Dear All, Pls see the attachment of the invitation of my new film preview " Cinemayude Kalpadukal" at Kalabavan TVM on 20th Sept. Saturday at 9:30 AM. Pls come with friends and family. The film is the journey through Shobana parameswaran Nair with the spirit of film making in 50's and 60's of Malayalam Cinema with A.Vincent, K.Raghavan, M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Madhu. It is a very long film, need time to memories come alive. Hope to see you there.... M R Rajan Quoting Afthab Ellath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Battle of the blogs > > Asieh Amini <http://www.newstatesman.com/print/200809110032#> > > Published 11 September 2008 > > Internet campaigners for civil liberties and women's rights pay a high price > for their "online crimes" > > In September 2001, when the student Salman Jarbar established the first > Iranian weblog, no one imagined that blogging would become a social > phenomenon in Iran. But over the past seven years blogs have come to fulfil > the role of liberal newspapers, civil society organisations and even private > gatherings. In 2004 unofficial estimates placed Persian as the fourth most > common language in the blogosphere. > > When I started blogging I had already been a journalist for 12 years. The > criteria for writing for daily newspapers in Iran are very strict: the laws > governing our publications, along with our social, cultural and traditional > beliefs, impose lines which cannot be crossed without consequences. > Political conditions promote self-censorship as well as official censorship. > > At first, journalists were extremely guarded about what they wrote, even > online. But that soon changed. As official pressure on the print media > increased, daily papers were threatened with closure, and the fear of arrest > and imprisonment spread among journalists and activists. Blogs have become > our major source of news and information. > > As elections approach, bloggers promote or oppose participation, criticise > candidates, and provide uncensored analysis, reports, articles and satire. > Their impact has been so great that many politicians have taken up blogging > themselves. In 2003, Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a popular reformist cleric > and vice-president to President Khatami, became the first political blogger > when he launched www.webneveshteha.com, one of the most visited Iranian > blogs. In 2006, President Ahmadinejad followed suit with his own blog, > www.ahmadinejad.ir, which is translated into English, French and Arabic. > > The blogosphere breaks taboos that the Iranian media cannot. The subject of > women is one of the most important: now young women have started to write > freely on the internet about themselves: their bodies, their sexual > relationships, their hopes and wishes, and their criticisms of the > patriarchal norms of Iranian society. > > Taboos concerning human rights have also been broken. I have used my blog to > openly discuss issues such as stoning and the execution of women and minors, > areas rarely covered by even the most daring of reformist publications. But > these posts have put me in danger. On 12 June 2006, I met other women's > rights activists in one of the main squares in Tehran to protest against > legal discrimination against women. The protest was arranged online, because > no print publication or other official media outlet was willing to publicise > it. The demonstration ended in the arrest of more than 70 people and five > activists were charged with organising it. > > On the day of their court hearing, several of us went to the revolutionary > courts in support of the five women on trial. But our peaceful presence in > front of the courthouse was not tolerated and we were violently attacked by > police, arrested and taken to prison. Along with 32 other activists, I spent > four days in prison. We were released on 8 March 2007, International Women's > Day, but were charged with actions against national security. Some of us > received prison sentences. > > On the day that I was interrogated in prison, sitting blindfolded across > from my interrogator, I could still see the stacks of papers on his desk > that comprised the case against me. Some of the papers were printed entries > from my blog. > > But women activists still band together on collective blogs such as the One > Million Signatures Campaign (www. change4equality.net/english), which seeks > to secure equal rights in marriage and inheritance, an end to polygamy, and > stricter punishments for honour killings and other forms of violence. In > August a coalition of activists opposing the Family Protection Bill - which > advocates limits to women's rights such as allowing men to take a second > wife without the consent of the first - took shape. Their only means of > contact was an internet mailing list. > > Online crackdown > > The state's backlash against the virtual community started in 2003. Sites > and blogs that clashed with official state policies were blocked, but > censorship then expanded to cover blogs with the term "woman" or "gender" in > the title. Even professional medical sites that provided information on > reproductive health were affected. The crackdown continued, and in February > 2005 several bloggers were arrested, including Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba > Saminejad, both of whom had criticised government policies online. The "Case > of the Bloggers" attracted widespread international criticism. > > Since Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, the pressure on journalists and > campaigners has increased. The new government viewed civil society as a > means through which the enemy worked to influence Iranian society. The > ministry of the interior approved regulations imposing controls on internet > publications, although, because of technical difficulties, they have yet to > be implemented. And in July the government began to consider a bill against > "online crimes". Parliament is yet to vote on the bill, but if it is > approved, bloggers and webmasters found guilty of "promoting corruption, > prostitution and apostasy" may find themselves facing the death sentence. > > *Asieh Amini is a journalist and civil rights activist who blogs (in Farsi) > at: http://www.varesh.blogfa.com* > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
