Archive of South Asia Citizens Wire

  • Petition Submitted to Indian President Regarding the Fast Deteriorating Situation in Northern Sri Lanka

    by C. Boaz, R. Ariharasudhan, S. Lidwin, S. P. Udayakumar, V. Anthony Dhasan, 16 April 2009

    April 16, 2009
    Dr. S. P. Udayakumar C. Boaz S. Lidwin V. Anthony Dhasan R. Ariharasudhan A 124/6 First Floor Katwaria Sarai New Delhi 110 016 (Contact Mobile: 09865683735)
    H. E. The President of India Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi 1
    Your Excellency:
    We, the following concerned Tamil-speaking Indian citizens, would like to bring your kind attention to the fast deteriorating situation in northern Sri Lanka. Tamil men, women and children are being killed in large numbers by (…)

  • Bangladesh: Fighting back against daily sexual harassment

    by Hana Shams Ahmed, 16 April 2009

    Take back the streets
    "Pull up the hood of your rickshaw," I heard for the hundredth time. It was a very nice day, with the wind blowing, and the sun making occasional appearances. But the hood of the rickshaw had to be put up. After all, I had to ’hide’ myself from the numerous gawking eyes that always followed me throughout the journey from Mohammadpur to Elephant Road, where I went to study my A-levels.
    Out of sight of my parents, I would always pull down the hood, and unfortunately (…)

  • Sri Lanka’s Peace Activists Find It Hard to Identify With Anti War Big Noise in the Diaspora

    by Malathi de Alwis, 16 April 2009

    The Guardian
    Sri Lanka’s divided demonstrators
    Sri Lankan peace protesters, at home and abroad, are caught between the government and the Tamil Tigers
    by Malathi de Alwis
    The mass protests of diaspora Tamils across the globe have drawn attention to the current state of the 30-year civil war in Sri Lanka. The routing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by government (GoSL) forces has led to thousands of Tamil civilians being trapped in a "no-fire zone" along with the LTTE. (…)

  • After The State Made ’Peace’ with Fascists in Swat Valley: this is what followed

    by Farhat Taj, 15 April 2009

    The News, April 13, 2009
    Life in Swat after the peace deal
    On Feb 16 a peace agreement was signed between Sufi Mohammad, leader of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) and the government of the NWFP with complete blessing of the PPP-led federal government. Sufi Mohammad reached Swat with a promise to convince his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, and his fighters to surrender weapons for the sake of peace. Two months after the peace deal, how is life in Swat? What is happening to (…)

  • Pakistan Lawyers’ Movement: A critical view

    by Kaiser Bengali, 15 April 2009

    Dawn, 30 March 2009
    Lawyers’ struggle: another view
    THE successful movement for the reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry is being billed as a historic watershed event that has redefined the politics of the country and, in particular, the relationship between citizen and state.
    Whether this conclusion turns out to be an illusion or reality will be tested in due course of time. In the meantime, however, an examination of the composition of the movement raises some disturbing questions. (…)

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