South Asia Citizens Wire - 14 March 2013 - No. 2777 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents: 1. Text of Statement by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Against CEDAW 2. Playing ball with the Jamaat (Salil Tripathi) 3. India: Statement by Citizens for Justice & Peace and Sabrang Trust re malicious campaign by powerful interests in Gujarat and by BJP at the national level 4.. India: Reports on the Ejipura Eviction in Bangalore 5. Politically motivated sexual assault: the Egypt story none want to hear 6. Michael Rectenwald: Postmodernism, the Academic Left, and the Crisis of Capitalism 7. interview in Down to Earth with Ashish Kothari and Aseem Shrivastava 8. India: The coast is not clear 9. Pakistan: Joint Action Committee for People's Rights Statement Against Christian Persecution in Lahore and Call for Protest Rally 10. Statement by Forum for Secular Pakistan re Attack on Christians in Badami Bagh, Lahore 11. Announcement: brics-from-below! a civil society summit during the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa official summit in Durban, 22-27 March 2013 12. Basharat Peer: The Shiite Murders - Pakistan's Army of Jhangvi 13. WHO's report on health risks following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is a cover up job 14. The Kafkaesque reality of Pakistan's blasphemy laws 15. India: Press release of national fact-finding visit to Govindapur and Dhinkia villages of Jagatsinghpur District Orissa on the 9th of March, 2013 16. Bangladesh: The world mustn't misinterpret a country's fight for its syncretic soul 17. Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai condemns the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh and Christians in Pakistan 18. Sri Lanka: Friday Forum, citizen's group calls for halt to anti-Muslim nationalism 19. India: Governments Conspiring Against Us? asks People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy 20. Modi and the Wharton affair - Human rights and economy are linked (Ania Loomba) 21. Pervez Hoodbhoy: Killing without passion, war without valour 22. Sanjay Kak: The Apparatus - Laying bare the State’s terrifying impunity in Kashmir 23: Recent content on Communalism Watch: - When in doubt about a terror investigation, blame the available Muslims (Sagarika Ghosh) - The Tainted Lectern (Suvir Kaul) - Karnataka: Bajrang Dal attack on rural prayer hall - March 12, 1993 serial blasts in Bombay still haunt the city - UK: Sikh weddings crashed by protesters objecting to mixed faith marriages - Pakistan: Death by a thousand cuts (Farahnaz Isphani) - Overseas BJP give Modi a platform: Modi taps vivekananda, not just Sangh - Tipu’s legacy in BJP-ruled Karnataka? (Debarshi Dasgupta) - Sri Lanka: Report on attacks on religious places ======================================== 1. [MEET UGLY MISOGYNISTS] TEXT OF STATEMENT BY EGYPT’S MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AGAINST CEDAW ======================================== Open and clear statement (13 March 2013) by The Muslim Brotherhood opposing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women http://www.sacw.net/article3940.html ======================================== 2. PLAYING BALL WITH THE JAMAAT by Salil Tripathi ======================================== The Jamaat’s worldview is antithetical to the kind of nation Bangladeshis have repeatedly wanted to build http://www.sacw.net/article3937.html ======================================== 3. INDIA: STATEMENT BY CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE & PEACE AND SABRANG TRUST RE MALICIOUS CAMPAIGN BY POWERFUL INTERESTS IN GUJARAT AND THE OPPOSTION PARTY AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL ======================================== http://www.sacw.net/article3936.html ======================================== 4. INDIA: REPORTS ON THE EJIPURA EVICTION IN BANGALORE ======================================== Since January 18, 2013. more than 5000 urban poor have been violently evicted from their homes in EWS Quarters, Ejipura, in Banaglore. land earmarked for Economically Weak Sections (EWS) is being used for the purpose pf private profit? Why the residents were not relocated before being displaced? And should we stay silent when public land is gifted away to builders? http://www.sacw.net/article3873.html ======================================== 5. POLITICALLY MOTIVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT: THE EGYPT STORY NONE WANT TO HEAR ======================================== Fear of appearing Islamophobic is silencing criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood, under whom assaults have increased http://www.sacw.net/article3930.html ======================================== 6. MICHAEL RECTENWALD: POSTMODERNISM, THE ACADEMIC LEFT, AND THE CRISIS OF CAPITALISM ======================================== Those who are obsessed by language finally come to the conviction that there is nothing but interpretation: Stanley Rosen in Hermeneutics as Politics (1987) It seems almost unnecessary to note that this theoretical perspective is matched by the self-abnegation of its praxis. To be sure, postmodern theory itself arose due to the bad faith that parts of the left had kept with Stalinism. The failure of the Stalinist state prompted Adorno and Horkheimer, under the influence of Weber, to suggest (...) http://www.sacw.net/article3926.html ======================================== 7. INTERVIEW IN DOWN TO EARTH WITH ASHISH KOTHARI AND ASEEM SHRIVASTAVA ======================================== globalisation – which has accelerated ecological crises has also given rise to a burgeoning, noisy media which has found it in its interests (up to a point of course) to put out information about such problems. Anxiety sells. (…) http://www.sacw.net/article3932.html ======================================== 8. INDIA: THE COAST IS NOT CLEAR ======================================== Two years ago, on this day, an earthquake and tsunami wiped out a fair section of Fukushima prefecture. The independent commission appointed by the Japanese parliament to investigate the accident observed that while natural disasters may have triggered the nuclear events, the meltdown itself was “profoundly man-made”. http://www.sacw.net/article3925.html ======================================== 9. PAKISTAN: JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE'S RIGHTS STATEMENT AGAINST CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN LAHORE AND CALL FOR PROTEST RALLY ======================================== Joint Action Committee - JAC for people's rights condemns unchecked attacks on Christian homes in Badami Bagh Lahore. We condemn this brutal act with deep sense of grief and anger. It is regrettable that Punjab administration has not learnt any lessons from previous similar incidents such as those in Shantinagar and Gojra and failed in providing security and protection to a minority community under siege. http://www.sacw.net/article3924.html ======================================== 10. STATEMENT BY FORUM FOR SECULAR PAKISTAN RE ATTACK ON CHRISTIANS IN BADAMI BAGH, LAHORE ======================================== The Forum for Secular Pakistan strongly condemns the attack on the Christian Community of Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh Lahore, in which 178 houses of the low-income community, as well as shops and 3 churches were looted and burnt to ashes, the Pastor was attacked and the father of Savan Masih, the youth falsely accused of blasphemy, was beaten up and subsequently arrested. http://www.sacw.net/article3921.html ======================================== 11. ANNOUNCEMENT: BRICS-FROM-BELOW! A CIVIL SOCIETY SUMMIT DURING THE BRAZIL-RUSSIA-INDIA-CHINA-SOUTH AFRICA OFFICIAL SUMMIT IN DURBAN, 22-27 MARCH 2013 ======================================== In Durban, South Africa, five heads of state meet in late March, to assure the rest of Africa that their countries' corporations are better investors in infrastructure, mining, oil and agriculture than the traditional European and US multinationals. The Brazil-Russia-India-China-SA (BRICS) summit has invited 25 heads of state from Africa, many of whom are notorious tyrants. Given how much is at stake, critical civil society must scrutinise the claims, the processes and the outcomes of the BRICS summit and its aftermath. http://www.sacw.net/article3919.html ======================================== 12. BASHARAT PEER: THE SHIITE MURDERS - PAKISTAN'S ARMY OF JHANGVI ======================================== Terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi consider not only the Shias but also Pakistani Sunnis, who venerate shrines of Sufi mystics, as infidels deserving death. http://www.sacw.net/article3917.html ======================================== 13. WHO'S REPORT ON HEALTH RISKS FOLLOWING THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER IN JAPAN IS A COVER UP JOB ======================================== On February 28th, 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its "Health risk assessment from the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami". This report concluded that “for the general population inside and outside of Japan, the predicted risks are low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates are anticipated.”1 The assessment is based on preliminary dose estimations, published by the WHO in May 20122, which were severely criticized by the German Section of IPPNW, independent researchers and Japanese civil organizations.3 This analysis discusses the eight main objections to the current WHO report and shows why it should not be considered a neutral scientific assessment of the actual health risks of the affected population, nor a valid basis for future decisions and recommendations. http://www.sacw.net/article3916.html ======================================== 14. THE KAFKAESQUE REALITY OF PAKISTAN'S BLASPHEMY LAWS ======================================== The blasphemy law has created and facilitated a culture of vigilantism. As soon as someone has been accused of blasphemy, they live under the threat of death... If proposed legal changes cannot be openly discussed without politicians facing prosecution, it has serious ramifications for the very functioning of the Pakistani state According to the Islamabad-based Centre for Security Studies, at least 52 people accused of blasphemy have been killed since 1990. Many die at the hands of angry (...) http://www.sacw.net/article3914.html ======================================== 15. INDIA: PRESS RELEASE OF NATIONAL FACT-FINDING VISIT TO GOVINDAPUR AND DHINKIA VILLAGES OF JAGATSINGHPUR DISTRICT ORISSA ON THE 9TH OF MARCH, 2013 ======================================== A national-level fact-finding team consisting of civil liberties and democratic organisations and individuals visited Govindapur and Dhinkia villages of Jagatsinghpur District on the 9th of March, 2013. The objective of the visit was to assess the situation in the wake of escalated violence since the land acquisition process resumed in the area on the 4th of February 2013. http://www.sacw.net/article3915.html ======================================== 16. BANGLADESH: THE WORLD MUSTN'T MISINTERPRET A COUNTRY'S FIGHT FOR ITS SYNCRETIC SOUL ======================================== One sees mostly simplistic commentaries in the Indian and the international media. The huge gatherings at Shahbag Square are not about demanding death for a few Jamaat leaders. It is a lot more than that. It is going to decide which way Bangladesh will turn—towards its secular base founded on syncretism, or towards religious extremism, an alien concept imported by the Jamaat. http://www.sacw.net/article3902.html ======================================== 17. CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, MUMBAI CONDEMNS THE ATTACK ON HINDUS IN BANGLADESH AND CHRISTIANS IN PAKISTAN ======================================== While condemning the targeted and violent attacks against Bangladesh's minority Hindu community, the CJP calls upon the Indian government and international organisations to ensure that the Bangladeshi authorities provide them with better protection. There have been disturbing reports that individuals taking part in the protests called by supremacist Islamic parties (including reportedly led by Jamaat-e-Islaami, Bangladesh) have vandalised more than 40 Hindu temples across Bangladesh, . . . In Pakistan, regarding the targeted attack against a group of Christians in Lahore, the CJP urges the Indian government and international organisations to lend voice to their demand that the Punjab government should have given the Christian community more protection in Lahore following the false allegations of blasphemy. http://www.sacw.net/article3911.html ======================================== 18. SRI LANKA: FRIDAY FORUM, CITIZEN'S GROUP CALLS FOR HALT TO ANTI-MUSLIM NATIONALISM ======================================== Friday Forum, a Sri Lankan citizen's group has asked the administration to take steps to stop rising fascist-nationalist actions directed at the island's Muslim community. http://www.sacw.net/article3900.html ======================================== 19. INDIA: GOVERNMENTS CONSPIRING AGAINST US? ASKS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY ======================================== . . . All these underhanded efforts of the central and state governments and their police and intelligence agencies make us wonder if they are hatching dangerous conspiracies and schemes against the struggling people. http://www.sacw.net/article3901.html ======================================== 20. MODI AND THE WHARTON AFFAIR - HUMAN RIGHTS AND ECONOMY ARE LINKED by Ania Loomba ========================================= The Gujarat Chief Minister's proposed address to a university forum in the U.S. was part of a campaign by his Indian-American supporters to sanitise his image. It has been a strange experience to witness the unfolding of events and rhetoric after I, along with some colleagues, drafted a letter to the student organisers of the Wharton India Economic Forum, protesting their decision to invite Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to be a keynote (...) http://www.sacw.net/article3903.html ========================================= 21. PERVEZ HOODBHOY: KILLING WITHOUT PASSION, WAR WITHOUT VALOUR ========================================= In the next generation, beyond drones lie the so-called “fully autonomous” weapons. Perhaps, 20 years away or less, they are already the subject of debate. The Pentagon has said it will certainly proceed to develop and acquire them, while the Human Rights Watch is saying that they should be banned. Sometimes called killer robots, these are weapon systems that will function without human intervention. http://www.sacw.net/article3891.html ========================================= 22. SANJAY KAK: THE APPARATUS - LAYING BARE THE STATE’S TERRIFYING IMPUNITY IN KASHMIR ========================================= A YOUNG KASHMIRI MAN is working in his father’s paddy field, bare-chested in the humid late summer, his strong body glistening with exertion. His mother and sisters work alongside, knee-deep in water. http://www.sacw.net/article3942.html ========================================= 23. INDIA: RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH http://communalism.blogspot.in/ ========================================= - When in doubt about a terror investigation, blame the available Muslims (Sagarika Ghosh) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/when-in-doubt-about-terror.html The Tainted Lectern (Suvir Kaul) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/the-tainted-lectern-suvir-kaul.html Karnataka: Bajrang Dal attack on rural prayer hall http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/karnataka-bajrang-dal-attack-on-rural.html March 12, 1993 serial blasts in Bombay still haunt the city http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/march-12-1993-serial-blasts-in-bombay.html UK: Sikh weddings crashed by protesters objecting to mixed faith marriages http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/uk-sikh-weddings-crashed-by-protesters.html Pakistan: Death by a thousand cuts (Farahnaz Isphani) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/pakistan-death-by-thousand-cuts.html Overseas BJP give Modi a platform: Modi taps vivekananda, not just Sangh http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/overseas-bjp-give-modi-platform-modi.html Tipu’s legacy in BJP-ruled Karnataka? (Debarshi Dasgupta) http://communalism.blogspot.in/2013/03/tipus-legacy-in-bjp-ruled-karnataka.html Sri Lanka: Report on attacks on religious places http://www.sacw.net/article3893.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
