SACW - 13 Feb 2013 | Sri Lanka: Militarisation / Bangladesh: religion in politics & death penalty / India: Perfect Democracy They Cant Arrest Togadia / Pakistan: Corruption / Afghan poll cash / Egypt sexual terror / Cambridge Debate / North Korea

Tue Feb 12 17:21:20 EST 2013

South Asia Citizens Wire - 13 February 2013 - No. 2771
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Contents:
    Sri Lanka: The Military Expansion into Education
    Bangladesh: "Shahbag should be about banning ‘religion in politics’, not death" - Lubna Marium
    Bangladesh 1971: Addressing Claims of War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. (Kean University 2009)    
    India: Letter from Afzal Guru’s Lawyers to Director General of Prisons on behalf of Afzal’s family
    India: No room for ‘others' (Nandini Sundar)
    Events in Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Colombo for One Billion Rising - 14 February 2013
    Statements by Disarmament Groups Condemn the Third Nuclear Test by North Korea
    Gagging Mickey Mouse
    India: Shocking case of illegal confinement by police of senior journalist - all round condemnation by media bodies
    Cambridge Union Debate: Is Religion compatible with 21st Century life?
    India: Invisible World of Domestic Workers Exposed at the Public Hearing
    Global Protest Against Sexual Terrorism Practiced on Egyptian Female Protestors - 12 February 2013
    Inge Fryklund: Afghan poll cash goes to waste
    Why Sir Syed loses and Allama Iqbal wins in Pakistan
    Book Review: The Power of Promise - Examining Nuclear Energy in India by M V Ramana
    India: PUCL Press Statement on the Arrest of Sri Dandapani Mohanty
    Pakistan: Culture, Corruption and the Hereafter
    Arundhati Roy: A perfect day for democracy
    India: Open letter re police misconduct at Delhi university protest — sexual abuse, violence and initimidation
    India: 'Police Can't Arrest Togadia' 

India: Selected Posts On Communalism Watch: 
    The far right in France is now mainstream (Aurelien Mondon)
    'Non-consensual intercourse within marriage is not rape' says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
    Leki Thungon: Rape, Race and Misogynist Nationalism(s)
    Hindu Far Right Group attacks Karnataka Paper Karavali Ale for report linking rightwing group to narcotics sales
    India: No new units based on caste or religion in the Army
    Turn away from the trivial - Syeda Hamid
    सांप्रदायिकता का खतरा [The threat of communalism] - Kuldeep Nayar
    Revisiting the riots of '93 - Role of the Media
    An account of the clash between protestors agitating Afzal Guru's hanging and Bajrang Dal activists at Delhi's Jantar Mantar (9 Feb 2013)
    India: TV networks recieve legal notice from RSS chief Bhagwat for 'false reporting'

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SRI LANKA: THE MILITARY EXPANSION INTO EDUCATION
by Shamala Kumar
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This article explores the nature of militarisation and forms of repression in the educational sector of Sri Lanka in recent years, with a special focus on higher education.
http://www.sacw.net/article3710.html

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BANGLADESH: "Shahbag should be about banning ‘religion in politics’, not death" - Lubna Marium
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Lubna Marium participated in the 1971 liberation war by working in the Refugee Camps and later an Advance Dressing Center of Sector 7, with her mother Sultana Zaman and sister Naila Khan. Here she shares her thoughts on Shahbag.
http://www.sacw.net/article3709.html

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EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF PAKISTAN’S 1971 GENOCIDE IN BANGLADESH
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Bangladesh 1971: Addressing Claims of War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Recorded at Wilkins Theater at Kean University on 18 October, 2009
http://www.sacw.net/article3706.html

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INDIA: LETTER FROM AFZAL GURU’S LAWYERS TO DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PRISONS ON BEHALF OF AFZAL’S FAMILY
by N. D. Pancholi, Nandita Haksar
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copy of the letter addressed to DG Prisons on behalf of family of Afzal Guru requesting for (1) belongings of Afzal, allowing to say prayer at the grave and for handing over his body to family
http://www.sacw.net/article3705.html

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INDIA: NO ROOM FOR ‘OTHERS’
by Nandini Sundar
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When Kashmiris say they don’t feel part of India, they are only reiterating a truth that Indian politicians and governments voice all the time. What else does it mean when politicians and large sections of the media talk of how happy ‘Indians’ are at the hanging of Afzal Guru, when his execution is touted as a cathartic closure for ‘India’. We are told that the ‘Law’ has taken its course, the ‘Law has come full circle’. Where is this law when the widows of Delhi 1984 are still waiting for justice — and people like HKL Bhagat have died before they could be hung (not that this was ever a worry for him); when the murderers of Gujarat 2002 are still roaming free, and having the EU and others cosy up to their government?
http://www.sacw.net/article3703.html

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 Events in Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Colombo for One Billion Rising - 14 February 2013
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http://www.sacw.net/article3702.html

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Statements by Disarmament Groups Condemn the Third Nuclear Test by North Korea
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Press releases by ICAN, People for Nuclear Disarmament, Human Survival Project and The Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific
http://www.sacw.net/article3700.html

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GAGGING MICKEY MOUSE
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MARTYN Whittock’s recent chronicle of Nazi Germany offers “ a bizarre insight ( into) the fate of Mickey Mouse under the Third Reich”. People in India cavil at the comparison between ‘ Hindutva’ India and Nazi Germany. True we are not in a declared on- going war although some Hindutva ideologues think we are. Muslim and other groups are also censorial. But they pale away when compared with the ferocity of Hindutva intolerance. Pakistani artists like Mehdi Hasan are not allowed to perform in India — more so than Michael Jackson who went to meet ‘ the’ Shiv Sena supremo for permission.
http://www.sacw.net/article3699.html

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INDIA: SHOCKING CASE OF ILLEGAL CONFINEMENT BY POLICE OF SENIOR JOURNALIST - ALL ROUND CONDEMNATION BY MEDIA BODIES
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reports & commentary in the media on the illegal detention of the Delhi journalist Iftikhar Gilani and his family by police in plain clothes
http://www.sacw.net/article3698.html

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Cambridge Union Debate: Is Religion compatible with 21st Century life?
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Is Religion compatible with 21st Century life? How can it be made to fit with modern laws and values? Even if it might be compatible, does it actually do more harm than good?
http://www.sacw.net/article3697.html

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INDIA: INVISIBLE WORLD OF DOMESTIC WORKERS EXPOSED AT THE PUBLIC HEARING
by NAPM
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a public hearing on the theme ’Women in the Unorganised (Unprotected) Sector in the Era of Globalization’ organised by Shahri Mahila Kaamgar Union, an affiliate of National Alliance of People’s Movements. The hearing was attended by nearly 250 domestic workers from Gautampuri, Rohini, Faridabad,and other colonies of Delhi and some others from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
http://www.sacw.net/article3696.html

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GLOBAL PROTEST AGAINST SEXUAL TERRORISM PRACTICED ON EGYPTIAN FEMALE PROTESTORS - 12 FEBRUARY 2013
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On 12 February 2013 there is a call for a Global protest to denounce all forms of sexual violence on Egyptian women, we all know the escalation of harassment and assaults is getting out on control and this is one way to show rejection to it. Its the 1st worldwide protest in over 20 cities and capitals to support Egyptian women
http://www.sacw.net/article3695.html

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INGE FRYKLUND: AFGHAN POLL CASH GOES TO WASTE
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All Afghan elections to date have been bankrolled - and largely organized - by international donors. In advance of 2014, Afghans and donors alike need to decide what to do to stage a credible presidential election and what can realistically be done given the timetable and costs.
http://www.sacw.net/article3694.html

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WHY SIR SYED LOSES AND ALLAMA IQBAL WINS IN PAKISTAN
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
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In the battle for Pakistan’s soul, Sir Syed’s rational approach ultimately lost out and the Allama’s call on emotive reasoning won. Iqbal said what people wanted to hear — and his genius lay in crafting it with beautifully chosen words. Unfortunately, his prescriptions for reconstructing society cannot help us in digging ourselves out of a hole.
http://www.sacw.net/article3691.html

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BOOK REVIEW: THE POWER OF PROMISE - EXAMINING NUCLEAR ENERGY IN INDIA BY M V RAMANA
by Praful Bidwai
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The two pillars of the DAE’s power, Ramana argues, are the promise or future projection of limitless energy, and the deadly attraction of the power to annihilate contained in nuclear weapons. The state seeks legitimacy through these two intimately connected parts of the nuclear programme. An elaborate charade rationalises its economic and political investment in nuclear power. Ramana shows how the DAE was crafted and run as an institution unanswerable to Parliament and the public. It abuses its power to mess up everything from uranium mining to spent-fuel reprocessing, violates its own safety norms, makes extravagant claims about developing technologies indigenously while importing/borrowing them, and hides major elements of generation costs through cheap accounting tricks.
http://www.sacw.net/article3693.html

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INDIA: PUCL PRESS STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF SRI DANDAPANI MOHANTY
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People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemns the arrest of Sri Dandapani Mohanty, who acted as one of the interlocutors on behalf of the Maoists, both in the abduction of Malkangiri Collector and that of the two Italian tourists. The way the Odisha police arrested Sri Mohanty, violating all rules pertaining to arrest and detention, shows its highhandedness and utter disregard for the law of the land. Moreover, Sri Mohanty’s arrest at this juncture raises several questions which the Odisha government must answer.
http://www.sacw.net/article3692.html

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PAKISTAN: CULTURE, CORRUPTION AND THE HEREAFTER
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
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    Some readers, whose intelligence I respect, took my last op-ed to be dismissive of corruption as a cause of Pakistan’s social decay. I apologise for having failed to express myself adequately: I certainly do not dispute that Pakistan is reaping the terrible consequences of wholesale corruption. Corruption, by definition, expropriates that which rightfully belongs to others. By doing so, it hurts the poor more than the rich, lowers productivity, creates mistrust of authority, breaks down the social contract and leads towards ungovernability. We all know that the average Pakistani is frustrated and that he encounters corruption while reporting a crime, seeking justice in a traffic accident, getting an electricity or gas connection, securing admission to school for children, or getting a business contract signed. We have kunda mafias, tanker mafias, and mafias of all shapes and forms that raise the collective blood pressure.
http://www.sacw.net/article3690.html

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ARUNDHATI ROY: A PERFECT DAY FOR DEMOCRACY
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Wasn’t it? Yesterday I mean. Spring announced itself in Delhi. The sun was out, and the Law took its Course. Just before breakfast, Afzal Guru, prime accused in the 2001 Parliament Attack was secretly hanged, and his body was interred in Tihar Jail. Was he buried next to Maqbool Butt? (The other Kashmiri who was hanged in Tihar in 1984. Kashmiris will mark that anniversary tomorrow.) Afzal’s wife and son were not informed. “The Authorities intimated the family through Speed Post and Registered Post,” the Home Secretary told the press, “the Director General of J&K Police has been told to check whether they got it or not.” No big deal, they’re only the family of a Kashmiri terrorist.
http://www.sacw.net/article3689.html

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INDIA: OPEN LETTER RE POLICE MISCONDUCT AT DELHI UNIVERSITY PROTEST — SEXUAL ABUSE, VIOLENCE AND INITIMIDATION
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We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, are shocked by the reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence perpetrated by the police (in tacit association with some supporters of Narendra Modi), through its words, gestures and actions, on students who were protesting outside Shri Ram College of Commerce and at Maurice Nagar Police Station on February 6, 2013.
http://www.sacw.net/article3687.html

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INDIA: ’POLICE CAN’T ARREST TOGADIA’
by Subhash Gatade
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Mr Praveen Togadia, the international secretary general of VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) is sitting pretty. It has been more than a week that a FIR has been filed against him for his alleged hatespeech in Bhokar town but since then there has been no progress. A newsitem which appeared in a leading daily mentioned in the beginning describes the game of ping pong which is going on between the police officials and the home minister over l’affaire Togadia.
http://www.sacw.net/article3688.html

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INDIA: RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/

    The far right in France is now mainstream (Aurelien Mondon)
    'Non-consensual intercourse within marriage is not rape' says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
    Leki Thungon: Rape, Race and Misogynist Nationalism(s)
    Hindu Far Right Group attacks Karnataka Paper Karavali Ale for report linking rightwing group to narcotics sales
    India: No new units based on caste or religion in the Army
    Turn away from the trivial - Syeda Hamid
    सांप्रदायिकता का खतरा [The threat of communalism] - Kuldeep Nayar
    Revisiting the riots of '93 - Role of the Media
    An account of the clash between protestors agitating Afzal Guru's hanging and Bajrang Dal activists at Delhi's Jantar Mantar (9 Feb 2013)
    India: TV networks recieve legal notice from RSS chief Bhagwat for 'false reporting'

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