Archive of South Asia Citizens Wire

  • Land must be acquired fairly

    by Praful Bidwai, 21 September 2008

    Kashmir Times, September 22, 2008
    A rash of angry and sustained protests by farmers have erupted all over India against the forcible acquisition of land for industrial, mining and infrastructure projects. As the mobilisations sweeping West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand through Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana, to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala show, land acquisition leading to displacement has become India’s single most contentious issue. Land is now the main site of struggle (…)

  • India: Violence on the Left

    by Martha C. Nussbaum, 21 September 2008

    Dissent, Spring 2008
    AFTER A PERIOD of relative impotence, the Hindu-supremacist right in India has rebounded, with the December reelection of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Narendra Modi as chief minister in Gujarat. Modi’s role in the mass murders of Muslims in that state in February 2002 has long been so well documented that he has been denied a visa to enter the United States. Recently, moreover, extensive corroboration of his role was elicited by a hidden-camera inquiry conducted by (…)

  • Hate And Anger Won’t Bring Votes; People Always See Through Divisive Politics

    by Dr. (Fr.) Ambrose Pinto SJ, 21 September 2008

    An Open Letter to the Chief Minister of Karnataka from St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore
    Dear Sir, We write to you as members of the Staff of St. Joseph’s College and as secular citizens of the state of Karnataka deeply distressed by the recent attacks on educational institutions and churches in Mangalore and elsewhere in Karnataka.
    We are a college of 126 years, the very first private college of the city with a rich legacy of educating generations of students of (…)

  • The Battle Over Ramayana in Delhi University History Course

    by sacw.net, 21 September 2008

    The Telegraph, September 21, 2008
    Editorial
    ON A NEW BATTLEFIELD
    The wonder that is India may or may not have many Ramayanas, but it certainly has a magnificent array of idiots of colourfully variegated stupidities. The colour on display in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s campaign against the inclusion of A.K. Ramanujan’s essay, “Three hundred Ramayanas: five examples and three thoughts on translation”, in Delhi University’s history course is saffron. The Bajrang Dal and (…)

  • Representing same-sex politics and positions in the media

    by Ashley Tellis, 20 September 2008

    Source: Magazine Section / The Hindu, 21 September 2008
    RESPONSE
    Representations of homosexuality
    Ashley Tellis, a gay rights activist, responds to last week’s column, “Gay but not carefree”.
    Dr. Vijay Nagaswami’s article “Gay, but not carefree” (Magazine, September 14), while ostensibly offering a balanced and dispassionate view of homosexuality, actually perpetuates some rather old misconceptions and misinformation abo ut homosexuals,
    The article opens with a binary opposition (…)

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