South Asia Citizens Wire - 09 March 2013 - No. 2776 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents:
1. Bangladesh: Women to remain sloganists only? (Farida Akhter) 2. India: Gender Just, Gender Sensitive and NOT Gender Neutral Rape Laws - Press Statement by feminists 3. India: The Mongolian Fringe (Sanjib Baruah) 4. India: Bhopal Gas Disaster Continues - New Abnormalities Seen in Third Generation of Children 5. Bangladesh: Wave of violent attacks against Hindu minority - Press release by Amnesty International 6. Khushi Kabir: How our generation sees Shahbagh 7. India: Report of Task Force on National Social Assistance Programme, Ministry of Rural Development 8. Bangladesh: Resurgence of Communalism 9. Geoffrey Robertson: Justice crushed in Sri Lanka 10. India: Spew Venom, Enjoy Life - Who Scripted Mr Varun Gandhi's Acquittal ! 11. War Crimes File - The Channel 4 documentary 12. Bangladesh: Jamaat continues attacking Hindus 13. India: Information request under Right to Information Act 2005 to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board 14. Afghanistan: the blind pursuit of peace and reconciliation - Massouda Jalal 15. India: Around 4,500 people of 28 villages boycotted Environment Public Hearing following breach of promise by Government officials 16. Bangladesh: The ghosts of 1971 17. India: Selected posts from Communalism Watch - Call for papers: special issue on "Gender and Religion" for Gender and Society - Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will not find it easy, despite the huge support from big industry in India (Seema Mustafa) - Indian-origin jihadis' fighting in Syria against Assad regime (Indrani Bagchi) - India: Ninan's cartoons on Modi after cancellation of talk at wharton school and then all the hype at the BJP conclave - India: tax payers money to fund a ten million rupees memorial to Bal Thackeray - a leader of far right - India: Hindutva extremist arrested for possible involvement in Ajmer blasts of 2007 - India: civil courts should not interpret Muslim Personal Law says national secy of Jamaat-e-Islami-e-Hind - USA: Professor Loomba explains why she objected to Mr. Modi’s participation in the conference at the Wharton School - India: Spew Venom, Enjoy Life - Who Scripted Mr Varun Gandhi’s Acquittal ! (Subhash Gatade) - India: BJP MP Varun Gandhi let of in another Hate Speech Case (news report) | Statement in Hindi and Urdu by Rihai Manch ========================================= 1. BANGLADESH: WOMEN TO REMAIN SLOGANISTS ONLY? by Farida Akhter ========================================= Moving away from core issues of women's rights and particularly violence against women is going to have a negative impact on the women's movement. Although women's rights should incorporate all national issues but national issues must not set aside women's question at all. The new generation women's leadership at this point may not have come from women's movement only, but the new leadership must remain active in asserting their leadership roles keeping in mind that they have to fight against patriarchy, writes Farida Akhter http://www.sacw.net/article3885.html ========================================= 2. INDIA: GENDER JUST, GENDER SENSITIVE AND NOT GENDER NEUTRAL RAPE LAWS - PRESS STATEMENT ========================================= The report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the 2012 Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill as well as the 2013 Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance not only violates the letter and spirit of the Justice Verma Committee (JVC) recommendations but endangers and deepens women's vulnerability in this country. http://www.sacw.net/article3884.html ========================================= 3. INDIA: THE MONGOLIAN FRINGE by Sanjib Baruah ========================================= ‘The Mongolian Fringe' was the title of a 1940 official paper authored by Olaf Caroe, the foreign secretary of the British-Indian government in New Delhi. It referenced the Himalayan region, including areas such as “Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and northern Assam.” An unabashedly racialized view of the world characterized this genre of imperial geopolitical writing. Six decades later, those racial ideas are no longer publically articulated with the same confidence. In their place, however, there is a ‘racialized regime of visuality' to borrow a phrase from Cultural Studies scholar Joseph Pugliese. In India this makes its presence felt via the use of derogatory words like ‘Chinky' or ‘flat-nosed' in the rough and tumble of everyday life, and words like ‘Northeasterner' or ‘Pahari' in polite conversation. In the summer of 2012, Indian elites had to come to terms with the reality of this racialized regime of visuality when, following reports of violence between Bodos and Muslims in western Assam and rumours of possible reprisals, there was an exodus of panicked Northeasterners from major Indian cities http://www.sacw.net/article3883.html ========================================= 4. INDIA: BHOPAL GAS DISASTER CONTINUES - NEW ABNORMALITIES SEEN IN THIRD GENERATION OF CHILDREN ========================================= The probability of a baby being born with congenital anomalies is seven times higher in areas of Bhopal affected by the 1984 gas tragedy, doctors said here on Sunday. The effect is evident even in the third generation. http://www.sacw.net/article3882.html ========================================= 5. BANGLADESH: WAVE OF VIOLENT ATTACKS AGAINST HINDU MINORITY - PRESS RELEASE BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ========================================= A wave of violent attacks against Bangladesh's minority Hindu community shows the urgent need for authorities to provide them with better protection, Amnesty International said. http://www.sacw.net/article3881.html ========================================= 6. HOW OUR GENERATION SEES SHAHBAGH by Khushi Kabir ========================================= I have several differences with some of my closest friends on this issue, a) those not participating fully in the movement b) those who pay occasional visits for a couple of hours at most, c) those who are (...) http://www.sacw.net/article3870.html ========================================= 7. INDIA: REPORT OF TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME, MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT ========================================= http://www.sacw.net/article3878.html ========================================= 8. BANGLADESH: RESURGENCE OF COMMUNALISM by Ram Puniyani ========================================= The acts of violence led by the Islamists, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) are tormenting our neighboring Bangla Desh, more than 50 dead, injuries and destruction of Hindu, Budhha temples amongst other losses. Its spill over is also being felt in Kolkata to some extent (Feb-March 2013). In Kolkata a strong crowd owing allegiance to Muslim communalism, different organizations like Minority Youth Federation, and others went on rampage. All this in response to the death sentence given to Delawar Hossian Sayedee, the Vice President of JI by a war crimes tribunal after he was found guilty for mass killing, rape and atrocities during the nine month war against Pakistan. http://www.sacw.net/article3875.html ========================================= 9. GEOFFREY ROBERTSON: JUSTICE CRUSHED IN SRI LANKA ========================================= The Commonwealth is sleepwalking towards a human rights disaster, if it goes ahead with November's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, where it will be presided over by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Perhaps emboldened by getting away with murder - the army slaughter of some 40,000 Tamil civilians in 2009 - his government has now moved to destroy the independence of the judiciary. It has sacked the Chief Justice for a decision that it finds inconvenient. http://www.sacw.net/article3872.html ========================================= 10. INDIA: SPEW VENOM, ENJOY LIFE - WHO SCRIPTED MR VARUN GANDHI'S ACQUITTAL ! (Subhash Gatade) ========================================= Mr Varun Gandhi, BJP M.P. was all smiles when he emerged from the courts which had acquitted him in the second hate speech case. . . . With more than eleven communal riots in a period of less than a year, under a government which has received fullsome support from the minorities, Akhilesh Yadav led government has exhibited its ineptness in handling communal elements. If justice is to be done in the hate speech case it is incumbent that the state government challenge this decision by moving a fresh application in the high courts. Looking at the fact that there is a world of difference between what the Samajwadi Party claims and does, the possibility seems really dim. http://www.sacw.net/article3871.html ========================================= 11. WAR CRIMES FILE - THE CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY [VIDEO] ========================================= http://www.sacw.net/article3868.html ========================================= 12. BANGLADESH: JAMAAT CONTINUES ATTACKING HINDUS ========================================= Jamaat-Shibir attacks on Hindu community and their temples continued in different parts of the country yesterday creating widespread fear among general people living unprotected in rural areas. Reports of arson, vandalism and physical assaults on members of Hindu community and also on Awami League activists have been rampant since Thursday, when the International Crimes Tribunal-1 had awarded death penalty to Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee. Yesterday in Khulna, more than 300 (...) http://www.sacw.net/article3864.html ========================================= 13. INDIA: INFORMATION REQUEST UNDER RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005 TO ATOMIC ENERGY REGULATORY BOARD ========================================= Greetings! We, the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, would like to request the following information under the RTI Act 2005 please: http://www.sacw.net/article3867.html ========================================= 14. AFGHANISTAN: THE BLIND PURSUIT OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION by Massouda Jalal ========================================= Afghanistan remains a cradle of human rights violations. This situation is abetted by many factors, including long-standing armed conflict, the inability of government to impose the rule of law, massive ignorance and disrespect for human rights values and principles, and deeply-rooted traditions that reproduce violence, women's oppression, and perverted concepts of morality and honour. http://www.sacw.net/article3865.html ========================================= 15. INDIA: AROUND 4,500 PEOPLE OF 28 VILLAGES BOYCOTTED ENVIRONMENT PUBLIC HEARING FOLLOWING BREACH OF PROMISE BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ========================================= The Bhavnagar District Collector who chaired the Environment Public Hearing (EPH) for the 6,000 MW Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi to be set up by the ‘Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited' and Mr A V Shah, the regional officer of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) made vital procedural lapses during the hearing. http://www.sacw.net/article3860.html ========================================= 16. BANGLADESH: THE GHOSTS OF 1971 [VIDEO] ========================================= the role and place of the media in the Shahbag protests. Helping us to gain a deeper understanding are the photographer and writer Shahidul Alam, Sabir Mustafa of the BBC Bengali Service and Abbas Faiz from Amnesty International http://www.sacw.net/article3859.html ========================================= 17. INDIA: RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH http://communalism.blogspot.in/ ========================================= Call for papers: special issue on "Gender and Religion" for Gender and Society http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/call-for-papers-special-issue-on-gender.html Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will not find it easy, despite the huge support from big industry in India (Seema Mustafa) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/gujarat-chief-minister-narendra-modi.html Indian-origin jihadis' fighting in Syria against Assad regime (Indrani Bagchi) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/indian-origin-jihadis-fighting-in-syria.html India: Ninan's cartoons on Modi after cancellation of talk at wharton school and then all the hype at the BJP conclave http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/ninans-cartoon-on-modi-after.html India: tax payers money to fund a ten million rupees memorial to Bal Thackeray - a leader of far right http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-tax-payers-money-to-fund-ten.html India: Hindutva extremist arrested for possible involvement in Ajmer blasts of 2007 http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-hindutva-extremist-arrested-for.html India: civil courts should not interpret Muslim Personal Law says national secy of Jamaat-e-Islami-e-Hind http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-civil-courts-should-not-interpret.html USA: Professor Loomba explains why she objected to Mr. Modi’s participation in the conference at the Wharton School http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/usa-professor-loomba-explained-why-she.html India: Spew Venom, Enjoy Life - Who Scripted Mr Varun Gandhi’s Acquittal ! (Subhash Gatade) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/whats-behind-scripted-mr-varun-gandhis.html India: BJP MP Varun Gandhi let of in another Hate Speech Case (news report) | Statement in Hindi and Urdu by Rihai Manch http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/india-bjp-mp-varun-gandhi-let-of-in.html _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 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. ===================================== _______________________________________________ SACW mailing list SACW@insaf.net http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/sacw_insaf.net
