All posts by SANSAD

Statement of Solidarity with Farmers and People in India

Solidarity Links, Statements/News Releases

IN THE COVID CRISIS, SUPPORT INDIAN FARMERS

UNJUST FARM LAWS MUST BE REPEALED

India is in the grip of a Covid catastrophe caused by criminal inaction on the part of the national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Prime Minister Modi.  It chose to prioritize its electoral and ideological agenda and disregard assessments and predictions based on Covid mapping scenarios by experts. This is consistent with the BJP’s governance model since 2014 weakening and decimating every countervailing centre of power be it media, judiciary, opposition political parties, trade unions or human rights groups. These divisive governance practices negatively impact the working poor, the marginalized and oppressed sections of society, while providing huge dividends for their crony capitalists friends.

The current situation was not inevitable, proven by the state of Kerala where proactive measures resulted in them having a surplus of medical oxygen, or that the city of Mumbai chose not to dismantle large-scale temporary medical facilities created during the first wave because it foresaw a second coming.

In this context, we note the on-going struggle of millions of farmers demanding that PM Modi’s government repeal the three farm laws passed in September 2020, without consultation or debate in the midst of the first wave of the Covid pandemic.

This farmers’ movement, the largest and longest non-violent peaceful protest in world history, is now entering an unprecedented sixth month. Farmers rightly fear that these laws will empower corporations to seize their land, jeopardize their livelihood and deepen the agrarian crisis facing the country. Since November 2020, hundreds of thousands of farmers have camped at the borders of the capital New Delhi, in the bitter winter cold and now, the searing heat of summer, despite police tear gas, water cannons and barricades. Several hundred of them, young and old, men and women, have perished due to weather, disease, police violence and traffic accidents.  Many have been injured by vigilantes of the ruling party. Yet the struggle endures and grows. But the Modi government continues to turn a deaf ear to their demands. With the current wave of Covid it is feared the government will opportunistically invoke public health and attempt to demolish the camps, just as it did last year, at the onset of the first wave of this virus, with the massive mobilization against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) designed to strip many Indians of citizenship.  While the farmers know the health risks they face by staying encamped at this time, they remain resolute because it’s a devil’s bargain between threat of covid infection or farm laws that spell death for them.

The farmers’ protest has garnered amazing support from all sections of Indian society and outside the country as well. In Canada, city councils such as Vancouver, Victoria, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, Brampton and others, along with many Canadian labor organizations, including Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Federations of Labour, and UNIFOR, have passed resolutions or issued statements in support of the demands of the farmers. In the midst of the second wave of the covid pandemic ravaging India, we the undersigned, call on the Indian government to pay heed to the demands of the farmers and to ensure that the poor and the marginalized do not disproportionately bear the burden of the ferocious second wave.  It is important to remember that farmers feed the nation and working people build it.

IMMEDIATELY REPEAL the farm laws passed in September 2020 so the farmers can protect themselves from COVID and return to their homes, secure in the knowledge that the futures for themselves and their families are not jeopardized.

RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS being held under draconian laws and now also facing COVID infection.

FREE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS for all in India aged 18 and above.

DANS LA CRISE DE LA COVID, SOUTENIR LES AGRICULTEURS INDIENS

LES LOIS AGRICOLES INJUSTES DOIVENT ÊTRE ABROGÉES

 L’Inde est en proie à une catastrophe Covid causé par l’inaction criminelle du gouvernement national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) du Premier ministre Modi. Il a choisi de donner la priorité à son programme électoral et idéologique, et de ne pas tenir compte des évaluations et des prévisions basées sur les scénarios de cartographie Covid par des experts. Cela est cohérent avec le modèle de gouvernance du BJP depuis 2014 – orienté vers la logique de l’affaiblissement et l’anéantissement de tous les centres de contre-pouvoir, qu’il s’agisse des médias, de la justice, des partis d’opposition, des syndicats ou des groupes de défense des droits humains. La logique du BJP est aussi celle de pratiques de gouvernance divisionnistes ayant un impact négatif sur les pauvres, et sur les secteurs marginalisés et opprimés de la société, tout en procurant d’énormes dividendes à leurs amis et copains capitalistes.

La situation actuelle n’était pas inévitable. L’État du Kerala l’a prouvé avec des mesures proactives qui ont produit un surplus d’oxygène médical. Idem la ville de Mumbai, qui a choisi de ne pas démanteler les installations médicales temporaires à grande échelle créées lors de la première vague car elle prévoyait la seconde vague.

Dans ce contexte, nous notons la lutte continue des millions d’agriculteurs exigeant que le gouvernement du PM Modi abroge les trois lois agricoles adoptées en septembre 2020 sans consultation ni débat au milieu de la première vague de la pandémie.

Ce mouvement paysan, la plus grande et la plus longue manifestation pacifique et non violente de l’histoire mondiale, entre maintenant dans un sixième mois sans précédent. Les agriculteurs craignent à juste titre que ces lois autorisent les entreprises à saisir leurs terres, à mettre en péril leurs moyens de subsistance et à aggraver la crise agraire à laquelle le pays est confronté.

Depuis novembre 2020, des centaines de milliers d’agriculteurs campent aux limites de la capitale, New Delhi, dans le froid glacial de l’hiver, et maintenant dans la chaleur torride de l’été, malgré les gaz lacrymogènes, les canons à eau et les barricades de la police. Plusieurs centaines d’entre eux, jeunes et vieux, hommes et femmes, ont péri à cause des intempéries, de la maladie, de la violence policière et des accidents de la circulation. Beaucoup ont été blessés par des miliciens RSS du parti au pouvoir. Pourtant, la lutte continue et se développe malgré le fait que gouvernement Modi fait toujours la sourde oreille à leurs demandes. Avec la nouvelle vague de la Covid, il est à craindre que le gouvernement invoque de manière opportuniste la santé publique et tente de démolir les camps, comme il l’a fait l’année dernière, au début de la première vague de ce virus, avec la mobilisation massive contre la loi d’amendement de la citoyenneté (CAA) conçue pour priver de nombreux Indiens de leur nationalité. Les agriculteurs connaissent les risques de santé qui les menacent en restant dans leurs camps de protestation. Mais ils demeurent résolus et déterminés car ils savent qu’ils sont coincés entre deux menaces diaboliques et mortelles : le virus létal de la Covid-19 et les lois agricoles qui signifient leur mort socio-économique.

La protestation des agriculteurs indiens a reçu un soutien étonnant de toutes les sections de la société indienne, et également à l’extérieur du pays. Au Canada, des conseils municipaux tels que Vancouver, Victoria, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, Brampton et d’autres, ainsi que de nombreuses organisations syndicales, y compris le Congrès du travail du Canada, le Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, les fédérations du travail et l’UNIFOR, qui ont adopté des résolutions ou publié des déclarations à l’appui de leurs demandes. Au milieu de la 2è vague de la pandémie qui ravage l’Inde, nous, soussigné.e.s, appelons le gouvernement indien à tenir compte des demandes des agriculteurs et à faire en sorte que les pauvres et les marginalisés ne supportent pas de manière disproportionnée l’impact mortel de cette nouvelle agression covidienne. Il est important aussi de se rappeler que les agriculteurs nourrissent la nation et que les travailleurs la construisent.

ABROGEZ IMMÉDIATEMENT les lois agricoles adoptées en septembre 2020 afin que les agriculteurs puissent se protéger du COVID et rentrer chez eux, en sachant que leur avenir et celui de leurs familles ne sont pas menacés.

LIBÉREZ TOUS LES PRISONNIERS POLITIQUES détenus en vertu de lois draconiennes et maintenant également confrontés à une infection au COVID.

VACCINATIONS COVID-19 GRATUITES pour tous et toutes en Inde âg.e.és de 18 ans et

Signatories

  1. Feroz Mehdi, Alternatives International, Montreal
  2. Catherine Pappas, Alternatives, Montréal
  3. Mohammad Imran, Retired, NJ, USA
  4. Patrick Farbiaz, PEPS-Pour une Ecologie Populaire et Sociale, Paris
  5. Dolores Chew, Marianopolis College, Montreal,Canada
  6. Sophie Toupin, University of Amsterdam, Montreal/Amsterdam
  7. Ishita Tiwary, Concordia university, Montréal
  8. Richa Nagar, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, US
  9. Dipti Gupta, Dawson College, Montréal
  10. Cory Legassic, Dawson College, Montréal
  11. Rahul Varma, Teesri Duniya Theatre, Montreal 
  12. Prashant Keshavmurthy, McGill University, Montreal
  13. Afshan Nasseri, McGill University, Montreal
  14. Sid Shniad, founding member, Independent Jewish Voices Canada
  15. Jooneed J KHAN, Journalist and Writer, Montreal
  16. Jaswant Guzder, child psychiatrist, Montreal
  17. Chiara Letizia, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
  18. Bindu T Desai, Albany, CA, USA
  19. Robert Apter, Retired United Auto Workers Local Rep, New York, NY, USA 
  20. Lakshmi Sharma, Montreal, QC, Canada
  21. Jody Freeman, Montréal, Québec, Canada
  22. Bill Skidmore, Carleton University (Retired), Ottawa, Canada
  23. Anita Lal, Poetic Justice Foundation, Canada
  24. Carmen Jensen, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  25. Pasha M. Khan, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  26. Adrienne Piggott, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  27. Sadeqa  Siddiqui, IMA Quebec , Montreal Canada.
  28. Robert Hornsey, President,Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts, Maple Ridge, Canada
  29. Malcolm Guy, International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Montréal, Québec, Canada
  30. Niti Sharma, Richmond, B.C., Canada
  31. M. V. Ramana, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  32. Lavanya Narasiah, MD MSc, McGill and Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada
  33. Steve Orlov, playwright, Montreal, Qc
  34. Omer Morad, Montreal, QC    .
  35. Sushil Handa, Saint-Lambert, Quebec
  36. Gilles Sabourin, Saint-Lambert, Québec
  37. Daniel Guerrier, ancien délégué national Service civil international, France
  38. Christiane Baril, Longueuil, Québec, Canada
  39. Amrit Krishnan, Montreal, Québec, Canada
  40. Vijay Kolinjivadi, University of Antwerp, Montréal/Antwerp
  41. Caroline Kunzle, Montreal, Québec.
  42. Debdeep Chatterjee, Concordia University, Montreal
  43. Julie Vig, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  44. Ayesha Vemuri, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  45. Darin Barney, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  46. Freda Guttman, Montreal, Canada, Independent Jewish Voices
  47. John Price, University of Victoria
  48. Gracy Fernandes -Haiti
  49. Prashant Olalekar – India
  50. Vinod Mubayi, Insaf Bulletin, New York, USA
  51. Penni Mitchell, Herizons Magazine, Winnipeg, Canada
  52. Anne Caines, RECAA, Montreal, Quebec Canada
  53. Judy Wong
  54. Salman Kureishy, Mississauga, Canada
  55. Burç Köstem, Montreal, Quebec
  56. Samir Gandesha, Director, Institute for the Humanities, SFU
  57. Denise Nadeau, Concordia University, Montreal
  58. Carrie Rentschler, McGill University, Montreal
  59. Ian Angus, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
  1. Jessica Fontaine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  2. Stephen Aberle, Independent Jewish Voices member, Vancouver, Canada
  3. Andrew Stuhl, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  4. Rana Khan, Working for Change, Toronto, Canada
  5. Mark Stiles, Stiles Associates Inc., Ottawa, Canada
  6. Sana Ahmad, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  7. David Barsamian, Alternative Radio, Boulder, CO USA
  8. Koushik Ghosh, Central Washington University, WA. U.S.A. 
  9. Democracy, Equality and Secularism in South Asia (DESA), Winnipeg, Canada
  10. Geopolitical Economy Research Group (GERG), Canada
  11.  Nicole Ranganath, UC Davis
  12. Jyotsna Vaid, College Station, TX, USA
  13. Jeremy Isao Speier, Artist, Vancouver, Canada
  14. Jerry Dias, Unifor President, Canada
  15. V.K. Tripathi, New Delhi, India
  16. Carolyn D’Cruz, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
  17. Svend Robinson, JS Woodsworth Resident Scholar, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
  18. Rami Katz, Vancouver
  19. Glenn D’Cruz, Deakin University, Melbourne
  20. Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Centre de Creation O Vertigo, Montreal, Canada
  21. Aparna Sundar, Toronto, Canada
  22. Chantale Ismé, Montréal, Canada
  1. Roopjit Sahota, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
  2. Tanveer Sahota, Simon Fraser University, Burnany, Canada
  3. Navkiran Poonia, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
  4. Jaspreet Singh, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  5. Dilsher Athwal, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, Canada
  6. Kishore Gajbhiye, Mumbai, India.
  7. Gurman Sahota, Simon Fraser University 
  8. Jean-Claude Icart, sociologue, chercheur autonome, Montréal, Canada
  9. Harjaap Singh, Simon Fraser University, Canada
  10. Anjali Choksi, Dawson College Montreal, Canada
  11. Saleha Athar, Toronto Canada
  12. Patricia Gruben, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
  13. Sadaf Rathod, UMass, Amherst
  14. Madhumita Dutta, Columbus, Ohio, USA
  15. Geneviève Rail, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
  16. Chinnaiah Jangam, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
  17. Anthony Dias, SJES SAsia, Delhi
  18. Prabhjot Parmar, SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy) Vancouver, Canada
  19. Natalie Kouri-Towe, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
  20. Norma Rantisi, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
  21. Sharanjit Kaur, University of British Columbia, Canada.
  22. Kris Foulds, The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford, BC Canada
  23. Olivia Daniel, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC Canada
  24. Mo Dhaliwal, Poetic Justice Foundation, Canada
  25. Renel Exentus, doctorant en études urbaines, Montréal, Canada
  26. Alain Saint-Victor, historien, Montréal, Canada
  27. Hassan Yussuff, President, Canadian Labour Congress, Ottawa, Canada
  28. Stephen von Sychowski, President, Vancouver and District Labour Council, Vancouver
  29. Ian Rocksborough-Smith, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada
  30. Gian Sihota, VP Richmond South Centre Constituency Exec. BC, Canada
  31. Stefan Kipfer, York University, Tornoto, Canada
  32. Ilan Kapoor, York University, Toronto, Canada
  33. Sima Aprahamian, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University, Canada
  34. Kajri Jain, University of Toronto, Canada
  35. Rachel Berger, Concordia University, Canada
  36. Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
  37. Dimitri Lascaris, lawyer, journalist, activist
  38. Antonio Torres-Ruiz, Centre for Critical Development Studies, University of Toronto, and Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean.
  39. Guillaume Bernardi, Drama Studies Program, Glendon College, York University. 
  40. Steven Bush, Senior Lecturer (rtd), University of Toronto, Canada
  41. Bhavani Raman, University of Toronto, Canada.
  42. Prabhjot Parmar, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada
  43. Sedef Arat-koc, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
  44. Katharine Beeman, Alternatives, Montréal, Québec, Canada
  45. Evelyn Mondonedo PINAYQuebec, Canada Society of Socialist Studies, Canada
  46. Radhika Desai, President, the Society of Socialist Studies, Canada
  47. Sejal Lal, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Vancouver Canada
  48. Radhika Mongia, York University, Toronto, Canada
  49. Mustafa Koc, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
  50. Ravindra K. Jain, Retired, JNU, India
  51. Amanda R. Shankland. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario 
  52. Rachel Portinga. Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario
  53. Navjotpal Kaur, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s NL Canada
  54. Marie Boti, Women of Diverse Origins, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  55. Maria Worton, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  56. E McLean, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
  57. Kora Liegh Glatt, Victoria, BC, Canada
  58. Ambrose Pereira, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
  59. May Chiu,Montreal, Québec, Canada
  60. Barbara Parker, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
  61. Bertrand Guibord, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain – CSN, Montréal, Québec
  62. Eric Shragge, Immigrant Workers Centre, Montreal, Quebec
  63. Bryan Dale, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario
  64. Monika Korzun, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario
  65. Ryan J. Phillips, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario
  66. Lionel Fernandes, Ontario, Canada
  67. Omar Latif, Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians
  68. Nilambri Ghai, Ottawa, Canada
  69. Dominique Daigneault, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain – CSN, Montréal, Québec
  70. Christine Marrewa-Karwoski, Columbia University, NY
  71. Malcolm Blincow, Retired, York University, Toronto, Canada
  72. Doreen Fumia, Associate Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Ryerson University, Canada
  73. Michelle Smith, Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec
  74. Aziz Choudry, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
  75. Stefan Christoff, Artist, community organizer and student
  76. John DMello, PEACE, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, US, 33410
  77. Nazila Bettache, MD CM, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréall
  78. Odile Hélier Paris France
  79. Waheed Mukaddam, Cambridge, MA,  US
  80. Jean Swanson, Councillor, City of Vancouver, Canada
  81. Mei-ling Wiedmeyer, MD, CCFP, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  82. Shireen Hamza, History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
  83. Antonio de Jesus, Centre for Philippine Concerns, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
  84. Vijay Puli, South Asian Dalit-Adivasi Network (SADAN)
  85. Robyn Andrews, Massey University, NZ
  86. Kamala Visweswaran, Rice University, Houston, TX
  87. Elena Razlogova, History, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
  88. Martha Stiegman, Environmental & Urban Change, York University, Toronto, Canada
  89. Lauren Kepkiewicz, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
  90. Lorelei Hanson, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Canada
  91. Francis Cody, University of Toronto, Canada
  92. Rajee Paña Jejishergill, NSCAD University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  93. Jennifer Chew, Montreal, Canada
  94. Elaine Power, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
  95. Kelly Tracey, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada
  96. Between the Lines, Toronto, ON, Canada
  97. Larry Brown, President, the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), Canada
  98. Andrea Yovorsky, EcoTrust Canada, OISE, Toronto, Canada
  99. Syeda N Bukhari, McGill University, Canada
  100. Ravneet Sidhu, Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada
  101. Iris Yellum, South Asian Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
  102. Clarisse Wells, South Asian Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
  103. Catie Peters, American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
  104. Anelyse Weiler, Sociology, University of Victoria, BC, Canada
  105. Richard Swift, New Internationalist Magazine
  106. Harnek Dhaliwal, Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg, Canada
  107. Mukhtiar Singh (Retired), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
  108. Donna Denina, International Women’s Alliance, Seattle, WA US
  109. Amélie Nguyen, Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO)
  110. Caroline Quesnel, Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN)
  111. Paritosh Kumar, Global Development Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
  112. Marie Stuart, Montréal, Québec
  113. Marguerite Kephart, Montréal, Canada
  114. Sheetal Lodhia, Toronto, ON, Canada
  115. Shree Mulay, St. John’s NL, Canada
  116. Maurice Dufour, Montreal, Qc
  117. Bhajan Gill, Secretary, Progressive Cultural  Association, Calgary, Canada
  118. Harcharan Singh Parihar, Editor, Sikh Virsa, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
  119. Vrinda Narain, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  120. Kaleem Siddiqi, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  121. Harbans Singh, Editor, Sarokaran Di Awaaz, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  122. Gurcharan Brar, Punjabi Cultural Association of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
  123. Gurvinder Gill, Secular People’s Association, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  124. Dr. Shaheen Ansari, Arkitect India, New Delhi
  125. Mritiunjoy Mohanty, CERIAS, UQAM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  126. Jodi Koberinski, SSHRC Doctoral Fellow, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
  127. Nancy Sears Barker, teacher, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  128. Jonathan S. Barker, professor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  129. Laird Cronk, President, BC Federation of Labour, Vancouver, Canada
  130. Sussanne Skidmore, Secretary Treasurer, BC Federation of Labour, Vancouver, Canada
  131. Raghav Bali, Student, McGill University, Montreal Canada
Indian Farmers Get Support From Over 200 Canadian Academics, Trade Union Leaders And Activists

https://thewire.in/rights/over-200-signatories-from-abroad-demand-repeal-of-farm-laws-as-covid-ravages-india

Grant bail to human rights defenders

Statements/News Releases

SANSAD news-release   April 13, 2020

Grant Immediate Bail to Anand Teltumbde and Jailed Human Rights Defenders

South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), an organization of the South Asian Diaspora in Vancouver, Canada is shocked by  and condemns the Supreme Court of India ‘s rejection of  anticipatory bail to prominent public intellectuals, authors, and human rights defenders, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha and ordering them surrender to the authorities for incarceration on April 14 during a nation-wide lockdown for Covid-19.  With their surrender they will join nine other prominent writers, human rights activists, and lawyers who have been held in jails for close to two years under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act without trial in a process that itself constitutes punishment. It is a disgrace that Dr. Teltumbde, one of the leading Ambedkarite intellectuals of India will be sent to prison on 14 April which is the 129th birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who presided over the creation of the constitution of India.

What makes this travesty of justice particularly inhumane is the crisis India currently faces with the rest of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time when there is concern for the health of all who are in prisons everywhere the highest court in India has no compunction in sending two of its most prominent intellectuals to prison. To fully appreciate what this means for the system of justice in India one has to remember that prominent leaders of the ruling political party publicly utter hate speech calling for violence against minorities with impunity and people arrested for violent crimes have no difficulty obtaining bail. At the same time a paraplegic like Professor G. N. Saibaba, with severe health problems, can be held in jail indefinitely for alleged sympathies with Maoists.

India’s democracy with all its limitations depends on its constitutional guarantee of certain rights, including the right of dissent. The Supreme Court is the custodian of the constitution, and as such its credibility is of the utmost importance. The current compromised state of justice and the Supreme Court offers the Indian people no security. We demand that the Supreme Court of India resume its credibility by immediately granting bail to Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, the nine others who have been in prison since 2018 on similar charges related to the incidents of violence in Bhima Koregaon in January 2018, Professor G. N. Saibaba, and all other political prisoners.

–Thirty—

http:://sansad.org

Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en

Forum

We stand in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en People

South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), comprising members of the South Asian diaspora living in Canada express our deepest gratitude to the indigenous people of Turtle Island/Canada as guests on their lands and our solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people in their just struggle to defend their unceded ancestral territories against the extractivist despoliation by corporations aided by the settler-colonial violence of the Canadian state and its judicial apparatus.

South Asians bring with us the history of two hundred years of colonialism. This is a history of extreme violence in the appropriation of the land, destruction of its established systems of irrigation and agriculture and its industry and crafts in the service of colonial commercial and industrial interests causing massive famines that killed tens of millions, creating divisive identities through colonial administrative apparatus and policy that continue to haunt South Asia, creating colonial ways of thought and practice that are reproduced by the inherited system, moving masses of people to serve colonial revenue interests, bestowing on them a legacy of conflict and genocide,  as in Assam in India and Rakhine in Burma/Myanmar and leaving in its departure borders marked in blood and  a legacy of repressive governance.

Nor is colonialism a matter of the past. It continues both in the institutional heritage of the state, particularly in law and policing, (as in the many draconian laws in India, including laws prohibiting assembly, preventative detention and sedition) and in the on-going practices of internal colonialism. Adivasis (indigenous people) are systematically dispossessed and displaced,   their lands  drowned by the construction of mega dams,  their forests sacrificed  to the interest of timber companies, their cultivated lands taken away for the lack of legal documents of ownership, their rivers polluted and habitat destroyed by mining corporations, and their living space taken away whenever needed for the development of real estate or tourism. All this is done in the name of “national interest” and through colonial laws of land acquisition and forestry.

The parallel between the logic of settler colonialism and the internal colonialism in South Asia is obvious despite differences. We recognize the similarity of the oppression experience by indigenous people everywhere and stand in solidarity with them. The logic by which the interest of the settlers or the local elite drives the indigenous people to extinction through displacement must be challenged.

The Wet’suwet’en people are engaged in a principled and courageous resistance against the BC and Canadian government ‘s effort to overrule their hereditary and legally established rights over their unceded territories in the interest of carbon extraction.  Their civil disobedience is rooted in the history of the moral struggle against injustice and oppression that has been used all across the world, and famously with great success in India against colonial power. We salute the many people who have courted arrest in this struggle and commit ourselves to soliciting funds for their defense.  Many people across Canada have come out in support of this struggle not only because it is just but because this struggle is the frontline in the global struggle against a carbon-based economy that threatens human survival. We demand that all levels of government and the RCMP respect the jurisdiction of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership over their territories and their right to self -determination. We further demand that all charges against those arrested be dropped unconditionally.

Copy and Paste the links below in your browser to donate:

 Unist’ot’en Legal Fund:

 Gidemt’en Fund

South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD) https://sansad.org

Solidarity with students in India

Statements/News Releases,

SANSAD News-release January 7, 2020

Solidarity with Students in India Facing State Terror

South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), comprising members of the South Asian diaspora in Canada joins its voice to the indignation and outrage across India at the attack by a masked gang of more than 50 men armed with sticks, iron bars, hammers, and stones on selected students and professors at Jawahar Lal Nehru University in Delhi on January 5. Campus security, which is responsible for access to the campus, enabled this action and the police, who arrived an hour after they were called, stood by while the armed gang systematically and viciously attacked people—many in their rooms and offices– who had been opposing a  drastic rise in fees since November, and damaged personal and university property. More than 20 people were hospitalized with severe injuries. There is evidence that the attackers were members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS, the parent organization of the ruling Hindu nationalist party, BJP. The campus security was clearly complicit in allowing the attackers to enter and carry on their violent actions without hindrance and the police not only did not intervene but prevented journalists from entering the campus to investigate.

This is the latest episode in the violence unleashed by the government of India against the people of India who, led by university students have come out in the streets to defend the constitution and the principle of secularism enshrined in it against the recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the forthcoming National Register of Citizens (NRC) that discriminate against Muslims and establishes citizenship on the basis of religion. There is already a global chorus of outrage against India’s discriminatory legislation, the brutal violence of the police against students protesting on their campuses and peaceful demonstrations by citizens that has caused 27 deaths, shutting down of the internet, and use of colonial laws to suppress dissent.  The attack on JNU reveals the range of the BJP’s arsenal of law, police, and organized non-state actors. Understandably several political leaders in India have condemned the government as fascist and following Nazi methods. 

We stand in solidarity with the students in India who are leading the struggle against discriminatory and divisive laws that will destroy the India created by its founders through the movement against colonialism and grounded in its secular constitution. We applaud their struggle for the right and access to education and the freedom of enquiry and speech and their taking of their rightful place in the vanguard of India’s new freedom struggle.  We stand in solidarity with the people of India who are engaged in the defense of this great nation against those intent on wrecking it to create another based on their narrow version of the vast and various faith of the Hindus. We salute the trade unions who have called for a day of general strike on January 8 in solidarity with the students. 

www.sansad.org

Endorsed by: Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg