South Asia Citizens Web

Land Banks are Land Grabs
Going by the number and intensity of protests against displacement under way in various parts of the world, land acquisition for infrastructure, mining, mega tourism projects and industrial projects has become a highly contentious issue.
Land is now the main site of struggle as popular movements confront predatory capital, which can only accumulate through dispossession. Land conversions for large-scale tourism complexes and golf courses are unreasonable and (…)

Ground Reality
This is where dangerous liaisons happen. This is where money power sways public decisions in favour of big business. And still worse, it happens right under our own eyes, and in a perfectly legitimate way. Yes, I am talking about the political system of the country.
Why talk about the political system in a blog on food, agriculture and hunger you might ask. The answer is simple. It is here that the national policies are framed that impact the masses, the environment, the (…)

60 pp., Rs 35, February 2009.
For Copies contact: Adil Mehdi, Dept of English, JMI (9990923027) indianlit@yahoo.com / Ahmed Sohaib, Centre for Comparative Religions, JMI (9899462042) sohaibnirvan@gmail.com / Ghazi Shahnawaz, Dept. of Psychology, JMI (9868221506) mgshahnawaz@gmail.com
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Synopsis:
This report is based on police statements, press reports, testimonies of families and friends of the accused and other documentary evidence. It highlights the numerous contradictions in (…)

Petition from the Affected Citizens of Teesta to the Government of India re the release of detained activists and the scrapping of two large hydropower projects:
To
The President
Government of India
New Delhi
Subject: Release of all 40 Lepcha activists from Sikkim jail
Your Excellency,
On the 7th of February 2009, 43 young Lepcha activists of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) including 3 juveniles and 7 women were arrested from their ancestral homeland of Dzongu in Sikkim. They (…)