South Asia Citizens Web

It used to be believed that that economic interaction between developing countries (South-South integration) would necessarily be more beneficial than North-South links. The latter were seen as reproducing the global division of labour that emerged by the mid 20thcentury, whereby much of the developing world essentially specialized in primary commodities and labour-intensive (and therefore lower productivity) manufactured goods, while the North kept the monopoly of high value added production. By contrast, trade and investment links between countries in the Global South were supposed to allow for more diversification because of their more similar stages of development, thus creating more synergies.

Only our two countries, China and India, are going for major expansion of nuclear power with no concrete plans to decommission the plants or to store and safeguard the nuclear waste. Both our countries also go for major nuclear arms build-up which is not in the best interests of our peoples, regional harmony and world peace. In the larger interests of our own countries and peoples and the whole world, please make a solemn resolve in your historic 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China not to promote nuclear energy in China. Such a thoughtful decision will also help India, Pakistan and other countries shun nuclear power and go for “New Energies.”

Dr Binayak Sen, an internationally renowned medical practitioner and social activist (a leading figure in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties), was incarcerated in Chhattisgarh and held in detention in Raipur having been branded as a Maoist for his activities in defence of poor tribals in the State. He is now out on bail. The following is the text of the Arvind Narayan Das Memorial Lecture he delivered in New Delhi on October 6, 2012.

In perceiving the public sphere entirely as a zone of male competition, Banerjee’s argument replicates the idea that rape is correlated to uncontrollable male urges — a physical and psychological given, with a ‘men will be men’ sigh of resignation — and its removal must therefore be dependent upon finding more legitimate, socially-acceptable means of satiating them. This dangerous formulation relies on an entrenched sense of male entitlement to women’s bodies as empty (or irrelevant) vessels waiting to satisfy male sexual desires. Urbanisation, modernity, or women’s sexual confidence and assertiveness become justifications for men’s refusal to wait for consent before displaying, and slaying, their lust.

Berlin will now rely on local notions of legitimacy and on traditions to help stabilize fragile states. What will this mean, however, for Afghan women, who until now have been dramatically underrepresented in all government bodies, and whose desire for political participation is openly met with insult, persecution, and violence? These women suffer daily under the strict conservative and patriarchal structures of society. In the name of a just social peace, it should be a matter of fighting against such structures rather than accepting them.