राजनीतिक बयानबाजी के लिए चर्चित रहे शंकराचार्य स्वरूपानंद सरस्वती ने एक ओर जातिगत आरक्षण हटाने की माँग की तो दूसरी ओर रामायण और महाभारत की पढ़ाई स्कूलों में कराने पर भी जोर दिया। स्वरूपानंद सरस्वती ने कहा कि मदरसों में कुरान पढ़ाई जाती है, क्रिश्चियन स्कूलों में बाइबिल पढ़ाई जाती है, तो हिंदू स्कूलों में रामायण और महाभारत क्यों नहीं पढ़ाई जातीं।
 
 

The post जातिगत आरक्षण हटाओ-रामायण पढ़ाओ: शंकराचार्य स्वरूपानंद appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Yes, it has, reports the Malaysian daily, The Star, citing a video released by ISIS. The purported video has not been embedded on the newspapers website, nor has any link been provided. Perhaps for the understandable reason that it might provide the wrong inspiration to misguided youth. However, a report graphically describes the video content and is reproduced below.

Meanwhile, another report published online by the same daily says the Malaysian police have vowed to hunt down ISIS militants who issue threats over social media to deliberately frighten the people.

Bukit Aman special branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said though the video clips could be a mere “drama” to intimidate the people in the country, the police took the matter seriously.  He added the police would monitor every social media platforms available in the country.  

He said though the video clips could be a mere “drama” to intimidate the people in the country, the police took the matter seriously and would closely monitor the social media.  

"They use the social media as a platform to threaten attacks against the country, and we must strengthen the laws to check these undesirable events," he added. 

The ISIS video clip’s message as described by The Star:
 

The post Now, ISIS Declares War on Muslim-majority Malaysia, Indonesia appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The editor of The Milli Gazette, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan has alleged that the Modi government is hounding his publication and has launched a multi-pronged attack in an attempt to shut it down. While the community-oriented publication has tottered on the brink since inception for lack of adequate response and support from Muslims, the government moves, Dr Khan fears, are aimed at pushing it over the precipice.

On March 12 this year, The Milli Gazette published a news report filed by a freelance journalist, Pushp Sharma. Basing himself on one of the documents he had received from the Union Ayush Ministry in response to an RTI query, Sharma claimed that in its recruitment, the ministry had discriminated against Muslims.  

The ministry issued a press statement the same day claiming that the document Sharma relied on for his report was “fabricated” and that the report was “clearly aimed at causing chasm between different sections of society and promoting disharmony and mistrust with ulterior motives”.

In an email received by SabrangIndia, Dr Khan maintains that though the publication stood by the report it was “all-along ready to publish a rejoinder, statement or clarification should the ministry send it to us.” The ministry, however, chose to file a police complaint.

“As a result, the journalist (Pushp Sharma), who wrote that story, was mercilessly interrogated for days and later arrested and jailed for around two weeks. Now he is out on bail while the case takes its normal slow course in courts”.

While the case against Sharma follows its own course, Dr Khan alleges that the Press Council and the Delhi police are out to get the publication itself. The show cause notice issued to The Milli Gazette by the Delhi police is a step towards the declaration of the publication as illegal.

Set up by the Indian Parliament in 1966, the Press Council of India is a regulatory body with the power to censure a publication at worst. The Council’s suo motu action against The Milli Gazette, Dr Khan alleges is “unprecedented” as “an authority supposedly created to protect the freedom of press, was in fact throttling that same cherished freedom”.   

Here is the full text of the email sent out by Dr Khan:

During the 17 years of our existence, The Milli Gazette has faced many threats and challenges. I myself have received numerous death threats. MG’s continued losses, dwindling subscriptions due to our own website and a disinterest by the community too have been our problems which forced us twice to think of closing down MG though on second and third thoughts we refrained from taking such a drastic step knowing very well that, however feeble, our community needs this voice in English more than at any time in the past and this voice mattered not only in India but across the world.

Now, since March 12 this year, we are facing an existential threat from the Modi government following our publication of a report on discrimination against Muslims in the Ayush ministry recruitments based on an RTI reply which the said ministry denied.

It could have sent a rejoinder or, at worst, could have complained to the concerned regulatory authority, the Press Council of India in case we refused to publish its rejoinder. We were all-along ready to publish a rejoinder, statement or clarification should the ministry send it to us. Instead, it chose to file a police complaint.

As a result, the journalist (Pushp Sharma), who wrote that story, was mercilessly interrogated for days and later arrested and jailed for around two weeks. Now he is out on bail while the case takes its normal slow course in courts.

Soon, on April 21, the Press Council of India took suo motu cognisance and opened a case against The Milli Gazette. This action was unprecedented as an authority supposedly created to protect the freedom of press, was in fact throttling that same cherished freedom. We have replied to PCI’s letter and the case continues. Our next hearing at the PCI is on July 12.

A third bolt came from the Delhi police (directly controlled by the Union home ministry) when DCP Licensing wrote to us on May 30 as to why our newspaper declaration should not be cancelled. Cancellation of the declaration means the newspaper will become illegal. We replied without fail to this show-cause notice and are still waiting for further clarifications from the DCP Licensing despite the passage of over three weeks on our hand-delivered reply.

All these drastic steps were taken to deal with an ordinary report which could have been tackled through a press statement like the one CBI issued on 15 June this year describing a Times of India report about CBI’s soft-pedalling over the Vyapam scandal. The CBI issued a press statement the same day saying the report is “speculative & presumptuous and hence, is strongly denied.” Strong words indeed, but we are not aware if CBI, PCI or DCP Licensing have sprung into action against the Times of India. Do we have two standards: one for small publications and another for big giants?

This three-pronged attack on MG simply shows the desperation of the Modi government to silence this little nagging bird. We are fighting and will continue to fight against this injustice through all legal venues open to us. But should the Modi government succeed in silencing this feeble voice, we will call it a day and will leave it to history to remember this as yet another colossal injustice to the freedom of Press the like of which was inflicted by the colonial rulers on Maulana Azad’s Al-Balagh and Muhammad Ali’s Hamdard and Comrade.  

The post ‘Modi Government is after the Milli Gazette’: Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Editor appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Lalgarh / Wikimedia Commons

Statement from the Indian Writers’ Forum

June 19, 2016

The award winning writer, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, has given us insights into the conditions of Adivasi life, both as a medical officer posted at the additional public health centre in Beldanga block of Pakur district in Jharkhand, and as a questioning, truth-telling creative writer.

We are distressed to hear from the media that the Jharkhand government has issued a notice to Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar “seeking an explanation on whether his article on the state’s domicile policy, written for the Indian Express, amounted to violation of service rules”. Titled “The Adivasi will not dance”, the piece written by Shekhar appeared on May 14, 2016 and took a critical look at the domicile policy announced by the ruling led government in Jharkhand on April 7, 2016.

We are already reeling under the brutalisation of Adivasis in Chattisgarh. Are we now to countenance more insidious forms of hounding those who question policy?

We firmly believe that every writer, indeed every citizen, has the right to question Indian realities, whether they are matters of policy, atrocities against sections of the citizenry, or the deprived day-to-day lives of the Indian people.  We call on all writers, and all Indian citizens of conscience, to condemn this attempt to silence Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, and join him in saying, “Yes, the Adivasi will no longer dance to the tunes of a government that crushes questions.”

Romila Thapar
K. Satchidanandan
Githa Hariharan
Ashok Vajpeyi
Adil Jussawalla
Amit Chaudhri
Samik Bandyopadhyay
Bama
Ganesh Devy
P. Sivakami
Keki Daruwalla
Ranjit Hoskote
Damodar Mauzo
Gulammohammed Sheikh
Vivan Sundaram
Prabhat Patnaik
Geeta Kapur
Chaman Lal
Indira Jaising
T.M. Krishna
Orijit Sen
Rita Kothari
Jayati Ghosh
Anand Patwardhan
 

There has been such a huge influx of non-Adivasi outsiders into Jharkhand that it is necessary to define who is an actual Jharkhandi and be given preference in education, jobs, etc. in the state. (Illustration: C R Sasikumar)

Read Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s article in the Indian Express here.

An extract from his story, “The Adivasi Will Not Dance”, from the collection with the same title (Speaking Tiger, Delhi, 2015, pp. 169-70), reviewed:
 

They pinned me to the ground. They did not let me speak, they did not let me protest, they did not even let me raise my head and look at my fellow musicians and dancers as they were being beaten up by the police. All I could hear were their cries for mercy. I felt sorry for them. I had failed them. Because what I did, I did on my own. Yet, did I have a choice? Had I only spoken to them about my plan, I am sure they would have stood by me. For they too suffer, the same as I. They would have stood by me, they would have spoken with me and, together, our voices would have rung out loud. They would have travelled out of our Santhal Pargana, out of our Jharkhand, all the way to Dilli and all of Bharat-disom; the world itself would have come to know of our suffering. Then, perhaps, something would have been done for us…

I only said, “We Adivasis will not dance anymore” – what is wrong with that? We are like toys – someone presses our “ON” button, or turns a key in our backsides, and we Santhals start beating rhythms on our tamak and tumdak, or start blowing tunes on our tiriyo while someone snatches away our very dancing grounds. Tell me, am I wrong?

The post Yes, the Adivasi Will Not Dance! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Here is a link to one of Prof Hoodfar’s most influential essays, “The veil in their minds and on our heads.”

Professor Homa Hoodfar

We, the undersigned, are in solidarity with Dr. Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian anthropologist of Iranian origin who has been imprisoned by the Iranian authorities on June 6, 2016. Dr. Hoodfar is a respected academic scholar and researcher on women and family in the Middle East and the Muslim world.  She travelled to Iran in March 2016 to visit family and for research on women’s participation in public life.

Prior to her arrest, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard interrogated Ms. Hoodfar repeatedly without the presence of a lawyer, searched and seized her belongings including passport, phone and laptop.  Ms. Hoodfar fully cooperated with the process and has been very respectful of the domestic Iranian judicial system.  Since her arrest however, her family, colleagues and supporters in Iran were left with no choice but to go public with the news of the arrest.

Iranian authorities have given no reason for the arrest and the charges under which she has been held.  She has not been granted access to her family or legal counsel.  Dr. Hoodfar, aged 65, is not in good health and has already suffered from a mild stroke in 2015.  Her family is concerned about her health and fears she may not have access to the specialized care that she requires.

We urge the Iranian government to:

• Provide Dr Hoodfar immediate access to her family and lawyer;

• Ensure Dr Hoodfar has the medicines she requires for her neurological illness, her condition is monitored and the report shared with her family;

• Release Dr Hoodfar and return her passport and other essential documents so she can travel back to Canada to continue her treatment there and resume her academic work.

A. Mani
Abha Bhaiya
Albertina Almeida, Goa
Ammu Abraham
Anuradha Kapoor
Anuradha Pati
Aruna Burte
Ayesha Kidwai
Celin Thomas
Chayanika Shah
Chayya Datar
Dr. Mira Shiva
Dyuti Ailawadi
Gabriele Dietrich
Geeta Seshu
Geetanjali Joshua
Geetanjoli Gangoli
Hasina Khan
Indira Jaising
Jessica Mahadevan
Johanna Lokhande
Kalyani Menon-Sen
Kamal
Kavitha Murlidharan
Kiran Shaheen
Lata P.M.
Mary E John
Mira Savara
Nalini Nayak
Nandita Shah
Nazia Akhtar
Neeraj Malik
Nevedita Menon
Nimisha Desai
Nivedita Menon
Nizara Hazarika
Pramada Menon
Prof. Saswati Ghosh, Kolkatta
Pushpa Achanta (Journalist, Bangalore)
Rajashri Dasgupta
Ramlath Kavil
Rohini Hensman
Roshmi Goswami
Sadhana Arya
Sagari R Ramdas
Saheli Women’s Resource Centre
Sakina Bohra
Sarojini N
Saumya Uma
Shahida Murtaza
Shalini Mahajan, Writer, Bombay
Sheetal Sharma
Shilpa Phadke
Shraddha Chickerur
Shreya Sangai
Shubha Chacko
Sujatha Gothoskar
Sumi Krishna
Suneeta Dhar
Supriya Madangarli
Swatija Manorama
Teena Gill
Uma Chakravarti
Urvashi Butalia
Vahida Nainar
Vani Subramaniam, Film Maker
Vibhuti Patel
Virginia Saldanha
Vrinda Grover

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In a hard-hitting report addressed to India’s lawmakers, the NGO HAQ: Centre for Child Rights seeks to remind the MPs that their lofty sentiments about children being “the future of our country” are not much use since they are blind to the reality that “children are citizens today and their rights and needs need to be protected and addressed today”.    
 
Citing statistics, the report points out that though children make up one-third (444 million) of India’s total population, only 5% of all questions raised in the two houses of Parliament are about them and a meagre 3.32% of the budget is allocated towards their welfare.
 
The report titled, ‘Parliamentary Watch, Budget Session, Monsoon Session & Winter Session 2005’, observes: “Poor learning scores, poor health indicators and large number of children who are victims of violence and education remain the reality of this country. How do we propose to march into a ‘developed India’ if these realities remain?”
 
It urges our Parliamentarians to remember that, “These children are also adults in the making and hence as a country – As we sow, so shall we reap!”
 
On a more positive note, however, the report observes, “Parliamentarians are becoming more child friendly as the share of attention paid to children (in terms of the questions raised) has increased over the years. When we began this analysis it was only 3% of the questions raised – some years even lower”.
 
Other highlights: 

• The Lok Sabha has many more questions related to children discussed (57 % of all the child related questions in all the three sessions) than Rajya Sabha. Wonder why is that so?
•  Education continues to be the issue that draws most attention. 652 questions or 46% of the child related questions were on education. It is as if address education sector is addressed, all rights related issues for children are covered All other issues take a back seat. 
• The issues that have drawn attention are the drop-out rates and out of school children, drinking water and toilet facilities in schools.
•  42 questions concerning children with disability were raised in the Budget Session (28) and one in the winter session. They were related to education and infrastructural facilities and services. Only one question in the whole year related to mental disability. 
• 328 questions or 23% questions related to various child protection issues.
•  24 questions were raised regarding child abuse/ sexual abuse and the POCSO act. One question pertained to victim compensation. 
• Given that 2015 was the year of “Juvenile Justice” with heated debates on the amendment to the law, it is not surprising that 24 questions were on this issue – a number of them relating to crimes committed and the law.
•  2015 was also the year when the amendment of the child labour law was being  discussed. 63 questions were raised on child labour. 6 of these questions related to employment of children in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). The rest related to bonded child labour, children employed in hazardous occupations, rescue and rehabilitation. 
• 26 questions were raised on missing children and tracking systems to find them. 
• 24 questions were raised on child trafficking. 
• 12 % questions or 170 questions related to health of children – these included questions related to malnutrition, immunisation and diseases such as Polio and TB.

 The full report may be read here.
 

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