SACW - 10 April 2013 | Authoritarianism in Sri Lanka / Pakistan: dangers to electoral process/ India: Student Suicides; CPI(ML) Dissident's letter in 1972 ; Delhi Solidarity Vigil for Shahbagh

Tue Apr 9 17:09:12 EDT 2013

    South Asia Citizens Wire - 10 April 2013 - No. 2779
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Contents:
*    India: Student Suicides. Implead Petition of University Teachers at Andhra High Court
*    India: Open Letter from a CPI(ML) Dissident in 1972 (Dilip Simeon)
*    Solidarity Vigil for Bangladesh’s Shahbagh Movement held in Delhi - report and memo
*    India: Statement adopted at National Seminar on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
*    Pakistan: Apprehensions regarding electoral process - concerned citizens statement
*    The Miracles of Mao - A bizarre anthology of devotional literature
*    Mr. Modi Wants to Come to America
*    India: Fundamentalists mobilise in Calcutta in Solidarity with Bangladeshi War Criminals
*    Pakistan: Citizens groups urges state institutions to respect the democratic process
*    Fascism: Essays on Europe and India Edited by Jairus Banaji
*    Arjun Guneratne: The Constitutional Basis of Authoritarianism in Sri Lanka
*    Radioactive Cloud over Nuclear Renaissance: Prabir Purkayastha
*    Books reviewed: Afghanistan - The Way to Peace
*    Book Review: The Left and Political Islam (by Sumanta Banerjee)
*    India: Maruti Suzuki Workers Appeal from Jail
*    India - Sri Lanka: Keep chauvinism out of sport and politics; Cricket must be open to all foreign players
*    Pakistan - India: Activists demand release all the fishermen jailed in both countries
*    India: No Humans in Modi's "Development"
*    Bangladesh: 1971 - Re-emerging silences
*    Kolkata Muslim groups plan pro-Jamaat bandh, want Sheikh Haseena to quit
*    Preetika Rana: Why India Still Allows Marital Rape
*    India: Mega Nuclear Power Plant Raises Fear of Fukushima Type Disaster in India
*    Bangladesh Confers Friends of Liberation War Honour to 13 Pakistanis
*    Recent Posts On Communalism Watch:
      - Harbans Mukhia: Saffron’s diminishing returns
      - Full Text of the Nimesh Commission Report (PDF)-Hindi 
      - USA - India: overseas BJP arranged the private jet to fly american conservatives for Modi Darshan 
      - Ayodhya and Narasimha Rao (Book review by A G Noorani)
      - India: CSDS prof. Madhu Kishwar continues her propaganda drive for Modi
      - [1993 Mumbai] Two decades on, the inconvenient truth (by Meena Menon)
      - 1971 war crimes: In Kolkata, Islamists rally for genocide (by Praveen Swami)
      - Muslim Right : Baring Its True Fangs ! Why does it want to protect Razakars and Mass Murderers (by Subhash Gatade)
      - Myanmar Communal Violence- a Set back to Democratic Process (Ram Puniyani)
      + . . .

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INDIA: STUDENT SUICIDES. IMPLEAD PETITION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS AT ANDHRA HIGH COURT
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Text of the petition with which a group of retired and senior university teachers have impleaded themselves, as teachers, in the writ petition before the Andhra Pradesh High Court in India]
http://www.sacw.net/article4176.html

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India: Open Letter from a CPI(ML) Dissident in 1972
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PDF version of a letter authored by Dilip Simeon who had been member of Maoist party the CPI(ML), that appeared in February 1972 in the Red Mole. 
"Dear Comrades and Friends Abroad, In light of what has happened in the South Asian Region during the past twelve months, we wish to make some statements and ask some questions. . . . What took place in East Bengal in the first quarter of 1971was nothing but the bloody suppression of a people's mass and democratic movement by a gang of fascist, obscurantist and utterly foul madmen - and every adjective is carefully chosen.
http://sacw.net/article4164.html

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Solidarity Vigil for Bangladesh’s Shahbagh Movement held in Delhi - report and memo
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On the 9th of April 2013 a small solidarity vigil was held at the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi in support of the Shahbag protests. The vigigil was jointly organised by New Socialist Initiative (NSI), Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA), NISHANT, ANHAD, Krantikari Lok Adhikar Sangathan, Stree Mukti Sangathan. Text of the memorandum handed in to the Bangladesh authorities in Delhi is posted below
http://www.sacw.net/article4175.html

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India: Statement adopted at National Seminar on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
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The Indian Parliament enacted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in 1958 as an interim measure with the hope of suppressing the Naga Nationalist Struggle, the only such movement in the North East at that time. It was gradually extended to other North Eastern States and then in 1990 to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is to-date the single most direct instrument violating the democratic rights of the people of the North East and of Jammu and Kashmir. 
http://sacw.net/article4162.html

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Pakistan: Apprehensions regarding electoral process - concerned citizens statement
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concerned citizens belonging to the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, including writers, poets, artists, journalists, public policy experts, political activists and human rights defenders, in a joint statement have expressed their apprehension on the current electoral process being undertaken by the Election Commission of Pakistan and unnecessarily led by the superior judiciary.
http://sacw.net/article4155.html

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The Miracles of Mao - A bizarre anthology of devotional literature
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Marxism claims to offer a materialist approach to history, where class relations and the forces of technology are given more importance than the doings of individuals. In practice, however, political regimes based on professedly Marxist principles have indulged in an unprecedented worship of their leaders.
http://sacw.net/article4148.html

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Mr. Modi Wants to Come to America
by Vijay Prashad
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It is well worth going back to a meeting that Modi had with US Consul General in Mumbai, Michael Owen, on November 16, 2006 (in the Wikileaks cache). Modi grumbled that the entire fracas over the visa denial was the work of “fringe NGOs” and those with “an axe to grind.” He wanted to talk about his accomplishments in office, mainly increased funds for infrastructure and easier licensing for investment. Owen said that he agreed with these “positive accomplishments,” but said that these do not diminish “the importance of holding people accountable” for the violence of 2002.
http://sacw.net/article4144.html

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India: Fundamentalists mobilise in Calcutta in Solidarity with Bangladeshi War Criminals
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It is worrying that West Bengal's political class remained tactical spectators to the Kolkata rally organised by Muslim groups in support of Bangladeshi war criminals
http://sacw.net/article4143.html

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Pakistan: Citizens groups urges state institutions to respect the democratic process
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We, members of public, civil society, professional bodies and trade unions, express strong disapproval of the tactics being used to push the election process in a certain direction.
http://sacw.net/article4145.html

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Fascism: Essays on Europe and India Edited by Jairus Banaji
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The victory of fascism in Europe between the wars was an incalculable human catastrophe. This collection of essays contains the first-ever English translation of Arthur Rosenberg's fascinating analysis of the emergence of fascism in Europe, as well as a short introduction to the essay that explains its significance, and then four contributions that extend the framework to India – dealing in turn with Savarkar and the politics of the Hindu Mahasabha (Srinivasan), communalism as the Indian version of fascism and its roots in the majoritarian ideologies of the nation-state (Simeon), and the fascism of the Sangh Parivar as this had emerged by the early '90s when concerted communal mobilisations unleashed a spate of violence, foreshadowing the even more horrific events of 2002 (Sumit Sarkar). Unlike most left-wing theories of fascism, Rosenberg's work made the mass base of fascism central to its political success.
http://sacw.net/article4112.html

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Arjun Guneratne: The Constitutional Basis of Authoritarianism in Sri Lanka
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If Sri Lanka has anything to teach its neighbors, it is that a long tradition of democracy and a politically intelligent and literate electorate are not proof against the promulgation of bad constitutions, which promote practices of government that, because of their very constitutionality, are resistant to democratic change.
http://sacw.net/article4111.html

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Radioactive Cloud over Nuclear Renaissance: Prabir Purkayastha
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Only the very foolish will argue that Fukushima's near meltdown in 3 reactors and a fire in the fuel holding pond of the 4th does not warrant a re-look at the nuclear energy polices of the world or of the country.
http://sacw.net/article4086.html

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Books reviewed: Afghanistan - The Way to Peace
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A very strange idea has spread in the Western media concerning Afghanistan: that the US military is withdrawing from the country next year, and that the present Afghan war has therefore entered into an “endgame.” The use of these phrases reflects a degree of unconscious wishful thinking that amounts to collective self-delusion.
http://sacw.net/article4087.html

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Book Review: The Left and Political Islam
by Sumanta Banerjee
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Historically, communists had a rather tenuous relationship with the Muslim right. In the first flush of the Bolshevik Revolution, the new Soviet state in the early 1920s, while resisting the western imperialist offensive, sought allies from among the pan-Islamic forces which were then smarting under the wound of the defeat of their Ottoman empire by the British forces at the end of the first world war, and were looking for a platform to retaliate against the British.
http://sacw.net/article4092.html

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India: Maruti Suzuki Workers Appeal from Jail
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We are workers of Maruti Suzuki, who are behind bars since 18.07.2012 as part of a conspiracy, and without any just investigation. 147 of us are inside Gurgaon Central Jail. Since July, 2500 permanent and contract workers have been terminated from our jobs. In these past more than 8 months, we have sent our appeal to almost all administrative officials and elected representatives, including Chief Minister Haryana and the Prime Minister of India. But neither have our appeals been heard nor have we been granted bail.
http://sacw.net/article4064.html

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India - Sri Lanka: Keep chauvinism out of sport and politics; Cricket must be open to all foreign players
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Recent editorials from The Hindu and Deccan Herald about the rising fallout on India Sri Lanka relations given the nature of dangerous competition between political forces in Tamil Nadu that seem to be instrumentalising human rights issues in Sri Lanka. A fanatic fringe seems intent on hijacking the protest movement in Tamil Nadu against Sri Lanka's treatment of its Tamil citizens.
http://sacw.net/article4061.html

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Pakistan - India: Activists demand release all the fishermen jailed in both countries
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KARACHI – Pakistani fishermen organisations activists and Indian human right activist and journalist have demanded the Pakistan and Indian governments release all the fishermen jailed in both countries. Mohammad Ali Shah, chairperson of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Jatin Desai, senior journalist from Mumbai, India and Karamat Ali, Executive Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) while addressing a joint press conference at the Press Club on Monday said the arrest of Pakistani and Indian fishermen had intensified in the recent months after violations at the Line of Control (LOC).
http://sacw.net/article4058.html

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India: No Humans in Modi's "Development"
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Narendra Modi of the RSS is an ambitious man who seems to want to become the prime minister of the country. His propaganda machine never speaks of the violence in 2002 in the state he ruled and rules, but it constantly plugs his hand in its development. I do not propose here to question the claims of development that he makes or which are made for him. Better qualified people have done that and have shown that these claims are based on sleight of hand or on outright lies. I shall only look at the meaning of this development business in Modi's lexicon.
http://sacw.net/article4062.html

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Bangladesh: 1971 - Re-emerging silences
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Who is a muktijoddha? It seems apparent.. any one who has fought for the freedom of Bangladesh. But was it and is it so apparent. Many discourses and contestations are rife in Bangladesh. Our muktijoddhas were not only our “damal chelera” (our gallant boys) but also their mothers who cooked for them, sisters who hid their weapons. Were not birangonas or war heroines, muktijoddhas too? Finally, shahids too were muktijoddhas, including those who fought not with guns but their thoughts!
http://sacw.net/article4051.html

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Kolkata Muslim groups plan pro-Jamaat bandh, want Sheikh Haseena to quit
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Muslim outfits along with Human Rights Association are planning to hold a demonstration in Kolkata on March 30 demanding the stepping down of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Haseena amid the war crime tribunal's verdicts against Jamaat-e-Islami's leaders in connection with the atrocities committed by them during 1971's Liberation War
http://sacw.net/article4049.html

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Preetika Rana: Why India Still Allows Marital Rape
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In early 2000, for instance, two-thirds of married Indian women surveyed by the United Nations Population Fund claimed to have been forced into sex by their husbands.
http://sacw.net/article4050.html

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India: Mega Nuclear Power Plant Raises Fear of Fukushima Type Disaster in India
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Bhagwat Singh Gohil frets for the future of his bountiful orchards in Mithi Virdi village in western Gujarat state's coastal district Bhavnagar. “After contending with droughts, rough seas and earthquakes we are staring at the possibility of a man-made disaster in the shape of a nuclear power park.”
http://sacw.net/article4046.html

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Bangladesh Confers Friends of Liberation War Honour to 13 Pakistanis
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Bangladesh has awarded 13 Pakistani friends for their contribution during the war in 1971. According to the Bangladesh government, these Pakistani nationals raised their voice for the freedom of Bangladesh against all the odds in their home country, which attacked unarmed Bangladeshis on the night of March 25, 1971.
http://sacw.net/article4028.html

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INDIA: RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/
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Harbans Mukhia: Saffron’s diminishing returns
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/harbans-mukhia-saffrons-diminishing.html

Full Text of the Nimesh Commission Report (PDF)-Hindi 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/full-text-of-nimesh-commission-report.html

USA - India: overseas BJP arranged the private jet to fly american conservatives for Modi Darshan 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/usa-india-overseas-bjp-arrended-private.html

Ayodhya and Narasimha Rao (Book review by A G Noorani)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/ayodhya-and-narasimha-rao-book-review.html

India: CSDS prof. Madhu Kishwar continues her propaganda drive for Modi
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-csds-prof-madhu-kishwar-continues.html

[1993 Mumbai] Two decades on, the inconvenient truth (by Meena Menon)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/1993-mumbai-two-decades-on-inconvenient.html

1971 war crimes: In Kolkata, Islamists rally for genocide (by Praveen Swami)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/1971-war-crimes-in-kolkata-islamists.html 

Muslim Right : Baring Its True Fangs ! Why does it want to protect Razakars and Mass Murderers (by Subhash Gatade)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/muslim-right-bearing-its-true-fangs-why.html

Myanmar Communal Violence- a Set back to Democratic Process (Ram Puniyani)
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/myanmar-communal-violence-by-ram.html

India: Hate speeches hurting country’s secular character: SC 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/india-hate-speeches-hurting-countrys.html

Bombay: Hindu outfit forces artist to take painting off exhibition 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/bombay-hindu-outfit-forces-artist-to.html

Bangladesh: Hefajat wants blasphemy law 
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/bangladesh-hefajat-wants-blasphemy-law.html

Bangladesh: Women denied entry to Hifazat -e Islam rally area - assault on some journalists
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/bangladesh-women-denied-entry-to.html

Online Petition to Indian Voters: Hold Chief Minister Narendra Modi accountable for human rights violations 
https://www.change.org/petitions/indian-voters-hold-chief-minister-narendra-modi-accountable-for-human-rights-violations-4

VHP will declare Gujarat a Hindu state by 2015: Pravin Togadia
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/04/vhp-will-declare-gujarat-hindu-state-by.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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