From saran_mohit at hotmail.com Tue Feb 1 11:31:23 2005 From: saran_mohit at hotmail.com (mohit saran) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 06:01:23 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] a study of film viewing In-Reply-To: <20050131173337.73332.qmail@web53109.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050201/7d58ffd6/attachment.html From taha at sarai.net Tue Feb 1 11:22:00 2005 From: taha at sarai.net (taha at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 06:52:00 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... Message-ID: Dear all, Below is an account of a meeting with a builder in Delhi. Builders, architects and property dealers around Delhi are increasingly becoming a part of the security game. This posting forms a part my excavations around the city, concerning my on going research at Sarai. ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Last week was largely devoted to looking for architects who are major players in the housing society- security `game’. The search did not prove entirely futile. Mr. Sabharwal the metal sheet fabricator businessman provides me with addresses and phone numbers of a few builders. Some of them have their offices in near by Nehru Place others are in Faridabad. I take an auto to Nehru place. It’s a nice sunny winter morning. This year the winter has been less harsh as compared to previous winters. The famed ‘dilli ki surdi’ is finally bowing to global warming. At Nehru place I walk past by Paras, a huge poster of the latest flick Insaan, featuring Akshay Kumar and Tushaar Kapur is pasted on the wall. A kid with a large guuny bag on his back is standing alone in front of the poster. Probably by night he will have collected enough empty liquor bottles, left over polyethylene bags and stray card board boxes to make a sale to the local agent and watch the last show of the film, sitting in the fifth row of the darkened hall, hooting, whistling and unwinding after a dogs day at work. I take the steps and enter the central courtyard. Nehru place looks like a mammoth community center. Like other community centers in Delhi it is also going through a phase of renovation. At the periphery bare chested casual laborers are systematically digging up the floor ties one at a time. At the other end, another group of laborers are laying down new tiles and cementing it. The floor of Nehru place looks like a snake peeling off its old skin and acquiring a new one. I go through a row of shops selling computer software, CD’s, sundry stationary, sweets, mobile phones, computer parts and newspapers. I stop in front of a shop…a little confused. I ask for Chranjiv tower. An attendant at a fruit juice kiosk points his finger at the far end of the courtyard. It’s past lunch hour and the place is crowded. I take a left and step down a small flight of stairs. Chranjiv Tower- a huge mass of iron, steel and concrete, is completely camouflaged by… well… other huge masses of iron, steel and concrete. They all look the same- unimaginative, homogenous structures. The only thing, which differentiates one building from other, is the name. Nehru place is full of names like Ansal Tower, Manjusa Building, Madhuban, Vishal Bhawan, Raja House, Sahyog, Skipper House, Apta. Chranjiv Tower is one of them- undifferentiated, unidentifiable, unmarked. Only the locals know of its location. To them I turn after every hundred steps. I stop, I ask, I get directions and I move on. Inside the tower/building/office complex/house/bhawan/apartment a security guard greets me. He looks at me curiously and makes pointed enquiries. I tell him I want to meet Mr. S.S Kohli of Kolmet Constructions. He repeats after me ‘Koalmate’… the name sounds familiar, why don’t you go through this. ‘This’ turns out to be the register of the building where all the offices are listed along with their floors. His attendant advises me to begin my search from the top most floor. My finger scans the register for the word ‘k’ or its phonetic equivalent ‘c’. It’s a long search. There are fourteen floors in that complex and each floor has around ten to twelve offices. The guard leaves me alone and re-assumes his duty. A close circuit camera on the top right corner watches me. The lobby is a small hall. There are two glass doors about six-seven feet wide. On the right there is a small reception desk at which two guards are posted. A small corridor on the left leads to the elevators. Outside, the towers are barricaded with `no entry’ signs painted on low movable iron grills. At the reception desk the guard is extremely busy. He stops strangers, asks them their destination, makes them sign an entry register. Checks all parcels going out and coming in to the building and make entries in a separate register. A man comes to the guard with a heavy cardboard box. He is carrying a notebook. He greets the guard and asks for the register. I see a DTDC emblem on his cap. I ask whether he is a courier here. He nods his head affirmatively. I tell him about Koalmet Constructions. He gives me hard look then nods in negation. He hasn’t heard of them. He has been delivering parcels here for the past seven years and has never heard of any firm by that name. I carry on with my search. Luck at last! Koalmet is on the eleventh floor. I thank the guards. Make an entry in the register and leave. The elevator lobby is crowded. There are three lifts on each side. About fifty of us are waiting to go in one of them. The elevators look old and used. The markings are all gone. A group of men arrives and take up position near the third elevator on my right. Soon the sliding door opens. I jostle through the crowd hands on my pockets. I always have this fear of getting robbed in crowded places. Whenever I board a bus, a lift, or walk in crowd I inadvertently find myself clutching my pockets. The left pocket for the wallet, and the right one for my mobile phone. The lift is packed. I ask a man standing near the panel to press for the eleventh floor. He smiles benignly at me. ‘This lift doesn’t go to that floor’. But it goes to tenth and to the twelfth floor. I ask him to press the button for the tenth floor. This was intriguing. Why wasn’t the lift going to the eleventh floor? No wonder the courier guy didn’t know about Koalmet Constructions. The eleventh floor wasn’t marked! In this land of unmarked buildings there was another addition. The eleventh floor of Chiranjiv Towers. I finally reach the eleventh floor. I am standing in front of a smoked glass door. The name- plate on the door bears the name of the office I am looking for. I knock the door twice and enter. Inside a middle-aged woman is sitting behind a desk. The office is a small hall partitioned into small wood and glass cubicles. On the right is a cabin. I can hear the voice of a man arguing with somebody on the phone. The woman behind the desk is busy on her cell. On the left there is a small door. I can see vague outlines of two more cabins on the far left. The air inside the office is devoid of humidity and it’s pretty warm for December. It’s also very quiet inside. The traffic, the crowds and the blaring horns have dissolved into this calm, almost serene workplace. The low mechanical hum of the air conditioner adds a soothing effect. I slump down on a sofa. The receptionist asks me who I wanted to meet and whether I had an appointment or not. I tell her about Mr. Kohli. Which Kohli? She asks. ‘Bada aur Chota’. SS or SK. I am confused for I don’t know who is who. I tell her, ‘the one who started this all’. She asks me to wait. She goes inside the room and comes back after some time. She tells me that Mr.Kohli is extremely busy and can’t spare time at the moment. I plead. It will take only fifteen minutes. She asks me my reasons to meet the boss. I rewind my mental tape and press play. Almost mechanically I tell her about Sarai and my research. She listens attentively and recommends me to talk to Mr. Mishra, who is an architect at Koalmet adding that Mr. Kohli knows nothing about architecture, he is the financial brain behind the firm. Mr. Mishra turns out to be an old, a few more years and he could be called ancient. He is wearing large framed bifocals, a pencil is perched delicately between his left ear and the arm of his glasses. He is slightly bent. He never makes an eye contact while speaking. I rewind my introductory tape and play in fast motion, yet again. He patiently listens, nodding his head every now and then. And then in a very business like, matter-of-factly tone he tells me that he can’t help me. He says Koalmet is into building powerhouses for the Government of India. That is all that they have done for past thirty years. However another construction company called Mariners might be of some help. Mr. Ananth who runs the company, would know more about the housing business. ……………………<<<<<<<…………… I am standing in front of another glass door in a matter of fifteen minutes. There is no one in the corridor. I am mentally rehearsing what I was going to ask, how was I going to navigate conversation with Mr. Ananth. I open the door. The office is of the same proportions as Koalmet, but it is sparsely decorated and more quite. On the left there is reception desk. A girl in her early twenties is sitting. I ask for Mr. Ananth. She tells me to wait and goes inside a big cabin. There is nobody at the office. On the wall behind the desk, promotional fliers and posters of housing societies in New Zealand are pinned. Also pictured are exotic, wooden interiors, beautiful, apparently lonely women lying by the fireside, a couple in night-suit sleeping blissfully bathed in soft blue moon light, and a seductive teenager in hot pants jogging in a lush green lawn, sweat beads gently trickling down her brow, her long hair waving wildly in the air - a blithe mare, broken loose from the bonds of her captors, drunk high on the sheer ecstasy of freedom. The caption at the bottom aptly sums up the image, ‘ your dream house at fantastically low prices’. I notice the play of the words- dream and fantasy, similar in meaning but referring to different things. Dream it is indeed. One that lures the consumer to believe in the fantasy of low prices. A cursory look at Times Classified tells enough about the ‘Prime’ property up for sale on the fringes of Delhi, in Gurgoan and Noida. The newspaper contains images that mirror the New Zealand housing society visuals. Nature, luxury, exotica and sex are all up for sale at affordable prices. The message is subtle yet clear and cushy. “A Dream you can be a part of”. “ Luxury you can afford”. A Laburnum Villa for three crores, Aralia’s for 2.5 crore onwards, Windsor court for 98 lacs onwards, Nirvana for 55 lacs onwards. Often housing societies have names like Vatika city, Orchid Greens, Park View, Petals, Blooms, Nirvana Country, Sun city and Heritage City. Voluptuous models vie for attention in tiny six square centimeter spaces. Consumers are subtly persuaded to heed to their most atavistic urges, a reclamation of the lost pastoral past, a desire for luxury. We know what you desire, come to us and we will service your dreams at affordable prices. If you don’t have the money now, then don’t worry! Thank God that you live in the age of ‘buy now pay later’ – for ICICI bank, IDBI bank and HUDCO are always there to provide you with soft loans. 7.5% Interest. 100% Finance. For More Details, Contact 9811269051. [Back to the office!] On the right there is a small table on which two wooden models of upcoming projects at Gurgaon and Noida are placed. The big cabin dominates the office. The walking space along the perimeter of the cabin looks like a reverse –c-. At the far end a shabbily dressed peon is pouring hot water off an electric kettle. I can hear someone grumbling inside, possibly Mr. Ananth. ‘Who is it?’ ‘Did he take my name?’ I can just about make out the soft tone of the girl explaining on my behalf, as I unashamedly eavesdrop, standing close to the door. `Hmm. Okay, send him in’. The receptionist comes out and asks me to go inside. I give her a grateful smile and walk into a sparse but stylish cabin. A burly sardaar looks up from behind a glass topped table. ‘Yes?’ Ananth is in his mid thirties. He was a sailor with the merchant navy and quit the ‘seas’ in 1996. After two years of dwindling around he became a builder and started Mariners. His family is in the same business. Initially they helped him out. Now it seems, he is very much his own man. His first project was in Gurgaon. He contacted his friends and their friends in the merchant navy and convinced them to invest in a housing society promoted by him. In 2000, he managed to persuade about fifteen people, and Mariners began its operations. HUDA sanctioned land to them within four months of submitting the application. In 2001 the project was formally launched. But due to a shortage of funds financiers were also called in. The company has built 40 flats on an acre of land. Gradually more people started investing in Mariners. One year down all the flats were booked. Ananth looks satisfied, ensconced in his office. He is thinking about new projects now. One in Gurgaon and another in NOIDA. He is confident of getting clients for this new project too. We settle down to talk. He speaks frankly. His taquiya kalam is `yaar’ pronounced as yaa. I ask him about the property scene in Delhi. He responds thoughtfully. It’s pretty bad yaa. South Delhi is suppressed… but the land prices elsewhere are sky rocketing… Dwarka is on fire yaa… Dwarka, which was a planners’ nightmare a few years ago has suddenly undergone a facelift courtesy Delhi Metro. Although Metro hasn’t started its services yet, but in a few years time when Metro commences operation in the area, Dwarka will be connected to Delhi supposedly through the safest, cheapest and fastest mode of transportation. This is bound to impact land prices in Dwarka in a big way. According to Ananth 40 to 50 per cent more units were sold last year as compared to the previous year. I inquire further. He looks at the window. Far below I can see the slow serpentine traffic crawling its way to the red light. The problem is basically with DDA yaa… there are six- seven hundred societies waiting for the DDA to allot land… HUDA is very quick… they allot within 3-4 months… yahaan to 20-20 saal se land nahi mila… But what do they do with the land. I prod. He scratches his thin, well- kept beard, then in a quick motion pushing the air with his hands, as if to clear a confusion, says, “see”. I look at his palms as if they were a key to understanding the security- property- politician-moneyed- migrant- retired army officers’- housing society- RWA-DDA-planners’-business man- smart cards- Nishan- pictometry-films on terror-the crime programmes- Bhagidari- TV serials-hosing debate linkages. I see three or four clear lines but there are hundreds of thousands other lines that are strangely connected to each other. At times they criss-cross, intersect, and take a detour to thousands of other small, medium and big lines. It’s confusing. I give up. DDA is making their own flats… these MIG-HIG things… they cost more and are of atrocious quality…DDA gives contractors 700 rupees/ sq. feet and to housing societies 600 rupees/ sq. feet… ultimately they are making money some where yaa… if damages, project delay costs etc are added up, the cost comes to around nine hundred rupees/ sq. feet. Then they pass it off to the consumers. He elaborates his point further. About two years ago they were selling a three bedroom flat for 14 lakh rupees, while housing societies were selling the same for 13 lakh rupees… The quality of society and DDA were no match at all... DDA was just crap…yaa… They are not giving any land to the societies... I don’t know why... They should have given the entire land to housing societies... Let them do it… see… the basic problem is housing yaa… housing could have been solved anyway… They are keeping that milch cow there any way… saara land aapne pas rakha hua hai unhoone. I experience a feeling of déjà vu. Ananth’s way of describing land through a metaphor of milch cow is pastoral and agrarian just like the New Zealand housing society fliers or Times classified advertisements about property. For him the DDA is the `other’, which he refers to as, “they” and expects that if the entire land of DDA is handed over to housing societies… the problem of housing will be solved. This opinion was quite similar to something I heard a year ago from somebody else in not an entirely different context. Last year, while researching for my final year film on surveillance and the city, I met Mrs. Sharma, a resident of Ishwar Nagar colony, a posh area in south Delhi. Her grouse was with the MCD. A public park of her colony belonged to the MCD, which was open to access by all and sundry. She would tell me that the colony was ‘maintained’ by the residents, `us’ she said. Maintain here refers to fortification of her colony by gating and installation of security guards. She felt that the MCD should transfer the maintenance [control] of park to the colony RWA. Little did I realize that what she was telling me was no less than prophetic. A few months ago the Delhi government gave an order to hand over the public parks to the resident welfare associations, which was close on heels of a high court order that legalized the construction of gates on public land by private resident welfare associations. The gift was part of a package. Other additional `responsibility’ included gradual takeover of all the historical monuments [maintained by ASI] coming under the zone of influence of respective RWA. So for example, a public park in GK-I, which is also the site of a 14th century Tughlak era ruin and maintained by NDTV on behalf of the MCD will now fall under the GK RWA. The office has huge glass windows. Sunlight streams through them. Outside the sky is clear; I notice a pair of sparrows perched on the window- sill. The room is getting claustrophobic. It’s a story I’ve heard before. A part of me wants to leave. Ananth starts talking about Mariners. …We are making houses basically…We are going for bigger units than normal… Higher standards of furniture… These units are for higher income group…Multi story apartments… 7-8 stories but can go up to 10-14 stories…. Each building has around 40 flats on an acre of plot…it costs around 2000 rupee/sq. feet… totally furnished…each flat comes to around 40 lakh rupees. I ask about the security apparatus in his housing society. He says… it’s not much…the usual… enclosed compounds… guards… CCTV… that’s it…not many security things…guards are there for twenty four hours… two more come during the night…That’s all… But quickly adds… in the future projects we are going for gadgets… heavy amount of gadgets…see… what we are promoting is community living… they come to us because they want security…First of all now this security thing is huge… and it is with all the builders too… when we started the project for merchant navy officers our endeavor was to give low cost houses to merchant navy officers…see… yaa… its simple….a society is formed when people come together… they become members…strict criteria is followed while taking in members… if somebody is very very this thing… we don’t… we check the profile as far as possible…we don’t segregate any body… in our society we don’t take business men…business men jaise hote hain…if some body has an industry its okay…I don’t know…people don’t want them yaa…bolte hain… petty businessmen hamare ko bada taang karte hain… oon logeon ki thinking badi alag hoti hai…usually these are… our’s are very elite… so called elite clients…they are more academically inclined…so they tell us to keep them out…zara… unko door rakho…that’s the thinking basically but if tomorrow these people come we won’t refuse them yaar… so there is some segregation I guess. When Ananth talks about Mariners, he always refers to his organisation in first person plural- we-. He is not a sailor now, his profession has changed, and so has his notion of self. –They- includes his former friends from merchant navy, businessmen and the government officials. He calls his apartment complex- a society-, where security guards, CCTV cameras, are –normal- apparatus of security. He considers his clients-elite-and at forty lakh per flat he wants to provide them with-low cost housing. Delhi is going through a facelift. Builders like Ananth are pushing for housing societies where criterion for being a part of housing society is condensed. For example, Journalists and their allotted houses in -Press Enclave- at Malviya Nagar, Kargil war widows housed in sector 25 at Dwarka [Two hundred widows are allotted three bedroom flats for 6 lakh rupees. They cannot sell/ transfer/rent / lease it to anybody else. If they remarry the flat will be taken back the government. What is the government’s interest in perpetuating widowhood on young women, by doling out housing and other welfare schemes to keep the category of –war widow- alive and kicking?]. Ananth carefully skips the question on segregation of members on the basis of some eligibility by saying “… if somebody is very very this thing… we don’t… we check the profile as far as possible…”. Who comes under the category of –very very this thing- I don’t know as yet. But I could clearly see an enforcement of social division on the basis of one’s eligibility to a self same club. I remember as a child in Udaipur I used to get very intrigued by small employment news items in local edition of Rajasthan Patrika, seeking qualified Engineers and Doctors, under a generic heading of ATTENTION or WANTED, with a caveat, - sirf Sindhi Bhai hi apply Karen-. In Ananth’s world money is not a barrier any more. Merchant navy provides good money, so a petty businessmen, even if he has money, is discriminated- unko door rakho- [keep them away]-the level of education becomes a mark to identify a person as –ours-. I start to talk about the security culture in Delhi. Ananth listens, poker faced, hands folded on his chest, physically stonewalling me … with an occasional hmmm… then he opens up… comfortable that the question is not about intricacies of financing a housing society. …In Delhi we have a very territorial and parochial kind of people… matlab very… ke bhaiyya hum rahete hain yahan south Dlhi mein…that thing is there…so what I have is a fortress kind of a thing… this is where I think security really comes in… Dilli mein itna to hai nahi ke itne mar kutai chal rahi hai ki security is required so much…it’s not so bad… but people really love having a lot more security guards…I mean they don’t want to give access to the common man… there is a tendency to barricade from the rest of the world…hai..kuch… matlab… we have that we are a little higher up… the more you project that you are different… kind of untouchable for the normal person… the more it’s advantageous out here… I ask him to give a specific example…. Laburnum… it’s a housing society in Gurgaon… it’s selling at three crore per flat…that’s primarily because of this kind of security… wohi 4-5 security guards hote hain… zarra se apparatus idhar udhar… but ITC made it …they are not very good flats …but again the name is there…probably our flats have better stuff over there… but they built it up on a name… such a great name… NRI’s … officials of other MNC’s have bought them…they made a group…now they are attracting more of those kinds…stuff is the same…its four bedroom… they have say… 20% more area than ours… but they are selling it for five times the price… that’s the way you package a stuff yaa… and sell it…they have done a good job of it… the security is a major thing… security ka point of view kaafi hai… Laburnum has got an elaborate security system. Residents are provided with swipe cards to access their own houses. But the interesting thing is, the ITC group were able to increase the mark up price of their properties by installing high tech security equipment. Ananth sees a sound business logic in all this. He is planning to import fingerprint access machines, infrared sensors and smart cameras for his up coming projects. The security industrial complex has emerged as a major financial market with the corporatization of fear. I thank him for his time and leave. Later at night I dine out with my old friends at the New Friends Colony community center. Its well past twelve when I trot back home. I reach the red light at Maharani Bagh. On the other side of the road I see three men sitting, sharing bidis. They are probably sharing a joke. All three of them are armed. All three have uniforms on them. They have barricaded the road, which goes past by the Kalindi colony. Two of them are constables with the Delhi police, the third is a private security guard with the Kalindi RWA. I cross the ring road and enter Kilokri and run into the night chowkidar for the first time in six months. From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Tue Feb 1 13:15:04 2005 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:45:04 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20050201074504.31638.qmail@web53609.mail.yahoo.com> River, I finally found time to go through this thread and I join Keith in commending you on a gem of a post. Some points that came to my mind are- a)How much of the effects of a virtual identity, physicality etc. and other benefits\baggage of the internet apply to poetry in particular, as opposed to other genres of literature? Is internet more conducive to poetry? b)The question about identity and the great cyber poet- English is and will be the dominant language of the internet. Along with this, at least in third world countries, there is a certain elitism associated with using the internet to be part of an online community. Also, since the internet is less burdened by geographical boundaries and other ethnicity based considerations, this may turn out to be a hindrance in disguise. I got this impression from your post that you somehow felt that cultural allusions you carry in your poetry maybe a baggage that is inconvenient for you to explain. So, internet poetry may, unwittingly, strive to reach for the lowest common denominator of expression .This would certainly preclude the vernacular tradition, both in language and subject, from internet poetry. Not that this is good or bad, just that this may be a trend. c)On communities, or how do cyber communities affect poetry , though this point seems to be connected to point b), I think a study of cyber communities merits a much larger scope and can unravel many interesting findings about human behavior. The point I want to make is that your research may intersect with a domain that might require a more rigorous approach than one may expect from just a viewpoint of poetic expression. regards, Rahul --- "River ." wrote: --------------------------------- My fingers stammer as I type this "first post". Repeated injunctions against the very idea of a "first post" have made me strangely nervous about my foray into the world of the sarai reader-list. I read "first posts" all last evening, thought about my prompt fellow fellows and got nervouser and nervouser. It�s just that, these days, words have become unfriendly and have taken to skulking in corners�not a nice thing to happen to anyone; especially not to a teacher of english who has recently made extraordinary claims about her ability to understand the nature of poetry. My "first post", then, is more-or-less a truncated version of my proposal and introduces some of the key areas that I will be looking at in the course of my research. Comments and observations will be very welcome. My research project on poetry sites run by MSN, entitled, "Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities", will start with the idea of disguises and constructed identities in computer-mediated communication and will try to see how exercising the choice of taking on pretty anonymity may change the concept of poetry. Can anonymous poetry, or rather, poetry written under interesting screen names or "nicks", change the way poetry is traditionally understood (as a lyric/subjective medium)? Is this self-naming of the poet-persona an attempt to renegotiate the ordinarily held assumptions of the poetically created artefact as being stitched to the body and the imagination of the individual who created the text? The identities that are fostered in cyberspace, especially in such poetry communities, compel us to reconsider definitions of the term, virtual community. Do these poetry sites manage to erase geographical/cartographical identities? Do these poetry sites show any gendered separation? How do the ideological structures of the poetic texts manifest themselves in spaces of anonymity or constructed identities? These are some questions that I would like to begin with in my research. Recent studies on Hypertext Theory have problematised concepts like the physicality of the written text, as it exists in words and lines and the intelligibility of the text (the meaning and content behind the empirical text setting). When we look at the work of theorists like George Landow, we see how they have relocated the written word in hyperreality by addressing the computer�s power to disperse and recombine texts. In the MSN Poetry Groups that I seek to study, the incorporation of annotative links, attachments to enhance readings, multimedia projections of poetry, all can fall within recent theories of hypertextuality. I propose to study the generic constraints of traditional poetry that are subverted in these sites. The power of the linear text, the publishing industry, the superiority of the published author, all these hierarchies are almost dismissed in the sites that I wish to take up for analysis. My desire, then, would be to see how releasing (or maybe, how fettering) these dismissals will be to both the cyberpoet and the cyberreader. The movement of the poem from the printed page to a computer screen that shows an MSN Poetry Group banner and pages that are monotonously purple, light blue, yellow and orange, is a tortuous one and requires basic computing skills (like how not to get annoying html signs to taint the meaning of the poem) and tempts us to reconfigure the new slippery space between technology and poetry. I would also like to study the architecture of these poetry sites and see how one has to travel through complicated alleys of links to navigate the various "boards". Incidentally, there are very few pure poetry sites. There is always some space for the stray prose fiction writer, for non-literary chitchat, for fun and games in the true Rheingoldian spirit of community. Sometimes, there are sites that divide their poetry boards into further categories like, Haiku, erotic poetry, dark/horror poetry, comic poetry etc. This categorisation into forms is interesting because it means more links to be traversed, more spaces to be negotiated within that virtual space. Since I propose to use my own self as an "ethnographer" in this study, I regularly post poems as well as comments of the frivolous variety on at least four sites. In these poetry sites, nobody knows my real name, I am known by my "screen name", River, and I post as river_side1 or river__side1. To use the traditional term in ethnomethodology, I would be a "participant observer" and would enquire closely into the modalities of online research. The lack of physical presence in this type of research would, obviously, change many of the key definitions of contact and intimate person-to-person analysis. Moreover, the easy accessibility of archival notes within these sites may render difficult excavation unnecessary. The final problem that would have to be resolved regarding the nature of the study would be the reconceptualisation of the word "community" itself. The increasing interfaces between territorial reality and the hyperreal will have to be taken into consideration. I would also have to problematise the acceptance of my "Indian" poetry, in these sites. The construction of the woman from India happens at various levels and my poems and I are sometimes accepted only after I submit lengthy annotations (obviously as links). This construction gets even more complicated when Assamese words, rituals and customs, games, tales have to be translated in order to make the ordinary, online poetry surfer "get a hang" of whatever it is I am trying to communicate to him/her. Nitoo Das Department of English Indraprastha College for Women University of Delhi. --------------------------------- Make team work really work! Work together, stay connected! With Microsoft Office System. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > subject header. > List archive: __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail From amsethi at rediffmail.com Tue Feb 1 16:12:44 2005 From: amsethi at rediffmail.com (Aman Sethi) Date: 1 Feb 2005 10:42:44 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The republic day parade Message-ID: <20050201104244.29679.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> Dear all, this is just a reaction to republic day parade, and the "parade showcases india's prowess" kind of media coverage that it routinely attracts. Aman Why I am skeptical of spectacle. For many years now, I have been told that India has the second largest standing army in the world; courtesy the Republic Day Parade, it is reassuring to know that, should the occasion demand, it can march as well. Apart from this demonstration of military prowess, it is difficult to ascertain the exact purpose of the annual parade on the 26th of January. The Republic Day Parade is the most awe-inspiring spectacle orchestrated by the Indian State. A tribute to the Idea of the nation, the parade is supposed to showcase the best that the nation has to offer. Accordingly, all 28 states and 7 union territories are represented by a series of floats displaying vivid scenes of national life in its myriad forms. But, pride of place is reserved for India’s impressive military arsenal. Why? What place does a military display have in a celebration of nationhood? And, what is the role of spectacle, in the form of the parade, in the role of nation building? In the context of Indo-Pakistan relations, the three wars fought over Kashmir (starting in 1947), and the creation of a “united India” out of a collection of semi-autonomous states, the role of the armed forces has been foregrounded in the post-independence definition of Indian nationhood. While the politicians, police and civil institutions have drawn frequent criticism, the armed forces have remained the last institution that has not failed the public imagination. This is surprising, given the disastrous peace-keeping operations in Kashmir, Punjab, Sri Lanka and the North-East. I suspect that the spectacle of the Republic Day Parade has done more for the image of the armed forces than has been previously admitted. According to Guy Debord, “The spectacle appears at once as society itself, as a part of society and as a means of unification Being isolated –and precisely for that reason- this sector is the locus of illusion and false consciousness; the unity it imposes is merely the official language of generalised separation.” Thus, once a year, the Republic Day Parade forces the idea of a military nationhood into our collective consciousness and reminds us of a nation of disparate elements united under the State. This use of “official language” requires us to accept a single totalitarian idea of what the nation means to us, and overwhelms alternative ways of engaging with the idea of a united India. This totalising idea of statehood must be examined in the context of secessionist movements in Punjab, Kashmir, the North-East and the South. Watching the parade is eerily reminiscent of a Soviet propaganda film – a nasal voice barks out commentary as rows upon rows of tanks lumber down Rajpath, heavy trucks haul trailers loaded with sophisticated Prithvi missiles, and squadrons of perfectly drilled, magnificently dressed soldiers march with geometric precision to the giddy sounds of drums. After the crowd has been sufficiently overwhelmed by this display of aggression, the voice on the microphone becomes softer; the staccato drumbeats are replaced by lilting melodies as states from across the country present air-brushed versions of the regional diversity of India. School children wave to the crowds, bravery award winners pose on elephants and dancers perform complex pirouettes as the carnival finally gets underway. It is as if to say that the aggression of the State is a necessary precursor to the establishment of a lasting peace. The parade ends with a quick recap of the day’s lessons- military aircraft streak across the sky, drowning the spectators in a deluge of petals. The gentle beasts of war – capable of dropping petals and missiles with equal accuracy. EOM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050201/11708caf/attachment.html From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Feb 1 18:07:16 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:07:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] US Path to Wealth and Power: Intellectual Piracy and the Making of Industrial America Message-ID: <41FF77FC.5040602@sarai.net> US Path to Wealth and Power: Intellectual Piracy and the Making of Industrial America Doron Ben-Atar, Fordham University Contested Commons/Tresspassing Public A Conference on Inequalities, Conflicts, and Intellectual Property January 6-8, 2005 Indian Habitat Center, New Delhi [Sarai-CSDS, New Delhi and Alternative Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore] China has been the economic miracle of our time. Less than two decades ago, the country defined poverty and underdevelopment; today, China is one of the premier engines of world economic growth, thanks in large part to the political repression that keeps the cost of labor there at a pittance. Mao’s successors have also realized, however, that in order to join the ranks of developed nations China must close the technology gap—and that the surest and quickest way to do so is to pilfer Western know-how. And the Chinese have been quite active. My favorite episode centers on a Chinese American woman named Gao Zhan. In February 2001 Gao, who received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Syracuse University in 1997 and was a researcher at American University in Washington DC, was conducting research in China when she was arrested, tried and convicted for spying for Taiwan. Sentenced to ten years imprisonment, Gao Zhan’s detention triggered a wave of protests from human rights organizations all over the globe, and in the US both houses passed resolutions granting her immediate citizenship. She was let go in July 2001, in apparent good will gesture to the upcoming visit by Secretary of State Colin Powel. But this would not end up as just another heart warming story of the triumph of international outcry over tyranny. Two years later, in November 2003, Gao Zhan was back in court – this time in the United States where she pleaded guilty to being an industrial spy for the Chinese. Using the assumed name Gail Heights and a front company that she claimed was affiliated with George Mason University, Gao delivered to her Chinese operators $1.5 million worth of high-tech components from American companies, including microprocessors with possible military uses, before she was caught. The depth and extent of the Chinese piracy effort, which has gone after everything from computer software to music, has alarmed members of Congress in both political parties. Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned that China’s next great leap forward will be made possible through illegal appropriation and use of American patented and copyrighted materials. During recent Congressional hearings on the piracy of intellectual property and their links to organized crime and terrorism, Democratic Congressman Howard Berman of California estimated that China’s transgressions cost the US economy $1.85 billion dollars a year. With this kind of money at stake, the battle over intellectual property has risen to the forefront of contests between developed and developing nations. Developed nations are concerned about piracy by consumers and producers. On the consumer front, companies and individuals in developed nations complain that their creations, whether designer accessories or drug patents, are being copied and sold without authorization or compensation. Piracy by producers in the developing world causes even greater anxiety in the West. The movement of manufacturing to the developing world where raw materials are readily available and labor costs are low has rendered intellectual capital the most important asset of modern corporations. (The American companies whose technology was acquired by Gao Zhan stand to lose millions if their technologies can be reproduced by Chinese manufacturers with no intent of compensating them.) China is hardly the only developing nation that engages in intellectual piracy. And Western-based companies are asking international agencies to police the developing world. Indeed, international organizations have adopted western standards and have created an agency, the World Intellectual Property Organization, which is “dedicated to helping to ensure that the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property are protected worldwide and that inventors and authors are, thus, recognized and rewarded for their ingenuity.” Some companies are trying to safeguard their intellectual property. At a leadership summit for chief executives last fall, the CEOs of Medtronic, a medical technology company, and Sealed Air, which specializes in packaging, said that their companies decline to use top-of-the line technologies in their overseas operations because they fear their intellectual property will be stolen. *** Before Americans rush to condemn those who pirate our know-how they must not forget how the United States became the richest and most powerful nation on earth. At the end of the third quarter of the 18th century the British colonies of North America were mostly under-developed agricultural settlements. The foundations for the American empire were laid during the next seventy five years, as the United States was transformed from an under-developed de-centralized entity on the periphery of the Atlantic economy into the dominant center of industry, wealth, and power. Piracy of the intellectual property of others played a crucial role in this process. The transfer of protected European technology was a prominent feature in the economic, political and diplomatic life of the North American confederation from its first moments as an independent political entity. With the signing of the 1783 peace accord that officially ended the American Revolution, the United States and Great Britain became political and economic adversaries. The founders believed that American political independence depended on economic self-sufficiency, which meant that the young nation needed to reduce its vast consumption of imported English manufactured goods. The new defiant American mood, heightened by wartime demands for military and industrial goods and the post-war desire to prove the compatibility of republican government and a high standard of living, viewed technology piracy as the premier tool to industrial development. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the situation is by the following vignette. In the second week of November 1787, Phineas Bond, British consul in Philadelphia, received a visit from two English nationals. Thomas Edemsor, a cotton merchant from Manchester, and Henry Royle, a calico printer from Chadkirk in Cheshire County, were greatly distressed. They feared lynching at the hands of a mob led by the city's leading merchants and they looked to the envoy of His Britannic Majesty's government for shelter. Their story went as follows: In 1783, concurrent with British recognition of American independence, an Englishman named Benjamin H. Phillips set out to establish a cotton manufactory in America. In spite of severe restrictions on the exportation of textile machinery and the emigration of skilled artisans, Phillips purchased a carding machine and three spinning machines in England, packed them disassembled into crates declared to British customs to contain Wedgwood china, and boarded the U.S. ship Liberty at Liverpool bound for Philadelphia. He had earlier sent his son to the U.S. capital in anticipation of the machinery's arrival. The elder Phillips died before reaching America and his son received the crates, but lacking his father's knowledge of the machinery he could not reassemble the equipment. He then sold it to another Englishmen, Joseph Hague, who managed to assemble it but could not make it work properly. Having no capital and despairing of the operating expenses, in the spring of 1787, Hague sold the equipment to Royle, who in turn sold it to Edemsor. Edemsor once again disassembled the four machines and shipped them back to England. According to his testimony, he patriotically purchased and repatriated the equipment “to Check the Advancement of the Cotton Manufactory in America.” In the meantime, a group of Philadelphia merchants, concerned with advancing the cause of U.S. economic independence form Britain to complement the nation's newly found political independence, formed “The Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts.” The group had instigated a search for Hague's machinery and became infuriated upon learning of its repatriation by Royle and Edemsor. The merchants' wrath turned on the British culprits, who “in great dread of suffering from their Resentment,” went into hiding for several weeks. Finally, the fugitives approached Bond for protection, and, in Royle's case, for money to secure passage back to England. Shocked by the fanatic zeal of “the American Seduction of British Machines and Artisans” and convinced of the real danger of violence his compatriots faced from the leading men of Philadelphia in their quest to acquire “the industrial secrets of the Old World,” Bond paid the fare for Royle and his family out of his own pocket. When the Society learned of Royle's and Edemsor's escape, its leaders publicly rebuked and insulted the British consul. Not intimidated, Bond set about investigating the incident. His inquiries led him to focus on the slippery character of Hague, who had left the city and was rumored to be back in England attempting to procure more equipment for illegal exportation to America. He notified the British foreign office that Hague might be found for arrest in Derbyshire, but by the time the authorities arrived there Hague was gone. He reappeared in Philadelphia the following spring, having successfully smuggled over a new cotton-carding machine. Adding insult to injury, the Pennsylvania legislature awarded him a prize of $100.00 on October 3, 1788 for having succeeded in his piracy. The Manufacturing Society trumpeted the achievement in the press and showed little concern for the subject of intellectual property, “It is with great pleasure we learn” it announced, “that the ingenious Artizan, who counterfeited the Carding and Spinning Machine, though not the original inventor (being only the introducer) is likely to receive a premium from the Manufacturing Society, besides a generous prize for his machines; and that it is highly probable our patriotic legislature will not let his merit pass unrewarded by them. Such liberality must have the happy effect of bringing into Pennsylvania other useful Artizans, Machines, and Manufacturing Secrets which will abundantly repay the little advance of the present moment.” The Bond affair is one among many that I chronicle in my book. Those in the U.S who whine about the current state of affairs conveniently forget that two hundred years ago the shoe was on our foot. American prosperity originated in the piracy of industrial technologies from Europe, primarily England, to the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century. The process took place in spite of a concerted effort by the English government to keep their trade secrets at home. Prohibitions on the emigration of artisans and the exportation of machinery from the British Empire had been in effect throughout the eighteenth century. In the mid 1770s, as the imperial conflict took shape, Parliament ruled that all people leaving for the North American colonies from the British Isles and Ireland with intent to settle there were required to pay £50 per head. After the United States won its independence, growing anxiety in Britain over industrial piracy prompted stronger legislation and stricter enforcement. Exporting industrial equipment from textile, leather, paper, metals, glass and clock making was prohibited in the 1780s. The restrictions were particularly comprehensive in all that was connected with the textile industry, covering existing as well as future developments. Robert Owen, recalling his early days in England's textile industry, reported that in the 1780s the “cotton mills were closed against all strangers, and no one was admitted. They were kept with great jealousy against all intruders: the outer doors being always locked.” A £200 fine, forfeiture of equipment, and twelve months' imprisonment (or a £500 fine and forfeiture in the case of textile machinery) were laid down for the export or attempted export of industrial machinery. The export of steam engines was prohibited temporarily in 1785. The founders knew of these restrictions, but they believed that for the US to survive politically and economically it must close the technology gap. And fast. Framers of the US Constitution unanimously approved Article I, section 8 which instructed the new government “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries.” The Founding Fathers decided to provide a mechanism by which individual inventors and authors were rewarded for enriching American society with new devices or writings. Inventors and writers were the only occupational groups given special benefits in the United States Constitution. It is the only section of the US Constitution that specifies not only the responsibility of the future form of government, but also the strategy it should use to attain that goal. A bill to establish a patent system was introduced at that first historical session of the United States Congress, but did not reach the floor. The initial proposal followed the English system enacted to attract superior European craftsmen to the kingdom. Men who introduced technological innovations hitherto unknown in England were rewarded with production monopolies. Likewise, in the proposed American bill introducers received patents of importation and enjoyed all the privileges of original inventors. The President, eager to expedite matters, addressed the issue in his first annual message in January 1790. Washington requested the enactment of legislation encouraging “skill and genius” at home and “the introduction of new and useful invention from abroad.” The dominant political figure of the Washington administration, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, shared these sentiments. Hamilton deplored American dependency on European imports. Only the development of an indigenous industrial economy could liberate the nation’s economy from the British hold. He ascribed the difficulties of American manufacturing to technological deficiencies and wrote that the gap between Europe and the United States would diminish “in proportion to the use which can be made of machinery.” He called on the Federal government to establish some “auxiliary agency” to coordinate the piracy of European technology. He proposed to market America’s industrialization in Europe so that skilled workers might be induced to circumvent national restrictions on artisans’ immigration. He proposed encouraging industrial immigration by offering travel subsidies for artisans and exempting from customs for their tools, implements of trade, and household goods. The “public purse must supply the deficiency of private resources,” he declared, for “as soon as foreign artists be made sensible that the state of things here affords a moral certainty of employment and encouragement – competent numbers of European workmen will transplant themselves, effectively to ensure the success of the design.” The industrialization of the United States, Hamilton concluded, would “in a great measure trade upon a foreign stock.” Congress set out to write an American patent bill that will conform to the sentiments of Washington and Hamilton. The House of Representatives produced a version granting introducers of pirated technology the monopoly privileges accorded to original inventors. The Senate however, amended the bill to grant patent monopolies only to inventors of machines “not before known or used” and deleted the location qualifier of the house version--“within the United States.” The elimination of these four words was revolutionary. The first United States Patent Act broke with the European tradition of patents of importation. It restricted patents exclusively to original inventors and established the principle that prior use anywhere in the world was grounds for invalidating a patent. This criterion is particularly puzzling because the young nation needed to import technology to develop its industrial base. Moreover, the two most important members of the Washington administration, the President and Alexander Hamilton, supported granting patents of importation. The sheer volume of applications made the first patent act an administrative nightmare. In 1793 Congress relieved members of the cabinet from wasting their time examining individual patents and assigned the duty to a clerk in the State department. A patent became a registration of a claim anyone could make provided he paid the $30.00 fee, and that no similar claim was previously registered. Acquiring a patent depended exclusively on prompt completion of the necessary bureaucratic paperwork. The revised system maintained the dual demand for novelty and originality by requiring each patentee to take an oath that he/she was indeed the first and original inventor. The disputes likely to arise from this strictly bureaucratic registration were to be resolved by a board of arbitrators and the courts. A revision in 1800 added the requirement of an oath by all applicants to the effect that their “invention, art or discovery hath not … been known or used either in this or any foreign country.” Textual examination of the law might give the impression that the young republic rejected technology piracy and established a new intellectual property moral code. Before Americans break into their all too familiar self-congratulatory verse about the virtuous foreign policy of the republic, it is worthwhile to examine the actually operation of the American patent law. First, we should remember that every founding father understood the inferiority of American technology, and believed that the key for American independence is in asserting economic independence from GB, and that the only way of doing this is by weaning the American consumers of products manufactured in England. And every founding father supported the piracy of European technology by whatever means necessary and most even actively engaged in that practice. Further, in theory the United States pioneered a new standard of intellectual property that set the highest possible requirements for patent protection—worldwide originality and novelty. But the intellectual property laws Congress enacted in the first fifty years of national existence were but a smokescreen for a very different reality. The statutory requirement of worldwide originality and novelty did not hinder widespread and officially sanctioned technology piracy. William Thornton, who administered the United States patents for much of the life of the 1793 Act, did not insist on the oath of international novelty. It is indeed entirely possible that most of the applications received at the patent office were for devices already in use. In fact, since acquiring a patent involved little more that successful completion of paperwork, the Patent Act of 1793 permitted patentees to receive patents that infringed on the intellectual property of others. Moreover, the Act explicitly prohibited foreigners from obtaining patents in America for inventions they have already patented in Europe. This meant that while United States citizens could not petition for introducers’ patents, European inventors could not protect their intellectual property in America. The American patent system, then, sanctioned technology piracy as long as imported technology was not restricted exclusively to any particular individual introducer. Intellectual property in the early republic favored operators, internal developers, and entrepreneurs at the expense of investors and inventors. A new understanding developed about the proper arena for technology piracy. A self-respecting government eager to join the international community on an equal basis could not flaunt its violation of the laws of other countries. Patterns established under the semi-anarchic revolutionary and Confederation circumstances were inappropriate behavior for a respected member of the international community. This was all the more important in the case of nascent Washington administration, whose chief task was establishing legitimacy at home and abroad. To be sure, clandestine appropriation of English technology not only persisted but also intensified. Every major European state engaged in technology piracy and industrial espionage in the eighteenth century, and the United States could not afford to behave differently. Yet, there was etiquette to this piracy. It was undertaken in secret and officials would deny any connection to such practices. The British efforts to keep innovation from leaking across the Atlantic proved futile. Inventors and entrepreneurs easily found ways to circumvent laws that aimed to keep know-how and production at home. Tens of thousands of artisans crossed the Atlantic and brought with them their skills, methods and tools. Moreover, piracy became the de facto defining feature of American economic policy in the decades following independence. The United States emerged as the leading industrial nation in the world and Britain revoked its restrictions. The young republic embraced a Janus-faced approach. In theory it pioneered a new standard of intellectual property that set the highest possible requirements —worldwide originality and novelty. In practice, the country encouraged widespread intellectual piracy and industrial espionage. Piracy took place with the full knowledge and sometimes even aggressive encouragement of government officials. Congress never protected the intellectual property of European authors and inventors, and Americans did not pay for the reprinting of literary works and unlicensed use of patented inventions. Lax enforcement of the intellectual property laws was the primary engine of the American economic miracle. The early republic made no effort to enforce its groundbreaking patent laws. The first decades of national existence saw the most intense pursuit of English technology on the Federal and state level. These efforts were particularly successful in the textile industry as small-scale capacity to build and operate the newest mule spinning and Arkwright technologies sprang in a variety of spots in the northeastern urban centers. Indeed, piracy was crucial to the development of the republic. Its book stores and libraries were largely composed of unauthorized reprinting of British authors—a phenomenon similar to the rampant piracy of music by consumers in today’s developing world. On the producer front, the violations were even more blatant. A British attorney reported in 1818 that “European discoveries in art and science generally reach the United States within a few months after they first see the light in their own country, and soon become amalgamated with those made by Americans themselves.” In 1814, a French traveler noted that nearly all the machinery used in American manufacturing had “been borrowed from England.” When the patent law was reformed again in 1836, it was no longer necessary for the nation to pretend it would protect the intellectual property of non-Americans. Indeed the 1836 act removed the prohibition on patents of importation. And whereas the 1836 act no longer restricted patents only to U.S citizens, it did set the registration fee for foreigners at 10 times the rate for Americans (and two thirds as much again if one were a British citizen.) In 1861 the act was reformed to give foreigners an almost equal footing. US copyright protection was restricted to US citizens even longer and when those were removed other regulations such as requiring the use of American typesets, delayed the American entrance to the Berne copyright convention till 1989 – more than 100 years after GB joined. To a very large extent, the industrialization of the United States in first half of the nineteenth century was founded upon pirated know-how. In textile, some followed Robert Lowell’s path and managed to talk their way into factories, while others circumvented the restrictions on the export of machinery by shipping machine parts to the United States as separate components. As late as 1850 immigrants from the British Isles comprised more than three-fourth of the weavers and skilled workers of the textile industry of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Managers of American cotton mills in the first half of the nineteenth century were, for the most part, English immigrants because native experienced managers were rare. American glass manufacturers recruited European workers aggressively in the first two decades of the nineteenth century and by the 1820s were world leaders. Paper mills in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states relied on a constant stream of skilled European immigrants before local industry took off in the 1830s and 40s. Later in the 19th century, American steel industry was founded upon imported technology. In all these cases European know-how was instrumental in getting industries started and turning the United States into a leading industrial nation. As these examples illustrate, the statutory requirement of worldwide originality and novelty for American patents did not hinder widespread American appropriation of innovations protected under other nations’ patent and intellectual property laws. In fact, once a technology was in the New World, its introducers could quickly claim it their own, and use the courts to discourage infringements. The Boston Manufacturing Company, a.k.a Boston Associates, registered nine patents and obtained the rights to two others. It hired the country’s most famous lawyer, Daniel Webster, and sued competitors for patent infringement. Claiming ownership of a pirated innovation was quite easy. Obtaining a patent under the 1793 act involved little more than filing the necessary papers and paying the $30.00 registration fee. The poorly staffed patent office was in no position to examine the merit of the nearly ten thousand patents it issued from 1793 to 1836. As one critic charged, most American patents registered with the patent office were at best only slightly different from known and operating existing machines. The mechanics of patent registration not only betrayed the spirit of the original legislation by granting patents to innovations of questionable originality, but also, in effect, allowed wealthy importers of European technology, such as the Boston Associates, to claim exclusive rights to imported innovations and use the courts to validate their claims and intimidate competitors. A dual intellectual property regime fueled the 19th century American economic miracle. In theory, the nation was committed to protecting the intellectual property of authors and inventors, but authorities did little to enforce laws. By granting unenforceable monopolies to patentees, the U.S. acquired a reputation of being friendly to innovation while at the same time, by declining to crack down on technology pirates, it allowed for rapid dissemination of innovation that made American products better and cheaper. From the American Revolution to Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851, the United States technology caught up and surpassed its European rivals. The industrialization that took place along the northeastern seaboard in the first half of the nineteenth century facilitated a dramatic two third growth in per capita income. The United States economy grew faster and was more productive than any other nation in Europe. Contemporaries and historians have come up with a wide range of social, political and cultural explanations for this dramatic development. Some celebrate it as the ultimate manifestation of the virtue of the American spirit of enterprise and others argue that the blood and sweat of slaves provided the capital for the spectacular economic growth of the first half of the nineteenth century. What is often overlooked is the manner in which smuggled technology made for more efficient and more profitable industrialization. Tens of thousands of artisans crossed the Atlantic and brought with them their skills, methods and tools. American industrialists, scientists and intellectuals kept abreast of mechanical developments through trips to Europe and growing scientific exchange. Federal and states authorities were officially committed to respecting the intellectual property of others, yet in fact sanctioned smuggling of protected knowledge a huge scale. American investors and mechanics modified imported technology to local circumstances. The infant state of American know-how and the absence of established classes committed to earning their livelihoods from known and tried techniques freed innovators from whole sale adoption of imported technologies in favor of innovations Europeans often deemed too costly or impractical. Technology transfer, then, accounts not only for the rapid economic growth of the republic in the first half of the nineteenth century, but also for the experimental and innovative reputation of the “American system of manufactures.” Crystal Palace turned out to be the “coming out party” for United States technology. In the span of seventy years an agricultural republic with some household manufactures that had more in common with the Middle Ages than with the industrial world, transformed itself into a world leader of cutting edge industrial technology. American machines and the “American system of manufacturing,” as the British press called it, became the model for worldwide imitation. Similarly to modern developing nations, early in its history the United States violated intellectual property laws of rivals in order to catch up technologically. Integration into the international community required that the government of the United States distance itself from such rogue operations. In the process the United States had come full circle. The fledgling republic, once committed to technology piracy had become the primary technology exporter in the world. The years of piracy upon which the new status was founded, however, were erased from the national memory. The intellectual debt to imported and pirated technology did not turn the United States into the champion of free exchange of mechanical know-how. As the diffusion of technology began to flow eastward across the Atlantic, the United States emerged as the world’s foremost advocate of extending intellectual property to the international sphere. *** The developing world is taking a similar route. Formally, all members of the World Trade Organization promise to respect international intellectual property rights, but in practice developing nations do little to enforce those laws. Some companies plead with international agencies such as the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization to police the matter but with little success. Yet even if western political leaders were not reluctant to enter into international disputes over the protection of intellectual property, the American story should remind contemporary advocates of technology protectionism that that all these efforts are destined to fail. If past patterns are going to be repeated, within a short time, local entrepreneurs in the developing world will acquire, by whatever means, America’s trade secrets and produce the desired goods and services on their own. Politicians anxious to stop the bleeding of American jobs or to protect the royalties of Hollywood studios should not erect ineffective expensive regulatory bureaucracies and charge them with impossible tasks. In the current business atmosphere corporations have little choice but take advantage of the lower wages in the developing world. In the current wealth discrepancy between North and South, leaders of developing nations would be outrageously irresponsible if they devoted any of their meager sources to protect the interests of the rich and powerful. And surely, as long as the income disparity between rich and poor persists, the temptation to pirate would triumph over all principled devotions to an abstract notion of intellectual property. Western leaders should resist the political temptation to enact symbolic and futile legislation to prevent the diffusion of knowledge and focus instead on ways to encourage innovation at home. Protectionist legislation would do little to stop outsourcing at the cost of undermining the free flow of information. Staying ahead requires the U.S. to remain the center of creativity and innovation. The freedom to push the boundaries of our knowledge is the pre-requisite for our prosperity. Ultimately, devoting resources to trying to enforce Western standards of intellectual property in the developing world is not only hypocritical and sometimes cruel, but a futile act. Countries’ most valuable asset is not yesterday’s invention, but tomorrow’s innovation. I don’t draw these historical parallels in order to condone piracy, but rather to point out the wrong-headedness of the West’s often self-righteous position on intellectual property. The United States emerged as the world’s industrial leader by illicitly appropriating mechanical and scientific innovations from Europe. The Europeans tried but failed to stem the tide, just as current national and international agencies pass resolutions condemning piracy, but can do little to stop it unless they consider the realities in which those in the developing world live. There are two important lessons lesson here for the developing world. What worked for the United States was a seemingly contradictory system that protected intellectual property in theory, but did so only sparingly in practice. It makes sense for leaders of the developing nations to pay lip service to intellectual property agreements and occasionally raid a warehouse full of pirated CDs or prosecute a high profile pirate. United States history teaches that symbolic acts and principle talk, accompanied by lax enforcement, are indeed a winning combination. The second lesson is of greater importance. The key to the American economic miracles was the immigration of millions who brought their skills and ingenuity to the United States. And they continue to come. Thanks to its prosperity, the contemporary United States now easily attracts the best and brightest minds from the rest of the world to its shores. And even more than two centuries ago, human capital is central component of knowledge in the digital age. Immigrants form the rank and file of teaching and research at departments of natural sciences in American universities. Engineers from all corners of the globe have turned Silicon Valley into the center of innovation and creativity of our time. And as America prospers, those left behind in the native lands wonder how to stop the brain drain and how to persuade their brightest not to opt for research and business opportunities in North America. Today’s developing nations have few enticements to offer. In the competition for the minds that produce intellectual capital, they are at a distinct disadvantage. Few developing nations, most notably India and Brazil, have the capacity to use the fruits of piracy to generate innovation at home. Most, however, lack the financial and scientific infrastructure required and their efforts begin and end with piracy for the purpose of importing existing technologies. Developing nations, however, must realize that they will not be able to find prosperity through piracy alone. There will always be a limit on the usefulness of transferred technology. Developing nations will remain importers of skill and its product, technology, for as long as their citizens believe that the developed world is the only place they will find freedom and its product, opportunity. PAGE PAGE 10 US Path to Wealth and Power Doron Ben-Atar Fordham University From sudhir at circuit.sarai.net Tue Feb 1 17:12:22 2005 From: sudhir at circuit.sarai.net (sudhir at circuit.sarai.net) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 12:42:22 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] The republic day parade In-Reply-To: <20050201104244.29679.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> References: <20050201104244.29679.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Aman Lord Curzon was of the view that 'legitimate' political authority in India was secured and embellished by the Royal spectacle. He took durbar splendour and the royal procession practised by Indian princes to inspire a sense of awe and veneration among the people at large.[The Dasara processions in Mysore each year are another one of these elaborately staged spectacles!] He sought to adopt these 'culturally' tuned modes of exercising political authority to the needs of the British Empire. The Indian republic continues with these formats almost unchanged. Pratap Mehta argues persuasively that the civic liturgies of the Indian republic do nothing to cultivate the sort of civic republicanism that a country like ours needs. The article is pasted below. Best Sudhir PRATAP BHANU METHA Wednesday, January 26, 2005 We, the People of India... There is a case to be made for Republic Day carrying at least as much reverence and mystique as Independence Day. It would be foolish to underestimate the importance, romance and even tragedy associated with August 15. But January 26, 1950, is the day on which modern India acquired form and substance. We constituted ourselves as a people. We adopted a Constitution that spelt out the terms on which we ought to relate to each other as citizens. Republic Day gives us a concrete moral identity as a people. In contrast to our religious festivals, which are colourful and participatory, our civic liturgy is dull and boring. This may have something to do with the fact that the State rather than the People are more central to our civic celebrations than they are to our religious ones. But even making allowance for this fact, there is something surprising about the lack of passion we associate with the term republic. In most discussions of the Preamble, this term is dismissed as warranting no special meaning other than the connotation that our head of state is not a monarch. All of us want to be democrats, few of us lay claim to the heritage of being a republic. The relationship between the terms democracy and republic is complicated. In his opening speech to the Constituent Assembly, Nehru argued that adding the word ‘democratic’ to the Preamble would be a redundant exercise, because the term republic, contained the term democracy. Nevertheless we are constituted as a democratic republic, not merely as a democracy or as a republic. As our subsequent history unfolded, the romance of democracy has overshadowed the responsibilities of the republic. Being a republic carries with it a set of associations that take us beyond democracy. Although the term republic has become attenuated in its meaning, it is still not entirely bereft of the substantive moral associations. Some of the animating aspirations of a republican tradition are a powerful reminder of how we can move beyond democracy as simply a mode of electing a government. In a democracy, the people merely elect a government. But a republic is constituted as a community of equals bound to each other by reciprocal ties. It is a new way of structuring social relations and the view we take of our fellow citizens. The language of republicanism is unabashedly the language of idealism. The republic is constituted by an allegiance to a common good and to common liberties, which are all the more precious for being enjoyed in common. While democracy can be compatible with a mere aggregation of particularistic interests, a republican ideal enjoins the subordination of goods that are distinctively particularistic, to attachment to goods that we have in common. This is also reflected in their attitudes to the rule of law. For a democracy, the rule of law is the expression of the whims of a transient majority; for a republic it is an expression of common liberties. This is why the republican tradition was vigilant about impediments to our constituting ourselves as a community of equals. Monarchs, status hierarchies, hereditary titles were one kind of impediment. But so were acute concentrations of power, or subversion of the idea of reciprocity by great social distance. This social distance could be the result of inordinate disparities of wealth. Republicans favoured private property, because this was necessary for securing independence. But they equally insisted that it be widely diffused, so that property does not stand in the way of acknowledging our fellow citizens. A republic has to guard against subversion by mercantile interests, as it has to guard against appropriation by aristocracy. The term republic also carried the presumptive connotation that the people were virtuous. But this virtue was not simply to be assumed, but actively acquired through strenuous effort. The corruption of the polity they worried about was a deeper form of corruption, more than merely rent seeking by state officials. This was the kind of corruption that occurs when the mass of citizens cease to be aware of the norms that should be authoritative guides to their behaviour, at least vis-a vis other citizens. A republic is a mandate to fight against the corruption of virtue itself. A republic is also meant to be participatory. Participation is an affirmation of each other as equals; it strengthens ties of reciprocity and is an education in virtue. But perhaps, most importantly, the idea of a republic was meant to be a statement of the overriding allegiances of its citizens. By declaring ourselves to be a republic we agreed to be a political community that shares a common fate, and is bound by a common purpose. Again, this is not a thought that the term democracy alone captures. But by declaring ourselves a republic, we also became something more than a nation. For in a republic the basis of citizenship is fidelity to the idea of the republic itself. It is not caste, class ethnicity or any particular identity we wish to valorise. Behind the republican aspiration is a politics where we address each other primarily as citizens, with the same rights and prerogatives, not as members of particular communities. The highest expression of the love of country is the love of the republic itself — nothing more or nothing less. The term republic sounds like an idealised fossil of a bygone age. Even in the 17th century a republic represented an idealism that was thought to be incompatible with the imperatives of a commercial society and with the requirements of a large and complex modern society. After the French Revolution three further objections were leveled against the idea of a republic. The first was whether the quest for a common good was adequate to representing the diversity that constituted the republic. The second was whether the language of virtue and corruption was itself stultifying and intolerant, more moralising than moral. And the third was whether elevating allegiance to this community of equals as the highest ideal did not subordinate private individuality too much at the altar of public virtue. These remain potent worries. But it is equally true that no democracy has long endured in a robust form without taking on board the values of a republic: common good, civic virtue, vigilance against corrupting faction, suspicion of social distance, and an allegiance to the constitution itself. Perhaps Republic Day can be a reminder that we are still a democracy waiting to be a republic. URL: http://www.indian-express.com/columnists/full_column.php?content_id=63409 From shaheen at mail.ie Wed Feb 2 00:20:22 2005 From: shaheen at mail.ie (shaheen ansari) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:50:22 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Madrasa Education System Message-ID: <20050201185023.7A9A4396A@sitemail.everyone.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050201/e2efb9bd/attachment.html From pz at vsnl.net Wed Feb 2 00:44:05 2005 From: pz at vsnl.net (Punam Zutshi) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 00:44:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN PoetryCommunities References: <20050201074504.31638.qmail@web53609.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00ad01c50892$33986540$cefd41db@punamzutshi> Rahul, I may be speaking out of turn...not sure of the rules of the reading list, perhaps it is far more courteous to let River/Nitoo respond.I lamely hope this may be viewed as a way of pushing River to respond! You write at the end of your mail "I think a study of cyber communities merits a much larger scope and can unravel many interesting findings about human behavior. The point I want to make is that your research may intersect with a domain that might require a more rigorous approach than one may expect from just a viewpoint of poetic expression" If the participation in poetry communities is a method of participant observation as River/Nitoo Das is proposing , then drawing on one's own experience and poetic expression no longer remains just a resource or a viewpoint but becomes ethnography or at least a case study not less rigorous than the questions that you have so systematically drawn attention to. The idea of community and communities and poetry , hypertextual and otherwise can certainly be illuminated but human behaviour in any meaningful sense, may be a bit beyond the scope of this project. Regards, Punam ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rahul Asthana" To: "River ." ; Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 1:15 PM Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN PoetryCommunities > River, > I finally found time to go through this thread and I > join Keith in commending you on a gem of a post. Some > points that came to my mind are- > a)How much of the effects of a virtual identity, > physicality etc. and other benefits\baggage of the > internet apply to poetry in particular, as opposed to > other genres of literature? Is internet more conducive > to poetry? > b)The question about identity and the great cyber > poet- > English is and will be the dominant language of the > internet. Along with this, at least in third world > countries, there is a certain elitism associated with > using the internet to be part of an online community. > Also, since the internet is less burdened by > geographical boundaries and other ethnicity based > considerations, this may turn out to be a hindrance in > disguise. I got this impression from your post that > you somehow felt that cultural allusions you carry in > your poetry maybe a baggage that is inconvenient for > you to explain. So, internet poetry may, unwittingly, > strive to reach for the lowest common denominator of > expression .This would certainly preclude the > vernacular tradition, both in language and subject, > from internet poetry. Not that this is good or bad, > just that this may be a trend. > c)On communities, or how do cyber communities affect > poetry , though this point seems to be connected to > point b), I think a study of cyber communities merits > a much larger scope and can unravel many interesting > findings about human behavior. The point I want to > make is that your research may intersect with a domain > that might require a more rigorous approach than one > may expect from just a viewpoint of poetic expression. > regards, > Rahul > > --- "River ." wrote: > > > --------------------------------- > > My fingers stammer as I type this "first post". > Repeated injunctions against the very idea of a "first > post" have made me strangely nervous about my foray > into the world of the sarai reader-list. I read "first > posts" all last evening, thought about my prompt > fellow fellows and got nervouser and nervouser. It's > just that, these days, words have become unfriendly > and have taken to skulking in corners.not a nice thing > to happen to anyone; especially not to a teacher of > english who has recently made extraordinary claims > about her ability to understand the nature of poetry. > My "first post", then, is more-or-less a truncated > version of my proposal and introduces some of the key > areas that I will be looking at in the course of my > research. Comments and observations will be very > welcome. > > > > My research project on poetry sites run by MSN, > entitled, "Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry > Communities", will start with the idea of disguises > and constructed identities in computer-mediated > communication and will try to see how exercising the > choice of taking on pretty anonymity may change the > concept of poetry. Can anonymous poetry, or rather, > poetry written under interesting screen names or > "nicks", change the way poetry is traditionally > understood (as a lyric/subjective medium)? Is this > self-naming of the poet-persona an attempt to > renegotiate the ordinarily held assumptions of the > poetically created artefact as being stitched to the > body and the imagination of the individual who created > the text? The identities that are fostered in > cyberspace, especially in such poetry communities, > compel us to reconsider definitions of the term, > virtual community. Do these poetry sites manage to > erase geographical/cartographical identities? Do these > poetry sites show any gendered separation? How do the > ideological structures of the poetic texts manifest > themselves in spaces of anonymity or constructed > identities? These are some questions that I would like > to begin with in my research. > > > > Recent studies on Hypertext Theory have problematised > concepts like the physicality of the written text, as > it exists in words and lines and the intelligibility > of the text (the meaning and content behind the > empirical text setting). When we look at the work of > theorists like George Landow, we see how they have > relocated the written word in hyperreality by > addressing the computer's power to disperse and > recombine texts. In the MSN Poetry Groups that I seek > to study, the incorporation of annotative links, > attachments to enhance readings, multimedia > projections of poetry, all can fall within recent > theories of hypertextuality. I propose to study the > generic constraints of traditional poetry that are > subverted in these sites. The power of the linear > text, the publishing industry, the superiority of the > published author, all these hierarchies are almost > dismissed in the sites that I wish to take up for > analysis. My desire, then, would be to see how > releasing (or maybe, how fettering) these dismissals > will be to both the cyberpoet and the cyberreader. The > movement of the poem from the printed page to a > computer screen that shows an MSN Poetry Group banner > and pages that are monotonously purple, light blue, > yellow and orange, is a tortuous one and requires > basic computing skills (like how not to get annoying > html signs to taint the meaning of the poem) and > tempts us to reconfigure the new slippery space > between technology and poetry. > > > > I would also like to study the architecture of these > poetry sites and see how one has to travel through > complicated alleys of links to navigate the various > "boards". Incidentally, there are very few pure poetry > sites. There is always some space for the stray prose > fiction writer, for non-literary chitchat, for fun and > games in the true Rheingoldian spirit of community. > Sometimes, there are sites that divide their poetry > boards into further categories like, Haiku, erotic > poetry, dark/horror poetry, comic poetry etc. This > categorisation into forms is interesting because it > means more links to be traversed, more spaces to be > negotiated within that virtual space. > > > > Since I propose to use my own self as an > "ethnographer" in this study, I regularly post poems > as well as comments of the frivolous variety on at > least four sites. In these poetry sites, nobody knows > my real name, I am known by my "screen name", River, > and I post as river_side1 or river__side1. > > > > To use the traditional term in ethnomethodology, I > would be a "participant observer" and would enquire > closely into the modalities of online research. The > lack of physical presence in this type of research > would, obviously, change many of the key definitions > of contact and intimate person-to-person analysis. > Moreover, the easy accessibility of archival notes > within these sites may render difficult excavation > unnecessary. The final problem that would have to be > resolved regarding the nature of the study would be > the reconceptualisation of the word "community" > itself. The increasing interfaces between territorial > reality and the hyperreal will have to be taken into > consideration. > > > > I would also have to problematise the acceptance of my > "Indian" poetry, in these sites. The construction of > the woman from India happens at various levels and my > poems and I are sometimes accepted only after I submit > lengthy annotations (obviously as links). This > construction gets even more complicated when Assamese > words, rituals and customs, games, tales have to be > translated in order to make the ordinary, online > poetry surfer "get a hang" of whatever it is I am > trying to communicate to him/her. > > > > > > Nitoo Das > > Department of English > > Indraprastha College for Women > > University of Delhi. > > > --------------------------------- > Make team work really work! Work together, stay > connected! With Microsoft Office System. > > _________________________________________ > > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > > the city. > > Critiques & Collaborations > > To subscribe: send an email to > > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > > subject header. > > List archive: > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: From machleetank at rediffmail.com Tue Feb 1 17:15:29 2005 From: machleetank at rediffmail.com (Jasmeen P) Date: 1 Feb 2005 11:45:29 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] blank noise- replying to ashutosh Message-ID: <20050201114529.13879.qmail@webmail9.rediffmail.com> Hi Ashutosh Yes I would call it performative as well. About a year ago, the nine girls in the group dressed up as different stereotypes and walked on Brigade Road / Mg Road together. There were some memorable reactions. One girl was wearing a burkha and she stood next to groups of young men and stared at them. I played the photographer shooting their reactions...most of the time, quite in their face. Another girl was a 'biker' 'chick', wiht a bandana, torn jeans and smokey eyes...she wasnt quite ready to accept the reactions her character provoked. another 2 girls just sat in the middle of the pavement! We started out by just standing at a food court for 15 mins and pretending to wait...just to gauge what happens to a woman who are just standing around. That being the first experiment, things didnt quite work out as planned. the girls were not seen as individuals but as a group. then they kept walking around me in circles...tryign hard to be discreet...and saying " Jasmeen , I think they think we are spies." spies indeed! This experiment was a part of the workshops I conducted with the 9 girls in 2003. The purpose being to expose the 18 yr olds to the relationship clothes- body language and public perception had. My news video Hot News Taaza Samachar was a video performance too. The nature of this project demands it.. Would love your inputs on the current state of the project... thanks for writing warmly Jasmeen On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 Ashutosh Potdar wrote : >hi, >the first part of your mail is really fascinating!! its just theatrical!! >i am writer and theatre artist and saw "performance" in it. >has anyone of you performed it? >cheers, > >ashutosh > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jasmeen P > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 1:55 PM > Subject: [Reader-list] BLANK NOISE : building testimonies > > > > HI every body, > > my first posting and just making it to the 25th deadline. > > My project BLANK NOISE is described below. > > > I do look forward to a dialogue . > > sincerely, > > Jasmeen > Jasmeen ph: + 91 9886840612 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050201/209dbb91/attachment.html From definetime at rediffmail.com Tue Feb 1 15:59:15 2005 From: definetime at rediffmail.com (sanjay ghosh) Date: 1 Feb 2005 10:29:15 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] (fwd) The Vietnam turnout was good as well Message-ID: <20050201102915.20965.qmail@webmail47.rediffmail.com> The Vietnam turnout was good as well No amount of spin can conceal Iraqis' hostility to US occupation Sami Ramadani Tuesday February 1, 2005 The Guardian On September 4 1967 the New York Times published an upbeat story on presidential elections held by the South Vietnamese puppet regime at the height of the Vietnam war. Under the heading "US encouraged by Vietnam vote: Officials cite 83% turnout despite Vietcong terror", the paper reported that the Americans had been "surprised and heartened" by the size of the turnout "despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting". A successful election, it went on, "has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam". The echoes of this weekend's propaganda about Iraq's elections are so close as to be uncanny. With the past few days' avalanche of spin, you could be forgiven for thinking that on January 30 2005 the US-led occupation of Iraq ended and the people won their freedom and democratic rights. This has been a multi-layered campaign, reminiscent of the pre-war WMD frenzy and fantasies about the flowers Iraqis were collecting to throw at the invasion forces. How you could square the words democracy, free and fair with the brutal reality of occupation, martial law, a US-appointed election commission and secret candidates has rarely been allowed to get in the way of the hype. If truth is the first casualty of war, reliable numbers must be the first casualty of an occupation-controlled election. The second layer of spin has been designed to convince us that an overwhelming majority of Iraqis participated. The initial claim of 72% having voted was quickly downgraded to 57% of those registered to vote. So what percentage of the adult population is registered to vote? The Iraqi ambassador in London was unable to enlighten me. In fact, as UN sources confirm, there has been no registration or published list of electors - all we are told is that about 14 million people were entitled to vote. As for Iraqis abroad, the up to 4 million strong exiled community (with perhaps a little over 2 million entitled to vote) produced a 280,000 registration figure. Of those, 265,000 actually voted. The Iraqi south, more religious than Baghdad, responded positively to Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani's position: to call the bluff of the US and vote for a list that was proclaimed to be hostile to the occupation. Sistani's supporters declared that voting on Sunday was the first step to kicking out the occupiers. The months ahead will put these declarations to a severe test. Meanwhile Moqtada al-Sadr's popular movement, which rejected the elections as a sham, is likely to make a comeback in its open resistance to the occupation. The big vote in Kurdistan primarily reflects the Kurdish people's demand for national self-determination. The US administration has hitherto clamped down on these pressures. Henry Kissinger's recent proposal to divide Iraq into three states reflects a major shift among influential figures in the US who, led by Kissinger as secretary of state, ditched the Kurds in the 70s and brokered a deal between Saddam and the Shah of Iran. George Bush and Tony Blair made heroic speeches on Sunday implying that Iraqis had voted to approve the occupation. Those who insist that the US is desperate for an exit strategy are misreading its intentions. The facts on the ground, including the construction of massive military bases in Iraq, indicate that the US is digging in to install and back a long-term puppet regime. For this reason, the US-led presence will continue, with all that entails in terms of bloodshed and destruction. In the run-up to the poll, much of the western media presented it as a high-noon shootout between the terrorist Zarqawi and the Iraqi people, with the occupation forces doing their best to enable the people to defeat the fiendish, one-legged Jordanian murderer. In reality, Zarqawi-style sectarian violence is not only condemned by Iraqis across the political spectrum, including supporters of the resistance, but is widely seen as having had a blind eye turned to it by the occupation authorities. Such attitudes are dismissed by outsiders, but the record of John Negroponte, the US ambassador in Baghdad, of backing terror gangs in central America in the 80s has fuelled these fears, as has Seymour Hirsh's reports on the Pentagon's assassination squads and enthusiasm for the "Salvador option". An honest analysis of the social and political map of Iraq reveals that Iraqis are increasingly united in their determination to end the occupation. Whether they participated in or boycotted Sunday's exercise, this political bond will soon reassert itself - just as it did in Vietnam - despite tactical differences, and despite the US-led occupation's attempts to dominate Iraqis by inflaming sectarian and ethnic divisions. · Sami Ramadani was a political refugee from Saddam Hussein's regime and is a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University sami.ramadani at londonmet.ac.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050201/09e2a3ac/attachment.html From tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in Tue Feb 1 17:54:20 2005 From: tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in (Vector) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 17:54:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Kolkata Message-ID: <000101c508d9$fece8540$23c141db@vector> Interiors: I sit in 189 Sarat Bose Road, looking through the windows again. Broken glass panes that I will probably never get around to repairing. For 16 years these panes have witnessed conversations, singing, drinking, stories, histories, projects that never happened, proposals that never got written, proposals that got written but the films never got made, shoved away in old files gathering dust in cartons. Today I took out one of the cartons and dusted some files. I found old files called Bengal/Delta/ Ritwick/Deepak - another project that began but got ship wrecked and filed away.Deepak's notes: a translation of Yayati. His unfinished bio data at the back of which he has scribbled notes.His incomplete translation of Titash, the novel. Reviews he wrote and other misc notes. His last performance was at the hospital, where he acted out the river struck madman in Titash again, before the second stroke that felled him This is just a note to say I am getting them scanned at the moment, and putting them on a Cd for the final presentation...along with a story of what that was about... There is a lot of dusting out of old files to be done for this project. Apart from going out clicking Lake Market that will soon turn into a mall and ofcourse visiting Howrah and catching up with Ramaswamy and his Howrah project when he has the time.And scanning Maya's great grandmothers travelogue of which I managed to locate 3 out of 5 instalments some years ago, that she wrote in Bangalakhi (1930) and correspondence that is lying around in a bag I'm looking forward to this. Have to scan a lot of stuff before I write again. Till Next month Vasudha Joshi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050201/6c47ae40/attachment.html From zainab at xtdnet.nl Wed Feb 2 13:32:14 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 09:02:14 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Arjun bhai revisited Message-ID: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 2nd February 2005 Arjun Bhai Revisited It was on 23rd January, a Sunday. As I was walking out of VT Station, lost in my own thoughts and world, I bumped into Arjun bhai. Actually, he was the one who called my attention. “What’s the matter? You aren’t to be seen around these days?” he queried. I told him I was out of town. “What’s the matter? You aren’t to be seen around as well?” I counter questioned him. “Yeah, was taking a break for 4-5 days,” he responded. I had to leave so I told him I would catch up with him sometime soon. In the interim period, I would see him around and not see him around. Finally, last evening, I asked if we could meet again this morning to which he readily agreed. I have perceived that he is keen to talk to me. I am curious about his story. But I am also treading a thin line, because to him, I am not an interviewer; I am someone with whom he talks out of desire and emotion. I must confess that living in the urban is a tough job for someone like me who is multi-personality and who is talking to multiple people. With multiple people, I don’t think you cannot have a singular kind of relationship. There are demands which relationships make. And I, in Mumbai, am a solid practitioner of time, just like everybody. Yet, with my desires to be one of the Everyday Heroines, I have to understand relationships. I am increasingly coming to believe that while we often allude to the urban as a site of anonymity, and the urban is also a space for individuality, the idea of urban community is still extremely nascent or should I say unknown. There cannot be a singular urban community and I don’t have any ideas of a homogenous/monoculture community. But the very idea, values and conception of a community is common at a fundamental level though there may be multiple communities. Anyhow let me get on with Arjun bhai’s story which he narrated to me today. I am simply fascinated with his imagination!!! Arjun bhai meets me exactly at 10:00 AM at VT Station. And again he asks me for coffee and when I proffer to pay this time, he raises his hand authoritatively and says, “Nahi!” We go off to the boundary which separates the local train station from the ‘outstation’ station. There are several benches there to sit. Arjun bhai says, “Let’s sit on the bankdas here!” I am a trifle amused when he uses the word bankdas for proper benches. The word bankda is slang in dhanda language for a multi-purpose space i.e. a space for conducting business, for sitting and chatting, for circulation of information, etc. Bankda is a shabby structure/space because it is illegal and cheap. It is the roadside dhanda terminology. The benches we are sitting on today are very sophisticated and hip, very unlike bankda. I am nervous because I don’t have structured questions for Arjun bhai. I am simply entering into a conversation with him, without telling him that I intend to hear out his story. “I came to Mumbai ticketless. But, now I travel with a legal train pass everyday,” he says blushing. “I did not study properly. In my village (he hails from Nanded district in Maharashtra), I got into the habit of playing marbles with the little boys. That did it! I got hooked and then finished! Did not study any further, even though my mother kept insisting. I came to Bombay and got into the business of selling balloons. But blowing balloons is a tough job, especially on the throat (I assume he meant lungs, but kept pointing to the throat). Upar se some of the balloons would just burst. So I gave it up. Then I landed in Goregaon. I started doing film work. I was like a spot boy, carrying the cameras around. But I did not like the system of food there. I could not adjust with the environment there. I gave up that job too. Now when I look back, I find that my contemporaries in that field have gone ahead of me and I have stayed behind. If I had continued with camera work, I would have made it ahead too. Then I landed at VT and started working for my boss, selling toys and now, very recently, socks! If you actually see, I travel from home to work and back. That’s my everyday life. It’s like I am in the service sector, the space outside VT being my office. My boss is nagging. He will tell me not to talk with my friends during the time of dhanda. Dhande ke time pe dhanda karne ka. He has not bought me! I don’t like him nagging. But actually, seth dil ka saaf hai, he has a clean heart. That is why I am in business with him.” “If you ask me what changes I have seen at VT in all these years, I tell you it has really improved. The station has become cleaner. Now there are benches to sit and talk. Then, we now have platforms on both sides. You would not remember but earlier, the platforms were only on one side. Now they have been laid on both sides. Then, trains have now become 12 coach instead of the previous 9 coach. That is a huge convenience for the public. But the crowd at VT only increases, never decreases. These tea and coffee stalls have come up before us. The older Ticket Checkers (TCs) knew us by face. Now, with the young guys, we have to show them our tickets. They don’t know us yet now. Earlier, train ticket to Kurla (which is where he lives) used to cost two to three rupees. Train pass would cost Rs.60 for single line and Rs.75 for double line. Now, the pass costs Rs.110 for single line and Rs.135 for double line. What do you do? You take a pass or ticket?” “Earlier, a pot of water used to cost Re 1. Now, I pay five rupees for the same pot. See, how times have changed. I get my water from the train station, right here, where the coolers and taps are. If water is not cold here, just enter the railway yard, straight.” I am a bit surprised and ask him, “How can you enter the yard? It’s not legal nah?” “Arre,” he tells me carelessly, “not to worry. Just enter. You will get water from there.” “Trains are crowded. See, today my shirt has torn in the hustle bustle. That is how it is here. At least I don’t carry bags with me, so it’s okay. I carry chappatis from my home in my pocket (showing me his pocket) and buy vegetables from here, around. I know where good food is served. They know me too.” “I have been around for several years. The change in the name of the station from VT to CST does not mean anything to me. I still call it VT. After all, it is a place of business for me and I shall use the language of business here. If I am on the other side, near GPO, conducting business, I call this CST station. Jaisa dhanda vaisi bhasha.” “Laws have become strict today. You cannot talk brashly. Policemen start to warn you.” I ask him if he has ever entered the BMC office. “I have been to Colaba to release my goods. Colaba office is fine. There, they release goods for hundred, two hundred rupees. But god help you if the Worli office has taken the goods. They will not leave you without extracting twelve hundred rupees,” he tells me. “No, no,” I interject, “I am asking if you have been inside this majestic BMC office at VT?” “Not there,” he says, with the same attitude of carelessness. “How do you know when the BMC van has come to confiscate your goods?” I ask him. “We have to watch while conducting business. If you see the van going from across the street, it is very likely that it will turn around and come to confiscate our goods. But if it is a big raid, then we come to know a day in advance. In between, I was not around for some days. What had happened was that a big officer was coming to inspect the railway station. We had been warned in advance. So we decided to lay low. You asked me about my networks around the station. Now let me give you an example. You have been around for some months now and people know you. It’s the same with me. I have been around for years and I know some people here. Uthna baithna hota hai (a very dhanda statement for socializing with influential persons in authority).” He is smiling while telling me all this. “I know the station master, a little bit. I know some people,” he says with mischief dancing in his light brown eyes. “You see it is difficult for us pheriwalas to sit at home. Timepass nahi hota hai. We just cannot sit at home. We have to go out and do business. That is our life. You tell me that newspapers are reporting that evicted hawkers are going back to their villages. I am telling you they are here. They just cannot go back. Even these four-five days when I had to sit at home, I felt restless. I don’t like watching TV. I don’t know anything about TV serials if you ask me. I love cricket matches. When I am at home, then I watch the match with my friends. I tell my wife to serve me food while I am watching. If I am at dhanda, I will ask my customers or passer-bys for the score.” I ask him about the TV screen at the railway station and whether he watches television at the station. “Nothing doing. This is Bombay public. See how they are rushing against time. They will not even look around. But suddenly now, if a fight takes place, all public will accumulate. This is how public is here!” I reflect quickly on his statement about public. Yes, publics is a very, very fluid concept in the emerging urbanism of Mumbai! “I read newspapers. Marathi. Saamna (the Shiv Sena mouthpiece). Raghu kaka sits opposite nah (selling newspapers). I pick a copy and read from there. It’s important to read papers. But if you ask me to write, I am worse than a first standard kid. It’s not about my handwriting but about my spellings. What I had learnt in the fourth standard, today a first standard kid knows more than that. That’s how they teach in schools today!” “So, what ‘s your name? I have forgotten. Accha, Zainab. Now, are you Hindu?” I tell him that I am Muslim. “But you speak excellent Marathi.” I tell him that language is my forte and that I have been trained in Marathi for years now. “So where do you live?” I answer him. “Accha, so that is your village.” he concludes. I start to think, yup, Byculla is my native town, village and everything. Then what about the city? Isn’t it my native place? “Why do you write about me?” I try to explain to him that writing about him is a matter of my calling. It is what I feel I should be doing. I tell him, “I think writing about you is my dharm (duty).” He misunderstands my conception of dharm (i.e. duty) to mean dharm as religion. “No, no. You see, I don’t believe in religious differences. Whether Hindu or Muslim, when you cut the finger, water will not ooze out; it’s bound to be blood. Then why religious differences? Have you been to the Muslim shrine, here at VT? I went there only seven days ago. I have been wanting to go there, but not alone. With shrines, it is like this that when the calling comes, you have to go. That’s how my visit also took place. Even for Haji Malang (a Sufi Muslim shrine at Worli). I did not have any money. I borrowed fifty rupees one day from a friend who gave me the sum without any questions and I landed at Haji Malang. Aisa hi hota hai, jab bulava aata hai, tab jaana padta hai! (This is how it is; when you are called, you must go!)” As I am ending my conversation with him, I get two phone calls from a colleague regarding another project I have been working on. I respond quickly. Arjun bhai looks awestruck at me. I tell him it’s a call from my office and that I am a working woman. He smiles proudly and says, “You will make lots of tarraki (progress) in life. You have so much general knowledge!” I deduce that ‘general knowledge’ in his parlance means ‘information’ and I realize that in a city like Mumbai, we all economize on information. The more information you have, the more sought after you are! Arjun bhai recounts his life in the city and how he left home. His eyes are moist. He says, “During the riots in Bombay, I was in my village. Some of my relatives here thought I was dead. I am the only child of my parents. So when I left home and came here, they were worried. What if I would fall in bad company? What if I did drugs? But I did not do anything wrong. My heart is clear. You asked me the other day if I go to Chowpatty or anything? Nothing. I just do my business and go back home. Even at home, I don’t talk much. With you I am talking this much. If I have tension and I talk to you, will that help me? No, not at all! So even if I am in tension, I just smile with everyone. Conflicts can be resolved with negotiation, when four people with differing views come together and sit and talk. If I go my way and not listen to the other three, then how can matters be solved? That is my personality. I like to sit and talk and resolve differences and arrive at a common understanding.” We are ready to leave. I ask him finally, “Have you ever cast your vote?” “No,” he replies. I join both my hands in gratitude to thank him. “No, no,” he says, “Don’t join your hands and all. I don’t like this. Just shake hands and say ‘hi’/‘hello’. These are modern times. And I like being modern.” He goes off. I think about his last statement on modernity. I clearly remember that in my last conversation with him, he had told me that modern times are not good. And when I had asked him what he did not like about these ‘modern times’, he had said to me, “Women are too liberal these days. They back answer and retort. They say to the men ‘if you can do this, we can also do this’. This is what I don’t like about these times.” I am still not able to understand Arjun bhai. What is he? Where are his boundaries and reservations of modernity? What does he think about the emerging Bombay city? I think things are more complex than I had imagined them to be Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From river_side1 at hotmail.com Wed Feb 2 20:12:02 2005 From: river_side1 at hotmail.com (River .) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:42:02 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN PoetryCommunities In-Reply-To: <001901c50572$193ff640$ddf341db@punamzutshi> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050202/f767fbac/attachment.html From river_side1 at hotmail.com Wed Feb 2 20:23:12 2005 From: river_side1 at hotmail.com (River .) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:53:12 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities In-Reply-To: <20050201074504.31638.qmail@web53609.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050202/9d22b8ac/attachment.html From shaheen at mail.ie Thu Feb 3 01:43:48 2005 From: shaheen at mail.ie (shaheen ansari) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:13:48 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System Message-ID: <20050202201348.9737237CEC@sitemail.everyone.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050202/79e14899/attachment.html From tripta at gmail.com Thu Feb 3 04:20:37 2005 From: tripta at gmail.com (tripta chandola) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 04:20:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Taha, As part of the pphp project I had conducted few months of enthnographic research in and around the spaces of Nehru spaces and have been pursuing it for the last two years as part of my own individual projects. Reading your posting evoked intense nostalgia for the space as i experienced it initially and I thought it might be interesting to share some of the ideas, experiences and trajectories henceforth drawn. Also give you some leads on contacts within Nehru Place. One of the persons who would immensely provide valuable input into your research is Mr. Anil Aggarwal, the president of Nehru Place Welfare Association. This contact would be useful not only to examine the real estate values and the increasing imaginations of the `threats' within the commercial spaces but also security in `domestic' spheres as he is the Resident Welfare Association president of one of the nearby colonies. I interviewed him more than once and you would find these interviews in the sarai archive. I am not sure how easy it would be to find Anil Aggarwal by asking around and I would be more than happy to send the contacts only it is going to take some time at the moment. He is also the person who can put you in touch you with builders, security agenice etc and all. I haven't specifically explored the security issue specifically but over the last more than a year I have been trying to understand the real and imaginary `threat' perceptions which arouse the need for specific kind of security. For instance, when I was working in Nehru Place the `threat' was of the recently evicted slum dwellers re-squatting in the spaces. There were guards and specific gates installed at strategic locations within Nehru Place to ensure that these people could not enter Nehru Place with their goods. But in the recent times with the prolific construction around the boundaries of Nehru Place, when you walk from Intercontinental towards lotus temple you would witness the high rises coming up, specifically within these buildings where construction is happening or has happened there is a percieved threat of reporters `reporting something', what that is is not explicit but something. So despite my many attempts to get through the buildings I haven't managed. In an other context, residential area which shares proximity with a prominent slum in Delhi, the RWA employes security services which are specifically going to ensure that slum dwellers cannot enter beyond a certain point in the public garden in between the two. It would be interesting to know about the types of threats which define the need for certain securities in these areas. How are they different in the commercial and residential area? How much of the imagined threat permeates the immediate ecologies? Regaring the lift and the markings, in most buildings like the Chrinjiave Towers which have more than one lifts, the floors are `marked' out by the odd and even floors the lifts go up to for smoother traffic within the building. The odds even out the missing, I guess. Cheers tripta From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Thu Feb 3 11:09:18 2005 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 11:09:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A Sailor's tale... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8178da9905020221392970a005@mail.gmail.com> Dear Taha, I think this speaks to some of the concerns and issues raised in your paper... the fact that what was Gurgaon Jail has now become a commercially developed property perhaps says something... Cheers, Anand In a landmark move, in March 2003, PVR Limited (operating as PVR Cinemas) has successfully raised private equity from ICICI Venture as part of funding to support its Rs. 100 crore expansion plan. ICICI Venture has invested Rs 38 crore in PVR Limited, the balance coming by way of Rs. 40 crore debt funding, and the rest in accruals. This represents the most significant investment in the Indian cinema industry in recent times and bears testimony to the immense faith ICICI has reposed in the business model, promoters and management team of PVR. The government, and institutional funding and both backing an imagination of the city in which cinema, the institutionalized space for pleasure and desire, is restricted to the elite, and all other spaces become illicit. Laws and regulations have been rapidly changed to allow the coming up of the mall-mutiplex combine. In the past few years there has been a… paradigm shift. Many state governments repealed the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA)… land that was locked up for years … has now been released for development. The act was passed in 1976, during the Emergency, with the rhetoric of 'ensuring… equitable distribution and… avoiding speculative transactions relating to land in urban agglomerations.' The Act was repealed in 1999, effective immediately in Haryana, Punjab and all Union Territories. . Immediately afterwards, the boom in malls stared along the Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, in Gurgaon, Delhi's satellite town in Haryana. …Coming back to Gurgaon, the Haryana government is cashing on the boom. It amended rules to remove all technical bottlenecks that hindered setting up of malls on a stretch of the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. Not just that, the government's decisions made one believe that just about any available land in the city could have only a single use: commercial. That was clearly evident when Haryana Development Authority (HUDA) planned a huge commercial area, which will include a eight-storied mall, at a site where Gurgaon's Central Jail stood for years. On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 06:52:00 +0100, taha at sarai.net wrote: > Dear all, > > Below is an account of a meeting with a builder in Delhi. > Builders, architects and property dealers around Delhi are increasingly > becoming a part of the security game. > This posting forms a part my excavations around the city, > concerning my on going research at Sarai. > > ……………………………………………………………………………………………… > > Last week was largely devoted to looking for architects who are major > players in the housing society- security `game'. The search did not prove > entirely futile. Mr. Sabharwal the metal sheet fabricator businessman > provides me with addresses and phone numbers of a few builders. Some of > them have their offices in near by Nehru Place others are in Faridabad. > > I take an auto to Nehru place. It's a nice sunny winter morning. This > year the winter has been less harsh as compared to previous winters. The > famed 'dilli ki surdi' is finally bowing to global warming. At Nehru > place I walk past by Paras, a huge poster of the latest flick Insaan, > featuring Akshay Kumar and Tushaar Kapur is pasted on the wall. A kid with > a large guuny bag on his back is standing alone in front of the poster. > Probably by night he will have collected enough empty liquor bottles, > left over polyethylene bags and stray card board boxes to make a sale to > the local agent and watch the last show of the film, sitting in the fifth > row of the darkened hall, hooting, whistling and unwinding after a dogs day > at work. > > I take the steps and enter the central courtyard. Nehru place looks like a > mammoth community center. Like other community centers in Delhi it is also > going through a phase of renovation. At the periphery bare chested casual > laborers are systematically digging up the floor ties one at a time. At the > other end, another group of laborers are laying down new tiles and > cementing it. The floor of Nehru place looks like a snake peeling off its > old skin and acquiring a new one. > > I go through a row of shops selling computer software, CD's, sundry > stationary, sweets, mobile phones, computer parts and newspapers. I stop in > front of a shop…a little confused. I ask for Chranjiv tower. An > attendant at a fruit juice kiosk points his finger at the far end of the > courtyard. It's past lunch hour and the place is crowded. I take a left > and step down a small flight of stairs. > > Chranjiv Tower- a huge mass of iron, steel and concrete, is completely > camouflaged by… well… other huge masses of iron, steel and concrete. > They all look the same- unimaginative, homogenous structures. The only > thing, which differentiates one building from other, is the name. Nehru > place is full of names like Ansal Tower, Manjusa Building, Madhuban, Vishal > Bhawan, Raja House, Sahyog, Skipper House, Apta. > Chranjiv Tower is one of them- undifferentiated, unidentifiable, unmarked. > Only the locals know of its location. To them I turn after every hundred > steps. I stop, I ask, I get directions and I move on. > > Inside the tower/building/office complex/house/bhawan/apartment a security > guard greets me. He looks at me curiously and makes pointed enquiries. I > tell him I want to meet Mr. S.S Kohli of Kolmet Constructions. He repeats > after me 'Koalmate'… the name sounds familiar, why don't you go > through this. 'This' turns out to be the register of the building where > all the offices are listed along with their floors. His attendant advises > me to begin my search from the top most floor. My finger scans the register > for the word 'k' or its phonetic equivalent 'c'. It's a long > search. There are fourteen floors in that complex and each floor has around > ten to twelve offices. The guard leaves me alone and re-assumes his duty. A > close circuit camera on the top right corner watches me. The lobby is a > small hall. There are two glass doors about six-seven feet wide. On the > right there is a small reception desk at which two guards are posted. A > small corridor on the left leads to the elevators. Outside, the towers are > barricaded with `no entry' signs painted on low movable iron grills. At > the reception desk the guard is extremely busy. He stops strangers, asks > them their destination, makes them sign an entry register. Checks all > parcels going out and coming in to the building and make entries in a > separate register. A man comes to the guard with a heavy cardboard box. He > is carrying a notebook. He greets the guard and asks for the register. I > see a DTDC emblem on his cap. I ask whether he is a courier here. He nods > his head affirmatively. I tell him about Koalmet Constructions. He gives me > hard look then nods in negation. He hasn't heard of them. He has been > delivering parcels here for the past seven years and has never heard of any > firm by that name. I carry on with my search. Luck at last! Koalmet is on > the eleventh floor. I thank the guards. Make an entry in the register and > leave. > > The elevator lobby is crowded. There are three lifts on each side. About > fifty of us are waiting to go in one of them. The elevators look old and > used. The markings are all gone. A group of men arrives and take up > position near the third elevator on my right. > > Soon the sliding door opens. I jostle through the crowd hands on my > pockets. I always have this fear of getting robbed in crowded places. > Whenever I board a bus, a lift, or walk in crowd I inadvertently find > myself clutching my pockets. The left pocket for the wallet, and the right > one for my mobile phone. The lift is packed. I ask a man standing near the > panel to press for the eleventh floor. He smiles benignly at me. 'This > lift doesn't go to that floor'. But it goes to tenth and to the > twelfth floor. I ask him to press the button for the tenth floor. This was > intriguing. Why wasn't the lift going to the eleventh floor? No wonder > the courier guy didn't know about Koalmet Constructions. The eleventh > floor wasn't marked! In this land of unmarked buildings there was another > addition. The eleventh floor of Chiranjiv Towers. > > I finally reach the eleventh floor. I am standing in front of a smoked > glass door. The name- plate on the door bears the name of the office I am > looking for. I knock the door twice and enter. Inside a middle-aged woman > is sitting behind a desk. The office is a small hall partitioned into small > wood and glass cubicles. On the right is a cabin. I can hear the voice of a > man arguing with somebody on the phone. The woman behind the desk is busy > on her cell. On the left there is a small door. I can see vague outlines of > two more cabins on the far left. The air inside the office is devoid of > humidity and it's pretty warm for December. It's also very quiet > inside. The traffic, the crowds and the blaring horns have dissolved into > this calm, almost serene workplace. The low mechanical hum of the air > conditioner adds a soothing effect. I slump down on a sofa. > > The receptionist asks me who I wanted to meet and whether I had an > appointment or not. I tell her about Mr. Kohli. Which Kohli? She asks. > 'Bada aur Chota'. SS or SK. I am confused for I don't know who is > who. I tell her, 'the one who started this all'. > She asks me to wait. She goes inside the room and comes back after some > time. She tells me that Mr.Kohli is extremely busy and can't spare time > at the moment. I plead. It will take only fifteen minutes. She asks me my > reasons to meet the boss. I rewind my mental tape and press play. Almost > mechanically I tell her about Sarai and my research. She listens > attentively and recommends me to talk to Mr. Mishra, who is an architect at > Koalmet adding that Mr. Kohli knows nothing about architecture, he is the > financial brain behind the firm. > > Mr. Mishra turns out to be an old, a few more years and he could be called > ancient. He is wearing large framed bifocals, a pencil is perched > delicately between his left > > ear and the arm of his glasses. He is slightly bent. He never makes an > eye contact while speaking. I rewind my introductory tape and play in fast > motion, yet again. He patiently listens, nodding his head every now and > then. And then in a very business like, matter-of-factly tone he tells me > that he can't help me. He says Koalmet is into building powerhouses for > the Government of India. That is all that they have done for past thirty > years. However another construction company called Mariners might be of > some help. Mr. Ananth who runs the company, would know more about the > housing business. > ……………………<<<<<<<…………… > > I am standing in front of another glass door in a matter of fifteen > minutes. There is no one in the corridor. I am mentally rehearsing what I > was going to ask, how was I going to navigate conversation with Mr. Ananth. > > I open the door. The office is of the same proportions as Koalmet, but it > is sparsely decorated and more quite. On the left there is reception desk. > A girl in her early twenties is sitting. I ask for Mr. Ananth. She tells me > to wait and goes inside a big cabin. There is nobody at the office. On the > wall behind the desk, promotional fliers and posters of housing societies > in New Zealand are pinned. Also pictured are exotic, wooden interiors, > beautiful, apparently lonely women lying by the fireside, a couple in > night-suit sleeping blissfully bathed in soft blue moon light, and a > seductive teenager in hot pants jogging in a lush green lawn, sweat beads > gently trickling down her brow, her long hair waving wildly in the air - a > blithe mare, broken loose from the bonds of her captors, drunk high on the > sheer ecstasy of freedom. The caption at the bottom aptly sums up the > image, ' your dream house at fantastically low prices'. I notice the > play of the words- dream and fantasy, similar in meaning but referring to > different things. > Dream it is indeed. One that lures the consumer to believe in the > fantasy of low prices. A cursory look at Times Classified tells enough > about the 'Prime' property up for sale on the fringes of Delhi, in > Gurgoan and Noida. The newspaper contains images that mirror the New > Zealand housing society visuals. Nature, luxury, exotica and sex are all up > for sale at affordable prices. The message is subtle yet clear and cushy. > "A Dream you can be a part of". " Luxury you can afford". A > Laburnum Villa for three crores, Aralia's for 2.5 crore onwards, Windsor > court for 98 lacs onwards, Nirvana for 55 lacs onwards. Often housing > societies have names like Vatika city, Orchid Greens, Park View, Petals, > Blooms, Nirvana Country, Sun city and Heritage City. Voluptuous models vie > for attention in tiny six square centimeter spaces. Consumers are subtly > persuaded to heed to their most atavistic urges, a reclamation of the lost > pastoral past, a desire for luxury. We know what you desire, come to us and > we will service your dreams at affordable prices. If you don't have the > money now, then don't worry! Thank God that you live in the age of 'buy > now pay later' – for ICICI bank, IDBI bank and HUDCO are always there > to provide you with soft loans. 7.5% Interest. 100% Finance. For More > Details, Contact 9811269051. > > [Back to the office!] On the right there is a small table on which two > wooden models of upcoming projects at Gurgaon and Noida are placed. The big > cabin dominates the office. The walking space along the perimeter of the > cabin looks like a reverse –c-. At the far end a shabbily dressed peon is > pouring hot water off an electric kettle. > > I can hear someone grumbling inside, possibly Mr. Ananth. 'Who is it?' > 'Did he take my name?' I can just about make out the soft tone of the > girl explaining on my behalf, as I unashamedly eavesdrop, standing close to > the door. `Hmm. Okay, send him in'. The receptionist comes out and asks > me to go inside. I give her a grateful smile and walk into a sparse but > stylish cabin. A burly sardaar looks up from behind a glass topped table. > 'Yes?' > > Ananth is in his mid thirties. He was a sailor with the merchant navy and > quit the 'seas' in 1996. After two years of dwindling around he became > a builder and started Mariners. His family is in the same business. > Initially they helped him out. Now it seems, he is very much his own man. > His first project was in Gurgaon. He contacted his friends and their > friends in the merchant navy and convinced them to invest in a housing > society promoted by him. In 2000, he managed to persuade about fifteen > people, and Mariners began its operations. HUDA sanctioned land to them > within four months of submitting the application. In 2001 the project was > formally launched. > > But due to a shortage of funds financiers were also called in. The company > has built 40 flats on an acre of land. Gradually more people started > investing in Mariners. One year down all the flats were booked. Ananth > looks satisfied, ensconced in his office. He is thinking about new projects > now. One in Gurgaon and another in NOIDA. He is confident of getting > clients for this new project too. > > We settle down to talk. He speaks frankly. His taquiya kalam is `yaar' > pronounced as yaa. I ask him about the property scene in Delhi. He > responds thoughtfully. It's pretty bad yaa. South Delhi is suppressed… > but the land prices elsewhere are sky rocketing… > Dwarka is on fire yaa… > > Dwarka, which was a planners' nightmare a few years ago has suddenly > undergone a facelift courtesy Delhi Metro. Although Metro hasn't started > its services yet, but in a few years time when Metro commences operation in > the area, Dwarka will be connected to Delhi supposedly through the safest, > cheapest and fastest mode of transportation. This is bound to impact land > prices in Dwarka in a big way. According to Ananth 40 to 50 per cent more > units were sold last year as compared to the previous year. I inquire > further. He looks at the window. Far below I can see the slow serpentine > traffic crawling its way to the red light. > > The problem is basically with DDA yaa… there are six- seven hundred > societies waiting for the DDA to allot land… HUDA is very quick… they > allot within 3-4 months… yahaan to 20-20 saal se land nahi mila… > > But what do they do with the land. I prod. He scratches his thin, well- > kept beard, then in a quick motion pushing the air with his hands, as if to > clear a confusion, says, "see". I look at his palms as if they were a > key to understanding the security- property- politician-moneyed- migrant- > retired army officers'- housing society- RWA-DDA-planners'-business > man- smart cards- Nishan- pictometry-films on terror-the crime programmes- > Bhagidari- TV serials-hosing debate linkages. I see three or four clear > lines but there are hundreds of thousands other lines that are strangely > connected to each other. At times they criss-cross, intersect, and take a > detour to thousands of other small, medium and big lines. It's confusing. > I give up. > > DDA is making their own flats… these MIG-HIG things… they cost more and > are of atrocious quality…DDA gives contractors 700 rupees/ sq. feet and > to housing societies 600 rupees/ sq. feet… ultimately they are making > money some where yaa… if damages, project delay costs etc are added up, > the cost comes to around nine hundred rupees/ sq. feet. Then they pass it > off to the consumers. > > He elaborates his point further. About two years ago they were selling a > three bedroom flat for 14 lakh rupees, while housing societies were selling > the same for 13 lakh rupees… The quality of society and DDA were no match > at all... DDA was just crap…yaa… They are not giving any land to the > societies... I don't know why... They should have given the entire land > to housing societies... Let them do it… see… the basic problem is > housing yaa… housing could have been solved anyway… They are keeping > that milch cow there any way… saara land aapne pas rakha hua hai unhoone. > > I experience a feeling of déjà vu. Ananth's way of describing land > through a metaphor of milch cow is pastoral and agrarian just like the New > Zealand housing society fliers or Times classified advertisements about > property. For him the DDA is the `other', which he refers to as, > "they" and expects that if the entire land of DDA is handed over to > housing societies… the problem of housing will be solved. This opinion > was quite similar to something I heard a year ago from somebody else in not > an entirely different context. Last year, while researching for my final > year film on surveillance and the city, I met Mrs. Sharma, a resident of > Ishwar Nagar colony, a posh area in south Delhi. Her grouse was with the > MCD. A public park of her colony belonged to the MCD, which was open to > access by all and sundry. She would tell me that the colony was > 'maintained' by the residents, `us' she said. Maintain here refers to > fortification of her colony by gating and installation of security guards. > She felt that the MCD should transfer the maintenance [control] of park to > the colony RWA. Little did I realize that what she was telling me was no > less than prophetic. A few months ago the Delhi government gave an order to > hand over the public parks to the resident welfare associations, which was > close on heels of a high court order that legalized the construction of > gates on public land by private resident welfare associations. The gift was > part of a package. Other additional `responsibility' included gradual > takeover of all the historical monuments [maintained by ASI] coming under > the zone of influence of respective RWA. So for example, a public park in > GK-I, which is also the site of a 14th century Tughlak era ruin and > maintained by NDTV on behalf of the MCD will now fall under the GK RWA. > > The office has huge glass windows. Sunlight streams through them. Outside > the sky is clear; I notice a pair of sparrows perched on the window- sill. > The room is getting claustrophobic. It's a story I've heard before. A > part of me wants to leave. > > Ananth starts talking about Mariners. …We are making houses > basically…We are going for bigger units than normal… Higher standards > of furniture… These units are for higher income group…Multi story > apartments… 7-8 stories but can go up to 10-14 stories…. Each building > has around 40 flats on an acre of plot…it costs around 2000 rupee/sq. > feet… totally furnished…each flat comes to around 40 lakh rupees. > > I ask about the security apparatus in his housing society. He says… > it's not much…the usual… enclosed compounds… guards… CCTV… > that's it…not many security things…guards are there for twenty four > hours… two more come during the night…That's all… > > But quickly adds… in the future projects we are going for gadgets… > heavy amount of gadgets…see… what we are promoting is community > living… they come to us because they want security…First of all now > this security thing is huge… and it is with all the builders too… when > we started the project for merchant navy officers our endeavor was to give > low cost houses to merchant navy officers…see… yaa… its simple….a > society is formed when people come together… they become members…strict > criteria is followed while taking in members… if somebody is very very > this thing… we don't… we check the profile as far as possible…we > don't segregate any body… in our society we don't take business > men…business men jaise hote hain…if some body has an industry its > okay…I don't know…people don't want them yaa…bolte hain… petty > businessmen hamare ko bada taang karte hain… oon logeon ki thinking badi > alag hoti hai…usually these are… our's are very elite… so called > elite clients…they are more academically inclined…so they tell us to > keep them out…zara… unko door rakho…that's the thinking basically > but if tomorrow these people come we won't refuse them yaar… so there > is some segregation I guess. > > When Ananth talks about Mariners, he always refers to his organisation in > first person plural- we-. He is not a sailor now, his profession has > changed, and so has his notion of self. –They- includes his former > friends from merchant navy, businessmen and the government officials. He > calls his apartment complex- a society-, where security guards, CCTV > cameras, are –normal- apparatus of security. He considers his > clients-elite-and at forty lakh per flat he wants to provide them with-low > cost housing. > > Delhi is going through a facelift. Builders like Ananth are pushing for > housing societies where criterion for being a part of housing society is > condensed. For example, Journalists and their allotted houses in -Press > Enclave- at Malviya Nagar, Kargil war widows housed in sector 25 at Dwarka > [Two hundred widows are allotted three bedroom flats for 6 lakh rupees. > They cannot sell/ transfer/rent / lease it to anybody else. If they remarry > the flat will be taken back the government. What is the government's > interest in perpetuating widowhood on young women, by doling out housing > and other welfare schemes to keep the category of –war widow- alive and > kicking?]. > > Ananth carefully skips the question on segregation of members on the basis > of some eligibility by saying "… if somebody is very very this thing… > we don't… we check the profile as far as possible…". > > Who comes under the category of –very very this thing- I don't know as > yet. But I could clearly see an enforcement of social division on the basis > of one's eligibility to a self same club. I remember as a child in > Udaipur I used to get very intrigued by small employment news items in > local edition of Rajasthan Patrika, seeking qualified Engineers and > Doctors, under a generic heading of ATTENTION or WANTED, with a caveat, - > sirf Sindhi Bhai hi apply Karen-. > > In Ananth's world money is not a barrier any more. Merchant navy > provides good money, so a petty businessmen, even if he has money, is > discriminated- unko door rakho- [keep them away]-the level of education > becomes a mark to identify a person as –ours-. > > I start to talk about the security culture in Delhi. Ananth listens, poker > faced, hands folded on his chest, physically stonewalling me … with an > occasional hmmm… then he opens up… comfortable that the question is not > about intricacies of financing a housing society. > > …In Delhi we have a very territorial and parochial kind of people… > matlab very… ke bhaiyya hum rahete hain yahan south Dlhi mein…that > thing is there…so what I have is a fortress kind of a thing… this is > where I think security really comes in… Dilli mein itna to hai nahi ke > itne mar kutai chal rahi hai ki security is required so much…it's not > so bad… but people really love having a lot more security guards…I mean > they don't want to give access to the common man… there is a tendency > to barricade from the rest of the world…hai..kuch… matlab… we have > that we are a little higher up… the more you project that you are > different… kind of untouchable for the normal person… the more it's > advantageous out here… > > I ask him to give a specific example…. Laburnum… it's a housing > society in Gurgaon… it's selling at three crore per flat…that's > primarily because of this kind of security… wohi 4-5 security guards hote > hain… zarra se apparatus idhar udhar… but ITC made it …they are not > very good flats …but again the name is there…probably our flats have > better stuff over there… but they built it up on a name… such a great > name… NRI's … officials of other MNC's have bought them…they made > a group…now they are attracting more of those kinds…stuff is the > same…its four bedroom… they have say… 20% more area than ours… but > they are selling it for five times the price… that's the way you > package a stuff yaa… and sell it…they have done a good job of it… the > security is a major thing… security ka point of view kaafi hai… > > Laburnum has got an elaborate security system. Residents are provided with > swipe cards to access their own houses. But the interesting thing is, the > ITC group were able to increase the mark up price of their properties by > installing high tech security equipment. Ananth sees a sound business logic > in all this. He is planning to import fingerprint access machines, infrared > sensors and smart cameras for his up coming projects. The security > industrial complex has emerged as a major financial market with the > corporatization of fear. > > I thank him for his time and leave. Later at night I dine out with my old > friends at the New Friends Colony community center. Its well past twelve > when I trot back home. I reach the red light at Maharani Bagh. On the other > side of the road I see three men sitting, sharing bidis. They are probably > sharing a joke. All three of them are armed. All three have uniforms on > them. They have barricaded the road, which goes past by the Kalindi colony. > > Two of them are constables with the Delhi police, the third is a private > security guard with the Kalindi RWA. > > I cross the ring road and enter Kilokri and run into the night chowkidar > for the first time in six months. > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ From ritika at sarai.net Thu Feb 3 19:13:53 2005 From: ritika at sarai.net (Ritika) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 19:13:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] emerging media networks CD Message-ID: <42022A99.8080305@sarai.net> Dear all, this is in continuation to the last mail i had sent on the list regarding a CD that the media research project at SARAI called - 'Publics and Practices in the History of the Present' has prepared. Some of you must have received the CD by now. The Cd is now available online: http://pphp.sarai.net Feel free to browse through and send some feedback. cheers ritika -- Ritika Shrimali The Sarai Programme http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. Gottfried Benn From khadeejaarif1 at rediffmail.com Thu Feb 3 11:28:04 2005 From: khadeejaarif1 at rediffmail.com (khadeeja arif) Date: 3 Feb 2005 05:58:04 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] gate ki kahani Message-ID: <20050203055804.2610.qmail@webmail45.rediffmail.com>   Yesterday I just happened to read a chapter from a fascinating book called Barbed Wire. I found the book lying at a friend’s place. This friend of mine is obsessed with the issue of Surveillance and Security in the city (Actually that is his research project). Anyways, I just quickly read the first chapter of the book. It is a fascinating account of the history of the barbed wire, its use for the control of the space based on the discourse of exclusion and inclusion. It led me think about the various such controlling mechanisms in our everyday existence and these very mechanism make us feel the need to have more security than ever (Mainly physical security). Some of the agencies through which we are made to be conscious of our own security are the TV news, about abduction/ terror acts/; newspaper reports of killing/ abduction;/terror attacks; the announcements echoing in the air (in the markets/parking places etc); the presence of the gates/ fences/ security guards and of courses the BARBED WIRES here and there. We encounter the everydayness of the city through various purposes like: work/meetings/college/ appointments/job hunts/ house hunt/leisure activities or may be, sometime, just a surreal trip to a MAD world where the ‘normal’ world seems to be turned upside down. This constant mobility has become a hallmark of our existence within a city. It may result in our situated-ness or may assure constant movement in search of SITAUTEDNESS- desired by most of us. The forces to keep us alert as to assure our ‘security’ are galore. We are made believed that how important our safety is we don’t know? There is need for some one out there to tell us about that. This is made sure by creating a fear of the other (the outsiders/unknown/stranger/ and somebody who is not there, but CAN be there. So JUST BE ALERT!!! I remember one-winter night during my college days at MCRC, when venturing out in the night (going out to watch films, mainly at IHC, or sometime, if we had enough money, to see the films on the hall) was normal, rather most loved/cherished activity as it not only gave us a great sense of freedom but also meant interacting with the city at a different level all together (something’s which I never would have done/experienced otherwise). We had neither gone to see a film nor had we gone to meet somebody, rather we were in the premise of our locality. We were actually not able to decide whether we should stay at Bharat Nagar (Where me, Pineneg and Tina stayed) or spend the night at Rita’s place (Another batch mate of mine). Rita stayed in the A Block of New Friends Colony. Rita was also with us. It was 11 in the night when we had decided finally to stay at Rita’s place. We decided to go to Rita’s place via a short cut, from behind the Bharat Nagar, without actually realizing that we were little too late to be eligible to cross the well-gated New Friends Colony. We walked for fifteen minutes, and, when we reached the A block, we were denied the permission to enter the block by the guards as it was already time to shut the gates and in no circumstances we could cross the gates. Though we pleaded to the guard. Rita: Bhiya main tau yahin rahti Ho Guard: tau madam aapko tau pata hona chahiye Khadeeja: Bhiya abhi tau 11 hi baja hai ab ki baar khol dijiye.. phir kabhi aia nahi karengay Guard: Madam yeh sab aapki suraksha ke liye hi kiya hai Rita: Bhiya, please!!! Guard: Nahi madam . Khadeeja: Fuck off!!! As the guard seemed really a tough nut to crack, we decided to go back to the main road and come from the front side of the A block (or the main road). This time again we walked for fifteen minutes and decided to take a rickshaw once we reach the main road of Bharat Nagar. As we reached at the main gate of the A block, we were once again denied the entry by the guard. This time the reason was the Rickshaw. The entry of a rickshaw is prohibited in New friends Colony and if you had come with one you are suppose to get down at the main road and walk inside. This time Rita asked us not to argue because she knew that entry of a rickshaw is impossible!! So it’s better not to argue!! We got down at the well-guarded gate and walked to Rita’s place!! This incidence, in retrospect, made me think about the paranoia regarding security as the most overrated virtue these days. The narrative connects my memory lane to another story of a gate. I remember once some people coming to meet my Mama on a Sunday morning in our Zakir Nagar house and collecting 500 Rs each to put up a gate and a watchman at the entrance of our gali. I remember myself asking a very obvious and a naïve question: “ Lakin gate laga kar fayeda kiya chor tau kahin se bhi aa sakta hai kiyonki yeh gali tau charo taraf se khuli hai aur sab jagah se connected hai /” One uncle who came to collect the money responded: “lakin humay tau puri koshis karni hai. Aajkal mahol bohat kharab hai”. Anyways, everybody agreed to have a gate and a security guard to PROTECT/ SAFEGUARD all of us. The money was collected. Gate was ordered. The watchman was decided. Next week the gate was up and everyone was feeling HAPPY and SECURE. Some people in the neighborhood including one of my aunts took it as a status symbol and were feeling really proud. Weeks passed. All celebrated gated ness of the lane. What difference did it make to our life in terms of making it more secure? Nobody knew!! Or, there was no way that one could have possibly known. One month passed. Time was to pay the salary of the watchman. Money had to be contributed by everyone!! Gradually the dispute over the monthly salary of the guard sprung up. People who actually contributed for the gate and advocated the need to be SECURE backed out to pay anymore. When the proper money did not come even to contribute for the salary of the guard, he was asked to leave. After sometime, on a Sunday morning, somebody found out that one of the gates was missing. Somebody said that the people who actually came up with the idea of the gate have sold it out; somebody suggested that Chor le gaye hai. Finally, nobody could discern anything more concrete except for the fact that the gate was missing. Well, for two or three days it was a hot debate but gradually the conversation faded out and nobody actually cared, as nobody bother or feel the need to have a GATE actually. After sometime the gate was not a topic of the debate at all. The one door of the Iron Gate was standing tilted, but recently it has also been found disappeared. This time I doubt if anyone has noticed it missing. This is just a story of a gate but an interesting one!! For the obvious reason!! Yesterday a friend of mine from Aajtak was telling me that she is going to shift to the A Block of New Friends Colony. I should better tell her about the great security that an individual is assured in New Friends Colony. And, she is going to be really SAFE in New Friends colony. Gate Hai Naa!!! Khadeeja -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050203/6f9077bb/attachment.html From ritika at sarai.net Thu Feb 3 20:24:50 2005 From: ritika at sarai.net (Ritika) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:24:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] inde fellowship - first posting In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <42023B3A.5020803@sarai.net> Dear Muthatha, hi! Glad to meet a fellow geographer on the list. I am ritika - almost finishing my M.phil in urban geography from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. I got interested in your work plan for couple of (selfish) reasons: a) Sometime back i confided in two of my seniors and told them that two issues that i would want to work on in one way or the other are- environment and ICT for development.....okie stop laughing now - i know my interests couldn't have been broader!! Anyways, In your work I can see that possibility of interface that i was wanting to understand. b) In my geography department, there's lot of hype about GIS as well. Nobody wishes to question it. Its like Geographers have got into "IT"..and what else could they have asked for...?? I am obviously a bit critical to this. I am not denying that GIS is good etc etc...but i need more reference points to make sense. And i feel that your work will help me to that and also broaden up my understanding of the issues involved. I'll be looking forward to your postings. My current reserach interest is flowing from my M.phil thesis. One of my case studies was slaughterhouse. Right now i am not pursuing in regularly, but will get back to it soon. I am however, thinking of atleast doing a photo documentation of the same - if nothing else. So on and off i get back to it. As a geographer i was interested in looking at the idea of core and periphery in terms of relocation of polluting sites - and slaughterhouse was one of the cases. If you're interested to read some of my fieldwork, please visit my site: http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika I suggest if you don't have a blog - then set it up. Its lot of fun and it keeps archiving everything that you think - so its really fun to read through it and realsie where u are going...or not going...!! Looking forward to hear more from you, cheers ritika -- Ritika Shrimali The Sarai Programme http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. Gottfried Benn From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 2 11:32:37 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 22:02:37 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] 4 months course at Columbia: Human Rights and the Global Economy [Fwd] Message-ID: <8c10798f05020122026c73d6a4@mail.gmail.com> HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES PROGRAM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY I am delighted to announce that the application for the 2005 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program at Columbia University is now available. I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to disseminate this information and application to human rights advocates based in developing countries as well as grassroots activists in the United States working on human rights problems that result from or are part of the global economic system. In 2004, the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University launched a new initiative to advance human rights thinking and activism with respect to the global economy. The program's current focus on Human Rights Advocacy and the Global Economy builds on the Center's highly successful Human Rights Advocates Program, featuring a program of advocacy, skill- building, and scholarship through a four-month intensive training program in New York City. Columbia University's Human Rights Advocates Program is designed to prepare proven human rights leaders from poor countries and communities in the US to participate in national and international policy debates on economic globalization by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. An equally important part of the program is to promote debate and dialogue on the global economy between the grassroots leaders and the faculty and students at Columbia University, and in the NGO, policy-making and corporate communities. The current focus of the Human Rights Advocates Program seeks to cover key impacts of the global economy, particularly impacts on the following issue areas: *Labor rights *Migration *Health *Environmental justice *Corporate social responsibility, including sectoral issues such as human rights in the extractive industries or agriculture. Activists working on the above areas from a gender perspective are encouraged to apply. The Program is designed for lawyers, journalists, teachers, community organizers, and other human rights activists working with non-governmental organizations who work on human rights problems that result from or are part of the global economic system. Participants are selected on the basis of their previous work experience on human rights and the global economy, commitment to the human rights field, and demonstrated ability to complete graduate level studies. Full-time students or government officials will not be considered. Advocates must secure institutional endorsement from their organizations for their participation in the program and must commit to returning to that organization upon completion of the Program. Activists must also be originating from and residing in either a developing country or the United States. Fluency in English is required. This extremely competitive program will admit up to ten applicants. The program will take place from late August to the middle of December 2005. Enclosed please find an overview of the program and the 2005 application form. The completed application is due by March 21, 2005. Please note that late or incomplete applications will not be accepted. For further information or to download additional copies of the application, please refer to our website at . ******************* Location: NY Deadline: March 2005 Website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/humanrights/training/adv/hradv_pgm.htm _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From deep_focus at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 2 15:33:13 2005 From: deep_focus at rediffmail.com (deep f) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:33:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Deep Focus Call for Papers Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Images have become digitized, miniaturized and instantaneous in terms of production and used through TV networks, Internet and mobile phones. In view of the increasing importance and changing realities of image production and consumption through varied channels and new technologies, Deep Focus team has decided to focus our attention on the changes around and critically look at varied image based cultural productions. We are also in the process of launching a fairly long and widespread visual media research programme aimed at evolving a new visual pedagogy. As part of tuning the pages of Deep Focus into this wide angle of activity, we invite papers for our 2005 volumes on the following themes. Towards a New Visual Pedagogy and Ecology of Images The progress that came in slow motion and as avalanches technologised a large segment of human life and provided benefits to a small group of people of the globe while it left out the majority of people/civilizations in the cold. There has been no revolution/s at the societal level compared to the series of revolutions in the information and imaging technologies during the last few decades. This naturally resulted in large scale injustice, marginalisation and pauperization of the majority, especially the rural masses. The new global village (with no village and villagers) have become a virtual reality for a miniscule segment of humanity through films, entertainment electronics, satellite and teletechnologies. The web and mobile phones, transformed these into an end in itself through which consent is manufactured: consent to the dominant development paradigms that revolves around the ideology of the global market and profits for a few. Your contributions analysing the above realities with focus on the world of images with illustrative film stills/photographs should reach us by 30 March 2005. Disciplining diversities:Regulation and Real Freedom in the Age of Free Trade The age of teletechnolgies and free trade, promises the fall of all walls, meaning homogenizing pluralities. In this context democracy and freedom/s would mean ‘rule of law’; dissent would mean ‘terror’. It offers many illusions of well being, planned hunger and planned denial of freedom of diversities. Research papers, articles, comments, reviews and other materials on the theme should reach us by 30 June 2005. Cultural nationalism:The violence of the war against ‘terror’. Cultural nationalism, racism and xenophobia have received a new lease of life even as universal democratic principles die a quiet death in the convenient cacophony against ‘terror’ and the carnival of globalism. These are times when wars, state lawlessness and state terrorism are legitimized in the name of protecting and promoting human rights, peace, justice, national security and of course the dominant way of life. This is also the age of hidden violence that scores more body and mind counts than any wars fought by humans. Research papers, articles, reviews and comments on these issues with focus on the image creations as vehicles of such legitmisations should reach us by 30 September 2005. Images as cultural and knowledge products: Issues of Intellectual Property Rights. Intellectual property rights is one of the most contentious issue of globalisation as a universalized IPR regime is imposed on the world through the TRIPS agreement of the WTO, without concern about the life needs of the majority as these international legal instruments are driven by the ideology of profit and pushed by neo-conservatives to create regions of plenty and regions of abysmal poverty. Research papers, articles, reviews and comments on these issues with focus on the image creations and the varied manifestation of IPR regimes in the realm of images should reach us by 30 October, 2005 MAIL THE MANUSCRIPTS EITHER BY POST/COURIER OR AS E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS TO MR. GEORGE KUTTY EDITOR DEEP FOCUS NO.33/1-9, THYAGARAJA LAYOUT, JAI BHARATH NAGAR MARUTHI SEVA NAGAR P.O., BANGALORE-560 033, KARNATAKA STATE, INDIA. TEL: 00-91-80-25492774/25492779 E-MAIL: bfs at bgl.vsnl.net.in deep_focus at rediffmail.com _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From geert at xs4all.nl Wed Feb 2 02:03:59 2005 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 21:33:59 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] import-export In-Reply-To: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> References: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <9A0E6D3E-7490-11D9-8122-000D933C3E46@xs4all.nl> Import/Export Cultural Transfer between India and Germany, Austria A trans-disciplinary research and culture project by Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V. (Halle), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Majlis (Mumbai) and DeEgo (Vienna) Within the growing networks between India and the EU, Berlin and Vienna, next to London, form increasingly noticeable spots on the map. A young generation of artists, scientists and theorists is seeking an interactive dialogue between the metropolitan cities of the North and the South. On the one hand, the project intends to present the complex images of today's multicultural India, from which we - as part of the new multiethnic entity EU - might be able to learn by going beyond fashionable trends and historical phantasies. On the other hand, it is important to closely examine the marginal scenes of postcolonial discourses and to visualise the living history of migration and representation in Germany and Austria. One aim of Import/Export is to display the usually invisible screen between India and German-speaking Europe, which both sides use to project their mutual perception of the other as well as to reflect self-images. Romanticized ideas, exocitising phantasms of all kinds as well as economic expectations will all be closely examined under the following headings: Moving People deals with the individual, incidental and uncontrollable forms of cultural transfer under the heading of migration and travel. Moving Concepts examines the circulation of philosophical or political ideas, concepts and theories, between India and German-speaking Europe. Moving Goods is concerned with the strategic forms of importing and exporting material culture, both from economic and cultural viewpoints. Import/Export is organised in four chapters: The Bombay Chapter will take place from March 25th to 27th, 2005 in the Mohile Parikh Centre for Contemporary Culture (MPC3) in Mumbai, the Vienna Chapter from May 20th to 22nd, 2005 in the Künstlerhaus in Vienna, and the Berlin Chapter from August 11th to 14th, 2005 in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Each chapter consists of the following parts: A symposium introducing six independent research projects, an exhibition of commissioned photographs and installations and a film series containing exemplary historical and contemporary movies concerned with the ideas of Import/Export. As a fourth and concluding chapter the publication of Import Export - Atlas of Indo-German Fantasies will merge the basic threads and topics of the local events. Three documentary film essays will be produced by the Import/ Export network in the three participating countries. The three films will be issued on DVD as part of the publication to be released in August 2005. supported by: European Union-India Economic Cross Culture Programme, European Union, Hauptstadt Kulturfonds. Further Information at http://www.im-export.net/ From zzjamal at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 2 22:48:17 2005 From: zzjamal at rediffmail.com (Khalid) Date: 2 Feb 2005 17:18:17 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Come together!!!!!! Message-ID: <20050202171817.8386.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com>   Dear all, We ,at MCRC,Jamia,are hosting an Allumni Dinner on 13th feb. 05. All the MCRCians are cordially invited to attend the same. The contribution from the get-together will be donated to the PM Relief Fund for the Tsunami Victims. You may write in to me for tickets and other details. Thanks, Seeya.... wishing you happiness and health. Khalid -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050202/de5bc530/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Thu Feb 3 20:11:39 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:11:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Women at Abu Ghraib Message-ID: <42023823.90008@sarai.net> And now, a fuller picture behind the photographs: The American Prospect Unusual Suspects What happened to the women held at Abu Ghraib? The government isn’t talking. But some of the women are. By Tara McKelvey Issue Date: 02.04.05 On the morning of September 24, 2003 -- ?ve weeks after the suicide bombing of a United Nations compound in Baghdad killed 23 people, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, signaling an intensi?ed phase of Iraqi insurgency -- a group of American soldiers burst into Selwa’s villa near the banks of the Tigris River in Samarra, Iraq. Samarra, at the time, was under siege; after the team burst in, one of the soldiers pointed his ri?e at Selwa (she asked me to use a pseudonym), a 55-year-old wife and mother, and her daughters and grandchildren began screaming. She, and everyone in the villa, was terri?ed -- and with good reason. The soldiers had raided their house exactly four months earlier, and she remembered vividly what had happened that night. On May 24, 2003, three weeks after George W. Bush had declared that major combat operations in Iraq were over, the soldiers stormed across the villa’s marble ?oors, ri?ed through family photographs, and searched inside a French cabinet. They con?scated the family’s life savings -- $315,000 in U.S. dollars and $12,000 in Iraqi dinar -- and then seized Selwa’s husband, Saddan, who had been trained as a mechanic and, under Saddam Hussein, had risen through the Ministry of Commerce ranks until he became a director. Ever since his arrest, Selwa had lived in fear that the soldiers would come back to interrogate her or search the house again. But she never suspected they’d take her away, too. “My daughter started shouting and screaming, ‘Why are you taking my mother? You took my father!’” Selwa remembers. On a recent December evening, 14 months after she was arrested, she sits in a room in Le Royal Hotel in Amman, Jordan. Warm and outgoing, she quickly puts me at ease. Wearing a stylish black jacket and dripping with gold and jewels, she looks like the kind of woman you might see in a specialty food store on New York’s Upper West Side, bustling around the place and ?lling her basket with spicy sausages and boxes of tea. She has creamy skin and hazel eyes, and she appears rested despite the fact that, two days earlier, she had embarked on a risky journey through war-torn Iraq to meet me in Amman. She tried to come to Jordan directly, but she found the Jordanian border closed in the wake of a recent explosion. So she drove to the Syrian border, which was also closed, and spent the night. The next day, she made it here. “The soldiers put me in a Hummer and took me to a police station,” she continues, recalling the events of September 2003. “An American and an Egyptian translator interrogated me. They asked, ‘Do you know any insurgents?’ I said, ‘No.’ They said, ‘Where did you get your money?’ I said, ‘We have chicken and sheep farms and property.’ They said, ‘You have something to hide. You are giving money to the resistance. Tell us the truth.’” Several days later, she was taken in “?exicuffs,” or plastic handcuffs, to a detention facility in Tikrit, 100 miles northwest of Baghdad, where approximately 700 male Iraqi prisoners were living in desert tents. After she arrived, she says, soldiers and guards forced her and other prisoners to crouch on the ground with their arms above their heads in 100-degree weather: “They told us, ‘You are cowards. You are Saddam’s children. You are ?ghting against the Americans.’ If we complained, they said, ‘Shut up. Put your face against the wall.’” The next day, a stocky American of?cer in boots and a T-shirt told Selwa she was responsible for the disposal of waste. As a former detainee told Human Rights First senior associate Ken Hurwitz during an interview last August, this is a ritual that serves purposes both utilitarian and penal: Human waste is dumped in metal containers, mixed with lighter ?uid, and set on ?re. Detainees are forced to stir the mixture to speed its dissipation. It’s a wretched job, done in shifts by young men and boys, and the stench is overwhelming. That afternoon, the American of?cer lit a mixture of human feces and urine in a metal container and gave Selwa a heavy club to stir it. She recalls, “The ?re from the pot felt very strong on my face.” She leans forward and sweeps her hands through the air to show how she stirred the excrement. “I became very tired,” she says. “I told the sergeant I couldn’t do it.” “There was another man close to us. The sergeant came up to me and whispered in my ear, ‘If you don’t, I will tell one of the soldiers to fuck you.’” She looks down at the ?oor. “It is a shame on them,” says Riva Khoshaba, a 28-year-old Assyrian American lawyer who was born in Iraq. She is sitting across the table in the Amman hotel and looking sympathetically at Selwa. “Not on you.” Selwa closes her eyes and nods her head, trying to show that she is listening. But it’s almost as though she is sitting at a table far away and can hear Khoshaba’s words but can’t make out their meaning. Selwa nods again and sinks back into her chair. “I said, ‘I will go on.’ I stirred for two hours,” Selwa says. “Then I fainted.” For Selwa, it was only the beginning of a nightmarish journey. In early October of 2003, she was strip-searched and given an ID bracelet and a prisoner number. She had arrived at Abu Ghraib. * * * In the barrels of newsprint that have been devoted to Abu Ghraib since 60 Minutes II released the now-infamous photos on April 28, 2004, one aspect of the story has received scant attention in the American media: the detention of women. The liberation of women in Iraq and (especially) Afghanistan has been, at times, a major talking point for Bush administration of?cials as they have touted the successes of their war on terrorism in the Middle East. Yet in Iraq, the bene?ts of a free society have eluded at least part of the female population. Forty-two women have been held at Abu Ghraib, according to a U.S. Department of Defense statement provided at the request of a U.S. senator and forwarded to me, though none are interned there now. (Many of the women were released in May, shortly after the scandal broke, and the last woman was let go in July.) Overall, 90 women have been held in various detention facilities in Iraq since August 2003, says Barry Johnson, a public-affairs of?cer for detainee operations for the Multi-National Force, the of?cial name of the U.S.–led forces in Iraq, speaking on a cell phone from Baghdad. Two “high-value” female detainees are now being held, he says. More women may be in captivity, he adds, explaining that “units can capture and keep them up to 14 days.” In addition, approximately 60 children, or “juveniles,” are being held. Some women and children are picked up because they’re a “security threat,” Johnson says. And some women are detained because they’re the sisters, wives, or girlfriends of suspected insurgents -- that is, because the military thinks these women might provide information on the insurgency. But this practice, like the instances of torture exposed last year, violates the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate that no one can “be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.” In one such incident, a 28-year-old mother of three, including the 6-month-old baby she was nursing, was captured on May 9, 2004. The American Civil Liberties Union obtained a memo in which a former Defense Intelligence Agency of?cer described her detainment as a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The treatment of civilian women by American forces is a charged issue for Iraqis -- and especially for those who oppose the American presence. The terrorists who kidnapped CARE International Director Margaret Hassan, for example, demanded the release of women held by U.S. and coalition forces. Hassan is now believed to be dead. Women and children have been reluctant to speak to American journalists, which is one reason their internment has received little attention in the U.S. media. Recently, though, some have begun to step forward. * * * Let people know what happened to us,” says Victoria, a 54-year-old former bank director, on the phone from her home in the al-Dora section of Baghdad. She and Selwa, and about a dozen other women, were held together in close quarters at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities. During my trip to Amman in early December 2004, and in later telephone conversations, I spoke with four of these women. I also spoke with six men who were held at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere and had witnessed, overheard, or claimed they knew about instances of women being abused. Seven of the people I interviewed are plaintiffs in a pair of class-action lawsuits brought by a group of American attorneys, including Khoshaba, working with the left-leaning, New York–based Center for Constitutional Rights, against two private companies, the San Diego–based Titan Corporation, which hired translators who worked at Abu Ghraib, and the Virginia-based CACI International Inc., which provided interrogators. Three of the people I interviewed are not part of the lawsuits. (The suits seek redress for all detainees, not just women.) Relying on the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Racketeer In?uenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970, the suits, one aimed at each company, seek damages on behalf of detainees. The Alien Tort Claims Act has been used by human-rights groups seeking to hold U.S. corporations accountable for activity in countries with lax judicial systems. The RICO claim is novel -- the suits’ detractors would use a less charitable adjective -- and asserts that the abuses allegedly committed by employees constitute a pattern of racketeering activity. In February or March, a California federal court judge will decide whether or not he will hear the case. The contractors were, of course, “under the operational control and direction of the U.S. military,” according to a July 29 statement by CACI (pronounced “khaki”). A classi?ed report by U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Albert Church on interrogation techniques has reportedly been completed and is supposed to be released in the next few weeks. Titan’s vice president of corporate communications, Ralph “Wil” Williams, told me he would not speak publicly about the lawsuit, as did CACI International’s lead counsel, Steptoe & Johnson partner J. William Koegel Jr. In the past, Williams has said, “We believe the lawsuit to be frivolous, and we will defend ourselves against it vigorously.” And last July 27, the day the suit against CACI was ?led in federal court in Washington, the company issued a statement reading, “CACI rejects and denies the allegations of the suit as being a malicious and farcical recitation of false statements and intentional distortions.” According to the statement, “Neither the company nor any of its employees has been charged with any wrongdoing or illegal acts relating to any work in Iraq.” Susan L. Burke, a partner in the Philadelphia law ?rm Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads and one of the lead lawyers in the case, says she ?rst heard about prisoner abuse on December 26, 2002, in a Washington Post article. “There was a quote from an of?cial who said, ‘If you don’t violate someone’s human rights some of the time, you probably aren’t doing your job,’” says Burke, a blond, 42-year-old Catholic University of America law-school graduate, as she sits in a bar at Le Royal Hotel. “I thought, ‘This is my country. I can’t let this pass.’” * * * A door to the balcony outside the hotel room is open a few inches, and, as dusk falls, you can hear the sound of prayers being chanted at mosques around the city. Selwa, leaning back in her chair, says she met Saddan, her husband-to-be, when she was a teenager. He was 34. She wasn’t exactly thrilled: “I thought he was too old,” she says. But, eventually, he won her heart. “He used to sing for me and recite poems he had memorized,” she says. She quotes from Bedouin verse: “Your sweat is like pearls that sparkle.” In the late 1990s, Saddan received an award from Saddam Hussein for a water-management system he’d devised. He had his picture taken with the then-dictator. But, Selwa insists, her husband wasn’t close to Hussein. “He worked for the government, and we supported [the regime]. But my husband was not important at all,” she says. Frank “Greg” Ford, 50, a former California National Guard sergeant who was in Samarra from April through June 2003 and is now a corrections of?cer at Folsom State Prison in Represa, California, remembers Selwa’s husband differently. “He was considered Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man,” says Ford, who served in the military for 30 years and has worked as a Coast Guard medical corpsman. “I saw photos of him shaking hands with Saddam Hussein.” Ford says an “in-house” source -- as well as an Iraqi who had known the family for decades -- told them about Saddan. Speaking on background, a military of?cial says Saddan “was listed as a Baath Party member.” And Selwa, says the of?cial, “was believed to be involved with ?nancing and organizing insurgent activities.” Selwa says she believes that a tenant in a property she and her husband owned “snitched on us.” “We have a saying in Samarra, she says. “Everything is forgiven except if you have money.” Ford led the raid on their villa. He says that he knew Selwa didn’t have any useful information; his informants had told him that Saddan was the prize. That’s why Ford took her husband to the police station that night. Yet Ford was appalled by the brutal way the American soldiers treated Saddan. He told them to back off. “My team leader started beating on this old man,” Ford says. “They’d ask him questions, and every time they got a wrong answer -- pow! -- they’d hit him again. He was about to [have a] stroke.” (Ford, who sees himself as a whistle-blower, claims soldiers abused other prisoners at the police station, too; his company commander says Ford was suffering from “combat stress,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Ford’s “allegations are under investigation by the [Army’s criminal-investigation unit],” says Lieutenant Colonel Doug Hart, public-affairs chief with the California National Guard.) “[Saddan] was extremely high-value -- a reservoir of information. I said he was not to be harmed in any way,” says Ford. “But I had a bad feeling about it.” I tell Ford that Saddan was killed in a mortar attack on April 6, 2004, at Abu Ghraib. “Christ,” he says. “I knew they would screw it up.” I also tell him that Selwa was taken to Abu Ghraib, and he is shocked. “I never told them to take her,” he says. “She didn’t know anything.” When Selwa talks about Abu Ghraib and the detention facilities, her voice is soft. “Whenever I remember, it’s like a ?re goes out,” she says. “Once I saw the guards hit a woman, probably 30 years old. They put her in an open area and said, ‘Come out so you can see her.’ They pulled her by the hair and poured ice water on her. She was screaming and shouting and crying as they poured water into her mouth. They left her there all night. There was another girl; the soldiers said she wasn’t honest with them. They said she gave them wrong information. When I saw her, she had electric burns all over her body.” Selwa says she and a group of women lived in a wing of the prison that was separate from the male unit. Like the other women, she had a small room with a toilet and access to a sink. “There were a lot of maggots,” she says. She explains how she would wash her slip and her robe and then put the damp clothes on and let them dry as she was wearing them. I ask her if she was sexually assaulted. “No,” she says. “They respected me.” She pushes her chair away from the table. Asked if she was ever forced to take her clothes off, she leans back and pulls her jacket over her chest and covers part of her face with her hand. She looks downward and bites her thumb. Her eyes are half-closed, and her shoulders are slumped. “I don’t remember,” she says. She folds her arms across her chest and her eyes ?ll with tears. She stares at the ground. A few minutes later, she excuses herself and leaves the room. * * * Another woman held in Abu Ghraib was Mithal, a 55-year-old supervisor at an electrical company. Arrested on February 26, 2004, she was taken to Al-Sijood Palace, in Baghdad’s “Green Zone,” and asked about her neighbor, a retired government worker. “I think they were confusing him with some big, important person,” she says. “When they didn’t get the answer they wanted, they would put the hood on my head and yank it and make me run across a yard,” she says. “I was barefoot, and the yard was ?lled with sharp stones. The American soldier said if I didn’t cooperate, they’d put me in prison for 30 years. He said if I were his mother, he would kill me. This lasted for eight hours. Then they put me in a wooden room and sat me on a chair. They said bad words -- hurtful words. They covered me in blankets, one after another until I couldn’t breathe. Eight blankets. I pounded my feet against the ?oor because I was suffocating. “After that, they took me to [a detention center near Baghdad International Airport]. There, I heard a young woman crying out from her cell, telling an American soldier to leave her alone. She said, ‘I am a Muslim woman.’ Her voice was high-pitched and shaky. Her husband, who was in a cell down the hall, called out, ‘She is my wife. She has nothing to do with this.’ He hit the bars of his cell with his ?sts until he fainted. The Americans poured water over his face and made him wake up. When her screams became louder, the soldiers played music over the speakers. Finally, they took her to another room. I couldn’t hear anything more.” Afterward, Mithal says, she was taken to Abu Ghraib. “They stripped me and searched me,” she remembers. “Then they gave me blankets and put me in solitary con?nement in a room 2 meters by 1 and a half meters. There was no light in the room. I was there for three months.” * * * The third woman I interviewed is Khadeja Yassen, a 51-year-old former school principal. She is the sister of former Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi. A high-ranking of?cial of the Hussein government, he was the “Ten of Diamonds” in the Pentagon’s “most-wanted” playing cards. She was arrested at home on August 11, 2003, and interrogated about her brother’s whereabouts. She was held at various detention facilities, including Abu Ghraib, for ?ve months, until she was released on January 11, 2004. “After I got there,” she told me, “they took me to a room with a dog. It was a huge black dog, and it barked so loudly. It was on a leash, and it was standing two meters from me. I was terri?ed -- I felt as if I would go mad. My legs buckled, and I collapsed. An American soldier -- a woman -- was standing behind me, and she held me up. I was kept in the room for two or three minutes, and then I was taken to another place for the interrogation. They asked me about my brother. I said, ‘I don’t know where he is.’ They said, ‘You have seen the dog. Now tell us the truth.’” I ask her if they touched her during the interrogation. “I won’t answer this question,” she says. “I promised them I would not say anything about this.” * * * Were Iraqi women raped or sexually assaulted by Americans at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities? None of the women I interviewed would talk about it. “You’re asking this question in a culture that kills you for being raped,” explains Khoshaba, referring to so-called honor killings, in which women are slain for behaving “dishonorably,” which can mean they’ve had the bad luck to be sexually assaulted. There are no reliable statistics on honor killings in Iraq. But Yanar Mohamed, 43, president of the Baghdad-based group Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, has opened shelters in Baghdad and Tikrit for women who are afraid of family members. About 10 women, including a 24-year-old former soldier, Liqwa, who claims an American soldier raped her, have stayed in the shelters. Under such circumstances, rape is dif?cult to prove. Yet reports of sexual abuse and exploitation have crept into government documents. On October 7, 2003, American soldiers held a female detainee’s hands behind her back, forced her to her knees, “kissed [her] on the mouth,” and removed her blouse, according to a Commander’s Report of Disciplinary or Administrative Action. Major General Antonio Taguba reported on the “videotaping and photographing [of] naked male and female detainees” in his May 2004 report on detainee abuse. In their August 25, 2004, report examining the role of military intelligence, Major General George R. Fay and Lieutenant General Anthony R. Jones describe “Incident No. 38,” in which “a criminal detainee housed in the Hard Site was shown lifting her shirt with both her breasts exposed. There is no evidence to con?rm if [this was] consensual or coerced; however in either case sexual exploitation of a person in U.S. custody constitutes abuse.” And an image shown to members of Congress on May 12, 2004, seems to depict a female detainee exposing her breasts, apparently against her will, according to a high-level Senate staffer. “She just looked like she’d died inside,” the staffer says. Rape has become a potent symbol in Iraq, and propaganda about sexual assault has been used to foment anti-American sentiment and recruit new members for the resistance. But for some, rape has more than a symbolic meaning. A 35-year-old woman named Sundus (she asked that I use only her ?rst name) was hired by Burke’s legal team last summer to meet with former detainees and ?nd out about their experiences. A graduate of Iraq’s Al-Mamoun University College, where she studied English poetry and Shakespeare, she works to promote civil society in Iraq and is involved in election monitoring. “She’s among the new generation who’s trying to build Iraq through [nongovernmental organizations] and civil society,” says Salah Aziz, president of the Tallahassee, Florida-based organization American Society for Kurds, who met Sundus in Iraq last summer when she attended his National Endowment for Democracy–funded workshop on NGOs. “She’s a strong lady.” Between August and December 2004, Sundus says, she interviewed 54 former detainees. “I think many women who were held at Abu Ghraib were raped by Americans,” says Sundus. She wears a lilac hajib, which she ?ddles with during interviews. She has received death threats because she works with Americans, and she says one Iraqi man told her that if she spoke negatively about the resistance, “‘We will put you in the back seat of the car like Margaret Hassan.’” Sundus explains how Selwa and Selwa’s sister came to her of?ce last August. Selwa said she wanted to speak about her detention privately. Her sister left the room. Then Selwa sat down with Sundus. “They did everything bad to me, and may God take them all to hell,” Selwa told her. “She began to weep bitterly,” recalls Sundus. “She didn’t tell the truth to her family.” Male detainees, too, have described the abuse of women. A 42-year-old car broker, Saleh, who was held at Abu Ghraib from October to December of 2003, spoke with Huntington Woods, Michigan-based attorney Shereef Akeel, a member of Burke’s legal team, in March 2004. “He said he saw a woman being raped: ‘She was on all fours in a hallway outside my cell, and a soldier was raping her. She was looking at me, and I couldn’t do anything to help her. Her eyes looked dead,’” says Akeel. Mahal, a 70-year-old tribal sheik who wears a charcoal tunic and has a gray-speckled mustache, told me he met a female detainee on May 4, 2004, the day they were both released from Abu Ghraib, on a bus ride home. “She sat two rows away from me,” he says. “She was wearing a hajib, and her face was completely dried up. It looked as though she hadn’t seen the sun in a very long time. ‘I’ve seen terrible things,’ she said. ‘We went through hell.’ She was crying and saying women had been tortured and raped.” Nabil is a 37-year-old human-rights lawyer married to Selwa’s oldest daughter. He is a tall man with a high forehead, and he is dressed in a white shirt, cuf?inks, a wool vest, and wire-rimmed glasses. (He asked me not to use his real name “so I can sleep soundly at night.”) He was arrested on September 28, 2003, and held at various detention facilities, including Abu Ghraib, until May 28, 2004. A military of?cial con?rms that Nabil was released from Abu Ghraib on that date. “In November or December, I really can’t remember, I was in a room and could hear sounds coming from outside,” he says, drinking tea in an Amman hotel room. “The windows were broken, and they were covered with wooden panels. Sometimes I could hear screams and shouts. Women were calling for mercy. There were also children between the ages of 10 and 12. The children became hysterical. I was told the women were tortured in front of their children. One day, a sheik came back from a medical clinic where he’d been treated. He was in tears. ‘What happened?’ we asked. He told us he had seen a young girl, 15 years old, with internal bleeding. She had been raped over and over again by the soldiers, and she could no longer talk. He is a deeply religious man. But that night, he shouted at Allah. ‘How is it possible that you are there and these things are happening?!’ he said.” A former diplomat who attended the UN General Assembly in New York in December 2001 (“I had an administrative job,” he says), Nabil says he was forced to hear the cries of women during his own interrogations. “I feel this was part of the psychological warfare on me,” he says. “They told me, ‘You are a diplomat. You once visited countries as a VIP and had diplomatic immunity. This means nothing to us. And we will prove it to you. Everything you have heard about the concepts of democracy, liberty, religious tolerance, and human rights -- you can throw them away,’” he says. He grabs a handful of air and pretends to toss something over his shoulder. “They said, ‘We are above the law. We have no limits. They call us the special ops. No one has power over us -- not even President Bush. If someone dies during interrogation, that is normal.’” Nabil sits on a luggage rack in the hotel room and describes how soldiers kicked him, beat him, stepped on his ?ngers, and doused him with ice water. His spine, he says, is now “crooked and twisted.” He lifts up a neatly pressed pant leg to show a red hole in his knee where an electrical wire had been inserted. Today, he says, he still feels ashamed -- and tells no one -- that his mother-in-law was detained. “The ?rst thing that will come to their minds is that she was sexually assaulted,” he says. “As a man, I feel I should have defended her till my death.” * * * Many experts would say that such interrogations violate the Geneva Conventions. Nevertheless, a senior U.S. military of?cial told reporters in a background brie?ng on May 14, 2004, that the interrogations have reaped bene?ts. “We have gotten some great information on additional terrorist threats in Iraq, on radical Sunni Islamists working with former regime elements and how that working relationship takes place,” he said. “And we’ve also gotten some key information on terrorists.” But Anthony H. Cordesman, author of a December 2004 Center for Strategic for International Studies paper, “The Developing Iraqi Insurgency,” says it hasn’t been enough. The military has stumbled in its efforts to gather even basic facts about the insurgency, Cordesman says, explaining that it has “failed to honestly assess the facts on the ground in a manner reminiscent of Vietnam.” According to information provided in a February 2004 International Committee of the Red Cross report, 70 percent to 90 percent of the detainees at Abu Ghraib had little or no intelligence value. In some cases, the interrogators may have been asking the wrong questions. Victoria, the former bank director who was seized on August 11, 2003, says, “They asked me if I knew where the weapons of mass destruction are.” Like many of the former detainees I spoke with, she says someone -- an employee at her bank, she believes -- tipped off the U.S. forces about her. “There was always pressure to get information, and some [U.S.] agents didn’t have much patience,” says David DeBatto, a 50-year-old former Army National Guard counterintelligence agent who was in Iraq from March through October of 2003. He is now a guest commentator on National Public Radio, FOX News, and MSNBC. “As soon as they got information,” he says, “they thought it was good. They wouldn’t verify it. Maybe they even embellished it a little.” After I returned from Jordan last December, I received an e-mail from Tony Miller, a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) public-affairs specialist, in response to my questions about prisoner abuse. “CID is looking into the allegations of detainee abuses,” he wrote. “[But] we will not get into numbers and types of investigations.” When I ask Multi-National Force spokesman Barry Johnson about the sexual abuse of women at Abu Ghraib, he says, “There are no allegations of rape by any female detainees.” I mention the stories I’ve heard and ask whether or not military investigators have tried to contact the women who have been released. “Well, we don’t really have a mechanism for reaching out and ?nding former detainees,” he says. “If we have allegations and they’re brought to us, we would open the case.” I point out that it’s hard for them to talk about this. “Certainly, there is a stigmatism in this culture when a female is detained or put in prison,” he says. “It has been an education for us to understand this. And when I know there is someone who is talking to people like you, I try to remind you that there are people at the [Iraqi] Ministry of Human Rights -- there are females there -- and they deal with detainees on a daily basis.” What kinds of things have you heard from them? I ask. “Well, frankly, I just don’t think there have been too many former detainees who have gone to them,” he says. A high-level Senate staffer says the Department of Defense has “stonewalled” senators when they’ve asked about the sexual abuse of women at Abu Ghraib. “Most, if not all, of the female detainees have never been questioned about whether or not they were sexually assaulted or raped at Abu Ghraib,” she writes in an e-mail. “Therefore, as the [Defense Department] spins it, no allegations ‘surfaced’ so no corrective measures are needed.” * * * Are these former detainees exaggerating their abuse? Are they remembering things wrong? Worst, are they lying? They have a reason to hate Americans. Further, there might be ?nancial rewards for those who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. As I was introduced to various “torture victims,” as members of their legal team describe them, and at other times during my trip to Jordan and since, I’ve wondered if I was being duped. “How do you know they’re not lying?” I ask Sundus in an airy café as Alanis Morissette plays over the loudspeakers. At a nearby table, a tribal sheik eats pistachios and spits shells into a saucer. “When I sit in front of you, you don’t know if I’m telling the truth,” Sundus says. “But when you look into my eyes, you ?nd out. Of course, sometimes you get confused. It’s natural. But when you depend upon your feeling, you can tell.” On my fourth day in Amman, I hired Ranya Kadri, a reporter and “?xer” who works for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, to translate my interview with Selwa. Kadri, a kickboxing a?cionado, has a reputation for being tough with customs of?cials, nosy hotel butlers, and journalists (“John Burns is afraid of me,” she told me, speaking of The New York Times correspondent who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997 for reporting on the Taliban). Before the interview, she pulls me aside. “Are you sure she’s not trying to trick you?” she asks. “I’ve seen it happen before. They use fake death certi?cates and everything.” I sit with Kadri across a table from Selwa. After speaking for nearly two hours, Selwa steps out of the meeting room for a break. Kadri turns to me and says, “I believe her. She says she likes Saddam Hussein and things she knows she shouldn’t. She’s the real thing.” Perhaps, eventually, an American court will decide. The more I thought about the lawsuit, the more it became apparent to me that a legal effort like this can serve as a magnet for people who might have hidden agendas. The members of the legal team have ventured into a treacherous environment: an occupied country at war with itself, where hatred of America runs deep and where the level of intrigue makes Casablanca look like a middle-school debating society. Burke et al. have had to assemble their team of investigators and their evidence as quickly as they could, amid danger and chaos, and without long expertise in the area. The pressure on them is not so unlike the pressure that was on the military contractors to generate quick and unambiguous results. It’s a possibility that in this sprawling coalition of trial lawyers, activists, and victims thousands of miles away, some uncomfortable truths could be revealed -- for example, that some of the women I spoke with actually might have known things that would have been of value to the U.S. military. And it’s a possibility that some of the actors in this drama, whether they’re working in Baghdad or in the United States, nurture visions of a future Iraq -- fundamentalist, or perhaps re-Baathi?ed -- that would be repugnant to any liberal sense of justice and the rule of law. But as long as the government fails to act on evidence that private contractors may have committed torture -- or, indeed, fails to come clean on how the policy that condoned torture was devised in the ?rst place -- the private lawsuit, however ?awed, may be the best legal recourse. A Democratic staffer on a Senate committee studying the issue says, “We don’t usually question tactics. But part of me thinks maybe we should. One of the big problems in Iraq was how we conducted the war. They were just nabbing everybody and then sending them to Abu Ghraib. It’s not surprising you have these results.” Human Rights First’s Hurwitz says, “We think the proliferation of reports -- from Taguba, Fay and Jones, and others -- has actually clouded the issue. Each of the authors has a tiny mandate. In the end, you don’t see the truth, which is how cruel and pointless the treatment of detainees has been.” * * * It’s a Saturday afternoon in Washington, and I’m on the phone with Mithal, who was held at Abu Ghraib. As Mithal says, she never had anything against Americans before they arrived. Now she does. Her voice sounds scratchy, and I’m almost out of minutes on my prepaid calling card. I ask if there’s anything else she wants to tell me. “I am an Iraqi woman, and I refuse to allow an American or anyone else to occupy my land,” she says. “They told us they are going to give us liberty, and we have found something totally different.” Tara McKelvey is a Prospect senior editor. Copyright © 2005 by The American Prospect, Inc. Preferred Citation: Tara McKelvey, "Unusual Suspects", The American Prospect Online, Jan 14, 2005. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author. Direct questions about permissions to permissions at prospect.org. From rahul_capri at yahoo.com Fri Feb 4 09:02:42 2005 From: rahul_capri at yahoo.com (Rahul Asthana) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 19:32:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System In-Reply-To: <20050202201348.9737237CEC@sitemail.everyone.net> Message-ID: <20050204033243.85994.qmail@web53603.mail.yahoo.com> Shaheen, This is a welcome attempt.Keep us posted. In the end there is a news item on a Madarsa in Chauri,U.P. Madarsas do play a very important role.The government has its own role to play leading up to this situation.Urdu has been neglected, and relgious studies are not given the deserved importance in a country with such a rich cultural tradition. Perhaps, the next and more important destination should be AIMPLB, which fancies itself as speaking for all Muslims without having any democratic sanction. regards Rahul http://in.news.yahoo.com//040819/139/2fkyg.html Hindu students study at a Madrasa Chauri (UP), Aug 19 (ANI): A "Madrasa" in a village here has opened its doors for Hindu students, thereby making a rare but welcome attempt to break away from religious fundamentalism. Operating from a mosque in Chauri village, considered amongst the most communally-sensitive, the Madrasa, unlike others, has a public school curriculum. The children here get to learn all subjects from geography to science, otherwise reviled and often banned from religious schools. The morning prayers begin with an ode to Mahatma Gandhi followed by traditional Islamic teachings and a patriotic song. Needless to say, the resonance of children learning Urdu and Sanskrit together and singing patriotic songs is a heartwarming sight for a nation ridden by some dangerously deep religious divides. "It is different from the way rest of the madrasas work. Here children from all the castes study, whether they are Muslims or Hindus alongwith Urdu language children are also taught English, Hindi and Sanskrit," Maulana Ansar Ahmed, the Madarsa head-master said. ocals said they remained unaffected by the communal undertones and were more interested in chalking out a better future for their children. "Children are taught everything in this madrasa and they are also taught Urdu so we send them here," Devi Prasad Gaud, a parent said. "Here children not only are they educated but they learn culture, religion and ethics. They are groomed for a better future, how to give an interview, what is positive about hygene, we teach all that," Paras Nath Srivastav, the village head said. (ANI) --- shaheen ansari wrote: --------------------------------- --- Begin forwarded message: From: zubair hudawi Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 11:25:00 +0000 (GMT) To: arkitectindia at yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System Dear Sir, I am a graduate from an Islamic institution in Kerala after studying there for 12 years. I have done my BA and MA in Sociology from Osmania and Madurai Kamaraj Universities respectively through correspondence while I was in the Islamic College. I have done my 2nd PG in Arabic language from JNU and now I am in my second semester of Mphill in JNU SLL& CS. I�ve been reading interestingly all mails and comments from the well doing Arkitectindia and now wants to add some experiences in to notice. I studied till the fifth grade in a regular school and then enrolled at the Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, in Chemmad, in the Mallapuram district of northern Kerala. The Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, where I studied, is a good example of how we can incorporate modern education in the madrasa system. At the Academy we studied the general Islamic subjects, along with subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History till the twelfth grade level. This allowed us to appear as external candidates in the government secondary school examination. In addition, we also learnt Urdu, Malayalam and Comparative Religions. Besides, we had to learn computers and take part in a range of extra-curricular activities, such as games and literary and public discussion groups. By combining traditional Islamic and modern education in this way, the Academy trains 'ulama who choose from a range of careers, and thus need not only work as imams or preachers in mosques. Some of the Academy's graduates are abroad, working in the Gulf. Some have joined various Malayali newspapers. Several of them are now studying at regular universities, many of them in higher Arabic and Islamic studies, but a few in other fields which madrasa graduates earlier rarely entered. Thus, for instance, a graduate of the Academy is presently doing his M.Phil in Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he is working on 'The Crisis of Tradition and Modernity Among Muslims' for his thesis. In much of the rest of India there is a sharp dualism between Islamic and modern education. As a result, students who study in madrasas have little or no knowledge of modern subjects. Likewise, those who study in regular school have little or no knowledge of Islam. This dualism is reinforced by the stance of some traditional 'ulama, who seem to regard the two forms of knowledge as distinct from, if not opposed to, each other, although, as I see it, any form of beneficial knowledge is legitimate in Islam. In Kerala, this dualism has, to a large extent, been overcome. We have a unique system of Islamic education in Kerala. Every local Muslim community has its own madrasa, which is affiliated to a state-level madrasa board run by one or the other Muslim organisation. The madrasa boards prepare the syllabus and textbooks that are used by all the madrasas affiliated to them. The boards also conduct the annual examinations and send out regular inspection teams. The timings of the madrasas are adjusted in such a way that allows the children to attend regular school as well. In this way, by the time they finish their school education most Muslim children in Kerala have a fairly good grounding in Islamic studies as well. I don't think there is any similar system in any other Indian state, where, generally, if you want to study Islam you have to go without modern education. In Kerala, fortunately, we do not have to make a choice between Islamic or modern education. Our children can study Islam while at the same time carrying on with their regular studies as well. After they graduate from regular school, if they want to specialise in Islamic studies they can join an Arabic College, and if they want to go in for modern education they can enrol in a university. Nowadays we can see a number institutions continuing the combined study up to degree or PG level facilitating the students to study both religious and modern education. What I want to mention here is that Muslims see the religious education most important and necessary to keep the religious practices in their life. Eventhough nowadays the study has become to produce a particular so-called clergy class and oriented to do jobs with religion, the islamic education is religiously compulsory to every one to regulate the life of a believer and to mould a good human being who is good to humanity. In the prevailing situation we can or have to preach the need and necessity of modern education in a cordial and convincing manner. Unfortunately many who ventured earlier failed due to an accusing and blaming attitude with out considering the social milieu they live in and the cultural past they came through. A model which allow the students go ahead to achieve best schooling and after with that of keeping religious study would be identical for the betterment of Madrasa education utilising madrasa graduates studying in our universities because they would be better to impart and make understand the necessity of modern education to the concerned authorities. One thing is more important, that Madreasa graduates are not the potential terrorists they mostly keep kind hearts and minds and they are understood so by others because most of them are unwilling to interact especially with non-muslims due to complexes or habituated solitude. The potential terrorists are the common men who are deprived of even religious education, keeping the emotional and inflammable belief and touch with religion. So We cannot deny religious education but we must strive for making their prospects better with imparting good and suitable modern education. Offering all the kind services which I can Your Friend Zubair Hudawi K 104, Jhelum Hostel JNU 9868304304 Sadbhav Mission wrote: Dear Shaheen, Your have raised an important issue. Three realities must be kept in mind: 1) Madarsas are the only avenues of education for most vhildren who go there. In Yamuna Pushta slums I had made efforts to get children enrolled in govt schools but there was no room for many of these children. Then Janam patri was a problem. Further, parents did not expect themselves to be able to educate their child to a level where he/ she could find a job. Hence motivation for formal schooling was dampened. 2) Poor children educated in madarsas are never fundamentalists. Poverty as a class deters them from being fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and political doctrine. 3) Madarsa education in most svhools, where poor children study, is too minimal to develop any substantial understanding of society, religion, science, maths, langyage or cultivating any technical skills. This must be upgraded and better organized. Institutions like Nadva and Darul Uloom excel in a few of these of these areas, specially religion, Arabic and Urdu. The education however should be more broad based. Best regards Vipin monam khan wrote: "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation" Friends This should be read in the continuation of Dr. Shaheen Ansari's mail dated February 1, 2005. Some people may raise questions about its importance in discussing here. So, I think, it is important to state about the relevance of this discussion. Every Muslim locality has a mosque and majority of them have Madrasas. We at Ark Foundation believe that instead of building new infrastructure we should work on reconstructing the already existing Madrasas in the country. This is not only economical but practically viable also. We can get teachers and students easily. What we need is to reorient old teachers of the Madrasas and appoint a couple of new teachers with the background of modern education system. Relevance of the discussion also lies in analyzing importance of Madrasas in majority of the Muslim society. In view of the ongoing changes in the social, cultural, economic, and political environment drastic changes is required in Madrasa system of education so that Indian Muslims could come to terms with the changing needs of contemporary Indian society. It is true that the Indian Madrasas have produced a number of world famous Islamic scholars, but lakhs of Muslims educated from these Madrasas are deprived of the job opportunities because of their ignorance of modern knowledge. This create a vicious circle as majority of the students going to Madrasas are from economically weaker section of the society. Those who can afford send their children to mainstream schools including public schools. The debate is justified in a sense that it will provide a balanced synthesis of the classical and the modern method of teaching. The concern will be to seek ways in which Muslims can learn to integrate the revealed fundamentals and the ever transforming world of modern knowledge. It will show how the changes do not involve the dilution of the traditional thought, but the affirmation of the dynamic nature of the faith. Modernisation is understood primarily in relation to the need for modern subjects in Madrasa- not just for their own sake, but also in order to further understand the deeper implications of the Quran. A deeper study of history of the wider world for instance, is one such areas of improvement. Likewise, the study of social sciences, Hindi (national language of India), English (the language of the world) is necessary in order that the graduates feel at home in the world they live in and interact with. At the primary and intermediate levels, the pupils need to be exposed to key subjects taught in the alternative system of education. Modernisation is also important in terms of promoting employment oriented programmes. These are programmes through which the pupils will be given technical and professional training as well as religious, in order to be able to maintain themselves and their families. It is also making of Madrasa system of education relevant to modern times. So on behalf of Ark Foundation I would like to request you to kindly throw some light on it. Thanks Monam Khan Coordinator Research Team Modernisation of Madrasa Education Ark Foundation PS: Friends we are looking for innovative ideas but we will also welcome ideas which you may have come across in books, journals/magazines and newspapers. You can also help us by sending names of references or web links on the above topic. The purpose is to learn and develop a model for the modernisation of Madrasa education system. So the ideas should not be necessarily your own creation but relevant to cause or the topic under discussion. shaheen ansari wrote: Madrasa Education System: A debate Friends In recent years Madrasas have attracted immense attention in India, more so than mosques and other endowed institutions of India. This has partially been on account of the general perception that fundamentalism, Islamization and extremist violence stem from the Madrasa. Orthodoxy, religious conservatism and obsession to medieval identity remained the main focus of Madrasa education in India. And this is the point from where the demand for debate on modernization of Madrasa on Indian soil gets strengthen. Before reaching at any conclusion we should ask ourselves: Is the perception per se is correct? or Is it a creation of media? or Is it propagated by people with vested interest? Well, in JNU people have different opinion. To understand this a group of students, coordinated by Monam Khan (monamkhan2002 at yahoo.co.in), has identified six Madrasa in South Delhi. They have selected South Delhi because it is close to both JNU and IIT, from where we draw most of our volunteers for the programme called "Two Hours A Week". I should tell here that in this programme every volunteer gives at least two hours a week for the development of our underprivileged brethren. Monam is taking this initiative not only to understand the above mentioned perception but also to initiate the experiment of Modernisation of Madrasa Education in India. We know that every individual carries his/her own socioeconomic, religious and educational background for his/her understanding on various issues. Several volunteers have come out with different argument to introduce different kind of courses/subjects in order to modernise Madrasas. There was a long debate on the issue and before reaching at any conclusion we decided to share it with the esteemed members of arkitectindia, an online group discussion forum and seek their opinion. Some of us believe that the Madrasas are playing a vital role in literacy movement. It is the real foundation of Muslim education in India. Now the questions to ponder are: Do the people who run these institutions lack clarity of vision about the present day economic and social needs of Indian Muslims? Are they playing a positive role in the scheme of their education?. Can Madrasas be converted into vehicles for communication of secular and modern knowledge so that Muslim participation in civil society increases? Is it possible to empower the entire community through the modernisation of Madrasas? Though we will welcome discussion on concept and relevance of Madrasa but we would like to focus on the scope for modernization of Madrasa. We invite suggestion and views for: Understanding Madrasa Education System Process or method for its modernization New syllabus taking into account the changed conditions of modern life and Steps to improve economic conditions of Madrasa students through vocational training. Now the forum is open for debate and discussion on "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation". Can you spare a few minutes for this cause? Then kindly educate us on the above issue. Thanking you Yours sincerely Shaheen Ansari --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: arkitectindia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > subject header. > List archive: __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From iram at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 11:48:28 2005 From: iram at sarai.net (iram at sarai.net) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 07:18:28 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] gate ki kahani In-Reply-To: <20050203055804.2610.qmail@webmail45.rediffmail.com> References: <20050203055804.2610.qmail@webmail45.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <7a98103817f104046512b6666af8a0b2@sarai.net> Hello, Just thought that I should also add my two- bit to the discussions around security. Being familiar with New Friends Colony and Zakir Nagar very well, I can vouch for the fact that yes, it is really inconvenient and annoying at times to face security guards and locked gates etc. For those on this list who are not familiar with this part of South Delhi, there are on the one hand these heavily gated/posh colonies like Friends Colony, New friends Colony and Maharani Bagh. On the other hand, are pockets of localities/ mohallas and remnants of the earlier villages like Julena, Zakir Nagar, Bharat Nagar, and Taimur Nagar. These different worlds for those who are familiar, will know, do not exist in isolation, but through constant interaction/ exchange. Even if it is something as banal as using a New Friends Colony road to get to Zakir Nagar. I am not very familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but I’m sure security of sorts would figure there. It is human nature to want to be secure- physically, financially emotionally, etc. It’s not just the State and the private security apparatus that would argue for the need for security, but other social structures that play upon fear such as insurance, banking, health, education, real estate etc. I know I’m really sticking my neck out with this but don’t we all live in a state of fear? Some people more so than others. Maybe in Zakir Nagar the gate is superfluous/ a mere status symbol for Khadeeja’s neighbour. But something alleviates fear here and is fulfilling the need for security. I know of families who live in Zakir Nagar because they feel it is `safe’. So, I think some kind of security apparatus would be formally or informally operational there. In Maharani Bagh, the physical manifestation of security could be a gate, a security guard, a CCTV camera, in Zakir Nagar, it would be something else. Gates keep people out. They also keep people in- not necessarily the residents but also who the residents want to come to this `enclosure’ of sorts. FAmily, friends, acquaintances, and service providers. However the threshold of entry would be different for everyone. I guess depending on how known is the unknown and how familiar is the stranger. Cheers, Iram On 6:58:04 am 02/03/05 "khadeeja arif" wrote: > > Yesterday I just happened to read a chapter from a fascinating book > called Barbed Wire. I found the book lying at a friend’s place. This > friend of mine is obsessed with the issue of Surveillance and Security > in the city (Actually that is his research project). Anyways, I just > quickly read the first chapter of the book. It is a fascinating account > of the history of the barbed wire, its use for the control of the space > based on the discourse of exclusion and inclusion. It led me think > about the various such controlling mechanisms in our everyday existence > and these very mechanism make us feel the need to have more security > than ever (Mainly physical security). Some of the agencies through > which we are made to be conscious of our own security are the TV news, > about abduction/ terror acts/; newspaper reports of killing/ > abduction;/terror attacks; the announcements echoing in the air (in the > markets/parking places etc); the presence of the gates/ fences/ > security guards and of courses the BARBED WIRES here and there. > We encounter the everydayness of the city through various purposes > like: work/meetings/college/ appointments/job hunts/ house hunt/leisure > activities or may be, sometime, just a surreal trip to a MAD world > where the ‘normal’ world seems to be turned upside down. > This constant mobility has become a hallmark of our existence within > a city. It may result in our situated-ness or may assure constant > movement in search of SITAUTEDNESS- desired by most of us. > The forces to keep us alert as to assure our ‘security’ are galore. > We are made believed that how important our safety is we don’t know? > There is need for some one out there to tell us about that. This is made sure by creating a fear of the other (the outsiders/unknown/strange > r/ and somebody who is not there, but CAN be there. So JUST BE ALERT!!! > > I remember one-winter night during my college days at MCRC, when > venturing out in the night (going out to watch films, mainly at IHC, or > sometime, if we had enough money, to see the films on the hall) was > normal, rather most loved/cherished activity as it not only gave us a > great sense of freedom but also meant interacting with the city at a > different level all together (something’s which I never would have > done/experienced otherwise). We had neither gone to see a film nor had > we gone to meet somebody, rather we were in the premise of our > locality. We were actually not able to decide whether we should stay at > Bharat Nagar (Where me, Pineneg and Tina stayed) or spend the night at > Rita’s place (Another batch mate of mine). Rita stayed in the A Block > of New Friends Colony. Rita was also with us. It was 11 in the night > when we had decided finally to stay at Rita’s place. We decided to go > to Rita’s place via a short cut, from behind the Bharat Nagar, without > actually realizing that we were little too late to be eligible to cross > the well-gated New Friends Colony. We walked for fifteen minutes, and, > when we reached the A block, we were denied the permission to enter the > block by the guards as it was already time to shut the gates and in no > circumstances we could cross the gates. Though we pleaded to the > guard. Rita: Bhiya main tau yahin rahti Ho > Guard: tau madam aapko tau pata hona chahiye > Khadeeja: Bhiya abhi tau 11 hi baja hai… ab ki baar khol dijiye.. > phir kabhi aia nahi karengay… Guard: Madam yeh sab aapki suraksha ke > liye hi kiya hai… Rita: Bhiya, please!!! > Guard: Nahi madam…. > Khadeeja: Fuck off!!! > > As the guard seemed really a tough nut to crack, we decided to go > back to the main road and come from the front side of the A block (or > the main road). This time again we walked for fifteen minutes and > decided to take a rickshaw once we reach the main road of Bharat Nagar. > As we reached at the main gate of the A block, we were once again > denied the entry by the guard. This time the reason was the Rickshaw. > The entry of a rickshaw is prohibited in New friends Colony and if you > had come with one you are suppose to get down at the main road and walk > inside. This time Rita asked us not to argue because she knew that > entry of a rickshaw is impossible!! So it’s better not to argue!! We > got down at the well-guarded gate and walked to Rita’s place!! > This incidence, in retrospect, made me think about the paranoia > regarding security as the most overrated virtue these days. The > narrative connects my memory lane to another story of a gate. I > remember once some people coming to meet my Mama on a Sunday morning in > our Zakir Nagar house and collecting 500 Rs each to put up a gate and a > watchman at the entrance of our gali. I remember myself asking a very > obvious and a naïve question: > > > “ Lakin gate laga kar fayeda kiya… chor tau kahin se bhi aa sakta hai > kiyonki yeh gali tau charo taraf se khuli hai aur sab jagah se > connected hai…/” > One uncle who came to collect the money responded: “lakin humay tau > puri koshis karni hai. Aajkal mahol bohat kharab hai”. > Anyways, everybody agreed to have a gate and a security guard to > PROTECT/ SAFEGUARD all of us. The money was collected. Gate was > ordered. The watchman was decided. Next week the gate was up and > everyone was feeling HAPPY and SECURE. > Some people in the neighborhood including one of my aunts took it as > a status symbol and were feeling really proud. > Weeks passed. All celebrated gated ness of the lane. What difference > did it make to our life in terms of making it more secure? Nobody > knew!! Or, there was no way that one could have possibly known. > One month passed. Time was to pay the salary of the watchman. Money > had to be contributed by everyone!! Gradually the dispute over the > monthly salary of the guard sprung up. People who actually contributed > for the gate and advocated the need to be SECURE backed out to pay > anymore. When the proper money did not come even to contribute for the > salary of the guard, he was asked to leave. After sometime, on a Sunday > morning, somebody found out that one of the gates was missing. Somebody > said that the people who actually came up with the idea of the gate > have sold it out; somebody suggested that Chor le gaye hai. Finally, > nobody could discern anything more concrete except for the fact that > the gate was missing. > Well, for two or three days it was a hot debate but gradually the > conversation faded out and nobody actually cared, as nobody bother or > feel the need to have a GATE actually. After sometime the gate was not > a topic of the debate at all. The one door of the Iron Gate was > standing tilted, but recently it has also been found disappeared. This > time I doubt if anyone has noticed it missing. This is just a story of > a gate but an interesting one!! For the obvious reason!! > Yesterday a friend of mine from Aajtak was telling me that she is > going to shift to the A Block of New Friends Colony. I should better > tell her about the great security that an individual is assured in New > Friends Colony. And, she is going to be really SAFE in New Friends > colony. Gate Hai Naa!!! > > Khadeeja > From lokesh at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 13:08:49 2005 From: lokesh at sarai.net (Lokesh) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 13:08:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] discussion on Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law Message-ID: <42032689.90904@sarai.net> Join us for a discussion with Nivedita Menon On Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law Based on her recently published book of the same title (Permanent Black, 2004), Nivedita Menon will engage with us on a discussion of a particular dilemma for radical politics today, what she calls the “paradox of constitutionalism” – the tension between the need to assert various and differing moral visions and the universalising drive of constitutionality and the language of universal rights. What are the specific historical experiences of the Indian feminist movement in engaging with this dilemma? What are its consequences for the present, and where do we go from here? Venue :Seminar Room, Dept. of Linguistics, Arts Fac., North Campus, Delhi University Date : 7 Feb 2005 Time : 2 pm to 4 pm Stree Adhikar Sanghatan. streeadhikar at rediffmail.com From stevedietz at yproductions.com Thu Feb 3 20:12:53 2005 From: stevedietz at yproductions.com (Steve Dietz) Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 08:42:53 -0600 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] ISEA2006 Symposium and residency call Message-ID: ISEA2006 SYMPOSIUM The ISEA2006 Symposium is being held in conjunction with the first biennial ZeroOne San Jose Global Festival for Art on the Edge in San Jose, California, August 5-13, 2006. The themes for the Symposium and Festival are: Interactive City, Community Domain, Pacific Rim, and Transvergence. See http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html for more details. OPEN CALL FOR RESIDENCY PROJECT We are announcing an open call for an airport residency project in conjunction with the Symposium. Future calls will be announced over the next 6 weeks. See http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./calls.html for more information. The City of San Jose Public Art Program, in collaboration with the San Jose Airport Department is pleased to announce an artist residency program as part of the ISEA2006 Symposium and ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge being held in August 2006. The outcome of the residency is to create a project that activates the Airport as a gateway to the community--local, global, and festival. The primary presentation of this residency project will be on the San Jose International Airport property. http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./mineta.html SUBSCRIBE TO ISEA2006 LIST To sign up for future announcements and to receive periodic updates about the Symposium and Festival, subscribe to the ISEA2006 list at http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006. Save the dates: August 5-13, 2006. http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./mineta.html http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006 Steve Dietz Director ISEA2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge Joel Slayton Chair ISEA2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge Beau Takahara Coordinator ISEA2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nisar at keshvani.com Fri Feb 4 08:06:13 2005 From: nisar at keshvani.com (nisar keshvani) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 18:36:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts Message-ID: <24383266.1107484573247.JavaMail.root@m16> Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts 9th Workshop and Symposium on Space and the Arts May 19-21, 2005 Château d'Yverdon Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland Call for Papers http://www.arsastronautica.com/workshop05/ workshop2005 at arsastronautica.com Objectives The Workshop & Symposium on "Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts" aims to: . provide a platform where ideas relating to the interaction between space science, environmental science, philosophy and the arts can be discussed and debated . provide an environment where people, especially artists and other "culture professionals" together with space and planetary scientists can exchange ideas and projects about planetary consciousness from the perspective of their unique backgrounds, education and experiences . provide a meeting place where space, art and environmental projects can emerge and new teams and partnerships can be built . nurture a domain of space activities that is becoming more recognized in both the space community and in the mainstream art world . disseminate the ideas and projects by publicizing the results of the event Submission of Abstracts Participation in the workshop will be limited to a maximum of 25 persons and participants will be selected upon review of abstracts of presentations proposed for the workshop. Abstracts, limited to one A4 page should be submitted via the online form at http://www.arsastronautica.com/workshop05/ or sent directly to: workshop2005 at arsastronautica.com The abstract should be in English and include: . Workshop name . Title of presentation . Name and affiliation of authors . Full contact details of presenting author, including postal and e-mail addresses, phone and fax . A short (maximum two paragraphs) personal biographical text The deadline for abstract submission is February 28, 2005. Following acceptance a complete paper will be required and the author(s) will be invited to register for the event. Timetable 28 February 2005 - Deadline for abstracts 31 March 2005 - Notification of acceptance 20 April 2005 - Preliminary programme 7 May 2005 - Deadline for papers 19-21 May 2005 - Workshop & Symposium Workshop & Symposium Topics Presentations can be about any aspect or issue related to "Space: Planetary Consciousness and the Arts". Since the scope of the Workshop is large, potential authors might like to consider submitting abstracts for papers addressing such topics as: . the impact of space exploration on the arts and vice versa . the impact of space science on the environmental consciousness . the role of arts in expressing planetary consciousness . the ethical aspects of space exploration and planetary responsibility . the impact of space exploration on philosophy and vice versa . synergies between the arts, environmental and space communities . the interaction between space, arts and the public . using the arts to explore and comprehend space Authors need not, of course, limit themselves to these topics. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050203/94a110c3/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From carlos.katastrofsky at gmx.net Thu Feb 3 14:36:31 2005 From: carlos.katastrofsky at gmx.net (carlos katastrofsky) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 10:06:31 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] [ann][project] new project - wurstmaschine Message-ID: <200502031006.31950.carlos.katastrofsky@gmx.net> [en] the first issue of the bilingual net- zine „wurstmaschine“ is now online. check it out at http://www.wurstmaschine.net.tf wurstmaschine (a german term for a machine that chops/ processes sausage) is to be considered as a border-crossing project in between art and science. it stands for the interface of free communication and restrictions of the everchanging coyright-issue. -------------------- [de] die erste ausgabe des zweisprachigen netzmagazins „wurstmaschine“ befindet sich nun im netz unter http://www.wurstmaschine.net.tf wurstmaschine versteht sich als künstlerisches - wissenschaftliches projekt an der schnittstelle zwischen freier kommunikation und den restriktionen des sich aktuell wandelnden copyrights. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From k.kuldeep97 at rediffmail.com Fri Feb 4 11:20:29 2005 From: k.kuldeep97 at rediffmail.com (kuldeep kaur) Date: 4 Feb 2005 05:50:29 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The Hospital Labour Room as Space for Unheard Voices Message-ID: <20050204055029.28637.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com>  “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for Unheard Voices” I am Kuldeep Kaur from Chandigarh. I work as Staff Nurse in Government medical college & hospital. I also contribute articles to Punjabi Newspapers as freelancer. Here is the abstract of my study on hospital's labour room. The study titled “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for Unheard Voices” is Questionnaire based study. These questionnaires are based on issues related to reproductive health and socio-psychological constrains on women while entering the labour room. As par our cultural and traditional norms mother-hood is considered a symbol of ‘completeness of women’ but what they feel and experience during labour process? This study is an attempt to understand the tremendous pressures (physical, psychological or social) which decides reproductive decisions of any woman. Cairo programme of action (The United Nations international conference on population and development in 1994) - define reproductive health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so....” This way labour room is the appropriate place to understand the physical, social and psychological status of women. Reproductive rights are recognized as human rights in national laws and international human rights documents. Are our women aware of if is a million dollar question? Lack of education and information makes women vulnerable not to exercise her reproductive rights is an argument often put forward as explanation for present state of affairs. On the ground any education or information is not sufficient to ensure reproduction free of discrimination, Coercion and violence. The familial and social pressures force women not to exercise her reproductive rights (awareness) - reducing her existence to a womb. Culture, tradition and identity make women subjugate to myths, misconceptions and fears. Labour room provides data and space about health status of would-be-mothers. In labour room most of the cases of Lower-income group women are ‘acute emergencies’. These are referral cases from various small health centers or untrained dais. Most of the time their economic resources are too meager or they are penny-less. When they narrate their stories of poverty, ignorance and helplessness it obviates the real picture of development and progress propagated through main-stream narratives. Son-preference social-psyche is the mainstay of patriarchy and women suffer under its clutches. Even highly educated and well-off women are exploited by son-giving gurus and Babas. Some of the admitted mothers are with threads given by their ‘Gurus’. They refused to open it considering auspicious even before going to the operation theater. In one instance, a woman was forced by her mother-in-law to drink animal excreta mixed in liquids saying, that it will bless her with son. Mostly women depend upon their mother, sisters and friends for basic information. The new era of technology and information has not changed anything for a woman. Rather her exploitation and violence against her have become more sophisticated. The books on such issues are in negligible number? T.V, Radio and press contribute very little in this matter. Mainstream media emphasize on sex education, health education and family planning but where are the required and willing paraphernalia to achieve the propagated goals. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050204/950ee6d6/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 16:58:43 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 16:58:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Al Jazeera Under Intense US Govt Pressure Message-ID: <42035C6B.8080301@sarai.net> Under Pressure, Qatar May Sell Jazeera Station New York Times One more telling example of how the US will bring democracy to West Asia - by denying media organizations in the region their freedom of expression. So much for the consistency of the neocon doctrine. This story is also a testament to the power of media. The Bush administration is really worried about Al-Jazeera.- Rohit http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/international/middleeast/30jazeera.html?pa gewanted=1&ei=5094&en=55ef445f05053c5d&hp&ex=1107061200&partner=homepage Under Pressure, Qatar May Sell Jazeera Station By STEVEN R. WEISMAN Published: January 30, 2005 WASHINGTON - The tiny state of Qatar is a crucial American ally in the Persian Gulf, where it provides a military base and warm support for American policies. Yet relations with Qatar are also strained over an awkward issue: Qatar's sponsorship of Al Jazeera, the provocative television station that is a big source of news in the Arab world. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other Bush administration officials have complained heatedly to Qatari leaders that Al Jazeera's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading and occasionally false, especially on Iraq. The pressure has been so intense, a senior Qatari official said, that the government is accelerating plans to put Al Jazeera on the market, though Bush administration officials counter that a privately owned station in the region may be no better from their point of view. "We have recently added new members to the Al Jazeera editorial board, and one of their tasks is to explore the best way to sell it," said the Qatari official, who said he could be more candid about the situation if he was not identified. "We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well." Asked if the sale might dilute Al Jazeera's content, the official said, "I hope not." Estimates of Al Jazeera's audience range from 30 million to 50 million, putting it well ahead of its competitors. But that success does not translate into profitability, and the station relies on a big subsidy from the Qatari government, which in the past has explored ways to sell it. The official said Qatar hoped to find a buyer within a year. Its coverage has disturbed not only Washington, but also Arab governments from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. With such a big audience, but a lack of profitability, it is not clear who might be in the pool of potential buyers, or how a new owner might change the editorial content. Administration officials have been nervous to talk about the station, being sensitive to charges that they are trying to suppress free expression. Officials at the State and Defense Departments and at the embassy in Qatar were reluctant to comment. However, some administration officials acknowledged that the well-publicized American pressure on the station - highlighted when Qatar was not invited to a summit meeting on the future of democracy in the Middle East last summer in Georgia - has drawn charges of hypocrisy, especially in light of President Bush's repeated calls for greater freedoms and democracy in the region. "It's completely two-faced for the United States to try to muzzle the one network with the most credibility in the Middle East, even if it does sometimes say things that are wrong," said an Arab diplomat. "The administration should be working with Al Jazeera and putting people on the air." In fact, since the Iraq war, Mr. Powell and even Mr. Rumsfeld have been interviewed by Al Jazeera, though Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush have not. But when the interim government of Iraq kicked Al Jazeera out of the country last August, the Bush administration uttered little criticism. The administration's pressure thus encapsulates the problems of "public diplomacy," the term for the uphill efforts by Washington to sell American policies in the region. Some administration officials acknowledge that their "public diplomacy" system is fundamentally broken, but there is disagreement on how to fix it. Two years ago, the United States launched its own Arab television network, Al Hurra, but administration officials say it has yet to gain much of a following. Among the broadcasts criticized by the United States were repeated showings of taped messages by Osama bin Laden, and, more specifically, the reporting early last year, before Al Jazeera was kicked out of Iraq, of the journalist Ahmed Mansour, that emphasized civilian casualties during an assault on Falluja. The network also reports passionately about the Palestinian conflict. Some American officials said that Mr. Mansour was subsequently removed from that assignment, but a spokesman for Al Jazeera in Qatar, Jihad Ballout, said that was "utterly false." He said Mr. Mansour's two public affairs shows were still on the air. Administration officials say debates within the American government over what to do about Al Jazeera have sometimes erupted into shouting matches. One side is shouting, 'We have to shut them down!' and the other side is saying 'We have to work with them to make them better,' " said an administration official who has taken part in the confidential discussions. "It's an emotional issue. People can't think of it rationally." Part of the problem, that official said, is that much of what Al Jazeera does to inflame emotions over Iraq is standard fare on cable television, like endless repetition of scenes of civilian deaths. There have been occasions when Pentagon criticism focused on images that were also running on CNN and other stations at the same time, he said. American officials have also charged that Al Jazeera has shown up suspiciously quickly after bombing attacks in Iraq, and they have suggested that the network's correspondents may have been tipped off in advance. But the administration official said recently that there was no evidence for such a charge and that it was no longer repeated, though it had not been formally withdrawn. Al Jazeera officials denied that there had ever been any such collusion, noting that they have not had crews in Iraq since August in any case. They also said that they went out of their way to get American comment for stories and that they often broadcast briefings of Pentagon officials and Mr. Rumsfeld's news conferences. "We understand that Americans are not happy with our editorial policies," said Ahmed Sheikh, the network's news editor. "But if anyone wants us to become their mouthpiece, we will not do that. We are independent and impartial, and we have never gotten any pressure from the Qatari government to change our editorial approach." Leading the discussion with Al Jazeera, American officials said, was Ambassador Chase Untermeyer in Qatar and his press spokesman, but both declined to be interviewed. Mr. Sheikh said that he had heard complaints from them about incorrect information but that Al Jazeera "never puts anything on the air before we check it." A recent decree from the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, said Al Jazeera would be converted to a privately owned "company of participation," which Mr. Ballout, the station spokesman, said would most likely be owned by shareholders in the Arab world. But little has happened since then, and now new people have been put on the board to facilitate its sale. Mr. Sheikh said that Al Jazeera's budget last year was $120 million, including a subsidy of $40 million or $50 million from Qatar. Mr. Ballout said one reason for the shortfall was that businesses were afraid to advertise because of criticism they might get from Arab governments and the United States. "We feel aggrieved that Al Jazeera's popularity has not been rewarded with the advertising it deserves," said Mr. Ballout. "The merchant families in control in the Persian Gulf feel they cannot sustain their position if they are not part of the status quo." An American official noted that Al Jazeera had not only alienated the United States but had also angered officials in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and many other countries by focusing on internal problems in those nations. "They must be doing something right," he said. _______________________________________________ From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 17:41:36 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 17:41:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The elections have been successful despite the attempts of the insurgency! Message-ID: <42036678.9000404@sarai.net> A little time-warp for the reader-list readers: a piece from the New York Times in 1967 that has recently been re-circulating, on the "success" of a South Vietnamese election. Vivek U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote : Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2) WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here. Pending more detailed reports, neither the State Department nor the White House would comment on the balloting or the victory of the military candidates, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, who was running for president, and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, the candidate for vice president. A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January, 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu, the chief of state, in Honolulu in February. The purpose of the voting was to give legitimacy to the Saigon Government, which has been founded only on coups and power plays since November, 1963, when President Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown by a military junta. Few members of that junta are still around, most having been ousted or exiled in subsequent shifts of power. Significance Not Diminished The fact that the backing of the electorate has gone to the generals who have been ruling South Vietnam for the last two years does not, in the Administration's view, diminish the significance of the constitutional step that has been taken. The hope here is that the new government will be able to maneuver with a confidence and legitimacy long lacking in South Vietnamese politics. That hope could have been dashed either by a small turnout, indicating widespread scorn or a lack of interest in constitutional development, or by the Vietcong's disruption of the balloting. American officials had hoped for an 80 per cent turnout. That was the figure in the election in September for the Constituent Assembly. Seventy-eight per cent of the registered voters went to the polls in elections for local officials last spring. Before the results of the presidential election started to come in, the American officials warned that the turnout might be less than 80 per cent because the polling place would be open for two or three hours less than in the election a year ago. The turnout of 83 per cent was a welcome surprise. The turnout in the 1964 United States Presidential election was 62 per cent. Captured documents and interrogations indicated in the last week a serious concern among Vietcong leaders that a major effort would be required to render the election meaningless. This effort has not succeeded, judging from the reports from Saigon From zainab at xtdnet.nl Fri Feb 4 18:08:56 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 13:38:56 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Marking and Public Spaces Message-ID: <3175.219.65.10.131.1107520736.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear All, I pose some of the questions I have been encountering in my research. Also want to say that my blog is active now and the posts you see on this list will largely also be on my blog. Cheers, Zainab 4th February 2005 I am in this tremendous mood to ask many questions and that is exactly what I am going to do today. But before that, I want to give you a peek into this exciting interview I have just had with a Ticket Checker at a railway station. I shall not state his name, but know for now that our man is a Musallman and his interview is absolutely déjà vu because it leads straight into the questions which have been plaguing my mind for sometime now. Let’s call our man Zubair. Zubair and me had an ‘accidental’ ‘legal’ meeting when he was checking me for tickets and I asked him if I could do an interview with him. We sat down to chat today and here are a few vignettes from our conversation which I want to bring in before us. Zubair is a Ticket Checker and his job involves watching for PWTs i.e. Passengers Without Tickets. This means marking people, watching for signs and cues which suggest that an individual is traveling ticket-less. Zubair tells me that he has to watch carefully. His has formed images in his head – who is from a good family? who is educated? who is uneducated? who is the miscreant? etc. Zubair is as much marked as he marks people. He wears a beard and so, among his people, he is known as apnawalla (our fellow). Zubair also marks passengers according to the area they are traveling from. For instance, he narrated an incident he had with passengers traveling from Mumbra station. Commuters from Mumbra are mainly Muslims. Zubair was checking tickets in the train and a bunch of the passengers were Muslim. When they saw him, they said, “This is apnawala (our fellow, meaning a Muslim brother).” There were ‘other’ passengers sitting around and Zubair knew that he could not leave apnawala passengers, else, ‘the others’ would complain against him. While narrating this incident to me, Zubair was talking his dilemma in situations like these. He says to me, “Aaj kal mahaul aisa hai, kya kar sakte hai?” (These days, the atmosphere is like that. What can we do?) I realize that the railway station is a site of immense and intense marking – marking by authority, marking by subjects. I have also been thinking about Arjun bhai and my conversations with him and about the various experiences I have in my daily life in this city. And this leads me to my stream of questions which concern the practice of ‘marking’ which is constantly happening in this city. And I am concerned about ‘marking’ from the perspective of ‘public spaces’. 1. Does the practice of ‘marking’ contradict the idea of ‘public spaces”? 2. What is a public space? 3. Why do we ‘mark’ people in the city – marking people as Hindu, Muslim, English-speaking, etc.? 4. What kinds of comforts does ‘marking’ create? 5. What kinds of spaces are generated through ‘marking’? Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From fmadre at free.fr Thu Feb 3 15:05:33 2005 From: fmadre at free.fr (fmadre at free.fr) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 10:35:33 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Deep Focus Call for Papers In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1107423333.4201f06507a63@imp1-q.free.fr> Selon deep f : > In view of the increasing importance and changing > realities of image production and consumption > through varied channels and new technologies, > Deep Focus team has decided to focus our > attention on the changes around and critically > look at varied image based cultural productions. > We are also in the process of launching a fairly > long and widespread visual media research > programme aimed at evolving a new visual > pedagogy. As part of tuning the pages of Deep > Focus into this wide angle of activity, we invite > papers for our 2005 volumes on the following > themes. cool! > MAIL THE MANUSCRIPTS EITHER BY POST/COURIER OR AS E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS TO don't have any mauscripts at hand but here are my two latest realizations, related to this issue The Faculty for the Interpretation of Images http://twenteenthcentury.com/uo/index.php/FacultyForTheInterpretationOfImages Polyptique http://polyptique.maisonpop.fr ... and the spoiler for Polyptique http://runme.org/project/+polyptique/ f. From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 4 14:53:17 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:53:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] NOVEL: A Living Installation at Flux Factory Message-ID: <42033F05.4080604@sarai.net> For those in New York or thereabouts: NOVEL: A Living Installation at Flux Factory May 7th � June 4th, 2005 Opening Party: May 7th, 7pm Flux Factory 38-38 43rd Street Long Island City, NY 11101 www.fluxfactory.org 718-707-3362 For more information contact: kerry at fluxfactory.org The Show >From May 7th until June 4th, 2005 Flux Factory, Inc. will lock up three novelists in individual cubicles built in the Flux gallery in Long Island City. The writers will be let out for short periods each day in order to use the bathroom, shower, etc. The rest of the time they will remain in their respective cubicles and will have food, snacks, and supplies provided for them while they embark on the process of writing a complete novel. Public readings of the novels-in-process will be held every Saturday evening. There will also be several public viewing times/press briefings at other times during the week. On June 4th, each writer will emerge from his or her cubicle, having each finished one novel, composed entirely within the cubicle. The three cubicles will be constructed by artists/architects from their own designs and in collaboration with the novelists. Each cubicle will reflect the specific needs and interests of the individual writers. These cubicles address complex issues of design and desire, space (or lack thereof) and how a complete room in which someone can live comfortably for an entire month can be built. NOVEL takes the isolation of the writer to a rather extreme conclusion in order to investigate what will be produced under those conditions. But, just as writing is solitary, it is also a performance. The writer, sitting alone, is always conscious of an audience, whoever that may be. NOVEL combines the private and public aspects of writing in a striking way. The goal for NOVEL is to facilitate the production of quality fiction and explore the act of writing itself as a performance, installation, and kinetic, living sculpture. Additional Events In a continued attempt to make transparent the issues of contemporary literature, a discussion about the current state of the novel will be held at Flux Factory on May 21st. Writers Myla Goldberg (Bee Season), Tom Bissell (Chasing the Sea), and J.M. Tyree will be among the panel members. � The Writers Ranbir Sidhu is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize in fiction and his work has appeared in The Georgia Review, The Missouri Review, Zyzzyva, Other Voices, Press and a Houghton-Mifflin college reader among other publications. Trained as an archaeologist, he has worked in California, Nevada, Israel and France. One of his finds, a 3,000-year-old woman, made cover skeleton of Biblical Archaeology Review. Most recently, he worked for the United Nations in Sri Lanka as a communications consultant. Laurie Stone is author of Starting with Serge (Doubleday, 1990), Close to the Bone (Grove, 1997), and Laughing in the Dark (Ecco, 1997). A longtime writer for the Village Voice (1975-99), she has been theater critic for The Nation, critic-at-large on NPR's Fresh Air, and a regular writer for Ms., New York Woman, and Viva. She has received grants from NYFA, The Kittredge Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, Poets & Writers, and in 1996 she won the Nona Balakian prize in excellence in criticism from the National Book Critics Circle. Grant Baille is a Cleveland-based writer and artist. A contributor to McSweeney�s and Zygote in My Coffee among others, Grant�s novel Cloud 8 was published in 2003 by Ig Publishing. His work was selected for honors by the Writer�s & Poets League of Greater Cleveland and he had been a featured speaker and reader at book events in the US and Canada. His paintings have been exhibited at William Busta Gallery and Joyce Porcelli Gallery. � Flux Factory is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From dfontaine at fondation-langlois.org Fri Feb 4 20:13:01 2005 From: dfontaine at fondation-langlois.org (Dominique Fontaine) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 09:43:01 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Nouvelles de la Fondation Daniel Langlois / News from the Daniel Langlois Foundation Message-ID: <641A525B0A2A2540B1DD0A3DE660241C6DF6ED@exchange.terra-incognita.net> [English version below] [Apologies for cross-posting / Veuillez excuser les envois multiples] Le Centre de recherche et de documentation (CR+D) de la fondation Daniel Langlois s'est vu octroyer une importante subvention de recherche par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH). La recherche quinquennale s'attaquera à l'épineux problème de la conservation des oeuvres d'art à composantes technologiques, particulièrement numériques. Le projet permet à la fondation de fédérer un ensemble d'institutions et de chercheurs canadiens et étrangers, des universités, des musées, des organismes culturels divers. Pour lire le communiqué de presse : http://www.fondation-langlois.org/f/textes/aruc-communique.pdf Deux chercheuses ont été choisies dans le cadre du Programme de bourses pour chercheur résident de la fondation Daniel Langlois: Susanne Jaschko et Clarisse Bardiot. Pour en savoir plus sur ces chercheuses et leur proposition de recherche : http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/f/index.php?NumPage=704 Si vous souhaitez recevoir le bulletin électronique mensuel de la fondation, veuillez envoyer un courriel à info at fondation-langlois.org en inscrivant dans le corps du courriel : "J'aimerais recevoir le bulletin électronique mensuel de la fondation." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Daniel Langlois Foundation's Centre for Research and Documentation (CR+D) has received a major research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The five-year research program will focus on the complex problem of conserving works of art that feature technological - and notably digital - content. The project will allow the Foundation to form an alliance of Canadian and foreign institutions and researchers, universities, museums, and a number of cultural organizations. To read the press release, please go to: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/e/textes/aruc-press-release.pdf Two researchers have been selected to join the Daniel Langlois Foundation's Grants for Researchers in Residence program: Susanne Jaschko and Clarisse Bardiot. For more information on these researchers and their research proposals, please go to: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumPage=704 If you wish to receive the Foundation's monthly newsletter, simply send an e-mail to info at fondation-langlois.org and write "I would like to receive the Foundation's monthly newsletter" in the body of the message. From sneharkitect at yahoo.co.uk Sat Feb 5 00:43:07 2005 From: sneharkitect at yahoo.co.uk (Sneha Singh) Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 19:13:07 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [arkitectindia] Madrasa Education System In-Reply-To: <20050202112500.21763.qmail@web8401.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20050204191307.96420.qmail@web25704.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Dear Zubair Before replying to your mail I though it is better to discussion with the arkitects in JNU. Mails of Prof. Tripathi and your were the main subject of the discussion. We take all the mails very seriously. That is why I am late in replying to your mail. We are very happy to read your feedback. There is no doubt about the concern raised in the second point of Prof. Tripathi and you that the fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and a political doctrine. Though I don’t have much interaction with students of Madrasa background but we know that if given a chance, they can be as competent students as students from any other background. You and your friend are the best example around us. That is why Dr. Ahmad Khan, Monam and his group is working in this direction. We can learn a lot from you. During the discussion we decided to explain the objective of the online discussion in detail so that people may find easy to reflect themselves from various angles or perspectives. I think Monam will agree with the following points: Objective Of the debate and discussion: The main objectives of the debate and discussion are as follows: i. To discuss the role of Madrasa education in the context of Muslim society; ii. To examine factors that promote Muslim children to Madrasa education; iii. To look at the merit of appeal to modernize Madrasa education. iv. To examine the core of reforms by some sections in Muslim society who advocate that the core of reform should consist of modification in the syllabus and teaching methodology. v. To discuss about new syllabus for Madrasas. It will suggest removal of subjects from medieval period whose relevance today is hard to establish. vi. To examine the relevance and validity of the claim of some sections of Muslims and Ulemas that Madrasa are specialized institutions for religious education and transmitting the Islamic scholarly tradition, and therefore, preserve as they are. vii. To examine the overall strength and limitation of education system of Madrasa in context of the community and its role in nation building and suggest changes and options. viii. To discuss about ways and means to equip preachers possessing a sound knowledge of the scriptures and the world ix. To discuss about suitable vocational course for Madrasa students. You can also aid if I have missed any point. Regards, Sneha Singh Secretary Ark Foundation JNU, New Delhi Ph. 9312838170 PS: Zubair Sb, I am also in JNU and will contact you soon to get your feedback and have a proper discussion on this topic. We believe person with such a vide educational background like you will be very helpful in the development of a model for introduction of modern education in Madrasas. Thank you very much for offering your service. We are looking forward to work together. zubair hudawi wrote: Dear Sir, I am a graduate from an Islamic institution in Kerala after studying there for 12 years. I have done my BA and MA in Sociology from Osmania and Madurai Kamaraj Universities respectively through correspondence while I was in the Islamic College. I have done my 2nd PG in Arabic language from JNU and now I am in my second semester of Mphill in JNU SLL& CS. I’ve been reading interestingly all mails and comments from the well doing Arkitectindia and now wants to add some experiences in to notice. I studied till the fifth grade in a regular school and then enrolled at the Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, in Chemmad, in the Mallapuram district of northern Kerala. The Dar ul-Huda Islamic Academy, where I studied, is a good example of how we can incorporate modern education in the madrasa system. At the Academy we studied the general Islamic subjects, along with subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History till the twelfth grade level. This allowed us to appear as external candidates in the government secondary school examination. In addition, we also learnt Urdu, Malayalam and Comparative Religions. Besides, we had to learn computers and take part in a range of extra-curricular activities, such as games and literary and public discussion groups. By combining traditional Islamic and modern education in this way, the Academy trains 'ulama who choose from a range of careers, and thus need not only work as imams or preachers in mosques. Some of the Academy's graduates are abroad, working in the Gulf. Some have joined various Malayali newspapers. Several of them are now studying at regular universities, many of them in higher Arabic and Islamic studies, but a few in other fields which madrasa graduates earlier rarely entered. Thus, for instance, a graduate of the Academy is presently doing his M.Phil in Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he is working on 'The Crisis of Tradition and Modernity Among Muslims' for his thesis. In much of the rest of India there is a sharp dualism between Islamic and modern education. As a result, students who study in madrasas have little or no knowledge of modern subjects. Likewise, those who study in regular school have little or no knowledge of Islam. This dualism is reinforced by the stance of some traditional 'ulama, who seem to regard the two forms of knowledge as distinct from, if not opposed to, each other, although, as I see it, any form of beneficial knowledge is legitimate in Islam. In Kerala, this dualism has, to a large extent, been overcome. We have a unique system of Islamic education in Kerala. Every local Muslim community has its own madrasa, which is affiliated to a state-level madrasa board run by one or the other Muslim organisation. The madrasa boards prepare the syllabus and textbooks that are used by all the madrasas affiliated to them. The boards also conduct the annual examinations and send out regular inspection teams. The timings of the madrasas are adjusted in such a way that allows the children to attend regular school as well. In this way, by the time they finish their school education most Muslim children in Kerala have a fairly good grounding in Islamic studies as well. I don't think there is any similar system in any other Indian state, where, generally, if you want to study Islam you have to go without modern education. In Kerala, fortunately, we do not have to make a choice between Islamic or modern education. Our children can study Islam while at the same time carrying on with their regular studies as well. After they graduate from regular school, if they want to specialise in Islamic studies they can join an Arabic College, and if they want to go in for modern education they can enrol in a university. Nowadays we can see a number institutions continuing the combined study up to degree or PG level facilitating the students to study both religious and modern education. What I want to mention here is that Muslims see the religious education most important and necessary to keep the religious practices in their life. Eventhough nowadays the study has become to produce a particular so-called clergy class and oriented to do jobs with religion, the islamic education is religiously compulsory to every one to regulate the life of a believer and to mould a good human being who is good to humanity. In the prevailing situation we can or have to preach the need and necessity of modern education in a cordial and convincing manner. Unfortunately many who ventured earlier failed due to an accusing and blaming attitude with out considering the social milieu they live in and the cultural past they came through. A model which allow the students go ahead to achieve best schooling and after with that of keeping religious study would be identical for the betterment of Madrasa education utilising madrasa graduates studying in our universities because they would be better to impart and make understand the necessity of modern education to the concerned authorities. One thing is more important, that Madreasa graduates are not the potential terrorists they mostly keep kind hearts and minds and they are understood so by others because most of them are unwilling to interact especially with non-muslims due to complexes or habituated solitude. The potential terrorists are the common men who are deprived of even religious education, keeping the emotional and inflammable belief and touch with religion. So We cannot deny religious education but we must strive for making their prospects better with imparting good and suitable modern education. Offering all the kind services which I can Your Friend Zubair Hudawi K 104, Jhelum Hostel JNU 9868304304 Sadbhav Mission wrote: Dear Shaheen, Your have raised an important issue. Three realities must be kept in mind: 1) Madarsas are the only avenues of education for most vhildren who go there. In Yamuna Pushta slums I had made efforts to get children enrolled in govt schools but there was no room for many of these children. Then Janam patri was a problem. Further, parents did not expect themselves to be able to educate their child to a level where he/ she could find a job. Hence motivation for formal schooling was dampened. 2) Poor children educated in madarsas are never fundamentalists. Poverty as a class deters them from being fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is a middle class and elite class mentality and political doctrine. 3) Madarsa education in most svhools, where poor children study, is too minimal to develop any substantial understanding of society, religion, science, maths, langyage or cultivating any technical skills. This must be upgraded and better organized. Institutions like Nadva and Darul Uloom excel in a few of these of these areas, specially religion, Arabic and Urdu. The education however should be more broad based. Best regards Vipin monam khan wrote: "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation" Friends This should be read in the continuation of Dr. Shaheen Ansari's mail dated February 1, 2005. Some people may raise questions about its importance in discussing here. So, I think, it is important to state about the relevance of this discussion. Every Muslim locality has a mosque and majority of them have Madrasas. We at Ark Foundation believe that instead of building new infrastructure we should work on reconstructing the already existing Madrasas in the country. This is not only economical but practically viable also. We can get teachers and students easily. What we need is to reorient old teachers of the Madrasas and appoint a couple of new teachers with the background of modern education system. Relevance of the discussion also lies in analyzing importance of Madrasas in majority of the Muslim society. In view of the ongoing changes in the social, cultural, economic, and political environment drastic changes is required in Madrasa system of education so that Indian Muslims could come to terms with the changing needs of contemporary Indian society. It is true that the Indian Madrasas have produced a number of world famous Islamic scholars, but lakhs of Muslims educated from these Madrasas are deprived of the job opportunities because of their ignorance of modern knowledge. This create a vicious circle as majority of the students going to Madrasas are from economically weaker section of the society. Those who can afford send their children to mainstream schools including public schools. The debate is justified in a sense that it will provide a balanced synthesis of the classical and the modern method of teaching. The concern will be to seek ways in which Muslims can learn to integrate the revealed fundamentals and the ever transforming world of modern knowledge. It will show how the changes do not involve the dilution of the traditional thought, but the affirmation of the dynamic nature of the faith. Modernisation is understood primarily in relation to the need for modern subjects in Madrasa- not just for their own sake, but also in order to further understand the deeper implications of the Quran. A deeper study of history of the wider world for instance, is one such areas of improvement. Likewise, the study of social sciences, Hindi (national language of India), English (the language of the world) is necessary in order that the graduates feel at home in the world they live in and interact with. At the primary and intermediate levels, the pupils need to be exposed to key subjects taught in the alternative system of education. Modernisation is also important in terms of promoting employment oriented programmes. These are programmes through which the pupils will be given technical and professional training as well as religious, in order to be able to maintain themselves and their families. It is also making of Madrasa system of education relevant to modern times. So on behalf of Ark Foundation I would like to request you to kindly throw some light on it. Thanks Monam Khan Coordinator Research Team Modernisation of Madrasa Education Ark Foundation PS: Friends we are looking for innovative ideas but we will also welcome ideas which you may have come across in books, journals/magazines and newspapers. You can also help us by sending names of references or web links on the above topic. The purpose is to learn and develop a model for the modernisation of Madrasa education system. So the ideas should not be necessarily your own creation but relevant to cause or the topic under discussion. shaheen ansari wrote: Madrasa Education System: A debate Friends In recent years Madrasas have attracted immense attention in India, more so than mosques and other endowed institutions of India. This has partially been on account of the general perception that fundamentalism, Islamization and extremist violence stem from the Madrasa. Orthodoxy, religious conservatism and obsession to medieval identity remained the main focus of Madrasa education in India. And this is the point from where the demand for debate on modernization of Madrasa on Indian soil gets strengthen. Before reaching at any conclusion we should ask ourselves: Is the perception per se is correct? or Is it a creation of media? or Is it propagated by people with vested interest? Well, in JNU people have different opinion. To understand this a group of students, coordinated by Monam Khan (monamkhan2002 at yahoo.co.in), has identified six Madrasa in South Delhi. They have selected South Delhi because it is close to both JNU and IIT, from where we draw most of our volunteers for the programme called "Two Hours A Week". I should tell here that in this programme every volunteer gives at least two hours a week for the development of our underprivileged brethren. Monam is taking this initiative not only to understand the above mentioned perception but also to initiate the experiment of Modernisation of Madrasa Education in India. We know that every individual carries his/her own socioeconomic, religious and educational background for his/her understanding on various issues. Several volunteers have come out with different argument to introduce different kind of courses/subjects in order to modernise Madrasas. There was a long debate on the issue and before reaching at any conclusion we decided to share it with the esteemed members of arkitectindia, an online group discussion forum and seek their opinion. Some of us believe that the Madrasas are playing a vital role in literacy movement. It is the real foundation of Muslim education in India. Now the questions to ponder are: Do the people who run these institutions lack clarity of vision about the present day economic and social needs of Indian Muslims? Are they playing a positive role in the scheme of their education?. Can Madrasas be converted into vehicles for communication of secular and modern knowledge so that Muslim participation in civil society increases? Is it possible to empower the entire community through the modernisation of Madrasas? Though we will welcome discussion on concept and relevance of Madrasa but we would like to focus on the scope for modernization of Madrasa. We invite suggestion and views for: Understanding Madrasa Education System Process or method for its modernization New syllabus taking into account the changed conditions of modern life and Steps to improve economic conditions of Madrasa students through vocational training. Now the forum is open for debate and discussion on "Madrasa: Concept, Relevance and Scope for Modernisation". Can you spare a few minutes for this cause? Then kindly educate us on the above issue. Thanking you Yours sincerely Shaheen Ansari --------------------------------- Sign up for Private, FREE email from Mail.ie at http://www.mail.ie Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: arkitectindia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050204/cd00a500/attachment.html From space4change at gmail.com Sun Feb 6 19:30:06 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 19:30:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] British History Online Message-ID: <8c10798f05020606001546a2a@mail.gmail.com> http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ From mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com Mon Feb 7 11:14:13 2005 From: mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 21:44:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: barbed wire and GATES In-Reply-To: <7a98103817f104046512b6666af8a0b2@sarai.net> Message-ID: <20050207054413.3533.qmail@web80909.mail.scd.yahoo.com> Interesting to see Barbed wire figuring in this discussion...I wrote a little piece on it a while ago...it may interest you... The revenge of the cows it would be, if only they had some agency in bringing it about, the mad cow disease I mean. All through the Primary years in the Government School where I studied, we used to have to write an essay on the virtues of the cow. The sanctimoniousness of rote-learning, school children cramming in their throat (as the Sanskrit word kanthasth dictates) homilies that would grace and validate the sacred foundation of the Nation. Withal, there was never any reason, any possibility even, of learning what we have done to the cow. As for the opponents of this liturgical praise, all they could tell us was how the cow was never sacred, how much of it was eaten in Ancient India. Good, so we ate it, we eat it still, and when we don�t eat it we yoke it, we milk it and then we abandon it, for fearless streetwallahs to shoo it this way and that. Same difference really. In two simple steps, even for the best, the history of the cow, all kine and cattle in fact, is over. Man hunts and gathers, man domesticates and the plentiful crops begin to ripen, almost as promised by God. How exactly does one domesticate a bunch of wild animals except by taming that wildness, by enclosing, training, instilling fear of walls, pens, beams, sticks, ropes, rods, yokes? Generation after generation, century after century, the process goes on and on, fear on a collective scale, fear evenly spread out, fear communicated through various, technological, devices before millions and millions of cattle everywhere in the world are domesticated, made subservient, become obedient to our call, our need, our power and dominance. There is an invisible violence, centuries and millennia of violence behind every grain, every morsel we take. Is it possible to inflict such violence and remain unsullied? Yes, says a Nobel winner, in these very pages. �The world is what it is, he announces, and men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.� Indeed if this is so of men, what of cattle? How indeed does one separate them? A question easily answered in Asia Minor and all the world religions which have emerged from there. Man is Ashraful Makhlooqaat in the Quran, the first among created beings in the Bible, and so can partake of the world as he sees fit. Yet, this is not about the merits or demerits of this or that civilization. The cow holding the earth on its horn, according to Hindu mythology, goes round with it, implicating all. Before one conquers other human beings, one conquers the cattle. Take Barbed wire for instance, seemingly always present, but in fact a discovery, an innovation really, of the eighteenth century. Reviel Netz, American historian and philosopher explored the development of this controlling and pain-inducing technology in an article in the London Review of Books a few years ago. Netz� account was searing as he described the slow and protracted way by which the new and scientific fence came to be perfected. He estimated the numbers that would have died before cows or horses or bulls began to be, collectively, frightened of the barbed wire. >From controlling cattle to controlling humans is but a short step. Netz describes how it was adapted to control people in Nazi concentration camps and the Russian Gulag. Physical control over space was no longer symbolic after 1874. It is like being hurled through a trap door, this merciless account of modern history through the lens of motion being prevented, after being brought up on a triumphant died of histories of technology concentrating on ever faster ever higher motion. The history of human economic activity is also the history of appropriation of space, but that conquest, that colonization is not merely external, it is also internal. Even as civilization and technology march ahead, the underbelly of that technology, the upturned soil of its path, has a story. Drawing together the history of humans and animals, Netz delivers a compelling new perspective on the issues of colonialism, capitalism, warfare, globalization, violence, and suffering that asks us to do nothing short of revising almost all our ideals, progress, modernity, development and most of all, civilization. The essay, now expanded into a book called Barbed Wire is out from the New England Press this year. --- iram at sarai.net wrote: > Hello, > > Just thought that I should also add my two- bit to > the discussions around > security. > > Being familiar with New Friends Colony and Zakir > Nagar very well, I can > vouch for the fact that yes, it is really > inconvenient and annoying at > times to face security guards and locked gates etc. > > For those on this list who are not familiar with > this part of South Delhi, > there are on the one hand these heavily gated/posh > colonies like Friends > Colony, New friends Colony and Maharani Bagh. On > the other hand, are > pockets of localities/ mohallas and remnants of the > earlier villages like > Julena, Zakir Nagar, Bharat Nagar, and Taimur > Nagar. > > These different worlds for those who are familiar, > will know, do not exist > in isolation, but through constant interaction/ > exchange. Even if it is > something as banal as using a New Friends Colony > road to get to Zakir > Nagar. > > I am not very familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of > needs but I’m sure > security of sorts would figure there. It is human > nature to want to be > secure- physically, financially emotionally, etc. > It’s not just the > State and the private security apparatus that would > argue for the need for > security, but other social structures that play > upon fear such as > insurance, banking, health, education, real estate > etc. > > I know I’m really sticking my neck out with this > but don’t we all live > in a state of fear? Some people more so than others. > > > Maybe in Zakir Nagar the gate is superfluous/ a mere > status symbol for > Khadeeja’s neighbour. But something alleviates > fear here and is > fulfilling the need for security. I know of families > who live in Zakir > Nagar because they feel it is `safe’. So, I think > some kind of security > apparatus would be formally or informally > operational there. > > In Maharani Bagh, the physical manifestation of > security could be a gate, a > security guard, a CCTV camera, in Zakir Nagar, it > would be something else. > > Gates keep people out. They also keep people in- not > necessarily the > residents but also who the residents want to come to > this `enclosure’ of > sorts. FAmily, friends, acquaintances, and service > providers. However the > threshold of entry would be different for everyone. > I guess depending on > how known is the unknown and how familiar is the > stranger. > > Cheers, > > Iram > > > > > > > > > > On 6:58:04 am 02/03/05 "khadeeja arif" > wrote: > > > > Yesterday I just happened to read a chapter from a > fascinating book > > called Barbed Wire. I found the book lying at a > friend’s place. This > > friend of mine is obsessed with the issue of > Surveillance and Security > > in the city (Actually that is his research > project). Anyways, I just > > quickly read the first chapter of the book. It is > a fascinating account > > of the history of the barbed wire, its use for the > control of the space > > based on the discourse of exclusion and inclusion. > It led me think > > about the various such controlling mechanisms in > our everyday existence > > and these very mechanism make us feel the need to > have more security > > than ever (Mainly physical security). Some of the > agencies through > > which we are made to be conscious of our own > security are the TV news, > > about abduction/ terror acts/; newspaper reports > of killing/ > > abduction;/terror attacks; the announcements > echoing in the air (in the > > markets/parking places etc); the presence of the > gates/ fences/ > > security guards and of courses the BARBED WIRES > here and there. > > We encounter the everydayness of the city through > various purposes > > like: work/meetings/college/ appointments/job > hunts/ house hunt/leisure > > activities or may be, sometime, just a surreal > trip to a MAD world > > where the ‘normal’ world seems to be turned > upside down. > > This constant mobility has become a hallmark of > our existence within > > a city. It may result in our situated-ness or may > assure constant > > movement in search of SITAUTEDNESS- desired by > most of us. > > The forces to keep us alert as to assure our > ‘security’ are galore. > > We are made believed that how important our safety > is we don’t know? > > There is need for some one out there to tell us > about that. This is > made sure by creating a fear of the other (the > outsiders/unknown/strange > > r/ and somebody who is not there, but CAN be > there. So JUST BE ALERT!!! > > > > I remember one-winter night during my college days > at MCRC, when > > venturing out in the night (going out to watch > films, mainly at IHC, or > > sometime, if we had enough money, to see the films > on the hall) was > > normal, rather most loved/cherished activity as it > not only gave us a > > great sense of freedom but also meant interacting > with the city at a > > different level all together (something’s which I > never would have > > done/experienced otherwise). We had neither gone > to see a film nor had > > we gone to meet somebody, rather we were in the > premise of our > > locality. We were actually not able to decide > whether we should stay at > > Bharat Nagar (Where me, Pineneg and Tina stayed) > or spend the night at > > Rita’s place (Another batch mate of mine). Rita > stayed in the A Block > > of New Friends Colony. Rita was also with us. It > was 11 in the night > > when we had decided finally to stay at Rita’s > place. We decided to go > > to Rita’s place via a short cut, from behind the > Bharat Nagar, without > > actually realizing that we were little too late to > be eligible to cross > > the well-gated New Friends Colony. We walked for > fifteen minutes, and, > > when we reached the A block, we were denied the > permission to enter the > > block by the guards as it was already time to shut > the gates and in no > > circumstances we could cross the gates. Though we > pleaded to the > > guard. Rita: Bhiya main tau yahin rahti Ho > > Guard: tau madam aapko tau pata hona chahiye > > Khadeeja: Bhiya abhi tau 11 hi baja hai… ab ki > baar khol dijiye.. > > phir kabhi aia nahi karengay… Guard: Madam yeh > sab aapki suraksha ke > > liye hi kiya hai… Rita: Bhiya, please!!! > > Guard: Nahi madam…. > > Khadeeja: Fuck off!!! > > > > As the guard seemed really a tough nut to crack, > we decided to go > > back to the main road and come from the front side > of the A block (or > > the main road). This time again we walked for > fifteen minutes and > > decided to take a rickshaw once we reach the main > road === message truncated === __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do? http://my.yahoo.com From intachculturalaffairs at yahoo.co.uk Sat Feb 5 14:09:51 2005 From: intachculturalaffairs at yahoo.co.uk (vani subramanian) Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 08:39:51 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] INTACH Heritage Lecture Message-ID: <20050205083951.2932.qmail@web86904.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) cordially invites you to a lecture on The Nawabs of Awadh and Their Times by Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones British Historian On Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at 6.30 p.m. at the INTACH Multi-purpose Hall, 71, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi -110003 RSVP Madhavi Sanghamitra Bhatia 24632267/69 24631818 Please join us for tea at 6.00 p.m. Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones holds a doctorate in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Earlier, she received a B.A. (Hons) degree in Urdu. She is the editor of Chowkidar, the journal of the British Association for Cemetries in South Asia. She has published some major studies on Awadh, among them are “Fatal Friendship – the Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow”, “Engaging Scoundrels – True Tales of Old Lucknow”. Dr. Jones is currently researching the portrait of the Nizam of Hyderabad for a forthcoming book to be published by Marg. --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050205/b7fc4b18/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in Sun Feb 6 17:31:35 2005 From: aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in (Dean School of Arts and Aesthetics) Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 17:31:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] PUBLIC LECTURE BY GEETA KAPUR Message-ID: <1107691295.ce93be60aesthete@mail.jnu.ac.in> subTerrain:artworks in the city fold Lecture by Geeta Kapur Venue: School of Arts and Aesthetics Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Date: 11th February 2005 Time: 4pm All are cordially invited ============================================== This Mail was Scanned for Virus and found Virus free ============================================== _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shivamvij at gmail.com Sun Feb 6 21:17:12 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 21:17:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Wi-Fi in India Message-ID: Dear all, I asked a Japanese exchange student why he didn't bring his laptop to Delhi. "I thought India was a big IT superpower and I won't need my laptop there," he said. It's time we lived up to the hype we have created about ourselves. Here is a well-researched must-read story on wireless Internet in India and how the government is sleeping over its potential: No Strings Attached With wireless computers making quiet inroads into select cities, Reshma Patil and Pragya Singh find workspaces expandng into unexpected zones: residence balconies, hospital waiting-rooms, school corridors and, soon, at a Mumbai lakeside park. Now if only the government would lose its shackles [ http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64120 ] Regards, Shivam Vij From shivamvij at gmail.com Sat Feb 5 17:12:04 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 17:12:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] The Nawabs of Awadh and Their Times: Lecture by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Message-ID: >From intachculturalaffairs at yahoo.co.uk The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) cordially invites you to a lecture on The Nawabs of Awadh and Their Times by Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones British Historian On Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at 6.30 p.m. at the INTACH Multi-purpose Hall, 71, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi -110003 RSVP Madhavi Sanghamitra Bhatia 24632267/69 24631818 Please join us for tea at 6.00 p.m. Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones holds a doctorate in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Earlier, she received a B.A. (Hons) degree in Urdu. She is the editor of Chowkidar, the journal of the British Association for Cemetries in South Asia. She has published some major studies on Awadh, among them are "Fatal Friendship – the Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow", "Engaging Scoundrels – True Tales of Old Lucknow". Dr. Jones is currently researching the portrait of the Nizam of Hyderabad for a forthcoming book to be published by Marg. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Mon Feb 7 14:08:24 2005 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 14:08:24 +0530 Subject: [reader-list]IT SANK BY 8 cms-is it the beginning of the end? In-Reply-To: <20050126103700.56352.qmail@web8406.mail.in.yahoo.com> References: <20050126103700.56352.qmail@web8406.mail.in.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8178da9905020700387a75d26b@mail.gmail.com> Dear Sabir, Nidhi, Leena, Your first posting is interesting, especially since it seems to indicate the costs at which the 'global city', Delhi of the future is likely to be achieved. Costs in term of dispossessions and dislocations, and a disruption in the 'ecology' of the land. A few questions which I hope will be addressed in future postings - - Do you have details of how the ISKCON acquired the land for the Akshardham Temple and how much they paid for it? These details of acquisition would be fascinating, especially since I have a feeling that land use patterns (as envisaged in the Delhi Master Plan)would have had to be changed to accomodate the Mandir. How have the fartmers been compensated for their land? What were the norms under this was to happen? How have these nomrs been followed? - You write, 'The population is closing on to the river extracting every bit the river could offer.' It seems to me that the very opposite is happening, becuase the dense network of livelihood linked to the river (farmers, fishermen) is being disrpupted to make way for monuments, and not habitations. I think it would be interesting if you also looked at the other bank of the Yamuna, at Nigambodh Ghat for instance, where an old setllerd colony of Kewats is to be dispossessed to develop the area for 'religious tourism.' More than population pressures, you should perhaps concentrate on the planning imagination, which ignores obvious seismic faults, and the livelihood claims of people, to instead concetrate on the city of the future. Cheers, Anand On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:37:00 +0000 (GMT), Sabir Haque wrote: > What sank by 8 cms. > -------------------- > > A temple build over a 40 yrs old ashram, which was > surrounded by farming land, over 1000 farmers were > dependent on it. The ashram was demolished, the > farmers were overthrown, a future of opportunities was > unvieled for us...the citizens of Delhi. What else can > we ask? > > We have in our hands, the most glaring example of > defiance of human values and ecological care - > Akshardham Temple. > > In a never disclosed news (read "media"), farmers > around that land claim that the akshardham temple have > sunk 8 cms. The construction is no longer happenning. > Although we are still checking out the details. Does > it really come as a shock?...frankly, we were > anticipating it. > > What will happen to Yamuna? Or rather How will it > affect us? High rise building on the river banks, when > it is a common knowledge that the river yamuna lies on > a faultline. Does this still manages to scare us? > > This research is titled "Developments on the Eastern > Banks of Yamuna - its future implications". It will > mainly document the lives of the rest of the farmers, > who will be directly affected by the Akshardham temple > & Commonwealth Games village, and the topographical > changes waiting to happen in the destined site. The > eastern bank river bed area is disputed, and > Commonwealth Games village is following the same model > on which Asian Games went. The population is closing > on to the river extracting every bit the river could > offer. > > We have been already involved in a project concerning > the yamuna bed - a film completed just two weeks back > titled "Fistfull of steel". A screening will be > organised under the aegis of Hazard Center & Lady Shri > Ram college. The venue will be finalised soon, we will > inform you more about it once the venue is finalized. > > Well, this is our first posting, will get you more > from the site itself. > > do keep checking this space, > > Sabir Haque > Nidhi Bal Singh > Leena Rani Narzary > > Our Brief > ---------- > Sabir Haque: Working as a visiting faculty ("New > Media") at CMAC, Rai University. Presently editing a > documentary film titled "Crises in Crimson". A > freelance editor and digital artist. > > Nidhi Bal Singh: presently based at NDTV, working for > the program titled "Gustaki Maaf". A freelance editor > and looking forward to make interesting documentaries. > > Leena Rani Narzary: A freelance producer, loves on > work on socially relevant themes. Three of us have > just finished our Masters in Mass communication from > AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia. > > Looking forward for a positive response from you all. > > sabir haque > new media evangelist > www.whatasight.bravehost.com > email: sabir.haque at gmail.com > mob: 9891408334 > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online > Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ From zainab at xtdnet.nl Mon Feb 7 15:33:29 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:03:29 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Research Assistants needed Message-ID: <1238.202.88.213.38.1107770609.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear All, Please forward this email to persons who may be interested in applying. Regards, Zainab Praja Foundation requires a Research Assistant for it's Mumbai Citizens Handbook Project Our aim is to bring out a detailed handbook on the state of governance in Mumbai to further citizens understanding of the working of government - on the ground. The handbook will look at major departments of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai as well as other agencies concerned with civic governance. Each chapter will also have recommendations and reforms for improving governance. Praja also seeks to follow up on the recommendations made in the handbook to improve transparency, accountability and better governance in Mumbai city. We require research assistants and interns for this purpose. The project started in December 2004 and shall continue till July 2005 (may be extended). For the position of Reseach Assistant, the candidate should preferably have a Masters degree in social sciences, humanities or social work with 1-2 years experience. Freshers can also apply. Fluency in Hindi and Marathi would be required as the project involves interaction with BMC staff. Should be proficient in MS Office programs especially Word and Excel. Those with a Bachelors degree or in the process of completing a masters can apply as interns. Please send your CV to the above address or email it to yazad [at] praja [dot] org All inquiries to be directed to yazad [at] praja [dot] org Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From ritika at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 00:07:20 2005 From: ritika at sarai.net (Ritika) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 00:07:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Informal Economies and Distribution Practices : Studying Bollywood In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4207B560.6000907@sarai.net> Dear Veena, hi! To begin with let me congratulate on the amount of work that you have proposed to do for this fellowship. This is just to get a clarity in my head - as I have been able to understand - I) You wish to document the two distribution territories on following two film circuits - a) Bombay: maharashtra, North karnataka and Gujrat b) Delhi-UP and this will be documented through distribution strategies, financial shifts etc. Right? I am a bit unclear about you mentioning the 'A' and B grade films - and wondering how you are going to use it in your work - i just need a bit of clarification on it. Also is there any specific reason for choosing these two film circuits only?? I am working in a project which has similar (like your) interests. This project called as PPHP (publics and practices in the History of the Present) is looking at the changing and emerging media networks in the past 10 odd years - post globalisation era - in Delhi. We are looking at - film and video, cable Tv industry, popular music culture and media markets as networks and spaces circulating the various media forms in the city. Couple of our colleagues are based in Mumbai uncovering the 'bollywood trade and its practices'. It'll be really nice for you to get in touch with them. You will not only get some contacts but also a clarity on your own project and how you can ask 'more' from your field. SO far the work that we have done is available of a CD that we had prepared. The complete CD may be accessed at: http://pphp.sarai.net But if you would want a copy of this, then i'll courrier it to you. This CD will give you a sense of our research interests and how we are knitting the various media practices together. SO do check the film and video section of the CD. Also go through the the archive gallery - this will give you a sense of range of materials - including from the film world - which are part of our understanding of the project in general. If you would want to have a copy of the CD - then let me know - i'll post it to you. Waiting eagerly for your reply... cheers ritika -- Ritika Shrimali The Sarai Programme http://blog.sarai.net/users/ritika What good is that life which does not get provoked or provokes. Gottfried Benn From mayur at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 10:40:28 2005 From: mayur at sarai.net (mayur at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 06:10:28 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Trembling Before G-d Screening/ IHC Feb 9 Message-ID: Screening of 'Trembling Before G-d', February 9th, 21:30pm Stein Auditorium. India Habitat Centre World Premiere, Sundance Film Festival Teddy Award for Best Documentary, Berlin Film Festival Screened at over 300 festivals worldwide Broadcast on BBC, Sundance Channel, ZDF/ARTE, HBO-LA Trembling Before G-d is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. As the film unfolds, we meet a range of complex individuals - some hidden, some out - from the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians to those abandoned by religious families to Orthodox lesbian high-school sweethearts. Many have been tragically rejected and their pain is raw, yet with irony, humor, and resilience, they love, care, struggle, and debate with a thousands-year old tradition. Ultimately, they are forced to question how they can pursue truth and faith in their lives. Vividly shot with a courageous few over five years in Brooklyn, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and San Francisco, Trembling Before G-d is an international project with global implications that strikes at the meaning of religious identity and tradition in a modern world. For the first time, this issue has become a live, public debate in Orthodox circles, and the film is both witness and catalyst to this historic moment. What emerges is a loving and fearless testament to faith and survival and the universal struggle to belong. "Provocative...powerful...An unforgettable picture" - Elvis Mitchell, New York Times "Exquisite piece of non-judgmental filmmaking, the film has caused a stir...compellingly humanistic viewing...One of the most engaging aspects is, in the end, the universality of the topic." A. Pasolini, Time Out London It's really about the challenges faced by so many of us - Jews and non-Jews, gays and straights - as we struggle to fit together, piece by piece, a whole range of beliefs and allegiances. Trembling is a brave and important document." - Adina Hoffman, The Jerusalem Post "Sublime, moving, and hopeful" - Paul Malcolm, Los Angeles Weekly "A remarkable film, for thoughtful people of all beliefs.one of the best and bravest.extraordinary." - Ray Conlogue, Canada Globe and Mail Visit http://www.tremblingbeforeg-d.com/ for more info. DuBowski is Producer of a new feature documentary directed by Parvez Sharma, the world's first about Islam and homosexuality, produced in association with Channel 4(UK), ZDF/ Arte (Germany/ France)and LogoLens (US). Mr. DuBowski and Mr. Sharma will be present at the screening. From grade at vsnl.com Tue Feb 8 13:03:22 2005 From: grade at vsnl.com (Rakesh) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 13:03:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Niyogi Murder Case - Acquittal of industrialists - Critique References: <3173.219.65.11.60.1107331334.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <000801c50db0$81ec9d60$3007fea9@net> CHRONICLE OF A MURDER ACQUITTAL FORETOLD By Rakesh Shukla In a recent decision, the Supreme Court acquitted Moolchand Shah owner of Simplex industries and Chandrakant Shah owner of Oswal Iron and Steel Private Ltd in the Shankar Guha Niyogi murder case. The wheels of justice having ground have spewed forth the conviction of Palton Mallah for the murder. Palton is a young man from Gorakhpur involved in petty crime in the Bhilai region. He had neither any connection nor any animosity towards Niyogi. Palton was the hired killer. No one has even remotely suggested any reason why Palton Mallah acting on his own should kill Niyogi. The conviction of the two industrialists by the trial court appears to be the only appears to be the only instance of the punishment of someone powerful for the murder of a social crusader fighting for the exploited. Niyogi known for his brilliant combination of struggle with constructive work, was shot dead at Bhilai in Chattisgarh on September 28, 1991. In an audio tape discovered within days of his assassination by his children, Niyogi named Moolchand Shah, Kailashpati Kedia of the Chattisgarh Distelleries and an IG of police as persons conspiring to eliminate him. The "contract killing" of Niyogi was ordered because he was organizing the contract workers and demanding implementation of labour laws. The first charter of demands submitted by Niyogi to Simplex asked for work an eight-hour working day, regularization of contract work for work of a permanent nature, living wages, safety appliances, medical and earned leave. The industrialists reacted by dismissing 4,200 workers. In addition, attacks were launched on workers by hired thugs. As per a document seized from the house of Moolchand Shah, an "action plan tocombat Niyogi" was formulated. Pressure was brought to bear and in February 1991 Niyogi was arrested. In July 1991, proceedings to extern Niyogi from Chattisgarh were initiated. However, both these attempts failed to check the workers movement. This failure of the arrest and externment seems to have led to the conspiracy which resulted in Niyogi's assassination. On the basis of ballistic evidence, incriminating documents, extra-judicial confessions, witnesses, Niyogi's cassette and diaries, the trial court convicted Moolchand Shah, Chandrakant Shah, the hired assassin Palton Mallah and three others of murder. The audio tape and entries in the diary by Niyogi naming individuals responsible for his death have been taken by the apex court to be of no particular relevance on the specious reasoning that they "do not refer to an event which ultimately was the cause of his death". Under Article 32(1) of the Evidence Act in addition to statements as to cause of death even statements "as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in his death" are also relevant facts in case the person is dead. The cassette in Niyogi's voice and entries in the diary do indicate circumstances of the transaction which led to his murder. Visit to Nepal to for purchase of firearms evidenced by entries of foreign made firearms on the back of old hotel bills have also been held to not further the conspiracy on the ground that, "No bills proving purchase of foreign-made weapons were recovered from any of these accused persons". There is little chance that a purchase of firearms in Nepal to commit a killing in India would be accompanied by bills proving purchase. Watching the movements of a person to work out the best time and opportunity to eliminate him seems to be something of a standard operating procedure for assassinations. Recovery of slips from the accused bearing the registration of the car and jeep being used by Niyogi indicating surveillance by them have been discarded with a bald, "We are not able to attach any further importance to these documents". Similarly recovery of a letter from one of the accused on the day of the murder to another accused stating that Rs 20,000/- had been paid for the job has been held to show that there was "some money transaction betweenthe second accused and the sixth accused" and not in any way establishing that it was "consideration for the illegal act carried out at the instance of the second accused". The award, as part payment for the assassination, of the contract of a parking stand in Maurya Talkies has been held to be innocuous. Even absconding by the accused, generally taken as a sign of guilt, has been explained away as understandable in view of the murder of a trade union leader and allegations against the industrialists. Observing that extra-judicial confession by Palton Mallah naming the industrialists has only corroborative value, the Court declaring that there is no substantive evidence acquitted the main persons responsible for the murder. In a case of circumstantial evidence, there is no direct evidence of eye-witnesses to the murder. It is the weaving together of the factum of financial loss due to agitations led by Niyogi, the watching of his movements, the trip to Nepal to purchase firearms, the audio cassette and entries in the diary naming individuals, payment of Rs 20,000/- and the absconding taken together which do seem to establish a conspiracy as held by the trial court. The workers of Chattisgarh have struggled for decades for the rights that are theirs as per the laws of the land. The acquittal of the industrialists is far more than a verdict in a criminal case of murder. Faith in the rule of law and the direction of the struggles of the workers is bound to be impacted by the judgement. Rakesh Shukla From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 13:23:51 2005 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:23:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Hospital Labour Room as Space for Unheard Voices In-Reply-To: <20050204055029.28637.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com> References: <20050204055029.28637.qmail@webmail27.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <4208700F.9020502@sarai.net> dear Kuldeep, Thanks for posting your exciting research project. One mode of research that worked very well earlier, has been to work with a `daily diary` that notes down conversations, interviews, observations, incidents, events etc. This dairy form allows the researcher to build and register into the research their own shifts and questions. I would think that if you could work with this form it will help your research and you will be able to share the world that you inhabit with all of us in this list. Maybe some in this list can also help you with stories and observation from their own experiences. cheers jeebesh kuldeep kaur wrote: > “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for Unheard Voices” > > I am Kuldeep Kaur from Chandigarh. I work as Staff Nurse in Government > medical college & hospital. I also contribute articles to Punjabi > Newspapers as freelancer. Here is the abstract of my study on > hospital's labour room. > > The study titled “The Hospital Labour Room as an Urban Space for > Unheard Voices” is Questionnaire based study. These questionnaires are > based on issues related to reproductive health and socio-psychological > constrains on women while entering the labour room. As par our > cultural and traditional norms mother-hood is considered a symbol of > ‘completeness of women’ but what they feel and experience during > labour process? This study is an attempt to understand the tremendous > pressures (physical, psychological or social) which decides > reproductive decisions of any woman. > Cairo programme of action (The United Nations international conference > on population and development in 1994) - define reproductive health as > “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not > merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to > the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. > Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a > satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to > reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do > so....” This way labour room is the appropriate place to understand > the physical, social and psychological status of women. > Reproductive rights are recognized as human rights in national laws > and international human rights documents. Are our women aware of if is > a million dollar question? Lack of education and information makes > women vulnerable not to exercise her reproductive rights is an > argument often put forward as explanation for present state of > affairs. On the ground any education or information is not sufficient > to ensure reproduction free of discrimination, Coercion and violence. > The familial and social pressures force women not to exercise her > reproductive rights (awareness) - reducing her existence to a womb. > Culture, tradition and identity make women subjugate to myths, > misconceptions and fears. > Labour room provides data and space about health status of > would-be-mothers. In labour room most of the cases of Lower-income > group women are ‘acute emergencies’. These are referral cases from > various small health centers or untrained dais. Most of the time their > economic resources are too meager or they are penny-less. When they > narrate their stories of poverty, ignorance and helplessness it > obviates the real picture of development and progress propagated > through main-stream narratives. > Son-preference social-psyche is the mainstay of patriarchy and women > suffer under its clutches. Even highly educated and well-off women are > exploited by son-giving gurus and Babas. Some of the admitted mothers > are with threads given by their ‘Gurus’. They refused to open it > considering auspicious even before going to the operation theater. In > one instance, a woman was forced by her mother-in-law to drink animal > excreta mixed in liquids saying, that it will bless her with son. > Mostly women depend upon their mother, sisters and friends for basic > information. The new era of technology and information has not changed > anything for a woman. Rather her exploitation and violence against her > have become more sophisticated. The books on such issues are in > negligible number? T.V, Radio and press contribute very little in this > matter. Mainstream media emphasize on sex education, health education > and family planning but where are the required and willing > paraphernalia to achieve the propagated goals. > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: > From monica at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 13:20:41 2005 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 13:20:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] reader-list admin Message-ID: Dear All Those who have been on this list for a while already know this, but for those who have joined more recently: Please send your announcement postings (for events, invitations, etc) to announcements at sarai.net You don't need to be a member. Just post. All postings will reach reader-list but will be tagged as an announcement. This makes it clearer to list members. best M list admin -- Monica Narula [Raqs Media Collective] Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 www.raqsmediacollective.net www.sarai.net From gilbert_sebs at yahoo.co.in Mon Feb 7 15:14:04 2005 From: gilbert_sebs at yahoo.co.in (gilbert sebastian) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:44:04 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] [arkitectindia] After-thoughts on a natural calamity In-Reply-To: <20050205173648.68441.qmail@web51407.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20050207094404.22612.qmail@web8409.mail.in.yahoo.com> After-thoughts on a natural calamity Turning a dew-dripping jungle into a desert would seem to require ferocity, But all it took was a bureaucrat’s signature. - Madhusree Mukerjee, 2003 THE PRIME ROLE OF COASTAL SAND MINING AND THE TSUNAMI In the mainstream discussions on the Tsunami, the effects of sand mining as a plausible cause of the heavy death toll has been a rather marginal viewpoint. Indeed, there have been only scattered references to it. Let us take the case of the worst affected areas in Tamil Nadu, namely, Colachal in Kanyakumari district and Nagapattinam district. Already in early 2002, a public hearing (which was also attended by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer) brought to light the serious threat sand mining, often illegal, posed to the ecology and livelihoods in Tamil Nadu. At Colachal, mining is done to a depth of up to six metres within 10 metres from the high tide line. It was pointed out that these operations had the potential to cause severe coastal flooding and sea erosion, which would have adverse consequences for the fishing communities on the coast. Rani, a panchayat president had deposed that extensive illegal mining for silicon sand was going on in Nagapattinam district (Viswanathan, S. 2002). Listen to the story of Andaman and Nicobar islands where the fury of nature has been at its highest in the country: "Over the years the sand got mined away to construct concrete buildings in various parts of Port Blair; the mangroves got cut, mainly for fuel; and parts of the coastal forests and coral reefs too were destroyed. Put together, it was the collective destruction of all the defence mechanisms that nature has provided against the force and power of the sea. It shows, in a microcosm, what has happened along the entire length of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the last few decades." (Sekhsaria 2005). "While, clearly, the beaches, mangroves and coral reefs would not have "stopped" the powerful and huge waves that hit the coast, they would have significantly reduced the impact of the waves and the destruction that resulted. Hundreds, if not thousands of lives could have been saved", says he (Sekhsaria 2005). The story from the Kerala coasts are not very different. The worst affected area in the state was Alappad panchayat in Kollam district from where was officially reported over hundred deaths. The survivors here were unanimous in saying that but for extensive dredging away of mineral sand from the coasts, the fury of the sea would not have been so terrible (Veerendrakumar 2005a). At Alappad panchayat, Babu, a local activist said that sand mining should be strictly banned, as that is one of the main 'reasons' for the natural disaster. In fact, as was admitted by Mr. K.P. Rajendran, Managing Director, KMML, the company had been allotted blocks 1,3,5 and 7 on the 22-km stretch of the coast from Neendakara to Karunagappally. Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IRE) has blocks 2,4,6 and 8 (Nair 2004). In block 4 alone at least 65 people were reported dead. Many people were killed in blocks 1,2 and 3 as well (Veerendrakumar 2005a). Indeed, it has been a genuine long-pending demand of the people in such localities in Alappad panchayat that they be resettled at safer destinations. "If a sea-wall was constructed here, the destruction would not have been so great. Those in power keep changing. Yet no one has made efforts to construct the seawall. The seawall would be an obstruction to the mining away of black sand. That is why no one takes the pain to construct them", said Kaarthikeyan from Tharayilkkadavu locality in Alappuzha district who had lost his sister in the disaster (Veerendrakumar 2005b). Shockingly, Tharayilkkadavu was located on a narrow strip of 200 metres of land between the sea and the backwaters, a clear instance of how the traditional fisherfolk are relegated to the most dangerous zones of habitation. In late April 2003, the Kerala Minister for Industries, P.K. Kunhalikkutty had announced in the Assembly that a 17-km stretch of state-owned land from Valiyazhikkal (Kayamkulam estuary) to Thottappilly in Alappuzha district would be leased out to Kerala Rare Earths and Minerals Limited (KREML), a joint sector company, to conduct mineral sand mining for twenty years. The proposed mining was primarily for extracting ilmenite, which is about 70% of the sand that is found on this coast. Arattupuzha village is a most densely populated piece of land that comes along this stretch (Sekhar, et al 2003). The recent Tsunami disaster had affected this area and is evidence enough that the mining proposal was totally ill-conceived. Had the proposal been implemented in time, many more lives could have been lost in this area. Moreover, the adjoining Kuttanad marshlands, below the sea level, known as ‘the rice bowl of the state’ could have been encroached upon by the sea. This stretch has a very fragile eco-system, which is highly erosion-prone. It experiences sea rage even in summer. Added to this is the proximity to the Vembanad lake – the largest water body in Keralam that cuts through Alappuzha and Kottayam districts. The entire water tourism industry revolves around this lake (Jacob 2003). In many a beach, the mineral sand coast now acts as a protective sea wall. “The mineral sand has a specific gravity of 4.5 whereas the gravel’s specific gravity is just 2, which makes it prone to sea erosion,” says Dr Joseph Mattom, an environmentalist. "What can sufficiently replace a natural sea wall formed over millions of years?” he asks (Jacob 2003). Moreover, sand is not considered to be a renewable resource. >From available information about the Indian scenario, if we are to identify the principal factor that made the Tsunami into a mass disaster taking a toll of thousands of lives, we could say that the single most important factor was mineral sand mining along the coasts. Mining, being a public undertaking under the State, we could pinpoint the culpability of the State and the bureaucrat capital under State control as primarily responsible for making these calamities into massive human tragedies. It is only rightful to demand that the State owns up responsibility for this major mining/industrial disaster that comes in the genre of Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984. It is also time to bring under scrutiny the dominant paradigm of 'developmentalism' that fails to take into account the concerns of welfare of the masses. COASTAL REGULATORY ZONE AND THE 'RIGHT TO SAFE HABITAT' Acquisition of land along the coasts for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), tourism development and developmental activities like mining, has edged out the fisher people to well within the danger-prone Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) in many areas. No wonder that left to live between the devil and the deep sea, the fisher people and their organisations have been pushing for exemptions in the CRZ notification. There have also been instances of resistance by the fisher people against this state-of-affairs. Thus retired Lieutenant Colonel Pratap Save who himself hailed from the fisher community, was beaten to death in custody by the Gujarat police under the BJP government in April 2000. He was picked up when he was leading a peaceful mass protest against the Pipavar port and the proposed SEZ there, under the banner of “Kinara Bachao Sangharsh Samiti”. Similarly, sharp local contradictions have come up along the coasts in the case of Bakel, Karwar, Kollam, etc. against such acquisition of land. In the context of the Narmada movement against displacement, Prof. Neera Chandhoke had rightly pointed out the need to incorporate the "Right to Habitat" into the discourse on rights. Against the background of large scale displacement of traditional fisher people from their coastal habitats, the ‘Right to Safe Habitat’ of the fisher people beyond the CRZ needs to underlined. In fine, rather than the fury of nature’s assaults, it has been human greed, corruption and bureaucratic laxity that turned this tragedy into a mass disaster. Nevertheless, they have not been the mischiefs wrought by abstract human beings, but by dominant/powerful class forces with significant influence upon the State. Selections from "Tsunami and other disasters: How 'natural' are these natural calamities?" by Gilbert Sebastian (under publication) ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/VaTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: arkitectindia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From sabujmukherjee at rediffmail.com Mon Feb 7 14:54:10 2005 From: sabujmukherjee at rediffmail.com (sabuj mukherjee) Date: 7 Feb 2005 09:24:10 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] resending first posting by biswajit and nilanjan Message-ID: <20050207092410.17970.qmail@webmail18.rediffmail.com>   Well, we’re not saying that the way media covered the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee has been responsible for the death of several children experimenting with the noose. After all, we have been in the media ourselves as ‘working journalists’ (ever heard of a non-working one?) for so many years. We can’t blame the media, like politicians, for all the evil in society. Rather, it is the task of the media to point out what is going wrong in the society. Wait. Let us ask ourselves, did the media do that in this case? Did the media do anything that could prevent this tragedy? For the record: The topic of our study is the media coverage of Dhananjay Chatterjee’s judicial execution and its impact on children. Chatterjee was a rape and murder accused who was hanged at Kolkata’s Alipore Central Jail (it’s called ‘Correctional Home’ nowadays, but we are unable to calculate the correctional coefficient of the torque of the hangman’s noose on the prisoner’s neck – sorry about that) before dawn on 14 August 2004. On the eve of the Independence Day, that is (hangings have had a close relationship with Independence, isn’t it?). With that, India broke its more than a decade old virtual moratorium on the execution of capital punishment. A strong message to the world! We are now rummaging through the files of old dailies to recollect how they presented the news the morning after. And what do we have here? Let us pick four newspapers of 14 August 2004 at random. Each one of them, to be sure, has the item as the front-page lead. The largest circulation Bengali daily (about a milllion), Ananda Bazar Patrika, has the largest headline, ‘The message went out: It’s over, Sir’, running through all eight columns. Under this, a two-column subhead: ‘Forgive me if I’ve made any mistakes’. The first one is a supposed quote from a jail official to his superior, the second from the prisoner to the inspector-general (prison). And if you think the prisoner was repenting for his misdeeds, read on – he was just being cordial in his last hour, not asking for mercy but gently taking leave of his hosts, the jail department. The whole front page is devoted to the hanging. Besides the main news, the two others are: ‘There are many criminals, I’m being hanged because I’m poor’ and ‘Purnima breaks down at the first train’s whistle’. While the former one is a supposed compilation of Dhananjay’s last quotes as narrated by the jail staff, the latter is a description of the scenes at his village Kuldiha in Bankura district, and at Jamdoba, the parental village of his wife, Purnima. The lead picture, spread over six columns, gives us a view of Dhananjay’s feet through glass door of the corpse carrier taking his body to the crematorium. Below, there’s a single-column close-up of the grieving wife. The layout is complete with a graphics captioned: ‘The last four hours’. Next, we take Bartaman, arguably the second largest (with a 4,00,000-plus circulation). ‘Dhananjay hanged’, the straightforward headline says, with the subhead: ‘Eye donation wish unfulfilled’. In a neat cluster, three other related pieces say: ‘Family members keep awake all night hoping for a miracle’, ‘He broke down in tears when the order was read out’, and ‘Special prayers at Hetal’s school after hanging’. Special prayers at the school where Hetal Parekh, Dhananjay’s teenage victim, used to read? Was it because of the triumph of justice? Was it because of the end of evil? No. The caption of the lead picture, showing the school girls praying, clearly says: ‘Special prayers for Dhananjay on Saturday ” Prayers for the rapist and murderer of a minor girl? Actually, it was a prayer for both Dhananjay and Hetal, clarified the caption in Dainik Statesman. Here, too, it’s the lead picture. ‘I am innocent, God bless you’ screams the headline, with a strap: ‘Dhananjay’s last words before the hanging’. Okay, now we have Ganashakti in our hand. The Bengali daily organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), major partners of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal. The headline, as expected, is matter-of-fact: ‘Dhananjay’s hanging according to schedule’. One more example of the newly introduced “work culture” at government departments in the state. But read the first few lines. “He didn’t look perturbed for a moment. He took a bath, put on new clothes, ate a little curd and sweets, and climbed on to the alter. A few minutes’ wait. Saturday 4:30 A.M. Dhananjay Chatterjee was bade the last farewell from Alipore Central Jail.” Do we see a tacit sympathy for the prisoner on the gallows in all of these newspaper reports? Or are we missing a point? What do you think, dear readers? Biswajit Roy and Nilanjan Dutta -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050207/2062ec95/attachment.html From mayur at sarai.net Mon Feb 7 13:03:38 2005 From: mayur at sarai.net (mayur at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 08:33:38 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Film Screening: Trembling Before God In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <26bd047f199d635ff92844bf1b4d5297@sarai.net> When: Wednesday, 9th February, 9:30 pm Where: Stein Auditorium at the Habitat Centre Trembling Before G-d is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. As the film unfolds, we meet a range of complex individuals - some hidden, some out - from the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians to those abandoned by religious families to Orthodox lesbian high-school sweethearts. Many have been tragically rejected and their pain is raw, yet with irony, humor, and resilience, they love, care, struggle, and debate with a thousands-year old tradition. Ultimately, they are forced to question how they can pursue truth and faith in their lives. Vividly shot with a courageous few over five years in Brooklyn, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and San Francisco, Trembling Before G-d is an international project with global implications that strikes at the meaning of religious identity and tradition in a modern world. For the first time, this issue has become a live, public debate in Orthodox circles, and the film is both witness and catalyst to this historic moment. What emerges is a loving and fearless testament to faith and survival and the universal struggle to belong. Sandi Simcha DuBowski (Director/Producer) is a filmmaker and writer based in New York. His current project, Trembling Before G-d is currently in theatrical release in the United States, Israel, Canada, Germany, and in 2003, France, UK, Argentina, and Czech Republic (in the U.S. with New Yorker Films). Trembling Before G-d was launched at New York's Film Forum to incredible audience, critical, and box office response. It broke Film Forum's Opening Day box office records previously held by Paris Is Burning and is opening in over 80 U.S. cities. Trembling has been the recipient of twelve awards including The Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival, The Mayor's Prize for the Jewish Experience at the Jerusalem Film Festival, The GLAAD Media Award for Best Documentary, and The Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at OUTFEST Los Angeles. The film was nominated for the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards for the IFC/Directv Truer Than Fiction Award. The L.A. Weekly named it one of the 10 Best Films of 2001. It is being co-produced and broadcast by Keshet/Channel Two in Israel, the first co-production with U.S. producers and will be broadcast in Israel in late Spring 2003. It is airing on BBC, The Sundance Channel, ARTE, Denmark's Channel 2, Australia's ABC, Netherlands’ NIK, and other TV stations worldwide in 2003-2004. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From zenrainman at rediffmail.com Mon Feb 7 17:52:45 2005 From: zenrainman at rediffmail.com (vishwanath s) Date: 7 Feb 2005 12:22:45 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [Urbanstudy] Public Space: Musings on Community and Individual Message-ID: <20050207122245.4757.qmail@webmail17.rediffmail.com> Just to let all know SWABHIMANA an NGO in Bangalore has brought out a Citizens Guide to Bangalore called 'My Bangalore-My rights-My reponsibilities' - The Bangalore Civic Directory It gives the role of service providers like the Mahanagar Palike the development authority the Police the Slum Clearance Board the Transport Corporation etc etc The book is priced at Rs 100 /- and is available in Kannada and English If people or groups in Mumbai are interested to look at it as a rough template for design or whatever I'll only be too glad to send it regards S.Vishwanath Trustee - Citizens Voluntary Initiative for the City- CIVIC-Bangalore   -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050207/f3172b58/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Tue Feb 8 14:29:04 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 14:29:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nepal? Message-ID: <42087F58.2060401@sarai.net> <>I'm a little shaken by the fact that there has been no discussion or information on this list about the cataclysmic and surreal events in Nepal from this weekend. Does this mean the media clampdown is working, in its attempt to shut down discussion as well? Surely there's more to be said and worked through in all this, beyond political pronouncements? I would really appreciate it if anyone on the list had an angle on what this all means, or where it will lead. Also, if anyone has any articles that would give us a better understanding of what's happening on the ground. Below, two articles that many of you may have seen. The first from www.insn.org, and the second from The Indian Express this weekend, about some of the bizarre fallout, in a world almost bereft of communication devices. Vivek www.insn.org ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sara Beth Shneiderman Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 22:58:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: [INSN] news digest from Kathmandu, Friday, Feb 4, 2005, 11am To: ss364 at cornell.edu Cc: mt272 at cornell.edu Location: Kathmandu, Nepal Date: Friday, February 4, 2005 [This brief news digest was prepared by Sara Shneiderman and Mark Turin, researchers from Cornell and Cambridge universities, who are currently based in Nepal. Due to the ongoing communications blackout and widespread censorship in effect, little information about Nepal is getting out. We are sending this email out through a secure V-SAT link from a foreign mission in Kathmandu. Please disseminate this news digest widely to friends of Nepal, to media outlets and to politicians in your own country who may be willing to express their condemnation of the King's action. We will continue to send brief updates as often as we can until communications are restored.] At 10am on Tuesday, February 1, 2005, Nepal's King Gyanendra gave a televised address in which he sacked the country's coalition government, dissolved the ministries and suspended fundamental rights under a State of Emergency. Citing Article 127 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990, the King constituted a council of ministers under his own chairmanship. During his 40-minute speech to the nation, he heaped scorn upon Nepal's political parties for allegedly destroying the country's infrastructure. According to the King, despite having had adequate opportunities to resolve the state's ongoing conflict with Maoist insurgents, or call an election, the political parties had failed the people of Nepal. Laying claim to the glorious history of the Shah dynasty, Gyanendra stressed the age-old relationship between King and subjects and promised to restore multi-party democracy within three years. As the speech came to a close around 10:40am, all fixed and mobile telephone lines were cut, and non-satellite internet connections were down by the end of the day. By noon, the Kathmandu Valley was effectively sealed off from the rest of Nepal and the outside world: Tribhuvan International Airport was closed, with all incoming flights diverted elsewhere, and the main road arteries out of the Valley were blocked by security forces. Despite these draconian measures, the city was calm, with most shops remaining open through the end of the business day. There were rumours of a curfew, which sent schoolchildren scurrying home in the mid-afternoon, but these were unfounded. Armed security forces in riot gear were deployed across the city, and there was little obvious protest against the King's move. Many citizens said they were relieved that the King had taken control, stating that there was no other way out of the political stalemate that has crippled the country for the last several months. To them, Gyanendra's move was a brave risk, which would either see the King's previously mixed reputation cleared, or destroyed once and for all. There were also many sceptical voices, who feared a return to Panchayat era secrecy and the repeal of liberties hard-won over the last fourteen years of democratic process. By Tuesday evening, there was no sign of communications returning, and people gathered what information they could from their colleagues, neighbours and friends. In discussions with Nepali journalists and academics, foreigners in official and diplomatic positions in Kathmandu, conflict monitoring groups and the media, we learned that the leaders of major political parties, trade unions and student organisations were under house arrest or taken to one of six major detention centres around the valley. Captains and majors of the Royal Nepal Army were stationed in the editorial offices of all national dailies in order to censor the morning editions before they were put to bed. On Wednesday, many of the foreign missions based in Kathmandu issued statements. They had been taken by surprise by the royal-military coup, and the United Nations, Unites States, United Kingdom, the Council of the European Union and India all expressed varying degrees of strongly-worded concern. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he would not attend the SAARC summit scheduled for the coming week in Bangladesh as a vote of protest against 'political turmoil' in the region. Only China was reported to have accepted the King's power grab without critique, stating that it would not pass judgement on Nepal's internal affairs. Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), issued a passionate statement dated February 1 condemning the King's action and calling upon 'pro-people forces' in the country to join with the Maoists to topple the monarchy and build a republic. The Maoists reiterated their call for a three-day national strike, which had predated the royal proclamation. Judging by the traffic on the streets on Thursday morning, the Maoist call was not heeded, which many saw as an indication of King Gyanendra's influence over the populace and iron grip over the nation's capital. Outside of Kathmandu, the Maoist strike was apparently observed. Reports started to trickle in from the rest of the country, thanks to limited road travel in private vehicles and a brief reprieve in the communications blackout (landlines were turned on for one to two hours each evening, but internet servers, cellular phones and international lines remain blocked). Specific events reported by reliable sources include a student demonstration at Prithvi Narayan Campus in Pokhara which was fired on by a military helicopter gunship leaving several protestors badly injured if not dead; the blocking of all FM radio broadcasts outside of Kathmandu and the instruction to those broadcasting in Kathmandu to play only entertainment-oriented programmes; the BBC FM station recently established in Kathmandu being forbidden from broadcasting the news in Nepali; the closure of news stands outside of the Valley; and a 72-hour blockade on long-distance public bus travel in and out of Kathmandu. As of writing on Friday morning, the communications network remains down. Journalists and human rights activists are concerned that they will be the next targets for arrest now that most political leaders have been muted. It remains to be seen how wide the web of detentions will be, but there is a sense of powerlessness and foreboding for the future among those who have previously expressed criticism of the state in any way. **** Coping with coup With Internet, phones & fax down, Nepal’s top banks fall back on centuries-old system for survival: human runners & paper chits SHISHIR GUPTA E-mail this story Print this story Posted online: Sunday, February 06, 2005 at 0148 hours IST *KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 5: *The King’s clampdown on Maoists has hit card-holders of a different kind. The Nepal monarch may have intended only to deny his political adversaries the oxygen of publicity when he froze the country’s telecommunications network, but he has inadvertantly crippled ATM and credit card transactions and brought banking to its knees. At a time when banks operate more by transmitting information—instead of physical transactions—the move to paralyse the Internet, phone lines and fax machines has had a devastating fallout. Credit cards cannot be accepted as there is no way to get bank approval. The electronic swipe system does work. ATM cards cannot be used and Letters of Credit (LCs) cannot be encashed as banks can’t confirm the goods have been received. So post-February 1, bankers no longer push buttons on a keypad to communicate. They use runners. Every morning, the cars parked outside Nepal’s main banks—Everest, Standard Chartered, Nabil and Nepal Banijya—make a strange sight. Top bank executives pass on message chits to their drivers, who flit from bank to bank and branch to branch, carrying instructions and confirming transactions. Standard Chartered has petitioned the Rashtriya Nepal Bank—Nepal’s central bank—that at least electronic communication through the Swift code system should be spared the clampdown. And for a country whose people work elsewhere so that they can send money back home, even the lifeline of remittances is now snapping. A top banker told /The Sunday Express /that now there was no way to confirm what amount had been sent. ‘‘All we know that remittances are in the pipeline but nothing more,’’ he said. Inward remittances in Nepal are to the tune of $10-15 million every week and outward ones in the $8-10 million range. The Rashtriya Nepal Bank buys around $ 8 million every week to suck out liquidity from the market. ‘‘But with people drawing out cash and no confirmation of the quantum of remittances, there could be a serious liquidity crunch in the market,’’ the banker said. The past two days have seen local telephone lines being hesitantly restored for about 90 minutes—they were on for close to three hours today. This facility was used mainly for relatives to call each other up and confirm that all was well. With international and mobile calls frozen all the time and even local phones on the blink most of the time, businesses were suffering. Local manufacturers cannot send goods out of the Valley as they have no idea if their dealers need to replenish stocks. Since LCs are not being honoured, business establishments demand ‘‘payment on sight’’. Cut to the tourism industry. Airlines cannot confirm tickets as the online reservation system is out. Tickets are being given on first come first served basis, with passengers paying in cash. Incoming tourists can’t make bookings over the Internet. For some, the storm may pass. For Nepal’s fledgling BPO industry, this could spell the end. With ISDN lines down and broadband links cut, the mood in and around Thamel, home to some 200 BPO companies, is black. ‘‘Our clients will now move to India or southeast Asia,’’ predicted the head of a Thamel BPO. ‘‘Who will want to come here now?’’ And no one seems to care. With a growth rate of three per cent and foreign reserves of just $1.7 billion, Nepal needed the business. For the moment, it’s politics in command. From space4change at gmail.com Tue Feb 8 18:13:06 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 18:13:06 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Voice from Nepal In-Reply-To: <20050206181136.31006.qmail@web40711.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20050206181136.31006.qmail@web40711.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8c10798f050208044374ae96a6@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ramaleft Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 10:11:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [ZESTCurrent] Voice from Nepal To: ZESTCurrent at yahoogroups.com The writer is a journalist working with a leading newspaper in Nepal Dear friends and well-wishers, I am using email after three days, now from a diplomatic mission in Nepal secretly. As all the telephone lines, internet and other communication facilities have been cut off, we are experiencing the stone age in the 21st century. This has been a complete hell for journalists. We are not allowed to talk to anyone, political leaders are either under house arrest or have been detained… There are army men patrolling the streets. Even if there is something emergency happening in a house, there is no way of communicating to others. In the eyes of a foreign journalist, everything is calm and normal in the streets. But the weight ofg the undercurrent is unfathomable and ungauzable. Ours is the biggest media house in Nepal and it has been encircled by the army since the king addressed the nation on Tuesday morning, imposing dictatorial rule. The army officers scan all the contents before it goes to the printing or on air. My hands are shivering while writing this. (Apologies if there are mistakes.) Please don't reply me in this ID now unless it's too important. It's because I won't be able to check emails for next several days or maybe months. Our life is in threat and an eerie silence is ruling every corner of Nepal. Speaking anything against the monarch or the rulers is directly inviting an end, or being behind the bars, not less. I hope my friends outside Nepal help us in this hour of difficulty. Please circulate this email among your friends' circle, and please please please please please try to exert pressure on your government to bail my country out of the trouble and hardships we are going through. «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥««¤»¥«¤»§«¤» This is ZESTCurrent, a South Asia-centric mailing list whose members exchange one, and only one article a day. Members are encouraged to post articles to ZESTCurrent at yahoogroups.com Members are encouraged to respond to the articles circulated but not initiate new discussions. If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCurrent by sending a blank mail to ZESTCurrent-subscribe at yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/join ==theZESTcommunity============================= [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ From space4change at gmail.com Tue Feb 8 18:43:49 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 18:43:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bad news from Bangladesh [by Naeem Mohaiemen] Message-ID: <8c10798f0502080513773b695e@mail.gmail.com> And you thought news was news, but apparently there's something called 'good news' and another thing called 'bad news', at least in Bangladesh. Wonder why we don't hear such statements in India anymore. I remember growing up hearing them. Daily Star February 7, 2005 BAD NEWS FROM BANGLADESH by Naeem Mohaiemen Once again, bad news about Bangladesh is in the foreign media. Eliza Griswold's New York Times report "Bangladesh: The Next Islamist Revolution?" has Dhaka's chattering classes up in arms. To be fair to the Times, there was a positive story about Bangladesh a month back. "Surviving to Export Another Day" was an article about how Bangladesh was coping well with the end of MFA quotas in garments export. That glowing article (accompanied by photos of working women, none wearing hijab) came out in the weekday Business Section, which actually has a higher readership than the weekend magazine where Griswold's article came out. But because of the government's furious reaction, the negative "Islamist Revolution" story will get far more publicity. What about Bangladeshi expatriates? Shouldn't they play some role in publicizing good news about Bangladesh? This is a fair argument and one I faced repeatedly last year. Through most of 2004, I was in Bangladesh, first working on my film "MUSLIMS OR HERETICS?", and then screening it at various venues. The film is a documentary on persecution of Ahmadiya Muslims, and ended with an appeal to withdraw the government ban on Ahmadiya books. In the course of the year, the film was screened at British Council, Russian Cultural Center, BRAC Center, Goethe Center, Chittagong Press Club, Prabarthana and many villages in Bangladesh. One of the people I met during the screenings was musician Maqsud, who famously said, "Ami BNP ba AL er dalal na, Ami Bangladesh'er dalal". (I'm not a stooge for either BNP or AL, I'm a stooge for Bangladesh)." At my film screening, his first question was, "I don't understand you expatriates. Isn't there anything good in Bangladesh for you to make films about?" Maqsud's question gave me pause. Later we had a long discussion during an interview for his website. My response at that time is relevant again in the current context. Expatriates would love to publicize good news about Bangladesh. Good news about Bangladesh also helps us-- whether in business, socially or on an emotional level. The problem is that our governments (both AL and BNP) create a constant flow of bad news. One personal anecdote will illustrate the point. About a year back, I met Linda Duchin of New Yorker Films. "Oh, you're from Bangladesh!" she said, "You know, we have the most wonderful film about your capital!" What she referred to as "your capital" was the Shangshad Bhavan, and the film in question was Nathaniel Kahn's documentary about Louis Kahn, "My Architect." According to Linda, the film was getting a lot of buzz and an Oscar nomination was certain. A few days later, I was walking in Soho, and was struck by a familiar image in unexpected surroundings. Among the posters for Prada, Apple iPod and Jay-Z, was the familiar Shangshad Bhavan, with a skinny Bangali kid staring up at it. "My Architect" had just been released in New York's art-house theaters, and the posters were everywhere. I was euphoric, excited and above all, proud. By then I had seen the film and was convinced that, finally, this film would show something positive about Bangladesh. People started approaching me at parties to ask, "Have you seen My Architect?" Not floods, cyclones, fundamentalism, or grinding poverty-- finally a positive story! I talked to Linda about the possibility of inviting Nathaniel to come to Dhaka to screen the film. Other opportunities popped up at the same time. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was building a "Timeline of Art History." I pushed for inclusion of Shishir Bhattacharya and they accepted. George Harrison's estate was belatedly talking about reissuing "Concert for Bangladesh." For a moment, expatriate Bengalis seemed able to leverage diaspora connections to promote Bangladesh's image. With visions of a glorious screening of "My Architect" (maybe inside the Shangshad Bhavan?), I headed to India to complete a film project. We were filming "Rumble In Mumbai," a documentary about globalization for Free Speech TV. Halfway through the Mumbai shoot, I talked to my producer: "Look, we can't just be interviewing Indians. We need some Bangladeshis. Farhad Mazhar is very prominent in this movement, I'm going to Dhaka to interview him." I also thought I would use this opportunity to set up a screening of "My Architect"-- perhaps the government could be convinced to "officially" invite him. I arrived in Dhaka and interviewed Mazhar, and then began research into a screening inside the Parliament Building. Suddenly, bad news intruded and pushed my plans aside. To everyone's surprise, the government announced a ban on Ahmadiya books in response to street protests by radical Islamists. Civil society was thrown into uproar, Jamaat e Islami and its allies openly rejoiced and an emboldened Khatme Nabuwot began attacking Ahmadiya mosques. I had ties to the community (one of my St. Joseph classmates was Ahmadiya) and was immediately drawn into the issue. Human rights has always been my first priority, so I had no choice but to start shooting interviews-- with the intention of making a short film. Propelled by events and a sense of looming crisis, I finished the film quickly. In the process, I saw that inside this crisis lay larger issues of religion and state. What sort of country would we have? One where religion was a private matter, or one where the government interfered in religious beliefs? What about screening "My Architect" and spreading good news about Bangladesh? All those positive, idealistic projects fell by the wayside-- a victim of the cloud of bad news that the government had created with the book ban. My final words to Maqsud were, "Look we expatriates are the first to shout about good news from Bangladesh. But the problem is, there is too much bad news coming out, and too many things to be fixed, so we never get a chance to talk about the good news." Talking to a government employee at the BRAC screening, I added, "The Ahmadiya issue can be solved in one day. All the government has to do is withdraw the book ban. If my film becomes useless tomorrow because the ban has been removed, I'll happily go back to my original project about My Architect." I said similar things at all my film screenings last year. At that time I felt optimistic that the government would do the sensible thing. But a year later, the government has taken very few positive steps. Although police were sent to protect the Dhaka Ahmadiya Mosque, the government ban on books is still in place. Only the lawsuit filed with the High Court has temporarily blocked the ban. As long as there are Bangla Bhais, Ahmadiya book bans, mysterious arms shipments in Chittagong, and unsolved bomb blasts, the newspapers of the world will continue to report bad news about Bangladesh. The government is now on the warpath-- attacking the Times, sending intelligence officials to find out who spoke to reporters, threatening to shut down websites like Drishtipat.org, and blaming expatriate Bangladeshis. Previously, another Times reporter was in Dhaka and was tailed by Detective Branch the whole time she was here. Later she told a seminar in New York that not even in disputed Kashmir had she seen these censorship tactics. When Monica Ali's "Brick Lane" was the top seller in England, the Bangladesh Embassy only saw "journalist" on her visa application and refused her entry-- creating another media storm. The more the government tries to crush journalists, the more the world pays attention. Because of all this muzzling of press, Committee to Protect Journalists called Bangladesh the "most dangerous place for journalists". Instead of wasting resources trying to squash reports about Bangladesh, why not try to solve the problems these reporters have discovered? Don't waste time looking for 'conspiracies." Start creating some good news-- expatriates will be the first to publicize it. It's that simple From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Feb 8 21:32:16 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 17:02:16 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Of Churchgate Station Message-ID: <3194.219.65.12.237.1107878536.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> 7th February 2005 A Railway Station This evening, I decided to stand and watch Churchgate station. Fieldwork is hard work. But perhaps it is hard work which brings in results. Each time I am on the field, I find that the city talks to me. It opens its heart out to me. I believe that the city is generous. That is because love is generous. And when the mind’s eye is open, things start to reveal themselves. I am a multiple personality. These days, more so. I am trying to discipline myself by working in an office. So one of my identities is that of a working woman. I boarded the train at Grant Road station to get to Churchgate. While waiting at Grant Road station for the train to arrive, I was lost in my own thoughts. I almost became a practitioner of the space of the railway station. Perhaps the railway station is a breathing space – a breathing space for the few moments that we spend waiting at the station for the train to arrive. I wonder whether the railway station is at all a meeting space – a space where ‘others’ meet ‘others’ and this is no superficial meeting, but a meeting of the minds and the souls. But perhaps such meeting spaces are few in the emerging city; there are more of these on the Internet though. In the train, two women were sitting opposite me. Both were married. Suddenly, a woman from the back seat came running towards these women and said, “Hurry up, give me a bindi (the circular dot which married women, usually Hindu wear on their foreheads)”. The two women scrambled through their bags and out came little round dibiyas of bindis. The woman managed to get the appropriate brown bindi she needed and she thanked the seated women and ran back. It occurred to me then how symbols are transformed into commodities. These days, while walking through the city’s streets, I observe commodities and wonder whether streets provide the space for transformation of commodities – practices of logos, branding, kitsch and transformation. I landed on the platform at Churchgate station. Churchgate station – I feel quite bored here. But I cannot be a judgmental researcher. It is the peak hour time, a moment of rush. At this time, the railway station is transformed into a transitory space which gets you home – home, home is where the heart finally is! People were rushing in straight queues, straight to their platforms. I wonder whether they are automatically conditioned and they get into their respective trains without much thinking – like some kind of automated response? I don’t know. I cannot know because I am the last person on this earth who can be disciplined though I keep harboring dreams of being perfectly conditioned and disciplined. I remember speaking to Kohl who had said to me, “Initially, when I was using Churchgate station, I would have to think to get to my train. But if you ask me now, I just know. In fact, I don’t even remember when the transition took place from conscious decision making to a conditioned automated response. I am wondering, when did this change come about in me?” All this while, I stood close to the automated ticket vending machine. Now, the deal in the Mumbai trains is that you either purchase a straight ticket or you buy bulk coupons which you can get validated at the coupon vending machine. The latter practice is timesaving and a sizeable amount of people indulge in it. While standing there, I found two men who came to get their coupons validated. One of them was instructing the other, “Do it like this. Hurry up now, how much time are you wasting?” The poor chap kept struggling to get the technique right and perhaps by the nagging of the other fellow, he was fumbling even more. I want to be able to record conversations at the train station – what kinds of conversations are these? Are these conversations about time? And then, is a railway station about speed? And are speed and time equivalent? God knows, but I am sure he will or the city will surely reveal to me in some time. Keep watching, keep watching, keep watching I began to look around at the advertisement hoardings at Churchgate station. One of them was by TATA Salt which said in the tri-colour background, “Desh ka namak!” meaning salt of the nation. Now that exactly brings me back to my observations about commodity and transformation of commodity. Goodness me, this city is talking too much to me. I reject TATA Salt from today – bloody nationalist salt – not worth the salt eh? I want to launch a civil disobedience movement against this oppressive nationalist salt. Come on, who wants to join in??? Loafing around my gaze at the advertisement hoardings, I saw two boards on home loans offered by two different banks. One was an ad of Central Bank home loan and the caption said, “Own your own dream home” and the other ad was by Punjab National Bank and the caption said, “Apne parivar ko de tohfe mein ghar” meaning give your family a gift of home. As I watched these two boards, I realized that dreams are being marketed and sold at the railway station and such clever ploy. Each of us who commutes via the railway station has an aspiration of owning a home in this city, this city which is brutal in its real estate pricing. As I, a middle-class housewife or an upwardly mobile young executive of the Nariman Point ‘type’, walks through Churchgate station, the dream of the home is in my face, at every inch, every furlong. And what a dream this is! Elusive, but ultimate! But I am at the railway station everyday – every single day and this dream is in my face and it is my ultimate aspiration, now easy – it can happen in installments my dear. I believe that the railway station also has a hand in contributing to the city’s transformations. I keenly watch people walking in straight, disciplined and yet rushed queues towards their trains. I am marking people – the yuppie South Mumbai college ‘type’, the Maharashtrian ‘workingwoman type’, the Nariman Point executive ‘type’. The railway station is truly a site of marking – perfect marking (and perhaps imperfect perceptions). I notice that the Maharashtrian crowd of Churchgate station is so very different from the Maharashtrian crowd of VT Station. The different is so apparent that I wonder whether my stereotyping has actually fulfilled a prophecy? How do I discover this? I watch women walking, running, rushing and I think that the railway station is also a site of violence, a kind of automated, silent violence which brews, like coffee, deep within. And then, perhaps it erupts like a volcano, sometime, somewhere, misplaced uh uh displaced. I decide to walk ahead with thoughts of violence in my mind. I watch the new IKAY’s restaurant which has become very popular at Churchgate. Earlier, in place of IKAY’s was a very famous Chinese restaurant, whose name I seem to have forgotten now (perhaps that is how short-term memories have become in the emerging Mumbai city!). The previous Chinese restaurant served fabulous Chinese food at very cheap prices. But one was always cautioned before eating in this restaurant because it location is right next to the stinking ladies’ and gents’ public toilet at the station. I was often told, “You know, the restaurant gets its water from the public toilet to cook food.” Now, IKAY’s has come up and believe me, IKAY’s is plush and posh, chic and clean. It is fashionably lit; the waiters taking orders are uniformed; it serves all kinds of delights and you have a take-away section. In summary, IKAY’s has everything which its predecessor did not have. IKAY’s is clean and perfect. And as I watch IKAY’s, the city whispers into my ears, “Do you see the discourse of cleanliness? Would anyone caution you now if you eat in IKAY’s, even though IKAY’s is as close to the public toilets as its predecessor?” Yes, I now understand the politics of commodity, of urban transformation, of signs, of advertising, of capitalism and whatever you have! DAMN! The city talks and it can talk a lot. I am afraid to listen at times because it speaks the truth, some truths. Can I bear to listen and digest the truths? Maybe I need some water from IKAY’s and I don’t care if it comes from the public toilets. I walk towards the subway and right up is a strong neon-lit board advertising Minto mint sweets. In the corny corner of the huge ad is the hero who is singing, “Agar maina ko hai patana, to Minto khana” i.e. if you want to smooth talk the girl, eat Minto sweets. The heroine or maina if you please, is starkly dressed in a back-lace blouse, her back and the flesh showing prominently. I walk a little further down, and I see pirated VCDs selling. Yes, that’s exactly what a railway station is about – Sex, Lies and Videotapes (or pirated CDs if you may please)!!! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 12:31:04 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 12:31:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Laying the foundation for cities of joy (ET) Message-ID: <8c10798f0502082301f878256@mail.gmail.com> Laying the foundation for cities of joy (ET) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1013176.cms TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2005 12:08:51 AM] Lack of basic infrastructure, a problem that has for long brought misery to millions of urban Indian hearts, may be addressed by the finance minister in this budget. The government is putting together an assistance package to enable urban local bodies to give cities improved infrastructure and better transportation alongwith the redevelopment of slums. City folk can also look forward to lower property tax and stamp duties, amendment to the Rent Control Act and scrapping of the Urban Land Ceiling (regulation) Act. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already announced his government's intention to introduce a national urban renewal mission to re-develop big cities — with special attention to public amenities and public transport. "I am convinced that Indian cities cannot continue to develop in the manner in which they have done in the past few decades. We have to develop public infrastructure. We have to invest in public transport, in roads with space for bicycles and pedestrians, in sanitation and public parks," he had said while opening the underground section of the Delhi Metro in December. In the past few months, the Planning Commission alongwith urban development ministry and urban employment and poverty alleviation ministry have more or less finalised the contours of the proposed mission. The mission would subsume some of the existing urban development programmes and incorporate the features of the urban reforms incentive fund (URIF) scheme. At a presentation, the committee that is firming up the plan, has suggested that the Centre would need assistance to the extent of Rs 10,000 crore annually for the proposed mission. About 60 cities are expected to sign up for the makeover programme that could involve expenditure of at least Rs 1,20,000 crore during a five year period. A significant portion of the funds required for the project is to be raised from the financial institutions, while the states and the urban local body will make small contributions. Initially, capital cities and those of historical importance are expected to join up. Industrial townships may also be included in mission. Central assistance will be linked to reforms, government sources said. The renewal programme will have to be prepared by the urban local body of the city and approved an empowered steering group chaired by the urban development minister and co-chaired by the urban employment and poverty alleviation minister. State level monitoring committees will be made responsible for smooth implementation of programme and ensure co-ordination between various bodies involved implementing projects taken up under the mission. From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 13:02:44 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 13:02:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Home Truths: Providing Shelter to Millions on the Street Message-ID: <8c10798f050208233263e1b1d3@mail.gmail.com> The Times of India, February 2, 2005 Home Truths: Providing Shelter to Millions on the Street by Bharat Dogra No one remembers them during grand occasions like Republic Day. They are the homeless - people stretched on footpaths under torn blankets or less, on remorselessly cold and foggy nights. Discussions on improving urban infrastructure altogether negate their existence. Perhaps, their only consolation under this framework is to eke out a space below the flyovers littering the city landscape. They are taken note of only as undesirable elements that need to be weeded out of the city in order to improve its 'social infrastructure'. The Emergency happened only 30 years back, but today a Turkman Gate happens virtually each day all over the country without a murmur of disapproval. Have we really evolved as a strong, proud Republic? Ironically, the callous neglect is visible in the very city that hosts the Republic Day parade. Despite the recent emphasis on poverty alleviation schemes, the existing night shelters in Delhi accommodate less than 5% of the city's 1,00,000 homeless, or 3,000 people. If the homeless go through hell in winter in Delhi, they face high water in the monsoon in Mumbai. The situation in smaller towns, away from public and policy focus, can well be imagined. It is an indication of the extent to which the urban homeless have been ignored that reliable estimates of their number are just not available. Census estimates have left out a big chunk of the homeless as they can only be contacted at night and not very easily. Sporadic estimates suggest that the number of homeless is not less than three million, or about 1% of the urban population. The figures will rise if we include those who are precariously housed, or on the margin of homelessness. Some people are 'resettled' so far away from their place of work that they prefer to sleep in the open near the worksite despite the existence of a house or hut miles away. Shouldn't we consider them homeless? Several studies have shown that it makes sense for the government to provide housing sites and basic services close to the place of livelihood. If only a few dwellings pose a problem - for example, to make way for a road or a drain - organisations of slum dwellers can help to find an alternative site nearby for these few. This was demons-trated by the Asha Abhiyan project in Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh). Notwithstanding these facts, nearly three lakh people have been rendered homeless by a slum demolition drive in Mumbai in recent weeks. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh stands committed to changing the face of Mumbai, no matter what the human cost. A two-pronged approach is needed to provide shelter on a large scale. The programme of creating night shelters should be stepped up significantly. Appeals should be made to make available buildings that are unused at night, so that these can provide shelter to the homeless, particularly in extremely cold weather. Such buildings can include religious and philanthropic places, schools and colleges. A means would have to be devised to link the organisations and people willing to donate space to those who actually need it. Voluntary organisations and citizens' groups can play an important role in establishing this link and ensuring that the homeless enter and leave buildings in an orderly way so that their day-use is not disturbed. Ordinary citizens can play a more positive role. Their concerns at present only find limited expression - such as donation of an occasional blanket - due to lack of avenues to reach out to the homeless. However, if organisations dedicated to meeting many-faceted needs of the homeless emerge, these can facilitate a much more broad-based participation of citizens. The Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan in Delhi has made an effort in this direction. It engages people in the needs of the homeless and provides spaces for them to link up with welfare activities. Many students have offered their voluntary services; some educational institutions have allowed their premises to be used as shelters at night; and commercial establishments as well as individuals have come up with job and training offers. A move is afoot in Delhi and Chennai to provide the homeless with a voters' identity card. This would empower the unfortunate lakhs in their interactions with hafta -hungry policemen and hospital staff, while also bringing them into the reckoning when the government announces welfare measures. The Tenth Plan document refers to according voluntary organisations a greater role in managing night shelters. The document emphasises building night shelters for women and children, who have suffered glaring neglect in the past. Night shelter programmes should learn from earlier mistakes. The low occupancy at night shelters is explained not only by the unhygienic conditions, but also by the fact that the needs of special occupational groups are often overlooked. Rickshaw and cart-pullers need a place to keep their cycles and carts - their means of livelihood - securely before they can sleep peacefully in a shelter. Hence, a close interaction with the target group is needed so that the funds are well spent. Along with an increase in the budget for night shelters, greater transparency in funds use will go a long way in ensuring the best results. In sum, it makes more sense to provide for the homeless than to pursue policies which increase their number in the name of beautification and infrastructure creation. Only then can we say Saare jahan se achcha . From space4change at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 18:58:27 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 18:58:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Legacy Project Message-ID: <8c10798f050209052879838e5a@mail.gmail.com> The Legacy Project Our site is a gathering place for people interested in the enduring legacies of the many violent traumas of the 20th century. We are dedicated to exploring issues of remembrance in different cultures, in order to better understand the contemporary significance of historical tragedy. [ http://www.legacy-project.org/ ] From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Thu Feb 10 07:40:00 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2005 21:10:00 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai Message-ID: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Hi everyone, Was lovely to read all the new postings. Quite a leveling experience. But 6 months seems to me barely enuf time to do one’s own work and keep abreast of the others. Not enuf time to formulate any meaningful response. Perhaps as we go on also, so many different ideas and approaches, it takes time to sink in Meanwhile, I have been doing some random reading, and have posed the following ideas to myself to mull over. 1. All representation is for retrieval - and hence about memory. 2. To remember is the basis of ritual. 3. Forms of representation are forms of memory – not life. If any one has anything to say, or a reading list to suggest, do write. Best, soudhamini -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 From zainab at xtdnet.nl Thu Feb 10 09:08:44 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:38:44 +0100 (MET) Subject: [Reader-list] Everyday Conversations and Tsunami Message-ID: <3099.219.65.13.10.1108006724.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Dear All, It is interesting how everyday conversations produce/transform events. I have been hearing and reading about the Tsunami in everyday conversations. The Tsunami occured on 26th Dec (if my memory is still sound and safe). There was a scare that the Tsunami will affect Mumbai. I was in the BMC's office the next day and there were frivolous discussions about the Tsunami hitting Mumbai. One of the clerks in the department where I was sitting said to his colleague, "Arre, you know Tsunami will never hit Mumbai. Don't worry. Mumbai is the land of ancient saints (santon ki bhoomi hai yeh Mumbai!). Nothing will happen here. Chill." Of course, he was praying that the Tsunami hits the neighbouring village so that his mother-in-law who was planning to visit them does not land up at their place. Early this week, in the citybytes section of Times of India, there was a story of two male commuters speaking to each other in the local train. One of them said to the other, "Yaar, too much rush and crowd in the train. Can't even stand on two feet properly." The other said, "Don't worry man. With the slum demolitions, the population of the city is reducing so there will be some more space to stand properly in the trains. Now all we need is a Tsunami to hit Mumbai and we can then travel comfortably!" Two days ago, Pushpa, our maid, was washing utensils in the sink. There is a fairly large chamber below the sink where the water drains out. That day, there was heavy clogging in the drains and the drain water began to flow out. Pushpa opened the chamber door and water spilled out. Instantly she said to my mother, "Arre bai, yeh apne ghar mein tsunami kahan se aa gaya??? (Madam, where/how did this tsunami come into our house???)" Cheers, Zainab Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes From keith at thememorybank.co.uk Thu Feb 10 09:20:12 2005 From: keith at thememorybank.co.uk (Keith Hart) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:50:12 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai In-Reply-To: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> References: <20050210021000.DD0843384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> Message-ID: <420AD9F4.4090602@thememorybank.co.uk> Soudhamini, The best discussion of ritual I know is chapter 2 of Roy Rappoport Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (Cambridge UP, 1999); Forms are ideas (Kant) and ideas are pale sensations, according to David Hume, therefore not life, as you say. Are all forms representations? Probably. Form is the rule and life is variation. Giambattista Vico, in The New Science, recalled that the Latin word memoria originally meant both memory and imagination, since all memory was once thought to come from expereince of life. But at th ebeginning of the Empire a new class of intellectuals and artists appeared who thought they could make things up from scratch and fantasia was born, rupturing the link between memory an dlife. The two great memory banks are language and money (www.thememorybank.co.uk). Keith From radiofreealtair at gmail.com Thu Feb 10 11:02:10 2005 From: radiofreealtair at gmail.com (Anand Vivek Taneja) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:02:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] sting-chroni-city Message-ID: <8178da99050209213250d3bfb4@mail.gmail.com> was there one image that could capture the sting concert, held in the far north west of delhi two nights ago? perhaps. as sting sang 'englishman in new york' on stage, his magnified face projected on screen for those too far back and the strobe pyrotechnics of the lightshow dazzled the night, and the silent metro train went gliding behind, ever ten minutes or so. one photograph could have captured it all. the global music superstar, in a world class show (with world class prices), with a world class metro rail behind it all. delhi, captured in that photograph, is suddenly a 'global' city. which feels very good, especially if you, like me swear by public transport, and have grown up listening to the man, and swearing by his music. delhi is now a global city, and even the Delhi Police seems to realise that, and didn't harass people too much at the show. which all is very heady, and very disconcerting, becuase the slightly frumpy, down at heel city you have come to love has suddenly become a high society page three type - and you're not quite sure you like what's happened, and is happening. what were the costs, what were the histories, what were the social forces behind that photograph of global delhi that i just described? the history of dispossessions, of the reshaping of the city.... -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. http://www.synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ From su79.pande at gmail.com Thu Feb 10 11:57:53 2005 From: su79.pande at gmail.com (suchi pande) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:57:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] From Mills to Malls: Loss of a City's Identity Message-ID: >From Mills to Malls Loss of a City's Identity One Hundred Years, One Hundred Voices, The Millworkers of Girangaon: An Oral History by Neera Adarkar and Meena Menon; Mariam Dossal Oral history has come into its own in India. In this superbly crafted book based on the testimonies of the textile mill workers of Mumbai,1 the concern is two-fold. The first, to ensure that the vital role played by Mumbai's industrial working class in the history of Mumbai city be clearly recognised and memories of their contribution kept alive. The second, that the mill workers severely threatened by the loss of jobs and sale of mill lands be given their just due. These dues involve financial compensation, opportunities for reskilling to obtain a decent livelihood and access to alternate and improved housing. It is a book which brings together scholarship and the struggle for justice. The book records the rich and distinctive life-histories of many mill workers who journeyed from villages to Mumbai city to escape hunger and oppression, in search of a better life. Here migration stories are drawn from personal wells of pain, loss and separation, from depths of rural poverty whose long shadow continues to darken both India's countryside and its cities. Mumbai today is one of the world's largest and fastest growing cities, and its mill lands stretching across a thousand acres, lie in the heart of Bombay island in Girangaon or 'mill village'. It is in Girangaon that Mumbai's one and a half lakh mill workers have lived and worked for more than a 100 years. Today, with a number of the city's 95 mills having closed and many more facing the same fate, the mill lands have become one of the most expensive of real estate precincts in the city, eyed hungrily by property developers and land sharks. Girangaon is embattled space, which in recent years has witnessed some of the fiercest conflicts in the city's history. The main losers in this ongoing battle have been the mill workers, and the cosmopolitan working class culture they had created in the period between 1875 and 1975. Mumbai's mill workers and their families form a very important part of the labouring poor who made Mumbai the nation's industrial metropolis with a uniquely multi-cultural identity. By their side stand hundreds of thousands of dock workers, railway workers, workers in the road transport, engineering and pharmaceutical industries, as well as artisans and large numbers in the unorganised sector: the poor who build, service and enable the city to live. Each has a history waiting to be told, waiting for their signifiers: historians and concerned citizens to take full measure of their contribution. Activist-historians Adarkar and Menon have shown the way. 'Who creates the history or tells the story,' is all-important, urban sociologist Doreen Massey reminds us, '…for they have the power to shape others' understanding of both the past and the present'.2 The effort on the part of Adarkar and Menon is to enable Mumbai's mill workers to tell their story in their own words, a pro-ject strongly endorsed by labour historian Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, who draws on his extensive research in this field and provides a useful introduction to the book. Until now, much that goes by the name of working class history, admits Chandavarkar, has been reconstructed from official documents and reports, information obtained from officials, mill-owners, financiers and builders. Even historians sensitive to the differing world view of the poor have relied heavily on speeches of union representatives, newspaper reports and official documents. In this book, union representatives do have their say, but they share the stage with large numbers of other workers whose oral testimonies enable us to hear them distinctly. Oral testimony as a methodology for historical research has its own pitfalls. These comprise selective remembrance, with interviewees providing information determined by the nature of the question asked in the first place, as well as chronological and factual inaccuracies. But when judiciously combined with corroborative evidence, oral testimony does open windows to worlds which otherwise remain out of view. Linguistic usage is one significant window. Mumbai in Their Words We 'wear' our language and use specific words, sentences, idiom and syntax, in ways that are class specific. In the case of Mumbai's working class a large number of whom were single, migrant males, living space meant sharing a single room, a 'gala' or 'kholi' with many other single men. These rooms were often furniture-less, to maximise sleeping space for the men working in shifts. The kholi remained a kholi, never getting converted into a 'ghar' or home. The difference is of a single word, but one that reveals worlds of denial of basic comfort, privacy and human dignity. The workers' interviews provide us with rich descriptions of what Mumbai looked and felt like by those who arrived as fresh migrants. While many were overwhelmed by the crowds, speed and noise, there were some, such as trade union leader S S Mirajkar, who despite personal hardships was awed by the sheer diversity and energy of Mumbai. He recounts his first impressions thus: "I was impressed by the magnificence of this city – you could hear different languages, the people of different regions in India, all together, with their own identities and yet together – ...they were all represented. This city had a unique character, a pace, a passion, an industriousness. This city could attract anybody." The testimonies of Mumbai's mill workers also reveal how dramatically the city's urban topography has changed even within their lifetimes. As late as the 1930s, large parts of central Bombay were without electricity and lay in wooded darkness after sunset. In the vicinity of Dadar railway station were coconut plantations and people returning from work late in the evening had to be careful, adds S S Mirajkar, or else "…you could collide into the coconut trees". Speaking in a similar vein, Madhukar Nerale, owner of the famous Hanuman Theatre at Lalbaug recalled: "Where Hanuman Theatre stands now, (it has since been demolished and given way to a marriage hall, ) there was a vegetable farm. There was only jungle around that, no industries or anything." The book details the vital networks based on familial, community and village ties, which sustained the city's migrant mill workers. These included the jobbers, 'mandals' of many kinds , 'vyayamshalas' or gymnasiums and later political organisations, all of which provided essential support systems. Unconventional relationships also gained acceptance with large numbers of men being single and away from their families for long periods of time. As trade union leader Bhai Bhonsale puts it: "There was a different culture then. It was common to gamble and also to 'keep' another woman. To have another woman was considered a sign of manliness. And these women were loyal. To the man, to the family, to the wife and children. She could be a widow or a deserted woman. At first people used to mutter a little, but later it would be accepted. She would become part of the family. She was not married to the man, but she had her own status." Many who were interviewed remembered Girangaon's distinctive working class culture with pride and fondness. While Hanuman Theatre and other theatres in the area were the sites for many folk dramas and dance performances, such as 'loknatya', 'tamashas' and 'lavnis', it was street life in Girangaon that was culturally vibrant and communitarian, whose loss they miss greatly. It was in the streets of Girangaon that bhajans and kirtans were sung, sculptors made Ganpati idols, 'rangoli' artists drew on the side-walks and painting competitions were held. The dramatic increase in vehicular and pedestrian traffic has adversely affected such forms of cultural and artistic expression. "Where is the space to do that now, when the cars even climb the footpaths?" asks singer Nivrutti Pawar sadly. The book successfully links the history of the cotton mills of Mumbai to important developments in the late 19th and 20th centuries, especially the freedom struggle and the rise of the communist and socialist parties. Eight general strikes which took place in the years between 1918 and 1940 politicised Mumbai's mill workers and contributed to the groundswell demand for India's independence. Such overt political action enabled links to be forged between mill workers and other sections of the working and middle classes. The book records experiences of workers during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement and the growing demand for Mumbai to be made the capital of the linguistically defined, predominantly Marathi-speaking state. Many also speak of their participation in the Left movement and of the charismatic leadership provided by leaders such as S A Dange and Krishna Desai. About Krishna Desai even his opponents in the Shiv Sena such as R S Bhalekader had this to say: "Krishna Desai would have won from anywhere, even a distant suburb like Jogeshwari. He was daring, he had no guards, no protection… We were shocked by his death. It was like we had lost our backbone." His murder on the night of June 5, 1970 constitutes a watershed in the history of Mumbai's working class. It was a great blow to the political future of the Left parties and contributed substantively to the growing support for the Shiv Sena among the poor in Mumbai city. Job Insecurity Growing support extended to the Shiv Sena by the mill workers was in large part due to the fact that the Left parties did not seriously address the questions of job insecurity and unemployment. This is evident in the words of Bal Khavnekar of the Girni Kamgar Sena : "I joined the Left when I was young, but it did not provide jobs. This was their drawback. No political party except the Sena bothers about providing a livelihood". By pitching job demands for the 'Marathi-speaking Manus', the 'sons of the soil', the Shiv Sena came across as the party which cared. Many workers confronted with problems of low self-esteem turned to it to gain a greater sense of personal and political empowerment. As Nivrutti Pawar observes: "Marathi people used to be afraid of the outsiders then. We were all poor and uneducated and we couldn't speak English". By creating a sense of foreboding with imagined threats from 'outsiders', accompanied by the widespread use of strong-arm tactics, the Sena drew mill workers to the Girni Kamgar Sena and away from the Left unions. Violence and job insecurity are ever-present realities in the lives of the poor as these statements by Mumbai's mill workers makes clear. Everyday violence got compounded many times over during the communal riots that have occurred in the city since the mid-19th century. Particularly traumatic were the riots that took place during partition, whose scars and painful memories remain even today. One painful experience is recounted by B Neelprabha, a CPI activist, who was seven years old at the time when riots broke out in the wake of Gandhiji's murder. Finding herself in the Muslim dominated locality of Null Bazaar and confronted with a mob, Neelprabha was saved by the courage and timely intervention of Sheikh-chacha, a vendor of biscuits and bread who escorted her to safety to her family living in Khetwadi. She recounts: 'As we approached my house, a crowd attacked us when they saw chacha…They hit him with a big wooden pole and killed him. I can never forget the sight. He died before my eyes! I cried and cried." Not only do such memories remain etched forever in the minds of those who experience the trauma, but they diminish the public self of each citizen and challenge Mumbai's claim to being a city – a place where strangers feel at home with each other. While partition and other communal riots corroded Mumbai's cosmopolitan culture and identity, it was the 18 month-long textile strike of 1982-83 that turned the mill workers' world upside down. This identity had been constructed with a commitment to a modern industrial work culture made possible by the multifaceted occupational opportunities that Mumbai offered. As the strike petered out, mills closed, workers lost their jobs, the city's rich and diverse occupational identities were effaced – leaving space for political opportunists hawking pseudo-religious identities. These ill-fitting identities have been coupled to new needs created by a consumerist, market driven economy. They have significantly altered the lives of Mumbai's working class and undermined their sense of self. What remained of their class consciousness has been weakened further by the violent communal riots which rocked the city in 1992-93 and rent it apart. In the aftermath of the polarisation on communal lines, Mumbai has changed in a fundamental sense and can never be the same. Today, a great deal of talk centres around 'development of the mill lands' and of Mumbai being converted into another Singapore or Shanghai. While these proposals promise benefits to industrialists, financiers, builders, property developers, the mill workers and other groups of the working poor are left to fend for themselves. Mumbai is to be converted into a financial hub, a service centre, but on the re-employment, reskilling and housing of the workers there is a deafening silence. Until a decade ago, Mumbai's mill lands were protected by laws which ensured that industrial land could not be used for commercial or residential purposes. However, the new Development Plan of 1990 has made drastic changes in land use possible. Today, Girangaon, the historic industrial working class district is 'up for grabs'. What was industrial India's heartland is rapidly being replaced with luxury apartments, office space, and entertainment centres, places which are becoming a foreign country for the working poor. The hurry and lack of social concern with which this structural change is taking place indicates a desire on the part of civic officials and property-developers to wipe clean the slate of Mumbai's working class history. But, say Adarkar and Menon, ' the battle for space, for jobs, for a future' continues. It is payback time, they say, time for the city to acknowledge its responsibilities. Mumbai's mill workers are "…now waiting for the city to return some part of that history back to their children". By restoring them to their rightful place in the past would strengthen their claims to a dignified present. The few drawbacks of the book are to be found in historical inaccuracies about pre-industrial Mumbai. Bombay received in dowry by the English king Charles II on his marriage to the Portuguse princess Catherine of Braganza in 1661 was handed over to the English East India Company in 1668. It served the Company as its earliest and only political base until the British embarked on territorial acquisition after the battles of Plassey and Buxar a century later. It is neither true that the island town was ignored for a hundred years, nor that it was developed only as 'a strategic naval base to curb piracy'. Bombay's history of the 17th and 18th centuries is a rich and absorbing record of challenging technical and economic achievements by way of land reclamations, fortifications, shipping and ship-building, not to speak of coastal and long-distance trade which saw its emergence as the foremost port-town on the west coast of India by the 1740s, especially with the decline of the premier Mughal port of Surat. It is also not true that mill workers were 'among the first migrants who came to the city', for way back in the 1670s governor Gerald Aungier's invitation to artisans, agriculturalists and merchants to come and settle on the island, in return for political security and religious tolerance paid off rich dividends and groups of kolis, bhandaris and agris from the hinterland as well as mercantile communities from Gujarat came and made the city their home. The text also contains some editing and grammatical errors and incomplete references. It would have also helped to have detailed statistics providing a clear picture of the numbers of workers employed in the mills at different periods of time. And of course, literary considerations apart, the history of Mumbai's cotton mills is not 100 but 150 years old. These limitations do not however take away from what is an extremely illuminating and richly documented book. A book which shows us just how extraordinary are the lives that ordinary people live. Notes 1 The city's name was officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai in June 1995. In this review, while the name Mumbai is used in most places, when deemed necessary Bombay has been retained. In everyday speech however and reflecting its long-standing cosmopolitan character, the city continues to be called Mumbai, Bambai or Bombay, depending on who is speaking and the context in which the conversation or reference takes place. 2 Doreen Massey, Journal of Urban History, Vol 26, No 5, July 2000, p 655. From shuddha at sarai.net Thu Feb 10 12:57:46 2005 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 12:57:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Radio Sagarmatha and the Crackdown in Nepal Message-ID: <420B0CF2.40904@sarai.net> Dear All, Here is an interesting post about the crackdown in Nepal and its consequences on media activity. This was posted originally on the Bytes for All list. Apologies for cross posting to all those on this list who also subscribe to Bytes for All. regards Shuddha -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Radio Sagarmatha & the king of Nepal's crack down on politics and news media Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 15:46:28 -0700 From: George Lessard Reply-To: bytesforall_readers at yahoogroups.com To: Creative Radio List CC: L MicroRadio , L ICT4Devlopment Nepal's king cracks down on politics and news media Instead of the usual spicy mix of current affairs and politics, the subject of Radio Sagarmatha's talk show on Saturday night was as bland as rice. In fact, the subject was rice: the differences, as explained by a scientist, between golden, wild and other varieties. That was the only topic the independent Nepali FM station felt safe to discuss. "Normally I don't do that kind of program," a 31-year-old journalist at the station said, laughing nervously as a soldier listened. When the soldier - one of six lounging around the station - moved off, the smile fell away. "Our hands are tied," the journalist said. Six days ago Nepal's king ended the country's 15-year experiment with democracy and took power for himself, imposing a state of emergency and suspending a host of civil liberties, including freedom of expression. [...] All of the community radio stations that sprang up in the 1990's are locked up, playing only music or discussing things like rice. The BBC's popular Nepali news service has been stopped, and Netra K. C., its reporter in the western city of Nepalganj, has been detained, according to human rights activists. Newspapers have been reduced to editorializing about safely banal subjects, like the weather or clean socks, or resorting to metaphor to make their case. "The sudden epidemic of tree-felling along Katmandu's streets is drastic, misguided and not consonant with the needs of the population," began an editorial last week in the weekly Nepali Times. It ended: "Because the damage has been done, can we ask the concerned authority to promptly correct the move and bring back greenery?" The paper's editor, Kunda Dixit, said journalists of his generation had faced similar restrictions before democracy was introduced. They learned then to weigh every word, to write between the lines, he said, but in the intervening years grew accustomed to being free. "I've unlearned how to be guarded," Mr. Dixit said at the end of an interview. "If I've said anything subversive, please take it out." Source: Amy Waldman, The New York Times [requires free registration] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/08/international/asia/08nepal.html MULTIMEDIA Video: Nepal Bans Criticism of Security Forces [may only be accessible from the main story page] Radio Sagarmatha http://www.radiosagarmatha.org/ Making Waves Stories of Participatory Communication for Social Change RADIO SAGARMATHA http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/pdsmakingwaves/sld-1892.html Radio Sagarmatha - Nepal http://www.unites.org/cfapps/WSIS/story.cfm?Sid=11 -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: PressNotes is edited by Matthew Cecil, Assistant Professor in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Cecil can be reached at: matt.cecil at gmail.com Robert Greene can be reached at: robert.greene at gmail.com SPJ PressNotes is an e-mail newsletter produced every business day by the Society of Professional Journalists. It is made possible through a grant from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. Send subscription requests or changes to pressnotes at spj.org. © info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: bytesforall_readers-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Raqs Media Collective) The Sarai Programme Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054, India Phone : + 91 11 23960040 Fax : + 91 11 23943450 E Mail : shuddha at sarai.net http://www.sarai.net http://www.raqsmediacollective.net From basvanheur at gmx.net Thu Feb 10 13:25:44 2005 From: basvanheur at gmx.net (Bas van Heur) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:55:44 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] V-Day Europe / Jour V Special Issue Message-ID: <420B1380.4020601@gmx.net> V-Day, Vagina’s and Violence. Edition #7 of cut.up.magazine is dedicated to V-Day Europe and their struggle to end violence against women. Check: http://www.cut-up.com Five new articles in English: Interview with Cecile Lipworth, the director of the V-Day Worldwide Campaign (Émilie Danel); A Short History of V-Day (Émilie Danel); Paste A Pussy! and Other Vaginal Projects (Anouk Knielham); Frauenhaus Frankfurt (Betty Pabst and Eva Keller); Patriotism and PC – Against Feminism and Multicultural Concepts: The Right-Wing Mobilizes (Jens Petz Kastner). This time, the amazing art is by: Sreejata Roy, Betty Pabst, Eva Keller, Gabriella Kis, Max Dereta, Asta Biezeman, Bas Czervinski, Yvonne Beelen and Vincent Anton Stornaiuolo. Praise, critique, contributions? Let us know what you think. We crave for your attention: Editors, info at cut-up.com cut.up.media po box 313 2000 AH Haarlem the Netherlands -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.8.2 - Release Date: 1/28/2005 From clifton at altlawforum.org Thu Feb 10 21:08:00 2005 From: clifton at altlawforum.org (Clifton) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:38:00 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Update on tsunami relief Message-ID: <420B7FD8.9050704@altlawforum.org> Hi, From the 28th of December onwards a group of us have been helping out with relief work in the tsunami affected villages of Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu) and Karaikal (Pondicherry). Of the several issues that we encountered the most saddening was that of caste-based discrimination in the relief distribution. During this time we worked with various dalit groups in identifying dalit villages, which the government hadn´t listed as tsunami-affected, and then organising for relief to be reached there. This has been going on for the past three weeks now and now we see another problem looming. That of food security. Livelihoods have been destroyed and it will take time for it to be restored implying that until such time the affected families would be in extremely vulnerable situations. It is in this context that we are trying to get the Right To Food campaign people to immediately intervene. There is a small write-up that we have put together that gives a sense of possible ways ahead. There are other notes that we have put together on dalit discrimination that we could circulate if anyone is interested. Regards Clifton, Arvind, Revathi, Niruj, Nitin, Deepu and Uvaraj -------------------- Relief and rehabilitation of tsunami-affected persons in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry * Revathi, Niruj, Deepu and Clifton With the government closing down relief and moving on to rehabilitation despite overflowing godowns, an upbeat media flashing pictures of fancy schemes by NGOs, as most volunteers to the disaster zone have packed their bags and left, one reality of the politics of rehabilitation has come out glaringly. Even as the Meenavar community is coping with its losses and trauma and getting on with the rehabilitation process the left outs, facing starvation, in the relief network are taking to streets demanding food relief. Mostly dalits, these marginalized agricultural labourers and unorganised labourers, have failed to attract any attention from the administration. Sadly this issue is yet to find media coverage, possibly because hunger is not on par with deaths. This may sound rather cynical but people in several villages are beginning to believe that their surviving the tsunami is going against them now. The governments have turned away from them while only a handful of NGOs consider this issue serious enough to intervene effectively. The developments over the past two weeks where people affected by the tsunami in Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu) and Karaikal (Pondicherry) districts have taken to the streets highlighting the need for food relief is indicative of the serious problem of food scarcity that is spreading in the affected coastal villages. This needs to be addressed immediately and measures preventing any kind of food insecurity need to be begun before it gets too late. The discourse on Right to Food has progressed considerably owing of positive interventions by the Supreme Court that has forced the state governments to ensure that people have multiple ways of ensuring food. Yet every year there are reports of starvation deaths and suicides owing to lack of access to food grains. It is in this reality that one needs to locate the present debate on food security in the villages that have affected by the tsunami. Here we are faced with a situation where livelihoods have been entirely obliterated and people are forced to rely on the state for access to food grains and to some extent on NGOs and the goodness of civil society. This makes for a situation where things could easily get out of hand and the protests and dharnas confirm these doubts. The issue of food security in the times of a disaster needs to be looked at very critically in the context of the policies and practices of the TN and Pondicherry governments. That relief is the sole access to food grains for the affected populations makes the delivery of relief a very important task. Yet it is this critical task that is fraught with serious problems that is leading to food scarcity. * The major problem that can be identified is the limited scope of the “affected person” definition by the state. While the initial approach was based on the innumerable lives lost and property damaged it was later rectified to a certain extent with the recognition of petty traders, farmers, landless agricultural labourers, etc as livelihood affected persons. The definition of the affected people still has not been given a rational approach and there is a lot of confusion of who is primarily affected and secondarily affected and not affected. Even with the identified categories this recognition, however, has not translated into an effective mitigation of the losses that have been suffered. It has also not meant that these communities have been targeted with adequate relief. In fact, presently, it is these communities, especially the landless agricultural labourers who are facing a serious food scarcity. In many villages people who have totally lost their livelihood told us that the government officials told them that they are not entitled for relief since they were not affected. * There are various reasons that explain this. One is that the government has decided on a priority list where the fisherpeople are at the top and the landless somewhere at the bottom. Thus their interests are not taken care despite the fact that they are as vulnerable as the rest if not more. In Karaikal the fisherpeople have received 60 kgs of rice while the landless agricultural labourers have received only 5 kgs. This is inexplicable since both categories of people have lost their livelihoods to the tsunami, the fisherman having lost his boat / nets and thus the ability to fish while the landless agricultural labourer has lost his/her ability to get work on lands since these were salinated. This differential treatment has resulted in the landless, mostly dalits, facing serious food crisis. * The distribution of relief by the non-government agencies also suffer from this problem of having sidelined the other categories, except for those whose mandate is to work with these groups. In Nagapattinam the distribution of relief was coordinated by the NGO Coordination Centre, which focused entirely on fishing villages and at that on the Meenavar community. There was no attempt made to assess the losses and needs in the villages where agricultural lands had been salinated. * The distribution of relief has also been coloured by caste biases. In fishing villages relief has been prevented from reaching dalit groups and this is a well-documented fact. This has further rendered the dalits and adivasis more vulnerable than they already are. As already stated the media has highlighted this issue rather extensively yet the response of the government has been disappointing. One of the reasons for this happening is that the local administration has viewed the affected persons as a “community” without being sensitive to the fact that these are homogenous and there exist serious caste-cased divisions where the upper castes obviously dominate. The other reason is of the ineffective monitoring of the reach of relief. Where the local administration has recognized dalits as affected it has not effectively monitored the process to ensure that they receive relief. * The inexplicable stoppage of relief at a preliminary stage and jumping into so-called rehabilitation process can also be blamed for this food scarcity. Even before all categories of affected people were properly “identified” relief was stopped and thus those “identified” or rather accepted as affected the relief was stopped. Rehabilitation has been jumped into without relief being done properly. One reason for this being the incorrect assessment of the impact of the tsunami. Unlike the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat, the tsunami here has almost entirely obliterated the livelihoods of lakhs of people. Thus, unless the livelihoods are restored there is no way possible for the affected people to fend for themselves. This is a wrong decision since it views relief and rehabilitation at two mutually exclusive processes. Instead the government should view these as parallel processes where the relief part ends when rehabilitation is complete. Relief has to be continued till rehabilitation is complete not stopped when the process of restoring livelihoods has just begun. For the fisher-people where there is some semblance of rehabilitation processes set in motion too this holds true and relief has to be ensured till they are back in the sea. In the case of farmers and landless labourers for whom there is no rehabilitation plan or process initiated, the stoppage of relief is inexplicable. * State relief has been a one-off exercise where inadequate cash and food grains were given and people expected to fend for themselves thereafter even though they are not in a situation to do so. While livelihoods have not been restored even for the Meenavar community and the process looking much more distant for the farmers and agricultural labourers the fact that the state has not come up so far with any extension of relief or a second round of food grain supply indicates a lack of application of mind to the relief to rehabilitation transition. * Added to this is the apathy of the district authorities who ‘prioritize’ and counterpose the interests of the affected people who have lost their kith and kin and people who had nothing to lose in the first place and who have lost their one source to live with dignity their livelihood and are taking to the roads out of sheer hunger. The situation as such now is one where different sets of people are at various stages of food insecurity. Some do not have food for the next meal while others will run out of their food grain stock in a few days or weeks time. Post that there is no guarantee of access especially with livelihood restoration slated to take at least 3-6 months for fisherpeople and longer than that for the agrarian communities. Immediate and next steps… /Enumeration and immediate compensation/ The immediate need is for several policy decisions on issues that have some to the fore yet have not been given adequate attention by the government. * Categories of affected people The enumeration of the total populations affected by the tsunami is a necessary task without which it would be difficult to ensure their food security. The various categories of occupations that they are engaged in, also needs to be enumerated. This serves several purposes. Firstly towards understanding the impact on them and secondly aid in framing any kind of relief and rehabilitation policy for them * Compensation for loss of livelihood It is imperative that the government works out a compensation package for those not catered to yet. This would necessarily imply compensation for loss of livestock as well. This could be worked out in such fashion so as to enable the families to purchase the livestock lost. It is also imperative that the government immediately announces a compensation package for the tillers where agricultural lands have been salinated. The point to note here is that the compensation must be announced in the names of the tillers i.e. to the owner where s/he is the tiller or to the sharecropper / tenant where s/he is the tiller. * Ex-gratia The government must immediately announce and disburse an ex-gratia amount for the landless agricultural labourers working on lands that have been salinated. * Pensions Pensions for destitude women, single mothers, elders, disabled, widows, etc must be immediately announced and disbursed. Relief Simultaneous with the above process must be the immediate disbursal of foodgrain relief to the affected populations. This must be for all the categories of affected people including those who have been ignored thus far. * The first step in this process is the distribution of relief cards to all affected families. This must be done in consultations and with the active participation of the panchayats, CBOs and NGOs. Care must be taken to see that the caste biases do not mar this process, which would then result in the marginalization of the already marginalized sections of society. * This must be followed by an immediate round of distribution of foodgrain relief. It must be ensured that the relief that is distributed consists not only of cereals, pulses and oil but also of vegetables and fruits. While the foodgrains should be distributed through the PDS infrastructure, the vegetables and fruits could be supplied through the village Self Help Groups (SHGs) at subsidized rates. The government could provide loans to the SHGs to facilitate this thereby also providing some alternate livelihood option to few of the affected people. * The balwadis / anganwadis must be immediately restarted where they are yet to be so and this structure must be used for ensuring the nutrition of not only children but also of destitude women, pregnant women, disabled people, etc. The Mid-day meal scheme needs to be extended to provide nutritious meals three times a day to these vulnerable sections of society. This form of relief must be continued until such time where the affected families obtain the capacity and the opportunity to resume normal livelihood activities. /Interim livelihood rehabilitation/ Relief is only a temporary exercise but necessary until livelihood activities are resumed and to this extent the government must take several steps to ensure that the livelihood activities are resumed as soon as possible. * Announcement of special Food / Cash – for – work (FCW) scheme The government must declare the entire Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts as tsunami affected since the economic ramifications of the tsunami is far beyond just the immediately affected coastal villages and announce for immediate FCW schemes wherever demanded. To this extent the government must pass immediate orders for the activation of FCW schemes in the affected villages and the neighbouring villages as well. The government must envisage, with the active participation of the people, schemes for dalit and adivasi families. For instance, the work could be establishment of cooperatives for brick kilns, milk diaries, etc. Thus low-rate loans for initial capital could be provided for establishment of such ventures. People could be trained in the initial phase receiving the food/cash as per the scheme until they are capable of running these ventures independently. * As pointed above the SHGs could be innovatively used in relief distribution i.e. vegetables and fruits at subsidized rates. * The ordinary FCW schemes must be run for a minimum period of 15 days a month. Permanent rehabilitation The government in its orders has till now adopted a property-owner centric policy in addressing livelihood issues through rehabilitation packages and only recognized those who own boats and go out to sea as well as those who own and operate small shops in the villages. In terms of the farming community that owns the agricultural lands that were inundated by sea waters, there are currently surveys being carried out by the revenue departments of various districts to assess the extent of inundation and the degree of salination. There have been indications from the government that a clear policy will be formulated once the situation is properly assessed. Be that as it may, it is undeniable that in any formulation of rehabilitation packages for livelihoods the people of the fishing and farming communities that do not own boats, nets or lands generally remain ignored. Does rehabilitation mean that one restores to the previous level all those who have lost resources and leave those who were socially and economically disadvantaged where they were, i.e. at the bottom of the hierarchy? Or does the policy try and address questions of socio-economic marginalization? The present approach being property-owner centric, the focus invariably has been towards restoring the communities to pre-tsunami status. This necessarily implies that the communities, especially Dalit, with no property ownership, will continue to be manual labourers with no change in the economic status. Should one resign to saying that this is not the time for ‘social change’? Or should the intention of the rehabilitation policy be to address the social and economic discrimination of Dalits and think of creating resources for those who never owned any property? If one merely tried restoring the status quo, would there be a return to status quo or would the hierarchical relationship be more skewed with those who don’t own resources being even more economically marginalized? How would this affect the relationship between those with resources and those without in a post-tsunami rehabilitation scenario? These are all complex questions meriting a detailed analysis and a clear articulation of policy. What is of grave concern is that these questions of livelihoods of those who are also affected by the tsunami, and do also form a part of the fishing community, has not yet been mentioned in any governmental policy. What is clear is that those who own no property and are merely dependent on those who do own property merit no attention in rehabilitation efforts. It is time for the government to shed its inertia and adopt a pro-poor policy in the tsunami-affected villages. This could include: * Land – based rehabilitation of landless agricultural labourers The government must declare a policy of providing agricultural land to landless dalits and adivasi agricultural labourers. There already exists a scheme (TADHCO) whereby the government purchases 1 acre of land for dalit agricultural labourers. It is imperative that the scheme is made compulsory for all affected villages and a minimum acreage stipulated for purchase for such disbursal. * Training and creation of employment opportunities for dalits and adivasis The government must also envisage and propose skill-training opportunities for dalits and adivasis. This has o be done in consultation with the communities. * Creation of assets, which can be used to generate livelihood options such as livestock, etc. *Conclusion:* In its order dated 2^nd May 2003, in the matter of People’s Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India (WP (Civil) No. 196 of 2001), the Supreme Court has clearly articulated the right to food and its importance in the case of poor families. The Court further added that, “…Their misfortune becomes further grave during times of famines and drought…” Now in the villages affected by the tsunami one is faced with tragedy that similarly increases the misfortune of the poor and marginalized sections of society. In fact the tsunami and the consequent relief and rehabilitation policies of the government has not only exposed the poor and marginalized sections of society to such food scarcity but also introduced the same to the fisherpeople. This situation demands that the government adopt an approach whereby the food security of the affected people is ensured. The processes and suggestions elaborated above are just one small step in indicating a comprehensive approach that could be adopted by the government in dealing with this situation effectively. From clifton at altlawforum.org Thu Feb 10 21:47:42 2005 From: clifton at altlawforum.org (Clifton) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 16:17:42 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] No rehabilitation of property-less Tsunami-affected people Message-ID: <420B8926.5010708@altlawforum.org> Hi, The Tamil Nadu government has announced a series of government orders for the rehabilitaion of tsunami-affected families. Sadly these only cover those families who owned anything prior to the tsunami. Thus boats will be replaced along with nets and salinated agricultural lands will be desalinated. However the labourer in the fishing industry and the landless agricultural labourers have received no attention whatsoever. So from the looks of things the livelihood rehabilitation policy, being property-owner specific, seeks only to restore the heirarchial and oppresive social system in which the dalits are at the lower ends. This is a note that we have written and circulated with the hope that pressure could be built on the government to announce a livelihood rehabilitaion package for the property-less. regards uvaraj, niruj, arvind, revathi, nitin, deepu and clifton ------------------- /Exclusion of Dalits and Adivasis in the time of Tsunami: The case for an inclusive relief and rehabilitation policy / /Introduction/ Close to a month after the devastating tsunami struck the coastal districts of Andhra, Pondicherry, Kerala and particularly Tamil Nadu, there is an urgent need to evaluate the nature of relief and rehabilitation. Is relief and rehabilitation moving smoothly ensuring succour and restoring some degree of normalcy to all those who were so tragically affected? Initial assessments particularly by the media seem to be gung ho about how well the relief and rehabilitation process is going. Shashi Kumar in fact argues that, ‘if Tamil Nadu sustains the momentum of its relief and rehabilitation programme , the state can lay claim to the first success story in disaster management.^^1 <#sdfootnote1sym> There is evidence to support this upbeat assessment, particularly the swift process by which the Tamil Nadu government has moved to ensure interim compensation, distribution of relief, reopening of schools and other measures to reintroduce a measure of normalcy for which the Tamil Nadu government deserves credit. However the greatest blindspot of all agencies right from the Central Government to the State Government to the various NGO’s both national and international to academic scholars, is the unwillingness to take on board the fundamental reality of Indian society, caste discrimination and how it plays out in relief and rehabilitation to ensure that Dalits and Adivasis are completely marginalized in these processes. /The caste realities of the coastal districts / There is no doubt that the community most severely affected by the tsunami is the fishing community. However it would be irresponsible to assume that all those who form a part of the fishing operations belong to one caste. The fishing community can broadly be understood as composing of three main caste categories – Meenavar Community (Most Backward Caste), Dalits (Scheduled Caste) and Pazhankudi Makkal (Scheduled Tribes), who live in a hierarchical relationship Though these communities might be living in the same village, there is complete segregation between the communities. While the Meenavar community is the one which takes the boats out to sea the remaining jobs listed below are done by the Dalits and Pazhankudi communities. The other occupations which minimally form a part of the economy of the fishing village are occupations such as: Manual labourers lifting the catch from sea on to the boat itself, lifting the catch on to the shore and sorting it, truck drivers who transport the fish to different regions for export, places of sale, etc., people selling fish on the shore using big baskets /on cycles, those who repair/paint boats etc, those who do the inland fishing, prawn farm labourers, labourers part of the fish packing activities, those involved in construction, basket making etc. Equally important to the very subsistence of the fishing village are the agricultural operations which are carried out in the immediate hinterland of the fishing area. These include groups such as: Those owning and cultivating land, share croppers on the land, tenants on the land, landless agricultural labourers, those who take lands on lease, etc. Apart from both these categories of people affected are also those who provide the commercial backbone to the village economy including petty-shop owners and other service providers like barbers, tailors, cobblers etc. There are also the labourers on the other industries like salt pans in Vedaranyam. The extent of havoc the tsunami has wreaked has had its impact on this diverse range of people*. * In terms of loss of life, houses and livelihood it is very clear that the fishing community has suffered the most, while the agricultural community has mainly suffered loss of livelihood. The losses suffered by these communities in terms of life and houses have been addressed to some extent in various state government orders extending compensation. However, the crucial issue of rehabilitation of livelihood of those who own nothing, but their labour power ( be it labour with respect to fishing or agriculture) has been completely ignored. /Is relief caste blind? / The immediate aftermath of the tsunami witnessed a pouring in of relief on a massive scale. There were truly inspirational acts of solidarity by ordinary people who reached out to a people in enormous distress. However side by side, with these gestures of humanity continued the ritualistic practice of caste discrimination to exclude Dalits from relief. This reality has been documented with great care and sensitivity by Dalit and human rights groups. In a Report which came out as early as 1.1.05, Annie Namala on behalf of the Fact Finding team,* *noted: ‘As we watched, trucks of food and clothing came to the village and were getting distributed among the fisher community. The Dalits who ran after the lorries came back empty handed. They further complained that since morning three-four trucks had come to the village and the fisher community did not allow any of them to give any relief to the Dalits. The standard question was- how many deaths are there among you? Some people had brought idli and pongal in the morning, but though it was already past 11a.m., no one in the Dalit colony, not even the children, had anything to eat.’^^2 <#sdfootnote2sym> As the Report poignantly notes, ‘Can one erect a hierarchy of deaths where death in the fisher family is more costly to the family than a death in the Dalit family or can we grade the dead like we grade the living, along caste lines?^^3 <#sdfootnote3sym> A report from Cuddalore documents how this discrimination is as systematic as it is petty. ‘One social worker showed me a list of affected people and damages sustained by them from Samiarpettai- another large village with several communities. This list was made on the letterhead of the fisher panchayat. The list mentions not one name of people from other communities. When asked about it, they said, when relief comes they will distribute to them what is due to them’^^4 <#sdfootnote4sym> The Citizens Platform for Tsunami Affected, Tamil Nadu, noted, ‘However what is emerging as a pattern across many of the affected coastal regions is the fact that Dalit communities are not being provided relief material. Even when the material (dry rations, clothes, utensils, etc.) are supplied to the affected villages, they are not shared with the dalit families within the village. In some cases these families do not even have the tokens issued by the Panchayat to access relief material. In other cases, though there might be a token given they are not allowed to stand in the queue to collect relief material, which is their right. Not only does these cause hardships leading to starvation of the affected dalit families but also creates the basis for avoidable caste based hostilities to be generated.’^^5 <#sdfootnote5sym> That the Dalit community and also the Pazhankudi Makkal community have been on the margins of receiving relief is an issue that has been accepted by most of the groups overseeing relief distribution in the Nagapattinam district. The media has also highlighted this issue to a great extent.^^6 <#sdfootnote6sym> The Dalit groups working in the area have identified Dalit villages and hamlets that have not yet been enumerated as tsunami-affected. A handful of these villages have been subsequently included in existing processes to ensure that relief reaches the Dalit communities as soon as possible. Thus while the Government has officially declared the stage of immediate relief as being over, even today, newer and newer hamlets/villages which have been left out of the relief process continue to be identified by Dalit groups such as HRFDL and efforts are on to reach relief to those excluded communities. /The caste and class question in rehabilitation / The government in its orders (GOs) has till now adopted a property-owner centric policy while addressing livelihood issues in its rehabilitation packages and till now has only recognized those who own boats and go out to sea as well as those who own and operate small shops in the villages.^^7 <#sdfootnote7sym> In terms of the farming community that owns the agricultural lands that were inundated by seawaters, surveys were carried out by the revenue departments of various districts to assess the extent of inundation and the degree of salination. Post this a GO was issued to provide relief to farmers who have lost standing crops.^^8 <#sdfootnote8sym> Be that as it may, it is undeniable that in any formulation of rehabilitation packages for livelihoods the people of the fishing and farming communities that do not own boats, nets or lands generally remain ignored. Equally wherever there have been joint Government/NGO efforts at relief and rehabilitation, even in the various committees formed like livelihood committee, child committee, there is no inclusion of affected Dalit/Adivasi hamlets and hence Dalit/Adivasi children are totally left out of the very conceptualization of the rehabilitation process. What the various GO’s do not recognize is that the coastal districts like every other part of India are structured hierarchically in terms of caste and class. Those at the bottom of the caste and class hierarchy are the worst placed to cope with and survive a natural disaster. The next series of questions which follows in the search for an inclusive relief and rehabilitation face is how does one take on board this diverse range of occupations all of which are structurally dependent upon the fishermen - who actually go out to the sea and land owners - who have cultivable land? Does rehabilitation mean that one restores to the previous level all those who have lost resources and leave those who were socially and economically disadvantaged where they were, i.e. at the bottom of the hierarchy? Or does the policy try and address questions of socio-economic marginalization? Should one resign to saying that this is not the time for ‘social change’? Or should the intention of the rehabilitation policy be to address the social and economic discrimination of Dalits and think of creating resources for those who never owned any property ? If one merely tried restoring the status quo, would there be a return to status quo or would the hierarchical relationship be more skewed with those who don’t own resources being even more economically marginalized? How would this affect the relationship between those with resources and those without in a post-tsunami rehabilitation scenario? These are all complex questions meriting a detailed analysis and a clear articulation of policy. What is of grave concern is that these questions of livelihoods of those who are also affected by the tsunami, and do also form a part of the fishing community, has not yet been mentioned in any governmental policy. Even in the NGO sector the focus has been on the property owning fishing communities. What is clear is that those who own no property and are merely dependent on those who do own property merit no attention in rehabilitation efforts. /Existing relief and rehabilitation policy frameworks/ While Tamil Nadu by itself does not yet have a relief code, other states like Orissa, Rajasthan have a relief code in place and Maharashtra has a disaster management plan However, analysis of the working of these codes seems to reveal that apart from Maharashtra to some minimal extent^^9 <#sdfootnote9sym> , * *the Governments thus far have not seriously taken on board the concerns of Dalit/Adivasi communities.^^10 <#sdfootnote10sym> As Sana Das’s analysis of the Orissa Relief Code reveals, there are in essence two obstacles to the Dalit and Adivasi communities being an integral part of relief and rehabilitation 1. They do not own property and hence are unable to make a legal claim 2. The political economy context of caste based discrimination ensures that access remains limited. The ownership over means of production determines one’s command over food and other essential commodities. Those social groups which don’t own any means of production consequently are at greater risk of food scarcity/ starvation. If the rehabilitation policy focuses on replacing the means of production which have been lost and does not take into account the needs of those who do not own property , the consequences for those without property can be deadly. As Sana Das notes , ‘ On the contrary, if labour is the only endowment that one possesses, in a disaster situation, if there is no provision for employment where the individual can exchange it for food, then such vulnerability may even lead to succumbing. It may lead to distress sale of labour or even the final exchange i.e., of self, which is the most exploitative exchange, violating Art 23 which is the fundamental right against exploitation and also laws on immoral trafficking.’^^11 <#sdfootnote11sym> Similarly the study brings to the fore the problem of channeling relief/rehabilitation purely through the caste panchayats. There emerge a pattern of discrimination and exclusion of Dalit/Adivasi communities from even the most basic relief. Relief and rehabilitation ends up benefiting the more powerful social groups and the Dalit and Adivasi communities end up in a worse situation post disaster. Thus it is clear that both caste and class factors have played a major role in ensuring that both relief and rehabilitation remain an inequitable process in past disasters and Government policy has till now been inadequate to take on board the learnings from the past to build a more equitable and inclusive policy. Towards an inclusive policy on relief and rehabilitation Any relief and rehabilitation policy framed by the State will have to be based on respecting the constitutional framework. This means that key to the policy will have to be solicitude to the weaker sections of Indian society including the SC and ST communities ( Dalit and Adivasi). The framework of the Indian constitution obligates the Indian state to abide by the rights guaranteed in the Fundamental Rights Chapter to all citizens and to take seriously the Directive Principles of State Policy as being fundamental to the governance of the country. With respect to Fundamental Rights the state is enjoined to respect among others the right to equality (Art 14), the right to non discrimination on grounds of caste as well as the right to affirmative action ( Art 15 (1) and Art 15(4) respectively) and the right to life (Art 21). The Indian Constitution envisages a notion of substantive equality which includes a scheme for compensatory action in the form of affirmative action for all those who have historically been oppressed by the caste based hierarchy of Indian society. Thus equality in the Indian Constitutional scheme does not just mean treating those of a similar grouping similarly but actually means that a form of compensatory action is envisaged for those who have historically suffered discrimination, particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The right to life has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to include many basic rights including the right to a clean environment, right to health etc. Needless to say these rights too must be implemented keeping in mind the injunction of Art 14 and Art 15. The Directive Principles such as Art 41 clearly note that the responsibility of the state to secure public assistance in cases of undeserved want. Under Art 39(a) the state has the responsibility to secure the right to livelihood to all its citizens. Under Art 47 of the Directive Principles, the state has the obligation as one of its primary duties, to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health. In the context of a disaster, when a situation of ‘undeserved want’ arises the state’s obligation to provide public assistance to secure the basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution is undisputed. However what is often not taken on board as a matter of state administrative practise/law is that the very provision of relief and the beginning of rehabilitation programes which are aimed at securing the right to livelihood, the right to work, the right to health, the right to education and the right to life, * *must take into account the Constitutional injunction embodied in Art 14 read with Art 15 and provide in particular for the SC/ST communities. If the Constitution is indeed the guiding post they cannot face a shortfall merely on grounds of belonging to certain communities. In fact the Constitution in Art 17, goes one step further and notes that untouchability is an offence and the practise of which is to be punished in accordance with law. Thus the Constitutional imagination is not to silently acquiesce in existing caste hierarchies but instead to proactively challenge the existing inequitable social order. Thus the relief and rehabilitation policy will have to be inclusive as well as make special provisions for those at the very bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy. The policy as currently operational in the Tamil Nadu GO’s^^12 <#sdfootnote12sym> and the Union Government Relief and Rehabilitation Package^^13 <#sdfootnote13sym> , will have to move from a shocking disregard for affected Dalit and Adivasi communities to taking on board their concerns and articulating it* *through clear policy statements. If the Government does indeed move to implement its Constitutional mandate, the following points will have to be specifically considered. It has to be noted that these points are not inclusive but merely indicative of the directions the policy might take. * Most importantly, ensure food security * Implementation of a food for work programme for all affected communities as described above * Provision of gratuitous relief for all those unable to participate in the food for work scheme for various reasons like old age and disability. * Land – based rehabilitation of landless Dalit agricultural labourers. * Training and creation of employment opportunities for affected Dalit/Adivasi people * Creation of assets which can be used to generate livelihood options * Specification of a Minimum Wage for all the affected Dalit/Adivasi communities to prevent their exploitation. * Formation of an inclusive village level committee which includes members from affected Dalit/Adivasi communities to plan the rehabilitation efforts * SC/ST Commission to monitor that the policy is indeed inclusive by appointing Community members to regularly report on the implementation of relief and rehabilitation measures in an inclusive fashion. * Considering that Dalit/Adivasi children form a particularly vulnerable category special efforts are needed to ensure that they are not discriminated against at least for the present in such places which are meant for bringing them back to leading a normal life like the schools, for instance.^^14 <#sdfootnote14sym> In the alternative, separate spaces should be created for them so that they can also work their way back to normalcy just as the higher caste children are in a position to do. 1 <#sdfootnote1anc> V.K. Shashikumar, Damning the way of destruction, , 22.01.05, Tehelka) 2 <#sdfootnote2anc> The team consisted of representatives of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) , Human Rights Forum for Dalit Liberation (HRFDL), Dappu and Safai Karmachari Andolan. 3 <#sdfootnote3anc> Ibid. 4 <#sdfootnote4anc> Email sent by Nityanand Jayaraman an activist working in Cuddalore on file with the authors. 5 <#sdfootnote5anc> Letter sent to the Officer on Special Duty, (Relief and Rehab) In-charge of NGO and Donor coordination,Tamil Nadu by the Citizens Platform for Tsunami Affected, Tamil Nadu, dated 10.1.2005. 6 <#sdfootnote6anc> Tsunami can’t wash this away: Hatred for Dalits’ , Indian Express, 7.01.2005. Also see ‘Tribal outsiders count tsunami cost’, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4175131.stm - 44k - 21 Jan 2005 7 <#sdfootnote7anc> See Tamil Nadu G.O. Ms. Nos 574 dated 28.12.2004, 576 dated 28.12.2004, 10dated 6.1.2005 etc. 8 <#sdfootnote8anc> See G.O. Ms No. 30 dated 17.01.2005. 9 <#sdfootnote9anc> The Maharashtra Disaster Management Plan discusses landless labourers and provides that if they have lost their tools of work, the government will replace them. 10 <#sdfootnote10anc> See Sana Das, A study on Coastal Area Calamities and Vulnerable People’s Entitlements; A critique of the Orissa Relief Code, Sana Das, A critique of Famine Codes in India: A study of the Rajasthan Famine Code and Vulnerable People’s Entitlements. 11 <#sdfootnote11anc> /Ibid. / 12 <#sdfootnote12anc> See G.O. Ms. Nos. , 574 dated 28.12.2004, 575 dated 28.12.2005 , 8 dated 5.1.2005, 10dated 6.1.2005. 13 <#sdfootnote13anc> ‘The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 2731 crore relief and rehabilitation package for the victims of the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry. Under this package announced, Rs 1093 crores has been allocated to help fishermen return to work by providing them with boats, nets, and other equipment: Rs 861.82 crores for provision of foodgrains and other material; Rs752.3 crores for construction of houses; and Rs 23.21 crores for repair of fishing harbours and fish landing places.’ See Jan 19, 2005, The Hindu 14 <#sdfootnote14anc> Very recent experience in Nagapattinam in relation to efforts by some external volunteers to get the children belonging to a nomadic Adivasi group called the Mattukkaran enrolled in a Govt. aided school in MGR Nagar near the town suggests that even the students belonging to the second and third class practise discrimination against these children From amsethi at rediffmail.com Thu Feb 10 17:08:51 2005 From: amsethi at rediffmail.com (Aman Sethi) Date: 10 Feb 2005 11:38:51 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Identity loss in a post-tsunami village Message-ID: <20050210113851.30696.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> Dear All, this report is part of larger, hopefully more indepth study of identity loss in Sreenivasapuram - a fishing village on the marina beach in chennai. for this particular article, we focussed solely on ration cards. i hope to expand it further and include voter id cards and death certificates. Regards Aman Sethi, Chennai, February 9: “I cannot remember the last time I had a proper meal,” says B. Manjula, a resident of tsunami-hit Sreenivasapuram. Her 8-month old baby fidgets disconsolately as Manjula describes how the tsunami swept away everything she owned. Along with clothes, utensils, tape recorders and money, Manjula lost the one thing that would prove to be invaluable in providing her immediate help and long-term assistance –ration card number 02/6G/0024597. As relief efforts lose momentum in fishing villages like Sreenivasapuram, the public distribution system is turning out to be the most reliable source of food and fuel for residents; a source that is out of bounds for people like Manjula who have lost their ration cards. To make matters worse, many private aid organisations also insist that residents show their ration cards; both as a means of identification and to avoid duplication of aid efforts. Without her card, Manjula is ineligible for both – governmental assistance and private interventions. She has applied for a duplicate card, but it has been one month now and the card is yet to arrive. In the meantime, she is fast running out of money and hope. While the loss of clothes, shelter and possessions has been extensively documented by the media, the government and the non government organisations (NGOs), the loss of documentation and identity has been largely ignored. The ration card is the cornerstone of most household budgets, and in its absence, fisherman families are finding it impossible to make ends meet. “I used to buy rations for an entire month at a time,” says R. Raman (ration card number – 02/Y/399774), a fisherman from Sreenivasapuram, “but without a ration card, I am forced to buy provisions at exorbitant prices in the open market.” His wife, Dhanalaxmi estimates that their expenditure on food has almost doubled after the tsunami washed away their ration card. “Earlier, I used to spend about Rs 300 per month on rations, but now even Rs 600 is not enough to feed ourselves.” They have applied for a duplicate card as well, but are yet to receive any official reply. R. Govindarajan, Chief Bill Clerk of the ration shop in Sreenivasapuram, says that at least 60 people have applied for new cards, but estimates that the actual number of lost cards stands at about 100. “A lot of people have left the village after the tsunami and so will apply for their cards in their new place of residence,” he explains. Govindarajan knows most of the villagers personally, and so provides them with a slip that states the ration card number stored in his files, the date of the last purchase and the name and address of the card holder. This slip is then to be submitted at the Mylapore Triplicane Taluk and a new card is issued as soon as the verification process is complete. But the process is far from efficient. According to applicants, the clerks at the taluk office are unhelpful and intimidating. “Every time I go to meet the clerk, he tells me to come back in 10 days,” complains M. Sudhakaran, another fisherman at the village, “I don’t think I shall ever get my card.” Tahsildar and Executive Magistrate - Mylapore Triplicane Taluk, M. Thangaraj refuses to comment on the issue. “We do not give out any information,” he says, “We have not received any complaints, let those affected come and talk to me.” Assistant Commissioner- Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, A. Rajaratnam, is more forthcoming. “We realise there is a problem, but we are working on it. . In the meantime we have ordered temporary ration cards that shall be valid till July. We have also issued 18,000 cards for the state and are in the process of distributing them. The process shall take 1 or 2 months, but fair price shops have been asked to continue supplies.” But the fact remains that fair price shops are not continuing supplies, and the temporary cards have not been issued. Forty five days have passed since B. Manjula lost her ration card. She is not sure if she can survive another 30 days. Aman Sethi and Malar Vizhi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050210/476fbc46/attachment.html From announcer at crit.org.in Thu Feb 10 14:40:29 2005 From: announcer at crit.org.in (GIRNI KAMGAR) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:40:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] 16.2.05: Mill Lands Seminar Message-ID: <9C226452-7B43-11D9-A404-000A95A05D12@crit.org.in> Dear All: You are cordially invited to a seminar: TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO THE ISSUE OF THE MILL LANDS Date: WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2005 Time: 3.00 P.M. to 6.00 P.M. Venue: Academy of Architecture 5th Floor, Rachna Sansad Off Sayani Road, Behind Ravindra Natya Mandir 278, Shankar Ghanekar Marg Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025 Phone +91.22.2430.1024, +91.22.2431.0807, +91.22.2422.9969 The Urban Department of Government of Maharashtra has appointed a committee to examine the modifications made to Section 58 of the Development Control Regulations (DCR) in 2001. This Section deals with the development of the textile mill lands of Mumbai. The Terms of Reference for the committee states that 'the interests of the textile workers / financial institutions should not be jeopardised'. However, the composition of the committee clearly demonstrates that while the interests of some stakeholders are represented, that of the workers has been deliberately ignored. The members represent financial institutions, mill-owners and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), in addition to architect Charles Correa. However, any representation of the textile workers is conspicuously absent. Section 58 of the Development Control Regulations In Section 58 of the DCR (1991), mill lands were to be shared more or less equally between the MCGM for open spaces, Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the mill-owners. When the DCR was modified in 2001, the land share of the mill-owners increased by a whopping 180%. This increase was made at the cost of both the city and the workers. The land share of the MCGM, which was meant for creating parks and other amenities, as well as the land share for the housing of the textile workers have been reduced by 90%. On the other hand, as per the proposals of 16 private mills submitted to the MCGM as per the modified DCR Section 58, the mill-owners’ share has been tripled! In the modified DCR 58, there is a provision that within the space provided for public housing, 50% is set aside for housing textile workers. There is also a provision made for job opportunities for the family members of the workers. This was in response to the demand made by the textile workers, who were losing their jobs due to mill closures. However with the revised sharing of the lands, these gains will now only remain on paper. The closure of the mills has already deprived the workers their livelihood. The new modifications proposed to the DCR will deny their right to housing as well. The proposed amendments to DCR will also deprive the citizens of Mumbai of badly needed open spaces. It is to discuss these urgent issues that Mumbai Study Group and Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti have jointly organised a seminar on WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY to see if a consensus is possible among the different stake-holders in the development of the mill lands. The intention is to formulate a set of suggestions / demands which will then be submitted to the new committee. The seminar is expected to be attended by individuals and organisations from a diverse cross section of Mumbai’s citizens. Please make it convenient to attend and make your valuable contribution to the discussion and the proposals. To download a fact-finding report and study on Phoenix Mills by the Girangaon Bachao Andolan, originally published in 2000, go to http://crit.org.in/projects/girni/phoenix Datta Iswalkar, Meena Menon, and Neera Adarkar GIRNI KAMGAR SANGHARSH SAMITI Pankaj Joshi, Arvind Adarkar, and Darryl D'Monte MUMBAI STUDY GROUP _____ CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) Announcements List http://lists.crit.org.in/mailman/listinfo/announcer _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From blueskyandus at rediffmail.com Wed Feb 9 13:19:38 2005 From: blueskyandus at rediffmail.com (tangella madhavi) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 13:19:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Katha, Mumbai Message-ID: Dear Friend, Katha and the University Department of English, S.N.D.T Women’s University conducting an eight-session film course on The Life of the Asian City in Film. The course aims to explore the history of the Asian city in film and trace the development of an aesthetic around its depiction. Each session will include screening of a film that depicts the modern Asian city and reflections of the nature of urbanity and urban experience. The screenings will be followed by discussions by filmmakers and critics weaving cinema, modern history and representation across countries as diverse as Singapore, Korea, Japan and India. This exercise will not only increase exposure and awareness of their film traditions, but also suggest ways in which a discussion of their films through common categories may gain currency. The eight-session course (February 11th to March 12th) will be held on Friday and Saturday evenings at the H.T. Parekh Hall, 8th Floor, S.N.D.T. Women’s University, Churchgate, Mumbai- 20. Timings: 4 p.m. to 6:00 pm. (2 hours per session). Cost for the workshop: Rs. 300 per person To register please contact Katha at 9820564061 or blueskyandus at rediffmail.com tramitra at hotmail.com. With warm Regards, Dr. Mitra Mukherjee Parikh Head, Dept.Of English, PGSR SNDT Women’s University. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Thu Feb 10 12:41:49 2005 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (Cinematheque at MediaCentre) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 08:11:49 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Cinematheque - launch of new VideoChannel edition Message-ID: <012f01c50f3f$ca78fc50$0400a8c0@NewMediaArtNet> Cinematheque at MediaCentre http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org announces . 1. new edition of VideoChannel - interactive installation at Bethlehem Cave Gallery/Palestine 2. physical presentation of VideoChannel on New Media Art Festival Bangkok/Thailand . ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 1. Cinematheque at MediaCentre is very proud to launch a new edition of . VideoChannel - . a joint-venture with [R][R][F]2005--->XP http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org global networking project - as part of the physical events series in Palestine, Israel and Germany, entitled: IMPACT ME'05 starting on 17 February at CAVE Gallery at Bethlehem International Center/Palestine http://www.annadwa.org/cave/agricola.htm - VideoChannel is happy to include on this occasion online three new curatorial contributions . a) from Valencia/Spain videoraum.net - www.videoraum.net , i.e. Gudrun Bittner and Pau Pascual Galbis are curating videoworks by . Empar Cubells , Juan Domingo Gudrun Bittner, Pau Pascual Galbis . b) from Sao Paulo/Brazil Brocólis VHS - a video initiative www.brocolis.org . is curating videos by . Cassiah Kallenah, Omar Emir Barquet, Neide Jallageas, Fabio Oliveira Nunes, Brócolis VHS . c) Rogier van Benteghem (Belgium/Germany) is curating videos by . Petra Lindholm (Sweden) , Scott Becker (USA) Claudia Sohrens (USA), Elia Alba (USA) Larry Caveney (USA) . VideoChannel will be installed from 10 DVDs as the offline part of the interactive installation at Bethlehem CAVE Gallery. . //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 2. VideoChannel is proud to present offline a selection of 16 videos - 16 curators represented by one curated video each, . on MAF05 - New Media Art Festival Bangkok/Thainland http://thailand.culturebase.org/maf05/ 25-29 February 2005 . including . 1. Calin Dan (Romania) Curated by Raluca Velizar and Florin Tudor (Romania) . 2. Lorenzo Oggiano (Italy) - curated by Laura Ciari (Italy) . 3. Aldo Perredo (Chile) - curated by Isabel Arando Yto (Chile) . 4. Antonia Valero & Laura Amigo (Spain) Curated by Antonio Alvarado (Spain) . 5. Fishtank (Italy) -curated by Agricola de Cologne (Germany) . 6: Ji-Hyung Kim (S. Korea) - curated by Won-Kon Yi (South Korea) . 7. Agricola de Cologne (Germany) curated by Melody Parker Carter (Germany) . 8. Petra Lindholm (Sweden) curated by Rogier van Benteghem (Belgium) . 9. Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia) - curated by Roopesh Sitharan (Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia) . 10. Juan Domingo Ferris (Spain) Curated by videoraum.net (Valencia/Spain) . 11. Liat & Ariel Shechter-Mayrose (Israel) curated by Stephanie Benzaquen (Netherlands) . 12. Cassia Kallenah (Brazil) Curated by Brócolis VHS (Sao Paulo/Brazil) . 13. Welmo E. Romero Joseph (Puerto Rico) Curated by Heidi Figuroa and Marianne Ramirez -Aponte (Puerto_Rico) . 14. Margerida Paiva (Portugal) Curated by Agricola de Cologne (Germany) . 15. Jens Salander & Mikael Stroemberg (Sweden) Curated by Bjoern Norberg (Sweden) . 16. Caitlin Berrigan (USA) Curated by Alex Haupt (Germany) . VideoChannel can be accessed via . 1. [R][R][F]2005--->XP project site - artistic body - Memory Channel 5 http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org . 2. or directly http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org/vchannel.htm . 3. or directly Cinematheque site http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org . ********************************** . Cinematheque http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org is part of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne www.nmartproject.net info at nmartproject.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 14:37:29 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 14:37:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Thought Project Message-ID: 'I stopped strangers on the street and asked them what they were thinking about the second before i stopped them' See http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/ -- -30- From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 18:47:39 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 18:47:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Manto's fiftieth death anniversary observed Message-ID: Remembering Manto Manto, like Bhagat Singh and Mirza Abrahim, was disowned for his anti-imperialism By Farooq Sulehria The News International (Pakistan) | 17 January 2005 http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2005-daily/17-01-2005/oped/o1.htm [The writer is a freelance journalist based in Sweden. Email: mfsulehria at hotmail.com ] "Here lies buried Saadat Hasan Manto in whose bosom are enshrined all the secrets and art of short story writing. Buried under mounds of earth, even now he is contemplating whether he is a greater short story writer or God". His own epitaph. If one goes by it, January 18 will mark fifty years since Manto set out on his contemplation. The 50th death anniversary of, in Tariq Ali's words, Pakistan's 'most gifted Urdu short-story writer' will come and go unnoticed. A 100-page 'Manto Number' by minuscule weekly Mazdoor Jeddojuhd may be the humble exception. No state institution will mark January 18 as Manto Day. No government dignitary will grace any seminar at some five star hotel. The mainstream press will run no commentaries. Nor will any 'official' floral wreath be laid on Manto's grave at Lahore's Miani Saab graveyard. But that is not because his epitaph would embarrass the faithful -- Manto's own sister removed it long ago. "Phuppo was religious minded. She found Manto's epitaph provocative and replaced it," says Nighat Patel, Manto's eldest daughter now living in Manto's Lakshmi Mansions' apartment close to Regal Chowk, in an interview for Jeddojuhd's Manto Number. Like her sisters Nusrat and Nuzhat, Nighat is not upset by the official apathy. "Thousands of Manto- lovers have visited me since I have moved from Defence to this place," says Nighat. "Manto used to say that his spirit will not find peace if his grave becomes Iqbal's tomb," Manto's grave became no tomb, and so perhaps he does rest in peace. The grave was not converted into an 'Iqbal's tomb' because Manto was disowned - but not because he was 'obscene'. Manto, like Bhagat Singh and Mirza Abrahim, was disowned for his anti-imperialism. He was disowned, like Ustad Daman, for not endorsing the Partition. Like Sibte Hassan and Sajjad Zahir, he never conformed to the official ideology. Therefore he was disowned by the establishment. His Jurat-e-Tahkeek (courage to know) and Lab Azad (courage to speak) pitch him against a confessional state born out of a bloody Partition. Manto rejected both. The confessional state contradicts his secularism. Partition negates his humanism. And the oppressive ruling class of the new state infuriates Manto when it exploits people hand in hand with imperialism. Manto stands for people: the clerks, tonga-wallas, jobless, petty thieves, prostitutes, pimps, pickpockets, peasants, factory workers. "That section of my country's population, which rides in Packards and Buicks, is really not my country. Where poor people like me and those even poorer live, that is my country" (First Letter to Uncle Sam, 1951). No wonder the establishment refuses to own him. But the state having disowned Manto, and the likes of him, is not at ease with itself. In pursuit of heroes, the state creates the Father of the Bomb as an idol for its ideological laboratories. The trouble with state heroes arises when a September 11 compels the undoing of a hero. Meanwhile, Manto's far-sighted 'Letters to Uncle Sam' provide an interesting insight into this post- September 11 era. Coincidentally, Alhamra published an excellent English translation, by Khalid Hasan, of Manto's nine letters few weeks prior to 9/11. "Regardless of India and the fuss it is making, you must sign a military pact with Pakistan because you are seriously concerned about the stability of the world's largest Islamic state, since our mullah is the best antidote to the Russian communism. Once military aid starts flowing, the first people you should arm are these mullahs. They will also need American-made rosaries and prayer-mats, not to forget the small stones that they use to soak up the after-drops following a call of nature. Cut-throat razors and scissors should be top of the list, as well as American hair colour lotions. That should keep these fellows happy and in business. I think the only purpose of military aid is to arm these mullahs." (Fourth Letter to Uncle Sam, 1954) "American topcoats are also excellent and without them our Landa Bazar would be quite barren. But why don't you send us trousers as well? Don't you ever take off your trousers? If you do, you probably ship them to India. There has to be a strategy to this because you send us jackets but no trousers, which you send to India. When there is a war, it will be your jackets and your trousers. These two will fight each other using arms supplied by you." (Third Letter to Uncle Sam, 1954) His devastating wit and famous sense of irony go particularly berserk when it comes to communal passions: "The mob suddenly veered to the left, its wrath now directed at the marble statue of Sir Ganga Ram, the great philanthropist of Lahore. One man smeared the statue's face with coal tar. Another strung together a garland of shoes and was about to place it around the great man's neck when the police moved in, guns blazing. The man with the garland of shoes was shot, then taken to the nearby Sir Ganga Ram Hospital" (The Garland). Manto died young, a few months short of 43. Born on 11 May 1912, he breathed his last on 18 January 1955 - but he was a prolific writer during his short life. In a literary, journalistic, radio scripting and film-writing career spread over two decades, he produced 22 collections of short stories, a novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches, and many scripts for films. During World War II, he worked for All India Radio in Delhi, but the best years of his life were spent in Bombay where he was associated with some of the leading film studios, including Imperial Film Company, Bombay Talkies and Filmistan. He wrote over a dozen films, including Eight Days, Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Mirza Ghalib, which was shot after Manto moved to Pakistan in January 1948. Sang-e-Meel, Lahore, have published a series of Manto's works. Manto has been translated in Punjabi and Hindi in India where he is widely read. His plays have been adapted for stage plays in Pakistan and abroad. It was Partition that inspired Manto's greatest works -- Toba Tek Singh, to mention just one, which gained him much posthumous fame. India's Doordarshan television, as well as Channel Four, UK, adapted this play as a telefilm, and it has been staged several times, including in faraway Norway. And yet, during his lifetime, he had to deal with much infamy. His unflinching realism and uncompromising observations of life as he saw it led to Manto being tried for obscenity half-a-dozen times, thrice before and thrice after Partition. Partition also brought him great financial and emotional stress. In the post-Partition period, his motive to write did not solely emanate from the creative urge. He wrote for money, to look after his family - and also to his habitual drinking which ate up last couple of years of his eventful life. But perhaps it was not this that cost him his life. More than this habit, it was a society-turned -drunk that drove him to death. And on his 50th death anniversary, the epitaph approved by his sister also makes for good reading: Yahan Manto dafan hay jo aaj bhi ye samajhta hay kay wo loh-e-Jahan per harf-e-muqarar nahi tha (Here lies buried Manto who still believes that he was not the final word on the face of the earth). From shivamvij at gmail.com Wed Feb 9 19:28:22 2005 From: shivamvij at gmail.com (Shivam Vij) Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 19:28:22 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Manto still banned on TV and radio in Pakistan Message-ID: The Daily Times January 19, 2005 MANTO'S 50TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OBSERVED: BAN ON MANTO'S WRITINGS ON TV AND RADIO CONDEMNED By Shoaib Ahmad LAHORE: It is regrettable that Saadat Hasan Manto's writings are still banned on television and radio and he has not been given due respect in Pakistan, said speakers at a special gathering held at 'Lakshmi Mansion' in front of Manto's house on Tuesday to mark his 50th death anniversary. Speaking on the occasion, which was organised by the Weekly Mazdoor Jido-Johad, Abid Hasan Manto said although life in Manto's days was simple his farsightedness made him write about the complexities of today. He came from a middle class family and associated with his economic strata, he said. He wrote about the hypocrisy of society, which people usually 'hate' to discuss like Sahiba Karamat and Mangoo, a character he sketched in his famous short-story Naiya Qanoon, he added. Throwing light on Manto's story Naiya Qanoon, he said the 17th amendment in Pakistan and imperial design behind globalisation were the examples of present times. He said Manto wanted an egalitarian society where the poor were not oppressed and women got equal rights and were accepted as equal partners in society. Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, a women's rights activist, said the 'so-called custodians of Pakistan's ideology' had never accepted Manto, but the people in Pakistan had accepted Manto in the 21st century. She said Manto was widely read in India and nearly all the bookstores carried his work. She said Manto lived a respectable and happy life in Bombay but in Lahore he had to go through trouble and several cases were filed against him. Shujaat Hashmi, an actor, regretted that Manto was still banned from television and radio. Disagreeing with Ms Khan, he said those who loved Manto had accepted him even in the 20th century. He said Manto did not only belong to the sub-continent but to the whole world. In India, he said, Manto was celebrated but in Pakistan he was still banned. Madeeha Gauhar said that she tried to convey Manto's ideas through theatrical performances. She said she had staged his two important plays in Pakistan, Toba Tek Singh and Naiya Qanoon. Manto's daughters Nighat Patail, Nuzhat Arshad and Nusrat Jalal were present on the occasion. Ms Arshad said she felt great being Manto's daughter. He was a sensitive writer, she added. Poet Munir Niazi presided over the gathering. He said the Pakistani nation had not learnt to respect its great people. Mr Niazi said he met Manto after partition. From Nicholas.Ruiz at ldap4.fsu.edu Tue Feb 8 18:40:29 2005 From: Nicholas.Ruiz at ldap4.fsu.edu (Nicholas Ruiz) Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 8:10:29 EST Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] CFP: "Global Polity: 2005" Message-ID: <200502081310.j18DATiK006204@ldap4.fsu.edu> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050208/ea740292/attachment.pl From space4change at gmail.com Thu Feb 10 16:20:29 2005 From: space4change at gmail.com (SPACE) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 16:20:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] ZEST logo design contest Message-ID: <8c10798f05021002502a3821a5@mail.gmail.com> Hi, All ZEST members are invited to participate in the ZEST logo-design competition. We want a new logo, and you can design one. Open your photoshop or just go to flamingtext.com - which is where we got our original logo. The logo should be adaptable to all ZEST groups, and the word ZEST must be in all caps. ALL entries will be uploaded to the 'files' section of ZESTCurrent and TalkZEST, and the best ones would of course be used on all eight ZEST homepages. So get down to work now! Apart from credit there's little we can offer you, so don't reply this mail with the question, 'How much would my remuneration be?' The ZEST lists are non-commercial public mailing lists with no revenue model, and there's no intention of one. Mail your entry to shivamvij [at] gmail [dot] com. The best entry will be decided by one-person-one-vote system by the ten ZEST moderators who run the eight groups. Waiting... ==theZESTcommunity================================== [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From soudhamini_1 at lycos.com Fri Feb 11 12:53:36 2005 From: soudhamini_1 at lycos.com (sou dhamini) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 02:23:36 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] madurai Message-ID: <20050211072336.0172F3384B@ws7-3.us4.outblaze.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/test1/attachments/20050211/3fb47838/attachment.html From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 11 15:44:47 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:44:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] recruiting prison guards for Iraq Message-ID: <420C8597.6030605@sarai.net> The link below has a photograph of the recruitment poster referred to in the article. Silja Talvi's report on the whole prisons convention follows in the next email. -Vivek IN THESE TIMES Please consider subscribing to the print edition and supporting independent media: http://www.inthesetimes.com/subscribe/ This article is permanently archived at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1921/ Do You Like Adventure? By Silja J.A. Talvi February 4, 2005 DynCorp International, a subsidiary of the private prison operator Correctional Services Corporation, was in heavy recruitment mode at the winter ACA Conference. 'The Dawn of Liberty,' blared one flier. 'Join Us in the Fight for Freedom EVERYWHERE.' To get current and former correctional employees to consider 'exciting opportunities in the Middle East,' DynCorp made working in Iraq sound like a trip with Outward Bound. 'Do you like adventure? Do you like to travel internationally? In an ever increasing world of tension and instability, the U.S. Government has expanded its role in establishing societal stability through democratic style of governance.' With an 'unblemished background,' a civilian police officer in Iraq could earn $120,632, with all lodging, meals, transportation, and logistical and administrative support provided at no cost. The small print on one flier noted that a one-year contract was based on a six-day workweek, 12 hours per day. For a prison guard making $12 an hour, this offer seemed mighty tempting. One female corrections officer sat outside the convention center, looking over the materials. 'I wonder if it's worth it?' she mused. An ACA workshop devoted to 'Prisons for Iraq' featured ACA Board member Mark Sauder, a former warden in Ohio. In March 2004, he said, he was sent on a 'corrections mission' to establish the new Iraqi Corrections Service. His co-presenter was Chuck Ryan, a 25-year Arizona Department of Corrections (AZDOC) veteran and the top deputy director under former AZDOC Director Terry Stewart. Ryan and Stewart, who ran for president of the ACA in 2004, were known for setting the tone for Arizona's harsh prison system. (Other U.S. correctional administrators and prison guards with questionable histories were sent to Iraq, including Specialist Charles Graner, the Abu Ghraib torturer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.) At the workshop, both Sauder and Ryan admitted that by April 2004 the prisons they were sent to oversee 'exploded.' To repair the damage from ongoing riots'and to control the inmates'the U.S. contractors locked men up, 30 to a cell, some of whom were shown in a slide show at the workshop wearing nothing but white underwear. Once the renovations were made, Sauder and his peers had to try to instill a new prison culture. 'Our mission was to teach Iraqis how to run a humane prison,' he said. Speaking of Abu Ghraib, where he was stationed as part of the team in charge of setting up the civilian prison system, Sauder said: 'Knowing they were not going to be beaten or killed helped inform trust between guards and prisoners.' Sauder proceeded to entertain the audience with photos of women visiting their incarcerated husbands, with whom they could only have contact through a metal fence. When the women arrived, 'it sounded like a turkey farm,' he laughed. Sauder showed a picture of an Iraqi prisoner dripping with blood. The man had slashed his chest 'to get attention.' 'We knew better than to take this seriously,' he said, referring to the common experience of American prisoners who self-mutilate while incarcerated. One of his most interesting tasks, said Sauder, was to assign the captured Saddam Hussein his official Iraqi Corrections Service number: 005666. 'It's the mark of the Antichrist,' Sauder said of the 666 designation. 'If you shaved [Hussein's] head, you would probably see it anyway.' Silja J.A. Talvi, an award-winning journalist, is currently writing a book about women in prison. From vivek at sarai.net Fri Feb 11 15:45:50 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:45:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Foucault squared (continued) Message-ID: <420C85D6.1070605@sarai.net> Cashing in on Cons By Silja J.A. Talvi, In These Times. Posted February 10, 2005. At the American Correctional Association's 2005 Winter Conference, the bottom line is paramount. In 1971, investigative journalist Jessica Mitford attended the 101st Congress of the American Correctional Association (ACA) in Miami Beach. The ACA was founded in 1870 as the National Prison Association by reform-minded wardens who saw promise in the rehabilitation, religious redemption and humane treatment of prisoners. By 1971 they had developed a substantial membership, attracting 2,000 attendees to that year's congress. In her seminal 1973 book, Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business, Mitford reported that the organization had shifted its focus from reforming and rehabilitating prisoners to reaping profit from incarceration. Exhibitors, she wrote, sold everything from tear gas grenades to stun gun prototypes. And with prisons facing costly lawsuits instigated by prisoners, litigation, Mitford wrote, was "very much on everybody's mind." Thirty years later, how much has changed? The 2005 winter conference in Phoenix – attended by an estimted 4,000 – found the ACA still touting its principles: "Humanity, Justice, Protection, Opportunity, Knowledge, Competence and Accountability." The organization stresses that it brings together individuals and groups "that share a common goal of improving the justice system." But with the prison industry now bringing in annual revenue of $50 billion, the ACA seems most intent on "improving" profits. Sidebars A Dubious Distinction: Corrupting the prison accreditation process Do You Like Adventure?: Exporting the fun of correctional services to Iraq The Wild, Wild West: “Sheriff Joe” Arpaio’s unorthodox techniques Today's ACA is a sleeker version of the organization Mitford examined, complete with online certification courses for correctional employees (starting at $29.95) and an expensive prison accreditation process that claims to instill transparency and accountability. Members are enticed to earn accreditation in order to receive up to a 10 percent discount on prison liability insurance (see "A Dubious Distinction"). Keeping litigation costs down is only one way prison corporations profit from incarceration. In addition, for-profit prisons also increase revenues by contracting with other corporations to provide substandard or overpriced services to prisoners. In some states, companies like Microsoft pay prisons to employ prisoners at wages far below market rates. Taking advantage of the unprecedented prison boom of the late '80s and '90s, prison administrators, politicians, lobbying firms and corporate boards created a prison-industrial complex in which everyone benefits except the prisoners. In 1980, federal and state prisons incarcerated 316,000 people. In 1990, that number had grown to 740,000, not including jail populations. By 2000, the number of prisoners had surpassed 1.3 million. Prison construction accompanied this growth: More than 1,000 prisons are now in operation, and each new prison comes with a bevy of contracts for construction and services. The ACA conference is where many of these transactions are cemented. Noting that the prison population may have reached its apogee, ACA president Gwendolyn C. Chunn told members at the conference, "We'll have a hard time holding on to what we have now." But attendees seemed more than willing to try; everyone at the conference seemed to be riding high on the promise of growth, expansion and profits. Just Business This conference's theme was "Corrections Contributions to a Safer World," and the conference program didn't try to hide the gathering's militaristic bent. The cover of the 201- page ACA booklet featured a soldier with an enormous phallic tank gun, superimposed over the blue planet earth. And ACA's three keynote speakers were prominent conservatives or military officers: retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, Michael Durant, the pilot of Black Hawk Down fame, and disgraced Homeland Security nominee Bernard Kerik. The conference was financially supported by private prison giants such as the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut), Correctional Services Corporation (CSC) and Correctional Medical Services (see "Detention Blues," July 5, 2004 for background on CSC). The titles of the dozens of overlapping workshops indicated what the ACA defined as the latest trends in corrections: "Faith-Based Juvenile Programming," "Anti-Terrorism in Correctional Facilities," and "Can't Simply Paint it Pink and Call it a Girl's Program." One workshop – "Intensive Medical Management: How to Handle Prisoners Who Self-Mutilate, Slime, Starve, Spit and Scratch" – featured footage of a non-violent paranoid schizophrenic in Utah being forcibly extracted from his cell and then tied down to a restraint chair. After being strapped down naked for 16 hours, the delusional prisoner died. The session was facilitated by Todd Wilcox, the medical director of the Salt Lake County Metro Jail, who used the imagery as an example of how to avoid costly litigation. "Don't get personal with this," Wilcox said. "It's just business." He reminded the audience how important it is to sever the "emotional leash" that guards and nurses can form with inmates. He also referred to some mentally-ill patients with "Axis II disorders" as "the people we affectionately call 'the assholes.' " Pain for a Price The real draw of the ACA conference was the exhibitors, who had two full days to showcase their wares. The exhibition hall corridors had been given names like "Corrections Corporation of America Court," "Verizon Expressway," "Western Union Avenue," and "The GEO Court Lounge," where one could sip Starbucks and eat free glazed doughnuts. Here, the discussions were all about increasing profit margins, lessening risks and liabilities, winning court cases, and new, improved techniques and technologies for managing the most troublesome inmates. In the glaringly bright exhibit hall, attendees buzzed around booths, snapping up freebies and admiring the latest in prison technology. Exhibitors hawked restraint chairs, tracking systems, drug-detection tools, suicide- prevention smocks and prison facility insurance. Dozens of companies competed to sell private health care systems, pharmacy plans, commissary services and surveillance systems. Of particular interest were behavior modification programs, juvenile boot camps, and internet and phone services. Interest in the latter brought in the "big boys" of telecommunications: Sprint, AT&T, NEC, MCI Communications, Verizon, Global Tel*Link and Qwest. And why not? Prison phone contracts that overcharge prisoners and their families generate an estimated $1 billion a year. The range of products went on from one corridor to the next: storage systems, money wiring, surveillance, security transport, fencing and prison medical packages. (Industry giant Prison Health Services brought in rescued owls and hawks to draw crowds. What was the connection to prison health? "Oh, nothing!") Vendors who couldn't afford dog-and-pony shows handed out free bags, pens, toothpicks, mugs, tape measures and sugarcoated churros. The exhibitors who didn't need giveaways to draw crowds included weapons manufacturers Smith & Wesson, Glock and Taser International. Two smiling exhibitors, standing behind the Taser booth, allowed the curious to handle the latest in 50,000-volt stun gun technology. On the Taser table a video looped on a monitor. It depicted a naked African-American man being chased down by police officers. Shot once, he's shown falling hard to the ground. Tasered again, his body shudders, before collapsing altogether. The contextless footage was meant to illustrate the efficacy of the stun gun, used by more than 6,000 police departments, that had become the leader in the "non-lethal weapons" industry – that is, before a spate of negative press, including reports of an SEC investigation, had put the company's stock price into a tailspin. In November 2004, Amnesty International issued a report that blamed at least 74 deaths since 2001 on Tasers and called for a suspension of their use until further studies could prove just how "non-lethal" these weapons were. Headline business news emerged during the ACA conference: Taser executives were reported to have sold $91.5 million of their own stock, raising suspicions that they sought to maximize their own profits before their product lost ground. The company subsequently announced that sales were projected to slow in the months to come. The stock plunged 30 percent. As if all that weren't bad enough, Taser International President Tom Smith said in an interview that four active-duty police officers had been offered stock options for law enforcement training programs they supervised, which in turn had "led directly to the sale of Tasers to a number of police departments." It's a good thing that former Taser spokesman Bernard Kerik cashed in when he did. The former New York City police commissioner made more than $6.2 million in pre-tax profits from the sale of Taser stock in the month leading up to his abortive Homeland Security nomination. The Venal System Scores of individuals from prison acquisition and purchasing departments, consulting agencies, and the ranks of high-level prison administrators had come to the conference for networking, recruiting and, above all, business. Private contractors, like food-service businesses Aramark and Canteen, discreetly targeted these attendees for their off-site wine- and-dine dinners, issuing covert invitations to people whose badges indicated their importance in the field. Following a day of tours at Arizona jails and prisons, about 60 conference-goers headed to the Canteen fete at an upscale Italian restaurant in the nearby Arizona Center. Cocktails and bottles upon bottles of wine were poured out prior to a multicourse meal. Wardens and top- ranking corrections administrators from Arizona, New Mexico and Maryland sat in the outdoor patio under heat lamps. Salesmen from Canteen were pressing flesh and passing out business cards. There were smiles all around. Like so many other private companies working in prisons, Aramark and Canteen have had their share of problems. Aramark was singled out by "Stop the ACA" union-organized protests outside of the conference. On the third day of the conference, protesters snuck in and placed informational materials in the toilet seat cover holders of convention center bathrooms. On the fourth day of the conference, Aramark sought to spruce up its image with a faux-New Orleans-style gentleman's "entertainer," complete with pink top, feather cap and black fishnets. The heavily made-up young woman knelt before prison administrators, giving them free shoeshines. Aramark's low bids have succeeded in getting contracts in many jails and prisons. The company boasts that it provides more than a million meals a day to prisoners nationwide. Aramark materials also emphasize the company's adherence to ACA standards, but that hasn't stopped the allegations from piling up. In Dauphin County, Pa., for instance, a grand jury is investigating charges of overbilling and poor food quality. In July 2004, New Mexico inmates at Los Lunas prison, fed up with Aramark's low food quality and "inedible" meat-type products, organized a hunger strike. Similar problems have been reported in at least a dozen states. Privatization, Politicians and Payola The glossy GEOworld magazine, distributed at the ACA conference, trumpeted the success of the largest "Private-Public Partnership in the World," a sprawling detention center complex in Pecos, Texas. Known as the Reeves County Detention Facility (RCDC), the complex consists of prisons for both Bureau of Prisons and Arizona state inmates. According to GEO, "the joint venture ... between GEO Group and Reeves County has been a rewarding challenge." Unmentioned was the fact that a Reeves County judge, Jimmy Galindo, is facing a lawsuit over his role in granting the private operation and expansive construction of RCDC. According to the local Odessa American newspaper, building RCDC has led to the "near financial ruin of the county." RCDC is currently the subject of an FBI and Texas Ranger investigation into tampering with government documents. (In addition, two corrections officers resigned in early January 2005 over sexual molestation charges.) The RCDC is a private-public partnership in more ways than one. Randy DeLay, the brother of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), lobbied the Bureau of Prisons to send its prisoners to RCDC, at the behest of county officials. Randy DeLay isn't the only member of his family with an interest in corrections. In December, Rep. DeLay accepted a $100,000 check from the CCA for the DeLay Foundation for Kids. The CCA has become a leader in securing private prison contracts. In FY 2003, the CCA generated more than $268.9 million in revenue. Greasing the palms of legislators nationwide hasn't hurt: In 2004, the CCA's political action committee gave $59,000 to candidates for federal office – 92 percent to Republicans. This is part and parcel of an industry in the business of locking up human beings. As the industry has grown, the ACA has moved away from the ideals of rehabilitation and redemption of the human spirit. Today, human beings behind bars are little more than commodities to be traded on the open market. Bill Deener, a financial writer for the Dallas Morning News, writing about recent gains in the private prison market, put it this way: "Crime may not pay, but prisons sure do." In 1963, philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote about the "banality of evil." Contained within the packed exhibition hall of the ACA conference was evidence of what Arendt cautioned against: the normalization of dehumanization. Today, the banality of evil has found a home in the mundane marketplace that is the prison industry. Three days before the ACA conference, MSN Money's Michael Brush issued a glowing report on the investment potential for the CCA and GEO. The children of the baby boomers, he explained, are about to enter the 18-24-year-old age group – "the years when people commit the most crimes." He suggested now is the right time to buy into the trend: "[T]he nation's private prison companies look like solid investments for the next several years." In reporting this story, the author did not disclose her identity as a journalist. All the attributed quotes in this article come from individuals speaking in an official capacity at ACA events. Silja J.A. Talvi, an award-winning journalist, is currently writing a book about women in prison. From karunakar at indlinux.org Fri Feb 11 18:05:40 2005 From: karunakar at indlinux.org (Guntupalli Karunakar) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:05:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Opportunity for Research in Indian History Message-ID: <20050211180540.1ddeb6b2.karunakar@indlinux.org> Hi, Would this be of interest to Sarai or anyone related ? Regards, Karunakar Begin forwarded message: Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 04:21:47 -0600 From: R Hariram Aatreya To: karunakar at indlinux.org Cc: samanvaya at vsnl.com, chief at samanvaya.com, cnkrish at au-kbc.org Subject: Opportunity for Research in Indian History hi Karunakar, Thought someone at Sarai might be interested in this opportunity. Could you forward it to the appropriate mailing list ? Thanks, hari. ------------------------------------------ Opportunity for Research in Indian History ------------------------------------------ Work involved : Assist [1]Dharampal in researching [2]archives of [3]India Office, UK. The starting point being the India Office's on-line catologue. Profile : The person should ha