South Asia Citizens Web

Audio recordings of interventions by Ira Helfand, Tilman Ruff, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Suvrat Raju The seminar on The Landmark Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons Opportunities and Challenges was held on 24th and 25th Match 2018 at Constitution Club, New Delhi

Communalism is thriving in Bangladesh, not merely through the placing of a religious inscription between the slogans of Joi Bangla and Joi Bangabandhu on Awami League posters but also — and more ominously — through a careful weeding out of non-Muslim writers from school textbooks that have the putative goal of enlightening the young through instilling liberalism in their thoughts and deeds.

Unlike the anti-Muslim riots in Aluthgama four years ago, the horrible violence in Kandy, Digana and surrounding areas was covered in great detail by the mainstream media. As a consequence of dealing with the fallout of the violence over social media, some insights are worth sharing. This is particularly pertinent in light of the censorship of social media carried out under Emergency Regulations by the government, ostensibly with the intent of controlling, curtailing and containing the spread of content that incited violence or fomented hate.

Bangladesh has been emblematic of low wages, poor working conditions, union-avoidance, and a series of mass fatality disasters in garment factories, culminating in the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013. With the five-year anniversary of the catastrophe approaching , the question arises as to whether the intervening years have seen meaningful gains for workers.

Full audio of the keynote address in Hindi at Festival 2018 (Wordcraft & Dept of English Ramjas College) by India’s prominent journalist and TV anchor Ravish Kumar on personal freedoms, right to love and democratic society. The talk was held at Ramjas college, University of Delhi on 15 March 2018. The first recording is that of Mukul Mangalik introducing Ravish Kumar to the audience. The second audio is the full talk by Ravish Kumar. [This recording by sacw.net audio archive is hosted here for public educational purposes]