SACW | 7-11 April 2005
sacw
aiindex at mnet.fr
Sun Apr 10 18:18:13 PDT 2005
South Asia Citizens Wire | 7-11 April, 2005
[1] Bangladesh: Ahmadiyyas in Satkhira seek govt protection (The Daily Star)
[2] Pakistan:
- Understanding the maulvi point of view (Ayaz Amir)
- Backtracking yet again (Edit., Dawn)
[3] India: Armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir targeting civilians violate
humanitarian standards (Amnesty International)
[4] India Pakistan Peace March reaching Wagah on 18 April()
[5] Litterateurs rally for Nasreen's citizenship
+ Appeal for Indian citizenship to Taslima Nasreen
[6] Letter to the Editor (Mukul Dube)
[7] [Interviews and Book Reviews ]
(i) Nirmalangshu Mukherji interviewed around his
book 'December 13: Terror over Democracy'
[8] Announcements:
(i) India's first travelling international women's film (April-May 2005)
(ii) Rethinking Genders, Sexualities and Human
Rights: A ten-day seminar course (May 2005)
--------------
[1]
The Daily Star- April 11, 2005
AHMADIYYAS IN SATKHIRA SEEK GOVT PROTECTION
Laeaflets by Khatame Nabuat ask the community to leave the area
Our Correspondent, Satkhira
Leaders of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Munshiganj
union in Shyamnagar upazila in the district
yesterday sought administration's protection in
view of the eviction threat by the International
Khatame Nabuat Movement (IKNM).
Addressing a press conference at Sundarban Bazar
in Shyamnagar, Ahmadiyya leaders said over 4000
members of the community are panicked following
distribution of leaflets by the IKNM, asking them
to leave the area and urging the government to
declare them non-Muslims.
The leaflet distribution followed formation of a
21-member IKNM committee there during a visit by
one of its central leadersNoor Hossain Nooranion
March 18.
The Ahmadiyya community members are being
threatened since then, its leader GM Mobarak
Ahmed said in a written statement read out at the
press conference.
Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Solaiman
Mondol visited the area yesterday and assured
them of all possible measures to give them
protection.
The Khulna district unit of IKNM at a press
conference held in Khulna on April 7 threatened
of 'dire consequences' if the Ahmadiyas are not
declared non-Muslims.
It also announced a serious of programmes as part
of their agitation in Satkhira and other
districts. The programmme includes rally, mass
contact, procession and laying a siege to
Ahmadiya establishments.
As per the programme, Khatme Nabuat men will
bring out truck and motorbike processions after
their mahfil (congregation) at Harinagar High
School ground on April 16 and lay a siege to the
Ahmadiyya complex at Sundarban Bazar on April 17.
The Islamic Shashantantra Andolon headed by the
Chormonai Pir has also extended its support to
the programme, said a leader of the Ahmadiyya
Jamaat seeking anonymity. The Ahmadiya community
members at Chhoto Betkhali village are now
passing days in panic after announcement of the
programmes.
Women and children in the village are confined to
their houses. Children do not attend schools,
people of the community said yesterday.
______
[2]
Dawn
08 April 2005
Understanding the maulvi point of view
By Ayaz Amir
You can't blame the holy fathers of the MMA (the
religious alliance) for being so single-minded in
pursuing their agenda. They are doing what comes
naturally to them: utterly convinced they serve
the cause of Islam when denouncing 'obscenity',
attacking women marathon races, turning
non-issues such as the religious column in
passports into burning issues.
It would be a huge mistake to assume that these
clerics of the Pakistani school stand alone in
the glorification of irrelevance. The way of the
professional cleric - Jewish, Christian, Islamic
- throughout history has been to champion bigotry
and trash reason. Why does Bulleh Shah, the great
sufi poet, mock the certified maulvi? Because he
finds his make-believe and hypocrisy laughable.
This is no reflection on religion, only on the
mischief so often perpetrated in its name. To
give but one example, if the glories of the
Spanish Inquisition - torturing 'heretics' and
burning them at the stake - are recounted,
Islam's holy fathers, by comparison, emerge as
the very pictures of tolerance. There's been no
burning-at-the-stake in all the history of Islam,
which does not mean that dark deeds have not been
committed in its name.
Makes everything sound relative, doesn't it? It
also leads to another conclusion: about the most
profitless undertaking in the world is to get
into a discussion about religion. You never
arrive at a conclusion, seldom convince the other
person. Only end up producing a lot of heat.
Converts are few and far between. Most of us are
born into the faiths we profess or hold sacred. I
am a Sunni not because I have read the great
Sunni texts and been persuaded of their merit but
because I was born into a Sunni household. This
being the genesis of my faith how does it behove
me to impose my views on others, much less take
up fire and sword to spread them?
Religion is a matter of faith, woven into the
tissues and sinews of the believer, part of his
blood, of the very air he breathes. How can you
change such a thing by debate or disputation?
Isn't it best then to practice tolerance and let
each person stick to the faith he/she professes?
Live and let live and get on with the business of
the world.
These are commonplace observations with nothing
original or profound about them. The only reason
they still command some relevance in the world of
Islam is because whereas Christendom got over its
baffling or dark ages long ago - beginning with
the Renaissance, to be precise - the countries of
Islam are still caught in a debate about the
meaning of Islam and its application to everyday
life.
Take Pakistan, the quintessential debating
society, still agonizing over the meaning of
Pakistan: Pakistan according to Jinnah or
according to the maulanas and their various
schools of thought? Amazingly, this debate is
still on, the battle for the soul of Pakistan as
fresh today as it was 57 years ago at the
country's founding.
You could be forgiven for thinking that fuelling
this debate is religious fervour. Wrong. It is
something more prosaic: out-and-out political
failure. The more elusive democracy and economic
progress prove, the greater the temptation to
seek refuge behind the screen of Islam.
Barring one or two countries, autocracy holds
sway across the Muslim world. You would think
that Muslim countries would be grappling with
this problem which, above all, prevents them from
realizing their potential. No, what they get from
their rulers are grave sermons on how Islam is a
progressive and enlightened religion.
Pervez Musharraf is not the only one who has
taken to speaking this language. Post-September
11, in the wake of western concerns about the
direction Islam was taking across the Muslim
world, every pro-western figure in the Islamic
world (what other kind is there?), from Mubarak
of Egypt to Abdallah of Jordan, has become a
professor of 'enlightened' Islam.
Islam can do without such defenders. Its cause
would be better served with less talk and more
progress towards representative government. Bin
Ladenism is a reaction to Muslim autocracy and
American imperialism, the one feeding on the
other.
That the cure proposed is worse than the disease
is beside the point. Bin Ladenism thrives on real
grievances and as long as those grievances
remain, there will be no shortage of recruits to
its cause.
What about George Bush's newly-discovered love
for democracy in Muslim lands? Well, in his hands
democracy is a handy stick with which to keep the
Muslim world in line, that is, firmly behind the
United States. Curbing even the most egregious
manifestations of American imperialism in the
Middle East is no part of his agenda.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, its
self-appointed ruler - no doubts, I trust, about
his self-appointed status - protests too much
about 'enlightened moderation'. Enlightenment in
the Pakistani context means only one thing: the
army's return to its primary duty of national
defence, unless of course primary duty now also
means ever more defence housing authorities; and
the country's return to constitutionalism, the
genuine article.
But precisely because Musharraf is hesitant to
move on these fronts - neither removing the army
from the political sphere nor creating the
conditions for free elections, thus hampering the
'mainstream' parties, the PPP and the PML-N - he
is proving to be the biggest benefactor of the
religious parties, thriving in the vacuum he has
created.
Gen Zia was an avowed Islamicist, part of his
political strategy the conscious effort to
cultivate a religious constituency. But what even
he couldn't achieve through pro-activism
Musharraf has achieved unwittingly, the religious
parties more powerful now than at any time under
Zia.
The religious parties thus are not to be blamed
for trying to make an issue of non-issues or
taking to the warpath against women athletics.
They feel strongly about these issues and if the
government itself is giving them space, they
would be foolish not to use it.
Their belief in purdah is genuine. Music, dance
and other forms of entertainment they genuinely
frown upon, their outlook on life deeply
conservative, their sense of right and wrong
clearly defined.
If there is a 'liberal' America and a
'conservative' America, a distinction made
starkly clear in the last US presidential
election, the same distinction holds true more
powerfully for countries like Pakistan. Just as
'liberals' would be appalled at the prospect of
becoming maulvis, don't expect maulvis to make a
stampede for the doors of 'liberalism'. And it is
no use holding on to different interpretations of
Islam and claiming superiority for one
interpretation over the other. Deeply-held
beliefs, as already stated, are susceptible to no
logic or reason. You believe and that's the end
of the matter.
So what is to be done? For a start, don't just
talk 'moderation' or 'enlightenment'. Do
something about them. Be true to the Constitution
and the rule of law, practise self-restraint,
curb your hunger for power, study history and the
causes of the rise and fall of empires, and
before you know it the frontiers of
'enlightenment' will expand and those of bigotry
shrink.
Does one need a certificate from Al Azhar
University to realize that justice should be
speedy and quick, the streets should be clear of
garbage and buses and trains should run on time?
That the sick should be treated, every child
should be educated and no one, not even dogs and
other animals, should go hungry? That it should
be the sovereign right of every school-going
child to receive a glass of pure milk at school
every morning?
A reasonably well-run state in which cruelty,
exploitation and injustice are not banished
altogether, that being impossible, but in which
the levels of all three are lowered as much as
possible, is the aim, or should be, of every
polity on the face of the earth.
The meaning of Pakistan cannot be any different
from this. Forget about attaining this goal. As
soon as we start moving towards it, debates both
theological and existential will become
irrelevant. And although, even then, there will
be maulvis on the right warning of imminent
perdition, and 'liberals' on the left decrying
the prospect of freedom unfulfilled, Pakistan
will have strength enough to bear the weight of
such tensions.
o o o o o
Dawn - Editorial, 10 April 2005
BACKTRACKING YET AGAIN
It is most unfortunate that the government should
have had cold feet when confronted by religious
bigots with threats of violence and disruption.
Opposed to women's participation in
mini-marathons planned to be held in several
cities of Punjab, the MMA men resorted to
violence when they disrupted the event in
Gujranwala on April 3. Petrol bombs were thrown
at participants and 19 vehicles were torched.
The next day, the Punjab assembly condemned the
attack in strong terms, and the provincial
government vowed to keep holding mini-marathons,
arguing that there was nothing un-Islamic about
the race and that women could participate in it.
The police booked some 50 attackers following the
Gujranwala incident, saying they would be brought
to trial in an anti-terrorism court. The MMA has
blown hot and cold since then, threatening to
stop women from taking part in marathons even if
by force - a euphemism for violence.
The next thing the Punjab government did was to
take an about turn on the issue; it gave in to
the MMA pressure by banning women from taking
part in mini-marathons being held in Sargodha,
Multan, Bahawalpur and other places.
This is not the first time the government has
allowed the MMA to enforce its narrow-minded and
obscurant agenda on the silent majority. The
backtracking on the deletion of the religion
column in passports was also a case in point.
There is not a speck of either enlightenment or
moderation in the government's tackling of these
otherwise minor yet symbolically important issues.
There can be no justification for going on the
defensive when the government knows that the
majority of people, especially those wishing to
participate in mini-marathons, do not share the
MMA's prejudiced stance on the issue. If this is
the other face of enlightened moderation, one
wonders of what worth it really is.
______
[3]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: ASA 20/005/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 084
6 April 2005
INDIA: ARMED GROUPS IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR TARGETING CIVILIANS VIOLATE
HUMANITARIAN STANDARDS
Amnesty International is concerned about attacks by armed groups in the
Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on civilians wishing to travel across the
Line of Control. To use civilian lives in attempts to make political
statements violates international standards of humanitarian law which
clearly prohibit the targeted killing of civilians.
Amnesty International urges armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir to spare the
lives of all civilians including those who wish to make use of the new bus
link between India and Pakistan to be inaugurated on 7 April 2005.
The attack on the centre in Srinagar where passengers were staying prior to
travelling on the first bus to Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir is
intended to undermine the ongoing dialogue between India and Pakistan,
Amnesty International said today. While Amnesty International does not take
a position on possible solutions to the issue of Kashmir, the organisation
welcomes any moves that contribute to a climate in which human rights
promotion and protection are more likely to be ensured.
On 6 April, a day before the planned opening of the bus link, members of
armed groups threw hand grenades and set fire to the heavily guarded
building in Srinagar where prospective bus passengers had gathered. A gun
fight between security forces and the armed fighters then erupted. One of
the armed fighters was reportedly killed and at least seven civilians were
injured. A member of an armed group subsequently phoned news organisations
claiming that four armed groups, the Al-Nasireen, Save Kashmir Movement,
Al-Arifeen and Farzandan-e-Millat, had been responsible for the attack.
In a joint statement issued on 30 March, the four groups had warned people
against entering the buses which would be their 'coffins' and told the bus
drivers "not to play with their lives by driving these buses". On 5 April a
bomb was defused on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway but two hours later a
landmine went off on another stretch of the same road, injuring seven
people, mostly road workers.
The state government and Union government have meanwhile announced that the
bus service would go ahead on schedule and be inaugurated by the Indian
Prime Minister, Home Minister and Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi.
______
[4]
INDIA PAKISTAN PEACE MARCH
Delhi to Multan, 23rd March to 11th May
c/o INSAF, A124/6 Katwaria Sarai New Delhi
110016, Tel: 55663958 Telefax: 26517814
April 7th, 2005
Dear Friends,
India Pakistan Peace March, from Delhi to Multan
was flagged off in Delhi on 23rdMarch. The team
of motivated Indian marchers is set out on the
path of building harmonious relationship & peace
between people of two countries.
The march is receiving great appreciation and
support on its route. Indian citizens along the
route of the march have been anxiously waiting to
greet their Pakistani brothers & sisters. In
spite of Pakistan PM giving promise and the
Indian government giving few visas to Pakistan
marchers, we could not get the clearance from
Pakistan Interior Ministry. Pakistani marchers
are still not allowed to cross the border on
foot. Indian marchers, too, don’t have the
clearance and not sure about crossing from this
side.
We will be reaching Wagha on 18th of April, the
determination and euphoria of the peace marchers
is giving the strength to teams of both sides, we
are inviting you to express solidarity in their
support at Wagha on 18th April, 10 a.m.
Contact details for the venue (after 16th April):
Bhupinder Singh Sandhu, Pradhan Alami Punjabi
Virasat Foundation, 23, Guru Nanak avenue,
Majitha Road, Amritsar Tel.0183-2422033, 2421006,
9815394623
Looking forward to your sincere participation,
Sandeep Pandey Karamat Ali
for India Pakistan Peace March Team
______
[5]
LITTERATEURS RALLY FOR NASREEN'S CITIZENSHIP
Press Trust of India
Kolkata, April 8, 2005
The who's who of contemporary Bengali literature
today rallied behind controversial Bangladeshi
würmien Taslima Nasreen's plea for Indian
citizenship saying her immense contribution to
literature should be given due regard by the
Centre while considering her request. In a
signed statement backing the embattled writer,
Magsaysay awardee Mahasveta Devi, litterateurs
Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shankha Ghosh, Buddhadev
Guha and Dibyendu Palit said India was a strong
advocate of freedom of speech and expression and
her case must be considered in order to provide
her a place to exercise this right. "Taslima
Nasreen is a powerful writer of the Bangla
language. To take her literature to greater
heights she needs to live in the land that
speaks the language. Since she has been expelled
by the Bangladeshi government, West Bengal is
the only other place she can let her pen
flourish", the appeal, signed by 79 creative
people, said. According to them, "India's
great ethical tradition made it obligatory to
offer shelter to those who need it". Writers,
artists, academicians and actors got together at
a press conference in the evening to urge the
Union government to grant her an Indian
citizenship. "If it is not possible to consider
her citizenship immediately, she must be given
a residential permit to live in the country,
where she has the maximum readership base, and
allowed to cultivate her literary activities",
economist Amlan Dutta said. Reiterating her plea
Nasreen, who was present on the occasion, said
"to live far away from people who speak the
language of my heart, the language in which I
think and write, is almost like death for a
creative writer". She hoped that the Indian
government would see reason in her appeal.
[see also]
The Hindu - Apr 10, 2005
APPEAL FOR INDIAN CITIZENSHIP TO TASLIMA NASREEN
http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/10/stories/2005041000331100.htm
______
[6]
D-504 Purvasha
Mayur Vihar 1
Delhi 110091
9 April 2005
In "Challenge to science: attracting youth" (the *Hindu*, 9
April 2005), President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam writes of three
"knowledge giants" -- D.S. Kothari, H.J. Bhabha and V. Sarabhai
-- who focussed on the relationship between science and technology on
the one hand and national development on the other. He goes on to
state his belief that had these three physicists concentrated only on
science, at least one would have won the Nobel Prize: but that would
have left India without "huge" atomic energy, space and defence
research establishments.
The relation posited here between science and technology is clear.
The first feeds the second but, in so doing, sacrifices the honours
which might otherwise have come its way. The outcome, however, is
eminently practical and directly related to warfare.
This, a seminar of the Indian Physics Association was told, is what
constitutes "national development"; and it is made possible by
"scientific technological leadership qualities". What should be
fed to every young Indian is the a military mixture of pure science,
engineering and business management.
Mukul Dube]
______
[7]
[BOOK REVIEWS]
(i)
ZNet Book Interview
April 05, 2005
Nirmalangshu Mukherji interviewed by ZNet
December 13: Terror over Democracy, By
Nirmalangshu Mukherji, Bibliophile Southasia, New
Delhi, 2005, pp. xvii + 378, www.biblioasia.com
We cannot underestimate the threat of terror, or
the cynicism of centers of power in pursuit of
their own often despicable ends, or the murderous
violence to which they will resort if authority
is granted to them by a frightened population.
It is within this context that we should, I
believe, consider the terrible events of 13
December, the reaction to them on the part of the
government and media, and the detailed
investigation carried out in this important and
careful study. And it is within the same context,
I think, that the people of India should respond
constructively to the call for a serious
parliamentary inquiry into what actually happened
and its roots. Indian democracy is one of the
triumphs of the twentieth century, but a fragile
one. The plant has to be protected and nurtured,
or it can all too easily wither, with
consequences that are sure to be grim.
-- Noam Chomsky, in his foreword essay to the book
ZNET: Can you tell ZNet, please, what your book
(December 13: Terror over Democracy, Bibliophile
Southasia, 2005), is about? What is it trying to
communicate?
MUKHERJI: The book is set in the general context
of the post-9/11 form of 'War on Terrorism.'
Accompanied by massive instruments of propaganda
and violence, the new form is directly linked to
imperialist ambitions to control the biggest
'real estates.' It is also marked by a general
absence of classical forms of democratic
resistance to these ambitions, giving rise to
what is broadly - and misleadingly - called
'Jehadi terror.' Although jehadi terror was in
fact promoted by - or caused by the actions of -
imperial powers themselves, the presence of this
terror is now used as a new pretext for
controlling domestic populations, targetting
specific communities and launching wars of
aggression abroad. Much has been written on the
general phenomenon in recent years.
The book studies the war on terrorism in a
specific context. India is an interesting case;
also, it is something I know a bit about. It is
not directly under imperialist control, and as
Chomsky observes, 'Indian democracy is one of the
triumphs of the twentieth century.' There is
reason to be impressed by its electoral system
offering a rich variety of political choices,
institutions such as Human Rights, Minorities and
Women's Commissions, a vast network of public
enterprises, a reasonably effective public
distribution system, a politically conscious
middle class, an impressive judiciary, a free
press, and a long history of democratic struggle
of working people in enforcing social policy.
Ideals of democracy and, to an extent, even
socialism have found deep acceptance in the
system. Despite its poverty, illiteracy,
treatment of women and dalits etc., India happens
to be one of the better examples of functioning
democracy in the world.
But Chomsky also says that this democracy is 'a
fragile one.' The fragility began to show pretty
sharply around early-1990s with the introduction
of a neo-liberal regime, communalization of
society, and sharp decrease in equality,
employment, and democratic resistance. The
combination of these factors led ultimately to a
communal-authoritarian regime during 1999 to
2004. Not surprisingly, the regime joined the war
on terrorism as soon as it was launched after
9/11. The point is, the regime joined the war
essentially on its own, not directly as a client
of US. In that sense, India's war on terrorism is
an act of collaboration with imperialism.
The book suggests that the fragile democracy
reached a near-collapse in the aftermath of the
attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13,
2001. Soon after the attack, four people were
arrested for their alleged role in the
conspiracy, and the government cited 'evidence'
that Pakistani terrorists had organized the
attack. This enabled the government to push the
country to the brink of a nuclear war with
Pakistan, and enact the draconian Prevention of
Terrorism Act (POTA), among other intolerable
actions. What was that evidence? The book
describes how the media, the police, the
political executive and the judiciary acted in
complicity to promote a largely unproven story.
As a result, the question 'who attacked
Parliament' remained unanswered despite two
judicial pronouncements, and the human rights of
the accused were seriously violated.
More significantly, stupefied by the troubling
issue of terrorism, erstwhile institutions of
democracy allowed the police and the related
agencies of the state to play havoc with the
system of justice, preparing the ground thus for
further erosion of democracy, and the consequent
growth of fascism and terrorism. The only
civilized method of reversing this trend is to
subject these institutions and agencies to a just
critique. The book attempts to accomplish the
task with a detailed analysis of the issues
surrounding December 13.
ZNET: Can you tell Znet something about writing
the book? Where does the content come from? What
went into making the book what it is?
MUKHERJI: The book is very much an outcome of a
small but determined human rights campaign to
save the lives of the accused and to question the
role of the state in a viciously prejudiced
atmosphere in which the corporate media and the
communal police ruled the mind. One of the
accused is a university teacher: Mr. S.A.R.
Geelani, a Kashmiri Muslim, a teacher of Arabic
and a scholar of Urdu poetry, and himself a
rights activist for the Kashmiri people. He and
two other Kashmiri Muslims were given death
sentences by the Special POTA Court. Given
Geelani's academic background and the palpable
lack of evidence in his case (as distinguished
from concocted evidence against others), it was
possible to form a small but vigorous campaign
accompanied by competent legal defence. The
effort did result in securing his acquittal from
the High Court in Delhi. But the High Court
retained - in fact, enhanced - the sentences for
the other two, and the police appealed against
the acquittals.
An even wider and more complex campaign was
needed. It was felt that sporadic publications in
booklets and in the peripheral media would be
insufficient for this phase of the campaign.
Nothing less than a book was needed. Quickly. The
book was meant to cover three things: (a) a
description of the general political background
of the war on terrorism and the resulting
Islamophobia, (b) an investigation into the role
of the civil institutions in the case, and (c)
extensive documentation within the book itself of
the material used in the investigation. The last
item was thought to be particularly important -
and novel - in the face of widespread skepticism
about radical criticism of the state on matters
of terrorism and 'national security.' The
skepticism is typically formed out of
disinformation and ignorance: the general public
is compelled to depend exclusively on the
mainstream media; it also lacks independent
access to relevant legal and other documents,
except those selectively highlighted by the
media. Court proceedings in complex criminal
cases consume thousands of pages; just the two
judgments ran into seven hundred pages. The
editorial task of keeping the court documents and
related literature to within manageable limits
was daunting. Even after severe editing the
Annexures used up more than two hundred and fifty
printed pages. As a consequence, the analysis
part - especially, general politico-historical
analysis - had to be kept to the bare minimum.
Incidentally, Noam Chomsky's powerful foreword
essay, "Manipulation of fear," does cover some of
the historical ground. In contrast to many left
intellectuals and writers in India, Chomsky - and
ZNet, of course - gave support to the campaign
throughout.
ZNET: What are your hopes for the book? What do
you hope it will contribute or achieve
politically?
MUKHERJI: The book is both an outcome as well as
a document of a campaign for democracy. The first
thing we hope to achieve is to bring all the
political, legal and humanitarian issues of the
Parliament attack case in the public domain.
Within the noted limitations, the book explains
the complex link between the global war on
terrorism and its local exploitation by centers
of power, as mentioned. In particular, we hope
that the book will create a basis for open
debates on otherwise untouchable topics such as
'nationalism,' Islamophobia, counterinsurgency,
surrendered militancy, Special Laws and Special
Cells. We hope this will lead to concrete,
issue-based resistance on the ground. The
writing, publication and reception of the book
shows how far we have come from those days in the
recent past when even radical activists were not
prepared to discuss the subject. The process must
continue and expand as we proceed with bigger and
better-organized campaign strategies. We hope
more writers - especially those who have some
access to the mainstream media - will join the
struggle. Lives are at stake.
We hope the campaign develops to the point where
the demand for a serious and comprehensive
Parliamentary inquiry raised in the book will be
met by the new government as a first step towards
reclaiming some of the lost democratic ground. To
that end, a national committee consisting of
distinguished writers, lawyers, academicians, and
others has just been launched along with the
release of the book (*See Below).
Finally, we hope that the book will initiate a
series of writings, accompanied by democratic
campaigns, to expose and resist marauding regimes
that are engaged in intolerable actions in the
name of war on terrorism.
NIRMALANGSHU MUKHERJI is Professor of philosophy at Delhi University.
December 13: Terror over Democracy can be
purchased from www.biblioasia.com where one can
place order through credit card (Visa, American
Express, etc.). Orders are normally executed via
courier which reaches in 5-6 days. It will take a
while for the book to reach outlets outside south
asia. The book is also available in paperback.
Readers of this interview can help, perhaps after
reading the book, by sending e-mails to the Prime
Minister of India, Prof. Manmohan Singh, at
http://pmindia.nic.in/write.htm (Subject:
Security) urging the constitution of a
parliamentary inquiry on December 13. The e-mail
might read as follows:
"Sir,
On reading some recently published literature on
the Parliament attack case, I/we am/are deeply
concerned that no public inquiry has yet been
constituted to bring out the truth about December
13. The Indian Parliament is the highest forum of
Indiam democracy; the people of India have a
right to know what actually happened and its
roots. I/we appeal to you, the hon'ble Head of
the Indian Union, to take steps to constitute a
Parliamentary inquiry on the matter."
Since the matter is urgent, those wanting to send
e-mails right away might take a look at two
articles for overview:
(1) "Who Attacked Parliament",
www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv10n2/parliament.htm,
and
(2) "New turn in the Parliament attack case," ZNet, 25 February, 2005.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=66&ItemID=7314
______
[8] [Announcements: ]
(i) INDIA'S FIRST TRAVELLING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S FILM
We're back! Welcome to Made By Women 2 - which
travels to eight cities in India in April-May
2005.
This year, our gaze has widened and so has the
festival. The second edition of Made By Women
includes not just features - but also
documentaries, animation and short films. All
award-winning works in their own genres. All made
by women.
Made By Women 2 presents films from many
countries: Iran, Finland, Israel, Norway, France,
Australia, England, Germany, U.S.A. - and of
course, India. Our filmmakers range from seasoned
exponents to artists experimenting with new,
innovative formats to accomplished film school
students.
They focus their lens on many different
realities: life in a barber shop, father-son
relationships, the world of underground
musicians, love between two women, art history
and the unconscious... More than being 'women
filmmakers' (whatever that term may mean), they
are filmmakers: exploring their own, unique
visions and voices through the medium of cinema.
Every year, Made By Women pays tribute to a
pioneering woman director - and this year is no
different. We are particularly pleased to present
Harlequin, a film by Lotte Reiniger, one of the
pioneers of animation film. With each edition of
Made By Women, we hope to bring to light unknown
contributions made by women in the early days of
cinema. And we hope to continue to celebrate the
vision, spirit and drive of women in film.
So here it is, Made By Women 2, served up with
delight and satisfaction, despite some bumps
along the way. Enjoy!
Bishakha Datta
Festival Director Meenakshi Shedde
Festival Advisor Anuja Ghosalkar
Festival Co-ordinator Aditi Mittal
Festival Co-ordinator
http://www.madebywomen.org/
o o o o o
(ii)
RETHINKING GENDERS, SEXUALITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS:
CONTESTING RIGHTS CLAIMS
A ten-day seminar course
Open Space invites you to sign up for an
introductory course on human rights, gender and
sexuality run by human rights lawyer and
researcher Oishik Sircar.
The course will run for 10 days in mid May (dates
and time to be determined according to response
preferences). The course fee is Rs.500 for
individuals and Rs.700 for institutions.
The course seeks to establish and study the
linkages between human rights, feminist
jurisprudence and Queer Theory and activism. It
will discuss problematic issues within human
rights discourse and practice. The course will be
built around discussions of selected readings,
case studies, films and group work/ activities.
The course is divided into the following modules:
Understanding, recognising and declaring human rights
Sexual Pleasure and Danger
Sexual Hierarchies
Moral Panics and the Legal Regulation of Sexuality
The Violence against Women Campaign in
India and the campaign against Section 377 of the
Indian Constitution
Claiming Sexual Rights Internationally:
Cultural Relativism vs. Universalism, Agency vs.
Victimhood
Sex work and Trafficking
Representation and Free Speech: Pornography and Censorship
Effective Strategies for Law Reform
This course is aimed at graduate students,
activists and practitioners who have basic
knowledge of issues concerning human rights,
social justice or development. The course will
give participants an opportunity to understand
and question theories of struggle, and enable
them to challenge their own models of activist
interventions.
FACULTY (tentative)
Meena Seshu, Founder & General Secretary-SANGRAM, Sangli
Dr. Jaya Sagade, Vice-Principal-ILS Law College, Pune
Dr. Nirmala Pandit, Managing Trustee-NAVAM, Pune
Manisha Gupte, Convenor-MASUM, Pune
Bindumadhav Khire, Samapathik Trust, Pune
Oishik Sircar, Human Rights Lawyer and Researcher
PARTICIPATION IS LIMITED TO 20 INDIVIDUALS. MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IS ENGLISH.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE COURSE PLEASE GET
BACK TO US BEFORE APRIL 12th. CONTACT US AT
arshia at openspaceindia.org OR
oishiksircar at gmail.com
MENTION YOUR NAME, AREA OF INTEREST, ACADEMIC
DISCIPLINE AND PREFERRED MEETING TIME (2:00 TO
6:00PM OR 5:00 TO 9:00PM).
WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU WITH A CONFIRMED SCHEDULE
AND COURSE OUTLINE BY THE END OF APRIL.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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/
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
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