Category Archives: Centre watch

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Violence/Conflict

J&K government has buried the SHRC report on unmarked graves in Kashmir: APDP

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This release comes from the ASSOCIATION OF PARENTS OF DISAPPEARED PERSONS,  the Bund Amira Kadal, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

28 December 2011: Callousness of the government continues vis-à-vis victims of human rights abuses and in particular against the family members of those who have disappeared in the last two decades in Jammu and Kashmir. The relatives of more than 8000 persons continue to wait for the government to probe all the cases of disappearances, deliver justice to the families of the disappeared and punish the perpetrators. Continue reading J&K government has buried the SHRC report on unmarked graves in Kashmir: APDP →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Centre watch, Countryside, Ecology/Environment, Empire/ Imperialism, Law

‘Protests and Repression: Struggles in the Forests of India’

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This note comes from the CAMPAIGN FOR SURVIVAL AND DIGNITY

The last few weeks have seen struggles over forest rights and forest control intensifying across the country. On the one hand there are larger and larger protests taking place, and on the other, the continued use of force by Central and State governments is combined with total silence and apathy on protecting people’s rights.  Continue reading ‘Protests and Repression: Struggles in the Forests of India’ →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Everyday Life, Government, Law

Why ban just a Facebook page when you can erase a holy book or two (or more)?

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Following in the wake of the declarations of the well known Internet idiot, who doubles as the honorable minister of telecommunications of the Union of India, an esteemed additional civil judge of a Delhi court has also decided to issue an ex-parte order commanding Social Media networks, Facebook and Youtube to remove 21 (or is it 22?) ‘objectionable’ websites that ‘offend religious sentiments’.

This has been done in response to please entered by a ‘journalist’, a certain Mr. Vinay Rai, and a certain Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi, who also delivers online fatwas on a variety of subjects, ranging from the very intimate to the magnificently cosmic. It is wonderful to behold the learned court acting with such sensitivity to the joint plea of two honorable Hindu-Muslim worthies. Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Isai – busybodies of every stripe seem to have little other work to do than police and control what can and cannot be said online, shown in a film, performed in a play or depicted in an art work. And our ‘secular’ civil society, and the lower ranks of the judiciary faithfully acquiesce to their every demand. Continue reading Why ban just a Facebook page when you can erase a holy book or two (or more)? →

Centre watch, Frontiers, Government, Identities, Politics

Pakistan ki Tareef: Haseeb Asif

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This guest post by HASEEB ASIF is in Urdu, in Roman script

Allama Iqbal (1877-1938)

Islami Jamhooriya Pakistan ki tareekh Hindustan se bohut purani hai. Balkay Islam se bhi purani hai. Jab aathveen sadi mein Muhammad Bin Qasim Islam phelane bar-e-sagheer tashreef laye tau ye jaan ker sharminda huwe ke yahan tau pehle hi Islami riyasat maujood hai.

Yahan kufr ka janam tau huwa Jalaaludin Akbar ke daur mein, jo Islam ku jhutla ker apna mazhab banane ko chal diya; shayid Allah-ho-Akbar ke lughwi maani le gya tha.

Baharhal, in kafiron ne butparasti aur mehkashi jaisay gheir munaasib kaam shuro kerdiye aur apne aap ko Hindu bulaane lage. Sharaab ki aamad se Pakistan ke Musalmanon ki woh taaqat na rahi jo tareekh ke tasalsul se honi chahiye thi. Iski vaja ye nahin thi ke Muslaman sharaab peene lag paray the, balkay ye kay unki saari quwat-e-nafs sharab ko naa peene mein waqf hojati thi, hukmarani ke liye bachta hi kya tha.

Is ke bawajood Musalmanon ne mazeed do sau saal Pakistan per raaj kiya, phir kuch dinon ke liye angrezon ki hakoomat agayi (hamari tafteesh ke mutabiq yehi koi chalees hazaar din honge).

San 1900 tak Pakistan ke Musalmanon ki haalat nasaaz hochuki thi. Is dauran aik ahem shakhsiat hamari khidmat mein hazir huwi, jis ka naam Allama Iqbal tha. Continue reading Pakistan ki Tareef: Haseeb Asif →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Government, Images, Media politics, Movements

News TV – Caught Between an Anna and a Hard Place: Abhishek Upadhyay

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Guest post by ABHISHEK UPADHYAY

Taken in August 2011 at around 2 am one morning at Ramlila Maidan, this photo shows a news TV cameraperson taking sleeping on his chair.

Anna Hazare has returned with his protests and fasting. Should the media, particularly news TV, be more circumspect this time?

Is it time for the media to learn from the Ramlila Maidan experience in August, or should news channels stick to their earlier editorial line of broadcasting the Anna movement in great detail? Back in August, news TV broadcasted Anna’s “satyagrah” allegedly at the expense of the government. The stage is set again, the jury is out. Continue reading News TV – Caught Between an Anna and a Hard Place: Abhishek Upadhyay →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Frontiers, Media politics, Violence/Conflict

Parveena Ahangar rejects CNN-IBN’s nomination for ‘Indian of the Year 2011’

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This press release has been issued by the PARVEENA AHANGAR-led ASSOCIATION OF PARENTS FOR DISAPPEARED PERSONS

Srinagar, December 10, 2011:  On this ‘International Human Rights Day’, December 10, 2011, the APDP (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons), Srinagar, wishes to state that there is something obscene and perverse in the manner the CNN-IBN has nominated our organization for the ‘Indian of the Year 2011’ award. Sometimes, human rights can be violated by merely mocking those who struggle for human rights. Continue reading Parveena Ahangar rejects CNN-IBN’s nomination for ‘Indian of the Year 2011’ →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Government, Law, Politics

The Absurd Tyranny of iSibal: Vrinda Gopinath

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Guest post by VRINDA GOPINATH

by Hemant Morparia

Well, Information and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal’s prickly suggestion to pre-screen content on social networks like Google, Facebook and Twitter, has invited such derision from the internet world that it has given him a tag to his name – Idiot Sibal. For iSibal, it’s not his status on Facebook that should bother him, but the ruinous unmasking of the minister in status-anxiety New Delhi. Sibal, after all, prides himself in belonging to the elite movers and shakers of the Capital – educated, connected, and gold card holder of the Stephen’s Old Boys Network. For the status seekers, this is a world of privilege and entitlement, cosmopolitanism and tolerance.

Now you would wonder what came over the blue-stockinged Technology Minister to make such an ill-thought out statement. Sibal’s liberal snobbery is not always what it seems to be, for there is a lurking autocratic and despotic streak, even archaic at times, that has surfaced time and again. And it is this aspect that has largely been ignored in the bedlam over his latest decree to social network companies.

Continue reading The Absurd Tyranny of iSibal: Vrinda Gopinath →

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Government, Law, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Nationwide opposition to the government’s refusal to a peaceful fast in support of Irom Sharmila: NAPM

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Press release issued today by the NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS

New Delhi, December 10 : For some months now, Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC) has been spreading the word about Irom Sharmila and her struggle across the nation and beyond.

Started only by few organizations, campaign has now received support over more than 80 organizations and movements and thousands of supporters. Campaign has reached in almost every state of India and even outside. Campaign has organized various programs including its famous Nationwide Signature Campaign, Sri Nagar- Imphal Save Sharmila Jan Karwan in October and Ahemdabad- Srinagar Jattha in November this year. Continue reading Nationwide opposition to the government’s refusal to a peaceful fast in support of Irom Sharmila: NAPM →

Centre watch, Identities, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Jagdish Tytler will not attend the Maulana Mohd. Ali Jauhar Award ceremony

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M. Saleem addressing the Maulana Jauhar Award ceremony at IICC in Delhi on 10 December 2011

Update on 11 December:

Twocircles.net reports:

“Zafar Agha was replaced by ex-MP and senior Journalist Santosh Bharatiya. However, M Saleem claimed that Sanjeev Bhatt could not attend the programme due to time constraint and the award may be given to him some other time. While referring to Santosh Bhartiya, being awarded in place of Zafar Agha, M. Saleem said that he has been nominated for the award and nobody has been replaced for the same. The organizer kept totally mum about both Zafar Agha and Jagdish Tytler. ” [Link]

*

On 3 December, an open letter signed by some of us, and posted here on Kafila, had appealed to seven distinguished individuals to not accept the Maulana Mohd. Ali Johar Award, to be given on 10 December at the India Islamic Cultural Centre. We had reasoned that since the eighth awardee was Jagdish Tytler, they should not share an award and a platform with someone accused of organising mass murder of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984.

Yesterday evening, the general secretary of the Maulana Jauhar Academy, M. Saleem, emailed one of the signatories, Mahtab Alam. The email contained a scanned copy of a letter sent by Jagdish Tytler to M Saleem, which said that Tytler would not attend the award ceremony so as to not embarrass the the other awardees and the organisers, because of this boycott campaign. He, however, stressed on his innocence in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom, and, notably, did not say that he would not accept the award. He would only not attend the ceremony. M. Saleem has also not announced whether he is withdrawing his decision to give the award to Mr Tytler. For more details on what has transpired in the last few days, please see Mahtab Alam’s article, Beware of the Sarkari Musalmaan.

Given below is the final list of 150 names who signed the original appeal.  Continue reading Jagdish Tytler will not attend the Maulana Mohd. Ali Jauhar Award ceremony →

Centre watch, Identities, Politics, Right watch

Beware of the Sarkari Musalmaan: Mahtab Alam

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Guest post by MAHTAB ALAM

In the current issue of the English fortnightly, Milli Gazette (1-15 December), it is reported that on 10 December 2011, former union minister Jagdish Tytler will be awarded with seven others in a function at India Islamic Culture Centre, Delhi, by Maulana Mohammad Jauhar Ali Academy. The other names were those of Dr. S Y Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner of India; Sanjeev Bhat, Indian Police Service officer (Gujarat); senior journalist Zafar Agha; Mohd. Najeeb Ashraf Chaudhri, chief income tax commissioner; Maulana Mohd. Haseeb Siddiqui, chairman of the Deoband Nagar Palika Parishad; Nusrat Gwalliori, a Delhi-based Urdu poet, and  Begum Rehana AR Andre, a social activist and educationist based in Mumbai.

The award has been named after Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, a key figure of the Indian freedom movement, a leader of the Khilafat movement and one of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia, a prestigious central university in Delhi. The award is given on his birth anniversary every year. Though the reasons for honouring these people were not mentioned in the Milli Gazette report, the Academy’s general secretary explained that every year, the academy honours individuals in recognition of their extra-ordinary contribution in the field of journalism, politics, social service and so on. This year they  chose Jagdish Tytler for his contribution to politics! Continue reading Beware of the Sarkari Musalmaan: Mahtab Alam →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Debates, Everyday Life, Government, Law, Media politics, Politics

What Kapil Sibal does not understand: the internet

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A  few days ago a friend asked me if I knew someone who had the ability and inclination to help out a certain department of the central government with using social media. My friend did not name who the prospective employer was, but clearly, with even Digvijay Singh on Twitter, the Congress party is worried about social media. No surprise that this should happen in a year when the UPA government’s popularity has taken a nose-dive.

The New York Times revealed on 5 December that Kapil Sibal summoned Facebook officials and showed them a Facebook page that allegedly maligned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and said that this was unacceptable. While HRD officials refused to reveal much in that NYT copy, they must have realised that shit has hit the fan, because the next morning’s Indian Express the spin doctoring was clear: there was now a mention of allegedly derogatory pictures of Prophet Mohammed along with the Prime Minister and the Congress President (who are no doubt as sacred in his books as Prophet Mohammed).By the time he held his press conference yesterday, it became about things that Hurt Our Religious Sentiments. On the 19th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, it is very interesting to see a Congress minister using religion to cover up power politics.  Continue reading What Kapil Sibal does not understand: the internet →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Government, Law

Kapil Sibal is an Idiot

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I urge you to write KAPIL SIBAL IS AN IDIOT as your Facebook status message, use the hashtag #IdiotKapilSibal on Twitter, and write a blog post with the above title, because there may soon be a day when he may prevent you from doing so.

The New York Times reports:

The Indian government has asked Internet companies and social media sites like Facebook to prescreen user content from India and to remove disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content before it goes online, three executives in the information technology industry say.

Top officials from the Indian units of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook are meeting with Kapil Sibal, India’s acting telecommunications minister, on Monday afternoon to discuss the issue, say two executives of Internet companies. The executives asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media on the issue.

[…]

About six weeks ago, Mr. Sibal called legal representatives from the top Internet service providers and Facebook into his New Delhi office, said one of the executives who was briefed on the meeting.

At the meeting, Mr. Sibal showed attendees a Facebook page that maligned the Congress Party’s president, Sonia Gandhi.  “This is unacceptable,” he told attendees, the executive said, and he asked them to find a way to monitor what is posted on their sites. [Link]

Continue reading Kapil Sibal is an Idiot →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Centre watch, Countryside, Ecology/Environment, Empire/ Imperialism, Movements

Release Abhay Sahoo Now: People’s Union for Civil Liberties

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This press release comes from the PEOPLE’S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES

Bhubhaneshwar / Delhi
5th December, 2011
PRESS RELEASE

• Appeal to the Odisha Government to withdraw the frivolous cases and RELEASE ABHAY SAHOO NOW!

• WITHDRAW ALL THE CRIMINAL CASES LODGED AGAINST THE ANTI POSCO ACTIVISTS and put a stop to repressive measures.

• PUCL APPEALS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS TO COME TO TOGETHER AND INITIATE A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE RELEASE OF ABHAY SAHOO AND SUPPORT OF THE POSCO PRATIRODH SANGRAM SAMITI.

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties, represented by its National Secretary Kavita Srivastava and Odisha Convenor, Pramodini Pradhan visited the area in and around Dhinkia Panchayat in Jagatsinghpur district on 1st December, 2011, where the struggle against the proposed POSCO steel plant is taking place for the last seven years. We also went to Choudwar Jail in Cuttack District on 2nd December, 2011 to meet Mr Abhay Sahoo the leader of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangharsh Samiti, who has been arrested against FIRs motivated by the administration under sections causing sexual assault, wrongfully confining somebody and causing atrocities under the SC & ST Act. Continue reading Release Abhay Sahoo Now: People’s Union for Civil Liberties →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Identities, Politics, Violence/Conflict

An appeal to seven distinguished individuals to decline the Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Award

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You can add your name to this appeal in the comments section.

Delhi, 3 December 2011

According to a news report in the Milli Gazette of 1 December 2011, Jagdish Tytler, an accused in the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984, will be awarded the Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Award on 10 December 2011 at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi. Seven others will share this award. The undersigned appeal to the other seven awardees to not accept the award as a mark of protest against honouring Mr Tytler, whose contribution in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom has been recorded by several fact-finding reports, including those by PUCL and PUDR.

The seven names are:

Continue reading An appeal to seven distinguished individuals to decline the Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Award →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Government, Mirror Worlds, Movements

The need to influence the trajectory of one’s own life: Ruchi Gupta

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Guest post by RUCHI GUPTA

The Arab Spring demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Morocco were hailed in much of the democratic world. However the Occupy Wall Street protests, which till date have spread to 100 cities in the United States and 1500 globally have met with mixed response.

The Arab people are fighting for democracy, and thus their resistance must be respected and supported. But the OWS folks, proudly leaderless and having framed no concrete demands are vulnerable to all manner of criticism, even from those expected to be supportive. Bill Keller, the former editor of arguably one of the most influential newspapers in the world, the ostensibly liberal, New York Times derides,  “the Occupiers have been pandered to (“Love your energy!”); patronized (“Here, I’ve drafted you a list of demands …”); co-opted by unions, celebrities and activists for various causes; demonized by the right; arrested and tear-gassed in some cities; and taken lightly by the likes of me”.

However the uprisings in the Arab nations, the OWS demonstrations and even the wave of anti-corruption protests that swept India this year are all ultimately an expression of people’s resistance to disenfranchisement. Whether it’s those fighting for democracy or those who find themselves powerless in face of a system that’s been hijacked by the illegitimate nexus between the financial and political elite (the metaphorical 1%), the underlying sentiment is a demand for fair play and the right of self-determination. Continue reading The need to influence the trajectory of one’s own life: Ruchi Gupta →

Centre watch, Government, Mirror Worlds, Politics

Pakistan 2012 – We Must Learn from History: Raza Rumi

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Guest post by RAZA RUMI

Iskander Mirza, Pakistan’s President between 1956 and ’58, is remarked to have said that democracy was ‘unsuited’ to the genius of the Pakistani people. Decades later, similar questions about democratic form of governance are being raised in Pakistan. Take any TV show, read the multitude of op-eds, or more worryingly, check what the youth have to say on Facebook or Twitter. The parameters of debate remain the same.

The urban Pakistani’s disdain for the ‘illiterate’, ‘rural’ politicians and their ability to rule the country is a long-running theme. More importantly, the duality of civil-military rule has generated a peculiar discourse: the weak and corrupt ‘civilians’ compromise national security as opposed to authoritarian regimes which guard ‘ideological’ and geographical borders of the country. Continue reading Pakistan 2012 – We Must Learn from History: Raza Rumi →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Ecology/Environment, Empire/ Imperialism, Government, Movements

Statement Condemning the Repression of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti

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This statement, signed by many individuals and organisations, was released on 29 November by the CAMPAIGN FOR SURVIVAL AND DIGNITY

CONDEMN THE REPRESSION ON POSCO PRATIRODH SANGRAM SAMITI AND THE LIKELY IMMINENT ATTACK ON THE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS OF THE AREA

The undersigned condemn the growing brutality of the state repression being unleashed against the peaceful, democratic protesters of the POSCO project area, who are only fighting for their legal and fundamental rights.  This repression has reached a peak with the arrest yesterday (Friday) of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti leader Abhay Sahoo.  The government’s constant announcements of its intention to start construction in the area lead us to apprehend that there will be more violence and brutality against the movement. Continue reading Statement Condemning the Repression of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti →

Centre watch, Frontiers, Identities, Law

A case for remission of punishment for Dr Khaleel Chishty under Article 161 of the Constitution of India: Kavita Srivastava

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Guest post by KAVITA SRIVASTAVA

Pardon and or Remission of Punishment for Pakistani prisoner Dr. Khaleel Chishty under Article 161 of the Constitution of India by the Governor of Rajasthan

Continue reading A case for remission of punishment for Dr Khaleel Chishty under Article 161 of the Constitution of India: Kavita Srivastava →

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Images, Law, Media politics, Violence/Conflict

An open letter from a photojournalist assaulted by Indian security forces in Kashmir: Yawar Kabli

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Guest post by YAWAR KABLI

AP photo by Yasin Dar: Local Kashmiri photographers Yawar Nazir, left, and Showket Shafi wait for treatment after they said they were assaulted by police and paramilitary forces during a protest in Srinagar, India, on Nov. 25. At least four journalists said they were assaulted by police and paramilitary forces Friday as they covered a protest in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

All freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of India are being violated or altogether thrown away by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. One could substantiate that with any number of examples. We were not the first pressmen to be thrashed by the police while covering the stone-hurling protests in the Kashmir. On Friday, 25 November 2011, without any rhyme or reason policemen along with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) thrashed four of us, including me, and snatched away our expensive cameras. They did not even hesitate to bundle us into police vehicles while taking us to the Khanyar police station.

Continue reading An open letter from a photojournalist assaulted by Indian security forces in Kashmir: Yawar Kabli →

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Government, Movements

‘Did the generals think we were fools?’ Alia Allana reports from Cairo

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This guest post by ALIA ALLANA, a despatch for Kafila from Cairo, is the tenth in a series of ground reports from the Arab Spring. Photos by Alia Allana

A week into protesting, the revolution became about preservation lest someone forgets.

Mohammed Mahmoud Street, the sight of intense fighting was officially off-limits for protestors. A concrete wall separated the protestors and police. Atop the wall army soldiers kept guard. The aim was simple: to keep protestors from barging past and facing-off with the authorities, like they had done for the past few days. But sometime in the night, a maverick with a graffiti can had his way and the beige concrete wall now read, “Change is coming soon.”  Continue reading ‘Did the generals think we were fools?’ Alia Allana reports from Cairo →

Centre watch, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Images, Law, Violence/Conflict

Uthao, uthao video ab, won’t you make the video now?

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This photograph shows photojournalist Shahid Tantray being assaulted by the Central Reserve Police Force in Srinagar on 25 November 2011

No tears will be shed for press freedom for attacks on journalists in Srinagar by the Central Reserve Police Force and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Fahad Shah reports what happened in Srinagar yesterday:

Journalists were beaten up and one of them detained, today, when they were covering the post-Friday prayers protests in the Old City, here at Srinagar. Umar Mehraj, who works as video journalist for Associated Press says he, along with other journalists, was covering protests when Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local policemen start beating. He said while beating, the forces were shouting, “Uthao, uthao video ab (Shoot, shoot the video now.).” Umar says his camera was broken and they were abused too.

Continue reading Uthao, uthao video ab, won’t you make the video now? →