This is a press release from theASSOCIATION OF PARENTS OF DISAPPEARED PERSONS, The Bund Amira Kadal, Srinagar, 190001. It is about a new report, which you can download in .pdf format at the end of this press release.
Srinagar, July 28, 2011 – The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) today released the report Half Widow, Half Wife? Responding to Gendered Violence in Kashmir. It examines the situation of women in Indian-administered Kashmir whose husbands have ‘disappeared,’ but not yet been declared deceased. Members of APDP who are themselves half widows released this report at SK Municipal Park, Srinagar. Continue reading Half Widow, Half Wife? Responding to Gendered Violence in Kashmir: APDP→
Just when Shantuben held her meditative poise at a Vipassana camp at Igatpuri on the morning of January 26, 2001, her dream turned to rubble back home in Bhuj. When she reached home, her labour of love of the last 5 years was gone, razed to the ground. It all had to start afresh. Continue reading Few Hearts to Live for→
It’s been more than two years since the supposed end of the war in Sri Lanka. The issues of concern are many, particularly with regard to the period after the end of direct combat. The Sri Lankan government has been abysmal in acknowledging the range of human rights violations that have been committed by the armed forces, which has been documented without a kernel of doubt by the United Nations report as well as the Channel 4 documentary. This documentation has been made in spite of circumstances where any neutral observation of the last stages of the conflict was made impossible by the Sri Lankan government and its army.
This guest post for Kafila comes fromCAELAINN HOGAN, an Irish journalist who was in Juba for South Sudan’s independence day, 9 July 2011
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All photos by Caelainn Hogan
At midnight on the eve of independence, the birth of the Republic of South Sudan was heralded with an outburst of celebrations. In Juba, the capital city, people ran through the streets singing and ululating, in the delirium of a moment they never though would come to be. In a local church the congregation sang happy birthday to the new nation. The next day at the official declaration ceremony thousands gathered to witness the new flag raised high and to sing the national anthem together. Many broke down in tears, thinking of loved ones who had fought or struggled and never got to see this day. The declaration brought an end to a long history of conflict; one that many believed could now be relegated to the past. Others still found inspiration and strength in the past, singing the old revolutionary song, “We will never surrender”. Continue reading “I never knew this before, but now I know I am a human being”: A despatch by Caelainn Hogan from a new country→
‘Gotcha!’ That is the sound I hear in the Indian media and amongst patriotic fellow-Indians in response to the arrest of Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, an American citizen of Indian origin, by the Unites States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Most analyses of the Fai arrest say it’s part of the ongojng tussle between the American CIA and the Pakistani ISI but some in India think it’s part of the American reward to India for opening up its nuclear energy and other markets to American corporations, thus creating jobs for Americans. This may have some truth in it, considering that the Americans asked their ambassador to take a flight to Srinagar four months ago to pat Omar Abdullah on the back for successfully presiding over the killing of 120 Kashmiris the previous summer, and for halting the killings when President Obama was in Delhi, so that the media attention on the President’s visit is not diluted. (And then Americans wonder why ‘Muslims hate us’). Continue reading The question we are not asking about Fai, Tramboo and Shawl→
Given below is the text of a letter written by research scholars and student volunteers to the Prime Minister of India. Given below the letter is a table listing the findings of the survey that the letter speaks about.
Imagine there had been a rape in Delhi. Imagine the headlines in the papers. They would have been loud and angry. As they are, and as they must be. Do you think any of the papers would have said that the woman in question has ‘accused’ or ‘alleged’ who the perpetrator was? But there has been a rape in Kashmir and your media wants you to know that a woman has ‘accused’ an army jawan of having done so. Journalistic restrain and caution are good things when they are useful. After all, let an inquiry establish this is the truth.
Civil society, including human rights groups, in Bengal are now divided on Mamata Banerjee government’s ‘open and hidden’ conditions regarding the release of political prisoners who have been jailed during the Left front rule as well as talks with Maoists and Maoist-backed Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities in Bengal’s tribal hinterland, known as Junglemahal.
Mamata and her ministers have rejected the demands for unconditional release of all political prisoners, immediate withdrawal of joint forces from Junglemahal and public announcement on non-enforcement of the draconian central law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Maoists and PCPA have accused Mamata of eating up her pre-poll words on those demands. A large section in the human rights movement including the intellectuals and activists who actively joined the Mamata-led campaign for regime-change now supported these demands. But some of their fellow travellers have differed on political and legal grounds.
The differences revealed contradictions between the pre-poll and post-poll positions of Mamata as well as chinks in the armour of human rights groups on the attitude to the new government, Maoists and PCPA. Tension among all the stakeholders in the process— Mamata, Maoists, human rights groups and individuals— was well-known within the concerned circles for quite some time. But none of the stakeholders dwelt on it in public before the assembly polls when they had made common cause against the CPM, particularly, the atrocities by CPM-joint forces combine.
I would like to dwell on post-poll dilemmas and fissures in the pro-Paribartan civil society in Bengal later. But this piece is primarily aimed at reporting the increasing manifestations of the hitherto latent tension.
The Times of India reported today that Delhi Police intercepted a call immediately after the Mumbai blasts on Wednesday, which has given them crucial clues to solving this case.
Basically, immediately after the blasts, the ever alert Delhi police intercepted a call from Mumbai to the NCR to ask the person in the NCR if ‘the work had been done’ and whether ‘Sharif” had been informed. On getting the answer ‘yes’, the caller hung up, and not just hung up, but ‘immediately’ hung up. The call lasted for about a minute.
This brief call was not too brief for the Delhi Police’s keen forensic skills.
I have long been a fan of your column, tweets and have admired The New Indian Express and DNA under your editorship. I am, however, saddened to se that you chose to publish Subramanian Swamy’s column that is Islamophobic in the extreme, presumes the people behind the Mumbai blasts were Muslims without evidence, and in hardly veiled terms calls for violence against Muslims. Continue reading A note of protest to Aditya Sinha, editor, DNA→
The recently announced Rajiv Awaas Yojana (RAY) has brought back an old ghost to debates on how to allow the urban poor a foothold into the city and the possibility of upward mobility. The central policy initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is the most significant contemporary attempt to address urban poverty through providing housing to the urban poor. The “slum-free city” is back. Now more than ever, then, it is time to ask: what is a “slum-free city”?
Statement by COALITION OF MUSLIMS AND TAMILS FOR PEACE AND COEXISTENCE
The coalition of Muslims and Tamils is a Sri Lanka based organization-comprising Muslim and Tamil identified persons who as a general principle are committed to pluralism and social justice in all its forms. Specifically, we are committed to the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Tamils in the country, particularly in the north and east, and to a just and equitable solution to the ethnic conflict.
Two Years On: No War but no peace for women still facing the consequences of the war
Women in the north and the east of Sri Lanka have undergone severe hardships during the war, including the loss of loved ones, family’s support structures, livelihoods, houses and also a loss of life and dignity. While there have been numerous changes announced by the Government the situation for women on ground, however, has continued to be challenging. It is sad since the end of the brutal war women’s lives have not seen a dramatic transformation over the last two years and they have continued to face the basic challenges of safety, shelter and basic facilities. It in this light that we wish to put forward a few issues that these women have been facing within the broader context of life in the north and east for the communities living there. We have chosen to highlight these issues because of their gravity, the State’s involvement in the same and the inability of women to seek justice in such cases owing to the lack of an effective civilian administration, security threats and the lack of a concrete remedy within the local legal system. While we write of the issues relating to women, they raise broader concerns impacting the families and communities. The incidents and the report cover only the Northern and Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Continue reading Two Years On: No War but No Peace for Women still facing the Consequences of the War – CMTPC→
Madhumita Dutta has sent us this powerful letter in solidarity with the people of Jagatsinghpur opposing the POSCO project, written by a South Korean activistSUNG-HEE CHOI, in prison for opposing a naval base.
Dear residents in Jagatsinghpur,
I am a woman and activist living in South Korea, the country of the POSCO you oppose. I am currently being jailed in the Jeju prison, under the charge of ‘interruption of business’, because of my resistance against the enforcement of the naval base construction in the Jeju Island located in the south of South Korea. As of today, July 3, I met 46th day since my arrest and 44th day since my being restrained.
I accidently happened to see two of your struggle photos and a photo in the Korean Times, June 13, 2011 had a caption underneath it:
‘Anti POSCO action in India: A village sprays water to relieve children lying with other villages along the entry point to prevent policemen and officials from entering their area at Jagatsinghpur district, about 140 kilometers(87 miles) east of eastern Bhubareshwary India, Saturday. The villagers have been protesting against turning their farmland into an industrial developed area for a $12 billion steal plant of South Korean conglomerate POSCO (AP-Yonhap).’
Statement by Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association
JTSA offers its heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved and the injured in the Mumbai serial blasts. We sincerely hope that the perpetrators of this mindless violence will be brought to justice swiftly. There are early indicators though that this investigation will be marred by prejudiced investigating agencies. There are news items appearing in various media outlets which cite the interrogation report of Md. Salman, a supposed operative of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to establish that Mumbai was on IM’s sights.
Already we see that, though the Home Ministry has restrained from holding any group culpable, the investigation is being gently pushed in one direction. But even if one leaves aside for a moment the criticism that investigators react in stereotypical ways, their compass needle invariably pointing towards Azamgarh, there are serious issues arising out of this reliance on Salman’s interrogation report for getting to the bottom of the Mumbai serial blasts conspiracy.
We the citizens of India and Pakistan strongly condemn the inhuman and dastardly serial blasts in Mumbai on 13 July 2011 in which 21 innocent people were killed and over 140 injured. We offer our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and pray for quick and complete recovery of all those injured. It is clear that these blasts are a well orchestrated heinous conspiracy to derail the resumption of the dialogue and peace process between India and Pakistan that was stalled following the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008. Continue reading Indian and Pakistani Citizens Condemn Serial Blasts in Mumbai→
It is widely believed that the Kashmir conflict has its roots in the Partition of India in August 1947. This view perpetuates the understanding of the conflict as one between India and Pakistan. However, recognising that the roots of the conflict lie in an earlier history – indeed, that there was a history before August 1947 – changes our understanding of the ‘intractable’ conflict in Kashmir. This guest post by MRIDU RAI, author of the book, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights and the History of Kashmir (2004), discusses the salience of the events in Srinagar on this day, exactly 80 years ago.
While "separatists" were placed under house arrest to prevent commemorative mass gatherings, policemen took part in Kashmir Martyrs' Day ceremonies at the Martyrs' graveyard in Srinagar, July 13, 2011. Photo credit: Reuters
Our fair but humble town of Thiruvananthapuram has been in a tizzy since it was discovered that our benign presiding deity, Lord Sree Padmanabha, had been resting on a huge treasure-trove, so fantastic that no one has been able to stop talking of it since then. This seems to have changed drastically the way we have perceived our past — or rather, the historical amnesia which we have been suffering from has been drastically accelerated. In the decades after independence, very few people, except the upper caste retainers of the Travancore royal family and the accolytes of the regime, thought that rajabharanam was a good thing. There were stories about the days immediately following the accession of Travancore to India, of how people gathered outside the Padmanabhaswamy temple, and when the Travancore Maharajah, Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma arrived there for his daily visit, reminded him of their equality with him as citizens of India, addressing him personally and intimately … ‘Hey, Balaa’! That seems to have gone for a toss and we are back to His Golden Majesty, Ponnutampuran, though such a tampuran has no place in our political system. Continue reading Can Kingly Mortals Donate to the Gods?→
Giving a historical background of why the Sree Ananta Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram came to have these riches, Malavika Velayanikal writes in DNA:
True, the bags of gold coins, diamonds, precious stones, 18-feet-long gold necklaces, jewellery weighing many kilograms, and solid-gold statues of gods and goddesses landed in the vault via the king. But in reality, the temple treasury was nourished by the sweat and blood of the masses as well.
One of the main sources of the royal income was taxes. They were incredibly high for the lower castes, with marriages, childbirth and even death being taxed. Country boats, ploughs, carts, umbrellas, headscarves, why, even a moustache, were taxed. Mothers were allowed to breastfeed their newborns only after they paid the ‘mulakaram’ (breast-tax) to the local lord, who would then grant permission. [Must read]
But you won’t hear this said too often because, as Appu Esthose Suresh reports in Mint:
“If the government makes any move, then the believers will protest and BJP will support the people,” he (a temple staff member) was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
It is precisely the fear of antagonizing a section of the Hindus that is forcing the state government to be cautious.
“This government does not have the courage to go against Hindu sentiments,” said P.R.P. Bhaskar, a political observer. “It will move in a direction which will accommodate the royal palace.”
“The Left Front gained Hindu votes for two reasons. Firstly, its traditional vote base consists of Hindus and a perception that Christian and Muslim votes are moving towards the Congress and its allies had led to a consolidation of Hindu votes. This might help the government change that perception a bit,” he added. [Link]
Hindu appeasement. That’s what will come in the way of a just, fair, pro-people decision about what should be done wit the temple wealth.
