South Asia Citizens Web

A tribute to the life and work of Leslie Gunawardana, the Sri Lankan historian, who oversaw a paradigm shift in ancient history of Sri Lanka. For me Leslie Gunawardana was one of the truly creative historians of Sri Lanka and I feel different kind of sadness to think there are very few of his calibre re­maining.

The practice of employing contract workers by IIT Kanpur started increasing at the expense of direct regular employees during the past two decades and presently the figure of the contingent workforce is estimated to be around 2,500. For its normal functioning, the Institute relies upon these contract workers not only for temporary construction works but also for perennial works such as messing (food preparation, serving and cleaning of kitchen and dishes), civil maintenance, electrical maintenance, horticulture, sanitation and sewer cleaning.

This 41-page report renews calls for the government to investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes committed during the conflict, and documents three emblematic cases since the conflict ended to show how the same neglect of justice applies to new crimes. A lack of political will and consensus, prevailing political instability, and a lack of progress in the peace process have resulted in the government’s failure to deliver on its promises in the 2006 peace agreement to prosecute these crimes, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum said.

Posted below is a set of demands released by civil society organisations in Pakistan following a meeting on ’Post Floods Rebuilding and Reform Agenda’ in Lahore on December 3, 2010. This is a part of the process of wider consultation of CSOs to develop a Citizens Charter to reflect Civil Society’s position on post floods reform and reconstruction.

Over 5000 peasants work on military farms in the Okara and Pakpatten district of Punjab [Pakistan]. Their demand is for ownership rights to the land their families have been cultivating for over 100 years.

It seemed to me that conditions at the Okara Military Farms and at the Kulyana Military Estate are a little better than before. The two large farms are spread over 20,000 acres and contain 26 villages. Okara City separates them. Many tenants had motor bikes and some also owned tractors. Mud homes are now being transformed into cement ones. And there had more animals. In fact there was smile on the face of almost all the tenants.
In 2000, the tenants at Okara military farms were asked to become lessees. After initial hesitation, they refused. In 2001 I attended a large gathering where tenants decided not to pay the share that they and their families traditionally paid to the administration of the military farms. For 10 years, they have successfully blocked any attempt by the military generals to reverse that process.