From hpp at vsnl.com Wed Nov 1 14:02:35 2006 From: hpp at vsnl.com (hpp at vsnl.com) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 08:32:35 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] The Singur Story Message-ID: Dear friends Attached is a narration and analysis of the Singur farmers' resistance movement against the acquisition of their farmland for setting up the Tata motor-car factory in West Bengal. I would be grateful for your critical comments and suggestions but, more importantly, I seek your support for the farmers struggle for survival. Warm regards Sumit Chowdhury Kolkata Mobile: 98302 49430 .................... ‘We will give blood, not our land’ Sumit Chowdhury Hei samalo, hei samalo Hei samalo dhan ho Kasteta dao shan ho Man kobul ar jan kobul Aar debo na, aar debo na Rokte bona dhan Moder pran ho! Hey watch over, hey watch over Hey watch over the paddy ho Hone your sickle ho Life and honour, we pledge No more we’ll give, no more The paddy sown with our blood Our life ho! Salil Choudhuri’s immortal song on the Tebhaga movement is echoing in the lush paddy fields of Singur. Almost every farmer family in Singur is saying, ‘We’ll give blood but not our land.’ The land that gives them the golden harvest is their mother. And, to take away the honour of their mother comes, riding the juggernaut of ‘industrialisation,’ that same government that has declared ‘agriculture is our foundation.’ But mother’s honour cannot be compromised. ‘No way will we give up our land,’ Singur is saying. The Singur saga began in May, during the elections to the state Assembly. Many of us remember seeing on television, the Chief Minister, having won a whopping majority of seats, addressing the press at the party headquarters. An official hands him a piece of paper, glancing through which the Chief Minister’s eyes brighten up. With a big smile on his face, he says he won’t tell but eventually lets the cat out of the bag – Ratan Tata has expressed through a letter that the Tatas are interested in setting up a factory in West Bengal producing a cheap automobile. The very next day, a representative of the Tata empire comes down to hold an extended meeting at the Writers’ Buildings. A few days later, the emperor himself turns up. A deal is struck – no one knows what transpired – and as their factory site, the Tatas opt for a tract of land in Hooghly district, alongside the spanking new Durgapur Expressway and near Kolkata. This site is Singur. The Tatas asked for 1000 acres. Desperate to bring in investments in West Bengal, the state government accepted their demand without blinking or taking a good look at the proposal. Subsequently, the government, not even bothering to consult the local bodies, became hyperactive in acquiring the land. Apprehensive of losing their sole safeguard to life, the farmers spontaneously got together to launch a resistance movement under the banner of ‘Krishijami Raksha Samiti’ (Association for the Protection of Agricultural Land). >From the very beginning, the farmers’ wives and daughters have been in the forefront of the movement. With ‘Life and honour pledged,’ they began to ‘Hone the sickle.’ The state government, hardly bothered about the plight of the farmers, remained stubborn, repeatedly reiterating that the Tata factory would come up on that piece of land. Thus, began the conflict between the farmers and the government. Singur became the name of a new peasant struggle, a name that has created ripples in the stagnant political waters of West Bengal. A catastrophe for farmers The five villages on whose farmland the Tata factory will be built are Gopalnagar, Beraberi, Bajemelia, Khaser Bheri and Singher Bheri. These are typical Bengal villages, tranquil, charming and green. The residents are mostly farmers, yet a touch of the urban breeze is palpable. Most of the houses, lining the winding, unpaved village road, are pucca, every home has electricity and television, quite a few of the village youth ride motorbikes, the children go to school and some have achieved higher education. Singur’s cultivated plots are small and fragmented. Only a handful has land above one or two bighas. Those owning bigger plots are mostly absentee, living in Kolkata, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Those who stay in the villages cultivate their own land, producing bumper crops. In general, those with less than five bighas are considered poor, subsistence farmers but Singur’s farmers, despite having tiny plots, are not too badly off. The major reason for this is that Singur’s land, coated with silt from the Hooghly and Damodar rivers and their tributaries, is extremely fertile. To say that it is single-crop is to blatantly distort the truth. What doesn’t grow here – paddy, jute, potato, cauliflower, pumpkin, brinjal, cucumber, so many types of greens and vegetables! About six to 12 crops grow on Singur’s highly productive fields. Paddy and potatoes grown here are the finest. There are five cold storages, five deep and 27 mini tubewells in the locality, a clear indication that the land is well irrigated. No wonder, the areas of darkness, like Amlasole and Belpahari, where starvation deaths are common, have been far from casting their long shadows over the villagers of Singur. It is around land that Singur’s economy revolves. Not only the landowners, a sizeable population of bargadars, wage-labourers and sharecroppers – mostly belonging to the lower castes or the adivasi community – depend on the land for their livelihood. Besides, there is the migrant agricultural work force coming from Burdwan and other parts of Hooghly districts during the peak harvest period. There are also land-related occupations that help feed several families. For instance, the cycle-cart (called ‘van’) driver who carries the land’s produce to the cold storage or the wholesaler, the vendor who sells rice or vegetables in the market, the supplier dealing with seeds and fertilisers, the carpenter and the blacksmith who make or repair farming tools, so on. On any given day, about a thousand people detrain at Kamarkundu junction to work in Singur on jobs directly or indirectly related to farming. The markets at Beraberi and Bajemelia thrive almost entirely on Singur’s farming community. Land is so vital for Singur’s residents that if it goes their survival will be at stake. So, when the government is taking over their land, they are putting up a stiff resistance. They will give their lives but will not give up land. No matter what the government claims and the media propagates, records show that less than 27 percent of the 11,000-odd landowners have till date voluntarily given up their land. Those who have acquiesced are either absentees or have done so out of fear or coercion. Meanwhile, the Land and Land Revenue Department, invoking the colonial Land Acquisition Act of 1894 (suitably amended in 1984), have taken over 997 acres required for the Tata factory. This land has been declared as khas (vested) and is being sold to the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation for handing over to the newly-formed company, Tata Motors. Under pressure, because of a massive public outcry, the government agreed to raise the compensation amount to 52 percent of the market price of land and, to persuade landowners to sell their land, announced special incentives to those who would do so on their own. Yet, the government continued, and is still continuing, to extend the deadline for voluntary handing over and receiving the compensation cheques, the latest being October 31. Clearly, not too many landowners are buying the government’s extravagant assurances that selling off the land will benefit the farmers. The new God will deliver Why have the Tatas plumbed for this 4-12-crop land in Singur is not difficult to guess. Being near Kolkata and adjacent to the brand-new expressway can be alluring in terms of connectivity and communicability. Uncultivable or low-lying marshlands – such as the one available in Singur itself, on the other side of the highway – are not liked by one of India’s largest capitalist enterprises because filling up such land will incur a huge expense. Having a sharp business sense, the industrial house is not willing to spend even a single paisa on developing land for industrial use. They are happy as long as mountains of profit accrue. If it means disaster for the farming community, so be it. Whatever the trade-off between the Tatas and the Left Front government in West Bengal, it is shrouded in secrecy, in spite of the RTI. Apparently, the smaller Front partners and even some of the cabinet ministers have been kept in the dark. A local television channel has revealed that a considerable Rs 140 crores will go out of the state exchequer to buy the land and pay compensations while the Tatas will be gifted that land in lieu of a cheque for Rs 20 crores, that too five years later. The industry house will be spared the ignominy of purchasing the stamp duty; and when the factory is under construction or in operation, it will be provided water free from the burden of taxation even as the power rates will be slashed to what the domestic consumer pays with great difficulty. Needless to add, like many other big real estate and industrial projects coming up in the state, no EIA has been carried out. The government did not deny the surprise revelations on television. Instead, the minister of industries promptly told the press that the deal referred to was for an earlier proposal and no firm pact had yet been made with the Tatas. The Chief Minister, however, contradicted him soon after, informing that a package deal had been struck. The question is, if there is no agreement as yet, where was the need to acquire land at such breakneck speed? What if the Tatas back out now for some reason? Later, the minister of industries declared that the arrangement with the Tatas could not be made public as it was a ‘trade secret.’ The Chief Minister also made it clear that he would reveal only what he felt could be revealed. So much for the right to information and transparency in governance! The government and the party running the government for 30 years are promising the heaven in defence of the Tatas. They are comforting their vote-bank, and their doubting cadres, saying that the ‘automobile hub’ growing around the Tata factory will work as a miracle to turn-around the decadent state of the state’s economy. History, of course, tells a different story. The Tatas are coming here to do business, not for the well being of the people of West Bengal. Orissa and Jharkhand, where the Tatas have invested in steel plants, mines, aquaculture and an assortment of projects in the past seven decades, are the poorest states in the country. Industrial and other ventures by the Tatas have not changed the lives of the ordinary folk in these places. On the contrary, a terrible curse had befallen on the forest-dwelling and pastoral communities wherever the Tatas went. It may be recalled that the Kalingnagar incident earlier this year, in which 12 adivasi men, women and children lost their lives in police firing, took place when the farmers displaced by the Tata steel-plant project were agitating against the non-payment of compensation. The argument put forward by the minister of industries that the Tata motorcar factory will create vast employment opportunities is unadulterated nonsense. The market targeted for the small car to be produced here is the two-wheeler owners who dream of a car and, to make it easy on their pocket, the car’s market price has been fixed at Rs one lakh. To produce a car at such a discounted price, and keep a good enough margin for the company, a large workforce cannot be employed. In keeping with the globalising times, the technology, too, will be state-of-the-art, surely not labour-intensive. At most, a few hundred jobs will result and those recruited will be from the hallowed precincts of the IITs and the IIMs. The honourable minister has argued that even if there is no direct employment in Tata Motors, the ancillaries will open up the floodgates. He, of course, is not suggesting how many such ancillaries will come up and how much employment generated by these. It is only a speculative presumption not based on any rigorous calculation. Whether the hundreds of small, supporting units will also be technology-dependent and how much agricultural land these occupy is yet a guessing game. If at all an industrial paradise does descend on Singur will the farmers have the requisite skill to work in a sophisticated factory? Facing such tricky question, the government announced the launching of two industrial training centres to train the local youth. It could not, however, give any assurance that those receiving training at these centres will get jobs either with Tata Motors or the ancillaries. In fact, the Tatas were categorical that no such jobs can be guaranteed. The Tatas’ demand for 1000 acres for their car factory puts a question mark on their intentions. To set the doubts at rest, the minister of industries recently cited the example of the Honda automobile production unit in Gurgaon. He told the press that the Gurgaon plant has come up on 1250 acres of land and produces three-lakh cars per year. A visit to the Honda website discloses another set of facts – the unit has come up on 250 acres and produces six-lakh cars annually. Yes, the Minister is an honourable man! The legal provision being used by the government for acquiring the 1000 acres states clearly that land can be acquired with due compensations for ‘public purpose.’ So, when, in this case, land is being acquired for a corporate establishment for purely commercial purpose, will it be wrong to assume that the government is acting illegally? But then legality and ethics are not exactly the government’s forte when it comes to appeasing the industrialists. The manner in which the decision to acquire the land was taken bears out an authoritarian, top-down streak in the government’s functioning. None of the democratically elected local bodies – the zilla parishad, the panchayat, the gram sabha – were consulted or taken into confidence. The party, too, sent out orders from its central office and the issue was not discussed with the grassroots workers. Clearly, ‘decentralisation,’ ‘participatory democracy’ or ’democratic centralism’ are mere catchwords. In the wake of rising public opinion against the displacement of farmers from their land, both Tata Motors and the government, backed by party luminaries, went into a public relations exercise. Both, citing the examples of its Pune automobile hub and the Jamshedpur steel town, harked back to the Tatas’ noble tradition of ‘social welfare and community development.’ Reality check, however, may not corroborate. Any sensitive soul visiting Tatanagar may well perceive that the beneficiaries of ‘social welfare and community development’ have been the Tata managerial class living in luxuriant style whereas the original inhabitants have not even received the crumbs but pushed to the margins. Well, the Tatas deservedly have the right to blow their own trumpet because it is their business to blow their own trumpet but how could a Left government and the Left leaders go into raptures over the big, bad capitalist who till the other day was their sworn enemy? Expediency does make strange bedfellows. Since announcing its New Industrial Policy in 1994, the Sangramer Hatiyar (Weapon of struggle) government in West Bengal, backed by the party in power, has been treading the neo-liberal path with great gusto. As the Left leaders elsewhere in the country were fuming against the globalising policies of successive central governments, their counterparts in the state, with full blessings of these same central leaders, were increasingly taking a pro-globalisation, pro-capitalist stance, albeit in a guarded manner. With the installation of the incumbent Chief Minister on the throne, fawning on the capitalists has become rather a habit. The leaders of the main Left party now daily rub shoulders with the captains of the corporate world, ideals and ideology, even the Left rhetoric, having been given the complete go by. That these leaders are willing to go to any length to please the industrial tycoons becomes evident in the Singur issue. They are putting forward weird arguments, telling out-an’-out lies, issuing contradictory statements, being suspiciously secretive, carrying out a disinformation campaign and spreading canard, even using abusive language, about the resisting farmers. Tata is now their new God whose ‘responsible business house’ and ‘social service’ legacy the leaders of the main Left party cannot but get gaga over. Going by their recent statements, one may wonder if the Tatas’ advertising agency’s newest address is 33 Alimuddin Street. The editorial published in Ganashakti about the Tatas’ acquisition of the multinational steel giant, Corus, reads more like a Tata publicity brochure. And this when their party in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and other states have vowed not to give an inch of farmland to the Tatas or any other industrial marauder. Having long abandoned even the rudimentary land reform that has been keeping them in power for so long, the leaders of the main Left party in the state have nothing more to offer to the people of West Bengal. And they are pinning all their hopes on the Tatas to deliver. The night of the long sticks The Singur farmers’ stiff opposition to the Tata project has struck alarm bells. The government’s nervousness, its discomfort with the rising popular support for the movement is becoming more and more conspicuous. In the dead of night on 25-26 September, in a pre-planned move, it let loose a reign of terror on thousands of unarmed demonstrators at the BDO office in Singur town. It was the first day cheques were being handed over to those who had agreed to part with their lands and the demonstration against this had begun in the morning. By the afternoon, several cases were detected in which those who had already sold off their land to others, but the mutation process was not complete, were being given cheques, denying the present legal owner. Protesting such illegal deeds by government officials, the demonstrators sat on a dharna at the BDO office, even gheraoing the District Magistrate for a brief period. The firebrand leader of the only opposition party in the state arrive d with her troupe and she, too, joined the dharna. Soon after midnight, power was cut off and a huge police force, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, mercilessly thrashed men, women and children with lathis. The leader of the opposition party, also a Member of Parliament, was manhandled and, with her sari torn to shreds, packed off in a police car to Kolkata. She had to be admitted to a nursing home a couple of days later for severe pain in her chest caused by a ‘blunt trauma’ in the lungs. Hundreds were severely injured in the police assault and 72 put behind bars. Women with children in their arms were arrested under the Arms Act and/or charged with murder. Payel Bag, a two-and-a-half-year-old, spent four days in prison, along with two other boys who are yet to reach their teens. 26-year-old Rajkumar Bhul became the first martyr of the Singur struggle after he collapsed with severe internal haemorrhage from police beating. Bhul’s mother, in an open letter to the Chief Minister, has squarely blamed him for her son’s death. Two other persons are said to be still on the missing list. On the first visit to Singur by this writer as part of a fact-finding team two days after the police action, and during subsequent trips, the hapless and angry women in the villages – some with broken arms, bandaged eyes and scars here and there – said that the policemen were drunk, cursed in the filthiest language, kicked and molested them. The national General Secretary of the main Left party, who has never been to Singur, announced from the BTR Bhawan in New Delhi soon after the lathi-charge that Singur’s land is one-crop, that the farmers there are queuing up to hand over land, that the demonstrators were anti-‘development’ hoodlums. The same comrade General Secretary has written the introduction to a recent publication titled The Left and Environmentalism! The best actor award, however, goes to the Left Front Chairman. The language used by the once-upon-a-time student leader, now a member of the politburo, to insult and humiliate the land-losing farmers of Singur will make any civilised person hang his head in shame. In defending an indefensible act, the leaders of the ‘party of the proletariat’ have lost all sense of proportion and self-respect. The Chief Minister and the other stalwarts of his party were in the country’s capital on the night of the carnage, apparently to attend a high-profile party meeting. Sceptics, however, see it as an attempt to establish an alibi. On earlier occasions, whenever there has been brutal police action on democratic movements, as in 1994 on the struggling workers of Kanoria Jute Mill, ministers and party leaders were en masse some place else. In any case, apart from the party get-together, the Chief Minister and his colleagues had a long session with the Tata top brass. At the end of the closed-door meeting, the Tatas announced a ‘community development’ package for the Singur farmers that contained a lot of promises and platitudes but not much substance. Sticks were delivered at Singur and carrots dangled from New Delhi – a brilliant strategy indeed! Returning to Kolkata, the merciful Chief Minister acted Jesus Christ – ‘Forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’ Two days later, bowing to the pressures of public opinion, he admitted that sending the police there was ‘unwarranted,’ as if he didn’t know. Then, after all the acts of the play have been played out, he summoned an all-party meeting – what was he doing all these days, partying with the industrialists? For nearly five months, the farmers in Singur, who would lose their land, have been agitating but the government never thought it appropriate to hold talks with them. Sitting on brute majority, it was trying to find a way out through political jugglery. The opposition party didn’t come to the all-party jamboree, the other parties did. These and all other Left Front partners lodged their strong protest against the police action and the handing over of farmland to industries. Yet, at the end of the meeting, the government announced that the Tata Motors factory would come up on Singur at any cost. The opposition parties and the Naxalite groups called for a 12-hour statewide bandh on October 9 to protest the police atrocities. As it usually happens with bandhs, it was more or less total and passed off peacefully except for stray incidents. But this bandh, it had appeared to this writer from conversations with ordinary people, was spontaneous. The party in government, rather stupidly, threatened to unleash its cadres on the streets to foil the strike, making people even more stay indoors, fearing violence. The fact that there were hardly any skirmishes between pro-bandh and anti-bandh supporters meant that cadres also took it as a paid holiday. Evidently, they could not be motivated. The bandh, nevertheless, failed to rid the government of its obduracy. It has now taken the ‘terror’ path to intimidate the protesting farmers. Contingents of rifle-carrying policemen have been posted in every nook and corner of the otherwise quiet and peaceful villages. During this writer’s interactions with the Singur villagers, a number of women complained about how the police were daily harassing them and how their movements out of their homes are being restricted after sundown. Any outsider dropping in are ‘suspected of being Maoists’ and are interrogated – the fact-finding team, of which this writer was part of, was intercepted and questioned by the OC, Singur thana, himself. The police are occupying the tea-stalls in the markets where now no one dares to visit, resulting in loss of business for the poor tea-stall owners. They are also camping in the school building which they have turned into a drinking den. The government, surely, is ushering in ‘development’ with an iron hand. Threats are being issued from the corridors of authority as well. When the police action failed to dampen the fighting spirit of the farmers, the honourable minister of industries warned that he would suspend all developmental work in Singur if the Tata factory was not allowed to be set up there. The message is unmistakable: Give up your land, or else you will not be treated as citizens of West Bengal. The minister’s words have been taken literally by some unidentified miscreants. In the last couple of weeks, two of the five deep tubewells, providing irrigation water to the controversial land, were vandalised one after the other in the dark of the night. The pumps had been there since before the Left Front came into power and the villages are usually free from theft or robbery. Also, mind you, a strong police force was patrolling the villages. The villagers, angry as hell, cannot be faulted if they believe that the wreckage was the handiwork of goons hired by the party in power and the intention was to deny water to the ripening crops in the field. The panchayat pradhan, a big landowner and an influential party leader of the area, passed the incidents off as the work of those opposing the land acquisition in an effort to blemish his party. He, of course, did not explain how the farmers could do something that would destroy their own crop. Sanity in the line of reasoning se ems to have melted into thin air in a resurgent West Bengal. The struggle continues The Singur struggle is a do-or-die resistance movement by the farmers against attempts by monopoly industrial capitalism to establish its hegemony. Everyone in the villages have come together to fight the looming threat to their lives and livelihoods. Women and the youth are the life force of the movement – mahila samitis and youth committees were formed in the very first days. The men, even though they have grown up in the patriarchal rural world, have wisely left the front lines to the womenfolk. The entire family is participant in the struggle, including the elderly and the children. For, it’s a struggle for survival. The landless bargadars, registered or not, and the poor, marginalised farmers with negligible land are playing the lead role in the Singur resistance. It was this section that took the initiative in forming the ‘Krishijami Raksha Samiti’ and has been the vanguard of almost all the protest actions. Now, they have been joined by the seasonal, migrant labourers. After all, a struggle for survival is a struggle of the poorest. The resistance movement has been completely peaceful till now. Meetings, michhil (rally), bikhkhobh (demonstration), Arandhan (no cooking), Nishpradip (no lights), rasta abarodh (road blockade), bandh (strike), so on have taken place without a whiff of violence. Yet, the movement is not passive or listless; there have been enough pointers that it has vigour, vitality and determination. The way the farmers chased away the Tata officials, the women with brooms in hands blocked the government officials’ entry into the villages and the villagers, overlooking the watchful eyes of party-cracy, showed black flags to the Land and Land Revenue Minister holds out the promise that the movement can rise above the habitual and, if need be, turn more militant. Singur, it may be recalled, was a major arena of the Tebhaga movement. The British masters and their government of the zamindars unleashed the police and the army on the peasantry to suppress their struggle but the peasants of Singur did not yield and refused to part with their share of the harvest. There is a tiny hamlet in the vicinity called Chhoto Kamlapur where the movement had a strong base. Chhoto Bakulpurer Jatri, Manik Bandyopadhyay’s short fiction set against the backdrop of Tebhaga, was inspired by the spirited struggle of the peasants of this village. After six decades, the same spirit appears to have been revived in Singur. It is amazing how a battle for survival opens up the creative energies of ordinary people whose abundant talents could not have otherwise seen the light of day. This writer was particularly impressed by the powerful poetry that has been penned by an elderly peasant woman regarding the movement. Songs parodying popular Hindi and Bengali tunes by another elderly housewife – the Chief Minister, the government and the Tatas were the butt of the jokes – were remarkable for their sense of satire. A people’s movement is not only about protest actions, it is also an expression of people’s dreams and imaginations. Only a cynic will have misgivings that the Singur movement is a genuine people’s movement. Nothing like this has been seen in West Bengal since the much-celebrated workers’ movement at Kanoria Jute Mill in the mid 90s. In the case of Kanoria, the battle lines were drawn between the mill-owner and the workers, with the government tacitly supporting the former. In Singur’s case, the farmers are directly confronting the state. Kanoria was a essentially a conflict of class interests that held out a cultural dimension. Singur, on the other hand, is not much of a class struggle but a struggle for survival consequent of government policy. It, therefore, has a greater political content than Kanoria. All the opposition political formations in the state, including the various Naxalite factions, have joined hands to extend their support to the farmers’ struggle. The smaller Left Front partners, too, are not happy with the government’s land-grabbing for industrial houses. Bickering between the big brother and the smaller stakeholders in cabinet and Front meetings have become the norm of the day. For the first time in three decades, the opposition is uniting while cracks are showing in the Left Front. The two main opposition parties, one still aligned with the NDA and the other leading the UPA government at the centre, are in no position to take the Singur movement to its logical end. The coalitions these parties are part of are the very perpetrators of the globalisation onslaught that is at the root of robbing the farmers of their farmlands in the name of ‘development.’ How can these parties be sincere about the farmers’ struggle to save their land? How can they wholeheartedly oppose the policies they themselves are pursuing in the states they are ruling in? It is no surprise, therefore, that these parties are vying with each other to assure the Tatas that they don’t want them out of West Bengal. Some have even gone to the extent of locating the site for the Tata factory in the vast wastelands of Purulia, Bankura and West Medinipur. They are also suggesting that huge tracts of land are locked up in the innumerable closed factories where the motorcar-making plant can be located. Regrettably, quite a few well-meaning groups and individuals supporting the Singur farmers are voicing a similar argument. The questions that these may consider raising instead are why such enormous amount of land lie fallow even after 30 years of Left Front and why so many thousands of factories are closed or closing down. In the case of the former, the land should be made cultivable and distributed among the ever-growing number of landless bargadars; in the case of the latter, the factories should be reopened and all the workers who lost their jobs reinstated and paid their dues. The mainstream opposition parties are trying to make political capital out of Singur. And the media is trying to create an impression that it is just a wrestling match between the party in government and the parties in opposition. Nothing can be further from the truth. The battle of Singur transcends narrow, electoral party politics. When confronted with the question of survival, the farmers couldn’t be bothered about which party is with them and which party against. Herein lies the strength of the Singur movement. Herein also lies the downside of the movement. No movement, however strong its democratic credentials, can endure on sheer spontaneity. To be meaningful, to carry it forward, a movement needs be guided by an all-embracing ideological vision which, in the case of Singur, the rag-tag opposition parties are unable to provide. Besides, when the adversaries are India’s biggest corporate house and a party, which in 30 years of its rule has spread its tentacles in all spheres of life, the fight can be taken on only with a rock-solid organisation. The fact is, none of the backers of the Singur movement have it. Yet, all of West Bengal, particularly the entire farming community, is looking to Singur. In the coming months, nearly 60,000 acres of farmland will be acquired by the state government and handed over to national and multinational capitalist enterprises for setting up SEZs, townships, knowledge cities, health cities, retail outlets, shopping malls, expressways, so on. Approximately, two-thirds of these will go to the Salim group, the notorious Indonesian business house. None of the projects for which land will be taken are productive investments and their employment-generating potential is almost negligible. With loss of land and age-old occupation, thousands of farmers will be reduced to begging in the streets. If the Singur movement gains steam, the farmers elsewhere will be stirred into resisting the neo-liberal aggression. If Singur fizzles out, West Bengal’s agriculture and the farming community will head for oblivion. In this sense, the Singur struggle is also crucial for the farmers’ fury raging across the country. The state government has announced that land will be handed over to Tata Motors at the soonest, if possible by October 31. But the farmers are not going to give in. The police assault on September 25-26 has only steeled their resolve to resist. They are now getting ready for the final battle to take on the might of the state. Whatever the outcome, Singur has already put its stamp on the history of people’s resistance to neoliberal globalisation. And the history of peasant revolt in Bengal. 30 October, 2006 Sumit Chowdhury is a documentary filmmaker and social activist. He is the editor of the paper Ekhon Sanhati. From budhaditya_chattopadhyay at rediffmail.com Wed Nov 1 08:26:17 2006 From: budhaditya_chattopadhyay at rediffmail.com (budhaditya chattopadhyay) Date: 1 Nov 2006 02:56:17 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] announcements: seminar on sound culture Message-ID: <20061101025617.1586.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> Department of Film Studies Jadavpur University   Presents National Seminar on   Sound Cultures and Indian Cinema   Anita Banerjee Memorial Hall UG Arts Building, Ground Floor   November 7, 8, 2006   Programme   Nov 7, 2006   Inauguration                                                                              10-30 am   Chair: Prof. Biswajit Chatterjee, Dean, Faculty of Arts   Inaugural Address by Prof. Shyamal Kanti Sanyal, Vice-Chancellor   Welcome Address by Chief Guest, Sri Kumar Shahani, filmmaker and author   Tea Break                                                                                10 -50 am   Session 2 Chair:  Sanjoy Mukhopdhyay    M. Madhava Prasad                                                               11-00 am ?The Slow Birth of the Listening Spectator?   Moinak Biswas                                                             12-00 am                                            ?Speaking through Troubles Times?                                     Lunch Break                                                                               1-00 ? 1-45 pm   Session 3 Chair: Ashish Rajadhyaksha   Budhaditya Chattopadhyay                                                 1-45 pm ?Sound Memories: In search of Lost Sounds in Indian Cinema?   Tea Break                                                                                3-00 - 3-15 pm     Session 4 Chair: Anjum Katyal   Amlan Dasgupta                                                                      3-15 pm ?Music Contests: Reflections on Musical Values in Popular Cinema?   November 8, 2006   Session 1 Chair: Rangan Chakravarty   Ashish Rajadhyaksha                                                               10-30 am ?Why Were All Indian Films Post-Dubbed until Very Recently? Or, An Indian Aesthetic Theory for Sound Mixing?? Ranjani Mazumdar                                                                    11-30 am ?The Urban Soundscape of Bombay Cinema?   Lunch Break                                                                            12-30 pm- 1-15 pm   Session 2 Chair: Shyamal Sengupta   Anindya Sengupta                                                                      1-15 pm ?Seeing through Sound: Certain Tendencies in the Soundtrack of Ray\'s Films of the 1970s?   Shubham Roy Choudhury                                                       2-15 pm ?Sound of Fear?   Tea Break                                                                                3-15 pm ? 3-30 pm   Session 3 Chair: Ranjani Mazumdar   Madhuja Mukherjee                                                                    3-30 pm ?Sound in Early Bengali Films: The Case of New Theatres?   Session 4                                                                                 ?4-30 pm   Valedictory Address       -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20061101/02429852/attachment.html From shai at filterindia.com Wed Nov 1 17:44:50 2006 From: shai at filterindia.com (shai at filterindia.com) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 17:44:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Experimenta 2007 Call for Entries Message-ID: <7F1233E8BF6B43B28D93CEE4DA63CD55.MAI@Weird.cx> EXPERIMENTA is an international film and video festival held in Bombay, India for the past 4 years; now in its 5th year, EXPERIMENTA 2007 moves to Bangalore. EXPERIMENTA seeks films from any country that challenge popular and conventional modes of cinema. Abstract to obscure compositions from any genre produced on the margins of contemporary screen-culture are welcome. Innovative, cutting edge and non-traditional work that attempts to aesthetically extend the parameters of the mediums of film and video is encouraged. Preview copies must be submitted for selection purposes. All lengths of film are considered. Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis until the final selection is complete. Filmmakers are encouraged to submit their entries as soon as possible. EXPERIMENTA is a curated film festival and is a Filter India project. To type in and print out a submission form, visit: http://www.filterindia.com/callexp07.htm For information on Filter India, visit: http://www.filterindia.com PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS EMAIL From sunil at mahiti.org Thu Nov 2 01:51:49 2006 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 01:51:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asia Source II: Call for Applications Message-ID: <1162412510.10366.70.camel@localhost.localdomain> Dear Friends, This is a call for applications for Asia Source II: Free and Open Source Technologies for NGOs [Non Government Organisations] and SMEs [Small and Medium Enterprises] from 22nd to 30th of January 2007 in Indonesia. The organisers are International Open Source Network, Tactical Technology Collective, InWEnt, ICT Watch and Aspiration Tech. Supporters include Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries, Asia Pacific Development Information Network - United Nations Development Network and International Development Research Centre, Canada Please see: http://www.iosn.net/regional/asiasource-2007 for more details. DATES Asia Source II is an 8 day long event from 22nd to 30th of January 2007, to be held in Sukabumi about 3 hours drive from Jakarta in Indonesia. If you would like to participate, you will need to attend the entire event, which means arriving in Jakarta on or before 21st of January and leaving on or after 31 January 2007. WHO SHOULD ATTEND This is an event for experienced professionals actively working with the NGO or SME sector in South Asia and South East Asia, with a history of working with service and advocacy NGOs, educational organisations, NGO resource centres, community centres, health information organisations, SMEs and SME support agencies in South Asia and South East Asia. Like previous source camps, there will be an equal proportion of technical and non-technical people at the event as we are hope to introduce “those who know technology” to “those who need technology”. Towards this end, sessions will vary from the highly technical to completely non-technical. To be eligible to attend, you will need to answer the questions below, providing detailed information about projects you have worked on. The application deadline is 30th of November. We are interested in all kinds of NGO and SME technical experience, but areas of particular focus will include the following: * TRACK ONE: Open Publishing and Broadcasting: Communication Strategies and Writing Effectively. Graphic Design, Web Tools [Content Management Systems, Blogs, Wikis] and Audio/Video Production and Streaming. Script Writing and Story Boarding. File Formats and Conversion Utilities. Shooting and Editing Methodologies. Who should attend: Campaigners, Content Developers, Web Masters, Activists, Fundraisers, Graphic Designers, Film Makers, Radio Professionals, New Media Practitioners and Archivists. * TRACK TWO: Alternative Hardware and Access: Refurbished Hardware, Thin Clients, Hardware Hacking, Wireless Solutions and Community Radio. Who should attend: Server Administrators, Network Administrators, Trainers, E-Riders, Rural Community Organisers, Relief Workers, Privacy Activists and ICT4D Professionals. * TRACK THREE: FOSS Implementation and Migration: Moving an NGO or SME from proprietary software to FOSS. Participatory Design and Planning, Evaluating FOSS, End-User Training and Support Techniques, Dealing with Desktops, Proxy Server, Firewall, Mail Server and Groupware. Change management and migration strategies. Who should attend: Server Administrators, Network Administrators, Trainers, E-Riders, ICT4D Professionals and Software Developers * TRACK FOUR: Information Management: Mapping Information Sources and Requirements. Best practices for Creating Specifications, Information Architecture and User Interface Design. Web-based Databases, Geographical Information Systems, Customer Relationship Management, Application/Communication Security and Disaster Management Systems. Who should attend: Heads of Organisations, Senior Management, Campaigners, Activists, Fundraisers, Archivists, Community Organisers, Environmentalists, Relief Workers and Health Workers. Demonstrating that you have worked on projects in one or more of the above areas will make your application stronger. Proven training experience and an outline of how you will share the acquired skills after "Asia Source II" will also be an asset. All participants at Asia Source II are required to be proficient desktop users of computers, have been involved in at least one NGO or SME project before and to have an existing awareness of the concept of Free and Open Source Software. Applications from women are highly encouraged by the event organisers. FEES AND SUBSIDIES Participants will arrange for their own travel to Jakarta. Once there, transport to the venue from the airport in Jakarta will be provided. All meals and accommodation during the meeting will be provided, for the modest participation fee of 75 USD. There are a limited number of participation fee subsidies available to cover this 75 USD for those who are not able to raise the funds. International travel subsidies are also available for participants who would not otherwise be able to attend the meeting. Please apply as soon as possible for subsidies as there availability is limited. As we have limited space and funds, we cannot accept all participant applications and cannot reimburse the expenses for all of them. Between the 5th and 20th of December we will personally inform each applicant by email if we are able to invite him/her and in some cases reimburse expenses. Please send the completed application form in plain text format to asiasource2 at apdip.net The deadline for sending your completed application form is 30 November. Please refer below for the format of the application form. We will confirm receipt of the application immediately and will ask you to check and reserve (if you do not have to make any advance payment) your flight to Jakarta. BACKGROUND In January 2005, we organised a Source event - an eight day technology camp - called "Asia Source" for 60 participants from the voluntary sector and 60 information technologists from 20 countries from South Asia and South East Asia in partnership with Tactical Technology Collective[TTC] and Mahiti, supported by Hivos, Open Society Institute. This camp was one in a series of international camps on the use of free and open source software being organised by TTC across the developing world. See: http://www.tacticaltech.org/asiasource and http://replication.tacticaltech.org ORGANISERS * International Open Source Network, www.iosn.net, Thailand * Tactical Technology Collective, tacticaltech.org, Netherlands * InWEnt - Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH (Capacity Building International), www.inwent.org, Germany * ICT Watch, www.ictwatch.com, Indonesia * Aspiration Tech, www.aspirationtech.org USA SUPPORTERS * Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), www.bmz.de/en/ through InWEnt * Hivos - Humanistisch Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking (Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries), www.hivos.nl, Indonesia * Asia Pacific Development Information Network - United Nations Development Network, www.apdip.net Thailand * IDRC – International Development Research Centre, www.idrc.ca Canada APPLICATION FORM Please answer the following questions. You do not need to write long responses, but please provide us with enough information to understand your skills and interests, and to have a sense of why you want to attend Asia Source II and how you can contribute to the event. Please provide answers to all the following questions. 1) Basic personal information: a. Name: b. Gender: c. Date of Birth: d. Nationality: e. Country where you live and work now: f. Affiliation/organisation: g. E-mail address: h. Telephone and emergency contact number(s): i. Anything else we should know about you (allergies, diet, medical condition, special needs): 2) What is your experience of working with NGOs and SMEs. What kinds of projects and initiatives have you worked on? 3) Have you been involved with any technology projects for NGOs or SMEs? If so please briefly explain them. 4) Where are you from, where do you live now, and what is your current professional affiliation (organisation you work for, mission of the organisation, position you have in the organisation, is your organisation an SME or a NGO, etc.)? 5) Which track would you choose to be part of? Please select: TRACK ONE: Open Publishing and Broadcasting TRACK TWO: Alternative Hardware and Access TRACK THREE: FOSS Implementation and Migration TRACK FOUR: Information Management 6) How would you classify yourself, i.e. NGO, SME, women’s rights, localisation, technical, software developer, hardware developer etc.? 7) Please describe your current technical expertise and ability. 8) Why are you interested in attending Asia Source II; what do you hope to learn? 9) Asia Source II participants are encouraged to teach as well as to learn. What tutorials, development sessions or discussions would you like to lead (or help lead)? 10) Are you able/willing to share the acquired skills in your work environment after "Asia Source II"? If yes, how and how many people do you plan to reach? 11) Will you need to receive a participation fee subsidy in order to attend Asia Source II? If so, please explain why. 12) Will you need to receive a travel subsidy in order to attend Asia Source II? If so, please explain why and estimate how much (in US$) your round-trip travel to Jakarta will cost. Applications that will omit any of the questions will not be reviewed. Last Day for Applications 25 November 2006 -- Sunil Abraham, sunil at mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org "Vijay Kiran" IInd Floor, 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mob: (91) 9342201521 UK: (44) 02000000259 From sadan at sarai.net Thu Nov 2 15:52:21 2006 From: sadan at sarai.net (Sadan) Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 15:52:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] call for proposals: Sarai, CSDS Student Stipendship 2007 Message-ID: <4549C6DD.5010104@sarai.net> Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi Student Stipends For Research on The City 2007. Sarai, an interdisciplinary research and practice programme on the city and media, at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, invites applications for short term studentships to conduct research on Urban Life in South Asia. The Studentship will provide candidates with Rs.20,000 for the preparation of a research paper to be presented at a workshop in November 2007. Selected scholars will also get an opportunity to participate in and discuss their ongoing research at two initial workshops to be held in March 2007 and August 2007. Sarai will take care of travel, boarding and lodging for attending the workshops. The Candidates may be from any discipline and should be enrolled in Master, M.Phil or Ph.D programme in India. List of suggested themes: Urban Histories, Architecture and Spatial Transformations, Modernist Planning, Alternative Urban Visions, Urban Memory and Narratives of Violence, Urban Ecologies, Literature and Urbanism, Cinema and the City, Visual Culture, The Future of Public Space, Media Practices and the City, Labour in the City. Send your application along with one page abstract indicating scope, nature and approach of proposed research, one writing sample ( published or unpublished) and C.V. to: Sadan Jha Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29,Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054. ph: 23830065, 23983352 and 23928391. For more visit: http://www.sarai.net/community/student_stipend.htm Inquiries: sadan at sarai.net Deadline for Applications: 15th January 2007. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From mohaiemen at yahoo.com Fri Nov 3 21:17:09 2006 From: mohaiemen at yahoo.com (NAEEM MOHAIEMEN) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 07:47:09 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] To The Polls, Unless Your Name Be Das, Tripura, or Roy Message-ID: <20061103154709.13704.qmail@web50302.mail.yahoo.com> I hate the word "minority", so incomplete and somehow always patronizing. But for lack of alternative, have used it in activist projects related to Bangladesh. Growing up, the "Hindu question" angered and saddened me -- to watch my classmates, friends and colleagues become dissected into haves/have nothings based on religion and class (and a deadly co-joining). I wrote about it for a long time, and then gradually became exhausted. Even worse, I became what Bangalis call "used to." We all became "used to." This is the way things are. I was stirred from slumber by an e-mail I got from Dhaka last week. With the most volatile elections of Bangladesh history approaching in two months, the minority vote (Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Paharis, Adivasis) is a target as they are expected to vote for the left-of center AL (Awami League) en masse, vs. the rightist-islamist ruling coalition of BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party). In the e-mail, my friend wrote: "I have already received 3 independent e-mails from contacts in Bangladesh (2 Hindu, 1 Christian) who are terrified after threats their families have received in the last few days ("don't vote, or we'll kill you", basically). As the rumor-mongering kicks in and accusations are traded, the minorities will again become a pawn between the two main factions." I wrote the text below in response. An abbreviated version of this was published in the main Dhaka newspaper yesterday. You can also go to the URL to read it. ############################ http://shobakorg.blogspot.com/2006/11/das-tripura.html To The Polls, Unless Your Name Be Das, Tripura, or Roy by Naeem Mohaiemen DAILY STAR (Bangladesh), November 3, 2006 "Why can small numbers excite rage? They represent a tiny obstacle between majority and totality or total purity. The smaller the number and the weaker the minority, the deeper the rage about its capacity to make a majority feel like a mere majority." [Arjun Appadurai, Fear of Small Numbers] "Hey Ghosh, don't do so much Ghosh-Ghoshani!" Another day in school, another round of mutual teasing. Young boys specialize in quiet brutality. Schoolyard taunts can be cruel, but nicknames are nothing to be upset about. Everyone at St. Joseph had one. Even the son of the Police IG had been renamed "fangface" (from the cartoon) and "kaula" (lovely reference to his hue). In that context, teasing Ranjan Ghosh by his last name seemed very mild. Who cares, right? Just another tiffin break. Everyone run to Peter's canteen to ask for an oily burger. But something about this particular dig stuck, even though my class 6 brain couldn't navigate the cause of unease. Much later, many years on, I realized that it was the first time I was forced into awareness of a "minority" surname. Ghosh, Das, Sankar, Goldar, Adhikary, Purification, Lal, Trivedi, Larma, Gomes, Bhattacharjee[i]. They were all part of me once, before we started taking on names from elsewhere. Ahmed, Ali, Mahmud, Hossain, Jahangir, Rahman. Our elders started saying, "You see, we came from the mountains or beyond, perhaps Persia." Yes, right. Relative to all things we have seen in this epoch of Bangla life, St Joseph now seems to be(retroactively) a model of communal balance. Propelled by an affirmative action policy in admission, enforced by the Jesuit brothers, almost half the students were Hindu and Christian. Besides the Ghosh incident, life was fairly uneventful. Even my hyper-active brain can't locate other examples of communal tension (but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough). At that age, the only difference we saw was that the Hindu students studied Geeta in a separate room during Islamiat. Who cares, to each his own... The mind soaks up many fragments and saves it for future processing. Even at that age some part of me vaguely registered that the wealthy students all had last names like Rahman, Ahmed and Hossain. One day a teacher asked for a collection of money to help Gomes, poorest student in the class, buy the required Geography Atlas. Scattered chuckles in the room. But perhaps at his plight, not his name. Still, a strange unease, but nothing I could pin down. In 1985, we anxiously crowded around a notice board to find the SSC results. Star Marks, Letters, First Division, Ranking. Magic symbols of future success and prosperity. Two decades on, many in my graduating class (sometimes referred to as Generation 71) have become industrialists, bankers, television directors, ad firm creatives –– executives of every stripe. When I sit with my old Dhaka crew, there's a palpable air of "masters of the universe." But when I take a closer look, not a single non-Muslim among my classmates has made it into this magic circle. 1985 was perhaps the last moment of parity between us. The in-between time has been rough for those who don't fit the national identity project. When I ask my classmates about this, they shrug. Not my problem. One of these bright souls even said to me, during a BUET strike, "Hindu students protesting again! They are always making trouble. lai dithe dithe mathai thule rekhechi." Yes, really, we have spoilt them so! Amena Mohsin talks about the flaws of Bengali nationalism –– a structure that sings of Ek Shagoro Roktho, yet remains blind to the invisible second class of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Paharis, Adivasis and all other communities that don't fit within a Bengali Muslim ethos. The concept of a singular nation, needing to be produced or naturalized at any cost, is not unique to us. Hannah Arendt argued in 1968 that the idea of a national peoplehood was a fatal flaw in developed societies. Philip Gourevitz, surveying the brutality of Rwanda, observed that "genocide, after all, is an exercise in community-building." But what is remarkable for Bangladesh is a national memory project devoted to the 1971 Pakistan army genocide (against "us") that fails to recognize how we are replaying that scenario on a smaller level against non-Bengali and non-Muslim identities. "Non" is the key modifier, everything is about what you are not. When these small groups assert their presence and refuse to be crushed under a "Bengali Muslim" identity, spectacular and extreme violence is our tool for producing a homogenized national map. The strange, so very strange, thing is that even hyper-minority status in other spaces (North America, Europe, India) have not given the Muslim ummah an extra sensitivity, or sense of responsibility, or even historical prerogative (think of the Caliphate's decent track record vis-a-vis conquered non-converts) on how it treats its own minorities (can someone please come up with a better phrase) with respect and equality. Friends and allies say to me "This is not the time to bring up these issues. Muslims are under attack everywhere, we should talk about ourselves first." I usually respond with an expletive and a pronoun. A gentleman sent me yet another e-mail about "Quran desecration." I wrote back that this was not a priority. Waste of time, I said. Enough already with our offensensitivity. Our hysteria about the slightest offense to the Prophet, the Book, the People. Are we so very weak? A terse reply: "Maybe not a priority to you, but to us it is." Who is the us? People who value a book more than a human life? Gamal al-Banna (who parted ways with his brother Hassan, founder of Muslim Brotherhood) says: "Man is the aim of religion, and religion only a means. What is prevalent today is the opposite." My St. Joseph memory trip came while considering the crucible of the approaching Bangladesh elections. In keeping with the overall pattern of convulsive violence, minority communities are already under threats to stay away from the polls. Unlike 2001, when the orgy of anti-Hindu violence was enacted after the elections, the idea is to block these communities from even daring to vote. As documented by Daily Star, Prothom Alo and others, a signficant proportion of minority voters have already been taken off the controversial voter list.[ii] When even Muslim voters find themselves missing in large numbers from the list, what chance for Bahadur, Kumar, or Larma? The 1991 and 2001 Bangladesh election results could have been different given the razor-thin margins by which many seats were won, and the huge number of minority voters that were prevented from voting in those very seats. Out of 300 constituencies, there are 71 where minority voters are significant (ranging from 11% to 61%)[iii] and 50 where they are visible (5-10%). The current election sets every incentive for the 4-party rightist-islamist alliance to aggressively choke off the minority vote. The opposition Awami League's embrace of secularism has always been shaky (is there anybody with the guts to hold their feet to the fire and force them to eject Nejame Islam from the 14-party coalition?). But even this weak commitment has produced many potential Pahari candidates for Hill Tracts, as compared to the exclusively Bengali Muslim candidates from the 4-party. For Bengali candidates to win in Pahari-majority areas, a massive blocking of the Pahari vote is needed. A similar pattern is expected in all areas with a significant minority population. This is not to say that minority voters should vote en masse for AL –– but simply that they to be allowed to vote. I invoke St Joseph because anecdotes sometimes carry more emotive power than statistics. When the silent majority continually ignores the pain of others, we end up at the embryo stages of ethnicide. These days it is hard to sit still for a song ashor during 1971 commemorations without choking on the failure of the nation project. Yes, yes, we liberated ourselves from Pakistan. Yes, they were destroying our adored Bangla language. Yes, yes, but and again but. What of the state that we created since 1971. 22 wealthiest Pakistani families have been replaced by 22 wealthiest Bangla Muslim families. Was that what the revolution was about. Pity Shiraj Sikder, Colonel Taher and all the other revolutionaries. Actually the bullet in Sikder's back, and the noose around Taher's neck saved them -- who wants to live to see this end? Today, our numerical majority has chosen methods of predatory nationalism that include racist tactics that directly echo the Pakistan regime, reify Bengali Muslims, and render all other identities invisible[iv]. My uncle used to tell the story of the maulana who stood in front of a temple in 1940s Noakhali, using his body to defy those who wanted to burn alive the Hindus who had been their former neighbors. This is in Noakhali of all places, a blight in 1940s partition narratives for so many examples of brutality, including the apocryphal story of Muslims who slaughtered Gandhi's goat (is it true? I have never been able to find any evidence). If that village elder found an interpretation of religion that taught compassion, how are we in this backwards trap fifty years on? I shout at all of you with rage, because I refuse to accept a haven for me that is a nightmare for others. There is still time to stop this with our words, our actions and our bodies. Amra ki ei Bangladesh cheyechilam? ############################ Naeem Mohaiemen is a filmmaker and media artist based in Dhaka and New York. He is author of the chapter on in the 2004 Annual Human Rights Report. ############################ http://shobakorg.blogspot.com http://disappearedinamerica.org ############################ Footnotes: [i] A researcher friend recently explored the etymology of the names in Bangladesh and wrote in an e-mail: "Of course not all surnames are created equal. Chattopadhyay/Chatterjee, Bandopadhyay/Banerjee, Mukhopadhyay, Gangopadhyay, Bhattacharya/jee, Chakrabarty, Mahalanobis, Adhikari etc are Brahmin. Some names are titles that are usually held by higher caste including Brahmins, but can also be Muslim names (as they were handed out by either the Nawabs or the British to loyal retainers) - Thakur (Tagore), Majumdar, Talukdar, Dastidar, Ghatak, Chowdhury, Biswas, Sarkar. Most of these people will still know their original "gotra" (ie, "apni ghotok? asholey ki?" - answer: chattopadhyay, sen etc so you can still signal caste when prompted). Next rung includes Sen, Das, Ghosh, Bose, Sarkar, Nath, Saha, Dev, Mandal, Pandey (Parey), etc The rung that you won't hear much of in academia, business, politics or probashi communities include Basak, Gain, Bain (as in Goopy & Bagha), Tisku, Barui, Majhi, Gop (Gope), Dop (Daup), Soren, Marandi. Many of these names are also found among Adivasis through intermarriage or loss of language some time back. Some purely sub-ethnic names as well. Rajbongshi, Tripuri, Puruli, Pradhan, Bahadur (indicates Gurkha lineage) etc. In terms of people left in Bangladesh, hardly any from the Brahmins, and most are probably at the bottom of the caste hierarchy - as they are pretty screwed whether in Bangladesh or in India." [ii] Daily Star, May 6, 2006: "Religious Minorities Under Pressure"; Daily Star, May 10, 2006: "Minority Voters Intimidated"; Prothom Alo, January 6, 2006: "Voter List Compilers Say They Didn't Go to 4 Minority-heavy Villages By 'Mistake'"; bcdjc.org/mreport-1.html [iii] According to the 1991 census, the following 71 constituencies have a minority ratio ranging from 11% to 61%: Rangamati, Khulna-1, Bandarban, Khagrachari, Gopalganj-3, Moulavibazar-4, Khulna-5, Sunamganj-2, Dinajpur-1, Gopalganj-2, Dinajpur-2, Barisal-1, Khulna-6, Satkhira-3, Bagerhat-1, Gopalganj-1, Chittagong-6, Thakurgaon-1, Dinajpur-4, Pirojpur-1, Bagerhat-3, Satkhira-5, Moulavibazar-2, Magura-1, Madaripur-2, Narail-1, Bagerhat-2, Hobiganj-4, Chittagong-7, Nilphamari-2, Nilphamari-3, Magura-1, Satkhira-4, Rajbari-2, Lalmonirhat-1, Jessore-6, Narail-2, Khulna-4, Barisal-2, Satkhira-1, Netrokona-4, Natore-1, Sunamganj-1, Brahmanbaria-5, Hobiganj-1, Thakurgaon-2, Satkhira-2, Netrokona-1, Manikganj-2, Sunamganj-4, Chittagong-1, Kishoregonj-5, Rangpur-1, Kurigram-2, Pirojpur-2, Dinajpur-6, Rangpur-2, Jhalokathi-2, Manikganj-1, Faridpur-1, Natore-3, Bagerhat-4, Netrokona-2, Dhaka-7, Faridpur-3, Madaripur-3, Khulna-2, Barguna-2, Mymensingh-1, Dhaka-3, Sunamganj-3. All portions of the 2001 census were released, with the exception of the religious figures. [iv] This can be seen in the drastic drop in minority populations: 1961 (18.5%), 1974 (13.5%), 1981 (12.2%) and 1991 (10.5%). Analysts expect the 2001 census to reveal even further drop, but the government has not released those numbers. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail (http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/) From mail at shivamvij.com Sat Nov 4 02:34:05 2006 From: mail at shivamvij.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 02:34:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Kherlanji Message-ID: <9c06aab30611031304l2bb451bcn10c4b9f3a149287e@mail.gmail.com> 120 kms from Nagpur, district Bhandara, a Dalit Buddhist family lynched to death a month ago. Delhi journalists ignore emails from the Vidarbha Jan Andola Samiti. The news is getting out only now. Updates at http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/ Speak, for your lips are free... From info at karmayog.org Sat Nov 4 00:41:55 2006 From: info at karmayog.org (Karmayog.org) Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 13:11:55 -0600 Subject: [Reader-list] Grants from World Bank -- Health, Nutrition & Population -- by Nov 17 Message-ID: <2988701c6ff7b$ed808140$9a16344a@C274034117> 1. It seems that the Echoing Green Fellowship email got truncated for some recipients. One has to apply online by December 1, 2006, for the $90,000 in seed funding and support to launch a new organization Watch the video: http://www.echoinggreen.org/video Find out whether you qualify: http://www.echoinggreen.org/shouldyouapply Questions? Contact Jeremy at jeremy at echoinggreen.org . 2. The World Bank also gives grants e.g. via The Development Marketplace (DM) which funds innovative, small-scale development projects. The DM's primary objective is to identify and support creative ideas that deliver results and have the potential to be expanded or replicated. In addition to supporting hundreds of grassroots initiatives, the program allows the Bank to learn and gain insight from local practitioners who have important contributions to make in the fight against poverty. DM competitions are designed to attract ideas from a range of innovators: civil society groups, social entrepreneurs, local governments, universities, and private companies. Development Market Place announces grants for NGOs every year. This year the topic for Development Market place is Health, Population and Nutrition. The last date for submission of the proposal is 17 November, 2006. The proposal should be submitted on-line. Sample of winning proposal for last year and guidelines to submit the proposal is available at website www.developmentmarketplace.org Some past projects in India that have received grants: Same Language Sub-titling on TV for Mass Literacy Rs. 1.2 crores to raise the literacy skills of all early literates on a large scale, through a low-cost, already entrenched, popular entertainment method-television programming with subtitles Low-Cost Reading Glasses Rs. 56 lakhs to give the gift of sight to near-sighted poor by getting low-cost reading glasses into their hands, and also to provide jobs to sellers of reading glasses Affordable Hearing Aids Rs. 47 lakhs to design, manufacture, and distribute an affordable, high-quality hearing aid for developing country markets, and to empower the disabled Well Being of the Disabled Rs. 37 lakhs to provide all services for disabled persons of all age groups in Delhi Rat Catcher Tribals Rs. 45 lakhs to remove the health hazards associated with ridding farms of rats and improve the rate of extermination, by introducing an improved prototype of a traditional rat catching device at an affordable price in Tamil Nadu Empowerment of Rural Communities to Export Rs. 1.20 crores to raise incomes and create job opportunities by testing the use of Export Production Villages as a way to organize small-holder spice producers and access higher value export markets. Mentoring At-risk Children Rs. 28 lakhs to impart critical life skills to at-risk youth in Mumbai, helping them reintegrate into mainstream society. BioDiesel Fueled Energy System Rs. 1.1 crores to deliver energy and safe water supplies to remote tribal villages in Orissa using a renewable, carbon-neutral, bio-diesel energy system. Village Employment & Power Partnerships Rs. 95 lakhs to provide rural villages in India with affordable access to electricity by constructing a decentralized supply mechanism integrated with an enterprise promotion initiative and service delivery system. LED Lighting for Tribal Homes Rs. 84 lakhs to provide clean and reliable lighting to 10,000 tribal households in Orissa using LED light units and a community-based maintenance plan Alternative Fuel Sources Rs. 50 lakhs to provide an alternative fuel source and generate environmental benefits for Rajasthan villagers by implementing a comprehensive plan to utilize the Jatropha plant Livelihoods by Conserving Biodiversity Rs. 29 lakhs to enhance the incomes of forest dwelling communities and reverse destruction of wild bamboo stocks by promoting the use of the Lantana weed as a substitute for bamboo in weaving baskets and other products. Ground-Source Systems for Hot Arid Regions Rs. 66 lakhs to introduce more productive and stable agriculture in areas with harsh climatic conditions by introducing Earth Tube Heat Exchanger technology in Kutch Eco-Friendly Farm Pest Management Rs. 70 lakhs to provide farmers with a cheaper and eco-friendly pest management alternative to costly pesticides Silk Production to Save Oak Trees Rs. 80 lakhs to provide alternatives to subsistence agriculture through oak-based silk production, or sericulture, a unique enterprise that allows forest resources to be used without chopping down trees Computers on Wheels Rs. 12 lakhs to close the information gap by providing villagers in rural Mahboobnagar with expanded access to information and exposure to technology Connecting India Village by Village Rs. 32 lakhs to tap the power of the digital economy by using electronic kiosks to develop market-based solutions that benefit India's poor Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Rs. 93 lakhs to increase rural water access in drought-prone desert Rajasthan by introducing rooftop rainwater harvesting and encouraging the government to expand the program. For other info, please contact Ms. Sunita Malhotra -- smalhotra at worldbank.org [ www.karmayog.org has a list of Indian Donors (foundations and corporates) as well as International Donor organisations . Do help us to make it a comprehensive list. ] _____ To unsubscribe or change your preferences goto the Mailing List Management Centre at the following address:- http://www.karmayog.org/mailing/default.asp?email=reader%2Dlist%40sarai% 2Enet -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20061103/3ba1f618/attachment.html From jalvaer at gmail.com Sat Nov 4 07:13:43 2006 From: jalvaer at gmail.com (jesper alvaer) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 02:43:43 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?FILMS_FROM_CONTEMPORARY_IRAN_6=96_?= =?windows-1252?q?7_NOVEMBER_=28SORIA_MORIA_KINO_OSLO=29?= Message-ID: <5330bdde0611031743h5ea1b27bgf2e04ae62000e737@mail.gmail.com> FILMS FROM CONTEMPORARY IRAN 6 – 7 NOVEMBER Screening of Iranian films 6 – 7 November at Soria Moria Cinema Presentation of the magazine Pages 7 November at Torpedo Bokhandel The screenings in Soria Moria (Torshov) follow the exhibition project „Sunset Cinema_edition 2" which was realized in Display gallery in Prague, May 2006. The two Iranian artists living in the Netherlands, Nasrin Tabatabai and Babak Afrassiabi, created a framework and a stage for the screening of several films, out of which three are going to be screened within this program. Films from Contemporary Iran, is an initiative from Display (www.display.cz) in Prague and Pages in Rotterdam (www.pagesmagazine,net), organized in Oslo by UKS, Soria Moria, and Torpedo Bokhandel. The project is supported by OCA- Office for Contemporary Art, Norway. PROGRAM DETAILS: Tuesday 6 November Time: 18:45 - 20:45 at Soria Moria Introduction by Director Alireza Rasoulinezhad Exteriors Director: Alireza Rasoulinezhad Iran, 2004 83 minutes, video Exteriors is a film in three parts about a discouraged intellectual uncle who disappears from Tehran to lead a different life elsewhere. He leaves his apartment to his nephew and niece. The two discover some notes on various social and cultural topics and an unfinished film by their uncle. Inspired by their uncle's ideas and the film footage, they decide to make a film together. The involvement of the two in pursuing the film becomes a pretext for the director of this trilogy to address contemporary social and cultural issues of Iran. Wednesday 7 November Time: 17.00 at Torpedo Bokhandel (Hausmannsgate 42, Oslo) Short presentation by Babak Afrassiabi of the magazine Pages Pages is a bilingual, Farsi and English, magazine with the aim to function as a platform for exchange, dialogs and projects, a place for collaboration between artists and writers from Iran and elsewhere. The magazine's interest lies in the socio-political flows within spaces of urban and everyday life. Time: 18:45 - 20:45 at Soria Moria, Introduction by Director Bahman Kiarostami Pilgrimage Director: Bahman Kiarostami Iran, 2004 52 minutes, video Shot in and around a small prosecutor's office on the Iran-Iraq border, this documentary is about illegal pilgrims who are persistent in crossing the Iran's border with Iraq for the holly city of Karbala. Being deprived of this pilgrimage for years during and after the Iran-Iraq war, now with the fall of Saddam many attempt to travel with forged documents or risk their lives while being smuggled across the harsh border. "Criminal pilgrims or pilgrim criminals" this is the dilemma the film is uncovering. Shabih Khani (Re-enactment) Director: Bahman Kiarostami Iran, 2006 52 minutes, Video Shabih-Khani is a documentary about men who, in the yearly held religious ceremony called the Ashura, re-enact the scenes of the battle Karbala (that took place in 680 ac in the desert of Karbala in current Iraq, commemorating the death of Imam Hossein, the grandson of the prophet Mohammad, and his entire family). Shabih (likeness) is a term which refers to an actor who plays the role of the holy companions of Imam Hossein or his enemies. The title Shabih-Khani underlines the separation between the actors and the roles they play. As the men are asked to play their roles in front of the camera, they inevitably indulge in a double re-enactment of their roles, causing moments of confusion, bordering on farce or slapstick. ============================================================================== Jesper Alvaer Tel: +47 48050535 Tel: +420 608302910 skype: jespercall -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20061104/529ba965/attachment.html From ravis at sarai.net Sat Nov 4 17:28:44 2006 From: ravis at sarai.net (Ravi Sundaram) Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:28:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Coming to terms with India's missing Muslims(fwd) Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20061104172730.03621980@mail.sarai.net> 4 November 2006 The Hindu Link: http://svaradarajan.blogspot.com/ Coming to terms with India's missing Muslims The reality of exclusion and discrimination can no longer be denied. But the remedy requires political courage on the part of the Manmohan Singh Government and wisdom on the part of those claiming to speak for Muslims. Siddharth Varadarajan WHEN THE Justice Rajinder Sachar committee submits its report on the socio-economic status of Muslims, the full extent of the community's exclusion will be obvious to all. Especially those who have made political careers out of the canard that Muslims in India enjoy special privileges and have been "appeased." Based on the data leaked so far, it is evident there are entry barriers Muslims ­ who account for 17 per cent of India's population ­ are unable to cross in virtually all walks of life. From the administration and the police to the judiciary and the private sector, the invisible hands of prejudice, economic and educational inequality seem to have frozen the `quota' for Muslims at three to five per cent. Thanks to a hysterical campaign run by the Bharatiya Janata Party and some media houses, the Sachar committee was denied data on the presence of Muslims in the armed forces. But even there it is apparent that the three per cent formula applies. This gross under-presence of Muslims in virtually every sector is presaged by substantial inequalities in education. Muslim enrolment and retention rates at the primary and secondary levels are lower than the national average and this further magnifies existing inequalities at the college level as well as in the labour market. For virtually every socio-economic marker of well being, the Muslim is well below the national norm ­ not to speak of the level commensurate with her or his share of the national population ­ and the evidence suggests these inequalities are not decreasing over time. This bleak statistical picture is rendered drearier still by new trends visible in many cities. Muslims, for example, find it extremely difficult to rent and buy property outside of "Muslim areas" in some metros. Apart from several journalists, I even know of one former Muslim Union Minister in Delhi whose Hindu colleagues had to intercede to find him a flat. In Mumbai, the situation is perhaps worse. Many Muslim businessmen have problems accessing credit, besides having to run the gamut of uncooperative officials who look upon them with suspicion at every turn. Even in politics, as Iqbal A. Ansari's recent book, Political Representation of Muslims in India, 1952-2004, has shown, Muslims have consistently been under-represented in the Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies since Independence except Kerala. Only half as many Muslim MPs and MLAs get elected as one might expect based on their population share. In the absence of our political parties throwing up a large enough number of Muslim elected representatives, clerics and obscurantists are only too willing to step into the breach. The `war on terrorism' has added a new layer to this already intolerable situation as policemen across the country give free vent to their ignorance and religious prejudice. The tendency of law enforcement agencies to target Muslims during incidents of communal violence is well known. The complicity of the police in the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 was reprehensible but not so different from what the country witnessed at other times in other places. As for legal redress, neither government nor judiciary shows any sense of urgency. Terrorist crimes such as the Mumbai blasts are prosecuted energetically and this is a good thing. But no one is able to explain what happened to the cases stemming from the killing of Muslims in Mumbai in 1992 and 1993 nor why the Srikrishna Commission recommendations against erring policemen remain unimplemented. The media are a corrective but only to a limited extent. If one section has sought to highlight the plight of Indian Muslims, another section is constantly ready to inflame prejudice by staging debates on irrelevant issues, giving undue prominence to ridiculous statements by unrepresentative `Muslim leaders' or broadcasting marital disputes within Muslim families (as one channel did last week) as proof of `Muslim backwardness.' In the U.S., the old journalistic adage was `Jews is News'. In India, it seems, anything that shows Muslims as ignorant or fanatical helps propel TRP ratings, while rational comment is frowned upon as unhelpful. A Muslim MP was asked recently to take part in a TV debate on whether there should be reservation for Muslims. He agreed, but added that he would argue against it. The channel's reporter then tried convincing him that "surely your community needs reservation." When he didn't agree, the channel lost interest in putting him on air. One studio guest recently advised Muslims to shed their `persecution complex' and to not forget that theirs were the "hands that built the Taj Mahal." Though no one would dare accuse Dalits of "doing nothing" to uplift themselves, Muslims are blamed for their poverty and poor education. They are gratuitously advised to study hard, as if the problem of lack of schools, delinquent teachers, inadequate books, and poverty can be remedied by will power alone. The reservation trap It is against the backdrop of this highly vitiated atmosphere that the Manmohan Singh Government must formulate a response to the Sachar committee's findings. The reality of systemic inequality cannot be wished away and the Government must find the political courage to confront this situation head on. So serious are the implications of Muslim marginalisation that the Congress must open a channel of communication with other parties, including the BJP, to evolve a consensus on the necessity for urgent corrective measures. Among the remedial measures to be considered, the least helpful in substantive as well as political terms will be reservation. Whatever they do, Muslim leaders and those who claim to speak in favour of Muslims, must avoid the trap that the demand for reservation is. Sixty years of affirmative action have led to some improvements for Dalits and Tribals but it is clear that the country and its rulers have used the sop of reservation as an excuse to do nothing about the persistent, underlying causes of caste-based inequality. It is now universally recognised that the pursuit of "equality of outcomes" and "equality of opportunity" must go hand in hand. Even equality of opportunity has a formal and a substantive aspect. `Formal' equality means ending discrimination on the basis of caste, religion or gender. `Substantive' equality means overcoming the barriers (or benefits) children of equal native talent inherit from their parents so that none is advantaged or disadvantaged by birth. The India state pays lip service to the idea of equality of outcomes (through quotas) but completely ignores the necessity of crafting expenditure policies that can provide equality of opportunity. Nowhere is this more glaring than in the field of education where the increased notional access of Dalits and Tribals to university is undercut by high dropout rates and underperformance at the school level. In a 2000 paper, Julian Betts and John Roemer model the amount of differential expenditure the United States government would have to make to provide equality of opportunity to its citizens. In a typology where they define four categories of males based on whether they are White or Black and whether their parents have `High' or `Low' education levels, Betts and Roemer conclude that the `equality of opportunity' expenditure on education must be nine times higher for members of the `Low Black' group than the `High Whites'. They also found that the `High Black,' `Low Black,' and `Low White' groups must all receive more than their per capita share of educational resources if equality of opportunity were to be guaranteed. Both in the U.S. and in India today, the actual allocation of educational resources is regressive in that those who are affluent and socially privileged corner a greater share of social allocations for education than their relative size in the population. In reality, then, existing affirmative action ­ or reservation ­ is for the privileged and the goal of public policy has to be to reverse that by using the target of public expenditure. An important finding in Betts and Roemer's work is that economic targeting alone won't alter the relative distribution of income across cohorts. The targeting has to be aimed at the discriminated or excluded cohort. In India, the first task of the government must be to guarantee formal equality of opportunity by dealing firmly with discrimination in the labour, housing and credit markets as well as educational system. Without instituting a system of reservation ­ which would generate more political heat than tangible benefit for Muslims ­ the Government must send out a clear and unambiguous message that the social cohesiveness and future growth prospects of the country require government departments and private firms to encourage the recruitment of Muslims. But in order to generate substantive equality of opportunity and uproot inequality and exclusion from their roots, the government has to guarantee better access to education at every level for Muslims, Dalits, Tribals, and OBCs. All of this is only a first approximation and much more will need to be done. What is important, however, is that we recognise both the reality of Muslim exclusion and the urgent need to do something about it. From mail at shivamvij.com Sat Nov 4 19:06:33 2006 From: mail at shivamvij.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 19:06:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Community_radio_doesn=E2=80=99t_cause_war?= =?utf-8?q?s?= Message-ID: <9c06aab30611040536l7769f3b4u80a32c7e1ceb4312@mail.gmail.com> Free the airwaves, for India's sake Community radio doesn't cause wars, it brings positive change By Frederick Noronha http://www.tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=op111106Free_the.asp We have about 30 here," said my Ugandan friend, when asked about fm radio stations in and around Uganda's capital Kampala. Nepal has shamed the "world's largest democracy" many years ago. And we're not talking of just multi-million rupee licences for commercial fm. Apart from the sarkari airwaves, and the commercial ones, India has just forgotten to open up its airwaves to its own citizens, volunteer networks and the not-for- profit sector (not just ngos alone). Paranoid politicians, overcautious officials, and ad-obsessed broadcasters, have worked to make this happen. Campus radio is no substitute for genuine community radio. Conflict-prone Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia too have outdone us. In 1995, the Supreme Court was clear in telling the authorities that the "airwaves are public property". Yet, every stalling trick has been deployed to delay. Will the government be different now? Now, though, we have talk of new community radio-friendly policies from the gom, Cabinet approval and what-have-you. But till we hear the broadcasts, let's just keep our fingers crossed, shall we? Half a decade ago, a disparate group that saw potential in community radio joined a unesco workshop held at Hyderabad. To build some continuity, an electronic mailing list called cr-India was set up. Since then, over 300-plus citizens have tried every trick to convince the authorities why this is a good idea. So, whose interest does it serve to keep Indian talent on a tight leash, even while blocking the huge potential for communication? Academics agree with it. There is clear evidence that community radio works elsewhere. We have more than sufficient skills across India. Just take a look at radiophony.com that tells you how to build a low-powered transmitter for a few hundred rupees. We've seen groups in Bhuj and Bihar struggle with leasing time on the air network. We've seen youngsters from Haryana create transmitters for Rs 11,000. And we've seen an innovative Raghav Mahto run an unlicenced fm radio station in a way that makes it relevant to the locality and enables him to earn a few rupees for a cancer-stricken dad. So what are we waiting for? But then, India's irrational fears about unleashing the power of communication, in a way that could really make a difference to the information-starved, is keeping our potential blocked. Thanks to technology, and today's unprecedented pace for the spread of ideas, you don't need an army of bureaucrats or a few million rupees to communicate via the airwaves anymore. What's more, the radio could be the most appropriate in a country with poor power in vast rural stretches. But irrational fears are just that. Irrational, and hard to get rid of. We have a (relatively) free press; and the country hasn't fallen apart. Radio doesn't cause wars or the breakdown of law and order. Rather than war-war, it allows for jaw-jaw. We need discussions that could resolve conflict and act as an early warning system. Those not in line with the law will do so, whether you offer them licences or not. So, whom are we penalising? We need radio to warn the citizen of disaster, to inform them of how to bring positive change in their lives, and even to keep alive the varied cultures which get trampled upon by our centralised models. Tomas Koshy — discussing via the communityradio at writeshop.org network — tells a recent story of what happened when he spoke to 150 women in Champaran. Three read newspapers. Four watched TV. And almost everyone listened to radio. So should they be force-fed the official version, when technology allows for thousands of community-run radios, reflecting the needs of India? Rather than fearing what happens when the poor get access to information, we owe it to them to just unshackle the medium. This is not middle-class burden; even "illiterate" millions are educated enough to make use of this medium. Are we enlightened enough to stop fighting possibilities with paranoia and artificial blocks in the law? Action can always be taken against those violating the law; should we presume malafides by default? Time lost, as a decision gets delayed, is something the country could never ever recoup. So why not just free the airwaves for the citizen too? Till then, India will just have to wait for its real communications revolution. Noronha is a Goa-based journalist From geert at desk.nl Sun Nov 5 02:27:39 2006 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 21:57:39 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Global Voices Delhi Summit: December 16, 2006 Message-ID: Global Voices Delhi Summit: December 2006 http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/global-voices-delhi-summit-december -2006/ Please join us for the Global Voices 2006 Summit, December 16th in New Delhi, India! WHAT: Global Voices Online is an award-winning online portal and guide to international blogs beyond North America and Western Europe. It has also become the hub of a growing community of international bloggers who want to build a better global conversation. The Global Voices Summit, on December 16th, will be our annual opportunity to take stock, come together and explore our central question: How can we use the Internet to build a more democratic, participatory global discourse? How can we create a more inclusive conversation about what is happening on our planet, and how human beings in different parts of the world are impacting each other in countless ways we don’t realize every day? This year we also hope to address two further questions: - How do we bring more unheard, ignored, or disadvantaged voices into the global online conversation? - How do we help people speak and be heard - even when powerful people try to stop them from doing so? WHO: Global Voices editors, contributors, community members, interested bloggers and journalists. Basically, anybody who is interested in what it means for media, geopolitics, and global society when the whole world starts talking online. Click here to see who is already committed to attend. WHEN: 9am-5:30pm IST, Saturday December 16th, 2006 (A smaller private planning meeting will be held for GV editors and authors only on Sunday the 17th.) HOW: If you’d like to join us, please add your name to the sign-up wiki here. WHERE: At the Indian Habitat Centre (Please note that space is very limited, so you’ll want to sign up well in advance if you wish to attend - first come, first served.) ONLINE: If you can’t make it in person, please join us online via webcast and live chat. We will be posting more information on this page about how to do so as the time approaches FOR MORE INFO ABOUT PAST GLOBAL VOICES SUMMITS: Global Voices 2005 London Summit: Here is our summary of last year’s meeting in London. Read articles about it in the Guardian and openDemocracy, an academic paper about us by the Center for Social Media, and a video titled “Many to Many” which includes footage from our London Summit. Global Voices 2004 Harvard Meeting: where Global Voices was born! Click here for an MP3 audio report about the 2004 meeting. Or read this report at Personal Democracy Forum: International Bloggers Start Connecting the Dots Show Off! With our cool badges. Available in general and “I’m Attending” flavors! From lokesh at sarai.net Sun Nov 5 13:33:52 2006 From: lokesh at sarai.net (lokesh at sarai.net) Date: Sun, 05 Nov 2006 09:03:52 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?=28no_subject=29?= Message-ID: Youth forum Dear friends, The Youth Forum @ India Social Forum invites you to an amazing concert, where lou majaw, with his friends Sam Shullai, Lew Hilt, Arjun will be playing at ramjas Grounds on the 6th November from 2.30 onwards. this band is famous for their mind blowing rendering of dylan numbers and is internationally acclaimed for bringing progressive western music to the east.every year they celebrate Dylan's birthday. the other bands which will be also playing are Kangla Sha and Manchale. there will also be a book fair.please come and make it a wonderful experience for all. NB: Free Entry for all. In solidarity Amrapali, ANirban, meghna, rachna,Nitya, PArnisha, Sanober,Saurav, Awnish,Nayanjyoti, Karishma, Faisal, Bonojit, Bhagwati,Naveen, Lokesh, Alberuni and friends for Youth forum 9-13 November, 2006, Delhi @ India Social Forum From lokesh at sarai.net Sun Nov 5 13:37:25 2006 From: lokesh at sarai.net (lokesh at sarai.net) Date: Sun, 05 Nov 2006 09:07:25 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] invitation for concert in ramjas college Message-ID: Youth forum Dear friends, The Youth Forum @ India Social Forum invites you to an amazing concert, where lou majaw, with his friends Sam Shullai, Lew Hilt, Arjun will be playing at ramjas Grounds on the 6th November from 2.30 onwards. this band is famous for their mind blowing rendering of dylan numbers and is internationally acclaimed for bringing progressive western music to the east.every year they celebrate Dylan's birthday. the other bands which will be also playing are Kangla Sha and Manchale. there will also be a book fair.please come and make it a wonderful experience for all. NB: Free Entry for all. In solidarity Amrapali, ANirban, meghna, rachna,Nitya, PArnisha, Sanober,Saurav, Awnish,Nayanjyoti, Karishma, Faisal, Bonojit, Bhagwati,Naveen, Lokesh, Alberuni and friends for Youth forum 9-13 November, 2006, Delhi @ India Social Forum From aarti at sarai.net Sun Nov 5 14:58:39 2006 From: aarti at sarai.net (Aarti Sethi) Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2006 14:58:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Seminar @ Sarai: S.V. Srinivas- "Rajnikanth doesn't only speak Tamil" Message-ID: <5BE2DAC2-355F-4F2B-B1A3-5466279071D8@sarai.net> ============== Seminar @ Sarai ============== "Ranjikanth doesnt only speak Tamil: Towards a theory of South Indian Stardom." A talk by S.V Srinivas 3:30 P.M., Monday, 6 November 2006, Seminar Room Sarai-CSDS Film Screening: Baba (Suresh Krissna, Tamil, 2002), Seminar Room S.V. Srinivas is a Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Hyderabad. He is currently working on a post-doctoral project titled “Democracy and Spectatorship in India: Telugu Popular Cinema and Hong Kong Action Film” funded by SEPHIS. He has written articles on Telugu cinema and its audiences in Deep Focus, Economic and Political Weekly, Framework and Journal of Arts and Ideas. From vivek at sarai.net Mon Nov 6 19:55:00 2006 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:55:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] VN, poems, bangalore Message-ID: <454F45BC.30608@sarai.net> PLEASE COME: ...and duly inform any sympathetic souls I may have missed in this mailing... *************************************************************************** Toto Funds the Arts is delighted to invite you to the Bangalore launch of Vivek Narayanan’s first collection of poems, Universal Beach The book will be released by eminent film, theatre and television director and writer Prakash Belawadi at the Crossword Bookstore (ACR Towers, Ground Floor, 32 Residency Road, Bangalore 1) on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 6.30 pm Vivek Narayanan will read and perform from the book, as well as from a selection of poems from a new work in progress, Lectures in Indian History. *************************************************************************** Thanks, Vivek From cziellah at yahoo.co.in Tue Nov 7 01:18:32 2006 From: cziellah at yahoo.co.in (Yengkhom Jilangamba) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 19:48:32 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Free Hebal Abel Koloy! Message-ID: <20061106194832.25901.qmail@web8401.mail.in.yahoo.com> An Urgent Appeal for Action Free Hebal Abel Koloy! On October 26, 2006 at around 9.30am Mr. Hebal Abel Koloy, Chairman of Borok People's Human Rights Organisation – BPHRO – (an organisation fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples of Tripura against all forms of state terror), Tripura, India, was asked by the police of Jirania police station of West Tripura district, to accompany them to the Jirania police station and later was taken to Manu police station, Dhalai district. He accompanied them and was detained there till 8 a.m. (27 October, 2006) without any reasons. By 8.30 a.m. of October 27, 2006 he was declared arrested. The Manu police registered a case against him [Case no.37/06, U/S 396/353/307/IPC and 27 of the Arms Act and 120(B)] under the Indian Penal Code. On October 27, 2006 Hebal Koloy was produced in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kailashar and the Manu police station appealed to the court for 10 days remand in the police custody. However, the court granted allowed custody for 3 days – i.e. October 27-30, 2006. On October 30, 2006 he was produced in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kailashar and the court found no evidence of charges brought against him by the police but in spite of his being proved innocent was not given bail and was sent to the Kailashar Jail, Kailashar district for 3 more days. It is pertinent to mention here that Mr. Koloy is the principal of Khumpui Academy which is run by the Tripura Tribal Areas District Council. His official residence was ransacked in search operations that were carried out on October 28, 2006 from 3.00 -3.50 p.m. but no incriminating documents were found there. On October 29, 2006 a search operation was carried out from 11.15 a.m. to 12 noon in the office premises of the BPHRO, located in the Place Compound, Agartala, Tripura and in the search operation nothing illegal was recovered according to the police's own version. They seized identity card forms (which are issued to all the members of the BPHRO), donors' registrar book, membership fee book and other organisational document. They also took the computer CPU belonging to Mohan Debbarma (General Secretary of BPHRO) which was being used for the office of the organization as they do not have any computer of their own. Hebal Koloy has been an active member of the human rights fraternity in Northeast India . He has presented cases of human rights violations against the indigenous peoples of Tripura at the 22nd session of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 2003 and has also ceaselessly appealed for justice and transparency in Northeast India. We are convinced that his detention is meant to silence the voice of oppressed indigenous people of Tripura and is part of a larger campaign waged by the state to malign and obstruct people's movements working for justice and dignity of indigenous peoples. We are also convinced that as long as he is police custody he is danger of losing his life. Such events are not uncommon in Northeast India's gloomy world of human rights violations and complicity of the organs of the state in these violations. FREE HEBAL ABEL KOLOY Yours truly, Arup Jyoti Das On behalf of North East Peoples' Initiative (NEPI) 4, Dwaraka Path, Oil Pipe Line Hatigaon Road, Dispur Guwahati-781006 Ph: 0361-2222019 (o), 098641-39312 (m) E-mail: nepinitiatives at gmail.com __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/ From peerzadaarshad at gmail.com Mon Nov 6 15:39:04 2006 From: peerzadaarshad at gmail.com (arshad hamid) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 15:39:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] How Kashmir CM ensures a good press Message-ID: <83db55e00611060209o452e55bcpa057734d10123609@mail.gmail.com> Hi Sarai readers, *Coverage which any head of state would envy. No criticism worth mentioning, load full of praise, glamorous photos and all. The CM of Jammu and Kashmir is being projected as the ruler of that illusive utopian state. * ** *Read Full story about him on and have your say: How Kashmir CM ensures a good press Kashmir Newz, India - Nov 4, 2006 by Haroon Mirani. In his one year in office Chief Minister of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi * *http://www.kashmirnewz.com/n00053.html* -- Peerzada Arshad Hamid +91-9419027486 +91-1932-234488 Address Baba mohalla, Bijbehara-192124 C/o Tak Trading Company, Bijbehara. Anantnag (Jammu & Kashmir) INDIA www.kashmirnewz.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20061106/4ea2d93e/attachment.html From mail at shivamvij.com Wed Nov 8 20:58:00 2006 From: mail at shivamvij.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 20:58:00 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] 1000 lights of Dignity and protest for Khairlanji issue in New Delhi In-Reply-To: <20061108110036.19259.qmail@web8607.mail.in.yahoo.com> References: <20061108110036.19259.qmail@web8607.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <9c06aab30611080728p563fc4dx2b544df763d0b953@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nitin Lata Waman Dear friends, National Association For Social Action (NASAindia) in collaboration with National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) is organising a protest programme and will pay tribute by lighiting 1000 lights of Dignity to demand justice for the Bhotmange Family and for entire dalit community. i am inviting you in the said programme. please be there to raise the voice of justice and light a candle in favor of justice. there will be more than 5000 activists from all over india will be there. 10th Nov 2006 at 7:00 pm in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. For more details on Khairlanji issue please go through following web site. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=Ne111106Dalits_like.asp regards Nitin Lata Waman From sidharth.srinivasan at gmail.com Thu Nov 9 11:10:16 2006 From: sidharth.srinivasan at gmail.com (sidharth srinivasan) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 21:40:16 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Announcement:JDCA film festival Message-ID: <83e991100611082140l2ab429eq5af6cad3f026f27a@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, the JDCA is organizing a film festival on Art and the Artists in Bhubaneshwar in December and inviting shorts and docs for the same. I mention the necessary details below. JDCA FILM FORUM Short and documentary First Film Festival Art And Artist Bhubaneswar, Orissa '06 November 6, 2006 Request for support and participation in the First Short Film Festival on Art and Artists Dear JD Center of Art, a noncommercial, nonprofit art center at Bhubaneswar, Orissa, is holding a Short and Documentary Film Festival on Art and Artists from 15th - 17th December, 2006 in Bhubaneswar. This will be an annual event under the JDCA Film Forum and is the first short film festival on Art and Artists in the country. This is a non commercial, non competitive event. JDCA is creating a national archive of films on Art & Artists under the Film Forum. We would highly appreciate if you would donate your films on the subject to JDCA. The format is as follows: § 3 day festival: 18 hours of showing. § One day seminar by visiting artists, filmmakers, critics, art historians followed by interactions. The purpose is to highlight short films and documentaries made by filmmakers on artists and their art - traditional and contemporary. We would like to invite you: § To participate in the festival § Donate documentary films in CD / DVD / VHS format for our film archive § Write an article on documentary film-making for publication in the brochure Please send your films on the subject by the 20th of November for inclusion in the festival. We would be much beholden if you accept our invitation to participate in the festival or contribute to any of the above mentioned points and would greatly appreciate a note of consent from you as soon as possible. A brief introduction of JDCA and the concept of Film Forum are enclosed for your information. Please do inform your friends about this Film Festival. Waiting for a positive response. With kind regards, Yours sincerely Jatin Das Chairman, JDCA P.S. 1. Please direct all correspondence to the Delhi Office. 2. Proper credit line will appear in all relevant publications. 3. Please send your detailed correspondence information including postal address and e-mail. Email : jdcafilmforum at gmail.com Jatin Das, Chairman, JDCA 93,Bakhtawar Singh Block,Asiad Village,New Delhi-110 049, Telefax : 011-2649 2449 / 2649 7504 Email : jdcamuseum at hotmail.com JD Centre of Art A-20, VIP Colony, Nayapalli, Bhubneswar-751015,Orissa,India, Telefax : (0674) 2554195 / 2555077 Email : jdca at vsnl.net website : www.jdcentreofart.org -- MR. SIDHARTH SRINIVASAN Reel Illusion Films New Delhi/Mumbai India From zainab at xtdnet.nl Thu Nov 9 18:52:09 2006 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 17:22:09 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] [Urbanstudy] traders protest in Delhi and where sociolgical definations fail In-Reply-To: <20061108143117.18221.qmail@web8909.mail.in.yahoo.com> References: <6.2.3.4.2.20061108175839.03805b00@mail.sarai.net> <20061108143117.18221.qmail@web8909.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <47547.125.22.4.100.1163078529.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear Anant, Dr. Benjamin, Ravi and others, A question which I am interested in is this: the attempt is to bring liquid, floating cash into institutionalized structures. So you have the SC saying no more commercial shops running in houses - shut shop! Now what is this attempt at bringing in cash/moeny from 'informal sector' doing to subjectivity? Secondly, what role is the court playing in this age of urban politics? Are courts now beyond classic rights? > Dear Anant, Ravi, and friends > One of the ways in which the classic sociologogical > definations fails, is that it assumes that property > (and hense 'traders')are on a trajectory towards > greater homogenizing and 'consolidation'. Both the > 'right' and the 'left' meet up in land, as someone > noted -- one from the point of capital and the other > on to common conciousness. These binaries shifting the > political to the esoteric rather than the day to day, > miss out on the actual material basis of how property > gets 'encroached' via multiple land tenures. In doing > so, breaks these clean trajectories, and the binary > between capital and labour, or then as the current > thinking on "entrepreneurship" vs those who cannot be > (some Charles Booth from Victorian times here!). > > In the Delhi case, as well as elsewhere, rather than a > definate trajectory, there is a perhaps a turbelent > transformation at play that implicates a variety of > groups: 14 and 16 year olds working in a factory, who > invest in 'chit funds-committees' (drawing surpluses > from local real estate markets), rather than being > 'docile labour' on their way to class conciousness. > and some 2300 km away in Bangalore's central Shivaji > nager, experiences the St Mary's feast -- the month > long celebratory event of Christians hindus and > Muslims. One of the last times, I also saw the Infant > Jesus perched up on a replica of the Delhi Bahai > temple! oops is this 'culture' or then?? A closer > look shows the parallel occoupation of space that is > systemized into conventions over the decades -- the > 'rath' yatras by all three religions, and the funding > of hawkers across religious groups, and the floating > street vendors selling the latest made in china toys > sourced from a factory perhaps in East Delhi. The > messiness, and the complexity of propeorty shifting > into non-property, of culture and economy and into > politics of claiming space over that month is > something no die hard police commissioner intending > to clean Bangalore of its cyclist, or the BATF with > their Singaporean agendas could do much aganist. and > this is certainly not traditional. look at the more > contemporary occoupations and encroachments of > categories in other parts of Bangalore -- Austin towns > wonderful streetlit festivities or then another 2000 > km away, the particular puja celebrations in > Chandonenagore in the Kolkata metro area with their > snazzy electrified lighting floats -- where complex > bamboo and strip metal contacts shape lighting > sequencing to pick up the latest theme that imagines > their future. Ooops,, is there IPR here... and what > about designating celebratory zones as some urban > designers might like to 'Theme' these into. > > I think for sure, if you see the real estate websites, > the current evictions and re-zoning do benefit as > Anant points out, the malls and multiplexes, just as > Micro credit funders and promoters view that 14 year > old 'investing / gambeling' in the 'evil money > leder's' chit fund/ committee. I suspect that one of > the reasons why the progressive left have missed this > 'constituency' untill after the fact, is an > attatchment to older categories of social structure > and one that hardly captures power on the ground. > There is of course another and perhaps deeper > question: did these categories ever have any > reflection? Francis Baudel's The Wheels of Commerse', > Steadman Jones' Outcast London', and Mayhews' london > might be useful to come back to.. but thats a > 'research' question, or is it??? > cheers > Solly > > > --- Ravi Sundaram wrote: > >> Dear Anant, >> >> my sense is that the 'trader lobby' is a shorthand >> for a large number >> of social groups in the city: small and large shop >> owners, workers >> etc etc. Perhaps a new social form not explainable >> by classic urban sociology? >> >> We have to see about that....Sure the mall owners >> will be happy, but >> most of the smaller traders cannot afford the retail >> rentals in the malls. >> >> Ravi >> >> At 21:42 07/11/2006, you wrote: >> >> >Folks, >> > >> >The traders protests in Delhi is an important >> >development. (see >> >>http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/07/stories/2006110718860300.htm >> >I am familiar with Delhi but can someone tell me in >> >some detail what is the composition of this trading >> >community. Jat ? Marwari? This particular decision >> by >> >the Supreme Court is just another nail in the >> coffin. >> >But it also has serious consequences for urban >> >politics in India - imagine small traders becoming >> >militant ? (true traders in Delhi have always been >> >much more visible in urban politics than elsewhere >> but >> >still...) >> > >> >It makes room for mega malls which are necessary >> for >> >both subsidizing huge projects like metro rails and >> >also for mopping up the loose cash from household >> >consumption for big investors like reliance etc., >> who >> >are going in for big time retailing. >> >anyways here is the story in Hindu >> >>http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/07/stories/2006110718860300.htm >> > >> >anant >> > >> >Send instant messages to your online friends >> http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com >> >_______________________________________________ >> >Urbanstudygroup mailing list >> >Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City >> > >> >To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group >> archives, please visit >> >>https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Urbanstudygroup mailing list >> Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City >> >> To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group >> archives, please visit >> > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup >> > > > > > __________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new > http://in.answers.yahoo.com/ > _______________________________________________ > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From ravis at sarai.net Thu Nov 9 19:41:01 2006 From: ravis at sarai.net (Ravi Sundaram) Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2006 19:41:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Urbanstudy] traders protest in Delhi and where sociolgical definations fail In-Reply-To: <47547.125.22.4.100.1163078529.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> References: <6.2.3.4.2.20061108175839.03805b00@mail.sarai.net> <20061108143117.18221.qmail@web8909.mail.in.yahoo.com> <47547.125.22.4.100.1163078529.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20061109191853.034ba180@mail.sarai.net> Dear Zainab, I wish I had easy answers to these questions. The subaltern wisdom in Delhi is that the current demolitions have been instigated by mall owners, the strength of this belief testifies to a change in the way people are beginning to see mall development in urban areas. I am not sure the current demolitions mark the beginning of the decline of small shops in Delhi (or any city), the reasons for their existence are too deeply embedded to be wished away by courts or violence. Nor will informal ways of changing money go away to develop small spaces in the city. Nor will malls necessarily decline, they are too tied in to the heady economy of desire and speculation that we see before us. I suspect many will crash, reinvent themselves as office spaces - who knows? What the current developments signify is a hostility to forms of life in the city that have emerged in the last 30 years in Delhi : working class settlements on the riverbank, small shops, household workshops etc, all of which do not fall within the language of liberal rights based languages of understanding the city. The riverbank settlements were the first to go, and now the 'traders'. The latter is much more that just traders, it includes workers in shops, the supply economy etc etc. And the roots of commerce in Delhi go back to the Moghul empire. In this sense the court decisions express this hostility to urban forms that have emerged in the last few decades, but as always, the decisions have disrupted the lives of all,.Even some of the first middle-class supporters of the court decisions are now squirming. I am more amazed by the relative paralysis of politicians in understanding the implications of what the court decisions mean for the future of the city; I can forsee some turbulent months/years ahead for the city. The local councillors may have more guts than the central leadership, see this story: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/218200611091532.htm Ravi At 06:52 PM 09-11-06, you wrote: >Dear Anant, Dr. Benjamin, Ravi and others, > >A question which I am interested in is this: the attempt is to bring >liquid, floating cash into institutionalized structures. So you have the >SC saying no more commercial shops running in houses - shut shop! Now what >is this attempt at bringing in cash/moeny from 'informal sector' doing to >subjectivity? > >Secondly, what role is the court playing in this age of urban politics? >Are courts now beyond classic rights? > > > > > Dear Anant, Ravi, and friends > > One of the ways in which the classic sociologogical > > definations fails, is that it assumes that property > > (and hense 'traders')are on a trajectory towards > > greater homogenizing and 'consolidation'. Both the > > 'right' and the 'left' meet up in land, as someone > > noted -- one from the point of capital and the other > > on to common conciousness. These binaries shifting the > > political to the esoteric rather than the day to day, > > miss out on the actual material basis of how property > > gets 'encroached' via multiple land tenures. In doing > > so, breaks these clean trajectories, and the binary > > between capital and labour, or then as the current > > thinking on "entrepreneurship" vs those who cannot be > > (some Charles Booth from Victorian times here!). > > > In the Delhi case, as well as elsewhere, rather than a > > definate trajectory, there is a perhaps a turbelent > > transformation at play that implicates a variety of > > groups: 14 and 16 year olds working in a factory, who > > invest in 'chit funds-committees' (drawing surpluses > > from local real estate markets), rather than being > > 'docile labour' on their way to class conciousness. > > and some 2300 km away in Bangalore's central Shivaji > > nager, experiences the St Mary's feast -- the month > > long celebratory event of Christians hindus and > > Muslims. One of the last times, I also saw the Infant > > Jesus perched up on a replica of the Delhi Bahai > > temple! oops is this 'culture' or then?? A closer > > look shows the parallel occoupation of space that is > > systemized into conventions over the decades -- the > > 'rath' yatras by all three religions, and the funding > > of hawkers across religious groups, and the floating > > street vendors selling the latest made in china toys > > sourced from a factory perhaps in East Delhi. The > > messiness, and the complexity of propeorty shifting > > into non-property, of culture and economy and into > > politics of claiming space over that month is > > something no die hard police commissioner intending > > to clean Bangalore of its cyclist, or the BATF with > > their Singaporean agendas could do much aganist. and > > this is certainly not traditional. look at the more > > contemporary occoupations and encroachments of > > categories in other parts of Bangalore -- Austin towns > > wonderful streetlit festivities or then another 2000 > > km away, the particular puja celebrations in > > Chandonenagore in the Kolkata metro area with their > > snazzy electrified lighting floats -- where complex > > bamboo and strip metal contacts shape lighting > > sequencing to pick up the latest theme that imagines > > their future. Ooops,, is there IPR here... and what > > about designating celebratory zones as some urban > > designers might like to 'Theme' these into. > > > I think for sure, if you see the real estate websites, > > the current evictions and re-zoning do benefit as > > Anant points out, the malls and multiplexes, just as > > Micro credit funders and promoters view that 14 year > > old 'investing / gambeling' in the 'evil money > > leder's' chit fund/ committee. I suspect that one of > > the reasons why the progressive left have missed this > > 'constituency' untill after the fact, is an > > attatchment to older categories of social structure > > and one that hardly captures power on the ground. > > There is of course another and perhaps deeper > > question: did these categories ever have any > > reflection? Francis Baudel's The Wheels of Commerse', > > Steadman Jones' Outcast London', and Mayhews' london > > might be useful to come back to.. but thats a > > 'research' question, or is it??? > > cheers > > Solly > > > > --- Ravi Sundaram wrote: > > >> Dear Anant, > >> > >> my sense is that the 'trader lobby' is a shorthand > >> for a large number > >> of social groups in the city: small and large shop > >> owners, workers > >> etc etc. Perhaps a new social form not explainable > >> by classic urban sociology? > >> > >> We have to see about that....Sure the mall owners > >> will be happy, but > >> most of the smaller traders cannot afford the retail > >> rentals in the malls. > >> > >> Ravi > >> > >> At 21:42 07/11/2006, you wrote: > >> > >> >Folks, > >> > > >> >The traders protests in Delhi is an important > >> >development. (see > >> > >>http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/07/stories/2006110718860300.htm > >> >I am familiar with Delhi but can someone tell me in > >> >some detail what is the composition of this trading > >> >community. Jat ? Marwari? This particular decision > >> by > >> >the Supreme Court is just another nail in the > >> coffin. > >> >But it also has serious consequ