SACW | 02 March 2005
sacw
aiindex at mnet.fr
Tue Mar 1 18:35:04 CST 2005
South Asia Citizens Wire | 02 March., 2005
via: www.sacw.net
[1] Pakistan Fisher folk Forum to campaign for
the release of fishermen detained by Indian and
Pakistani forces
[2] Kashmiri right to self-determination be recognised: PIPFPD
[3] Jack of Arms Trade in India and Pakistan (J. Sri Raman)
[4] India: On the liquor ban in Gujarat (Editorial, The Telegraph)
[5] India - Gujarat: NGO's forgive 'n' forget idea kicks up a row
[6] Upcoming events:
(i) Talk: "Globalizing Inequality" by P.Sainath (New York, March 3, 2005)
(ii) Conference: Re-Visioning Mumbai (Bombay, 3rd - 4th March, 2005)
(iii) Rally & cultural program to Celebrate
International Women's Day (New Delhi, 4th march
2005)
(iv) right to food campaign events and workshops (9-18 March 2005)
(v) A Photographic Exhibit - City Limits:
Engendering the Body in Public Space; A Panel
Discussion - Imagining Gendered Utopias & A Film
Series - Imagining Women (Bombay, 5-12 March,
2005)
(vi) Second South Asian Workshop on Racism,
Xenophobia, and Discrimination against Ethnic
Minorities and Indigenous People (Lahore, March
22-31, 2005)
--------------
[1]
Dawn - 1 March 2005
FISHER FOLK FORUM TO LAUNCH STRUGGLE
KARACHI, Feb 28: Pakistan Fisher folk Forum (PFF)
has announced to launch a vigorous struggle for
the release of detained fishermen arrested by the
Marine Security Forces of India and Pakistan.
This decision was taken in an emergency meeting
of the PFF held at its headquarters on Monday.
According to a press release issued here, the
meeting decided to launch a phase-wise struggle
on this issue. The struggle activities would
include conference on the detained fishermen,
advocacy with the governments of India and
Pakistan, hunger strikes and long march.
President Pakistan Fisher folk Forum Mohammad Ali
Shah while addressing the meeting said that India
and Pakistan were using the fishermen of both the
countries as ploy in their political game. He
said that due to the arrest of more than 1,000
fishermen of both the sides, their families were
forced to live under abject poverty.
He said that at least 147 Pakistani fishermen had
passed their tenures in Indian jails but due to
the lack of interest of the Pakistan government
they were not being repatriated and were living a
miserable life in an India Police Headquarters. -
PPI
______
[2]
Daily Times - March 2, 2005
KASHMIRI RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION BE RECOGNISED: PIPFPD
Staff Report
NEW DELHI: The rights of the people of Jammu and
Kashmir to self-determination should be
recognised, concluded the Pakistan India People's
Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) on
Tuesday. The forum also expressed concern about
the treatment of minorities in India and Pakistan.
The three day conclave, attended by over 1,000
delegates, deliberated on several issues related
to peace between the two countries and adopted a
declaration demanding a nuclear free South Asia
and a reduction of military expenditure to divert
towards the social sector.
The conclave formed three sub-groups of Indian
and Pakistani intellectuals and peace activists
to separately deliberate the Kashmir issue,
treatment of minorities and peace and
reconciliation. The Kashmir group, lead by
eminent journalist Ved Bhasin, recommended
recognising the self-determination right of the
people of Jammu and Kashmir. "Given the diversity
of opinion, it is critical that people's voices
be heard, their right of self-determination be
recognised and no solution imposed," said the
declaration.
Emphasising the right of people from both sides
of the LoC to interact, PIPFPD claimed that it
was in a position to offer a solution to the
Kashmir issue. It also called upon all parties to
renounce violence and expressed concern at the
state agencies' use of former militants in
counterinsurgency operations to avoid
accountability.
The forum stressed that Kashmiris should be
included in discussions regarding water disputes
between India and Pakistan. They also pointed out
that people in Gilgit and Baltistan were
experiencing the loss of state subject rights and
were vulnerable to state induced alterations in
their demographic structure.
______
[3]
www.truthout.org
26 February 2005
JACK OF ARMS TRADE IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
By J. Sri Raman
New Delhi and Islamabad have been
congratulating themselves profusely on agreeing
on a "confidence-building measure" (CBM) that is
very welcome to the long-suffering people of
Kashmir. On February 16, the foreign Affairs
Ministers of India and Pakistan, K. Natwar Singh
and Kurshid Mahmud Kasuri, announced a joint
decision to launch a bus service between Srinagar
and Muzaffarabad, capitals of Kashmir under
India's and Pakistan's control respectively.
The role of a third foreign affairs minister
- of the United Kingdom - to spend the third week
of February in South Asia, mainly India and
Pakistan, however, has gone grossly
under-reported.
The role merits notice all the more for its
possible relation to concerted efforts to involve
South Asia in the missile defense scheme - and to
involve it in a manner that can only create a
more dangerous India-Pakistan divide that no bus
can bridge.
The India-Pakistan accord drew immediate and
apparently well-deserved applause. The media had
good fun talking about the two governments not
missing the bus again. The two sides did seem to
have displayed political will in discarding their
earlier rigid positions on the documents to be
required of passengers of the proposed bus plying
across the Line of Control (LoC), which India
considers a de facto international border and
Pakistan does not. The positions seemed well-nigh
irreconcilable just weeks ago.
Some, of course, wondered if sufficient
security could be provided to the bus service.
The spurt in clashes between the insurgents and
the security forces in the India-administered
State of Jammu and Kashmir has fueled the fears
on this count. Many would still consider the risk
worth taking for the sake of India-Pakistan
relations and forcibly divided Kashmiri families.
What might take some sheen off the accord,
however, is the unsettling thought that the bus
talks in Islamabad may have gone beyond the
bilateral. The Pakistani media was hardly
reticent about the role of British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw in this regard. Straw's
arrival in Islamabad on February 14, a day before
Natwar Singh's, said a report, "did seem to
indicate that Pakistan was being induced to be
accommodative by one of its influential friends."
Pakistani leader-writers reminded Britain of its
commitment to a Kashmir solution in terms of
United Nations resolutions rather than through
talks, while Straw addressed public meetings on a
dialogue about the alternative to war.
His participation in the "peace process" may
seem praiseworthy, but as for Britain's and his
own past record and role in the matter, along
with a "dialogue," they have peddled arms deals,
and along with "peace," they have promoted war
preparations on both sides. They did so at the
gravest South Asian hour since India and Pakistan
turned nuclear-weapon states. Britain and its
Foreign Secretary are doing it again now.
In a televised interview on February 22 with
a prominent Indian newspaper editor who has
always held that what is good for the US is great
for India, Straw paid himself tributes for his
peace-keeping role during the dangerous
India-Pakistan standoff over Kashmir in the early
months of 2002, when the world feared the
outbreak of the first-ever nuclear war. The
reality of Straw's role was just the reverse.
At that time, when Prime Minister Tony Blair
visited India and Pakistan and talked of
Britain's "calming influence," it was disclosed
that his real mission was to boost arms sales to
India worth one billion pounds. Straw's own part
in the arms deals that accompanied the pretended
peace mission was no less significant. On July
19, 2002, lawmakers of Britain criticized him for
failing to block arms sales to the nuclear rivals
during the standoff.
A joint report by four House of Commons
committees - of foreign affairs, defense, trade
and industry, and international development -
said Straw failed to apply government guidelines
banning weapons exports where there was risk they
could be used for external aggression. They were
"surprised" that Straw did not personally examine
license applications for exports to the region
during the period of heightened tension in May
and June.
In a letter to the committees, Straw said 149
licenses had been issued for export to India
during the period and 19 for export to Pakistan.
He, however, claimed he had not been personally
involved. The lawmakers responded by wondering
whether there could have been a fitter case for
forbidding arms exports.
Straw and his government have continued to
promote arms deals that are not going to promote
the cause of India-Pakistan "dialogue" and peace.
A turning point was the signing on Match 20,
2004, of a 295-million-pound accord on the supply
of 66 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs) to India
from Britain. Soon, on April 27 the same year,
Britain and India announced their decision to
launch collaboration in development of
"futuristic weapons systems".
Notably, Straw's latest "peace" drive has
come at the same time as a push by hawks in the
Indian establishment for the country's speedy
enrollment in the US-spearheaded missile defense
system. The advocates of the idea make no secret
at all of their anti-Pakistan angle.
C. Raja Mohan, a security analyst, says of
such description: "India's acquisition of a TMD
(theater missile defense) system will help
complicate Pakistan's nuclear calculus and dent
its ability to indulge in nuclear blackmail.
Equally important, TMD offers a potential
insurance against state failure in Pakistan and
the danger of its nuclear weapons falling into
the hands of extremist elements."
Straw, it must be noted, has been among the
foremost advocates of missile defense. On August
1, 2001, he sent a briefing paper on the US plans
for a missile system to all the 412 Labor members
of Parliament. The paper has been described as
the "strongest backing" from a member of the
British government for the scheme.
The paper addressed several issues, including
the threat posed by "rogue states" and the
limitations of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM)
Treaty. It was seen as a mirror image of George
Bush's case for missile defense. Straw would not
need to try too hard to sell the scheme to
India's hawks, who hoped the Bush wars on
Afghanistan and Iraq would lead to recognition of
a right to pre-emptive strikes against Pakistan.
The new bus may be big news for the common
Kashmiris. Straw and his South Asian
collaborators, however, have bigger things in
mind.
______
[4]
The Telegraph - February 24, 2005 | Editorial
REMEMBER RIGHT
A sense of irony is unavoidable every time modern
Gujarat invokes the name of the Mahatma. The
occasions are usually banal - this time it is the
liquor ban. Apparently prohibition is going to be
relaxed in the only Indian state where it still
exists. The proposed amendment seeks to introduce
a human approach: instead of sending offenders to
jail, they will be subjected to community service
and medical treatment. Earlier, only foreigners
could apply for a permit to drink, and they had
to pay for it. Now they get it free, but the
leftovers at the time of their leaving the state
have to be returned to the authorities. It seems
now that Gujarat is slowly moving towards lifting
the ban altogether - as did Andhra Pradesh,
Haryana and many of the northeastern states, to
their obvious fiscal gain. But the home minister
of Gujarat is still keeping up the Gandhian
rhetoric in insisting that this is just a
humanizing of the law, and there is no question
of lifting the "four-decade-old prohibition". The
Congress has protested, also in Gandhian terms,
as have veteran Gandhians.
If the ban does get relaxed or lifted, then the
reasons would be purely economic. Gujarat could
well do with the revenue that liquor licenses
would bring in. Manipur, Assam and Nagaland have
all pulled themselves out of fiscal crises in
this way. There the protests have come not from
Gandhians but from women's groups - mostly poor
rural women for whom alcoholism means domestic
violence and financial ruin. Only the tribals of
Chandpur in Gujarat have protested against the
prohibition, reminding the state of the
importance of liquor in their social and
religious lives. Gujarat would be better off
leaving the fate of prohibition to economic
compulsions. "In reality, there are as many
religions as there are individuals," Gandhi had
written in Hind Swaraj, "but those who are
conscious of the spirit of nationality do not
interfere with one another's religion." This,
rather than the prohibitionist Gandhi, might be a
better ideal for modern Gujarat.
_______
[5]
Indian Express - March 01, 2005
NGO's forgive 'n' forget idea kicks up a row
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 28: The efforts of voluntary
group Jan Andolan to bring about reconciliation
between Hindus and Muslims in some villages
divided by the 2002 riots has run into
controversy. Other groups are opposing Jan
Andolan's idea that Muslims should withdraw cases
of arson or looting to facilitate reconciliation
with Hindus.
Jan Andolan chief Mukul Sinha says withdrawing
such cases will allow Muslims displaced by the
riots to go back to their villages without any
fear. ''There are many villages to which Muslims
have been unable to return even three years after
the riots,'' he says. ''Let's not talk of far-off
places, there are villages hardly 20 km from
Ahmedabad to which Muslims haven't returned. They
are warned not to return.''
Sinha adds that he's not for withdrawal of cases
of serious offences. ''All that is being
suggested is that, in instances where there was
no loss of life, no rape, or other heinous
charge, people should withdraw cases and find
ways of getting on with life,'' he says.
Activists like advocate Girish Patel, Prof Nisar
Ahmed Ansari, Achyut Yagnik and others don't buy
that idea. They say there can be no
reconciliation without justice.
This difference of opinion came to the fore on
Sunday after Jan Andolan circulated a note on its
proposal and called for a dharna to push the
idea. The note says the proposal has the backing
of some 40 muftis from Ahmedabad, who have agreed
to canvass for it.
In response, some ''concerned citizens'' and
other organisations sent out a press release that
says: ''We believe that the problem is not simply
a case of conflict between two communities only,
but part of the larger programme of the
BJP/VHP/BD/RSS.''
_______
[6] [Upcoming events]
(i)
Southern Asian Institute/Columbia University in the City of New York
Brown Bag Series
"Globalizing Inequality"
by P.Sainath*
Thursday, March 3, 2005
12:30 - 2:00 pm
Room: 1118 IAB [International Affairs Building]
(420 West 118th Street)
For more information, please call (212) 854-3616
*P. Sainath was the first journalist in the world
to win Amnesty International's Global Human
Rights Journalism prize in its inaugural year
(2000). In 2001, together with CNN's Jim Clancy,
he also won the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization's (FAO) prestigious
Boerma prize for work of "international
importance in addressing the issues of hunger."
_______
(ii)
RE-VISIONING MUMBAI
Conceiving a Manifesto for Sustainable Development
Thursday 3rd & Friday 4th March, 2005
- Conference hosted by -
ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI
The prolonged restructuring of Mumbai’s economy
since the eighties has shown a distinct
reorganisation in the geographies of the Region
similar to other industrial regions / cities
globally. From the early eighties, manufacturing
production was steadily dispersed from formal
factory and work units through outsourcing and
subcontracting, leading to the growth of
decentralised chains of production located in the
suburbs and hinterland, as well as in small
workshops, slums, and households scattered
throughout the city and region. Along with such
in-formalisation of labour Mumbai also became a
resting point for the moving global capital
exhibited through sites of malls, multiplexes and
luxurious townships. The city very clearly
displays sites of high contest today than ever
before.
These simultaneous landscapes of growing
informality and high-end consumerism were
overlapped with administrative decentralisation
processes where concerns regarding city
environment gained importance amongst various
actors. These concerns further sparked number of
processes in not only conserving the environments
of the city but also realigning planning towards
efficiency and social justice. The various
movements concerning heritage, natural
environment, industrial labour, urban poor etc.
are emblematic of these processes.
The processes further highlighted the fact that
the city is working well beyond its carrying
capacity with an urgent need for inner
restructuring in order to accommodate the
exacerbating concentration and congestion of
activities. These trying situations are
emblematic of the latent violence that can
swiftly erupt as a result of the innumerable
problems that frustrate and provoke the residents
of the city. The communal riots and commuter's
angry protests against delayed trains in 1990's
indicate the vulnerable and fragile nature of the
city, they are also representative of the discord
that exists between the form of the city and the
aspirations of its inhabitants. With the gross
density of city exceeding 30,000 persons per
square kilometre, the need for restructuring of
inner city areas, conservation zones / precincts,
derelict areas (closed textile mills lands),
squatters and slums, and under-utilised docklands
is even more essential now than ever before.
The Asiatic Society of Mumbai through its history
has always been an interface to discuss and
involve public participation in the city issues.
Through history the Asiatic Society has always
been the womb where City institutions like the
Municipal Corporation of Mumbai and the Mumbai
Port Trust have originated.
The Asiatic Society in its Bicentenary year would
like to deliberate on the Urban Conservation
process dealing with reordering and regeneration
of urban fabric, physical and metaphysical. As a
vehicle for deliberating all such issues of
tangible and intangible heritage the Society is
would host a conference dealing with the Vision
for Mumbai in the 21st Century with primary focus
on Urban Conservation as a catalyst for
reordering the Post Industrial City. Although
urban conservation processes in contemporary
Mumbai have been limited to physical environment
there has always been an underlining need to
understand, recognise and assist all connotations
of heritage. This legacy in forms of social and
local history, language and literature, customs
and rituals, performing and visual arts are as
important as physical environments in the entire
process of cultural evolution of Mumbai.
The Conference aims at reintroducing Mumbai
through its various socio-economic patterns and
changes, various alternative histories and
geographies and several cultures. The conference
further aims at presenting several cultural
practices in negotiating the landscapes of
Mumbai. The Conference would culminate with a
deliberation on a vision statement "A Manifesto
for Sustainable Development of Mumbai".
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Day 1
1
Inauguration
10:00 - 10:15
Welcome
B. G. Deshmukh
Retd. IAS, President, Asiatic Society of Mumbai
10:15 - 10:30
Inauguration
Y. V. Chandrachud
Retd. Chief Justice of India
10:30 - 11:15
Keynote Address
Prof. Arjun Appadurai,
Provost, New School University, New York
Founder President PUKAR
11:15 - 11:30
Vote of Thanks
Vimal Shah
Hon. Secretary, Asiatic Society of Mumbai
11:30 - 11:45
Tea break
2
Reintroducing Mumbai
11:45 - 11:55
Understanding Urban History & Geography of Mumbai
Session Chair: Dr. Sadashiv Gorakshkar
Museologist, Ex Director Prince of Wales Museum
11:55 - 12:20
Institutionalising of National Consciousness in Mumbai
Arun Tikekar
Historian
12:20 -12:45
Changing Geography of Mumbai
Prof. B Arunachalam
Retd. Professor Geography, Mumbai University
12:45 - 13:10
Labour Histories of Mumbai
Neera Adarkar
Activist & Architect
13:10 - 13:30
Discussion
13:30 - 14:30
Lunch Break
14:30 - 14:40
CHANGING LANDSCAPES OF MUMBAI
Session Chair: Arvind Adarkar
Activist & Architect
Founder Mumbai Study Group
14:40 - 15:05
Changing Economy and Spatial Planning Response in Mumbai
V. K. Phatak
Urban Planner,
Retd. Principal Chief, MMRDA
15:05 - 15:30
Restructuring and Revitalising Landuse in Mumbai
G. S. Pantbalekundri
Retd. Deputy Secretary, Urban Development Department
15:30 -15:55
Mumbai's Environment
Sunjoy Monga, Environmentalist and Member, BNHS
15:55 - 16:15
Discussion
16:15 - 16:30
Tea Break
16:30 - 16:40
CITY CULTURES IN MUMBAI
Session Chair: Shyam Benegal
16:40-17:05
Cinema in Mumbai
Amrit Gangar
Film Maker and Researcher
17:05 - 17:30
Literature in Mumbai
Jatin Wagle
Professor of English, SIES College and Writer
17:30 - 17:55
Theatre and Music in Mumbai
Ashok Ranade
Musicologist and Retd. Head Music Department
Mumbai Univeristy
17:55 - 18:15
Discussion
Day 2
3
Negotiating Mumbai
09:45 - 09:55
MEDIA & ARTS IN MUMBAI
Session Chair: Satish Sahaney
Chief Officer, Nehru Centre
09:55 - 10:20
Perceiving Mumbai
Sudhir Patwardhan
Artist
10:20 - 10:45
Imagining Mumbai
Anjali Monteiro and K. P. Jayasankar
Film Makers
10:45 - 11:05
Discussion
11:05 - 11:20
Tea Break
11:20 - 11:30
PLANNING & GOVERNANCE IN MUMBAI
Session Chair: B G Deshmukh
Retd. IAS, Former Chief Secretary
11:30 - 11:55
Visioning and Planning in Mumbai
Sanjay Ubale
IAS, Secretary Special Projects
11:55 - 12:20
Administration and Governance in Mumbai
V. Ranganathan
Retd. IAS, Former Chief Secretary
12:20- 12:45
Intervening in Mumbai
Shirish Patel
Civil Engineer and Urban Planner
12:45 -13:10
Dialogue with the Other in Mumbai
Navtej Kaur Bhutani
Urban Researcher and Activist
13:10 - 13:30
Discussion
13:30 - 14:30
Lunch Break
4
Re-Visioning Mumbai
14:30 - 17:30
Panel Discussion
and
Valedictory
Session
Session Chair: D. M. Sukthankar
Retd. IAS, Former Chief Secretary
Chairperson MHCC and Member, MMR-HCS
Discussants: Rahul Srivastava, Gerson D’cunha and Keshub Mahindra
Panel: All Speakers and Chairs.
_______
(iii)
Stree Adhikar Sangathan
B 2 / 51, Rohini. Sector 16, Delhi 110085 Ph : 011-27872835
IIIT, Duplex Apartment, Kalindipuram, Jhalwa, Allahabad
Rally & cultural program on 4 th march 2005
to Celebrate International Women's Day
Greetings !
This is to cordially invite you for a programme
to be held on Friday, 4 th March 2005 to
celebrate International Women's Day. A rally as
well as a cultural programme has been planned in
Delhi University.as part a campaign undertaken by
Stree Adhikar Sangathan on this occasion. It may
be added that we also plan to hold similar
programmes in Metro Vihar, Shahbad Dairy and
Rohini Sector 16-17.
The rally to mark the occasion would start at 11
a.m., Friday, 4 th March from Vivekanand Statue,
Arts Faculty, Delhi University ( North Campus)
and would pass through different faculties and
colleges. Cultural program comprising of songs,
skits and dramas would be held after the
culmination of the rally.
We will be happy if you can spare your valuable
time and join us for this celebrations.
Yours sincerely
Stree Adhikar Sangathan
_______
(iv)
9 MARCH: WORKSHOP ON THE PDS
A workshop on the public distribution system will be held at the Indian
Social Institute on Wednesday 9 March. The main purpose of the workshop is
to guide legal intervention on the PDS, in the context of the public
interest litigation initiated by PUCL-Rajasthan. For details, background
material etc. please send a line to Kumaran (kumran at gmail.com).
10 MARCH: MEETING TO PLAN FUTURE ACTIVITIES
The secretariat of the Right to Food Campaign is convening an important
meeting on Thursday 10 March at the Indian Social Institute (10 am to 2 pm),
to discuss forthcoming activities of the campaign as well as some
organisational issues. The main items on the agenda are: further action for
a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act; further interventions in the
Supreme Court; other proposed activities; suggestions for the next annual
"convention"; and setting up of a new campaign secretariat in Delhi. This
is an important opportunity to set work priorities for the campaign
secretariat and all concerned organisations are cordially invited,
especially those that participated in the Bhopal convention in June 2004
and/or the "display of banners" on 21 December 2004. For further details
please send contact Navjyoti (nj12 at rediffmail.com, tel 9811087811).
12-18 MARCH: TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR EGA ACTIVISTS
Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has agreed to conduct a training
workshop for activists working in "Food For Work" districts, with special
focus on social audits of the FFW programme. This training will be held on
12-18 March 2005 in Udaipur. Participants are expected from Rajasthan,
Sonebhadra (U.P.), Surguja (Chhattisgarh) and Palamau (Jharkhand), among
other places. If you are interested, please let us know or write directly to
MKSS at mkssrajasthan at gmail.com
______
(v)
Gender & Space Project, PUKAR
&
Point of View
Present
A Photographic Exhibit, A Panel Discussion & A Film Series
Photography Exhibit
City Limits: Engendering the Body in Public Space
Dates: 05 March to 12 March 2005 (Sunday Closed)
Time: 12 pm to 7 pm
Venue: The Fourth Floor
Kitab Mahal (In front of New Excelsior Cinema)
Dr. D.N. Road,
Mumbai 400001
Curators: Shilpa Phadke and Bishakha Datta
Photographers: Abhinandita Mathur, Roshani
Jhadav, Neelam Ayare and Karan Arora.
City Limits: Engendering the Body in Public Space
intends to view everyday public spaces in Mumbai
through a gendered lens, to focus on the
demarcations between public and private spaces,
and understand the hierarchies of access that
have become part of our taken for granted grammar
of viewing the city. The effort has been to
privilege the everyday, to engage with women's
strategies in negotiating public space and to
draw attention to the ways in which the private
refuses to be compartmentalized
An Interactive Panel Discussion
Imagining Gendered Utopias
As part of International Women's Day
celebrations, we are organizing a discussion
titled where women speak as citizens,
professionals, mothers, commuters, consumers, and
flaneurs.
Date: 08 March 2005
Time: 6.30 pm
Venue: The Fourth Floor
Kitab Mahal (In front of New Excelsior Cinema)
Dr. D.N. Road,
Mumbai 400001
Neera Adarkar imagines a gender-friendly city
from the position of architecture and design.
Celine D'Cruz provides a view from the perspective of dispossessed women.
Kalpana Sharma envisions a utopian world for
women journalists and for reporting on women.
Shireen Gandhy explores the implications of
combining a career in art with motherhood.
Sameera Khan imagines a welcoming public space for breast-feeding women.
The discussion is intended to be an interactive
one involving the audience in imagining a space
for women in the truly public spaces in Mumbai.
Our hope is that the discussion would go beyond
what is feasible in the short term to explore our
wildest dreams of living as liberated citizens in
the Mumbai of tomorrow.
Film Series
Imagining Women
Film Schedule: All films will be screened at The Fourth Floor, Kitab Mahal
Sat 5 March 4 pm:
Bhaji On The Beach (Gurinder Chadha)(100 mins)
A group of women of Indian descent take a trip
together from their home in Birmingham, England
to the beach resort of Blackpool. The women vary
in ages from mid-teens to old, and initially have
little in common. But the events of the day lead
them to better mutual understanding and
solidarity.
Mon 7 March 6.30 pm:
Ma Vie En Rose (Alain Berliner ) (88 mins)
Ludovic is a young boy who can't wait to grow up
to be a woman. When his family discovers the
little girl blossoming in him they are forced to
contend with their own discomfort and the lack of
understanding from their new neighbors. Their
anger and impatience cave and Ludovic is sent to
see a psychiatrist in the hopes of fixing
whatever is wrong with him. A movie that
addresses trans-gender and gender issues in
general through the eyes of a child.
Wed 9 March 6.30 pm:
Three Women and A Camera (Sabeena Gadihoke) (56 mins)
This film is about Homai Vyarawalla, India's
first professional woman photographer, whose
career spanned nearly three decades from the
1930s and two contemporary photographers, Sheba
Chhachhi and Dayanita Singh, who started work in
the 1980s. Vyarawalla's work underscores the
optimism and euphoria of the birth of a nation,
while Chhachhi and Singh attempt to grapple with
the various complexities and undelivered promises
of the post independence era. This film debates
the major shifts in their concerns regarding
representation, subject-camera relationships and
the limits and possibilities of still photography
in India today.
Frida (JulieTaymor) (123 mins)
Frida chronicles the life Frida Kahlo (Salma
Hayek) shared unflinchingly and openly with Diego
Rivera (Alfred Molina), as the young couple took
the art world by storm. From her complex and
enduring relationship with her mentor and husband
to her illicit and controversial affair with Leon
Trotsky, to her provocative and romantic
entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a
bold and uncompromising life as a political,
artistic, and sexual revolutionary.
Thu 10 March 6.30 pm:
Fat Sister (Catherine Breillat) (86 mins)
A Ma Soeur! is a provocative and shocking drama
about sibling rivalry, family discord and
relationships. Elena is 15, beautiful and
flirtatious. Her less confident sister, Anais, is
12, and constantly eats. On holiday, Elena meets
a young Italian student who is determined to
seduce her. Anais is forced to watch in silence,
conspiring with the lovers, but harbouring
jealousy and similar desires. Their actions,
however, have unforeseen tragic consequences for
the whole family.
Some of the films will be followed by discussions.
For more information -
email: genderspace at pukar.org or pointofview at vsnl.com
or
call: 55748152 or 55727252
______
(vi)
Second South Asian Workshop
on
Racism, Xenophobia, and Discrimination against
Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous People
March 22-31, 2005, Lahore, Pakistan
Applications are invited from South Asian
countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Burma, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka) for a 10-day residential training course
in Lahore, Pakistan (22-31 March 2005) on racism,
xenophobia, and issues of minorities and
autonomy. The short-term training course is
supported by the European Commission. It is being
organised by the South Asia Forum for Human
Rights (SAFHR) in partnership with Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan, The Other Media (India),
INSEC (Nepal) and EURAC (Italy). The course will
focus on representatives of minorities and
indigenous people, self-determination movements,
people from autonomous regions, relevant
scholars, jurists and NGOs from South Asian
region including Afghanistan, Burma and Tibet.
The curriculum of the course will deal with
themes of modern state formation, nation and
nation state, nationalism, ethnicity, partition,
national and international regimes of protection,
political issues relating to regional trends in
minority protection in South Asia, politics of
control of natural and man made resources, media
and European mechanisms for protection of
minorities.
This is an advance level course. Applicants must
have (a) five years experience in minority
protection, movements for self-determination and
self-government in the South Asian region.
Proficiency in English language is a
pre-requisite for participation. Besides giving
all necessary particulars, application must be
accompanied by two recommendation letters and a
1000 word essay on how the training course is
relevant to the applicant's work and may benefit
the applicant. SAFHR will bear accommodation and
other course expenses for all participants and
will offer limited number of travel grants.
Applications, addressed to the course
coordinator, can be sent by e-mail or post, and
must reach the following address by 31 December
2004 - Human Rights Commission of Pakistan,
Aiwan-Jamhoor, 107-Tipu Block, New Garden Town,
Lahore - 54600 Pakistan. Email:
safhr-pk at cyber.net.pk
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. SACW is an independent & non-profit
citizens wire service run since 1998 by South
Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
SACW archive is available at: bridget.jatol.com/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/
Sister initiatives :
South Asia Counter Information Project : snipurl.com/sacip
South Asians Against Nukes: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org
Communalism Watch: communalism.blogspot.com/
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