---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 10:57 PM Subject:Varun Gandhi lied about his SOAS/LSE degrees..
The SOAS Alumni Relations Officer, has confirmed that Feroze Varun Gandhi never graduated in Sociology from SOAS (as claimed by him/media) as he withdrew from his MSc programme before completing it. Feroze Varun Gandhi's connection to the LSE was only through the "University of London External System", which is a distance-learning provision administered by the LSE. He was never been admitted into the LSE's own undergraduate student body and was never a member of LSE's campus.. This info is crucial to counter the writ petition put before the Allahabad high court asking for the charges against him to be dismissed. The petition references his degrees from LSE and SOAS as evidence of character. The character of a liar - he's lied about his degrees, he lied about his recent anti-Muslim comments.. Please sign the following petition: http://lse-soas.com/index.php <http://lse-soas.com/index.php> (you don't have to be LSE/SOAS to do so) Statement We, the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), wish to dissociate our institutions from the values recently expressed by the politician Varun Gandhi. We note with chagrin that Varun Gandhi's degrees from these institutions are being used as a testament to his ethics and quality as a politician. His statements are antithetical to the values promoted by our institutions, and to our beliefs about responsible leadership in electoral democracy. Varun Gandhi is a young politician whose great-grandfather, grandmother and uncle have each been Prime Minister of India. His branch of the family is no longer associated with the Indian National Congress, but instead with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He holds degrees from the LSE (BSc in Economics) and SOAS (MSc in Sociology). The general election to India's parliament will be held over the next month. Varun Gandhi is currently campaigning as the BJP candidate from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Excerpts from his speeches, widely reported and viewable on the internet, include these statements: * "This is the hand of the Lotus [the symbol of the BJP]. After the elections, the hand of the Lotus will slit the throat of Muslims." * "Ask all Hindus to unite if you want to save this area from turning into Pakistan." * "I am contesting for Hindus. I don't want a single Muslim vote, either from Khalistan [the state sought by Sikh separatists; the Congress candidate is a Sikh] nor from Pakistan." * "If somebody lifts a hand against Hindus, or thinks they are weak, there is nobody behind them, then I swear on the Bhagvad Gita that I will cut off that hand." The Central Election Commission has studied the recordings, found them to be genuine, and informed the BJP that it 'expected' Varun Gandhi to be dropped as a candidate. Despite this, the BJP national executive has refused to cancel Varun Gandhi's candidacy. In doing so, it has given implicit endorsement to a kind of electoral campaigning that severely damages the fragile social relations between religious communities in India. Uttar Pradesh has a long history of violence between religious communities, much of it the result of inflammatory political appeals, which have a demonstrated role in mobilizing religious pogroms. By our signature here, we emphatically dissociate our institutional values from the ones expressed by Varun Gandhi in the recordings, and condemn his statements. Best Wishes Annu Dr. Annu Jalais Dept. of Anthropology London School of Economics (LSE) Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/secretariat/legal/disclaimer.htm --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
