SACW - 15 April 2012 | Bangladesh: A stage play and communal violence / Pakistan: Sectarian killings / Sri Lanka: abductions / India: Dr. Chishty and Pakistani prisoners ; Siachen Glacier; Free speech ; Earthquakes, Tsunami's and Koodankulam / Far Right in Greece / Academic journals and corporate Interests

[Harsh Kapoor]

    South Asia Citizens Wire - 15 April 2012 - No. 2740
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contents:

1. Bangladesh: A stage play and the attack on Hindu and a few Muslim households (Ananta Yusuf)
2. Sri Lanka: Standing up for what is right (Shanie)
2.1 Sri Lanka: Abductions reach dangerous heights (NfR Sri Lanka)
3. Pakistan: Sectarian killings won’t stop sans tackling root cause - HRCP
4. Pakistan: Why Karachi burns again and again (Pervez Hoodbhoy)
5. Appeal to India to send Dr. Chishty and Pakistani fishermen back home
6. How many more are to die before India and Pakistan create demilitarised zone on Siachen Glaciar ? - statements by PPC and AHRC
7. Tariq Ali Interview (Bharat Bhushan)
8. Fear the quill (Jawed Naqvi)
9. India: Selected posts from Communalism Watch
- Riots in Hyderabad: Press Conference By Social Activists
- India: Hindutva Far Right desecrated temple in Hyderabad to trigger riots 
- India Supreme court asks Gujarat govt to stop probe against Teesta Setalvad
- BJP Led Madhya Pradesh State Subsidy for pilgrimages
- CFP - Salvage and Salvation: Religion, Disaster Relief, and Reconstruction in Asia
10. India: Freedom of expression under attack
- well known rationalist,  under threat  of arrest for exposing the  “miracle”
- A bonfire of free speech (editorial, The Hindu)
11. India: Earthquakes, Tsunami's and Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant - statements by People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy
12. India: Online Petition To Members of Parliament - Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 will scuttle Internet Freedom
13. India: A House for Mr Hashmi (Dipanita Nath)

International: 
14. Far Right in Greece gains ground in wake of economic collapse
15. Academic Journals and Corporate Interests: Reed Elsevier and ALEC (Peter Hogness and Jake Blumgart)
16. Libya: Salafists tell women to cover up (Ashraf Abdul Wahab)
17. Announcements:
(i) Pakistani band "Laal" performing at Hard Rock cafe New Delhi (19 April 2012)
(ii) Book release of 'and miles to go ...' (New Delhi, 20 April 2012)
(iii) Partners in Crime. Screening and discussion with filmmaker Paromita Vohra, (New York, 20 April 2012)
(iv) Verso launches David Harvey’s book Rebel Cities 


=======================================
1. BANGLADESH: A STAGE PLAY AND THE ATTACK ON HINDU AND A FEW MUSLIM HOUSEHOLDS
=======================================
Extra / New Age, April 13, 2012

Anarchy staged

Ananta Yusuf investigates the attack on Hindu and a few Muslim households in two villages of Satkhira district following propagation of Islam’s abuse in a stage play

At the Fatepur High School, in the Kaliganj upazila of Satkhira, students arranged a stage performance on March 27. This was an annual programme for the school on the occasion of Independence Day. The event was open for all in the village and the turnover did not disappoint the organisers either. The drama, Huzur Kebla was based on a story of eminent author, Abul Mansur Ahmed.
The drama began timely but roughly 10 or 15 minutes through the play, Abdul Hakim Sardar, member of Fatepur High School, stopped it in the middle. The play had mentions of Prophet Muhammad and apprehending that it may be misinterpreted by some villagers, he opted to hold the stage play.
Although villagers did not react to the drama, it was not long before Hakim’s assumption was proven right.
On March 31 and April 1, thousands of people from different parts of Satkhira district attacked on Hindu and few Muslim households at Fatepur and Chakdaha. They were agitated and claimed that the Hindus staged indecent and objectionable remarks about Prophet Muhammad in a play at Fatepur High School on March 27. Panicked, the Hindus fled the troubled area with family. At least 12 houses were burned down to aches and two villages were ransacked during the two-day long vandalism in the area.
The play, Huzur Kebla, based on a famous story of Abul Mansur Ahmed is a part of the National University curriculum. It was taken from his acclaimed book called Ayna, which includes satiric pieces of stories criticising mostly the pirs. It was famous even during the British and Pakistan period because of its stand against Khilafat Movement.
Locals from Fatepur claim they did not find any indecent remark about the Prophet in the play, which was closed even before it was fully performed. As a result there was no possibility for such comprehension.
However, grievance stuck when a local newspaper called Drishtipat propagated the play as having indecent remarks about the Prophet on March 29. It claimed the play used foul and vulgar words against Hazrat Muhammad and urged the Tawhidi Janata to protest and stop the drama. The local newspaper reportedly circulated complimentary copies of the newspaper to different houses, bazaar and mosque. This interpretation spread whines in Satkhira on March 30 and the people started protesting in different villages.
In the meantime, a group of people under the banner Tawhidi Janata, started hyping the incident to protect Islam from the Hindus. A case was filed on the day in Kaligonj Thana under penal code 153 and 295(a) for hurting religious sentiment of the folks and consequently the head master Rezwan Harun of Fatehpur High School and the school’s assistant headmaster, Mita Rani Hazra including Sydur Rahman, a student of class IX. After Juma prayers, Muslim devotees brought out a procession and a sit-in demonstration in front of the UNO office and blocked the Kaliganj road for an hour. 
The next day morning, former Ameers of Satkhira Jamaat e Islami, Muhaddis Abdul Khaleq visited Fatepur and claimed penalty from the people associated with the drama. Right after his departure, vandalism started in Fatepur. Theft and robberies were taking place in Hindu households as fundamentalists destroyed seven dwellings and one shop. Agitators also set fire to the office of a local youth organisation, Fatepur Sangskritik Club and a house owned by one Ziad Ali. 
Ziad claimed that Jamaat e Islami fuelled the whole situation, and their presence on March 31 at Fatepur clearly shows the linkage with the vandalism and false accusation by a pro-Jamaat newspaper.
In spite of its presence the police did nothing to calm the situation. As the police remained silent bystander, the vandalism spread under its gaze to Chakdaha, another neighbouring village. Based on rumours about Muhammad being insulted, another five households were torched and looted in front of the police.
A victim, Lolita Sardar Rani alleges that the attackers waited there till the houses were burnt to ashes. The agitators robbed and burned all their commonage including cash, furniture, gold, goat and cattle, alleged Lolita.
Abdul Hakim Sardar, a member of Fatepur High School shares with Xtra that the vandalism at Fatepur and Chakdaha was not an attack against minority but against humanity. He never experienced such incident in the area; moreover he claimed the cultural integration binds different religions in the region, so he fears the possibility of fundamentalists repeating the incident if the government overlooks the incident.
A victim Lakshmi Pad Pal from Fatepur tells Xtra that Drishtipat propagated the news to the people without knowing about the story or the script. He says that except a few, the vandals were from outside the two villages.
The Fatepur High School was supposed to conduct its first term examination on April 17 but the way students and teachers fled their homes, Abdul Hakim believes, it will not be possible to take the exams. ‘This is not expected in an independent country,’ he regrets.
He points out that among those who participated and led the agitation like Julfikar Shapui from South Sripur and Musharraf Hussain from Krishna Nagar failed in the last Union Parishad elections. ‘This could be an attempt of revenge as they believed it is the Hindus who really made the difference in the poll results,’ he adds.
The deputy commissioner Satikhira, Md Anowar Hossain Hawladar informs Xtra that strict action would be taken against the propagators but he denied of any attacks against minorities. ‘On that day both Hindu and Muslims were victims by the agitators so one cannot say it was an attack against minorities alone.’ He however, says that a few politicians including a newspaper tried to propagate the whole incident without mentioning any name. Whether any action will be taken against the newspaper or the people have not yet been decided, he says.
After the incident two police officers, Satkhira police superintendent Habibur Rahman Khan and Syed Farid Uddin, officer in-charge of Kaliganj police station were closed for failing to maintain law and order in Kaliganj.

Propaganda
In 1936 through his book Ayna, Abul Mansur Ahmed depicted how the downtrodden Muslim community of undivided Bengal were being subjugated or exploited by the so called pirs in the name of religion. Huzur Kebla is the fiction of a quack pir whose unholy practice in the name of religion destroyed two young lives. Emdad, an educated new follower of the pir, observed closely and revolted against him.
Xtra found nothing in the script that slays the image of Prophet. Although the regional daily Drishtipat propagated the script to be containing elements that disgraced Islam, local Muslims failed to comprehend any indecent remarks towards the religion. 
Ainul Islam from Fatepur village divulges that the drama did not even last to its end. He questioned the authenticity of the report and evidences based on which vandals laid their grudges on the houses.
Xtra has obtained copies of Drishtipat where it published similar news reports in the past, which alleged the Hindus continuously attacking Islam and the Prophet. Last year on October 25, it published news about Shushanto Kumar Dhali, a Hindu teacher of Nalta High School, accusing him for criticising the Prophet in an objectionable manner, subsequently leading to student protests. Locals in the village however, denied the claim to Xtra.
The same month, the newspaper alleged an English teacher Arun Kumar Sarkar of Khulan Paikgacha Degree College accusing him of threatening Allah with offensive words. However the editor of the newspaper, GM Nur Islam claimed the newspaper published the reports with adequate evidence and was willing to divulge them only if the court asked. He refused to show evidences against the allegations saying, ‘Unless we are not bound to reveal it.’ He also alleged that subjugation on journalist is going on in the country.
The connection of Jamaat with the attacks becomes strong given its present political state and trial of war criminals. Muhaddis Abdul Khaleq tells Xtra, ‘I visited Fatepur to express my concern about Islam, nothing else.’ He emphasized, it was his personal visit to Fatepur not on behalf of Jamaat e Islami.
However, Abdul Hakim interprets his visit as one of the turning point in the agitation and founds his involvement in fueling such events. He alleges, ‘Khaleq did this to create an obstacle in war crimes tribunal, because if anything went wrong in the country the government will be compelled to postpone the trial.’
The story Huzur Kebla was written almost 80 years back. Abul Mansur Ahmed dared to write it during the colonial regime and at the time nobody came to kill him because of revealing the truth of the story. Poresh Shordar divulges in sorrow, ‘It is misfortune that so many houses were burnt just for a play!’

Cry for justice
Agitators burned down Hindu temples, houses and shops on February 9 and 10 at Hathazari. They claimed that Hindus have destroyed their mosque. Based on rumours eight temples and several shops were burned down to ashes. In about a month’s interval, similar incident broke off at Satkhira.
Including Abdul Hakim, locals alleged the pro-Jamaat newspaper and some Jamaat leaders were behind instigating agitation in the area. However, no steps have been taken to investigate the matter. He also alleges the local newspaper abused freedom of expression which is guaranteed in the constitution and he claimed the newspaper should be brought to book.
In the constitution, freedom of expression is guaranteed and considered as one of the fundamental human rights in article 39 (1). Article 39(2) states, ‘subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence – the right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression, and the freedom of the press, are guaranteed.’
Although Drishtipat legitimises its act under Article 39(2), section 295(a) of Bangladesh’s Penal Code (1860) reads, any person who has a ‘deliberate’ or ‘malicious’ intention of ‘hurting religious sentiments’ is liable to imprisonment, which may extend to two years, and or with fine.
Bangladesh is also a signatory of ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)’, which ensures the freedom of practicing religion in the country. According to Article 21 of the ICCPR, ‘The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognised. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.’
Lolita Rani urges the government to work on restoring the cordial relation among Hindu, Muslims in the region, ‘My house was destroyed, they looted many valuable stuffs from us but I don’t want to get back all those things. Rather I demand justice for the people and restoration of relationship in the region,’ she adds.
 
=======================================
2. SRI LANKA: STANDING UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT
by Shanie
=======================================
(The Island, April 6, 2012)

NOTEBOOK OF A NOBODY

"Run up the sail, my heartsick comrades;
Let each horizon tilt and lurch -
You know the worst; your wills are fickle,
Your values blurred, your hearts impure
And your past life a ruined church -
But let your poison be your cure."
– Thalassa, Louis MacNeice (1907-1963)

Pieter Keuneman was a leader of the Ceylon Communist Party and a cabinet Minister in the 1970 coalition government led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike. A clever journalist made fun of Keuneman’s spelling of his first name by referring to the pronunciation of his name as Pieter (‘ie’ as in Soviet) Keuneman. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Ceylon Communist Party probably does not toe the political line of the Communist Party of Russia. But DEW Gunasekera is from the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and a cabinet minister in the present government. He has recently given an interview to the state media. As in the old Soviet Union, the state media must surely speak The Truth (Pravda); so it cannot be that Gunasekera is misquoted. Referring to the UNHRC resolution, he bravely says that the government has zero-tolerance towards external interference in Sri Lankan affairs. As for the LLRC recommendations, he is quoted as stating: "The LLRC report has recommendations that are acceptable and that can be implemented. Most have been implemented. There are other recommendations that are under consideration by the government. There are recommendations that cannot be implemented."

Russia voted against the resolution at the UNHRC. But the Russian Ambassador has also spoken in favour of the implementation of the LLRC recommendations. This was the thrust of the UNHRC resolution. The International Commission of Jurists has been calling, unfortunately without success for many years, for the adoption of a Witness Protection Act. Minister Rauf Hakeem went to Geneva this time and promised that the government was going at last to introduce a Bill for protection and assistance to victims of violence and witnesses. We can only hope that this promise was not only for the UNHRC sessions and that such a Bill be introduced providing genuine protection to witnesses.

Gunasekera will also know that the International Monetary Fund had called for monetary reform as a condition for the grant of loans requested by us. Again, he will admit that Sri Lanka had no option but to comply with these conditions to get approval for the release of the last two tranches of the IMF loan. As a member of the United Nations we have to abide by international humanitarian laws. Besides we have willingly signed many international covenants and treaties. None of them is considered a violation of our sovereignty. Indeed, being a part of the United Nations, we acknowledge our membership of the international community and accept mutual responsibility to each other and a willingness to help and support one another.

Implementing LLRC recommendations

Gunasekera in that same newspaper interview says that most of the LLRC recommendations have been implemented. Others are under consideration and there others that cannot be implemented. He is an honourable man and he knows that what he has stated is not true. He refers to some of the youth detained having been released after rehabilitation. The LLRC in their interim recommendations made in September 2010 wanted the list of all those under detention to be released. That was a basic human right of the detainees and their families. Has such a list been released? Have any of the interim recommendations of the LLRC, leave alone the final recommendations, been implemented? This is despite the cabinet of which Gunasekera is a member appointing an Inter-Agency Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of the previous Attorney General to implement those recommendations. Another key recommendation of the LLRC was that the armed groups presently operating in the North and East be disarmed. In treating this recommendation with contempt, the leader of one of these armed groups goes to Geneva as part of the Government of Sri Lanka delegation. Is it then possible for anyone to believe that the government was serious about honouring its promise of implementing the LLRC recommendations?

The old Left consisted of committed and upright leaders like S A Wickramesinghe, M G Mendis, Sarath Muttetuwegama, B Y Tudawe. P Kandiah and A Vaidyalingam, besides Pieter Keuneman. D E W Gunasekera, as a young man, also belonged to this illustrious group. By his willingness to swim with the current tide, he must not betray the old Left and prove right the cynic who called him and some of his ministerial colleagues as now belonging to the dead Left. Christians observed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and celebrate Easter or Jesus Christ’s resurrection tomorrow. An article in the Island refers to this as the Easter message of liberation, from death to life. If Gunasekera and his colleagues stand up for the right values and for good governance, even sacrificing their ministerial portfolios, they will transform the dead Left to one that can once again give life and leadership to the working people of this country.

The Friday Forum, a group of eminent academics and professionals, have in a statement issued last week under the signature of Jayantha Dhanapala and Professor Savitri Goonesekere called for some urgent measures to be taken to implement the LLRC recommendations. They have stated: ‘Some matters in the LLRC report that need immediate attention are:

1. releasing the report of the Udalagama Commission of Inquiry into killings, including that of the five students in Trincomalee and the seventeen aid workers in Mutur,

2. making available names of detainees and missing persons in regard to whom there is documented information of death, and

3. taking measures to prevent abductions and investigating such allegations as a matter of urgency and prosecuting offenders.

These are measures within the immediate competence of the government, given the intelligence and security apparatus that exists.’ These are indeed matters which he government can and must implement as a matter of priority. Senior government ministers like D E W Gunasekera, must insist that the government do so, instead of pandering to the jingoistic and racist emotions that some of their government colleagues are raising at this time. They must insist that there must be some transparency on this issue and the government must clearly state which of the LLRC recommendations they do not accept and the reasons for this. In respect of the recommendations which they accept for implementation, there must be a clear road map with time frames so that the people have the confidence that the government intends honouring its promises. This is the only way that the government can ensure credibility and assure itself of healthy respect and a good image, both domestically and internationally. This is critical if the country is to move forward in all areas.

Patriots and Traitors

Another dangerous development against which we do not see people like D E W Gunasekera raising their voices is some of their ministerial colleagues and others labelling anybody opposing the government line on the UNHRC resolution as ‘traitors’ and engaging in a campaign of hate against them. They even encourage the people to take the law into their own hands and engage in violence against these alleged ‘traitors’. Lakshman Kadirgamar, an ethnic Tamil, once referred to the LTTE labelling him a ‘traitor’ (presumably to the Tamil nationalist cause) and said that if that was the price he had to pay for doing what is right by his conscience and his country, he was proud of that appellation. The defenders of human rights and activists for good governance who are now being called ‘traitors’ can also say, like Kadirgamar, that they are proud to be given that appellation. Time will tell as to who is the traitor and who is the patriot.

Loius MacNeice, the poet whom we have quoted at the head of this column was the son of an Anglican Bishop from Ireland. He was, like many of his literary friends, a Leftist in his time but a firm opponent of totalitarianism and communism. He wrote sensitively and critically and this poem Thalassa is no exception. Life provides turmoil and rough weather. We may be surrounded by corrupt men. But we must not lose hope. We need to keep our focus on the ultimate goal. ‘By a high star our course is set. Our end is life. Put out to sea.’

=======================================
2.1 SRI LANKA: ABDUCTIONS REACH DANGEROUS HEIGHTS
by NfR Sri Lanka
=======================================

Exile Network for media and Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Press release 08.04.2012

NfR Sri Lanka, a network of Sri Lankan journalists and human rights defenders, condemns in very strong terms the recent abduction of Mr. Premakumar Gunarathnam and Ms. Dimuthu Attygalle, two leading political activist in the country.

According to reliable sources Ms. D Attygalle was abducted on 6th April, late in the evening and Mr. Gunarathnam on the 7th April early in the morning. Both of them are leading figures of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) of Sri Lanka.

The government of Sri Lanka was looking for Premakumar Gunarathnam for some time as he was tipped to be the leader of a new left political formation, FSP. The wife of Mr. Gunarathnam, Dr Somaratne, was detained with her two children for 18 hours at Colombo’s international airport on 02 January and questioned about the whereabouts of Mr. Gunarathnam.

According to an eyewitness around 25 armed persons had come to the place where Mr. Gunarathnam  was staying at Kiribathgoda, suburb of Colombo, to abduct him. The manner in which the abduction had taken place shows without any doubt , the involvement of state agencies in this heinous crime.

Two activists from the same political group, Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan, were abducted on 9th December 2011 and they remain missing to this day. Lalith Weeraraj was abducted by the military prior to 9th December and had been released after being threatened to stop work related to disappearances of persons in the North. The families of both these men have also suffered threats, harassment and surveillance following their abductions.

Abductions have continued unabated in Sri Lanka over the last six months or so. Nearly 60 such incidents had been reported during this period. Threats, harassments, attacks and intimidation of political and civil activists too, have been reported from all corners of the country.

In recent times it has come to light that white van abductors are in fact military personnel in civil clothes. There had been instances when Government leaders had intervened and got abducted persons released in no time when they were inclined to help the victims. However the law enforcement agencies had not been pursuing any of the complaints of disappearances in all earnest. This has given credence to the widely prevalent suspicion that the state is involved in these abductions.

Abduction of leading political figures like Mr. Gunarathnam and Ms. Attygalle brings the trend of the suppression of the dissenting and opposing voices and physical elimination of persons the state considers to be a threat to its autocratic rule, to a peak. These incidents have revived memories of the period of terror (the bheeshana samaya ) that prevailed in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1992 and have created a tensed situation in the country.
 
NfR is saddened and shocked by the abduction of these two leading political activists and appeals all human and democratic forces to register their concern with the Government of Sri Lanka and take all available steps to secure the lives of Mr. Gunarathnam and Ms. Attygalle.

=======================================
3. PAKISTAN: SECTARIAN KILLINGS WON’T STOP SANS TACKLING ROOT CAUSE - HRCP
=======================================
http://www.sacw.net/article2626.html

Lahore, April 11: The continuing spilling of blood in sectarian killings in Quetta and Gilgit Baltistan manifests a blatant failure to address religious intolerance in society, which constitutes one of the biggest threats for the country, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on Wednesday.

The Commission said in a statement: “HRCP is alarmed by the continuing sectarian bloodshed in Pakistan, particularly in Quetta and Gilgit Baltistan. The killings demonstrate a disturbing pattern and appear to be part of a well-planned sequence. It has been stated that miscreants from Afghanistan have been involved. That may be one problem but it certainly is not the only one. The mindless bloodshed that we witness day in and day out is rooted in religious intolerance cultivated by the state. Politics in the name of religion has substantially worsened what was already an appalling situation. It is alarming that no one responsible for these killings has been nabbed in years. The people are paying the price of indifference with their lives. Rather than wasting time on addressing mere symptoms,the root cause of the problem must be identified and addressed. Instead of living in denial, we must now identify the policies that strengthen extremism and promote faith-based hatred in society. These constitute the single biggest threat to Pakistan.

In these perilous times, all those who believe in people’s rights, human dignity and Pakistan’s future must not remain silent. Otherwise the consequences for the country will be unimaginably disastrous. It is time for the government, all democratic-minded political parties and conscious citizens to join hands to think of a way out of this brutal vortex in order to rescue the state that has been held to ransom by extremism and obscurantism.”

Zohra Yusuf
Chairperson

=======================================
4. PAKISTAN: WHY KARACHI BURNS AGAIN AND AGAIN
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
=======================================
(The Express Tribune, 9 April 2012)

Orgies of blood-letting bring Karachi to a grinding halt from time to time. The first three months of the present year have seen 300 violent killings; the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimates the 2011 toll at 1,715, which averages to 33 per week. Whether prompted by the crash of a rashly-driven bus, long periods of loadshedding, or a political murder, a horde of homicidal maniacs suddenly descends from apparently nowhere to fill the streets. AK-47s chatter away. Then a sudden quiet follows. Life returns to normal — until the next time.

What turned an idyllically clean and peaceful city of earlier decades — one that I grew up in and loved — into today’s hell-hole? Is there even a remote possibility that Karachi can once again give safety, security, and a wholesome existence to the majority of its people? Perhaps the science of behaviour just might help us understand what went wrong. Finding solutions is, however, a different matter.

Scientists who study fish habits say cramped aquarium conditions hugely increase fish-on-fish violence. When the tanks are large enough, or the fish few enough, the inhabitants are perfectly peaceful; the fish flutter their eyes as they sweetly swim past each other. But keep adding more, and bumps become frequent. They now flare fins to convey annoyance. Road rage from close encounters builds and ultimately many are driven to pester, injure, and even kill their fellow tank-dwellers.

A recent pioneering study says fish need their space — and they become upset when it isn’t there. Ronald Oldfield, the biologist who did the research, says that fish in their natural ecological environments sometimes aggressively compete for food or shelter. But in an aquarium such resources are not scarce. Why then, he asked, does one observe aggressive behaviour?

The answer turns out to be that aquarium fish are driven by two goals: they want to increase access to available space (corresponding to the size of the fish tank), and to the amount of habitat complexity (corresponding to the presence of obstacles and hiding places like rocks and plants) within the tank. As more fish are added, these become less available. Each individual becomes more defensive of its tiny alcove. Signs of aggression usually start at a low simmer. Then fins start flaring and, ultimately, the anger boils over.

Okay, maybe fish are very different from humans. So how does it work for mammals? In a paper entitled “Housing and welfare in laboratory rats: effects of cage stocking density and behavioural predictors of welfare”, researchers at the University of Nottingham find closely similar results. Although the confined rats are adequately fed, too many packed together results in a hatred for their fellow beings.

Confined females have the roughest deal: “Density had a very highly-significant effect on the total frequency of aggressive acts initially received per female. Chewing at cage bars showed particularly strong correlations with aggressive social stress and with pathophysiological responses… individuals in single-sex groups experiencing a high degree of social stress in the form of aggression received, spent less time sleeping and more time exploring the enclosure and attempting to escape.”

Now let’s read the above in the context of Karachi: a city with few parks, little amusement, stifling summer heat, unrelenting traffic noise, loud apartment-block neighbours, segregation and sexual frustrations, polluted air, dirty water, no toilets for millions, and frequent electricity breakdowns.Unsurprisingly, Pakistan’s supposed melting pot has turned into a boiling cauldron of hate and anger. Put a lid on it if you will, but a volcano cannot be capped.

Of course, the above is not the whole story. Critical as the population factor is, an explosive mix requires other elements too. After all, mega cities of similar size exist elsewhere — New York, Tokyo, Bangkok, Shanghai, Bombay, etc. But their violence, while significant, is nowhere comparable to Karachi’s. What sets Karachi apart?

Local politics matters much. In 1995, Eqbal Ahmed wrote that “Karachi is starved of the wealth it generates. The city contributes more than sixty per cent of the federal and Sindh governments’ revenues. Only a fraction of it is invested back in building its infrastructure. To make matters worse, under successive Karachi governments, land and other resources have been prey to the greed of those in power.”

Well, ditto for today. The difference is that Karachi was about nine million when these lines were written; today it is estimated at around 19 million. Rural to urban migration is a component, but the explosive growth is countrywide. The area that is now Pakistan had 28 million in 1947.But in 2011, according to a yet-to-be published survey, it held a staggering total of 192,288,944.

A dysfunctional state that cannot provide essential infrastructure, religious parties that oppose birth control, and an uncaring elite are squarely responsible for Karachi’s descent into chaos. In this cesspool of frustration and human misery, average household monthly incomes are estimated at a paltry Rs3,000-6,000 with most new immigrants being irregularly employed as labourers. This creates the ideal habitat for different varieties of criminal and extortionist groups, as well as political parties with paramilitary wings.

Sindhis, who formed the bulk of Karachi’s population before Partition, now no longer matter. But it is now the turn of the mohajirs, who had displaced them, to be worried. The MQM, fearing that the city will escape its control, tries to make the city unwelcome for a flood of Pakhtuns flowing in from the north. The MQM’s rival is now the ANP, which went silent on its socialist rhetoric a long time ago. It is now a frankly ethnic party operating in a city which is now 20-25 per cent Pakhtun. But the violence of the MQM and ANP cannot compare with that of the TTP, now steadily moving into Karachi. Its avowed goal is to destroy everything first and then capture state power.

A recommendation: the next time Rehman Malik says that some hidden hand is setting Karachi ablaze — or when Imran Khan, Munawar Hasan, and Hafiz Saeed lay the blame upon America or India — just tell them about the fish and the rats. Those who breed like flies die like flies.

The writer teaches physics and political science at LUMS and has a doctorate in physics from MIT

=======================================
5. APPEAL TO INDIA TO SEND DR. CHISHTY AND PAKISTANI FISHERMEN BACK HOME
=======================================
http://www.sacw.net/article2629.html

April 14, 2012

We, the undersigned, welcome the decision of Pakistan government to release 26 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds. They were in Pakistani prison for more than two years for allegedly violating territorial border. The Pakistani gesture came in the background of a meeting, which took place in New Delhi, between the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh & the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on last Sunday. The poor Indian and Pakistani fishermen find it extremely difficult to recognize other country’s territorial border in the mid-sea.

We appeal to the Government of India to reciprocate Pakistani gesture by sending Dr. Khaleel Chishty and Pakistani fishermen back home. This will be a major confidence building measure. It will help in creating a conducive atmosphere in taking forward peace process.

We also appeal to both the governments to release and return all confiscated boats of fishermen. These boats are owned by the fishermen and it is the only source of income for them. Their livelihood depends on boats. Around 700 Indian confiscated boats are lying in and around Karachi and more than 150 Pakistani boats are lying in India.

Signed by,

    Jatin Desai, Journalist, Mumbai
    Kuldip Nayar, Journalist, Delhi
    Mahesh Bhatt, Filmmaker, Mumbai
    Vrinda Grover, Lawyer, Delhi
    Suhasini Muley, Actor, Mumbai
    Admiral L Ramdas, Activist, Alibaug
    Ved Bhasin, Journalist, Jammu
    Shivam Vij, Journalist, Delhi
    Sanjay Nahar, Activist, Pune
    Manisha Gupte, Activist, Pune
    Varsha Berry, Activist, Mumbai
    Haris Kidwai, Activist, Delhi
    Mazher Hussain, Activist, Hyderabad

=======================================
6. HOW MANY MORE ARE TO DIE BEFORE INDIA AND PAKISTAN CREATE DEMILITARISED ZONE ON SIACHEN GLACIAR ? - STATEMENTS BY PPC AND AHRC
=======================================
http://www.sacw.net/article2631.html

Pakistan Peace Coalition comments on the Siachen tragedy

8 April 2012

On behalf of Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC), we convey our deep condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers who are feared to have lost their lives in this morning’s avalanche tragedy on the Siachen heights.

The crass political and military absurdity of maintaining thousands of troops by India and Pakistan at the forbidding height of 22,000 feet on the Siachen Glaciers in the harshest weather imaginable, has taken its tragic toll in the shape of 150 plus Pakistani soldiers being trapped under an avalanche that smashed into a Pakistan army base this morning. There have been reports claiming that the two governments have in recent months realized the futility of this senseless confrontation at the cost of millions of rupees a day and reached an understanding to demilitarize the glaciers. There have also been demands from various civil society organizations and peace-loving individuals in both countries calling upon the two governments to set an example by converting Siachen Glaciers into the first ever ’peace park’ at a height of 22,000 feet.

It is a sad commentary on the wisdom of our ruling establishments that such a huge tragedy has been allowed to take place despite the recurrence of regular deaths of soldiers due to harsh weather. The death of 24 Pakistani soldiers at Sallala on the Pak-Afghan border at the hands of NATO forces brought Pakistan and United States face to face with their gravest ever diplomatic crisis which still plagues our relations. Who are we going to blame for the death of so many of our soldiers in the avalanche tragedy on Siachen heights, except our short-sighted rulers?

PPC appeals to the President of Pakistan to use his tomorrow’s private visit to Ajmer Sharif in India not only to pray for the souls of the soldiers who may have lost their lives in this tragedy, but also to persuade the Prime Minister of India to join him in declaring Siachen a fully demilitarized Pakistan-India Joint ’Peace Park’, so that never again shall our soldiers have to die for no reason or rhyme.

B.M.Kutty, Secretary General PPC

Karamat Ali, Member Central Committee PPC

Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC)
 c/o PILER Center, Karachi.

o o o

[SEE ALSO]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-084-2012
April 10, 2012

A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: How many more soldiers need to die before India and Pakistan create a Siachen Glaciar demilitarised zone? 

Some of the harshest weather conditions in the world may be experienced on the Siachen Glaciers and it is this very location that two of the bitterest enemies of the region maintain bases.

The Siachen Glaciers are the highest glaciers on earth and some of the bases are situated at over 6,000 metres. A result of a conflict that started in 1984, during the military government of General Zia, with India's successful Operation Meghdoot, Pakistan lost control of the glacier and was forced to retreat west of the Saltoro Ridge. India established control over the 70 kilometre-long Siachen Glacier and all of its tributary glaciers, as well as the three main passes of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier. Pakistan was able to maintain control of the glacial valleys immediately west of the Saltoro Ridge but it lost more than 1,000 square miles (3,000 km2) of territory because of its military operations in Siachen.

In recent years both sides of lost hundreds of men to the vanity of maintaining control over a system of glaciers where nothing grows, no minerals are to be found and where even the grass is afraid to grow. There is no sane reason to sacrifice even one more human life. The recent tragedy is a result of the warmongering attitude of both governments that are willing to spend billions of dollars a year to maintain control over what is nothing more than an icy hell.

It is a conservative estimation that each year 100 Pakistani soldiers and 200 India soldiers are killed by avalanches or inclement weather. On April 7, 124 military personnel and 11 civilians were engulfed in an avalanche that buried them under an estimated 80 feet of snow and ice. Rescue attempts were foiled from the very start by the weather and conditions which prevented rescuers from reaching the site. Bulldozers and excavators are being used to shift the ice but due to the conditions, progress is slow. Three days after the incident not one victim had been located, dead or alive and their chances of survival decrease with each passing hour. According to one official, "If the avalanche broke into the military barracks, then the survival chances are very low; if not, then we can hope they may be safe".

In addition to American and British relief teams around 200 military personnel and 100 civilians are taking part in the rescue operation. The Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is also reported to be present at the site which is a unique situation as the vast majority of the army hierarchy is content to sit in the comfort and safety of their offices in Islamabad. Recently there have been reports that the two governments are beginning to realise the futility of maintaining these bases at the cost of millions of rupees a day. Reportedly they are hoping to reach an understanding to demilitarise the glaciers. According to another report civil society organizations in both countries are calling upon their respective governments to set an example by converting the Siachen Glaciers into the first ever 'peace park' at a height of 22,000 feet.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to convey our deep condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers and civilians who have lost their lives in this tragedy. The AHRC appeals to both the governments of Pakistan and India to withdraw their forces use the money they will save to bolster their education and health sectors.

=======================================
7. TARIQ ALI INTERVIEW (BHARAT BHUSHAN)
=======================================
(Outlook Magazine)
interview
‘Most Pakistanis Don’t Want The Army In Politics’
This unrepentant Marxist, writer, journalist, filmmaker and political campaigner is still searching for socialism with a human face.

by Bharat Bhushan
					
Unrepentant Marxist, writer, journalist, filmmaker and political campaigner, Tariq Ali is still searching for socialism with a human face. He sits on the editorial board of the New Left Review and is a regular columnist for The Guardian, Counter Punch and the London Review of Books. He compares Marx with the Prometheus of Greek mythology who stole the heavenly gift of fire from Zeus and brought it to the mortals. What we do with that fire is up to us, he is fond of saying. Tariq Ali was in Delhi recently to deliver the Faiz Ahmed Faiz Memorial Lecture. He had a freewheeling interview with Bharat Bhushan, a shorter version of which appeared in print:

When you look at your original homeland, Pakistan, what thoughts come to your mind?

A congregation of pain – to quote from Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s great poem Aaj ke naam – in Urdu, “dard ki anjuman”. The country has gone from bad to worse. You feel sometimes that things can’t get worse and they do. We first had the effect of military dictatorships on social political life in the country and now we have got a civilian government which is probably the most corrupt government in the entire history of the country. What staggers me is that Zardari is so shameless. On his face you do not read any regret for what he has done and he will carry on doing it till the United States keep him in power. That is the situation in the country today.

You have often said that Pakistan has mostly been ruled by governments which have been US puppets. How and when will Pakistan be government by and for Pakistanis?

The young people want to get a government elected by the people and for the people. Whether Imran Khan will pull it off or not – I do not know. The planks of his programme are friendly, but independent, relations with the United States and moving away from puppet status. He actually says that in his campaigns – about 70 per cent of the population sees the US as its enemy. It used to be India, but now it is the United States.
 
Your support for Imran Khan has baffled many in Pakistan and elsewhere. What did you mean by writing in the London Reveiew of Books -- almost lamenting that there was only one Imran Khan in Pakistan?

Well, what I meant was there is nothing else at the moment as far as politics is concerned. That this guy after working 15 years for building his party, when everyone was laughing at him, is beginning to draw huge support mostly from people who are alienated from politics. So I think one has to react positively. It is not as if he will give Pakistan what I want – fully fledged socialism – but at least he is fighting on the right issues and people are fed up of being ruled by two competing sets of criminals -- corporate criminals. Whether it is the Sharif brothers or Zardari – they are both in politics to make money. They do very little else.

But what do you think of Imran Khan’s support for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and obscurantism of all kinds?

Well, he has denied all that sharply in interviews that I have seen with him. He has said that he is not a supporter of the Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban. He feels that the American war in Afghanistan and the drone attacks in Pakistan are increasing support for these people. And he wants to end it. Essentially, he is an enlightened Muslim – probably much more liberal minded than the people who are in power in Egypt and Tunisia today.

What do you say about the Punjabi hegemony in politics and in the military in Pakistan? What does it do to the dream of a federal Pakistan?

That dream died with the formation of Bangladesh after the breakup of Pakistan in 1970-71. That was the end of federal Pakistan. What was left was a country heavily dominated by Punjab by virtue of its population, if nothing else. It is a fact of life. There is nothing we can do about it. The country is now very mixed. Karachi is a city which has Punjabis, Sindhis, the Pushtuns, and descendents of the refugees who went from India. The social composition of the big cities is changing. You see the same thing in Sindh and Balochistan – you have lots of people who are not ethnically from that region. And this happens all over the world. You cannot keep to the ethnic purity which some nationalists seem to demand.
 
Do you see the stranglehold of the army on Pakistan politics and foreign policy diminishing in the near future?

I think there is very little doubt that most people in Pakistan don’t want the army to intervene in politics. They are fed up of it. They know perfectly well what happens at the top; that the process which was started off decades ago of corruption among the top layers of the armed services (has continued) and when they come to power they become even more corrupt. They get rake offs from deals to buy arms and the top military officials get huge amounts of money officially and legally from the State. They have become the part of the elite. But people don’t like them being in power. I think most people would prefer elected governments though there are times when there is an elected government like the current one, when some people again start saying that perhaps the army was better. But the majority wants elected governments.

You say the people are fed up of the army, but is the army fed up of politics?

The army is not fed up of politics – this is absolutely true because of the role it has played. It sees itself like the Turkish army used to do for a long long time—not just “in the last analysis”, saviour of the country if it was attacked, but as the only force in the country which was organised and disciplined enough to run the country. That is how the many top brass see it and they have run the country. But every time they have done it, it has been a mess. Ayub’s dictatorship led to the breakup of Pakistan. General Zia’s dictatorship saw the country become obscurantist; saw the emergence of jihadi groups funded and supported from the top and we are still trying to deal with the mess that was created. And then we had Musharraf who started off with promises but then picked up a huge fight with the judiciary and had to go out ignominiously having lost the fight to destroy a Chief justice.

When you look at your present home country, Britain, how do you see the condition of the Left in an era of coalition with protracted recession and massive cut in services? What potential do you see for an oppositional, pro-poor force emerging?

I think that main stream politics not just in Britain but in most advanced countries is essentially about different ways of running the capitalist system and different ways of making money from it for themselves as individuals or for their parties as institutions. Getting corporate money to contest elections has now become an art form in the United States and is now sweeping Europe as well. Whether you are Labour or Conservative in Britain, basically you do the same thing. Tony Blair destroyed the old Labour Party forever and there are still a few handful of good Labour MPs in Parliament. But in my opinion, the majority of the Labour MPs could easily be a part of the coalition that is governing Britain today.

In Scotland you have the Scottish National Party which is social democratic, it is to the Left of Labour and they are winning. And they are talking about having a referendum on Independence in 2014 or 2015. Whether they win it or not, I don’t know. But what they will probably win is what they are demanding -- Scottish home rule on everything except defence and policing. If the State of Britain as we know it breaks up, then everything will change – because without Scotland, Labour does not have a chance of winning a majority in England and Wales ever again. So one can look at this positively, that some new forces would emerge and this old style of politics would have to go with it. This sort of government that we have at the moment cannot carry on indefinitely. And they know it you feel from the way they talk sometimes.
 
What do you think of the coming French Presidential election? Why does Sarkozy seem to be in retreat and what do you make of the surge in support for the Trotskyist candidate Jean Luc Melenchon?

Sarkozy is hated by large parts of the country. He was brash and he was too fond of money. He pursued money in a vulgar fashion. The French like to be more sophisticated about these things. He called himself “Le Amercain” – he said the critical press calls me an American because I support them and I am proud of it. So he has set his wares and has moved more and more to the Right – attacking immigrants, pandering to the extreme rightwing groups in Frances desperate to win the election. He has been a disaster on many levels. His socialist opponent, Francois Hollande is bland, promises very little and is unconvincing – though he probably will win. And then suddenly we have seen the emergence of Jean Luc Melenchon, who used to be a Trotskyist in the sixties and the seventies – subsequently he joined the Socialist Party and was a minister in Mitterand’s government. He got fed up and said that this is not a Socialist Party which is going to deliver anything and broke out with his group of supporters, joined with the Communists and the independent Left and set up the Union of the Left. And the last figures for him were of 15 per cent support and he is the most exciting candidate in the country. Even the rightwing press has to say that he is a very effective politician who quotes from Victor Hugo and French literature. People are surprised because they have not seen a politician like that for a very long time. So his effect has been positive and both Sarkozy and Hollande have had to respond obliquely to many of the demands he has raised.

What would be the possible consequences of the implosion of Greece and likely collapse of Spain and Portugal?

Well, if the process goes on and there are more implosions and the bankers running Italy and Greece cannot keep these countries running with the present amount of funds coming from the German Banks, then the core leaders of Europe would have very little recourse but to have a two or even three layer structure of Europe. You will have a core Europe, you might have an extended currency zone and you will have people permanently waiting to enter Europe. That is the organised way of doing it.

But if the crisis hits suddenly, then I think the European Union will come to an end and they will have to have a new discussion on what to do. That would mean huge crisis in Europe because that will mean the end of the Euro which people have got used to but which can no longer do the business – because the effect of being part of the Euro has meant huge rise in prices, property and commodities which for a while seemed good but that’s now unaffordable. So I think, Greece, Spain and Portugal are countries which will have to think very seriously about reverting to their own currencies which would also mean headaches, trouble and pain—but at least they will control it themselves.

You have often talked of a Social Europe and a Bankers’ Europe. Can a Social Europe be rescued from a Bankers’ Europe it has become?

I think it can be salvaged only if countries agree to act on that basis. The Germans are at the moment on a very conservative course and unlikely to act. France is always an unknown. Britain is so deeply attached to the United States that I seriously wonder what the point of Britain being a part of Europe is. It is a part of the Atlantic Bloc and no one in Britain sees themselves as European although technically they are. The attention is focused across the Atlantic. Britain is a vassal state actually on many levels – culturally, politically, militarily, and economically. They will never agree to a Social Europe if the US is opposed to it. The Germans, the French, the Scandinavians who are not in Europe mostly, could move in that direction but they are not going to do so unless and until they are forced to do it either by the electorate or by uprisings.

While pronouncing that social democracy is dead, you say that an “extreme centre” is ruling most countries today? Why do you call it the “extreme centre”?

Because when you have a Centre which encompasses Centre Left, Centre Right and the traditional Centre parties, and this Centre then wages war, defends the occupation of countries, wages war on its own people at home through austerity measures then it is the home for extremism in my opinion. That is why I label it the Extreme Centre. This is the pattern in most parts of Europe. It does not matter who wins, the Centre rules. And it is creating a huge void in democratic accountability. At the level of civil liberties, you have had the case of a young woman who described a dream to a friend on email in which she saw some terrorists carrying out some action. She was arrested and charged for having a dream.

Very Orwellian, don’t you think?

Completely Orwellian. They can now tap into your dreams. Had she not written that mail, she would have been safe. And in the United States, the President for the first time in a normal situation – not in times of war – has the power to order the killing of a US citizen without any recourse to law. If this is the direction in which these countries are going then they have no right to teach lessons to any other parts of the world. They should put their own house in order. Then you have the so called anti-terror laws which allow you to pick up people just on suspicion etc. etc. – it’s a messy situation. If at the same time you do not provide any political and social alternatives to the electorate, democracy itself becomes meaningless. More and more people stop voting unless new alternatives emerge.

In West Asia, what do you think will happen in Syria?

I think the Syrian situation has reached a stage now where it is a stalemate. We have two forces now creating an army against Assad. And these are not the forces which inspire a great deal of confidence – one are the Saudis and the other, the Qataris, people who have no history of any interest in democracy whatsoever. Essentially what has happened is that Syria has become a pawn in the struggle between Wahabi fundamentalism and the Iranian regime. The Americans have clearly decided that they are not going to intervene. And one reason for that may that the Israelis do not want a Muslim Brotherhood coming up in Syria as well and are telling the Americans not to do anything hastily. And once the Americans hold back, the Europeans follow.

My own position on this is very clear that the Baathists under the Assad family were brutal, stupid and corrupt – ruling on the basis of a minority – and had he (Bashar Al Assad) or the people around him, had even a tiny bit of intelligence, they would have taken the deal the Opposition had offered in the first six months of the agitation. They had said nothing will happen to you. We don’t want a Gaddafi-end for you. But you have to share power. Any intelligent Baath leader would have said – OK, let us sit down and talk. I have heard reports of a split within the ranks – that Bashar Assad wanted it but the Generals said no because they saw it as the end of their monopoly over the armed forces. In any case, they made a huge mistake and this regime, if it carries on at this stage, can only do so on the basis of repression and there will be further uprisings from within the country. What has made the situation very messy is that the Saudis, the Qataris and the Turks – partially, creating an alternative army which can lead to civil war and a very ugly situation as we have seen in Libya.

Do you think than that the Arab Spring has in fact helped remove repressive but secular Baathist governments and ended up replacing them with Sunni/Wahabi governments? What does this mean for West Asia?

I think that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is not Wahabi – it is very important to keep that in mind. They are mainstream Sunni Muslims. They are not too different from Christian Democratic Parties in Western Europe. That is what they remind me of – socially and politically conservative while economically they will most likely accept some kind of neo-liberalism. So the Americans will do business with them. And they are already doing business with them, behind the scenes because they have the majority of the country behind them. It is not my idea of liberation but if this is what the people want and they have voted for, then one can’t blame the people if they don’t see any other alternatives. They will not vote for Mubarak and his gang. The Left is very weak and many people are discredited by working with the regime. So it is a very difficult problem to create new movements. And the Muslim Brotherhood – sometimes it collaborated with the regime, at other times it didn’t, its people were arrested, tortured, killed. People know that and -- this is their reward – they voted them in. But if after coming to power they do nothing, then you could have another phase of protests because the most important thing that people have learnt is that if they act collectively they can remove governments. That is a dangerous lesson, as far as the Brotherhood is concerned.

How do you see Iran developing politically — anti-US imperialism but run by Mullahs or do you expect some oppositional movements to grow there?

Well, the Iranians, in my opinion have been ready – the Mullahs, I mean -- for a big deal with the Americans for a long long time. If you look at it cold bloodedly, without any demagogy, the war and the occupation in Iraq could not have taken place unless the Iranians had given the green light to the US. The war in Afghanistan might have taken place but was certainly helped by the Iranians saying ‘go ahead’ because the Iranians saw Saddam Hussain as their enemy and they saw the Taliban as their enemy – so the enemy of my enemy is my friend, may be temporarily. Essentially they supported those two American wars. They were hoping in return—they really were-- that the American President would fly in to Tehran, like Nixon did to Beijing, and they would do a deal and live in peace. They have no big desire to fight the Americans. Now, the Americans, if they had been intelligent, and a lot of intelligent political scientists in the US are arguing that, this is what should have happened.

But what stopped it was the Israeli lobby. And the reason that they are so hostile to Iran is precisely because of the nuclear issue. They want Iran to give a guarantee that it will never ever build a bomb. But you know that guarantees can be broken and if the capacity to do it, why should they not do it? Some of them argue that Pakistan has it, India has it, China has it, American nuclear vessels go round their waters and the Germans are supplying the Israelis special Dolphin submarines which can have nuclear-tipped missiles which can knock out Iran. So they feel the best way of defence is to have it (n-bomb), not use it. People would respect them more if they said that. But now they are saying ‘we have the capacity but we won’t make the bomb’. Well, that is an awkward position for everyone. But I think they are desperate to deal with the US.

Do you think Left ideology is now dead or do you see any green shoots of radical thought and action sprouting anywhere?

I think the collapse of Communism in the nineties was a huge blow -- to people on the Left who wanted to search for alternatives, including many people who did not support the Soviet Union. But I think over the last ten years new movements have begun to develop in South America. In other parts of the world things are beginning to happen and people are beginning to feel that they need to mobilise themselves to bring about change; that it is not going to be done for us. And the Arab Spring played a huge part in changing global consciousness of that. So I think I am a bit more optimistic than I was a few years back.

But you dismissed the Occupy Wall Street movement saying that they have no political goals and so they will not achieve anything.

Well, I am saying that it was a virtual movement in some ways -- incredibly useful and important because a new layer, a new generation is saying that we don’t like the system. But you know my point to them has been, and said nicely, that it’s not enough to say that because the system can roll over you, destroy you very very quickly – unless you build something which can last a bit longer than your campus terms. So we will see what happens. But I don’t think till now the Occupy movement can be seen as a movement that can lead anywhere. I may be wrong and I would be very happy to be wrong. That is my reading of it. You like them, you admire them for what they are doing but you can’t invest them with too much.

=======================================
8. FEAR THE QUILL
by Jawed Naqvi 
=======================================
(Dawn, 4 April 2012)
      
TARIQ Ali breezed in for the release of Ali Madeeh Hashmi`s pictorial biography of Faiz, and left quite a few in the Delhi audience moved by his infectious enthusiasm for revolutionary change. In keeping with the occasion, he made several points about poetry and revolutionary zeal.

He mourned the slow waning of the institution of mushaira in the subcontinent. He recalled how the audience in Lahore would heckle Hafeez Jullundhri, who wrote Pakistan`s national anthem, for his pro-establishment poetry.

He underlined the fervour unleashed by the Bolshevik revolution without which there would probably be no Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Pablo Neruda or Nazim Hikmet. He said Europe was convulsed by a capitalist crisis that Marx had foreseen years ago, an idea that revolutionary poets have celebrated for decades.

To me the take-away was Tariq Ali`s suggestion that many dictators had something in their favour where fine culture was concerned: they understood the power of poetry and often of lucid prose as well. Ayub Khan would not have thrown Faiz and his comrades into prison had he not been worried by the poet`s prowess to move the masses.

Saddam Hussein unsuccessfully tried to woo back three iconic communist poets who fled Iraq when the Baathists set about annihilating the party leadership. Saddam pleaded with the poets to return. The cultural life of Baghdad had suffered enormous harm in their absence, he pleaded. The poets were no fools to be lured by a ruthless ruler and so they turned down his offer to guarantee their security with his life.

When Russian poets were rounded up for their implied and overt dissent in the Soviet Union, one of them commented charitably about the dictator of the day: 'At least he understands poetry.'

I'm not clear if Tariq Ali was referring to Stalin or a subsequent autocrat.

The following day Tariq regretted not mentioning the pacifist poem by Gunter Grass for which Israel has banned his entry. He also forgot to mention his tribute to Saadat Hasan Manto in his talk. This is Manto`s centenary year just as it is 100 years of Majaz and Faiz.

Like his many powerful contemporaries the ruling elite in India and Pakistan hounded Manto for his outspoken prose. A few samples were assembled by Tariq Ali in his tribute to the legend which he recently published in the Counterpunch.

In his Open Letters to Uncle Sam, Manto marked his displeasure at the state of world politics and Pakistan`s security pact with the US. He displayed a remarkable 'prescience' as expressed in this extract which Ali quotes from his `Third Letter to Uncle Sam`, written shortly before his death: `Another thing I would want from you would be a tiny, teeny-weeny atom bomb because for long I have wished to perform a certain good deed. You will naturally want to know what.

`You have done many good deeds yourself and continue to do them. You decimated Hiroshima, you turned Nagasaki into smoke and dust .. Each to his own.

Manto wanted to drop the bomb on the heads of mullahs whose peculiar sense of hygiene he loathed. Two back-to-back events that transpired before and after Ali`s talk would, however, seem to stand in the way of an otherwise enticing socialist reverie.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) had just finished India`s largest leftist party`s congress in Kerala. (Did the world take notice?) Former student leader Prakash Karat was re-elected as the party general secretary for a third consecutive term.

The party did not explain this honour for a leader under whose watch, though not necessarily because of him, the CPI-M stood accused of fighting a pitched battle on behalf of the Tatas and other corporates against the small and helpless peasants of West Bengal. The strange bedfellows - corporates and communists - were shown the door in the state polls that followed.

Worse, veteran grass-roots leader and former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan was dropped from the CPI-M`s politburo.

While this respected and militant comrade was eased out, even though he came very close to winning the last state elections when his party was being routed in West Bengal, the man in charge of the dismal show in Kolkata was retained. Tatas won again? Or have we missed a point here by the new politburo?

An event that would mock the most optimistic revolutionary`s spirit came a day after the Ali talk. A commission of inquiry appointed by India`s Supreme Court concluded that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was not involved in the carnage of nearly 2,000 Muslims.

More worrying is the fact that the 2002 pogroms won Modi two consecutive terms as chief minister.

The thought is inescapable.

Had the CPI-M and its allies in the Left Front exerted a fraction of the effort they put into the defence of a Tata car project in West Bengal into confronting the challenge of communal fascism in Gujarat and its creeping growth in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, the outcome would have perhaps changed India`s rightward political trajectory.

The battle for secular democracy in Gujarat is being led by well-meaning NGOs and a few very brave women.

Zakia Jaffri has been fighting for most of the past 10 years to frame charges of mass murder against the chief minister and his senior officials.

In the absence of any political air cover the brave ground troops are doomed. Gujarat is in the cross-hairs of a huge international strategy. The Americans and the Chinese are wooing Modi who has been anointed by the Tatas and the Ambanis as the next Indian prime minister. Can mere NGOs through their legal battles win the day?

Writer Arundhati Roy, who fully subscribes to Tariq Ali`s belief in the power of the quill together with the need for a robust political movement, sent the following message after the disappointing verdict on Narendra Modi: `Zakia Jaffri will never get justice. But she will be lauded by liberals for her unshakeable faith in the institutions of Indian democracy. In this way communal fascism will tighten its grip. Corporate Modi-ism will triumph. I want to meet Zakia Jaffri and tell her she should break her faith ...she should write a first person account of what happened that day and all these years since. It would be electric and historical.'

Zakia Jaffri`s murdered husband, incidentally, was a communist poet.

The writer is Dawn`s correspondent in Delhi.

======================================
9. INDIA: SELECTED POSTS FROM COMMUNALISM WATCH
=======================================
Riots in Hyderabad: Press Conference By Social Activists
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/riots-in-hyderabad-press-conference-by.html

India: Hindutva Far Right desecrated temple in Hyderabad to trigger riots 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/india-hindutva-far-right-desecrateed.html

India Supreme court asks Gujarat govt to stop probe against Teesta Setalvad
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/india-supreme-court-asks-gujarat-govt.html

BJP Led Madhya Pradesh State Subsidy for pilgrimages
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/madhya-pradesh-state-subsidy-for.html

CFP - Salvage and Salvation: Religion, Disaster Relief, and Reconstruction in Asia
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/cfp-salvage-and-salvation-religion.html

======================================
10. INDIA: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER ATTACK
======================================
(i)  ‘FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER ATTACK’
   Sanal Edamaruku, well known rationalist,  under 
   threat  of arrest for exposing the  “miracle”

Dear friends,
         On 10th March, Sanal Edamaruku, President of the Rationalist International,   flew to Mumbai. The TV channel TV-9 had invited him to investigate a “miracle” that caused local excitement. He went with the TV team to Irla in Vile Parle to inspect the crucifix standing there in front of the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni. This crucifix had become the centre of attraction for an ever growing crowd of believers coming from far and wide. The news of the miracle spread like wild fire. For some days, there were little droplets of water trickling from Jesus’ feet. Hundreds of people came every day to pray and collect some of the “holy water” in bottles and vessels.  Sanal Edamaruku identified the source of the water (a drainage near a washing room) and the mechanism how it reached Jesus feet (capillary action). The local church leaders, present during his investigation,  appeared to be  displeased.  See the investigation in detail on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqhq9MuRG8
Some hours later, in a live program on TV-9, Sanal explained his findings and accused the concerned  Catholic Church officials  of miracle mongering, as they were beating the big drum for the drippling Jesus statue with aggressive PR measures and by distributing photographs certifying the “miracle”. A heated debate began, in which the five church people, among them Fr. Augustine Palett, the priest of Our Lady of Velankanni church, and representatives of the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC) demanded that Sanal apologize. But Sanal refused  and argued against them. [The whole TV program is recorded. You can watch an abridged version of it on YouTube.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJ6_ftih0s
When they saw  Sanal  refused to bow to their demands, they  threatened to file a blasphemy case against him. And they did.
Yesterday (10th April,2012)  Sanal received a phone call from a Police official  of Juhu Police Station in Mumbai directing him to come to the said police station to face the charges and get arrested. He also said that FIRs have also been filed in Andheri  and some other police stations u/s 295 of Indian Penal Code  on the allegations of hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.  Mumbai police  has announced that they were out to arrest him.   It is apprehended  that  he  can be arrested any moment.
      The filing of FIRs by Mumbai police and threatening to arrest a well known rationalist who has been exposing miracles and superstitious beliefs  for more than  three decades is a serious attack on the freedom of expression. Clause (h) of Article 51-A of  Constitution of India states that :
‘It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform.’
In exposing the said miracle, Sanal was performing his fundamental duty enshrined in our constitution.
It is distressing that the Mumbai police has chosen to harass and victimize him for doing his fundamental  duty.
      ‘Sanal Edamaruku Defence Committee’ appeals to all progressive individuals and  organizations  to protest and oppose the reprehensible steps of the Maharashtra police in filing FIRs against Sanal and stand behind him in solidarity for the cause of  scientific thinking and freedom of expression.
                                                       N.D.Pancholi
     11 April, 2012              Convenor,   
                                  Sanal Edamaruku Defence Committee
PS. Please have a look at "www.rationalistinternational.net."

0 0 0

(ii) Editorial, The Hindu, April 14, 2012

A BONFIRE OF FREE SPEECH

There is an oppressive climate of intolerance towards dissent and free speech in West Bengal today. In an act of crude censorship, the government recently removed several newspapers from over 2,480 public libraries that it runs, aids or sponsors. Now, the police have arrested two people, including a professor from Jadavpur University, for allegedly defaming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through a cartoon they posted on a social networking site. These are blatant acts of authoritarianism that mock at constitutional values and freedoms and deserve to be condemned. The decision to purge the public library system of most mass circulation Bengali dailies and English language newspapers reflects a deep-seated contempt for democratic values. This has been done, ironically, under the guise of developing free thinking among readers. But the Chief Minister has only to read the Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association to understand how far removed her government's views are from civilised practice. “Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” the charter states, affirming the right of readers to have access to all shades of opinion. Specifically, nothing should be excluded because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. What makes the decision of the West Bengal government particularly offensive is its calculated approach to suppressing ideas and information.

If democracy is to flourish, the public library system must be insulated from censorship. The Centre should strengthen the role of libraries and make their collections mandatorily inclusive. India's public libraries must be governed by a specific freedom charter that spells out their rights and those of readers. This can be done by making it mandatory for libraries to consult the community they serve through public hearings, and acquire publications based on local demand. Such principles are universal, and even titles that are not available at a given moment can be specially requested by readers. The repressive orders in West Bengal are aimed at chilling independent thought. School textbooks have been rewritten to remove the philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels because Ms. Banerjee has so decreed. And now, citizens are being arrested for merely lampooning leaders. State governments invariably pursue the goal of control of the media, and their favourite tool is grant or denial of government advertisements to bring about self-censorship. But in West Bengal, an era of a more direct assault on free speech seems to have begun. It needs a strong response from democratic forces. 

======================================
11. INDIA: EARTHQUAKES, TSUNAMI'S AND KOODANKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - STATEMENTS BY PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY
======================================
Bhabha-Nehru dream and our (and their also) Children’s Nightmare
Some Post-Earthquakes thoughts and notes

by People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

PRESS RELEASE - PMANE

The United states Geological services (USGS) has the most comprehensive data on global earthquakes. The average number of events per year has been steadily increasing. There was a 90% increase in the number of earthquakes (Ritcher scale 6.0 and above) between 1980-89 and 2010-11. There were 106 events per year globally during the eighties, 159 during 2000-09 and 190 during 2010-11
http://www.sacw.net/article2627.html

o o o

Following Quake in Indonesia PMANE demands immediate halt of work at KKNPP
by People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) thinks that today’s earthquake and tsunami are Nature’s warning against commissioning the KKNPP. We demand immediate halt of work at the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in the wake of the massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, significant tremors all over Tamil Nadu and the potential danger of tsunami along the coast of Tamil Nadu. Some 28 countries have been affected by the Nature’s fury.
http://www.sacw.net/article2625.html


======================================
12. ONLINE PETITION TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
India: Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 will scuttle Internet Freedom
======================================
http://www.sacw.net/article2628.html
Government has enacted laws that gives it a free pass to censor our Facebook posts, listen to every Skype conversation we have, monitor our tweets or blogs or access private photographs and documents we store online, or track our location using our mobile phones or surveil all of your online activity.

Tell your government that they cannot use vaguely defined laws and loopholes to take away your freedom of speech and expression.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE:
https://www.change.org/petitions/mps-of-india-support-the-annulment-motion-to-protect-internet-freedom-stopitrules#

======================================
13. INDIA: A HOUSE FOR MR HASHMI
by Dipanita Nath
======================================
(Indian Express, 13 April 2012)

Can an old garment factory become the stage for new dreams? Especially if it has rolling shutters by way of doors and is situated in a cramped area called Shadi Khampur, an address that seems unknown to virtually everybody outside West Delhi. The surroundings are lacklustre — tall houses, small shops, honking cars, loud vendors and a rickshaw stand. But inside the former factory on Thursday morning, energies were on the upswing. It was the day that Jan Natya Manch (Janam), an iconic Delhi-based activist group which was founded in 1973, made 2253 E, Shadi Khampur, their permanent home.

The new name of the factory is Studio Safdar, and its new role is of a rehearsal space for theatre artistes from Delhi. The name refers to one of Janam’s founder members, Safdar Hashmi, who was bludgeoned to death on January 1, 1989, during a street theatre performance. Safdar’s picture looks down on the new studio, alongside images of Janam’s subsequent plays. Like all rehearsal spaces, the walls of Studio Safdar have been painted in black, except one wall that remains white “to screen films occasionally”, as Moloyshree Hashmi, Janam’s secretary, puts it. Studio Safdar will come as a piece of good news to Delhi’s theatre groups, who are constantly plagued by a lack of rehearsal spaces. “Most of the time, a theatre space is one that we don’t get thrown out of,” jokes Janam’s actor-director, Sudhanva Deshpande.

The top-most floor will house a library and an interactive space for children, as well as a library of theatre books. A few steps up is a multi-level terrace where Janam, best known for its street theatre, will practise. A cafe and bookstore, called May Day Bookstore and Cafe, in keeping with the group’s Leftist character, will open on May 1. “This is a space created for artistes, by artistes,” said singer Shubha Mudgal, a long-time associate of Janam, who was present at the inauguration. Among others who crowded the 25x39 ft studio were senior theatre activists, budding performers and painter Arpana Caur.

Janam started in 1973 and is strongly interactive. The new space reflects this ideology in its plans “to involve the locals, including rickshaw-pullers”. “This space belongs to everybody in the neighbourhood,” stresses Deshpande, and then points to a sign that says ‘Studio Safdar Shadi Khampur’. “All three parts of the name are important,” he says. In the pipeline are plans for a temporary museum that tells the story of Shadi Khampur, and a festival of the wedding bands that are headquartered a short distance away.

This interactive spirit was evident even in Janam’s fundraising spree. “We started working on buying a space for ourselves in 2010, and held a fundraising festival at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai in December 2010, called Sarkash (meaning rebel). Artistes cutting across genres and sponsors came forward to help out,”says Moloyshree.

On the white wall of Studio Safdar, the names of the donors are spelled out by the projector, among them unknown ones such as Raju and well-known ones like Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. “It was a struggle but a pleasurable one because everybody came together to create this space,” says Deshpande. 


INTERNATIONAL
======================================
14. FAR RIGHT IN GREECE GAINS GROUND IN WAKE OF ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
======================================
Hard Times Lift Greece's Anti-Immigrant Fringe
The gains by Golden Dawn show how the economic collapse has
empowered fringe groups, a situation that some in Greece
have compared to Weimar Germany.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/world/europe/far-right-golden-dawn-sees-opening-in-greeces-woes.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2_20120413

Video: Greece's Right-Wing Fringe
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/04/12/world/europe/100000001486442/greeces-right-wing-fringe.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2_20120413

======================================
15. ACADEMIC JOURNALS AND CORPORATE INTERESTS: REED ELSEVIER AND ALEC
by Peter Hogness and Jake Blumgart
======================================
(The Clarion, April 2012)

What do prestigious scientific journals like Cell and The Lancet have to do with privatizing public services, union-busting, or cutting corporate taxes?

The publishing company that owns these journals, Reed Elsevier, has supported all of these goals through its contributions to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

ALEC is a corporate-funded, politically conservative “bill mill,” which develops legislative templates for state-level laws that serve its political goals. The group holds networking conferences for politically sympathetic state legislators – such as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, when he was a State Assembly member – where ideas are shared and its model bills are circulated (see "How ALEC Operates").

Reed Elsevier is a leading member of ALEC – and also the parent company of Elsevier, one of the largest academic publishing companies in the world. It owns about 2,000 academic journals, primarily scientific and medical, and a diverse array of other information-related businesses, including LexisNexis.

ALEC has more than 250 corporate members (the exact number is uncertain, as the organization refuses to release a full list), but Reed Elsevier is one of just 23 that sit on ALEC’s national Private Enterprise Board. Reed-Elsevier lobbyist Teresa Jennings represents the company on this board, serving alongside better-known corporations such as Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil.

As its active membership in ALEC illustrates, Reed Elsevier’s interests are more similar to those of other corporations than many would assume. The company’s academic journal division, Elsevier, had an impressive 36% profit rate in 2010, on revenues of $3.2 billion. Reed Elsevier’s CEO, Erik Engstrom, was paid $2.93 million in total compensation in 2009, according to Forbes magazine.

Like other corporations, Reed Elsevier’s legislative interests are in the first place concerned with keeping those profit numbers high – even when this conflicts with the central purpose of academic journals, the dissemination of knowledge.
http://www.psc-cuny.org/clarion/april-2012/academic-journals-and-corporate-interests-reed-elsevier-and-alec

======================================
16. LIBYA: SALAFISTS TELL WOMEN TO COVER UP
by Ashraf Abdul Wahab
======================================
Libya Herald
Tripoli, April 9

Government officials have said they know nothing about a group of uniformed young men who appeared on the streets of the capital on Sunday carrying a slogan on their jackets proclaiming them to be members of Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Tripoli Branch. [See: http://www.libyaherald.com/appfolder2/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Salafists-300x200.jpg]
On Sunday they were active in and around the capital’s Algeria Square, telling women to fully cover up.
No one appeared to know who was in charge of the men or funding them, although many who were asked about the group expressed fears that there was now an active campaign to steer the country in the direction of hardline Islamist practices.

======================================
17. ANNOUNCEMENTS
======================================

(i) PAKISTANI BAND "LAAL" PERFORMING AT HARD ROCK CAFE NEW DELHI (19 APRIL 2012)

http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/events.aspx?LocationID=542&eventID=54567&MIBEnumID=3
Pakistani band "Laal"
Album Lunch
Date: 04/19/2012

Address:
Hard Rock Cafe New Delhi
M 110, Multiplex Building'
1st Floor, DLF Place,
Saket District Centre,
New Delhi - 110017

Time: 10:00 PM
Cost: INR. 250 Entry INR. 500 Cover

Age: 18+
	
Laal is a revolutionary band from Pakistan that sings the poetry of progressive poets like Faiz and Jalib. They are on their India tour and will come to Delhi this April as a part of their tour. The band comprises of Taimur Rahman, Mahvash Waqar and Haider Rahman and they are all originally from Lahore. They are traveling to launch their new album Utho Meri Duniya with Times Music India.

====

(ii) YOU ARE INVITED TO THE RELEASE OF 'AND MILES TO GO ...'

A pocket book containing personal journeys of five women post Gujarat 2002. Noorjahan Diwan, Syeda Hamid, Sofiya Khan,  Zakia Soman  and Shabnam Hashmi reflect on how the events of 2002 Gujarat changed their lives.  

Dr Abhijit Sen will release the book and Prof Apoorvanand will introduce the book 
Date : April 20, 2012
Time: 5pm
Venue: 23, Canning Lane, New Delhi-110001

Anhad

====

(iii) PARTNERS IN CRIME. SCREENING AND DISCUSSION WITH FILMMAKER PAROMITA VOHRA,
Apr 20, 4-6 pm.

Location: Kriser Screening Room, 25 Waverly Place, NYU Anthropology Department.

Co-sponsored by Department of Media, Culture and Communication, SouthAsia at NYU, Cinema Studies at Tisch, and Asia-Pacific-American Studies Program,
NYU.

(94 min. HDV. Documentary. Hindi and English, 2011, India)
A film by Paromita Vohra

TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxGJ-BtgnB4

====

(iv) VERSO LAUNCHES DAVID HARVEY’S REBEL CITIES with Brian Lehrer appearance, CUNY Grad Center discussion with David Graeber

In New York and London, gentrification transforms previously low-income neighborhoods into playgrounds for the rich, while foreclosures have pushed scores of Americans out of their own homes. Land grabs for urban spaces inhabited by the poor and disenfranchised worldwide—from the favelas of Rio to the slums of Mumbai—further entrench the vast divide between the holders of capital and the dispossessed.

David Harvey's new book Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution explores the future of this radically unstable world. Unveiling a vision of the city as a social, political and liveable commons, Harvey pinpoints cities as the focus for anti-capitalist resistance, arguing that the definition of the right to the city is itself an object of struggle—and that this struggle must proceed in tandem with concrete efforts to materialize it.

As part of the launch for Rebel Cities, Harvey will be featured as a guest on the Brian Lehrer Show Tuesday, April 10th for a live interview about his book. Tune in to WNYC 93.9 FM from 10am EST to 12pm EST to catch the interview as it happens.

On Wednesday, April 25th from 6.30pm to 9pm at CUNY Graduate Center, Harvey will appear with David Graeber, author of Debt, the First 5,000 Years for a talk entitled "Rebel Cities: Occupation, the Commons and Urban Democracy." The two will discuss their travels to worldwide sites of revolt in this past year, strategies for transforming radical action into an urban revolution and the future of the Occupy movement.

Seating is limited; tickets will be made available Wednesday, April 11th from 1pm on, at the following registration link:  http://rebelcities.eventbrite.com/. 

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

South Asia Citizens Wire
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. Newsletter 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.
=====================================