An exhibition by photographer-artist Sunil Gupta, which got discontinued at the Alliance Française in New Delhi after an individual complained of being offended by it, Gupta talks to Susmita Saha about creative freedom and the multifarious ways in which it repeatedly get stifled in India and his sheer ’perplexity’ about Alliance Française’s attitude over the incident.
Photographer-artist Sunil Gupta
Full text of the 1969 report of Commission of Inquiry in to Conspiracy to Murder Mahatma Gandhi. Published in 1970 by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the report is now not so widely known since its has been out of print. This two part report has been now been digitised and uploaded on the internet in public interest with the intent to permanently keep it in the public domain. - sacw.net
The Afghan government should release the approximately 400 women and girls imprisoned in Afghanistan for “moral crimes,” Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. By maintaining discriminatory laws on the books, and by failing to address due process and fair trial violations in “moral crimes” cases, Afghanistan is in violation of its obligations under international human rights law. United Nations expert bodies and special rapporteurs have called for the repeal of Afghanistan’s “moral crimes” laws. The UN special rapporteur on violence against women has called on Afghanistan to “abolish laws, including those related to zina. ..
We are shocked to read that the exhibition of photographs by Sunil Gupta mounted by the Alliance Francais in Delhi as a part of their Francophone Festival was shut down shortly after its opening. The show opened with a large attendance of Delhi’s artists at which Aruna Roy, the highly regarded social activist, also gave a speech. Apparently the Delhi police arrived at the venue on the complaint of an individual that there were nude images on display. The Alliance Francais needs to publicly clarify if they were ordered to shut down the exhibit by the Delhi police and if so, on what grounds. If major institutions like them cannot stand up against complaints made by a single individual and support the work of an artist they have invited to exhibit, they do not deserve the respect or patronage of the art community.
Millions of Pakistani children have been identified as stunted, under-weight, and wasting because of hunger, disease, and poverty. While the future of millions of children is threatened by hunger, the civil and military elites in Pakistan continue to pour undisclosed billions into conventional and nuclear weapons. The oft morbidly obese leaders of the right-wing religious and political parties are also in step with the military establishment as they continue to mobilise the starving masses to support developing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
