South Asia Citizens Web

Secular Perspective, Feb 16-28, 2010
The Government has got clearance from the Cabinet for introducing the Communal Violence Bill in the coming session of parliament. The Bill was drafted originally in 2005 after 2004 elections in view of the Gujarat carnage of 2002 under the BJP Government headed by Narendra Modi. It was because of Gujarat carnage that Muslims voted for the Congress massively as a result of which NDA was defeated.
The Congress party had promised in its manifesto that it (…)

As organisations and individuals who stand for and support the universality of human rights, we have noted with concern the suspension of Gita Sahgal, Head of the Gender Unit at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London, for questioning Amnesty International’s partnership with individuals whose politics towards the Taliban are ambiguous.

Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC), a network of civil society organizations struggling for peace and harmony in the country and South Asian region has organized a “Peace Caravan” from Karachi to Peshawar through Khyber Mail from Saturday February 13 to 17, 2010 to express solidarity with the people and workers of terrorism-hit province of Pakhtunkhwa.

Sri Lankan journalists, for whom intimidation, threats, assault and killings seem to have become unavoidable professional hazards, are bracing themselves for a fresh confrontation with the government as curbs on reporting intensify. In recent weeks, one journalist has disappeared, a newspaper has been sealed, only to be forced open by a court order while a few journalists and media workers have been in hiding since last month’s presidential election, which was won handily by incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Communities living in south-west Orissa in eastern India – already one of the poorest areas of the country – are at threat from the expansion of an alumina refinery and plans for a new bauxite mining project. They have been effectively excluded from the decision-making process, and the land these people live on is or will soon be used to make profit for others. The people living next to the refinery have already suffered violations of their human rights to water and health, including a healthy environment, because of pollution and poor management of waste produced by the refinery. The mining project will be located on the traditional lands of the Dongria Kondh, an Indigenous community