South Asia Citizens Web

a video recording from a press conference addressed by civil society activists following an exposé by gulail.com on illegal surveillance in Gujarat under the Modi govt.

Among the heaviest investors in “Project Modi”, however, are the Hindu ideologues of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Having been banned twice since Independence, its leaders fear another ban, and worse, the prospect of being jailed. Recent developments have intensified such fears. Hindu extremist groups have been found to be involved in the terrorist attacks on the Mecca Mosque in Hyderabad, at Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti’s shrine at Ajmer (also known as Ajmer Sharif), and on the Samjhauta Express. Several RSS members (since disowned) have been arrested for their involvement in these terror plots. The heat of the investigations threatens to singe some top RSS functionaries.

Ms. Asma Khan Pathan, District President of BJP Minority cell, Kheda, Gujarat tweeted an image of Muslims burning the Indian National Flag at 10:41 AM on 28 November 2013 claiming that to be of illegal Bangladeshis doing so in a protest in Assam. In reality, the image was that of JuD protesters burning the Indian flag in Karachi

Nearly 9 million people were mobilized to serve in Britain’s military during World War I. By the time photographer Giles Price started seeking veterans of the war in 2005, there were just 23 left. Even fewer lived long enough to have their portrait taken. “I was aware that very few were still alive and wanted to document them while they were alive,” Price said via email.His series, “The Old Guard,” features portraits of the last 12 veterans of the war, which broke out 100 years ago next (…)

Hindustan Times
by Harsh Mander
November 21, 2013
The continued human suffering and cynical engineering of social ruptures in Muzaffarnagar is another reminder of the imperative for a law to prevent further communal violence. This statute was promised by the UPA government when it assumed power in 2004. But so far it has been unable to muster the political courage to steer it through