situations, ordered to hire lamas to perform rituals during deaths, births or marriages. After decades of such attempts to weaken Hinduism, however, by the late 1990s the government largely scaled back this effort. At the same time, Thimphu seems to have decided to turn its attention on the country’s tiny Christian population. One estimate puts Christians in Bhutan at about 12,000, of whom about half are from the south. Overall, the number of non-Buddhist, non-Hindu population is thought to be upwards of 65,000. The dominant Buddhist community, meanwhile, makes up close to three-fourths of the population and the Nepali-speaking Hindus are thought to make up less than 20 percent (though no official figures are available). There has, however, never been a census to determine the numbers with any accuracy, while the state’s attitude towards religious minorities would cast suspicion on official figures anyway. During the mid-1990s census, Bhutanese were asked to indicate their religion, but the census forms offered only two choices – Buddhist or Hindu. At the time, it was reported that those who wanted to put down an alternative were kept from being registered in the Home Ministry’s official records. By and large, government papers still do not allow Christians to note their religious affiliation. Thimpu’s anxieties over Christianity’s inroad are visible in many contexts. In recent years, isolated cases of family disputes and suicides have even been officially explained as the results of Christian ‘infiltration’ into Bhutanese society. A man who committed suicide in 2009 in Samchi due to a family dispute was projected by government officials as resulting somehow from Christianity coming to Bhutan – the man was not even Christian, though the rest of his family members were. In 2006, two Bhutanese men were tried on charges of proselytising after villagers of Nagu, in Paro, reported the two for preaching and screening movies on Christianity. They were later released under pressure from Christian institutions in the West. In October 2010, a court in Gelegphug, in the south, sentenced a Christian man for three years on charges of creating ‘civil unrest’ by screening movies on Jesus Christ; other similar incidents could have gone unreported. Two Christians are currently being sought by the police, also accused of proselytising. Such moves have caught international attention. In 2007, Open Doors, a British charity on behalf of ‘persecuted Christians’, listed Bhutan as the fifth most-notorious country in terms of anti-Christian discrimination. (By 2010, that ranking had dropped to 12th, while the fifth spot is now taken by the Maldives.) In early 2008, even as the process of promulgating the Constitution was going forward, two Christian preachers were forced to leave the country, while their followers were warned to stop following the religion. According to Open Doors, in July 2010 a church was attacked by a gang of youths, who stoned the building and threatened to burn it down if religious services were not discontinued. Inducement and coercion While Christianity is not a new faith in Bhutan, there has been a sharp rise in the number of faithful in recent years. Partly, this seems to be due to the perception that the rights of Christians are better looked after at the international level. This has recently been corroborated by interviews conducted by this reporter with some Christians in southern Bhutan. These individuals said that they felt it was better to convert to Christianity because organisations in Western countries were able to quickly attempt to defend persecuted Christians. There seems to be an attempt by some persecuted Lothshampa, Hindu castes or semi-Hindu ethnicities to seek protection by taking refuge in Christianty. The past two decades have seen a sharp rise in the number of Christians in southern Bhutan, the vast majority of whom follow their faith in private. Today, Samtse district, in the southwest, is thought to have the largest number of Christians in the country, while other places – Mongar, for instance, in the centre – have few or none. According to personal communications with local journalists in Thimphu, urban areas such as Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and Trongsa have all registered fresh converts in recent years. Overall, the challenge to the Christians of Bhutan mainly comes from within the clan, the community and the state-backed Buddhist clergy, which has a strong influence over society. Both Hindus and Buddhists in Bhutan are strong believers in their respective faiths, and conversion is seen by many as a significant betrayal. In large families, members who choose to become Christian typically face harassment and pressure from relatives to reverse the decision. Kagyu monks, who are to a great extent part of the state machinery, encourage community members to restrict religions other than Buddhism. According to Dorji Tshering, member-secretary of the Chhoedey Lhentshog, the government agency in charge of monitoring religious institutions, the state considers any preaching of Christianity to be proselytising. In turn, this sets up an official assumption that all converts have been coerced, induced or attracted by some incentive. Interestingly, according to the Bhutanese definition, the conversion of Buddhists to any other faith constitutes proselytising, but not if others become Buddhist. Although under the new Constitution this too would now be officially considered proselytising, in reality such incidents are never reported or acted upon. There have also been interesting intra-Buddhist conversion issues at play in modern Bhutan. In the east of the country, the Sarchop community have been compelled to surrender their Nyingma Buddhism in favour of Drukpa Kagyu, which resulted in confrontation during the mid-1990s. There are broader political repercussions here as well. Unlike Theravada, which is more individualistic in its motivation, Mahayana Buddhism involves an aspiration to achieve enlightenment not only for one’s own sake but for that of all sentient beings. It is this aspiration that has given rise to the Bhutan government’s well-known national philosophy, Gross National Happiness. Contradictorily, though, a state which seeks to privilege if not foist its brand of religion would be one that works towards lowering the happiness quotient of the non-Kagyu faithful within the population. Given this situation, what is the way forward? First off, Bhutan’s religious minorities have not been given adequate platform on which to table their issues. Of the 16 religious organisations registered with Chhoedey Lhentshog, only one is Hindu. This is clearly unfair in a democracy, and needs to change, particularly given the governments constitutional pretensions to religious pluralism. However, the October incident involving the sentencing of a man to three years in prison for screening Christian films has drawn global attention, and the Chhoedey Lhentshog is set to sit in the near future to see how it can adjust to the higher profile of Christians in the country. There are possibilities that a Christian organisation will be given the chance to register officially. One way or another, ‘Buddhist’ Bhutan looks set to change the course that has carried it for centuries. In the near future, hopefully, Bhutanese citizens will be able to choose their faith based on informed choice, not on state prescription. --I P Adhikari is president of the Bhutanese Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) and chief editor of Bhutan News Service (BNS). He is currently based in Adelaide. Posted by c-info at Monday, January 03, 2011 Labels: Bhutan, minorities, Religion, state From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Jan 4 10:16:16 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2011 23:46:16 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CHALLENGE ::2011 Registration Now Open Message-ID: <8CD79E174AA094C-1C14-92BC@webmail-d022.sysops.aol.com> INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CHALLENGE ::2011 Registration Now Open Registration for the 2011 Doc Challenge is now open! The Challenge takes place March 3-7. Register soon to get the early bird price! http://www.docchallenge.org/Register.html Save the date for Early Bird registration for the 2011 Doc Challenge! Registration begins January 3, 2011. This year's challenge dates are March 3-7, 2011. Terms of Agreement Please read and agree to these terms. International Documentary Challenge 2011 Team Leader Agreement This is an agreement between the International Documentary Challenge Entrant (you), whose address is listed on the Entry Form (hereafter known as "ENTRANT") and KDHX Community Media, 625 N Euclid Ave, Ste 100, Saint Louis, MO 63108, (hereafter known as "Doc Challenge Producer"), with respect to EntrantÂ’s participation in the International Documentary Challenge 2011 (the "Doc Challenge") and the creation of a short film or video (the "Film") pursuant to the terms below. The ENTRANT hereby applies to take part in the Doc Challenge being produced by the Doc Challenge Producer and scheduled to take place from March 3-7, 2011. ENTRANT hereby states that he/she has read, and agrees to abide by, the "Official Rules of the Doc Challenge," the terms of which are available on the Doc Challenge website (www.docchallenge.org). It is understood that the Doc Challenge Producer reserves the right to judge, screen and/or exhibit only those films/videos which adhere to the "Official Rules of the Doc Challenge." ENTRANT hereby understands that he/she is responsible for all crew, equipment, sets, locations, and other items necessary for participating in the 2011 Doc Challenge, and all costs, expenses, damages and claims related thereto. The ENTRANT assumes all liability for his/her film production and participation in the Doc Challenge. The ENTRANT agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Doc Challenge Producer, its directors, officers, employees and agents, from any costs, claims, expenses, losses or liabilities incurred arising from or related in any way whatsoever to ENTRANTÂ’s participation hereunder. The Doc Challenge Producer shall provide the event and guidelines in which the ENTRANT is taking part; and a judging, prize and promotional opportunity for all of the completed Films adhering to the Official Rules of the Doc Challenge. ENTRANT hereby agrees and represents and warrants that he/she will secure all rights to the film including, but not limited to, rights to talent, images, sounds and music used in his/her Film; and will provide all talent, music and location releases to the Doc Challenge Producer. ENTRANT hereby indemnifies, saves and holds harmless the Doc Challenge Producer from any and all claims, costs, damages, expenses and liabilities arising from the creation, use or participation hereunder (including, but not limited to claims for negligence and other torts, unauthorized exhibition, discrimination, fraud, infringement and breach of contract) of ENTRANTÂ’s Film. ENTRANT hereby grants the Doc Challenge Producer the right to screen, show, exhibit, broadcast or disseminate in any way possible the Film or portions thereof worldwide in perpetuity in any and all media, including and not limited to theatrical release, broadcast television, cable television and/or the internet; and the right to promote and publicize the Film and the Doc Challenge using the name and images of the "Film." ENTRANT represents and warrants the he/she has obtained all rights to grant such rights hereunder. ENTRANT and Doc Challenge Producer hereby agree that the ENTRANT has the right to submit and screen his/her project to film festivals. Any additional screenings or broadcast on the part of the ENTRANT are prohibited except with the express written consent of the Doc Challenge Producer. ENTRANT hereby acknowledges that participation in the Doc Challenge is without remuneration or compensation whatsoever. The consideration for participating in the project is the FilmÂ’s eligibility to win the Grand Prize or other award, and the possibility, although not the obligation by the Doc Challenge Producer, for future screenings; and the opportunity for publicity or exposure for being a participant hereunder. ENTRANT hereby acknowledges that a "Behind the Scenes of the Doc Challenge" (the "Documentary") may be shot during the Doc Challenge, and hereby agrees to allow camera crews to tape his/her team during any production stage of the Film project; and further agrees to immediately provide to the Doc Challenge Producer a signed release for each of his/her participating cast and crew members, using the official Doc Challenge Release Form available at www.docchallenge.org. This in no way, however, obligates the Doc Challenge Producer to produce or exhibit the "Documentary." The parties agree that should the Doc Challenge Producer receive actual net profit from the sale of ENTRANTÂ’s entire completed Film the ENTRANT will receive a pro rata share of 50% of net profits. Pro ration will be dependent upon number of Films included in the sold program. From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Tue Jan 4 13:38:02 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 13:38:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: PUDR statement In-Reply-To: <379616.91699.qm@web29609.mail.ird.yahoo.com> References: <379616.91699.qm@web29609.mail.ird.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Peoples Union for Democratic Rights Dear friends and comrades, The recent countrywide demonstrations against the unfair verdict in the Binayak Sen case have been really heartwarming. The demonstrations have brought many of us together, who feel enraged and upset over the judgment. Clearly, if our numbers continue to grow, we will soonbe in a position of strength and will ensure the release of Binayak and manyothers. The case against Binayak Sen hasbecome a focal point to oppose the attempts by the state to criminalise civilrights activities. Yet, we strongly feel that in order to make the entire campaign into a success we have to enlarge the present focus from the individual,Binayak Sen, to include the co-accused, Piyush Guha and Narayan Sanyal, and also take into consideration the plight of others who are similarly imprisoned in unfair cases of sedition. Consider the following: Piyush Guha, the supposed courierin this case, has never been granted bail. He lost his parents in the course ofthese three years but was not given the right to even attend to the last ritesof his parents. Piyush was kept in illegal custody and tortured for five days and he only produced when the Chhattisgarh PUCL issued a statement demandinghis whereabouts. His family lost its breadwinner and his wife, Rupa Guha, hasbeen carrying out a lone fight for three and a half years. Our efforts in demanding the release of Binayak must include the release of Piyush Guha. Narayan Sanyal, the otherco-accused has been in jail for five years already. He is old and ailing and issuffering from a chronic and painful ailment, fibromatosis. Despite directivesfrom the court, he has not received any serious medical treatment in prison.The argument that his being a Maoist ideologue is sufficient to keep him inprison for the rest of his life is unfair, cruel and undemocratic particularlysince the other cases in which he has been arrested have nearly collapsed. As has been pointed out by many, the decision to charge him with sedition happenedonly after the police arrested Binayak Sen. Narayan Sanyal’s case (even his supposed role in the present one) is a fit case for us to ask not only for hisrelease but also to demand a repeal of the ban against CPI(Maoist). Our campaign must focus on demanding the repeal of undemocratic ‘security’ legislations like UAPA, CSPSA etc or under unfair provisions of the IPC like ‘sedition’ (S 124 A) and ‘wagingwar’ (S 121 of IPC) . The most recent conviction of Asit Sengupta, editor of the well known journal, World to Win is most worrying. Sengupta was arrested by Chhattisgarh police (and illegally detained, of course!) in January 2008 and never granted bail. On the same day when Binayak, Piyush and Sanyal were given life imprisonment, the same day Asit Sengupta was convicted and sentenced to eight years imprisonment for his work as an editor and publisher by another Raipur court. Kopa Kunjam, activist of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (Dantewada) who was working to re-settle displaced Adivasis in Netra villa, has been implicated in a murder case. Nineactivists, including Kartam Joga of Adivasi Mahasbha, campaigning against landgrab in Lohanmdiguda, (Bastar) have been accused of involvement in the attack on CRPF personnel. There are innumerable incidents of this nature which are taking place in Chattisgarh and elsewhere where joint operations are going on. Friends, we needto fight together to ensure that 1. The entire miscarriage of justice begun in 2007 should be rectified and all the victims should be unconditionally released and compensated for their unfair stay in jail. 2. Withdrawal of undemocratic ‘security’legislations like UAPA, CSPSA etc 3. Repeal of archaic and colonial provisions like sedition and waging war from the IPC 4. Improvement of facilities in jails, particularlymedical treatment of prisoners Harish Dhawan and Paramjeet Singh (Secretaries PUDR) __._,_.___ . __,_._,___ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Free Binayak Sen" group. To post to this group, send an email to free-binayaksen at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to free-binayaksen+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/free-binayaksen?hl=en-GB. From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Jan 4 15:46:02 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:16:02 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Film South Asia 2011 - Call for Entries In-Reply-To: <003401cba99f$9909ed90$4e00a8c0@upasana> References: <003401cba99f$9909ed90$4e00a8c0@upasana> Message-ID: <8CD7A0F86865D27-C68-8E5D@webmail-d075.sysops.aol.com> Call for Entries   Film South Asia ’11 29 September – 2 October 2011 Kathmandu     Film South Asia, the festival of Southasian documentaries, calls for entries for the eighth edition of its biennial festival being held in Kathmandu from 29 September to 2 October 2011. Documentaries made in and after January 2009 are eligible for the competitive section.   Early submission deadline for the entries: 31 May 2011 (for films made between January 2009 to April 2010)   Final submission deadline for entries: 30 June 2011 (for films made after April 2010)     Details and entry forms are available at www.filmsouthasia.org     We ask non-fiction filmmakers from across the region to mark the following timeline:    Early submission deadline for entries: 31 May 2011 (for films made between January 2009 to April 2010) Final submission deadline for entries: 30 June 2011 (for films made after April 2010) Final selection of entries: 31 July 2011 Submission deadline of final print: 31 August 2011 Holding of FSA ’11: 29 September – 2 October 2011    For further information contact: Film South Asia Secretariat G.P.O. Box 24393 Patan Dhoka Lalitpur Nepal Tel: +977 1 5552141 email: fsa at filmsouthasia.org   www.filmsouthasia.org ___________________________ Film South Asia Secretariat GPO Box 24393 Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur NEPAL Tel: +977 1 5552141 www.filmsouthasia.org From javedmasoo at gmail.com Tue Jan 4 17:05:14 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 17:05:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] K. Sudarshan, RSS Ideology and Scandalous Statements Message-ID: K. Sudarshan, RSS Ideology and Scandalous Statements Ram Puniyani In public space one keeps hearing many a things which are horrifying, vicious and bad in taste. K.Sudarshan, the father figure of RSS, recently (November 2010) stated that Sonia Gandhi was a foreign agent, that she had some role in the deaths of her mother-in-law and her husband, and that Rajiv Gandhi had wanted to leave her. This statement was not carried by the large section of media, and there were only few commentators who took it up for analysis. While Congress supporters did outpour their anguish through protests and filing of some cases, the RSS itself distanced itself from this statement. Tarun Vijay of BJP, with RSS background, also dissociated BJP form this statement. Interestingly even while distancing BJP from Sudarhsan’s statement he made it a point to pay compliments to the intellect of K.Sudarshan. Overall even the other people from RSS stable were mild enough to dissociate themselves from the outpouring of their ex- Chief and one of the longest serving leaders of RSS. Still they did not condemn Sudarshan. They reverentially upheld the high level of his intellect. There is nothing surprising about RSS combine not condemning him, and there are deeper reasons for the same. What Sudarshan said was not a flash in the pan but its’ what RSS probably believes, that’s why Sudarshan is not condemned, as a matter of fact one can see the ‘logic’ of his saying, this statement of his, is just the further extension of the ideology of RSS. RSS core ideology is based around looking at the society through communal angle. Communal view of society looks at peoples’ interests, material and otherwise only through the prism of religion. According to this ideology all Hindus have similar interests; all Christians have similar interests and so on. This communal ideology begins with ‘sameness of the interests’ of one religious community and than goes on so say that interests of two religious communities are different from each other. And in the next stage it asserts that the interests between two religious communities are irreconcilable and hostile to each other. According to this ideology a Hindu industrialist and the Hindu beggar are supposed to have similar interests! A Muslim entrepreneur and a Muslim sweeper or beggar is supposed to have similar interests. So a Hindu king in History and poor Hindu farmer-Shudra are on the same page. It looks at history as unified Hindu community standing against others and so on, as if all Hindu Kings were hunky dory with each other and supping with the Shudras and poor peasants of society. The communal ideology, irrespective of any religions in whose name it operates, changes the horizontal social differences into vertical ones’. The society has divisions according the rich and poor, privileged and deprived. According to this ideology what matters is the vertical divisions according to one’s religion. This ideology as such focuses on issues of identity and undermines the real worldly problems. It is an attempt to undermine and sweep under the carpet the unjust social system, where the major contradiction is social and economic. It is a way to hide one’s birth based privileges under the guise of religion. Religion is a potent instrument as faith is its central component. Abuse of faith for political goals generates blind social hysteria, which is used to promote the political and social agenda of communal organizations. This pattern applies to all the faith-religion based politics. In India communal ideology, both Muslim and Hindu, developed in opposition to the democratic secular ideology which looked at people in their primary Indian identity. The communal ideology originated from amongst elites, landlords-kings, their associated clergy and middle class followers and ideologues. So while these communal ideologies may look hostile to each other at surface, essentially their roots are same, their values are the same, they operate on the same social logic and dynamics. Those elements, entrenched in the social privileges talk of identity issues while those struggling to make both ends meet talk of the worldly issues, problems related to daily life. We can see the rudiments of this in teachings of Lord Gautam Buddha who talked of the misery of the society, the deprivations of society and against the caste system. His influence was systematically undone by projecting that this World is an illusion, (Jagat Mythya: Brahm Satyam). The attack on Buddhism also symbolized the ascendance of exploitative caste system and the economic system which went with it. During medieval period also we see that most of the kings, irrespective of their religion patronized the clergy (Raj Guru with Hindu kings, Shahi Imam with Muslim kings, alliance between King and the Pope in Europe). The clergy is more interested in rituals and preservation of ‘status quo’ of the system. Contrary to this, the saints of religions focused on the moral values and used religions’ moral values as binding glue for the society, cutting across religious divides. Same saints talked of ‘problems of this world’. Kabir in one of his dohas (couplet) tells us that if one can get God by worshipping a stone idol, why not worship the whole mountain. He points out that the Chakki (Grinding stone) is more important than the idols of God. Same way he criticizes Mullahs for emphasizing on mosque and shouting to get people in the mosque. The contrast in the social interests of exploiters and exploited is reflected in the patterns of clergy on one side and saints on the other. Coming back to communal streams, Muslim and Hindu, both harped on similar things and opposed the process of social change which was accompanying the freedom movement. Freedom movement, from which Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha-RSS remained aloof, was aiming not just to get rid of British rule but was also the harbinger of caste and gender transformation in the society. It was also the beginning of the talk of economic justice and was against imperialism. So when RSS sees a Sonia Gandhi, at the helm of affairs of the major rival party, they do not see a person, an Indian citizen, they only see a Christian. Sudarshan, a die hard RSS ideologue, is merely telling us the details of RSS belief system. And of course Sudarshan is the one who has headed RSS for nearly a decade and has been with this organization he served for close to five decades! Who can tell us more about RSS belief system than him? These contradictions, beliefs and overt expression, are bound to be there for organizations which are communal and want Religion based state. For Sudarshan-RSS the goal is a Hindu state. At the same time they want to use the democratic space given by present Indian Constitution. They have to play a delicate balancing role most of the times and so many of their swaymasevaks do what is desired by their politics, but RSS can’t own it overtly. This is not the first time such a thing has happened. Gandhi murder (Nathuram Godse), murder of Pastor Stains (Dara Singh), Pramod Mutalik’s antics (Sri Ram Sene), communal violence and all that is the outcome of divisive sectarian ideology. RSS wants to usurp democracy and strengthen communal politics, but it can’t be stated publicly as the limits of democratic norms will be breached. So this balance, some one says or does something but the organization disowns it, overtly only, and that too with due respect for the person concerned! -- Issues in Secular Politics II January 2011 www.pluralindia.com response only to ram.puniyani at gmail.com From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Tue Jan 4 19:18:03 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 13:48:03 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan In-Reply-To: <38ad990704f353181f2dbd240e99258f.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> References: <38ad990704f353181f2dbd240e99258f.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> Message-ID: "........While Christianity is not a new faith in Bhutan, there has been a sharp rise in the number of faithful in recent years. Partly, this seems to be due to the perception that the rights of Christians are better looked after at the international level. This has recently been corroborated by interviews conducted by this reporter with some Christians in southern Bhutan. These individuals said that they felt it was better to convert to Christianity because organisations in Western countries were able to quickly attempt to defend persecuted Christians........." If these are the grounds for conversion,no wonder there is resistance.Choice of faith ought to come from with in & not through coercion or inducement. Bhutan is a budding democracy.It can do well for some time without communal tension that could arise with the growing proselytisation (as reported by the author) as is seen in certain parts in India. Kashmir is a classic case where conversions over the centuries since the advent of Islam in middle ages reduced the aboriginal community to a miniscule minority that was finally subjected to ethnic cleansing in the land of its origin in 1989-90 even while the rest of secular-democratic India remained a mute spectator.Zealousness in pursuit of religious homogeneity driven separatism has lead to a burning- Kashmir of today.Others could surely draw lessons. Rgds all LA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 17:33:12 +0100 > From: patrice at xs4all.nl > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: [Reader-list] Creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan > > bwo Multitudes-infos list/ Harsh Kapoor > > A creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan poses the serious > question of whether the kingdom has really set itself on the path to > secular democracy. > > http://communalism.blogspot.com/2011/01/creeping-clampdown-on-christianity-in.html > -- > > January 03, 2011 > Creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan > > Kagyupa only > > by I P Adhikari > > (in: Himal South Asian, January 2011) > > A creeping clampdown on Christianity in Bhutan poses the serious question > of whether the kingdom has really set itself on the path to secular > democracy. > > Centuries of theological guidance by a strong clergy has had a tremendous > influence in shaping Bhutanese society. Propelled by the principles of > Buddhism as generally understood, one would think that this would have led > to abiding religious tolerance, allowing for the co-existence of multiple > faiths. Yet in recent years, a series of incidents have indicated a > continued resolve – indeed, some would say an official hardening of > position – by the Thimphu establishment not only to continue to support > the state-backed version of Buddhism above all others, but to actively > work to stamp out ‘competing’ or emerging religious schools. Some of the > starkest examples can be seen in the clear anti-Christian bent on the part > of the government. > > In principle, the Constitution of 2008 guarantees religious freedoms. To a > certain extent this, coupled with the evolution of two-party politics, has > given significant leverage to religious minorities in Bhutan, including > Hindus in their significant numbers, in seeking international attention > for their rights. The Constitution states that a Bhutanese citizen is > guaranteed ‘the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion’ and > that no one can be compelled to belong to another faith. Further, the > National Security Act (NSA) prohibits any word ‘spoken or written’ that > promotes ‘hatred’ between different groups, including on the basis of > religion. Violating the NSA is punishable by up to three years’ > imprisonment. > > Declaring Buddhism as the state religion is not necessarily a problem, but > a demonisation of other religions and sects is a worrying sign in the > context of Bhutan as an emerging democracy. Indeed, for many people other > faiths are looked upon as posing an active threat to the state’s version > of Buddhism. The state seems to find it difficult to accept religious > heterogeneity in the country, regarding the largest minority of Hindus as > well as the other sects of Buddhism. However, it is in the treatment of > the small community of Christians that this intolerance is breaking to the > surface and provides an indication of the state’s proclivities. > > Religious intolerance in the kingdom was vividly highlighted some years > ago when a burial site was denied for Father William Joseph Mackey when he > died in 1995. The missionary is recognised as having helped to establish > the modern education system in the country, starting with its first high > school. As a Jesuit priest, Fr Mackey moved to Bhutan from Darjeeling in > 1963. He proceeded to dedicate the following three decades to building up > and strengthening the national education system. In recognition, he was > granted Bhutanese citizenship in 1985, and even the title Son of Bhutan. > Yet he could not be buried in Druk Yul for being Christian. He was finally > interred in Darjeeling. > > ‘Mentoring’ minorities > > Historically, the Bhutanese state has used all means available to > eliminate religious minorities, though the ruling elite themselves are > mostly descended from those who fled religious oppression in Tibet at > different times. The oppressed minorities in Bhutan include other Buddhist > schools, with everyone forced to follow the Drukpa Kagyu form of Mahayana > Buddhism that has strengthened through powerful political pressure over > the past couple of centuries. Over time, those of other sects – including > the Barawa, Kadampa, Chazampa and Bon – were attacked or forced to convert > to Kagyu. Places of worship were either demolished or brought under Kagyu > ‘mentoring’. For the most part, these religious communities, present when > Bhutan was evolving as a nation state, no longer exist today. There are no > official figures available on how many people belong to the various > Buddhist faiths in Bhutan, but Kagyu followers far outnumber the others. > > The followers of Buddhism in Bhutan, including the dominant Kagyu, follow > the larger Mahayana line, as opposed to Theravada, as found in Sri Lanka > and Thailand. The increasing penetration of Theravada, the oldest > surviving school of Buddhism, in India and Nepal in recent years is > certain to influence the Kagyu community of Bhutan. As such, the Kagyu > clergy is making increasingly concerted efforts to ensure that Theravada > does not deplete the strength of their school. > > Government support, financial or legal, has never been allowed to go to > any other religious institution due to anxieties over ‘national harmony’. > During the last two decades, Bhutan has banned or demolished many Hindu > places of worship in order to minimise the perceived threat that Nepali > speakers, most of whom profess Hinduism, would become increasingly > dominant – ‘as in Sikkim’, goes the common refrain. Sanskrit pathshalas > have also been closed. Since the mid-1980s, a group of Buddhist lamas has > been ordered to oversee religious functions in the south, where the > Nepali-speaking Lothshampa are concentrated. There, Nepali-speakers have > been compelled and, in certain situations, ordered to hire lamas to > perform rituals during deaths, births or marriages. After decades of such > attempts to weaken Hinduism, however, by the late 1990s the government > largely scaled back this effort. > > At the same time, Thimphu seems to have decided to turn its attention on > the country’s tiny Christian population. One estimate puts Christians in > Bhutan at about 12,000, of whom about half are from the south. Overall, > the number of non-Buddhist, non-Hindu population is thought to be upwards > of 65,000. The dominant Buddhist community, meanwhile, makes up close to > three-fourths of the population and the Nepali-speaking Hindus are thought > to make up less than 20 percent (though no official figures are > available). There has, however, never been a census to determine the > numbers with any accuracy, while the state’s attitude towards religious > minorities would cast suspicion on official figures anyway. During the > mid-1990s census, Bhutanese were asked to indicate their religion, but the > census forms offered only two choices – Buddhist or Hindu. At the time, it > was reported that those who wanted to put down an alternative were kept > from being registered in the Home Ministry’s official records. By and > large, government papers still do not allow Christians to note their > religious affiliation. > > Thimpu’s anxieties over Christianity’s inroad are visible in many > contexts. In recent years, isolated cases of family disputes and suicides > have even been officially explained as the results of Christian > ‘infiltration’ into Bhutanese society. A man who committed suicide in 2009 > in Samchi due to a family dispute was projected by government officials as > resulting somehow from Christianity coming to Bhutan – the man was not > even Christian, though the rest of his family members were. In 2006, two > Bhutanese men were tried on charges of proselytising after villagers of > Nagu, in Paro, reported the two for preaching and screening movies on > Christianity. They were later released under pressure from Christian > institutions in the West. In October 2010, a court in Gelegphug, in the > south, sentenced a Christian man for three years on charges of creating > ‘civil unrest’ by screening movies on Jesus Christ; other similar > incidents could have gone unreported. Two Christians are currently being > sought by the police, also accused of proselytising. > > Such moves have caught international attention. In 2007, Open Doors, a > British charity on behalf of ‘persecuted Christians’, listed Bhutan as the > fifth most-notorious country in terms of anti-Christian discrimination. > (By 2010, that ranking had dropped to 12th, while the fifth spot is now > taken by the Maldives.) In early 2008, even as the process of promulgating > the Constitution was going forward, two Christian preachers were forced to > leave the country, while their followers were warned to stop following the > religion. According to Open Doors, in July 2010 a church was attacked by a > gang of youths, who stoned the building and threatened to burn it down if > religious services were not discontinued. > > Inducement and coercion > > While Christianity is not a new faith in Bhutan, there has been a sharp > rise in the number of faithful in recent years. Partly, this seems to be > due to the perception that the rights of Christians are better looked > after at the international level. This has recently been corroborated by > interviews conducted by this reporter with some Christians in southern > Bhutan. These individuals said that they felt it was better to convert to > Christianity because organisations in Western countries were able to > quickly attempt to defend persecuted Christians. > > There seems to be an attempt by some persecuted Lothshampa, Hindu castes > or semi-Hindu ethnicities to seek protection by taking refuge in > Christianty. The past two decades have seen a sharp rise in the number of > Christians in southern Bhutan, the vast majority of whom follow their > faith in private. Today, Samtse district, in the southwest, is thought to > have the largest number of Christians in the country, while other places – > Mongar, for instance, in the centre – have few or none. According to > personal communications with local journalists in Thimphu, urban areas > such as Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and Trongsa have all registered fresh > converts in recent years. > > Overall, the challenge to the Christians of Bhutan mainly comes from > within the clan, the community and the state-backed Buddhist clergy, which > has a strong influence over society. Both Hindus and Buddhists in Bhutan > are strong believers in their respective faiths, and conversion is seen by > many as a significant betrayal. In large families, members who choose to > become Christian typically face harassment and pressure from relatives to > reverse the decision. Kagyu monks, who are to a great extent part of the > state machinery, encourage community members to restrict religions other > than Buddhism. > > According to Dorji Tshering, member-secretary of the Chhoedey Lhentshog, > the government agency in charge of monitoring religious institutions, the > state considers any preaching of Christianity to be proselytising. In > turn, this sets up an official assumption that all converts have been > coerced, induced or attracted by some incentive. Interestingly, according > to the Bhutanese definition, the conversion of Buddhists to any other > faith constitutes proselytising, but not if others become Buddhist. > Although under the new Constitution this too would now be officially > considered proselytising, in reality such incidents are never reported or > acted upon. > > There have also been interesting intra-Buddhist conversion issues at play > in modern Bhutan. In the east of the country, the Sarchop community have > been compelled to surrender their Nyingma Buddhism in favour of Drukpa > Kagyu, which resulted in confrontation during the mid-1990s. There are > broader political repercussions here as well. Unlike Theravada, which is > more individualistic in its motivation, Mahayana Buddhism involves an > aspiration to achieve enlightenment not only for one’s own sake but for > that of all sentient beings. It is this aspiration that has given rise to > the Bhutan government’s well-known national philosophy, Gross National > Happiness. Contradictorily, though, a state which seeks to privilege if > not foist its brand of religion would be one that works towards lowering > the happiness quotient of the non-Kagyu faithful within the population. > > Given this situation, what is the way forward? First off, Bhutan’s > religious minorities have not been given adequate platform on which to > table their issues. Of the 16 religious organisations registered with > Chhoedey Lhentshog, only one is Hindu. This is clearly unfair in a > democracy, and needs to change, particularly given the governments > constitutional pretensions to religious pluralism. However, the October > incident involving the sentencing of a man to three years in prison for > screening Christian films has drawn global attention, and the Chhoedey > Lhentshog is set to sit in the near future to see how it can adjust to the > higher profile of Christians in the country. There are possibilities that > a Christian organisation will be given the chance to register officially. > > One way or another, ‘Buddhist’ Bhutan looks set to change the course that > has carried it for centuries. In the near future, hopefully, Bhutanese > citizens will be able to choose their faith based on informed choice, not > on state prescription. > > --I P Adhikari is president of the Bhutanese Association of Press Freedom > Activists (APFA) and chief editor of Bhutan News Service (BNS). He is > currently based in Adelaide. > Posted by c-info at Monday, January 03, 2011 > Labels: Bhutan, minorities, Religion, 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 rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Jan 4 20:42:34 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:12:34 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Opportunity to Address International Forum Message-ID: <8CD7A38F316EA10-1E0-B666@webmail-d026.sysops.aol.com> Opportunity to Address International Forum Student Essays Invited OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL FORUM Global Dialogue Foundation, SAGE Foundation, PeaceWorks and Pravasi Nivasi Cultural Association, under the auspices of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations is presenting: Unity in Diversity : Bridging Cultures Building Peace & Development A three day South Asia Forum in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India on 6- 8 February 2011 at Mascot Hotel Students between the ages 18-30 are invited to participate by submitting their Essay Application on or before 24 January, 2011, by email to peaceworks at seagullindia.com Authors of the two most innovative essays will be invited to address the Forum. Travel (from within India) and hotel costs for two nights will be provided. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177041322326808 For any questions, please contact: Peaceworks An Initiative of The Seagull Foundation for the Arts peaceworks at seagullindia.com +91 33 2455 6043/42 http://www.globaldialoguefoundation.org/ From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Jan 4 21:27:14 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:57:14 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Mobile_Apps_Conclave_2011_=E2=80=93_In_as?= =?utf-8?q?sociation_wi_th_IAN_Incubator=2E?= In-Reply-To: References: <3816-22011124151730906@IANIncubator> Message-ID: <8CD7A3F30A9DAB4-1E0-C34B@webmail-d026.sysops.aol.com>     Mobile Apps, App Stores and the Mobile Internet - the new technology phenomenon. An App for this, an App for that.You name the task - there is an App for that. The Mobile Internet has arrived and arrived big time, riding the bandwagon of Mobile Apps.Apple iPhone revolutionized the concept of App Stores and now all major Tech behemoths have picked up on that theme.Whether it is business, marketing, entertainment, customer care or literally anything else, everything and everybody has an App for that (or is working on creating one). Agencies are using Apps for Audience Engagement, People are living their lives on Apps.It is all about Mobile Apps, App Stores and the new face of the Global Internet - The Mobile Web.The most ubiquitous and personal Digital Channel of all times - the Mobile Device has unleashed the next wave of creative evolution - the Business of Apps and App Stores . Come and join us today at the Mobile Apps Conclave to hear from the top Mobile App Experts, Mobile Web Visionaries and Mobile Media Leaders of India. If you are interested in Mobile Apps or the Mobile Web and how this effects all of us going forward, you want to be here. Speakers Sridhar Ranganathan, Vice President - Product Management, InMobi Arvind Mohan, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Rediffusion Y&R Mohit Rampal, Managing Director South Asia, Motricity Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, One97 Communications Mahesh Narayanan, Country Manager - Business Development, Google India Beerud Sheth, CEO, SMS GupShup Hari Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India Maya Hari, Director - Digital, Conde Nast Digital India Mohit Gundecha, Head-India Operations & Director-Business Development, Mig33 Harish Gandhi, Executive Director, Canaan Partners Vishal Singhal, CMO, CellStrat And many more.Mobile Solutions ShowcaseNow Inviting – Top Mobile Apps and Solutions to demonstrate your offering at the Mobile Apps Conclave. Table Demos and Exhibition Stalls available in various configurations. Selected Mobile Apps/Solutions will be offered opportunities for a stage pitch session. Please submit your entries at email contact at cellstrat.com.Table and Stall Expo Options Table Demo Stalls - 4 / 6 sqm Double Stalls - 8 / 12 sqm Contact us for pricing.Why Attend Learn about the business of Mobile Apps, App Stores and The Mobile Web Meet and Greet the Leading Mobile App and Mobile Web Experts from all over India Experience the Mobile Apps Showcase - a dazzling demonstration of cutting-edge Mobile Apps and Wireless Solutions Understand the impact of Mobile Platforms and App Stores like iPhones, BlackBerries, Android phones, Nokia Ovi etc Network with leading Mobile, Technology and Media Executives from a cross-section of industry verticals. Registration Fees Individual Registration Rs 3000 per person Super Early Registration Rs 2100 per person (30% discount until 25th Dec ) Early Registration Rs 2400 per person (20% discount until 10th Jan ) Student Registration Rs 2000 per person Mobile App Developer / Rs 2000 per person Startup Registration 3 or more Attendees Rs 2400 per person from the same Firm (20% discount) Conference Details Date  :  21st Jan, 2011- 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM Venue  :  India Habitat Centre (Silver Oaks), Lodhi Road ,New Delhi, India Follow CellStrat on twitter : @CellStrat E: contact at cellstrat.com To view event site on mobile, sms MACINDIA to 5424246 www.mobileappsconclave.com P: +91 9999658435/6 Register Here From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Jan 5 09:16:45 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:46:45 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Properties of the Autonomous Archive, Public Event: January 7, Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CD7AA24EED91E9-1BE0-68ED@webmail-d094.sysops.aol.com> CAMP, 0x2620 and Pad.ma invite you to: PROPERTIES OF THE AUTONOMOUS ARCHIVE A gathering of key internet platforms, archival initiatives and related infrastructures. You are invited to a full day of presentations and discussions on Friday, January 7, 2011. Participants include: Sean Dockray and Fiona Whitton from aaaaarg.org and The Public School, Peter Sunde Kolmissopi from flattr.com, Kenneth Goldsmith from ubu.com,  G. Sundar from the Rojah Muthiah Memorial Library, Amar Gurung from Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya, media theorist Matthew Fuller, historian Rochelle Pinto, Rustom Bharucha of the Arna Jharna Museum,  the Shared Footage Group, Sebastian Lütgert and Jan Gerber from 0x2620.org,  Lawrence Liang and Namita Malhotra from the Alternative Law Forum, Shaina Anand, Sanjay Bhangar and Ashok Sukumaran from CAMP, among other invited observers and participants. "Show me your Properties!" Friday January 7, 10:30 am to 8:00 pm. Max Mueller Bhavan, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai Schedule: 10 15 onwards: TEA and COFFEE 10 45 Introduction. Ashok Sukumaran: autonomy and translation 11 00 Pad.ma: people annotate describe make add 11 45 Kenneth Goldsmith: If we had to ask permission, we wouldn't exist: a brief history of UbuWeb and the law 12 30 Sean Dockray: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG.ORG  1 15 LUNCH BREAK  2 45 Shared Footage Group: Its past and future  3 30 G Sundar and Amar Gurung: Archiving in the vernacular, experiences from Tamil and Nepali  4 15 Rochelle Pinto: The mundane state - historians in a state archive  5 00 TEA BREAK  5 30 Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi: Flattr, the need for alternative financial views  6 15 Matthew Fuller: Two evil media stratagems: structure data & know your sorts  7 00 Lawrence Liang and Sebastian Lütgert: Privacy and Scandal: Radia tapes and Wikileaks  8 00 CLOSING DISCUSSION Saturday, January 8 Workshop (if you would like to attend write to info(AT)camputer.org) This event is supported by the 50 years of the Goethe Institut in India program. PROPERTIES OF THE AUTONOMOUS ARCHIVE "Beyond the status of the archive as property lie the properties of the archive, which can destabilize and complicate received notions of rights." - from Pad.ma, Ten Theses on the Archive, no. 9. Not only rights, of course, but ALL received notions. The proverbial dust of the historical archive, its actual censorious or smiling archivists, the digital archive's protocols, video codec or "social network", all of these things crowd the archive, its imagination and reproduction.  In other words, the archive's real properties tend to destabilize ideal characteristics we may ascribe to it. And tend to take us into exciting side-streets of constraint and possibility, often beyond the motivations or will of authors, rights holders, and even archivists themselves. Such a sensitivity towards properties (not restricted to physical qualities, and extending both the usual sense of property and its ethical sense as "proper", or propriety) can help express better the work of the archive in our times, acknowledge its role as "media", and suggest how its metaphorical and allusive capacities can be made stronger. That is, how the archive may be related to creative and artistic practices, which is one of our main intuitions with Pad.ma. Practices that, in general, are always entangled with the properties of the materials they work with. So that the focus on footage and not finished films in Pad.ma for instance, asks for a recalibration of ethics and politics around film. The discussion that we hope to have then, is about such qualities and powers of contemporary archives: including their stable or emergent properties, their performance and beauty, survival and capacity, and autonomy.  Why autonomy? Or, autonomy from what? Well partly, from the old and still-valid categories: control by state and corporate interests, historiography of and by the powerful, and from "subjection" in general. But also, by declaring that autonomy is a basic, ontological property of the archive and its contents, atleast two (related) claims are being made: 1. Materials in the archive are not exhausted by annotations, "users", or any uses the material may be subjected to. The irreducibility of materials to narratives means that these are deep reservoirs to which we and others can return, and from which new ideas, experiences and effects can continually be drawn. 2. The autonomy of the archive inverts the logic of people as autonomous (as free consumers, choosers, users) and the archive as merely a resource, as something to be used. Such an archive then has a riskier, more open-ended relationship with the future. "In declaring their autonomy, archives seek to produce norms beyond normativity, and ethical claims beyond the law." [1] It is likely that this discussion will take us beyond the metaphor of the archive, to its roots and branches, its fruits and farms, and to the ideas and initiatives that now neighbour it, in a changed landscape. It is clear for example that "found" materials are no longer found, like objet trouve, as if lying unattended on the road.  Many of the things we care about or can work with, are to be found in private or protected territory. But also, increasingly, amidst vast oceans of digital "raw material", as the Wikileaks example shows us.  In such an alien (to ideas of culture, or social traditions) landscape, how can individuals or groups act, what analytical tools or creative infrastructures can be built, even at our smallest, scrappiest, and most experimental levels of "making history", as Marx put it in a related context, "in circumstances not of our own choosing"? [2] From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Jan 5 09:22:58 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:52:58 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Book Release by Nandita Das of the book Fire In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CD7AA32D3E3A2E-1BE0-69D9@webmail-d094.sysops.aol.com> You are cordially invited to a Culture Cafe PresentationCentre for Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences Book Release by Nandita Das of the book Fire (Author: Shohini Ghosh, November 2010, Arsenal Pulp Press, Canada,Consortium/Perseus distribution) Followed by Shohini Ghosh in conversation with Shilpa Phadke and Shalini Mahajan And a reading from the bookon Jan 6, 2011 at 5 pm in Room 5, TISS Main Campus The discussion will be preceded by a screening of the film Fire (104mins) at 3 pm Fire, one of three new QUEER FILM CLASSICS this fall, delves into thecontroversial 1996 lesbian love story by Indian-born director DeepaMehta. Set in a contemporary middle-class Hindu household in the heartof Delhi, Fire is the story of Radha and Sita, the wives of twobrothers, who fall in love with one another. Crisis overtakes theextended family when a servant discovers the relationship and tellsone of the husbands; overcoming both a literal and allegorical “trialby fire,” the two women leave their marriages to make a life together.The film premiered to great acclaim in 1996, and travelled theinternational circuit before being finally released in India in 1999.The consequences of the film’s Indian premiere were both profound andprovocative: outraged by the film’s explicit depiction of a lesbianrelationship, protestors went on a rampage, tearing down posters,vandalizing cinemas showing the film, and disrupting screenings in theDelhi and Bombay, setting off a maelstrom of public discourse onissues such as homosexuality and freedom of speech in India. DirectorDeepa Mehta and the two leading actresses were targeted for attack andharassment by extremists of the Hindu Right.This book examines the controversy that divided a nation, but whichultimately led to counterprotests among the film’s supporters,resulting in its successful and uninterrupted run in Indian theaters.The book also considers Fire’s scathing attack on both heterosexismand Hindu practices in India that oppress and marginalize women, aswell as its revolutionary treatment of female characters, whosetraditional duties are imbued with an unprecedented sensuality.The QUEER FILM CLASSICS series, begun in 2009, consists of criticalyet populist monographs on classic films of interest to LGBT audienceswritten by esteemed film scholars and critics. The series is edited byauthors Thomas Waugh (Out/Lines, Lust Unearthed) and Matthew Hays (TheView from Here). Nandita Das is known to world audiences for her critically acclaimedperformances as an actor in films like Fire, Earth, Bawander, Beforethe Rains and many other films. She has acted in over 30 featurefilms, in ten different languages, with directors of internationalrepute like, Deepa Mehta, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mrinal Sen, ShyamBenegal, Mani Ratnam, and others. She is known never to shy away fromcontroversial issues and unconventional roles and has chosen to bepart of stories which she believes in, and, in her words, that need tobe told. Firaaq was her directorial debut feature film, which had itsworld premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008 andthen went on to many other festivals across the world. It was releasedin India in March 2009 to critical acclaim and an overwhelmingaudience response. Shohini Ghosh is Professor at the AJK Mass Communication ResearchCentre, Jamia Millia Islamia, a university in New Delhi. Tales of theNight Fairies, her documentary on the sex workers’ rights movement,made a strong intervention in debates on sex work. She writes oncontemporary media practices and sexuality. She will be Scholar inResidence at The Centre for Media and Cultural Studies in January2011. Shilpa Phadke is a sociologist and an Assistant Professor at theCentre for Media and Cultural Studies at the Tata Institute of SocialSciences, Mumbai. Her areas of concern include pedagogy; middle classsexuality and the new spaces of consumption; feminist politics amongyoung women; and urban transformations. Shalini Mahajan is a writer and a queer feminist activist based inBombay. Her academic training has been in Aesthetics, Literature andWriting and she has worked severally as a writer, a teacher, atrainer, an editor, a researcher, and more often than not as anactivist with both funded and non-funded groups and organisations forthe past fifteen years. She is a founder member of the queer feministcollective Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action (LABIA, formerly StreeSangam) which started in 1995 and a member of Forum Against Oppressionof Women, a feminist women’s group in Bombay.-- ________________________________________________________________ Anjali Monteiro, Ph.D., Professor and Chair Centre for Media and Cultural Studies Tata Institute of Social Sciences,  Deonar, Bombay 400 088, India Phone: +91 22 2552 5661(Work) Fax:      +91 22 2552  5050   e-mail: cmcs.tiss at gmail.com URL:   www.cmcs.tiss.edu           http://atwodayfair.wordpress.com/           http:/ourfamily2007.wordpress.com/           http://naata.wordpress.com/ From ujwalasam at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 11:56:41 2011 From: ujwalasam at gmail.com (Ujwala Samarth) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 11:56:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Recruiting at CCDS Message-ID: *Position: Executive Director * *Organisation: Centre for Communication and Development Studies* *Location: Pune, Maharashtra* *Contact: jobs at infochangeindia.org, and cc to Infochangeindia at gmail.com * *Last date for application: February 28, 2011* *About CCDS* CCDS is a social change resource centre that builds new spaces for research, advocacy and dialogue on issues related to social justice, sustainable development and pluralism. Founded in 2002, CCDS has pioneered the Open Space outreach process using innovative communication strategies, literature, films, theatre and music to engage with youth and urban citizens in Pune and other cities. CCDS also manages www.infochangeindia.org, a leading free-access knowledge base on issues related to rights, development and governance in India, and publishes *Infochange Agenda*. *About the position* CCDS is looking for a young and dynamic Executive Director, based in Pune. This is an exciting opportunity to head an innovative organisation, expand it in new directions, scale impact, and build new projects and partnerships centred around research, communications and outreach. Candidates should have at least 8 years of work experience in the media&culture/academic/development/rights sector. Strong communication skills, ability to work with a team and a post-graduate degree in the social sciences/human rights/media/culture studies or related fields are required. Remuneration for an ideal candidate will be around Rs 40,000. *How to apply* Send your application, accompanied by detailed CV with references, samples of published work if any, and a covering letter stating why you are right for this position, to jobs at infochangeindia.org, and cc to infochangeindia at gmail.com(please put ‘Application for position of ED’ in the subject line). The application process is open till February-end 2011. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Find out more about the Centre for Communication and Development Studies at: www.infochangeindia.org www.openspaceindia.org www.ccds.in -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) From jalvaer at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 02:19:57 2011 From: jalvaer at gmail.com (jesper alvaer) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 21:49:57 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Oslo National Academy of the Arts - Call for Applications - Deadline February 1st. 2011 (no tuition fee* ) Message-ID: Master Fine Arts (MFA) Oslo National Academy of the Arts Call for Applications - Deadline February 1st. 2011 Two-year, full-time course (120 credits) *Students from developing countries and countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia to may apply for scholarship for MFA studies in Norway. Completion of this course leads to the title of Master of Fine Arts. The Master’s study programme in Fine Arts trains artists to be independent, active contributors to contemporary art and related areas of society. The course equips students to work as creative artists at international level and for other work requiring creative innovation and aesthetic skills.
 The programme aims to extend the student’s field of practical and artistic experience and provide a deeper understanding and study of theoretical issues. The student’s own artistic work, and a theoretical project linked to this work, form the core of the course. In addition, students can specialise in art theory, painting, photography, sculpture/installation/performance or digital art, focusing on one or a combination of these areas. Emphasis is placed on a cross-disciplinary approach and on active collaboration with both national and international institutions. The course comprises a combination of self-study, theoretical classes, practical work and research.
 
The Master Degree in Fine Arts consists of three main parts:
 1. Theoretical subjects and seminars: the student is actively involved in shaping this part of the course since the theoretical subjects are developed to underpin his/her practical work and chosen area of study for the master thesis. 
2. Practical artistic/creative work: the student develops a coherent body of work, which demonstrates independent thinking and conceptual and aesthetic creativity. This part of the course includes studio work, supervision, workshops, exhibitions, shows and presentations. Students are expected to place their work in an international context by actively seeking out related international artistic milieus and by working to develop their contact network.
 3. A master thesis based on the student’s artistic project. The subject chosen for the thesis may be linked to the student’s own practical, artistic work or may be a theoretical project of the student’s own choice. An outline of the content of the proposed thesis must be attached to the application. The thesis must demonstrate the ability to apply theory and method to the project under research. Applicants are required to hold a bachelor degree in fine arts or an equivalent qualification corresponding to 180 credits. Applicants are assessed on the basis of the outline of their proposed thesis, a portfolio of their work, educational qualifications and an interview. Applications are appraised by a jury whose members come from both inside and outside The Oslo National Academy of the Arts. The closing date for admissions is 1st of February 2011 http://khio.no/Engelsk/Art_Academy/#8089 http://www.kunstakademioslo.com/ If you have questions regarding the study programme, please contact the Departement of Academic Affairs on opptakbilledkunst at khio.no or on telephone: (+47) 22 99 55 00 Higher education is a top priority in Norway and therefore its educational institutions do not charge tuition, not even for international students. Please forward. -- skype: jespercall no +4748050535 cz +420608302910 From goodmash.me at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 18:24:05 2011 From: goodmash.me at gmail.com (Cheri) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 18:24:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Binayak Sen judgement Message-ID: Does anyone here have a copy of the Binayak Sen judgement they can send me? Many thanks! Cheri. --- "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. From c.anupam at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 18:27:35 2011 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 18:27:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Binayak Sen judgement In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hello Cheri, You can check this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100337/B-Sen-Judgment-English In Hindi: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100337/B-Sen-Judgment-English Regards Anupam On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Cheri wrote: > Does anyone here have a copy of the Binayak Sen judgement they can send me? > > Many thanks! > > Cheri. > --- > "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But > it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / > been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 Jan 5 18:28:52 2011 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 18:28:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Binayak Sen judgement In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: sorry here is the Hindi original judgment: http://www.binayaksen.net/wp-content/uploads/judgement-dec2010.pdf On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty wrote: > Hello Cheri, > > You can check this link: > http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100337/B-Sen-Judgment-English > > In Hindi: > > http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100337/B-Sen-Judgment-English > > Regards > > Anupam > > > On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Cheri wrote: > >> Does anyone here have a copy of the Binayak Sen judgement they can send >> me? >> >> Many thanks! >> >> Cheri. >> --- >> "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But >> it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / >> been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. >> _________________________________________ >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >> Critiques & Collaborations >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >> 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 goodmash.me at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 18:35:52 2011 From: goodmash.me at gmail.com (Cheri) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 18:35:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Binayak Sen judgement In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Many thanks Anupam! I had a feeling you'd be my saviour :) --- 25 Barakhamba Road, Birla House, 10th Floor - East Tower, New Delhi 110 001,  India (m) +91 99 9907 8674 | (t) +91 11 4178 1007 |  (f) +91 11 4178 1010 "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. On 5 January 2011 18:28, anupam chakravartty wrote: > sorry here is the Hindi original judgment: > > http://www.binayaksen.net/wp-content/uploads/judgement-dec2010.pdf > > On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 6:27 PM, anupam chakravartty > wrote: >> >> Hello Cheri, >> >> You can check this link: >> http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100337/B-Sen-Judgment-English >> >> In Hindi: >> >> http://www.scribd.com/doc/46100337/B-Sen-Judgment-English >> >> Regards >> >> Anupam >> >> >> On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 6:24 PM, Cheri wrote: >>> >>> Does anyone here have a copy of the Binayak Sen judgement they can send >>> me? >>> >>> Many thanks! >>> >>> Cheri. >>> --- >>> "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But >>> it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / >>> been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. >>> _________________________________________ >>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >>> Critiques & Collaborations >>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >>> 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 jalvaer at gmail.com Mon Jan 3 03:49:45 2011 From: jalvaer at gmail.com (jesper alvaer) Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 23:19:45 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Oslo National Academy of the Arts - Call for Applications - Deadline February 1st. 2011 (no tuition fee* ) Message-ID: Master Fine Arts (MFA) Oslo National Academy of the Arts Call for Applications - Deadline February 1st. 2011 Two-year, full-time course (120 credits) *Students from developing countries and countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia to may apply for scholarship for MFA studies in Norway. Completion of this course leads to the title of Master of Fine Arts. The Master’s study programme in Fine Arts trains artists to be independent, active contributors to contemporary art and related areas of society. The course equips students to work as creative artists at international level and for other work requiring creative innovation and aesthetic skills. The programme aims to extend the student’s field of practical and artistic experience and provide a deeper understanding and study of theoretical issues. The student’s own artistic work, and a theoretical project linked to this work, form the core of the course. In addition, students can specialise in art theory, painting, photography, sculpture/installation/performance or digital art, focusing on one or a combination of these areas. Emphasis is placed on a cross-disciplinary approach and on active collaboration with both national and international institutions. The course comprises a combination of self-study, theoretical classes, practical work and research.
 
The Master Degree in Fine Arts consists of three main parts: 1. Theoretical subjects and seminars: the student is actively involved in shaping this part of the course since the theoretical subjects are developed to underpin his/her practical work and chosen area of study for the master thesis. 
2. Practical artistic/creative work: the student develops a coherent body of work, which demonstrates independent thinking and conceptual and aesthetic creativity. This part of the course includes studio work, supervision, workshops, exhibitions, shows and presentations. Students are expected to place their work in an international context by actively seeking out related international artistic milieus and by working to develop their contact network. 3. A master thesis based on the student’s artistic project. The subject chosen for the thesis may be linked to the student’s own practical, artistic work or may be a theoretical project of the student’s own choice. An outline of the content of the proposed thesis must be attached to the application. The thesis must demonstrate the ability to apply theory and method to the project under research. Applicants are required to hold a bachelor degree in fine arts or an equivalent qualification corresponding to 180 credits. Applicants are assessed on the basis of the outline of their proposed thesis, a portfolio of their work, educational qualifications and an interview. Applications are appraised by a jury whose members come from both inside and outside The Oslo National Academy of the Arts. The closing date for admissions is 1st of February 2011 http://khio.no/Engelsk/Art_Academy/#8089 http://www.kunstakademioslo.com/ If you have questions regarding the study programme, please contact the Departement of Academic Affairs on opptakbilledkunst at khio.no or on telephone: (+47) 22 99 55 00 Higher education is a top priority in Norway and therefore its educational institutions do not charge tuition, not even for international students. Please forward. From missedt at gmail.com Mon Jan 3 15:43:54 2011 From: missedt at gmail.com (misst) Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 10:13:54 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] KITTE MIL VE MAHI screening at the National Gallery for Modern Art Message-ID: National Gallery for Modern Art (NGMA) in collaboration with India Foundation for the Arts present IFA FILM FESTIVAL January 2- February 20, 2011 (All documentary films will have English subtitle) Venue: National Gallery for Modern Art (NGMA) Manikyavelu Mansion 49 Palace Road, Bengaluru 560 052 Contact: 080 2234 2338 February 13, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am KITTE MIL VE MAHI, 1 Hour 15 minutes By Ajay Bhardwaj  A deeply felt and moving film, Ajay Bharadwaj’s Kitte Mil Ve Mahi cuts to the quick and puts across a well reasoned and eloquent quest of the Dalits in Punjab to take on the legitimacy of the deeply exploitative and humiliating caste system. This sensitively crafted and provocative film provides a glimpse of the alternate cultural forms of the Punjabi Dalits that critique the oppression of the ‘upper’ castes and articulate a powerful vision of social justice. It focuses, in particular, on the popular Sufi traditions of the Punjabi Dalits. January 2, 2011, Sunday, 3 pm BISHAR BLUES, 1 Hour 16 minutes By Amitabh Chakraborty IJanuary 8, 2011, Saturday, 3 pm THE OTHER SONG, 2 Hours By Saba Dewan January 9, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am MAYA BAZAR, 1 Hour By K M Madhusudhanan January 9, 2011, Sunday, 12:45 pm OUT OF THIN AIR, 50 minutes By Shabani Hassanwalia and Samreen Farooqui January 23, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am CITY OF PHOTOS, 1 Hour By Nishtha Jain February 12, 2011, Saturday, 3pm NATAK JARI HAIN, 1 Hour 24 minutes By Lalit Vachani February 12, 2011, Saturday, 4:30 pm RASIKEN RE, 33 minutes By Pooja Kaul February 19, 2011, Saturday, 3 pm THE LISTENER’S TALE, 1 Hour 16 minutes By Arghya Basu February 20, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am NEE ENGEY, 2 Hours 38 minutes By R V Ramani From t.vijayendra at gmail.com Tue Jan 4 18:16:22 2011 From: t.vijayendra at gmail.com (T. Vijayendra ) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 18:16:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] PUDR statement In-Reply-To: References: <379616.91699.qm@web29609.mail.ird.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear all, It is timely and very correct stand. I fully support it. Viju On 04/01/2011, Nagraj Adve wrote: > Peoples Union for Democratic Rights > > Dear friends and comrades, > The recent countrywide demonstrations against the unfair verdict in the > Binayak Sen case have been really heartwarming. The demonstrations have > brought many of us together, who feel enraged and upset over the judgment. > Clearly, if our numbers continue to grow, we will soonbe in a position of > strength and will ensure the release of Binayak and manyothers. > > The case against Binayak Sen hasbecome a focal point to oppose the attempts > by the state to criminalise civilrights activities. Yet, we strongly feel > that in order to make the entire campaign into a success we have to enlarge > the present focus from the individual,Binayak Sen, to include the > co-accused, Piyush Guha and Narayan Sanyal, and also take into consideration > the plight of others who are similarly imprisoned in unfair cases of > sedition. > > Consider the following: > Piyush Guha, the supposed courierin this case, has never been granted bail. > He lost his parents in the course ofthese three years but was not given the > right to even attend to the last ritesof his parents. Piyush was kept in > illegal custody and tortured for five days and he only produced when the > Chhattisgarh PUCL issued a statement demandinghis whereabouts. His family > lost its breadwinner and his wife, Rupa Guha, hasbeen carrying out a lone > fight for three and a half years. Our efforts in demanding the release of > Binayak must include the release of Piyush Guha. > > Narayan Sanyal, the otherco-accused has been in jail for five years already. > He is old and ailing and issuffering from a chronic and painful ailment, > fibromatosis. Despite directivesfrom the court, he has not received any > serious medical treatment in prison.The argument that his being a Maoist > ideologue is sufficient to keep him inprison for the rest of his life is > unfair, cruel and undemocratic particularlysince the other cases in which he > has been arrested have nearly collapsed. As has been pointed out by many, > the decision to charge him with sedition happenedonly after the police > arrested Binayak Sen. Narayan > Sanyal’s case (even his supposed role in the present one) is a fit case for > us to ask not only for hisrelease but also to demand a repeal of the ban > against CPI(Maoist). > > Our campaign must focus on demanding the repeal of undemocratic ‘security’ > legislations like UAPA, CSPSA etc or under unfair provisions of the IPC like > ‘sedition’ (S 124 A) and ‘wagingwar’ (S 121 of IPC) . The most recent > conviction of Asit Sengupta, editor of the well known journal, World to Win > is most worrying. Sengupta was arrested by Chhattisgarh police (and > illegally detained, of course!) in January 2008 and never granted bail. On > the same day when Binayak, Piyush and Sanyal were given life imprisonment, > the same day Asit Sengupta was convicted and sentenced to eight years > imprisonment for his work as an editor and publisher by another Raipur > court. Kopa Kunjam, activist of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (Dantewada) who was > working to re-settle displaced Adivasis in Netra villa, has been implicated > in a murder case. Nineactivists, including Kartam Joga of Adivasi Mahasbha, > campaigning against landgrab in Lohanmdiguda, (Bastar) have been accused of > involvement in the attack on CRPF personnel. > > There are innumerable incidents of this nature which are taking place in > Chattisgarh and elsewhere where joint operations are going on. > > Friends, we needto fight together to ensure that > 1. The entire miscarriage of justice begun in 2007 should be rectified > and all the victims should be unconditionally released and compensated for > their unfair stay in jail. > 2. Withdrawal of undemocratic ‘security’legislations like UAPA, CSPSA > etc > 3. Repeal of archaic and colonial provisions like sedition and waging > war from the IPC > 4. Improvement of facilities in jails, particularlymedical treatment of > > prisoners > > Harish Dhawan and Paramjeet Singh > (Secretaries PUDR) > __._,_.___ > . > > __,_._,___ > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Free Binayak Sen" group. > To post to this group, send an email to free-binayaksen at googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > free-binayaksen+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/free-binayaksen?hl=en-GB. > -- T. Vijayendra Phone: 08258 205340 Mobile: +91 94835 83634 (No signal at the farm). SANGATYA, 10-124, Nakre Village & P. O. Karkala Taluk Udipi-576 117 Karnataka, India. Address for post c/o Dr. Chhayalata 7-67 P, Jayadurga Compound, Temple Road, Kannarpady, Udipi 576 103, Karnataka, India From magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com Tue Jan 4 19:38:50 2011 From: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com (Magic Lantern Foundation) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 19:38:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Internship in New Delhi Message-ID: Dear all, Magic Lantern Foundation is a registered not-for-profit and has been working with culture and human rights since 1989. Currently we are readying for two film festivals in New Delhi. We are looking for two interns to start work immediately. Interns will: 1. Assist with festival related tasks 2. Mange Magic Lantern's social media and websites 3. Hold workshops in colleges on the documentary practice as an invitation to the film festival 4. Help in general administration. 5. Assist in writing and creating festival related publicity material. 6. Coordinate festival logistics - from construction to hospitality 7. Assist in on-going projects. 8. Assist with edits of trailer, and other festival material We are looking for post graduates and above in any liberal arts subjects. Familiarity with the FCP is desirable but not mandatory. Magic Lantern doesn't pay interns. If interested please write to: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com with 'internship' as the subject line and with CV attached. thanks, Gargi Sen --------- Magic Lantern Foundation J 1881 Chittaranjan Park, Basement, New Delhi 110019 P: +(91 11) 26273244/ 41605239 E: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com W: http://magiclanternfoundation.org | http://www.ucfilms.in From leonardo.electronic.almanac at gmail.com Wed Jan 5 15:39:45 2011 From: leonardo.electronic.almanac at gmail.com (Lanfranco Aceti) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 11:09:45 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] ISEA 2011 - Call for Papers - reminder Message-ID: Dear All, This is just a reminder that the deadline for ISEA2011 Istanbul, The 17th International Symposium on Electronic Art, call for papers, artworks, panels, and workshops is January 15th, 2011. The event is scheduled for September 14 to 21, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. With kind regards, Lanfranco Aceti Conference Chair and Artistic Director, ISEA2011 Istanbul Please visit the current exhibition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac: Facebook: http://ow.ly/3pAjd Flickr: http://ow.ly/3pAKp Twitter: http://ow.ly/3pALO For more information contact: Ozden Sahin, ozden.sahin at leoalmanac.org Leonardo is a registered trademark of Leonardo/ISAST. From javedmasoo at gmail.com Thu Jan 6 10:59:39 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 10:59:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Saffron terror leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast Message-ID: Saffron terror leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast Vishwa Mohan & Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN, Jan 6, 2011, 12.54am IST NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency probing the blast on Samjhauta Express in February 2007 looks set to book militant Hindutva leader Aseemanand. It has identified Aseemanand as the key plotter of the attack that killed 68 people, majority of them Pakistani citizens returning home after visiting their kin in India. Sources in the agency, which was brought in after investigations by Haryana Police reached a dead-end, told TOI that Aseemanand planned the blast to avenge the series of terror attacks by Islamist terror groups. "The role of Hindu extremists behind the blast has become clear. The probe agency found that Aseemanand was one of the plotters. The group had done it under their 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan which was hatched in the Dangs district of Gujarat," said sources in the NIA. Haryana police had found similarities in the explosives used in the Samjhauta blast and the explosion at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, another attack suspected to have been carried out by Aseemanand and his comrades under the 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan. But the Haryana cops could not connect the dots. The picture was further complicated when the US named a Pakistani terrorist, Asif Kasmani, suspected to be a go-between Lashkar and al-Qaida, as the main suspect in the Samajhauta blast. NIA's probe into the cases of saffron terror has gathered momentum after the arrest of Aseemanand who is believed to have inspired Abhinav Bharat members to retaliate against Islamist terror. NIA's investigation into the Samjhauta train attack may give Pakistan a handle to embarrass India. Officials are wary of the possibility of Islamabad asking for Aseemanand's custody once he is charge-sheeted. But the government has decided to press ahead with the probe, said an official. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Saffron-terror-leader-to-be-booked-for-Samjhauta-blast/articleshow/7225559.cms From chintan.backups at gmail.com Thu Jan 6 13:24:41 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 13:24:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Inspiring story about a 12-year-old in Allahabad In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: From http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/At_12_he_is_newspaper_editor_reporter_and_publisher_-nid-76705.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber At 12, he is newspaper editor, reporter and publisher By IANS Wednesday, 05 January 2011, 10:29 IST Allahabad: He is all of 12 years but Utkarsh Tripathi painstakingly brings out a handwritten newspaper every week to spread awareness among his peers on issues like the environment and female foeticide. And all this to satisfy his urge to "serve the country". A Class 8 student of the Brij Bihari Sahai (BBS) Inter College in Allahabad, Utkarsh has been bringing out the newspaper Jagriti for the last one year. And for the four-page, black-and-white newspaper, Utkarsh not only dons the role of a reporter, editor and publisher, but also turns hawker for circulating the weekly. Unlike other papers, readers of Jagriti don't have to spend a single penny -- Utkarsh distributes it free of cost. "Yes, I manage it all alone. Right from gathering the content, its editing, publishing and ultimately distributing the copies to readers," Utkarsh, a resident of Khatju colony in Allahabad, told IANS. "I know, you would like to know how I publish the newspaper. First I prepare a handwritten copy of Jagriti and later take out copies at a photocopy shop in my locality. It's simple," he explained. Jagriti has about 150 readers belonging to varied age groups in Allahabad, some 200 km from the state capital Lucknow. "Children comprise the major chunk of Jagriti readers - my school friends, my seniors in school, teachers and also my neighbours," he said. According to Utkarsh's father Hari Prasad, who runs a coaching institute, his son has a flair for writing and wanted to serve the country in some way. "More than a year ago, he read an article on Indo-China relations in a Hindi daily. I don't know what came into his mind... After reading the article, he came to me and asked me to suggest a way he could serve the country," Prasad said. "At that time I wasn't sure how serious he was about the question... I said that joining the defence services was one of the best options to serve the country... To this, he said that he wanted to start serving the society from his school life itself. I then suggested why not work like a journalist and make people aware of their rights," he added. Utkarsh took the suggestion seriously and came up with Jagriti. "I named the newspaper Jagriti, as my mission was to make people aware of various issues affecting them," the 12-year-old said. "I try to cover social issues pertaining to environment, female foeticide and others in the editorial section, and also information about public welfare schemes and important government policies for the betterment of the poor or children," Utkarsh added. Jagriti also has success stories of scientists, political leaders and other prominent personalities. But how does he get time from his studies to bring out a weekly newspaper. "I believe if anyone is passionate about something, he or she can take out some time to purse his passion, irrespective of the hectic schedule," Utkarsh replied. I spend some time daily on researching topics and gathering public utility information from sources like magazines, news dailies and the internet. On Sunday I get more time to work on my project and make pictorial representations that could go along with the articles," he said. Utkarsh's efforts are much appreciated by people in Allahabad. "He has shown all of us that an ordinary person can contribute to the society in one way or other...You just need to have an urge for that," Kashi Kesarwani, a resident of Chandpur area, told IANS. Nutan Devi, a local journalist and the boy's neighbour, said; "For me it's real journalism... It has revived the decades-old objective of journalism that seems to have now have got lost somewhere." From chintan.backups at gmail.com Thu Jan 6 13:47:13 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 13:47:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Do not limit your child to your own education, for he was born in another time. Message-ID: >From http://www.deccanchronicle.com/business/bagful-wishes-422 *A bagful of wishes* January 1st, 2011 By Ashish Rajpal Do not limit your child to your own education, for he was born in another time. A Jewish proverb The Right to Education Bill (affectionately RTE) was perhaps the defining education event of 2010 mandating good quality learning, and not just access to schooling, as a must-have for every child. This was a fitting end to arguably the most eventful decade for school education in India where several landmark policy prescriptions were given the stamp of approval. CBSE made its Class 10 examinations optional and introduced a system of continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) with the intent to end the tyranny of testing. The Sixth Pay Commission announced revised pay scales for teachers, bringing then at par with other professional sectors. A public-private-partnership (PPP) was announced to enable private organisations to service and manage failing public schools. It is easy to discern the liberal philosophical roots of these policies, building on two centuries of thinking in India and across the world. Having its roots in the Latin word liber, which means “free”; liberal education is mostly centred around a vision of a rounded school education that is relevant to real life and is centred around the needs of the child. Globally, educators such as Dewey, Steiner and Montessori have shown the way to child-centred schooling that emphasises genuine leaning and creative expression. At home, J. Krishnamurthy spoke of education without fear, Sri Aurobindo advocated “free-progress”, and Mahatma Gandhi’s Nai-Talim emphasised vocational skills and dignity of labour. More recently, the NCERT’s National Curricular Framework 2005 made a substantial case around two common sense principles: one, make the classroom content more useful to children in real life; two, shift away from tiresome rote learning to methods that make learning enjoyable. I congratulate the vision and intent of the makers of these policies. However, I am less sure if liberal policies, on their own, will actually translate to meaningful learning for our children. In my decade-long association with hundreds of schools across the country, I have learnt that what needs to change are the practices at the last-mile of school education. To that end, I want three wishes for critical practices that can make liberal education a reality in every classroom. I wish that hands-on exploration be part of our classroom curriculum. What if children were treated as little scientists who conducted experiments with their own hands, made observations, asked questions and came to their own conclusions while guided by the teacher? For me personally, a defining experience was a class I attended with Eleanor Duckworth. She was our professor at Harvard University who would run classes in a very hands-on and experiential way. She would make us do permutations and combination exercises with clips, make us do area and volume exercises with chocolate bars, keep us up late at night and make us watch the moon to see what its shape was and the direction of the “rabbit”. It was an astonishing experience in hands-on learning. My second wish is to inculcate a reflective mindset and openness to feedback as part of the programmes to educate our teachers. Theoretical knowledge of psychology and subject matter understanding is certainly necessary but not sufficient to create good teaching practice, which is often limited to repeated transmission of textbook content. What if teachers observed each other inside the classroom, reflected honestly on how they performed, gave each other feedback and continuously improved on their practices? After training over 10,000 teachers in this manner, I have seen the visible difference a reflective teacher can make on her students. Instead of running after marks and ranks, children in these classrooms think on their own, thirst for objective feedback on their performance, are not afraid to fail in new tasks and try repeatedly until they succeed. My final wish is to get school leaders to be role-model teachers and learners. When I visited Kiran Sethi’s acclaimed Riverside School in Ahmedabad, Mary Roy’s painstakingly created Pallikodam in Kottayam, and the vibrant Harishree Vidyalyam in Chennai, I found one thing in common. The leaders of these schools spent their time and energy in the classroom; immersed in learning, modelling good teaching and coaching their colleagues. For my wishes to come true, the theoretical world of academics and policy must meet the real world of teachers and students. Today they lie estranged in different galaxies. Good education management means bringing them together. Once this happens, we can then look forward to a generation of curious, creative and fearless learners who can solve the most pressing challenges of our country. No problem will be too big for them. They will say: “Let’s figure it out”, and not, “It’s out of syllabus”! That is when we will deliver a truly liberal education. Ashish Rajpal is the co-founder & managing director of iDiscoveri Education. From asit1917 at gmail.com Thu Jan 6 15:03:03 2011 From: asit1917 at gmail.com (asit das) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 15:03:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] reader-list Digest, Vol 90, Issue 7 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 1/6/11, reader-list-request at sarai.net wrote: > Send reader-list mailing list submissions to > reader-list at sarai.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > reader-list-request at sarai.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > reader-list-owner at sarai.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of reader-list digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. KITTE MIL VE MAHI screening at the National Gallery for > Modern Art (misst) > 2. Re: PUDR statement (T. Vijayendra ) > 3. Internship in New Delhi (Magic Lantern Foundation) > 4. ISEA 2011 - Call for Papers - reminder (Lanfranco Aceti) > 5. Saffron terror leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast (Javed) > 6. Inspiring story about a 12-year-old in Allahabad > (Chintan Girish Modi) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 10:13:54 +0000 > From: misst > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: [Reader-list] KITTE MIL VE MAHI screening at the National > Gallery for Modern Art > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > National Gallery for Modern Art (NGMA) > in collaboration with > India Foundation for the Arts > > present > > IFA FILM FESTIVAL > > January 2- February 20, 2011 > > (All documentary films will have English subtitle) > > Venue: National Gallery for Modern Art (NGMA) > Manikyavelu Mansion > 49 Palace Road, Bengaluru 560 052 > > Contact: 080 2234 2338 > > February 13, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am > > KITTE MIL VE MAHI, 1 Hour 15 minutes > > By Ajay Bhardwaj > > A deeply felt and moving film, Ajay Bharadwaj’s Kitte Mil Ve Mahi > cuts to the quick and puts across a well reasoned and eloquent quest > of the Dalits in Punjab to take on the legitimacy of the deeply > exploitative and humiliating caste system. This sensitively crafted > and provocative film provides a glimpse of the alternate cultural > forms of the Punjabi Dalits that critique the oppression of the > ‘upper’ castes and articulate a powerful vision of social justice. It > focuses, in particular, on the popular Sufi traditions of the Punjabi > Dalits. > > > January 2, 2011, Sunday, 3 pm > > BISHAR BLUES, 1 Hour 16 minutes > > By Amitabh Chakraborty > > > IJanuary 8, 2011, Saturday, 3 pm > > THE OTHER SONG, 2 Hours > > By Saba Dewan > > > January 9, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am > > MAYA BAZAR, 1 Hour > > By K M Madhusudhanan > > > January 9, 2011, Sunday, 12:45 pm > > OUT OF THIN AIR, 50 minutes > > By Shabani Hassanwalia and Samreen Farooqui > > January 23, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am > > CITY OF PHOTOS, 1 Hour > > By Nishtha Jain > > > February 12, 2011, Saturday, 3pm > > NATAK JARI HAIN, 1 Hour 24 minutes > > By Lalit Vachani > > > February 12, 2011, Saturday, 4:30 pm > > RASIKEN RE, 33 minutes > > By Pooja Kaul > > > February 19, 2011, Saturday, 3 pm > > THE LISTENER’S TALE, 1 Hour 16 minutes > > By Arghya Basu > > > > February 20, 2011, Sunday, 11:30 am > > NEE ENGEY, 2 Hours 38 minutes > > By R V Ramani > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 18:16:22 +0530 > From: "T. Vijayendra " > To: Nagraj Adve > Cc: Sarai , Pramodini Pradhan > , debaranjan sarangi , > Arun Bidani > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] PUDR statement > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > Dear all, > > It is timely and very correct stand. I fully support it. > > Viju > > On 04/01/2011, Nagraj Adve wrote: >> Peoples Union for Democratic >> Rights >> >> Dear friends and comrades, >> The recent countrywide demonstrations against the unfair verdict in the >> Binayak Sen case have been really heartwarming. The demonstrations have >> brought many of us together, who feel enraged and upset over the judgment. >> Clearly, if our numbers continue to grow, we will soonbe in a position of >> strength and will ensure the release of Binayak and manyothers. >> >> The case against Binayak Sen hasbecome a focal point to oppose the >> attempts >> by the state to criminalise civilrights activities. Yet, we strongly feel >> that in order to make the entire campaign into a success we have to >> enlarge >> the present focus from the individual,Binayak Sen, to include the >> co-accused, Piyush Guha and Narayan Sanyal, and also take into >> consideration >> the plight of others who are similarly imprisoned in unfair cases of >> sedition. >> >> Consider the following: >> Piyush Guha, the supposed courierin this case, has never been granted >> bail. >> He lost his parents in the course ofthese three years but was not given >> the >> right to even attend to the last ritesof his parents. Piyush was kept in >> illegal custody and tortured for five days and he only produced when the >> Chhattisgarh PUCL issued a statement demandinghis whereabouts. His family >> lost its breadwinner and his wife, Rupa Guha, hasbeen carrying out a lone >> fight for three and a half years. Our efforts in demanding the release of >> Binayak must include the release of Piyush Guha. >> >> Narayan Sanyal, the otherco-accused has been in jail for five years >> already. >> He is old and ailing and issuffering from a chronic and painful ailment, >> fibromatosis. Despite directivesfrom the court, he has not received any >> serious medical treatment in prison.The argument that his being a Maoist >> ideologue is sufficient to keep him inprison for the rest of his life is >> unfair, cruel and undemocratic particularlysince the other cases in which >> he >> has been arrested have nearly collapsed. As has been pointed out by many, >> the decision to charge him with sedition happenedonly after the police >> arrested Binayak Sen. Narayan >> Sanyal’s case (even his supposed role in the present one) is a fit case >> for >> us to ask not only for hisrelease but also to demand a repeal of the ban >> against CPI(Maoist). >> >> Our campaign must focus on demanding the repeal of undemocratic ‘security’ >> legislations like UAPA, CSPSA etc or under unfair provisions of the IPC >> like >> ‘sedition’ (S 124 A) and ‘wagingwar’ (S 121 of IPC) . The most recent >> conviction of Asit Sengupta, editor of the well known journal, World to >> Win >> is most worrying. Sengupta was arrested by Chhattisgarh police (and >> illegally detained, of course!) in January 2008 and never granted bail. >> On >> the same day when Binayak, Piyush and Sanyal were given life imprisonment, >> the same day Asit Sengupta was convicted and sentenced to eight years >> imprisonment for his work as an editor and publisher by another Raipur >> court. Kopa Kunjam, activist of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (Dantewada) who was >> working to re-settle displaced Adivasis in Netra villa, has been >> implicated >> in a murder case. Nineactivists, including Kartam Joga of Adivasi >> Mahasbha, >> campaigning against landgrab in Lohanmdiguda, (Bastar) have been accused >> of >> involvement in the attack on CRPF personnel. >> >> There are innumerable incidents of this nature which are taking place in >> Chattisgarh and elsewhere where joint operations are going on. >> >> Friends, we needto fight together to ensure that >> 1. The entire miscarriage of justice begun in 2007 should be >> rectified >> and all the victims should be unconditionally released and compensated for >> their unfair stay in jail. >> 2. Withdrawal of undemocratic ‘security’legislations like UAPA, CSPSA >> etc >> 3. Repeal of archaic and colonial provisions like sedition and waging >> war from the IPC >> 4. Improvement of facilities in jails, particularlymedical treatment >> of >> >> prisoners >> >> Harish Dhawan and Paramjeet Singh >> (Secretaries PUDR) >> __._,_.___ >> . >> >> __,_._,___ >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Free Binayak Sen" group. >> To post to this group, send an email to free-binayaksen at googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> free-binayaksen+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/free-binayaksen?hl=en-GB. >> > > > -- > T. Vijayendra > Phone: 08258 205340 > Mobile: +91 94835 83634 (No signal at the farm). > SANGATYA, > 10-124, Nakre Village & P. O. > Karkala Taluk > Udipi-576 117 > Karnataka, India. > Address for post > c/o Dr. Chhayalata > 7-67 P, Jayadurga Compound, Temple Road, > Kannarpady, Udipi 576 103, Karnataka, India > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 19:38:50 +0530 > From: Magic Lantern Foundation > To: CACDelhi at yahoogroups.co.in > Cc: vikalp at yahoogroups.com, sarai list , > docuwallahs2 at yahoogroups.com, Magic Lantern Foundation > > Subject: [Reader-list] Internship in New Delhi > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Dear all, > Magic Lantern Foundation is a registered not-for-profit and has been working > with culture and human rights since 1989. Currently we are readying for two > film festivals in New Delhi. > We are looking for two interns to start work immediately. > > Interns will: > 1. Assist with festival related tasks > 2. Mange Magic Lantern's social media and websites > 3. Hold workshops in colleges on the documentary practice as an invitation > to the film festival > 4. Help in general administration. > 5. Assist in writing and creating festival related publicity material. > 6. Coordinate festival logistics - from construction to hospitality > 7. Assist in on-going projects. > 8. Assist with edits of trailer, and other festival material > > We are looking for post graduates and above in any liberal arts subjects. > Familiarity with the FCP is desirable but not mandatory. > > Magic Lantern doesn't pay interns. If interested please write to: > magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com with 'internship' as the subject line and > with CV attached. > > thanks, > Gargi Sen > > --------- > Magic Lantern Foundation > J 1881 Chittaranjan Park, Basement, New Delhi 110019 > P: +(91 11) 26273244/ 41605239 > E: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com > W: http://magiclanternfoundation.org | http://www.ucfilms.in > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 11:09:45 +0100 > From: Lanfranco Aceti > To: bulletin at asci.org, ambit at a-r-c.org.uk, announce at fibreculture.org, > empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au, nettime-ann at nettime.org, > reader-list at sarai.net, rohrpost at coredump.buug.de, > spectre at mikrolisten.de, openlab at lists.pawfal.org, > openlab-announce at lists.pawfal.org, netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org, > london-hack-space at googlegroups.com, dorkbotlondon-blabber at dorkbot.org, > blabber at dorkbot.org, toplapuk at toplap.org, > sanlist at lists.sonicartsnetwork.org, news-l at lists.nodel.org, > mbrusermann at gmail.com > Subject: [Reader-list] ISEA 2011 - Call for Papers - reminder > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Dear All, > > This is just a reminder that the deadline for ISEA2011 Istanbul, The > 17th International Symposium on Electronic Art, call for papers, > artworks, panels, and workshops is January 15th, 2011. The event is > scheduled for September 14 to 21, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. > > With kind regards, > > Lanfranco Aceti > Conference Chair and Artistic Director, ISEA2011 Istanbul > > Please visit the current exhibition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac: > > Facebook: http://ow.ly/3pAjd > > Flickr: http://ow.ly/3pAKp > > Twitter: http://ow.ly/3pALO > > For more information contact: > Ozden Sahin, ozden.sahin at leoalmanac.org > > Leonardo is a registered trademark of Leonardo/ISAST. > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 10:59:39 +0530 > From: Javed > To: sarai list > Subject: [Reader-list] Saffron terror leader to be booked for > Samjhauta blast > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Saffron terror leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast > Vishwa Mohan & Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN, Jan 6, 2011, 12.54am IST > > NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency probing the blast on > Samjhauta Express in February 2007 looks set to book militant Hindutva > leader Aseemanand. It has identified Aseemanand as the key plotter of > the attack that killed 68 people, majority of them Pakistani citizens > returning home after visiting their kin in India. > > Sources in the agency, which was brought in after investigations by > Haryana Police reached a dead-end, told TOI that Aseemanand planned > the blast to avenge the series of terror attacks by Islamist terror > groups. > > "The role of Hindu extremists behind the blast has become clear. The > probe agency found that Aseemanand was one of the plotters. The group > had done it under their 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan which was hatched in the > Dangs district of Gujarat," said sources in the NIA. > > Haryana police had found similarities in the explosives used in the > Samjhauta blast and the explosion at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, another > attack suspected to have been carried out by Aseemanand and his > comrades under the 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan. > > But the Haryana cops could not connect the dots. The picture was > further complicated when the US named a Pakistani terrorist, Asif > Kasmani, suspected to be a go-between Lashkar and al-Qaida, as the > main suspect in the Samajhauta blast. > > NIA's probe into the cases of saffron terror has gathered momentum > after the arrest of Aseemanand who is believed to have inspired > Abhinav Bharat members to retaliate against Islamist terror. > > NIA's investigation into the Samjhauta train attack may give Pakistan > a handle to embarrass India. Officials are wary of the possibility of > Islamabad asking for Aseemanand's custody once he is charge-sheeted. > But the government has decided to press ahead with the probe, said an > official. > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Saffron-terror-leader-to-be-booked-for-Samjhauta-blast/articleshow/7225559.cms > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 6 > Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 13:24:41 +0530 > From: Chintan Girish Modi > To: reader-list at sarai.net, alt-ed-india > , thelibrarywalagroup > > Subject: [Reader-list] Inspiring story about a 12-year-old in > Allahabad > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > From > http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/At_12_he_is_newspaper_editor_reporter_and_publisher_-nid-76705.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber > > At 12, he is newspaper editor, reporter and publisher > By IANS > > Wednesday, 05 January 2011, 10:29 IST > > > Allahabad: He is all of 12 years but Utkarsh Tripathi painstakingly brings > out a handwritten newspaper every week to spread awareness among his peers > on issues like the environment and female foeticide. And all this to satisfy > his urge to "serve the country". > > A Class 8 student of the Brij Bihari Sahai (BBS) Inter College in Allahabad, > Utkarsh has been bringing out the newspaper Jagriti for the last one year. > > And for the four-page, black-and-white newspaper, Utkarsh not only dons the > role of a reporter, editor and publisher, but also turns hawker for > circulating the weekly. > > Unlike other papers, readers of Jagriti don't have to spend a single penny > -- Utkarsh distributes it free of cost. > > "Yes, I manage it all alone. Right from gathering the content, its editing, > publishing and ultimately distributing the copies to readers," Utkarsh, a > resident of Khatju colony in Allahabad, told IANS. > > "I know, you would like to know how I publish the newspaper. First I prepare > a handwritten copy of Jagriti and later take out copies at a photocopy shop > in my locality. It's simple," he explained. > > Jagriti has about 150 readers belonging to varied age groups in Allahabad, > some 200 km from the state capital Lucknow. > > "Children comprise the major chunk of Jagriti readers - my school friends, > my seniors in school, teachers and also my neighbours," he said. > > According to Utkarsh's father Hari Prasad, who runs a coaching institute, > his son has a flair for writing and wanted to serve the country in some way. > > "More than a year ago, he read an article on Indo-China relations in a Hindi > daily. I don't know what came into his mind... After reading the article, he > came to me and asked me to suggest a way he could serve the country," Prasad > said. > > "At that time I wasn't sure how serious he was about the question... I said > that joining the defence services was one of the best options to serve the > country... To this, he said that he wanted to start serving the society from > his school life itself. I then suggested why not work like a journalist and > make people aware of their rights," he added. > > Utkarsh took the suggestion seriously and came up with Jagriti. > > "I named the newspaper Jagriti, as my mission was to make people aware of > various issues affecting them," the 12-year-old said. > > "I try to cover social issues pertaining to environment, female foeticide > and others in the editorial section, and also information about public > welfare schemes and important government policies for the betterment of the > poor or children," Utkarsh added. > > Jagriti also has success stories of scientists, political leaders and other > prominent personalities. > > But how does he get time from his studies to bring out a weekly newspaper. > > "I believe if anyone is passionate about something, he or she can take out > some time to purse his passion, irrespective of the hectic schedule," > Utkarsh replied. > > I spend some time daily on researching topics and gathering public utility > information from sources like magazines, news dailies and the internet. On > Sunday I get more time to work on my project and make pictorial > representations that could go along with the articles," he said. > > Utkarsh's efforts are much appreciated by people in Allahabad. > > "He has shown all of us that an ordinary person can contribute to the > society in one way or other...You just need to have an urge for that," Kashi > Kesarwani, a resident of Chandpur area, told IANS. > > Nutan Devi, a local journalist and the boy's neighbour, said; "For me it's > real journalism... It has revived the decades-old objective of journalism > that seems to have now have got lost somewhere." > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > reader-list mailing list > reader-list at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > End of reader-list Digest, Vol 90, Issue 7 > ****************************************** >Binayaks sens conviction tears open the liberal democratic facade of indian state and its so called great constitutiob the indian state stands thouroghly delegitimised long live the laegest democracy asit From magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com Thu Jan 6 10:08:41 2011 From: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com (Magic Lantern Foundation) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 10:08:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] DVDs of THE ADVOCATE Message-ID: <5BE2DA05-ECCA-4D78-83B2-9E749547F2D7@gmail.com> Dear all, We are offering free DVDs of The Advocate (http://www.ucfilms.in/subject/citizenship/the-advocate/) a film directed by Deepa Dhanranj on the work and times of K. G. Kannabiran to anyone wishing to screen the film for Kanna's memorial or public education. Please see and circulate this link: http://magiclanternfoundation.org/blog/2011/01/k-g-kannabiran-the-advocate/ thanks, Gargi Sen --------- Magic Lantern Foundation J 1881 Chittaranjan Park, Basement, New Delhi 110019 P: +(91 11) 26273244/ 41605239 E: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com W: http://magiclanternfoundation.org | http://www.ucfilms.in From rohitrellan at aol.in Thu Jan 6 16:40:16 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2011 06:10:16 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Dharma Celebration on Sunday 9th with His Holiness the Dalai Lama In-Reply-To: <8CD7BA955784810-1F3C-A0B5@web-mmc-m10.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CD7BA955784810-1F3C-A0B5@web-mmc-m10.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CD7BA96E3B4017-1F3C-A0BF@web-mmc-m10.sysops.aol.com> Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, established in New Delhi in 1979 by Tibetan teachers Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, is delighted to announce its 19th Dharma Celebration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at 3pm on Sunday the 9th January 2011 at The Sir Shankar Lal Hall, Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi.      Tushita was established to repay the two major kindnesses of the historic Indian people-the transmission of Buddhism from India to Tibet from the 7th to the 11th centuries and the granting of asylum to His Holiness and more than one lakh Tibetan refugees from 1959 onwards. Tushita does this by making freely available the authentic philosophy and practice of Buddhism to Indian and international students on a weekly basis as well as by having regular Dharma celebrations where the public at large have the opportunity to hear firsthand The Dalai Lama whom many would consider the greatest living exponent of the ancient wisdom heritage of India.    This year’s Talk is titled “The Different Levels of Happiness”. It will challenge us to consider whether the usual avenues to happiness that we take-wealth, property, power, sex and status-really have the ability to confer lasting satisfaction and meaningful fulfilment. Can we create the causes for happiness without over-exploiting the planet and each other? The Dalai Lama maintains great compassionate warmth, infectious humour and genuine cheerfulness in the face of his tremendous responsibilities for his 6 million suffering Tibetans as well as people worldwide. How he does that is not magic. He maintains that each of us has the ability to achieve a happy state through training of the human mind. Please come and hear His Holiness explain how lasting unshakeable happiness can be achieved.  From sanjaykhak at gmail.com Thu Jan 6 23:31:12 2011 From: sanjaykhak at gmail.com (Sanjay Khak) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 23:31:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Probe on in case against Arundhati, Geelani: Police Message-ID: Probe on in case against Arundhati, Geelani: Police *Staff Reporter The Hindu Link - http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1045939.ece * The Delhi police on Thursday submitted a status report to a local court, which is looking into a complaint against writer Arundhati Roy, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, revolutionary poet Varavara Rao and four others for speeches made at a convention on Kashmir, stating a first information report had been registered and investigation was progressing. The FIR was registered at the Tilak Marg police station on November 29 last following a direction by Metropolitan Magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha. An organisation, “Roots in Kashmir,” filed a complaint in the court saying the police had not taken any action on its complaint, filed at the Tilak Marg station on October 28, against the speeches made at the October 21 convention, “Azadi: The Only Way,” organised here. On Thursday, the judge clubbed three other complaints received against Ms. Roy for her speech at the convention with the “Roots for Kashmir” case. The matter will come up for hearing on February 25. The investigating officer had excused himself from appearing in court on Thursday, citing appearance in a Tis Hazari court. *FIR* The FIR has been registered under Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Jan 7 10:21:18 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 10:21:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Working as a blind journalist Message-ID: From http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/worldagenda/2011/01/110104_worldagenda_roams_globe.shtml *BBC’s Disability Affairs Correspondent Peter White explains how he overcomes the practical problems of travelling abroad and recording, and the different approach he takes to describing the world around him. * >From the moment I reach an airport, a harbour or cross a border by road, it’s the voices I’m listening for – their lilt, timbre, rise and fall. And that was really the idea behind my series - *Blind Man Roams the Globe *- to share with the listener what I get from a town or city. It’s a perfect concept for radio, of course. In fact, some might say too perfect. After all, you could argue, how else do you provide a radio portrait of a city other than through sound? The point is, though, that much radio travelogue is people describing what they see. I’ve avoided that because I avoid it in real life. I personally don’t want people describing views to me because, having never seen, they don’t mean much. What you will hear in this series is what I hear and when you hear the voices of people, they will be talking to me, not at me. Window of radio Having been born blind, I’ve always travelled blind – and for me, sightseeing is more a case of ‘sound-hearing’. Put simply, things that don’t make much noise aren’t much use to me. Views, paintings, buildings (unless they’ve got a good echo), leave me rather cold. And yet I’ve always loved travelling. As a child we didn’t have much money, so I dreamed of the places I was fascinated with – the US, China and Africa. So how did I imagine them, if not through pictures? Well, largely through the medium of radio. It was the voices from around the world that I picked up tuning round the radio dial - the discussions, music, snatches of sports commentaries. Different approach I rarely go on formal guided tours – except perhaps to eavesdrop on the snatches of conversation which happen on them. And I even try to avoid the helpful friend who offers to take me round the city, which can still result in a succession of meaningless descriptions. I’d much rather – as I did in San Francisco – board a bus and listen to and join in with the conversations. Listen to the languages change as we move from district to district in such a cosmopolitan city. Or go to a baseball game and ask the crowd around me to talk me through it. I want to know why they are there, what they get out of it, where it stands in the city’s experience. Or in Istanbul, full of history, I’d rather stand on the Galata Bridge on a Sunday afternoon, talking to the children as they catch fish, later to be grilled at the nearby restaurants or just there in the open air; or wander through the bazaars, captivated by the tactics of the stallholders as they reel in the tourists like a different kind of fish. Realistic experience There are some logistical difficulties with this approach. For a start, in real life and in this series, many of my best moments come when I’m looking for help – which for a blind man travelling alone is much of the time. But for a number of reasons, both editorial and practical, it was necessary in this series for me to be accompanied by a producer, Sue Mitchell. So what to do with Sue when I needed her to be invisible, so that people would voluntarily help me? For the situations we recorded to be realistic, I had to be hands-free – in the absence of eyes, a blind person relies on their hands to function. Generous strangers Our first recording in San Francisco required me to ask about how to reclaim my luggage from the carousel. It was clear that the rather snarky airport worker, who was quite willing to help me, was wondering what a rather vacant-looking English woman was doing with me and why she wouldn’t help me herself. It’s a problem we never completely solved and it says something for the generosity of people all over the world that we got away with it. Finding a solution Another common problem I encounter is that it’s very difficult for people with sight to give advice without using visual references – they just don’t tend to mean very much to me. One solution is to find at least one other blind person in the city, for whom it comes naturally to talk to me in terms of the senses which we share. Marilee, for instance, told me how in San Francisco she often located herself by the direction of the local breezes blowing off the bay. The blind university lecturer I met in Istanbul had become very familiar with the city’s garbage bins, which apparently gave off different odours in different areas. I am still learning as I go, but this formula lends itself to bringing people out of their shells and making them generous with time and information. People all over the world like to help and particularly like to share the places they love with visitors. *Listen to Blind Man Roams the Globe by clicking click hereand to Peter’s Radio 4 programme In Touch by clicking click here * From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Jan 7 10:47:20 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 10:47:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Kabir Concert at Lamakaan, Hyderabad on Friday Jan 7th In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Biju Mathew Date: Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:40 AM Subject: First Time Ever Kabir Concert at Lamakaan on Friday Jan 7th ------------ *Lamakaan Presents Prahlad Singh Tipanya* for the First Ever Concert of its Kind in Hyderabad Venue: Lamakaan Date: Friday Jan 7th 2010 Time: 7 30 PM Prahlad Singh Tipanya is a rural school teacher from the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, who began singing in the late 1970s after being attracted by the sound of the folk tambura. His rare talent, passion, and insight have caused him to be increasingly recognized as a remarkable exponent of Kabir’s music and meanings. Among many other honors, he received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2008. Many believe that in the historic struggle in India between secular syncretic traditions and communal forces, it is people like Tipanya who form the most important place. His concerts in rural India are attended by thousands who ar drawn to the radical message of Kabir through his rendition of the tradition. . For More Information on Prahlad Tipanya and the Kabir Project visit: http://www.kabirproject.org/ For More Information on the Lamakaan concert call: 9848470907 From subhachops at gmail.com Sat Jan 8 10:36:03 2011 From: subhachops at gmail.com (Subhash) Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 10:36:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] who says the saffron terror is a myth? Message-ID: Aseemanand owns up to strike on Mecca Masjid Vishwa Mohan & Abantika Ghosh, TNN, Jan 8, 2011, 01.37am IST NEW DELHI: Aseemanand, the hardline Hindutva swami, has confessed to his involvement in the terror attack on Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, while confirming that bomb attacks on the mosques in Malegaon (in 2006 and 2008) as well as the Samjhauta Express were carried out by Hindu radicals and he knew about it. What reportedly led to the confession: the swami was cared for in jail by a Muslim, who was wrongly arrested in the Mecca Masjid blast, leading to the act of "atonement". Aseemanand aka Jatin Chatterjee, born Naba Kumar Sarkar, has linked Hindu radicals also to the blast in a minority-dominated locality in Gujarat's Modasa town. Further, he said RSS leader Indresh Kumar was part of the plan hatched to avenge bomb attacks on temples, but said that militant Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath provided no help to one of the accused. Indresh, Aseemanand claimed, helped enlist members of the saffron terror plot, including Sunil Joshi and Ramchandra Kalsangra, aka Ramji. In a statement before a magistrate under Section 164 CrPC (admissible in a court of law) the swami also identified the group of radicals who were part of the 'bomb-for-bomb' plan. He said the Hindu radicals allegedly attacked mosques and the train carrying Pakistani citizens as part of the 'bomb-for-bomb' plan to retaliate against jihadi terror. Before making his confession, Aseemanand reportedly told the magistrate that he knew he could be sentenced to death but he still wanted to make the confession because of the arrest of Kaleem, wrongly it now transpires, for the Mecca Masjid blast. Kaleem's plight motivated Aseemanand to think of "atonement" so that innocents don't suffer. The confession reveals that the network behind saffron terror was far stronger and motivated, and its reach wider than suspected so far. It cannot be used as evidence in other cases of alleged saffron terror since they are being investigated by other agencies. But it can help with other probes. Also, it raises serious questions about the course of investigation into the 2006 Malegaon blast, considering that the Maharasthra ATS and CBI have already chargesheeted Muslim accused. According to Aseemanand, the key figures in the Hindutva terror conspiracy are Joshi (who was allegedly killed by his co-conspirators), Sandeep Dange and Kalsangra, both of whom are absconding, and about 10 others who have already been nabbed. Explaining his motivation, Aseemanand told interrogators that he was angry by the attacks on Hindu temples by "Muslim terrorists". "This caused great concern and anger in me. I used to share my concern about the growing menace of Islamic terorism with Bharat Ritheshwar of Valsad," he said. But it was the attack on Varanasi's Sankatmochan temple which proved to be the last straw for the swami who had so far been known for his forceful opposition to proselytization by Christian missionaries in Gujarat's tribal Dangs area. Interestingly, Aseemanand told the magistrate who recorded his statement that he decided to confess because of Kaleem, who was his co-inmate in Chanchalguda prison. Kaleem, a mobile phone seller, had to spend one-and-a-half years in jail in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast, a crime which has now been established as the handiwork of Hindutva radicals. He landed up in the same jail, this time for a different offence, at a time when Aseemanand was also lodged there. He took great care of the swami. The gesture moved Aseemanand to such an extent to make him to atone by way of confession so that the "real culprits can be punished and no innocent has to suffer". "During my interaction with Kaleem, I learnt that he was previously arrested in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case and he had to spend about one-and-a-half years in prison. During my stay in jail, Kaleem helped me a lot and used to serve me by bringing water, food etc for me. I was very moved by Kaleem's good conduct and my conscience asked me to do prayaschit (penance) by making confessional statement." http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aseemanand-owns-up-to-strike-on-Mecca-Masjid/articleshow/7238763.cms From subhachops at gmail.com Sat Jan 8 10:40:58 2011 From: subhachops at gmail.com (Subhash) Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 10:40:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Sunil Joshi, the willing fundamentalist Message-ID: The willing fundamentalist A murder suspect and rabid zealot, RSS man Sunil Joshi could easily have been checked earlier by the police Joshi and Dange had tried to bomb temples in Mhow several times to implicate local Muslims SUNIL JOSHI, the man at the centre of the Hindutva terror conspiracy, was 45 when he was mysteriously murdered outside his home in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in 2007. By then, he had already left a rabidly violent footprint. Shockingly, much of this could have been prevented if the Madhya Pradesh police had acted in time and done its job well. Joshi came from a very poor family and was educated at a RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Mandir. In 1999, he became RSS Zilla Pracharak of Mhow district, where he earned a reputation for being an acrid fundamentalist. In RSS circles, he was called Guruji. In 2000, Joshi and two other RSS activists Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra became close friends. Dange was the RSS Zilla Pracharak in Shajapur district; Kalsangra was a RSS pra charak from Indore. The association would prove to be deadly. While Swami Aseemanand’s confession places Joshi at the centre of a series of major terror blasts from 2006 onwards, it seems Joshi’s criminal ambitions far predated that. In a depraved move, Dange and he had already made several crude attempts to bomb temples in Mhow to implicate local Muslims and trigger Hindu-Muslim riots. This emerged in September last year, when the CBI tracked down Rajesh Mishra, another RSS activist from Mhow and a close friend of Joshi’s, who had unwittingly provided him bomb-making material during his early days as a terrorist. Mishra ran a foundry in Pithampura near Mhow. In 2001, Joshi apparently requested him to manufacture 15 customised pipes with grooves on the inside and a hole in the centre for some important RSS work. In April 2002, Joshi and Dange exploded two low-intensity bombs close to the Kade Hanuman Mandir and the Swarg Mandir in Mhow. One person suffered minor injuries; no one died. In December 2002, over half a dozen live pipe bombs were recovered from an ijtema, a large religious gathering of Muslims, held near the Bhopal Railway Station. Mishra paled when he saw pictures of the bombs on TV because they looked exactly like what he had provided Joshi. He called Joshi but in a panic but was told not to worry. In August 2003, after a quarrel with Pyare Singh Ninama, a Congress tribal leader, Joshi and Dange murdered Ninama and his son Dinesh. The family named Joshi, Rajesh Mishra and seven others as suspects in their FIR. Mishra was arrested, but though Joshi had left a trail of evidences behind him, the police failed to apprehend him. However, he was formally expelled by the RSS. When Mishra was arrested, he told the police that Joshi was behind the blasts at the two temples, as well as the attempted strike at the Muslim gathering. The police booked Mishra for the temple blasts, but did not name Joshi in the cases. He was allowed a free run from the law. This enabled Joshi to carry out the later terror strikes that would kill dozens of men, women and children. In February 2010, a CBI team went to Dewas police station and took possession of a diary and hand drawings that had been recovered from Joshi’s pocket by the local police when he was found murdered. The CBI learnt that Joshi’s mobile phone, gun, and several personal belongings had been taken away by RSS leaders from Joshi’s house immediately after his murder. The local cops also told the CBI that they had been under immense pressure not to investigate Joshi’s murder too keenly. The CBI found the numbers of two senior RSS leaders in Joshi’s phone book: Indresh Kumar and RSS spokesperson, Ram Madhav. Indresh’s number had been listed as an “Emergency number”. Swami Asimanand’s cell number was similarly listed. Besides this, other numbers in the diary included the RSS Headquarters in Jhandewalan, New Delhi, and numbers for firebrand BJP MP Yogi Adityanath. The hand-drawn sketch proved to be of a bomb circuit. A Mumbai address written beside the diagram led to a mass manufacturer of electrical circuits but the manufacturer failed to identify Joshi when shown his picture. Though Joshi had been formally expelled by the RSS, the CBI managed to procure his call records between June and December 2007. An analysis of the calls made and received during that time showed that Joshi had remained in close touch with several senior RSS functionaries even after his expulsion. Given all this, Joshi may have taken many answers with him to his pyre, but the murky footprint he left behind has left enough troubling questions. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne150111CoverstoryII.asp From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Sat Jan 8 14:37:04 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 09:07:04 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Kashmiri pan Islamists' 'who killed whom' confession moves Barkha Dutt..???.. Message-ID: 8-1-2010… “old habits die hard”….she is back at it what she does the best …‘pitching’….Barkha Dutt wants the world to hail the Kashmiri pan Islamists for their confession that ‘they themselves killed their own people’, their culpability in spreading canards all these years to instigate the masses not withstanding. Radia tapes scam was just “an error of judgment” for her wonder BD’s paraphrasing of her position when the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits is also finally acknowledged.Rgds allLA Barkha Dutt, Hindustan Times January 07, 2011 First Published: 23:13 IST(7/1/2011) Last Updated: 23:16 IST(7/1/2011) Many shades of truth In all the anxiety about Andhra Pradesh, the angst over the corruption churn and the concern over the possible unravelling of our violence-ridden neighbour, we have, it seems, forgotten all about Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Or perhaps — and this may be why things end up where they do — we only pay attention to the state in moments of crisis. But, almost on the quiet, something deeply significant happened in the state this past week. There was, for the first time, an admission by a Kashmiri separatist leader of a truth that previously could not — or would not — be spoken. In a startlingly frank moment, Hurriyat representative, Abdul Ghani Bhat, the maverick politician who once taught Persian, conceded that two key assassinations of separatist leaders were the brainchild of men within their own ranks. For Kashmir watchers, the import of this utterance was not its content per se (known already to many over the decades) but that it was said at all, and said out loud. Both the senior Mirwaiz and, more recently, Abdul Gani Lone, Bhat said, were killed not by the army or the police or any other security agency, but “by our own people”. Then he added in his characteristically twisty turn of phrase that it was time to free the Kashmiri people from “sentimentalism bordering on insanity” by speaking the truth. We forget that insurgencies are often rooted not just in history, the alienation of ordinary people and omissions of justice — but also in the power of the popular narrative. And here, after two decades of unrest in the Valley, the narrative, as it has been constructed over the years, was being challenged. I still remember the exact moment in May 2002 when Lone was killed. Ironically, it was at a rally in the Eidgah grounds of Srinagar to commemorate the death anniversary of the senior Mirwaiz who had been murdered in 1991. I was standing along with other journalists at the base of the dais, expecting the proceedings of the day to be routine and unremarkable. Suddenly, towards the end of the ceremony, in the blink of an eye, two gunmen emerged from within the crowd, charged towards the stage and shot Lone with brutal precision. As people dispersed in panic, the gunmen disappeared into the maze-like bylanes of downtown Srinagar, never to be found or identified. This was Srinagar in the era before mobile phone connectivity, and I ran down the deserted streets, desperate to find a phone booth to relay the news back home. This was a watershed in the state’s troubled history. It was clear, even then, that the 70-year-old Lone had been assassinated because he had been publically supporting a dialogue process and condemning violence as a means of protest. Later that night, I remember meeting his emotionally overwrought son Sajad who, unmindful of the consequences, shrugged off the restraint being urged by the flood of mourners at his house and blamed Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence (ISI) and rival leaders of the Hurriyat conference for the fact that his father was dead. The next morning, possibly reeling from the violent backlash his bluntness generated, he retracted his comments and, in an interview to me, said the remarks were an “emotional outburst.” But in the same interview he said his father had been murdered by an “ugly convergence of interests” and it could be the work of “any agency, either from India or Pakistan.” Today, after Bhat’s admission, he is urging an end to what he has called “half-truths” saying that the people have a “right to know who killed whom”. Indeed. Now, how should we react to the new willingness to call a spade a spade? It would be utterly short-sighted for New Delhi to respond with a gloating, we-told-you-so smugness. The hardline narrative on J&K questions the liberal media’s nomenclature of ‘moderate separatists’. But the truth is that at every stage those separatists who have spoken in favour of reconciliation have paid with their lives. Think of Fazl Haq Qureshi who went from being an architect of the azadi platform to an architect of a state’s search for peace. He brokered the first and only dialogue between the government and the Hizbul Mujahideen in 2000. More recently, as he revived his attempts at a dialogue process, an assassin’s bullet tore open his skull. As unpalatable as the sentiment of secessionism may be to strategists in New Delhi, there has to be recognition of the risks being taken by those within the separatist ranks who are engaging with the truth. In fact, if you chronicle the state’s history, every time governments have failed to engage with the more moderate voices in the Valley, the radicals have become emboldened to hijack the agenda. We must also pause to reflect on the relative quiet in the state since the summer of unrest last year. The media’s commentary on J&K cannot be restricted to happily hauling chief minister Omar Abdullah over the coals when the chips are down, but looking the other way in disinterested silence when things are comparatively better. Doesn’t the changed environment need acknowledgment, comment and, yes, debate as well? And no, not because a political problem can be solved by tourists or trade — it absolutely cannot — but because the truth comes in many, ever-evolving shades, and it is our job to reflect all the colours, not just the ones that fit in with our prejudices. Finally, remember Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece- Rashomon on the nature of truth? The film depicted how one crime was recounted in widely contradictory ways by different witnesses. “We all want to forget something, so we tell stories,” says one character. That may be true, for all sides, across the divide, in Kashmir. Barkha Dutt is Group Editor, English News, NDTV n barkha at ndtv.com The views expressed by the author are personal http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/647590.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From rohitrellan at aol.in Sat Jan 8 15:35:52 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:05:52 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Volunteers required for Mobile Apps Conclave on 21st. January in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi Message-ID: <8CD7D32C42F46A5-FAC-8F25@webmail-m040.sysops.aol.com> Hi! We are organising Mobile Apps Conclave on 21st. January in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Thus, we need some volunteers for managing the same. Desired skills would be as below: 1) Prior experience in dealing with corporate audience. 2) Preferably experienced, not fresh out of college. 3) Interest in Mobile/ digital domains so that they can speak intelligently. 4) Be willing to put in long hours from at least a week in advance upto the event. 5) Be ready to do all sorts of work, a start-up employee can be expected to do like handling a table to collections to speaking to a CEO. Interested people can send in their profiles to: contact at cellstrat.com Rs.250 ( towards basic expenses and travel) along with food would be provided . -- Thanks and regards. -- Vishal From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Jan 9 10:35:37 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:05:37 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 8th edition of We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues to be Launched in Mumbai Message-ID: <8CD7DD1FD3C9391-19BC-24422@webmail-m014.sysops.aol.com> Mumbai: The 8th edition of the first of its kind travelling and educational film festival – We Care Filmfest 2011 on Disability Issues - will be launched from the Y B Chavan Centre, Mumbai, on January 17, 2011 at 10.00 am and will travel across India to various universities and educational institutions. The We Care Filmfest will be launched in the presence of various local partners - both government and non-governmental - of Mumbai including the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, (AYJNIHH), the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the SNDT Women’s College,the ADAPT and the Helen Kellar Institute for Deaf and Deafblind. Cinemalovers is online partner and promoting the film festival through web. The festival will be inaugurated by renowned Producer and Director Govind Nihalani. Others present will include leading Indian Ad Film Director Prahlad Kakkar; Mr Rao Saheb Shekhawat, MLA Amrawati; Mr. Rajiv Chandran, National Information Officer, United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan; Mrs. Poonam Natrajan, Chairperson, National Trust; Mr. Sandeep Marwah, President, Asian Academy of Film and Television; Festival Director Satish Kapoor and senior journalist and Media Consultant B B Nagpal. The We Care Filmfest on Disability Issues was launched by Delhi-based non-governmental organization Brotherhood in 2003 and has become a brand when it comes to film festivals on disability both nationally and internationally. The Festival is unique in nature, as it is a travelling film festival which will travel to 25 venues across India after the Mumbai launch. Its founder partners are the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan (UNIC), UNESCO, the National Trust which functions under the Social Empowerment Ministry, and the Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT). This year a total number of 67 documentary films in four categories – up to one minute, up to five minutes, up to 30 minutes, and up to 75 minutes - from India and from various other countries like the USA, Canada, Israel, the UK, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Australia, Nepal etc. afre being exhibited. A Preview Committee meeting held at Marawah Studios, Noida and AYJ National Institute of Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai, selected 28 documentary films for the 8th edition of the We Care Filmfest. The members of the Preview Committee were: Noida: Mr. B B Nagpal (Head Jury in Noida), Mr. Abhinav, Dr. Lavlin Thadani, Ms. Vandana and Richa Bharti; and in Mumbai: Mr. Shridhar Rangayan (Head of Jury), Mr. Sopan Mueller, Ms. Neenu Kelwani, Ms. Sunita Sancheti, Ms. Anshika Mishra, Mr. Yogesh Desai, Ms. Suni Mathew, Ms. Srilatha Juvwa and Mr. Jamshed Mistry. It is planned to organize the film festival at 25 venues including educational institutions, Universities, Hospitals etc. across India, including SAARC countries (Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan) from January to May 2011. Some of the venues which have confirmed are Tata Institute of Social Sciences, AYJ NIHH, Mumbai, SNDT Women’s College, Tezpur University, Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal University etc. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that audiences have to watch and rate each and every documentary film. For this purpose, a participatory rating process has been introduced over the past four years. This approach goes a long way in familiarizing audiences, especially the students about persons living with disabilities, and at the same time, encourages filmmakers to tell their stories in a more effective manner. This will help the students of Mass Media, whenever they plan to make short films/documentaries on disability issues, and they will be sensitized on various aspects and issues of disabilities in the right perspective. Members of Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations working in the disability sectors and students of Mass Communication are specially invited along with general audiences during the two-day film festival at all the venues to watch and rate the films. This is a Mission through the medium of films to create awareness and sensitize students, public and filmmakers on various issues of disabilities through the medium of films. The purpose is to promote inclusion of people with disabilities, and rid people of various misconceptions, myths and prejudices surrounding disability issues. For more details please contact: Satish Kapoor Director We Care Filmfest 09899472065 wecarefilmfest at gmail.com From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Jan 9 12:54:26 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2011 02:24:26 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Music launch of 'Patiala House' / On January 15, 2011, Wikipedia will turn 10 / Volunteers required for Mobile Apps Conclave on 21st. January in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi Message-ID: <8CD7DE5612448CA-19BC-250D6@webmail-m014.sysops.aol.com> Music launch of 'Patiala House' at the WWI campus on 9th January’2011, 5:15 p.m onwards, in the Auditorium. Whistling Woods International, Film City Complex, Goregaon (East), Mumbai 400065. Tel: +91 22 30916000 Fax:+91 22 28401492 Directed by Nikhil Advani Produced by Bhushan Kumar Mukesh Talreja Krishan Kumar Twinkle Khanna Zoeb Springwala Screenplay by Nikhil Advani Anvita Dutt Guptan Starring Akshay Kumar Anushka Sharma Rishi Kapoor Dimple Kapadia Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Cinematography Santosh Thundiyil Editing by Manan Sagar Distributed by People Tree Films Pvt. Ltd. Credence Motion Picture Hari Om Entertainment T-Series Release date(s) February 11, 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------- On January 15, 2011, Wikipedia will turn 10 New Delhi / नई दिल्ली / دہلی / دلّی (Capital Territory, India) Date 15 January 2011 Description We will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of Wikipedia with an unconference-style gathering of Wikipedians and Free Culture enthusiasts. Venue The tentative venue is the Sarai-CSDS office at Civil Lines. Organizers Anirudh Bhati anirudh at wikimedia.in, Ravi Kant Volunteers Noopur Raval noopur.ravalgmail.com Participants Please email Anirudh or Noopur for an invite. Tell us a few things about yourself, your interest in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Contact +91 9328712208 For more info , Log on to http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ Volunteers required for Mobile Apps Conclave on 21st. January in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi Hi! We are organising Mobile Apps Conclave on 21st. January in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Thus, we need some volunteers for managing the same. Desired skills would be as below: 1) Prior experience in dealing with corporate audience. 2) Preferably experienced, not fresh out of college. 3) Interest in Mobile/ digital domains so that they can speak intelligently. 4) Be willing to put in long hours from at least a week in advance upto the event. 5) Be ready to do all sorts of work, a start-up employee can be expected to do like handling a table to collections to speaking to a CEO. Interested people can send in their profiles to: contact at cellstrat.com Rs.250 ( towards basic expenses and travel) along with food would be provided . -- Thanks and regards. -- Vishal From javedmasoo at gmail.com Sun Jan 9 15:14:28 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 15:14:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Swami_Aseemanand=92s_Confessions?= =?windows-1252?q?=3A_Its_time_for_an_apology?= Message-ID: 9th January 2010 Swami Aseemanand’s Confessions: Its time for an apology Manisha Sethi Swami Aseemanand’s confession before the metropolitan magistrate of Tees Hazari Court has finally put the seal of legal validity over what had been circulating for months now, since the surfacing of the audio tapes seized from Dayanand Pande’s laptop. That Hindutva groups had been plotting and executing a series of bomb blasts across the country—including Malegaon (2006 and 08), Samjhauta Express (2007), Ajmer Sharif (2007) and Mecca Masjid (2007). For the past several years however, dozens of Muslim youth have been picked up, detained, tortured, chargesheeted for these blasts—with clearly no evidence, except for custodial confessions (which unlike Swami’s confessions have no legal value). Report after report has proved that the Maharashtra and Andhra police willfully refused to pursue the Hindutva angle preferring to engage in communal witch-hunt—or as in the case of Nanded blast—where the evidence was so glaring as to be unimpeachable—weakening the prosecution of these elements. What is striking today is not the revelation contained in Aseemanand’s confessions but that it should have taken the country’s premier and pampered security agencies this long—four years after the Malegaon serial blasts, and even longer since the explosions elsewhere in Maharashtra—to unravel the Hindutva terror networks. Especially so, when Maharshtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare had, as far back as 2008, communicated to the Hyderabad Police the sensational claim by Col. Purohit that he had procured RDX from an army inventory when he was posted in Jammu and Kashmir in 2006. While the Hyderabad Police having conveniently arrested over 70 Muslim youth, tortured them at private farmhouses and extracted confessions, refused even to seek Puroshit’s custody; the Haryana ATS investigating the Samjhauta Express blast questioned Dayanand Pande but then pleaded that the trail had turned cold, thus washing its hands off. The use of RDX in the Samjhauta blast was touted as proof enough of Pakistani involvement in the Samjhauta blast; the crucial piece of evidence, the suitcase carrying the bomb was traced to Kothari Market in Indore, but the Haryana ATS, possibly under pressure or simply incredulous about the possibility of Hindutva terror appeared paralyzed. Amnesia about Narco-Analysis? What is one to make of the reports of the Narco-analysis tests conducted on SIMI activists, including Safdar Nagori his brother Kamruddin Nagori and Amil Parvez in April 2008, which claimed expediently that SIMI activists “had helped carry out the Mumbai train bombings of July 11, 2006 and the Samjhauta Express blasts of January 2007...with the help of Pakistani nationals who had come from across the border.” India Today magazine had proudly claimed in an ‘exclusive’ that the Narco-tests revealed “SIMI’s direct links with not only the Mumbai train bombings which killed over 200 persons but also links with the Samjhauta Express blast of February 2007 which killed 68 persons.” The reports of the Narco test on Nagori claimed that he had revealed that “some persons from Pakistan” had purchased the suitcase cover at Kataria market, Indore, while a SIMI activist “helped them to get the suitcase cover stitched”. Nagori is said to have named Abdul Razak and Misbah-ul-Islam of Kolkata as key people who provided crucial support to SIMI’s Indore unit in executing the Samjhauta train blast. As for the Malegaon blasts, Nagori is said to have ‘admitted’ during the Narco test that some Muslim members were involved and he was aware of it; and he attributed the Hyderabad blast to one Nasir—who according to Nagori disliked the owner of the Gokul Chat stall—who was arrested a few months’ prior to Nagori’s arrest. Other important information revealed in the exclusive story is the Nagori claim that “most of the SIMI activists knew about other bomb conspiracies across the country” and the presence of sleeper cells in Hubli. (Sandeep Unnithan, India Today, 19 September 2008) So why did Nagori decide—even if in a drugged state—to take credit for the blasts that have now been proven to be the handiwork of Sangh offshoots? To boost SIMI’s sagging image? Or maybe to score brownie points over rival factions within SIMI? Or perhaps, as several scientists, jurists and civil rights activists have been pointing out, Narco-analysis not only robs the suspect’s rights and dignity—amounting to third degree—but is also highly unscientific, dubious and undependable as evidence in investigations. It is entirely possible for the investigator to induce, communicate his/ her ideas and thoughts to the suspect, thereby eliciting a response favoured by the investigator and the police theory—whatever it happens to be at the moment. Media or Hand Maiden of the Police? What India Today was trying to disguise as a scoop was the result not of any painstaking investigation, but the patronage of security agencies. This is sadly becoming too routine in supposedly investigative stories about blasts and terror strikes: security agencies pass on dossiers and reports such as the Narco tests to favoured journalists, who dutifully reproduce the police version. The public naming of individuals and groups as suspects—with little credible evidence—is usually a prelude to detentions, arrests and torture of ‘suspects’. No doubt, claims that SIMI members in Maharashtra were in the know of the bomb conspiracy then afford greater freedom to the police to launch manhunts for former SIMI members (even when the organization was still not banned) as co-conspirators. Mass arrests following Mecca Masjid blasts were accompanied by stories which implicated local youth from Muslim-dominated localities such as Moosaram Bagh (“Behind the Mecca Masjid Bombing: Communal Violence, Organised Crime and Global Jihad Intersect in Andhra Pradesh’s Capital” by Praveen Swami, Frontline, May 23, 2007). Such stories lent a veneer of legitimacy to the subversion of due processes of law—where the hype surrounding the threats of Islamic terrorism justifies the shortcut methods of investigation—namely illegal detentions, torture, custodial confessions, narco-tests and the like. On October 11, 2007 the Union Home Ministry claimed that the Ajmer Sharif blast was the handiwork of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was opposed to Sufi Islam, whose prime symbol was the Ajmer Sharif dargah. And the very next day, Praveen Swami served up “The War against Popular Islam” (The Hindu, October 12, 2007), wherein he claimed that the bombing of the Ajmer dargah—as well as blasts at Mecca Masjid and Sufi shrine in Malegaon—reflect a “less-understood project: the war of Islamist neoconservatives against the syncretic traditions and beliefs that characterise popular Islam in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.” It turns out now that Swami’s profound understanding has been turned on its head: it was not rabid Islam’s war against popular Islam but Hindutva’s revenge on the inherent syncreticism of India. Aseemanand is said to have told the magistrate: “Since Hindus throng the Ajmer Sharif Dargah we thought a bomb blast in Ajmer would deter Hindus from going there.” (in Tehelka, 15 January, 2011). Again screaming headlines about HUJI link created an atmosphere in which the Rajasthan SIT could detain a dozen Imams, maulvis and madrasa teachers, without producing the suspects in court, plucking them from their native places and bringing them to Ajmer for interrogation without even bothering to obtain transit remands. More recently, the Varanasi blast occasioned yet another rash of stories based on ‘sources’ in the Indian intelligence agencies about Indian Mujahideen men on the run, in hideouts abroad, but whose associates still live in places as predictable as Azamgarh and Bhatkal. (For a fairly standard story see, “Indian Mujahudeen: The Hunt Continues” by Vicky Nanjapa. http://vickynanjapa.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/indian-mujahideen-the-hunt-continues/) Gear up for more arrests, shall we? An apology? And some compensation? Though the Mecca Masjid blast case was transferred to the CBI, the Hyderabad Police registered three cases related to conspiracies in order to retain control over the investigations and indeed to push for its line of investigation based on forced confessions extracted under torture. This is clear demonstration of the high stakes Special Investigation Teams (SITs) and Special Cells attach to cases such as bomb blasts and terror attacks: terror investigations are lucrative means of earning quick medals, promotions and awards—as long as scapegoats (read Muslim youth) can be produced and paraded as masterminds, conspirators and accomplices. The Home Ministry must release a White Paper on the total number of those arrested and in jail currently for the blasts now in every single the blasts named by Swami Aseemanand as the handiwork of his organization and associates. Those still languishing in prisons must be released without any further delay. Those whose lives have been destroyed, those psychologically scarred and socially stigmatized by these false charges and imprisonment deserve surely a public apology, from the state governments as well as the Home Ministry. The former Home Minister Shivraj Patil had expressed his satisfaction at the direction of the Ajmer bomb probe—at the time when maulavis and madrasa teachers were being picked up—and in 2009, P. Chidambaram had pleaded that the investigations in the Mecca Masjid blast case had reached a dead end with the death of the mastermind of the blast, Shahid Bilal (the same Bilal whose house appeared prominently in Praveen Swami’s article). More recently, when a Hindutva angle was suggested by the Maharashtra ATS in the Pune Bakery blast, The Maharashtra Home Minister, RR Patil threatened action against the ATS Chief. Even the exceedingly low levels of political propriety in our country can be no excuse for not tendering an apology to the victims of the witch-hunt. The Andhra Chief Minister has announced grandly on the floor of the state assembly that he would tender an apology if it was proved that Muslim youth had been deliberately harassed by the police in the aftermath of the Mecca Masjid blasts. The AP Chief Minister would do well to read the reports of the National Minorities Commission and the AP Minorities Commission, both of which laid bare the gratuitous violence committed by the Hyderabad police on suspects. The CM appears to be waiting for the report of the Justice Bhaskara Rao Commission before offering an apology (newspaper reports on 17 Dec 2010). Except that he forgot that the Commission was appointed to look into the police firing after the Mecca Masjid blasts and not into accusations of torture and illegal detention—and the Commission already submitted its report to the CM three months ago, in October 2010! While we need to be vigilant that the investigations are now not derailed by prejudice of security agencies and state governments; the issue of compensation to those unjustifiably arrested and tortured needs to be addressed urgently. Dr. Haneef’s case in Australia—where the Australian government apologised and paid undisclosed large sums of money as compensation for wrongful terror accusations and detention—should serve as a model for us here. The Andhra Pradesh Government’s offer of rehabilitation package of Rs 30,000 –Rs 80,000 as loans (!) to those who suffered arrests and torture can only add insult to the already inflicted injury (“Andhra’s ‘Healing Touch’ to ‘innocent’ Muslims”, Indian Express, 14 Nov 2008). Just for the sake of record, even these loans have not materialsed. On the other hand, the state government is contesting the damages of Rs 20 lakhs each being claimed by the victims in the Hyderabad City Civil Court. Finally, all those who colluded and covered up these sham investigations need to be brought to justice: those in the intelligence agencies, officers of the police and security agencies, political bosses et al. The Hyderabad Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) Harish Gupta—who presided over the Mecca Masjid custodial confessions, torture and narco-analysis tests—must be held accountable. As must be each and every police officer who participated in this charade of investigation; in this large scale violation of the rights of the accused by subjecting them to brutal torture, and in doing so, undermined their own office. Police officers must be charged and tried for their criminal acts of violence against the youth—whom they knew to be innocent—as well as gross dereliction of duties for deliberately building their investigations on falsehoods in so serious a crime as bomb blasts. We shouldn’t have had to wait for a change of Swami Aseemanand’s heart to reach this far. Sd/- Manisha Sethi, Sanghamitra Misra, Ahmed Sohaib, Adil Mehdi, Tanweer fazal, Ghazi Shahnawaz, Arshad Alam, Farah Farooqi, Azra Razak, Ambarien Al Qadar, Anwar Alam, Shakeb Ahmed, Haris ul Haq for JTSA. www.teacherssolidarity.org From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Jan 9 18:04:26 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2011 07:34:26 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] ESoDoc EU 2011 : Deadline March 4, 2011 Message-ID: <8CD7E10AFC47886-15F8-12F3E@webmail-m074.sysops.aol.com> This year a new version of "ESoDoc – European Social Documentary" will be staged in India - for the very first time. The new “ESoDoc INDIA”, a training initiative for Indian and European documentary filmmakers, is supported by MEDIA International and organised by ZeLIG School for Documentary, Television and New Media in collaboration with FORMEDIA – Foundation for Responsible Media (New Delhi). ESoDoc INDIA aims to develop documentary projects that have a potential for the Indian and European audiovisual market and which succeed to respond not only to the distinct market needs of the broadcast industries in both regions but also –and especially – to respond to the communication needs of the NGO sector worldwide. OBJECTIVES - Development of projects with a high potential for the European and Indian audiovisual market and for international co-production - Social and cultural content: human rights, environmental protection, cultural integration - Up-to-date dissemination methodologies - Inter-cultural collaboration Europe- India with exchange of ideas and information ESoDoc INDIA wants to promote a creative collaboration between different players in the audiovisual world. On the one hand it aims to create a common platform for Indian and European documentary film-makers and producers. On the other hand it seeks to establish a network between broadcasters and NGOs in Europe and India which can support and integrate such platforms. Building on the many years of experience with ESoDoc (Europe), which has been organised on an annual basis since 2004, this year’s special edition with Indo-European outreach wants to face the additional challenge to foster international contacts, international co-productions and an increased cross-cultural understanding and -dialogue which goes beyond the European borders. Apply to ESoDoc Who should apply: ESoDoc is intended for professionals who are committed to the goal of social change, who are responsive to the new ways that film is achieving it and who want to develop their own documentary film projects across a 360 degree spectrum. We are looking for documentary filmmakers and producers, NGO and NPO sector professionals with audio-visual experience, and New Media Professionals who want to realize www projects according to the spirit of ESoDoc or collaborate with others. Selection of participants: We choose 22 participants on the basis of professional achievement, motivation and commitment to social and environmental issues. We favour applicants who come with a genuine project proposal. Our final selection will take into account the need for a homogeneous group, as well as regional and gender balance. Application materials: Applications must include 5 copies of the following: – Application form duly completed ? download the application form , http://www.esodoc.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=38 – Curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages, 3000 characters) – Motivations (max. 1 page, 1500 characters) – Samples of previous professional work (max. 1 film/crossmedia-project or other artistic work) – A proposal for a film/crossmedia-project that you want to develop during ESoDoc training (max. 2 page, plus visual materials if applicable) All application materials must have applicant’s first name and last name. Your application package must arrive at ZeLIG no later than the application deadline. No other material shall be taken into consideration. Enrollment fee: The cost per participant is 1.200 Euro (600 Euro for participants from new member states). This covers tuition, room and board but does not include traveling expenses. Scholarships: Four (4) scholarships are available. If you want to access scholarship funding, you must provide your latest official tax return together with your application. No other kind of document shall be considered. See the dates and venues for ESoDoc 2011. http://www.esodoc.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1000875:workshop&catid=134&Itemid=128 Contact us for any further question! http://www.esodoc.eu/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&catid=76:india&id=6-info-about-esodoc-eu From shuddha at sarai.net Sun Jan 9 17:32:08 2011 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 17:32:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Swami_Aseemanand=92s_Confessions?= =?windows-1252?q?=3A_Its_time_for_an_apology?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1ACAA377-6975-4194-BB06-7E9516706520@sarai.net> Dear All, Dear Javed, Thank you, Javed, for your post forwarding the JTSA statement on Asimanand's confessions. The Tehelka website - www.tehelka.com - has Swami Asimanand's entire confession statement as a downloadable pdf. The statement is in Hindi, after an initial few pages in English by the magistrate indicating that the statement is voluntary and is not being made under any coercion and inducement. I would urge anyone interested to read the statement. Trust me, it makes for riveting reading. While some of us might think (in agreement with the JTSA) that the revelations contained in Swami Asimanand's confessions to a Metropolitan Magistrate might require an apology from several state and non-state quarters, including sections of the media. it might be useful to remind ourselves at this juncture that the RSS organ 'Organiser' carried a prominent news item featuring Swami Asimanand being honoured with the Shri Guruji Samman, instituted in the memory of Golwalkar, the second chief of the RSS, in December 2006. The prize included a sum of 100,000 Rupees. For details see below. Swami Asimanand receives this award in December 2006. The Malegaon Bomb Blast Took place in September 2006. The Samjhauta Express Bombing took place in February 2007. The Mecca Majid Bombing took place in May 2007. The Ajmer Sharif Bomb Blast took place in October 2007. Swami Asimanand has confessed to have been party to the planning of all these attacks. His statement shows him to be the inspiration. If we connect these seemingly disparate events, might one not conclude that an RSS linked award, such as the Shri Giuruji Samman, presided over by BJP notables, is an award and an inducement to terrorism ? I wonder what the implications of such a line of thinking might be. At any rate, it proves that it is always useful to read The Organiser, carefully. best, Shuddha ---------------------- Shri Guruji Samman to Swami Asimanand Pathey Kan The Organiser, January 08, 2006 http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php? name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=112&page=29#2 Noted saint and Shradha Jagaran Pramukh of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Swami Asimanand was honoured with Shri Guruji Samman in Jaipur on December 10. Pejawar Swami Vishveshteertha Maharaj presented him a shawl, a memento and a cheque of Rs 100, 000 as mark of the honour. The award has been instituted by Shankar Smriti Samiti in the birth centenary year of Shri Guruji, the second Sarsangachalak of RSS. Senior BJP leader and former HRD Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi was the chief speaker at the function. Prominent among those who were present on the occasion include Shri Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, Rajasthan BJP president, Dr Taradutt Nirvirodha, Prant Prachar Pramukh of Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, Shri Chandraraj Lodha and Shri Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi. In the picture Swami Asimanand (left) receiving the award from Pejawar Swami Vishveshteerth Maharaj in Jaipur. ------------------------- END Shuddhabrata Sengupta > Shuddhabrata Sengupta From indersalim at gmail.com Sun Jan 9 21:37:43 2011 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 21:37:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: The New Kashmiri Wave In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Amjad Majid Date: Sun, Jan 9, 2011 at 4:10 PM Subject: The New Kashmiri Wave To: The New Kashmiri Wave: For the last 20 odd years of exile (within and without), a new wave of Kashmiris is dominating a cultural movement from outside of Kashmir. The youth in the valley is slowly integrating with this New Wave.  The university system as we know it is not adept (enough), yet the aspirations of many for a better/further education has slowly led them to inquire about the present position of our Kashmiri identity, inside and outside of Kashmir. I come back after 20 years of living outside India, outside Asia, back to the Motherland of motherlands, to find a cultural movement in the happening as a direct response/reaction to the 20 years of exile amidst that scorching painful silence that has (had) muted us all. I have been a spectator-reader and perhaps an average critic of this movement.  It is happening NOW, right NOW and it is being lead by many of those who left after 1990.  Some of them are consistent figures from press and journalism, some come from the corporate world and many an industry, and others are highly involved in academia.  Overall, it is a New Wave of young educated Kashmiris who are old enough to remember the happenings and the circumstances of the past 20 years. This group (Saariy Samav Aksey Razi Lamav) precisely reflects such a multitude which forms this New Wave which in turn will create a tsunami of humanization and cultural reintegration in the Dal Lake all across the Jhelum, leaving no body of water untouched. I am reluctant to mention the cynicism of a our numerable sages who passively mumble on and on that "Kashmiri unity is near impossible, Kashmiri culture is dying, how will the Kashmiri Pandits make it back? Their children are walking on a thin tiny thread that barely binds them back to the homeland, how will they be able to adapt and adjust in the future?" To this, my response is rather personal: I left at the age of 8, I still speak Kashmiri like a verbose and fervent 'groos' (farmer).  The only reason I reside at the outer gates of Kashmir is because I have witnessed the death of our institutions (clearly unable to fulfill my need for further education), and I find likeminded Kashmiris out here, out here in exile with me, waiting, watching, speculating, calculating and envisioning the moment when a generation of passive Kashmiris who have lost faith and hope, finally retire, by stepping aside and letting us take care of ‘business’. I have had the pleasure of meeting the most culturally enriched people, PhD scholars who have come from prestigious foreign universities and settled back in Kashmir.  I have met journalists, educators, artists, teachers, scientists, doctors, writers, corporate managers, professors, technical professionals, researchers, poets, who share one thing in common: the art of reading and the craft of writing.  Naturally, most of their writing and reading is closely tied to the subject of Kashmir.  There is much isolation involved and solitude is perhaps our best friend, only until we find that others are engrained in the same melancholy and unrest, irrespective of class and religious affiliation. As far as I can recall from my readings, all matters regarding identity and language are preserved through reading and writing.  All nation building and culture empowering feats have had their manuals, their books, their texts of genesis.  I doubt that people like Basharat Peer, Najeeb Mubarki, Siddharta Gigoo, among so many others of my generation (I have yet to meet a majority of you) will put their pens down.  In fact, from what I have observed, they are merely warming up their paper and their ink.  To others, these might be employed Kashmiris with healthcare benefits, to me they are the productive (producing) subjects of our (k)/(c)ultural (k)/(c)apital. That said, yes truly there are many challenges to face in the coming future, but to actually see a cultural movement slowly taking off is a great start.  We are not here merely to read and write about Kashmir, we are here to govern through writing.  Writing creates legislation, it provides platforms of expression, it exercises a "will to truth", it upholds and debacles, it shifts notions of identity, preconceptions of power and alters the everso (de)stabilizing schematics of hegemony, subalternity, and otherness. Writing brings about agency, our Kashmiri agency.  In turn, our reading pervades it. As such, we shall leave the politics and the bias to others, because beyond all politics is the realm of the humanity and ‘that’ culture within us all, the hunger for a common culture, the taste of our language at the tip of our tongues, the trace of our gestures, the resonance of our proverbs, a mutual point of origin, the source of our grief and love; our beloved Kashmir. My personal engagement through writing is that of seeking Otherness, giving voice to that which (and those who) seem unfamiliar, distant, absent.  As a start, I aim to write a Kashmiri Pandit ‘better than’ a Kashmiri Pandit can write himself/herself such that the gap between the One and the Other is non-existent (always keeping in mind the difference between writing from experience and writing from inquiry). This for me, is the only way to bring about the common Kashmiri identity that we all share and fight to preserve regardless of the pain and suffering of so many during these last two decades.  If we are able to close all gaps and rekindle broken ties, even if it is through writing, we will all have won a significant battle over this war and conflict which seem to never end. I leave you all with a set of quotes from “The Location of Culture” by Homi K. Bhabha (I follow and understand him 100% even though many are unwilling), God bless and keep on reading and writing!: http://members.iinet.net.au/~narrator/Quotes/Quote12.html -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de Mon Jan 10 04:12:14 2011 From: ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de (Britta Ohm) Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 23:42:14 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Swami_Aseemanand=92s_Confessions?= =?windows-1252?q?=3A_Its_time_for_an_apology?= In-Reply-To: <1ACAA377-6975-4194-BB06-7E9516706520@sarai.net> References: <1ACAA377-6975-4194-BB06-7E9516706520@sarai.net> Message-ID: <02A3BC5C-A339-4F84-8B68-2389D1A5B40B@zedat.fu-berlin.de> Thanks for posting this, Shuddha. If you hear at any time of an English translation of the full confession statement, please let me know (I can read some of the Hindi but not all). Best -- Britta Am 09.01.2011 um 13:02 schrieb Shuddhabrata Sengupta: > Dear All, Dear Javed, > > > Thank you, Javed, for your post forwarding the JTSA statement on > Asimanand's confessions. > > The Tehelka website - www.tehelka.com - has Swami Asimanand's > entire confession statement as a downloadable pdf. The statement is > in Hindi, after an initial few pages in English by the magistrate > indicating that the statement is voluntary and is not being made > under any coercion and inducement. I would urge anyone interested to > read the statement. Trust me, it makes for riveting reading. > > While some of us might think (in agreement with the JTSA) that the > revelations contained in Swami Asimanand's confessions to a > Metropolitan Magistrate might require an apology from several state > and non-state quarters, including sections of the media. it might be > useful to remind ourselves at this juncture that the RSS organ > 'Organiser' carried a prominent news item featuring Swami Asimanand > being honoured with the Shri Guruji Samman, instituted in the memory > of Golwalkar, the second chief of the RSS, in December 2006. The > prize included a sum of 100,000 Rupees. For details see below. > > Swami Asimanand receives this award in December 2006. The Malegaon > Bomb Blast Took place in September 2006. The Samjhauta Express > Bombing took place in February 2007. The Mecca Majid Bombing took > place in May 2007. The Ajmer Sharif Bomb Blast took place in October > 2007. > > Swami Asimanand has confessed to have been party to the planning of > all these attacks. His statement shows him to be the inspiration. > > If we connect these seemingly disparate events, might one not > conclude that an RSS linked award, such as the Shri Giuruji Samman, > presided over by BJP notables, is an award and an inducement to > terrorism ? I wonder what the implications of such a line of > thinking might be. > > At any rate, it proves that it is always useful to read The > Organiser, carefully. > > best, > > Shuddha > ---------------------- > > Shri Guruji Samman to Swami Asimanand > Pathey Kan > > The Organiser, January 08, 2006 > http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=112&page=29#2 > > Noted saint and Shradha Jagaran Pramukh of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, > Swami Asimanand was honoured with Shri Guruji Samman in Jaipur on > December 10. Pejawar Swami Vishveshteertha Maharaj presented him a > shawl, a memento and a cheque of Rs 100, 000 as mark of the honour. > The award has been instituted by Shankar Smriti Samiti in the birth > centenary year of Shri Guruji, the second Sarsangachalak of RSS. > Senior BJP leader and former HRD Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi was > the chief speaker at the function. Prominent among those who were > present on the occasion include Shri Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, > Rajasthan BJP president, Dr Taradutt Nirvirodha, Prant Prachar > Pramukh of Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, Shri Chandraraj Lodha and Shri > Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi. In the picture Swami Asimanand (left) > receiving the award from Pejawar Swami Vishveshteerth Maharaj in > Jaipur. > > ------------------------- > END > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > >> > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> --------------------------------------- Dr. Britta Ohm Institute of Social Anthropology University of Bern Laenggassstr. 49a 3012 Bern Switzerland +41-(0)31-631 8995 (main office) +41-(0)31-631 5373 (direct line) britta.ohm at anthro.unibe.ch Solmsstr. 36 10961 Berlin Germany +49-(0)30-69507155 ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Jan 10 08:24:48 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:54:48 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Gran_Kinos_=E2=80=9811=3A__3rd_National_F?= =?utf-8?q?ilm_Festival_for_Students_=28_Last_Date_for_Entry_Submission=3A?= =?utf-8?q?_January_10=2C_2011=29?= Message-ID: <8CD7E88E1428830-940-1AF30@webmail-m008.sysops.aol.com> Gran Kinos ‘11 3rd National Film Festival for Students. GRANKINOS: Means “Great Cinemas” is the third National Student Film Festival being organized by the Department of Visual Communication, Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada on 21st, 22nd January 2011. This two days festival includes screening of students films from various Media Institutions, Reviews and Interactive sessions with juries. Objectives: • The purpose of this film festival is to encourage the students to exhibit their creative skills especially in the field of film making. • To enhance their talent for the future to come and provide a platform to interact with the like‐minded participants. Theme: “Contemporary Social Issues” or ‘Education’ Categories: Duration • SHORT FILM 05‐20 min. • DOCUMENTARY FILM 10‐20 min • ANIMATION FILM 01‐05 min. • PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 30‐60 sec. Participants: Open to all the students pursuing media studies from reputed universities / colleges / institutions across the country. This will also include private Multimedia & Animation Institutions. FESTIVAL REGULATIONS Entry Fee: The entry fee is Rs. 100/‐ per entry which should be sent along with the registration form. The registration can be photocopied in case of more entries. The entry fee should be sent through “DD” in favor of “The Principal, Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada.” Last Date for Entry Submission: January 10, 2011. Eligibility: All films produced after March 2009 till December 2010. Group Projects can be submitted. All the entries should be original works of students. Subtitling Films will normally be screened in their original language/version. Films in language other than English must have subtitles in English. Festival Date and Venue: 21st, 22nd January 2011, Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Notice of participation: We will inform you of the film/s selected for screening at the Gran Kinos ’11 by 14th January, 2011. If selected your movie will be screened for public. Accommodation: Accommodation will be provided for those out station participants whose entries areselected for screening. Submission Information: One person can send multiple entries. Two copies of each film with a DVD cover and box must be sent by post or courier in DVD format to the following address: To GRAN KINOS ‘11 Dept. of Visual Communication, Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada ‐ 520 008, Andhra Pradesh, India. For Further Details Contact: Venu Kumar (Chairman) +91 8099319814 Stephen Raj (Secretary) +91 9700333759 Siva Teja (Joint Secretary) +91 7799215595 You can also communicate through our e‐mail: grankinos2011 at gmail.com Note: Film submissions are non‐ returnable. Please do not send original materials. Over ALL PRICE UPTO 50,000/-* From swadhin_sen at yahoo.com Mon Jan 10 12:31:36 2011 From: swadhin_sen at yahoo.com (Swadhin Sen) Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 23:01:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Killing thy neighbour: India, and its Border Security Force Message-ID: <939491.85419.qm@web130204.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Killing thy Neighbour. India, and its Border Security Force rahnuma ahmed     Felani's clothes got entangled in the barbed wire when she was crossing the Anantapur border in Kurigram.  It was 6 in the morning, Friday, 7th January 2011. Felani was 15, she worked in Delhi and was returning home with her father after ten years. To get married. She screamed. The BSF shot her dead. They took away her body.   The fence is made of steel and concrete. Packed with razor wire, double-walled and 8-foot high, it is being built by the government of India on its border with Bangladesh. When completed, it promises to be larger than the United States-Mexico fence, Israel's apartheid wall with Palestine, and the Berlin wall put together. It has been dubbed the Great Wall of India.   The fence is being constructed, with floodlighting in parts, to secure India's borders against interests hostile to the country. To put in place systems that are able to "interdict" these hostile elements. They will include a suitable mix and class of various types of hi-tech electronic surveillance equipment such as night vision devices, handheld thermal imagers, battle field surveillance radars, direction finders, unattended ground sensors, high powered telescopes to act as a "force multiplier" for "effective" border management. According to its rulers, this is "vitally important for national security."   Seventy percent of fencing along the Bangladesh border has been completed. In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on November 10, 2010, the Indian state minister for home affairs said, fencing will be completed by March 2012. One estimate puts the project's cost at ₤600 million.   The colonial boundary division between East Pakistan/Bangladesh and India, notes Willem van Schendel, had little to do with modern concepts of spatial rationality. It was anything but a straight line, snaking "through the countryside in a wacky zigzag pattern" showing no respect for history, cutting through innumerable geographical entities, for example, the ancient capital of Gaur. It was reflective of someone with an "excessively baroque mind" (The Bengal Borderland: Beyond state and nation in South Asia, 2005)   The fence divides and separates. Villages. Agricultural lands. Markets. Families. Communities. It cuts across mangrove-swamps in the southwest, forests and mountains in the northeast (Delwar Hussain, March 2, 2009). It divides villages. Everyday village-life must now submit to a tangle of bureaucracy as Indian Muslim law clerk, Maznu Rahman Mandal and his wife Ahmeda Khatun, a Bangladeshi, discovered after Ahmeda's father died. To attend the latter's funeral in the same village, Bhira, they would now have to get passports from Delhi, visas from Kolkata (Bidisha Bannerjee, December 20, 2010). It split up Fazlur Rehman's family too, the fence snaked into their Panidhar village homestead, his younger brother who lived right next door, is now in another country (Time, February 5, 2009). Other border residents have had their homes split in two, the kitchen in one country, the bedroom in another.   To access one's field, or markets, residents must now line up at long queues at the BSF border outposts, surrender their identity cards. They must submit to BSF's regimen, which often means disregarding what the crop needs. As Mithoo Sheikh of Murshidabad says, "The BSF does not understand cultivation problems." By the time we get to the field it is noon. Sometimes we get water only at night. But we have to stop working at 4pm, because they will not let us remain in the field. If we disobey, they beat us, they file false charges. ("Trigger Happy." Excessive Use of Force by Indian Troops at the Bangladesh Border, Human Rights Watch, December 2010).   This lack of `understanding' percolates to the topmost levels of both border forces. During an official visit to Bangladesh and talks between the BSF and the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles, recently renamed Border Guard Bangladesh) in September 2010, Raman Srivastava, director general of the BSF, in response to allegations that BSF troopers were killing innocent and unarmed Bangladeshi civilians said: “The deaths have occurred in Indian territory and mostly during night, so how can they be innocent?” Ideas reciprocated by the BDR chief Maj. Gen. Mainul Islam in March 2010, who, while explaining that there was a history of “people and cattle trafficking during darkness” said, “We should not be worried about such incidents [killings]…. We have discussed the matter and will ensure that no innocent people will be killed.”   Abdur Rakib was catching fish in Dohalkhari lake, inside Bangladeshi territory. It was March 13, 2009. A witness saw a BSF soldier standing at the border, talking loudly. "It seemed that he wanted the boy to give him some free fish." Heated argument, verbal abuse. "The BSF pointed a gun at the boy. The boy ran and the soldier started to shoot." Two were injured. Rakib was shot in the chest. He died instantly. He was 13.   Smuggling, cattle rustling and human trafficking has increased in the border areas as poor farmers and landless people faced by population increases, poor irrigation, flooding, and continuous river erosion struggle to make ends meet. While both BSF and BGB accuse each other of corruption, the reality, says the recent Human Rights Watch report, is that some officials, border guards, and politicians on both sides are almost certainly involved in smuggling. It quotes a senior BSF official, "There are a lot of people involved, including our chaps. That is why only these farmers, with one or two cows are caught, not groups that ferry large consignments of cattle or drugs."   A culture of impunity prevails, says Kirity Roy, head of Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum), a Kolkata-based human rights organisation. We have repeatedly approached the courts, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Minorities Commission, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. But none of the cases raised have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. In some cases, family members appeared before the BSF court of inquiry but we, as the de facto complainant, were never summoned to appear or depose before any inquiry conducted by BSF. No verdicts have been made public.   Neither has BSF provided any details to Bangladeshi authorities of any BSF personnel having been prosecuted for human rights violation. Impunity is legally sanctioned as the BSF is exempt from criminal prosecution unless specific approval is granted by the Indian government. A new bill to prohibit torture is being considered by the Indian parliament, it includes legal impunity.   On April 22, 2009, when Rabindranath Mandal and his wife were returning to Bangladesh after having illegally gone to India for Rabindranath's treatment, a BSF patrol team from Ghojadanga camp detained them. She was raped. Rabindranath tried to save her, they killed him. The following morning, the BSF jawans left her and her husband's dead body at the Zero Line at Lakkhidari.   The reason for building the fence, said an Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, is the same as the United States' Mexico fence. As Israel's fence on the West Bank. To prevent illegal migration and terrorist infiltration.   But Rizwana Shamshad points out that the hysteria generated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 1980s and 1990s—Bangladeshi Muslim `infiltration' by the millions constitutes a serious strain on the national economy, it poses a threat to India's stability and security, it represents a challenge to Indian sovereignty, demographic changes will soon lead to Bangladeshi citizens demanding a separate state from India—did not withstand investigation. A study carried out by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in 1995 revealed that the BJP-Shiv Sena allegations were not only an exaggeration, but a complete fabrication. Fears and insecurities had been deliberately whipped up to consolidate Hindutva ideology; migrants, it seemed, were more preoccupied with struggling to make a living. While the BJP-Shiv Sena had alleged that there were 300,000 illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Mumbai, they were able to detect and deport only 10,000 Bangladeshi migrants, when in power (1998-2004).   The numbers vary with each media or official report, writes Rizwana. A BJP National Executive meeting declared over 15 million (April 1992). Nearly 10 million, said former Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta (May 6, 1997). The group of cabinet ministers (home, defence, external affairs, finance) set up by prime minister Vajpayee post-Kargil, reported 15 million (2000). The definitions, she adds, are prejudiced: Muslim migrants are described as `infiltrators.' Hindu migrants as `refugees.' Neither is there any mention of the Indian economy having benefited from cheap labour.   The HRW report notes, few killed by the BSF have ever been shown to have been involved in terrorism. In the cases investigated, alleged criminals were armed with nothing but sickles, sticks and knives, implements commonly carried by villagers. Nor do the dead bodies bear out BSF's justification that they had fired in self-defense. Shots in the back indicate that the victims had been shot running away. Shots at close range signal they were probably killed in custody.   BSF kills Indian nationals too. In Indian territory. Basirun Bibi and her 6 month old grandson Ashique, May 2010. Atiur Rahman, March 2010. Shahjahan Gazi, November 2009. Noor Hossain, September 2009. Shyamsundar Mondal, August 2009. Sushanta Mondal, July 2009. Abdus Samad, May 2009. The imposition of informal curfews on both sides of the border at night, reportedly to prevent the accidental shooting of villagers, has not lessened the number of innocent people killed.   Beatings, torture, rape, killings. What could be the reason for such compulsively violent behaviour? According to the HRW report, it could have been caused by previous deployment in the Indo-Pakistan border in Kashmir, by "difficult and tense periods of duty."   However, checkpoints, curfews, hi-tech electronic surveillance equipment, harassment, intimidation, beatings, torture and sniper fire remind me of Gaza. Not surprising, given that once finished, the fence will "all but encircle Bangladesh" (Time, February 5, 2009).   The 1947 colonial border division was reflective of someone with an "excessively baroque mind." Its brutal enforcement through fencing, through the deployment of trigger happy BSF soldiers, speak of a Nazi-state mentality.   Not too far-fetched given Israel and India's "limitless relationship" (Military Ties Unlimited. India and Israel, New Age, January 18, 2010). This includes Israeli training of Indian commandos in urban warfare and counter-insurgency operations (in Kashmir), and proposals for offering the Border Security Forces specialised training. Given Israel's behaviour, which Auschwitz survivor, Hajo Meyer, likens to the Nazis. "I can write up an endless list of similarities between Nazi Germany and Israel".   Israel's inability to learn to live with its neighbours is increasingly turning it into a "pariah state" (British MP). Its "paranoia" has been noted by Israelis themselves (Gideon Levy). That a similar future awaits India, is increasingly clear. ----------------http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/editorial/4482.html Published in New Age, Monday December 10, 2011 http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/editorial/4482.html PIC  http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Vc9VvIqNhJY/S7YhGyiePtI/AAAAAAAAMAY/e9-2EQ1R1d4/s1600/20+killed+in+BSF+firing.jpg   To post comments pls go to: http://www.shahidulnews.com/  ------------------------- Swadhin Sen Archaeologist - Assistant Professor   Dept.of Archaeology            Tel:       +88 02 779 10 45-51 Ext. 1326 Jahangirnagar University      Mobile:  +88 0172 019 61 76   Savar,Dhaka. Bangladesh    Fax:      +88 02 779 10 52   swadhin_sen at yahoo.com; swadhinsen at hotmail.com www.juniv.edu From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Mon Jan 10 16:17:46 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:47:46 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Swami_Aseemanand=92s_Confessions?= =?windows-1252?q?=3A_=2E=2E=2E=2Epremature_hullabaloo_=85=3F=3F=85=2E?= In-Reply-To: <02A3BC5C-A339-4F84-8B68-2389D1A5B40B@zedat.fu-berlin.de> References: , <1ACAA377-6975-4194-BB06-7E9516706520@sarai.net>, <02A3BC5C-A339-4F84-8B68-2389D1A5B40B@zedat.fu-berlin.de> Message-ID: Terrorists must be brought to justice including (& first & foremost) those who deserve to be tried for crimes against humanity but are roaming free in Kashmir, courtesy self acclaimed liberals who facilitated their political makeover. But it is too premature to create hullabaloo over what could be scams-charged Congress party’s desperate attempt to browbeat the Opposition.CBI’s earlier claim that SIMI man had owned up to the Samjhauta Express bombing (in collaboration with LeT) is still in place & there is an Interpol look out notice for the alleged culprits. Zee News raises some pertinent questions: Latest News Video : Samjhauta blast: Who is the culprit?9 Jan 2011 ... Who is responsible for Samjhauta blast-Swami Aseemanand or SIMI? www.zeenews.com/video/showvideo9795.html What is intriguing is the conspicuous silence of the sympathisers, propagandists, agent provocateurs over candid admission by Kashmiri pan Islamists of ‘killings of their own by their own’ as also Senior Abdullah’s regrets over ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits ( nevermind it is too little & too late)…???.... Disappointment is understandable but complete speechlessness…....??..Or is the face saving now in the offing ? Rgds allLAPS:Who ever is able to translate the alleged confession would do well to translate the news report's transcipt too.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > From: ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de > To: shuddha at sarai.net > Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 23:42:14 +0100 > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Swami Aseemanand’s Confessions: Its time for an apology > > Thanks for posting this, Shuddha. If you hear at any time of an > English translation of the full confession statement, please let me > know (I can read some of the Hindi but not all). > Best -- Britta > > > Am 09.01.2011 um 13:02 schrieb Shuddhabrata Sengupta: > > > Dear All, Dear Javed, > > > > > > Thank you, Javed, for your post forwarding the JTSA statement on > > Asimanand's confessions. > > > > The Tehelka website - www.tehelka.com - has Swami Asimanand's > > entire confession statement as a downloadable pdf. The statement is > > in Hindi, after an initial few pages in English by the magistrate > > indicating that the statement is voluntary and is not being made > > under any coercion and inducement. I would urge anyone interested to > > read the statement. Trust me, it makes for riveting reading. > > > > While some of us might think (in agreement with the JTSA) that the > > revelations contained in Swami Asimanand's confessions to a > > Metropolitan Magistrate might require an apology from several state > > and non-state quarters, including sections of the media. it might be > > useful to remind ourselves at this juncture that the RSS organ > > 'Organiser' carried a prominent news item featuring Swami Asimanand > > being honoured with the Shri Guruji Samman, instituted in the memory > > of Golwalkar, the second chief of the RSS, in December 2006. The > > prize included a sum of 100,000 Rupees. For details see below. > > > > Swami Asimanand receives this award in December 2006. The Malegaon > > Bomb Blast Took place in September 2006. The Samjhauta Express > > Bombing took place in February 2007. The Mecca Majid Bombing took > > place in May 2007. The Ajmer Sharif Bomb Blast took place in October > > 2007. > > > > Swami Asimanand has confessed to have been party to the planning of > > all these attacks. His statement shows him to be the inspiration. > > > > If we connect these seemingly disparate events, might one not > > conclude that an RSS linked award, such as the Shri Giuruji Samman, > > presided over by BJP notables, is an award and an inducement to > > terrorism ? I wonder what the implications of such a line of > > thinking might be. > > > > At any rate, it proves that it is always useful to read The > > Organiser, carefully. > > > > best, > > > > Shuddha > > ---------------------- > > > > Shri Guruji Samman to Swami Asimanand > > Pathey Kan > > > > The Organiser, January 08, 2006 > > http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=112&page=29#2 > > > > Noted saint and Shradha Jagaran Pramukh of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, > > Swami Asimanand was honoured with Shri Guruji Samman in Jaipur on > > December 10. Pejawar Swami Vishveshteertha Maharaj presented him a > > shawl, a memento and a cheque of Rs 100, 000 as mark of the honour. > > The award has been instituted by Shankar Smriti Samiti in the birth > > centenary year of Shri Guruji, the second Sarsangachalak of RSS. > > Senior BJP leader and former HRD Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi was > > the chief speaker at the function. Prominent among those who were > > present on the occasion include Shri Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, > > Rajasthan BJP president, Dr Taradutt Nirvirodha, Prant Prachar > > Pramukh of Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, Shri Chandraraj Lodha and Shri > > Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi. In the picture Swami Asimanand (left) > > receiving the award from Pejawar Swami Vishveshteerth Maharaj in > > Jaipur. > > > > ------------------------- > > END > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > > > >> > > > > Shuddhabrata Sengupta > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > > subscribe in the subject header. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > --------------------------------------- > Dr. Britta Ohm > > Institute of Social Anthropology > University of Bern > Laenggassstr. 49a > 3012 Bern > Switzerland > +41-(0)31-631 8995 (main office) > +41-(0)31-631 5373 (direct line) > britta.ohm at anthro.unibe.ch > > > Solmsstr. 36 > 10961 Berlin > Germany > +49-(0)30-69507155 > ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 a.mani.cms at gmail.com Mon Jan 10 19:39:20 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:39:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] UPA-2 ministers should be tried for sedition Message-ID: Apart from unbounded corruption, UPA-2 ministers indulge in blatant sedition. http://www.cpimwb.org.in/cpim/?q=node/205 http://www.cpimwb.org.in/cpim/?q=node/206 Much more evidence is actually available. _______________________ Trinamool-Maoist Tie: Allegation Finds Evidence Our Correspondent The allegation finds a sound proof. That the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been maintaining a close tie with the Maoist has been admitted by no other than the TMC MP Kabair Suman. In his latest book titled “Nisaner Nam Tapasi Malik” Kabir Suman unambiguously stated that the TMC leader and the Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee recently held a secret meeting with Maoist leaders at the TMC office on E.M.Bypass in Kolkata. Kabair Suman has dedicated his book to top Maoist leader Kishenji under whose leadership Maoists in Jangalmahal of Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia have been resorting to armed attacks on their political opponents, killing innocent villagers and extorting money at gun point. It is surprising how Kabair Suman being an MP of a political party which is a partner of a coalition government at the Centre repeatedly describing Maoist problem as a biggest threat to the country could dedicate his book to Kishenji. It may be noted that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in his recent letters to the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has raised allegations against TMC-Maoist nexus in the State. Bhattacharjee has alleged that while the TMC in the past had been maintaining secret contacts with the Maoists it is “now openly organizing meetings with them.” It is presumed that one point of time Kabir Suman had difference with the TMC leadership and he is a “rebel” in the party but in reality he is enjoying much confidence of Mamata Banerjee. That his relation with Mamata Banerjee is extremely good has been evident in his book written by Kabair Suman. Kabair Suman is frank in his writing saying on the eve of Parliament elections in 2009 a meeting was called at Suvaprasanna’s residence at Raichak which was attended by some RSS, BJP workers as well as some members of foreign diplomatic missions in Kolkata. At that meeting Mamata Banerjee offered “me the party nomination,” Kabir Suman writes ________________________ Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Mon Jan 10 21:00:11 2011 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:30:11 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? Message-ID: <894098.15636.qm@web161204.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Friends, I am giving below links to two write-ups about the Ajmer shrine blast: one published on Oct 12, 2007 in the Hindu, titled "The war against popular Islam" by Praveen Swami (the international strategic and security expert) in which he discusses how the fundamentalist Muslims hate syncretic shrines and want to destroy them so that Muslims don't visit them to indulge in "innovations". (Praveen of course also provides clinching details on how the same Islamic terrorists have recently carried out the blasts in Malegaon and Mecca Masjid etc.). The second link is a story released today titled "Ajmer blast carried out to deter Hindus from dargah visit: Aseemanand" I don't think I need to explain any further the various ironies one sees while putting these stories together. http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101261651600.htm http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ajmer-blast-carried-out-to-deter-Hindus-from-dargah-visit-Aseemanand/articleshow/7254459.cms Yousuf From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Mon Jan 10 21:33:47 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:03:47 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=2E=2E=2E_biased_=26_anti_India_reporting?= =?utf-8?b?IGRvZXNu4oCZdCBoZWxwLi4/Py4uS2lsbGluZyB0aHkgbmVpZ2hib3VyOiBJ?= =?utf-8?q?ndia=2C_and_its_Border_Security_Force?= In-Reply-To: <939491.85419.qm@web130204.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <939491.85419.qm@web130204.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Most Indians continue to see Bangladesh as a friend & wish its people well. India has been a target of pan Islamism inspired terrorism emanating from within & from abroad. It has every right to safeguard its interests & it is expected that Bangladeshis are sensitive to India’s security concerns. There appears to be growing inter governmental cooperation on the issue. Uncalled for references to Kashmir in the report that ought to have focused on Indo- Bangladesh relations only smacks of intrinsically anti India mindset. What India has been fighting in Kashmir for the past two decades is rather mildly said by Pakistani journalist/parliamentarian Ayaz Amir (who isn’t any good friend of India any way) justifying Pakistan’s full throttle military assault in SWAT against its own people in ‘A Make-or- break Moment’ in Khalij Times/Oct 23, 2009 (.http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=opinion&xfile=data/opinion/2009/october/opinion_october114.xml) …….. The stakes being so high, there is no choice but to win, and win decisively. Of course it is not going to be easy. South Waziristan’s fighters, including the foreign elements, are amongst the most battle-hardened on the planet. They have been fighting for decades—in Afghanistan, disputed Kashmir, now FATA….. ……….3-5,000 Hezbollah fighters defeated the Israeli army in Lebanon in 2006. At the height of the Kashmir uprising (starting from 1989) there could not have been more than 5-10,000 guerrilla fighters in the Valley. But they tied down close to half a million Indian troops, the bulk of which remain in Kashmir…… Also, the then Home Minister of India Late Indrajit Gupta who had quoted a figure of 10 million illegal migrants from Bangladesh didn’t belong to any ‘Hindu Nationalist’ party, he was a veteran communist leader-one of the senior most & respectable parliamentarians. Following press reports along with the gory images of barbarity against Indian border guards at the hands of Bangladeshis should put to rest propaganda against India……. ……http://www.india-today.com/itoday/20010507/bangladesh.shtml” ……….http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/68654/Rgds all LA > Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 23:01:36 -0800 > From: swadhin_sen at yahoo.com > To: reader-list at sarai.net > CC: swadhin.sen at gmail.com > Subject: [Reader-list] Killing thy neighbour: India, and its Border Security Force > > Killing thy Neighbour. > India, and its Border Security Force > rahnuma ahmed > > > Felani's clothes got entangled in the barbed wire when she was crossing the Anantapur border in Kurigram. It > was 6 in the morning, Friday, 7th January 2011. Felani was 15, she > worked in Delhi and was returning home with her father after ten years. > To get married. She screamed. The BSF shot her dead. They took away her > body. > > > The > fence is made of steel and concrete. Packed with razor wire, > double-walled and 8-foot high, it is being built by the government of > India on its border with Bangladesh. When completed, it promises to be > larger than the United States-Mexico fence, Israel's apartheid wall > with Palestine, and the Berlin wall put together. It has been dubbed > the Great Wall of India. > > > The > fence is being constructed, with floodlighting in parts, to secure > India's borders against interests hostile to the country. To put in > place systems that are able to "interdict" these hostile elements. They > will include a suitable mix and class of various types of hi-tech > electronic surveillance equipment such as night vision devices, > handheld thermal imagers, battle field surveillance radars, direction > finders, unattended ground sensors, high powered telescopes to act as a > "force multiplier" for "effective" border management. According to its > rulers, this is "vitally important for national security." > > > Seventy > percent of fencing along the Bangladesh border has been completed. In > reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on November 10, 2010, the Indian > state minister for home affairs said, fencing will be completed by > March 2012. One estimate puts the project's cost at ₤600 million. > > > The > colonial boundary division between East Pakistan/Bangladesh and India, > notes Willem van Schendel, had little to do with modern concepts of > spatial rationality. It was anything but a straight line, snaking > "through the countryside in a wacky zigzag pattern" showing no respect > for history, cutting through innumerable geographical entities, for > example, the ancient capital of Gaur. It was reflective of someone with > an "excessively baroque mind" (The Bengal Borderland: Beyond state and > nation in South Asia, 2005) > > > The > fence divides and separates. Villages. Agricultural lands. Markets. > Families. Communities. It cuts across mangrove-swamps in the southwest, > forests and mountains in the northeast (Delwar Hussain, March 2, 2009). > It divides villages. Everyday village-life must now submit to a tangle > of bureaucracy as Indian Muslim law clerk, Maznu Rahman Mandal and his > wife Ahmeda Khatun, a Bangladeshi, discovered after Ahmeda's father > died. To attend the latter's funeral in the same village, Bhira, they > would now have to get passports from Delhi, visas from Kolkata (Bidisha > Bannerjee, December 20, 2010). It split up Fazlur Rehman's family too, > the fence snaked into their Panidhar village homestead, his younger > brother who lived right next door, is now in another country (Time, > February 5, 2009). Other border residents have had their homes split in > two, the kitchen in one country, the bedroom in another. > > > To > access one's field, or markets, residents must now line up at long > queues at the BSF border outposts, surrender their identity cards. They > must submit to BSF's regimen, which often means disregarding what the > crop needs. As Mithoo Sheikh of Murshidabad says, "The BSF does not > understand cultivation problems." By the time we get to the field it is > noon. Sometimes we get water only at night. But we have to stop working > at 4pm, because they will not let us remain in the field. If we > disobey, they beat us, they file false charges. ("Trigger Happy." > Excessive Use of Force by Indian Troops at the Bangladesh Border, Human > Rights Watch, December 2010). > > > This > lack of `understanding' percolates to the topmost levels of both border > forces. During an official visit to Bangladesh and talks between the > BSF and the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles, recently renamed Border Guard > Bangladesh) in September 2010, Raman Srivastava, director general of > the BSF, in response to allegations that BSF troopers were killing > innocent and unarmed Bangladeshi civilians said: “The deaths have > occurred in Indian territory and mostly during night, so how can they > be innocent?” Ideas reciprocated by the BDR chief Maj. Gen. Mainul > Islam in March 2010, who, while explaining that there was a history of > “people and cattle trafficking during darkness” said, “We should not be > worried about such incidents [killings]…. We have discussed the matter > and will ensure that no innocent people will be killed.” > > > Abdur > Rakib was catching fish in Dohalkhari lake, inside Bangladeshi > territory. It was March 13, 2009. A witness saw a BSF soldier standing > at the border, talking loudly. "It seemed that he wanted the boy to > give him some free fish." Heated argument, verbal abuse. "The BSF > pointed a gun at the boy. The boy ran and the soldier started to > shoot." Two were injured. Rakib was shot in the chest. He died > instantly. He was 13. > > > Smuggling, > cattle rustling and human trafficking has increased in the border areas > as poor farmers and landless people faced by population increases, poor > irrigation, flooding, and continuous river erosion struggle to make > ends meet. While both BSF and BGB accuse each other of corruption, the > reality, says the recent Human Rights Watch report, is that some > officials, border guards, and politicians on both sides are almost > certainly involved in smuggling. It quotes a senior BSF official, > "There are a lot of people involved, including our chaps. That is why > only these farmers, with one or two cows are caught, not groups that > ferry large consignments of cattle or drugs." > > > A > culture of impunity prevails, says Kirity Roy, head of Manabadhikar > Suraksha Mancha (Masum), a Kolkata-based human rights organisation. We > have repeatedly approached the courts, the National Human Rights > Commission (NHRC), the National Minorities Commission, the National > Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the National > Commission for Protection of Child Rights. But none of the cases raised > have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. In some cases, family > members appeared before the BSF court of inquiry but we, as the de > facto complainant, were never summoned to appear or depose before any > inquiry conducted by BSF. No verdicts have been made public. > > > Neither > has BSF provided any details to Bangladeshi authorities of any BSF > personnel having been prosecuted for human rights violation. Impunity > is legally sanctioned as the BSF is exempt from criminal prosecution > unless specific approval is granted by the Indian government. A new > bill to prohibit torture is being considered by the Indian parliament, > it includes legal impunity. > > > On > April 22, 2009, when Rabindranath Mandal and his wife were returning to > Bangladesh after having illegally gone to India for Rabindranath's > treatment, a BSF patrol team from Ghojadanga camp detained them. She > was raped. Rabindranath tried to save her, they killed him. The > following morning, the BSF jawans left her and her husband's dead body > at the Zero Line at Lakkhidari. > > > The > reason for building the fence, said an Indian Ministry of External > Affairs spokesperson, is the same as the United States' Mexico fence. > As Israel's fence on the West Bank. To prevent illegal migration and > terrorist infiltration. > > > But > Rizwana Shamshad points out that the hysteria generated by the Hindu > nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 1980s and 1990s—Bangladeshi > Muslim `infiltration' by the millions constitutes a serious strain on > the national economy, it poses a threat to India's stability and > security, it represents a challenge to Indian sovereignty, demographic > changes will soon lead to Bangladeshi citizens demanding a separate > state from India—did > not withstand investigation. A study carried out by the Centre for > Study of Society and Secularism in 1995 revealed that the BJP-Shiv Sena > allegations were not only an exaggeration, but a complete fabrication. > Fears and insecurities had been deliberately whipped up to consolidate > Hindutva ideology; migrants, it seemed, were more preoccupied with > struggling to make a living. While the BJP-Shiv Sena had alleged that > there were 300,000 illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Mumbai, they were > able to detect and deport only 10,000 Bangladeshi migrants, when in > power (1998-2004). > > > The > numbers vary with each media or official report, writes Rizwana. A BJP > National Executive meeting declared over 15 million (April 1992). > Nearly 10 million, said former Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta (May > 6, 1997). The group of cabinet ministers (home, defence, external > affairs, finance) set up by prime minister Vajpayee post-Kargil, > reported 15 million (2000). The definitions, she adds, are prejudiced: > Muslim migrants are described as `infiltrators.' Hindu migrants as > `refugees.' Neither is there any mention of the Indian economy having > benefited from cheap labour. > > > The > HRW report notes, few killed by the BSF have ever been shown to have > been involved in terrorism. In the cases investigated, alleged > criminals were armed with nothing but sickles, sticks and knives, > implements commonly carried by villagers. Nor do the dead bodies bear > out BSF's justification that they had fired in self-defense. Shots in > the back indicate that the victims had been shot running away. Shots at > close range signal they were probably killed in custody. > > > BSF > kills Indian nationals too. In Indian territory. Basirun Bibi and her 6 > month old grandson Ashique, May 2010. Atiur Rahman, March 2010. > Shahjahan Gazi, November 2009. Noor Hossain, September 2009. > Shyamsundar Mondal, August 2009. Sushanta Mondal, July 2009. Abdus > Samad, May 2009. The imposition of informal curfews on both sides of > the border at night, reportedly to prevent the accidental shooting of > villagers, has not lessened the number of innocent people killed. > > > Beatings, > torture, rape, killings. What could be the reason for such compulsively > violent behaviour? According to the HRW report, it could have been > caused by previous deployment in the Indo-Pakistan border in Kashmir, > by "difficult and tense periods of duty." > > > However, > checkpoints, curfews, hi-tech electronic surveillance equipment, > harassment, intimidation, beatings, torture and sniper fire remind me > of Gaza. Not surprising, given that once finished, the fence will "all > but encircle Bangladesh" (Time, February 5, 2009). > > > The > 1947 colonial border division was reflective of someone with an > "excessively baroque mind." Its brutal enforcement through fencing, > through the deployment of trigger happy BSF soldiers, speak of a > Nazi-state mentality. > > > Not too far-fetched given Israel and India's "limitless relationship" (Military Ties Unlimited. India and Israel, New Age, January 18, 2010). > This includes Israeli training of Indian commandos in urban warfare and > counter-insurgency operations (in Kashmir), and proposals for offering > the Border Security Forces specialised training. Given Israel's > behaviour, which Auschwitz survivor, Hajo Meyer, likens to the Nazis. "I can write up an endless list of similarities between Nazi Germany and Israel". > > > Israel's > inability to learn to live with its neighbours is increasingly turning > it into a "pariah state" (British MP). Its "paranoia" has been noted by > Israelis themselves (Gideon Levy). That a similar future awaits India, > is increasingly clear. > ----------------http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/editorial/4482.html > > Published in New Age, Monday December 10, 2011 http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/editorial/4482.html > > PIC http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Vc9VvIqNhJY/S7YhGyiePtI/AAAAAAAAMAY/e9-2EQ1R1d4/s1600/20+killed+in+BSF+firing.jpg > > > To post comments pls go to: http://www.shahidulnews.com/ > > ------------------------- > > > Swadhin Sen Archaeologist - Assistant Professor Dept.of Archaeology Tel: +88 02 779 10 45-51 Ext. 1326 Jahangirnagar University Mobile: +88 0172 019 61 76 Savar,Dhaka. Bangladesh Fax: +88 02 779 10 52 swadhin_sen at yahoo.com; swadhinsen at hotmail.com www.juniv.edu > > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 Jan 10 22:32:06 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 22:32:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim boy who moved Aseemanand to confess Message-ID: Abdul Kaleem – the man who moved Aseemanand to confess By Mumtaz Alam Falahi,TwoCircles.net New Delhi: Even hardcore terrorists and diehard Hindutva extremists could have a heart which can melt, forcing them to admit their sins. This became evident in the case of Swami Aseemanand. What moved old RSS man Aseemanand to confess his role in terror blasts in the country is not investigators’ hard questioning but the good moral conduct of a Muslim youth – 21-year-old Abdul Kaleem. During his brief stay in Chanchalguda district jail in Hyderabad after his arrest in November 2010 in connection with Mecca Masjid blast case, Aseemanand encountered an inexplicable human experience. He was converted at heart by a young co-inmate Kaleem. Kaleem helped Aseemanand lot in the jail – he would help the old man by bringing him food, water etc. The terror conspirator was very much moved by the Muslim youth’s conduct. But the dramatic turn came when Aseemanand one day asked Kaleem to tell him about him and his family. One of hundreds of innocent Muslim youths languishing in jail in terror cases, Kaleem told Aseemanand he had served one and half years in the same jail in the Mecca Masjid blast case. He told him he was innocent. At that moment, the conscience in Aseemand woke up and he decided to confess the sins he has done and for which innocent Muslims youths are being punished. “Sir, when I was lodged in Chanchalguda district jail in Hyderabad, one of my co-inmates was Kaleem. During my interaction with Kaleem I learnt that he was previously arrested in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case and he had to spend about one and half years in prison. During my stay in jail, Kaleem helped me a lot and used to serve me by bringing water, food, etc for me. I was very moved by Kaleem’s good conduct and my conscience asked me to do prayschit (penance) by making a confessional statement so that real culprits can be punished and no innocent has to suffer,” Aseemanand said in his confessional statement before the magistrate in New Delhi on 18th December 2010. In his 42-page confessional statement, Aseemanand confessed he and other Hindutva extremists were behind various terror blasts in the country including Malegaon, Ajmer, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express. He has also named RSS leader Indresh Kumar as main conspirator. Aseemanand was arrested on 19 November 2010 by the CBI from a hideout in Haridwar. He had been a fugitive for over two years since Sadhvi Pragya’s arrest in October 2008. According to Tehelka weekly which first disclosed Aseemanand’s confession, Kaleem, a cell phone seller, was arrested and tortured in 2007 for the blast at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad. He spent a year-and-half in jail before being acquitted. http://twocircles.net/2011jan10/abdul_kaleem_–_man_who_moved_aseemanand_confess.html From taraprakash at gmail.com Tue Jan 11 00:14:16 2011 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (TaraPrakash) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:44:16 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? References: <894098.15636.qm@web161204.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8092DA5BE262409B93AD231E3EDA18C9@tara> I wonder if those who leak/release "information" should also be in the sphere of scrutiny? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yousuf" To: Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 10:30 AM Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? > Friends, > I am giving below links to two write-ups about the Ajmer shrine blast: one > published on Oct 12, 2007 in the Hindu, titled "The war against popular > Islam" by Praveen Swami (the international strategic and security expert) > in which he discusses how the fundamentalist Muslims hate syncretic > shrines and want to destroy them so that Muslims don't visit them to > indulge in "innovations". (Praveen of course also provides clinching > details on how the same Islamic terrorists have recently carried out the > blasts in Malegaon and Mecca Masjid etc.). > > The second link is a story released today titled "Ajmer blast carried out > to deter Hindus from dargah visit: Aseemanand" > > I don't think I need to explain any further the various ironies one sees > while putting these stories together. > > http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101261651600.htm > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ajmer-blast-carried-out-to-deter-Hindus-from-dargah-visit-Aseemanand/articleshow/7254459.cms > > > Yousuf > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Tue Jan 11 09:08:56 2011 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:38:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? In-Reply-To: <8092DA5BE262409B93AD231E3EDA18C9@tara> Message-ID: <108099.7173.qm@web161206.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> You mean Tehelka or Praveen Swami? --- On Tue, 1/11/11, TaraPrakash wrote: > From: TaraPrakash > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? > To: "Yousuf" , reader-list at sarai.net > Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 12:14 AM > I wonder if those who leak/release > "information" should also be in the sphere of scrutiny? > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yousuf" > To: > Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 10:30 AM > Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? > > > > Friends, > > I am giving below links to two write-ups about the > Ajmer shrine blast: one published on Oct 12, 2007 in the > Hindu, titled "The war against popular Islam" by Praveen > Swami (the international strategic and security expert) in > which he discusses how the fundamentalist Muslims hate > syncretic shrines and want to destroy them so that Muslims > don't visit them to indulge in "innovations". (Praveen of > course also provides clinching details on how the same > Islamic terrorists have recently carried out the blasts in > Malegaon and Mecca Masjid etc.). > > > > The second link is a story released today titled > "Ajmer blast carried out to deter Hindus from dargah visit: > Aseemanand" > > > > I don't think I need to explain any further the > various ironies one sees while putting these stories > together. > > > > http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101261651600.htm > > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ajmer-blast-carried-out-to-deter-Hindus-from-dargah-visit-Aseemanand/articleshow/7254459.cms > > > > > > Yousuf > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the > city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net > with subscribe in the subject header. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > From taraprakash at gmail.com Tue Jan 11 10:28:35 2011 From: taraprakash at gmail.com (TaraPrakash) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:58:35 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? References: <108099.7173.qm@web161206.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <839083EDDD2340B3A17987D54444482F@tara> Actually the sources they both get their information from. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yousuf" To: ; "TaraPrakash" Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 10:38 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? > You mean Tehelka or Praveen Swami? > > > --- On Tue, 1/11/11, TaraPrakash wrote: > >> From: TaraPrakash >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? >> To: "Yousuf" , reader-list at sarai.net >> Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 12:14 AM >> I wonder if those who leak/release >> "information" should also be in the sphere of scrutiny? >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yousuf" >> To: >> Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 10:30 AM >> Subject: [Reader-list] whose Ajmer? >> >> >> > Friends, >> > I am giving below links to two write-ups about the >> Ajmer shrine blast: one published on Oct 12, 2007 in the >> Hindu, titled "The war against popular Islam" by Praveen >> Swami (the international strategic and security expert) in >> which he discusses how the fundamentalist Muslims hate >> syncretic shrines and want to destroy them so that Muslims >> don't visit them to indulge in "innovations". (Praveen of >> course also provides clinching details on how the same >> Islamic terrorists have recently carried out the blasts in >> Malegaon and Mecca Masjid etc.). >> > >> > The second link is a story released today titled >> "Ajmer blast carried out to deter Hindus from dargah visit: >> Aseemanand" >> > >> > I don't think I need to explain any further the >> various ironies one sees while putting these stories >> together. >> > >> > http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101261651600.htm >> > >> > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ajmer-blast-carried-out-to-deter-Hindus-from-dargah-visit-Aseemanand/articleshow/7254459.cms >> > >> > >> > Yousuf >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > _________________________________________ >> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the >> city. >> > Critiques & Collaborations >> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net >> with 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 rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Jan 11 16:04:55 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:34:55 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] "Salaat" - (prayer) a film by Kaz Rahman In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CD7F9252A0D033-1774-9541@webmail-d029.sysops.aol.com>   THEATTIC 36 REGAL BUILDINGS, NEW DELHI TEL: 23746050   friday14th january 6.00pm "Salaat" – (prayer) (74 mins, 2010) a film by Kaz Rahman   Cast: Hedi Hurban, Sara Rahman, Nasreen, Umran Yazici and ZainulvaraZaheer. Premier: Pittsburgh September 17th, 2010.   The filmdepicts salaat - Islamic prayer – both literally and more abstractly.Shot in Hyderabad, India, and Ontario, Canada, the largely dialogueless filmcaptures five Muslim women as they recite their daily prayers. In mostinstances, these women step away from their otherwise engaged days as each pauses for prescribed prayer.From one who ritually washes in a paradisiacal garden pool, to one shopping ina crowded city to another bundled against ice and snow, each takes time forGod. The film is contemplative but abstract,minimalist and meditative. The work of Kaz Rahman explores and coalesces theintersection between Islamic artistic expression, the natural elements and contemporary culture. Rahman grew up in Ontario, Canada and studied Visual Arts at York University in Toronto (BFA), painting/photography at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, England and later Media Arts at City College (CUNY) in New York City where he earned his MFA.  He has lived in Moscow, Russia (1998), Budapest, Hungary (1999) and Hyderabad, India (2004-08) and currently lives and works in Pittsburgh where he is faculty in Film/ Video at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. His 16mm film Dead Body won the ‘Special Jury Award’ at the 2002 Cityvisions festival in NYC and Rahman has received artist grants in both Visual Arts and Film and Video from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the arts. His Recent solo exhibitions in photography and painting include 'Flood in the Sky' in Hyderabad, India (2005), ‘Deccani Ark’ in Bombay, India (2007) and ‘Salaat’in Hyderabad, India (2008).   From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Tue Jan 11 20:20:10 2011 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:20:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fish workers' associations reject CRZ notification In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Fish workers' associations reject CRZ notification Ignatius Pereira Monday, January 10, 2011 : The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on January 6 does not reflect the issues raised by the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) or the Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF). Talking to The Hindu on Sunday, KSMTF president T. Peter and NFF chairman Matanhy Saldhana said the Ministry had not kept its promise given to the NFF during the four rounds of talks between them in New Delhi and Mundra. He warned that the fishing community would launch an agitation against the notification if the assurances were not fulfilled. They said the Ministry had indicated that the provision relating to ‘roads-on-stilts' would be dropped from the final notification in view of protests by the fishing community and environmental groups against its potential for misuse. However, the provision has been retained in the final notification. The Ministry had assured the fishing community organisations of fair representation in the national and State-level Coastal Zone Management Authorities (CZMA), with at least three persons on each CZMA. The assurance does not find mention in the final notification. Mr. Saldanha said the fishing community was the traditional inhabitants of the coast with the largest stake in its protection and management. Further, an assurance had been given to the NFF that the provision to notify critically vulnerable coastal areas (CVCA) would be modified and notified as community managed coastal reserves (CMCR). Community-led models of management and conservation were more effective in meeting environmental and social objectives, Mr. Saldanha said. Mr. Peter said the fishing community feared misuse of the provision that permitted State-level coastal zone management plans (CZMP) to be revised every five years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- •Fish workers warn of agitation •‘No proper representation in CZMAs' From iram at sarai.net Wed Jan 12 00:25:57 2011 From: iram at sarai.net (Iram Ghufran) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:55:57 +0600 Subject: [Reader-list] fwd: my india experience Message-ID: <4D2CA7BD.4010103@sarai.net> Subject: Reader List posting request - Etan Doronne From: Etan Doronne Dear reader List, You were recommended to me by Chandni Parekh. I attach an introductory letter of the documentary project I am set to begin January 18th 2011 Support of volunteers and resources are sought. Would it be relevant to post this letter on your list to inform your reader community ? Dhanyawaad, Etan ------- Hello and Namaskar, On February 2008 I completed a one-year backpacking through remote rural villages and towns across India. Returning to India wish to create a vivid, impressive and inspiring film for the Indian, American and the global community. Your support is welcome and essential. The Program: Upon my return to the USA back in 2008, I launched "My India -- Where every village is Home" - a public program. For the past two years I have been sharing slide show presentations and talks with audiences all over California and Arizona. The venues include universities, public libraries, bookshops, inns, private events and even Indian restaurants and coffee shops. Past events' details and photos are posted on the event calendar My India program was featured on India Post, as well as many other magazines, publications in the US and India and on TV. Most are available for view on www.myindiaexperience.com I do not charge admission or speaker fees, in the exercise of unconditional kindness I experienced at Indian villages. The Aim: The program is designed to inspire Americans to explore the traditional rural Indian practices, at a time when we struggle to find social and environmentally sustainable means of living. On the other hand, to backup Indian villagers in maintaining and balancing their traditional life in the face of increasing 'westernization' The Next Step: Set to depart for India on January 18th 2011, I continue the experience in rural and tribal villages. With the aid of a mobile projector, courtesy of Mr. Atul Thakkar who also donated the airfare, the movies shot and edited on-site at a village or town would be screened for the locals to view. Also, screening documentary/educational clips about the environmental and personal hazards, such as: disposable plastic tableware, genetically modified plant breeds, synthetic chemical pesticides, allopathic medicine, western fast-food. Later, upon returning to the USA, we will edit these into a full featured movie. The movie will be freely available online for personal view at no cost. Benefits: To Indian Villagers: Taking pride in their own traditional ways of living, by: 1. Taking part in documenting their everyday life for western interest. 2. Watching a documentary film and viewing themselves on the big screen. 3. Being aware and cautious about adopting doubtful modern practices. To Americans and the international community: 1. Introducing an opportunity to experience India's millennia-old sustainable culture, that is still in place and practiced today. 2. Sharing the "How To" of traveling a personal, unplanned, unfolding-as- you-go route through India. A journey that fosters trust in unknown environments and people through experience, observation, insight and realization. An experience that dissolves preconceived patterns and is much likely to become a turning point in life. To both Americans and local villagers: . True Eco--Tourism. Encouraging a more balanced spread of foreign tourism money among India's 600,000 villages and towns. Providing locals with an opportunity to maintain traditional life, for generations of Indian and westerners to come. . Have a personal interaction and introduction of east to west and vice versa. A more relaxed way to understand each others culture then the corporate or commercially based option. (90% of the 5 million foreign tourists visiting India each year stay within 10 of the 30 states that compose India. Even then it is within a few big cities and commercialized tourist destinations. Data by India's ministry of tourism, here) Your help: To maintain a reliable documentary project, with no limitations, restrictions and free of commercial or political interests, I seek contributions from private donors, avoiding corporate sponsorships or government funding. The following new/used gear or the equivalent $3800 for purchasing is required: . Video and photo equipment: 1. Video camera - Camcorder 2. External microphone 3. Adobe Premiere video editing application 4. Digital pocket camera 5. 3 Simple, low-cost cameras -- for villagers to shoot their points of view . Other: 1. Large ~80 Liter backpack 2. Vaccinations . Running costs: 1. Web hosting (For My India website) 2. US mail box (Physical/mailing address) . Optional (The below totals appx. $7 per day): 1. Land transportation fare (Train, bus, autorikshaw) 2. Accommodations (Basic, local guesthouse) 3. Meals (Local restaurant, 'Dhaba') New/used gear, software or service donations are welcome. Any donation is greatly appreciated, $1 goes a long way in rural India, it is the fare of a 4 hour local bus ride or the price of two meals. Donations can be made by credit or debit cards secured by Paypal on the website's Donate page. A check can be sent to the address below. For details about direct deposit to the bank account, please contact me. Other ways to help, please: 1. Share this letter with others (email, facebook, twitter etc.) 2. Suggest sources of potential support 3. Assist in contacting a magazine/newspaper to write for (US/India) 4. Recommend a volunteer in India who may help as cameraman Thank you, Etan Doronne. my.india.experience at gmail.com 818-921-7267 4570 Van Nuys Blvd. Suite 364 Sherman Oaks, CA. 91403 ------------ Etan Doronne Creator of lecture series My India - Where every village is home 818-921-7267 4570 Van Nuys Blvd. Suite 364 Sherman Oaks, CA. 91403 www.myindiaexperience.com From Irini at watermans.org.uk Thu Jan 6 18:36:45 2011 From: Irini at watermans.org.uk (Irini Papadimitriou) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 13:06:45 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] 2012 Open Call - Watermans New Media Message-ID: <149A851CD20A7940AB409D51EA8785E60163438C@water-serv3.watermans> Dear All I would be grateful if you could circulate the attached Open Call info to anyone you think might be interested to apply. It is for a series of international exhibitions and seminars in 2012 at Watermans. If you would like more information about the project, please feel free to contact me. Many thanks and best wishes Irini Irini Papadimitriou Head of New Media Arts Development Watermans 40 High Street Brentford TW8 0DS Direct line: +44 (0)20 8232 1012 Admin: +44 (0)20 8232 1020 www.watermans.org.uk OPEN CALL - Watermans 2012 New Media Exhibitions project To coincide with the Olympics in London in 2012, Watermans is pleased to announce a unique opportunity to present a series of groundbreaking installations exploring interactivity and participation in New Media and Digital Art. Much New Media / Digital Art is increasingly aimed at interaction with the audience and artists are continuously exploring new ways of viewer participation. This year long project proposes to showcase the work of distinguished artists from all continents, including a British artist, with an interest in projects concerned with ways of participation, interactivity or collaboration and consider the use or importance of technologies in their work. With this we are hoping to initiate and enable a series of discussions around the meaning, possibilities and issues around human interaction and engagement in New Media art and bring in responses from artists, academics, students, art professionals and visitors in the UK and internationally. OPEN CALL: Artists and art collectives from all countries working with new media and digital technologies are invited to submit proposals of existing or new projects. Interested artists can propose to show more than one installation or projects and we will welcome applications from individuals, art collectives or collaborations between artists. We would like to invite artists to propose imaginative, ambitious and inspirational projects that will transform our understanding of art and the way it can be experienced. We will particularly focus on installations with an emphasis on participatory activity (interaction with the audience) in order to engage visitors in a creative, exploratory and inspirational journey prior to and during the Games. Please send your proposals including: - work(s) description - CV(s) and artist statement - supporting material with description (jpgs, urls, videos etc) - list of technical requirements, equipment, materials required for the proposed work(s) - contact details Budget Each artist/art collective will receive a fixed fee of £3,500 to cover fees & project costs, installation and work transport. In addition, Watermans will cover travel and accommodation costs in London and will also provide technical assistance and exhibition promotion. The deadline for receiving proposals is 24th February 2011. Please send all application material to: Irini Papadimitriou Head of New Media Arts Development Watermans 40 High Street Brentford, London TW8 0DS UK email: irini at watermans.org.uk A judging panel will select the six projects which will be announced in March/April 2011. The exhibitions will run throughout 2012 (January - October) and the project will provide an opportunity for presenting a series of innovative and interactive digital/new media art installations never before staged in London. With this project we hope to engage and challenge artists and audiences in new and unexpected ways. In conjunction with the exhibitions, and in partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London, we are planning to run a series of seminars related to the exhibitions, a mentoring scheme for students as well as generate online activity with a website dedicated to the project and the use of social media such as blogs, feeds etc to engage wider audiences in the project and enable critical debate. Online visitors will be able to follow the development of each exhibition as well as the artists' work from their studio on its way to the gallery in London. Information about the seminars and mentoring scheme will be announced soon. From turbulence at turbulence.org Fri Jan 7 00:25:31 2011 From: turbulence at turbulence.org (Turbulence) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 13:55:31 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] New Networked Book Chapter: "Re-Locating" by Yasmine Abbas Message-ID: <58A4F974-ED07-4697-91AF-91C62CF11BBB@turbulence.org> Networked: a (networked_book) about (networked_art) presents: "Re-Locating: Situational, Experienceable and Relational Design to Soothe the Stress of Travel" by Yasmine Abbas http://abbas.networkedbook.org ABSTRACT: Stress is an undesirable offshoot of any kind of travel, forced or voluntary. To soothe the stress of travel, today’s mobile individuals -- neo-nomads -- engage in tactics of re:location, the practice of re-assembling a familiar and cushioned personal space, an image of home. The spaces and objects we design with mobility in mind should focus on bringing comfort to these mobile individuals. We learn however that in today’s consumerist, “liquid” and hypermobile world, linkages between PIGS -- People, Information, Goods and Spaces -- matter more than PIGS themselves. The territories of neo-nomads relate to linkages and are dynamic as a result. Read | Write This Chapter http://wiki.networkedbook.org/index.php/Re-Locating BIOGRAPHY: Yasmine Abbas is a French DPLG architect (Paris Val-de- Marne / now Paris Val-de-Seine 1997) who graduated with a Master of Science in Architecture Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an Aga Khan scholarship (SMArchS 2001) and a Doctor of Design from Harvard University Graduate School of Design (DDes 2006). At MIT and Harvard, Abbas researched how mobile individuals -- neo-nomads -- Re:locate, i.e. construct and reclaim a sense of belonging to places through physical, mental and digital means. Abbas has traveled extensively and worked internationally in the fields of art and architecture, consumer research and social sustainability. This led her to develop a strong understanding of applied research and design innovation. She is the founding director of "neo-nomad" a research blog/consultancy which deliver urban intelligence, people-informed research and design strategy for the built environment. Her latest publications include "Digital Technologies of the Self," a book co-edited with Fred Dervin (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009) and the chapter "Neo-nomads and the Practice of Re:location -- Designing for Mobilities" in Tsigaridis, D. and Jungclaus J. (eds) "Tracing Mobilities -- Designing Ubiquities" (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Design -- Design and Technology Report Series, forthcoming publication 2010). Abbas joined Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, UAE as a Professorial Research Fellow and the Program Director of RURL, the Responsible Urbanism Research Lab, Zayed University’s transdisciplinary research platform dedicated to advance knowledge in the field of sustainable urbanism. 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 babuubab at gmail.com Wed Jan 12 12:49:35 2011 From: babuubab at gmail.com (SUNDARA BABU) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:49:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Open letter to Maulana Ilyas Qadri, in context of the killing of M.R Salman taseer In-Reply-To: References: <754058.59327.qm@web137412.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: faisal khan Date: 11 January 2011 18:29 Janab Maulana Ilyas Qadri Saheb Aassalam-o Alikum We are unable to restrain ourselves from writing to you with regard to the recent killing of Mr. Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab (Pakistan), because it is learnt that the man allegedly responsible for this killing is a cadre of your organization Dawate-islami (jamat). We would like to request you to ponder if this is in conformity with the teachings of Islam and the path which prophet has shown us. We reproduce below some verses of the *na’t,* describing prophet’s personality, which we have heard on your channel several times salaam us par ke jis ney khoon key pyason ko qabain deen salaam us par ke jis ney gaaliyaan sun kar duaien deen salaam us par ke asrare mohabbat jis ney sikhlaeen salaam us par ke jis ney zakhm khaa kar phool barsaey salaam us par ke jo majruh huaa bazaar-e tayef mein … The person responsible for the killing seems to be the anti-thesis of the above-mentioned aspects of the greatest personality ever born on this earth. Can a true follower of Islam forget the scene of Taif, where our great prophet was being beaten; though badly injured, he did not even utter a word of hatred for those who were throwing stones at him; on the contrary, he prayed for their well-being. It seems that your followers have forgotten important lessons from the life of our beloved prophet. Please recall that, in the light of Islam, the killer of prophet’s uncle, Hazrat Hamza, was forgiven by the prophet. Please recall that Ubai bin Salool kept on torturing prophet all through his life, but Prophet led the proceedings at his funeral service. Your organization claims to follow sufis (saints). Please enlighten us if that is the way shown to us by the likes of Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Data Saheb, Baba Fareed. I am pained that those claiming to be Muslim are responsible for, and have rejoiced, the heinous murder, whereas the true followers of Islam ought to condemn this brutal killing. We demand that you apologize to the family members of late Salman Taseer on behalf of your organization. In order not to tarnish the image of Islam, Prophet and Sufis, we request you to renounce the politics of murder and mayhem in their name. *Signatories to the open letter* * * Asad ashraf -- NSAF Dayaan hussain -Advocate -ASSAM Faisal khan - NAPM -Delhi R. kauser -socaial activist -west bengal Nasir pathan --RTI activist -Gujrat Ehtisham Hashmi- Advocate --MP kaleemullah - Social activist - BIHAR Shahab Ul Haque- J & K Nazim Abbasi – Musician,New Delhi Wassem Khan – Saudi Arab Fahad Hasan – Ajk Mass Communication, J.M.I Shakeel Ahmed- Management Student,Delhi Maulana Mujeeb Qasmi - Student ,Deoband Mohsin Ali – NSAF,Saharanpur Danish Qureshi- J.M.I,New Delhi Syed Perwaiz- Journalist Enab Khizra – Pioneer Foundation of India Maulana Feroz- Kargil student forum Mehdi Hasan – Social Activist Dhubri,Assam Maaz Khan- Journalist- E.T.V Hammad Khan- R.T.I Activist,Amroha,U.P Atiq Ahmed- Ghar bachao,Ghar bano,Mumbai Mohd Khalid –Software Engineer ,Mumbai Mohd.Asghar-Social Activist,Orissa Mohd.Ahmed,Asha Pariwaar,Haryana Mohd.Anwar-K.K.Trust,Chennai Dr.Zakia Akhtar – Research Scholar,New Delhi Mohd.Abid.Youth movement of India,Bhilwara,Rajasthan Syed.Ali Akhtar- Yuva Koshish,New Delhi Mehboob Subhani-Student leader-Nillor A.P Maulana.Fateh mohd.Nadwi-U.P Shah Alam-Filmmaker-Ayodhya Shariq Ahmed- Advancement of social Action,Uttarakhand Jabir Boga- Social Activist,Vapi,Gujarat Shamsul Rehman- Advocate ,Assam Zahid Khan- Journalist,New Delhi Farah Kausar – Student,Delhi Akram Akhtar- Student leader,Delhi University Zubair Darzi – Photographer Adil Khan- Poet ,Panipat,Haryana Syed Anisur Rehman-Student,Jamia Miliia Islamia Shawaiz Danish-P.N. ,Delhi Shoaib Akhtar- P.N.I Dr.Zubair Ahmed – Medical Student,Ghaziabad Ali Adil khan-Editor –Isma Times,Delhi Syed.Rishad Ikmal,Orissa Asif Mazhar Ansari- S.S Engineering college,Mumbai Mohd.Tariq-M.S.W, Aligarh Muslim University Salaman- Asha Pariwar-Delhi Danish Ahmed- Political Activist, Gujarat Dr.Islam- Jind,Haryana Mohd.Gufran Khan –Prominent Photographer Mohd.Shafi- Social Activist,Godhra,Gujarat Mohd.Kaunain Rizvi- Haideri Foundation S.Aleemuddin- Khera,Gujarat Ghulam Rabbani- Social Activist,Delhi Feroz Vani-Social Activist,Srinagar Yousuf Ansari-Chairman-Salam India Foundation Fazal Abbas-Social Activist S.Mohd.Akhtar- Software Engineer-Gurgaon Sana Maryam- Ajk Mass Communication,Jamia Millia Islamia From kuhutanvir at gmail.com Wed Jan 12 16:05:23 2011 From: kuhutanvir at gmail.com (Kuhu Tanvir) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:05:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] CFP: Wide Screen Vol.3 No.1 Message-ID: *CFP: Wide Screen Vol.3 No.1* Wide Screen is a peer-reviewed, open access journal. It is devoted to the critical study of cinema from historical, theoretical, political, and aesthetic perspectives. The journal aims to combine the best of academic and journalistic critique of cinema to document the breathless changes not just in cinema itself but also within the field of cinema studies. Contributions to the journal can be in the form of essays, reviews, interviews, opinion pieces etc. - For more details about the scope of the journal and other editorial policies go to: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/editorialPolicies#focusAndScope - For author guidelines go to: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/submissions#authorGuidelines - Submissions should be entered at: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions Papers can also be emailed to kuhutanvir at gmail.com *Deadline for paper submission: February 15, 2011* For any queries, write to kuhutanvir at gmail.com To access the Wide Screen archive go to: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/issue/archive -- Wide Screen http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/index From chintan.backups at gmail.com Wed Jan 12 16:36:52 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:36:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Kumar Gandharva and Kabir: Linda Hess in conversation with U R Ananthamurthy - Jan 17, Bangalore Message-ID: From http://www.kabirproject.org/events/kumar%20gandharva%20and%20kabir%20book%20reading%20with%20linda%20hess Dr Linda Hess in conversation with Dr U R Ananthamurthy will read excerpts from her book *Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva performs the poetry of Kabir* followed by a discussion with the audience. The book includes a substantial introductory essay, bilingual texts of 30 songs, and a CD with selected songs by Kumar Gandharva along with contributions by Dr U R Ananthamurthy and Ashok Vajpeyi. This will be followed by a screening of the film *Koi Sunta Hai: Journeys with Kumar and Kabir* by Shabnam Virmani. Interweaving the folk music traditions of the mystic poet Kabir with the life and music of the late classical singer Kumar Gandharva, this film searches for that elusive sound, that jhini si awaaz, Kabir urges us to hear. Where does it resonate, that subtle sound? Journeying between folk and classical, oral and written, rural and urban expressions of this 15th century mystic poet of north India, the film finds moments of both continuity and rupture between these disparate worlds. We warmly invite one and all to an evening with Kumar Gandharva and Kabir at Suchitra. Time: 5 pm onwards Venue: Suchitra, 36, B.V Karanth Road Banashankari II Stage, Bangalore In case of any queries please feel free to call 080-26711785 Dr.Linda Hess is a scholar, writer, and a lover of Kabir. She began her travels to India in the 1960s and has been studying and translating the poetry of Kabir since the 1970s. In the current century she has also been singing it, as she has focused on oral and musical traditions of Kabir in North India. Her publications and present research include *The Bijak of Kabir*, (New York, Oxford University Press, 2002 - with Shukdev Singh, orig. 1983) considered by many to be one of the best translations of Kabir into English; *Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva Performs the Poetry of Kabir*(Calcutta, Seagull Books, 2009); and a book in progress, *Bodies of Song: Kabir Oral Traditions and Performative Worlds in Northern India*. She has been an advisor to The Kabir Project since 2003 and has been an invaluable friend and resource person. Somehow during the shooting and editing, Linda became a featured character in *Chalo Hamara Des/ Come to my country: Journeys with Kabir and Friends*. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University and is Co-Director of Stanford’s Center for South Asia. From tafaque at gmail.com Wed Jan 12 17:44:03 2011 From: tafaque at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?77qY77un77uu77uz77quIO+6ge+7lO+6ju+7lg==?=) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:44:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Prof Bhikhu Parekh's public lecture on 'Symbols of Indian Identity' /Jan 13, 2011/3.30 PM/CSDS Message-ID: Dear All, This is to inform you that Professor Bhikhu Parekh will deliver a public lecture on *‘Symbols of Indian Identity’. *The lecture will be chaired by Professor Mrinal Miri, Chairman of CSDS. The lecture is scheduled to be held on January 13, 2011, 3.30 PM at CSDS Conference Hall. You are cordially invited to attend the lecture. Best Praveen Rai Academic Secretary Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29, Rajpur Road Delhi - 110054 Phone: 91-11-23942199 Fax: 91-11-23943450 www.csds.in -- Dr Rinku Lamba Assistant Professor Centre for Political Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University -- Tanveer Afaque linkedin.com/in/tafaque From tafaque at gmail.com Wed Jan 12 17:46:10 2011 From: tafaque at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?77qY77un77uu77uz77quIO+6ge+7lO+6ju+7lg==?=) Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:46:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91Secularism_in_North_America=2C_?= =?windows-1252?q?Europe_and_India_-_A_Public_Discussion=92_chaired?= =?windows-1252?q?_by_Prof_Ashis_Nandy=2C_Jan_14/4=2E30_PM?= Message-ID: Dear All, We write to invite you to *‘Secularism in North America, Europe and India - A Public Discussion’. *The discussion will be chaired by Professor Ashis Nandy of CSDS. The* *Discussants are Professor Charles Taylor, Professor Rajeev Bhargava and Professor Bhikhu Parekh. The public discussion will held on *Friday 14th January, 2011, 4.30 PM* at the CSDS Seminar Hall. You are cordially invited to attend the discussion. Best Praveen Rai Academic Secretary Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29, Rajpur Road Delhi - 110054 Phone: 91-11-23942199 Fax: 91-11-23943450 www.csds.in -- Dr Rinku Lamba Assistant Professor Centre for Political Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University -- Tanveer Afaque linkedin.com/in/tafaque From chintan.backups at gmail.com Thu Jan 13 10:43:35 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:43:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Linda Hess: Turning inward, carrying scholarship lightly In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: >From http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Bangalore/article1087304.ece Linda's internal quest for Kabir By S. Bageshree The seekers of Kabir come in stunning variety. There are singers, listeners, scholars, social activists and ritual-bound mahants, occupying spaces that are religious, spiritual, secular or even atheist. Quite often, they refuse to be slotted into any single category at all, with one direction of pursuit of the mystic poet leading them in unpredictable new directions. The journey of renowned Kabir scholar and translator from Stanford University, Linda Hess, too has taken her on several unchartered paths. What began as a personal quest in the spiritual traditions of India in the seventies has eventually taken her on a quest of Kabir, not as he is revealed in scholarly written texts, but as he lives in our midst today, in myriad musical and oral traditions. Somewhere along the journey, Linda has erased the boundary within herself, between the spiritual seeker of Kabir and the scholar. She occasionally sings Kabir these days. On a visit to Bangalore last Saturday, Linda was humming along with Shabnam Virmani, a fellow seeker and director Kabir Project, at an informal singing session in the city. Poet, scholar and translator, the late A.K. Ramanujan, was the “original inspiration” who made her see that academic work is not necessarily all stiff and starchy, says Linda. “He carried his scholarship lightly and made people see that there is hope yet of not getting lost in scholarship!” While in Bangalore, Linda is launching her ‘Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva Performs the Poetry of Kabir', published by Seagull, which includes an elaborate introductory essay, bilingual texts of 30 songs, a CD with selected songs by Kumar Gandharva and contributions by writers U.R. Ananthamurthy and Ashok Vajpeyi. *A book on Kabir* This study is part of Linda's much larger project, a book that looks at Kabir in all the complex dimensions, both spiritual and socio-political. The latter aspect of Kabir, she says, has gained importance in the post-Babri Masjid context, when Kabir for many became the “voice from the ground” against sectarianism. Linda wonders, though, why faith and activism are necessarily seen as contradictory. “Those who are powerfully resisting the politics of hatred almost never want to speak as Hindus,” she says. This, Linda believes, leaves the space wide open for Hinduism to be possessed by the politics of Hindutva. “Even in America, it is only in recent times that we have had Jewish people speaking for the Palestinian homeland cause as a people of Jewish faith,” she says. One of the most fascinating aspects of Kabir's poetry for Linda is that it gives space to think at once about inner awakening and the social and political reality. The last chapter of the book she is working on looks at both the iconoclast reformer Kabir who questioned hierarchies and authoritarianism of all hues and the spiritual Kabir who leads you to a journey within the self. She is looking at “how different constituencies appropriate, negotiate and argue about these Kabirs.” Linda is searching her own answers for a series of larger questions on faith itself through her work with Kabir. As she puts it: “Can too much music, too much beauty and bliss, wreck your revolutionary spirit? Does turning inward make you forget the harsh realities of our world? What do music, spiritual practice, and self-knowledge have to do with politics? What is at stake in asking and answering these questions?” From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Thu Jan 13 11:49:15 2011 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:49:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Traditional fishermen to seek total ban on Chinese engines In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Traditional fishermen to seek total ban on Chinese engines http://www.thehindu.com/2011/01/12/stories/2011011257620900.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ignatius Pereira KOLLAM: Traditional fishermen will demand a total ban on the use of the high horsepower Chinese engines by fishing vessels at a meeting called by Fisheries Minister S. Sarma in Kochi on Wednesday. President of the Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation T. Peter told The Hindu that fishing permit should not be given to vessels fitted with engines imported from China. Fishing activity by boats using such engines would drastically deplete the marine wealth. Threat to ecology Mr. Peter wanted the use of these engines in the fishing sector to be declared a threat to marine ecology. Its use would hit the livelihood of those in both the mechanised and traditional sectors. In fact, a good section from the mechanised sector was against the use of Chinese engines. But if the use of such engines kept growing, those at present opposing these engines would also be compelled to use them, he said. Mr. Peter said that while the normal mechanised sector boats used engines with power in the range 100 HP to 180 HP, Chinese engines would have power ranging from 300 HP to 440 HP. Boats using the former category of engines while engaged in trawling would haul nets at a speed of 2.5 nautical miles an hour. But boats using Chinese engines could haul nets at a speed of 4.5 nautical miles an hour. This enabled such boats to engage in bottom, mid-sea and pelagic trawling at high speed. Boats with Chinese engines were engaged in such destructive fishing method and it would prove disastrous. Mr. Peter said as per information available with him, about 500 boats operating from Kerala were using the Chinese engines. Traditional fishermen demanded action against the use of Chinese engines in fishing boats, he said. Government policy Mr. Sarma's office when contacted said the policy of the government was that no kind of fishing activity that prevented rejuvenation of the fish wealth would be permitted. There should not be over exploitation. With this policy in the backdrop, the State government had appointed an expert committee to study the effects of fishing with vessels fitted with Chinese engines. The report of the committee would be submitted shortly and based on it the government would take an appropriate decision, the office said. From javedmasoo at gmail.com Fri Jan 14 10:50:15 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:50:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Jangpura mosque demolition, a biased action Message-ID: While I am not a votary of mosques, nor do I support illegal constructions of any religion, this event seems to be based on the aastha of demolition squad rather than a court order, as was initially claimed by the DDA and Delhi police. ---- Jangpura Masjid: High Court did not order demolition LG approved 'Religious Committee’s' recommendations which are not being divulged despite pending RTI Petition By Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, The Milli Gazette Online Published Online: Jan 14, 2011 New Delhi: On 12 November 2010, I happened to offer Friday namaz for the first time in Masjid Noor of Jangpura in New Delhi. Imam Saheb was telling the audience that there was threat of demolition of the masjid. After the namaz was over, I told my staff to stay back and collect details from Imam Saheb. Within the next few days we received copies of some related documents. A thorough study thereof revealed that there was something amiss. Delhi Government’s Home Deartment had written to the DDA that the Lt. Governor’s Religious Committee had recommended the demolition of the masjid. On 19 November, Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) wrote to the Lt. Governor asking him under the RTI Act as to who are the members of the Religious Committee, names and addresses of the members who attended the relevant meeting held on 16 June 2009, copy of the minutes of the meeting and copy of the paper on which the Lt. Governor approved these minutes. On 25 Nov 2010. the LG Secretariat forwarded the ZFI’s RTI petition to the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of DDA asking him to provide the required information to ZFI. On 1st Dec 2010, DDA’s Sr RO (RTI) forwarded the ZFI’s petition to the DDA’s Deputy Director (NL)-I. The LG Secretariat also advised the ZFI to file a separate petition to Delhi Government’s Home Department as some of the queries were to be answered by them. On 2nd Dec ZFI sent another RTI petition to Delhi Government’s Home Department seeking the same information as sought earlier from the LG. No response has since been received either from DDA or from Delhi Home Department. The matter had reached this stage while, using huge police force, DDA demolished the masjid on 12 January 2011. In the Gazette Notification of Delhi Government dated 25 September 1975, in Khasra no. 633 at entry no. 20 is mentioned the Muslim graveyard measuring 6 bigha 13 biswa. The notification is signed by the Secretary, Delhi Wakf Board which also has copy of Jamabandi of 1947-48 showing the land as Muslim graveyard. On 26 August, 2010, Delhi Wakf Board wrote to the Director (LM) of DDA that the impugned piece of land is duly notified in the Delhi Gazette of 1975 and is entered in the Jamabandi of 1947-48. The masjid has existed there for several decades. Copies of Gazette and Jamabandi were provided to DDA. The Board told DDA that the local Muslims were apprehending demolition of masjid by DDA and requested it that no demolition should take place as it would be illegal and will violate the religious rights of Muslims. Now the demolition has occurred under the pretext of Delhi High Court order dated 9 July 2008 in WP© No. 9358 of 2006. This writ was filed in 2006 by the Jangpura Residents Association so that the unauthorized construction and encroachment on the adjoining Nala and the public land could be removed and it could be restored as green area. Since then MCD has been intermittently submitting status reports to the High Court. The court order further observed that the status report dated 30 July 2007 shows that the de-silting of the Nala was completed in June 2007. Encroachments had been removed and the land had been developed. Later, on 7 July 2008, Jangpura Residents Association filed a fresh application before the High Court for issue of directions to the respondents to remove all other structures including the masjid. However, having examined the photographs filed by the Association it appeared to the Court that most of the unauthorized structures have been removed and there is a boundary wall constructed to ensure that no further encroachment takes place. It is stated by the counsels for the Petitioners that any further grievance that the Petitioner may have, including those made in the present application, will be promptly looked into and appropriate action taken thereon. ‘In view of this statement, this Court does not consider it necessary to continue to monitor the progress of the implementation of its directions.’ Thus, the High Court did not order the demolition of the masjid. The Lt. Governor, DDA and the Delhi Government Home Department have not yet divulged the minutes of the meeting of the Religious Committee held on 16 June 2009 nor the names and contact details of those who attended the meeting. On the other hand, the Delhi Wakf Board had informed DDA on 26 Oct 2010 that the 30-year-old masjid is located at a land owned by Delhi Wakf Board as per 35-year-old gazette notification and the Jamabandi of 1947-48. Even then, using massive police force, DDA committed the gross illegality injuring the sentiments of millions of Indian Muslims. Muslims have thus started feeling that the current governments in Delhi and at the Centre have no place for them in their heart. Sachar Committee report and PM’s 15 Point Programme for Minorities worked as a show piece. These have mostly not been implemented. Muslims are not nominated @ 13.4 % wherever the Government has discretion. Government officers are not sensitized toward Muslims. Many a time their prejudice continues against Muslims as in the case of Masjid Noor of Jangpura, New Delhi. The officials found guilty for this demolition should be punished. Masjid should be reconstructed. Monitoring Committees of Muslims and other minorities should be constituted to oversee the implementation of the welfare schemes. See all the legal documents on this link: http://www.milligazette.com/news/307-jangpura-masjid-high-court-did-not-order-demolition-delhi-mosque From rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com Fri Jan 14 11:24:49 2011 From: rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com (Rajkamal Goswami) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:24:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] No one killed jessica Message-ID: Dear Friends Movie activism has finally arrived in India! http://nirguna-nisarga.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00%2B05:30&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00%2B05:30&max-results=1 -- Regards Rajkamal From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Jan 14 12:18:03 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:48:03 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Release of Film "Netaji Subhas Chandra BOSE - The Forgotten Hero" of Shyam Benegal on Home Video In-Reply-To: <8CD81CE0941C276-1520-8E5E@webmail-m046.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CD81CE0941C276-1520-8E5E@webmail-m046.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CD81CE2064500E-1520-8E6F@webmail-m046.sysops.aol.com> We are releasing Film "Netaji Subhas Chandra BOSE - The Forgotten Hero" of Shyam Benegal on Home Video, on the Birth Anniversary of Netaji, which falls on 23rd Jan.    Synopsis  Born in a prominent Bengali family, Subhas had dedicated much of his younger years by being actively involved in various freedom movements in India, for ridding India of the British Imperialist rule. For this purpose he joined hands with stalwarts such as Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but expressed his frustration, especially with Gandhi's slow and painstaking way of trying to win over the enemy with love ('Ahimsa'). It is for this reason, he decided to part ways from the Congress Party. The British became weary of him, placed him under arrest, but when he started a hunger strike unto death, they let him go, but kept him under surveillance. Subhas eluded the police, under the guise of a Pathan with an alias, 'Mohammad Ziauddin', crossed the Indian border in Afghanistan so that he could enter Russia and form an Indian independence Army to oust the British. His efforts failed, he ended up as an 'Italian diplomat', "Orlando Mazzotta", with an office in Germany. He did manage to convince the Nazis, despite Hitler's views in "Mein Kampf" (German for "My Struggle") that he preferred India to remain colonized under the British. Nevertheless he was permitted to recruit Indian-born British Army P.O.W.s, and this is how the movement began. He secretly married his German secretary, Emily Schenkl, and did earn the ire of the Germans, who wanted to keep their race pure "Aryan" or Caucasian. His efforts to take his army to India through Russia and Afghanistan were in vain as Adolf Hitler declared war on Russia ('Operation Barbarossa'). Leaving his German-based army, Subhas journeyed to Singapore via a submarine, from there he entered into an agreement with the Japanese. And it was with the help of the Japanese that he marched an army of approximately 8000 troops, both men and women, against the might of the British. It was here that he was informed that he had become the father of Anita. Then, fate again played a cruel hand, when the United States entered the war, atom-bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. At this point, Subhas had two alternatives: to carry on fighting against the British and their new allies, Australia and America, or just disband his army.    Cast:  • Sachin Khedekar as Subhash Chandra Bose  • Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Jawaharlal Nehru  • Rajit Kapur as Abid Hasan  • Divya Dutta as Ila Bose  • Arif Zakaria as Major Dhillon  • Ila Arun as Ranu  • Pankaj Berry as Aabid Khan  • Nicolas Chagrin as General Auchinlek  • Nalini Chatterjee as Meera  • Pradeep Kumar Das as Servant  • Chris England as CID Chief  • Arindham Ghosh as Subhas Chandra Bose's Cousin  • Ahmed Khan as Mian Akbar  • Shakeel Khan as Sarat Bose  • Howard Lee as Bengal Governor  • Kunal Mitra as Ashok Bose  • Samiran Mukherjee as Bose's Cousin  • Rohan Nicol as CID Officer  • Lal Babu Pandit as Checkpost Policeman  • Florian Panzner as Alexander Werth  • Surendra Rajan as Mahatma Gandhi  • Charu Rohatgi as Bibavati  • Alaknanda Roy as Prabhavati Bose  • Ashiesh Roy as Spy Police 2  • Rajeshwari Sachdev as Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal  • Udo Schenk as Adolf Hitler  • Jishu Sengupta as Sisir Bose  • Gen Seto as Ambassador Oshima  • Rakesh Shrivastav as Spy Police 1  • Arindam Sil as Jail Warden  • Suneel Sinha  • Sandeep Srivastava as Nambiar  Lalit Tiwari as Checkpost Policeman  Christian Willis as Jail Superintendent  Rajpal Yadav as Bhagat Ram Talwar    Credits :  DIRECTOR: Shyam Benegal  PRODUCERS: Raj Pius and Barbara von Wrangell  SCREENPLAY: Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari  Mausic : A. R. Rahman  Lyrics : Javed Akhtar  CINEMATOGRAPHY: Santosh Sivan and V. Manikanadan  EDITOR: S. Chakraborty    Music :  The music score that accompanies the film was composed by A. R. Rahman. The soundtrack features 19 pieces composed by Rahman, including 13 instrumentals and orchestral themes, in addition to 6 further songs, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Performers include the Western Choir Chennai and the Mumbai Film Choir.    Track listing:  1. "Aazadi" (4:55) – A.R. Rahman, Western Choir Chorus  2. "Kadam Kadam" (2:48) – Vijay Prakash  3. "Ekla Cholo" (6:05) – Nachiketa Chakraborty, Sonu Nigam  4. "Hum Dilli Dilli Jayenge" (2:49) – Mumbai Film Choir  5. "Desh Ki Mitti" (5:34) – Anuradha Sriram, Sonu Nigam  6. "Zikr" (4:44) – A R Rahman, Rafi, Rakeeb, Shaukat Ali  7. "Ghoomparani" (4:25) – Sapna Mukherjee, Satyanarayan Mishra  8. "Durga Pooja - Rhythm" (3:22) – Instrumental  9. "Netaji – Theme 1" (1:22) – Instrumental  10. "Afghanistan – Theme 1" (4:14) – Instrumental  11. "Hitler Theme" (2:10) – Instrumental  12. "Emilie Theme 1" (1:57) – Instrumental  13. "Afghanistan – Theme 2" (1:19) – Instrumental  14. "War Themes" (4:33) – Instrumental  15. "Emilie Theme 2" (2:32) – Instrumental  16. "Kadam Kadam Barhayae Ja – Orchestral version" (0:52) – Instrumental  17. "Desh Ki Mitti – Orchestral version" (2:48) – Instrumental  18. "U Boat Theme (Underwater battle)" (2:11) – Instrumental  19. "Netaji – Theme 2" (4:44) – Instrumental    Award:  Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, 2005    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Netaji-Subhas-Chandra-BOSE-The-Forgotten-Hero/143499039042380?v=wall    For more info contact :    Mr. Subhash Chheda  Director  Rudraa Entertainment Private Limited  Email: datakino at vsnl.com  + 91 22 28053532 From akshaym at gmail.com Fri Jan 14 14:37:30 2011 From: akshaym at gmail.com (Akshay) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:37:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Blindgirls - A Showcase of the Best Emerging Asian Women Photographers - 22nd January, 2011 New Delhi Message-ID: Blindgirls" - A diverse showcase of Photography from Asian women photographers doing photojournalism, documentary, and visual story-telling, alongside the work of emerging women photographers living in Delhi Blindboys.org brings to you the "The Asian women photographers Showcase 2010" , a slide-show exhibition curated by Yumi Goto with 15 photographer from across Asia. We promise an informal evening of sideshows from the showcase to the back drop of an informal exhibition of the work of other women photographers living in New Delhi. We'd also invite other women photographers to "bring their own prints", and come and put up the Greenhouse, Hauz Khas in a collage format. The evening will end with beers, dimsum and hopefully a lively discussion. *YOU CAN RSVP ON FACEBOOK :) * Photographers Include : Shiho Fukada (Japan) /Tatiana Plotnikova (Russia) / Jean Chung (S.Korea) / Rena Effendi (Azerbaijan) / Poulomi Basu (India)/ . Mery Agakhanyan (Armenia) / Wenjing Wang (China)/ Gali Tibbon (Israel)/ Burcu Goknar (Turkey)/ Ore Huiying (Singapore) /Isabelle Eshraghi (Iran)/ Ying Ang (China)/ Mariam Amurvelashvili (Georgia) /Saori Ninomiya (Japan) /Suruchi Dumpawar (India) And the Local Girls : Mansi Midha / Hajra Ahmad Ansari / Katharine Sidelnik / Anshika Varma / Madishetty Manasa / Tanvi Mishra Also if you're a Women photographer working or based in Delhi and we've some how missed you (SORRY)- you can bring your own prints and we'll be sure to put your pictures up on the day . All Queries - theblindboys at gmail.com or Akshay - +919833230562 On the 22nD January,2011 at GreenHouse @Hauz Khas Village, Delhi -- Akshay Mahajan Photojournalist. +919833230562 http://www.akshayphoto.com | http://blindboys.org | http://trivialmatters.blogspot.com | http://www.flickr.com/photos/lecercle/ From aliens at dataone.in Fri Jan 14 17:11:16 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:11:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MoUs worth $450 bn signed in Vibrant Gujarat 2011 Summit: Modi Message-ID: <002a01cbb3df$f4bac1b0$de304510$@in> http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/mous-worth-450-b n-signed-in-vibrant-gujarat-2011-summit-modi/articleshow/7277317.cms GANDHINAGAR: A staggering 7,936 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for Rs 20,83,000 crore (about $462 billion) worth of projects have been signed in the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit, Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced at the valedictory function Thursday evening. The whopping investment would also result in about 5.2 million additional jobs, Modi added. The previous edition of the summit in 2009 had resulted in about 4,000 MoUs being signed for investments worth Rs 12,00,000 crore (about $243 billion). The investments on account of this year's Vibrant Gujarat Summit are higher than India's foreign exchange reserves estimated at around $300 billion, though how many of these MoUs turn into actual projects is a matter of conjecture. With the who's who of India's corporate world in attendance here, the chief minister told the summit that the 21st century belonged not just to India, but also the larger Asia and Africa. In the previous edition of the Vibrant Gujarat conclave, investment commitments made amounted to $243 billion by way of 8,663 memoranda of understanding, with an employment generation potential of 2.62 million, officials said. Taken together with the pre-events and the major exhibition, officials said the Vibrant Gujarat Summit has attracted some 20,000 participants from 19 Indian states and 60 countries. Japan and Canada are the partner countries. One of India's most developed states, Gujarat is spread over 196,000 sq km among 26 districts, has a population of 50.7 million people and a literacy rate of 79.8 percent. From the-network at koeln.de Fri Jan 14 20:30:48 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (artNET) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:00:48 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?Call=3A_CologneOFF_2011_-_videoart_i?= =?iso-8859-1?q?n_a_global_context?= Message-ID: <20110114160048.54B1440F.AF0E9450@192.168.0.3> Call for entries Deadline: 1 March 2011 -------------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context is a world wide unique nomadic festival project by - Cologne International Videoart Festival - starting on 1 January 2011 and lasting until 31 December 2011 simultaneously in physical & virtual space. It's goal is to show during one year at many venues around the globe the diversity of the creative potential of "art and moving images" transported via the global medium of "video". The videos can be submitted only online. Selected works will be featured on CologneOFF individually online and will become later in 2011 the 7th edition of CologneOFF - Cologne International Videoart Festival. More info about CologneOFF 2011 http://maxx.nmartproject.net/?p=153 CologneOFF 2011 is inviting creators in the field of "art and moving images" - this may be experimental forms of film and video art - to submit up to 3 works --> Please find the entry details and form on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2729 -------------------------------------------- CologneOFF - Cologne International Videoart Festival http://coff.newmediafest.org is powered by artvideoKOELN the curatorial initiative "art & moving images" http://video.mediaartcologne.org 2011 (at) coff.newmediafest.org -------------------------------------------- From aliens at dataone.in Sat Jan 15 21:08:44 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 21:08:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Rural development has kept pace with urban growth: Narendra Modi Message-ID: <001801cbb4ca$4b6d2a30$e2477e90$@in> http://businesstoday.intoday.in/bt/story/11908/1/narendra-modi-on-gujarats-d evelopment.html Apart from talking extensively to BT on why Gujarat is a hot destination, Chief Minister Narendra Modi marshaled the numbers and facts in a set of written answers to questions emailed to him. Edited excerpts: Q-1. What do you think differentiates Gujarat from other Indian states when it comes to the state's economy and doing business there? Gujarat represents uniformity of development as well as unanimity on the issues of development. Gujarat is a state where infrastructure development has kept pace with economic growth, where rural development has kept pace with urban growth, where satisfaction of workers has kept pace with industrial growth. Not only have the multinationals and big companies done well, but a large number of medium, small, rural and domestic ventures have also prospered. Not only has industry and agriculture grown fast; but education and health services have also expanded equally fast. We are known not only for exporting quality industrial products, but for our agri- and horticulture produce. Even in those fields where India as a country has not been able to do well, Gujarat is doing well and producing a model for others. Q-2. Every state dreams of infrastructure that compares with the developed world but Gujarat is perhaps the only state that delivered. How and what are the best practices that helps your administration deliver this? Yes, we have been very keen and committed on developing infrastructure. I personally believe that infrastructure is the enabler of development. There are a few elements that have helped us: We have vision documents for 20 to 30 years. We plan infrastructure in an integrated manner. On the one hand we are planning for big and robust infrastructure and on the other hand we see to it that even the remotest part of the State is benefited by that. We are aiming to build the best of infrastructure from a global perspective. For example, Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transport System has not only been a successful story but has been acclaimed worldwide. The new ports that we are planning to build, the SIRs that we are planning ... all are globally benchmarked. Gujarat is not only the pioneer in public private partnership but the state is recognised as the 'Most Admired PPP Enabler'. Q-3. The Gujarat model of attracting industries is infrastructure-led, not incentive-led. Don't you think of losing out when other states are also catching up on infrastructure? Gujarat's infrastructure has reached to the second stage of development. We have to worry only about the best quality and global benchmarking instead of spread of infrastructure. We are now working on more futuristic social and physical infrastructure. Q-4. How is the state's 'special investment region' model different from the industrial estate and SEZ models elsewhere in the country? How did you develop the model and how do you see it delivering? >From industrial clusters, industrial estates and SEZs, now we are moving towards Special Investment Regions, which we call SIRs. These SIRs are going to be very big in size and scale. We have planned for 12 SIRs, which will be our flagship development for a few years to come. Setting up of these SIRs is in tune with the upcoming Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Industrial Corridor between Delhi 'and Mumbai (DMIC), 565 km of which will pass through Gujarat. We have enacted a new legal framework: the SIR Act of 2009. We have already allocated land for the Dholera SIR, which is going to be larger than the largest in the world. The anchor tenants are also in place. Q-5. Gujarat's rate of growth in agriculture is running at a record level - tell us milestone by milestone how this has been possible. "Gujarat's rate of growth in agriculture is running at a record level. Gujarat's growth in agriculture has been at 9.6 per cent for the last six years"Very true. Gujarat's rate of growth in agriculture is running at a record level. Gujarat's growth in agriculture has been at 9.6 per cent for the last six years. This is more than three times the national average. This growth is impressive not only in economic terms, but in terms of finding solutions to our historic problems in agriculture. Earlier, Gujarat was never known for its agriculture development. It has been a perennially water-scarce state marked by recurrent droughts. While we have implemented macro projects like Narmada, Sujalam suflam, river interlinking, we have worked equally hard on water harvesting and conservation. Today we are the only state where groundwater level is rising! We simultaneously empowered our farmers. Through soil health cards, my farmer knows which crop to sow and which nutrient to use. We are working hard for introducing drip and sprinkler irrigation. Today there are villages in Gujarat where all farms are micro irrigated. We are also bringing more wastelands under cultivation. The enhanced quality of living in the rural areas has also contributed to the motivation of farmers, especially the young generation, to continue farming as an occupation. Q-6. How much has dairy farming played a role in this? "I believe that if you set up proper systems of governance, if you have policy driven governance, if you inculcate transparency in governance, the speed is a natural outcome and corruption naturally goes"Dairy has been a traditional strength of Gujarat's economy in general and of the rural sector in particular. The high growth in agriculture is also partly due to high growth in livestock output and value addition on the milk products.. Q-7. What are your mantras for quality governance in Gujarat? I believe that if you set up proper systems of governance, if you have policy driven governance, if you inculcate transparency in governance, the speed is a natural outcome and corruption naturally goes. Use of technology is another key factor. We have introduced a number of initiatives in e-governance. Our one-day, governance centers are live examples of speedy and efficient delivery of public services. Besides, simplification of procedures and rationalisation of tax structures also lead to less corruption and speedy implementation. More importantly, I gave stability of tenure to my senior officials, which made a big difference. Q-8. How do you ensure your team of ministers and top bureaucrats acts absolutely along the lines that you set them on? There is only a one liner which we strictly follow: our governance has to be policy driven, proactive and pro-people. The commitment of the top, if well meaning, does not take time to percolate. Moreover, we have devised innovative ways for sharing of ideas and information and evolving common strategies. From aliens at dataone.in Sat Jan 15 21:16:28 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 21:16:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Glimpse at India, Minus the Red Tape Message-ID: <001901cbb4cb$60586e40$21094ac0$@in> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704307404576079311964292334.html?mod=rss_asia_whats_news&mg=com-wsj By GEETA ANAND And AMOL SHARMA AHMEDABAD, India—Western India's Gujarat state has transformed itself into one of the country's economic and export engines by presenting an alternative to the red tape and widespread corruption that have stymied big projects elsewhere in the country, turning it into a springboard for the apparent national political ambitions of its controversial leader. View Full Image Sanjit Das/Panos for The Wall Street Journal Investors credit Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, speaking Wednesday at a business summit, with building a pro-business state government. Under the direction of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat has tackled several problems that often frustrate both foreign and domestic businesses here. Investors characterize Gujarat's civil service as a disciplined force that approves land purchases and environmental permits quickly. The state invests heavily in modern road and power infrastructure. It has set up a Web portal that lets foreign investors track their government requests and complain about delays. "Our progress was not delayed by even a single day by the government," says Asutosh Shah, managing director of Duravit India Pvt. Ltd., a unit of Germany's Duravit AG, which began making ceramic toilets and sinks here in September. "It was a 100% corruption-free process. You have to experience it to believe it." Gujarat has India's two largest oil refineries and plants set up by global names such as General Motors Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. It has averaged more than 11% economic growth in recent years, well outpacing the national rate. It accounts for 5% of India's 1.2 billion people but 22% of the country's exports. Gujarat's approach—mirrored in a handful of other business-friendly states such as Tamil Nadu—offers one model for how India can fulfill its economic potential in the next decade and pave the way for hundreds of millions of poor Indians to move from subsistence living to an industrialized economy that will be a potent rival to China's. "To me, good governance means minimum government and maximum governance," Mr. Modi said at Gujarat's biennial investment summit this week. Invitations to the event went to people from all of India's 28 states. The event's 10,000 attendees included Indian industrialists Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, delegates from Indian states and government officials from more than 70 countries. View Slideshow AFP/Getty Images A power project in Surat, Gujarat. Mr. Modi, 60 years old, became chief minister, the state's top executive office, in 2001. The year before, Gujarat's economic output shrank by almost 5%. His turnaround of the state's economic fortunes has come amid controversy. In February 2002, 58 Hindu pilgrims died in a mysterious fire aboard the train carrying them home from a holy site. Hindus believed Muslims were behind the fire. The incident sparked a backlash by Hindu mobs against Muslims. A spiral of sectarian killing left more than 1,000 people dead. Mr. Modi's fiercest critics believe he encouraged or at least countenanced the anti-Muslim violence through instructions to police to stand down and allow Hindu fundamentalists to carry out attacks. These allegations are still under investigation by a special committee appointed by India's Supreme Court. Mr. Modi, who declined repeated interview requests, has vigorously insisted he had no role in fomenting the riots. Others say his intense focus on attracting big business hasn't benefited ordinary Gujaratis enough for the state to be considered a positive example. "He's consolidated his power by delivering a dream wish list to business. But there's a point at which governments have a responsibility to constituents other than business," said Mira Kamdar, a senior fellow at the New York-based World Policy Institute who is based in Paris. Gujarat has made progress in some human-development areas under Mr. Modi, but like the rest of India is still struggling to overcome many poverty-linked problems. According to India's national family health survey in 2006, 41.1% of children under three years of age in Gujarat were underweight, virtually unchanged from the 1999 survey and slightly higher than the national average of 40.4%. More recent figures weren't available. View Full Image Still, Mr. Modi's performance in delivering economic growth and attracting development has put the national government on the defensive. Mr. Modi's BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, is the main opposition to the Congress party that leads the coalition government in New Delhi. When Rahul Gandhi, heir to the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty and a leading candidate to be the next Congress prime minister, visited Gujarat in late November to speak to college students, he responded to praise of Gujarat's economic record by comparing Mr. Modi to China's Mao Zedong. "Many evil leaders have done great development work," local news reports cited him as saying. Students believed it was an apparent reference to the 2002 violence. Questions about that time could temper Mr. Modi's prospects of winning a high-profile national office based on Gujarat's economic record, some observers say. "Modi cannot be a statesman who would command respect from all sections of society," said political analyst Chintamani Mahapatra at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. Others say Mr. Modi's repeated re-election to office proves that the electorate has moved beyond the issues of his past and is giving him credit for Gujarat's development. Gujarat's 1,000-mile coastline—the longest in India—has made it the leading entry port for crude oil and heavy-industry imports. Mr. Modi's regime has further encouraged investment. In 2009, Gujarat set up "special investment regions" where the government reserves swaths of land for industries like petrochemicals or textiles and then pays for the infrastructure to be built there. Among the biggest such projects is in Dholera, a port south of the capital of Ahmedabad, where the state hopes to attract $20 billion in investments to develop a center for biotechnology, software development and light manufacturing in coming years.The state has plans to open an international airport nearby and add high-speed rail service. Canada's Bombardier Inc., which won a €500 million ($650 million) contract to manufacture coaches for New Delhi's new metro train network, located its production facility in an industrial park in Gujarat after scouting several options. "We were looking at a very rapid rollout and wanted a government system that would allow for no roadblocks," said Rajeev Jyoti, managing director of Bombardier's India transportation subsidiary. After contacting Gujarat in August 2007, Bombardier got a 50-acre plot of land within weeks and set up its entire plant within 15 months, one of the fastest rollouts in the company's history, Mr. Jyoti said. In some sectors, Gujarat is more welcoming of foreign firms than the central government. The state is attracting international solar-power companies partly because its subsidy regime allows power generators to purchase their solar panels from foreign manufacturers; India's multibillion-dollar national solar-power subsidy program deters foreign participation. Gujarat's investment in an extensive natural-gas pipeline is what initially persuaded Duravit, the German ceramics maker, to set up manufacturing for its Indian subsidiary here, says Mr. Shah, the unit's managing director. Natural gas is required in the production of ceramics. In 2009, Mr. Shah settled on Gujarat and began identifying possible sites. He homed in on 41 acres of land zoned for agricultural uses about 45 miles from Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city. The land was owned by 21 families, requiring signatures of 130 people to complete the sale. The process of signing the documents and registering the sale took just three weeks, largely because of the land-registration department's professionalism, he says. From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Sun Jan 16 06:00:26 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 06:00:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] US Trends Message-ID: http://www.truth-out.org/evidence-american-plutocracy-larry-summers-story66869 Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Jan 16 09:48:29 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:18:29 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?13th_Annual_Scriptapalooza_International_?= =?utf-8?q?Screenplay_Competition=C2=A0?= In-Reply-To: <315C284F70704711A7557FA22894CF2B@user2i3tq1lyr8> References: <315C284F70704711A7557FA22894CF2B@user2i3tq1lyr8> Message-ID: <8CD834B906334BD-B28-178ED@webmail-d029.sysops.aol.com>   Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition As the leading screenplay competition, Scriptapalooza is fully endorsed by legendary author and screenwriter Robert McKee (Story) and the screenwriting software company Write Brothers Inc.  The first place winner, chosen by Scriptapalooza, receives a $10,000 grand prize. In addition, Scriptapalooza offers its full support to the winner; finalists and semifinalists of the screenwriting challenge by promoting each work for one year after the winners' announcement. "Since its inception in 1998, the Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition has grown exponentially to become one of the well-respected competitions within the entertainment industry,” said Mark Andrushko, president and co-founder of Scriptapalooza. "Through this competition, we have had more than 40 scripts optioned, 2 Emmy winners, hundreds of writers get agents and meetings... and opened new doors to unknown talent. We are pleased to move forward in our 13th year and continue helping participants receive introductions or representation with some of biggest players in the industry.” 13th Annual Scriptapalooza International Screenplay Competition  www.scriptapalooza.com For an application: https://gochargeit.mywebteam.com/scriptapaloozasp/form.asp For Q & A's: http://www.scriptapalooza.com/quesandans.htm To see Scriptapalooza Alumni: http://www.scriptapalooza.com/featuredpast.htm Questions? Comments? call the office 323.654.5809 or email us at info at scriptapalooza.com ------------------------------------------------------------ The Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competitionwas founded in 1998 with the goal of discovering promising writers and creatingopportunities for them in the fiercely competitive entertainment industry. Eachyear, dozens of production companies and literary representatives sign on toread the participating scripts, resulting in many being optioned or boughtoutright. The first place winner receives $10,000, and Scriptapalooza promotesthe semifinalists and finalists for a full year. Scriptapalooza, Inc., alongwith its divisions, is widely regarded by writers, producers and agents alikeas the most influential and successful competition company of its kind.Divisions include Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition and ScriptapaloozaCoverage Professional Script Analysis.  For more information, please visit www.scriptapalooza.com From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Jan 16 11:26:29 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:56:29 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] HP Labs Innovation Research Program / the Future of Independent Movie Production Message-ID: <8CD835940DE638F-B28-183BD@webmail-d029.sysops.aol.com> Collaborative Research With HP HP Labs is Pleased to Announce the IRP 2011 Call for Proposals HP Labs' Innovation Research Program (IRP) is designed to create opportunities at colleges, universities and research institutes around the world for collaborative research with HP. Through an annual, open Call for Proposals, we solicit your best ideas on a range of targeted research topics with the goal of establishing new research collaborations. Proposals are reviewed by HP Labs scientists and selected to receive funding awards based on their alignment with the chosen research topic and expected impact of the proposed research. Awards made through the IRP are primarily intended to provide financial support for a graduate student to assist the Principal Investigator in conducting a collaborative research project with HP Labs. Awards provide cash support for one year, typically in the range USD $50,000 - $75,000 inclusive of overheads, renewable up to a maximum of three years at HP's discretion. Educators interested in HP’s Social Innovation in Education programs should visit HP Global Social Innovation for more information.http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/socialinnovation/index.html Program Guidelines Please read the Guide to the 2011 IRP carefully before submitting your proposal.http://www.hpl.hp.com/open_innovation/irp/HPL-IRP2011.pdf The 2011 call for proposals will have two rounds. In the first round, participants are asked to submit an abstract of their proposed collaborative research project. All submitted abstracts will be reviewed and selected authors will be invited to develop and submit a full proposal in the second round. Award decisions will be made in early May after full proposals have been reviewed. Participants must ensure that no confidential or proprietary information is included in submitted proposals. HP will treat all information submitted in proposals as non-confidential and non-proprietary. All IRP awards are made subject to acceptance of a HP Labs Collaborative Research Agreement (CRA) by the awardee's institution. No action is required in respect of the CRA in the first round of the call for proposals. Full details will be provided to applicants who are invited to participate in the second round. If you received an award in 2010 you will be contacted in March 2011 regarding renewal of funding and should not re-submit your proposal through the call. Research Topics Submitted proposals must align with one of the research topics described in the Guide to the 2011 IRP. Please read the topics carefully before submitting your proposal. If your proposal applies to more than one topic area please select the closest match and note the fact in your submission. -- 30 December: Please note that the Guide to the 2011 IRP now includes an additional research topic under "Information Analytics" -- Proposal Submission The online submission system will begin accepting proposals for the 2011 IRP on Monday 3 January. The deadline to submit a proposal is 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday 4 February 2011. Go to the proposal submission system https://www-apps.hpl.hp.com/irp-2011/ Important Dates December 2010 - 2011 Program Guidelines published Monday 3 January 2011 - Proposal submission system opens Friday 4 February 2011, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time - Deadline for abstract submissions Monday 7 March 2011 - Notification of abstract decisions begins Friday 1 April 2011, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time - Deadline for invited full proposal submissions Monday 2 May 2011 - Notification of 2011 award decisions begins Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) http://www.hpl.hp.com/open_innovation/irp/faq.html Additional information is available in the IRP FAQs. ---------------------------------------- No Hollywood Ending: Filmmaker James Kerwin on the Future of Independent Movie Production Published: January 05, 2011 in Knowledge at Wharton Aspiring filmmaker James Kerwin had an image in his mind -- a 1940s-era Lauren Bacall wearing Humphrey Bogart's trench coat and walking through city streets at night. That image was the genesis of his first feature film, Yesterday Was a Lie, a black-and-white noir-style science fiction mystery starring Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson (who also served as producer) and John Newton. The independently produced film draws on myriad arcane influences ranging from Jungian psychology to quantum physics. To fund the film, Kerwin used an approach that is uncommon in motion picture production: He established a tax exempt non-profit organization to raise the roughly $200,000 he needed. He was also fortunate enough to be awarded a grant from Panavision, which supplied most of his equipment. Yet, as Lance Weiler, another independent filmmaker, previously told Knowledge at Wharton, "the real struggle comes when it's time to distribute" your movie. "Making the film is easy in comparison." If you want your film to be exhibited in a theater or your DVD to be available through the major retail chains, you need to have your film picked up by a major distributor. And working with a well-known one doesn't guarantee you'll generate enough revenue to fund your next project. The economics of filmmaking are not unlike the "Tarzan economics" described by music industry consultant Jim Griffin: Everyone wants to swing forward to grab the next vine of the digital future but is afraid to let go of the old vine first. In the case of filmmaking, the current vine is already slipping through filmmakers' fingers. The revenue streams from media sales -- DVDs and Blu-ray discs -- are eroding. The revenues from the new digital distribution methods that are replacing these media -- online streaming and digital downloads -- have not advanced sufficiently to fill the gap. Knowledge at Wharton recently met with Kerwin in Los Angeles, Calif., to discuss the business of independent filmmaking, his film's long journey from concept to distribution, and his views on the business models -- and the perils -- of movie distribution. Kerwin takes a dour view of the business model behind Netflix's streaming business -- believing it is not economically sustainable -- and he sees Internet piracy as a growing threat to content producers. An edited version of that conversation follows. Knowledge at Wharton: After some student film projects and a period directing live theater, you wrote and directed your first full-length movie, Yesterday was a Lie. What was the impetus to do a feature film? James Kerwin: I started feeling a little constricted directing theater. You have such a huge pallet when you're directing film. It's not just the performances and the blocking and the lighting. It's the mise en scène, where you're placing the camera, f-stops and exposure levels, sound design, and musical score. The way you cut scenes completely alters their feel. Many of these cinematic tools are not available to you as a theater director. Theater is more of an actor's medium than a director's medium. Once the curtain goes up, you have turned your show over to the actors. You can't re-take. You can't alter a performance slightly by editing. That feels somewhat constricting if you have a background directing film. So, I said, "I really need to get back into film." I'd been developing some script ideas on the back burner for several years. But this script idea -- to use science fiction/noir and the theme of the nature of time as a metaphor for people's relationships -- just came out of nowhere. Knowledge at Wharton: Can you recall when you first had the idea for the film? Kerwin: The very first image I had was of Lauren Bacall, dressed like Bogart, walking the streets at night. It just came to me out of the blue. I knew [the film would deal with] science fiction and the nature of the way our consciousness experiences reality. When that one shot appeared in my mind, I knew right then, "I've got to make this." Knowledge at Wharton: The movie deals with a number of unusual topics, such as quantum physics and Jungian psychology. Were you concerned about doing something so out of the mainstream for your first feature? Kerwin: It was a calculated move. If you become more established, you're going to be restricted from doing something that's kind of out there. It's your first film that you get to be a little experimental with. If you look at Darren Aronofsky, Richard Kelly, Shane Carruth -- their first, low-budget films were [unconventional]. The independent film market has been flooded for 15 or 20 years -- since Reservoir Dogs -- with people all making the same film. When I was touring around film festivals with my short in the late 1990s, I remember thinking, "Every film in these festivals is the same independent film over and over and over and over again." It's the ones that are totally unique that stand out. [Darren Aronofsky's early feature film] Pi is a perfect example. It's like, "Whoa. I've never seen an independent film like that before." So, it was a calculated move to do something totally different than anything you'd ever seen before. Obviously the concern is: Is that going to find an audience? We knew from the beginning that it wasn't going to find a broad audience. The intent was for it to find a specific audience that would like it and be very loyal to it. Knowledge at Wharton: Did you try to shop around the screenplay to find a distribution partner before going into production? Kerwin: No. I knew that this screenplay would probably never sell. And if it did, it would be altered before it was made. I wanted to direct it. I don't consider myself a writer. I'm a director. I didn't want to sell the script to somebody else to make it. Knowledge at Wharton: This approach meant you had to raise all the funding yourself. Was that a challenge? Kerwin: Yes. It took a couple of years. Knowledge at Wharton: How much did the film cost to produce? Kerwin: $200,000. Knowledge at Wharton: The film was produced under Helicon Arts Cooperative, which is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit arts organization. What is the advantage of that approach? Does it make the financing easier? Kerwin: Financing any piece of art through a non-profit has pros and cons. Many theater companies, operas and visual artists operate that way. Not a lot of films are financed that way, but it can be done. It's not a traditional investment model. You're not going to investors saying, "If you buy a share in my LP, or LLC, you hope to get this type of return on investment." Instead, it's patrons of the arts donating to an arts organization, a private operating foundation that is designed to create pieces of art. They're not going to get their money back. It's a tax write-off. If you happen to know people -- family, friends, relatives, your dentist, people you went to school with, friends of friends -- who are looking for tax write-offs, and we happened to find ourselves in that particular situation at the time, then that might be a route to go for you. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for everyone. Knowledge at Wharton: As you said, this approach is fairly common for plays and musical productions, but is rare in cinema. Why is that? Kerwin: I think there's just an idea that live theater is more artistic than cinema. And, frankly, it often is. Motion pictures are a business, whereas live theater is primarily about the art. But that doesn't mean that motion pictures can't be about the art. Also, plays generally cost less to make than a film. Even [the budget of] a film like Yesterday Was a Lie, [which] is considered in SAG's [the Screen Actor Guild's] ultra-low-budget category, seems like a fortune [when compared to the cost of] a play. But that's pennies for a motion picture. People are much more hesitant to donate large sums of money. And you have to get more people in order to raise that much money. It becomes counterproductive at a certain point. People who are willing to shell out that kind of money usually are doing so because they're looking at it as an investment and they want a return. Knowledge at Wharton: What are the ramifications of this approach? If the film becomes a runaway hit and brings in millions of dollars, what happens to that money? Kerwin: As a 501(c)(3), if Helicon Arts Cooperative were to make any type of, quote, "profit" from the film, that money could not be dispersed among individual people. It would have to go into Helicon's mission statement, as a 501(c)(3) registered with the IRS, to produce more pieces of art. Knowledge at Wharton: What are your real costs for a feature film like this? Where does the $200K go? Kerwin: There's one major cost: Talent, the actors. And your above-the-line crew gets paid a significant amount for their work -- [although], on this film, [it was] not a significant amount. [Then there is] renting equipment, post-production expenses, renting time at editing suites and mixing studios, costumes and things like that. The majority of it usually goes towards equipment rental. You need a 10-ton grip truck, a lot of lights, jib arms, and [so forth]. You also need a camera. For this particular film, we did not want to shoot with a consumer or "pro-sumer" camera, the way a lot of indie filmmakers think they can do. Knowledge at Wharton: And now some established directors like David Lynch. Kerwin: Some established directors -- like [Steven] Soderbergh -- will do it because they think it adds a charm or genuineness to their projects. But there's a world of difference between a consumer high-def camera and a cinema high-def camera. You can't buy a good high-def camera to shoot a movie that's going to be released at a movie theater for a few thousand dollars. The type of high-def cameras that are used to shoot real feature films -- the CineAlta or the Genesis -- cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They're very expensive pieces of equipment. We could not afford that. So, thank God, we got the Panavision New Filmmaker grant based on the strength of the script. Panavision reads hundreds of scripts a year that apply for this program, and they [award the grant] to only a few a year. Panavision donated the use of a complete camera package: The [Sony] CineAlta, the sticks, the heads, the video feedback system, the lenses, everything. [The film] was shot with very high-end camera equipment that we never would have been able to afford. Knowledge at Wharton: Did you have a plan B? Kerwin: Plan B would have been to shoot it with a pro-sumer camera -- buy a Sony-Z1U at Best Buy. The problem is that you're never going to get a theatrical release. You're even not particularly likely to get a home video release through a real studio, because the image quality just is not there. The CCD [imaging sensor] is [small], there's one zoom lens that's usually not that high quality, and there's massive amounts of compression being applied. We now have digital SLR cameras that shoot high-def video. You see those used on some television shows for some second unit [ancillary footage]. And those are good, although they have problems. They have overheating problems. You get shutter flicker problems, especially when you move the camera. And, even in the good ones, you're recording compressed video. It looks okay for broadcast, because things coming over your cable line are already pretty compressed. But you can't project that in a movie theater. Knowledge at Wharton: After showing the film on the festival circuit for a year or so, you found a distributor with Entertainment One Distribution. Can you explain that process? Kerwin: There's no real trick to it. It's just playing on the festival circuit. If your film is good, you're going to win some awards. That gets distributors' attention. Distributors don't tend to attend festivals. It's a bit of a myth that if you play at a lot of festivals, a distributor will see it and then make an offer. It's extremely rare for a distributor to make an offer because they saw something at a festival -- even at Sundance. It can happen, but it's rare these days. More often than not, you're cold-calling the distributor and saying, "Have you heard about this film? I'll send you a press package. Let's send you a screener copy and see what you think." You do that for dozens and dozens and dozens of distributors. Some bite and some don't. And we had some of them bite, and of those, we went with the one that made us the best offer. Knowledge at Wharton: How do you determine what the best offer is? Is it the largest percentage of revenue share or access to theatrical or retail distribution channels or something else? Kerwin: When I say, "makes you the best offer" it's not necessarily what percentage of the sales they're going to give you. It's: What channels do they have? On what shelves are they going to get the DVD? A smaller distributor might say, "We're going to give you a huge chunk of our sales." But if it's a distributor that you've barely heard of, and you look at the other titles they've released and you've never heard of those, that's a warning sign that people are never going to hear of your title. If you go with a distributor like Entertainment One that releases a lot of films and television shows on DVD -- and their DVDs are at Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Wal-Mart -- you know that your product's going to get more visibility. Those things are more important than what percentage they're going to give you. Knowledge at Wharton: There are a number of songs in the movie. Initially you obtained musical clearances only for the festival circuit because it's more economical at that stage -- is that right? Kerwin: Yes. That's pretty typical, actually. Knowledge at Wharton: But when you got the distributor, you had to go back and renegotiate for the broader rights. Because the film is already completed, doesn't that put you in a bad bargaining position? Kerwin: Horrific bargaining position. And you better know going into it that you're going to be at a major disadvantage. You have to weigh the pros versus the cons. In our case, we thought it was worth it, because the jazz in this film is so important to the storytelling. The songs aren't just there as background. They further the story. When you have one of the two main characters who is a singer and she is singing these songs specifically to the other character in order to teach her lessons, we thought that if we had sound-alike songs, it would be pretty transparent to our audience. So, we made the creative decision that it would be worth it to take the risk and include real jazz songs, negotiate for the festival rights and have clauses that say, "If this film sells to a distributor, both parties agree to negotiate in good faith for what those broad rights are." The problem is that "good faith" means different things to different people. When we finally got a distributor, one of the music licenses did not negotiate in good faith. And that song had to be cut and the film had to be re-edited for its commercial release. Knowledge at Wharton: Why is music licensing such a morass for filmmakers? Kerwin: The music industry is still stuck in the 1980s. The rights they sell are completely fragmented: theatrical, non-theatrical, digital, videogram -- which means DVD -- videotape, Blu-ray, laser disc. The videogram rights [are distinct from] the digital streaming rights or the digital download rights. If you want the right to screen your film in a hotel, that's different than the right to screen the film in a movie theater. It's an absolute accounting nightmare. Why are we defining these things as different when they're really not? Knowledge at Wharton: What's the practical impact of all this for a filmmaker? Kerwin: It makes it impossible to move quickly. The release of Yesterday Was a Lie was delayed not because E1 didn't license the film from us, but because the song licensers took forever to agree to the cost and the release in all the various territories. The rights are so fragmented. The people who own the rights to the song everywhere else in the world had no idea who owned the rights in certain Caribbean countries. It went on for, like, six months. And then finally, they said, "Oh, we found a piece of paper in a file cabinet in a closet that said we actually own them." That's how bad it is. It's so fragmented. And it just takes forever. The irony is that the companies are paying the lawyers to draft these contracts and sort through file cabinets to figure out who has the rights. In many cases, it's costing them more to pay their lawyers to draft these complicated contracts than they're making. Knowledge at Wharton: Now that the film is available on DVD, what techniques did you use to promote it? Kerwin: We didn't have a marketing budget. E1 has their own marketing department that markets through their channels -- magazine ads, online ads, catalogs to third-party DVD vendors, renting booths at Comic-Con and bringing in [actors from the film] like Chase [Masterson] and Peter [Mayhew] to sign at the booth and give out promotional fliers about the movie. We also hired our own publicist to publicize the film before the DVD release. They sent out press releases, contacted the trades magazines and things like that. Because we didn't have much of a budget, you've got to work the social networking sites. I know that sounds clichéd, but you do. You have to do viral stuff. You have to use YouTube and Facebook and Twitter to your advantage. That's how you generate interest. Knowledge at Wharton: The film is now available through several channels -- for download through iTunes, through streaming through Netflix, for purchase on DVD. What are the relative merits of each of these from a financial standpoint? Kerwin: That's difficult [to say]. Netflix streaming is a weird beast right now. It's new and people aren't quite sure how to deal with it yet. And studios definitely aren't quite sure how to monetize it. Netflix pays a flat license fee to the studio for the right to stream a film for one year. [The film] can be streamed an unlimited number of times by all Netflix subscribers. [Subscribers] don't pay Netflix per stream and Netflix does not pay the studio per stream. So it's a weird gamble: If you didn't sell the streaming rights to Netflix, would you sell more DVDs? Our entire fan base -- tech-savvy people -- is Netflix subscribers. They can now watch the movie for an unlimited number of times for free whenever they want to. Why would they buy the DVD? You have to hope that you're selling those streaming rights to Netflix for more than you would have made in DVD sales. Because -- no doubt about it -- it cannibalizes your DVD sales. Paramount and several of the other studios just signed a deal with Netflix where Netflix has complete access to their entire library, but Netflix had to pay a fortune for it -- and Netflix can't release the films on streaming until three months after they've been on cable. Knowledge at Wharton: The studios have forced Netflix to push back its release window in an attempt to protect DVD sales. Kerwin: Everybody's trying to figure out how that's going to work monetarily. It's not sustainable the way it is right now, frankly, because Netflix is giving away so much content effectively for free to their subscribers. Netflix streaming now accounts for 20% of all landline Internet usage during peak hours in America. A massive amount of people are watching movies for free now. And that is why a lot of studios have been resistant to sell streaming rights to their new titles. They're like, "Dude. We're losing a fortune on it. Look at how many people are watching our stuff for free!" This is not sustainable. It's like a car dealership where you pay $10 a month and get an unlimited number of cars. That sounds great, but the roads are going to start collapsing pretty soon, because everybody's going to keep taking more cars. And, after a while, the people who make the cars are going to say, "Wait. This isn't worth it." Digital distribution is the wave of the future, but we're not at the future yet. In order to get there, Netflix is going to have to jack up the rates that their customers pay and/or they're going to have to limit the number of videos that a customer can stream per month -- because the studios are going to start demanding higher rates. Otherwise, this is just going to implode. The other problem is the streaming quality of Netflix videos. Netflix claims they stream in 1080p, which they do, but it's so compressed. Buying an HD movie on iTunes, which is 720p, you're going to see much higher quality than streaming it on Netflix in 1080p. Even a DVD, which is standard definition, is going to look just about as good or better than Netflix streaming. The other advantage of the DVD is you get all the special features like a commentary track. I'm very much an advocate of buying films on DVD rather than streaming them. Knowledge at Wharton: In the case of Yesterday Was a Lie, who makes these distribution decisions? Is it E1, is it Helicon, is it you? Kerwin: It's all E1. This is an E1 film now. Knowledge at Wharton: If it were under your control, would you not do the Netflix deal? Kerwin: That's a tough one. Netflix paid a nice sum for the rights, from what I'm told. But I don't know if it is as much as E1 would have made in DVD sales. I have a sense that it's not. We have run into a lot of people who say, "Oh, I'll just watch it on Netflix streaming. I don't need to buy the DVD." That's frustrating to hear. Knowledge at Wharton: In a case like this, where you have a distribution deal with E1, do you get a percentage of the revenues from these channels -- the DVD sales, the iTunes downloads, the amount Netflix pays -- or do you get a lump sum from E1? How does that work? Kerwin: Legally, I can't get into the specifics of our deal. When a studio licenses a film from a production company, sometimes they pay an advance, sometimes they won't. Sometimes they will cover costs to finish the film or the debts that were incurred on the film. Theoretically, as far as percentage of DVD sales or streaming rights sales, the distributor's not going to start giving the money back to the production company until they clear their expenses. Knowledge at Wharton: In the world of Hollywood accounting, does that ever happen? Kerwin: Yes, it does. There are distributors that are jerks. E1 is not. They have a reputation for being extremely transparent with their filmmakers. We know how much they spent on releasing the film, marketing it and manufacturing the DVDs. We know how much money they need to make back before they would give any money to us. In which case, that would go to our union percentages, residuals, and then deferred salaries and things like that. There's a whole other [issue] with royalty percentages that above-the-line talent often negotiates with production companies. You'll hear cases where a writer will say, "In exchange for this screenplay, I want 10% or 20% of the production company's net revenue from the project." And then, inevitably, the writer will get nothing. He'll sue them and people will say, "Oh, those jerks in Hollywood. They cook the books to make it look like they didn't make any money." What people don't understand is that the budget of a film is not the complete cost of making the film. There's also P&A -- which is prints and advertising. The cost of actually releasing the film is often double the budget. Knowledge at Wharton: And in the case of your film, that is over and above the $200,000, which is just the production cost? Kerwin: Right. The writer says, "That movie made $200 million at the box office, but they claim they never made any money." Well, they didn't make any money because they spent more than that on advertising and marketing the project. Where they made their money was in DVD sales. So, if above-the-line talent were smart, in my opinion, they would stop negotiating for a percentage of theatrical box office net because there's never hardly ever theatrical box office net. Even for big films, the theatrical box office is usually a loss leader for DVD sales. It's an advertisement for your DVD. If writers who negotiated a percentage on the back end were smart, they would negotiate for a percentage of the gross DVD sales. Knowledge at Wharton: Gareth Edwards, who directed the modestly-budgeted film Monsters, pointed out that there is a good business model for very inexpensive films like Paranormal Activity. If your film cost $10,000 or $20,000, you can easily make your money back. And if you're a major studio and you're spending tens -- or hundreds -- of millions of dollars, you can often make the money back through theatrical distribution and DVDs. It's the in-between films -- those in the low-hundreds of thousands of dollars -- that are particularly challenging to monetize. But that's exactly the space that you're in. Kerwin: You're right, that's the problem. If you're making a $200 million blockbuster, the studio is going to put everything they can behind it, advertisements will be all over the place and you're going to make money on DVD sales. With the theatrical box office, you'll probably break even once the marketing costs are taken into account, even for huge films. But with DVD sales, you're just making gold there. [On the other hand,] Paranormal Activity will make lot of money because it only cost them $10,000 or whatever to make. But there's no real business model for a $200,000, $500,000, or even a million-dollar film. It cost too much to make its money back from a small amount of DVD sales, but it didn't cost enough for a distributor to put a huge marketing campaign behind it. Knowledge at Wharton: Since DVD sales are decreasing and, as you've said, streaming models like Netflix don't fill the gap monetarily, how will the industry sustain itself? Kerwin: I don't know. You have a two-pronged assault on the distribution model. One is the advent of streaming. The other is piracy. Those are eating up DVD sales. If the industry's going to survive, the distribution model has to change. [We need] a smarter way to monetize digital distribution. iTunes figured out a way to do it with music. Before the music industry collapsed under piracy, [Apple] said, "Make it easier to buy the song for $.99 than to search for it on BitTorrent." They were successful, and the music industry -- at least the artists -- are recovering from that dip in the early part of the decade when everybody was afraid the music industry was going to collapse. The film industry hasn't had that happen yet. Yes, you can buy a movie on iTunes, but it is fairly expensive. And it's competing with streaming on Netflix, which is effectively free if you have a Netflix subscription. Who's going to buy a movie for $14 on iTunes if they can easily BitTorrent it or stream it for free on Netflix? Knowledge at Wharton: Many of the early attempts of the recording and motion picture industry to stop piracy have not been successful. How should the movie industry respond to piracy? Kerwin: The way to stop film piracy -- and I know this is not a particularly popular idea with some people -- is to allow ISPs to cut it off. We simply do not have the legal infrastructure to go after all those people, particularly when they're in Eastern Europe or Sweden or wherever The Pirate Bay is. You have privacy advocates saying, "That's a violation of my First Amendment rights. Net neutrality, net neutrality, net neutrality." A lot of people don't like to hear this, but a lot of money is being pumped into the net neutrality lobby by companies like Google and Yahoo -- companies that profit off piracy, to a certain extent. And there's no doubt about it, Google profits off piracy. They own YouTube. People put pirated content on YouTube and [the rights owner has] to find it and take it down. It takes them about 24 hours to take it down. In the meantime, thousands of people have watched your movie illegally and Google has sold ad space. Google has no vested interest in stopping piracy. A lot of those companies have tricked people into thinking that net neutrality is about protecting your rights. But, to a certain extent, it's also about letting pirates run free. FedEx can scan your package to detect if there's a nuclear weapon and stop it. You have to give your shipping service the right to detect if you're shipping contraband. Otherwise, it's going to become a huge black market. Piracy of movies is turning into a major problem. I don't know how we're going to get over it, unless we let ISPs block it. Knowledge at Wharton: What are you working on next? Kerwin: I don't know what's up next. I have a few scripts that I would like to explore. We've been so busy promoting Yesterday Was a Lie after the DVD release, that I haven't really had time. We are almost finished shooting a web series, a spin-off of Yesterday Was a Lie, where we spin off a couple of the supporting characters from the film into a seven-episode web series that's going to drop [in the near future]. It's been fun to explore those themes within the rules of physics that were established in the movie. There's a graphic novel that has been completed. Some pre-release copies were released at Comic-Con. It has not found a publisher yet, so we're still looking for [one]. And then there's also the CD soundtrack, which we're hoping is going to come out [early in 2011]. We're focused on all that right now. Additional Reading The Movies Meet Web 2.0: Lance Weiler on the New Economic Model for Independent Cinema : http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1783 'Tarzan Economics': If Music Is Free, How Do Artists Get Paid? : http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2452 Joss Whedon's Plan to Monetize Internet Content (Watch Out, Hollywood): http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2152 Will Online Streaming Work Out for Netflix? : http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2652 From aliens at dataone.in Sun Jan 16 11:36:35 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 11:36:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] HOLLOW OR PSEUDO SECULARISM HAS RUINED THIS COUNTRY Message-ID: <000e01cbb543$8f3606f0$ada214d0$@in> http://www.gujaratsamachar.com/20101107/purti/ravipurti/ravi32.html Hollow/Pseudo secularism has ruined this country. Religion and politics are 2 sides of a coin and they are interrelated to each other and this is true for all the countries/world. Above article is in Gujarati and sorry who cannot understand Gujarati. I am giving main points in English as under. Mr. Mahammed Karim Chagla said, "I am Hindu because my ancestor were Hindu and respect them for the culture, principle inherited me." There was a editorial in leading English news paper with heading TEMPLE AND NATION. In this, he criticizes the prayer and deep (diva) carried out in any opening ceremony, tuning Bhajans in Rajdhani Express, religious serial like Ramayan/Mahbharat aired in various channels. Convent educated journalists will not understand that prayer, deep hoisting, bhajans is considered as Hindu way of life and not the Hinduism. But, with the convent education, they only know Ishu and mother marry. There was no secular word in our constitution till Indira rule. The secularism word was entered in constitution by Indira on 1976. During emergency between 1975-1977, Indira played with our constitution just for vote bank politics. She changed the constitution not for people benefit but for sticking to her own political power. Today, pseudo-secularists leaders, journalists are worrying for minority, secularism, democracy but unfortunately not show even single sign for worrying of 80% majority. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Jan 16 13:59:11 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 03:29:11 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] SCHEME OF BUILDING GRANTS, INCLUDING STUDIO THEATRE : Old Building & Equipment Scheme/ Film Screening & Discussion @ JNU, Delhi Message-ID: <8CD836E9606F9AF-1A38-1391F@webmail-m011.sysops.aol.com> 1. Scheme SCHEME OF BUILDING GRANTS, INCLUDING STUDIO THEATRES 2. Objective The objective of the Scheme is to support voluntary cultural organizations and government-aided cultural organizations in their efforts to create appropriately equipped training, rehearsal and performance spaces for artistes. 3. Eligible Projects 3.1 Grants will be given to projects for creating cultural spaces, which will include: 3.1.1 Conventional Cultural Spaces for Performing Arts: a) Performance venues, like Auditoria, Open-air Theatres, Concert Halls. b) Rehearsal halls for Theatre/ Music/ Dance. c) Training Centres/ Schools for Theatre/ Music/ Dance. 3.1.2 Flexible Spaces, i.e., Studio Theatres, etc.: Non-proscenium rehearsal-cum-performance spaces, referred to as Studio Theatre or Experimental Theatre, that are characterized by the following special features: a) A small theatre, with all the essential equipment for the performance of live music, dance or theatre or combination of these arts; b) An unconventional space that cannot qualify as an auditorium in the traditional sense; therefore, the stage or performance area is not normally placed within a proscenium arch nor raised too high or separated from the audience by a clearly demarcated division. c) A seating arrangement for spectators that is totally flexible and can be moved fluidly from one part of the space to another depending on the artistic aim of a particular performance; therefore, the seats/chairs must not be fixed in position. d) A capacity that usually does not go over 100 to 200; therefore, such a space is often called a “little theatre” or “intimate theatre”, because it allows for close-up and intimate viewing by spectators. e) One or two adjoining greenroom(s) / dressing room(s) /makeup room(s) with toilet(s) for the performers, and a storage area; therefore, the entire unit, though minimal, functions as a theatre in every sense. 3.2 A project proposal to create an auditorium, a studio theatre or other cultural space(s) may include an appropriate combination of any of the following components : a) New construction or purchase of a built-up space. b) Renovation/ upgradation/ modernization/ extension/ alteration of an existing building/ space/ facility. c) Remodeling of the interiors of an existing built-up space/cultural centre. d) Provision of facilities like electricals, air conditioning, acoustics, light and sound systems and other items of equipment, such as musical instruments, costumes, audio/ video equipment, furniture and stage material that may be required for a studio theatre, auditorium, rehearsal hall, classroom etc. 4. Eligible Organizations 4.1 The scheme covers: (i) All not-for-profit organizations that fulfill the following criteria:- a) The organization has a predominantly cultural profile, working primarily for the promotion of arts and culture in fields such as dance, drama, theatre, music, fine arts, indology and literature at least for a period of three years. b) The organization is registered as a society under the Registration of Societies Act (XXI of 1860) or similar Acts, or as a Trust or as a Not-for-Profit Company, at least for a period of three years. c) The organization is well established and known to be doing meaningful work in the field of its activity and has gained a local, regional or national identity. d) Its charter is devoted to the preservation, propagation and promotion of Indian arts and culture. (ii) Government-sponsored bodies for promoting the performing arts. (iii) University Departments or Centres dedicated to the performing arts. (iv) Colleges set up to promote the performing arts. 4.2 An organization that has been receiving salary grant for the last 3 years under the Ministry’s Scheme of “Financial Assistance to Professional Groups and Individuals Engaged for Specified Performing Arts Projects” will be deemed to have fulfilled all the above conditions. 4.3 A Government-sponsored body, University Department/Centre or College dedicated to the performing arts may also be automatically eligible, provided its record over the preceding three years is satisfactory. 4.4 Religious institutions, public libraries, museums, schools, colleges or University Departments/Centres that are not specifically dedicated for the performing arts and allied cultural activities, departments or offices of the Central Government/ State Governments/ U.T. Administrations/ Local Bodies will not be eligible. 4.5 An organization that has availed of a grant for its building project grant under the erstwhile Scheme of Building Grants to Cultural Organizations or under this scheme will not be eligible for a second grant under the Scheme before the completion of the project sanctioned earlier, except where such second grant is sought for a Studio Theatre (or Experimental Theatre) and the applicant organization has not defaulted on the ongoing sanctioned project. 5. Nature and Extent of Assistance 5.1 All grants under the Scheme will be of a non-recurring nature. Recurring expenditure, if any, will be the responsibility of the grantee organization. 5.2 Maximum assistance under the scheme will be as under: CITIES TYPE OF PROJECT LIMIT OF ASSISTANCE · Bangalore · Chennai · Delhi · Hyderabad · Kolkata · Mumbai Projects involving new construction or purchase of built up space All other projects Rs. 50 lakhs Rs. 25 lakhs All non-Metro cities, towns or places All projects Rs. 25 lakhs 5.3 Assistance under the scheme to an organization will be restricted to a maximum of 60% of the approved estimated project cost, subject to the ceilings given above. The balance of the approved estimated project cost is to be incurred by the organization as its ‘matching share’. ILLUSTRATIONS:- FOR PROJECTS INVOLVING NEW CONSTRUCTION/ PURCHASE OF BUILT UP SPACE IN METRO CITIES CASE: 1 If the approved cost of the project is Rs. 100 lakhs, the maximum grant which may be sanctioned would be Rs. 50 lakhs, the matching share of the grantee organization being Rs. 50 lakhs. CASE: 2 If the approved cost of the project is Rs. 70 lakhs, the maximum grant which may be sanctioned would be Rs. 42 lakhs, the matching share of the grantee organization being Rs. 28 lakhs. FOR PROJECTS INVOLVING NEW CONSTRUCTION/ PURCHASE OF BUILT UP SPACE IN NON-METRO CITIES AND ALL PROJECTS UNDER 3.2 (b, c and d) CASE: 3 If the approved cost of the project is Rs. 60 lakhs, the maximum grant which may be sanctioned would be Rs. 25 lakhs, the matching share of the grantee organization being Rs.35 lakhs. CASE: 4 If the approved cost of the project is Rs. 40 lakhs, the maximum grant which may be sanctioned would be Rs. 24 lakhs, the matching share of the grantee organization being Rs.16 lakhs. 5.4 Cost of the land (actual consideration paid by the recipient organization and not market value) and development charges borne by the organization shall be accounted as matching share. 5.5 Expenditure already incurred by the organization on construction/ purchase/ development of land & building and purchase of fixtures and fittings within a period of one year from the date of application, shall also be accounted as matching share. The organization will submit accounts of expenditure incurred in this regard duly certified by Chartered Accountant. 5.6. In case the cost of the project is enhanced subsequently, the liability of the Government of India will be restricted to the original sanctioned amount, and all the extra expenditure will be met by the grantee organization from its own resources. 5.7 Once the project proposal has been considered and approved for a certain amount, no subsequent requests for review and enhancement of project cost will usually be entertained. 5.8 The validity of sanction of financial assistance will be 3 years from the date of release of the 1st instalment and all projects must be completed within this 3-year period. 6. Application Procedure 6.1 Ministry of Culture will notify the scheme through their website (www.indiaculture.nic.in). 6.2 A brief advertisement to publicize the scheme will be brought out at least once a year by Ministry of Culture. 6.3. Applications in the prescribed proforma would have to be submitted to Ministry of Culture, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi, unless some other organization or agency is nominated and authorized by it to receive the same and/or execute the scheme on its behalf. 6.4 All documents mentioned under Clause 7 below must accompany the application. Applications received without any of these mandatory documents will not be taken up for consideration and returned to the sender. 7. Documents to be attached The application should be accompanied by the following documents: 7.1 Project Report/Proposal which will include– (a) Organization’s profile containing a description of the organization, its strengths, achievements and year-wise details of its activities over the last 3 years. (b) Description of the project/proposal including its rationale/ justification. (c) Summary of the cost estimates (building/ equipments/ facilities). (d) Sources of finance/funds. (e) Time schedule for completion of project, and (f) Post completion- how the organization will manage the operation & maintenance of the facility created through the project and meet the recurring maintenance/ operational costs. 7.2 Copy of the Certificate of Registration under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or other relevant Acts. 7.3 Copy of the Memorandum of Association (or Trust Deed) of the organization including Rules & Regulations, if any. 7.4 List of present members of the Board of Management/ Office Bearers/Trustees with name & address of each member. 7.5 Copies of Annual Accounts for the last 3 financial years (duly certified / audited by a Chartered Accountant or Government Auditor). 7.6 Copy of the title deed (registered conveyance deed, gift deed, lease deed, etc.), showing (a) Ownership of the land/building for the project in the name of the applicant organization and confirming that the property can be used for commercial, institutional or educational purpose. In the case of a proposal to purchase built up space, copy of Allotment letter/Agreement to Sale be submitted. (b) Cost of land/building. In case the cost of land/ building is not indicated in the title deed, relevant documents in support of cost be submitted. 7.7 Copy of Building / Development Plans duly approved by the appropriate civic body/ local authority (Municipality, Panchayat, Development Authority, Improvement Trust etc.).In case of proposal to purchase built up space, copy of the layout plan and completion certificate duly approved/issued by competent civic body/local authority to be submitted. 7.8 Cost estimates (Building/ Equipments), duly approved by a registered Architect who will also certify that: a) The quantities are in conformity with the structural requirements of the project. b) The rates are in conformity with the prevailing market rates, and c) The cost estimates are reasonable. 7.9 Documentary evidence in support of the claim that the organization has secured or made arrangements to secure its matching share e.g. a bank statement, certificate of expenditure already incurred on the project (with break-up, duly certified by Chartered Accountant), loan sanction letter, letter of the State Government / Union Territory Administration/ Local Body etc. sanctioning funds for the project. 7.10 Resolution (in the prescribed format) of the Board of Management/ Executive Board/ Governing Body of the organization authorizing a person to sign the application for grant, bond etc. on behalf of the organization. 7.11 A Bond (in the prescribed format) for the assistance sought, on a stamp paper of prescribed denomination. 7.12 A Bank Authorization letter (in the prescribed format) showing ECS details of the Bank Account of the organization. Notes I. The applicant organizations are free to attach any other document they may wish to submit in support of their proposal (e.g. certificate or recommendation letters from a national or state level Government body or Akademi, annual reports, press clippings/ reviews, award letters, affiliation letters etc.). II. Wherever the documents are in a regional language, an English or Hindi version must also be made available III. Wherever copies of certain documents are being submitted, the same should be duly attested by a Gazetted Officer or Notary Public. IV. For proposals from Government-sponsored bodies, University Departments or Centres and Colleges that are dedicated to the Performing Arts, out of the documents specified at point nos. 7.2 to 7.10 above, only such documents as are relevant to the applicant organization will need to be provided. 8. Evaluation procedure 8.1 All applications received by the Ministry of Culture will be scrutinized for completeness as per the above requirements by the Performing Arts Division of the Ministry of Culture. Applications which are incomplete (without requisite documents provided under clause no.7 above) will not be processed further for evaluation by the Expert Committee. 8.2 Before evaluation by the Expert Committee, wherever the Committee so desires, the applications may also be subjected to a pre-verification check with the assistance of any organization under the Ministry of Culture or a group of experts or an agency appointed for the purpose. Alternatively, the proposal may be subjected to a pre-appraisal by a Peer Group the Ministry may constitute in particular cases or as a standing arrangement. The purpose of this pre-verification or pre-appraisal will be to make a local assessment of the standing and the capabilities of the applicant organization and worthiness of the project. 8.3 Applications complete in all respects will be taken up in batches for consideration by the Expert Committee, which will be appointed by the Ministry of Culture and will meet from time to time during the year, depending on the number of applications received for the grant. 8.4 The Expert Committee will evaluate each project proposal on its merit, with specific reference to the following : a) Whether the applicant organization is well established in the field and has got an identity of its own. b) Whether the proposal is well-conceived c) Whether the cost estimates are reasonable; and d) Whether the organization has capacity or has made arrangements to bring in their matching share to complete the project. (Where the applicant organization has already spent full amount of the matching share, this requirement will be deemed to have been fulfilled). 8.5 The Expert Committee will include artistes, representing different fields of performing arts and culture, and may also include an Architect, a Civil Engineer and a Technical Expert in light/sound/stage craft, as also concerned officials of Ministry of Culture. 9. Sanction and Release of Grant 9.1 On approval of the project proposal, the Ministry will communicate the decision to the organization, indicating the approved total cost of the project, the quantum of assistance sanctioned, the quantum of matching share of the organization and other terms and conditions for release of the sanctioned amount of assistance. 9.2 The sanction letter will also specify the building/ equipments for which the assistance has been sanctioned. 9.3 The sanctioned amount of assistance will be released in instalments in the following manner. 9.3.1 First Instalment: The first instalment equal to 40% of the sanctioned assistance will be released on approval of the project proposal/sanction by the Ministry without any further correspondence. 9.3.2 Second Instalment: The second instalment equal to 30% of the sanctioned grant will be released on submission of: (a) Physical and financial progress report on the project from a registered Architect, giving details of the work already carried out/ completed, along with the photographs of site. (b) A certificate from registered Architect to the effect that: The project has been completed/ is in progress as per the approved plan; That there has been no violation of the local laws or the approved plan of construction/development; The work done is of satisfactory quality; and indicating Valuation of the cost of the work done and the further amount required to complete the project. (c) The audited statement of accounts of the project, duly signed by a Chartered Accountant. (d) A Utilization Certificate from Chartered Accountant, certifying that the first instalment of assistance has been fully utilized for the project. (e) A certificate from Chartered Accountant certifying that the organization has spent 40% of its matching share. 9.3.3 Final Instalment: The final instalment equal to 30% of the sanctioned grant will be released after: (1) The grantee organization has submitted the following documents: a) Physical and financial progress report on the project from a registered Architect, giving details of the work already carried out/ completed, along with the photographs of site. b) A certificate from registered Architect to the effect that: · The project has been completed/ is in progress as per the approved plan; · That there has been no violation of the local laws or the approved plan of construction/development; · The work done is of satisfactory quality; and indicating · Valuation of the cost of the work done and the further amount required to complete the project. c) The audited statement of accounts of the project, duly signed by a Chartered Accountant. d) A Utilization Certificate from Chartered Accountant, certifying that the second instalment of assistance has been fully utilized for the project. e) A certificate from Chartered Accountant certifying that the organization has spent 70% of its matching share. (2) The Ministry of Culture has got the project physically inspected through its representative(s). Depending on the nature and the size of the project, the Ministry may for such field verification, depute an official from the Ministry and/ or any of its organizations or a team of officials and/ or experts drawn from various offices/disciplines, or it may engage a third party to carry out the inspection. Note If the final requirement of funds arrived at, falls short of the approved project cost or the amount of matching share spent by the organization is less than 40% of the approved project cost, the amount of the last instalment of the grant will be reduced correspondingly. 10. Conditions of Grant 10.1 Separate accounts shall be maintained in respect of the grants released by the Government of India. 10.2 The accounts and the site of the project shall be open for inspection by the representatives of the Ministry of Culture at any time for verification. 10.3 If the project is not completed within a period of three years from the date of release of the 1st instalment, no further grant shall be released to the organization and the claim will become time barred. 10.4 The accounts of the organization will be open to audit at any time by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India or his nominees at his discretion. 10.5 Within six months of the close of the financial year of the release of grant or any instalment thereof, the grantee shall submit to the Government of India a Statement of Accounts audited and certified by a Chartered Accountant setting out the expenditure incurred on the approved project and a Utilization Certificate indicating the utilization of the Government of India grant in the preceding year. If the utilization certificate is not submitted within the said period, the grantee may be asked to refund immediately the whole amount of the grant received together with interest thereon at the prevailing borrowing rate of the Government of India unless specially exempted by the Government of India. 10.6 For closure of the case the applicant shall submit the following documents within 6 months of the close of the financial year in which the final instalment is released: a) In cases of projects involving new construction, copy of the intimation of completion of the building sent to the appropriate civic authority or the Completion certificate issued by it; and in cases of projects involving purchase of ready built space, copy of the receipts of all the payments made to the builder/ seller, possession letter, and the registration/ ownership deed. b) Project completion report from the architect. c) Certificate from the Chartered Accountant that the organization has spent full amount of its matching share. 10.7 A register of the permanent and semi-permanent assets acquired wholly or mainly out of the Government of India grant should be maintained in prescribed form (FORM GFR-19). Every year, a copy of this register should be furnished to the Ministry of Culture by the grantee. 10.8 The grantee shall execute a bond in prescribed form with two sureties, in favor of the President of India, providing therein that he will abide by the conditions of the grant. In the event of his failing to comply with the conditions of the grant or committing a breach of the bond, the grantee and the sureties shall individually or jointly refund to the President of India the entire amount of the grant, together with interest thereon at the prevailing borrowing rate of the Government of India. 10.9 The first lien on the buildings and other assets acquired with Central assistance will vest in the President of India and neither the building nor the equipment shall be leased or mortgaged to other parties without the prior approval of the Government of India. Provided, however, that the lease of the studio theatre or other facilities, so acquired, to other parties for temporary use shall be excluded from this rule. 10.10 If at any stage the Government is not satisfied about the proper utilization of the Government grant, or of the facilities created out of it, the Government may ask for the refund of the entire amount of the grant together with interest thereon at the prevailing lending rates of the Government of India. 10.11 The grantee organization will acknowledge the financial support of the Government of India, Ministry of Culture by appropriately displaying the name of the Ministry at the studio theatre/ cultural space developed with assistance under the Scheme. 10.12 The grantee organization will be solely responsible for any violation of the laws governing construction of buildings or the use of land and buildings as may be applicable in the local area. 10.13 Such other conditions as may be imposed by the Government of India from time to time. 11.Miscellaneous The cases sanctioned under the erstwhile Scheme of Building Grants to Cultural Organizations will not be usually reopened nor will the sanctioned amount be usually enhanced under the provisions of this scheme, but the instalments pending for disbursement in such cases of building grant may, at the request of the grantee organization, be released by following the procedure and the documentary requirements contemplated in this scheme for the release of different instalments. However, in cases where no instalments have been released, the grantee organization may request for cancellation of the earlier sanction and fresh consideration of its project under this scheme. In past cases where the sanctioned grant has not been released in full and the project is lying incomplete and the grantee organization seeks a review of its case and enhancement of the sanctioned grant under this scheme, a view will be taken on a case to case basis. DOWNLOAD FORM : http://indiaculture.nic.in/indiaculture/PDF/STF.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Women Studies Programme School of Social Sciences invites you to a film screening and discussion Anek Ramayan directed by Shikha Sen Date: 18th January ’11 Time: 3.00 p.m. Venue: Committee Room (002), SSS-II, JNU About the film: This film is based on a play performance, called Anek Ramayan, which tried to interweave some of the different tellings of the epic in an effort to create an attitude that does not insist on the rightness of a single viewpoint. Shikha Sen after completing her MA in History from JNU, in 1982, did her MA from MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia in 1988. She has edited films that are political critiques, personal reflection, travelogues and biography, dealing with issues of gender, child rights, religious intolerance and the environment ALL ARE WELCOME From kalakamra at gmail.com Mon Jan 17 01:05:44 2011 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:05:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Metaphysics in Many Directions: An evening with Graham Harman, CAMP, Monday, Jan. 17th, 6:30 pm Message-ID: Do join us for Metaphysics in Many Directions. An evening with Graham Harman. Monday, January 17, 6:30 pm. At CAMP studio , 3rd Floor, Alif Apartments, 34-A Chuim Village, Khar, Mumbai On our rooftop studio, amid overhead internet cables, firecrackers celebrating unknown events, in a flurry of projects, in a break from programming, carpentry, and travel, and interrupting our usual screening schedule, we have the pleasure of announcing an informal encounter with the philosopher Graham Harman, and his books, including the recent fiction work Circus Philosophicus, (Zero Books, 2010). "Platonic myth meets American noir in this haunting series of philosophical images from gigantic ferris wheels to offshore drilling rigs." __________ Graham Harman is one of the most exciting voices in contemporary philosophy. He lives and teaches in Cairo, is a prodiguous blogger, and is the author of several books leading upto what he describes as an Object-Oriented Philosophy. See more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Harman One of his key works, for example, is a book on Bruno Latour: "The Prince of Networks" is available as open-access hereand is a serious treatment of Latour as a philosopher, describing Latour's books *Irreductions*, *Science in Action*, *We Have Never Been Modern*, and *Pandora’s Hope* as having major consequences for metaphysics and philosophy. One of these consequences, congruent with Harman's own view, is that human subjectivity can no longer sustain a central position in philosophy, and we need to attend to the ways in which: "the arena of the world is jam-packed with diverse objects, their forces unleashed and mostly unloved... snowflakes glitter in the light that cruelly annihilates them; damaged submarines rust along the ocean floor. As flour emerges from mills and blocks of limestone are compressed by earthquakes, gigantic mushrooms spread in the Michigan forest. While human philosophers bludgeon each other over the very possibility of "access" to the world, sharks bludgeon tuna fish, and icebergs smash into coastlines." A provocative aspect of Object-Oriented Ontology is an argument for "aesthetics as first philosophy", and "allure as causation"... in other words, stating that a kind of aesthetics is the primordial force which causes everything in the world to happen. Here is Zizek's endorsement of Harman's upcoming book on Quentin Meillassoux: (which is interesting given his quite un-Zizekian approach) "Quentin Meillassoux's entry into the philosophical scene marks the beginning of a new epoch: the end of the transcendental approach and the return to realist ontology. Harman's beautifully written and argued book provides not just an introduction to Meillassoux, but much more: one authentic philosopher writing about another - a true rare encounter. It is not only for those who want to understand Meillassoux, but also for those who want to witness a radical shift in the entire field of philosophy. It is a book that will shake the very foundations of your world! -- Slavoj Zizek" And here is a supporter's comment to how his philosophy is political: " If there is any point to political thought or activity, surely OOO is a champion of it, because it says categorically that the concrete economic, political, social and material situation is not fossilized into unbreakable relationships, and though these situations appear quite inescapable... OOO says that we are not condemned to that status quo. At the same time, OOO is deeply honest about this endeavor: if we are to change the world and not simply describe it, we have to realize we are not sovereign, but in concert with a near phantasmagorical array of worlds upon worlds, of an near infinity of agents and actors which do not bow to our languages or thoughts, each an ontological reservoir of power and relation. OOO seems very bright to me, in that it says that we can transcend the relationships that we are stuck in, be they economic, political, linguistic or otherwise, because we are not absolutely defined by them. I see OOO as offering a kind of challenging optimism when it comes to questions of agency and freedom." See you there! For questions and responses email info(@)camputer.org To unsubscribe, simply send an email with the word "unsubscribe" as the subject to camp-request at lists.mailb.org From vijayan at delhiforum.net Tue Jan 11 13:38:35 2011 From: vijayan at delhiforum.net (Vijayan M.J.) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:38:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Orissa killings and the urgent need for intervention In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Friends, I m writing this mail with not just shock but anger, disappointment and also helplessness. What do we do when 12 year girls are shot dead as Maoists? What to do when leaders of anti-displacement movements like Lenju are lynched by the same police and anti-maoists operations special groups, who he predicted will brand him as a Maoist (in the national media he made this prediction) ??? what are we doing? Nira Radias have branded them as maoists and we read the news about their encounters and keep quite??? Binayakda is atleast kept alive by the state, while these activists and unarmed adivasis have been killed. Surya's mail below really needs some urgent attention and intervention. Please do take out time to also go through each one of the links he has painstakingly put together. If this is not important to us, our commitment, our work, our lives, what is??? Vijayan Dear Friends, The last few weeks have witnessed the most gruesome and horrific cold blooded murders by security forces of several people including a 12-year-old Adivasi girl from Kalinga Nagar as well as one of the most committed activists of the Niyamgiri struggle. Also anti mining activists of Gandhamardhan have been killed. All in the name of fighting Maoism. The media is tomtomming the achievement of the security forces as a major breakthrough in 'crushing red terror' and hunting down 'dreaded left wing extremists'. Please find some weblinks below about the shocking incidents. Also find an article that appeared in the Frontline where the Niyamgiri activist Lenju predicts that one day the police will brand them as Maoists and kill them. Sources say that Lenju and others were surrounded and killed while they were sleeping. In Kalinga Nagar, some sources say that the encounter was styled in the classic fake encounter manner where people already detained by the police where taken to the forest and shot dead. That included 12-year-old Janga from Baligotha village who had gone missing since the police had attacked and destroyed her village in April 2010. This encounter happened a day before the 5th anniversay of the Kalinga Nagar massacre where 14 Adivasi men, women and children were killed by the police for oppossing Tata steel's project. While in Gandhamardhan, the slain activists are ironically members of the BJP. It is probably the most emblematic cases amongst fake encounters in the war against the communist guerrillas where people with right wing political affiliations were killed and branded as left wing extremists. Vedanta is one of the companies that has been trying to acquire mining rights for Gandhamardhan hill. While all this mayhem is unleashed upon people by the police, the corporations have been making major announcements. Vedanta has gone to court challenging the MoEF's decision. Tata has released statements that they will turn Kalinga Nagar into Jamsedhpur. To establish the interests of these corporations our Govts are being used to kill innocent children, women and those activists who start moblising people. The Maoists are definitely to be blamed for their dogmatic attitudes towards democratic movements and for endorsing violence more than their ideology. In the absence of a third force in this war of ideologies the possibility of lessening of violence seems unlikely. This third force has to be all of us who want to eliminate injustice, discrimination and exploitation without picking up guns. To start with we have to register our opinion about the way media reports on these killings, celebrating the death of people as if some big evil force has been defeated. All news agencies without exception have been rendered into propaganda publishers of the Govt and the Corporations. Let's not forget the shocking expose of the media a few months ago when the Radia tapes were made public. Let's not forget that it was Nira Radia (PR Agent) who told Vir Sanghvi (Top Journalist) "We (tata steel) are fighting the Maoists in Kalinga Nagar." Let's not allow the Nira Radias to brand our movements and pave the way for such horrific brutalities. Here are the weblinks (some are disgusting the way they report but that is the only media coverage one finds) Gandhamardhan Fake Encounter: http://www.sify.com/finance/shutdown-by-anti-mining-group-hits-life-in-orissa-news-default-lbdouhihijh.html http://expressbuzz.com/biography/fearing-wolves-but-slaughtering-lambs/237644.html Lenju's statement: http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2712/stories/20100618271203700.htm Rayagada fake encounter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZXZzG9RI0o http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Top-rebel-killed-in-Rayagada-encounter-cops/articleshow/7255998.cms Kalinga Nagar Fake encounter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUkPBYVEG48 http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=23617 Photo of Janga, the 12-year-old girl: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1083109082#!/photo.php?fbid=1642674781745&set=a.1642674261732.2081538.1083109082 -- ____________________________________ USE the information; forward it to others and ALWAYS check before you go This group is for announcements only. Please join other groups for discussions. Check our website openspace.in for more information You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Invites Delhi" group. To post to this group, send email to indelhi at googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to indelhi+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.in/group/indelhi?hl=en-GB From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Jan 17 13:04:06 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 02:34:06 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] WAVE videos screened in Bangalore tonight 17 Jan In-Reply-To: <83566C3E-1328-4CD9-96F2-24010F9363CE@gmail.com> References: <83566C3E-1328-4CD9-96F2-24010F9363CE@gmail.com> Message-ID: <8CD84300C0F786F-B48-20FC6@webmail-d040.sysops.aol.com> Sapna Shahani will host a screening of several online video shorts created by young women from around India followed by a brief Q&A and discussion. Videos include:  1. What is WAVE? 2. In Limbo: Kashmir's Half Widows - Lebul Nisa, Jammu and Kashmir.  3. Campaign Reservation Express - Vandana, Himachal Pradesh.  4. Eki - Apoorva Shaligram, Maharashtra. 5. Toxic Neglect - Moushumi Basu, Jharkhand. 6. Girija - Vinitha D'Souza, Karnataka. 7. In Her Friends Words - Sakshi Saini, Delhi. 8. Power to the People - Nyapi Bomjen, Arunachal Pradesh. 9. Whose Honour? - Neha Sehgal, Haryana. 10. Census and the Others - Kalki Subramaniam, Tamil Nadu.  Time: 7.30 pm Place: Jaaga Creative Common Ground,  No. 16/1, Rhenius Street Off Richmond Road Opposite Hockey Stadium Shanthinagar Bangalore From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Jan 17 13:21:34 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:21:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The KHOJ Marathon by Hans Ulrich Obrist Message-ID: <6155E5A8-153D-4033-82EB-E27FD4CBEA9B@sarai.net> KHOJ International Artists' Association invites you to one of the biggest events of the season: The KHOJ Marathon by Hans Ulrich Obrist 22nd January, 2011 at Lodi- The Garden Restaurant, Lodi Road 1:30pm-11:30pm Free Admission The KHOJ Marathon by Hans Ulrich Obrist is a series of twenty minute public interviews with 25 leading intellectuals - thinkers, social philosophers, political analysts and artists - by a compelling authority in the art and intellectual world- Hans Ulrich Obrist. A unique public event, the Khoj Marathon hopes to provide a critical understanding of art practice, its varied contexts and its value – other than in monetary terms. By inviting artists and intellectuals from the pure and social sciences, political commentators and activists, to be interviewed by Hans Ulrich Obrist it hopes to provide a spirited interrogation into the world of ideas and thought that also influence artistic practice in India. Participants: Amar Kanwar, Anita Dube, Bharti Kher, Bijoy Jain, Dayanita Singh, Dilip Simeon, Geeta Kapur, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Homai Vyarawalla, Jitish Kallat, Kaushik Basu, Kiran Subbaiah, Lawrence Liang, Nivedita Menon, Ranjit Hoskote, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, Sadanand Menon, Sheba Chhachhi, Sheela Gowda, Shilpa Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Sudarshan Shetty, Sundar Sarukkai, The Raqs Media Collective, Vandana Shiva, Vivan Sundaram KHOJ International Artists' Association has built an international reputation for outstanding alternative arts incubation and plays a central role in the development of art practices in India which are analytical, critical and experimental and which challenge established thinking about art. Over the past 13 years, through its various international workshops, residencies and other projects, KHOJ has developed a vibrant network of artists not only in Europe and America but across the global south as well. From ysikand at gmail.com Fri Jan 14 20:31:25 2011 From: ysikand at gmail.com (Yogi Sikand) Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:31:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=93Tahzibi_Bahin=3A_Four_Early_Ind?= =?windows-1252?q?ian_Muslim_Women_Writers=3A_Gail_Minault?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: “Tahzibi Bahin: Four Early Indian Muslim Women Writers Keynote Address for Workshop in Delhi, December 2010: “Women’s Autobiographies in Islamic Societies: Context and Construction” *Gail Minault, University of Texas at Austin* It is a great honor to be asked to give the keynote address for this workshop on “Women’s Autobiographies in Islamic Societies: Context and Construction.” Last winter, in Austin, we held the first of three workshops, and there the topic was: “Defining the Genre.” It seems clear that a woman’s autobiography may take many forms. She may write something called a “memoir” or an “autobiography,” but not necessarily. Autobiographical writings may take many forms: diaries, letters, fiction, even poetry. Whether we succeeded in defining the genre or not, we certainly managed to complicate what we think of as autobiography. Now we seek to look at the social and historical contexts of autobiographies, and the various ways that autobiographical writings are constructed. As a historian, I am especially interested in the context of texts, and today I want to talk about the lives and works of four North Indian Muslim women writers who broke their silence in the early years of women’s publication, in the pages of various women’s magazines, chiefly (but not exclusively) in the pages of the periodical Tahzib un-Niswan that was published from Lahore beginning in 1898. The title “Tahzibi Bahin” or sisters of Tahzib, refers to the network of contributors to this journal, and those who wrote letters to its editor, Muhammadi Begam. She referred to them as such, and it seems a particularly appropriate image: a sisterhood who were connected by their pens to a journal, the title of which meant “the reform, or polishing, or perfection of women.” These women were enthusiastic about communicating with each other, expressing ideas about how to better their lives, improving the comfort and health of their families, advancing their children’s education, and expanding their knowledge of the outside world. Most of these women, as middle class Muslims in the late 19th and early 20th century, were in purdah. They seldom went out, and when they did they were heavily veiled and accompanied by a male relative or a servant. When they were in company, it was with other women, or with members of their immediate or extended families. When they wrote, they wrote to communicate with other women. The public at large was more forbidding. Many of the earliest women authors, even those writing letters to the editor, used pseudonyms: the mother, or the daughter, or the wife of so-and-so, or they might use their initials or a poetic takhallus. To go public with one’s full name might be construed as stripping off the veil. When Sayyid Mumtaz Ali and his wife Muhammadi Begum founded Tahzib un-Niswan, they sent out issues gratis to names on the civil list, hoping to enlist subscribers. Some of their prospective clientele returned the journal to sender with obscenities scrawled on the label. Someone plastered a poster on the gateway of Mumtaz Ali’s house, accusing him of promoting prostitution. Such a social context is hardly conducive to the autobiographical form! To find out who some of the early women writers were is a challenge. What is surprising and encouraging is that any women came forward, subscribed (with the help, presumably, of their male relatives), and sent in letters, articles, poems, housekeeping tips, answers to problems raised by other correspondents, and ultimately made this journal (and others like it) a success. From reading Tahzib un-Niswan, ‘Ismat (published from Delhi beginning in 1908), and other women’s magazines in Urdu, one can construct a view of women’s lives at the time, and their desire for greater knowledge and social involvement. For even within the bounds of purdah, the world, or its reflection, could come to them via print, and they could reach out to others, their figurative sisters. At least, that was the idea behind the founding of these magazines. But given this social context, and this very embryonic public sphere, how did women express autobiographical information? Or how can we, who seek information about the lives of the women who wrote in these magazines, reconstruct their lives? To answer these questions, I turn to the lives of four women who are the subject of my inquiry today, Ashrafunnissa Begam (1840-1903), Muhammadi Begam (1878?- 1908), the editor of Tahzib un-Niswan, Zahida Khatun Sherwani, who was known by her initials, Zay-Khay-Sheen (1894-1922), and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein (1880-1932). The latter is especially known as a Bengali woman educator and outspoken critic of purdah; less well known is that she also spoke and wrote in Urdu and contributed frequently to Tahzib un-Niswan. Another tahzibi bahin that I might have described is Nazr Sajjad Hyder, who before her marriage was the editor of Phul, the girls’ magazine in the Tahzib un-Niswan family of publications, but she has already been well described in a paper given this morning by Asiya Alam. Ashrafunnissa Begam, affectionately known to her students as Bibi Ashraf, contributed to one of the earliest issues of Tahzib un-Niswan in 1899, encouraged by its editor, Muhammadi Begam, who felt that her story of how she learned to read and write would be an inspiration to others. After Bibi Ashraf’s death, Muhammadi wrote a biography, Hayat-i-Ashraf, based on Ashrafunnissa’s own story to give a fuller picture of her life. Her memoir, one of the few by a woman at that time, shows the amazing degree of self-discipline and determination required to gain literacy, even in a family with a literate tradition. Bibi Ashraf came from a family of modest means, but one in which the women were traditionally taught to read, though never to write. They were Sayyids and devout Shi'as, and had a small landholding in district Bijnor. Her father, a vakil (legal practitioner), was employed in the princely state of Gwalior, so Bibi Ashraf and her siblings grew up in her grandfather's house. An ustani (female tutor) came to the house to teach the girls to read the Quran, until one day when the teacher, a widow, remarried. Bibi Ashraf was six years old, and only half way through the sacred book, when this happened. Her grandfather was so shocked by the woman's remarriage--in spite of the fact that widow remarriage is permitted in Islam--that the woman was banned from ever returning to the house, and the lessons necessarily ceased. Her grandmother, however, encouraged her to read and reread the sections of the Quran that she had already studied, and by persistent effort, she completed the sacred book on her own. She still could not read Urdu and wanted to do so in order to participate in majalis--poetic recitations organized by the family during the sacred month of Muharram to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husain at Kerbala. She asked a relative for the text of some of the poems offered on such occasions, claiming that she would have them copied so she could practice reading and reciting them. She got the texts and some paper, took some coal blacking from the underside of the kitchen griddle (tava) in order to make ink to copy the texts herself, and then stole off to the roof at midday--when everyone else in the household was resting--to copy the texts, which she could not understand. Then she found a teacher. A male cousin needed help studying the Quran, so she exchanged that service for help in learning to read some Urdu marsiyas, elegiac poems honoring the Imams. After a while, she found that she could also read the poems that she had so painstakingly copied out in secret. Then it was simply a matter of practice, reading everything that came to hand. When her uncle, a stern individual opposed to women's writing, left home to join her father in Gwalior, the other women in the household discovered that she could write, and she became the scribe who wrote their family letters. At the age of nineteen, Ashrafunnissa was married to a cousin, Sayyid Alamdar Husain, and moved to Lahore. Her husband, as was increasingly common for members of his generation, had been educated in the colonial system, at Delhi College, an institution that taught both western sciences and oriental literatures through the medium of Urdu. He became a Deputy Inspector of Schools in the Punjab, and later taught at Lahore's Government College. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Alamdar Husain died in 1870, leaving Bibi Ashraf with two young daughters. She never remarried, but raised her children, educated them, and supported herself, first by taking in sewing and later by teaching at Victoria Girls' School in Lahore. She was obviously a woman of tremendous determination, sustained by a firm religious faith. Having survived so much, to publish her story for others to read did not cause her to fear for her respectability. Our second author, Muhammadi Begam, was the second wife of Sayyid Mumtaz Ali. His first wife had died, leaving him with two young children, in the same year that he quite Punjab government service to found his publishing business. He needed a helpmate, and the woman he found was the educated daughter of friends of his family. Muhammadi, who had lost her mother early, grew up in a family with numerous brothers, and consequently was used to fending for herself. She studied at home, first with her brothers, learning to read the Quran and Urdu. When they went off to school, she studied from their textbooks. When her sister married and moved away, Muhammadi learned to write letters to remain in touch. When she was thirteen and her stepmother was away for a family wedding, she kept house, cooked, cared for the younger children, did the household accounts, and wrote daily letters. As a teenager, she read Urdu newspapers and books and started studying English grammar. Her education, conducted at home, was somewhat haphazard and related mainly to practical matters; yet, unlike Bibi Ashraf, she received instruction and encouragement. She was clearly very intelligent and mastered new subjects quickly. After she married Mumtaz Ali, when he was thirty-seven and she was about nineteen, she continued her studies. Her husband taught her Arabic and Persian; an English woman came to the house to tutor her in English; another woman tutored her in Hindi; and a neighborhood boy, mathematics. She took responsibility for Mumtaz Ali’s household and his children, who were apparently very fond of her. In addition, she enthusiastically supported her husband’s plans to start a newspaper for women and became the editor of Tahzib un-Niswan with its first issue in 1898. Muhammadi worked hard to insure the success of the weekly. She rose early to pray, to take care of the children, to do the cooking and housework. She worked late into the night to bring out Tahzib, personally writing much of the material, editing, and answering letters, often not getting to sleep until the wee hours. She bore first a stillborn daughter, then in 1900, a son, Sayyid Imtiaz Ali. Muhammadi was thus wife, mother, homemaker, and companion in her husband’s life work, proving that it was possible for an Indian middle-class woman even at the turn of the twentieth century to “have it all.” But as women elsewhere and more recently have discovered, having it all can be hard work. The family was also plagued by ill health. In 1906, her father died, and in 1907 her beloved younger step-brother died suddenly of pneumonia. The burden of work and two bereavements in rapid succession seriously affected her health. Mumtaz Ali became a widower for the second time in November 1908. Before her untimely death, Muhammadi Begam helped make Urdu journalism for women not only acceptable, but successful. She wrote voluminously: journal articles, cook books, a household manual, a book of etiquette, as well as novels and poetry, many of these works serialized in the pages of Tahzib. Her novels are patterned on the popular novels of that day. One of them, Safiya Begam, is a cautionary tale about the dangers of marrying off a daughter without her consent. Safiya had been engaged at birth to her cousin. She grows into a lovely young woman, educated by her father, taught the household arts by her mother, and to care for the sick by a family friend who was a woman doctor. Her mother feels that it is time to marry her, and though her father has little enthusiasm for the match, and the cousin has become a lazy good-for-nothing and a consumptive, the father contacts the relatives. The cousin, sensibly, turns down the marriage proposal, citing his illness. Safiya and her parents are relieved by this turn of events and arrange her marriage to a well-educated upstanding young man. Unfortunately, before the marriage can take place, the cousin’s family reconsiders, having decided that Safiya’s dowry is too good to pass up, and they invoke the childhood betrothal. Safiya’s parents are honor bound to opt for their kinsmen, even though he is less worthy. Safiya, not consulted about this last-minute change in her intended spouse, dies of humiliation, leaving behind a note imploring parents not to marry off their daughters without their informed consent, an act which, in addition to everything else, is counter to the shari’a. This poignant story sounds much like the plot of a Bollywood film, yet Safiya’s tragedy also reflects a distinctly feminist consciousness. Safiya is educated and skilled, but caught in a conflict between her duty to her parents and their differing views of family and religious obligation. In the moral conflict between customary views of what is honorable and religiously correct action, Safiya’s father gives in to his wife’s sense of family obligation, violating both religious injunctions and Safiya’s best interest. Safiya cannot win, for to disobey her parents would dishonor them all. The only way out is to die, though she does not take her own life but conveniently dies of a broken heart. This melodramatic turn violates what is otherwise a fairly realistic scenario. Muhammadi Begam illustrates the importance of family relationships and the sense of duty to them that complicate moral choices and limit women’s freedom of action. The content of Muhammadi Begam’s writing reflected the contents of Tahzib un-Niswan during its first ten years under her editorship. Muhammadi’s distinctive, down-to-earth style enlivened the pages of the journal. Articles discussed education, housekeeping, and child care, gave recipes, advice to daughters-in-law on how to get along with their in-laws, and so forth. A constant theme was the reform and simplification of custom and the need to eliminate wasteful expenditure on household rituals. Muhammadi’s novels expressed moral dilemmas within acceptable boundaries and her poetry gave one of the few windows on her own feelings. In particular, her grief at the death of her younger brother, “Yadgar-i-Mahbub,” is contained in her collected poems. Muhammadi did not write an autobiography. Much of what I know about her life is from a manuscript biography written by her sister. But surely, her writings in Tahzib and her editing of others’ writings reflect much about her life and its priorities, her practical turn of mind, and her take-charge style. Mumtaz Ali was devastated by her death, but he kept the journal going, under the editorship of other women members of his extended family. Zahida Khatun Sherwani, known as Zay-Khay-Sheen, was the younger daughter of Nawab Sir Muzammillah Khan Sherwani, Rais of Bhikampur in Aligarh district. A follower of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, he was an important figure in the Aligarh movement, a supporter of the British connection, and a champion of turning Aligarh College into a Muslim University. The Sherwanis of Aligarh were a family that displayed an intriguing combination of the progressive and the conservative. They were distinguished in educational circles, supporting both Islamic and western curricula, and they supported education for women, although the women of the family maintained strict purdah and were educated at home. The family’s loyalist politics were manifested in membership in reform associations along with resistance to the growing force of anti-British nationalism before and after World War I. Genealogically, they practiced cousin marriage to an almost exclusive degree. This kept the family properties intact, while taking a toll on the health of their offspring. Zahida Khatun was a product of this large and intellectually vibrant family. Her mother died when she was very young, and her father, consequently, had a major role in her education, along with that of her siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. They learned to read the Quran beginning at age four, and were tutored in Persian by an Iranian woman whom their father hired upon the recommendation of the Begam of Bhopal. She taught them an appreciation for poetry, and under her tutelage Zahida started writing poetry from a young age. Around 1912 or so, Zahida started writing articles and verses and sent them off to various women’s magazines and other literary periodicals. She also was the ringleader of an association of her cousins, the “Young Sherwanis’ League,” that met from time to time, collected dues, started schools for the poor children of their qasbah, and donated money to the drive to build a boarding house for Aligarh Girls’ School. During this time too, she became concerned with the fate of Muslims elsewhere, and wrote verses about the Balkan and Tripolitan wars and the Kanpur Mosque incident. Aligarh was the center of an effort to put together a Red Crescent Medical Mission to aid Turkey during the Balkan wars of 1911-13. Community leaders visited the college, giving new life to the movement for a Muslim University. Her brother and male cousins doubtless reported this excitement to the purdah-nashin members of the family. In 1913, Zay-Khay-Sheen sent a poem about the Kanpur Mosque incident to the Urdu newspaper Zamindar of Lahore. Her father found out about it and was furious, called her an “extremist” and ordered her to stop “cursing the government” as it put him in a very delicate position. She was so upset by his disapproval that she stopped writing altogether for a while. Eventually, she resumed publishing her poetry without telling him (though he may have suspected), an act that showed her considerable courage, not to mention her desire for self-expression. In 1916, her younger brother died suddenly, depriving her not only of a beloved sibling, but also of her eyes and ears on current events in Aligarh. Following this bereavement, she went through a period of depression and ill health. Another serious blow occured two years later, when she lost a friend and frequent correspondent, Rabia Sultan Begam, a well-known Urdu woman author who was married into the Bilgrami family of Hyderabad and also related, by the marriage of her niece, to the family of Mumtaz Ali of Lahore. Rabia Sultan was thus a vital link to the world of women’s publishing in these two important literary hubs. Losing her meant not only losing a supportive friend, but also increased Zahida’s sense of isolation. Zahida also remained unmarried as the cousin who was intended for her also died young, and there was no one else within the family of appropriate age or fortune. Thereafter, her poetry takes on a darker tone that characterized her later works. An example of this was her poem Sipas Nama-i-Urdu (“In Praise of Urdu”), written in 1918 to honor the occasion of the inauguration of Osmania University in Hyderabad, the only institution of higher education in India that used Urdu as its medium of instruction. The poem was read out at the inauguration, and apparently no one knew that its author was a woman: I am giving up the use of a comb, Refusing to return the mirror’s gaze. I have no heart nor zest For self-displays. In any case, I am radiant of face. But if no one observes, Of what use is grace?... I am a ruby wrapped in a rag, The moon in its darkened phase; I am a rustic beauty, A blossom in a desolate place. As is gold buried in the dust. Or a pearl lost in the sea; A candle under a cover, Or in a void, the song of the shahnai. Why was Yusuf enchained? Why the nightingale caged? Who gave the order? What wisdom so ordained? What a shocking view it is, Astonishing beyond astonishment. That beauty of form can be Regarded as unfortunate… Indeed, in the company of rivals, Like a candle, I weep. Even with all this beauty, In spite of all this grace… They are useless, powerless, All my turns of phrase. A contest was proposed, And I met my fate. I could not find the words My meaning to express. How could one so powerless Make clear her great distress? The poet uses powerful imagery to draw parallels between the status of Urdu—marginalized, ignored, hidden from view—and the status of women in her society. Beginning with the imagery of not being seen and having an under-appreciated beauty, she proceeds to the image of a musha’ira, or poetic assembly, and changes the discourse to one of not being heard, or of trying to speak and not being understood. In spite of grace of form and style, she is condemned for showing off her beauty and is powerless in the face of incomprehension. The audience may not have known that the author of this lament was a woman, but Sipas-Nama shows that Zay-Khay-Sheen was developing a distinctive voice, rich in irony and double entendres. Can poetry be a form of autobiography? In the case of Zay-Khay-Sheen, I think it is clear that it can be, although such verses need to be placed in the context of the times in which they were composed. Zahida died in 1922 at the age of 27, another premature loss to the world of Urdu literature. Her kulliyat or poetic work was published by Mumtaz Ali’s publishing firm in 1941, and we are also fortunate that a younger cousin wrote a very informative biography, Hayat-i-Z-Kh-Sh, based on her letters, publications, and family lore. Her poetic voice is eloquent, and even though Zay-Khay-Sheen remained hidden from view, there were ways in which she pierced through her isolation. By means of her close relationships with family and with correspondents, and through the literary journals that published her work, she made her voice heard in the political and intellectual life of her time. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein was born in a village near Rangpur in northern Bengal, the daughter of a zamindar. She had two brothers and two sisters and grew up in a large and rambling household. Her father was a learned man who insisted that his sons learn Arabic and Persian as well as Urdu and Bengali, and later sent them to St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta to learn English so they might enter the civil service. He was thus aware of the need to educate his sons to meet changed circumstances, but he saw no need to educate his purdah-observing daughters. Rokeya’s elder sister learned to read Bengali from her brothers, but her relatives caught her reading, criticized her, and married her off at a young age. Rokeya, also an avid reader, kept her literacy to herself. She had an ally in her elder brother, Ibrahim, who used to teach her Bengali and English late at night. Ibrahim also helped arrange Rokeya’s marriage to an acquaintance, Sayyid Sakhawat Hossein, a civil servant posted to Rangpur. Sakhawat Hossein was originally from Bhagalpur in Bihar, had been educated in Patna, Calcutta, and London, and was a firm supporter of women’s education. He was pleased by Rokeya’s literacy and encouraged her literary talents. A widower, Sakhawat Hossein was in his thirties with a daughter, and Rokeya was sixteen when they married in 1896. The marriage was a happy one, though childless. Rokeya spent her married life in Bhagalpur near her husband’s family, who were Urdu speakers. She kept up her Bengali by corresponding with her sister. Her husband encouraged her to read widely, to mix with the educated Hindu and Christian women in the town, and to express her views in writing. She published her first articles in 1903-04 in Bengali women’s magazines in Calcutta on subjects related to the status of women. She observed purdah, but became an outspoken critic of its more extreme forms. In 1905, she composed Sultana’s Dream, a feminist utopian fantasy that tells of a society, “Ladyland,” where women rule and the men are kept in mardanas—as opposed to zenanas—out of sight, because of their unreliability and quarrelsomeness. Her husband read it, chuckled, pronounced it a “terrible revenge,” and urged her to publish it. It appeared in English in the Indian Ladies Magazine in 1905 (ten years before Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland, another feminist utopian tale that appeared in 1915). Rokeya’s happy marriage lasted only until 1909. Her husbad, a diabetic in the age before insulin, began to lose his eyesight in 1907. In 1909, realizing he had not long to live, he urged his wife to start a girls’ school in Bhagalpur, and gave her, in addition to her mehr, Rs. 10, 000 for the purpose. Rokeya founded a school in Bhagalpur, but moved to Calcutta in 1910 to be near her mother and sister, and re-established her school there in 1911. As a widow with an inheritance, she had enough financial independence to overcome initial resistance, but she had to struggle to find patrons and enlisted the help of the Begam of Bhopal to keep the Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School going. She continued to write in both Urdu and Bengali journals, women’s magazines, and newspapers. She gave speeches and was active in a number of women’s associations and educational reform efforts. Her life and work have been studied, and a number of her writings, including Sultana’s Dream, have been reprinted. She wrote no autobiography, but the imprint of her personality was great in the context of her times and in the hearts and minds of educated Bengali Muslim women. Tahzib un-Niswan started small as a weekly of eight pages, but then grew to ten, then sixteen pages. Its circulation started small, maybe even negative (with more returned to sender than sold), and grew to sixty or seventy subscribers after three or four months. After four years, Tahzib had some three hundred or four hundred subscribers. The sisterhood of writers and subscribers was thus, relatively speaking, infinitesimal. The women who wrote for it were often obscure, their lives middle class, not extravagant, their concerns practical and down to earth, their approaches to the outside world tentative, often naïve. They were veiled, but they were building networks, webs of print that helped illumine their lives, expand their horizons, and express their hopes, frustrations, and pain. The four women I have discussed here did not write autobiographies per se, they were too busy educating others, getting out the paper, subverting purdah even while keeping within its bounds. We know when they wrote, and that context limited their possibilities, but also gave them new means of expression. For whom did they write? For women like themselves, a constantly expanding public. How did they write? Often with great difficulty, grabbing time from other preoccupations. Why did they write? Because they had something to say. Was it autobiographical? Frequently, but not uniquely, and sometimes obliquely. -- Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. --The Buddha -- Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. --The Buddha From ashokansuku at gmail.com Mon Jan 17 00:51:27 2011 From: ashokansuku at gmail.com (ashok sukumaran) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:51:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Metaphysics in Many Directions: An evening with Graham Harman, Monday, Jan. 17th, 6:30 pm In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Do join us for Metaphysics in Many Directions. An evening with Graham Harman. Monday, January 17, 6:30 pm. At CAMP studio , 3rd Floor, Alif Apartments, 34-A Chuim Village, Khar, Mumbai On our rooftop studio, amid overhead internet cables, firecrackers celebrating unknown events, in a flurry of projects, in a break from programming, carpentry, and travel, and interrupting our usual screening schedule, we have the pleasure of announcing an informal encounter with the philosopher Graham Harman, and his books, including the recent fiction work Circus Philosophicus, (Zero Books, 2010). "Platonic myth meets American noir in this haunting series of philosophical images from gigantic ferris wheels to offshore drilling rigs." __________ Graham Harman is one of the most exciting voices in contemporary philosophy. He lives and teaches in Cairo, is a prodiguous blogger, and is the author of several books leading upto what he describes as an Object-Oriented Philosophy. See more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Harman One of his key works, for example, is a book on Bruno Latour: "The Prince of Networks" is available as open-access hereand is a serious treatment of Latour as a philosopher, describing Latour's books *Irreductions*, *Science in Action*, *We Have Never Been Modern*, and *Pandora’s Hope* as having major consequences for metaphysics and philosophy. One of these consequences, congruent with Harman's own view, is that human subjectivity can no longer sustain a central position in philosophy, and we need to attend to the ways in which: "the arena of the world is jam-packed with diverse objects, their forces unleashed and mostly unloved... snowflakes glitter in the light that cruelly annihilates them; damaged submarines rust along the ocean floor. As flour emerges from mills and blocks of limestone are compressed by earthquakes, gigantic mushrooms spread in the Michigan forest. While human philosophers bludgeon each other over the very possibility of "access" to the world, sharks bludgeon tuna fish, and icebergs smash into coastlines." A provocative aspect of Object-Oriented Ontology is an argument for "aesthetics as first philosophy", and "allure as causation"... in other words, stating that a kind of aesthetics is the primordial force which causes everything in the world to happen. Here is Zizek's endorsement of Harman's upcoming book on Quentin Meillassoux: (which is interesting given his quite un-Zizekian approach) "Quentin Meillassoux's entry into the philosophical scene marks the beginning of a new epoch: the end of the transcendental approach and the return to realist ontology. Harman's beautifully written and argued book provides not just an introduction to Meillassoux, but much more: one authentic philosopher writing about another - a true rare encounter. It is not only for those who want to understand Meillassoux, but also for those who want to witness a radical shift in the entire field of philosophy. It is a book that will shake the very foundations of your world! -- Slavoj Zizek" And here is a supporter's comment to how his philosophy is political: " If there is any point to political thought or activity, surely OOO is a champion of it, because it says categorically that the concrete economic, political, social and material situation is not fossilized into unbreakable relationships, and though these situations appear quite inescapable... OOO says that we are not condemned to that status quo. At the same time, OOO is deeply honest about this endeavor: if we are to change the world and not simply describe it, we have to realize we are not sovereign, but in concert with a near phantasmagorical array of worlds upon worlds, of an near infinity of agents and actors which do not bow to our languages or thoughts, each an ontological reservoir of power and relation. OOO seems very bright to me, in that it says that we can transcend the relationships that we are stuck in, be they economic, political, linguistic or otherwise, because we are not absolutely defined by them. I see OOO as offering a kind of challenging optimism when it comes to questions of agency and freedom." See you there! For questions and responses email info(@)camputer.org To unsubscribe, simply send an email with the word "unsubscribe" as the subject to camp-request at lists.mailb.org -- http://camputer.org http://pad.ma http://0ut.in From logos.theword at gmail.com Sun Jan 16 01:04:29 2011 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 01:04:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fwd: Meeting - An Exploration of Body and Space In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Arka Mukhopadhyay Date: 16 January 2011 00:35 Subject: Meeting - An Exploration of Body and Space To: Meeting - An Exploration of Body and Space “... it is not important whether it is called a theatre. Such a place is necessary. If a theatre did not exist, another pretext would be found” (Jerzy Grotowski) "Meeting" - An Exploration of Body and Space, at Akhra, , Madhaymgram,West Bengal, from January17-19th, 10 AM to 4 PM. (Space courtesy Alternative Living Theatre) Amidst the frenzy of development, amidst the incessant din of consumption, we have lost harmony. Once we were grounded in the Earth, but now we are rootless. The more we accumulate, the further we move from our Selves. Meeting is a shared space to come together and celebrate, to move through sound to silence, through movement to stillness, through others to the Self, through space to the Spaceless. A place to breathe, to move, to be. The session is open to all. Conducted by Arka Mukhopadhyay and Supriyo Samajdar. Arka is a performer and performance researcher who works with breath, body and space. He has performed and given workshops all over India and abroad. Supriyo Samajdar - Born in 1969 in India. Theatre director and practitioner. Studied directing at the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata. Worked with many acclaimed theatre artists: directors Salil Sarakar, Probir Guha, Raul Iaiza, Abani Biswas, actress Rena Mirecka, dancers Ranjabati Sarkar, Tripura Kashyap and others. Founded Bibhaban, an experimental theatre company in 1996 and has been directing, writing plays and leading it since. Since 2002 he is running his research project on mukta natya (open theatre), exploring the communication between a spectator and a performer,Through this research work presently he is working on a project called- approach to silence, inspired by the works of AntoninArtuad and Jerzy Grotowski. He participated in Regula contra Regulam, research project of Teatro La Madrugada, in Brzezinka (Poland) in 2008.His research paper" in search of a new form -open theatre was" selected for a international symposium-“Language(s) of Theatre”, organized by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and the Indian Society for Theatre Research (ISTR). in january 2009, and "Grotowski - Alongside - Around - Ahead" at the University of Kent in Canterbury(England) in june 2009. contact : 9831731422/9830034978 -- Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus -- 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 nagraj.adve at gmail.com Mon Jan 17 16:08:28 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:08:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] talk by Dipesh Chakrabarty? Message-ID: I heard Dipesh Chakrabarty is delivering a lecture this week on a theme related to 'Global Warming and History'. Does anyone on this list know when and where? Naga From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Jan 17 21:44:09 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:14:09 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Olive Crown Awards: For Creative Excellence In Communicating Sustainability, India Chapter, International Advertising Association Message-ID: <8CD8478B51A92D3-D58-20D10@webmail-d066.sysops.aol.com> The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) seeks to recognize creative excellence in communicating sustainability. These are the country’s first ‘green’ awards for communication. Any communication that highlights the ‘green’ nature of a product, service or corporate philosophy is covered by this award. This would include communication about anything organic, eco-friendly, power-efficient, energy-saving, pollution-controlling, recyclable, reusable and generally something that offers a positioning as not just the custodian of a brand but also a custodian of Brand Earth. Entries can be sent in English or Hindi in the following categories: Categories: 1. Consumer Products 2. Consumer Durables 3. Media & Communication 4. Financial 5. Telecom 6. Industrial 7. Other Services 8. Corporate 9. NGO 10. Public Service (any category) 11. Unreleased work 12. Campaign of the Year 13. Green Brand of the Year 14. Green Advertiser of the Year 15. Green Agency of the Year Please note: Category 11 – This is for creative which has not been released. In the event that the same work is released later by a brand or a corporation, the work will be eligible for entry next year as well. Category 12 – Entry must be a multimedia campaign, which has appeared in a minimum of two vehicles. The number of entries forming a campaign must be a minimum of four. Eg: Three press single and one TVC single. Category 13 - Entries for Green Brand of the Year should include the following: A note, not exceeding 1000 words explaining the objectives of the campaign with a perspective of the sustainability issues that were sought to be addressed, the creative concept, the media mix used, any unique methods used in the communication, the budget and an assessment of the impact it made. Print and photographic annexure validating the effort could be attached. Category 14 and 15, no entries can be sent. These awards will be for the cumulative points won by the agency/advertiser. Format For the above categories entries may be entered as single - A ) Print B) TVC / Cinema C) Radio D) OOH E) Digital (including internet ads and websites) F) Brochures G) Events H) Documentaries / Short films (not exceeding 45 minutes)* *We will provide the screening equipment for a normal DVD presentation. For any other format such as tapes and slides, the entrant will have to make the necessary arrangements. Eligibility: - Entries should have been released (or held) between January 1 2010 and December 31 2010. - Should conform to the guidelines of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). - Should not have been created mainly for the purpose of winning an award. - Should not be exercises in “green-washing”. - The organizers reserve the right to reject entries which could be seen as offensive to National, religious or public sentiments or taste. Awards: In each category the jury will award an Emerald and Jade Olive Crown to the winning entries (Winner, Runner Up). These awards will be conferred on the entrant companies. In case an entry is submitted by more than one entrant, the organizers will bring it up to both parties at an appropriate time – only one entrant per entry will be accepted. Material: - Print: Art pulls mounted on soft board and flush-cut or printed on art card. The size should not exceed 1750 sq.cm. - Film: DVD only. Entries for each category should be recorded on DVD with a 5 second gap between commercials. Please attach a cue sheet if there is more than one commercial on a single DVD. - Radio: Audio CD’s in MP3 format with 10 second leaders between commercials. - OOH: Art pulls not exceeding 1750 sq. cm. Also affix an original color photograph of the site in a maximum 4”X6” size behind the entry. Entry Deadline: January 31, 2011 - Download the entry form here click and print out only as many copies as you require. http://www.iaaindiachapter.org/downloads/olive_green_entry_form.pdf Please send your forms to: The Secretariat, IAA – India Chapter, c/o Reliance Industries Limited, 1103 Raheja Center, Free Press Journal Road, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021. From javedmasoo at gmail.com Tue Jan 18 08:47:05 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:47:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Deoband head has MBA, is pro-modern education Message-ID: This is a very good sign. One hopes that the media highlights such positive stories about Muslim community rather than simply their fatwa-mongering. --------------- Deoband head has MBA, is pro-modern education Yagnesh Mehta, TNN, Jan 18, 2011 SURAT: Maulana Gulam Mohammad Vastanvi, a cleric who holds an MBA from Maharashtra and has been feted for introducing modern education at a madrassa in Akkalkuwa in Nandurbar, has been elected vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband. Vastanvi was selected on January 10 after the death of Maulana Marghoob Rahman, who was Mohtamim (vice-chancellor) of the institution for 30 years. For the first time in the 200 years of Darul Uloom Deoband, a Gujarati has taken the top post. Vastanvi belongs to Vastan village in Surat district and studied at a seminary at Tadkeshwar near Kim. He got his Aalim and Faazil degrees from the Tadkeshwar seminary itself. Born and brought up in the tribal-dominated and economically backward area of the state, Vastanvi chose to work in tribal areas of Maharashtra. After completing his studies, the cleric taught at Kantharia for nearly a decade before setting up the reputed Jamia Islamia Ishaatul Uloom at Akkalkuwa in Maharashtras Nandurbar district. The Jamia in Akkalkuwa offers various courses in engineering, medicine, pharmacy and education apart from other regular and short-term courses. The introduction of modern education was Vastanvi's initiative. The model has been replicated in other parts of Maharashtra. The science stream has recently been introduced in Jamia's associated centre in Kosamba in south Gujarat. For these efforts, Vastanvi was also given "Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad" Award by the Maharashtra government. Having bagged one of the most respected posts among Islamic clerics, Vastanvi said: "It's a great opportunity for me to work for a most respected institution. It is a proud moment for a Gujarati too as for the first time a Gujarati has become vice-chancellor of Dar-ul-Uloom. Maulana Marghoob Rahman had worked for the Dar-ul-Uloom for 30 long years and keeping his contributions in mind, I will work for the institute," he added. Vastanvi's election was celebrated in Tadkeshwar during his recent visit to the village where he studied. Several Islamic clerics from the region and villagers of all faiths attended his felicitation. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Deoband-head-has-MBA-is-pro-modern-education/articleshow/7308404.cms From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Jan 18 12:13:51 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:43:51 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] JNU Cinemastudies2011 Documentary and the critique of French Imperialism - Maria Loftus / Video Editor needed for 2-3 month project at DEF In-Reply-To: <8CD84EE459EDC84-1088-1C2BB@webmail-d070.sysops.aol.com> References: <4D356661020000400003AEC0@mail.jnu.ac.in> <8CD84EE459EDC84-1088-1C2BB@webmail-d070.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CD84F233E3B541-1090-2F4EA@webmail-d009.sysops.aol.com> The School of Arts and Aesthetics  Jawaharlal Nehru University  New Delhi   Presents    Chris Marker and Alain Resnais’ Les statues meurent aussi /Statues also Die  (1953) and Rene Vautier’s Afrique 50 : From Travel Documentary to Poetic Deconstruction of French Imperialism.    Screening of film and  Talk by  Maria Loftus  (Dublin City University)    At    The Auditorium of  The School of Arts and Aesthetics  5 pm    On  19th January, 2011       Tea will be served from 4.30 pm onward  ---------------------------------------------------------   Video Editor needed for 2-3 month project at DEF    Hi everyone,    The Digital Empowerment Foundation is working on a resource portal (website) called the Digital Knowledge Commission (DKC) which will house information, including videos, about rural projects that use Information & Communication Technologies. For this, we need an in-house editor who can use FCP and is very good (read: efficient) but most of all, has an interest in some kind of development work so that the videos are edited beautifully.    If we work well together, we are very open to forging a longer partnership.    I would also prefer if the editor can do some scripting, if need be, although the bulk of it will be handled by the rest of the team.    This is New Delhi based. Remember, we are an NGO looking to educate people about Digital Inclusion.    Please send me your CVs with links of work samples...    We are starting ASAP!    Thanks    Mahima Kaul  mahima.kaul at gmail.com    From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Wed Jan 19 13:12:42 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:42:42 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Deoband head has MBA, is pro-modern education In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: He has started off with a positive impression.A lot depends on how he manages obscurants.Though quite a bit late yet Deoband's recent fatwa against terrorism & statement on Kashmir turmoil that irked the Kashmiri pan Islamists across the board, was indeed encouraging. Rgds all LA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:47:05 +0530 > From: javedmasoo at gmail.com > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: [Reader-list] Deoband head has MBA, is pro-modern education > > This is a very good sign. One hopes that the media highlights such > positive stories about Muslim community rather than simply their > fatwa-mongering. > --------------- > > Deoband head has MBA, is pro-modern education > Yagnesh Mehta, > TNN, Jan 18, 2011 > > SURAT: Maulana Gulam Mohammad Vastanvi, a cleric who holds an MBA from > Maharashtra and has been feted for introducing modern education at a > madrassa in Akkalkuwa in Nandurbar, has been elected vice-chancellor > of Darul Uloom Deoband. > > Vastanvi was selected on January 10 after the death of Maulana > Marghoob Rahman, who was Mohtamim (vice-chancellor) of the institution > for 30 years. > > For the first time in the 200 years of Darul Uloom Deoband, a Gujarati > has taken the top post. Vastanvi belongs to Vastan village in Surat > district and studied at a seminary at Tadkeshwar near Kim. He got his > Aalim and Faazil degrees from the Tadkeshwar seminary itself. > > Born and brought up in the tribal-dominated and economically backward > area of the state, Vastanvi chose to work in tribal areas of > Maharashtra. After completing his studies, the cleric taught at > Kantharia for nearly a decade before setting up the reputed Jamia > Islamia Ishaatul Uloom at Akkalkuwa in Maharashtras Nandurbar > district. > > The Jamia in Akkalkuwa offers various courses in engineering, > medicine, pharmacy and education apart from other regular and > short-term courses. The introduction of modern education was > Vastanvi's initiative. > > The model has been replicated in other parts of Maharashtra. The > science stream has recently been introduced in Jamia's associated > centre in Kosamba in south Gujarat. For these efforts, Vastanvi was > also given "Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad" Award by the Maharashtra > government. > > Having bagged one of the most respected posts among Islamic clerics, > Vastanvi said: "It's a great opportunity for me to work for a most > respected institution. It is a proud moment for a Gujarati too as for > the first time a Gujarati has become vice-chancellor of Dar-ul-Uloom. > Maulana Marghoob Rahman had worked for the Dar-ul-Uloom for 30 long > years and keeping his contributions in mind, I will work for the > institute," he added. > > Vastanvi's election was celebrated in Tadkeshwar during his recent > visit to the village where he studied. Several Islamic clerics from > the region and villagers of all faiths attended his felicitation. > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Deoband-head-has-MBA-is-pro-modern-education/articleshow/7308404.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 nagraj.adve at gmail.com Wed Jan 19 17:35:50 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:35:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate Message-ID: When I first began following global warming four years ago, articles would refer to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as being 379 parts per million (ppm). Some weeks back we reached 390 ppm. The long term natural rate over the past several million years has been about one part per million every 10,000 years or so on average, in and out. We are now pumping CO2 in the atmosphere at over 2 ppm a year, or about 20,000 times the long term rate. This is despite the fact that much of what we pump gets absorbed by the oceans, where 90% of the excess (heat) energy is going. We can't say we weren't warned. "Human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future," said scientists Roger Revelle and Hans Suess in 1957. I just got back from villages in north and east Gujarat where most people were sceptical that humans had the power to alter nature. I'm just intrigued by how folks react to climate change. Unfortunately there's far too little discussion about this on this list, but those of you interested could email me directly so we can spare those not interested. Naga From aliens at dataone.in Wed Jan 19 21:42:52 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:42:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000c01cbb7f3$ba54d9d0$2efe8d70$@in> Co2 level is increasing day by day. That’s true. What is the solution according to you? can you tell. -----Original Message----- From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Nagraj Adve Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 5:36 PM To: Sarai Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate When I first began following global warming four years ago, articles would refer to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as being 379 parts per million (ppm). Some weeks back we reached 390 ppm. The long term natural rate over the past several million years has been about one part per million every 10,000 years or so on average, in and out. We are now pumping CO2 in the atmosphere at over 2 ppm a year, or about 20,000 times the long term rate. This is despite the fact that much of what we pump gets absorbed by the oceans, where 90% of the excess (heat) energy is going. We can't say we weren't warned. "Human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future," said scientists Roger Revelle and Hans Suess in 1957. I just got back from villages in north and east Gujarat where most people were sceptical that humans had the power to alter nature. I'm just intrigued by how folks react to climate change. Unfortunately there's far too little discussion about this on this list, but those of you interested could email me directly so we can spare those not interested. Naga _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 a.mani.cms at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 02:43:24 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:43:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: on 'official' sectarian activities Message-ID: Message in response to PIL on 'official sectarian activities' against Gujarat HC officials. __________________Forwarded Message_________________________ From: Jayaprakash ND To: Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 Subject: Re: [foil] PIL on secularism - to watch out for Many a time, many of us are witness to a whole lot of undemocratic activities that take place around us and yet we choose to remain mute spectators out of a feeling of helplessness or out of our inability, hesitation, or unwillingness to challenge the powers that be. Holding “official” poojas and rituals in public institutions are undemocratic and unconstitutional activities precisely because such sectarian activities in the name of the “majority” community are carried out without respecting the rights and sentiments of the “minority” communities and the irreligious sections within those institutions. In fact, the Constitution of India proscribes such activities in public institutions. According to Article 28, Clause (1) of the Constitution, *“**No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds.” *Moreover, Article 15, Clause (1) further state as follows: *“The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.”* * * Therefore, “official” sectarian religious activities within public institutions not only violate the relevant provisions of the Constitution but also give sanctity to privatization of public space by the dominant religious group. Democracy does not mean that the “majority” can do whatever it likes whenever and wherever it likes. It is incumbent on the part of the “majority” to ensure that the “minorities” have equal right to public space and that they are not subjected to discrimination in any way. Essentially, every individual has equal right to the entire public space. Public space cannot be divided on “majority” and “minority” basis or usurped entirely by the “majority” community on the spacious plea that since they are in the “majority” in a particular place their writ shall run in that area overriding the relevant constitutional provisions and other relevant laws of the land. * * Unfortunately, usurpation of public space for promoting sectarian religious interests is rampant. In North India, for example, it is so common to see idols/images being illegally (but prominently and in public space) displayed and worshiped within police stations, courts, government offices, public sector establishments, etc.. [Such open displays of sectarian religious symbols in public spaces that are supposedly secular undoubtedly have a coercive effect on the members of the “minority” communities, who work there or have to visit these places for various reasons.] Apart from this, there are innumerable illegal places of worship built on public roads and public parks. Large tracts of public land have also been encroached by various “ashrams” run by dubious “babas” with political patronage. The indiscriminate use of loudspeakers on an everyday basis and deliberate occupation and desecration of public roads and other public places during festivities are other undemocratic activities. It is unfortunate that the secular parties in this country have not yet taken requisite measures to address this social menace. The Supreme Court of India has recently given some indications that it is willing to tackle at least part of the problem. [Please see the following reports in this regard: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Get-rid-of-illegal-shrines-SC-to-states/Article1-600291.aspx http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Finally-action-against-illegal-religious-structures/articleshow/6654580.cms http://www.deccanherald.com/content/99917/dk-illegal-religious-structures-go.html http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article29562.ece Please convey my whole hearted support to Mr.Rajesh Solanki for his valiant efforts to uphold the secular principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Jayaprakash _____________________________________________________ Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 11:43:26 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:43:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate In-Reply-To: <000c01cbb7f3$ba54d9d0$2efe8d70$@in> References: <000c01cbb7f3$ba54d9d0$2efe8d70$@in> Message-ID: Bipin, thinking about it in terms of 'solutions' reduces the enormity and complexity of the problem. It's like some having a heart attack, or a very serious heart problem, a crude but reasonable parallel. We don't ask, "What's the solution?" We do however try to intervene with urgency. Also, in the case of a serious heart situation, the intervention is - for those who can afford it - commensurate with the seriousness and urgency. We don't say, "Take a dispirin', or 'Stop eating samosas', which is what a bunch of people are suggesting re climate change (change your lightbulbs, let's get more efficient). We rush them to a doctor/hospital. As for 'solutions', I'm an activist, not a magician. Having said that, for a while now, we have been arguing that there needs to be a combination of reduced consumption by elites, Indian and non-Indian; decentralized production and distribution of electricity to the degree possible; use of renewables such as solar and wind in particular; much greater promotion of public transport and cutting back on private transport and flights. How we do this and still manage to generate employment is one of the many tricky issues involved. Look there's a lot else, but global warming and whole range of ecological and other crises that have been spawned by industrial capitalism has further called into question our entire development trajectory, what is being produced, how and for whom, urbanization to the degree it has happened, how our energy is being generated and used, and a whole range of other questions. We need to foreground the concept of (and hence struggles for) equity, not only between human beings, but between current and future generations (who have as much a right to the commons), and between humans and other species. Nagraj On 19 January 2011 21:42, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Co2 level is increasing day by day. That’s true. What is the solution according to you? can you tell. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Nagraj Adve > Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 5:36 PM > To: Sarai > Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate > > When I first began following global warming four years ago, articles > would refer to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as being 379 > parts per million (ppm). Some weeks back we reached 390 ppm. > > The long term natural rate over the past several million years has > been about one part per million every 10,000 years or so on average, > in and out. We are now pumping CO2 in the atmosphere at over 2 ppm a > year, or about 20,000 times the long term rate. This is despite the > fact that much of what we pump gets absorbed by the oceans, where 90% > of the excess (heat) energy is going. > > We can't say we weren't warned. "Human beings are now carrying out a > large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have > happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future," said scientists > Roger Revelle and Hans Suess in 1957. > > I just got back from villages in north and east Gujarat where most > people were sceptical that humans had the power to alter nature. I'm > just intrigued by how folks react to climate change. Unfortunately > there's far too little discussion about this on this list, but those > of you interested could email me directly so we can spare those not > interested. > Naga > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 the-network at koeln.de Thu Jan 20 16:31:21 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (CologneOFF2011) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:01:21 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?CologneOFF_2011_-_videoart_on_a_glob?= =?iso-8859-1?q?al_tour?= Message-ID: <20110120120121.5FFB039B.4AA3820C@192.168.0.4> PRESS RELASE -------------------------------------------------- artvideoKOELN the initiative "art & moving images" & Cologne International Videoart Festival are happy to inform about the recently launched /////////// CologneOFF 2011 - video art in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 http://coff.newmediafest.org /////////// designed, coordinated and directed by Agricola de Cologne. On 1 January, CologneOFF 2011 started officially, on 6 January the basic components of CologneOFF 2011 were launched online as the start of a one year lasting process including all videos and during the coming weeks empty space will filled with contents. On 26 January 2011, CologneOFF 2011 starts the one year lasting travel around the globe on International Film Festival Rotterdam (NL) at the Rotterdam based space CUCOSA with the video program entitled "Attracted by the Opposite?". Please find the details and the list of selected artists on netMAXX - the networked magazine - where you will find the details of future selections, screenings and exhibitions. http://maxx.nmartproject.net/?p=161 For the next following venues in February, CologneOFF 2011 will be jumping first to Finland, i.e. Jyväskylä and Keusuu, where selections will be screened, entitled "Privat Space - Open Space?" and "Imagining the Real", a cooperation with Live Herring 2011 Jyväskylä/Fi, and then flying cross to the Indian sub-continent to Sattal (19-21 Feb 2011i, an exciting place in the Himalaya mountains, where also this year CeC - Carnival of e-Creativity will take place, an digital art event which Agricola de Cologne is co-curating since some years thanks to its founder Sharkar Barua. CeC will present not only the entire program of CologneOFF VI, as it was presented already past December on Delhi International Arts Festival, but also the compilations of these 5 partner curators Margarida Paiva (Norway), Alysse Stepanian (USA), Kai Lossgott (South Africa), Giogio Fedeili (Italy) & Sérgio Gomes/Pedro Almeida (Portugal). IN March 2011, CologneOFF 2011 will be jumping back to Eastern Europe - two venues in the Ukraine, Kiev and Kharkiv - 12-20 March 2011. In Kiev, CologneOFF has two partners - the Goethe Institute Kiev and the Center of Contemporary Art Kiev 14 & 15 March, on 17, 18, 19 March the City Art Gallery of Kharkiv will be hosting CologneoFF as a festival, the programs are currently under construction. At the end of March, the Art Museum of Arad in Romania is hosting CologneOFF 2011 by organising a 3 days event. Again all details and listed artists online can be found in time on http://coff.newmediafest.org, as well as on netMAXX - http://maxx.nmartproject.net CologneOFF 2011 is organised online via multi screens. --> The Mains Screen 1 - http://coff.newmediafest.org offers the entire project of CologneOFF 2011 in one single application while the additional screens display individual components separately. Here is the list of currently available screens Main screen 1 - CologneOFF VI http://coff.newmediafest.org Screen 2 - interactive - the interactive component of CologneOFF VI http://www.javamuseum.org Screen 3 - geographical this monthly changing geographiocal focus is under construction, yet. http://www.nmartproject.net Screen 4 - solo features from February 2011 on, each month an individual videoartist from another country will be featured with a selection of 5 video works http://www.newmediafest.org Screen 5 - curatorial will be containing all info and lists videos & artists selected by about 40 participating curators, under construction http://soundlab.newmediafest.org Screen 6 - topical This screen is displaying from February 2011 on each month other video selections under different topics http://videochannel.newmediafest.org Screen 7 - special This screen will feature special videos from CologneOFF VI and the future CologneOFF VII (see also the current call for entries) http://cinema.nmartproject.net Screen 8 - contextual updates & info This is the festival blog where all textual info can be found the ideal pleace to keep oneself updated http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/ (English) http://2011.newmediafest.org (Deutsch) Screen 9 - exhibition details This screen will display the info about the programs of the physical venues http://maxx.nmartproject.net CologneOFF 2011 has also the function to re-establish during the coming months - Le Musee di-visionsite - the global museum of networked art - designed and directed by Agricola de Cologne. So, let's start cruising around the Universe of videoart. --------------------------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 - video art in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 is initiated and powered by The curatorial initiative "art & moving images" http://video.mediaartcologne.org CologneOFF - Cologne International Videoart Festival http://coff.newmediafest.org 2011 (at) coff.newmediafest.org -------------------------------------------------- From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 17:07:41 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:07:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] individual 'solutions' Message-ID: Bipin, what I wrote earlier is broadly part of what might be a collective response. The other aspect is how one might respond individually. In the context of global warming, this would entail (better-off individuals) identifying the most high emitting activities and consumption and minimizing that or cutting it out entirely - such as flying, using personal ACs, etc. Unlike some on the Left, I think individual responses are also important, though perhaps less so. However, I've stopped talking about it to most people at the individual level. Not because it's not important, but because most often these dialogues don't go anywhere. It's up to folks to figure out the seriousness of the issue and do what they think relevant. However, even those who do change their lifestyles mostly do so at the margins whereas much more strong changes are needed. Naga On 20 January 2011 11:43, Nagraj Adve wrote: > Bipin, thinking about it in terms of 'solutions' reduces the enormity > and complexity of the problem. It's like some having a heart attack, > or a very serious heart problem, a crude but reasonable parallel. We > don't ask, "What's the solution?" We do however try to intervene with > urgency. Also, in the case of a serious heart situation, the > intervention is - for those who can afford it - commensurate with the > seriousness and urgency. We don't say, "Take a dispirin', or 'Stop > eating samosas', which is what a bunch of people are suggesting re > climate change (change your lightbulbs, let's get more efficient). We > rush them to a doctor/hospital. > > As for 'solutions', I'm an activist, not a magician. Having said that, > for a while now, we have been arguing that there needs to be a > combination of reduced consumption by elites, Indian and non-Indian; > decentralized production and distribution of electricity to the degree > possible; use of renewables such as solar and wind in particular; much > greater promotion of public transport and cutting back on private > transport and flights. How we do this and still manage to generate > employment is one of the many tricky issues involved. Look there's a > lot else, but global warming and whole range of ecological and other > crises that have been spawned by industrial capitalism has further > called into question our entire development trajectory, what is being > produced, how and for whom, urbanization to the degree it has > happened, how our energy is being generated and used, and a whole > range of other questions. We need to foreground the concept of (and > hence struggles for) equity, not only between human beings, but > between current and future generations (who have as much a right to > the commons), and between humans and other species. > Nagraj > > On 19 January 2011 21:42, Bipin Trivedi wrote: >> Co2 level is increasing day by day. That’s true. What is the solution according to you? can you tell. >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of Nagraj Adve >> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 5:36 PM >> To: Sarai >> Subject: [Reader-list] 20,000 times the long term rate >> >> When I first began following global warming four years ago, articles >> would refer to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as being 379 >> parts per million (ppm). Some weeks back we reached 390 ppm. >> >> The long term natural rate over the past several million years has >> been about one part per million every 10,000 years or so on average, >> in and out. We are now pumping CO2 in the atmosphere at over 2 ppm a >> year, or about 20,000 times the long term rate. This is despite the >> fact that much of what we pump gets absorbed by the oceans, where 90% >> of the excess (heat) energy is going. >> >> We can't say we weren't warned. "Human beings are now carrying out a >> large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have >> happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future," said scientists >> Roger Revelle and Hans Suess in 1957. >> >> I just got back from villages in north and east Gujarat where most >> people were sceptical that humans had the power to alter nature. I'm >> just intrigued by how folks react to climate change. Unfortunately >> there's far too little discussion about this on this list, but those >> of you interested could email me directly so we can spare those not >> interested. >> Naga >> _________________________________________ >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >> Critiques & Collaborations >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 Thu Jan 20 18:11:08 2011 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:41:08 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Vikalp@Prithvi presents 'Lakshmi and Me' | Jan 31, 7 pm, Juhu, Bombay Message-ID: <931191.4634.qm@web161409.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> To view the screening poster, or RSVP on facebook, visit http://on.fb.me/dN54MN Vikalp at Prithvi Presents LAKSHMI AND ME “What sin did I commit to be born a woman?” Lakshmi wonders aloud. A 21-year-old housemaid in Mumbai, she works ten hours a day, seven days a week. One of her employers is Nishtha Jain, who begins to make a documentary that explores their relationship. Nishtha films Lakshmi at home, and at work in various houses. Lakshmi’s is a precarious existence to begin with; illness and romance compound her problems in unexpected ways. Nishtha films through a year and a half of dramatic changes. The process of filming has its own impact on the unfolding events and on their relationship. As Nishtha is drawn deeper into Lakshmi’s life, she is forced to question many of the things she has taken for granted. Crew: Direction Nishtha Jain Editing Rikke Selin Lorentzen CinematographyDeepti Gupta, Rakesh Haridas Location Sound Subasish Roy Sound Design Niraj Gera Producers Smriti Nevatia, Iikka Vehkalahti, Karoline Leth, Kristiina Pervila Awards: Best Documentary, Bucharest International Film Festival 2008 Best Long Documentary, Flahertiana International Film Festival, Perm, Russia 2008 Jury Special Prize, Cinema Vérité International Film Festival, Tehran 2008 Best Documentary, Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival, New York 2008 Special Prize, Golden Apricot Film Festival, Yerevan 2008 Jury Special Mention, Doc Planete Review, Warsaw 2008 Silver Prize, Jeevika South Asian Film Festival, New Delhi 2008 Best Documentary, Indian Producers' Association Award (IDPA) 2007 Nominee, Silver Wolf Award International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA) 2007 www.raintreefilms.net www.lakshmiandme.com The film-maker will join us for the screening and the Q&A session! On Monday, 31 January, 7 PM At Prithvi House, Opp Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Mumbai Admission Free, On A First-Come-First-Seated Basis For any queries, email vikalp.prithvi at gmail.comJoin the Vikalp at Prithvi group on Facebook! From tasveerghar at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 19:33:19 2011 From: tasveerghar at gmail.com (Tasveer Ghar) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:33:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Chennai Beautiful: Shifting Urban Landscapes... Message-ID: Dear friends of Tasveer Ghar In the New Year, we are happy to announce the launching of a new visual essay on Tasveer Ghar website: Chennai Beautiful: Shifting Urban Landscapes and the Politics of Spectacle by Roos Gerritsen http://www.tasveerghar.net/cmsdesk/essay/115/ This essay looks at the process of “beautification” of the south Indian city of Chennai by a recent trend of colourful wall murals, in a region which already famous for its loud and oversized billboards and popular street culture. The author Roos Gerritsen is an anthropologist whose research focuses on popular visual culture in South India. She obtained her MA degree in Anthropology at Leiden University, The Netherlands, and her MA research provided insight into notions of romance and memory through a study of wedding videos and photo albums in Tamil Nadu. On a related note, we would like to announce an international seminar being held in Chennai, India, next week on the theme of street art: Urban visualities: Sites and Sights of Street Art An international seminar, artist workshop and exhibition January 28-30, 2011 Dakshina Chitra, Chennai Urban visualities is a series of events consisting of an artist workshop, international seminar, and exhibition on art and spectacle in public places in India and beyond. It explores image circulations in and contestations of the public realm. The types of visualities addressed here range from cinema imagery, religious hoardings, advertizing images to political statues and murals. Prior to the seminar, an artist workshop will be held in which artists from various backgrounds from India and beyond will produce several works together. The results of the artist workshop will be exhibited in an exhibition dedicated to the theme. The exhibition will be opened at the start of the seminar. The exhibition displays the work of Sundeep Bali, David Blamey, Ranjan De, Murugan, Ramachandran, Ravikanth & Prabath Kumar (Raqs Media Collective), Vishal Rawlley, Yousuf Saeed, Ebenezer Singh, Joyston Vaz, and photos by Shirley Abraham & Amit Madheshiya, Roos Gerritsen, Kiran Keswani, Joanna Kirkpatrick, and Kathryn Myers. The opening reception of the exhibition will be on January 28 18:00 pm at DakshinaChitra. Everyone is welcome to join and contribute during the workshop. Please send us an email roosgerritsen at yahoo.com or mcfindia at gmail.com, or call 9841011785 / 9176476322. For more details about the seminar and exhibition, please visit this link: http://dakshinachitra.net/scripts/seminar-info.asp Thanks The Tasveer Ghar team http://tasveerghar.net From aliens at dataone.in Thu Jan 20 21:16:23 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:16:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] No need for foreign interference in Gujarat riot cases: Supreme Court Message-ID: <001101cbb8b9$37cf8ac0$a76ea040$@in> It is clear now that Teesta and others use godhra riot episode as a tool of raising fund by involving foreign organization. But, SC scrolled them and not allowed. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_no-need-for-foreign-interference-in-guj arat-riot-cases-supreme-court_1496990 The Supreme Court today came down heavily on social activist Teesta Setalvad for raising the issue of post-Godhra riots of Gujarat with foreign organisations saying that it can take care of the cases and no interference is required from overseas human rights groups. "We don't appreciate that other organisations interfere in our functioning. We can take care of (them) ourselves and cannot get guided by others. It's a direct interference in our functioning. We don't appreciate it," a special bench headed by Justice DK Jain said. The court was anguished that the NGO, Centre for Justice and Peace (CJP), headed by Setalvad approached Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights raising the issue of protection of witnesses in riots cases. "You seem to have more faith in foreign organisations than this court. It seems that witnesses would be protected by these organisations," the bench remarked adding that if such letters are written then the court would pass the order without hearing the contentions of the CJP. "If you send such letters then we would hear the amicus curie and pass the order (without hearing you)," the court said adding, "All the cases are being monitored by us, we don't like any correspondence of her with foreign agencies." The issue was brought before the bench by senior advocate Harish Salve who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the Gujarat riot cases of 2002. The NGO's counsel Kamini Jaiswal pleaded that no such letters would be sent to other organisations in future. She had earlier said that the NGO had forwarded a copy of the October 7, 2010, letter addressed to special investigation team chairman RK Raghavan to the international body with which the NHRC is also associated. From pkray11 at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 23:21:33 2011 From: pkray11 at gmail.com (Prakash K Ray) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:21:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Statement for Reflection on Jaipur Literature Festival In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: *Statement for Reflection on Jaipur Literature Festival*** *Incest is a reality but perhaps all civilizations have been wary of it.* *Jaipur Literature Festival that began as ‘civil society’ initiative in 2006 has developed into a DSC Limited sponsored festival of literature for the last five years. It is time one ponders over the public relations exercise and the facade of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of companies that sponsor and partner for this festival. If one examines the credentials of some of the sponsors of the festival briefly, it presents a disturbing picture:* · *In the inspection of scam ridden Commonwealth Games,** **Central Vigilance Commission had observed that DSC Limited as having been awarded 23% higher rates* · *Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company has been deemed guilty of collusion with fascist and racist regimes and faces allegations of human, labour and environmental rights violations around the world and over decades* · *Shell Oil Company, t**he largest energy company and the second-largest company in the world in terms of revenues has been deemed responsible for the death of Ken Saro Wiwa, the Nigerian author and environmental activist* *Is it possible for the delegates at the festival to give voice to their moral outrage and support the message of National Union of Ogoni Students dated 4th January, 2011 issued to mark the 18th anniversary of the UN declaration of the “year of the indigenous peoples” appealing to the Dutch Parliament to break its silence by making the Shell Oil Company liable for the exploitation of Ogoni people, their environmental and its role in the destabilization of Niger Delta communities and its demand that the Shell Oil be expelled from Nigeria?* *Isn’t literature interested in truth? Or does it not seek opportunities to allow itself to be co-opted by powers of all ilks so that they can facilitate the maintenance of that power?* *Is literature interested only in lies that create a make belief reality and conceptual gymnastics about people’s interest while serving commercial czars?* *If writers at the festival believe that a better life is possible and should be achieved, it would be germane for them to ponder how being complicit in promoting status quo is contrary to their beliefs?* *Is it not possible that a literature festival supported by unethical and immoral business enterprises is an exercise aimed at ‘clinical manipulation’ masquerading as a feel good event akin to be an ‘act of hypnosis’?* *Do this festival and its participants have the emotional and intellectual depth to fathom the cognitive ramifications of 'full spectrum dominance' ideology on the present and future generations?* *The writers at the festival must ponder over: what is the immoral equivalent of taking sponsorship from the killers Ken Saro Wiwa, the Nigerian author and environmental activist who was posthumously elected to the United Nations Environment Programme's, Global 500 Roll of Honour for advancing environmental protection? Saro Wiwa said in his closing statement to the Nigerian Military appointed Tribunal that condemned him to death: “Shell is here on trial…the Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come…The crime of the Company’s dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punished.”* *Will a literature festival that gets sponsored by Coca Cola Company be saved from the moral responsibility to consider the fact that the Company’s water-intensive bottling plants in Plachimada, Kerala and Kala Dera, Rajasthan have dried up groundwater and local wells, forcing residents to rely on water supplies from outside the areas? The same situation is witnessed in and around the areas of some 52 water-intensive bottling plants of the company in India. * *Will a literature festival that gets sponsored by those governments which are involved in genocides, civil wars, war crimes, aggression, occupation, protecting despots and fraudulent financialization have the conscience to examine as to why there are some 702 military installations of world’s super power throughout the world in 132 countries along with 8,000 active and operational nuclear warheads?* *How is possible for the literary minds to probe the psyche of ‘infantile insanity’ if it allows itself to be inundated by it?* “*A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection - unless you lie - in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician”, said Harold Pinter while delivering his speech at the award of Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. He added, “...to define the real* *truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.*” *One hopes the Jaipur Literary festival will pay heed to Pinter’s advice and undo its unwitting acts of Faustian bargain before it is too late.* *Sd-* *Gopal Krishna, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, Mb: 9818089660, Email:krishna2777 at gmail.com * *Prakash K Ray, Jawaharlal Nehru University Researchers Association, Mb: 9873313315, E-mail-pkray11 at gmail.com* * * -- -- From tafaque at gmail.com Wed Jan 19 23:54:38 2011 From: tafaque at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?77qY77un77uu77uz77quIO+6ge+7lO+6ju+7lg==?=) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:54:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Penguin at Jaipur Literature Festival 2011 Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mina Okamoto Date: Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 8:20 PM Subject: Jaipur Literature Festival 2011 To: zabeehafaque at gmail.com * * * * *Orhan Pamuk’s brand new work of non-fiction…* *The newest book from bestselling author Ira Trivedi…* *A brilliant debut novel by Mirza Waheed set in Kashmir…* *Kapil Sibal’s poetry, now in Hindi…* *A book based Sunil Sethi’s conversations with renowned authors…* *And a new series featuring selections from India’s best-loved books…* *Penguin Books India greets readers with a bouquet of wonderful new publications at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2011.* Penguin Books India, the country’s number one publisher, is proud to announce a wide range of new publications that will delight readers, published specially in time for the Jaipur Literature Festival. These great new books will all be launched with the authors at JLF 2011. Nobel Prize-winning author *Orhan Pamuk*’s new book *The Naïve and the Sentimental Novelist* is published in India under the Hamish Hamilton imprint by Penguin. This brilliant book from one of the world’s top novelists is about the pleasures of reading—analysing what happens to us when we read a novel. *The Naïve and the Sentimental Novelist *will be launched for the very first time at JLF 2011. After *What Would You Do to Save the World?* and *The Great Indian Love Story*, bestselling author *Ira Trivedi* is back with her new book *There’s No Love on Wall Street*, a romance set in New York. Ira will be at JLF 2011 to launch her new book. *Mirza Waheed*’s debut novel *The Collaborator*, set in Kashmir, is creating ripples around the world. Reminiscent of *The Kite Runner*, *The Reluctant Fundamentalist* and *A Case of Exploding Mangoes*, this is a stunningly humane work of storytelling with a poignant and unpredictable hero at its heart. Published by Penguin UK, *The Collaborator* will be launched at JLF 2011. Union Minister *Kapil Sibal*’s ‘sms poems’ have been a hit, and Penguin will be launching *Kis Kis Ki Jai Ho*, the Hindi edition of his poems, at JLF 2011. *Kis Kis Ki Jai Ho* is translated by Ashok Chakradhar and published by Penguin in association with Yatra Books. *The Big Bookshelf* is Penguin’s offering to readers especially for the Jaipur Literature Festival. This is a collection that features thirty renowned writers in conversation with *Sunil Sethi* (as seen on NDTV’s popular show *Just Books*), speaking about their craft. Finally, Penguin has a treat in store for readers everywhere: at Jaipur it launches a new series of books, *Penguin Evergreens*. Featuring selections from some of the best-loved Indian books that have stood the test of time—from the *Ramayana* and the *Kamasutra* to Gandhi’s *My Experiments with Truth*, Kipling’s *The Jungle Book*, Premchand’s, Manto’s, R.K. Narayan’s and Ruskin Bond’s stories. Beautiful editions that are a pleasure to look at and are very affordably priced, these are books that everyone will want to pick up. Apart from these publications which will be launched at JLF 2011, many of the celebrated and popular authors published or represented by Penguin will be at the Jaipur Literature Festival this year, and will be participating in sessions where they will be speaking about their published books and works in progress. Among our authors at JLF 2011 are *Vikram Seth, Kiran Desai, Ruskin Bond, Gurcharan Das, Gulzar, Dayanita Singh, Patrick French, William Bissell, Karan Singh, Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kavery Nambisan, Ali Sethi, Sonia Faleiro, Sarita Mandanna, Pavan K Varma, Navtej Sarna, Tishani Doshi, Kamila Shamsie, Junot Diaz, Ahdaf Soueif and Mohsin Hamid* and many more (*please see full list below)* Penguin is also delighted to announce that its global Chairman and CEO John Makinson will be attending the Jaipur Literature Festival this year, and will be part of a panel on ‘Why Books Matter’ on 22 January. Here is a complete list of Penguin’s participating authors at JLF 2011: A Revanthi AC Grayling Adam Zagajewski Ahdaf Soueif Ahmed Rashid Akhil Sharma Alex Bellos Ali Sethi Amitava Kumar Arunava Sinha Arundhathi Subramaniam Ashok Vajpeyi Avijit Ghosh Ben Macintyre Bulbul Sharma Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Christopher Bayly David Finkel Dayanita Singh Deepa Agarwal Devdutt Pattanaik Githa Hariharan Gulzar Gurcharan Das Gyan Prakash Hong Ying Ira Trivedi Izzeldin Abuelaish Jaishree Misra James Kelman Jay McInerney Jeet Thayil Jerry Pinto Jim Crace John Elliot Jon Halliday Jon Lee Anderson JP Das Junot Diaz Kai Bird Kamila Shamsie Karan Singh Karan Thapar Katie Hickman Kiran Desai Leila Abouelela Madan Gopal Singh Mahmood Farooqui Malashri Lal Mamang Dai Manju Kapur Manjushree Thapa Marina Lewycka Mirza Waheed Mohsin Hamid Mridula Bihari Mrinal Pande Namita Gokhale Nilanjana S Roy Nirupama Dutt Orhan Pamuk Paro Anand Patrick French Pavan K Varma Rachel Polonsky Richard Ford Ruskin Bond Sanjoy Hazarika Sarita Mandanna Sarnath Banerjee Shaheen Akhtar Sharmila Kantha Sonia Faleiro Sudhish Pachauri Temsula Ao Tishani Doshi Urvashi Butalia Vikram Seth William Dalrymple Zaheda Hina As one of the sponsors of JLF 2011, Penguin Books India welcomes everyone to the Jaipur Literature Festival—we look forward to five wonderful days in Jaipur as we celebrate the culture of reading. *For more information on Penguin’s authors and publications at Jaipur please contact* Hemali Sodhi +919810008455 Mina Okamoto +919953746505 Varun Chaudhary +919810658222 Smriti Khanna +919999003025 From tafaque at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 01:08:56 2011 From: tafaque at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?77qY77un77uu77uz77quIO+6ge+7lO+6ju+7lg==?=) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:08:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati Roy's Debate Group Message-ID: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arundhati-Roys-Debate-Group/374298377354 -- Tanveer Afaque linkedin.com/in/tafaque From aaa.sabih at gmail.com Thu Jan 20 12:23:17 2011 From: aaa.sabih at gmail.com (Sabih .) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:23:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asia Art Archive, documentary screening Message-ID: *From Jean Paul Sartre to Teresa Teng: Cantonese Contemporary Art in the 1980s http://www.china1980s.org/en/canton_document.aspx* *Documentary Screening: * 22 January 2011, 05:05pm, India Art Summit, Pragati Maidan Video Lounge, Hall 18 The 1980s was a seminal period in the history of contemporary art in China. However, the contribution and experimentalism of the art scene in South China, in particular, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, have generally been overlooked. Due to the proximity of Hong Kong, western ideas from translated books and articles, as well as popular culture in the form of TV shows and Canto pop, flooded over the border to Guangdong at the end of the Cultural Revolution. This influx of new ideas and popular culture sparked great excitement, debate and experimentation in the arts. Based on primary research, rare film footage and personal interviews with key artists, this documentary bears witness not only to the reading fever that gripped the Chinese art world in the 1980s, but also highlights the experimentalism and verve of artists and critics in South China whose contributions to the development of contemporary art have been long lasting and fundamental. *Length: * 50 minutes *Date: * 2010 *Produced by: * Asia Art Archive *Directed by: * Jane DeBevoise, Claire Hsu, Phoebe Wong, Anthony Yung *Interviewees: * Chen Shaoxiong, Chen Tong, Deng Jianjin, Feng Yuan, Hou Hanru, Huang Xiaopeng, Li Zhengtian, Lin Yilin, Shao Hong, Wang Du, Wang Huangsheng, Xu Tan, Yang Jiechang, Yang Xiaoyan *Research Team: * Natalie Cheung, Megan Connolly, Jane DeBevoise, Silas Fong, Carol Lu, Doris Wong, Phoebe Wong, Anthony Yung *Filming and Post Production: * Siren Films -- Sabih Research+ Asia Art Archive From pkray11 at gmail.com Fri Jan 21 16:37:56 2011 From: pkray11 at gmail.com (Prakash K Ray) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:37:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Statement for Reflection on Jaipur Literature Festival/Please endorse Message-ID: *Incest is a reality but perhaps all civilizations have been wary of it.* *Jaipur Literature Festival that began as civil society initiative has developed into a DSC Limited sponsored festival of literature for the last five years. It is time one ponders over the public relations exercise and the facade of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of companies that sponsor and partner for this festival. If one examines the credentials of some of the sponsors of the festival briefly, it presents a disturbing picture:* - *In the inspection of scam ridden Commonwealth Games,Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had observed that DSC Limited as having been awarded 23% higher rates* - *Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company has been deemed guilty of collusion with fascist and racist regimes and faces allegations of human, labour and environmental rights violations around the world and over decades* - *Shell Oil Company, the largest energy company and the second-largest company in the world in terms of revenues has been deemed responsible for the death of Ken Saro Wiwa, the Nigerian author and environmental activist * *Is it possible for the delegates at the festival to give voice to their moral outrage and support the message of National Union of Ogoni Students, USA dated 4th January, 2011 issued to mark the 18thanniversary of the UN declaration of the “year of the indigenous peoples” appealing to the Dutch parliament to break its silence by making the Shell Oil Company liable for the exploitation of Ogoni people, their environmental and its role in the destabilization of Niger Delta communities and its demand that the Shell Oil be expelled from Nigeria?* *Isn’t literature interested in truth? Or does it not seek opportunities to allow itself to be co-opted by powers of all ilks so that they can facilitate the maintenance of that power?* *Is literature interested only in lies that create a make belief reality?* *If writers at the festival believe that a better life is possible and should be achieved, it would be germane for them to ponder how being complicit in promoting status quo is contrary to their beliefs?* *Is it not possible that a literature festival supported by unethical and immoral business enterprises is an exercise aimed at ‘clinical manipulation’ masquerading as a feel good event akin to be an ‘act of hypnosis’?* *Does this festival and its participants have the emotional and intellectual depth to fathom the cognitive ramifications of 'full spectrum dominance' ideology on the present and future generations?* *The writers at the festival must ponder over: what is the immoral equivalent of taking sponsorship from the killers Ken Saro Wiwa, the Nigerian author and environmental activist who was posthumously elected to the United Nations Environment Programme's, Global 500 Roll of Honour for advancing environmental protection? Saro Wiwa said in his closing statement to the Nigerian Military appointed tribunal that condemned him to death: “Shell is here on trial…the Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come…The crime of the Company’s dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punished.”* *Will a literature festival that gets sponsored by Coca Cola Company be saved from the moral responsibility to consider the fact that the Company’s water-intensive bottling plants in Plachimada, Kerala and Kala Dera, Rajasthan have dried up groundwater and local wells, forcing residents to rely on water supplies from outside the areas? The same situation is witnessed in and around the areas of almost 52 water-intensive bottling plants of the company in India. Will a literature festival that gets sponsored by the US government institutions have the conscience to examine as to why there are some 702 military installations of world’s super power throughout the world in 132 countries along with 8,000 active and operational nuclear warheads?* *How is possible for the literary minds to probe the psyche of ‘infantile insanity’ if it allows itself to be inundated by it?* *“A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection - unless you lie - in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician”, said Harold Pinter while delivering his speech at the award of Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. He added, “...to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.”* *One hope the Jaipur Literary festival will pay heed to Pinter’s advice and undo its unwitting acts of Faustian bargain before it is too late.* *We appeal to the writers attending the festival that commenced on 21st January, 2011 to condemn corporate crimes and state sponsored acts against humanity.* *We the undersigned urge the authors to stay away from the Galle Literary Festival, Sri Lanka which is due to open on January 26, 2011 in Sri Lanka which notes that the “…war crimes in the final months of the fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels was possible because Colombo did not allow free access to independent journalists.” It adds, "While mounting evidence of Sri Lanka's war crimes is being shown around the world, journalists inside the country cannot talk about them or even visit the northern areas because they are afraid that they will disappear or be killed".* *Like the Jaipur Literature Festival, the Galle Literary Festival Sri Lankan is organised as a private initiative, but has the backing of state enterprises in the country.* *We find the manner of celebration of literature in a land where journalistic activities and writers have been “transformed into propaganda mouthpieces for the government, or into flaccid shells of their former integrity, bullied into submission through draconian pieces of legislation or emergency regulations” in the context of violent insurgencies or civil wars.* *Sd-* *Gopal Krishna, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, Mb: 9818089660, Email:krishna2777 at gmail.com * *Prakash K Ray, Jawaharlal Nehru University Researchers Association, Mb: 9873313315, E-mail-pkray11 at gmail.com* * * From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Jan 21 17:52:59 2011 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:52:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] No need for foreign interference in Gujarat riot cases: Supreme Court In-Reply-To: <001101cbb8b9$37cf8ac0$a76ea040$@in> References: <001101cbb8b9$37cf8ac0$a76ea040$@in> Message-ID: But it is a matter of pride for us that we have israeli drones flying above our heads monitoring our shorelines. we will have a host of foreign companies signing mous worth crores buying off farmer's land with the new policies. the court doesn't really mind such foreign interferences. the court minds if someone's pointing out at the miscarriage of justice for the past 8 years since 2002. we must learn about this new character donned by the state. we must understand that all of us subservient to this national ego. national pride before lives of thousands of people. so what if narendra amin feels threatened inside the jail, let it be. if you want to wail about this nation, you better confine yourself in an asylum. think national pride, stop wailing. instead, let us attack a literary festival now and burn the effigies of all the writers because they were funded by corporates. let us be dogs of the same pack, why hunt alone?? On 1/20/11, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > It is clear now that Teesta and others use godhra riot episode as a tool of > raising fund by involving foreign organization. But, SC scrolled them and > not allowed. > > http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_no-need-for-foreign-interference-in-guj > arat-riot-cases-supreme-court_1496990 > > The Supreme Court today came down heavily on social activist Teesta Setalvad > for raising the issue of post-Godhra riots of Gujarat with foreign > organisations saying that it can take care of the cases and no interference > is required from overseas human rights groups. > "We don't appreciate that other organisations interfere in our functioning. > We can take care of (them) ourselves and cannot get guided by others. It's a > direct interference in our functioning. We don't appreciate it," a special > bench headed by Justice DK Jain said. > The court was anguished that the NGO, Centre for Justice and Peace (CJP), > headed by Setalvad approached Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner > for Human Rights raising the issue of protection of witnesses in riots > cases. > "You seem to have more faith in foreign organisations than this court. It > seems that witnesses would be protected by these organisations," the bench > remarked adding that if such letters are written then the court would pass > the order without hearing the contentions of the CJP. > "If you send such letters then we would hear the amicus curie and pass the > order (without hearing you)," the court said adding, "All the cases are > being monitored by us, we don't like any correspondence of her with foreign > agencies." > The issue was brought before the bench by senior advocate Harish Salve who > is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the Gujarat riot cases of > 2002. > The NGO's counsel Kamini Jaiswal pleaded that no such letters would be sent > to other organisations in future. > She had earlier said that the NGO had forwarded a copy of the October 7, > 2010, letter addressed to special investigation team chairman RK Raghavan to > the international body with which the NHRC is also associated. > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 Jan 22 00:21:01 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:21:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Message-ID: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? However, central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational element out of the country. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Jan 22 02:41:01 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:41:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> Message-ID: Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't we be ashamed about it? Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this cause which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. What do people on this forum think? Rakesh On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? > However, > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > element out of the country. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 Jan 22 06:47:51 2011 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:17:51 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> Message-ID: <496185.48845.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi, Whatever be the motive, if in a free democratic country someone wants to unfurl the national flag at any desired place,the fellow should be put behind bars. What a splendid argument. Are we being controlled by a democratically elected state and central govt or by the Separatists? Please also read the Supreme Court remarks on rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley(Only a lip service by the state govt backed by the most spineless central govt in the history of our democracy). Rakesh's arguments seem to be akin to Banda-rape case in UP--solve the problem by putting the complaintant into the jail.Jai ho. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) ----- Original Message ---- From: Rakesh Iyer To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Sent: Sat, January 22, 2011 2:41:01 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't we be ashamed about it? Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this cause which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. What do people on this forum think? Rakesh On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? > However, > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > element out of the country. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 Sat Jan 22 10:24:31 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 10:24:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Ensure confession is voluntary, says Supreme Court (?) Message-ID: Why is supreme court suddenly worried now if people's confessions are voluntary or not? Can anybody guess? Even Aseemanad was asked if someone has forced him to make his confession, and he confidently denied. But will we ever ask all the past accused persons if their confessions were voluntary or under duress? Forget about the magistrate, many confessions (especially of Muslim terror suspects) were done for the media, and the verdict given by the media. Of course, the folks killed in encounters were not even given a chance to wink. Based on these new guidelines and the confessions of Aseemanad, shouldn't we investigate the role played by the "Special Cells" and ATSs in creating myths about Islamic terrorism in India? ----------------------- Make searching enquiry to ensure confession is voluntary, says Supreme Court J. Venkatesan In Staines case, witnesses specified the role of Dara Singh and co-accused Mahendra Hembram NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, which on Friday laid down guidelines on confessional statements made by the accused before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Cr.P.C., held that while recording such statements the provisions of this Section must be complied with not only in form but also in essence. Upholding the life imprisonment awarded to Dara Singh in the Staines murder case, a Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan said it had become necessary to lay down the principles, as it was pointed by counsel for the appellants that all confessions, though made before a magistrate, obtained by force were inadmissible, as some of them were in police custody and the confessions made after conspiracy ceased to be operative. Writing the judgment, Justice Sathasivam said: “Before proceeding to record the confessional statement, a searching enquiry must be made from the accused as to the custody from which he was produced and the treatment he had been receiving in such custody in order to ensure that there is no scope for doubt of any sort of extraneous influence proceeding from a source interested in the prosecution; a magistrate should ask the accused why he wants to make a statement which surely shall go against his interest in the trial; the maker should be granted sufficient time for reflection; he should be assured of protection from any sort of … apprehended torture or pressure from the police in case he declines to make a confessional statement; a judicial confession not given voluntarily is unreliable, more so when such a confession is retracted, the conviction cannot be based on such retracted judicial confession; non-compliance with Section 164 of the Cr.P.C. goes to the root of the magistrate's jurisdiction to record the confession and renders the confession unworthy of credence; during the time of reflection, the accused should be completely out of police influence. The judicial officer, entrusted with the duty of recording confession, must apply his judicial mind to ascertain and satisfy his conscience that the statement of the accused is not on account of any extraneous influence on him; at the time of recording the statement of the accused, no police or police official shall be present in the open court; confession of a co-accused is a weak type of evidence; usually the court requires some corroboration from the confessional statement before convicting the accused person on such a statement.” Slogans by miscreants In this case, the Bench said: “It is relevant to point out that all the eyewitnesses examined by the prosecution consistently stated that during occurrence, the miscreants raised slogans in the name of Dara Singh as ‘Dara Singh Zindabad.' The story of this slogan was also mentioned in the first information report filed soon after the occurrence. This slogan is in the name of Dara Singh, corroborates the identification before the trial court for the first time. In addition to the same, some of the witnesses identified Dara Singh by photo identification.” The Bench pointed out that all witnesses mentioned the blowing of whistle by Dara Singh. This material, coupled with the other corroborative evidence, was permissible, it said, rejecting the appellant's contention. The witnesses, it noted, had specified the role of Dara Singh and co-accused Mahendra Hembram, “which we agree with and confirm the same, and we also maintain the conviction and the sentence of life imprisonment imposed on them.” http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/22/stories/2011012263711600.htm From ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de Sat Jan 22 17:42:03 2011 From: ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de (Britta Ohm) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 13:12:03 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> Message-ID: <589DEE0F-84B4-4BE2-A03D-23EEBEE0D033@zedat.fu-berlin.de> That's what they want, isn't it? Am 21.01.2011 um 19:51 schrieb Bipin Trivedi: > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? However, > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > element out of the country. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> _________________________ Dr. Britta Ohm Institute of Social Anthropology University of Bern Laengassstr. 49a 3012 Bern Switzerland +41-(0)31-631 8995 (main office) +41-(0)31-631 5373 (direct line) britta.ohm at anthro.unibe.ch Solmsstr. 36 10961 Berlin Germany +49-(0)30-69507155 ohm at zedat.fu-berlin.de From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Sat Jan 22 18:04:41 2011 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:04:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91FTAs_undermining_fundamentals_o?= =?windows-1252?q?f_Constitution=92?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ‘FTAs undermining fundamentals of Constitution’ Express News ServiceFirst Published : 22 Jan 2011 04:23:55 AM ISTLast Updated : 22 Jan 2011 11:28:47 AM IST THIRUVANATHAPURAM: India’s enthusiasm for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) defies economic logic in the context of current global  crises and when countries eschew trade liberalisation and concentrate on revival of domestic economies and creation of jobs, said State Planning Board member K N Harilal. He was speaking at the meeting jointly organised by the Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozilali Federation (KSMTF), South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movements (SICCFM) and Delhi-based groups ‘Focus on the Global South’ and ‘Madhyam’ here the other day. The meeting was organised in the context of the Union Government’s decision to implement and negotiate more than 30 FTAs. Harilal said that with the abrogation of the right to raise tariffs and the right to intervene in the market on crucial issues such as finance, agriculture and fisheries, the Centre was undermining the fundamentals of the Indian Constitution. Economist and author Kavaljit Singh from the Delhi-based Public Interest Research Centre said that in a country with some 500 million citizens without a bank account and 292 under-banked districts, de-regulation of banking rules to facilitate the entry of more European banks would undermine banking in the public sector and financial inclusion. Lawyer Kajal Bhardwaj from New Delhi said that European pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer  were lobbying for patent rights for life-saving drugs through the EU-India FTA which would make several medicines out of the reach of common people. KSMTF state president T Peter said that the fight against FTAs was not a ‘sectoral fight’ by fish workers. Government employees, farmers, workers of small and medium enterprises, dalits and adivasis should come together to counter this anti-people pro-corporate agenda of the Government. "Only such a broad people’s alliance can win this fight," he said. He further said that KSMTF  would reach out to other groups to have more such regional meetings in South India in the near future. From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Sat Jan 22 22:54:00 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:54:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <496185.48845.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> <496185.48845.qm@web112120.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik jee Again a wrong understanding of what I said. I clearly stated that the problem is not of unfurling the flag, but in its name trying to create a machismo of show-down as if it's going to be a big thing, as well as trying to generate unrest. If the idea is to go about abusing the separatists and then create hungama, I am not for it, simply because I don't think if I disagree with your views, I should go around abusing you. Otherwise we should start that with this forum itself. By the way it's two democratically elected govts. (the Central govt and the State govt) which have asked for the unfurling not to be done keeping in mind the tense situation in Kashmir. So the separatists are not in power. Comparisons with Banda case instead make you seem to be not having ability to understand things. Banda or whatever be the name, rapists deserve to be in jail for life terms. Rakesh On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 6:47 AM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Hi, > Whatever be the motive, if in a free democratic country someone > wants > to unfurl the national flag at any desired place,the fellow should be put > behind > bars. What a splendid argument. Are we being controlled by a democratically > elected state and central govt or by the Separatists? Please also read the > Supreme Court remarks on rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the > valley(Only a > lip service by the state govt backed by the most spineless central govt in > the > history of our democracy). Rakesh's arguments seem to be akin to Banda-rape > case > in UP--solve the problem by putting the complaintant into the jail.Jai ho. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Rakesh Iyer > To: Bipin Trivedi > Cc: sarai-list > Sent: Sat, January 22, 2011 2:41:01 AM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people > were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then > saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't > we > be ashamed about it? > > Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the > idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being > anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a > huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no > way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this > cause > which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the > nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it > or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. > > What do people on this forum think? > > Rakesh > > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > > > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? > > However, > > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of > CWG, > > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of > India > > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > > element out of the country. > > > > > > > > Thanks > > > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to 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 aliens at dataone.in Sat Jan 22 23:53:03 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 23:53:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Aditi Phadnis: A Modi-fied Gujarat Message-ID: <001b01cbba61$68ed0930$3ac71b90$@in> http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/aditi-phadnismodi-fied-gujarat/4 22589/ Gujarat has been in the news for three reasons this month. The first is, of course, the Vibrant Gujarat investment festival coinciding with the Makar Sankranti season in the state. With the exception of Infosys and Wipro - for which Gujarat is readying a different kind of entrepreneur and Chief Minister Narendra Modi is confident that given time, they will be in Gujarat too - everyone who is anyone in industry was in the state networking, raising money and investing. Investment amounting to lakhs of crores has been promised. The accent is on "promised", the Opposition points out. Industry, on the other hand, is clear. One BJP-minded investor compared Modi to the third in the trinity of "Vivekanand and Gandhi". Poverty of philosophy? Maybe. But industry thinks so. The second event went unreported in the national press but Dalit activists thought it was important enough to disseminate around the world. Dalit rights NGOs reported that for the first time in Gujarat and possibly the entire country, a newspaper editor was arrested under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and kept behind bars for one full day and night. Seventy-five per cent of cases around the country under this law end in acquittal. In Gujarat, not only was the FIR filed, but successfully pursued. The accused was granted bail but had to stay in jail till the bail hearing was held. This is the unexpurgated version of what the publication wrote: "In ancient times parents used to send their children to listen to lectures of saints to provide them good company. Children used to visit forest-school (tapovan) for education. In forest-school virtuous rishi munis shaped their characters. In modern times children go to schools, where they come in to contact of children of 'inferior caste' and learn bad manners. In present day schools children having inherited bad manners also come to be educated with sons of 'reputed families' They definitely affect sons of reputed families. In past, only Brahmins were chosen as teachers in pathshalas. Nowadays, even people of "backward caste" become teachers by getting benefits of reservation. These teachers cannot teach good behaviour to children." The third time Gujarat made the headlines was when Maulana Vastanvi, the newly appointed rector of Darul-Uloom Deoband, said in an interview there is "no discrimination against the minorities" in Gujarat. Islamic groups in India and abroad are furious at his statement and the Maulana is under pressure to apologise. The three instances come together to illustrate new - and some old - realities about the state. Gujarat and Gujaratis have always understood money better than the rest of India. Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry and leader of the Opposition in Gujarat Assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil said so in Burari and used this intelligence to attack Modi ("he's promised a lot of money for the state. But where is it?"). The question is, why is Gujarat getting the money now? A former Indian Administrative Services officer who is now a private sector advisor on infrastructure was blunt: "In my mind, Godhra equals 1984. What is then the differentiator between previous Congress governments and the present BJP one? The performance of the chief minister and the administration. There are two things you have to hand to Modi: He might accept money for the party, but he never asks for money for himself and will not allow his colleagues to make money either; and he's a nitty-gritty man - nothing is left to the imagination of the bureaucracy (for which he doesn't have much time anyway) so there is no space for exercising discretion. Every detail is seen through by him." The closest comparison was with another BJP chief minister, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, whose state is also considered a frontline performer. Raman Singh is laid-back and believes in living and letting live, but Modi's style is perform or perish. Modi's power sector reforms appear to have impressed the most. Power utilities have successfully separated the domestic and agricultural feeders. This has ensured that both sectors get a fair share of power with a regularity that was not possible earlier. Gujarat's state GDP is 11 per cent and agricultural growth is 9.6 per cent. Power is essential. But so is land. So how does Modi cope with the rising demand for land from industry and the compulsion of high agricultural growth? Gujarat has a law under which non-farmers cannot buy agricultural land, and if a farmer sells his land and does not register the purchase of fresh agricultural land in three years, he loses the right to be called a farmer. So everywhere Modi goes, he tells villagers: "Don't sell your land; and if you do, buy more agricultural land." Farmer versus industry agitations are gaining ground in the state; but so is prosperity. Farmers in Sanand protested against land acquisition - and how? By not sending their children to school. Modi's social project is gaining ground. When Vibrant Gujarat was on, by day he would sign MoUs. And come evening, he could be found in Dalit bastis in Ahmedabad, flying kites with children, interacting with people. Muslims do complain of discrimination. But they say the pace of development in their area is not as fast as in the Hindu areas. Gujarat is growing fast. The rest of India has to trust, verify, but as Maulana Vastanvi pointed out, grow up as well. From aliens at dataone.in Sun Jan 23 12:33:46 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 12:33:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> Message-ID: <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> Whatever topic discussion going on, Gujarat always comes in the picture. I don’t know why so much hatred for Gujarat. Vande Matram is a matru vandana (prayer for mother earth. She gives us so many things and in return we express thanks) song. That is what masses of India believe. It’s question of faith. For those who don’t believe, no one has forced to believe it or sing a song. Vande Matram, Jai Shree Ram has nothing to do patriotism. No one forced to sing it. However, if someone use it in election campaign, that is there individual choice. Hoisting of flag has nothing to do with patriotism. Among all Indian people, majority of them never hoisted the flag in their life. It does not mean that they are not patriotic. Most of us hoisted the flag in school and then never did it. But if on independence day, if someone want to hoist the flag in any part of India no one can stop it. By arguing that it will create disturbance, flag hoisting is not possible is just ridiculous argument. If state government show will to allow this ceremony with proper security than nothing will happen. But, problem is with state government. Since somewhere they also believe that Kashmir is not part of India and that is objectionable. By not allowing flag hoisting definitely increase the will of separatists/terrorists and goes wrong signal to them and Pak that India is weak country and cannot fight with us morally. This is what happening since many years and increases the strength of separatists/terrorists. That’s the reason, we were proved weak against fighting the terrorism. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 2:41 AM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't we be ashamed about it? Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this cause which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change.  What do people on this forum think? Rakesh On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping?  However, central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational element out of the country. Thanks Bipin Trivedi _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From indersalim at gmail.com Sun Jan 23 12:33:31 2011 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 12:33:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] International Performance Art Event Message-ID: INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART EVENT VENUE : DELHI COLLEGE OF ART TIME 1.Pm TO 6 pm 28TH OF JAN. 2011 AND 10 AM TO 4 PM ON 29TH OF JAN. 2011 ALL ARE WELCOME CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS: Japanese Artists: 1 Seiji Shimoda, 2 Osamu Kuroda, 3 Harumi Terao, 4 Meba Kurata, 5 Bumpei Suzuki, 6 Masaki Hirose, 7 Noriko Horii, 8 Momo Takahashi, 9 Seiko Kitayama, 10 Ryosuke Tanaka, 11 Yuto Nishioka Guest Artist: 12 Moohye (Korea) 13. Silke Kastner ( Germany) 1. Inder Salim 2. Amitabh Pandey 3. Sushil Kumar 4. Kaushal Sonkar 5. Aishwarya sultania 6. Dhrupadi Wahshat 7. Mini Kumari 8. Ranjit Singh 9. Paribartana Mohantay 10 SSARL ( group on Face Book) 11.Anil Dayanand 12 Sujit Mallick 13. Showkat Katju 14. prateek. 15. Sphie and more than 15 students after workshops _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From kalakamra at gmail.com Sat Jan 22 02:53:17 2011 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:53:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Season of Footage and Films, Part 5. The Time between Recording and Projection. Sunday, January 23 6:30 pm, CAMP Mumbai Message-ID: Greetings and apologies for cross-posting. CAMP continues our winter season of screenings exploring footage both within and without the usual capsule of "the film". This Sunday we present: *The Time between Recording and Projection.* > > *Sunday January 23 6:30 pm* > > At CAMP Roof > 310, Alif Apartments, > 34-A Chuim Village, > Khar West, Mumbai- 52 > > > *The Specialist* > Eyal Sivan and Rony Brauman > 1999 > 128 mins > > * Ici et Ailleurs* > Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville, Jean-Pierre Gorin, > AKA The Dziga Vertov Group > 1974 > 53 mins > > > 1.* *Fifteen years* *after the end of the Second World War, SS Colonel > Adolf Eichmann was captured in Argentina, where he was living and working > under a false name, by Mossad agents and taken to Israel for trial. Leo > Hurwitz, an American leftist film-maker was hired to record the Eichmann > trial, which he did using four concealed cameras. In 1991, when filmmaker > Eyal Sivan inquired about the footage, he was told that it didn't exist. In > 1999, Sivan and Rony Brauman put together this 128-minute film, disrupting > the chronology of the trial and highlighting instead its tone and > environment, from over 300 hours of the recorded footage they were able to > access (one third of which had decayed by then). > > 2. At the request of the PLO, "The Dziga Vertov Group" shot footage of the > Palestinian resistance in 1970. They were only able to edit the footage and > make the film *Ici et Ailleurs *(Here and Elsewhere) in 1974, and > retaining "only five shots" from the original material. > "In 1970, this film was called Victory. In 1974, this film is called Here > and Elsewhere. And elsewhere. And..." > > "For it’s in the nature of cinema (delay between the time of shooting and > the time of projection) to be the art of here and elsewhere. What Godard > says, very uncomfortably and very honestly, is that the true place of the > filmmaker is in the AND. A hyphen only has value if it doesn’t confuse what > it unites." > - Serge Daney (A Preface to Here and Elsewhere > ) > > See you there! Directions to CAMP studio are here > http://camputer.org/campstudio.html > For questions and responses email info(@)camputer.org To unsubscribe, simply send an email with the word "unsubscribe" as the subject to camp-request at lists.mailb.org -- camputer.org pad.ma chitrakarkhana.net From ysikand at gmail.com Fri Jan 21 07:43:27 2011 From: ysikand at gmail.com (Yogi Sikand) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 07:43:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?A_Dissenting_Voice_on_Pakistan=92s?= =?windows-1252?q?_Blasphemy_Law?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: * A Dissenting Voice on Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law* ** *Yoginder Sikand* In the wake of the dastardly killing of Salman Taseer, governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, for having dared to question Pakistan’s draconian anti-blasphemy law, scores of Pakistani ‘Islamic’ outfits celebrated the crime by showering encomiums on the man’s murderer, insisting that his action was perfectly in consonance with (their understanding of) Islam. They feted him as an intrepid Islamic hero, a *ghazi* or warrior of the faith. Across the border, not a single Indian Muslim religious organization condemned the attack. This might well suggest that they shared the enthusiasm of their Pakistani counterparts, although, for obvious reasons, they were unable to openly express their delight at the deadly event. Probably the only Islamic scholar of note on either side of the border to have condemned the brutal murder in no uncertain terms, and to have insisted that it had no sanction whatsoever in Islam, was the New Delhi-based Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. He immediately responded to the murder in an article published in the *Times of India*, insisting that the punishment of death for blasphemy, as prescribed in Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy law, had no sanction in Islam at all. Khan’s views on the appropriate Islamic punishment for blasphemy, particularly for defaming the Prophet Muhammad, are diametrically opposed to those of the mullahs and doctrinaire Islamists, which is one reason why the latter so passionately detest him. He does not condone blasphemy, even in the name of free speech, of course, but nor does he agree with those Muslims who insist that Islam prescribes the death penalty for those guilty of it. He first articulated his position on the subject in a book titled *Shatim-e Rasul Ka Masla: Quran wa Hadith aur Fiqh wa Tarikh ki Raushni Mai *(‘Defaming the Prophet: In the Light of the Quran, Hadith, *Fiqh* and History’). The book, consisting of a number of articles penned in the wake of the massive controversy that shook the world over the publication of Salman Rushdie’s infamous *Satanic Verses*, was published in 1997. It is a powerful critique, using Islamic arguments, of the strident anti-Rushdie agitation and of the argument that the Islamic punishment for blasphemy is death. Although Khan condemned the *Satanic Verses* as blasphemous, he argued that stirring up Muslim passions and baying for Rushdie’s blood was neither the rational nor the properly Islamic way of countering the book and its author. Death for blasphemy, he contended, using references from the Quran and the corpus of Hadith to back his stance, was not prescribed in Islam, in contrast to what Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, and, echoing him, millions of Muslims worldwide, ardently believed. Khan was possibly one of the only Islamic scholars to forcefully condemn the death sentence on Rushdie that Khomeini had announced and that vast numbers of Muslims, Shias and Sunnis, imagined was their religious duty to fulfill. Although his book deals specifically with the issue of blaspheming the Prophet in the context of the anti-Rushdie agitation, it is of immediate relevance to the ongoing debate about the anti-blasphemy laws and the violence it engenders in Pakistan today. What is particularly fascinating about the book is that it uses Islamic arguments to counter the widespread belief among Muslims that death is the punishment laid down in Islam for blasphemy as well as for those who, like the late Salman Taseer, oppose such punishment. Addressing the issue from within an Islamic paradigm, with the help of copious quotes from the Quran and Hadith, Khan’s case against death for blasphemers would, one supposes, appear more convincing to Muslims than secular human rights arguments against Pakistan’s deadly anti-blasphemy law that has unleashed such havoc in that country. Like most Muslims, Khan believes that Islam is the only true religion. Muslims, he says, are commanded by God to communicate Islam to the rest of humanity. This work of *dawah* or ‘invitation’ to the faith is, he says, the hallmark of a true Muslim. Yet, he laments, ‘the Muslims of today are totally bereft of *dawah* consciousness’. This lack, he contends, is at the very root of the manifold conflicts that Muslims are presently embroiled in with others in large parts of the world. This almost total absence of ‘* dawah* consciousness’ has made Muslims, so he argues, victims of a peculiar superiority complex (that has no warrant in Islam) that drives them on to engage in endless conflict with others. Muslims, he writes, imagine themselves as ‘the soldiers of God, the censors of the morals of the whole of creation, and the deputies of God on earth’, which, he contends, is ‘absurdly un-Islamic’. He insists that this attitude of presumed superiority and the drive for confronting and dominating others that it instigates have absolutely no sanction in the Quran. He quotes the Quran as referring to the Prophet as simply as a warner and guide, and not as a ruler over the people he addressed, and rues that Muslims behave in a totally contrary manner in their relations with non-Muslims. ‘They want to rule over others’, Khan laments. And that, he adds, is ‘their biggest psychological problem.’ The Quran, Khan says, exhorts Muslims to be bearers of glad tidings to others and to invite them to God’s path. The work of *dawah* is not a simple verbal calling. Rather, for *dawah* to be effective, he says, Muslims must themselves be righteous, including in their dealings with people of other faiths. They must see themselves as *dai*s or missionaries inviting others to God’s path, and regard others as *madu*s or addressees of the divine invitation. *Dawah*, Khan says, ‘must form the basis of the believer’s personality and must shape his relations with others.’ These relations must be fundamentally shaped by the *dawah* imperative, which means that Muslims must always seek to relate kindly and compassionately with others. A true * dai*, committed to this principal Islamic duty of *dawah*, must relate to people of other communities with love and concern for their welfare. They should ‘keep the needs of *dawah* above all other considerations,’ Khan says. They might face all sorts of loss and damage at the hands of others, but at no cost should they allow the cause of *dawah* to be hampered. This means, Khan insists, that ‘they must not resort to such activities that are opposed to the demands of *dawah* or that undermine its prospects.’ Principally, they must desist from conflicts with people of other faiths, even in the face of grave provocation, for this would certainly further reinforce their prejudices against Islam and Muslims and only sabotage prospects for *dawah*. Even when confronted with extremely hurtful and provocative situations, such as blasphemy, they must not resort to violent agitation and demand the death of the culprit. There are other, rational and more meaningful, ways to react, Khan says, but to react violently and to call for the death of blasphemers would only further magnify anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiments, harden borders between Muslims and others, and, thereby, place additional barriers in the path of *dawah*. Khan is convinced that the Muslims of today have abandoned their divine duty of *dawah*. This is why, he writes, instead of seeking to relate kindly with people of other faiths, as addressees of the ‘invitation’ to God’s path, they consider the latter as their ‘communal enemies’ and are constantly engaged in seeking to confront them. Muslims, he contends, wrongly imagine that they are ‘God’s deputies on earth’, completely forgetting that the Quran speaks about true believers as being His witnesses to humanity. Because the drive for *dawah* no longer enthuses them, he goes on, their relations with people of other faiths are conflict-ridden and they ‘engage in such acts as have no sanction at all in Islam’. Their hatred for others, which promotes constant conflict with them, he says, ‘is tantamount to murder of *dawah*.’ Treating others as their ‘political foes’, instead of as ‘potential addressees of God’s message’, they lose no opportunity to drum up opposition and instigate conflicts and agitations directed against them. Such Muslims, Khan minces no words in saying, ‘are murderers of *dawah* and divine guidance’. They are completely unmindful, he says, that ‘by engaging in such activities that sabotage *dawah*, they are inviting God’s wrath on themselves.’ Khan then turns to the issue of blasphemy and the violent agitations unleashed across the globe in the wake of Khomeini’s fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death. He insists that the fatwa and the agitation that it stirred are tantamount to ‘murdering *dawah’*, and bemoans that ‘it reflects a total lack of *dawah* consciousness.’ Such reactions, he warns, will only further reinforce deeply-rooted negative feelings among non-Muslims about Islam and Muslims, which would make the task of *dawah* even more difficult than it already is. He goes so far as to claim that those engaged in this agitation, whether as leaders or foot-soldiers, run the very real risk of ‘being treated as criminals in the eyes of God, notwithstanding the fact that they may label their *dawah*-murdering agitation as an agitation for the glory of Islam.’ Hence, he insists, the fatwa and the violent agitation that it spurred are ‘absurd and un-Islamic’. Khan blames what he sees as the Muslims’ total lack of *dawah* consciousness for what he perceives as their wild emotionalism in the face of even the smallest provocation. If anyone dares says anything, no matter how minor, against their way of thinking, he contends, they immediately get provoked and resort to agitation and even violence. The most sensitive issue in this regard, Khan notes, is the image of the Prophet Muhammad. If anyone says or writes anything about the Prophet that does not correspond with how they themselves perceive him, Khan notes, Muslims turn ‘uncontrollably emotional’ and ‘lose all reason.’ Khan believes this is not at all the appropriate Islamic attitude, and traces it to what he perceives as the fact that ‘Muslims have abandoned *dawah’*. Because of this, he explains, they now ‘see others as their communal enemies’ and consider any such criticism as ‘an attack on their communal pride’, which forces them out on the streets in violent agitation and worse. Had Muslims maintained their ‘*dawah* consciousness’, he remarks, they would have responded to the provocation differently: through patience and avoidance of conflict, as he says the Quran advises them to, so that prospects for *dawah* would not thereby be damaged. But since they have lost the commitment to *dawah*, he laments, they have fallen victim to what he terms ‘false emotionalism’ that drives them to respond violently to any and every provocation. This stance, he says, is completely un-Quranic, and is bound to reinforce anti-Islamic prejudices that underlie phenomenon such as blasphemy, instead of doing anything at all to resolve them. In the face of provocations, such as negative statements or writings against Islam, Khan advises Muslims not to give in to the temptation to react with violent agitation. Instead, he advises, they should respond ‘with patience, wisdom, far-sightedness and clear-mindedness’, these being qualities which he identifies with ‘success in this world and in the next’. [This article, in a very slightly edited form, appeared in the 21st January 2011 issue of the Daily Times, Pakistan, and can be accessed on http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\01\20\story_20-1-2011_pg7_18 ] -- Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. --The Buddha From iram at sarai.net Sun Jan 23 23:24:44 2011 From: iram at sarai.net (Iram Ghufran) Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:54:44 +0600 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91Social_Justice_and_the_Armed_Fo?= =?windows-1252?q?rces_Act=92_=40_AMU?= Message-ID: <4D3C6B64.5050001@sarai.net> The I G Khan Memorial Trust invites you to LIFE UNDER AFSPA ‘Social Justice and the Armed Forces Act’ a lecture by BASHARAT PEER Journalist and author of CURFEWED NIGHT Kennedy Auditorium: 11am PANEL DISCUSSION ‘Youth and the act: Growing up under the AFSPA’ Deepti Priya Mehrotra Author and Activist Dr Seema Kazi Researcher Himandshu kumar Founder VCA, Dantewada Basharat Peer Staff club lounge: 2.30 pm MUSIC AND POETRY FOR PEACE Madan Gopal Singh Dr Chef AMU Students GEC Lawns: 4.30 pm onwards Event dedicated to Justice for DR BINAYAK SEN 29th January 2011, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh From indersalim at gmail.com Mon Jan 24 08:03:35 2011 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:03:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?=91Social_Justice_and_the_Armed_Fo?= =?windows-1252?q?rces_Act=92_=40_AMU?= In-Reply-To: <4D3C6B64.5050001@sarai.net> References: <4D3C6B64.5050001@sarai.net> Message-ID: in solidarity with Dr.Binayak Sen http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=179842688723304&set=a.117508828290024.7138.100000927217088 On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 11:24 PM, Iram Ghufran wrote: > The I G Khan Memorial Trust > > invites you to > > LIFE UNDER AFSPA > ‘Social Justice and the Armed Forces Act’ > a lecture by > > BASHARAT PEER > Journalist and author of CURFEWED NIGHT > > Kennedy Auditorium: 11am > > PANEL DISCUSSION > ‘Youth and the act: Growing up under the AFSPA’ > > Deepti Priya Mehrotra Author and Activist > Dr Seema Kazi Researcher > Himandshu kumar Founder VCA, Dantewada > Basharat Peer > > Staff club lounge: 2.30 pm > > MUSIC AND POETRY FOR PEACE > Madan Gopal Singh > Dr Chef > AMU Students > GEC Lawns: 4.30 pm onwards > > Event dedicated to Justice for DR BINAYAK SEN > 29th January 2011, Aligarh Muslim University, > Aligarh > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe > in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Mon Jan 24 11:38:22 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:38:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Climate Change & India (Reader-list) In-Reply-To: <9720701a59a736296dab9b6e030f77d2.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> References: <9720701a59a736296dab9b6e030f77d2.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> Message-ID: Dear Patrice, I've taken the liberty of putting my response on reader-list particularly since you suggested these issues have relevance for the list. I was struck by the difference in their response from what might be the response of urban elites, who not only believe that we do have the power to alter nature, we proceed to do so: the Indian govt is carrying out tests in the southern oceans on iron fertilization, the Chinese I hear tries to catalyse the rains, etc. There's also a flawed faith in technology in solving the problem of global warming. Re climate change being a concern in India, it would be fair to say that a lot of rural folks might not relate changes that are happening to global warming, but they are extremely alive to changes in rainfall patterns etc, since their lives and livelihoods (of perhaps 650 million) are dependent on agriculture, horticulture, etc. Most people/ small farmers/ activists we have talked to over the last 3 years or so say that they first observed changes in rainfall about 10-15 years ago but the changes have speeded up/ gotten more intense in recent years and is getting worse. But you are right in saying that there are more immediate issues facing those engaged in agriculture. Unions and organizations need to play a role here, I think they - all of us really - are way behind the curve. There's also the crucial issue about how climate change is beginning to affect food security. In GuJarat, we got a sense of less atmospheric moisture due to warmer winters affecting those who don't have access to water, and these tend to be expectedly poorer households. But it's also the poor in urban areas, a point we had made in meetings two years ago. Though speculation in food and hoarding have a heavy role to play in food prices in recent months, there's stuff coming out about how crazy weather is affecting yields and hence prices. And since food markets too have become so interconnected in a globalized world, the poor can get affected by something quite far away. Naga PS: If you (or anyone else on this list) is interested, I can email you the report on trip to GuJarat once it is finalized.) On 23 January 2011 14:08, Patrice Riemens wrote: > Dear Nagraj, > > Interesting take "in Gujarat most people were sceptical that humans had > the power to alter nature". Climate change is probably much less a concern > in India where there are much more immediate ones than in the 'West' ... > while adressing those immediate concern is exactly what accelerates > climate change... Pls continue to address the Reader list from time to > time with these issues. > From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Mon Jan 24 17:01:40 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:31:40 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in>, , <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> Message-ID: Those who may wish to learn a bit more about the perfidious Kashmiri- pan Islamists would be benefited by the following piece from one who has been one of the founders of JKLF & rose to become its President. Anti India propaganda emanating from valley & peddled further by certain quarters outside can not be sole reference for drawing anti India inferences. Rgds all LA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How sad? Dr Shabir Choudhry 22 January 2011 How sad, those who want to empower people and speak for rights of all people of Jammu and Kashmir are accused of being pro India; and those who want to communalise polity of the region by dividing people in name of religion are called ‘freedom fighters’. How sad, those who want human rights for all citizens and express their concern about human rights abuses in all regions of the State of Jammu and Kashmir are called pro Hindu or pro India; and those who speak for rights of only Muslims are called ‘true representatives of Kashmir’. How sad, those who want to promote peace, prosperity and democratic rights of all citizens of the State of Jammu and Kashmir are accused of speaking India’s language; and those who want to create chaos, disrupt normal life, promote culture of fear and intimidation, kill those who question or disagree with anti democracy and anti people policies are hailed as ‘heroes’. How sad, those who promote pro people and pro Kashmir policies are accused of being in hands of India; and those who openly advance a Pakistani agenda in Kashmir, use their resources to advance extremism, communalism and hatred are projected as ‘leaders’ and ‘mujahids’. How sad, those who advance violence, religious extremism and intolerance in Jammu and Kashmir, and present right of accession disguised under colourful wrapping of a right self determination are rewarded and promoted as ‘freedom fighters and leaders’; and those sons of soil who sincerely promote, peace, stability, prosperity, equality for all and expose and oppose forces of extremism, communalism and hatred are called ‘agents’ and ‘anti movement’. How sad, that in summer of 2010 normal life in the Valley was disrupted in name of stone pelting, and schools and colleges, offices, shops were closed because of fear and disruption; and this caused loss to Jammu and Kashmir economy and damaged infrastructure worth 700 crors rupees. Those who talked of reason and opposed this disruption as it hurt ordinary people, it hurt education of students and it hurt local economy were called pro India and anti Movement; and those responsible for this loss were hailed as ‘leaders’ and ‘saviours’. How sad, no one told them that the property and infrastructure they were damaging did not belong to Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi, but it belonged to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. No one told them that students whose education suffered were ordinary sons and daughters of people of Kashmir (children of leaders study outside the boundary of the State); and economy that was shattered belonged to the local people, and protest and subsequent violence only damaged local interest and future of next generation. How sad, those who were killed and injured in this wave of unrest they and their families suffered and continue to suffer, their concern for next meal and other necessities of life have grown; and those who were leading this stone pelting movement their kitchens never faced any shortage of supply. How sad, some of the people at the forefront of the stone pelting movement only travel first class and enjoy luxurious life; and people who came out to throw stones and in some cases set light to property are suffering due to lack of appropriate facilities and low income. How sad, APHC leaders decided not to speak truth and hide facts from the people and accused India of killing political leaders (Mir Waiz Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone) when they knew some others were culprits. How sad, when Professor Abdul Ghani Bhat decided to speak out about these killings after 20 years long silence, he only spoke half truth that ‘India was not responsible for these killings’; and still did not say who killed them? Is he too afraid to tell the truth or he and his colleagues think rewards from across the border could stop if he opens his mouth? How sad, that sons (Mir Wais Umer Farooq, Bilal Lone and Sajjad Lone) of these two leaders killed in broad day light also decided to remain quiet over murder of their fathers. I remember Sajjad Lone speaking in a conference in London, where in reply to Banazir Bhutto’s speech, he said: At least you can say who killed your father (Zulfqar Ali Bhutto), I cannot even point finger out at those who killed my father. How sad, that imported gun brought its own culture of fear and intimidation and forced weeping sons and daughters to remain quiet; and not to expose killers of their fathers. It also forced leaders and ordinary people to fall in line or be prepared for repercussion. How sad, these leaders tell lies, fabricate facts and mislead people to enhance their personal and political agenda; and ordinary people seem to have no option but either to remain quiet or follow them. How sad, those who were charged with the responsibility to lead are led themselves by others; and have lost all sense of direction. How sad, that ordinary people cannot even tell their so called leaders that they have no agenda for azadi (independence); and that they were going in circles which result in death, destruction and suffering of the ordinary people. How sad. Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry at gmail.com View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com www.k4kashmir.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 12:33:46 +0530 > From: aliens at dataone.in > To: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > Whatever topic discussion going on, Gujarat always comes in the picture. I > don’t know why so much hatred for Gujarat. Vande Matram is a matru vandana > (prayer for mother earth. She gives us so many things and in return we > express thanks) song. That is what masses of India believe. It’s question of > faith. For those who don’t believe, no one has forced to believe it or sing > a song. Vande Matram, Jai Shree Ram has nothing to do patriotism. No one > forced to sing it. However, if someone use it in election campaign, that is > there individual choice. > > Hoisting of flag has nothing to do with patriotism. Among all Indian people, > majority of them never hoisted the flag in their life. It does not mean that > they are not patriotic. Most of us hoisted the flag in school and then never > did it. But if on independence day, if someone want to hoist the flag in any > part of India no one can stop it. By arguing that it will create > disturbance, flag hoisting is not possible is just ridiculous argument. If > state government show will to allow this ceremony with proper security than > nothing will happen. But, problem is with state government. Since somewhere > they also believe that Kashmir is not part of India and that is > objectionable. > > By not allowing flag hoisting definitely increase the will of > separatists/terrorists and goes wrong signal to them and Pak that India is > weak country and cannot fight with us morally. This is what happening since > many years and increases the strength of separatists/terrorists. That’s the > reason, we were proved weak against fighting the terrorism. > > Thanks > Bipin Trivedi > > > From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] > Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 2:41 AM > To: Bipin Trivedi > Cc: sarai-list > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people > were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then > saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't we > be ashamed about it? > > Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the > idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being > anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a > huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no > way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this cause > which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the > nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it > or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. > > What do people on this forum think? > > Rakesh > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? However, > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > element out of the country. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Mon Jan 24 17:51:30 2011 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:21:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] REMEMBERING DASHRATH PATEL Message-ID: <962419.45618.qm@web161204.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> REMEMBERING DASHRATH PATEL – 1927-2010 The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi jointly with the Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi and SPACES, Chennai have convened an evening in memory of DASHRATH PATEL one of the most versatile artists of post-Independence India who passed away on December 1, 2010. on Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 6.00 pm at National Gallery of Modern Art Jaipur House, India Gate, New Delhi-110003 There will be Vocal Musical Tribute by Vidya Rao, Priya Kanungo and the Gundecha Brothers An hour-long documentary film on Dashrath Patel ‘In the Realm of the Visual’ by Iffat Fatima will be screened. From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Jan 24 18:19:09 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:19:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> Message-ID: Dear Lalit jee I do agree that separatists cannot be considered the sole voice of people of Kashmir. To an extent, the political parties fighting on the Indian side of Kashmir (Indian in terms of sovereign control), do represent some portions of the Kashmiri populace. Then some of the support can be issue based also. However, that also does not mean nationalism is the only voice of the Kashmiris, or of Indians also for that matter. Moreover, even within the different versions of nationalism which exist in India, not all subscribe to BJP. Even the Congress represents a version of nationalism (or used to at least, considering the pitiable state of that party today). The next problem is to assume that all separatists are not necessarily advocating for a pro-Islamic state. There are separatists who want a secular Kashmiri state. And there are those who only want an Islamic Kashmir. That differentiation has to be made. The last part is regarding anti-India inferences. We must realize that till 1987, violence has not been witnessed by and large in Kashmir. But till then, the record of democracy in Kashmir had been completely tarnished by actions of the Indian state and its politicians. Who can deny that? Yes, there is an anti-India stance among some people, not all. But is it not our responsibility to find out why that is the case, and if possible try and change the situation? Leave alone Geelani or Shabbir Shah, how come ordinary Kashmiri Muslims, if only some among a large number, also feel alienated? Should we not try and find that out? This problem is not about nationalism or India under threat or Pakistan's machismo or anything else. And those who talk about winning the minds or hearts, may probably realize this is not a love story too where we have to win the same of our beloved. This is about a state which broke its promises to a set of people who had agreed to accession to India based on the decision taken by their leaders, because they believed their future was secure here. Irrespective of whether people come out on the street or not, who can justify dirty politics and legislators being bought to destabilize elected governments, jail popular leaders or even install puppet regimes? Is there any justification whatsoever for that? And if instead of people resigning to their fate (as they have mostly done in many states of India), some of the people decide to fight against the state, is it completely unjustified? Yes, violence is unacceptable, but if they are non-violent, is it totally unjustified? It's our weakness as a democracy, as a republic, as true citizens, which has led to this. And the solution lies within us, provided it is expressed and allowed to take shape. Not in raising flags and slogans, which anyways won't change the minds of separatists, or those who want to separate too. (And mind you, they can also organize stone pelting just as you can organize flag-hoisting ceremonies). It comes from making sure that the arguments of separatists are proven out to be flawed or untrue or useless in the lives of people. Rakesh On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 5:01 PM, Lalit Ambardar wrote: > Those who may wish to learn a bit more about the perfidious Kashmiri- pan > Islamists would be benefited by the following piece from one who has been > one of the founders of JKLF & rose to become its President. > > Anti India propaganda emanating from valley & peddled further by certain > quarters outside can not be sole reference for drawing anti India > inferences. > Rgds all > LA > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > How sad? > Dr Shabir Choudhry 22 January 2011 > > How sad, those who want to empower people and speak for rights of all > people of Jammu and Kashmir are accused of being pro India; and those who > want to communalise polity of the region by dividing people in name of > religion are called ‘freedom fighters’. > > How sad, those who want human rights for all citizens and express their > concern about human rights abuses in all regions of the State of Jammu and > Kashmir are called pro Hindu or pro India; and those who speak for rights of > only Muslims are called ‘true representatives of Kashmir’. > > How sad, those who want to promote peace, prosperity and democratic rights > of all citizens of the State of Jammu and Kashmir are accused of speaking > India’s language; and those who want to create chaos, disrupt normal life, > promote culture of fear and intimidation, kill those who question or > disagree with anti democracy and anti people policies are hailed as > ‘heroes’. > > How sad, those who promote pro people and pro Kashmir policies are accused > of being in hands of India; and those who openly advance a Pakistani agenda > in Kashmir, use their resources to advance extremism, communalism and hatred > are projected as ‘leaders’ and ‘mujahids’. > > How sad, those who advance violence, religious extremism and intolerance in > Jammu and Kashmir, and present right of accession disguised under colourful > wrapping of a right self determination are rewarded and promoted as ‘freedom > fighters and leaders’; and those sons of soil who sincerely promote, peace, > stability, prosperity, equality for all and expose and oppose forces of > extremism, communalism and hatred are called ‘agents’ and ‘anti movement’. > > How sad, that in summer of 2010 normal life in the Valley was disrupted in > name of stone pelting, and schools and colleges, offices, shops were closed > because of fear and disruption; and this caused loss to Jammu and Kashmir > economy and damaged infrastructure worth 700 crors rupees. Those who talked > of reason and opposed this disruption as it hurt ordinary people, it hurt > education of students and it hurt local economy were called pro India and > anti Movement; and those responsible for this loss were hailed as ‘leaders’ > and ‘saviours’. > > How sad, no one told them that the property and infrastructure they were > damaging did not belong to Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi, but it belonged > to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. No one told them that students whose > education suffered were ordinary sons and daughters of people of Kashmir > (children of leaders study outside the boundary of the State); and economy > that was shattered belonged to the local people, and protest and subsequent > violence only damaged local interest and future of next generation. > > How sad, those who were killed and injured in this wave of unrest they and > their families suffered and continue to suffer, their concern for next meal > and other necessities of life have grown; and those who were leading this > stone pelting movement their kitchens never faced any shortage of supply. > > How sad, some of the people at the forefront of the stone pelting movement > only travel first class and enjoy luxurious life; and people who came out to > throw stones and in some cases set light to property are suffering due to > lack of appropriate facilities and low income. > > How sad, APHC leaders decided not to speak truth and hide facts from the > people and accused India of killing political leaders (Mir Waiz Farooq and > Abdul Ghani Lone) when they knew some others were culprits. > > How sad, when Professor Abdul Ghani Bhat decided to speak out about these > killings after 20 years long silence, he only spoke half truth that ‘India > was not responsible for these killings’; and still did not say who killed > them? Is he too afraid to tell the truth or he and his colleagues think > rewards from across the border could stop if he opens his mouth? > > How sad, that sons (Mir Wais Umer Farooq, Bilal Lone and Sajjad Lone) of > these two leaders killed in broad day light also decided to remain quiet > over murder of their fathers. I remember Sajjad Lone speaking in a > conference in London, where in reply to Banazir Bhutto’s speech, he said: At > least you can say who killed your father (Zulfqar Ali Bhutto), I cannot even > point finger out at those who killed my father. > > How sad, that imported gun brought its own culture of fear and intimidation > and forced weeping sons and daughters to remain quiet; and not to expose > killers of their fathers. It also forced leaders and ordinary people to fall > in line or be prepared for repercussion. > > How sad, these leaders tell lies, fabricate facts and mislead people to > enhance their personal and political agenda; and ordinary people seem to > have no option but either to remain quiet or follow them. > > How sad, those who were charged with the responsibility to lead are led > themselves by others; and have lost all sense of direction. > > How sad, that ordinary people cannot even tell their so called leaders that > they have no agenda for azadi (independence); and that they were going in > circles which result in death, destruction and suffering of the ordinary > people. How sad. > > Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political > analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute > of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry at gmail.com > View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com > www.k4kashmir.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 12:33:46 +0530 > > From: aliens at dataone.in > > To: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com > > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > > > Whatever topic discussion going on, Gujarat always comes in the picture. > I > > don’t know why so much hatred for Gujarat. Vande Matram is a matru > vandana > > (prayer for mother earth. She gives us so many things and in return we > > express thanks) song. That is what masses of India believe. It’s question > of > > faith. For those who don’t believe, no one has forced to believe it or > sing > > a song. Vande Matram, Jai Shree Ram has nothing to do patriotism. No one > > forced to sing it. However, if someone use it in election campaign, that > is > > there individual choice. > > > > Hoisting of flag has nothing to do with patriotism. Among all Indian > people, > > majority of them never hoisted the flag in their life. It does not mean > that > > they are not patriotic. Most of us hoisted the flag in school and then > never > > did it. But if on independence day, if someone want to hoist the flag in > any > > part of India no one can stop it. By arguing that it will create > > disturbance, flag hoisting is not possible is just ridiculous argument. > If > > state government show will to allow this ceremony with proper security > than > > nothing will happen. But, problem is with state government. Since > somewhere > > they also believe that Kashmir is not part of India and that is > > objectionable. > > > > By not allowing flag hoisting definitely increase the will of > > separatists/terrorists and goes wrong signal to them and Pak that India > is > > weak country and cannot fight with us morally. This is what happening > since > > many years and increases the strength of separatists/terrorists. That’s > the > > reason, we were proved weak against fighting the terrorism. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > > > From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] > > Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 2:41 AM > > To: Bipin Trivedi > > Cc: sarai-list > > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > > > Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, > people > > were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and > then > > saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't > we > > be ashamed about it? > > > > Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, > the > > idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being > > anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a > > huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's > no > > way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this > cause > > which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within > the > > nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support > it > > or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. > > > > What do people on this forum think? > > > > Rakesh > > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi > wrote: > > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? > However, > > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of > CWG, > > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of > India > > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > > element out of the country. > > > > > > > > Thanks > > > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > > > > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 aiindex at gmail.com Tue Jan 25 06:49:30 2011 From: aiindex at gmail.com (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:19:30 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Womens_Studies_Conference=2C_The_Latest_V?= =?utf-8?q?ictim_of_India=E2=80=99s_War_on_Terror?= Message-ID: sacw.net - 25 January 2011 Womens Studies Conference, The Latest Victim of India’s War on Terror Anti terror police file charges against Illina Sen the conference host The 13th IAWS National Conference on Women’s Studies underway in Wardha, Maharashtra has come under attack from over zealous anti terror security police in India. Professor Illina Sen, who is the conference convener and also head of the Department of the Women’s Studies at the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University (MGAHV), Wardha has seen a police case registered against her concerning bureaucratic rules and procedures about police reporting of foreigners participation in Conferences in India. The foreigners participating at the conference have valid tourist visas. The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) have slapped charges of violations of Foreigners Act, 1946 and have arrested the owners, managers of two hotels where foreign participants to the conference were staying. The events in Wardha do not protend a healthy future for participation by foreigners attending conferences in India. Space for academic and cultural freedoms seem to be definitely shrinking in India. Sometimes its the Hindutva thugs or their mirror opposite from the Islamists circuit who strike fear and intimidate by issuing fatwas and sometimes the official powers that be find ways to curb and intimidate. Intimidation of conference organisers on gounds of National security is utterly shocking. There is an urgent need to register widespread protest against the heavy handed ways of the security agencies. Posted below are news reports giving details so far reported in the media. People should write letters of solidarity to Indian Association of Women’s Studies at: iaws.secretariat[at]gmail.com = = = Indian Express ATS slaps case against Sen’s wife for foreigners’ presence at meet by Vivek Deshpande Posted: Tue Jan 25 2011, 00:04 hrs Nagpur: The Nagpur Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday registered a case against Ilina Sen, wife of Binayak Sen, for not informing the local police about foreigners participating in a women’s convention convened by her at Wardha’s Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, where she is a teacher. A few foreigners participating in the global convention had lodged themselves in a local hotel. The ATS had, on Sunday, arrested the owner, manager and an employee of Hotel Harisons for not informing the police about their arrival. On Monday, they also arrested manager of Sant Kanwarram dormitory, where a few other foreigners had lodged themselves, for a similar offence. A senior ATS officer said, “The organisers of any such meets or conclaves have to inform the police about the foreigners participating in the meeting or the convention under Section 7 of the Foreigners Act. Not doing so attracts provision of Section 14, under which we have registered the offence. Ilina Sen was convenor of the meet.” The foreigners who had lodged themselves at these places, however, had given their visa and passport to the hotel management. “So, the fault lies with the management,” the officer said. He, however, said, “Some foreigners were part of the protests on the premises of the Hindi University where participants led by Sen raised slogans demanding scrapping of some Acts like Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and for release of Binayak Sen and the recently arrested Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawle. All this has been video recorded. Foreigners can’t do this, that too on the premises of Indian government’s institution.” Asked if action is also contemplated against the foreigners, the officer said, “The local police should be doing it.” Asked how then foreign observers could be allowed to witness Binayak Sen’s trial, the officer said, “It’s got official sanction of the government and they are not here to raise slogans or protest.” Inspector General (Nagpur range) Prabhat Ranjan said, “Wardha police have arrested some hotel personnel, but we will have to check whether foreigners participated in protests and if yes, how we can move against them if at all we can.” o o o Binayak Sen’s wife booked by ATS (Hindustan Times, 25 January 2011) o o o The Times of India Hotelier held for not reporting foreigners Soumittra S Bose, TNN, Jan 24, 2011, 12.44am IST NAGPUR: Local unit of State Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) slapped charges of violations of Foreigners Act, 1946, against a hotel in Wardha city. Offences against owner of a hotel and two others were registered at Wardha City police station on Sunday. Several foreign nationals are under scanner for their participation in a socio-political conference despite entering India on tourist visa. The foreigners had come to Wardha allegedly to participate in ongoing 13th Indian Association of Women Studies meet at Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University. Ilina Sen, wife of Chhattisgarh physician Dr Binayak Sen, convicted by a Raipur court for sedition, has been a moving force behind the conference. Sources said Elina too is under watch now for vigorously spearheading the campaign to free Dr Sen and others like Sudhir Dhawale, recently arrested for alleged Naxal link, using the podium of the conference to organize support against the so-called Naxal sympathizers. ATS sleuths indicated that the University authorities may also be liable for action given the strong rhetoric against government voiced during the conference. The delegates, who had come for the conference, also organized protests against the recent arrests of some alleged Naxal sympathizers. Intelligence agencies had been keeping a close watch on the developments. ATS sleuths, who were also present undercover, rounded up the key personnel of a prominent Wardha hotel. Offences were registered against owner Murliharan Kruplani, manager Moreshwar Puri and receptionist Purushottam Bhoyar. Police have arrested Puri and Bhoyar. ATS sources said that the hotel should have informed the local police or Foreigner Registration Officer at special branch after the arrival of the foreign tourists. Two United Kingdom (UK) nationals were staying at the hotel where ATS swooped down. It is learnt that the local police had been informed about the arrival of foreigners by the security agencies but no action was initiated against them. Apart from two UK nationals, there are other foreigners present at different venues. ATS is gearing up for more action on last day of the conference on Monday. FULL TEXT AT: http://www.sacw.net/article1894.html From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Tue Jan 25 10:19:23 2011 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (SJabbar) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:19:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Flag nationalism Message-ID: BJP R-day flags, activists Œstone-pelters¹ Bashaarat Masood Posted online: Mon Jan 24 2011, 09:12 hrs Srinagar : In what could prove an embarrassment for the BJP, the police said that two of its activists arrested on Saturday, ahead of the party¹s planned yatra to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, are known stone-pelters. ³We arrested six BJP activists. Two of them turned out to be listed stone-throwers,² Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ashiq Bukhari told The Indian Express. Denying that the men belonged to the party, the state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Shamsher Singh Manhas said: ³We are for the integrity of the state. The police are baffled by our programme... now they are inventing these stories. We have no idea about the people arrested by the police. We have been informed only about arrest of three activists.² Incidentally, BJP state vice-president Sofi Mohammad Yousuf had confirmed the arrest of the six party activists, calling it an attempt to foil the party¹s Republic Day programme. ³We were making preparations for the welcome of BJP activists visiting Kashmir. When our activists left home, some of them were arrested,² Yousuf told The Indian Express. Of the six alleged BJP activists, held from Srinagar for ³violating² prohibitory orders, were 22-year-old Wasim Hassan and Imtiyaz Ahmad, 24, both residents of downtown Srinagar, a stronghold of separatists. Sources say that Hassan, a resident of Qamarwari, and Ahmad of Nawab Bazar were involved in stone-throwing during the June uprising and that police are investigating cases against them. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Shiv Murari Sahai confirmed the same. From rashneek at gmail.com Tue Jan 25 11:49:08 2011 From: rashneek at gmail.com (rashneek kher) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:49:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Flag nationalism In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At least it confirms that we have mercenary activists... On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:19 AM, SJabbar wrote: > BJP R-day flags, activists Œstone-pelters¹ > Bashaarat Masood Posted online: Mon Jan 24 2011, 09:12 hrs > Srinagar : In what could prove an embarrassment for the BJP, the police > said > that two of its activists arrested on Saturday, ahead of the party¹s > planned > yatra to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, are known stone-pelters. > ³We arrested six BJP activists. Two of them turned out to be listed > stone-throwers,² Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ashiq Bukhari > told The Indian Express. > > Denying that the men belonged to the party, the state president of > Bharatiya > Janata Yuva Morcha Shamsher Singh Manhas said: ³We are for the integrity of > the state. The police are baffled by our programme... now they are > inventing > these stories. We have no idea about the people arrested by the police. We > have been informed only about arrest of three activists.² > > Incidentally, BJP state vice-president Sofi Mohammad Yousuf had confirmed > the arrest of the six party activists, calling it an attempt to foil the > party¹s Republic Day programme. ³We were making preparations for the > welcome > of BJP activists visiting Kashmir. When our activists left home, some of > them were arrested,² Yousuf told The Indian Express. > > Of the six alleged BJP activists, held from Srinagar for ³violating² > prohibitory orders, were 22-year-old Wasim Hassan and Imtiyaz Ahmad, 24, > both residents of downtown Srinagar, a stronghold of separatists. > > Sources say that Hassan, a resident of Qamarwari, and Ahmad of Nawab Bazar > were involved in stone-throwing during the June uprising and that police > are > investigating cases against them. > > Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Shiv Murari Sahai confirmed the same. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- Rashneek Kher http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com From anoopkheri at gmail.com Tue Jan 25 12:21:24 2011 From: anoopkheri at gmail.com (anoop kumar) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 12:21:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Dr Rakesh Sammauria: For a teacher his integrity is very important (A new interview in our Dalit and Adivasi Students Portal) Message-ID: Dear Friends, Please read the new interview of Dr Rakesh Sammauria(Asst Prof at Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan) in 'Meet our Mentor' Series at Dalit and Adivasi Students' Portal (www.scststudents.org) It is not just a interview but writing our own history - a history of brilliant struggle and trial and tribulations of Dalit and Adivasi students in professional colleges and technical universities in this country - a story that has remained untold. Please share it widely. Dr Rakesh Sammauria: For a teacher his integrity is very important www.scststudents.org Dr. Rakesh Sammauria, 37, is an Associate Professor (Agronomy) at Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan. Currently he is engaged at All India Coordinated Research Project on Dryland Agriculture at Dryland Farming Research Station at Bhilwara. Throughout topper in regards Anoop Kumar -- "Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run, Obama ran so your children can fly" From lalitambardar at hotmail.com Tue Jan 25 16:47:54 2011 From: lalitambardar at hotmail.com (Lalit Ambardar) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:17:54 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Flag nationalism In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: How ironic ? 'Guys' went scot free for 'stone pelting' but will now face prosecution for 'attempt' to hoist the 'flag'.. ...???..... Rgds all LA --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:49:08 +0530 > From: rashneek at gmail.com > To: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com > CC: reader-list at sarai.net > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Flag nationalism > > At least it confirms that we have mercenary activists... > > On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:19 AM, SJabbar wrote: > > > BJP R-day flags, activists Œstone-pelters¹ > > Bashaarat Masood Posted online: Mon Jan 24 2011, 09:12 hrs > > Srinagar : In what could prove an embarrassment for the BJP, the police > > said > > that two of its activists arrested on Saturday, ahead of the party¹s > > planned > > yatra to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, are known stone-pelters. > > ³We arrested six BJP activists. Two of them turned out to be listed > > stone-throwers,² Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ashiq Bukhari > > told The Indian Express. > > > > Denying that the men belonged to the party, the state president of > > Bharatiya > > Janata Yuva Morcha Shamsher Singh Manhas said: ³We are for the integrity of > > the state. The police are baffled by our programme... now they are > > inventing > > these stories. We have no idea about the people arrested by the police. We > > have been informed only about arrest of three activists.² > > > > Incidentally, BJP state vice-president Sofi Mohammad Yousuf had confirmed > > the arrest of the six party activists, calling it an attempt to foil the > > party¹s Republic Day programme. ³We were making preparations for the > > welcome > > of BJP activists visiting Kashmir. When our activists left home, some of > > them were arrested,² Yousuf told The Indian Express. > > > > Of the six alleged BJP activists, held from Srinagar for ³violating² > > prohibitory orders, were 22-year-old Wasim Hassan and Imtiyaz Ahmad, 24, > > both residents of downtown Srinagar, a stronghold of separatists. > > > > Sources say that Hassan, a resident of Qamarwari, and Ahmad of Nawab Bazar > > were involved in stone-throwing during the June uprising and that police > > are > > investigating cases against them. > > > > Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Shiv Murari Sahai confirmed the same. > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > > subscribe in the subject header. > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > > > > > -- > Rashneek Kher > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From lawrence at altlawforum.org Tue Jan 25 22:25:36 2011 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:25:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation to Consultation on Sedition Laws References: Message-ID: <9D5871C7-0700-4D32-B016-43390B09B4D2@altlawforum.org> Dear All The Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion (National Law School of India University) and the Alternative Law Forum invite you to a consultation on "Will the Law of Sedition be the Death of Free Speech ?" Date: January 29th (Saturday) Time: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 pm Venue: Training Centre, National Law School of India University, Nagarbhavi, B'lore 72 Schedule: 9.30 a.m.- Registration 10.00 a.m.: Introductory Remarks: Dr. S. Japhet (Coordinator, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion (CSSE), National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore) Session I: 10:15 a.m. to 11.30 a.m: The Historical Context of the Offence of Sedition Chair: Professor Hasan Mansoor, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) , Karnataka Speaker: Ujjwal Kumar Singh (Professor, Department of Political Science, Hindu College, University of Delhi. Prof Singh is also the author of two highly acclaimed books “Political Prisoners in India” and “The State, Democracy and Anti-Terror Laws in India”) Title: Rajdroha in Colonial and Postcolonial Times Speaker: Siddharth Narrain (Legal Researcher, Alternative Law Forum (ALF) , Bangalore) Title: Disaffection and the Law: A History of Sedition Laws in India Session II: 11-45 – 1.30 Will the law of sedition be the death of free speech: Contemporary Experiences Chair: Arvind Narrain, Alternative Law Forum (ALF) Speaker: Jawahar Raja (Advocate, Delhi) Title: Criminalising Speech: Suspect Communities and Excepted Persons Speaker: Jagadeesha B.N. (Advocate, Bangalore) Title: Dissent and the Laws of Sedition: The Karnataka Experience 1.30- 2:30 pm - Lunch Session III : 2:30 pm- 3:30 p.m.- Comparative Jurisdictions: The Status of Sedition in Other Countries Chair: Siddharth Narrain, Alternative Law Forum (ALF) Speakers: Kalyani Ramnath and Akila R.S. (Visiting Faculty, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore) Title: Sedition Laws: Global Trends, International Experiences Final Session : 3.30- 5.30 - The Way Forward Please see attached note for further details. Registration is free -- Alternative Law Forum 122/4 Infantry Road Opposite Infantry Wedding House Bangalore 560001 Phone 22868757/22865757 From oishiksircar at gmail.com Wed Jan 26 09:29:26 2011 From: oishiksircar at gmail.com (OISHIK SIRCAR) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:29:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] HUMAN RIGHTS BEYOND THE LAW: Call for Papers/ Proposals Message-ID: *HUMAN RIGHTS BEYOND THE LAW: POLITICS, PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCES OF PROTEST September 15-17, 2011, Jindal Global Law School, NCR of Delhi, India* * * *WORKSHOP ANNOUCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS/ PROPOSALS* * * *‘Human Rights Beyond the Law: Politics, Practices, Performances of Protest’ *, is a workshop being organized by the *Collaborative Research Programme on Law, Postcoloniality and Culture* at the *Jindal Global Law School*, NCR of Delhi, India. The workshop is supported by the *Brown International Advanced Research Institutes*, Brown University, USA. * * *POSING THE PROBLEM* Human Rights, liberalism’s most potent aphrodisiac, is an inescapable concern for many of us in the academy, despite our critical consciousness about the cruelly liberal genealogy of its idea and practice. For us human rights remains, to invoke Gayatri Spivak: “that which we cannot not want.” This consciousness has constituted each of us (and our subterranean others) as ‘desiring’ nationalist, heterosexual and entrepreneurial subjects to whom liberalism offers means like the market, secularism, merit, multiculturalism – and of course Human Rights Law – as remedies for inequality, subordination, exclusion and annihilation. How then do we engage the law, without falling into the trap of liberalism? Can we afford to completely disengage with liberal rights? At what cost do we move beyond the legalese of human rights? Does speaking the liberal language operate as a strategy for people’s movements, or is it a co-option of it? And as Wendy Brown enquires: “how might the paradoxical elements of the struggle for rights in an emancipatory context articulate a field of justice beyond “that which we cannot not want”?” One way to articulate a field of justice beyond “that which we cannot not want” is to document practices and performances of protest – as Resistance, Solidarity and Insurgency – in the postcolony that are deeply committed to talking ‘Human Rights’ but beyond and without the disciplined captivity of law, modernity and markets. Discussions at this workshop would aim at displacing the centrality of the law in giving meaning to ideas of justice and its liberal vicissitudes and to chart the limits of the legal archive. The ‘beyond’ metaphor is not a disengagement with the law, but one which allows us to delimit law’s habitus. This workshop chooses to focus on the materiality of subaltern protests by travelling through various forms of re/presentations of peoples, spaces, their resistances and acts of solidarity and insurgency in the postcolony that don’t require the law’s scaffolding to erect its articulation of rights. The workshop hopes to draw on the diversity of experiences of its participants to engage in a “counter-topographic” mapping of protest practices by ‘old’ and ‘new’ subalterns, particularly across certain locations in the conventional North, the Antipodes, Latin Americas, Africa and South and South East Asia. Along with being a project in building transnational solidarity through activist scholarship, it will also build an archive of images/ representations of performances of protest to put theory under the scanner of “small voice[s] of history”. *THEMATIC CLUSTERS* * * The workshop will be organized around five thematic clusters:** *I. **The Tyranny of Rights* *II. **Re/presentations of Resistance* *III. **Bodies in Protest* *IV. **Organizing the Transnational* *V. **Technologies of Subversion* *KEYNOTES* * * *Jasbir Puar *(Women’s and Gender Studies, Rutgers University, USA)*, Anthony Bogues *(Africana Studies, Brown University, USA)*, Rustom Bharucha *(Independent Writer, Culture Critic and Dramaturge, India)*, Boaventura De Sousa Santos *(Sociology, University of Coimbra, Portugal)*, Gail Omvedt *(Dalit Studies Scholar and Activist, Indira Gandhi National Open University, India)** *CALL FOR PAPERS/ PROPOSALS* The workshop aims to bring together scholars, activists, illustrators, performers, musicians, photographers and filmmakers to excavate archives and imagine repertoires of bodily practices of subaltern protest that both engage and critique the law. Abstracts/ proposals should pertain broadly to the theme of the workshop and its five thematic clusters. Non-English abstracts/ proposals are also welcome as long as it is accompanied by an English translation/ transcreation. If you’d like to discuss your abstract/ proposal before submitting it, please feel free to write to any of the organizing committee members (emails below). More details on the workshop are available at *www.protestworkshop.jgu.edu.in* Paper abstracts, proposals to curate exhibitions/ films, and proposals for performances (not exceeding 1000 words) need to be emailed to * protestworkshop.india at jgu.edu.in* no later than *March 30, 2011*. Decisions will be announced by April 30, 2011. *PUBLICATION PLANS *Organizers are in negotiation with publishers to consider either an edited book volume (which will include illustrations/ art work/ photographs) and/or a special issue of a journal emerging from of the workshop. ** *FUNDING* Partial funding for travel may be available for participants from Southern countries only whose abstracts/ proposals have been accepted. If you require funding, please attach a letter with your abstract/ proposal. Decisions regarding funding will be made only after acceptance of abstracts/ proposals. *ACCESSIBILITY* The workshop organizers are committed to making the conference architecture fully accessible and disabled friendly.** *ORGANIZING COMMITTEE* * * *OISHIK SIRCAR*, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India - osircar at jgu.edu.in *VIK KANWAR*, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India - vkanwar at jgu.edu.in *RAJSHREE CHANDRA*, Associate Professor, Janki Devi Memorial College, Delhi University, India - rajshreechandra at yahoo.in *NAVPRIT KAUR*, Research Associate, Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigargh, India - navspreet at gmail.com *ABOUT THE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMME IN LAW, POSTCOLONIALITY AND CULTURE (CRPLPC)* The CRPLPC opens up a space hitherto not available within law schools in India that will accommodate non-law scholars concerned with the working of the law in a postcolonial context to dialogue without the constraints of disciplinary boundaries. It will be a space that will bring together, among others, Feminists, Marxists, Theologists, Queer Theorists, Dalit Scholars, Crip Theorists to dialogue, debate and disturb the assumptions that underlie an uncritical reading of the life and times of law, society, culture and the market in postcolonial societies. CRPLPC will be a forum-based initiative that will operate as an intellectual clearing house engaged in convening workshops/ conferences, reading groups, building a network of academics, activists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and performers, of research centres on critical theory and postcolonial studies around the world, and remain committed to publishing sophisticated theoretical scholarship at the interstices of law, culture studies, postcolonial theory and critical theory. -- OISHIK SIRCAR oishiksircar at gmail.com oishik.sircar at utoronto.ca From the-network at koeln.de Wed Jan 26 13:37:13 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (artINFO) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:07:13 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?CologneOFF_2011_in_Rotterdam?= Message-ID: <20110126090713.A2174D1.A973901A@192.168.0.4> International Film Festival Rotterdam ATTRACTION OF THE OPPOSITES 26 January - 6 February 2011 CUCOSA, Raampoortstraat 16, 3032 AH Rotterdam (Netherlands) http://www.attractionoftheopposites.nl/program1.html CologneOFF 2011 selection "Attracted by the opposite?" curated by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne http://maxx.nmartproject.net/?p=161 http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_Rotterdam.pdf Do people really feel attracted by the opposite? Black does not exist without white, good not without bad. The one is depending on the other. If an opposite is existing, at all, the existing "standard" is being defined via its opposite, which is setting the actual values, the relations between each other. Being attracted by the opposite is actually no more than searching consciously or unconsciously for the "whole", an attempt to find an unity combining and relating the two opposite poles to each other. An uptopia? The selection of videos is spotlighting not only the phenomenon of the duality from different points of views and positions, but also the resulting relativity. Selected artists Mihai Grecu (Romania) - Congulate, 2008, 5:56 Giuseppe Girardi (Italy) - Stranger, 2008, 2:54 Ascan Breuer (Germany) - "The Kurukshetra-Report", 2009, 8:00 Jamie Waelchli (USA) - Little Pleasures, 2007, 11: 00 Alex Lora (Spain) - (Buried) Over The Roofs, 2009, 11:00 Mikhail Zheleznikov (Russia) - Together, 2010, 4:20 Jeffrey Anderson Bliss (USA) - Telephone, 2009, 4:55 Rosa Futuro (Italy) - The Future is Rose, 2008, 8:00 Angela Washko & Chris Skinner (USA) Washko's Personal Record, 2010, 2:14 Pablo Fernandez-Pujol (Spain) - 142-143 - 2010, 2:10 Emeka Ogboh (Nigeria) - [dis] connection - 2009, 1:58 Sai Kua Huan (Singapore) - Space Drawing No. 5 - , 2009, 1:02 Doug Williams (USA) - Back & Forth, 2009, 2:42 ----------------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January -31 December 2011 powered by artvideoKOELN - the initiative "art & moving images" http://video.mediaartcologne.org & CologneOFF - Cologne International Videoart Festival http://coff.newmediafest.org 2011 (at) coff.newmediafest.org ------------------------------------------------- From magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com Wed Jan 26 17:13:47 2011 From: magiclantern.foundation at gmail.com (Magic Lantern Foundation) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:13:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation to Persistence Resistance 2011 Message-ID: <5FD4AD08-7492-4A57-83EC-9355F4AC5FAE@gmail.com> Dear Friends Apologies for cross posting. Magic Lantern Foundation and India International Centre invite you to the 4th edition of Persistence Resistance: Edge of Visual Narrative. The festival aims to create a cinema space that celebrates the diverse nature of films today. The festival will screen more than 80 films, many of which are distributed by Under Construction, as well as special invited packages, in a multitude of viewing spaces. Dates: 7, 8, 9 & 10th February 2011, Time: 9:30 am to 10:00 pm Venue: India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 110003 Entry Free and all welcome. For more information and regular updates visit and register at: - http://persistenceresistance.in/ Some of the highlights of 4th editions are: Retrospectives of: Rahul Roy Kim Longinotto Arun Khopkar Special packages from: Doc Alliance films brought by Dok Leipzig Selection from London International Documentary Festival Student films from Zelig School, Italy. Selected films from South Korea curated by Asian Network of the Documentary, Pusan International Film Festival World premiere of: - ‘This is cricket no?’ by Sudhir Aggarwal and Gregory French - ‘You don’t belong’ by Spandan Banerjee - ‘Partners in crime’ by Paromita Vohra Seminars: Film Festivals as Public Cultures' on 7 February at the Max Mueller Bhavan. Directors of 8 international and 3 Indian film festivals will speak at this. Gender and governance' in collaboration with UN Women, focused on the work of Kim Longinotto and Rahul Roy on 10 Feb at the IIC And: Workshop on 'Crowd Funding for Production and Distribution' conducted by Charlie Phillip, director of Markets at Sheffield Doc fest and Jamie King, director Vodo, an on-line distribution platform. Peter WIntonick, award winning filmmaker and creator of several public access digital archives, would moderate the workshop. On 8 Feb at IIC. [These seminars and workshop will require prior registration.] The festival will be inaugurated on 8 February, 10 am with the release of Shohini Ghosh's book 'Fire.' For those in New Delhi, we're doing a curtain raiser at Yodakin, the bookshop at Hauz Khas Village on 29th Jan, at 6.30pm. Please come. Please also circulate this information among those who might be interested to attend or write about the festival. With Warm Wishes MLF Festival Team Website: http://www.persistenceresistance.in/ Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=189203294440124 Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/persistenceresistance From chintan.backups at gmail.com Wed Jan 26 19:44:34 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:44:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 'Teaching Peace' with Linda Hess, Feb 3, Pune Message-ID: *Teaching Peace: An interactive discourse by scholar and writer Linda Hess* Venue: Open Space, 301, (second floor), Kanchanjunga bldg. Kanchan lane, off Law College Road, Near Krishna Dining Hall, Pune -411004 Date: February 3, 2011 Time: 5.30 – 7.30pm Most violent events in history involve ordinary people, not just criminals, lunatics or sociopaths. We ask ourselves “How can people do such things?” “Could we also do such things under similar circumstances?” “How could we prepare ourselves not to behave that way?” Is education irrelevant and useless to learning ways of dealing with conflict? Can education touch children and youth in a transformative way--a way that gives them hope of integrating the various parts of themselves and their world, changing themselves and the world? To arouse a deeper and more powerfully felt engagement with these questions, Open Space invites youth, educators, activists, artistes, media professionals and all interested to interact with Dr Linda Hess, who has developed an experimental course to: (1) investigate the connections between inner and outer worlds, the personal and social-political roots of (non)violence; (2) take steps, as participants in history, toward recognizing and transforming violence in ourselves at the same time as we strive to solve social, political, economic, environmental, and other problems that confront us. This interaction is a continuation of Open Space’s Keeping The Peace lecture series to encourage discussion and dialogue on issues that are dividing and polarising society and public opinion. The interaction will explore new ways of teaching compassion and ethics. Linda says: “We keep things compartmentalized. It is this hard separation between what we call “intellectual” and the other parts of our being, including the emotional, imaginative, and moral, that gives rise to despair about the meaning of education…” All are welcome. -- Dr Linda Hess is a scholar, writer, and a lover of Kabir. She began her travels to India in the 1960s and has been studying and translating the poetry of Kabir since the 1970s. Her publications and present research include The Bijak of Kabir, (with Sukhdev Singh), considered by many to be one of the best translations of Kabir into English, and Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva Performs the Poetry of Kabir. She is currently working on a book titled Bodies of Song: Kabir Oral Traditions and Performative Worlds in Northern India. She has also been an advisor to The Kabir Project since 2003. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University and is Co-Director of Stanford's Center for South Asia. Open Space is an initiative of the Centre for Communication and Development Studies (CCDS). OS helps young people unpack their differences and learn to see themselves and the world around them through different lenses. www.openspaceindia.org /www.infochangeindia.org For details contact: Rakesh – 9921090931 or Ujwala Samarth – 020-25457371 From member at linkedin.com Wed Jan 26 20:38:15 2011 From: member at linkedin.com (Ashok Malik via LinkedIn) Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:08:15 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation to connect on LinkedIn Message-ID: <1204313553.3348806.1296054495492.JavaMail.app@ela4-bed40.prod> LinkedIn ------------Ashok Malik requested to add you as a connection on LinkedIn: ------------------------------------------ Anuradha, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Ashok Accept invitation from Ashok Malik http://www.linkedin.com/e/5l2h9f-gjeddszk-f/u-6BBwpbUgB_dFU59yC_yGTbG_b_X5ohl2/blk/I38849415_15/pmpxnSRJrSdvj4R5fnhv9ClRsDgZp6lQs6lzoQ5AomZIpn8_dj5vdj4QejgUe3d9bT9Sbj9Pc6dbbPcTcz0Ne3kNcz8LrCBxbOYWrSlI/EML_comm_afe/ View invitation from Ashok Malik http://www.linkedin.com/e/5l2h9f-gjeddszk-f/u-6BBwpbUgB_dFU59yC_yGTbG_b_X5ohl2/blk/I38849415_15/0RclYRcjgVd3wUcQALqnpPbOYWrSlI/svi/ ------------------------------------------ DID YOU KNOW you can be the first to know when a trusted member of your network changes jobs? With Network Updates on your LinkedIn home page, you'll be notified as members of your network change their current position. Be the first to know and reach out! http://www.linkedin.com/ -- (c) 2011, LinkedIn Corporation From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Thu Jan 27 13:19:39 2011 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (SJabbar) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:19:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Revenge and Reconciliation Message-ID: Remorse can lessen the pain Jyoti Punwani | New Delhi, January 27, 2011 | 08:26 When lawyers showered Pakistani governor Salmaan Taseer's assassin with rose petals, Indians looked on with a mixture of shock and pity. But we needn't have felt so smug: we had descended to that level much before Pakistan had. In 2008, when terror accused Lt Col Purohit was produced in a Pune court, he was showered with rose petals by admirers. But no flowers greeted Swami Aseemanand when he emerged from the chamber of the Panchkula magistrate, Haryana, on January 15, having confessed a second time, to being part of the conspiracy to bomb mosques across the country. The Swami knew that others, totally unrelated to him, were in prison for the crime he had committed. He also knew that the police would not touch him. He is after all, a Hindu godman, not a maulvi, whose beard could be plucked amid taunts of "call your Allah". Confession There was also a good chance that the investigative agencies would abruptly drop the Hindutva angle, as they had so many times earlier. Finally, he knew that a confession before a magistrate could be used against him in court. So there was simply no need for him to admit to a crime that could earn him the death penalty. The Swami's confession has provoked a sense of triumph among Muslims and secularists, who had all along suspected that Hindutva groups were responsible for the series of blasts outside mosques that started in Maharashtra in 2003. But while the campaign now on, to get the Muslim boys arrested for these blasts out on bail is necessary, shouldn't we also appreciate the act that made their release a possibility? Those fighting against injustice to the minorities must need be concerned with that cliché called " communal harmony". Swami Aseemanand's act goes beyond harmony: as Kaleem, the prisoner who the Swami says prompted him to confess, told this reporter, in his Hyderabadi dialect: " Bahoot bada kaam hai - confess karna.'' The interaction between Kaleem and the Swami is truly the stuff legends are made of. The young man's behaviour is no less inspiring than the Swami's. Tortured and imprisoned for 18 months for a crime he hadn't committed; his family hounded into moving house six times; losing his coveted medical seat (he was fourth in the merit list); finally being acquitted, and then re- arrested in another case… after all this, to be kind to the man responsible for the very crime for which he had suffered, is hard to understand. His mother had always taught him that revenge is no good, said Kaleem; in addition, the Swami's age and calm demeanour moved him. Discovering the identity of the youth who went out of his way to help him, and hearing his story, the Swami in turn, was moved to confess. Let's not forget that till then, hatred for Kaleem's community had defined the Swami's life; and that Kaleem too, had enough reason to hate all RSS types. Compassion such as Kaleem's has been seen in recent times only in Gladys Staines' forgiveness of the man who burnt alive her husband and two little sons. Even in last week's shocking Supreme Court judgment, Gladys Staines could see an opportunity for her family's killer to reform. One of the arguments against capital punishment is the possibility of reform. That, unfortunately, wasn't what prompted the Supreme Court to refuse to convert Dara Singh's life sentence to death. On the contrary, the judgment almost explained away the murder by referring to the intention with which it was committed. (The remarks have since been expunged, following protests.) Hardly an incentive for the accused to reform! But who knows? Even a man as merciless as Dara Singh might be moved to shame by the words of his victims' wife and mother, the way his fellow traveller Swami Aseemanand was. Qasab After all, didn't the most cold- blooded terrorist we've seen in action - Ajmal Qasab - have his moments of remorse? During his interrogation just after his capture, telecast repeatedly on TV, Qasab could be seen weeping: " Bhagwan mujhe nahin maaf karega," when his interrogator pointed out that he had killed poor people like himself. " Kya jehad hai saab," he said wryly when asked about the training he received for jehad. He even revealed his instinct to run away when he heard his Pakistani instructors orders to keep on killing. " Hum bhi insaan hain yar,'' the 22- year- old Pakistani, strapped to his hospital bed, told his Indian interrogator. Had he not been captured, Qasab may never have felt remorse. But it was obvious during his trial too, that Qasab was unnerved at having to face his victims' families and those who survived his bullets. Obviously, his trainers had not prepared him for the possibility of having to confront, as living human beings, the faceless Indians he was trained to kill. (Were Muslims just faceless enemies for Aseemanand too, till he met Kaleem?) Just a year's training in arms hadn't been enough; Qasab the jehadi actually wanted some kafir to tie him a rakhi! There are chances of Qasab reforming if he is spared hanging. But will we have the guts to allow that? We would rather do the opposite - witness how the new Deoband chief, elected to be the spiritual guide for millions, has been pressurised into saying, " We will take revenge on Modi; we will pray to Allah for this.'' Reconciliation Reconciliation after years of conflict and hatred is a goal many of us yearn for. Such reconciliation is not possible without justice, goes the usual argument. But humans don't follow such formulae. Even after his wife was burnt to death in Coach S- 6 of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, 2002, Dr Girishchandra Rawal, aged 60- plus, refused to support the massacre of Muslims in Ahmedabad that followed. He told this reporter: " I would like to burn the entire society. But my religion doesn't permit me to do so. There's no space for revenge in it.'' Gladys Staines didn't wait for Dara Singh to be sentenced to life before she forgave him; she did so immediately after he inflicted the most painful death on her family. Her actions could be explained as that of a true Christian. What of Kaleem? He was eventually acquitted in the Mecca Masjid blasts case, but was that justice? Could it bring back his lost opportunities and make up for his family's humiliation? Yet, he chose to serve the Swami. Moved to repent, the Swami could have kept his remorse a private matter between him and God. But he went public knowing he was trapping not just himself, but all his associates; more than that, he was helping the community his organisation regards as traitors. As Kaleem pointed out, it's not just the Muslim blast accused whom the Swami has absolved; his confessions have lifted the " terrorist" label from the entire community. That in itself is a great disservice to the RSS. So far, the RSS has always exposed its intolerance and fanaticism involuntarily, by its actions. When one of its most committed ideologues chooses to expose the terrorist acts of its members, at great personal cost, we need to salute him. From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Thu Jan 27 13:21:39 2011 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (SJabbar) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:21:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Flag nationalism In-Reply-To: Message-ID: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 ‘Jhansi kii raani’ arrested while sending JKLF flags in air at Maisuma Before his arrest, Yasin Malik had put two persons from UP on the Azadi task Ahmed Ali Fayyaz SRINAGAR, Jan 26: With all eyes on Kashmiri Muslim supporters of Yasin Malik to fail their attempts of hoisting anti-national flags at Lal Chowk, Police today discovered that JKLF’s balloons were sent in air nowhere but Malik’s residential locality of Maisuma. Two persons were found doing the Azadi job with an inflating machine. Both of them, immediately arrested by Police, are members of the majority community from Jhansi city of Uttar Pradesh. Malik, alongwith 16 separatist activists, was himself arrested by Police parallel to a crackdown on BJP activists as 25 of them were picked up from different locations. On occasion of the Republic Day, BJP and JKLF had announced plans to install conflicting flags on the Clock Tower at Lal Chowk. Informed sources revealed to Early Times that Police swooped on a residential house in Maisuma minutes after JKLF balloons were spotted flying in air. Thirty-year-old Prakash and 20-year-old Koli, both residents of Jhansi, were caught red-handed while inflating and sending the balloons in air with the help of a pumping machine. Their balloons and machine were seized and both the youngsters were detained at a local Police Station. SSP Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, confirmed the arrest of the most unexpected duo from Jhansi. He said Prakash as well as the young woman, Koli, disclosed during questioning that they had been making and selling the balloons in Batmaloo area. They revealed that they had been specially engaged by JKLF activists for the job of sending balloons in air on January 26th from a house in Maisuma. Bukhari said that Police were likely to file an FIR against the duo after assessing all related circumstances within next 24 hours. Earlier today, amid total shutdown in Kashmir valley and undeclared curfew in Srinagar, Police arrested Malik alongwith 16 of his separatist associates as they emerged from Maisuma and began proceeding towards nearby Lal Chowk while shouting pro-Azadi slogans. Many of them carried JKLF flags in hand. Those arrested included representatives from different constituents of Mirwaiz Umar-led Hurriyat Conference, like Bilal Gani Lone of Peoples Conference and Shahidul Islam of Awami Action Committee. Once dreaded militants of Hizbullah and JKLF, Yasin Malik, Shahidul Islam, Mohammad Iqbal Gandroo, Showkat Bakhshi and Javed Ahmed Zargar did not offer any resistance to Police. That Police were in agreement with them in holding “a restricted show” was evident from the fact that all of them had gathered at Malik’s office and marched through the fully cleared lane before being picked up gently and packed into vehicles. They were later lodged at Police Stations of Kothibagh, Rajbagh and Kralkhud. Malik, Lone and their key associates were detained at Kothibagh where over a dozen of BJP activists had already been lodged. Informed sources said that full hospitality and protocol was provided to the detainees who were free to interact with anybody on mobile phones. Police arranged lunch and dinner for them all. Sources said that one unidentified BJP activist was arrested and his flag was seized immediately after he came out of a Delhi-Srinagar Kingfisher plane at Srinagar Airport. He was whisked away to the Police Gazetted Officers Mess at Police Division Humhama where three of the party’s MLAs from Jammu were already detained. As already reported in today’s newspapers, BJP’s MLAs Prof Garu Ram, Jugal Kishore and Sham Choudhary, alongwith a party activist from Udhampur, Pawan Gupta, had been detained on their arrival at Srinagar Airport yesterday. Authoritative sources today said that as many as 25 BJP activists, having reached here from different Indian states, were taken into custody by Police from different places in the capital city. Six of them were staying at Hotel Broadway, two at Hotel Pamposh and few others in residential houses of party workers in Habbakadal area. Sources said that most of them informed Police and mediapersons on phone about their whereabouts. Officials said that all the BJP and JKLF detainees would be released in the forenoon on Thursday. Authorities were yet to decide whether they would be allowed to proceed with their plans of holding separate press conferences. Even as all the scheduled flights operated at Srinagar Airport today and Police maintained surveillance on every incoming and outgoing passenger, Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed for traffic. Officials admitted that the unprecedented decision had been taken and enforced only to prevent BJP activists from arriving in the Valley. However, around a thousand trucks were allowed to reach from Srinagar and Anantnag to Qazigund. The establishment succeeding in holding a trouble-free state ceremony on the R-Day at Bakhshi Stadium in Srinagar and all other district headquarters. While as Minister of Finance Abdul Rahim Rather was the chief guest at the main ceremonial parade in Srinagar, nine other Ministers took the salute and hoisted the Tricolour at similar ceremonies at other district headquarters. There were no reports of any untoward incident as Police and security forces enforced restrictions on ordinary civilian movement and the separatist groups had, as usual, called for total shutdown. Consequently, transport was fully off the road, people remained confined to their homes and none of the shops or any other business establishments were open in the Valley. Separatist hardliners Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Shah were not allowed to move out of their residences while as other separatist leaders did not make any attempt to come out and disturb peace. In Srinagar, Lal Chowk area was found completely out of bounds for everybody. None of the unauthorized officials was allowed to pass through Civil Lines as Police had put barbed wire barriers on all incoming and outgoing roads. For the first time since 1947, not a single journalist was allowed to pass through Lal Chowk. Most of the mediapersons had already shifted from their offices and residences in Press Enclave to other locations in the city due to undeclared curfew in town. On 25/01/11 4:47 PM, "Lalit Ambardar" wrote: > How ironic ? > 'Guys' went scot free for 'stone pelting' but will now face prosecution for > 'attempt' to hoist the 'flag'.. ...???..... > Rgds all > LA > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --------------------------------------------------------- > >> > Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:49:08 +0530 >> > From: rashneek at gmail.com >> > To: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com >> > CC: reader-list at sarai.net >> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Flag nationalism >> > >> > At least it confirms that we have mercenary activists... >> > >> > On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 10:19 AM, SJabbar wrote: >> > >>> > > BJP R-day flags, activists Œstone-pelters¹ >>> > > Bashaarat Masood Posted online: Mon Jan 24 2011, 09:12 hrs >>> > > Srinagar : In what could prove an embarrassment for the BJP, the police >>> > > said >>> > > that two of its activists arrested on Saturday, ahead of the party¹s >>> > > planned >>> > > yatra to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, are known stone-pelters. >>> > > ³We arrested six BJP activists. Two of them turned out to be listed >>> > > stone-throwers,² Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ashiq >>> Bukhari >>> > > told The Indian Express. >>> > > >>> > > Denying that the men belonged to the party, the state president of >>> > > Bharatiya >>> > > Janata Yuva Morcha Shamsher Singh Manhas said: ³We are for the integrity of >>> > > the state. The police are baffled by our programme... now they are >>> > > inventing >>> > > these stories. We have no idea about the people arrested by the police. We >>> > > have been informed only about arrest of three activists.² >>> > > >>> > > Incidentally, BJP state vice-president Sofi Mohammad Yousuf had >>> confirmed >>> > > the arrest of the six party activists, calling it an attempt to foil the >>> > > party¹s Republic Day programme. ³We were making preparations for the >>> > > welcome >>> > > of BJP activists visiting Kashmir. When our activists left home, some of >>> > > them were arrested,² Yousuf told The Indian Express. >>> > > >>> > > Of the six alleged BJP activists, held from Srinagar for ³violating² >>> > > prohibitory orders, were 22-year-old Wasim Hassan and Imtiyaz Ahmad, 24, >>> > > both residents of downtown Srinagar, a stronghold of separatists. >>> > > >>> > > Sources say that Hassan, a resident of Qamarwari, and Ahmad of Nawab >>> Bazar >>> > > were involved in stone-throwing during the June uprising and that police >>> > > are >>> > > investigating cases against them. >>> > > >>> > > Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Shiv Murari Sahai confirmed the >>> same. >>> > > _________________________________________ >>> > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >>> > > Critiques & Collaborations >>> > > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >>> > > subscribe in the subject header. >>> > > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> > > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Rashneek Kher >> > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com >> > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com >> > _________________________________________ >> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >> > Critiques & Collaborations >> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe >> in the subject header. >> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> > From shwetatewari28 at gmail.com Thu Jan 27 17:07:45 2011 From: shwetatewari28 at gmail.com (shweta tewari) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:07:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Cultures of Peace - Festival of the Northeast (28 - 29 January) Message-ID: Dear All, We’re looking forward to having you celebrate and engage with the North East with us. Following is a brief overview of the Cultures of Peace Programme on 28th and 29th January at India Habitat Centre. Please note that you are welcome to attend any of the sessions/ programme and that no invitation card or pass is required. ALL ARE WELCOME! The Programme 28 January Venue: Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi 9.30 am to 11.30 am : Session One: WRITING PEACE, WRITING VIOLENCE Speakers: Subir Bhaumik, Temsula Ao, Arupa Kalita, Ananya Guha, Aruni Kashyap, Pradip Phanjoubam, Indrani Raimedhi, Moderator: Nilanjana Roy 11.30 am : Exhibition Opening: SEVEN SISTERS AND THE CITY, by Uzma Mohsin Venue: Convention Hall Foyer, India Habitat Centre 12.00 pm: Session Two: THE WORDS TO SAY IT Speakers: Mamang Dai, Mitra Phukan, Bijoya Sawian, Rita Chowdhury, Mona Zote, Omar Sharif, Moderator: Preeti Gill 2.00 pm: Session Three: CROSSING BORDERS Speakers: Monalisa Changkija, Uddipana Goswami, Aruni Kashyap, Triveni Mathur, Rajesh Dev, Rupa Chinai, Dhiren Sadokpam Moderator: Uma Chakravarti 4.15 pm: Session Four: STORIES FROM A WAR ZONE Speakers: Subir Bhaumik, Sanjoy Hazarika, Meenakshi Ganguly, Deepti Priya Mehrotra, Utpal Borpujari, Pradip Phanjoubam Moderator: Urvashi Butalia 6.00 pm: Performance by Ojas S.V. 'Le Mashale' - A Woman with Torch 29 January Venue: Amphitheatre, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi 3.00 pm: Session One: CONFRONTING THE PAST, IMAGINING THE FUTURE Speakers: Sanjoy Hazarika, Laxmi Murthy, 4.00 pm: Session Two: EXPRESSING THE NORTHEAST, Readings and Performances Readings from Irom Sharmila’s Fragrance of Peace by Haripriya Soibam Performance by Rojio Usham based on Irom Sharmila’s poetry Readings by creative writers and poets from the Northeast: Mitra Phukan, Mona Zote, Aruni Kashyap, Monalisa Changkija, Uddipana Goswami, Nitoo Das, Omar Sharif, Ananya Guha, Rita Chowdhury, Sabah al Ahmed, Haripriya Soibam, Nazneen Hussain Music by Imphal Talkies led by Akhu 6.30 pm: GRAND CLOSING: MUSIC CONCERT by SOULMATE from Shillong ________________________________________________________________________ We look forward to seeing you all at the festival. Best Wishes The Festival Team From cubbykabi at yahoo.com Thu Jan 27 18:55:45 2011 From: cubbykabi at yahoo.com (kabi cubby sherman) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:55:45 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Queer Azaadi Mumbai March, January 29, 2011 Message-ID: <513774.49530.qm@web94703.mail.in2.yahoo.com> see all you bombay people saturday marching! best kabi ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: labia india To: labia gmail Sent: Thu, 27 January, 2011 11:25:57 AM Subject: Queer Azaadi Mumbai March, January 29, 2011 Queer Azaadi Mumbai March – Saturday, January 29, 2011 M A R C H……with Bombay's queers and straight supporters on the 29th January, 2011 from August Kranti Maidan to Girgaum Chowpatty. Time : 3PM (Assemble @ AK Maidan) to 6PM Make your travel plans , apply for that leave, get your gear ready to flaunt it out in the Mumbai Pride March! We march with the following demands: * The 377 case will now be heard in the Supreme Court, hence our demand for this law to be read down continues The Constitution must include provisions to deal with all discrimination on the grounds of sexuality or gender. * Those amongst us who are transgendered are not recognised by society. Equal citizenship rights and opportunities should be extended to all who do not fit into either of the two categories of male and female. * The medical establishment must be made aware of the reality of our lives and our needs, and cease all insensitive and cruel attempts to 'cure' us. * Every individual is under tremendous pressure to marry a person of the opposite sex, as marriage is seen as a must in our society. We must join forces in a campaign against all such forced marriages. * We call for an end to homophobia and transphobia. We want freedom from violence and hate within families, in educational institutions, at places of work and in public spaces. We especially demand that fundamentalist forces stop abusing us and poisoning people's minds against us. --- LESBIANS ON THE LINE 9833278171 Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays (5pm - 8pm) You can also reach us at: LABIA/ Stree Sangam P.O. Box 16613 Mumbai 400 019. From pukhraj at abroo.in Thu Jan 27 20:18:16 2011 From: pukhraj at abroo.in (Pukhraj Singh) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:18:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Abroo_Magazine=3A_Call_for_Articles=2C_?= =?utf-8?b?4KiG4Kis4Kiw4KmCIOCosOCouOCovuCosuCovjog4Kiy4KmH4KiW4Ki+?= =?utf-8?b?4KiCIOCopuCpgCDgqK7gqbDgqJc=?= Message-ID: *Abroo (ਆਬਰੂ) Magazine: Call for Articles Deadline: 28th February, 2011* *URL: http://abroo.in/magazine/* Abroo (ਆਬਰੂ) is a soon-to-be-launched bilingual (English and Punjabi) print magazine which will cover the state of social, political, economic and religious affairs in Punjab, while also acting as the voice of weaker and oppressed sections of society. It aims to provide a scholastic, scientific and nonpartisan critique, free from superficiality or rhetoric. In a novel attempt to synergize new and contemporary media, the Abroo.inportal will act as a digital extension to the magazine, with extended references, videos and podcasts on the covered topics. This initiative has got the backing of some leading Punjabi intellectuals, politicians and academicians. We are seeking articles for the inaugural edition on varied themes like current affairs, politics, economics, sociology, theology, literature, art and poetry. Being a non-profit venture, remuneration should best not be expected. The submissions, ranging from 1000-6000 words, should be in English or Punjabi (eventually published in both). The articles can be emailed to pukhraj at abroo.in, along with a brief profile of the author, no later than 28th February, 2011. Best, Pukhraj Singh Abroo - Reclamation of Identity by the Downtrodden & Weaker Sections of Punjab Subscribe to our Newsletter - www.abroo.in Follow us on Facebook, Twitter , YouTubeor via RSS . *ਆਬਰੂ (Abroo) ਰਸਾਲਾ: ਲੇਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਮੰਗ ਅਖੀਰਲੀ ਤਾਰੀਕ: 28 ਫਰਵਰੀ, 2011* *URL: http://abroo.in/punjabi/magazine-punjabi/* ਆਬਰੂ (Abroo), ਛੇਤੀ ਹੀ ਆਰੰਭ ਹੋਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਇੱਕ ਦੋਭਾਸ਼ੀ ਰਸਾਲਾ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਕਿ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਸਮਾਜਿਕ, ਆਰਥਿਕ, ਰਾਜਨੀਤਿਕ ਤੇ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਸਰਗਰਮੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਲੇਖਾ ਜੋਖਾ ਰਖਦੇ ਹੋਏ, ਸਮਾਜ ਦੇ ਕਮਜੋਰ ਤੇ ਦੱਬੇ-ਕੁਚਲੇ ਵਰਗਾਂ ਦੀ ਆਵਾਜ਼ ਵੀ ਹੋਏ ਗਾ. ਇਹ ਰਸਾਲਾ ਹਾਲਾਤਾਂ ਦਾ ਵਿਦਿਅਕ, ਵਿਗਿਆਨਿਕ ਅਤੇ ਨਿਰਪਖ ਵਿਸ਼ਲੇਸ਼ਣ ਕਰੇ ਗਾ ਜੋ ਕਿ ਦਿਖਾਵੇ ਅਤੇ ਲਫ਼ਜ਼ਬਾਜ਼ੀ ਤੋਂ ਪਰੇ ਹੋਏ ਗਾ. ਇਸਦਾ ਇੱਕ ਡਿਜਿਟਲ ਅੰਗ, ਆਬਰੂ-ਡਾਟ-ਇਨ (Abroo.in), ਮੋਜੂਦਾ ਭਾਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਇੱਕ ਨਵੇਂ ਭਾਰਤ ਨਾਲ ਮਿਲਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਇੱਕ ਅਦਭੁੱਤ ਉਪਰਾਲਾ ਹੋਏ ਗਾ, ਜਿਸ ਵਿਚ ਵੀਡੀਓ, ਪੋਡਕਾਸਟ (podcasts) ਅਤੇ ਵਰਣਿਤ ਵਿਸ਼ਿਆਂ ਉੱਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਅੱਗੇ ਸੰਦਰਭ ਹੋਣ ਗੇ. ਇਸ ਰਸਾਲੇ ਨੂੰ ਕੁਝ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਬੁਧੀਜੀਵੀਆਂ, ਵਿਦਵਾਨਾਂ ਤੇ ਰਾਜਨੇਤਾਵਾਂ ਦਾ ਹੁੰਗਾਰਾ ਵੀ ਮਿਲਿਆ ਹੈ. ਇਸਦੇ ਉਦਘਾਟਨੀ ਸੰਸਕਰਣ ਲਈ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਰਾਜਨੀਤੀ, ਮੋਜੂਦਾ ਹਾਲਾਤ,ਅਰਥਵਿਅਸਥਾ, ਸਮਾਜਿਕ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ, ਧਰਮ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ, ਸਾਹਿਤ, ਕਲਾ ਅਤੇ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਵਰਗੇ ਵਿਸ਼ਿਆਂ ਉਤੇ ਲੇਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਉਡੀਕ ਹੈ. 1000-6000 ਸ਼ਬਦਾਂ ਤਕ ਲਿਖੇ ਹੋਏ ਲੇਖ, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਜਾਂ ਅੰਗ੍ਰੇਜ਼ੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੋ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ ਜਿੰਨਾ ਨੂੰ ਅਸੀਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਵਿੱਚ ਦੋਵਾਂ ਭਾਸ਼ਾਵਾਂ ਦਾ ਰੂਪ ਦੇ ਦਵਾਂ ਗੇ. ਸਾਡੀ ਇੱਕ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਹੈ…ਕਿਓਂਕਿ ਇਹ ਇੱਕ ਆਰੰਭਿਕ ਕੋਸ਼ਿਸ਼ ਨਾ-ਲਾਭ-ਨਾ-ਹਾਨੀ ਦੇ ਅਧਾਰ ਤੇ ਹੈ, ਕਿਸੇ ਮੁਆਵਜ਼ੇ ਦੀ ਆਸ ਹਾਲੇ ਨਾ ਕੀਤੀ ਜਾਵੇ. ਆਪਣੇ ਲੇਖ, ਸੰਖੇਪ ਜਿਹੇ ਜੀਵਨ ਬਿਓਰੇ ਨਾਲ, ਪੁਖਰਾਜ@ਆਬਰੂ-ਡਾਟ-ਇਨ ( pukhraj at abroo.in) ਤੇ 28 ਫਰਵਰੀ, 2011, ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਭੇਜ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਜਾਣ. ਸ਼ੁਭਚਿੰਤਕ, ਪੁਖਰਾਜ ਸਿੰਘ ਆਬਰੂ - ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਦੱਬੇ-ਕੁਚਲੇ ਅਤੇ ਪੱਛੜੇ ਵਰਗਾਂ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਆਪਣੇ ਵਜੂਦ ਦਾ ਦਾਵਾ ਈ-ਪਤ੍ਰਿਕਾ - www.abroo.in ਫੇਸ੍ਬੂਕ , ਟਵੀਟਰ , ਯੂਟ੍ਯੂਬਅਤੇ ਬ੍ਲਾਗ . From goodmash.me at gmail.com Thu Jan 27 21:02:57 2011 From: goodmash.me at gmail.com (Cheri) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:02:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: A Panel Discussion on the case of Dr. Binayak Sen:Friday, January 28th, 4:00 PM: In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ** *A Panel Discussion on* * Seditionist or Prisoner of Conscience* *State power, civil liberties and the case of Dr. Binayak Sen*** *Friday, 28 January, 2011 at 4.00 PM * *Lecture Hall, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore* The Sessions Court of Raipur, Chhattisgarh sentenced Dr. Binayak Sen and two others to life imprisonment under charges of sedition on the 24th December 2010, which has drawn nationwide and international criticism. Dr. Sen, a medical practitioner working in one of the most backward areas of the country, is a sharp critic of the violation of human rights by the state police and the Chhattisgarh government machinery, in the name of containing Maoist violence. The judgement, indicting Dr. Sen for ‘sedition’, has opened up a larger debate on the problematic relationship between the state, its institutions like the judiciary, and the democratic values they are supposed to uphold. The panel discussion will focus on the nature of the judgement in the Dr. Binayak Sen case and its historical burden. It will also analyse the political framework of the civil liberties movement and its relation with the state. Introduction: * **Dr. Rajesh Kasturirangan, *National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore *Panelists* *Disaffection and the State: A Brief History of the Sedition Law in India* *Siddharth Narrain* Legal Researcher, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore *Mainstreaming Resistance in the Neo-Liberal Context: Prospects and Challenges* *Dr. V Krishna Ananth* Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library; Advocate; Freelance columnist, Chennai *Experience from the human rights movement in Karnataka* *Prof. Nagaragere Ramesh* Member, People’s Democratic Forum, Bangalore; Former Principal, National College, Bangalore *All are cordially invited* National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus, Near M.S.Ramaiah Engineering College, Mathikere, Bangalore K S Rama Krishna -- N.I.A.S., I.I.Sc Campus Bangalore 560012 Ph: 2218 5000 Fax: 2218 5028 Email: niasoff at gmail.com -- _______________________________________________________________________ Subhankar Chakraborty PhD Student National Institute of Advanced Studies Indian Institute of Science Campus Bangalore- 560 012, India Laboratory 3 National Centre for Biological Sciences Tata Institute of Fundamental Research GKVK Campus, Bellary Road Bangalore 560 065, India Tel : +91-9449045096 (Mobile) -- Dr. V. Krishna Ananth Advocate and NMML Fellow, S-1, B Block, Land Marvel Garden, Rajaji Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, CHENNAI 600 041. Phone 09444052077 http://krishnananth.blogspot.com ============================= To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden path or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life had breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded - Ralph Waldo Emerson ============================= From rohitrellan at aol.in Thu Jan 27 22:10:04 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:40:04 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 13th Mumbai Film Festival - dates announced In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CD8C57FB982CCD-688-2FBE@webmail-d052.sysops.aol.com> 13th MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL 13th to 20th October 2011 The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) announced the dates of the next edition of the Mumbai Film Festival.  The 13th Mumbai Film Festival will be held from 13th to 20th October 2011. The Mumbai Film Festival is emerging as one of the most important international film festivals in Asia. It showcases the best of contemporary world cinema, Indian cinema and feature length documentaries.  The five minute short films by young students and media professionals, titled DIMENSIONS MUMBAI and the academic programme MUMBAI YOUNG CRITICS have been widely appreciated by the youth.  The 12th edition also introduced a new competition section CELEBRATE AGE for films dealing with the concerns, spice, fun and adventure of growing older.  The Festival is a highly regarded and anticipated event in Mumbai’s cultural calendar, attracting leading international filmmakers, industry professionals, together with large public audiences. One of the main attractions of Mumbai Film Festival is the International Competition of first-time film directors.  The first feature films by filmmakers compete for Rs. 75 lakhs (Approx. US$ 150,000) cash awards.  The Festival hands out cash awards equivalent to US$ 200,000 in all categories. The 12th Mumbai Film Festival hosted 215 feature films from 58 countries. There were 315 screenings. The Festival opened on 21st October 2010 with David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and closed with “Red” starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich on 28th October 2010. The eminent International Jury consisting of veteran Korean actress Jeong-hee Yoon, well known Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf and award winning Indian actor-director Suhasini Maniratnam was headed by Oscar winner Jane Campion.  The Turkish film "Majority" directed by Seren Yuce won the Best First Film award (US$ 100,000) and the Danish film "R" directed by Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm won the Jury Grand Prize (US$ 50,000). In 2009, the Festival introduced Film Business Centre to facilitate B2B interactions and serve as a networking platform for film professionals from India and abroad.  Important buyers and sales agents from around the world attended the Film Business Centre.  In 2010 this initiative grew bigger with the participation of representatives of Pathe Intl., Studio Canal, Wide Management, Memento Films Intl., Bavaria Films Intl. and Sheherzad Media Intl. to name a few. The 13th Mumbai Film Festival will start accepting submissions from 1st April 2011.  The regulations, entry forms and other details will be announced shortly. About MAMI: Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a body comprised of Indian film industry stalwarts which was founded in 1997 by late filmmaker Shri Hrishikesh Mukherjee.  Noted filmmaker Shri Shyam Benegal heads the body that consists of film directors including: Yash Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Karan Johar, renowned actresses Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, actor-director Amol Palekar and Farhan Akhtar and the chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment Amit Khanna as Trustees. Mumbai Film Festival (MFF), organized by MAMI is a Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (RBEL) initiative which is the flagship media and entertainment arm of India's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. For more information please log on to www.mumbaifilmfest.com _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) 49/50, Maruti Chambers, 3rd Floor, Fun Republic Lane, Off Veera Desai Extn. Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai - 400 053, India. T : +91-22-4016 8223 (Board) / 4016 8221 F : +91-22-4016 8222 E : mumbaifilmfest at gmail.com, info at mumbaifilmfest.com www.mumbaifilmfest.com From rashneek at gmail.com Fri Jan 28 08:40:07 2011 From: rashneek at gmail.com (rashneek kher) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:40:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Revenge and Reconciliation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Sonia, What Jyoti Punwani did not write was how Bitta Karate(the butcher of Pandits) was given a rousing welcome in downtown Kashmir upon his release from the prison.He didnt confess nor did the Police build a case.Same with Yasin Malik.I hope Punwani reads this mail and writes about them too. Maybe he wont because he too like the RSS has a certain ideology to follow but in case he takes a leaf out of the "reformed" Aseemand's life then I will salute Punwani. Best Rashneek On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 1:19 PM, SJabbar wrote: > Remorse can lessen the pain > Jyoti Punwani | New Delhi, January 27, 2011 | 08:26 > > > When lawyers showered Pakistani governor Salmaan Taseer's assassin with > rose > petals, Indians looked on with a mixture of shock and pity. But we needn't > have felt so smug: we had descended to that level much before Pakistan had. > In 2008, when terror accused Lt Col Purohit was produced in a Pune court, > he > was showered with rose petals by admirers. > > But no flowers greeted Swami Aseemanand when he emerged from the chamber of > the Panchkula magistrate, Haryana, on January 15, having confessed a second > time, to being part of the conspiracy to bomb mosques across the country. > The Swami knew that others, totally unrelated to him, were in prison for > the > crime he had committed. He also knew that the police would not touch him. > He > is after all, a Hindu godman, not a maulvi, whose beard could be plucked > amid taunts of "call your Allah". > > Confession > There was also a good chance that the investigative agencies would abruptly > drop the Hindutva angle, as they had so many times earlier. Finally, he > knew > that a confession before a magistrate could be used against him in court. > So > there was simply no need for him to admit to a crime that could earn him > the > death penalty. > > The Swami's confession has provoked a sense of triumph among Muslims and > secularists, who had all along suspected that Hindutva groups were > responsible for the series of blasts outside mosques that started in > Maharashtra in 2003. But while the campaign now on, to get the Muslim boys > arrested for these blasts out on bail is necessary, shouldn't we also > appreciate the act that made their release a possibility? Those fighting > against injustice to the minorities must need be concerned with that > cliché > called " communal harmony". Swami Aseemanand's act goes beyond harmony: as > Kaleem, the prisoner who the Swami says prompted him to confess, told this > reporter, in his Hyderabadi dialect: " Bahoot bada kaam hai - confess > karna.'' The interaction between Kaleem and the Swami is truly the stuff > legends are made of. The young man's behaviour is no less inspiring than > the > Swami's. Tortured and imprisoned for 18 months for a crime he hadn't > committed; his family hounded into moving house six times; losing his > coveted medical seat (he was fourth in the merit list); finally being > acquitted, and then re- arrested in another case… after all this, to be > kind to the man responsible for the very crime for which he had suffered, > is > hard to understand. > > His mother had always taught him that revenge is no good, said Kaleem; in > addition, the Swami's age and calm demeanour moved him. Discovering the > identity of the youth who went out of his way to help him, and hearing his > story, the Swami in turn, was moved to confess. > > Let's not forget that till then, hatred for Kaleem's community had defined > the Swami's life; and that Kaleem too, had enough reason to hate all RSS > types. > > Compassion such as Kaleem's has been seen in recent times only in Gladys > Staines' forgiveness of the man who burnt alive her husband and two little > sons. Even in last week's shocking Supreme Court judgment, Gladys Staines > could see an opportunity for her family's killer to reform. One of the > arguments against capital punishment is the possibility of reform. > > That, unfortunately, wasn't what prompted the Supreme Court to refuse to > convert Dara Singh's life sentence to death. On the contrary, the judgment > almost explained away the murder by referring to the intention with which > it > was committed. (The remarks have since been expunged, following protests.) > Hardly an incentive for the accused to reform! But who knows? Even a man as > merciless as Dara Singh might be moved to shame by the words of his > victims' > wife and mother, the way his fellow traveller Swami Aseemanand was. > > Qasab > After all, didn't the most cold- blooded terrorist we've seen in action - > Ajmal Qasab - have his moments of remorse? During his interrogation just > after his capture, telecast repeatedly on TV, Qasab could be seen weeping: > " > Bhagwan mujhe nahin maaf karega," when his interrogator pointed out that he > had killed poor people like himself. " Kya jehad hai saab," he said wryly > when asked about the training he received for jehad. He even revealed his > instinct to run away when he heard his Pakistani instructors orders to keep > on killing. " Hum bhi insaan hain yar,'' the 22- year- old Pakistani, > strapped to his hospital bed, told his Indian interrogator. > > Had he not been captured, Qasab may never have felt remorse. But it was > obvious during his trial too, that Qasab was unnerved at having to face his > victims' families and those who survived his bullets. Obviously, his > trainers had not prepared him for the possibility of having to confront, as > living human beings, the faceless Indians he was trained to kill. > > (Were Muslims just faceless enemies for Aseemanand too, till he met > Kaleem?) > Just a year's training in arms hadn't been enough; Qasab the jehadi > actually > wanted some kafir to tie him a rakhi! There are chances of Qasab reforming > if he is spared hanging. But will we have the guts to allow that? We would > rather do the opposite - witness how the new Deoband chief, elected to be > the spiritual guide for millions, has been pressurised into saying, " We > will take revenge on Modi; we will pray to Allah for this.'' > > Reconciliation > Reconciliation after years of conflict and hatred is a goal many of us > yearn > for. Such reconciliation is not possible without justice, goes the usual > argument. But humans don't follow such formulae. Even after his wife was > burnt to death in Coach S- 6 of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February > 27, 2002, Dr Girishchandra Rawal, aged 60- plus, refused to support the > massacre of Muslims in Ahmedabad that followed. He told this reporter: " I > would like to burn the entire society. But my religion doesn't permit me to > do so. > > There's no space for revenge in it.'' Gladys Staines didn't wait for Dara > Singh to be sentenced to life before she forgave him; she did so > immediately > after he inflicted the most painful death on her family. Her actions could > be explained as that of a true Christian. What of Kaleem? He was eventually > acquitted in the Mecca Masjid blasts case, but was that justice? Could it > bring back his lost opportunities and make up for his family's humiliation? > Yet, he chose to serve the Swami. > > Moved to repent, the Swami could have kept his remorse a private matter > between him and God. But he went public knowing he was trapping not just > himself, but all his associates; more than that, he was helping the > community his organisation regards as traitors. As Kaleem pointed out, it's > not just the Muslim blast accused whom the Swami has absolved; his > confessions have lifted the " terrorist" label from the entire community. > > That in itself is a great disservice to the RSS. So far, the RSS has always > exposed its intolerance and fanaticism involuntarily, by its actions. When > one of its most committed ideologues chooses to expose the terrorist acts > of > its members, at great personal cost, we need to salute him. > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 akmalik45 at yahoo.com Fri Jan 28 14:07:09 2011 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:37:09 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> Message-ID: <802794.93254.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Mr Bipin, Everyone knows what happens when someone praises the development in Gujarat which is indirectly considered as an applaud to Chief Minister Narinder Modi.Anyone who brings in venom for Gujarat gets kudos from almost all.You would have by now known what punishment Maulana Vastanvi (Darul Uloom Chief). Maulana Vastavi only said that Muslim community is benefiting from the deveopment in Gujarat wherefrom he belongs.Maulana Vastanvi is now reported to have been asked to resign for his comments. Can those who criticize BJP answer which provision of Constitutional Law allows the Govt send back the train with passengers back to its originating point instead of the destination just because it had some BJP workers travelling for hoisting national Flag somewhere in the country. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) ----- Original Message ---- From: Bipin Trivedi To: Rakesh Iyer Cc: sarai-list Sent: Sun, January 23, 2011 12:33:46 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Whatever topic discussion going on, Gujarat always comes in the picture. I dont know why so much hatred for Gujarat. Vande Matram is a matru vandana (prayer for mother earth. She gives us so many things and in return we express thanks) song. That is what masses of India believe. Its question of faith. For those who dont believe, no one has forced to believe it or sing a song. Vande Matram, Jai Shree Ram has nothing to do patriotism. No one forced to sing it. However, if someone use it in election campaign, that is there individual choice. Hoisting of flag has nothing to do with patriotism. Among all Indian people, majority of them never hoisted the flag in their life. It does not mean that they are not patriotic. Most of us hoisted the flag in school and then never did it. But if on independence day, if someone want to hoist the flag in any part of India no one can stop it. By arguing that it will create disturbance, flag hoisting is not possible is just ridiculous argument. If state government show will to allow this ceremony with proper security than nothing will happen. But, problem is with state government. Since somewhere they also believe that Kashmir is not part of India and that is objectionable. By not allowing flag hoisting definitely increase the will of separatists/terrorists and goes wrong signal to them and Pak that India is weak country and cannot fight with us morally. This is what happening since many years and increases the strength of separatists/terrorists. Thats the reason, we were proved weak against fighting the terrorism. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 2:41 AM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't we be ashamed about it? Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this cause which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. What do people on this forum think? Rakesh On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? However, central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational element out of the country. Thanks Bipin Trivedi _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 ujwalasam at gmail.com Fri Jan 28 14:28:49 2011 From: ujwalasam at gmail.com (Ujwala Samarth) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:28:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Cinema City in Pune Message-ID: *Open Space**, Majlis and FTII present* CINEMA CITY *Exhibitions, Interactive installations, Posters, Photographs and Films exploring the labour, imagination, desire, access, spaces, icons, language that make the cinema that Bombay makes.* * * *Dates: January 29, 30, 31 2011* *Venue: STUDIO 5, FTII campus* *Time: 11am-7pm *** *Also:* January 29th, 6pm, Preview theatre: Screening of 6 short films and discussion with the film makers:. * * *Certified Universal -- *Avijit Mukul Kishore (15 mins) *Dhananjay Kulkarni “Chandragupt”* * -- *Rrivu Laha (10 mins)** *Have You Dreamt Cinema? -- *Hansa Thapliyal (15 mins) *Dark Room** -- *Renu Savant (10 mins)** *Sin** City** -- *Shrikant Agawane (15 mins) *Anna** Sound** Please -- *Madhavi Tangella (15 mins) *Director Painter Shri Baburao Laad Saheb -- *Richa Hushing (15 mins) January 30th, 6pm, Preview theatre: Panel discussion* --Cinematic Imagination and the City* Discussants: *Ajit Duara*, * Gayatri Chatterjee*, *Kaushik Bhaumik*, *Rohan Shivkumar*, *Madhusree Dutta* * * *Open Space, * *Kanchanjunga Bldg, Kanchan Lane, * *Off Law college Rd, Pune 411004 * *Tel: 25457371 www.openspaceindia.org ALL ARE WELCOME! ENTRY FREE.* * * *Open Space** is a public forum that encourages citizens, especially youth, to explore and engage with issues such as diversity and pluralism, gender, social justice and sustainable development through a variety of communication media – films, campaigns, workshops, discussions and field trips. * * * ** -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) From c.anupam at gmail.com Fri Jan 28 14:44:19 2011 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:44:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: A Panel Discussion on the case of Dr. Binayak Sen:Friday, January 28th, 4:00 PM: In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/maharashtra/Binayak-Sen-s-wife-booked-by-ATS/Article1-654308.aspx The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad on Monday booked Ilina Sen, wife of jailed rights activist Binayak Sen, for not informing the police about the arrival of several foreign nationals for a convention she organised. Meanwhile, the hearing of her husband’s bail plea in the Chhattisgarh high court is set to continue on Tuesday. The foreigners had come to attend a three-day convention in Wardha, about 80 km from Nagpur. Ilina has been under close police watch for spearheading a campaign to free Binayak Sen, who was convicted by a Raipur sessions court on December 24 and sentenced to life on sedition charges over his links with Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal. In Raipur, eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani argued forcefully for more than two hours at the hearing of Binayak Sen’s bail plea, asserting that there was no substantive evidence to prove that he had committed any offence that comes under the purview of sedition. Jethmalani told a division bench of Justice TP Sharma and Justice RL Jhanwar that the trial court’s conviction was based solely on police version. “The letter which was seized by the police did not have anything objectionable written,” argued the senior lawyer, who is also a Rajya Sabha member. Referring to the 60-year-old rights activist’s arrest on May 14, 2007 under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, Jethmalani said, “A petition challenging the validity of the Act is still pending for consideration before the high court.” An eight-member European Union delegation was also present in the court to attend the hearing. They, however, refused to speak to the media saying the hearing would commence on Tuesday. The EU in its statement has expressed concern about the conditions pertaining to the detention of Binayak Sen. ENDS On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 9:02 PM, Cheri wrote: > ** > > *A Panel Discussion on* > > * Seditionist or Prisoner of Conscience* > > *State power, civil liberties and the case of Dr. Binayak Sen*** > > *Friday, 28 January, 2011 at 4.00 PM * > > *Lecture Hall, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore* > > > > The Sessions Court of Raipur, Chhattisgarh sentenced Dr. Binayak Sen and > two > others to life imprisonment under charges of sedition on the 24th December > 2010, which has drawn nationwide and international criticism. Dr. Sen, a > medical practitioner working in one of the most backward areas of the > country, is a sharp critic of the violation of human rights by the state > police and the Chhattisgarh government machinery, in the name of containing > Maoist violence. The judgement, indicting Dr. Sen for ‘sedition’, has > opened > up a larger debate on the problematic relationship between the state, its > institutions like the judiciary, and the democratic values they are > supposed > to uphold. > > The panel discussion will focus on the nature of the judgement in the Dr. > Binayak Sen case and its historical burden. It will also analyse the > political framework of the civil liberties movement and its relation with > the state. > > Introduction: * **Dr. Rajesh Kasturirangan, *National Institute of Advanced > Studies, Bangalore > > *Panelists* > > *Disaffection and the State: A Brief History of the Sedition Law in India* > > *Siddharth Narrain* > > Legal Researcher, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore > > > *Mainstreaming Resistance in the Neo-Liberal Context: Prospects and > Challenges* > > *Dr. V Krishna Ananth* > > Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library; Advocate; Freelance columnist, > Chennai > > > > *Experience from the human rights movement in Karnataka* > > *Prof. Nagaragere Ramesh* > > Member, People’s Democratic Forum, Bangalore; Former Principal, National > College, Bangalore > > *All are cordially invited* > > > National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus, Near M.S.Ramaiah > Engineering College, Mathikere, Bangalore > > > K S Rama Krishna > -- > N.I.A.S., I.I.Sc Campus > Bangalore 560012 > Ph: 2218 5000 > Fax: 2218 5028 > Email: niasoff at gmail.com > > > > -- > _______________________________________________________________________ > Subhankar Chakraborty > > PhD Student > National Institute of Advanced Studies > Indian Institute of Science Campus > Bangalore- 560 012, India > > Laboratory 3 > National Centre for Biological Sciences > Tata Institute of Fundamental Research > GKVK Campus, Bellary Road > Bangalore 560 065, India > > Tel : +91-9449045096 (Mobile) > > > > -- > Dr. V. Krishna Ananth > Advocate and NMML Fellow, > S-1, B Block, Land Marvel Garden, > Rajaji Nagar, > Thiruvanmiyur, CHENNAI 600 041. > > Phone 09444052077 > http://krishnananth.blogspot.com > ============================= > To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden path > or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life had breathed easier > because you have lived. This is to have succeeded - Ralph Waldo Emerson > ============================= > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 Image.Science at donau-uni.ac.at Fri Jan 28 17:13:48 2011 From: Image.Science at donau-uni.ac.at (Image Science) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:43:48 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] New University Program : EXHIBITION DESIGN & MANAGEMENT Message-ID: <4D42BA040200007D00021042@gwgwia.donau-uni.ac.at> E X H I B I T I O N D E S I G N & MANAGEMENT (Certified Program) INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM in ENGLISH * Start April 16, 2011 The modularized, low-residency certified program *Exhibition Design and Management* focuses on the conception and management of exhibitions with a special eye on experiential worlds and immersive exhibition strategies, and imparts the fundamental competencies of contemporary exhibition practice. => IN ENGLISH - After being offered 4 successful years in German, the program will now step into the European scene and be offered for the first time in English. => EXPERTS - With a faculty of international experts: Prof. Herbert LACHMAYER (Staging Knowledge; U.- Arts & Design, Linz), Gerfried STOCKER (director; Ars Electronica), Frank den OUDSTEN (designer, teacher, writer, performer), Lutz ENGELKE (founder; Triad- Berlin), Martin FRITZ (curator, consultant, writer), Dr. Harald GRÜNDL (founder; EOOS * Vienna), Pat MUNRO (exhibition evaluator), Dr. Dieter BOGNER (museum planner), Prof. Jorge WAGENSBERG (scientific director; Fundacio *la Caixa*, Barcelona, Becky GILBERT (board member; European Fundraising Association), Dieter RONTE (art museum director; Hannover, Bonn, Krems), Audrey O'Connell (Natural History Museum, London) and others. Case-studies and best-practice examples from today and tomorrow will be shown for their far-reaching insights into the contemporary varieties of exhibiting. => PROGRAM - The certified program is a part of the post-graduate masters program at the Department for Image Science, under the direction of the American exhibition developer Wendy Jo Coones, M.Ed., who has been a part of the realization of 60 international exhibitions. Based on the needs and schedules of the students, the credits earned in Exhibition Design and Management can be combined with other programs to upgrade to an academic expert or masters degree. => MODULES Module 1: From Theory to Practice: competent planning and organization of exhibitions 16. - 24. April 2011 Module 2: From the Practice to Preparation: professional realization of exhibitions 05.11.2011 - 17.11.2011 => CONTENT OF TEACHING - In our modern knowledge society, exhibitions are more than just presentations of artifacts; they enable experiences to take place in special staged spaces with a variety of purposes. Exhibitions inform, entertain and animate. Whether for a museum, theme park, science center, exhibit hall, or experiential world * a harmonious visitor experience can only be accomplished through sensible implementation of design and organizational knowledge. => FACTS - The program addresses anyone who needs current skills and competencies for handling the realization of exhibition projects. For example: Staff in museums, collections and similar institutions, promoters and curators of science or art / culture, and staff in tourist, fair or theme park establishments. More information on the program and application www.donau uni.ac.at/exhibit => 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 across Europe and beyond. Without interrupting their career, students have the opportunity to learn through direct experience, social learning in small groups and contacts with institutions and specialists. The Center in Monastery Goettweig, where most Exhibition Design and Management courses take place, is housed in a 14th century building, remodeled to fit the needs of modern research in singular surroundings. => 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 rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Fri Jan 28 17:29:14 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:29:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <802794.93254.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> <802794.93254.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik jee Obviously I get psyched out if anybody praises the development aspect of Modi to proclaim that he alone is the Prime-Ministerial candidate. Not only Modi, if Rajiv Gandhi were alive today, I would say the same for him considering he too presided over a pogrom, that of the Sikhs. Development doesn't only include building roads and conducting chess events of a Guiness-book scale. It also means working towards improving education and health aspects of the society as well as enhancing freedoms of people, as Amartya Sen said. And by the way, the very same Sen has said he would not like to see Modi as the Prime Minister of India. You can say whatever to me, but I would be very happy to know what's your message to Mr. Sen (he is a Nobel Prize winner by the way, and unlike you or me, he knows a thing or two about development). I am just using Sen's argument to state very clearly that Modi has the albatross of what happened in 2002 hung around him. It is not that 5-10 people were killed (or even those who supposedly burnt that train coach were killed). This is about mass murder of people who were in no way related to the train incident. Even further, women were gang-raped. And the administration was sleeping. Why? And if Modi had felt even morally that this was wrong, and he was not able to control it because all officers under him were biased against Muslims, shouldn't he have resigned or at least expressed his views in public? Why did he even not apologize for it? Already we have had the shame of Rajiv Gandhi being the Prime Minister and ensuring one of the most gruesome pogroms in independent India. If he would have been punished, a Modi would have not been born. At least let us not repeat the same history again. If a Modi ever becomes the Prime Minister, another such politician would be born. And some of us would have to lose our lives because we are Muslims/Hindus/Sikhs/Tamils/Telugus/Kannadigas/Punjabis etc. etc. etc. (in addition to gang-rapes, looting of our houses or something else). That fellow too will ensure something (Rajiv Gandhi supposedly introduced IT revolution in India, Modi brought about development in Gujarat supposedly). But the rights of those minorities would have been wiped out. Rakesh From aliens at dataone.in Fri Jan 28 21:42:39 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:42:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <802794.93254.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> <802794.93254.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <001201cbbf06$34c07c10$9e417430$@in> Dear Malik, Vastanvi is chief and so when he spoke that in Gujarat Muslims are very happy, living with much lower discrimination compared to most of other states. Since he is chief, the other Muslims leaders/chiefs objected it. But, if you roam in Gujarat and take the opinion from most of the individual muslims, you will get same opinion from most of them. But, those who wants to stick at one point is not the sign of healthy society. Move ahead and ahead is the living way of life. Muslim religion has no democracy and cannot digest different opinion from their rigid thought. That is why they remain backward. However, Muslims new generation has come out from their mullah/maulvi and moving ahead is a good sign. There is infocity at Gandhinagar, which is developing as IT hub and about 30% employer are Muslims. Much ahead than their population ratio in Gujarat. Many such non-discrimination examples can be given. In the last assembly/municipal/gram panchayat elections, Muslims heavily voted for BJP. The argument is airing that by flag hoisting at Srinagar, BJP is trying to divide the country. What a silly argument. By hoisting the flag at any part of the country is divisive activity! Actually the separatists at Kashmir really trying to divide the country, but pseudo-secular remain blind with such activity. Thanks Bipin Trivedi -----Original Message----- From: A.K. Malik [mailto:akmalik45 at yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 2:07 PM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: Sarai List Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Hi Mr Bipin, Everyone knows what happens when someone praises the development in Gujarat which is indirectly considered as an applaud to Chief Minister Narinder Modi.Anyone who brings in venom for Gujarat gets kudos from almost all.You would have by now known what punishment Maulana Vastanvi (Darul Uloom Chief). Maulana Vastavi only said that Muslim community is benefiting from the deveopment in Gujarat wherefrom he belongs.Maulana Vastanvi is now reported to have been asked to resign for his comments. Can those who criticize BJP answer which provision of Constitutional Law allows the Govt send back the train with passengers back to its originating point instead of the destination just because it had some BJP workers travelling for hoisting national Flag somewhere in the country. Regards, (A.K.MALIK) ----- Original Message ---- From: Bipin Trivedi To: Rakesh Iyer Cc: sarai-list Sent: Sun, January 23, 2011 12:33:46 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Whatever topic discussion going on, Gujarat always comes in the picture. I dont know why so much hatred for Gujarat. Vande Matram is a matru vandana (prayer for mother earth. She gives us so many things and in return we express thanks) song. That is what masses of India believe. Its question of faith. For those who dont believe, no one has forced to believe it or sing a song. Vande Matram, Jai Shree Ram has nothing to do patriotism. No one forced to sing it. However, if someone use it in election campaign, that is there individual choice. Hoisting of flag has nothing to do with patriotism. Among all Indian people, majority of them never hoisted the flag in their life. It does not mean that they are not patriotic. Most of us hoisted the flag in school and then never did it. But if on independence day, if someone want to hoist the flag in any part of India no one can stop it. By arguing that it will create disturbance, flag hoisting is not possible is just ridiculous argument. If state government show will to allow this ceremony with proper security than nothing will happen. But, problem is with state government. Since somewhere they also believe that Kashmir is not part of India and that is objectionable. By not allowing flag hoisting definitely increase the will of separatists/terrorists and goes wrong signal to them and Pak that India is weak country and cannot fight with us morally. This is what happening since many years and increases the strength of separatists/terrorists. Thats the reason, we were proved weak against fighting the terrorism. Thanks Bipin Trivedi From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 2:41 AM To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't we be ashamed about it? Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this cause which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. What do people on this forum think? Rakesh On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? However, central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational element out of the country. Thanks Bipin Trivedi _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 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 Fri Jan 28 22:29:43 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:29:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD Message-ID: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> http://desh2014.wordpress.com/ All hell broke loose when Times of India ,few days back , published the news of Darul Uloom VC Maulana Vastavi lauding Gujarat . Maulana Vastavi was in fact speaking about the all-inclusive development happening in Gujarat and the importance of education for Muslims to enjoy the real fruits of this development as explained in this excellent article by offstumped. Same media houses that lazily, reluctantly covered the magnificent vibrant Gujarat Summit went into an overdrive producing articles after articles denouncing Maulana Vastavi. Since Times of India started this, it felt the maximum obligation to contain the damage as shown in the reporting pattern of Times of India below. Jan 18 - Deoband chief lauds Modi 's Gujarat Jan 19 - Social discrimination still persists Jan 19 - Vastanvi 's comment draws mixed reactions Jan 19 - Muslim leaders aghast at Deoband chief 's remarks on Modi Jan 20 -Clerics slam Vastanvi for Modi praise Jan 20 - `Hail Modi ' by Darul Uloom VC Jan 21 - Personal relations behind rival 's silence on Vastanvi's Modi praise? As you see, ToI alone has produced daily 2/3 articles bashing Modi and discrediting Vastanvi .If you include other news articles it comes to more than 70 articles since last 3 days. The ultimate objective is either Maulana Vastanvi goes back on his statement or resigns from his post so that Modi can be put back to the same media space reserved for him. Interestingly, the left-liberal visual media ignored this news as doing it may take maulavi's message to a much larger audience. Better to hide what can not be defended easily. The most astonishing thing is all this is happening when Modi made no attempt to use Vastanvi's endorsement to his advantage. In fact Modi has always shown grace dealing with media , advocated the importance of media in a democracy and the constructive role media can play in India.If Modi speaks to media they say he is brash and ugly, If he does not they say he has no remorse. Same media that does not dare to write a single word against Gandhi family calls Modi Hitler,Nero,mass-murderer,rabble-rouser,shrill,communal,anti-muslim,megaloma niac,autocrat in the most brazen way and if anyone challenges this notion be it Amitabh Bachan or maulana Vastanvi media goes after them with vengeance. When modi speaks about 10% growth, knowledge economy, science, green energy, agriculture modernization, waste management, smart cities, infrastructure etc. our media writes about 2002 Godhra, 2002 Godhra and 2002 Godhra. It seems as if the career of a media person is directly proportional to number of anti-Modi projects he/she has undertaken. In my earlier post I had reflected upon "Why do they hate narendra Modi" and I am totally convinced that even if all the Muslims of Gujarat praise Modi's development policy, the media will still retain Modi's status-quo. Question is what is the objective of the media? The ominous objective is to keep Narendra Modi away from national politics so that the prince can occupy the throne unchallenged. The strategy to achieve this objective is to create an impression that Modi is not acceptable outside Gujarat so that he will face enough resistance within BJP, from its allies , from the Congress and from the media. The tool to implement this strategy is to maintain the communal,anti-muslim image of Modi. Sonia-led Congress has outsourced this task to CBI, media , ATS , NGOs ,the self-proclaimed activists and "civil-society". Rather than defeating Congress, the real challenge in front of Modi is how to fight all these external agents to lead BJP at the national level. I hope the central BJP leaders will also realize that in Modi the future lies (For the party and the country) and help Modi with all the support he requires. Modi deserves JUSTICE from all the canards,slanders,abuses and untouchability he had faces in past 8 years. P.S. : The day India gets governance in stead of government , India will also get the true 4th pillar of democracy in stead of news manufacturer and brokers. From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Fri Jan 28 23:17:20 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:17:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> Message-ID: I feel there is too much of this pro-Modi talk on how Modi has brought about development. At the same time, there has also been talk on whether Modi bashing is justified or not. Hence, I think it's better to have facts put out in the picture once again, so that the matter can be remembered also. Therefore, it would be prudent to have discussions based on facts. I hope I will be able to start this in my next mail soon, at least on the things that happened in 2002. At the same time, regarding his development claims, the research done must also be brought out in the picture, and I hope I can contribute to the same. I would request the other members of this forum to join me in this process, irrespective of their views on Modi. Yes, I wish even pro-Modi followers to bring well done research on Modi on this forum to discuss whether Gujarat has really undergone development or whether it's all a joke being presented or it's a combination of the two partially. Rakesh On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 10:29 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > > > http://desh2014.wordpress.com/ > > > > > > All hell broke loose when Times of India ,few days back , published the > news > of Darul Uloom VC Maulana Vastavi lauding Gujarat . Maulana Vastavi was in > fact speaking about the all-inclusive development happening in Gujarat and > the importance of education for Muslims to enjoy the real fruits of this > development as explained in this excellent article > < > http://blog.offstumped.in/2011/01/22/maulana-vastanvi-indian-muslims-enterp > rise-versus-entitlements/> by offstumped. > > > > Same media houses that lazily, reluctantly covered the magnificent vibrant > Gujarat Summit went into an overdrive producing articles after articles > denouncing Maulana Vastavi. Since Times of India started this, it felt the > maximum obligation to contain the damage as shown in the reporting pattern > of Times of India below. > > > > Jan 18 - Deoband chief lauds Modi > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/New-Deoband-chief-lauds-Modis-Guja > rat/articleshow/7315607.cms> 's Gujarat > > Jan 19 - Social discrimination still persists > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Social-discrimina > tion-still-persists/articleshow/7320643.cms> > > Jan 19 - Vastanvi > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Vastanvis-comment-draws-mix > ed-reactions/articleshow/7322850.cms> 's comment draws mixed reactions > > Jan 19 - Muslim leaders aghast at Deoband chief > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Muslim-leaders-aghast-at-Deoband-c > hiefs-remarks-on-Modi/articleshow/7321918.cms> 's remarks on Modi > > Jan 20 -Clerics slam Vastanvi for Modi praise > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Clerics-slam-Vastanvi-for-Modi-pra > ise/articleshow/7330722.cms> > > Jan 20 - `Hail Modi > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Hail-Modi-by-Darul-Uloom- > VC/articleshow/7329864.cms> ' by Darul Uloom VC > > Jan 21 - Personal relations behind rival > < > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/TNN21vastantimcleared-by-rajeev-22 > 25------------/articleshow/7336633.cms> 's silence on Vastanvi's Modi > praise? > > > > As you see, ToI alone has produced daily 2/3 articles bashing Modi and > discrediting Vastanvi .If you include other news articles it comes to more > than 70 articles since last 3 days. The ultimate objective is either > Maulana > Vastanvi goes back on his statement or resigns from his post so that Modi > can be put back to the same media space reserved for him. Interestingly, > the > left-liberal visual media ignored this news as doing it may take maulavi's > message to a much larger audience. Better to hide what can not be defended > easily. > > The most astonishing thing is all this is happening when Modi made no > attempt to use Vastanvi's endorsement to his advantage. In fact Modi has > always shown grace dealing with media , advocated the importance of media > in > a democracy and the constructive role media can play in India.If Modi > speaks > to media they say he is brash and ugly, If he does not they say he has no > remorse. Same media that does not dare to write a single word against > Gandhi > family calls Modi > > Hitler,Nero,mass-murderer,rabble-rouser,shrill,communal,anti-muslim,megaloma > niac,autocrat in the most brazen way and if anyone challenges this notion > be > it Amitabh Bachan or maulana Vastanvi media goes after them with vengeance. > > > > When modi speaks about 10% growth, knowledge economy, science, green > energy, > agriculture modernization, waste management, smart cities, infrastructure > etc. our media writes about 2002 Godhra, 2002 Godhra and 2002 Godhra. It > seems as if the career of a media person is directly proportional to > number > of anti-Modi projects he/she has undertaken. > > In my earlier post I had reflected upon > > "Why do they hate narendra Modi" and I am totally convinced that even if > all > the Muslims of Gujarat praise Modi's development policy, the media will > still retain Modi's status-quo. > > > > Question is what is the objective of the media? The ominous objective is to > keep Narendra Modi away from national politics so that the prince can > occupy > the throne unchallenged. > > The strategy to achieve this objective is to create an impression that > Modi > is not acceptable outside Gujarat so that he will face enough resistance > within BJP, from its allies , from the Congress and from the media. > > > > The tool to implement this strategy is to maintain the communal,anti-muslim > image of Modi. Sonia-led Congress has outsourced this task to CBI, media , > ATS , NGOs ,the self-proclaimed activists and "civil-society". > > > > Rather than defeating Congress, the real challenge in front of Modi is how > to fight all these external agents to lead BJP at the national level. I > hope > the central BJP leaders will also realize that in Modi the future lies (For > the party and the country) and help Modi with all the support he requires. > Modi deserves JUSTICE from all the canards,slanders,abuses and > untouchability he had faces in past 8 years. > > > > P.S. : The day India gets governance in stead of government , India will > also get the true 4th pillar of democracy in stead of news manufacturer and > brokers. > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 Jan 29 03:10:18 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:10:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> Message-ID: I was just again reading articles on 2002, in particular the accounts of violence inflicted on Muslims after the Godhra incident. I also did read about the Godhra incident itself (a few articles). Gruesome as it was, what happened later can be no justification for it. I therefore have a simple question for Bipin, Malik and all those who like Modi for his development stance. In fact, all members of this forum. If you (Every member of this forum can assume this 'you' to be himself or herself) kill my father and mother, do I have the right to rape your wife in revenge? Is that justified? Or Not? Hope Bipin, Malik and others do have the guts to answer back. If not the rest of course. Of course, my mail on facts, I would try to read on that and put that out soon. Rakesh On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:17 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > I feel there is too much of this pro-Modi talk on how Modi has brought > about development. At the same time, there has also been talk on whether > Modi bashing is justified or not. > > Hence, I think it's better to have facts put out in the picture once again, > so that the matter can be remembered also. Therefore, it would be prudent to > have discussions based on facts. I hope I will be able to start this in my > next mail soon, at least on the things that happened in 2002. At the same > time, regarding his development claims, the research done must also be > brought out in the picture, and I hope I can contribute to the same. > > I would request the other members of this forum to join me in this process, > irrespective of their views on Modi. Yes, I wish even pro-Modi followers to > bring well done research on Modi on this forum to discuss whether Gujarat > has really undergone development or whether it's all a joke being presented > or it's a combination of the two partially. > > Rakesh > > On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 10:29 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > >> >> >> http://desh2014.wordpress.com/ >> >> >> >> >> >> All hell broke loose when Times of India ,few days back , published the >> news >> of Darul Uloom VC Maulana Vastavi lauding Gujarat . Maulana Vastavi was in >> fact speaking about the all-inclusive development happening in Gujarat and >> the importance of education for Muslims to enjoy the real fruits of this >> development as explained in this excellent article >> < >> http://blog.offstumped.in/2011/01/22/maulana-vastanvi-indian-muslims-enterp >> rise-versus-entitlements/> >> by offstumped. >> >> >> >> Same media houses that lazily, reluctantly covered the magnificent vibrant >> Gujarat Summit went into an overdrive producing articles after articles >> denouncing Maulana Vastavi. Since Times of India started this, it felt the >> maximum obligation to contain the damage as shown in the reporting pattern >> of Times of India below. >> >> >> >> Jan 18 - Deoband chief lauds Modi >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/New-Deoband-chief-lauds-Modis-Guja >> rat/articleshow/7315607.cms> >> 's Gujarat >> >> Jan 19 - Social discrimination still persists >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Social-discrimina >> tion-still-persists/articleshow/7320643.cms >> > >> >> Jan 19 - Vastanvi >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Vastanvis-comment-draws-mix >> ed-reactions/articleshow/7322850.cms> >> 's comment draws mixed reactions >> >> Jan 19 - Muslim leaders aghast at Deoband chief >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Muslim-leaders-aghast-at-Deoband-c >> hiefs-remarks-on-Modi/articleshow/7321918.cms> >> 's remarks on Modi >> >> Jan 20 -Clerics slam Vastanvi for Modi praise >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Clerics-slam-Vastanvi-for-Modi-pra >> ise/articleshow/7330722.cms >> > >> >> Jan 20 - `Hail Modi >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Hail-Modi-by-Darul-Uloom- >> VC/articleshow/7329864.cms> >> ' by Darul Uloom VC >> >> Jan 21 - Personal relations behind rival >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/TNN21vastantimcleared-by-rajeev-22 >> 25------------/articleshow/7336633.cms> 's silence on Vastanvi's Modi >> praise? >> >> >> >> As you see, ToI alone has produced daily 2/3 articles bashing Modi and >> discrediting Vastanvi .If you include other news articles it comes to more >> than 70 articles since last 3 days. The ultimate objective is either >> Maulana >> Vastanvi goes back on his statement or resigns from his post so that Modi >> can be put back to the same media space reserved for him. Interestingly, >> the >> left-liberal visual media ignored this news as doing it may take maulavi's >> message to a much larger audience. Better to hide what can not be defended >> easily. >> >> The most astonishing thing is all this is happening when Modi made no >> attempt to use Vastanvi's endorsement to his advantage. In fact Modi has >> always shown grace dealing with media , advocated the importance of media >> in >> a democracy and the constructive role media can play in India.If Modi >> speaks >> to media they say he is brash and ugly, If he does not they say he has no >> remorse. Same media that does not dare to write a single word against >> Gandhi >> family calls Modi >> >> Hitler,Nero,mass-murderer,rabble-rouser,shrill,communal,anti-muslim,megaloma >> niac,autocrat in the most brazen way and if anyone challenges this notion >> be >> it Amitabh Bachan or maulana Vastanvi media goes after them with >> vengeance. >> >> >> >> When modi speaks about 10% growth, knowledge economy, science, green >> energy, >> agriculture modernization, waste management, smart cities, infrastructure >> etc. our media writes about 2002 Godhra, 2002 Godhra and 2002 Godhra. It >> seems as if the career of a media person is directly proportional to >> number >> of anti-Modi projects he/she has undertaken. >> >> In my earlier post I had reflected upon >> > > >> "Why do they hate narendra Modi" and I am totally convinced that even if >> all >> the Muslims of Gujarat praise Modi's development policy, the media will >> still retain Modi's status-quo. >> >> >> >> Question is what is the objective of the media? The ominous objective is >> to >> keep Narendra Modi away from national politics so that the prince can >> occupy >> the throne unchallenged. >> >> The strategy to achieve this objective is to create an impression that >> Modi >> is not acceptable outside Gujarat so that he will face enough resistance >> within BJP, from its allies , from the Congress and from the media. >> >> >> >> The tool to implement this strategy is to maintain the >> communal,anti-muslim >> image of Modi. Sonia-led Congress has outsourced this task to CBI, media , >> ATS , NGOs ,the self-proclaimed activists and "civil-society". >> >> >> >> Rather than defeating Congress, the real challenge in front of Modi is how >> to fight all these external agents to lead BJP at the national level. I >> hope >> the central BJP leaders will also realize that in Modi the future lies >> (For >> the party and the country) and help Modi with all the support he requires. >> Modi deserves JUSTICE from all the canards,slanders,abuses and >> untouchability he had faces in past 8 years. >> >> >> >> P.S. : The day India gets governance in stead of government , India will >> also get the true 4th pillar of democracy in stead of news manufacturer >> and >> brokers. >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >> Critiques & Collaborations >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >> 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 Jan 29 03:34:32 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:34:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> Message-ID: Sorry for this extra mail again. I just missed in the previous mail. The subject title of this mail reads: "Muslims want to move ahead". All people move ahead. When a person sees his wife being raped and murdered before his own eyes, of course, with time he has to move on. He can't keep thinking about his own wife and then decide not to eat anything at all and die out of hunger. That is only possible in very rare cases. But that does not mean the quest for justice should be thrown in the dustbin. That is where the problem lies. The person should get justice for what happened to his wife. The perpetrators of the crime should be punished and sent to jail. That it has not happened is the biggest achievement of Narendra Modi. And sadly, when I say that, people say, come on, move on, even if women have been raped, even if lives have been destroyed, even if children have to forget the fact that their parents are no more (after being burnt before their own eyes), so what? Now the economy is growing, now we are much better off (or some of us are at least), now there is more investment, more roads, more ports and so on. Come on, forget justice. Rakesh On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 3:10 AM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > I was just again reading articles on 2002, in particular the accounts of > violence inflicted on Muslims after the Godhra incident. I also did read > about the Godhra incident itself (a few articles). Gruesome as it was, what > happened later can be no justification for it. > > I therefore have a simple question for Bipin, Malik and all those who like > Modi for his development stance. In fact, all members of this forum. > > If you (Every member of this forum can assume this 'you' to be himself or > herself) kill my father and mother, do I have the right to rape your wife in > revenge? Is that justified? Or Not? > > Hope Bipin, Malik and others do have the guts to answer back. If not the > rest of course. > > Of course, my mail on facts, I would try to read on that and put that out > soon. > > Rakesh > > > On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:17 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > >> I feel there is too much of this pro-Modi talk on how Modi has brought >> about development. At the same time, there has also been talk on whether >> Modi bashing is justified or not. >> >> Hence, I think it's better to have facts put out in the picture once >> again, so that the matter can be remembered also. Therefore, it would be >> prudent to have discussions based on facts. I hope I will be able to start >> this in my next mail soon, at least on the things that happened in 2002. At >> the same time, regarding his development claims, the research done must also >> be brought out in the picture, and I hope I can contribute to the same. >> >> I would request the other members of this forum to join me in this >> process, irrespective of their views on Modi. Yes, I wish even pro-Modi >> followers to bring well done research on Modi on this forum to discuss >> whether Gujarat has really undergone development or whether it's all a joke >> being presented or it's a combination of the two partially. >> >> Rakesh >> >> On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 10:29 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> http://desh2014.wordpress.com/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> All hell broke loose when Times of India ,few days back , published the >>> news >>> of Darul Uloom VC Maulana Vastavi lauding Gujarat . Maulana Vastavi was >>> in >>> fact speaking about the all-inclusive development happening in Gujarat >>> and >>> the importance of education for Muslims to enjoy the real fruits of this >>> development as explained in this excellent article >>> < >>> http://blog.offstumped.in/2011/01/22/maulana-vastanvi-indian-muslims-enterp >>> rise-versus-entitlements/> >>> by offstumped. >>> >>> >>> >>> Same media houses that lazily, reluctantly covered the magnificent >>> vibrant >>> Gujarat Summit went into an overdrive producing articles after articles >>> denouncing Maulana Vastavi. Since Times of India started this, it felt >>> the >>> maximum obligation to contain the damage as shown in the reporting >>> pattern >>> of Times of India below. >>> >>> >>> >>> Jan 18 - Deoband chief lauds Modi >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/New-Deoband-chief-lauds-Modis-Guja >>> rat/articleshow/7315607.cms> >>> 's Gujarat >>> >>> Jan 19 - Social discrimination still persists >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Social-discrimina >>> tion-still-persists/articleshow/7320643.cms >>> > >>> >>> Jan 19 - Vastanvi >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Vastanvis-comment-draws-mix >>> ed-reactions/articleshow/7322850.cms> >>> 's comment draws mixed reactions >>> >>> Jan 19 - Muslim leaders aghast at Deoband chief >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Muslim-leaders-aghast-at-Deoband-c >>> hiefs-remarks-on-Modi/articleshow/7321918.cms> >>> 's remarks on Modi >>> >>> Jan 20 -Clerics slam Vastanvi for Modi praise >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Clerics-slam-Vastanvi-for-Modi-pra >>> ise/articleshow/7330722.cms >>> > >>> >>> Jan 20 - `Hail Modi >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Hail-Modi-by-Darul-Uloom- >>> VC/articleshow/7329864.cms> >>> ' by Darul Uloom VC >>> >>> Jan 21 - Personal relations behind rival >>> < >>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/TNN21vastantimcleared-by-rajeev-22 >>> 25------------/articleshow/7336633.cms> 's silence on Vastanvi's Modi >>> praise? >>> >>> >>> >>> As you see, ToI alone has produced daily 2/3 articles bashing Modi and >>> discrediting Vastanvi .If you include other news articles it comes to >>> more >>> than 70 articles since last 3 days. The ultimate objective is either >>> Maulana >>> Vastanvi goes back on his statement or resigns from his post so that Modi >>> can be put back to the same media space reserved for him. Interestingly, >>> the >>> left-liberal visual media ignored this news as doing it may take >>> maulavi's >>> message to a much larger audience. Better to hide what can not be >>> defended >>> easily. >>> >>> The most astonishing thing is all this is happening when Modi made no >>> attempt to use Vastanvi's endorsement to his advantage. In fact Modi has >>> always shown grace dealing with media , advocated the importance of media >>> in >>> a democracy and the constructive role media can play in India.If Modi >>> speaks >>> to media they say he is brash and ugly, If he does not they say he has no >>> remorse. Same media that does not dare to write a single word against >>> Gandhi >>> family calls Modi >>> >>> Hitler,Nero,mass-murderer,rabble-rouser,shrill,communal,anti-muslim,megaloma >>> niac,autocrat in the most brazen way and if anyone challenges this notion >>> be >>> it Amitabh Bachan or maulana Vastanvi media goes after them with >>> vengeance. >>> >>> >>> >>> When modi speaks about 10% growth, knowledge economy, science, green >>> energy, >>> agriculture modernization, waste management, smart cities, infrastructure >>> etc. our media writes about 2002 Godhra, 2002 Godhra and 2002 Godhra. It >>> seems as if the career of a media person is directly proportional to >>> number >>> of anti-Modi projects he/she has undertaken. >>> >>> In my earlier post I had reflected upon >>> < >>> http://desh2014.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/why-do-they-hate-narendra-modi/ >>> > >>> "Why do they hate narendra Modi" and I am totally convinced that even if >>> all >>> the Muslims of Gujarat praise Modi's development policy, the media will >>> still retain Modi's status-quo. >>> >>> >>> >>> Question is what is the objective of the media? The ominous objective is >>> to >>> keep Narendra Modi away from national politics so that the prince can >>> occupy >>> the throne unchallenged. >>> >>> The strategy to achieve this objective is to create an impression that >>> Modi >>> is not acceptable outside Gujarat so that he will face enough resistance >>> within BJP, from its allies , from the Congress and from the media. >>> >>> >>> >>> The tool to implement this strategy is to maintain the >>> communal,anti-muslim >>> image of Modi. Sonia-led Congress has outsourced this task to CBI, media >>> , >>> ATS , NGOs ,the self-proclaimed activists and "civil-society". >>> >>> >>> >>> Rather than defeating Congress, the real challenge in front of Modi is >>> how >>> to fight all these external agents to lead BJP at the national level. I >>> hope >>> the central BJP leaders will also realize that in Modi the future lies >>> (For >>> the party and the country) and help Modi with all the support he >>> requires. >>> Modi deserves JUSTICE from all the canards,slanders,abuses and >>> untouchability he had faces in past 8 years. >>> >>> >>> >>> P.S. : The day India gets governance in stead of government , India will >>> also get the true 4th pillar of democracy in stead of news manufacturer >>> and >>> brokers. >>> >>> >>> >>> _________________________________________ >>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >>> Critiques & Collaborations >>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >>> subscribe in the subject header. >>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list >>> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> >> >> >> > From c.anupam at gmail.com Sat Jan 29 11:57:53 2011 From: c.anupam at gmail.com (anupam chakravartty) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 11:57:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT In-Reply-To: <001201cbbf06$34c07c10$9e417430$@in> References: <000301cbb99c$26a1dd50$73e597f0$@in> <001701cbbacb$ae330de0$0a9929a0$@in> <802794.93254.qm@web112117.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <001201cbbf06$34c07c10$9e417430$@in> Message-ID: Dear Bipin, I am reproducing a hadith that a friend once sent to me. I am referring to your statement: "Move ahead and ahead is the living way of life. Muslim religion has no democracy and cannot digest different opinion from their rigid thought." twenty-sixth hadith (26) According to Ab¬ Hurayra, the Messenger of God, may God give him blessings and peace, spoke about the Day of Gathering, within which [the following appears]: And there remains that community with its unbelievers amongst them. God, ever blessed and exalted is He, appears to them in a form different to that form of His which they recognise, and says: “I am your Lord!” “We take refuge in God from you”, they reply. “This is where we shall be until our Lord, ever mighty and majestic is He, comes to us. And when our Lord comes to us, we will know Him.” God, ever blessed and exalted is He, then comes to them in that form of His which they recognise, and says: “I am your Lord!” “You are our Lord indeed!”, they call out. They follow Him, and the path is laid down.12 This ¢ad¨th also mentions that God says: “He who has worshipped a thing [other than Me] shall follow it.” thanks anupam On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:42 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > Dear Malik, > > Vastanvi is chief and so when he spoke that in Gujarat Muslims are very > happy, living with much lower discrimination compared to most of other > states. Since he is chief, the other Muslims leaders/chiefs objected it. > But, if you roam in Gujarat and take the opinion from most of the > individual > muslims, you will get same opinion from most of them. But, those who wants > to stick at one point is not the sign of healthy society. Move ahead and > ahead is the living way of life. Muslim religion has no democracy and > cannot > digest different opinion from their rigid thought. That is why they remain > backward. However, Muslims new generation has come out from their > mullah/maulvi and moving ahead is a good sign. There is infocity at > Gandhinagar, which is developing as IT hub and about 30% employer are > Muslims. Much ahead than their population ratio in Gujarat. Many such > non-discrimination examples can be given. In the last > assembly/municipal/gram panchayat elections, Muslims heavily voted for BJP. > > The argument is airing that by flag hoisting at Srinagar, BJP is trying to > divide the country. What a silly argument. By hoisting the flag at any part > of the country is divisive activity! Actually the separatists at Kashmir > really trying to divide the country, but pseudo-secular remain blind with > such activity. > > Thanks > Bipin Trivedi > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: A.K. Malik [mailto:akmalik45 at yahoo.com] > Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 2:07 PM > To: Bipin Trivedi > Cc: Sarai List > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > Hi Mr Bipin, > Everyone knows what happens when someone praises the > development in Gujarat which is indirectly considered as an applaud to > Chief > > Minister Narinder Modi.Anyone who brings in venom for Gujarat gets kudos > from > almost all.You would have by now known what punishment Maulana Vastanvi > (Darul > Uloom Chief). Maulana Vastavi only said that Muslim community is benefiting > from > > the deveopment in Gujarat wherefrom he belongs.Maulana Vastanvi is now > reported > to have been asked to resign for his comments. > Can those who criticize BJP answer which provision of Constitutional Law > allows > the Govt send back the train with passengers back to its originating point > instead of the destination just because it had some BJP workers travelling > for hoisting national Flag somewhere in the country. > Regards, > > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Bipin Trivedi > To: Rakesh Iyer > Cc: sarai-list > Sent: Sun, January 23, 2011 12:33:46 PM > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > Whatever topic discussion going on, Gujarat always comes in the picture. I > dont know why so much hatred for Gujarat. Vande Matram is a matru vandana > (prayer for mother earth. She gives us so many things and in return we > express thanks) song. That is what masses of India believe. Its question of > faith. For those who dont believe, no one has forced to believe it or sing > a song. Vande Matram, Jai Shree Ram has nothing to do patriotism. No one > forced to sing it. However, if someone use it in election campaign, that is > there individual choice. > > Hoisting of flag has nothing to do with patriotism. Among all Indian > people, > majority of them never hoisted the flag in their life. It does not mean > that > they are not patriotic. Most of us hoisted the flag in school and then > never > did it. But if on independence day, if someone want to hoist the flag in > any > part of India no one can stop it. By arguing that it will create > disturbance, flag hoisting is not possible is just ridiculous argument. If > state government show will to allow this ceremony with proper security than > nothing will happen. But, problem is with state government. Since somewhere > they also believe that Kashmir is not part of India and that is > objectionable. > > By not allowing flag hoisting definitely increase the will of > separatists/terrorists and goes wrong signal to them and Pak that India is > weak country and cannot fight with us morally. This is what happening since > many years and increases the strength of separatists/terrorists. Thats the > reason, we were proved weak against fighting the terrorism. > > Thanks > Bipin Trivedi > > > From: Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com] > Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 2:41 AM > To: Bipin Trivedi > Cc: sarai-list > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] THROW OUT ANTI NATIONAL ELEMENT > > Somewhere in Gujarat in 2002, as the election campaign was going on, people > were equating Hindutva with patriotism, first saying Vande Mataram and then > saying Jai Shree Ram, as if both are the notions of patriotism. Shouldn't > we > be ashamed about it? > > Every event has a context. If in the name of raising the national flag, the > idea is to announce slogans which create riots, then who is being > anti-national? And by the way, by holding Kashmir ransom to India using a > huge army and a gang of police officers and paramilitary forces, there's no > way the cause of the Indian nation is being served. Instead, it's this > cause > which is being harmed. The very existence of Kashmir in this way within the > nation itself demeans the flag and its value. And all those who support it > or indulge in it, should themselves be put behind bars for a change. > > What do people on this forum think? > > Rakesh > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > What is going on in Kashmir? CM of J&K openly appealing to stop flag > hoisting in Srinagar. Is central government listening or sleeping? > However, > central government since long sleeping by allowing huge corruptions of CWG, > 2G spectrum and more, so nothing new in it. > > > > By not allowing the democratic right of flag hoisting in any part of India > is an insult to nation and government must throw out these antinational > element out of the country. > > > > Thanks > > Bipin Trivedi > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with > 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 chintan.backups at gmail.com Sat Jan 29 19:37:07 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:37:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A fellowship for teaching children with special needs Message-ID: >From http://dekeyserandfriends.org/projects/teaching-project/overview Come and teach with Green Chimneys! Have you ever dreamed of making a difference in a child’s life? Live for three months on the Green Chimneys campus in Brewster, New York and experience hands-on the unique Green Chimneys approach to teaching children with special needs with the help of animals! Together with your project Friend Dr. Ross, the founder of Green Chimneys, you will not only learn about their work but share your experiences and help others understand this special way of helping children in need. Starting end of August 2011 you will spend three months learning about animal assisted therapy for children using a variety of pets and farm animals. Green Chimneys offers a multitude of programs ranging from a day school to residential treatment facilities. In all learning programs the students are engaged with animals, for example by helping to release injured animals back into the wild, horse grooming and riding, training assistance dogs for people with physical challenges and many other activities. During the first weeks of the project you will get introduced to these different activities, experience the unique Green Chimneys approach by shadowing the teachers and therapists and eventually get involved in lesson planning and taking on responsibility for activities yourself. During your time at Green Chimneys you will work with students with very different backgrounds and learning challenges. As you go through the process of learning how the members of Green Chimneys work with their students and animals, you will document your own learning progress and experiences. The challenge of this Dekeyser&Friends project will be to help Green Chimneys make their approach more widely known and allow others to benefit from their experience. To complete this challenge you will spend the last month of the project compiling your experiences as a group and find a creative way to make them available to people world-wide as a how-to guide, so that more and more children and adolescents will be able to benefit from the Green Chimneys approach. As a Dekeyser&Friends Fellow in this project you will not only benefit from the fantastic experience with your Friend Dr. Ross and gain exciting hands-on knowledge about animal assisted therapy. You will also participate in two unique Dekeyser&Friends program components: the D&F World and the DreamLab. The D&F World is a series of media workshops and tasks that will help you express yourself confidently using modern media, and inspire a worldwide audience by sharing your personal experiences during the project. The DreamLab is a series of workshops and skill sessions designed to inspire you to create your DreamPlan – an action plan to implement a dream you have – and to give you the skills to implement this plan when you return home after the project. The combination of benefitting from the exchange with your Friend, getting hands-on knowledge on the Green Chimneys approach, learning to implement a challenging project, combined with the skills and confidence you gain in the work for the D&F World and the DreamLab will allow you to transfer what you learn in the project and get inspired to use it to realize your own dreams in the future! To apply, check out http://dekeyserandfriends.org/fellows/apply From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Sat Jan 29 20:55:53 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:55:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Book Extract: Message-ID: Leftword has recently republished the three volumes of Capital alongwith a book, Marx's Capital: An Introductory Reader. The reader contains essays by Marxist scholars like Prabhat Patnaik et. al: http://leftword.com/bookdetails.php?BkId=284&type=PB Pragoti is publishing extracts of the essay contributed by Prasenjit Bose to the volume. http://www.pragoti.org/node/4271 Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Sun Jan 30 11:51:41 2011 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 22:21:41 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> Message-ID: <884277.73079.qm@web112113.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Rakesh, I think neither I nor Bipin ever said that whatever happened in 2002 and for that matter in 1984 was justified or correct. What Bipin and I have said that there is development in Gujarat which is better than what is there in many other states.If there is any doubt, better read the stats.I don't know where does Modi come in these observations.Your remarks in this mail are a little amaturish.Since you are obsessed with Modiphobia, you would not be able to understand it NOW.Am unable to comprehend how the deveopment which is a physical phenomena gets linked to 2002 riots and thence to Modi and then to immature remarks. My question to Bipin was in fact explanatory only to say that any praise on physical development in Gujarat is indirectly considered as praise on Modi and people get punished for it like Maualna.It is pure simple English. The second part was on hoisting national flag. (A.K.Malik) ----- Original Message ---- From: Rakesh Iyer To: Bipin Trivedi Cc: sarai-list Sent: Sat, January 29, 2011 3:10:18 AM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD I was just again reading articles on 2002, in particular the accounts of violence inflicted on Muslims after the Godhra incident. I also did read about the Godhra incident itself (a few articles). Gruesome as it was, what happened later can be no justification for it. I therefore have a simple question for Bipin, Malik and all those who like Modi for his development stance. In fact, all members of this forum. If you (Every member of this forum can assume this 'you' to be himself or herself) kill my father and mother, do I have the right to rape your wife in revenge? Is that justified? Or Not? Hope Bipin, Malik and others do have the guts to answer back. If not the rest of course. Of course, my mail on facts, I would try to read on that and put that out soon. Rakesh On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:17 PM, Rakesh Iyer wrote: > I feel there is too much of this pro-Modi talk on how Modi has brought > about development. At the same time, there has also been talk on whether > Modi bashing is justified or not. > > Hence, I think it's better to have facts put out in the picture once again, > so that the matter can be remembered also. Therefore, it would be prudent to > have discussions based on facts. I hope I will be able to start this in my > next mail soon, at least on the things that happened in 2002. At the same > time, regarding his development claims, the research done must also be > brought out in the picture, and I hope I can contribute to the same. > > I would request the other members of this forum to join me in this process, > irrespective of their views on Modi. Yes, I wish even pro-Modi followers to > bring well done research on Modi on this forum to discuss whether Gujarat > has really undergone development or whether it's all a joke being presented > or it's a combination of the two partially. > > Rakesh > > On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 10:29 PM, Bipin Trivedi wrote: > >> >> >> http://desh2014.wordpress.com/ >> >> >> >> >> >> All hell broke loose when Times of India ,few days back , published the >> news >> of Darul Uloom VC Maulana Vastavi lauding Gujarat . Maulana Vastavi was in >> fact speaking about the all-inclusive development happening in Gujarat and >> the importance of education for Muslims to enjoy the real fruits of this >> development as explained in this excellent article >> < >> http://blog.offstumped.in/2011/01/22/maulana-vastanvi-indian-muslims-enterp >>rise-versus-entitlements/> >>> >> by offstumped. >> >> >> >> Same media houses that lazily, reluctantly covered the magnificent vibrant >> Gujarat Summit went into an overdrive producing articles after articles >> denouncing Maulana Vastavi. Since Times of India started this, it felt the >> maximum obligation to contain the damage as shown in the reporting pattern >> of Times of India below. >> >> >> >> Jan 18 - Deoband chief lauds Modi >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/New-Deoband-chief-lauds-Modis-Guja >>rat/articleshow/7315607.cms> >>> >> 's Gujarat >> >> Jan 19 - Social discrimination still persists >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Social-discrimina >>tion-still-persists/articleshow/7320643.cms >>> >> > >> >> Jan 19 - Vastanvi >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Vastanvis-comment-draws-mix >>ed-reactions/articleshow/7322850.cms> >>> >> 's comment draws mixed reactions >> >> Jan 19 - Muslim leaders aghast at Deoband chief >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Muslim-leaders-aghast-at-Deoband-c >>hiefs-remarks-on-Modi/articleshow/7321918.cms> >>> >> 's remarks on Modi >> >> Jan 20 -Clerics slam Vastanvi for Modi praise >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Clerics-slam-Vastanvi-for-Modi-pra >>ise/articleshow/7330722.cms >>> >> > >> >> Jan 20 - `Hail Modi >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Hail-Modi-by-Darul-Uloom- >>VC/articleshow/7329864.cms> >>> >> ' by Darul Uloom VC >> >> Jan 21 - Personal relations behind rival >> < >> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/TNN21vastantimcleared-by-rajeev-22 >> 25------------/articleshow/7336633.cms> 's silence on Vastanvi's Modi >> praise? >> >> >> >> As you see, ToI alone has produced daily 2/3 articles bashing Modi and >> discrediting Vastanvi .If you include other news articles it comes to more >> than 70 articles since last 3 days. The ultimate objective is either >> Maulana >> Vastanvi goes back on his statement or resigns from his post so that Modi >> can be put back to the same media space reserved for him. Interestingly, >> the >> left-liberal visual media ignored this news as doing it may take maulavi's >> message to a much larger audience. Better to hide what can not be defended >> easily. >> >> The most astonishing thing is all this is happening when Modi made no >> attempt to use Vastanvi's endorsement to his advantage. In fact Modi has >> always shown grace dealing with media , advocated the importance of media >> in >> a democracy and the constructive role media can play in India.If Modi >> speaks >> to media they say he is brash and ugly, If he does not they say he has no >> remorse. Same media that does not dare to write a single word against >> Gandhi >> family calls Modi >> >> Hitler,Nero,mass-murderer,rabble-rouser,shrill,communal,anti-muslim,megaloma >> niac,autocrat in the most brazen way and if anyone challenges this notion >> be >> it Amitabh Bachan or maulana Vastanvi media goes after them with >> vengeance. >> >> >> >> When modi speaks about 10% growth, knowledge economy, science, green >> energy, >> agriculture modernization, waste management, smart cities, infrastructure >> etc. our media writes about 2002 Godhra, 2002 Godhra and 2002 Godhra. It >> seems as if the career of a media person is directly proportional to >> number >> of anti-Modi projects he/she has undertaken. >> >> In my earlier post I had reflected upon >> > > >> "Why do they hate narendra Modi" and I am totally convinced that even if >> all >> the Muslims of Gujarat praise Modi's development policy, the media will >> still retain Modi's status-quo. >> >> >> >> Question is what is the objective of the media? The ominous objective is >> to >> keep Narendra Modi away from national politics so that the prince can >> occupy >> the throne unchallenged. >> >> The strategy to achieve this objective is to create an impression that >> Modi >> is not acceptable outside Gujarat so that he will face enough resistance >> within BJP, from its allies , from the Congress and from the media. >> >> >> >> The tool to implement this strategy is to maintain the >> communal,anti-muslim >> image of Modi. Sonia-led Congress has outsourced this task to CBI, media , >> ATS , NGOs ,the self-proclaimed activists and "civil-society". >> >> >> >> Rather than defeating Congress, the real challenge in front of Modi is how >> to fight all these external agents to lead BJP at the national level. I >> hope >> the central BJP leaders will also realize that in Modi the future lies >> (For >> the party and the country) and help Modi with all the support he requires. >> Modi deserves JUSTICE from all the canards,slanders,abuses and >> untouchability he had faces in past 8 years. >> >> >> >> P.S. : The day India gets governance in stead of government , India will >> also get the true 4th pillar of democracy in stead of news manufacturer >> and >> brokers. >> >> >> >> _________________________________________ >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >> Critiques & Collaborations >> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >> 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 Sun Jan 30 12:27:04 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 12:27:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: <884277.73079.qm@web112113.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> <884277.73079.qm@web112113.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik jee I want to make three arguments about what you want to say: 1) When anybody talks about development of Gujarat, I do bring 2002 in perspective because that in a way is also related to development. When the BJP or Modi tries to make it seem that security is a question related to but separate from development, I disagree. Security is very much a part of development (integral part), since for me security enhances freedoms. But security from the fear of Muslims going to kill Hindus or vice versa is also important. And on that front, I don't believe Gujarat has changed much from when he took over or at least since 2002. On the other hand, I am not a fan of big dams which will displace people. His support of the Sardar Sarovar dam project is something I can't accept. So also his idea of these huge summits where land is literally being given to industrialists for a petty amount and then people are asked to leave, as the Nirma project brought forward. There are sectors where Gujarat seems to be the shining light. Agriculture is one such thing. But is it shining? And will its fallouts be good? I don't know. That I accept. And for Modi being a great CM, I would say give him Bihar or any other state like Maharashtra also. Let us see what he does there. 2) It's not Modiphobia. It's Hindutva-phobia. On that I very much agree. It's a phobia of the kind of world being created where minorities have to live on the goodwill of the majority, probably to the detriment of their own rights and liberties which they should enjoy as human beings. It's a phobia of the ideology which supposedly puts Hindus on a higher pedestal than others, even though all of us are human beings. It's a phobia of making some seem patriotic and others seem as enemies, when they may not be so. It's a complete caricature of the belief in Hinduism, and instead tries to make it seem like a Western religious model of Christianity or the barbaric model of Islam which it wants to imitate, having one God and one religious book and subscribing to just one view and all that. That is something I am completely against. And I would rather have that phobia. It's something Modi represents as an ideology, though how much he believes in it is for him alone to decide. Of course, that does not in any way mean support of the Congress. That party is equally to blame for the rise of the BJP. And that is what happens when people tend to pander to extremism rather than sticking to centrist views. What the RSS could not ever do, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi successfully did: make BJP the major opposition party of Congress. Congratulations to them on that! 3) Maulana has his view and so do others. To criticize either of them for having just views like that which are not like yours, without any basis, is wrong. Maulana has his view and his justification and so do those criticizing him. I think it's just more important to be on the side of facts though. I don't think Maulana or his detractors have facts put out won whether Muslims have also come ahead under his regime or not. Of course, what happened in 2002 should be a shame for Modi also, in my view (though whether he feels it or not, I don't know again). And it can't be about just one Gandhinagar or one Kalol or one Chamanpura. It has to be about entirety of Muslims since 2002. That has to be the issue. I hope the Census 2011 figures give some indication. Rakesh From akmalik45 at yahoo.com Mon Jan 31 01:13:47 2011 From: akmalik45 at yahoo.com (A.K. Malik) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:43:47 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> <884277.73079.qm@web112113.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <214184.26062.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear Mr Rakesh, My cross-comments: 1. Development in any State is the physical attribute like roads, bridges, electricity, housing and never includes security aspects which comes under Law and Order attributes. You can have your definition and are free to include not only 2002 era but even Satyug era. A word either has a meaning as defined or as colloquially understood. So you can't justify your view in the garb of an inclusive definition which doesn't exist.You are surely entitled to have a different perception than what others have. 2. I have not talked about Modi but your Modiphobia has forced you to defame Modi as a CM and as a persecutor of miniorities.Please note Development is not Modi and vice-versa.You are surely entitleted to have your views on Modi. You are free to do Modi bashing whether right or wrong and nobody can do much about it. Please don't deny the facts of physical and financial development in Gujarat just because Modi is the CM. 3. Just tell me why Maulana had to retract his views on development and you still stick to yours? I think it is not because Maulana was right or wrong and you are right but something different.Perhaps you are very well aware but would not come out with. Regards,(A.K.MALIK) ________________________________ From: Rakesh Iyer To: A.K. Malik Cc: Bipin Trivedi ; Sarai List Sent: Sun, January 30, 2011 12:27:04 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD Dear Malik jee I want to make three arguments about what you want to say: 1) When anybody talks about development of Gujarat, I do bring 2002 in perspective because that in a way is also related to development. When the BJP or Modi tries to make it seem that security is a question related to but separate from development, I disagree. Security is very much a part of development (integral part), since for me security enhances freedoms. But security from the fear of Muslims going to kill Hindus or vice versa is also important. And on that front, I don't believe Gujarat has changed much from when he took over or at least since 2002. On the other hand, I am not a fan of big dams which will displace people. His support of the Sardar Sarovar dam project is something I can't accept. So also his idea of these huge summits where land is literally being given to industrialists for a petty amount and then people are asked to leave, as the Nirma project brought forward. There are sectors where Gujarat seems to be the shining light. Agriculture is one such thing. But is it shining? And will its fallouts be good? I don't know. That I accept. And for Modi being a great CM, I would say give him Bihar or any other state like Maharashtra also. Let us see what he does there. 2) It's not Modiphobia. It's Hindutva-phobia. On that I very much agree. It's a phobia of the kind of world being created where minorities have to live on the goodwill of the majority, probably to the detriment of their own rights and liberties which they should enjoy as human beings. It's a phobia of the ideology which supposedly puts Hindus on a higher pedestal than others, even though all of us are human beings. It's a phobia of making some seem patriotic and others seem as enemies, when they may not be so. It's a complete caricature of the belief in Hinduism, and instead tries to make it seem like a Western religious model of Christianity or the barbaric model of Islam which it wants to imitate, having one God and one religious book and subscribing to just one view and all that. That is something I am completely against. And I would rather have that phobia. It's something Modi represents as an ideology, though how much he believes in it is for him alone to decide. Of course, that does not in any way mean support of the Congress. That party is equally to blame for the rise of the BJP. And that is what happens when people tend to pander to extremism rather than sticking to centrist views. What the RSS could not ever do, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi successfully did: make BJP the major opposition party of Congress. Congratulations to them on that! 3) Maulana has his view and so do others. To criticize either of them for having just views like that which are not like yours, without any basis, is wrong. Maulana has his view and his justification and so do those criticizing him. I think it's just more important to be on the side of facts though. I don't think Maulana or his detractors have facts put out won whether Muslims have also come ahead under his regime or not. Of course, what happened in 2002 should be a shame for Modi also, in my view (though whether he feels it or not, I don't know again). And it can't be about just one Gandhinagar or one Kalol or one Chamanpura. It has to be about entirety of Muslims since 2002. That has to be the issue. I hope the Census 2011 figures give some indication. Rakesh From rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com Mon Jan 31 11:06:41 2011 From: rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com (Rakesh Iyer) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:06:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD In-Reply-To: <214184.26062.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> References: <000001cbbf0c$c32e8630$498b9290$@in> <884277.73079.qm@web112113.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> <214184.26062.qm@web112115.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Malik ji For 1), I would say that just because my definition of development is different from you, doesn't mean yours is right. Many people supported Hitler also, yet he was wrong. Similarly, there can be different definitions of development. And what I gave was not my definition. It is how Amartya Sen and the UN itself defines it. So if you believe development doesn't include law and order aspects, that's your problem or perception. For me, it does. For some it doesn't. And therefore my criticism of Modi is as valid as your support of him. And if your definition isn't right or wrong, same is the case for me. For 2), my fear of Modi is about his ideology. I hardly bother about Modi the person (whether he is married or not, whether he has sons or daughters, whether he does yoga or not, or whether he is mentally healthy or not). For me, it's about what he has done. Also, I mentioned a thing clearly in my previous mail. Everybody talks about physical and financial development in Gujarat. Why don't we talk in terms of facts? Wouldn't that be helpful? Why just selective examples? After all it's strange that when the Congress makes a Muslim the CM it's an act of appeasement but when the BJP makes Muslim some DGP of a state or something, it's not. How come? Also, I would not like to sacrifice one aspect of development for the other. In any case, I would not comment on these aspects of development till I myself read more on the issue. In that regard, I accept my ignorance (and here I don't mean the newspaper reports which are put out in this forum to show he has done well). I would rather read some research on the issue. 3) It's a shame if someone has to retract his views. If Maulana has done so (and I sincerely apologize since I didn't know he has done), it's a shame. Just because we dont' believe in something doesn't give the right to us to stop him from airing the views or making that person change his/her views. That's the attitude of the Bajrang Dal, the VHP, and their cohorts among the Muslim and Christian and other communities. I frankly don't subscribe to it. Rakesh On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 1:13 AM, A.K. Malik wrote: > Dear Mr Rakesh, > My cross-comments: > 1. Development in any State is the physical attribute like roads, bridges, > electricity, housing and never includes security aspects which comes under > Law and Order attributes. You can have your definition and are free to > include not only 2002 era but even Satyug era. A word either has a meaning > as defined or as colloquially understood. So you can't justify your view in > the garb of an inclusive definition which doesn't exist.You are surely > entitled to have a different perception than what others have. > 2. I have not talked about Modi but your Modiphobia has forced you to > defame Modi as a CM and as a persecutor of miniorities.Please note > Development is not Modi and vice-versa.You are surely entitleted to have > your views on Modi. You are free to do Modi bashing whether right or wrong > and nobody can do much about it. Please don't deny the facts of physical and > financial development in Gujarat just because Modi is the CM. > 3. Just tell me why Maulana had to retract his views on development and you > still stick to yours? I think it is not because Maulana was right or wrong > and you are right but something different.Perhaps you are very well aware > but would not come out with. > Regards, > (A.K.MALIK) > > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Rakesh Iyer > *To:* A.K. Malik > *Cc:* Bipin Trivedi ; Sarai List > > *Sent:* Sun, January 30, 2011 12:27:04 PM > *Subject:* Re: [Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD > > Dear Malik jee > > I want to make three arguments about what you want to say: > > 1) When anybody talks about development of Gujarat, I do bring 2002 in > perspective because that in a way is also related to development. When the > BJP or Modi tries to make it seem that security is a question related to but > separate from development, I disagree. Security is very much a part of > development (integral part), since for me security enhances freedoms. But > security from the fear of Muslims going to kill Hindus or vice versa is also > important. And on that front, I don't believe Gujarat has changed much from > when he took over or at least since 2002. > > On the other hand, I am not a fan of big dams which will displace people. > His support of the Sardar Sarovar dam project is something I can't accept. > So also his idea of these huge summits where land is literally being given > to industrialists for a petty amount and then people are asked to leave, as > the Nirma project brought forward. > > There are sectors where Gujarat seems to be the shining light. Agriculture > is one such thing. But is it shining? And will its fallouts be good? I don't > know. That I accept. > > And for Modi being a great CM, I would say give him Bihar or any other > state like Maharashtra also. Let us see what he does there. > > 2) It's not Modiphobia. It's Hindutva-phobia. On that I very much agree. > It's a phobia of the kind of world being created where minorities have to > live on the goodwill of the majority, probably to the detriment of their own > rights and liberties which they should enjoy as human beings. It's a phobia > of the ideology which supposedly puts Hindus on a higher pedestal than > others, even though all of us are human beings. It's a phobia of making some > seem patriotic and others seem as enemies, when they may not be so. > > It's a complete caricature of the belief in Hinduism, and instead tries to > make it seem like a Western religious model of Christianity or the barbaric > model of Islam which it wants to imitate, having one God and one religious > book and subscribing to just one view and all that. > > That is something I am completely against. And I would rather have that > phobia. It's something Modi represents as an ideology, though how much he > believes in it is for him alone to decide. > > Of course, that does not in any way mean support of the Congress. That > party is equally to blame for the rise of the BJP. And that is what happens > when people tend to pander to extremism rather than sticking to centrist > views. What the RSS could not ever do, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi > successfully did: make BJP the major opposition party of Congress. > Congratulations to them on that! > > 3) Maulana has his view and so do others. To criticize either of them for > having just views like that which are not like yours, without any basis, is > wrong. Maulana has his view and his justification and so do those > criticizing him. > > I think it's just more important to be on the side of facts though. I don't > think Maulana or his detractors have facts put out won whether Muslims have > also come ahead under his regime or not. Of course, what happened in 2002 > should be a shame for Modi also, in my view (though whether he feels it or > not, I don't know again). And it can't be about just one Gandhinagar or one > Kalol or one Chamanpura. > > It has to be about entirety of Muslims since 2002. That has to be the > issue. I hope the Census 2011 figures give some indication. > > Rakesh > > > > From chintan.backups at gmail.com Mon Jan 31 11:28:13 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:28:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] SPARROW, a Women's Oral History Archive Needs Funds Message-ID: Hello I'm forwarding this mail with the conviction that many on this list would be interested in benefitting from and supporting SPARROW's work on women's oral histories. I have no doubt that this kind of work would strike a chord with people interested in education, gender studies, history, and many other fields. If you want to make a contribution or know someone who would like to make one (however seemingly small), please get in touch with C S Lakshmi at sparrow1988 at gmail.com You can obtain further details and the payment form from her. Thanks for your time. Regards Chintan -- Dear Friend, Greetings from SPARROW! As you may know, SPARROW is the only women's archives that is collecting print, visual and oral history material on women's history and experience. It was set up as a trust in 1988 and has since then been doing pioneering work in this field to generate and disseminate knowledge about women's life and history in innovative ways. If you visit its website www.sparrowonline.org you will get an idea of the kind of work SPARROW does. SPARROW now has a building of its own and is working towards stabilizing itself financially to continue its work of documenting women's life and history. We are planning a series of efforts to raise a modest corpus of 5 crores. In March this year we organised a charity art raffle as our first step in this series. As a second step towards gaining financial stability we have launched *A Sky to Fly* which is an effort to find 2000 friends for SPARROW to support its work and activities by contributing just *Rs. 2500 per year for the next four years*. Rs.2500 a year is just Rs. 208.50 per month and less than Rs.7 per day. It is a small amount which an individual or family may spend in a month as part of expenses for seeing a film, eating out or for shopping for fun. But for SPARROW every small contribution is the drop that will make the ocean. This amount would translate into books, newspapers, journals, archival activities, publications, reach out projects and infrastructural expenses for SPARROW. All donations will qualify for Section 80G (1) of the Income Tax Act of 1961. Those who donate for* A Sky to Fly *will be acknowledged on the SPARROW website and Annual Reports. SPARROW Newsletters and Annual Reports will be sent to them free of charge. They will also get a special discount of 20% on all SPARROW publications and films. They will also have access to the SPARROW collections whenever they visit Mumbai. We are sure you know 10 individuals who can make this commitment to support SPARROW. We request you to please find 10 friends for SPARROW including yourself. We look forward to your being a friend on whom SPARROW can depend now and in future. What SPARROW needs is a sky to fly. We have attached a payment form. We look forward to your response. Warmly, C S Lakshmi Director SPARROW -- Dr. C S Lakshmi Director SPARROW Sound & Picture Archives for Research on Women The Nest B-101/202/301, Patel Apartment, Maratha Colony Road, Dahisar (E) Mumbai-400068 Phone: 022-28280895/28965019 E-mail: sparrow1988 at gmail.com Website: *www.sparrowonline.org* From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Jan 31 14:54:39 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 04:24:39 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Inviting Media to cover Function of Homage to Kalpana Chawla & Distribution of 8th Kalpana Chawla Excellence Awards on Tuesday, the 1st Feb 2011 forenoon at INSA Auditorium, BS Zafar Marg, New Delhi-2 In-Reply-To: <00f701cbc127$c4170780$0201a8c0@hpf7f1a563d5d3> References: <00f701cbc127$c4170780$0201a8c0@hpf7f1a563d5d3> Message-ID: <8CD8F3FD1A549F1-E18-1DE78@webmail-m002.sysops.aol.com> PECOBA (Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh Old Boys Association, New Delhi) Dakha Plaza, 974/1 Arya Samaj Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005 Phones: Mob: 098117-20895, 011-28755656, 011-28759428, Telefax: 011-28759428 emails: pecoba at bol.net.in   &   sakha1 at bol.net.in   Jan 31, 2011   I am enclosing an Invitation Card for a Function of Homage on late astronaut Kalpana Chawla & Distribution of 8th Annual Kalpana Chawla Excellence Awards on Tuesday, the 1st February, 2011 , 12.30 pm to 1.20 pm at Indian National Science Academy (INSA)Auditorium, 9 BS Zafar Marg, New Delhi   The Awards will be distributed by Sh Banarsi Lal Chawla, father of Kalpana Chawla. A list of Awardees is also enclosed & the time at which each will get Award is also written. The Awardees list includes Dr  Kapila Vatsayan for whom Padma Vibhushan was declared by the Govt of India on 25th Jan 2011. She has given her written consent for receiving Kalpana Chawla Excellence Award. All other Awardees also have meritorious achievements.   The Function is being held to coincide with the 8th Death Anniversary of Kalpana Chawla who had died on 1st Feb 2003. In view of the National Importance of the event & great public interest in it, I request you to cover  the event. Your can come to our MEDIA COUNTER at the entrance of Auditorium and get some more material about the Function. As we are punctual to the minute, kindly arrive definitely by 12.15 pm. You can also join us for the lunch between 1.30 pm and 2.30 pm during which you can interview any awardee or Mr Banarsi Lal Chawla. Mr Chawla is arriving from Karnal on the evening of 31st January & will be staying at INSA Guest House which is located within the premises of Indian National Science Academy (Phone 23221931- ask for his room no.) Mr Chawla's Karnal Based mobile is 098130-41572, 093543-19972.   For any other information, I may be contacted.   (Amarjit Singh Kohli) General Secy, Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh old Boys Association, PECOBA B-4/120 Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029 Ph: 26196600, 26107082, Mob 09988778739 (Punjab based mobile. Pl dial zero before) Email: sakha1 at bol.net.in and amarjitsinghkohli at gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------         ALPHABETIC AWARDEES LIST FOR KALPANA CHAWLA EXCELLENCE AWARDS, Version R8 on Feb 1, 2011 from 12.30 pm to 1.20 pm at Indian National Science Academy Auditorium (Phone: 011-23221931 to 50), BS Zafar Marg, New Delhi Awards will be given by Sh Banarasi Lal Chawla, father of Kalpana Chawla   1. Kapila Vatsyayan, Dr- Padma Vibhushan in 2011- An internationally acknowledged scholar of Indian classical dance, arts, architecture. Astonishingly versatile scholar, author, linguist, musician, dancer, ethnographer & much more. Founder and Former Academic Director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre of the Arts in New Delhi. Her total qualities can form the basis of a book.   Kanwaljit Deol – Belongs to Indian Police Service, AGMU 77 Batch. Presently Director General of Police, Arunachal Pradesh, based at Itanagar. A police officer of great integrity & commitment to duty, she has not hesitated to take action against several hardened criminals. As an official who brooks no oversight from her teams, she is regarded with considerable awe by her colleagues. Has written the book "101 Tips To Survive The City (Penguin, 2002)". Credited with setting up the Crime Against Women Cell in Delhi in1983 & was its Incharge for next 4 years   3. Krishna Poonia – Second Indian & the first woman to win a gold medal in any atheletic event (Discus Throw – throw of 61.5 metres) in Commonwealth Games on 11 Oct 2010, Delhi. Only Milkha Singh had won Gold earlier in1958 in  400 yards race.  Works for Railways in Jaipur. Rajasthan Govt has now announced a cash reward of Rs 10 Lakhs to her though it had not approved her application for assistance of Rs 1 lakh for training abroad  which she funded out of her won pocket. An Arjun Awardee, Padmashree announced in 2011. Born in Agroha, Hisar District of Haryana in a Jat family and married to Virender Singh Poonia of Gagarwas village in Churu district in Rajasthan in 2000.   4. Manorama Jafa – Born in Lakhimpur Kheri, UP. Author of 80 books for children and over 600 stories, articles and research papers, she has pioneered the movement for better books for children in India. Her books are available in many Indian such as Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannad, Telgu, Malayalam,Punjabi, Urdu  and foreign languages Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Pashto, Dari.  Supported by famous cartoonist Shankar, she founded the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children in 1981 and has served as its Secretary General and the editor of its Quarterly Journal for three decades. Her writers’ workshops have benefited a large number of aspirant writers in India, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Korea.  An internationally known scholar of children’s literature, she was honoured as “the Living Treasure of Children’s Literature in India” at the Children Book Festival held in Nami Island ,Republic of Korea, from 1st October to 14 November 2010.     5.Mohini Giri, Dr – A Padma Bhushan for Social Service (2007),  and a Former Chairperson of the National Commission for Women and Founder President of the War Widows Associations, she is daughter-in-law of former President of India Sh V.V. Giri. Under her dynamic leadership as President of "Guild of Service" which works for the empowerment of marginalized, distressed women, widows and children requiring stupendous effort on her part. But she believes that her rewards are in the smile of confidence when a destitute woman earns her first income, the sense of satisfaction when injustice is corrected & the sense of pride when a shy woman wins the Panchayat Elections. She has launched multidimensional programs towards vocational training and education of women.  Guild’s work for widows is exemplary & it runs "Amar Bari", a home for 100 widows in Vrindavan. Another home for 500 widows, Ma Dham, is in the offing.   6. Naurti - An illiterate but highly ethical Sarpanch of Harmara Panchayat in Ajmer District of Rajasthan & leads an exemplary life. Aruna Roy who is an important member of National Advisory Council headed by Smt Sonia Gandhi says, "Naurti is an extremely distinguished woman from whom I have learned a lot.  Her work formed the basis for a PIL in Supreme Court demanding Government to pay minimum wages in public works programmes, an issue still being fought by workers in MGNREGA. She fought and won a landmark case, which was then the basis for a PIL filed in the Supreme Court demanding that the government pay minimum wages in public works programmes  like Famine Relief Works.- an issue that is still being fought for by workers in MGNREGA." Despite being illiterate she learnt computer & loads information of use for undertaking public causes.   7. Neeta Mohindra – A renowned painter, she has held 22 solo exhibitions all over India including Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar. She is deep into academics and research of painting. Doctorate on the Tribal Art Forms of Southern Rajasthan in 1986. Made a series of paintings for UGC's project "Study of Contemporary Trends in Indian Art". Has held several workshops in Foreign Countries including USA, UK, Germany. Also a drama actor and director who has acted in and directed several plays in Hindi, English and Sanskrit. Has been  part of all the major national and international Theatre Festivals. Performed 50 shows of her play "Land of Five Rivers" all over UK in 2001 on a fellowship of British Council. Also performed her solo play "Buhe Barian"in Lahore several times. Her latest solo play "Chanda Mama Door Ke" scripted by her & solo-acted by her won laurels in the International Festival of Theatre "Rangmahotsa" in Jan 2010. Recipient of several awards including Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 2009. Teaching Fine Arts in BBK DAY College for Women in Amritsar.   8. Reena  Kaushal Dhanshaktu - First Indian Woman to ski to South Pole travelling 900 km from the coast of Antartica to South Pole. As a part of Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic expedition  she spent 38 days skiing on the polar ice cap to raise awareness of issues relating to environment and empowerment of women. She has climbed  many peaks in the Himalayas like  Shri Kailash , Gangotri 1, Argan Kangri,Phawararang and many more  and some peaks in Alaska  . She is Free lance outdoor instructor  of mountaineering and backpacking and now likes to give motivational talks  . Her committment to environmental issues is demonstrated by the fact that her expedition  carried back all the garbage & human waste of 38 days and did not dump it anywhere during the expedition. She has now set eyes on a trip to North Pole. She laments that she has never received any assistance from the Government of India  despite her path breaking feat. Born in Bareilly , UP she is now settled in Delhi.   9. Ritu Beri, A Delhi based Fashion Designer of International repute who gave a new identity to fashion industry in India. She is unique with her astute and elegant collections.   10. Shovana Narain -  A Leading Kathak Dancer who learnt from dancer-actress Sadhna Bose at Kolkata, Guru Kundanlal at Mumbai and maestro Pt. Birju Maharaj at Delhi. She has given an entirely new dimension to dancing, displaying exquisite mastery over layakari, and abhinaya. Her style represents a crystallization of combined techniques of sophisticated elegance of Lucknow Gharana and rhythmic precision of Jaipur School. Author of ten books including "Moonlight Impressionism" and "The Dawn After". Visiting Lecturer at the Theaterfurwissenschaften, University of Vienna.  Regularly holds two annual festivals, one featuring famous maestros and the other festival ‘Arpan’ promoting young dancers. Asavari group is credited with many path-breaking works. Works with spastic, mentally and physically handicapped children. Married to Dr. Herbert von Traxl, Austrian Ambassador to India. Won several awards including Padmashree, Sangeet Natak Akademy. Main Co-ordinator and Director of Opening and Closing Ceremonies of Commonwealth Games, 2010.   11. Sohini Kumari: A rare sportswomen who represented India in International Tournaments in both Squash and Tennis many times. Listed in the Limca Book of Records as one of four most versatile sportswomen of India     Awardees List of KC 2011 R9, names and description         Media for Coverage of Function on Kalpana Chawla on 1st Feb 2011 by email From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Mon Jan 31 18:22:28 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:22:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: POSCO Clearance a betrayal of Indian Constitution and people: NFFPFW condemns the MoEF decision Message-ID: POSCO Clearance a betrayal of Indian Constitution and people: CONDEMN Evidently, the short burst of 'environmentalism' from the Government of India is over. The India INC should not feel disconcerted anymore; its concerns over 'placing environment over development' were well heeded. For the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, it's back-to-business once again, with granting of environmental and forest clearances to so-called 'development' projects that violate almost all the rules in the book, pronto. After initial hiccups consisting of forming a number of committees on the now infamous POSCO issue, the MoEF has decided to go back to the roots of the problem, wisely. While all the Government Committee Reports and findings by a host of other agencies have definitively proved that forest and environmental clearance to the Project will be in direct contravention of Forest Rights Act 2006 (and other statutes), and that the Orissa Government had deliberately failed to record the legitimate claims of the bona-fide forest dwellers residing in the proposed project area, the Ministry now gives the project forests and environmental clearance and says it is up to the Orissa Government to 'assure' the Ministry that there are no ' Other Traditional Forest Dwellers(OTFD)' in the area before forest clearance is issued. The contention is that if there are no OTFDs, there is no law violation, because FRA then will not apply. Whom exactly is the Indian Government trying to fool? The Orissa Government from the day one has been clamouring that the POSCO project (port and steel plant) area does not contain forest dwellers and hence the FRA does not apply. They will now issue a 'categorical assurance' to the effect and the MoEF and its Minister will be assured that FRA is not being violated, despite all evidences to the contrary? Is it a joke? Does the Minister wish to take us all on a 'humourous' ride? If it is so, then the joke is stale and the humour, if any, is morbid. The POSCO clearance constitutes a betrayal; not only of people residing in the project area demanding their just legal rights but also the values and laws that are enshrined in this Country's constitution. This also shows that this Government is not to be trusted where going against corporate interests is involved: it will callously kill its own laws. We condemn and protest this illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic clearance and demand that the Indian Government revoke this clearance immediately. We express our solidarity with the anti-Posco struggle in Orissa and urge all people's movements and pro-people democratic forces of the country to unite in condemnation of the POSCO clearance. The clearance will signal increased repression on the anti-Posco struggle in the days to come. The resistance will also grow. People will not take it lying down any more. In solidarity, Sanjay Basu Mullick Convenor NFFPFW Secretariat, Ranchi -- "Protect Livelihoods - Protect Resources" National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW) B-137 Dayanand Colony, 1st Floor Lajpat Nagar IV New Delhi - 110024 Ph: 011-26486931 E mail: nffpfwindia at gmail.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiaclimatejustice" group. To post to this group, send email to indiaclimatejustice at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to indiaclimatejustice+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiaclimatejustice?hl=en. From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Mon Jan 31 19:25:03 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:25:03 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] latest CO2 emissions data Message-ID: The Guardian has just reported CO2 emissions data for 2009, from the US EIA, one of the reliable sources. It's interesting for more than one reason, not least because it reflects the ongoing recession/ economic crisis. - Most countries are down about 7-8%, including the US, Russia, other countries in Europe, etc. Yet the overall emissions has remained almost unchanged, at little over 30 billion tonnes (almost double the Earth's current absorption capacity). - China has a spectacular rise, up 13% at 7.7 billion tonnes and way ahead of second-placed US (5.4 billion tonnes, down from 5.8 bn the previous year). - And much as I don't like talking in these nation-state categories (for many reasons), India is third at 1.6 bn. Naga From patrice at xs4all.nl Mon Jan 31 20:03:56 2011 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:33:56 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] latest CO2 emissions data In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6e57c9fea7fc05573a62f3ec98b083df.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> > The Guardian has just reported CO2 emissions data for 2009, from the > US EIA, one of the reliable sources. It's interesting for more than > one reason, not least because it reflects the ongoing recession/ > economic crisis. > - Most countries are down about 7-8%, including the US, Russia, other > countries in Europe, etc. Yet the overall emissions has remained > almost unchanged, at little over 30 billion tonnes (almost double the > Earth's current absorption capacity). > - China has a spectacular rise, up 13% at 7.7 billion tonnes and way > ahead of second-placed US (5.4 billion tonnes, down from 5.8 bn the > previous year). > - And much as I don't like talking in these nation-state categories > (for many reasons), India is third at 1.6 bn. > Naga > See http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/31/world-carbon-dioxide-emissions-country-data-co2 (http://bit.ly/e3XxUi) From patrice at xs4all.nl Mon Jan 31 22:27:34 2011 From: patrice at xs4all.nl (Patrice Riemens) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:57:34 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Scandalous Decision of Jairam Ramesh to OK POSCO project: Environment Minister disregards findings of his own Review and Statutory Clearances Committees Message-ID: <81e695ace036d0c340489c9db52efcf4.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> (bwo the ESG list) (This Press Release is being circulated by ESG at the request of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi - POSCO Resistance Struggle Movement. Please re-circulate widely) **POSCO PRATIRODH SANGRAM SAMITI** *Dhinkia, Nuagaon, Gadkujang; Jagatsinghpur District, Orissa* *PRESS RELEASE: 31 January 2011* *Scandalous Decision of Jairam Ramesh to OK POSCO project* Environment Minister disregards findings of his own Review and Statutory Clearances Committees The decision of Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to give a comprehensive OK to the POSCO India Steel-Power Production-Captive Port project, based on some additional conditions, is nothing short of a total sell out to the politics of power and international capital. In a climate where each and every Minister of the Union Government is tumbling over with scandals, Ramesh had stood tall taking one brave legally and ethically correct decision after another. An acid test for him to continue this streak of decision making in the wider public interest, keeping in view intergenerational interests as well, was about the POSCO project. By his decision today to clear the project Ramesh has failed not only his own legacy, but has attacked the very rule of law based decision making that he has so often been harping on to be the basis of his functioning. It is well known that the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi, a peaceful movement of affected communities, has been systematically raising the deep, inter-generational and irreversible impacts of allowing this massive project to come up in the ecologically sensitive Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa. This struggle began with the inking of a most controversial MOU between Orissa State and Korea's Pohang Steel (POSCO) in 2005, proposing to establish the largest industrial project ever conceived in human history: a 12 MTPA steel plant backed by captive power plant; a captive port (described as "small" but designed to receive the largest commercial ships ever built - of CAPESIZE variety); a large township to accommodate over 100000 people; a large captive mine in Kandadhar (600 MT for local processing and 400 MT for export over 30 years); fresh water intake from over 100 kms. away (while denying many towns and cities drinking water) and extensive road and rail infrastructure to support the project. The 4000 acres of land chosen for the plant site comprise of pristine coastal and deltaic ecosystems, with active nesting sites for the critically endangered Olive Ridley Turtles and the Horse Shoe Crabs. Over a third of this land comprises of coastal forests. Over 22000 people will be directly displaced by the steel plant alone, a number that has been repeatedly disputed by Orissa Government based on its spurious claims. Absolutely no impact assessment of any academic rigour worth its salt or regulatory review of value considering the mega scale of this project, has at all been conducted to support the project is environmentally and socially useful. In fact, the so-called Rapid Environment Impact Assessment reports prepared by M/s Dastur for POSCO India, was only for 4 MTPA steel production and not for the entire project as is required by law. Clearly against statutory standards and norms, the project was still accorded environmental, forest and coastal regulation zone clearances in 2007. In addition, the Orissa Government engaged the /National Council for Applied Economic Research /(/NCAER) to cook up data claiming the benefits from the project as phenomenal, which when verified even cursorily proved to be junk statistics supporting desperate political games promoting the project. / *Background to the Independent Review of POSCO by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF):* Following what is widely regarded as a politically brave but legally correct decision of Jairam Ramesh to reject on grounds of fraud the clearance accorded to the infamous Vedanta Bauxite project in Orissa during 2010, the much larger POSCO issue came into focus. After all communities affected by POSCO had been engaged for over 5 years in the most outstanding example of peaceful resistance against such unprecedented unjust development. Bending to reason, Mr. Ramesh agreed to constitute a sub-Committee under the N. C. Saxena Committee reviewing Forest Rights Act implementation, to also enquire if the POSCO project's forest clearances were compliant with the Forests Rights Act enacted only in 2006. Producing their report the Committee put beyond any reasonable doubt that the forest clearances accorded were in comprehensive violation of the Forest Rights Act. A right step taken soon after by the Minister was to stay the forest clearance accorded - a decision taken that was taken at a time when brutal dislocation of forest dwelling communities was underway by the Orissa Government. Subsequently, Ramesh ordered an independent enquiry into all aspects of the project's clearance coordinated by Ms. Meena Gupta, former MoEF Environment Secretary, with Mr. Devendra Pandey (IFS, Retd.), former Director of Forest Survey of India, Mr. V. Suresh, Advocate and PUCL activist and Dr. Urmila Pingle, expert on tribal affairs, as members. Following three months of deliberate and extensive consultations, and also detailed investigation into all aspects of the clearances accorded, and on the basis of detailed verification of compliance review files the Committee by a majority decision (3:1) comprehensively rejected all the clearances granted to the project. Ms. Meena Gupta who stood up for the POSCO project, dubiously recommended additional conditions to adjust against serious statutory violations and fraud in the decision making process -- a line of thinking that Jairam Ramesh now scandalously subscribes to. In the subsequent review by Statutory Appraisal Committees of the MoEF, the Committees reviewing the Forest and Coastal Clearances recommended withdrawal of clearances granted. The only Committee that proposed a go-ahead was the one reviewing the environmental impacts under the EIA Notification. It was for Ramesh to now decide on the right steps to be taken to correct this gross injustice and irregularities in environmental decision making. In the face of extensive burden of proof of fraud involved in securing clearances for the POSCO project, the matter should legally have been to withdraw clearances accorded -- as in the Vedanta case. This was the time to test the honesty of a man to stand up and uphold Constitutional and Ethical values, regardless of any and all forms of pressures. Jairam Ramesh has miserably failed this test. *Jairam Ramesh's pro-POSCO decision:* The report presented today by Jairam Ramesh is nothing but a capitulation to corrupt forces both within India and abroad. After all POSCO, though a Korean company, is held largely by American corporations, and no less than Warren Buffet holds 5% stake in this transnational corporation. For the single largest project FDI investment in India at 2005 prices (Rs. 51,000 crores or USD 12 billion capital cost), analysis reveal that this investment can be recovered in less than a decade given the pittance of a royalty that POSCO will pay for iron ore extracted. (Rs. 30/tonne at the official ore valuation of Rs. 300/tonne, compared with the commercial value of Rs. 7,000/tonne). It is to make such unprecedented profits from the plunder of India's natural resources that POSCO demanded a coastal location for its super large CAPESIZE ships to be berthed to cart away our precious iron ore. What India would be left with is the toxic residue of its dirty ore processing, while the refined ore (perhaps not even the finished steel) would be exported to Korea and elsewhere to add more value to POSCO's profits. This is not merely a flight of the nation's natural wealth but also a massive planned political exercise for erosion of financial resources with questionable legal sanction. The POSCO episode, simply stated, shockingly resembles operations of the East India Company, only that this time it is aided not by any Victorian empire, but democratically elected Governments in Orissa and the Centre. Just as Mahatma Gandhi led India's valiant battle against exploitation of India by the British Empire, it is time now for PPSS to actively challenge this gross violation of Constitutional Rights, Statutes and Norms, dubiously legitimised by Jairam Ramesh ignoring substantive findings of Enquiry Committees that he himselft constituted. The struggle against POSCO in Jagatsinghpur will continue. The struggle against exploitation of tribal, farming and fishing communities of Orissa will continue. The battle to expose corruption in the Orissa Government and the Union Government (especially MoEF) will continue. This is a struggle to expose the most corrupt and socially and environmentally disastrous deal ever legitimised in India's history. Abhay Sahoo President 09556666552 Prashant Paikray Spokesperson 09437571547 prashantpaikray at gmail.com POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi -- Environment, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives Environment Support Group Trust 1572, 36th Cross, Banashankari II Stage Bangalore 560070 Tel: 91-80-26713559-61 Voice/Fax: 91-80-26713316 Email: esg at esgindia.org Web: http://www.esgindia.org _______________________________________________ Esglist mailing list