SACW - 24 Oct 2012 | Pakistan: Malala and Taliban/ Sr Lanka: Activists under threat; Landmark ruling / India: Privacy Report; Kashmir's Graves; Delhi University undermined

[Harsh Kapoor]

    South Asia Citizens Wire - 24 Oct 2012 - No. 2760
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Contents:
1. The Girl Who Changed Pakistan: Malala Yousafzai (Shehrbano Taseer)
2. Pakistan: Malala’s journey, and mine (Foqia Sadiq Khan)
3. Pakistan: Lahore university students petition for Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy ... Please sign
4. Sri Lanka: Two Online Petitions Against Intimidation of Prominent Activists and Journalists
5. Sri Lanka: Landmark Supreme Court Judgment Upholds Journalist’s Ownership of his Photographs (Dr. Wickrema Weerasooria)
6. Culture Worship by Indian Feminists is Killing India’s Women
7. India:  Shame, not honour (Syeda Hameed)
8. India: Some Thoughts on the Syed Kazmi Case (Mukul Dube)
9. India - Kashmir: The truth lies six feet under (Baba Umar)
10. India: Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy (Chaired by Justice A P Shah, Former Chief Justice, Delhi High Court)
11. India: Everything is at stake at Delhi University (Mukul Mngalik)
12. Israeli poll finds majority in favour of 'apartheid' policies (Harriet Sherwood) 
  
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1. THE GIRL WHO CHANGED PAKISTAN: MALALA YOUSAFZAI
by Shehrbano Taseer
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For months a team of Taliban sharpshooters studied the daily route that Malala took to school, and, once the attack was done, the Tehrik-e-Taliban in Pakistan gleefully claimed responsibility, saying Malala was an American spy who idolized the “black devil Obama.” She had spoken against the Taliban, they falsely said, and vowed to shoot her again, should she survive. The power of ignorance is frightening. My father, Salmaan Taseer, was murdered last January after he stood up for Aasia Noreen, a voiceless, forgotten Christian woman who had been sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy. My father, the governor of Punjab province at the time, believed that our country’s blasphemy laws had been misused; that far too frequently, they were taken advantage of to settle scores and personal vendettas.

http://www.sacw.net/article3208.html

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2. PAKISTAN: MALALA’S JOURNEY, AND MINE
by Foqia Sadiq Khan
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Echoes of "Bandookon Walay Dartay Hain Aik Nehatti Larki Say" (’Those with guns are scared of an unarmed young girl’) were reverberating in the air of Islamabad’s F-6 Super Market on the evening of 10th October, 2012. A sizeable crowd had gathered to vent their anger the day after the barbaric shooting of Malala Yousafzai in Swat. I have attended many such protests since the mid-1990s. But the kind of frustration, anger and helplessness that had charged the crowd for Malala was unprecedented.

http://www.sacw.net/article3210.html

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3. PAKISTAN: LUMS PETITION FOR DR. PERVEZ HOODBHOY ... PLEASE SIGN
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It has recently come to our knowledge that Dr Hoodbhoy will be leaving LUMS at the end of this term. Before any decision could be finalized, we, the student body, wanted to ensure that our voices regarding this matter are heard. As his students, Dr Hoodbhoy holds a very esteemed station for us. Not only is he an invaluable asset as an instructor but continues to be a mentor par excellence to all those students who seek his advise. His every lecture and talk has displayed his academic excellence and losing him would be a great loss for LUMS, especially for students.
We would like to respectfully request that his term be extended without any adverse change in conditions of his employment. Hopefully our opinions will also be taken under consideration.

http://chn.ge/Polchf

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4. SRI LANKA: TWO ONLINE PETITIONS AGAINST INTIMIDATION OF PROMINENT ACTIVISTS AND JOURNALISTS
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Contents:
- Stop Targetting Sri Lankan Human Rights Activists [regarding safety of Sunila Abeysekera and her targeted colleagues]
- Sri Lanka: Public threats and harassment against human rights defender Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

http://www.sacw.net/article3207.html

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5. SRI LANKA: LANDMARK SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT UPHOLDS JOURNALIST’S OWNERSHIP OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHS
by Dr. Wickrema Weerasooria
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In a ground breaking judgment – the first of its kind in Sri Lanka – which will especially interest proprietors and editors of newspapers, photographers and the media – a three judge bench of our Supreme Court recognized the "Economic Rights" of a newspaper journalist to nine exclusive photographs taken by him.

http://www.sacw.net/article3202.html

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6. CULTURE WORSHIP BY INDIAN FEMINISTS IS KILLING INDIA’S WOMEN
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Banerji argues that the De-politicization of of Indian women’s oppression stems from India’s own feminist movement. She asserts thatthe globally prominent Indian feminists, who are at the van-guard of India’s feminist movement have insisted to the world that the state of women in India cannot be interpreted in light of a political power struggle, like in the west, but need to be accepted and dealt with in a cultural context.

http://www.sacw.net/article3195.html

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7. INDIA:  SHAME, NOT HONOUR
by Syeda Hameed
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We need a standalone law to deal with honour killings
A beleaguered father walks up to a police officer to file a complaint about his missing daughter. What he is met with has shocked the nation. It has made headlines, attracted condemnation from notable institutions, raised demands for an immediate resignation — and rightly so. The suggestion of the DIG of Saharanpur, Satish Mathur, to Kaserwa village resident Shaukeen Mohammad, to shoot his minor daughter or commit suicide instead of trying to bring her back, is outrageous. It is reflective of a deeply institutionalised patriarchy that colours the khaki with hatred and prejudice, making gender-based stereotypes, discrimination and violence a subtext of every thought and action on the field.

http://www.sacw.net/article2684.html

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8. INDIA: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SYED KAZMI CASE
by Mukul Dube
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. . .that the granting of bail by the Supreme Court is being hailed as a victory by those who have spoken up for Kazmi. Others are thinking more carefully, however, and say that this "victory" is no more than Kazmi’s getting what is his right under the law. Some go beyond this and argue that the real victory will be to demand and ultimately force action against the policemen who arrested and detained a man without adequate reason or for no valid reason.

http://www.sacw.net/article3186.html

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9. KASHMIR: THE TRUTH LIES SIX FEET UNDER
by Baba Umar
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2,156 unidentified bodies in north Kashmir. The families want answers, but the J&K government is trying to give the issue a quiet burial. 

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main54.asp?filename=Ne271012TRUTH.asp

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10. INDIA: REPORT OF THE GROUP OF EXPERTS ON PRIVACY
(Chaired by Justice A P Shah, Former Chief Justice, Delhi High Court)
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Group of Experts Report on Privacy proposes a detailed framework that serves as the conceptual foundation for the Privacy Act for India. It identifies key privacy issues, while keeping in view the international landscape of privacy laws, global data flows and predominant privacy concerns with rapid technological advancements.

http://www.sacw.net/article3209.html

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11. INDIA: EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE AT DELHI UNIVERSITY  
by Mukul Mngalik
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It’s shock and awe as administrators, bureaucrats and capital are savaging the institution, destroying teaching, learning and research

http://tinyurl.com/9ng9o4w 


INTERNATIONAL

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12. ISRAELI POLL FINDS MAJORITY IN FAVOUR OF 'APARTHEID' POLICIES
by Harriet Sherwood
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(The Guardian, 23 October 2012)
Two-thirds say Palestinians should not be allowed to vote if West Bank was annexed, while three in four favour segregated roads
More than two-thirds of Israeli Jews say that 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank should be denied the right to vote if the area was annexed by Israel, in effect endorsing an apartheid state, according to an opinion poll reported in Haaretz.

Three out of four are in favour of segregated roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, and 58% believe Israel already practises apartheid against Palestinians, the poll found.

A third want Arab citizens within Israel to be banned from voting in elections to the country's parliament. Almost six out of 10 say Jews should be given preference to Arabs in government jobs, 49% say Jewish citizens should be treated better than Arabs, 42% would not want to live in the same building as Arabs and the same number do not want their children going to school with Arabs.

A commentary by Gideon Levy, which accompanied the results of the poll, described the findings as disturbing. "Israelis themselves … are openly, shamelessly and guiltlessly defining themselves as nationalistic racists," he wrote.

"It's good to live in this country, most Israelis say, not despite its racism, but perhaps because of it. If such a survey were released about the attitude to Jews in a European state, Israel would have raised hell. When it comes to us, the rules don't apply."

The poll was conducted by a public opinion firm, Dialog, and commissioned by the New Israel Fund, an organisation accused by rightwing critics of having an anti-Zionist agenda. Dialog interviewed 503 people out of an Israeli Jewish population of just under 6 million.

Talk of the possible annexation of the West Bank, or the main settlement blocks within it, has increased in recent months as expectations of a negotiated settlement to the conflict have sunk to an all-time low. Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, recently argued for the annexation of land between the internationally recognised Green Line and the Israeli-built separation barrier.

The poll results will bolster the claim of Israel's Arab citizens, who make up 20% of the population, that they suffer from racist discrimination. Almost half the poll's respondents said Israeli Arabs should be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, and a third said that Arab towns in Israel should be moved to the PA's jurisdiction in exchange for Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

According to the Haaretz report, the survey found that ultra-Orthodox Jews held the most extreme views about Arabs, with 70% supporting a legal ban on voting rights and 95% backing discrimination against Arabs in the workplace.


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