SACW - 11 Dec 2013 | Nepal Conflict Report / Sri Lanka: Muttur masscre report / Pakistan: I Am Malala ; visas / India: Gujarat Snoopgate ; Bhopal disaster 29 years on; Babri Mosque demolition; Communal Violence Bill / Nelson Mandela / Fukushima / UK: sex segregation in universities

Tue Dec 10 12:18:03 EST 2013

South Asia Citizens Wire - 11 December 2013 - No. 2801 
[year 15]
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Contents:

1. The Nepal Conflict Report by the United Nations
2. Sri Lanka: Action Contre le Faim report on the Muttur massacre of aid workers
3. Pakistan: I Am Malala - Book Review (Pervez Hoodbhoy)
4. India: A Symphony of the Absurd (Ambrose Pinto)
5. India: Moral policing shuts art exhibition by Balbir Krishan at the Muse Gallery, Hyderabad - Statement by SAHMAT
6. India: CPM Should Learn from Late PC Joshi and Not from Mulayam Singh Yadav (Daya Varma, Vinod Mubayi)
7. India: A citizens’ guide to governance and development strategy (CSD)
8. Statement On the Occasion of the 29th Anniversary of The Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster
9. Audio: From Karachi to Tunis, Kabul to Tehran, ordinary Muslims are risking death to combat the rising tide of fundamentalism | Karima Bennoune 
10. India: Posters on 21st Anniversary of Babari Mosque demolition (HK)
11. India: Prof Irfan Habib's remark on AMU minority character causes stir
12. Video recording of a public discussion: what is wrong and what is right with Pakistan
13. Video: Hannah Arendt's Disruptive Truth Telling
14. British universities shouldn't condone this kind of gender segregation (Polly Toynbee)
15. Sex segregation in UK universities – a step forward for the Muslim religious right (Marieme Helie Lucas)
16. Pakistan: The effects of class segregation (Kamila Hyat)
17. Pakistan and the United States: A Friend in Need? (I.A. Rehman)
18. On Fukushima Beach - A documentary film by Andrew Ebisu
19. ISIS Report on Expansion of India's Uranium Enrichment Facilities
20. Bangladesh's new radical Islamists | Haroon Habib
21. Gujarat Govt sells land on India's international border with Pakistan to big business honcho
22. Global Solidarity Fast for Bhopal
23. India: Fact-finding Committee on the abuse of labour and democratic rights by Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in Jharkhand
24. Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013) : tributes and commentary
25. Stop Japan's Fukushima State Secrets Act
26. UK: A new theatre production on Partition: Ali Taylor's play Drawing the Line
27. India: When the Bulldozers Came | Liza Weinstein
28. India: Photos of 6 Dec 2013 public meeting in New Delhi on 21st anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition
29. Video: Priya Gopal on 'The Neoliberal University'
30. India: Snoopgate and the Gujarat Model of Governance (India United Against Fascism)
31. India: Media Plays Lynch Mob and Faux Crusaders for Women's Rights
32. USA: Hindu American Foundation reveals its supremacist ideology through smear campaign against CAG and Indian Muslims
33. India: Raman Kirpal on Babri Masjid demolition - My Crippled Testimony
34. ‘Chittagong': ordinary people, extraordinary courage
35. Pakistan: Why they don't drop dead | Zubeida Mustafa
36. India: Reliance and right-wing politics gain a foothold in Raghav Bahl's media empire (Rahul Bhatia)
37. India: Will Communal Violence Bill be tabled in Parliament? (Irfan Engineer)

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1. THE NEPAL CONFLICT REPORT BY THE UNITED NATIONS
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The Nepal Conflict Report documents and analyses the major categories of conflict-related violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that took place in Nepal from February 1996 to 21 November 2006.
http://www.sacw.net/article6834.html

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2. SRI LANKA: ACTION CONTRE LE FAIM REPORT ON THE MUTTUR MASSACRE OF AID WORKERS
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On 4th August 2006, 17 humanitarian aid workers of Action contre la Faim (ACF) were brutally assassinated in the Sri Lankan town of Muttur – the aid workers were lined up and summarily executed on the organisation's premises. The Muttur massacre is one of the most atrocious war crimes ever committed against humanitarian personnel.
http://www.sacw.net/article6771.html

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3. I AM MALALA - BOOK REVIEW
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
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Malala’s enemies are equally likely to be Islamists or America-obsessed leftists and post-modernists. These days it is so hard to tell them apart.
http://www.sacw.net/article6740.html

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4. INDIA: A SYMPHONY OF THE ABSURD 
by Ambrose Pinto
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To secular Indians, who hold that religion belongs to the private and personal space, two recent national events of three state agencies should be a matter of concern. The first one was the act of ISRO Chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan performing pooja with the replica of the Mars Orbiter Mission at the Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati a day before the launch of the spacecraft from Sriharikota. The second one was the digging for gold by the Archaeological Department with support from the Geological Survey of India on the basis of a dream of a holy man.
http://www.sacw.net/article6728.html

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5. INDIA: MORAL POLICING SHUTS ART EXHIBITION BY BALBIR KRISHAN AT THE MUSE GALLERY, HYDERABAD - STATEMENT BY SAHMAT
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Throwing more light on what transpired post the preview, Kaali Sudheer, curator, said, “Things were fine during the preview on Saturday, which went on till quite sometime. Around 11 pm, a few right wing activists paid me a visit at the gallery and asked me to cancel the show. They said the artworks and artist stand for everything that's ‘against Indian culture'.” When asked why he didn't approach the Police, Sudheer said, “The people who paid me a visit are extremely well-known and influential. I don't want hassles. I had no option but to cancel the show.”
http://www.sacw.net/article6736.html

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6. INDIA: CPM SHOULD LEARN FROM LATE PC JOSHI AND NOT FROM MULAYAM SINGH YADAV
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The Communist Party of India (CPM) is the life-line of the communist movement in India. There are other communist parties too, like CPI, but there is no apparent political and ideological reason for their existence; they reflect the decay and not the rejuvenation of the communist movement. The only radically different trend and, indeed, the greatest vulgarization of Marxism is represented by the Maoist movement, which is neither Maoist nor a movement but seems to get undue attention on the part of the media because of its violent nature.
http://www.sacw.net/article6726.html

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7. INDIA: A CITIZENS' GUIDE TO GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
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full text of a document prepared by the Council for Social Development, New Delhi. It was released at a press conference 26 November 2013 addressed by Prof Muchkund Dubey, the CSD President; Prof Amit Bhaduri, Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, K.B. Saxena
http://www.sacw.net/article6725.html

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8. STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE 29TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BHOPAL GAS LEAK DISASTER
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s noted on previous occasions, even nearly three decades after the disaster, neither the State nor the Central Government has made any attempt to either undertake a comprehensive assessment of the ramifications of the Bhopal disaster or to take necessary remedial measures. As a result, the gas-victims have had to wage concerted struggles in their quest for medical relief, compensation and justice. During 2013, while achieving partial success on the litigation front, lack of progress on most other pressing issues concerning the Bhopal gas-victims continue to remain a source of major concern.
http://www.sacw.net/article6724.html

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9. AUDIO: FROM KARACHI TO TUNIS, KABUL TO TEHRAN, ORDINARY MUSLIMS ARE RISKING DEATH TO COMBAT THE RISING TIDE OF FUNDAMENTALISM | KARIMA BENNOUNE ON CBCRADIO
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1 December 2013 on cbc radio programme The Sunday Edition with Michael Engright talked to Karima Bennoune , author of Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here.
http://www.sacw.net/article6723.html

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10. INDIA: POSTERS ON 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF BABARI MOSQUE DEMOLITION
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Posters by hk designed to mark the anniversary of demolition babari mosque in India and to remember all victims of communal violence anywhere.
http://www.sacw.net/article6762.html

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11. INDIA: PROF IRFAN HABIB'S REMARK ON AMU MINORITY CHARACTER CAUSES STIR
(via Dilip Simeon's Blog)
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Professor Irfan Habib deserves support for his stand. The ghetto mentality of certain sections of Muslim intelligentsia is harmful both for Indian Muslims and for the political climate in the country as a whole. The response to his remarks by those who disagree with him is evidence of the negative character of this ghetto mentality. Personal attacks are being made and he is being accused
http://www.sacw.net/article6757.html

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12. VIDEO RECORDING OF A PUBLIC DISCUSSION: WHAT IS WRONG AND WHAT IS RIGHT WITH PAKISTAN
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A public discussion organized by the Policy and Planning Group at India Habitat Center in New Delhi on ‘what is wrong and what is right with Pakistan'. The occasion of the discussion was the release of Babar Ayaz's book ‘ WHAT IS WRONG WITH PAKISTAN ' with participation of the author Babar Ayaz, a noted Pakistani journalist and writer, Javed Jabbar, a former Pakistan senator, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Rajya Sabha MP, a well known thinker and the author of Pakistan Papers, and Swapan Das Gupta, journalist.
http://www.sacw.net/article6759.html

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13. VIDEO: HANNAH ARENDT'S DISRUPTIVE TRUTH TELLING
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A conversation with Tina Rosenberg and Susan Neiman to mark the 50th anniversary of Arendt's still-controversial landmark in human rights reportage
http://www.sacw.net/article6686.html

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14. BRITISH UNIVERSITIES SHOULDN'T CONDONE THIS KIND OF GENDER SEGREGATION 
by Polly Toynbee
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Secular neutrality is a pillar of higher education. We can't cave in to faith groups in our institutions – even if it causes offence
http://www.sacw.net/article6787.html

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15. SEX SEGREGATION IN UK UNIVERSITIES – A STEP FORWARD FOR THE MUSLIM RELIGIOUS RIGHT 
by Marieme Helie Lucas
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A battle that concerns us all is being waged in the UK right now and has surprisingly very little echo outside Britain: Universities UK- a body that officially represents universities - made public their new guidance, according to which sex segregation could be practiced in the universities of the kingdom at the request of guest speakers representing religious groups. 
http://siawi.org/article6373.html

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16. PAKISTAN: THE EFFECTS OF CLASS SEGREGATION
by Kamila Hyat
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We live in a deeply segregated society. Segregation by gender may be one aspect of this, but segregation by class or by social standing may have a still more detrimental effect on how we function and think. While better access to education, and greater parental endeavours to get their children the best they can should have created the flows of mobility in a social structure that has been static for generations, it remains blocked in many different ways.
http://www.sacw.net/article6774.html

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17. PAKISTAN AND THE UNITED STATES: A FRIEND IN NEED?
by I.A. Rehman
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Quite often, Pakistan has wanted the United States to give it more aid than the latter had promised and has been told to exert more for the realisation of agreed objectives by improving its economy, governance and capacity to benefit from external aid. There have also been occasions when Pakistan has urged the US to not forget its responsibility to reciprocate Pakistan's performance in securing the goal of friendship. The reason, on most occasions, has been a difference in the partners' perceptions of their obligations under mutual assistance agreements and the substance of partnership deeds. The seeds of this divergence were sown quite early in Pakistan's history.
http://www.sacw.net/article6783.html

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18. ON FUKUSHIMA BEACH - A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY ANDREW EBISU
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On Fukushima Beach is an hour long brilliantly constructed documentary that uses a montage of mainstream and Internet media clips to unpack the Fukushima disaster. In addition to providing a painless scientific overview of radiation health issues, it outlines the ongoing radiation risks faced by all residents of the northern hemisphere.
http://www.sacw.net/article6777.html

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19. ISIS REPORT ON EXPANSION OF INDIA'S URANIUM ENRICHMENT FACILITIES
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Commercial satellite imagery shows that the construction is finishing of what appears to be a second gas centrifuge facility at the Rare Materials Plant (RMP), near Mysore. This new facility could significantly increase India´s ability to produce highly enriched uranium for military purposes, including more powerful nuclear weapons. India is also in the early stages of building a larger unsafeguarded centrifuge complex, the Special Material Enrichment Facility (SMEF), in Karnataka. However, as a result of domestic opposition alleging this facility is on environmentally sensitive lands, the National Green Tribunal, the government environmental oversight body, ordered major construction to halt temporarily in August 2013.
http://www.sacw.net/article6773.html

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20. BANGLADESH'S NEW RADICAL ISLAMISTS | HAROON HABIB
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The resurgence of new radicals such as the madrasa-based Hefazet-e-Islam, patronised by both the Jamaat and the BNP, is viewed by India as inimical to the interests of a stable, democratic Bangladesh
http://www.sacw.net/article6769.html

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21.  GUJARAT GOVT SELLS LAND ON INDIA'S INTERNATIONAL BORDER WITH PAKISTAN TO BIG BUSINESS HONCHO
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Kacha Chittha - 3 a story of illegal sale of land to the the Adani business group in Gujarat in an ecologically sensitive and high security zone on India's border with Pakistan.
http://www.sacw.net/article6793.html

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22. GLOBAL SOLIDARITY FAST FOR BHOPAL
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year long global relay solidarity fast to amplify the voices of survivors of the Bhopal Gas Disaster.
http://www.sacw.net/article6789.html

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23. INDIA: FINDINGS OF THE FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE ON THE ABUSE OF LABOUR AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS BY URANIUM CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED (UCIL) IN JHARKHAND
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6 December 2013, Jamshedpur: We constituted a fact-finding committee at the request of the Jharkhand Krantikari Mazdoor Union (JKMU) to examine the extensive abuse of labour and democratic rights that the employees of Uranium Corporation of India Limited are faced with as also those who have been displaced and affected by the land acquisition by UCIL. In the course of our work we have read news reports and examined the records of the JKMU including court papers and judgments, tripartite agreements and employment and land acquisition papers as also documents relating to the environmental impact of UCILs operations in the region.
http://www.sacw.net/article6803.html

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24. NELSON MANDELA (1918 - 2013) : TRIBUTES AND COMMENTARY
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http://www.sacw.net/article6792.html

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25. STOP JAPAN'S FUKUSHIMA STATE SECRETS ACT
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We ask Japan's government & Prime Minister Abe to renounce the State Secrets Act cutting the flow of information from Fukushima. The global media must be guaranteed free access
http://www.sacw.net/article6812.html

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26. UK: A NEW THEATRE PRODUCTION ON PARTITION: ALI TAYLOR'S PLAY DRAWING THE LINE
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Davies, Brenton, and award-winning designer Tim Hatley – a high-powered team by anyone's reckoning – tell a story that almost defies credulity, with Hatley's set, evoking the beauty of the Mughal architecture of Northern India to heighten the poignancy of what is about to be destroyed. In 1947, Atlee chose an English circuit judge, Cyril Radcliffe – a man who had never been to India and had no knowledge of cartography – as the person who would choose where to impose the border between India and the new state of Pakistan in only 5 weeks.
http://www.sacw.net/article6811.html

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27. INDIA: WHEN THE BULLDOZERS CAME | LIZA WEINSTEIN
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The impending demolition of the Campa Cola complex is an opportunity to ask why illegal housing is the norm in Mumbai, for the middle class and the poor.
http://www.sacw.net/article6806.html

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28. INDIA: PHOTOS OF 6 DEC 2013 PUBLIC MEETING IN NEW DELHI ON 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF BABRI MOSQUE DEMOLITION
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Photos taken on 6 Dec 2013 at Pension Parishad sit-in site at Jantar Mantar. Some 40 organisations in India responded to call for a protest meeting by People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism. 
http://www.sacw.net/article6800.html

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29. VIDEO: PRIYA GOPAL ON 'THE NEOLIBERAL UNIVERSITY'
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Dr. Priya Gopal (University of Cambridge) speaking at the Convention for Higher Education University of Brighton (24- 25 May 2013) Organised by the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE), University of Brighton, and co-sponsored by the Campaign for Public Universities, the Council for the Defence of British Universities, and the UCU at the University of Brighton, this two-day conference on Higher Education investigated the current changes that British Higher Education (in England and Wales) is undergoing.
http://www.sacw.net/article6833.html

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30. INDIA: SNOOPGATE AND THE GUJARAT MODEL OF GOVERNANCE
by India United Against Fascism
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Snoopgate reveals the Gujarat model of governance to be a near-fascist dictatorship in which the head of state has absolute control over the state machinery, and uses it to crush anyone who disobeys or displeases him.
http://www.sacw.net/article6832.html

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31. INDIA: MEDIA PLAYS LYNCH MOB AND FAUX CRUSADERS FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS
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Interview with Arundhati Roy and an article by Antara Dev Sen
http://www.sacw.net/article6831.html

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32. USA: HINDU AMERICAN FOUNDATION REVEALS ITS SUPREMACIST IDEOLOGY THROUGH SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST CAG AND INDIAN MUSLIMS
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Coalition Against Genocide (CAG - http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org/), has condemned the Hindu American Foundation's opposition to House Resolution H.Res. 417 [1] through a smear campaign against the coalition and one (...)
http://www.sacw.net/article6830.html

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33. INDIA: RAMAN KIRPAL ON BABRI MASJID DEMOLITION - MY CRIPPLED TESTIMONY
(via Dilip Simeons Blog)
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It's a 999-page report. It took 17 years, cost Rs 8 crore and had 399 sittings with depositions from 33 Commission witnesses, 53 Central Government witnesses and 14 defence witnesses—100 in all. As one of those hundred, I want to have my say.
http://www.sacw.net/article6752.html

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34. ‘CHITTAGONG': ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE
by Beena Sarwar
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I want to thank the Indian scientist-turned-filmmaker Bedabrata Pain for his powerful feature film about the 1930 uprising against the British in Chittagong in the part of Bengal that is now Bangladesh.
Beautifully shot and filmed, with stellar acting by a largely amateur cast, and music by Shankar Ehsan Loy, “Chittagong” (2012) has a gripping, non-linear 
http://www.sacw.net/article6786.html

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35. PAKISTAN: WHY THEY DON'T DROP DEAD | ZUBEIDA MUSTAFA
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the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) organised a ‘March against Hunger' to demand that the government and civil society enhance people's awareness of their right to basic nutrition and food security through combined efforts.
http://www.sacw.net/article6758.html

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36. INDIA: RELIANCE AND RIGHT-WING POLITICS GAIN A FOOTHOLD IN RAGHAV BAHL'S MEDIA EMPIRE
by Rahul Bhatia
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The Network Effect: Reliance and right-wing politics gain a foothold in Raghav Bahl's media empire
http://www.sacw.net/article6822.html

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37. INDIA: WILL COMMUNAL VIOLENCE BILL BE TABLED IN PARLIAMENT?
by Irfan Engineer
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With the defeat of Congress in the 4 states results of which were declared on 8th December 2013, one does not know the fate of the Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill 2013 that was to be introduced in the last winter session of the Parliament under UPA II. Some may say the UPA II government is now a lame duck govt. and would not introduce such a legislation. On the other hand the UPA has a duty to redeem its electoral promise and should  (...)
http://www.sacw.net/article6843.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
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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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