Shilpa Shaji | SabrangIndia

No Entry For Pakistani Artists?

Tue, 15 May 2018 06:29:16 +0000

Moneeza Hashmi, who was invited to the Asia Media Summit, was later barred from participating in or attending the programme.

Image Courtesy: Siasat

Moneeza Hashmi, an eminent Pakistani peace activist, was barred from the 15thAsia Media Summit, which was hosted by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) and Information and Broadcasting Ministry in Delhi. She was invited for the summit earlier.
Hashmi – the daughter of celebrated Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz – works for the Faiz Foundation, advocating peace between India and Pakistan. She was supposed to speak at the summit on May 10, on the topic ‘Should all good stories be commercially successful?’. However, Hashmi’s name disappeared from the final list of the speakers released by the government.

As per the schedule, Hashmi had reached Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi on May 9, a day ahead of the commencement of the summit. However, Hashmi learned from the hotel staff that there was no booking in her name. Following this, AIBD officials told her that she was being relocated to another hotel; however, she would not be able to participate in the session for which she had been invited.

The concerned authorities did not provide any explanation for this decision. Moreover, Hashmi’s request to attend the sessions was also rejected.

The summit hosted 54 speakers to discuss various issues, along with more than 200 foreign delegates as participants during the two-day summit. However, there was no speaker from Pakistan.

The Information and Broadcasting ministry officials had said on May 9 that Pakistan would be one among the participating countries while addressing the media. A report in The Indian Expressquoted a source as saying that the organisers of the media summit in Delhi were not granted “political clearance” for Pakistan’s nationals.

Observing that the incidents that happened were unfair to Pakistan, as it went un-represented at the conclave, Hashmi told The Telegraph,“The Faiz Foundation will continue to promote peace and invite people from India; our hearts will remain open.”

“I come to India all the time as I have a multiple-entry, year-long visa. No one in the Indian government contacted me, but I get the impression they realised at the last minute that a Pakistani had made it to the conference,” she added.

“Now I’m being told that officials in India are saying that I did not come on a conference visa. But my sister Salima and I have attended several conferences on this very visa, which has been renewed annually for years now by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad,” said Hashmi.

However, this is not the first time that Faiz’s daughters, Moneeza and Salima Hashmi, have faced humiliation on this side of the border. Recently, they were invited to an event celebrating the birth anniversary of Faiz on February 11 in Lucknow. But, only Salima got the visa, that was too came two days before the scheduled event date, which made it impossible for her to attend the event.

“One needs to ask why this government is humiliating Faiz’s descendants like this,” said D P Tripathi, General Secretary, Nationalist Congress Party and author of the book Celebrating Faiz.

In February 2017, Kishwar Naheed was also compelled to leave the Jashn-e-Rekhta festival midway after she came to know that she was invited only as a guest. “I assumed they wanted me to come and recite my poems. That’s how free-flowing such festivals are, or are supposed to be,” Naheed, 77, had told The Telegraph. Organisers of the annual festival – that celebrates Urdu literature, art and culture – invited Pakistani artists as guests only in 2017. They were kept away from performing in the festival.

Yet another such incident had occurred in December 2016, when American singer duo Krewella sisters’- Yasmin and Jahan Yousaf’s visa applications were rejected. “It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that due to our Pakistani heritage, our visas have been repeatedly denied and we will not be able to enter your country for [the] Sunburn festival,” the sisters had informed via their social media handle.

After discovering the role and modus operandi of David Headly – a Pakistani-American – in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the visa rules were changed in 2009. As per the new rule, there is a separate category of visitor visa only for ‘Pakistani Passport Holders who have not renounced their Pakistan Citizenship’. As Pakistan allows dual citizenship, if an applicant of Pakistani origin applies for a visa on the US passport, the applicant would have to furnish the “proof of renunciation of Pakistani citizenship”. If they cannot do so, they have to apply for visa on a valid Pakistani passport. Moreover, the visa applicants, who were born outside Pakistan and have never held Pakistani nationality, have to provide a notarised affidavit stating that the applicant never held Pakistan’s citizenship or a Pakistan Origin Card or a National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistani.

The tedious process of applying for an Indian Visa by the Pakistani nationals often results in the rejection of visa application of scores of people including artists, social activists, and pilgrims.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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Farm Loan Waivers are a Necessity if Farmer Suicides Needs to be Curbed: AIKS

Mon, 07 Aug 2017 07:42:00 +0000

Lakhs of farmers will block national highways and state highways all across Maharashtra on August 14.

On Friday, the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh informed the Parliament that during the period of January-April, 2017, Maharashtra has reported 855 cases of farmer suicides. In his written reply, Singh explained that the central government has adopted a strategy for enhancing farmers’ income by making farming more viable and generate profits for farmers on a sustainable basis. Junior Agriculture Minister Parshottam Rupala also added that the state is implementing a pilot project in Yavatmal and Osmanabad districts of Amravati and Aurangabad division to provide some relief to the farmers and reduce the number of suicides.

One might say that the number of suicides has taken a significant dip this year, if compared to 1,023 cases of farmers’ suicides recorded for the period of January-April 2016. But the reality on the ground begs to differ. While the police had opened fire during a farmers’ protests in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district last month, the agricultural minister was busy doing yoga in Bihar with Ramdev Baba. This, along with the false promises of farm loan waiversy theBJP-led government, has sparked farmer protests all over Maharashtra. Over 40,000 farmers have taken part in the conventions organised by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) throughout Northern Maharashtra, Konkan, Vidarbha, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra. They also felt betrayed by the BJP government

The last leg of the convention, led by the trade union leader and social activist Dr Baba Adhav on July 23, has called for Chakka Jaam, a statewide road blockade. Lakhs of farmers will block national highways and state highways all across Maharashtra on August 14.

Earlier on May 11, Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha had held a statewide convention named “Aasood” where the AIKS state general secretary Dr Ajit Nawale had placed certain demands on behalf of the struggling farmers, major among which was a complete loan waiver to farmers who own less than 25 acres of dry land and less than 10 acres of irrigated land.

The other major demands included, the hand over of forest lands, temple/shrine land, pasture land with pattas to the cultivating peasants, scrap the pro-corporate Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and provide comprehensive insurance security to all farmers, provide pension of Rs 3000 per month to poor and middle peasants and agricultural workers aged 60 and above; ensure at least 200 days of work and minimum wage of Rs 350 per day to agricultural workers under MNREGA.

Aasood convention also demanded to scrap the river-joining project signed by the Maharashtra and Gujarat state governments, and instead conserve the water of the west-flowing rivers and devise schemes to give it to Thane, Palghar, Nashik and other drought-prone districts, The local peasants had to given soem priority while distributing water from the several dams built in Adivasi areas and the government should make adequate financial provision for irrigation and power.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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Is the Modi Govt Preparing to Sell Off Indian Railways?

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 06:26:33 +0000

With the intervention of the private sector, the fares may be hiked.

Image Courtesy: DQ India

The Indian Railways is moving fast towards total privatisation as seen in the light of the Centre's decision to auction 23 railway stations across the country. Centers’ new move came as a part of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

The stations will be allocated to the private firms through auction. The firms getting tender will be allowed to modernise the stations. As part of the modernisation of stations, Railways will allow developers to build malls, cinema halls, hotels and specialty hospitals within the station premises.

The financial model for the redevelopment work has been framed in a way so that the government doesn't incur any expenditure as the developer would be rebuilding the railway stations and maintaining it for 15 years.

In return, the firms would be granted 45 years’ leasing rights for the commercial properties developed at these stations. It gives them right to commercially exploit railways’ land. The firms will also be allowed to maintain all the station facilities like power, platform maintenance, parking, food stalls, retiring rooms, etc.

The redevelopment of the stations is occurring through different phases. In the first phase, the responsibility of redevelopment had been given to Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), a joint venture Company of Ircon International Limited and Rail Land Development Authority.

A senior official from Indian Railways stated that the revamping work of Habibganj Railway station is likely to be commenced soon. For the facelift at Habibganj, developer Bansal Group has obtained financial loans of a total 400 Crores. The business firm will take care of all the station facilities like power, platform maintenance, parking, food stalls, retiring rooms, etc.

Also Read : Not Much to Gain & Much to Lose: Selling Indian Railways Bit by Bit

In the second phase of redevelopment 23 Railway stations will be auctioned. Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Lokmanya Tilak, Pune, Thane, Visakhapatnam, Howrah, Kamakhya, Faridabad, Jammu Tawi, Udaipur City, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Ranchi, Chennai Central, Kozhikode, Yesvantpur, Bangalore Cantt, Bhopal, Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Borivali, and Indore are those stations.

Eyeing on Udaipur, Howrah, Indore, Secunderabad, Pune, and Faridabad railway stations, Malaysia’s state-owned Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will participate in the auction . It is said to be one of the potentially big Foreign Direct Investment in railways. According to the officials from Railways, apart from CIDB, many Korean and Japanese companies have expressed their interest in the redevelopment project. Through, liberalizing the policies, Indian Railways will become a fertilized soil for Foreign Direct Investment.

Earlier, in 2014 India allowed 100% FDI in railways infrastructure through automatic route. Through this foreign companies have established two rail loco factories in Bihar with an investment of Rs 3500 crore. According to the railway official, various investors from Japan and South Korea have also expressed in the station redevelopment projects and the government has queued up 400 stations for redevelopment.

The private participation in public sector indicates the implementation Bibek Debroy committee report. The pro-privatisation wing is substantiating their point on the basis of it. The report favored private participation which is said to be the key to increase the efficiency of the system. The committee has also looked at the railway restructuring experiences from multiple countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and the USA, as examples.

Indian Railways moves about 2.3 crore people and 3 million tons of goods every day. The majority of the Indian populations, who cannot afford private vehicles, rely on the public transportation system. Railways are the most viable mode of transport for this section of the society. Millions use railways which connect geographically diverse population, each day.

Connecting the remotest corners of the country the railways runs 12,617 trains which carry both passengers and freight. Privatisation will affect the economic friendly transportation and connectivity to these areas. Preference for profitable route will result innegligence of the non-profit yielding routes.

Privatisation will also affect employees in the railways, including 14 lakh employees and almost as many pensioners.

Indian Railways which focuses on the service of the society will become a money yielding machine through privatization. With the intervention of the private sector, the fares may be hiked. The privatization will also lead to market monopoly. Monopoly through the private sector may tend to cause the troubles include low accountability, lack of responsibility, producer-centric approach, exploitation of the poor, etc.

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