SACW - 6 March 2013 | Bangladesh - Shahbag: Far Right vs Rest / Pakistan: war on Shias / India: critique of Budget & University; Dilsukhnagar Bombings/ Sri Lanka: Sinhalisation?

Tue Mar 5 15:34:26 EST 2013

South Asia Citizens Wire - 06 March 2013 - No. 2775
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Contents:

1. Bangladesh: History is hard work, but are we willing? (Naeem Mohaiemen) 
2. Bangladesh: State must protect minorities from political violence - select editorials & reports
3. Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh (Pankaj Karmakar and Nurul Amin)
4. Bangladesh: I condemn all violence [Poem]
5. Bangladesh and the recovery of history (Deb Mukharji)
6. Bangladesh: Instead of the death penalty, the protesters at Shahbag should be demanding fair trials (David Bergman)
7. Bangladesh: 'Why I support Shahbag' - Taslima Nasrin
8. Bangladesh: Parsa S Sajid on Questions about Shahbagh
9. South Asia - India:  Murder of a Tamil child (Praful Bidwai)
10. Sri Lanka: The Political Economy of Anti-Muslim Attacks (Ahilan Kadirgamar)
11. Sri Lanka: A monk leads mob violence at Maligawatta with the connivance of the police
12. Pakistan Hunting down Shias: Society’s deafening silence (Maheen Usmani)
13. Pakistan debate about 'curriculum of hate' continues
14. India: Union budget 2013-2014 - responses by labour & social movements
15. India: Delhi University Four Year Programme - A Critique by teachers
16. India: Recent Posts on Communalism Watch 
   - India: Understanding What's Behind Dilsukhnagar Bombings In Hyderabad - Biju Mathew
   - India: Dangerous Portends - Prime Minister 2014 - M Hasan Jowher
   - India: Past And Present of Violence In Mumbai - Book Review by Mahtab Alam 
   - India - Karnataka: Kannada writer S.L. Bhyrappa finds himself reduced to a Hindutva mascot
   - India- Gujarat: 11 years after riots — a cameo from Gulberg Society (Darshan Desai)
   - Tunisia's ruling ennahdha party statement in solidarity with Bangladesh war criminal Sheikh Delwar Hossain Sayedee
   - Well known Muslim organisations in India oppose war crimes trial and express solidarity with Jamaat e Islami in Bangladesh 
   - Video: India's Jamaat-e-Islami denounces war crimes trials in Bangladesh
   - Center for Inquiry paper on Religious Fundamentalism in the U.S. Military   
17. International - General: Celibacy in an intensively sexualised world is a curious anomaly (Jeremy Seabrook)

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1. BANGLADESH: HISTORY IS HARD WORK, BUT ARE WE WILLING?
by Naeem Mohaiemen
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There is a particular way of lensing mass movements, when we are observing from within immediate tactics. In a fast moving situation, with opponents and allies squared off, the first thing to shrink is the space for internal critique. Professor Azfar Hussain uses the term "critical solidarity" for his approach to the issue of 1971 and http://www.sacw.net/article3842.html

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2. BANGLADESH: STATE MUST PROTECT MINORITIES FROM POLITICAL VIOLENCE - SELECT EDITORIALS & REPORTS
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Posted below are editorials and reports from Bangladesh newspapers in wake of huge wave of Islamist violence against the state and ordinary citizens and most notably violence against minorities.
http://www.sacw.net/article3839.html

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3. PANKAJ KARMAKAR AND NURUL AMIN: ATTACKS ON HINDUS IN BANGLADESH
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The Hindu families having survived the onslaught from anti-liberation elements now wonder what protection they have in this country. As the religious minorities in some remote pockets of Chittagong and Noakhali try to come to terms with Thursday's barbaric attacks on their homesteads and temples, there is no let-up in the assaults at other places including Barisal, Bagerhat and Gazipur.Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad has demanded the government act immediately to resist 
http://www.sacw.net/article3824.html 

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4. BANGLADESH: I CONDEMN ALL VIOLENCE [A POEM]
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I condemn the violence carried out by West Pakistanis over Bengalis who were fighting to establish their right to speak their language. . . .I know that if I shout ‘fashi chai' today it dehumanizes me. If today I ask my son to shout ‘fashi chai', 10 years from now if he does anything violent, I will be responsible for it. I will be responsible for planting the seed of violence into his mind.
http://www.sacw.net/article3829.html

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5. DEB MUKHARJI: BANGLADESH AND THE RECOVERY OF HISTORY
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The author is former Indian ambassador to Nepal and Bangladesh
Bangladesh is presently witnessing widespread upsurge of student power focused on the war-crimes trial of some of those accused of crimes against their fellow citizens in 1971. The faultlines in the history of Bangladesh lie exposed after 41 years. Verdicts on the trial of the first two of those charged with heinous crimes against the people in 1971 evoked widespread protests and strikes by the Jamaat-e-Islami, whose leading (...) 
http://www.sacw.net/article3821.html

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6. BANGLADESH: INSTEAD OF THE DEATH PENALTY, THE PROTESTERS AT SHAHBAG SHOULD BE DEMANDING FAIR TRIALS
by David Bergman
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Instead of the death penalty, the protesters at Shahbag should be demanding fair trials for those accused of war crimes in 1971. A peaceful mass secular protest involving people from all walks of life, spearheaded by a tech savvy young generation, apparently independent from political parties, seeking accountability for war crimes committed in 1971. This has been Shahbag, a square in the centre of Dhaka, Bangladesh, an (almost) non-stop protest since February 5.
http://www.sacw.net/article3819.html

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7. BANGLADESH: 'WHY I SUPPORT SHAHBAG' - TASLIMA NASRIN
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Having keenly observed the Tahrir Square revolution and the eventual victory of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamists in Egypt, I no longer get easily impressed by crowd-sourced movements. So when crowds gathered at Shahbagh in Dhaka, I was apprehensive. Since February 5, protesters at Shahbagh have been demanding the death penalty for Abdul Qader Mollah, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes committed during the 1971 War of Liberation. 
http://www.sacw.net/article3818.html

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8. BANGLADESH: PARSA S SAJID ON QUESTIONS ABOUT SHAHBAGH
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The stain of genocide that still haunts Bangladesh can't be erased with stains of revenge and show trials. Or by our refusal to acknowledge the ‘others' amongst us, be it the adibashis or voices of dissent. We cannot challenge intolerance with intolerance, parochialism with more parochialism. We can and should do better
http://www.sacw.net/article3816.html

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9. SOUTH ASIA - INDIA: MURDER OF A TAMIL CHILD
by Praful Bidwai
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India has failed to fashion a coherent, balanced and self-confident response to its turbulent neighbourhood. Leave aside Pakistan, India's policy towards Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar and Nepal looks confused, indecisive or inept. This has eroded India's influence and legitimacy in these ‘Gujral Doctrine' countries, with whom it pledged to “go the extra mile” to improve relations without demanding reciprocity.
http://www.sacw.net/article3820.html

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10. SRI LANKA: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ANTI-MUSLIM ATTACKS
by Ahilan Kadirgamar
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The Muslim community is under attack. There have been increasing reports of attacks on mosques and shops owned by Muslims as part of a broader hate campaign against Muslims. The attack on the Dambulla Khairya Jummah mosque in April 2012 saw a decisive shift in the scale of these attacks. This act of violence was built on anti-Muslim rhetoric and a nascent campaign that had been simmering for years.
http://www.sacw.net/article3845.html

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11. SRI LANKA: A MONK LEADS MOB VIOLENCE AT MALIGAWATTA WITH THE CONNIVANCE OF THE POLICE
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Many attacks on civilians by the Bodu Bala Sena have been reported, including attacks on the places of worship belonging to other religions. The Bodu Bala Sena has become the expression of the widespread lawlessness in the country.
http://www.sacw.net/article3854.html

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12. PAKISTAN HUNTING DOWN SHIAS: SOCIETY’S DEAFENING SILENCE
by Maheen Usmani
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Hauled off buses, targeted in their clinics, on boulevards, in alleys, in shops, in offices, in processions and pilgrimages, is there any place left safe for Shias in Pakistan?
http://www.sacw.net/article3843.html

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13. PAKISTAN DEBATE ABOUT 'CURRICULUM OF HATE' CONTINUES
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Government-sanctioned textbooks across Pakistan contain numerous examples of anti-minority and anti-Western language, prompting activists to encourage teachers to stop using them.
http://www.sacw.net/article3815.html

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14. INDIA: UNION BUDGET 2013-2014 - RESPONSES BY LABOUR & SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
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Text of statements by NTUI, NAPM and Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements and National Alliance of People's Movements to Protest Land Grab and Neglect of Agriculture
http://www.sacw.net/article3817.html

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15. INDIA: DELHI UNIVERSITY FOUR YEAR PROGRAMME - A CRITIQUE BY TEACHERS
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We are deeply shocked and disturbed by the unacademic and anti student structure of the proposed 4 year Undergraduate Programme that the University seeks to introduce from July 2013. It is not in consonance with the National Policy of 10+2+3 on education. Further, there is no democratic representation of College teachers in syllabus making.
http://www.sacw.net/article3827.html

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16. INDIA: RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/
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INDIA: UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S BEHIND DILSUKHNAGAR BOMBINGS IN HYDERABAD - BIJU MATHEW
If we take these local histories of bombs and communalism and weave it alongside the understanding of DSN, a new and more nuanced understanding of what is at play becomes possible. DSN is what in Hindustani would be called “RSS ka ghad” – an RSS stronghold. In pre-47 Hyderabad, the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS established itself in what was then the eastern edge of the city — Barkatpura/Kacheguda, Sultan Bazaar, Nimboliadda, Esamiabazaar and Malakpet. This was the heartland of the Marathi Brahmin settlement in the city, cheek by jowl with the first wave of Telangana zamindars coming into the city. Even today the Hyderabad headquarters of the RSS is in Barkatpura and the only Veer Sarvakar statue in the city is at Kacheguda chowrasta. The oldest RSS schools – such as Keshav Memorial – and their bookstores are all in these neighborhoods.
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-understanding-whats-behind.html

INDIA: DANGEROUS PORTENDS - PRIME MINISTER 2014 - M HASAN JOWHER
On the 11th anniversary of Godhra carnage, this article argues why development is neither sufficient nor appropriate criteria for Narendra Modi to become India’s next Prime Minister, and how it becomes susceptible to blackmail and risks discord and disintegration, if he does.
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-dangerous-portends-prime-minister.html

INDIA: PAST AND PRESENT OF VIOLENCE IN MUMBAI - BOOK REVIEW BY MAHTAB ALAM 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-past-and-present-of-violence-in.html

INDIA - KARNATAKA: KANNADA WRITER S.L. BHYRAPPA FINDS HIMSELF REDUCED TO A HINDUTVA MASCOT
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/kannada-writer-sl-bhyrappa-finds.html

INDIA- GUJARAT: 11 YEARS AFTER RIOTS — A CAMEO FROM GULBERG SOCIETY (DARSHAN DESAI)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/11-years-after-riots-cameo-from-gulberg.html

TUNISIA'S RULING ENNAHDHA PARTY STATEMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH BANGLADESH WAR CRIMINAL SHEIKH DELWAR HOSSAIN SAYEDEE
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/tunisias-ruling-ennahdha-party.html

WELL KNOWN MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS IN INDIA OPPOSE WAR CRIMES TRIAL AND EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH JAMAAT E ISLAMI IN BANGLADESH 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/well-known-muslim-organisations-in.html

VIDEO: INDIA'S JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI DENOUNCES WAR CRIMES TRIALS IN BANGLADESH
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/video-indias-jamaat-e-islami-denounces.html 

CENTER FOR INQUIRY PAPER ON RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM IN THE U.S. MILITARY 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/center-for-inquiry-paper-on-religious.html

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17. JEREMY SEABROOK: CELIBACY IN AN INTENSIVELY SEXUALISED WORLD IS A CURIOUS ANOMALY
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Pity the Catholic clergy, of whom are demanded forms of abstinence and self-denial, which were, in less enlightened times, widespread, but which have been superseded by the altered sensibility of our time. The modern world knows that sex is the mainspring of all human activity; that it is something to get, to have and to search for; a commodity a bit like money, in that no one can ever quite obtain enough of it.
http://www.sacw.net/article3840.html

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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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