South Asia Citizens Web

Islamist fundamentalist organisations rooted in religious obscurantism have long been prone to sudden bursts of irrational violence at the slightest provocation. The stone-throwing and arson in Karnataka by fanatics against the publication in a Kannada daily of an article, purportedly by Taslima Nasreen, on wearing of the burka were a nasty challenge to the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Indian Constitution. Two people died, one of them in police firing, after thousands of protesters came out on the streets in Shimoga and Hassan districts and indulged in indiscriminate destruction of private and public property.

I have always argued that the deepest division in Sri Lanka is not the so-called ethnic divide but the split between supporters of democracy and supporters of totalitarianism, and the presidential elections proved this point. Bitter arguments within the Sinhalese community generated by the candidacy of Sarath Fonseka completely demolished the manufactured image of a community united behind Mahinda Rajapaksa which had been projected immediately after the end of the war.

For Islamist fundamentalists, the target is much bigger than Ms Nasreen: it is the democratic Constitution of secular India. Fatwas and threats of violence in the name of religion are meant to coerce people, especially writers and artists and public figures, into an unquestioning submission to religious diktats. These undermine the secular structure of the Indian Constitution. Creativity and artistic expression, when stifled, will have the effect of killing off critical reasoning and undermining the very democratic fabric of the country.

The South Asia Alliance of Poverty Eradication, supported calls for immediate action by the Bangladesh Government and international textile retail chains to revisit health and safety regulations following a fatal factory fire in the country that killed 21 workers and injured 50 others.

Peace and human rights activists, politicians and journalists on Tuesday [2nd of March 2010] condemned increase in military budgets in both India and Pakistan and asked the people of both the countries to unite each other for peace, progress and development of this region. These speakers were speaking at a dialogue on “Pak-India Dialogue: Civil Society Follow up & Future Prospects” jointly organized by Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC), Sindh Democratic Front (SDF) and Karachi Press Club at Najeeb Ahmed Terrace of KPC.