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Revoke Ban on Nirbhaya Documentary: Editors Guild of India

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Nirbhaya-documentary

New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India today slammed the government’s move to ban ‘India’s Daughter,’ the documentary about the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012, and appealed for the ban to be revoked.

Calling the ban wholly unwarranted, the Editors Guild said it is based on misunderstanding of the power and the message behind the film.

Following is the full statement by the Editors Guild:

The Government of India’s move in banning the telecast of the BBC documentary ‘India’s Daughter’ depicting the aftermath of the brutal gang rape and murder of Nirbhaya is wholly unwarranted, based as it is on a misunderstanding of the power and the message behind it. The documentary portrays the courage, sensitivity and liberal outlook of a family traumatised by the brutality inflicted on the daughter, the continuing shameful attitudes towards women among the convict as well as the educated including lawyers and multiple voices in support of women’s freedom and dignity including students, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Justice Leila Seth, Oxford academic Maria Misra and senior advocate and former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam. While the Supreme Court has declared that there should be the broadest freedom to express even the most unacceptable of views, the message that emerges from the documentary is wholly positive and its power is such as to make people re-examine their own attitudes and the attitudes of people around them.

The Nirbhaya incident has been an obvious matter of public interest and has through all the stages of the investigation, trial and confirmation by the high court, been subject to a widespread public debate and discussion, protests and demonstrations and enquiry by the Justice Verma Commission that suggested reform of the law. To raise the issue of sub judice now at the stage of final appeal in the Supreme Court and seek to still discussion is absurd. Judges, particularly in the Supreme Court, are by training and temperament immune to the happenings in the public sphere outside the court, and it is an insult to the Supreme Court to suggest that the airing of the convict’s perverted views would tend to interfere with the course of justice.

Prompted by initial expressions of outrage, including by members of Parliament, over the views of the convict included in the documentary, the Government seems to have decided on the ban without viewing the documentary in its entirety. The rationale that the ban was in the interests of justice and public order as the film “created a situation of tension and fear amongst women” and as that the convict would use the media to further his case in the appeal that was sub-judice seems to be an afterthought.

The Editors Guild of India appeals to the Government of India to revoke the ban forthwith and enable the people to view what is a positive and powerful documentary touching on the freedom, dignity and safety of women.

US ground troops in Syria? Top military official doesn't rule it out

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Gen. Martin Dempsey’s comments highlight openness allowed by vague language included in Obama’s proposed AUMF.

Gen. Martin Dempsey testifying at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. (Photo: DoD/Ash Carter)

Gen. Martin Dempsey testifying at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. (Photo: DoD/Ash Carter)

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

The nation’s top military officer told a House subcommittee Wednesday that U.S. troops could potentially hit the ground in Syria to fight Islamic militants, offering another sign the operation is headed towards expansion.

Speaking to the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said, “If the commander on the ground approaches either me or the secretary of defense and believes that the introduction of special operations forces to accompany Iraqis or the new Syrian forces, or JTACS (joint tactical-air controllers), these skilled folks who can call in close-air support, if we believe that’s necessary to achieve our objectives, we will make that recommendation.”

Dempsey’s comment was played down by Air Force Col. Ed Thomas, a spokesman for the Joint Staff, who stressed that the comment was in response to a “hypothetical” situation, and that U.S. troops would be there only for troop rescue operations, the Military Times reports. An anonymous defense official made the same point to Agence-France Presse.

AFP adds that the official said Dempsey was addressing “flexibility and preservation of options.”

Despite the downplay of the ground troop scenario, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week also indicated the door was open for ground troops in Syria in the context of the the proposed authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).

In his comments to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Kerry highlighted the vagueness of the “enduring offensive ground combat operations” language in the AUMF. As Common Dreams reported last week:

“If you’re going in for weeks and weeks of combat, that’s enduring,” he said. “If you’re going in to assist somebody and fire control and you’re embedded in an overnight deal, or you’re in a rescue operation or whatever, that is not enduring.”

According to Kerry, the White House believes that the language “left the president the appropriate level of discretion with respect to how he might need to do, without [any] room for interpretation that this was somehow being interpreted to be a new license for a new Afghanistan or a new Iraq.”

Kerry’s statements follow remarks by White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest, made immediately following the mid-February release of the proposal, that the AUMF’s language was intentionally vague because “we believe it’s important that there aren’t overly burdensome constraints that are placed on the commander in chief.”

Though, as Politico reports, the proposed AUMF “appears to have pleased nobody on Capitol Hill,” and while it has yet to face a vote, thousands of troops have already been deployed to Iraq, and U.S. and coalition forces are continuing a months-long campaign of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

'YouKnow' app: Palestine's voice of the voiceless

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A new app advocates for Palestine’s need for progressive access-to-information legislation.

'The government needs to know how the people feel. They need to know what concerns them, what angers them' [Getty]

‘The government needs to know how the people feel. They need to know what concerns them, what angers them’ [Getty]

by Creede Newton, Al Jazeera

Ramallah: An online platform that aims to open up access to information for citizens and increase accountability for politicians, was launched in the occupied West Bank on March 1. 

The YouKnow Initiative is designed to bring activists, journalists, bloggers and citizens together with decision-makers, including the Palestinian Authority (PA), healthcare providers, telecommunications, and businesses.

The platform “resembles Facebook, Twitter; any number of social media sites,” said Saed Karzoun, the founder of YouKnow. Once they register, Palestinians “can post anything they want, without limits”, Karzoun told Al Jazeera. Currently, the application is available only via web browsers, but Karzoun hopes to build a smartphone application in the future.

Complaints, documented through videos and photos, about unpaved roads or unfinished infrastructure, for example, can be posted along with 300 characters of text. The user selects the official to whom the report will be sent from a list of officials and ministries. It then becomes available for all users to read.

After the complaint is posted, a “change” button allows for the official to respond. They can show that the issue has been addressed, or explain that it’s not within their domain.

“We hope to address people’s anger and frustration against decision-makers,” Karzoun explained. “The more information [officials] provide, the more understanding there will be between Palestinians and their leaders.”

Currently, there is no legislation guaranteeing freedom of access to information for Palestinians. The issue, however, has been hotly debated for years.

In 2005, a freedom of information bill was introduced for the first time, but since the suspension of the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2007, and due to Israel’s systematic targeting and detention of elected representatives as well as the internal Palestinian split, the motion has made no headway.

In December  2012, a committee of four legal experts, established by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), revised and amended the 2005 draft law on the right to access information.

A public campaign was also organised to bring together civil society activists, parliamentarians, access-to-information experts, journalists and Palestinian government officials to improve the draft law and advocate for its approval.

The campaign titled “Information is Power” advocated for Palestine’s need for progressive access-to-information legislation.

The result, according to analysts, has been a much-improved draft law and a decision by then-Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to ensure that the law is scheduled in the 2014 legislative calendar of the Palestinian government.

The amended draft law has been given positive assessment by independent international organisations like article 19 which pointed out that the draft law “contains many positive features such as; all public and private bodies receiving state funding or performing public work are obliged to provide information and setting up [an] information commissioner that will monitor the implementation of the law and examines complaints against denials of requests of information”.

In February 2014, the then new prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, showed support for the access-to-information initiative by publishing the draft, as amended by MADA, on his official website.

“We support the freedom of access to information,” Nida Younis, head of the Ministry of Information’s public relations told Al Jazeera. Younis added that “the draft law is currently awaiting approval”.

Younis also said the ministry supports YouKnow, and looks forward to collaborating with Karzoun. In Younis’ view, the platform will allow for all Palestinians to “have their say”, and pave the way for increased accountability.

“High-ranking personnel will no longer be able to say, ‘I didn’t know about this problem, I didn’t hear about it,'” she said.

A few months ago, Karzoun was informed by government officials that the same 2012 draft law on access to information was being considered, but it soon died out. “This is the problem, they (officials) begin discussing something, and then they stop.”

“The government needs to know how the people feel. They need to know what concerns them, what angers them. Hopefully it will motivate the government to introduce the law,” Karzoun concluded.

ISIL fighters bulldoze ancient Assyrian palace in Iraq

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Reported demolition at Nimrud comes less than a week after video was released showing destruction at Mosul museum.

Winged-bull statues were placed at the gates of Assyrian palaces as protective spirits [Getty Images]

Winged-bull statues were placed at the gates of Assyrian palaces as protective spirits [Getty Images]

by Jane Arraf, Al Jazeera

Baghdad: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters have used a bulldozer to start destroying a 3,000-year-old Assyrian city near Mosul in Iraq, archaeologists and other sources have told Al Jazeera.

The demolition at Nimrud on Thursday comes less than a week after video was released showing ISIL fighters destroying ancient artefacts in a Mosul museum.

“They came at midday with a bulldozer and started destroying the palace,” said an Iraqi official in touch with antiquities staff in Mosul.

She said the winged-bull statues known as lamassu at the gates of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II had been smashed. It was not clear what else had been destroyed on the site, about 20km southeast of Mosul.

In last week’s ISIL video , fighters were shown using power drills and sledgehammers to try to destroy similar statues at the ancient site of Nineveh, within Mosul.

The mutli-tonne figures were placed at the palaces’ gates as protective spirits.

One source told Al Jazeera the fighters warned Mosul residents last week that they would move on to Nimrud next. Hatra, a World Heritage Site, is also believed to be in danger.

Since 2002, the World Monuments Fund has listed Nimrud as one of the world’s most endangered sites. The intricate stone reliefs, exposed to the elements, have been decaying. Without security around the site, it has been exposed to looters.

The palace belonged to King Ashurnasirpal II, who ruled a powerful empire that included Iraq, the Levant, lower Egypt and parts of Turkey and the Levant. The palace was built with precious wood, marble and other materials brought from the furthest reaches of his kingdom.

Nimrud, known as biblical Calah, is believed to have first been settled 7,000 years ago. At its height, up to 60,000 people lived in the walled city, which contained lush gardens and sprawling parks.

Mostly excavated by the British, with the finds taken to the British Museum, the most spectacular discovery was an Iraqi one.

In the late 1980s Iraqi archaeologist Muzahim Mahmood discovered a royal tomb containing one of the biggest finds of the last century – hundreds of pieces of golden jewelry and other objects belonging to an Assyrian queen.

Iraq’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Thursday condemned the destruction at Nimrud, stating that ISIL “continues to defy the will of world”.

Obama names Indian American investor as IMF director

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Sunil Sabharwal

Washington: President Barack Obama has nominated Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian American investor in the payments sector, as US Alternate Executive Director at International Monetary Fund for a term of two years.

The White House sent Sabharwal’s nomination to the Senate on Wednesday. At over two dozen, Obama administration boasts of having the highest number of Indian Americans in key jobs than any previous administrations in the US.

Sabharwal, who has been an independent investor since 2006, was the chairman of the Board of Ogone, a European ecommerce payment services company, from 2011 to 2013, according to the White House.

He advised Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of Easycash, a German network services company, subsequently becoming a board advisor from 2006 to 2009.

From 2003 to 2006, Sabharwal was senior vice president of strategic investments at First Data Corporation/Western Union.

From 1997 to 2003, he held several positions at GE Capital, including managing director.

From 1992 to 1996 he worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Sabharwal received a BS from The Ohio State University and an MS from the London Business School.

(Agencies)

Hate rant: Case filed against Balika Saraswati

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Balika Saraswati

Mangaluru: Four days after she addressed the massive Virat Hindu Samajotsava at Nehru Maidan, a case has been registered against Sadhvi Balika Saraswati for allegedly making a provocative speech.

The complaint has been filed by Suresh Bhat Bakrabail, president of Dakshina Kannada unit of Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike.

The complaint alleges that Sadhvi Balika Saraswati made provocative statements by saying that love Jihad should be countered by chopping off the heads of Muslim boys who look at Hindu girls.

The complaint urged for suitable action against Sadhvi Balika Saraswati and the organizers of the Samajotsava.

Based on the complaint, Pandeshwar police registered a case under Sections 153 (A) and 295 of the IPC.

58 Rajya Sabha MPs give notice for impeachment of HC judge

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Conversion Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: 58 MPs of Rajya Sabha have given a notice for impeaching Justice S K Gangele of Madhya Pradesh High Court who is facing allegations of sexual harassment of a woman Additional District and Sessions Judge of Gwalior.

The move, initated by JD-U President Sharad Yadav, has got endorsement from members of a number of parties including Congress, CPI-M, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP.

Some members of the legal fraternity had met the MPs and and requested them to take up this matter, Yadav said.

“A number of people from the judicial fraternity had come to meet me in this regard and told me the case history. I felt that the lady judge’s voice was not being heard. I found that this is a fit case for impeachment,” said the JD(U) leader.

As per the rules, at least 50 MPs have to give notice for impeachment of any judge of a High Court or the Supreme Court.

In the notice given to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, the MPs have said the motion should be admitted for removal of Gangele under Article 217 read with Article 124 of the Constitution.

The notice cites three grounds of “misconduct” for initiating the process of impeachment.

They include “sexual harassment” of a woman Additional District and Sessions Judge of Gwalior while Gangele was a sitting judge of the Gwalior Bench of the High Court, victimisation of the particular judge for not submitting to his “illegel and immoral demands”, including, but not limited to transferrring her from Gwalior to Sidhi and “misusing” his position as the Administrative Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh to use the subordinate judiciary to “victimise” the lady judge later.

The issue had hogged media headlines after the lady judge resigned on July 15 last year days after she was transferred to a remote district.

After resigning the lady judge had sent representations to the President of India, the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on August 1, 2014 in which she had made serious allegations against the Justice.

Supreme Court Chief Justice H L Dattu has set up a three-judge committee for a thorough probe into the sexual harassment complaint against the Madhya Pradesh High Court judge after receiving a preliminary inquiry report on a complaint by a woman judicial officer.

Article 124(4) when read with proviso (b) to Article 217(1) states that a judge of a High Court shall not be removed from his office except on the grounds of ‘proved misbehaviour’.

The prefix ‘proved’ only means proved to the satisfaction of requisite majority of Parliament, if so recommended by the inquiry committee.

If the Rajya Sabha takes up the impeachment motion, it will be the third such case in Parliament’s history and the second in the Upper House.

In recent times, Justice Soumitra Sen of Calutta High Court had faced impeachment proceedings in Rajya Sabha in 2011 for “misconduct” and “misappropriation of funds” in the capacity of a Calcutta High Court receiver.

The Rajya Sabha had voted in favour of impeaching him and while the proceedings in the Lok Sabha were in progress, the judge resigned. Subsequently, the impeachment proceedings were dropped, taking into consideration his resignation.

Under the constitution, a judge of a high court or the Supreme Court can be removed by the President by a motion adopted in both the Houses of Parliament by two-thirds majority in the same session on “proved misconduct and incapacity”.

The first such case involved impeachment of Justice V Ramaswami of the Supreme Court in May 1993 which fell in Lok Sabha for lack of numbers.

(PTI)

Arvind Kejriwal undergoes naturopathy treatment in Bengaluru

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Arvind-Kejriwal-Bangalore

Bengaluru: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was today admitted to a naturopathy institute on the city outskirts for a 10-day treatment of his persistent chronic cough problem and other ailments.

The AAP leader, who landed at the airport around noon accompanied by his parents, drove straight to Jindal Nature Cure Institute on Tumkuru Road on city outskirts.

Kejriwal would undergo naturopathy regimen that would include detoxification therapy for his cough and different types of “drainage treatments”, a senior doctor said.

“He will undergo detoxification therapy, especially for his cough – different types of drainage treatments have to be given,” Dr Babina Nandakumar, Chief Medical Officer at the Institute told reporters.

She said to control his disease once he gets back home, doctors will put him on a routine so that he gets used to it.

“Once he is here for ten days, we will put him on a routine, so he gets used to this routine … so whatever he learns here, he should try to inculcate (it) after getting back home if he really wants to control his disease,” the CMO said.

Nandakumar said Kejriwal needs to be examined in order to know his ailment. “We have to examine him completely, and then whatever investigations have to be done that also has to be done. Only then, can I come to a conclusion what is he actually suffering from,” she said.

“Last time when he came, he did not have any chronic cough problem. He had come for diabetes,” she added.

About the treatment, Babina said, “Naturopathy is a drugless form of medicine where it does not apply any kind of medicine. We believe that naturopathy is that accumulation of toxins is the root cause of the diseases.”

“So, once a patient comes over here, we detoxify the system. Once the toxins are eliminated from their system, the whole organs get rejuvenated and function in an efficient way,” she added.

Kejriwal was at the same Institute in 2012 spending 10 days for treatment of diabetes, along with anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare with complaints of high blood pressure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also asked Kejriwal to consult a yoga therapist at a well known institute in Bengaluru for his persistent cough during the Delhi Police’s ‘At Home’ function in New Delhi a couple of weeks ago.

Facing internal turmoil in AAP, Kejriwal had yesterday skipped a meeting at Delhi where members of the party national executive voted to remove founder members, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, from the Political Affairs Committee, the party’s key decision making body.

(PTI)

Lynch mob justice: Gang break into Nagaland jail drag out alleged rapist and beat him to death

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Lynched: The gang overpowered security at the Central Jail in the city of Dimapur and grabbed the man before beating him to death. It is unclear whether he is dead in this shocking image

Lynched: The gang overpowered security at the Central Jail in the city of Dimapur and grabbed the man before beating him to death. It is unclear whether he is dead in this shocking image

Dimapur: An alleged rapist, suspected to be a Bangladeshi migrant, was thrashed and killed by a mob which stormed the high-security central jail in Nagaland’s commercial town of Dimapur, officials said.

Taking justice into their own hands, the gang today overpowered security at the Central Jail in the city of Dimapur and grabbed the man, who allegedly raped a female student multiple times last month.

According to local media reports, he died while being dragged four miles through the streets as people beat and pelted him with stones.

Shocking: The man allegedly raped a student from a local women’s college multiple times in February and he was arrested a day later

Accused: The alleged rapist has been identified as a 35-year-old used car trader

The horrific attack on the man, who had not been convicted of rape, comes amid rising anger over the high rate of sexual violence in the country.

He has been identified as 35-year-old Syed Farid Khan, a used car trader, according to The Indian Express. 

The man allegedly raped a student from a local women’s college on February 24, and he was arrested a day later.

At least 10 vehicles were also set ablaze by the unruly mob forcing the authorities to clamp curfew in Dimapur district.

‘A mass protest rally against the rape was held at Dimapur this morning after which students and angry people forced into the district jail and managed to pull out the accused,’ the Press Trust of India news agency said.

It has been reported the crowd tore down two gates before dragging him to the town’s clock tower.

It’s said they also set fire to homes and shops in an area where the suspect ran his business.

Several people were injured when police used batons and opened fire, while officers were hurt when the mob pelted them with stones in Nagaland state in northeast India. The police later removed the man’s body.

‘The situation is very tense,’ town police superintendent Meren Jamir told the Hindustan Times. ‘We are trying our very best to restore order.’

(Agencies)

Movie Review: Against The Sun

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Against The Sun

Banner: The American Film Company
Producer: Brian Falk, Kurt Graver & Mark Moran
Director: Brian Falk
Cast: Tom Felton, Jake Abel, Garret Dillahunt & Nadia Parra
Music: Paul Mills

Director Brian Falk in his latest offering ‘Against The Sun’ has tackled a very experimentally oriented arty tale about 3 Navy airmen stranded in a raft in Pacific Ocean and the turmoil they under go in tandem with the trials & the tribulations for survival at Sea for almost 40 days. The credibility of the movie ‘Against The Sun’ is palatable as it is based on a true story, but of course it bears an uncanny resemblance to Angelina Jolie’s movie ‘Unbroken’ released not so long ago in the past. That apart it also seems to be heavily inspired by a black & white classic movie of the 60’s era whose name I cannot recollect.

Just picture, the stranded in a raft scenario (Circa 1942), of 3 US Navy airmen who accidentally crash land their torpedo bomber in the South Pacific during World War II and find themselves on a tiny life raft, surrounded by open blue ocean with not a morsel of food to satiate their pangs of hunger, not a single drop of water to quench their thirst, so much so that one of the airmen takes recourse to drinking his own piss, besides they do not even see a faint ray of hope of rescue. Against incredible odds, these 3 virtual strangers survive storms, sharks, starvation and above all each other, as they try to sail more than a thousand miles to safety. The American Film Company’s ‘Against The Sun’ tells the true story of an air crew who had to take to the life raft after their plane went down in the Pacific Ocean. The 3 man crew was presumed missing at sea, after a cursory “box search” was done for them. So ‘Against The Sun’ is a respectfully told survivalist tale of pilot Harold Dixon (Garret Dillahunt), bombardier Tony Pastula (Tom Felton), & radioman Gene Aldrich (Jake Abel).

‘Against The Sun’ takes place almost entirely in the life raft, with a short prologue showing the crew’s final moments in the plane when they realize that they have somehow flown off course and don’t even have enough fuel to get back to the aircraft carrier.

Director Brian Falk’s sensitive directorial touches do strike a chord in your heart with a silent prayer on your lips that God – The Almighty – forbid that not even the worst of your enemy should pass through such a sordid ordeal. The trio of director Brian Falk in lieu with his co – script writer Mark David Keegan, cinematographer Petr Cikhart & editor Sean Albertson certainly deserves a left handed complement for keeping the scenario visually interesting, despite the limitations placed on the tale by the monotonous setting. But the same cannot be said about the musical score of Paul Mills which sometimes seem unnecessarily jarring to the extent of disrupting the flow of the entire proceedings. That apart the entire well – deserved credit goes to Aghor Raj Production Pvt Ltd to import & distribute a good cinema in India for which there are hardly any takers in the Indian Distribution arena.

Performance wise all the 3 characters namely Tom Felton as Tony Pastula, Jake Abel as Gene Aldrich & Garret Dillahunt as Harold Dixon have delivered a picture perfect par excellence performance mainly with their body language and silently gestured expressions. A special mention goes for the 4th character Nadia Parra as Frances who appears a couple of times as one of the Navy officers day dreaming fantasy.

Tailpiece: If you are a lover of good cinema, then this is the fare for you.

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