Towards 75 years of adopting the Constitution, it is time for a new beginning.
‘Secularism is the religion of humanity …. It is a protest against theological oppression, against ecclesiastical tyranny, against being the serf, the subject or slave of any phantom, or of the priest of any phantom. “
– Robert Green Ingersoll
Simple ideas are perhaps the most difficult to implement.
For a country of around 1.4 billion, which has witnessed internecine violence on religious lines at the time of Independence, and which has turned a new leaf by adopting a Constitution based on secularism, which abhorred even mentioning the word God, why it is still difficult to avoid religious rituals in public domain, at least in the precincts of the courts?
How Ten Years of Modi Regime Has Undermined Constitutional Rights to Dalits
Image courtesy: Wikimedia commons
“If the fundamental rights are opposed by the community, no Law, no Parliament, no Judiciary can guarantee them in the real sense of the word”,..“What is the use of fundamental rights to the Negro in America, to the Jews in Germany and to the untouchables in India. As Burke said there is no method found for punishing the multitude’
– Ambedkar
Introduction
Within less than a fortnight we will have a new government in power.
Indian people normally make a judicious choice while electing their representatives, their government and this year won’t be different.
One can recall their wisdom when their united resistance helped unseat Indira Gandhi regime after the emergency (1977) or their concerted action could overthrow the Vajpayi government ( 2004) despite the much hyped ‘India Shining’ rhetoric pushed by it.
Today also ground currents definitely suggest change is in the air.
People’s desire to defeat the Republic of Hate which is pushed before them and regain their Republic of Hope seems overwhelming.
As already expressed by scholars, political activists, concerned citizens, if the elections remain free and fair, if the various guardrails of democracy can remain true to their mandate , we will have real ‘Acche Din‘ waiting for us.
It is an opportune time to look back and see how this much trumpeted regime fared in the last decade in various aspects of India’s society and state.
It is opportune to see how the ‘New India’ – which we have supposedly ushered in – has fared via-v-vis Dalits. What follows is not an exhaustive picture of the last decade of Modi rule but a cursory glance at the issue at hand.
The Right-wing party has been justifying and legitimising Mir Jafar, Mir Sadiq and associates, while demonising Siraj-ud-Daulah and Tipu Sultan.
The tomb of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Elections to the 18th Lok Sabha have broken records in many ways.
Right from the arrests of Opposition leaders on the eve of elections, the spinelessness shown by the Election Commission (EC) to the open mouthing of hateful speeches targeting a community by top members of the ruling dispensation, to complete metamorphosis of the mainstream media into a cheerleader of the government, all such signs are ominous for the future of democracy in the country.
May be one should add to it the open justification by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of the betrayal by the likes of Mir Jafar and his associates like Raja Krishnachandra Roy, Jagat Seth, Omi Chand — which lead to defeat of the Siraj-ud-Daulah (1733-July 2,1757), the last independent Nawab of Bengal in the Battle of Plassey, which ultimately opened the gates of conquest of the rest of India by the Britishers.
If 2019 elections are still remembered because BJP had fielded candidates who were accused of involved in terrorist acts, the 2024 elections would also be remembered how they helped betrayals covered in glory. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/how-bjp-covers-betrayals-glory)
Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, is an author, economist, and public intellectual. He served as Communications Advisor, held a cabinet rank position in Andhra Pradesh Government between July 2014 and June 2018. He was also a former spokesman and one of the founding general secretaries of Praja Rajyam Party.
For several years he presented a current affairs discussion programme on television channels of Andhra Pradesh. His programmes included Pratidhwani on ETV2 and Namaste Andhra Pradesh on NTV .
His book of essays ‘The Crooked Timber of New India : Essays on a Republic in Crisis‘ was widely discussed.
Dr Parakala completed his doctorate from the London School of Economics. He did his Master of Arts (M.A.) and Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
About the Talk :
Relentless in exposing the sinister nature of the communal politics of the current ruling dispensation and meticulous in exposing the voodoo economic policies pursued by them which are disastrous to the Indian economy, Dr Parakala Prabhakar is going to speak on ‘The Political Economy of New India’ in this lecture.
The Vajpayee government tried to change the Constitution, but lost in 2004. We must be vigilant, as a similar chorus is being raised again by Hindutva Supremacist forces.
..make India an independent sovereign republic and guarantee and secure for all the people of India social, economic and political justice; equality of status and opportunities and equality before law; and fundamental freedoms—of speech, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action—subject to law and public morality;
and also ensure that
adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes.
(Excerpts of Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly, moved by Pandit Nehru on December 13, 1946 and adopted unanimously by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947)
It was just another press conference in the national capital.
The only difference was that it was held at the house of a member of Parliament belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party then…
This was on December 25, 1992. Less than three weeks before India had witnessed one of its deeply troubling, disturbing moment in its history where a mosque, which stood for more than 500 years, had been demolished by a horde of people who had gathered there from different parts of the Country, mobilised by the forces of Hindutva supremacism.
..Swami Muktanand and Vamdeo Maharaj, who were closely associated with the Ram Mandir movement (India Today, January 31, 1993) addressed the press meet.
‘This Constitution is anti Hindu‘ and needs to be rejected.”We have no faith in country’s laws‘ and ‘Sadhus are above the law of the land‘.’
..The press meet ended rather abruptly.
Journalists, who had gathered there to hear something about the movement, felt cheated that what unfolded there was an anti-climax.
लोकसभा चुनाव के प्रचार के कई भाजपा नेता संविधान बदलने के लिए बहुमत हासिल करने की बात दोहरा चुके हैं. उनके ये बयान नए नहीं हैं, बल्कि संघ परिवार के उनके पूर्वजों द्वारा भारतीय संविधान के प्रति समय-समय पर ज़ाहिर किए गए ऐतराज़ और इसे बदलने की इच्छा की तस्दीक करते हैं.
कुछ तारीखें हर जम्हूरियत की तवारीख में सदा के लिए अंकित हो जाती हैं.
6 दिसंबर 1992 ऐसी ही एक तारीख है. इस घटना के तीन सप्ताह के अंदर दिल्ली में एक प्रेस सम्मेलन हुआ था. 25 दिसंबर 1992 को स्वामी मुक्तानंद और वामदेव महाराज, जो राम मंदिर आंदोलन से क़रीब से जुड़े थे, उन्होंने मौजूदा संविधान को बदलने की बात छेड़ दी और कहा कि यह संविधान ‘हिंदू विरोधी है’. (इंडिया टुडे, 31 जनवरी 1993 )
एक सप्ताह बाद 1 जनवरी 1993 को स्वामी मुक्तानंद के नाम से हिंदूवादी संगठनों की तरफ से एक श्वेत पत्र जारी किया गया, जिसमें भारतीय संविधान को ‘हिंदू विरोधी’ घोषित किया गया था. श्वेत पत्र के कवर पेज पर दो प्रश्न पूछे गए थे: एक, ‘भारत की एकता, बंधुत्व और सांप्रदायिक सद्भाव को नष्ट किसने किया?’ और ‘ किसने भुखमरी, गरीबी, भ्रष्टाचार और अधर्म फैलाया ?’
श्वेत पत्र का शीर्षक इस प्रश्न का जवाब दे रहा था , ‘वर्तमान इंडियन संविधान’!
A wedding party travelling by night depicting Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda (r.1580-1612) bringing home his bride, the beautiful Hindu dancing-girl Bhagmati. (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford)
Compared to the more complicated record of the last Nizam of Hyderabad, the popular memory of Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah continues to be one associated with love.
It was Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah who sincerely prayed for his city, his Fakhunda Buniyad (the city with fortunate foundations) or Bhagnagar – “mera shahar logan su mamur kar, rakhyan jun tun darya mein min ya sami” (fill my city with people, as you would a river with fish). And he did not pray for only certain species or kinds of fish.
And so, we now have Greater Hyderabad, starting from that one prayer. He ruled from 1565 to 1611 over the kingdom of Golconda – for 31 years and died at the age of 46. He built the capital city of Hyderabad and many architectural wonders, the most famous among them being Charminar (1591), the Jami (Mecca) Masjid (1597), and the Darush Shifa (1595) – which housed a Unani hospital, many gardens, palaces and so forth.
Muhammad Quli also poured his heart out in other ways, such as in ghazals, Marsiya (elegy), Rekhti (“women expressing sentiments for men in a language exclusively spoken by them”), and so on. Some of these (as recorded in the book by Narendra Luther, Prince, Poet, Lover, Builder Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, The Founder of Hyderabad, Publications Division, Government of India, 1991), being relevant to the times, are reproduced below. Continue reading But what about Love? Hyderabad and the 2024 Elections PART II: R. Umamaheshwari→
[From a painting (artist not mentioned) in Narendra Luther, Prince, Poet, Lover, Builder Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, The Founder of Hyderabad, Publications Division, Government of India, 1991]
Backdrop
This is a two-part article on the current electoral battle for the Hyderabad constituency between what is ostensibly being perceived (in some circles) as a contest between majority and minority fundamentalism, represented by BJP’s Madhavi Latha and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, respectively. But this is a staid and limited perspective. More to it lies in its history being re-configured in a linear and straitjacketed manner by the Hindutva politics, to the exclusion of all else. Hence, this essay is in two parts: the present electoral contest set in context and second part (the final word) being that which always troubles Hindutva: Inter-faith Love, plural histories, of what made the city which is now contested, yet again.
Part 1 – Setting the Context
The entire stretch of Hyderabad between Golconda and Malakpet, approximately 20-25 kms, on the southern bank of the now slushy Musi River, is perceived as the ‘old’ city. The term itself has a relatively new genesis. Roughly 5 kilometers of road divides Charminar (in the ‘old’) from Abids (a commercial hub in the ‘new’ city), 5 kms from Golconda (in the ‘old’) to Mehdipatnam (in the new) and around 4 kms from Malakpet to Koti.
There are 16 revenue mandals in the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad area, 6 of which are in the old city. These are – Charminar, Bandlaguda, Bahadurpura, Sayeedabad, Asifnagar and Golconda. Back in 2004, 500 of the 811 notified slums (of the 1800 squatter settlements) were in the old city. Their numbers seem to have increased in recent times. Continue reading A City built on Love – Hyderabad and the 2024 elections PART I: R. Umamaheshwari→
A Statement by Academics Worldwide on the Arrest of Hebrew University Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian
Around 5 pm on Thursday, April 18, 2024, Hebrew University professor and internationally renowned feminist scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian was arrested by Israeli police at her home in the Old City of Jerusalem on the charge of incitement to violence. The police raided and searched her home and she is currently undergoing harsh and dehumanizing interrogation. Her lawyer said the charges against her are serious. Information about her release is unknown. Palestinians in Israeli detention suffer physical, emotional, and mental violence. Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who holds both Israeli and U.S. citizenship, has been subjected to violent repression and harassment by the Hebrew University for speaking out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Furthermore, she was suspended from her teaching duties in March, though later reinstated once it became clear that there is no basis for the allegations against her.
‘The anger and anxieties over ‘Agnipath’ scheme – have not died down.
Gone is the period of open protests by youth and students and other ordinary people which rocked when the scheme was hastily announced (June 2022).
It does not mean that the youth are now happy about this scheme.
In an ambience of rising unemployment how is it possible to be happy about the fact that “[d]ue to the implementation of the Agniveer scheme, around 1.5 lakh candidates selected for the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy between 2019 and 2022 were allegedly denied joining.( 2)and all future possibilities of such an employment being closed forever.
Anyone who is keen to know how Agnipath has literally ‘destroyed’ thousands of jobs in military can take a tour of Kuchman City in Nagour ( Rajasthan) once a hub of more than 200 defence coaching academies preparing students from Rajasthan, Haryana and neighbouring parts of Western UP for entrance exams in Military..
…The anger and discontent of the Youth will continue to harm the ruling dispensation – whatever gloss they try to apply over the scheme.
The talk looks at the practice of Gandhi in his struggle against communalism in the years leading up to Partition.
This is a hugely controversial subject with polarised positions taken by his followers and critics.
The perspective of the talk emerges from Gandhi’s oft quoted but not heeded statement, My Life is My Message. The talk is a reading of a life text in this sense: Gandhi’s mission in Noakhali to mend the social fabric torn by communal riots and spread of communal ideology.
Gandhi’s search for a way out may offer some insights to those sharing his concern for a secular, plural society and polity today.
About the Speaker :
Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, till the end of February 2023, Professor Mahajan has been visiting professor and Fellow at different International and National Institutions.
She was member of the prestigious international research projects such as SPECTRESS and CHCI-MELLON Crises of Democracy, Global Humanities Institute. She has authored and edited many books on India’s Independence Struggle, Partition, Challenge of Communalism, Composite Culture etc
Publications :
Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India, 1947, Parts One and Two, (edited and with an Introduction) OUP, 2013 and 2015. Education for Social Change: MVF and Child Labour, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2008. RSS, School Texts and the Murder of Mahatma Gandhi- The Hindu Communal Project (with Aditya and Mridula Mukherjee) Sage Publications, 2008. Composite Culture in a Multi-Cultural Society (Co-edited with Bipan Chandra), Pearson India & National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2006. Rites of Passage, A Civil Servant Remembers: H.M. Patel, (ed.), Rupa & Co., New Delhi,2005. Independence and Partition: The Erosion of Colonial Power in India, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2000.
अपनी जनतांत्रिक छवि चमकाने के लिए ‘मदर आफ डेमोक्रेसी’ होने के दावों से शुरू हुई भारत सरकार की यात्रा फिलवक्त डेमोक्रेसी रेटिंग गढ़ने के मुक़ाम तक पहुंची है. अभी वह किन-किन मुकामों से गुजरेगी इसके बारे में भविष्यवाणी नहीं की जा सकती.
‘भारत- जिसने औपनिवेशिक हुकूमत से आज़ादी के बाद जनतांत्रिक संरचनाओं को अपनाया और हर नागरिक को संविधान के तहत बुनियादी अधिकार प्रदान किए- वहां जनतंत्र की परंपरा कमजोर की जा रही है….’
दुनिया के अग्रणी विद्वानों- जिनमें से कई भारतीय मूल के हैं – द्वारा पिछले दिनों जारी बयान में प्रगट सरोकार काबिलेगौर हैं. बयान में साफ कहा गया है कि किस तरह यहां ‘मूलभूत आजादियों को भी कुचला जा रहा है या कमजोर किया जा रहा है. ’
गौरतलब है कि साझे बयान का फोकस न्यूज़क्लिक न्यूज़ पोर्टल पर हुए संगठित हमले, भीमा कोरेगांव मामले में पांच साल से अधिक समय से हुई गिरफ्तारियों और उत्तर पूर्व दिल्ली में हुए दंगों के बाद इसी तरह जेल में डाले गए लेखकों, कार्यकर्ताओं पर रहा हैे, लंबे समय तक जेल में रखने के बावजूद चार्जशीट तक दाखिल न होने पर है, लेकिन वह यहां की बद से बदतर होती स्थिति को ही रेखांकित कर रहा है.
तय बात है कि एक ऐसे समय में जबकि चुनाव आसन्न हैं और मोदी सरकार द्वारा देश के अंदर उठाए जा रहे दमनात्मक कदमों को लेकर मामला सरगर्म है, यहां तक कि चुनावों का ऐलान होने के बाद विपक्ष के नेताओं की गिरफ्तारी, प्रमुख विपक्षी पार्टी कांग्रेस के बैंक खातों को बहाना बनाकर सील देने के कदम ने देश-दुनिया में चिंता प्रगट की जा रही है, उस समय इस बयान ने निश्चित ही मोदी की अगुवाईवाली हुकूमत को कत्तई खुश नहीं किया होगा.
आधिकारिक तौर पर इस बयान को लेकर मुल्क के मौजूदा हुक्मरानों की तरफ से कोई प्रतिक्रिया नहीं आई है और न ही उनके हिमायतियों ने इसके बारे में कुछ कहा है. उसकी पूरी कोशिश यही होगी कि हुकूमत के प्रति आलोचनात्मक रुख रखने वाले अन्य बयानों, रिपोर्ट की तरह इस बयान को भी भुला दिया जाए या दफना दिया जाए. ( Read the full article here : https://thewirehindi.com/271640/why-does-the-mother-of-democracy-need-its-own-democracy-index/)
It is an interesting coincidence that ‘Best Friends’ Netanyahu and Modi have been put on the defensive by the judiciary, which they so tried to control.
..[t]here is another way to break a democracy. It is less dramatic but equally destructive. Democracies may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders—presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power. Some of these leaders dismantle democracy quickly, as Hitler did in the wake of the 1933 Reichstag fire in Germany. More often, though, democracies erode slowly, in barely visible steps.
How Democracies Die – Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
The greatest danger the tyrant can inflict is to limit us to his range of options, not only “for how to live, but also for how to exercise our options.”
– Hisham Matar
(American born British-Libyan writer)
Every hurried and ill-thought attempt to browbeat the judiciary on the basis of legislative majority hides the possibility of a backfire.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, popularly known as ‘Bibi’, is learning this lesson the hard way, in the midst of a genocidal war he has unleashed against the Palestinians — a war which has already killed more than 30,000 people — mostly women and children.
Gone are the days when he was riding the popularity charts. Today, after the attacks on Gaza, there is increasing discontent among the Israeli people themselves against this ‘unending war’ which has manifested itself in the demand of Bibi’s quitting to ‘Save Israel’. Massive protest demonstrations have been held in different parts of Israel.
The recent judgements of the Supreme Court of Israel have further added to Netanyahu’s discomfort. ( Please read the complete article here)
[Following is a statement issued by some eminent scholars and writers against the prolonged incarceration without trial of political prisoners in India.]
We, the signatories to this statement, write with the greatest of concern because we admire the democratic structures that India embraced since gaining Independence from colonial rule, including a set of Constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights for every citizen. This entire democratic tradition is being fundamentally undermined by some recent developments in that country. We write at this particular moment to draw the world’s attention to how this is being done by the prolonged incarceration without trial of a large number of writers, journalists and social activists, often without so much as a charge-sheet against them. All that these individuals have done is to criticize the present government in India.
Professor Rajeev Bhargava, noted political theorist will be delivering the 29th Democracy Dialogues Lecture on Sunday, March 31, 2024 at 6 PM ( IST)
Please reserve the time and date for the lecture. Details are given below
Democracy Dialogues Lecture 29:
Speaker: Professor Rajeev Bhargava
Date: Sunday, March 31, 2024, at 6 PM IST
Theme:
Democracy and Religion in Modern India: Critical and Self-critical Reflections – Prof Rajeev Bhargava
– New Socialist Initiative
Abstract:
“It is widely accepted that ‘secular’ is an alien category in India. This is too simplistic a view. But even if we agree with it, how come no one has asked if ‘religion’ is alien to India? My claim is that it is or at least it is as foreign to India as secular is. What are the implications of this thesis? What have been the consequences of religionization on Indian society and polity? How has it shaped Indian democracy? In my presentation, I shall expand these views and show why India needs secularism and in what form.”
About the speaker :
Renowned political theorist and former director of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies ( CSDS), Delhi Prof Rajeev Bhargava is currently an honorary fellow at the Centre and the director of its Parekh Institute of Indian Thought. He has taught at the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi) and has lectured, taught and held visiting professorships at several international universities.
Prof Bhargava’s work on individualism and secularism is internationally acclaimed. His publications include Individualism in Social Science (1992), What Is Political Theory and Why Do We Need It? (2010) and The Promise of India’s Secular Democracy (2010). His edited works include Secularism and Its Critics (1998), Politics and Ethics of the Indian Constitution (2008) and Politics, Ethics and the Self: Re-reading Hind Swaraj (2022), Bridging Two Worlds : Comparing Classical Political Thought and Statecraft in India and China (2023)
On 11 March 2024, four years after the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the BJP government notified the CAA rules. Continuing their symbolic violence in creating a Hindu Rashtra, the notification came at the beginning of the month of Ramadan, held to be holy by Muslims across the world. As part of their election agenda, this marks another step to consolidate the Hindu vote bank which has been fed on anti-Muslim proposals and propaganda machines. While CAA apologists are using refugee rhetoric to spread hatred against Muslims in the country, the CAA rules show the bureaucratically stringent proofs demanded (Schedule IA and IB) which will ensure many who attempt to claim citizenship through the Act will be rendered de facto stateless.
CAA 2019 is an amendment to India’s citizenship law that fast tracks citizenship acquisition for non-Muslim minorities of neighboring countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This includes Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from these three countries. An earlier version of the bill with this logic was passed by Lok Sabha in 2016 but did not get cleared by Rajya Sabha. The Act introduces anti-secular provision by making religion a criterion in citizenship acquisition. CAA 2019 fulfills many agendas of Hindu nationalism at the same time. Continue reading REJECT CAA-NRC – REJECT NATIONALIST XENOPHOBIA – REJECT DETENTION CENTRES: Hasratein A Queer Collective→
[We reproduce below a statement issued on 11 March 2024, by the group comprising the Citizens Commission on Elections, which included eminent citizens like former Justice Madan B. Lokur, Wajahat Habibullah, MG Devasahayam, Sundar Burra and others. This statement announces the formation of the IPMIE, keeping the special urgency to monitor the conduct of the electoral process that stands seriously threatened as we move into the 2024 general elections.]
India is world’s largest democracy wherein General Election to Parliament is around-the-corner (April-May, 2024). As is known the words “election” and “democracy” have become synonymous. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 states as much: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”
The situation on the ground in India, has created anxiety and upsurge within the country. The citizen is at the centre of any democracy with their right to vote in a free and fair manner. Currently, the concern among the Indian electorate is that this process is in peril. The present scenario reveals an unevenness of the playing field that militates against the right to free and fair elections, and risks obstructing the will of the people.
कहीं ऐसा तो नहीं कि ‘सांस्कृतिक मार्क्सवादी’ और ‘वोक पीपल’ (Woke People) को लेकर संघ सुप्रीमो की ललकार एक तरह से उत्पीड़ितों की दावेदारी और स्वतंत्र चिंतन के प्रति हिंदुत्व वर्चस्ववाद की बढ़ती बेचैनियों को ही बेपर्द करती है.
मुल्क की दारूल हुकूमत अर्थात राजधानी दिल्ली- आए दिन कुछ न कुछ सेमिनार, संगोष्ठियां, विचारोें के अनौपचारिक आदान-प्रदान की मौन गवाह बनी रहती है. आम तौर पर वह ख़बर भी नहीं बन पाते, अलबत्ता कुछ तबादले खयालात कभी-कभी सुर्खियां बन जाते हैं.
पिछले दिनों यहां के भव्य ताज एम्बेसेडर होटल में एक विचार-विमर्श चला, जो अलग कारणों से सुर्खियां बना. आयोजक के चलते और जिस मसले पर वहां गुफ्तगू चली उसे लेकर. दरअसल इसका आयोजन भारतीय जनता युवा मोर्चा ने किया था, जो आम तौर पर ऐसी बौद्धिक गतिविधियों के लिए जाना नहीं जाता है.
दूसरी अहम बात थी कि इस विचार-विमर्श में अमेरिका, जर्मनी और चंद अन्य पश्चिमी मुल्कों के कई अनुदारवादी, रूढ़िवादी विचारक, अकादमिशियन जुटे थे और भारत के शिक्षा संस्थानों से जुड़े कई अकादमिशियन भी थे. बातचीत किन मसलों पर चली इसके आधिकारिक विवरण उपलब्ध नहीं है, लेकिन इतना तो समाचार में सुनने को मिला है कि वहां ‘वोकवाद’ (Wokeism-वोक़िज़्म) पर भी बातचीत चली थी. ( Read the rest of the article here)
We publish below a statement circulated by Lalit Kala Kendra(Gurukul) alumni, art educators, visiting faculty and theatre/cine artistes regarding the recent attack on the students making an examination presentation of a play woven around a Ram Leela rehearsal, where routinely men play women’s roles. This attack took place on 2 February. This incident was preceded by an attack on FTII students on 23 January by a group of right-wing goons. We also present in this post, for the record, a statement on the previous incident by the FTII Students’ Association and a solidarity statement by FTII Alumni.
Statement from Lalit Kala Kendra(Gurukul) alumni, art educators, visiting faculty and theatre/cine artistes
We would like to begin by saying that despite our diverse ideological, cultural, social, religious and geographical backgrounds and identities, we write this note together as informed and sensitive artists, and citizens of India. We would like to strongly emphasise that we have great respect for all religions, castes, creeds, sects etc. We are proud of and value our rich Indian culture and traditions.
UGC led by Chairman Jagdeesh Kumar refuses to remain beyond controversy for long time.
The latest being its draft proposal of ‘dereservation’ of seats if not a suitable candidate from reserved category is found wherein it asked people’s views till 28 th January.
As expected this proposal which smacked of the ruling dispensation’s surreptitious and even direct attempts at attacking or biting away at the affirmative action policies emanating from the Constitution rightly led to protests in various quarters, There were protests opposing this proposal on JNU and other campuses and even opposition parties attacked the ruling party for its compromising attitude towards reservation rights and its desire and moves to either dilute or hollow out the provisions of these socially progressive policies and this led to an intervention from the Human Resources Ministry underlining that there is no such proposal.
Text of a petition initiated by SWASA, signed by 3640 sex workers and allies, sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Reem Alsalem on January 31, 2024. This is in response to a call for inputs towards the Special Rapporteur’s report on violence against women to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024.
Sex workers and allies at a rally demanding sex work be recognized as work under government labor rules, on the eve of International Labor Day, in Kolkata, April 30, 2022. AP Photo/Bikas Das. Image courtesy Human Rights Watch
We, the undersigned write to bring to your attention our concerns regarding the problematic terminology used in the call for inputs to the report of the Special Rapporteur (SR) on violence against women (VAW) and girls to the Human Rights Council. The thematic report of the SR on VAW that will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council at its 56th session in June 2024 proposes to examine the nexus between the global phenomenon of prostitution and violence against women and girls.
The call for inputs states that the Special Rapporteur would like to receive inputs to better understand the relationship between prostitution and violence against women, to clarify terms, approaches and actions States should take in order to maintain the spirit of international human rights law and to effectively protect women and girls from all forms of violence. Continue reading Demanding respectful and inclusive language for sex workers: Sex Workers and Allies South Asia (SWASA)→
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 