South Asia Citizens Web

While religious parties in Pakistan have seldom secured big vote shares, all political parties tow their line. Why? And what is the way out?

SAHMAT and Communalism Combat strongly condemn the latest attack by VHP goons on an art exhibition of Pakistani and Indian artists, ‘An Art Affair’, at the Amdavad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad , on August 16, just a day after India had celebrated independence day across the country.

"You look green!" said a friend. "Are you ill?" asked another. Last year, a respected Indian newspaper published a photograph of me online which had been lightened so drastically by the art director's magic wand that I called the editor to complain and he apologised and replaced it with the original. The art director had thought he was doing me a favour by whitening my skin.India's obsession with fair skin is well documented: in 1978, Unilever launched Fair & Lovely cream, which (…)

Far away from the 24 7 media and far away from the usual rhetoric one witnesses on any such date it was effectively people’s celebration which was resisted by the state at every level. Held at a non descript village called Dalod around 150 kilometers from Ahmedabad the state capital, it was attended by around 15,000 people men and women, old and young, according to conservative estimates, .
There was unprecedented police patrolling and barricades on all roads leading to village Dalod and people coming to the flag hoisting were being stopped. One can easily guess that if the state would not have gone out of the way to thwart the programme, and had not cancelled the initial permission to hold it in Hansalpur, - where the Maruti Suzuki plant is supposed to come up - more than 50,000 people could have easily reached there. The celebration was attended by delegations from other groups waging a struggle against land acquisition in their areas, such as from Mahua (against the Nirma cement plant), from Mithi Virdi in Bhavnagar (against the nuclear power project), the Junagadh by-pass road etc. who came there to show their solidarity.

Combination of violent rural and urban displacement has produced rings of poverty and exploitation on the outskirts of Dhaka, one of the world’s fastest growing cities.