South Asia Citizens Web

What the threat-makers forget is this — culture humanises what politics demonises. Banning artists, writers, actors and poets will give victory to the terrorists and extremists who don’t want people-to-people contact. They only want to create fear.

The law, known as the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Bill 2016 (FDRB), came into effect on October 13, 2016. The law requires all foreign-funded NGOs, a category that describes development, human rights, and many other organizations, to submit virtually all activities for approval to a bureau under the prime minister’s office, without clear criteria for grounds for rejection or a timeframe in which decisions should be rendered. Registration is similarly at the discretion of the bureau, and a last-minute addition to the law makes it an offense for NGOs to criticize the government.

The fundamental characteristic of the emerging republic is a majoritarian tone and tenor. The justice system is learning to gloss over hate speech and violent assertions of Hinduism. That is evident nationwide, as police side with attackers, especially with self-proclaimed gau rakshaks (cow defenders) and victimise victims, almost all Muslim.

We write in support of Dr. Snehsata Manav and Dr. Manoj Kumar of the Department of English and Foreign Languages who have recently come under attack for their sponsorship of a student production on your campus of the play “Draupadi” based on a story by Mahasweta Devi who, as you know, is universally recognized as a towering figure in contemporary Indian literature.

Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), in its national committee meeting held in Jammu on October 22nd 2016 has decided to launch a “No to war” campaign.