EXCLUSIVE: How Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, nephew of India’s 5th President was kept out of NRC

August 2, 2018

NRC and ECI are both, in some measure, to blame

It is not just the insensate practices of the NRC processes that failed to consider natural calamities like floods that affect Legacy Documents of Thousands, but the Tardy Actions of the Election Commission of India (ECI) that have labelled legitimate citizens as ‘D’ Voters and ‘DF’s (Declared Foreigners)

Guwahati, August 2

Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, a simple man of about 50 years! He is a marginal farmer. But farming is not sufficient to run his small family of four members. So, he works as seasonal fisherman! Still the poor and simple person, who spends his normal life without any complications commands a quiet respect as landlord from all the villagers of Barkukuria, a village to the interior, in the Kamrup (Rural) District under the Rangia Police Station of Assam. Other than his two sons, there are no other blood relations in the village, yet this deep respect and affection and cameraderie.
Though the villagers have not paid any ‘tenancy’ to the family of landlords in the last 45 years, Ziauddin has not complained of this before any competent authority. An exceptional member of an exceptional family, none other than Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, nephew of Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed, the fifth President of India. More than even that, he is grandson of Lieutenant Colonnel Jalnur Ali Ahmed, who is the first person to have passed the MBBS degree and qualified as a doctor in Assam.

Despite coming from this lofty background, Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, remained blissfully in the dark until the release of the final draft of the NRC on July 30, 2018. Now his plight is in the limelight, with the national and international media focussing on this ‘story.’ That Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, nephew of the former President of India, Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed and his family members, among 40,07,707 others have been dropped from the draft NRC. The NRC is being updated to facilitate the detention and deportation of, all foreigners from Assam.

When his case came to light, we along with young journalist Nayanjit Kalita, reached the village and hut of Ziauddin Ali Ahmed on August 1. When we reached his house, all the villagers gathered around and expressed their anguish on how a nephew of a former President of India Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed, one of the most respected person of Assam was dropped from the draft list of NRC? It appeared unbelievable that a nephew of a former first citizen of India living in such humble conditions, at a time when the son of a prominent politician of the ruling party has increased his personal wealth and property by over 5000 times within a year!
Our quest led us to ask how this had happened. How had, Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, the nephew of a former President of India been dropped from the draft NRC?

Legacy Data
Our inquiries revealed that it was due to the absence of Legacy Data, that he couldn’t apply for NRC. We prodded further: inquired about why, other than the Legacy Data, other (alternative) documents like land holdings, School, Board and University Certificates, Birth Certificates, Passport which could have submitted as alternative documents for NRC, were not considered? The reply is shocking, and humbling. The fact that the NRC has not factored this in reveals the flaws in an exercise, expected to be both thorough and fair.

Floods Destroy Documents in Assam
Ziauddin’s reply : in the devastating floods of 1984, all the documents they had, have been washed away. For getting the Legacy Data and some other documents the poor man, along with his son went from pillar to post, across the state. They even searched Delhi and some other places where ever Lieutenant Colonnel Jalnur Ali Ahmed, Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed lived. But they could not find anything about his father!

Land Documents
Since the villagers of Barkukuria in Kamrup district had consistent claims of tenancy from the lands of Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed and his family members, we then inquired further, about the land documents of that Village. There had been some doubts expressed about the relationship between Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed and the father of Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, Ahtramuddin Ali Ahmed, this ‘myth’ was busted when the villagers submitted some receipts of land taxes. Some of these receipts were signed by Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed (himself), and others were signed by Ahtramuddin Ali Ahmed. The mis-spelling of the name of the father of Ziauddin Ali Ahmed in the ‘mainstream’ media who called him Akramuddin Ali Ahmed had caused this particular bit of confusion. The elderly villagers said that Ahtramuddin Ali Ahmed and Akramuddin Ali Ahmed are one and the same person. Ahtramuddin Ali Ahmed @ Akramuddin Ali Ahmed was an Engineer, who was never serious about the family and Property. He led a simple, even mysterious life. So, he came to be known as Pagla Baba Saheb (Mad Baba).

Meanwhile, in the Cadestral (Land) report of Barkukuria and nearby villages was investigated by us. Here all confusion ends. There is a distinct noting that the entire land is under the joint ownership of ten Persons. They are 1) Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed, 2) Jalaluddin Ali Ahmed, 3) Ahtramuddin Ali Ahmed and two other Male and five other Females who are all sons and daughters of Lieutenant Colonnel Jalnur Ali Ahmed. This is a big relief for Jalaluddin Ali Ahmed and his family. This is in all likelihood a a valid document for Ziauddin for the inclusion of his name in the final NRC.

Absence from Electoral Rolls
But the worries do not end here for Ziauddin Ali Ahmed. Ziauddin Ali Ahmed still has no valid document for establishing his Linkage with his father! The only available document that would have been an acceptable is the Voter Identity Card which he has, but over that he faces another problem. Though the land documents show that father of Ziauddin Ali Ahmed is recorded as Ahtramuddin Ali Ahmed, in the Voters identity Card and in Voters List, Father of Jiauddin Ali Ahmed is recorded as Akram Ali.

Under these circumstances, only if the Election Commission of India allows ‘special permission’ (sic) for the correction of the Voters List and issues directions with this special permission for the correction of the Voters Identity Card of Ziauddin Ali Ahmed, only then he will able to submit special application for inclusion of their names in NRC !

Have they undertaken this procedure ? Sajid Ali Ahmed, who is son of Ziauddin Ali Ahmed says. ” I have applied for correction of my Father’s Name including the name recorded in the Voters list as my Grandfather two Years back. But the Election Commission has never paid any attention to my application. If we are kept out of the NRC because of this complacency, who will be responsible?”

It is not only the pain of Sajid Ali Ahmed, but hundreds of thousands of people of Assam. For the irresponsible and tardy behaviour of the Election Commission of India (ECI), lakhs of people have been unlawfully declared D Voter and Declared Foreigners!

Socialism on the Rise as Americans Seek Out Bold, Humane Alternatives to the Brutality of Trump and Capitalism

August 1, 2018

“Socialism is no longer a dirty word in the U.S.”

The thousands of democratic socialists in the United States who have been organizing and fighting for justice in political obscurity for years likely never thought their ideas would be the subject of heated debates on prominent talk-shows like “The View” or feature pieces in such establishment mainstays as PBS and NPR.

But—driven in large part by the persistent popularity of Bernie Sanders’ brand of politics and the recent landslide victory of self-described democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York’s congressional primary—the past several weeks have seen a torrent of news headlines, television segments, and hot takes on democratic socialism’s rapid emergence into everyday political discourse, an indication that ideas previously defined as “fringe” by corporate media outlets, pundits, and politicians are quickly going mainstream.
“Democratic Socialism Surging in the Age of Trump,” reads a representative headline from the Associated Press. “Is socialism having its moment in U.S. elections?” asked the title of a recent PBS “NewsHour” segment.

Read the full story here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/31/socialism-rise-americans-seek-out-bold-humane-alternatives-brutality-trump-and

Why does the Indian society let men get away with crimes against women?

August 1, 2018

A student recounts an incident in her college and how the perpetrator went scot free while the survivor kept mum for fear of backlash.

I recently came to know that my friend, who is in her first year of college was harassed by a man in full public view of the campus. He complimented her, held her hand and asked her to come with him in front of an entire crowd. When the girl opposed, the guy reminded her that everyone was watching them and if she didn’t comply, he would do something that would embarrass her. With no choice left, the girl had to agree and was taken to an empty classroom just for a “little chat”. There, the guy tried to kiss her, which left the girl completely shocked. He threatened to cut himself right there if she didn’t listen to him. As if this was not enough, he later tried to explain himself by saying that he had seen the girl talk to other guys all the time, so he thought she would be open to his overtures also! The girl did not speak to anyone about this incident for a long time, thinking “log kya kahenge” but the guy without the slightest remorse forgot about the incident as if he had done nothing wrong.

The question that arises here is that why do men feel it is okay to disrespect women and feel entitled to their bodies and consent? The answer lies in what is shown and celebrated by different forms of media. A man is openly allowed to flaunt his misdeeds of mistreating or using women in public, but whenever a woman tries to voice her opinions, she is either suppressed or judged by the society for what she said. Recently, in Sanjay Dutt’s biopic ‘Sanju’, it was said that he slept with more than 300 women in his life and the public watching this film hooted and hailed the man as a “hero”. No one ever thought that he was conning women to sleep with him.

Even in the real world, rapists or molesters are able to walk away scot-free after the incident has died down, but the women who fell prey to such men have to suffer for the rest of their lives. A few weeks back, the Bombay High Court set an acid attack culprit free since he agreed to help the victim for the surgery and marry her later. What they forgot was that he attacked her when the college romance went awry. The girl did not wish to marry the man back then but had to comply eight years later as she didn’t think she had another choice.

It is sad that most men don’t think that their advances toward women were unwanted or inappropriate, but what is worse is that women are expected to listen to such men in order to avoid being judged by the society. This is exactly why a recent global survey concluded that India is the most unsafe country in the world for women.

Since childhood, knowingly or unknowingly girls are taught to comply, be submissive in front of men and always remember that the elders(men) in the family are always right. Even in most of the modern households, it is still a sin for a girl to not listen to her father and argue with him. The patriarch of the house always has the final say and nobody is allowed to counter it no matter what.

Sadly, this is just the beginning. As the girl grows up, the family starts looking for a suitable boy for the girl to get married to. As soon as the parents think it is the right time, the girl is married off to a stranger and is expected to adjust to his house for the rest of her life. If she is lucky enough, her new family allows her to work, but not at the cost of the well being of her family. She has to take care of her husband’s needs, look after the family, serve her in-laws well and even bear children while struggling to balance work. If she fails in any of this, she is labelled as an incompetent wife or daughter in law and humiliated for the same. If the girl tries to retaliate, she is made to think about “log kya kahenge” and she is forced to comply again.

Some men even go to the extent of publicly shaming women for non-compliance using techniques like acid attacks, sexual crimes or even triple talaq.

No matter what, a girl at some point in her life is forced to comply and listen to men under the pretext of societal pressure and by the fear of being labelled. This will only end when we stand up for each other and more importantly stand up for what is right instead of merely shielding our faces from the heat and saying that it happens with everyone. Women need not be apologetic for what they have not done, must learn to say NO, and we as a society must accept and respect their decisions instead of challenging them.

The author is an undergraduate student of Psychology at Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce. (Savitribai Phule Pune University.)

Hate Watch: CJP files complaint over hate-filled Zee News segment

August 1, 2018

CJP has filed an official complaint with the NBSA over ‘inciteful’ and violence-inducing content aired by Zee News.

Citizens of Justice and Peace (CJP) took note after Zee News saw fit to air a divisive segment on June 30, 2018, during its ‘Kya Kehta Hai India’ programme. The segment, a poetry meet or ‘Kavi Sammelan,’ featured multiple poets who called for widespread violence against the population of Jammu and Kashmir, with no regard to the hatred they were propagating. They also displayed no sensitivity towards the possible effects of such propaganda, especially on the delicate socio-cultural fabric of Indian society today.

Dinesh Raghuvanshi, a poet, during the broadcast said that soldiers will enter Pakistan’s houses and kill them there, through his poetry. He challenged Pakistan to fight India and free the Kashmir land it took over in 1948. He added that all the people who are against the Indian army in Kashmir, those people will not just be taped to the bonnet of the car but all four sides. He questioned Kashmiri’s and asked if they have any respect for the country.

A Kashmiri shawl weaver who voted in the elections for India was tied to an army jeep with a piece of paper stuck to him which said ‘this is the fate of the stone-pelter.’ The army had tied him as a human shield as a message against stone-pelters in Kashmir.

Dr. Anamika, a poet, had some of the most extreme views. She said that Kashmir breeds traitors who betray the country and bombs are grown in containers that store the saffron spice. She asks in her poetry that for how long the country will keep sending lions for dogfights. “Remove Section 370[i] and enter every Kashmiri house. Whoever doesn’t hoist the Indian flags, let the heads of those traitors roll,” she says in her poetry.

Noting the growing hatred in the country, along with Zee News’ reported 150 million viewers and massive reach, CJP wrote to the Zee Media Corporation on July 9, seeking an appropriate apology to the Indian public from the channel, “for carrying such irresponsible, inciteful and violence inducing content” and breaching basic media ethics and principles.

CJP is committed to monitoring and highlighting individuals and organisations that spread hate. Take steps against hate speech by filing an FIR, or a complaint against a broadcaster, and help support the campaign by donating here.

However, after failing to get a response from the Zee Media Corporation, CJP has filed a complaint regarding the programme within the prescribed time limit with the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), which has been established by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA). In our letter, CJP noted that Zee News has violated NBSA code of conduct, which says “To ensure that national security is not violated”. Our letter explains that the content the channel broadcasted “encouraged and promoted violence against a particular community, thus endangering national security”.

Our letter emphasises that “hatred keeps growing its tentacles to reach every Indian living room without any opposition and is against the Preambular goal of fraternity and integrity of the nation.” It states that programmes such as the one Zee News aired “are aimed at fuelling disharmony within the nation,” and that they undermine “the promise of brotherhood, peace and inclusivity on which the Indian nation is premised.”

CJP has called on the NBSA to direct Zee News to issue a public apology, during primetime, addressing the nation, and apologising for airing “such irresponsible, inciteful and violence inducing content which is in breach of the allegiance to media ethics and principles which are supposed to bind and guide them as a responsible news channel.” We have also asked that the NBSA direct Zee News “to not telecast such hateful content again” as it “violates the fundamental tenets of our constitution which promotes harmony, dialogue and understanding between sections of Indians, and is based on equality and non-discrimination of all.” CJP has also called for the NBSA to direct Zee News to provide proportionate compensation to a citizen’s group, like CJP, that is “battling the vicious politics of hatred.”

CJP’s complete letter to the NBSA may be read here

20 Adivasi activists accused of sedition in Jharkhand

August 1, 2018

The ruling government reveals a new plot to drive out land activists to snatch mineral rich resources from tribal people in Jharkhand.

Image Courtesy: Priya Ranjan Sahu

Jharkhand: Stan Swamy and 19 other Adivasi activists have been accused of sedition (desh droh) by Raghubar Das-BJP led Jharkhand govt on July 28, 2018. “We are accused of supporting the self-rule movement taking place among Adivasis in Jharkhand and neighbouring states of central India. Pathalgadi (erection of stone slabs) listing the powers of Gram Sabhas as per PESA Act, 1996 and declaring their right to self-governance. The state govt is not able to digest this declaration and calls it a ‘war against the state’ and all those who support it as ‘desh drohi,” said Father Stan Swamy, a senior Adivasi rights activist.

“On July 30, 11 of the 20 accused met together with several concerned friends and decided that we will act together as a group since the IPC clauses are the same for everyone. A group of lawyer-friends are looking into the advisability of going for anticipatory bail for the whole group. Happily, all the opposition political parties have assured they will stand by us and with them, a press conference is being planned for August 3, when we hope to lay bare the political vendetta of the ruling BJP party,” he said.

Many Adivasis in the area believe that this move is another intimidation tactic by the ruling government to silence protestors as a part of their communal-corporate nexus.

Stan Swamy listed all the activities that have made him a ‘Desh Drohi,’ a traitor of the country, in his open letter after he was charged with sedition:

During the past two decades, I have identified myself with the Adivasi people and their struggle for a life of dignity and self-respect. As a writer, I have tried to analyse the different issues they are facing. In this process, I have clearly expressed dissent with several policies, laws enacted by the govt in the light of the Indian Constitution. I have questioned the validity, legality, justness of several steps taken by the govt and the ruling class.

As for the Pathalgadi issue, I have asked the question “Why are Adivasis doing this?” I believe they have been exploited and oppressed beyond tolerance. The rich minerals which are excavated in their land have enriched outsider industrialists and businessmen and impoverished the Adivasi people to the extent there are starvation deaths taking place.

They have had no share in what is produced. Also, the laws and policies enacted for their wellbeing are deliberately left unimplemented. So they have reached a situation where they realised ‘enough is enough’ and are seeking to re-invent their identity by empowering their Gram Sabhas through Pathalgadis. Their action is understandable.

Some questions that I have raised are as follows:

1. I have questioned the Non-implementation of the 5th Schedule of the Constitution [Indian Constitution, Article 244(1)]clearly stipulates that a ‘Tribes Advisory Council’ (TAC) composed solely of members from the Adivasi community who will advise the Governor of the State about any and everything concerning the protection, well-being and development of the Adivasi people in the State. The Governor is the constitutional custodian of the Adivasi people and he/she can make laws on his/her own and can annul any other law enacted by the parliament or state assembly always keeping in mind the welfare of the Adivasi people.

Whereas the reality is that in none of the States during all these nearly seven decades has any State Governor ever used his/her constitutional discretionary power to reach out to the Adivasi people proffering the excuse that they have to work in harmony with the elected government of the State. The meeting of the TAC takes place rarely, and it is convened by and presided over by the Chief Minister of the State and is controlled by the ruling party. TAC has thus been reduced to a toothless body. Verily a constitutional fraud meted out to the Adivasi people.

2) I have questioned why the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act [PESA],1996 [No:40 of 1996] have been neatly ignored which for the first time recognized the fact the Adivasi communities in India have had a rich social and cultural tradition of self-governance through the Gram Sabha.
Whereas the reality is this Act of the parliament has deliberately been left unimplemented in all the nine states. It means the capitalist ruling class does not want the Adivasi people to self-govern themselves.

3) I have questioned the silence of the govt on Samatha Judgment, 1997 of the Supreme Court [Civil Appeal Nos:4601-2 of 1997] which came as a huge relief to the Adivasi communities in Scheduled Areas. It came at a time when consequent to the policy of globalization, liberalization, marketisation, privatisation national and international corporate houses started to invade particularly the Adivasi areas in central India to mine the mineral riches. The govt machinery gave its full cooperation to these companies. Any resistance by the Adivasi people was put down with an iron hand. The judgment was meant to provide some significant safeguards for the Adivasis to control the excavation of minerals in their lands and to help develop themselves economically.

Whereas the reality is the state has ignored this verdict of the highest court. Several cases have been filed by affected communities but the ‘law of eminent domain’ of the colonial rulers are invoked to alienate Adivasi land and to loot the rich mineral resources.

4) I have questioned the half-hearted action of govt on Forest Rights Act, 2006: [Act of Parliament No:2 of 2007] jal, jangal, jamin, as we know, are the basis of the economic life of the Adivasi people. Of particular importance is their traditional rights in the forest have been infringed upon systematically over the decades. At long last, the govt came to the realization that a historic injustice has been done to the Adivasi and other traditional forest-dwellers. To correct this anomaly, it enacted this Act.

Whereas the reality is far from desirable. From 2006 to 2011 of its operation, about 30 lakh applications were made all over the country for title-deeds, of which 11 lakhs were approved but 14 lakhs were rejected and five lakhs were pending. Of late the Jharkhand govt is trying to bypass the Gram Sabha in the process of acquiring forest land for industrial set up.

5) I have questioned the inaction of the govt to carry out the SC order ‘Owner of the land is also the owner of sub-soil minerals’. [SC: Civil Appeal No 4549 of 2000] wherein it has said “we are of the opinion that there is nothing in the law which declares that all mineral wealth sub-soil rights vest in the State, on the other hand, the ownership of sub-soil/mineral wealth should normally follow the ownership of the land, unless the owner of the land is deprived of the same by some valid process.”

The rich minerals in their lands are being looted by the govt and private companies. The Supreme Court has declared 214 out of the 219 Coal-Blocks in the country illegal and ordered their closure and levied a fine on them for their illegal mining. But the Central & State Govts have found a way out by re-allotting these illegal mines through auction to make it look legal!

6) I have questioned the reasons why SC observation is being ignored that ‘Mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person a criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence or creates public disorder by violence or incitement to violence. [SC: Criminal Appeal No: 889 of 2007]. The court rejected the doctrine of ‘guilt by association’.

It is common knowledge that many young men and women are held in prison on the suspicion of being “helpers of Naxalites”. After arresting them other penal clauses are added on. It is an easy label that can be put on anyone whom the police want to catch. It does not require any proof or witness. Supreme Court says even membership in a banned organisation does not make a person a criminal. How far removed are the law and order forces from the judiciary!

7) I have questioned the recently enacted Amendment to ‘Land Acquisition Act 2013’ by Jharkhand govt which sound a death-knell for the Adivasi Community. This does away with the requirement for “Social Impact Assessment’ which was aimed at safeguarding the environment, social relations and cultural values of affected people. The most damaging factor is the govt can allow any agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. So, any and everything can be included.
8) I have questioned ‘Land Bank’ which I see as the most recent plot to annihilate the Adivasi people.

During ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ in February 2017 the govt announced that 21 lakh acres in Land Bank of which 10 lakh acres is ready for allotment to industrialists.

Gair-Majurwa” land (uncultivated land) can be ‘khas’ (private) or ‘aam’ (common). As per tradition, individual Adivasi families or communities have been in possession and use this land [jamabandi]. Now the govt shockingly cancelled all ‘jamabandi’ titles and claims that all ‘gair-majurwa’ land belongs to the govt and it is free to allot it to anybody (read industrial houses) to set up their small and big industries.

People are in the dark about their land being written off. The TAC has not given its approval as is required by the Vth Sched., the respective Gram Sabhas have not given their consent as required by PESA Act, affected Adivasi people have not given their consent as required by Land Acquisition Act (2013).

Above are the questions I have consistently raised.

If this makes me a ‘Desh Drohi’ then so be it!

Israel sentences Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour to 5 months in prison over poem

August 1, 2018

An Israeli district court sentenced Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour, 36, to five months in prison and a six-month suspended sentence on Tuesday for posting a poem she wrote to social media in 2015.

Dareen at a March of Return demonstration. (Photo: Courtesy of Dareen Tatour)

Tatour, a Palestinian citizen of Israel from the Galilee, was convicted of three counts of incitement and supporting a terrorist organization last May after a lengthy trial. Prior to sentencing, Tatour had spent nearly three years under house arrest, during which she was banned from publishing and accessing the internet.

During the hearing prosecutors focused on a video posted to social media of Tatour reciting an original poem titled “Resist, my people resist them,” against backdrop images of violent confrontations between Palestinian and Israeli armed forces.

The indictment against Tatour included a full Hebrew translation of Tatour’s poem, which her attorney argued mistranslated the original Arabic word for a “victim” to a “terrorist” from a stanza that was raised repeatedly during the hearing:

“Cast them aside for a coming time./Resist, my people, resist them./Resist the settler’s robbery/And follow the caravan of martyrs.”

Tatour was arrested by Israeli police in October 2015, a time when small-scale attacks, particularly stabbings, carried out by Palestinians against Israeli armed forces were on the rise in the occupied Palestinian territory.

At the time Israel launched a crackdown on alleged “online incitement” by Palestinians.

While Israeli leadership has boasted that the severe security measures and “Facebook arrests” have succeeded in reducing the trend of small-scale attacks against Israelis, a 2016 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that the decline in support for such attacks were “due, it seems, to a rising perception in its inefficacy.”

Yoav Haifawi writing for Mondoweiss last week pointed out that even in its indictment against Tatour, the prosecution made a point to stress that during the period of Tatour’s post “many attacks were carried out against Israeli Jewish citizens”.

Tatour, her defense team, and supporters have argued that Israeli authorities grossly and intentionally misinterpreted her poem as a call for violence against the state, something Tatour has vehemently denied.

In an interview with Kim Jensen, Tatour said that her trial has led her to become “even more committed to liberating my people and my homeland from injustice and occupation.”

“The goal is to arrive at a state that includes everyone, based on the principles of justice and equality, without any concessions of our rights as Palestinian people living in the homeland in which we were born,” she said.

Following Tatour’s conviction, her lawyer Gaby Lasky, who also represents 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi, said she planned on filing an appeal.

“How weak is Israeli democracy that today the court in Nazareth decided to convict the young poet Dareen Tatour for a poem she wrote. We will appeal to a decision after a sentence has been handed down,” Lasky posted on Twitter last May.

Haaretz reported in April 2017 that Israeli forces detained at least 400 Palestinians in less than a year over social media activity, and that 400 others were detained for the same reason by the Palestinian Authority through its policy of security coordination with Israel.

In contrast, the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement 7amleh documented in 2017 that slanderous, provocative, and threatening posts made by Israelis against Arabs and Palestinians more than doubled in 2016, reaching 675,000 posts made by 60,000 Hebrew-speaking Facebook users — without a single case being opened against an Israeli.

In a statement on Tuesday, 7amleh condemned Tatour’s sentencing, saying that her conviction “comes in the context of systematic attacks on Palestinian freedom of expression online by the Israeli government.”

“The Israeli government has arrested hundreds of Palestinians in the past years, with the aim of intimidation and allegedly prevent any act of resistance to the policies of the illegal occupation and to prevent freedom of speech regarding the occupation, both in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel,” the group said.

Courtesy: https://mondoweiss.net

Pakistan: All the Prime Minister’s Women

August 1, 2018

Female members of Imran Khan’s party claim that Pakistan’s new leader has their interests at heart. Does he?

Imran Khan

Image Courtesy: BANARAS KHAN/AFP/Getty Images

It was a hot day in mid-July when Salman Sufi found out that he had been fired. Until then, Sufi had been a senior member of the Punjab chief minister’s Special Monitoring Unit, where he had, among other things, developed and implemented the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act in 2016. The law was controversial, not least because it allowed for speedy hearings on cases, made special provisions for the development of women’s shelters, expedited procedures that allowed for the removal of abusive men from homes, and sought to implement GPS tracking of abusers. The country’s ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was committed to getting the reforms through in the province of Punjab, and Sufi was there to help it do so.

The days before the bill was finally passed in 2016 were difficult ones for Sufi; religious hard-liners fired shots at his house. At the last minute, male members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the political party of the former cricket star Imran Khan, walked off the assembly floor, refusing to vote for the legislation. The women of the party stayed, in protest. Later, when the vote was called, the men never returned. In the words of one female lawmaker, the men “feel they are being plotted against.” Still, the bill passed.

The fact that Khan and his party opposed domestic violence legislation in 2006, failed to back the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act in 2016, and deferred to the Islamic council on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s law the same year doesn’t bode well.

The fact that Khan and his party opposed domestic violence legislation in 2006, failed to back the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act in 2016, and deferred to the Islamic council on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s law the same year doesn’t bode well.

For the 2018 elections, his party selected just six women to run, barely meeting the 5 percent quota that the Election Commission of Pakistan required of all parties to compete in the election. Only two of them won, as opposed to 114 PTI men.
There is some hope. One of the two women elected was 33-year-old Zartaj Gul, a political newcomer, who unseated a longtime feudal candidate belonging to a powerful clan. Gul, who lost her brother in a terrorist attack, connected with a population that has been plagued by both terrorism and military operations.

Read the full story here: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/31/all-the-prime-ministers-women-imran-khan-pakistan-feminism-domestic-violence-pti-womens-rights/?utm_source=PostUp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Editors%20Picks%207/31/2018%20-%20Notre%20Dame%20&utm_keyword=Editor's%20Picks%20OC

How Karnataka–India’s Renewables Leader–Could Be Self Reliant In Electricity Without New Coal Plants

August 1, 2018

New Delhi: By adding 11 gigawatt (GW) renewables capacity in the coming decade, or as much as 11 coal-fired power plants of 1,000 MW each, Karnataka–the national leader in renewable energy generation–could become self reliant in electricity by 2027-28 and not add to its current fossil-fuel capacity, according to a new study.

Bengaluru: Solar power plant at HAL airport

If successful, renewables with 23 GW or 60% of the state’s installed capacity will generate 43% of the 110 terawatt-hour (TWH) electricity demand of Karnataka by 2027-28, said the July 2018 report by The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a think-tank, up from 27% today. Coal with 9.4 GW or 25% of the state’s total installed capacity will make up 39% of electricity generation in a decade, down from 49% today.

The journey may not be tough: In 2017-18, Karnataka added about 5 GW in renewables to reach a renewables installed capacity of about 12 GW— 46% of state’s installed capacity of 27 GW. Thus, Karnataka became the number one renewable energy producing state by ending the long reign of neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which had about 11 GW in renewables capacity installed as on March 2018.

“Karnataka’s progressive leadership offers a positive role model of electricity system transformation for the rest of India,” said the report written by Tim Buckley, IEEFA’s director of energy finance studies, Australia, and Kashish Shah, an IEEFA research associate.

“As other states follow Karnataka’s lead, India is set to take its place as a global leader in decarbonization,” the report said, adding that the merits of adopting increasingly low-cost renewables technology provides India with an alternative path to the “now outdated plan of increased reliance on expensive fossil fuel imports”.

In line with its climate-change commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement 2015, India is running one of the world’s largest programmes to install 175 GW renewables power capacity by 2022, thrice its current figure. This is enough to replace 175 coal-fired power plants of 1,000 MW and reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases and hasten global warming.

Of India’s renewables target, 100 GW is to come from solar sources, with solar-radiation rich states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu playing key roles.

From import of electricity to self reliance

Karnataka’s installed capacity, including renewables, thermal, hydro and nuclear, is estimated to reach 38 GW by 2027-28, up 43% from 27 GW as on March 2018. The state will have to achieve an additional electricity supply requirement of 49 TWH from this increased installed capacity to reach “net zero imports”, meaning no imports to meet domestic demand, according to the report.

While net zero imports by 2027-28 is a conservative estimate, Karnataka could become an electricity exporter through expansion of its renewable generation resources, the report said.

Karnataka produced about 61 TWH electricity in 2017-18, and imported about 7 TWH from inter-state grid to meet its total demand of about 68 TWH, according to the report.

Of the 61 TWH produced by the state, 27% was generated from renewables through an installed capacity of 12 GW or 46% of state’s installed capacity of 27 GW, the report said.

The largest proportion of electricity, about 49%, came from coal-based power plants, with 9.8 GW capacity, working at 35% capacity factor. The other 24% was generated by hydro and nuclear sources with a combined installed capacity of 4.5 GW, as per the report.

As we earlier said, if Karnataka successfully adds 11 GW of renewable capacity in the next decade to the already existing 12 GW, and maintains the installed coal capacity at the current levels of >9 GW with increased capacity utilisation, it could comfortably meet the entire demand of the state without importing any electricity, the report estimated.

The only hiccup is that about 1.7 GW of state’s coal capacity may retire in the next decade, the report estimated. It also assumed that projects currently in the pipeline accounted for 1.32 GW of new coal capacity will be completed, and they will partially offset the retired capacity.

The state will thus be left with a cumulative coal capacity of about 9.4 GW in 2027-28, a 4% drop from 9.8 GW as on March 2018.

Coal plants can fill in for reduced capacity by working more efficiently. “The current 35% utilisation rate [of the capacity] is unsustainably low,” said the report.

The slightly reduced net capacity over the coming decade, coupled with an improved average capacity utilisation of 53%, appears to be the only hope for the already stressed coal-fired power generation sector of the state, the report said.

Why moving away from coal is the way forward for Karnataka

As we said, Karnataka’s electricity generation mix is heavily dependent on coal. Since Karnataka does not mine coal, it is depends on coal delivered via the railways from mines in the Odisha, Telangana and Jharkhand, about 700 to 1,200 km away from its power plants. The state also depends on imported, seaborne coal.

Coal from other states adds about Rs 2,130 per tonne of rail-transport expenses (about 90% extra of basic coal cost) over mine-mouth coal cost of Rs 2,268 per tonne, including taxes, and poses “severe logistics issues”, according to the report.

Karnataka’s coal-fired power plants have spent about Rs 2,000 crore ($300 million) over two years in annual imported fuel costs, the report said.

These conditions make coal power costly, about Rs 3-5 per kilowatt-hour (KWH) using Indian coal and Rs 5-6 per KWH for imported coal.

Increasing domestic and international coal prices (coupled with currency devaluation for international coal) have taken these tariffs higher and the varying fuel prices are passed on to the consumer, Kashish Shah, co-author of the report, told IndiaSpend.

Given the expensive coal-based tariffs, Karnataka’s distribution companies have a “major incentive” to contract for new solar and wind at below Rs 3 per unit, the report said.

Recent solar tenders in Karnataka have seen near record low bids of Rs 2.82-3.06 per unit. In June 2018, Karnataka introduced reverse auctions–where the prices are decided through competitive bidding and the lowest bidder wins–for wind-powered electricity, with an upper cap of Rs 3.45 per unit, the report said. These rates are 30-50% less than coal-fired power tariffs.

(Tripathi is a principal correspondent with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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