Archive of South Asia Citizens Wire

  • Anatomy of India’s Taliban

    by Jawed Naqvi, 2 February 2009

    Dawn
    Last week’s vigilante-style attacks on young revellers in a pub in the BJP-ruled Karnataka state could be seen as an attempt to “Talibanise India” as a government minister feared.
    Or it could be dismissed as mere hooliganism, as some newspapers would want us to believe. The innocuous-looking violence can actually be better explained as a continuing facet of a global phenomenon that began during the Cold War, when religion became a handy tool in the cat-and-mouse game of the (…)

  • Ecologists file law suits agianst illegal acquisition of lands and privatisation of lakes

    by Leo Saldanha, 2 February 2009

    On 2nd Feb 2009, World Wetland Day, the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka will hear two major PIL efforts on two high controversial projects in Karnataka.
    The High Court will hear a batch of connected PILs and Contempt Petitions relating to the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project - a major reason for controversy being the excessive and illegal acquisition of lands unconnected to the project, especially about 20 lakes that have been destroyed by M/s Nandi Infrastructure Corridor (…)

  • Women’s freedom, not ’pub culture’, is their target...

    by All India Progressive Women’s Association, 2 February 2009

    Around 40 goons of the Sri Ram Sene´ entered a pub, assaulted people there, dragged women by the hair, molesting them and lifting up their blouses and skirts. They claimed to be righteous defenders ofIndian morality,´ incensed by women boozing´ andpub culture.´ Since these scenes came to people´s notice through national TV, there was widespread outrage, and after a delay of many days, finally, some of the perpetrators were arrested. The Chief of the Sri Ram Sene PV Muthalik, is yet to be (…)

  • India: Police must enforce rule of law and curb hooligans

    by Rakesh Sharma, 2 February 2009

    From: Rakesh Sharma Date: 2009/2/2
    For information and circulation.
    To send any protest letter, or to raise the demand for a probe into the dubious role of the police and their possible complicity re. destruction of footage, write to the Maharashtra Chief Minister (chiefminister@maharashtra.gov.in, ashokchavanmind@rediffmail.com) and the Police Commissioner (Fax : 022- 22621835)
    __3__
    From: Rakesh Sharma Date: Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 2:57 PM Subject: Letter 3: Destruction of footage: (…)

  • Pakistan - India: Citizens groups speak up for Peace

    by Praful Bidwai, 1 February 2009

    The News, January 31, 2009
    An unfortunate consequence of vitiated India-Pakistan relations immediately after the Mumbai terrorist attacks was the relatively muted response of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the two countries. Earlier, they had campaigned for peace while braving hostility from both establishments.
    But the shock from the world’s worst-ever case of extremists ruthlessly mowing down 180 innocent civilians in public places—as distinct from using bombs—didn’t leave them (…)

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