Pakistan Blasphemy, India Hate / women's rights, Sri Lanka Peace
sacw
aiindex at mnet.fr
Tue Sep 13 20:41:44 CDT 2005
South Asia Citizens Wire | 14 September, 2005
[1] Pakistan:
- In the name of blasphemy (Editorial, Dawn)
- Public vandalism of blasphemy cases (Editorial, Daily Times)
[2] Sri-Lanka: Achieving Legitimacy with
Accountability 'Peace-building and Reconstruction
Monitor'
[3] India: Hope amidst fear and hate (Harsh Mander)
[4] India: 'Women didn't receive rights without struggle' (Bina Agarwal)
[5] India: Far Right at Work !
- Saffron brigade targets college freshers' parties
- Madhya Pradesh lifts ban on trishuls [tridents], VHP welcomes the move
- Now, VHP targets diamond merchants
[6] India: Upcoming events
(i) 2nd National Convention on The Right To Food
& Work (Calcutta, 18th - 20th November, 2005)
(ii) National Consultation on Urban Development Planning and Space For The Poor
(Bombay, October 15,16 2005)
[7] Publication Announcements:
- Insaf Bulletin [41] September, 2005
- Peace Now
Journal of India's Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
60th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Special Issue, 2005
______
[1]
Dawn
13 September 2005 - Editorial
IN THE NAME OF BLASPHEMY
A POLICE post in Sargodha was torched on Saturday
by an angry mob of over 3,000 people who believed
that the police officer in-charge desecrated the
Holy Quran. The mob, whipped into a frenzy by
announcements made on a few local mosques
loudspeakers, took the matter into their own
hands. In another development, 500 Christian
families are reported to have fled Amer Sidhu to
safety after a Christian man was charged with
blasphemy. Despite some efforts to urge calm, no
one was able to control the Sargodha crowd's
anger. The police, usually silent spectators on
such occasions, shifted the alleged blasphemer to
a prison, unable to offer him protection at the
police lock-up. This is the sad state of affairs
in the country where no one, including those
meant to uphold the law, are safe from mob frenzy
whipped on some pretext or the other. Far too
many innocent lives have been lost as a
consequence of baseless allegations and nothing
is being done to stop the menace. Earlier this
year, a man was lynched by a mob in Nowshera and
months later a temple ransacked in the same
place; both times crowd frenzy led to horrific
results.
In the Sargodha case, the policeman conducting a
raid was charged with pushing a woman holding the
Quran which fell on the ground with her; hence
the desecration charge. The matter needs to be
investigated to determine the veracity of the
allegation. If religious leaders incited mobs
into taking the law into their own hands - which
they did when they set the police post on fire -
they should be charged for inciting mob violence.
Baseless charges of blasphemy are often made to
settle personal scores or to persecute minorities
and should be dealt with firmly to discourage
such abuses.
o o o
Daily Times 13 September 2005
EDITORIAL: Public vandalism of blasphemy cases
According to reports, nearly 50 Christian
families have fled Waheed Park in Amar Sadhu,
Lahore, fearing a backlash from the local Muslim
community after a Christian was arrested and
charged with blasphemy. Younis Masih was supposed
to have made derogatory remarks about Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) at a qawwali
arranged by another Christian. To the credit of
the Christian community, it punished the man and
demanded an apology from him. When he resisted,
he was given a thrashing. On the insistence of
the local Muslim community a case was registered
against him at the local police station. Some 200
Muslim protestors carrying sticks surrounded the
police station till they were shown copies of the
FIR. Blasphemy is a non-bailable offence.
The next day, the Christian families began to
leave the Waheed Park area. The Muslims gave them
repeated assurances of safety but they wouldn't
believe them, especially after some Muslims
attacked and damaged Younis Masih's house and
since the leaders who talked peace to the
Christians also added that "if the police try to
hush up the investigation, we will not keep
quiet". The police sent the accused to Kot
Lakhpat jail on Sunday because "he would not have
been safe in the lock-up at the police station".
Now comes the ugly part: Younis's wife appeared
at the police station in tattered clothes saying
a group of Muslims looking for her husband had
given her a beating. This tells us why the
Christians, even after having done their duty
under the law, did not trust the state (police)
and felt unsafe.
The same day a violent mob in Sargodha set a
police post on fire after a sub-inspector
allegedly hit a two-month-old baby and desecrated
the Quran. The SI allegedly "tortured" the
two-month-old baby during the investigation of a
case, then promptly threw to the floor a copy of
the Quran the accused had brought out. The
district police officer stated that the ASI had
neither tortured the baby nor desecrated the
Quran, but no one was prepared to listen.
Sixty-four people, angered by the "desecration",
burnt the police post to the ground.
Blasphemy and desecration have made people's
lives miserable in Punjab. It seems as if the
nation has no other occupation but burning and
destroying property after hearing rumours of
desecration and blasphemy. Some "miscreants"
threw a copy of the Quran in the toilet of an
Ahle Hadith mosque near the Tablighi Jamaat
headquarters in Raiwind near Lahore. The clerics
raised a hue and cry, but what did they get? A
mob blocked the traffic hub of the area, beating
up innocent travellers. The protest spilled into
the next day and this time the mob stopped the
trains, smashed their windows and wounded the
passengers. They also stoned the cars passing on
the Raiwind Road. According to one report, "The
mob was greatly strengthened when the local MMA
leadership gave a call and got its followers to
join it."
Vandalism has become a reflex action to news of
desecration and blasphemy. (Desecration of the
Quran can be "interpreted" as blasphemy because
the Quran contains the Prophet's (PBUH) name.) If
you want to settle scores with someone, all you
have to do is plant a torn page of the Quran in
front of his house. From the poor quack of
Gujranwala to our famous social worker, the late
Akhtar Hameed Khan in Karachi a decade ago, the
law has been consistently abused. In the Sargodha
case stated above, the family being investigated
used it most effectively to scare the police
away. Now the investigation is not focused on the
crime committed by a citizen but the blasphemy
committed by the police! If India's RAW wants to
stage terrorism in Pakistan all it has to do is
desecrate the Quran in dozens of places to get
the entire country vandalised by its own
citizens, like Imran Khan got a number of youths
in Afghanistan killed by telling them that the
Quran had been desecrated at the Guantanamo Bay
prison.
There was a time when the state covered its face
with blood with such heinous laws. Politicians
seeking popularity through piety toughened up the
Penal Code so that an accused couldn't get out of
blasphemy without being killed. No one has been
hanged for blasphemy but hundreds have lost seven
to eight years of their lives on death row till
the Supreme Court heard their cases and let them
go. Today, as the state gets scared of what all
this will lead to, the society has taken on the
job of fingering the blasphemer and the
desecrator. Semi-literate clerics are invited
on-screen for a small amount of fee to issue
mini-fatwas on every little thing under the sun.
These "rulings" are narrow-minded in the extreme
and show Islam as an intolerant and violent
religion. These "on-line" fatwa factories (one
actually run by a federal state minister) are
money-spinners for the TV channels, but they are
brainwashing the nation into a colossal
vandalising mob. *
______
[2]
Sri-Lanka: Achieving Legitimacy with Accountability
'Peace-building and Reconstruction Monitor'
This is the third in a series of monitors on the politics of peace and
reconstruction by a group of Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) activists.
In this monitor we review the sixteenth volume of Conciliation Resources's
Accord Series "Choosing to Engage; Armed Groups and Peace Processes."
These documents are meant for discussion and to further develop the
analysis of SLDF and SLDF's partners, and do not necessarily reflect the
position of SLDF.
In Solidarity,
SLDF
[ available at: www.sacw.net/peace/PeaceMonitor3.doc ]
______
[3]
The Times of India
September 13, 2005
HOPE AMIDST FEAR AND HATE
Harsh Mander
There are many villages in Gujarat today that
have proudly been cleansed fully of their
erstwhile Muslim residents.
Gaily painted boards greet you at the entrance of
these villages, in ominous greeting: 'Welcome to
this Hindu village in the Hindu Rashtra of
Gujarat'.
These are villages where Muslim residents are too
terrified to return home even today. In one such
village, Moghri, in the outskirts of Kheda,
around 90 Muslim families lived for generations
before 2002.
In the tempest of hate in 2002, they were driven
out destitute and in terror, never to return.
Most families owned agricultural land; some were
tailors, farm workers, shopkeepers, artisans or
small businessmen and traders.
The homes were torched of those families who
owned these properties. For tenants of Hindu
house-owners, the houses were systematically
spared, but their properties were looted and
burnt.
n the months that followed, some attempted
sporadically and fearfully to return to their
ravaged homes and lands, but village elders and
youth told them that they were unwelcome and that
their security could not be assured.
They warned them that the first condition if
anyone still wanted to return to the village of
their birth was that they would have to refuse to
give evidence in any police investigation or
court trial into the mass crimes of 2002.
Only one timid resident agreed to these
humiliating terms. He filed no case, refused to
name his tormentors to policemen and magistrates.
Eighteen months after the massacre, the village
elders of Moghri village agreed to permit his
homecoming. He hired a truck and returned with
his family to what remained of his home.
Two days later, he fled in terror, after a mob of
village youth gathered outside his home,
threatening to set his home on fire once again.
He pleaded that he had given no evidence against
them, but they demanded that he should pressurise
the entire village into withdrawing their cases.
He has bought a home in a settlement with 98%
Muslims. He then joined his village brethren to
file a complaint before a magistrate against
those who threatened him.
The villagers have filed a total of eight
complaints in the magistrate's courts against the
mass crimes of 2002, and four more for the
threats that followed.
But predictably the police have done little to
investigate the crimes. In exile from their
village, many live in small tenements in Muslim
ghettoes built by Islamic relief organisations.
But they are too frightened to cultivate their
fields, and the economic boycott robs them of
opportunities for wage work. In this sombre,
hopeless climate, the stunning victory of the
residents of another village, Ghodasar, in the
same district, is all the more inspiring.
Un- noticed by the media, the humble villagers,
mostly farm workers, secured from a police
apparatus and lower judiciary the first
conviction of life imprisonment against 12 of
their attackers.
This came within just 20 months of the crime.
Investigations by the police began a month and a
half after the tragedy in which 14 people were
killed, when the victims were still in makeshift
relief camps.
A delegation of village elders visited them to
say that if they wish to return to their village,
they must refuse to give evidence to the police.
A meeting of the village residents resolved that
they would not trade truth and justice even for
the security of returning to their homes.
Based on their police statements, arrests started
of leading local Hindutva activists, named in
their complaints and statements.
As the matter reached the district court at
Nadiad, alarm spread to the ranks of the
attackers. A high level delegation, comprising
senior Sangh and VHP leaders and lawyers visited
them again to negotiate.
This time, not only the threats were held out,
but inducements of money were added. But they
resolutely refused to bow to the threats and
bribes.
Not one of 48 witnesses turned hostile or altered
their statements in court. The Muslim residents
of Ghodasar village then returned to their
village.
Today, they live in their homes rebuilt by a
relief organisation, none threaten them and many
have found work once again as farm workers. The
pain lingers, but there is no fear in their
hearts.
The writer is a former IAS officer.
_____
[4]
Indian Express
September 13, 2005
'Women didn't receive rights without struggle'
Bina Agarwal,author of A field of her own has
been working on inheritance, women's property and
land rights since the 1980s. She chaired a 1998
committee initiated by the Rural Employment
Ministry to make devolution rules in land tenure
laws gender equal. Recently she spearheaded an
initiative on a landmark legislation passed in
Parliament this session called the Hindu
Succession (Amendment) Act 2005. She spoke to
SONU JAIN on the ramifications of the amendments
and the behind-the-scenes activity in the run up
to the Act.
* Can you explain the major achievements of the 2005 Act?
There are at least two major achievements and
some smaller ones. First, by deleting Section
4(2) of the 1956 Hindu Succession Act (HSA), the
2005 amendment has removed gender inequalities in
the inheritance of agricultural land, and made
Hindu women's land rights legally equal to men's
across states. Before this, the inheritance of
agricultural land was subject to state-level
tenurial laws which were highly gender unequal in
6 states - Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.
These inequalities adversely affected millions of
women. We tend to forget how many women are
farmers, critically dependent on agriculture for
survival. Second, making daughters, especially
married daughters, coparceners in joint family
property is of huge importance both economically
and symbolically. Economically, it provides women
security by giving them birth rights in joint
family property that cannot be willed away by
fathers. Symbolically, it signals that daughters
and sons are equally important members of the
parental family. It undercuts the notion that
after marriage the daughter belongs only to her
husband's family. It creates a permanent link
with her parental family. This will enhance
women's self-confidence and social worth.
* How did the 2004 Hindu Succession Amendment Bill originate?
The initial Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha on
20 Dec 2004 was based on the 174th Law Commission
Report. Prior to that report, the Law Commission
had sent questionnaires to many individuals and
organizations. I also filled one. The
questionnaire's responses were progressive, but
the Report was quite conservative.
For instance, 88% of the respondents wanted
abolition of gender discriminatory clauses on
agricultural land. The Report's recommendations
bypassed this altogether. Again on Mitakshara
joint family property, 73% supported abolishing
the system, but the Report recommended only that
unmarried daughters be made coparceners. Although
the 2004 Bill reflected the current government's
commitment to enhancing gender equality, it did
not go beyond the Law Commission's
recommendations, and fell far short of equality.
* What was the problem with the initial draft of the 2004 Bill?
While the move for reform was laudable, the
amendments proposed left many gender inequalities
intact. I argued for the removal of inequalities
in agricultural land inheritance, abolishing the
Mitakshara joint property system altogether, and
partially restricting the right to will away
property. But the second best option, if joint
family property was retained, was to include
married daughters also as coparceners.
* What was your involvement in the final shape
with its far-reaching consequences?
I talked with two NGOs - the Human Rights Law
Network and the Housing and Land Rights Network -
and we jointly launched a campaign, starting with
a nationwide consultation with women's groups,
grassroots groups and people involved in land
reform, women's rights and human rights. We
organised a one day meeting in Delhi in January
2005 at which a draft memorandum I had prepared
was discussed, slightly revised and finally
endorsed, personally or by email, by 50
organizations and 122 individuals. We submitted
the memorandum to the Prime Minister, to Sonia
Gandhi, the Law Minister, and the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Law and Justice. We sent
copies to every Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member.
In February the Standing Committee invited us to
depose before them. The deposition lasted over 2
hours.
The chairman, Mr Natchiappan, was very open to my
arguments for a comprehensive amendment and
especially on agricultural land. I provided
followup notes and wrote more letters to Mrs
Gandhi. Some lawyers and MPs were also very
supportive. The Standing Committee's Report
(which drew on many of the arguments in our
Memorandum and deposition, as well as on the
material and deposition of some national women's
organizations, especially AIDWA) is largely the
basis for the revised bill passed in Parliament
this August.
* Would you call this build-up a grassroots movement?
A. There is growing grassroots demand for women's
land and property rights in India today. Although
the process of comprehensively amending the 1956
HSA was initiated largely by individuals and
groups in Delhi, the endorsement and support of
grassroots groups from across the country was
absolutely critical for the impact of our
demands. This is not unusual historically. Even
for the 1956 HSA, women's groups and individuals
lobbied widely. Women did not receive these
rights without struggle.
* What major amendments preceded this one?
Before this, five states amended the HSA. First
Kerala abolished joint family property
altogether, making the inheritance of all
property, including land, equal for sons and
daughters. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
and Maharashtra followed, but they retained the
Mitakshara coparcenary system, making only
unmarried daughters coparceners. They left out
married daughters and agricultural land. The
current amendment, passed as a Central government
Act, will also benefit women in these four states.
* Are there still some inequalities left?
By including daughters as coparceners, the
widow's property share will decline. This anomaly
would disappear if we abolished the Mitakshara
coparcenary altogether. Then all property would
go equally to class I heirs, of which the widow
is one. Also, given male bias, an implicit
inequality arises from the unrestricted right to
will. A man can will away everything a woman
might get. I feel the right to will should be
restricted on at least one-third property so that
women are assured some inheritance. In Spain,
France and several countries, testamentary
freedom is partially restricted.
* The main opposition argument is that land
fragmentation will increase? What do you think?
The fragmentation argument is misleading and
can't be applied selectively to women. Even when
sons inherit fragmentation can occur. In
practice, when sons get a share, most families
continue to cultivate jointly. The same can hold
for daughters. The unit of ownership need not be
the unit of cultivation. And just as sons who
migrate to cities retain their land rights, so
daughters marrying into another village can
maintain their claim and get a share of the
harvest from the family, or lease out the land.
This would give women some economic security,
however small.
* What does land mean for women?
Owning land has critical implications, not just
for women's economic situation, but their
political and social empowerment. For instance,
in my recent research with a colleague on Kerala,
we found that owning a house or land dramatically
reduced the risk of marital violence. The
incidence of physical violence was as high as 49%
among propertyless women, but 18% among
landowning women and 7% among those owning both
house and land.
* Do you foresee opposition to the Amended Act?
There will no doubt be opposition in
implementation. In fact, the land fragmentation
and joint family stability arguments go back to
the 1940s when the Hindu Code was being debated.
Changing social attitudes takes time. Legal
awareness will require a campaign too. But legal
reform is also important in and of itself since
it reflects our vision of the kind of society we
want.
______
[5]
HINDUTVA AT WORK !
Sify.com
12 September , 2005
SAFFRON BRIGADE TARGETS COLLEGE FRESHERS' PARTIES
By S Sanjay in Bhopal
The saffron brigade in the city have found a new
target -- freshers' parties -- which they think
are against the 'Bharatiya parampara' (Indian
Tradition).
The new academic session has just begun and the
students of various educational institutions are
organising freshers' parties, but Bajrang dal and
VHP activists disrupt most of these gatherings.
These parties are generally organised in hotels
and restaurants. In the last few weeks, at least
ten freshers' parties of different colleges were
called off midway because of violent protests by
Bajrang Dal activists. The police were summoned
in every case but they preferred to counsel the
students to abandon the party.
Students say that the objective of the party is
to facilitate introduction between the seniors
and freshers and to help contain ragging. But the
saffron outfits contend that these parties are
against the Indian tradition, as girls and boys
freely mingle with each other and dance together.
"The cops can easily chase away these hoodlums
but they are just afraid of taking action against
the Bajrang Dal and the VHP activists for fear of
retribution from the ruling party," the National
Students Union of India alleges.
The students, of course, are unhappy. "When my
parents do not have any objection to me wearing
jeans and in dancing at a party, who are these
people to object," asks Sunil Pateria, an
engineering student.
o o o
webindia123.com
September 04, 2005
MADHYA PRADESH LIFTS BAN ON TRISHULS, VHP WELCOMES THE MOVE
Bhopal/Jabalpur
Madhya Pradesh on Sunday lifted a ban on
tridents, a move that has heartily been welcomed
by the Hindu groups.
Scores of activists of various Hindu affiliated
organisations took to the streets in Bhopal,
celebrating Chief Minister Babu Lal Gaur's
announcement of overturning a legislation on the
ban, which was imposed by the earlier Congress
government three years back.
The then chief minister Digvijay Singh had banned
the distribution, possession and carrying of
tridents in all regions except at religious
places. Even there, tridents longer than four
inches were not allowed.
"Be it religious or non-religious. Tridents have
never been used for violence. Even Sikhs use
daggers as part of their religion. All these
legislations are not required, so we overturned
it," said Gaur.
Gaur's act came ahead of Vishwa Hindu Parishad's
(VHP) trident distribution programme in the
evening at Jabalpur by VHP General Secretary
Praveen Togadia.
"I would like to tell the Congress governments in
the states to lift the ban on tridents. Trident
distribution and worship would go on everywhere,"
said Togadia in Jabalpur.
Hindu groups have often denounced the ban saying
carrying tridents was their fundamental right and
meant only for their awakening and morale
boosting.
Several Hindi heartland states had banned
religious articles like tridents, swords and
weapons at public meetings to prevent religious
tensions. (ANI)
o o o o
Ahmedabad Newsline - Indian Express
August 15, 2005
NOW, VHP TARGETS DIAMOND MERCHANTS
TAKES THEM ON 'VAN YATRA' TO SHOW WORK DONE BY EKAL SCHOOLS IN TRIBAL AREAS
Soumik Dey
Ahmedabad, August 14: To initiate 'Hindu sanskar'
and popularise the concept of 'Akhand Bharat' in
the tribal areas of Dediapada, the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad is now seeking help from diamond
merchants. On Sunday, the VHP organised a 'van
yatra' here, where it tried to impress upon the
prospective donors the work being done by the
informal schools of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation in
the area.
In a desperate move to ward off missionary
activities in the tribal belt of Narmada
district, the VHP runs here about 90 such
informal schools, where single teachers provide
primary education to students for about three
months. ''Stress is given on issues like
developing 'Hindu sanskars' and taking these
values home for their parents,'' said state
president of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India,
Vijay Pranami.
VHP international general secretary Dr Pravin
Togadia was also there. ''The initiative of Ekal
Vidyalaya is instrumental in creation of capable
Hindus in a capable India. Ever since the
programme was launched here, missionary
activities have reduced. Tribals must adapt to
the mainstream while town-bred citizens should
learn about the simplicities of life. We are
attempting to get more people interested in the
initiative and adopt more such villages,''
Togadia said during his visit to Gopalia village
in Dediapada taluka.
Several delegates from Suart Diamond Merchants
Welfare Association visited the village and
observed various activities run by the VHP.
Industrialists and businessmen from Ankleshwar
and Bharuch also accompanied Togadia.
VHP activist Swami Onkarnath Giriji called out
for support from visiting businessmen and
industrialists. ''Give me some money and we will
sweep away all ongoing missionary activities of
Christians from the area. Hindu dharma is
witnessing 'grahan' from the 'Rahu' and 'Ketu' of
Christians and Muslims and the traders must not
let this happen,'' he said.
An office-bearer of Surat Diamond Merchants
Welfare Association observed: ''The activities
here are quite up to the mark. But this village
has already got schools providing primary
education under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. These
tribal students will be ultimately admitted to
some mainstream schools here. But we appreciate
the kind of grounding these schools provide,'' he
said.
Asked about donations to the VHP projects here,
he replied: ''The general body of the association
will take a decision on this.''
A BJP leader here said that the 'van yatras' are
undertaken post-monsoon to show the lush greenery
around to prospective donors. ''The time between
August and Navratri is the best season to be
here. Visitors from the cities feel good to be
here,'' he said.
______
[6] UPCOMING EVENTS
(i)
IInd NATIONAL CONVENTION
On
THE RIGHT TO FOOD & WORK
18th - 20th NOVEMBER, 2005, KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL
We are happy to inform you that the IInd National
Convention on the Right to Food and Work will be
held in or near Kolkata from 18th to 20th
November 2005 (Friday to Sunday). Details about
the venue will be communicated to you as soon as
the West Bengal group informs us. Please confirm
your participation as well as that of your
organization as soon as possible, at one of the
two addresses given below.
These decisions were taken at a preparatory
meeting held in Delhi on 29 August, in
continuation of earlier discussions held in
Ranchi and further consultations with concerned
organisations. The preparatory meeting was
attended by Anup Srivastava (HRLN), Anuradha
Talwar (PBKMU), Harsh Mander (Special
Commissioner of the Supreme Court), Jean Drèze,
Kavita Srivastava (PUCL), Navjyoti (RTFC),
Reetika Khera, Rekha, Rosamma Thomas, Saurabh
Sharma (NCPRI), Shailendre Singh (NAFRE), Subhash
Bhatnagar (NCC-USW), Vandana Prasad (JSA).
Telephonic confirmation for the date and venue of
the convention were also taken from Annie Raja
(NFIW), Paul Divakar (NCDHR), Sandeep Pandey
(NAPM) and Vinod Raina (BGVS).
We were very glad to have the participation of
Anuradha Talwar from the West Bengal network on
the right to food, as she shared the preparations
that had already taken off there.
As you are aware, the IInd convention will be a
follow-up of the earlier convention held in
Bhopal on 11-13 June 2004 and the "Employment
Guarantee & Right to Work" convention held in
Ranchi on 17-19 June 2005. It was suggested at
Ranchi that important issues like Public
Distribution System (rural & urban); children's
nutrition, protecting existing land ownership and
employment be addressed in the next convention.
These issues were discussed on 29th August and
other issues were added.
(i) THEMES AND ISSUES:
Themes and issues finally proposed by the
steering group for the forthcoming National
Convention are as follows:
§ Public Distribution System;
§ Children's nutrition;
§ Implementation of the Employment Guarantee Act, 2004;
§ Protection of existing land rights and employment;
§ The connection between the right to
information, the right to foodand the right to
work;
§ Systems of redressal;
§ Legal case updates;
§ Role of Supreme Court Commissioners and Advisors;
§ Gender aspects of the right to food.
It was also suggested that daylong parallel
workshops be organized for these sub-themes so
that in-depth discussions and strategies for
future action are evolved.
Programme Committee: A programme committee is in
the process of being formed in consultation with
the steering group's organizations. The programme
committee is expected to take charge of:
(i) Providing a vision for each sub theme;
(ii) Preparing a programme schedule and ;
(iii) Allocating coordination responsibility and
(iv) Identifying groups and experts
working on the above stated issues.
Any suggestions you may have on the programme can
be sent to the secretariat (email:
righttofood at gmail.com) until the programme
committee is formed.
[...]
Contacts :
Secretariat - Right to Food Campaign :
Address: C/o Navjyoti, 257, D.D.A. flats (RPS),
Mansarovar Park, Shahdara, Delhi - 110032,
Ph: 011- 23510042, Mob: 09350530150,
Email:
<mailto:righttofood at gmail.com>righttofood at gmail.com,
<mailto:navjyoti at gmail.com>navjyoti at gmail.com
Local contact of West Bengal:
Anuradha Talwar:
Pashchim Banga Khet Mazdoor Union,
Address: 324, Basunagar, P.O. Madhyanagaram, Kolkata,
------
(ii)
NATIONAL CONSULTATION ON URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND SPACE FOR THE POOR
October 15,16 2005 Mumbai
Dear Friends,
The recent massive demolitions in Mumbai and the
struggles all over have brought the issues of
displacement & destitutionalisation in the name
of urban development and renewal, again to the
forefront. This process is not limited to Mumbai
alone but has been fast spreading to all other
metros, medium cities and towns. The denial of
space for the poor and the massive violations of
human rights have led to deprivation not only of
shelter but also of services and livelihood,
which has necessitated an in-depth sharing of
ideologies and perspectives, strategy &
experience, as well as an alliance building
across the country.
It is in this context that a NATIONAL
CONSULTATION ON 'URBAN DEVELOPMENTAL PLANNING AND
SPACE FOR THE POOR' is being organised in Mumbai
on the 15th & 16th October 2005. A massive rally
of slum dwellers, unorganised workers and urban
poor is being planned on October 17th, 2005.
The consultation seeks to examine, with a
pro-people perspective, experiences of various
cities in India with regard to Policies, Laws and
Development Plans that have direct implications
for Housing, Livelihood and basic services for
the urban poor. The meeting is also to evolve
strategies for future plan and action.
We cordially invite you to participate in this
national consultation bringing your valuable
knowledgebase and experience to enrich the same.
Please block your dates and do spare your
valuable time for the consultation.
A detailed program schedule will be send latter.
A theme paper and selected documents would be
furnished to you at the programme. Do plan to
bring your publications, booklets, reports,
posters, audio-visuals etc detailing your
struggle, for exhibition and sale.
Please do confirm your participation at the
earliest. Second Class sleeper travel can be
arranged to those who are in dire need. Do also
let us know if you would like anyone else working
against urban eviction and disparity, for the
rights of urban poor; to be invited to this
Consultation.
Awaiting your response and active participation.
Yours sincerely,
Medha Patkar
Raju Bhise Dr. Parasuraman
Deepika D'souza Dr. Uday Mehta
Organised By: National Alliance of People’s Movements and allies(NAPM)
(Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action, Shahar Vikas Manch- Maharashtra,
Lokayan- Delhi, Pennurmai Iyakam - Madurai, Street Vendors’ Association -
Jharkhand, Nirbhay Bano Andolan, Hawkers Sangram Committee- West Bengal)
Co-organised By: Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Human Rights Law Network, Committee for
the Rights of Housing (CRH).
NATIONAL CONSULTATION MEET ON URBAN DEVELOPMENTAL
PLANNING AND SPACE OF THE POOR
Venue:
YUVA Centre,Plot 23, Sector 7, Kharghar,
Navi Mumbai - 400618
Phone : 022-27560990 / 99
Fax : 27560970
Date:
October 15, 16 2005; Rally on 17th
Participants are requested to arrive on October
14th evening itself. Please let us know your
travel schedule. (When and which train you are
coming)
_____
[7] PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
Insaf Bulletin [41] September, 2005
International South Asia Forum
Postal address: Box 272, Westmount Stn., QC, Canada H3Z 2T2
http://www.insaf.net
o o o
Peace Now
Journal of India's Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
60th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Special Issue, 2005
http://www.cndpindia.org/peace-now!/PN-hiroshima-spl05.pdf
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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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