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
========================================
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
========================================
Solidarity Vigil for Bangladesh’s Shahbagh Movement held in Delhi - report and
memo
========================================
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
========================================
India: Statement adopted at National Seminar on the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act, 1958
========================================
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
========================================
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
========================================
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
========================================
Mr. Modi Wants to Come to America
by Vijay Prashad
========================================
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
========================================
India: Fundamentalists mobilise in Calcutta in Solidarity with Bangladeshi War
Criminals
========================================
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
========================================
Pakistan: Citizens groups urges state institutions to respect the democratic
process
========================================
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
========================================
Fascism: Essays on Europe and India Edited by Jairus Banaji
========================================
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
========================================
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
========================================
Radioactive Cloud over Nuclear Renaissance: Prabir Purkayastha
========================================
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
========================================
Books reviewed: Afghanistan - The Way to Peace
========================================
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
========================================
Book Review: The Left and Political Islam
by Sumanta Banerjee
========================================
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
========================================
India: Maruti Suzuki Workers Appeal from Jail
========================================
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
========================================
India - Sri Lanka: Keep chauvinism out of sport and politics; Cricket must be
open to all foreign players
========================================
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
========================================
Pakistan - India: Activists demand release all the fishermen jailed in both
countries
========================================
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
========================================
India: No Humans in Modi's "Development"
========================================
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
========================================
Bangladesh: 1971 - Re-emerging silences
========================================
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
========================================
Kolkata Muslim groups plan pro-Jamaat bandh, want Sheikh Haseena to quit
========================================
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
========================================
Preetika Rana: Why India Still Allows Marital Rape
========================================
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
========================================
India: Mega Nuclear Power Plant Raises Fear of Fukushima Type Disaster in India
========================================
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
========================================
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
=========================================
INDIA: RECENT POSTS ON COMMUNALISM WATCH
http://communalism.blogspot.in/
=========================================
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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