South Asia Citizens Web

The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) is going to have its Tenth Anniversary National Convention in NewDelhi from the 9 - 12 December 2010.

Those willing to join may write to cndpindia@gmail.com

We, the undersigned human rights NGOs, human rights defenders, and women human rights defenders, celebrate Ms. Irom Chanu Sharmila’s unwavering courage for standing as a voice for thousands of voiceless people demanding to repeal the Armed Forced Special Powers Act of 1958 (AFSPA). Her 10-year fasting symbolizes the journey of the people of Manipur and other areas of Northeast India for genuine peace and freedom from violence. —A statement by Forum Asia

NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS
A Wing First Floor, Haji Habi Building, Naigaon Cross Road
Dadar (E), Mumbai-400 014 Ph. No-2415 0529; Delhi Contact: 09818905316
E-mail: napmindia@gmail.com
28th October, 2010
NAPM Convention ends with a greater resolve to establish democratic control over natural resources and strengthen struggle against forced land acquisitions
New National Conveners Committee formed, pledges to take forward the agenda of peace, justice and democracy (…)

Ban on display of religious motifs on special services being operated by the Karala state Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to pilgrim centres has sparked strong protest from the Hindu organisations in Kerala, alleging it is targetted against the Sabarimala pilgrimage. What has angered the Hindu
outfits including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is a specific direction in the circular that words like "Swami Saranam" and "Amme Narayana" should not be displayed on buses bound for pilgrim centres including the famed Sabarimala hillshrine.

The order, circulated to all units of KSRTC across the state, has asked the unit heads to stop the practice of displaying "religious verses,emblems or flags" on the the special services being operated to pilgrim centres.

I write this from Srinagar, Kashmir. This morning’s papers say that I may be arrested on charges of sedition for what I have said at recent public meetings on Kashmir. I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators have written and said for years. Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice. I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.