India

Protest against sexual violence in India

Submitted on

Date: 
7 January, 2013 - 16:00 - 18:00
Location: 

Indian High Commission, Aldwych, London WC2B 4NA

Description: 

Organised by Southall Black Sisters

Facebook event here.

We have all been shocked by the recent case of a young woman who was gang raped by a group of six men on a bus in Delhi. When she was taken to hospital, the doctor found that she had severe injuries to her intestines and all over body." that a rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines along. That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines." She died a few days ago in a hospital in Singapore.
Shocking as it is, this is only one of many acts of horrific sexual violence that take place everywhere and every day in India. The world’s largest democracy was named the worst country in the G20 countries for violence against women (after Saudi Arabia) in the recent Trust Law/Reuters Survey. This is the heart of darkness in 'India shining'. By drawing worldwide attention to this horror and solidarity for Indian women, we hope to shame the Indian government into acting now by making public spaces safe for women, starting with implementing the laws and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Southall Black Sisters invites you to stand in solidarity with Indian feminists who are demanding:

1. Increased patrolling and deployment of police, including police women in public places so that such incidents can be prevented, and women’s safety assured; improved infrastructure to make cities safer for women.
2. Fast track courts to deal with rape cases, hearings to be held on a day to day basis, so that sentence can be delivered within a period of 6 months. Police investigation to be conducted in a time bound manner.
3. Standardized investigation procedures to be circulated to all police stations, with action taken against police personnel who do not implement them properly;
4. Increased sensitization, effective investigation and accountability of the police in dealing with heinous crimes against women.
5. Immediate relief, legal and medical assistance, and long term rehabilitation measures to be provided to survivors of rape, without delays and hassles.
SAFE ACCESS TO PUBLIC PLACES IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE FOR WOMEN ALL OVER THE WORLD!
Please bring banners, placards, whistles, songs, slogans and all your friends and let our anger echo from the Indian High Commission all the way to India.

Hope to see you there.

Southall Black Sisters

For further information please contact: rahilagupta@gmail.com or mahendru.ritu@gmail.com

Conference: 150 years since the Indian rebellion against British imperialism

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Date: 
6 October, 2007 - 12:30 - 20:00
Location: 

SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG

Description: 

1857/2007: Imperialism, ‘Race’, Resistance
An international conference on the 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprisings

Speakers include: Indian human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar, who most recently has defended the accused in the Parliament Attack case; writer, film-maker and anti-war activist Tariq Ali; historian and writer on colonialism and patriarchy Kumkum Sangari; radical historian from Pakistan Mubarak Ali; Editor of Indian left monthly Liberation Kavita Krishnan; spokesperson of Cageprisoners Adnan Siddiqui; eminent civil-liberties lawyer Gareth Peirce; Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation spokesperson Hani Lazim, historian and writer on British imperialism John Newsinger; feminist educationalist Rubina Saigol from Pakistan

Organised by South Asia Solidarity Group, The 1857 Committee and the Centre for South Asian Studies, SOAS

1857 saw a sustained and widespread uprising against British rule in India. Although dubbed the ‘Indian Mutiny’ in many colonial history books, the uprising, which spread across much of the northern half of South Asia (at that time called India, now including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and lasted almost two years, had all the characteristics of a war against imperialism and for independence.

The aim of this conference is not only to remember what happened in 1857, but to highlight the continuities and parallels with the situation in South Asia and globally today. We will be looking at 1857 as one of the high points of continuing popular anti-imperialist resistance, in which people identifying with different communities and religions but sharing many aspects of culture consciously came together to resist an aggressively racist colonial power. In the process we will talk about contemporary imperialism, racism and the rise of the religious right, and the struggles against them in South Asia and here in Britain.

Currently the rise of intense anti-Muslim racism in Britain (along with other developments, like the rise of Hindutva in India) has polarised South Asian communities. It is urgent to reclaim our shared history of anti-colonial struggle and draw parallels with the British state’s current role in imperialism and war.

Some of the key themes of this conference include

- The repressive state in Britain and South Asia and the construction of ‘terror’
- People’s resistance to corporate capital from the East India Company to today
- Land alienation, globalisation of agriculture and people’s struggles for resources
- ‘Divide and rule’, the religious right and popular movements against communalism
- Changing strategies of state intervention and control: ‘culture’ ‘race’ and gender

Register now for the conference as places are limited. To register for the conference, complete and return the form below. For more information contact sasg@southasiasolidarity.org or see the South Asia Solidarity group website.

description:

1857/2007: Imperialism, ‘Race’, Resistance
An international conference on the 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprisings

Speakers include: Indian human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar, who most recently has defended the accused in the Parliament Attack case; writer, film-maker and anti-war activist Tariq Ali; historian and writer on colonialism and patriarchy Kumkum Sangari; radical historian from Pakistan Mubarak Ali; Editor of Indian left monthly Liberation Kavita Krishnan; spokesperson of Cageprisoners Adnan Siddiqui; eminent civil-liberties lawyer Gareth Peirce; Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation spokesperson Hani Lazim, historian and writer on British imperialism John Newsinger; feminist educationalist Rubina Saigol from Pakistan

Location:
SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG

Gandhi: some ugly truths revealed

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Author: 
Stuart Jordan

This series got off to a good start as an attempt by the bourgeois establishment to de-sanctify the legacy of Mohandas Gandhi, and strips away some of the mythology surrounding him. The man revealed is an incredibly driven politician, who sacrificed his family, his sexuality, and other earthly pleasures, in pursuit of building a mass movement.

Indian left fights communalism

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Author: 
Martin Thomas

Achin Vanaik is professor of politics at the University of Delhi. He spoke to Martin Thomas from Solidarity about the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai (26-29 November). First we asked about the background to the attacks, and how they fit into the pattern since the demolition by Hindu chauvinists of the Babri mosque in 1992, and the attacks on Indian Muslims in the following months.