South Asia Citizens Web

Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)
CPA received this letter on 1st June 2009 via the post. The scanned Sinhala original is available as a PDF to download, along with the English translation.
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NOTICE TO THE TRAITORS (DESHADROHIS) The wretched war that lasted throughout 30 years has now come to an end. Blood thirsty wicked terrorists were finished from this country. That happened in such a way that even their carcass didn’t mix with the Sri Lankan ( Lak Polawa ) soil. That is (…)

Reading about the death of the veteran activist, Ahilya Rangnekar, in Mumbai last month conjured up several scenes of history — to do with an individual life, but also with reference to the freedom struggle, the growth of workers’ and women’s movements, and the efforts of a city to divide its opportunities equally among its citizens. One good place to begin this visit to Mumbai’s history of political action is Parel, especially because of the deceptive veneer the place has now acquired.

Yes, I am talking about the recent incident at a village in Daudkandi, where a girl was whipped with 39 lashes in the presence of a few hundred people the outcome of a decree of a local salish.

This is not the first occasion that such a crime has been committed by the so-called moulanas and their accomplices in this nation. The aim of this piece is to remind the politicians at all levels that, under any circumstances, this kind of atrocity cannot be allowed and must be stopped immediatelyby making new laws if required

Dawn
No return to the Raj
It may not be enough to promise the Fata people what they enjoyed under the British: I.A. Rehman
IF the decision to launch a military operation in Swat and other parts of the Malakand division was not easy to make, its implementation is proving to be even more problematic, and quite a few issues need to be thrashed out at the highest level.
Public attention is still rightly focused on the plight of the displaced people. Much needs to be done to mitigate (…)

Business Standard, May 28, 2009
A dangerous green signal
A secret report aims to make environmental clearance a standardised exercise that bypasses critical requirements.
Environmental safeguards, whittled down as they are, are coming under strain once again as the government attempts to fast-track statutory clearances for industrial and infrastructure projects. The effort this time is to standardise formats and clearances and to arrive at a single-window scheme of approvals that would (…)