South Asia Citizens Web

Karachi’s astonishing violence is generally ascribed to political and ethnic rivalry. While this may be true to an extent, its roots run deep into the incredibly complex structure of this city of 18 million people, where politicians, criminals, terrorists and migrants from nearby warzones compete for power and survival

There is growing flurry of violence against lawyers and human rights activists in India. In the first half of October 2011 there have been instances of violence and intimidation by both non state and state actors against Prashant Bhushan, Kavita Srivastava and Rohit Prajapati.

The struggle of the workers in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, IMT Manesar refuses to die, and just when quietening under settlement truce, has stood up again, gathering political edge and crucial concrete support among workers in the area. In a significant development this morning, 7th October 2011, the workers in seven nearby factories along with workers of MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD, IMT MANESAR have gone on strike.

The Chhattisgarh police seem to have lost all sense of decency, legality, and even sanity. The Supreme Court’s recent judgment ordering the disbanding of the state-sponsored anti-Maoist (Naxalite) Salwa Judum militia has had no effect on their obsession with crushing the Maoist movement by force. Last month, they arrested a young Adivasi (tribal), Lingaram Kodopi, in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. Last week they raided the house of Kavita Srivastava, the national general secretary of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), in Jaipur.

We congratulate the activists and people of Tamilnadu for waging a sustained protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project. A delegation of activists from Koodankulam met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 7th September [read 7th October]. . . .After the Prime Minister’s volt face, 7000 people observed a token fast on 9th September and are going to intensify the struggle.