SACW | April 15-16 , 2009 / Women's Rights & Secular Activists Resist Despite Huge Odds

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | April-15-16, 2009 | Dispatch No. 2616 -  
Year 11 running
From: www.sacw.net

[1]  Afghan Women Protest New Restrictive Law (Dexter Filkins)
    + Taliban shoot dead Afghan politician who championed women’s rights
[2] Afghanistan and Pakistan: Women, Extremism and Two Key States  
(Editorial, New York Times)
[3] Pakistan - When the state made a 'deal' with the fascists: April  
13 a day of ignominious capitulation: HRCP
[4] Nepal: Women human rights activists continue to face violent  
attacks despite promises of govt. protection
[5] India: The Kalinga Effect (Ananya Vajpeyi)
[6] India: Baseless media reports alleging that activist Teesta  
Setalvad and CPJ exaggerated the violence during Gujarat pogrom of 2002
[7] India: A Dancer and Secular Citizen Takes on the Leader of Hindu  
Right - Support Mallika Sarabhai
[8] Tributes: Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick -1950-2009 (Richard Kim, Macy  
Halford, Judith Butler)
[9] Announcements:
(i) Ram Rahman: Art and Politics in India: 20 Years of SAHMAT (New  
York, 16 April 2009
(ii) South Asia Related Panels in Left Forum( New York, 17-19 April   
2009)
(iii) T2F Presents Tina Sani in Concert  (Karachi, 17 April 2009)
(iv) Screening of Beena Sarwar’s documentaries (New Delhi, 19 April  
2009)
(v) www.votereport.in launched

____


[1] Afghanistan:

New York Times
April 15, 2009

AFGHAN WOMEN PROTEST NEW RESTRICTIVE LAW

About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times that  
number, walked the streets of the capital on Wednesday to demand that  
Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like  
restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.

by Dexter Filkins

Kabul, Afghanistan — The young women stepped off the bus and moved  
toward the protest march just beginning on the other side of the  
street when they were spotted by a mob of men.

“Get out of here, you whores!” the men shouted. “Get out!”

The women scattered as the men moved in.

“We want our rights!” one of the women shouted, turning to face them.  
“We want equality!”

The women ran to the bus and dove inside as it rumbled away, with the  
men smashing the taillights and banging on the sides.

“Whores!”

But the march carried on anyway. About 300 Afghan women, facing an  
angry throng three times larger than their own, walked the streets of  
the capital on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law  
that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and  
permits, among other things, marital rape.

It was an extraordinary scene. Women are mostly illiterate in this  
impoverished country, and they do not, generally speaking, enjoy  
anything near the freedom accorded to men. But there they were, most  
of them young, many in jeans, defying a threatening crowd and calling  
out slogans heavy with meaning.

With the Afghan police keeping the mob at bay, the women walked two  
miles to Parliament, where they delivered a petition calling for the  
law’s repeal.

“Whenever a man wants sex, we cannot refuse,” said Fatima Husseini,  
26, one of the marchers. “It means a woman is a kind of property, to  
be used by the man in any way that he wants.”

The law, approved by both houses of Parliament and signed by  
President Hamid Karzai, applies to the Shiite minority only,  
essentially giving clerics authority over intimate matters between  
women and men. Women here and governments and rights groups abroad  
have protested three parts of the law especially.

One provision makes it illegal for a woman to resist her husband’s  
sexual advances. A second provision requires a husband’s permission  
for a woman to work outside the home or go to school. And a third  
makes it illegal for a woman to refuse to “make herself up” or “dress  
up” if that is what her husband wants.

The passage of the law has amounted to something of a historical  
irony. Afghan Shiites, who make up about 10 percent of the  
population, suffered horrendously under the Taliban, who regarded  
them as apostates. Since 2001, the Shiites, particularly the Hazara  
minority, have been enjoying a renaissance.

President Karzai, who relies on vast support from the United States  
and other Western governments to stay in power, has come under  
intense international criticism for signing the bill into law. Many  
people here suspect that he did so in order to gain the favor of the  
Shiite clergy; Mr. Karzai is up for re-election this year.

Responding to the outcry, Mr. Karzai has begun looking for a way to  
remove the most controversial parts of the law. In an interview on  
Wednesday, his spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, said that the  
legislation was not yet law because it had not been published in the  
government’s official register. That, Mr. Hamidzada said, meant that  
it could still be changed. Mr. Karzai has asked his justice minister  
to look it over.

“We have no doubt that whatever comes out of this process will be  
consistent with the rights provided for in the Constitution —  
equality and the protection of women,” Mr. Hamidzada said.

The women who protested Wednesday began their demonstration with what  
appeared to be a deliberately provocative act. They gathered in front  
of the School of the Last Prophet, a madrassa run by Ayatollah Asif  
Mohsini, the country’s most powerful Shiite cleric. He and the  
scholars around him played an important role in the drafting of the  
new law.

“We are here to campaign for our rights,” one woman said into a  
loudspeaker. Then the women held their banners aloft and began to chant.

The reaction was immediate. Hundreds of students from the madrassa,  
most but not all of them men, poured into the streets to confront the  
demonstrators.

“Death to the enemies of Islam!” the counterdemonstrators cried,  
encircling the women. “We want Islamic law!”

The women stared ahead and kept walking.

A phalanx of police, some of them women, held the crowds apart.

Afterward, when the demonstrators had left, one of the madrassa’s  
senior clerics walked outside. Asked about the dispute, he said it  
was between professionals and nonprofessionals; that is, between the  
clerics, who understood the Koran and Islamic law, and the women  
calling for the law’s repeal who did not.

“It’s like if you are sick, you go to a doctor, not some amateur,”  
said the cleric, Mohammed Hussein Jafaari. “This law was approved by  
the scholars. It was passed by both houses of Parliament. It was  
signed by the president.”

The religious scholars, Mr. Jafaari conceded, were all men.

Lingering a while, Mr. Jafaari said that what was really driving the  
dispute was not the Afghans at all, but the foreigners who loom so  
large over the country.

“We Afghans don’t want a bunch of NATO commanders and foreign  
ministers telling us what to do.”


o o o


TALIBAN SHOOT DEAD AFGHAN POLITICIAN WHO CHAMPIONED WOMEN’S RIGHTS

     * Two gunmen behind killing in Kandahar
     * Legislator’s colleagues had warned her of attack

Jon Boone in Kabul
  The Guardian, Monday 13 April 2009

A leading female Afghan politician was shot dead yesterday after  
leaving a provincial council meeting in Kandahar, southern  
Afghanistan, which her colleagues had begged her not to attend.

Sitara Achakzai was attacked by two gunmen as she arrived at her home  
in a rickshaw - a vehicle colleagues said she deliberately chose to  
use to avoid attracting attention.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the murder. The two gunmen  
were apparently waiting for Achakzai, a 52-year-old women’s rights  
activist who had lived for many years in Germany when the Taliban  
were in power in Afghanistan.

Officials said she returned in 2004 to her home in Kandahar, which is  
also the birthplace and spiritual home of the Taliban.

One of Achakzai’s friends, speaking anonymously, said colleagues had  
begged her not to attend the meeting, which takes place twice a week.

"She knew the danger she was in. Just a couple of days ago she was  
joking about the fact that she had a 300,000 rupee price on her  
head," she said. "Like other women she would always travel in a  
rickshaw rather than a big armoured Humvee because it’s less  
conspicuous, but it also made her easier prey."

Achakzai’s life was in danger because she was not only a women’s  
rights activist but also as a local politician. Taliban militants  
target anyone associated with the government of Afghanistan and last  
month launched an audacious assault with four suicide bombers on the  
provincial council building in Kandahar city, killing 17 people.

There have been many other attacks on women in the province,  
including the assassination in 2006 of Safia Amajan, the head of the  
province’s women’s affairs department.

Malalai Kakar, a top policewoman in the city, was killed last  
September, and schoolgirls have had acid thrown in their faces as  
punishment for attending school.

Achakzai had put herself at the forefront of the women’s rights  
struggle in Kandahar, and last year organised a "prayer for peace"  
demonstration in one of the city’s biggest mosques on International  
Women’s Day.

About 1,500 women attended the event, although this year the women  
were banned from entering the building and instead held a meeting at  
the city’s human rights commission.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, head of the Kandahar provincial council and  
brother of Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, said he had seen  
Achakzai earlier in the day before she was murdered, and had granted  
her leave from her duties so she could visit a sick relative in Canada.

"I had just said goodbye and joked that it was a good time to leave  
because our offices have been totally destroyed and need to be rebuilt."

Karzai added that Achakzai had for the past two years held the post  
of secretary in the provincial council, which, until her death, had  
four female members of the 15-strong body. She was married to an  
academic who taught at Kandahar University.

Wenny Kusama, country director of the United Nations Development Fund  
for Women, said the murder of Achakzai was an attack "on all freedom".

____


[2] Afghanistan / Pakistan:

New York Times

Editorial
WOMEN, EXTREMISM AND TWO KEY STATES

Published: April 14, 2009

There have been two recent reminders of the cost of extremism. In  
Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai signed a law that effectively  
sanctions marital rape. In Pakistan, a video surfaced of the Taliban  
in the Swat Valley publicly flogging a young woman screaming for  
mercy. Pakistan’s government compounded the indignity on Monday by  
giving in to Taliban demands and formally imposing Shariah law on the  
region.

Such behavior would be intolerable anywhere. But the United States is  
heavily invested in both countries, fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban  
and financing multibillion-dollar military and development programs.  
The cases represent an officially sanctioned brutality that violates  
American values and international human rights norms. They also  
sabotage chances of building stable healthy societies in Pakistan and  
Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, particularly venal politics are at work. Mr. Karzai,  
whose popular support plummeted because of government ineptitude and  
corruption, is running for re-election in August. The new law, which  
affects family matters for the Shiite minority, seems a bald,  
particularly creepy, pander.

It says of Shiite women: Unless she is ill, “a wife is obliged to  
fulfill the sexual desires of her husband.” That is licensed coercion.

If let stand, we fear such rules — reminiscent of decrees issued when  
the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s — could also have a  
negative impact on laws affecting the majority Sunni population.  
Instead of defending the law as he did, Mr. Karzai must ensure that  
it is rewritten to reflect principles of freedom and dignity for women.

In Pakistan, the video of the woman’s flogging proves the bankrupt  
nature of the army’s strategy. Failing to defeat the Taliban on the  
battlefield, the army tried to appease them with a peace deal in  
February. It ceded the insurgents control of Swat, 100 miles from  
Islamabad, and allowed free rein for their repressive ways. The woman  
was beaten after declining a Taliban fighter’s marriage proposal, the  
head of the Peshawar Bar Association told reporters.

After resisting for weeks, President Asif Ali Zardari capitulated to  
political pressure and signed a regulation formally imposing Islamic  
law on Swat as part of the peace deal. We seriously doubt this will  
bring peace, and it will certainly not make life better for Pakistani  
women. It is unlikely that Mr. Zardari’s wife — the slain former  
prime minister, Benazir Bhutto — would have ever consented to such a  
craven sellout.

The one encouraging sign came last week, when Pakistan’s recently  
reinstated chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, publicly  
rebuked the attorney general and other officials at a court hearing  
for inaction in the flogging case. We hope this was not just  
grandstanding and that he and his supporters will find a way to make  
as powerful a case for this victim’s rights as they did for Mr.  
Chaudhry’s return to the Supreme Court.

Many Pakistanis have wasted their time decrying the video as a  
conspiracy intended to defame Islam and Pakistan. They should be  
demanding that the army — Pakistan’s strongest and most functional  
institution — defend against an insurgency that increasingly  
threatens the state. Like their military and political leaders,  
Pakistan’s people are in a pernicious state of denial about where the  
real danger lies.

____


[3] Pakistan:

APRIL 13 A DAY OF IGNOMINIOUS CAPITULATION: HRCP

Press Release, April 14, 2009

Lahore: The way the National Assembly resolved to back the Nizam-e- 
Adl Regulation for Malakand Division on Monday does no credit to the  
House, and the day will be remembered for the state's humiliating  
submission to blind force, a statement by HRCP said on Tuesday.

The Commission said, "The reservations of the Human Rights Commission  
of Pakistan (HRCP) on the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation for the Malakand  
Division apart, the manner the resolution relating to the subject was  
adopted in the National Assembly cannot bring any credit to the House.

Making all allowances for the circumstances, in which a desperate  
government was seeking survival through surrender to militancy, no  
one except a lone member of the PML-N, noted journalist Ayaz Amir,  
had the courage to speak honestly and directly about the situation,  
while members of the MQM at least maintained consistency in resisting  
bigotry. What is amazing is that no reference was made to the impact  
of the measure on women, children, minorities and the prospects for  
rule of law in the embattled Malakand Division. Even if the party  
chief whip had ruled out the possibility of criticising the measure,  
expressing concern over the threat to fundamental rights should not  
have been an utterly hazardous undertaking. What use is increased  
representation of women in parliament if they cannot squeak even in  
matters of life and death to them? Whatever may happen to the  
repeatedly abandoned people of Pakistan, 13th of April 2009 will only  
be remembered as a day of ignominious capitulation to brute force."

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson


____


[4] Nepal:

A note from Amnesty USA and and Urgent Appeal from WOREC Nepal
by sacw.net, 14 April 2009
http://www.sacw.net/article826.html

Amnesty International, USA

Press Release

NEPAL’S GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROTECT WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

10 April 2009

Uma Singh, a young woman journalist and activist, was murdered for  
raising the issue of violence against women in Nepal. Uma, who worked  
for Radio Today FM and the Women’s Human Rights Defender Network, was  
hacked to death by a gang of men on 11 January 2009.

On 10 April 2008, a new Constituent Assembly in Nepal was elected.  
The elections brought hope for placing human rights at the heart of  
the Constituent Assembly work and the new Maoist government made  
specific commitments to end impunity and improve the human rights  
situation in Nepal, including the rights of women and women human  
rights defenders.

In July, the government established a task force to make  
recommendations regarding violence against women and criminalization  
of domestic violence, following an extended protest by women human  
rights defenders, initiated after the alleged murder of a women human  
rights defender and the subsequent failure of police to properly  
investigate. The task force has yet to submit its report, which was  
due within two months.

A year on, very little has changed in reality, as women activists  
continue to face barriers to access justice and seek redress for  
domestic and sexual violence and gender discrimination. Two women’s  
rights activists in Nepal have been murdered since the new government  
came to power, with no significant attempts made to investigate or  
prosecute the crimes.

An Amnesty International mission visited Nepal in November 2008 and  
spoke to a wide range of women human rights defenders; Hindus,  
Muslims, Dalits, Janajatis and other marginalized groups, as well as  
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists. Women  
activists shared stories of their challenges, struggles and hopes,  
while taking up the issue of women’s human rights.

Amnesty International has found that, in spite of the election  
promises made by the government, women human rights activists  
continue to be at high risk of attack because they dare to challenge  
Nepal’s patriarchal system. Many have become social outcasts for  
raising the issues of domestic and sexual violence and can face  
intimidation, beatings and even death. The Nepalese police often  
refuse to file a complaint or to fully investigate attacks and offer  
no protection, leaving women to face further persecution in their  
families and communities.

"When the Maoist Government came to power it made commitments to  
protect women’s rights but these now seem like false promises," said  
Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Director.  
"Now that they are in government, all the revolutionary rhetoric has  
not resulted in real improvements in women’s lives.

"Women activists play a crucial role in Nepal, where many women are  
unaware of their rights and are afraid of confronting social and  
government authority," said Madhu Malhotra. "Women activists are  
singled out for violent attacks as it further promotes a culture of  
silence and discourages women experiencing violence to speak out."

Each woman activist’s experience was unique and differed depending on  
the areas in which they work. Those engaged in policy advocacy in the  
capital city, Kathmandu, have to tackle attitudes in the patriarchal  
society that regard women as second-class citizens. One women  
activist said that, "even human rights activists do not seem to take  
women’s rights seriously."

Rita Mahato is a 30-year-old health counsellor with the Women’s  
Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in the Siraha district, an organization  
helping survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Rita was  
threatened with rape and murder in June 2007 when men who objected to  
WOREC’s work raided her office. The police have failed to initiate  
any investigation into the attack.

In Nepal, women activists often work in remote locations with minimal  
communication facilities and support mechanisms. They encounter  
discriminatory cultural practices such as early child marriage and  
boxsi (witchcraft). One activist told Amnesty International,  
"Whenever a woman takes a step forward she is accused of boxsi".

Women activists in Eastern Terai, southern Nepal, are equally  
vulnerable to gender based violence. Reported violations tackled by  
women activists include rape by landlords and members of armed  
groups, violence in the family including by intimate partners and  
dowry deaths.

Dev Kumari’s story

Dev Kumari Mahara is a colleague of Rita Mahato. In April 2007, she  
was called to a crime scene near her home. A neighbour was accused of  
the rape of the wife of a mute husband. The victim had been beaten,  
her blouse torn and her face swollen. The victim recognized her  
attacker.

Due to her past experience of hostility from the police, Dev Kumari  
first contacted the women’s human rights defender network. The police  
didn’t turn up to the crime scene despite Dev Kumari’s phone report,  
so she had to take the victim to hospital.

There are no free medical services for rape victims in Siraha. The  
doctor who examined the victim did not file a rape report that could  
be used as evidence. According to Dev Kumari, the alleged rapist is  
from a rich family and was able to bribe the police and the doctor.

After Dev Kumari filed a formal complaint about the rape case, the  
accused contacted a group of supporters who started to harass her.  
When the women’s human rights defender network tried to file a  
complaint about the rape and subsequent harassment, a gang of men  
gathered outside the police station.

"They threatened to kill me, to chop off my legs, to rape me and burn  
me alive," said Dev Kumari. Despite witnessing the threats, the  
police failed to challenge and investigate the incident.

Dev Kumari said that the common way to settle rape charges in Siraha  
is for the rapist to pay a settlement for the victim’s forgiveness.

Amnesty International’s research showed that instead of investigating  
incidents, women are pushed by police, family and community to accept  
traditional informal community justice where payment of bribes,  
discrimination and the lack of importance of the crime committed  
often prevent real justice. Women activists told Amnesty  
International that they are often humiliated when they attempt to  
report incidents to the police.

Victims often turn to the quick fix of community justice solutions.  
Traditional dispute resolution systems are common across Nepal given  
the barriers to accessing formal justice mechanisms.

The state’s duty to protect women from violence is explicitly stated  
in the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women,  
which Nepal has ratified. States should pursue by "all appropriate  
means and without delay a policy of eliminating violence against  
women" (Article 4). Under international human rights law, the state  
has an obligation not only to ensure that its agents and officials do  
not commit violence against women, but also to protect women from  
violence committed by private individuals and bodies including  
members of their own families and communities.

Activists like Dev Kumari live in hope of justice. She says, "I will  
keep on fighting but I want the members of Constitution Assembly to  
take up the rights of women. We are waiting for justice."



Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), Nepal

  From: WOREC Nepal
  Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2009 11:27 AM
  Subject: Urgent Appeal Nepal - WHRDs assaulted and beaten by Police  
in Sunsari District
AN APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT

URGENT:

WOREC Nepal and the National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders  
(NAWHRDs) request for your attention and urgent intervention in the  
following situation in Sunsari District, Eastern Region.

Introduction:

WOREC Nepal and NAWHRDs is appalled and deeply shocked on hearing the  
cruel brutality of the Police against Women Human Rights Defenders of  
Chimdi Village Development Committee (VDC) of Sunsari district.  
Around 14 WHRDs have been severely beaten and injured by Police who  
charged them with batons and rear of the gun. The WHRDs were in a non  
violent sit in protest condemning the Police for not registering a  
complaint and the denial of access to justice by the government  
responsible bodies.

Background:

Shree Lal Sardar, aged 21 and Lalita Gurung, aged 20 were in love  
with each other and planned to get married however since it was a  
inter caste/class relation between a boy from the dalit community and  
a girl from ethnic community, this was vehemently rejected by the  
relatives of the Lalita. It was also been reported that both Lalita  
and Shree Lal were beaten up by the relatives of Lalita for talking  
to each other in a public sphere.

On 9 April, 2009 this incident was shared to Kara Devi Sardar, Woman  
Human Right Defender who said that "it is the fundamental right of  
any person to get married and to the person of their choice" but  
however her of "voice of defending the rights of the couple" turned  
bitter and she was instead brutally beaten by the relatives( Mr.  
Natiya GUrung) of Lalita. Kara Devi then approached the Illaka police  
station of Chimdi to file a complaint about the attacks on life,  
bodily and mental integrity on her however to her disappointment, the  
Sub Inspector Rajesh Chaudhari mistreated her with harsh and abusive  
words and sent her back without filing the complaint. Kara Devi  
reported the incident to the Women Human Rights Defenders Network  
Sunsari.

Sunsari District is situated in the Eastern Development Region of  
Nepal. The district has been known for a haven for criminal  
activities given the advantage of open border and also the cases of  
Violence Against Women that is perverse and at times, repeated too.  
There is proliferation of corruption, armed groups that is a common  
feature of Sunsari especially Chimdi VDC. This is not the first time  
that the Women Human Rights Defenders have been attacked in this  
district. There have been repeated attacks on Women Human Rights  
Defenders for defending and promoting rights of women especially  
Dalit Women who are marginalized and discriminated. It is through the  
support of such Women Human Rights Defenders that the Women are able  
to share their cases and stories given that the attitude and behavior  
of the Police is feudal and patriarchal in nature. This systematic  
web of violence further marginalizes the women, breaking their  
silence that ends in torture, harassment and threats that further  
pushes them into a cycle of violence against them. Such systematic  
violence needs to be addressed urgently otherwise this will put women  
on even riskier situation.

On 10th of April, around 500 women from 8 VDC and Women Human Rights  
Defender walked together towards the Police Station in Chimdi VDC  
demanding a) The assault on Kara Devi must be taken seriously, b)  
Corrupted Police must be reprimanded and c) evoked the statement of  
the Prime Minister on 25 January, 2009 who committed to establish a  
complaint centre for women to register cases as within a month an  
objective to end all forms of Violence Against Women and criminalized  
caste based discrimination against dalits. This protest was done  
through organized rallies, slogans and pressurized the Police to  
register the complaint. The strategies of the WHRDs were non violent  
and they held a peaceful sit in protest and padlocked the Police  
station as a way to show their pain and suffering towards an  
irresponsible and insensitive government. However their efforts went  
in vain as the Police publicly humiliated them with insults and  
abuses trying to break down their confidence. The Women Returned home  
disappointed and abused by such state actors that are to provide  
security and protection.

On 11 April, 2009, the Women Human Rights Defenders continued their  
campaign with the same demand to access justice and also an apology  
from the Police Officers for their demeaning misbehavior and  
degrading treatment towards the Women. As the Women Human Right  
Defenders along with other 500 Women maintained their sit in protest  
in front of the Police station, they were assaulted and charged with  
batons and rear end of the Gun by around 10 Police Officers and 4  
other unknown goons. The use of force by the Police on the Women was  
on head, chest, thighs and legs and some even tried to force the  
stick into the vagina of some women. At least 14 women were injured  
out of which 5 were seriously injured; a) Thakani Mehta ( awarded  
Amapro Award for her contribution towards women’s movement and  
promoting Human Rights of Women and Social Justice), b) Sita Kamat,  
c) Bina Chaudhari, d) Sunita Sah and e) Laxmi Chaudhary respectively.

The Women were then rushed to the Koshi Zonal hospital immediately  
for medial treatment. It has also been reported that the journalists  
such as Rajan Niraula, Krishna Bhattrai, Gopal Kolirala and INSEC  
representative Sukudev Chaudhari who had gone to investigate the  
incident to the Police Station were also manhandled and their vehicle  
vandalized by the Police and the goons. Likewise Binod Chaudhary,  
Staff of WOREC Nepal, Sunsari district has been threatened by the  
goons too. In addition, the Police snatched a digital camera and  
mobile sets of the Women respectively.

Such incidents of insult, abuses, threats, use of force, denial of  
access to justice by the structures of the responsible and  
accountable government of New Nepal is an indication that the  
Political restructuring has not been implemented in actions. In the  
current political context of state restructuring that has ensured  
women’s rights and their active and meaningful participation in  
nation building, the interim constitution 2063 that incorporated  
Women’s Rights as Fundamental Rights, ratification of CEDAW  
Conventions such human rights violations of women in Sunsari district  
is seriously denounced.

In regards to the Declaration of Human Rights Defenders 1998

Article 12

1. Everyone has the right, individually and in association with  
others, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of  
human rights and fundamental freedoms.

2. The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the  
protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and  
in association with others, against any violence, threats,  
retaliation, de facto or dejure adverse discrimination, pressure or  
any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate  
exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.

3. In this connection, everyone is entitled, individually and in  
association with others, to be protected effectively under national  
law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means,  
activities and acts, including those by omission, attributable to  
States that result in violations of human rights and fundamental  
freedoms, as well as acts of violence perpetrated by groups or  
individuals that affect the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental  
freedom.

However the state stands inconsistent and insensitive to such  
declaration and instead committed serious violations on Women Human  
Rights Defenders.

We strongly urge the government and the National Human Rights  
Commission of Nepal to investigate and condemn the structural  
violence against women and women human rights defenders in accordance  
with the principle of due diligence. We also urge international human  
rights institutions to collaborate, support and pressure the  
government to fulfill its obligations towards its citizens.

Women’s access to justice must be ensured to protect, promote and  
fulfill women’s human rights. Denial and delay of access to justice  
is a gross violation of human rights. It is even worse when an  
atmosphere is created in which women fighting for the rights of the  
other women are unsafe and insecure and their security is not  
guaranteed.

This example is a clear indication of a rampant culture of impunity  
in Nepal and failure of the state to protect and promote the right of  
freedom of expression and the right to live in dignity. There is no  
rule of law and the state structure is a complete facade in Nepal.  
Women human rights defenders around the world have been experiencing  
similar attacks in order to silence us. However these attacks cannot  
stop us from defending human rights and the fundamental freedoms of  
women and women human rights defenders.

If the following demands of the Women Human Rights Defenders are not  
respected and recognized then the Women Human Rights Defenders will  
be forced to organize a nationwide protest.

CALL TO ACTION:

    1. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human  
Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United  
Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 9 and 12 that  
states that Right to Remedy/Justice for violation of Rights and  
right, individually and in association with others, to participate in  
peaceful activities against violations of human rights and  
fundamental freedoms respectively;
    2. Request the authorities to proper investigation of the  
incident and the steps to penalize the perpetrator;
    3. Provide compensation to the injured Women Human Rights  
Defenders and Journalists;
    4. To engage with the National Human Rights Commission Nepal,  
Government of Nepal and Office of the High Commission of Human Rights  
Nepal to ensure that the due process of law is respected;
    5. Denounce irresponsible and distrustful behavior of the Area  
Police Office of Chimdi VDC especially Sub Inspector Rajesh Chaudhary;
    6. Stop intimidation and harassment of other Women Human Rights  
Defenders who are fighting for the Justice;
    7. Immediate assurance that the Women Human Rights Defenders do  
not face violence and threats and end all forms of Violence Against  
Women Human Rights Defender;

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal
  Prime Minister’s office
  Singha Durbar
  Kathmandu
  NEPAL
  Fax: + 977 1-4428220

2.Mr. Bam Dev Gautam
  Home Minister
  Singha Darbar
  Kathmandu
  NEPAL
  Fax: +977 1 4211232
  Email: moha at wlink.com.np

3. Mr. Janardan Sharma
  Minister for Peace and Reconstruction
  Peace Secretariat
  Singh Durbar,
  Kathmandu, Nepal.
  Fax: +977 1 4211186 and 4211173
  E-mail: info at peace.gov.np

4.Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare
  Singha Durbar
  Kathmandu, Nepal
  Fax: 977-1-4241516
  E-mail: mowcsw at ntc.net.np

5. Ms. Nainkala Thapa
  Chairperson
  National Women’s Commission
  Bhadrakali Plaza
  Kathmandu, Nepal
  Fax: 977-1-4256783
  E-mail: nwc at htp.com.np

6. Mr. Kedar Nath Udadhaya
  Chairperson
  National Human Rights Commission ( Headquarter - Kathmandu)
  Harihar Bhawan, Pulchowk, Lalitpur, Nepal
  G.P.O. Box: 9182, Kathmandu, Nepal
  Fax: +977-1-5547973
  E-mail: nhrc at nhrcnepal.org

7. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal ( OHCHR)
  Museum Road, Chhauni, G.P.O. Box 24555, Kathmandu
  Telephone +977 1 4280164, 4280326, 4280542
  Fax +977 1 4670712, 4670713, 4671256 (security)
  Email registry.np at ohchr.org
  Spokesperson Marty Logan: mlogan at ohchr.org

8. Mr. Richard Bennet
  Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human  
Rights in Nepal ( OHCHR)
  Museum Road, Chhauni, G.P.O. Box 24555, Kathmandu
  Fax: 977 1 4670712, 4670713

9. Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal ( Prachanda)
  Chairman Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
  Lalitpur
  Nepal
  Fax: 977-1- 4784045

10. Mr. Jhala Nath Khanal
  Member Secretary
  Nepal Communist Secretary ( UML)
  Fax: Fax: 9771-1 425184, 4112241

11. Mr. Lilamani Pokharel
  Janamorcha Nepal
  Kathmandu
  Nepal
  Fax: 977-1- 4251841

12. Ms. Margaret Sekaggya
  Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights  
defenders
  Att: Melinda Ching Simon
  Room 1-040, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
  1211 Geneva 10
  SWITZERLAND
  Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
  Fax: +41 22 917 9006
  E-mail: MChingSimon at ohchr.org

13. Ms. Yakin Erturk
  Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
  Room 3-042
  c/o OHCHR-UNOG
  1211 Geneva 10
  SWITZERLAND
  Tel: +41 22 917 9615
  Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)

14. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women c/o  
Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and  
Social Affairs
  United Nations Secretariat
  2 United Nations Plaza
  DC-2/12th Floor
  New York, NY 10017
  United States of America
  Fax: 1-212-963-3463

15. Mr. Githu Muigai
  Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial  
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
  Palais des Nations
  CH-1211 Geneva 10
  Switzerland
  Fax: +41 22 917 9006
  Email: racism at ohchr.org


____


[5] India:

http://www.sacw.net/article823.html

THE KALINGA EFFECT

by Ananya Vajpeyi
(Economic Times, 11 April 2009)

In the April 2009 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Robert D Kaplan has  
published a story about Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, titled  
’India’s New Face’. At the moment, Modi is billed as the BJP’s  
alternate candidate for PM, should the right-wing Hindu nationalist  
party win India’s 15th general election in May 2009 and in case L K  
Advani has to opt out for some reason. Kaplan reports his  
conversations with many people, including Modi himself, in which he  
tries to make sense of Modi’s role in the 2002 violence against  
Muslims in light of his repeated re-election as Gujarat’s CM since  
2001, and his avowed success in fuelling economic growth in his state  
throughout his tenure.

In a political culture that tolerates high degrees of corruption as  
par for the course, Modi stands out in being personally upright and  
reputedly incorruptible. But his animosity towards Muslims is unusual  
in India’s politics, which was, at least up until the 1990s, by  
default not violently exclusivist or chauvinist. Like many Indians,  
Kaplan is clearly troubled by the Jekyll-and-Hyde personality of  
Modi, his ability to persecute and terrorise the Muslim minority of  
the state’s population without the slightest trace of remorse, while  
working so hard and so effectively to deliver the fruits of  
globalisation to Gujarat as a whole. One encounter between the  
American journalist and a Gujarati Muslim went as follows:

"There was no Kalinga effect on Modi," Hanif Lakdawala, a Muslim who  
runs a human-rights NGO, told me. He was referring to a war fought in  
the third century B.C. by the Mauryan empire under king Ashoka  
against the kingdom of Kalinga on the eastern coast of India.  
Ashoka’s forces slew 100,000 civilians. Yet the slaughter left Ashoka  
with so much guilt that he dedicated his life thereafter to non- 
violence and the peaceful development of his empire.

It is striking that 2,200 years after the fact, Ashoka’s change of  
heart — what Lakdawala calls the ’Kalinga effect’ — remains the  
byword for the birth of compassion in the mind of a powerful ruler,  
exactly in the midst of a carnage for which he bears responsibility.  
Kaplan searches for the Ashokan reversal in Modi’s consciousness, but  
sees no sign of it.

For Kaplan something about Modi’s inflexible stance militates against  
both Gujarat’s traditionally outward-looking, cosmopolitan culture  
driven by trade with Asia, Africa and now the US, as well as the  
legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, who was surely the most important Gujarati  
to emerge in modern Indian politics since the late 19th century, and  
became the very symbol of non-violence, communal amity and secular  
toleration. Says Kaplan, astutely: "India has been an idea since  
Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930. Either Modi will fit his managerial  
genius to the service of that idea, or he will stay where he is."

That Indian democracy not just functions, but thrives, after 60 years  
of tumultuous social and economic change, and stunning demographic  
multiplication, is indeed remarkable. But over time this democracy  
has acquired two characteristics that should cause us concern: one,  
it is, in many parts of the Indian union, notably the Northeast and  
Kashmir, authoritarian; and two, it is, increasingly, majoritarian.  
The naked militarism of the Indian state in its troubled borderlands,  
the growing political space occupied by Hindutva, and the ubiquitous  
evisceration of genuine secularism, all make the world’s largest  
democracy not quite so democratic for the numerous religious,  
cultural and economic minorities who must struggle to find their  
place in the new India.

The idea of India was never to exclude, ghettoise and oppress  
minority communities of any description. The Indian Republic was  
founded on the principles of equal citizenship and universal adult  
franchise. Thanks to the authoritarian and majoritarian tendencies of  
our polity, we now have a hierarchy consisting of real citizens — the  
rich, the entitled, the numerically dominant — and second-class  
citizens, the poor, the low-caste, the Muslims, the tribals — who are  
made to feel that they are Indian only on sufferance, and not because  
they enjoy, by constitutional fiat, the same rights and privileges as  
their luckier compatriots.

A democracy that was true to the idea of India given us by our  
founding fathers would allow citizens both the capacity to vote for  
more prosperity, that Modi represents in his one face, and vote  
against the intolerance and outright violence that Modi champions in  
his other avatar. It would also give us the understanding that you  
cannot bracket the events of 2002 in the general euphoria over, say,  
Gujarat landing the Nano — euphoria incidentally, whose corollary is  
despondency about the very same issue in West Bengal.

We could count our democracy as successful only if it tempered the  
politics of interest with sound political judgement. To have Narendra  
Modi become India’s next PM in the same year when Barack Obama has  
become US President would be the most egregious failure of political  
judgement on the part of Indian voters, the very opposite of the  
triumph of American voters in finally getting themselves a worthy  
leader.

In the past 20 years, India has managed to grow impressively as an  
economy, and thus far it has avoided the brutal path to prosperity  
taken by its main rival, China. A combination of factors made this  
possible: the steel frame of a basically secular and egalitarian  
Constitution, the legacy of men like the Mahatma, who may not have  
been able to prevent Partition, but nonetheless shaped the political  
consciousness of an entire nation from its very birth, and the  
historical memory of a king like Ashoka, who spurned violence when he  
realised how it rendered his rule fundamentally unethical and  
untenable. Ordinary people don’t necessarily vote one way or other in  
a given election because of the examples of political conduct they  
know from epics, history and legend. But even today, certain norms of  
ethical politics, culturally accepted and popularly cited,  
undoubtedly inform both electoral rhetoric and voter choice.

Nothing in our modern democracy, nor anything in our political  
culture that is over two millennia old, permits the ascendance of a  
ruler who lacks compassion for the people. In our myths, our history  
and our practice as citizens of a free and democratic country, there  
is no warrant for the exercise of unbridled power, or for a leader  
who fails the Kalinga test.

(The author teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Boston)


____


[6] India:

http://www.sacw.net/article827.html

BASELESS REPORTS IN THE INDIAN MEDIA ALLEGING THAT SOCIAL ACTIVIST  
TEESTA SETALVAD AND CPJ EXAGGERATED THE VIOLENCE DURING GUJARAT  
POGROM OF 2002

Official Statements by Citizens For Peace and Justice and SAHMAT

by Citizens For Peace and Justice, Sahmat, 14 April 2009

1.

Citizens For Justice and Peace

Mumbai, April 14, 2009

CJP’S REBUTTAL ON MEDIA COVERAGE OF SUPREME COURT PROCEEDINGS, APRIL  
13, 2009

The report in sections of the national media dated April 14, 2009,  
alleging that NGOs, Teesta etc misled the apex court and exaggerated  
the violence in Gujarat in 2002 are clear example of irresponsible  
reportage. Intentionally or otherwise, the distorted report damages  
the reputation of a citizens’ group that has been recognized  
nationally and internationally for working assiduously to ensure  
justice to the victims of mass violence whether in case of the  
Gujarat carnage (2002), or the bomb blasts in Mumbai (2006 and 2008)  
or the communal carnage in Kandhamal district, Orissa (2008),  
irrespective of the caste or creed of the victims or the perpetrators.

The fact is that neither Sri Raghavan, nor any other SIT member was  
present at the apex court to “tell” it anything. These reports could  
only be referring to a contention made in a four page note circulated  
by Ms Hemantika Wahi for the Gujarat Government.. It was NOT a note  
prepared by SIT.

The detailed report of SIT submitted to the Supreme Court on March 6,  
2007 has not been available for study either to National Human Rights  
Commission (NHRC), the petitioners in this case, or the Citizens for  
Justice and Peace (CJP) who have intervened in this critical matter  
or to any in the media. Any reference to it is hence hearsay and it  
may amount to contempt of court to write about a report which the  
Court has specifically not made public.

In its written note that the Gujarat state circulated in court  
yesterday, the state has given its brief comments on the SIT report.  
In para four of this note the Gujarat government note refers to  
alleged statements made by some witnesses in the Gulberg case before  
SIT that name accused other than those named by them in the written  
statements that were (according to the state of Gujarat) given to  
them by Teesta Setalvad and advocates. This is the version of the  
Gujarat state. Besides this, Mukhul Rohatgi tried to make a populist  
speech in court saying that incidents like the Kauser Bano case etc  
never happened. The Supreme Court disregarded this argument and did  
not allow Mr.Rohatgi to read anything from the report. The court went  
on to state that they were not interested in personal allegations and  
only ensuring that, like in the course of the Zahira Shaikh case, the  
trials are fair, the truth comes out and the course of justice is  
served.

It is necessary to recalled that in the course of the Best Bakery  
trial, too, the Gujarat government had tried to divert the court’s  
attention by engineering charges against Teesta Setalvad, secretary  
CJP and by implication the NGO. On Setalvad’s application to the apex  
court for a full fledged inquiry the report of the Registrar of the  
apex court exonerated Setalvad and the NGO completely.

As reported by the rest of the national media, on Monday, ignoring  
Sri Rohatgi’s bid to side-step the main issues, the three-member  
bench of the Supreme Court remained focused on the modalities of  
setting up designated courts for the trial of the accused in the post- 
Godhra riot cases in Gujarat. Instead of highlighting the court  
proceedings, Sri Mahapatra chose to spice up his report focusing not  
on the deliberations or the intentions of the apex court but to  
promote the case of the Gujarat government.

The moot question is whether or not 2,500 persons were killed in a  
ghastly perpetrated massacre following the tragic burning alive of 59  
persons on the Sabarmati express; whether or not ex parliamentarian  
Ahsan Jafri was mutilated before being burnt alive, whether the  
bodies of the missing dead (over 220) have not been found or returned  
for dignified burial after seven long years? All the national media  
was witness to this national tragedy.

In the interests of fair reportage and to ensure that the reputation  
of a citizens group committed to equity and justice is not  
deliberately vitiated before the trials commence, the media should  
carry this rebuttal in full. A failure to do so will result in the  
columns of a national newspaper being used to distort facts, shape  
public perception and seek to influence the outcome of due process of  
law and justice to the victims of mass murder.

(Statement by Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai, April 14, 2009,  
Mumbai)

We wish also that the following issues

Pertinent issues ignored in these reports:

The arrests of minister Dr Maya Kodnani and Dr Jaideep Patel in the  
past weeks were on the basis of SIT re-investigations. Twelve FIRs  
filed by witnesses naming these accused in 2002 had been clubbed into  
a magnum FIR by the Ahmedabad crime branch that had dropped the names  
of these powerful accused;

The arrests of investigating officer KG Erda in the Gulberg case and  
of other policemen in the other cases over the past months has meant  
the claims of witness survivors and legal rights groups, prima facie,  
are valid;

That this was one of the issues why the apex court has chosen to  
appoint SIT, the full scale subversion of the process of justice,  
from the removal of names of accused who’s names appeared in earlier  
statements simply because they enjoyed political patronage; the  
appointment of prosecutors with allegiances to the BJP and VHP which  
meant instead of promoting fair trial they sided with the politically  
powerful and protected accused;

More pertinently the tragic slaying of pregnant Kauser Bano at Naroda  
Patiya after slitting her womb was reported in Deccan Herald,(April  
17, 2004) and The Indian Express, (March 23, 2005) among others apart  
from finding place in innumerable reports including the one authored  
by the Concerned Citizens Tribunal-Crimes Against Humanity 2002  
headed by two Supreme Court judges, Justices Krishna Iyer and PB  
Sawant. Similarly the British national case was similarly documented  
apart from being covered in The Pioneer, March 3, 2002 and The Hindu,  
April 23, 2002.

Trustees:

Teesta Setalvad, I.M. Kadri, Arvind Krishnaswamy, Javed Akhtar, Cyrus  
Guzder, Alyque Padamsee, Anil Dharker, Nandan Maluste, Javed Anand,  
Rahul Bose, Cedric Prakash



2.

SAHMAT
  8 Vithalbhai Patel House
  Rafi Marg, New Delhi
  Tel: 2371 1276, 2335 1424
  E mail: sahmat(at)vsnl.com

14.4.2009
Press Statement on Tendentious Reporting in Media

We are deeply disturbed by the tendentious reports in the media of  
the Supreme Court proceedings on April 13 dealing with the SIT report  
on the Gujarat carnage of 2002.

This unhealthy trend in the media reporting is going to seriously  
compromise the credibility of the media and undermine "freedom of  
expression" enjoyed by the media which we all cherish.

An impression being created in a section of the media that the former  
CBI director R K Raghvan who led the SIT has "told" the court that  
Teesta Setalvad "cooked up macabre tales of wanton killing" is  
mischievious. Only the Supreme Court, the amicus curiae and the  
Gujarat government have access to the report. The SIT has not filed  
any other document in court to which the media has access nor was Mr.  
Raghvan in the Court. It is therefore obvious that the media is only  
uncritically reporting what the Gujarat government’s lawyer said in  
the note liberally distributed to the press outside the Court.

While the Supreme Court observed that there was no room for  
allegations and counter allegations at this late stage, the media  
coverage has brazenly flouted this observation by reporting the  
totally baseless allegations against social activist Teesta Setalvad  
and the organisation she represents Citizen for Justice and Peace on  
the basis of the Gujarat government’s note circulated in the Court.  
This is all the more reprehensible because Teesta Setalvad and  
Citizen for Justice and Peace have neither been given a copy of the  
SIT report nor has their response been sought in the matter.

The proceedings in the Supreme Court related to the response of the  
Gujarat government and the amicus curiae Shri Harish Salve to the SIT  
report. The very fact that the Supreme Court had to set up the SIT to  
correct the miscarriage of justice due to the tardy investigation by  
the state of Gujarat was highlighted in the court’s observation that  
but for the SIT investigation many more accused, who were freshly  
added, would not have been brought to book. It was the untiring  
efforts of Teesta Setalvad and the CJP and the National Human Rights  
Commission that persuaded the Supreme Court to set up the SIT and on  
the basis of its findings further arrests have been made of persons  
who held administrative and ministerial positions in the government  
of Gujarat.

M.K.Raina
  for
  SAHMAT


_____


[7] India: Mrinalini Sarabhai  - A Artist and Citizen Takes on the  
Leader of the Hindu Right

(i)

rediff.com

'I trust the aam-aadmi and aam-aurat'
	
March 27, 2009
She is the daughter of danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai and India's  
pioneering space scientist Vikram Sarabhai. Captain Lakshmi Sehgal,  
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's trusted aide in the Indian National  
Army, is her aunt, and Marxist politician Subhasini Ali is her  
cousin. With such lineage, it is hardly surprising that Mallika  
Sarabhai's has been a consistent voice against criminalisation of  
politics and the communalisation of society.

Even given her lineage, it came as a surprise when she announced her  
candidature in the Lok Sabha elections against no less than the  
Bharatiya Janata Party's [Images] L K Advani [Images] from  
Gandhinagar in Gujarat. In an emailed interview with rediff.com,  
Mallika Sarabhai outlined what motivated her to take the plunge,  
finally.

What do you intend to achieve by contesting the Lok Sabha polls as an  
independent?

So many of us for so long have urged clean people to go into  
politics. I got fed up of urging others. So many people and groups  
had been telling me. So here I am.

How do you rate your chances of winning against the Bharatiya Janata  
Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani? Is your fight merely  
symbolic?

No, it is not symbolic but yes it is. This is going to be a fight to  
win, but a fight that is transparent where I will try innovative  
means of reaching people through people and by sticking to rules and  
my integrity. I invite all others in the constituency to fight it as  
transparently. Every rupee I raise and spend will be there for all to  
check. I shall not resort to personal slander or to threats and  
bribes. The process is as important as the goal.

Winning? Let's see.

Have you felt like contesting elections before? Why didn't you? And  
how is the present different? You said the Congress has been offering  
you a ticket since 1984. Why didn't you take it up before?

I have contemplated it for years and always felt I was more effective  
outside the system. The degeneration in political life and the  
stridency of the divisive forces perhaps tipped the balance.

Why didn't you contest the Gujarat assembly elections?

I will now if I lose.

How do propose to go about your campaign? Given your background, do  
you plan to employ any novel methods, like street theatre? Could you  
elaborate?

Watch this space! Of course I have to be inventive and innovative. I  
have only Rs 25 lakh that I can spend and that too I haven't raised yet.

You know fighting an election is not inexpensive. How will you cope  
on this front? What are your plans for fund-raising?

I have made an appeal through my web site http://mallikasarabhai.in  
and from door to door. I am asking people who believe in this fight  
for a secular peoples' India to contribute and become the campaign.

Things could get dirty as the campaigning hots up, are you prepared  
for it?

I will have to be. I am preparing shoulders to cry on.

For many in the political spectrum the Indo-US nuclear deal is a red  
rag to a bull. As the daughter of one of India's eminent scientists,  
what are your views on the Indo-US nuclear deal?

Papa believed in nuclear non-proliferation. So do I.

What are the issues facing the electorate, in Gandhinagar and  
elsewhere, in your opinion?

Gandhinagar is very diverse. The rural middle class and poor;  
degraded lands and insecure livelihoods, urban slums with huge issues  
of health, lack of basic infrastructure, huge middle class who fear  
their safety, who don't have access to first rate education. Women  
across the spectrum whose issues of safety and respect haven't been  
tackled or even heard. Rape, murder, suicide and violence soaring --  
are some of the issues.

The 2004 election was turned on its head by the aam-aadmi. What kind  
of result do you foresee from the 2009 Lok Sabha elections?

I repose my trust in the aam-aadmi and, equally importantly, the aam- 
aurat.

You said that while you are a political novice politics flows in your  
blood. Was the reference to Capt Lakshmi Sehgal's legacy? Do you see  
yourself taking it forward?

Yes, and that of Ammu Swaminathan, Anasuya Sarabhai, Mridula  
Sarabhai, Subhashini Sahgal and Srilata Swaminathan. And all the  
others on both sides of my family who may not have fought elections  
but spent their lives fighting for justice and an equitable India for  
ALL Indians.

You also said politicians have killed democracy. Democracy  
unfortunately is a politician's game; by aspiring to join their  
ranks, what do you hope to achieve/change?

Politics need not be dirty. It need not be self-serving and vile. Our  
current politicians have made it so. We need to take a vacuum cleaner  
at them.

Who among your friends and associates will be involved in your campaign?

Everyone that I can inspire and many whom I don't yet know.

o o o

SUPPORT MALLIKA SARABHAI

The contest between Mallika Sarabhai and L K Advani in the Lok Sabha  
elections for the Gandhinagar seat in Gujarat is a contest between  
two very different visions of India. On one hand we have a person who  
is deeply rooted in democratic, secular and plural ethos of our  
country and on the other hand we have the most ardent proponent of  
hate ideology and devisive politics.

I am writing to request all the friends to support her campaign by  
donating generously . Details given below:

Please donate in Indian Rupees :
BANK TRANSFER

Account Name: Mallika Sarabhai MP Election 2009
Account Number: 202810110001569
Bank of India
Vadaj Road Branch
Ahmedabad 380013
IFSC Code: BKID0002028
Branch Code: 2028
PAY BY CHEQUE

Make your cheque payable to “Mallika Sarabhai MP Election 2009”
Post it to:
Mallika Sarabhai Campaign
101 Sriniketan Apartments
Opposite Darpana Academy
Usmanpura, Ahmedabad 380013

Please postscript envelope “Mallika’s Campaign”

Mallika believes that:

     * People and society are central to the political process
     * Politics has to be inclusive, non-divisive and non-violent
     * Politics must and should empower us
     * A just, compassionate, tolerant and open society is the way  
forward for our development
     * The development of our country should be equitable and  
sustainable, and not measured with economic indicators alone
     * Each citizen, including every woman, should have the  
opportunity to make choices and exercise their right to do so
     * The future of our country lies with our youth who, with the  
right means, can be effective change-agents

VISIT HER CAMPAIGN WEBSITE :  http://mallikasarabhai.in/

______


[8] Tributes to Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, 1950-2009
by Richard Kim
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/426623/ 
eve_kosofsky_sedgwick_1950_2009


Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
by Macy Halford
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/04/eve-kosofsky- 
sedgwick.html

Judith Butler on Eve Sedgwick
http://tinyurl.com/delxlx

______


[9]  Announcements:

(i)

         Ram Rahman: Art and Politics in India: 20 Years of SAHMAT  
Thursday, April 16th, 2009, 6.30 -  8 pm
         Bose Pacia
         508 W 26th St , 11C
         New York, NY 10001
         P 212 989 7074
         F 212 989 6982
         mail at bosepacia.com

             Ram Rahman, a founder member of SAHMAT, the Safdar  
Hashmi Memorial Trust based in New Delhi, will make a multimedia  
presentation on his large exhibition IMAGE, MUSIC, TEXT: SAHMAT 20  
YEARS, which was mounted at the new MF Husain Gallery of Jamia Millia  
Islamia University in New Delhi this January and February. As a  
representation of the 20 year history of SAHMAT, this exhibition was  
path-breaking in the Indian art scene as it contextualised the multi  
disciplinary approaches that the group has evolved with its artistic  
interventions in the public sphere.

             Displaying examples of all the major events in its 20  
year history, It combined street exhibits, gallery exhibitions,  
theatre, video, music, posters and the vast publication program  
together. Showcasing how all these media have been deployed in an  
interconnected whole, it highlighted the strategies deployed by the  
group and how it became a platform for the interaction of artists,  
art historians, musicians, social scientists, academics and social  
activists in its fight to uphold and defend a secular modernism and  
the right to free speech at a time when these were under concerted  
attack by powerful right-wing political forces.

             New Yorkers will recall the famous brouhaha at the  
symposium and premiere of the SAHMAT exhibit Hum Sab Ayodhya on  
December 6th, 1993 at Columbia University, which was disrupted by BJP  
sympathisers.

             Ram will talk of the exhibit he curated and show how it  
represents the political and social upheavals of the last 20 years in  
India. As India plunges into a big election where communal rhetoric  
rises again, and the world, including the art world face the crash of  
economic globalisation, this show re-iterated the alternative spaces  
and values which SAHMAT has stood for which seem even more important  
today.

He will present the March issue of Communalism Combat, edited by  
activist Teesta Setalvad, which has come out as a catalog of IMAGE  
MUSIC TEXT, as well as two videos made for the exhibit, Ways of  
Resisting, by Vivan Sundaram, and SAHMAT Music: 20 Years, compiled by  
Anant Raina.

             http://www.sacw.net/article751.html

Rahman,  a 1979 graduate of the Yale School of Art, is a founding  
member of SAHMAT http://www.sahmat.org , the artists’ collective  
based in New Delhi, which has been a platform for the struggle  
against communal politics and is committed to ensuring freedom of  
expression. Peter Nagy has written of Rahman’s work:

Ram delights in the subtle absurdities to be found in [ . . .]  
juxtapositions, exploiting the opportunity to discover something  
about what might make Indians tick.  Raised and still based in New  
Delhi, India’s capital and political engine, Ram has a special  
interest in the symbols of politics as they enter popular culture,  
the highly visual markers of both parties and players that get mixed  
into the cacophony of the streets, revealing playful readings of the  
public Indian psyche.(January 2008)

In Rahman’s own fascinating and swift survey of twentieth-century  
Indian photography, A Sharper Focus http://www.india-seminar.com/ 
2007/578/578_ram_rahman.htm (2007), he situates himself along with  
Ketaki Sheth, Sooni Taraporewala, and Mira Nair as among the first  
Indian photographers to train outside of India and “to be exposed to  
the American documentary tradition and its increasing presence in the  
gallery scene.” Rahman has had one-man shows at the India  
International Center, New Delhi, Cleveland Museum of Art, Admit One  
Gallery, New York, Galerie Foundation for Indian arts, Amsterdam,  
Rotch Visual Collections, MIT. He has been represented in group shows  
at the Yale School of Art Gallery, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, Berkeley  
Square Gallery, London, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, Grosvenor  
Vadehra, London, National Museum, New Delhi, Sepia International, New  
York, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Japan Foundation, Tokyo, and  
British Council, New Delhi.

- - -

(ii)  SOUTH ASIA RELATED PANELS IN LEFT FORUM, APRIL 17-19, 2009,  
PACE UNIVERSITY, NY

Saturday, April 18
10:00 AM-12:00 PM Rethinking the “most dangerous place in the world”:  
The war on terror in Pakistan

Rakhshanda Saleem (Chair) - Counseling and Psychology, Lesley
University, Pyschiatry, Harvard Medical School, Action for a
Progressive Pakistan
Saadia Toor - Sociology, College of Staten Island, Action for a  
Progressive Pakistan
Madiha Tahir - Freelance Journalist, Columbia University, Action for  
a Progressive Pakistan
Sofia Checa - graduate student, Sociology, University of Mass.  
Amherst, Action for a Progressive Pakistan
Sahar Shafqat - Political Science, St. Mary's College of Maryland,  
Action for a Progressive Pakistan

Sunday, April 19
10:00 AM-12 PM  Political Economy of Contemporary India

Jinee Lokaneeta (Chair) - Drew University, and member, South Asia  
Solidarity Initiative (SASI)
Amit Basole - University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Member, Sanhati
Nandini Chandra - University of Minnesota
Kuver Sinha - Texas A&M University, and Member, Sanhati
Deepankar Basu-Colorado State University, and Member, Sanhati

Sunday, April 19
12-2:00 PM
South Asia Globalizing: What Ruling Classes Do When They Rule

Prachi Patankar (Chair) - Member of Organizing Collective, South  
Asian Solidarity Initiative (SASI)
Vijay Prashad - George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian  
History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College
Sahar Shafqat - Associate Professor of Political Science, St. Mary's
College of Maryland, member of Action for a Progressive Pakistan and
member of Organizing Collective, SASI
Ahilan Kadirgamar - Steering Committee Member of Sri Lanka Democracy
Forum, contributing editor of Himal Southasian and member of  
Organizing Collective, SASI
Balmurli Natrajan - Assistant Professor of Anthropology, William
Paterson University of New Jersey, member of Campaign to Stop Funding
Hate and Member of Organizing Collective, SASI
Global Struggle for Democratic Control of Corporations in  
Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Bhopal Disaster
Jeffrey Thomson - National Lawyers Guild Northeast
Joel Kupferman - New York Environmental Law & Justice Center
Ward Morehouse - National Lawyers Guild Committee on the Corporation,  
the Constitution & Human Rights
H. Rajan Sharma - Attorney representing Bhopal Survivors in the US  
District Court
Carolyn Toll Oppenheim - Organizer, Shays 2: Western Mass. Committee  
on Corporations & Democracy


- - -

(iii)

T2F Presents Tina Sani in Concert at Indus Valley School [Karachi]
Date: Friday, 17th April 2009  |  Time: 9:00 pm

The inimitable Tina Sani invites you to an evening of eastern music,  
in support of PeaceNiche and T2F.

Date: Friday, 17th April 2009
Time: 9:00 pm
Venue: Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture [Map]
Info: 0300-823-0276 | sabeen at t2f.biz
Tickets: Rs. 1,000 per person
Available at Agha's Supermarket, Nando's (Clifton), Espresso (Kh-e- 
Shahbaz), Naheed Store, and Indus Valley School


- - -

(iv)

Youth 4 Peace Invites you to the screening of Beena Sarwar’s  
documentaries. Followed by an interaction with the filmmaker,  
journalist from Pakistan

Date: April 19, 2009 Time: 4pm Venue: Press Club of India, Raisina  
Road, New Delhi-110001

Youth 4 Peace 23, Canning Lane, New Delhi-110001 Tel- 23070722/ 40

- - -

(v)

Subject Line: Launching the world's first citizen-powered election  
monitoring platform

FOR CITIZENS AND JOURNALISTS ALIKE --- HERE'S A PLATFORM TO BE  
ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN MONITORING THE 15TH LOK SABHA ELECTIONS!!!

www.votereport.in

As India’s 714 million voters elect their 543 representatives, in the  
month long general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha, we are sure to  
see the usual controversies that surround general elections in India:  
the illegal use of government resources for campaigning, incidences  
of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric in campaign speeches, and  
allegations of violence, intimidation and other irregularities during  
the elections.

Vote Report India provides a platform to Indian citizens to report  
such incidents. Users contribute direct SMS, email, and web reports  
on violations of the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct. The  
platform will then aggregate these direct reports with news reports,  
blog posts, photos, videos and tweets related to the elections from  
all relevant sources, in one place, on an interactive map. The  
information will also be made available via email, and RSS feed, and  
SMS, so that concerned parties can track the irregularities in the  
election process easily.

Citizens can send reports by SMS with VoteReport to 5676785, by email  
to report at votereport.in, or online at www.votereport.in
(see www.votereport.in for format)

Vote Report India serves as a critical initiative aimed at nurturing  
transparency and accountability in the Indian election process. The  
platform will provide the most complete picture of public opinion in  
India during the elections.

Vote Report India is a non-partisan all-volunteer collaboration  
between software developers, designers, academics, and other  
professionals committed to ensure a free, fair and transparent  
election process in India.

CONTACT: votereportindia at gmail.com, Gaurav Mishra +12022791925,  
Gautam John +919886042017


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South Asia Citizens Wire
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. An offshoot of South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.