South Asia Citizens Web

Dawn, 9 July 2009
An apocryphal story told by the late Prof A.M. Khusro when he was vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University goes thus: in 1603 James VI of Scotland became England’s first Stuart monarch.
Within 10 days of arriving in London, he demanded that Shakespeare’s troupe come under his own patronage. So they were granted a royal patent and changed their names to the King’s Men, in honour of King James.
One day, waiting for The Merchant of Venice to begin, the king asked his (…)

Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Group extends its heart-felt condolences to the family of Ranbir Singh, the youth who was killed in a police encounter in Dehradun last week. This encounter again brings to the fore the trigger happy ways of the Indian police who kill and torture for medals and promotions. We demand exemplary punishment for the guilty policemen.

The issues like the revocation of the draconian laws, removal of troops and restoration of civil liberties, peace and normalcy are the bye-products of the basic Kashmir problem which has remained unresolved for the past over six decades. It concerns the basic right of the people of the State to determine their future and this right has been denied to them.

We therefore call upon the people of India, Pakistan and South Asia to deepen the process of democracy, contend ideologically and politically with all forms of regressive and chauvinistic viewpoints and ideologies, and build a secular framework for peaceful co-existence.

In a surreptitious and secret move, the Government of Gujarat through its Legal Department has issued a notification (No. GK/8/2009/COI/102009/33/A) appointing a Commission of Inquiry to inquire and report into the “polarization of population on the basis of religion taking place in the State of Gujarat” and “the migration of the people following different religions taking place every 10 years after 15th August 1947”.