Month: March 2016

Uttarakhand HC Orders Floor Test in Assembly on March 31

The Uttarakhand high court has ordered a floor test in the Assembly on March 31, in the latest developments in the ongoing crisis in the state where President’s rule was imposed on Sunday.

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat addressing the media outside the assembly in Dehradun on Saturday. Credit: PTI

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat addressing the media outside the assembly in Dehradun on Saturday. Credit: PTI

Nainital: The Uttarakhand high court has ordered a floor test in the Assembly on March 31, in the latest developments in the ongoing crisis in the state where President’s rule was imposed on Sunday.

All MLAs, including the nine Congress rebels, can participate in the show of strength but the votes of the disqualified legislators will be kept separate. These will be taken into account subject to the final outcome of the writ petition filed by former Chief Minister Harish Rawat challenging the imposition of President’s rule, senior Supreme Court lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters after the second day of the hearing here.

The high court ordered the Director General of Police to ensure security at the Assembly when the floor test is carried out on Thursday.

Rawat, whose government was dismissed on Sunday on the grounds of a “breakdown of Constitutional machinery,” had moved the court yesterday, calling the Centre’s decision “arbitrary” and demanded its quashing.

Singhvi said the court accepted the Congress position that despite President’s rule there was enough scope for a judicial review to allow a floor test, as sought by the party.

He said Governor K. K. Paul had called for a floor test on March 28 and Rawat too had made the same demand twice. He also said the allegations of horse-trading could not justify the imposition of President’s rule or stop the floor test.

The Centre had imposed President’s rule in Uttarakhand on March 27, a day before the floor test was to be held originally.

On the matter of the disqualification of the nine rebel Congress MLAs, Singhvi said the court did not set it aside and a final decision will come later.

What happened

The political crisis in Uttarakhand began on March 18 after nine Congress MLAs voted with the BJP against the Appropriation Bill, which Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal then declared as passed, ignoring demands from some MLAs for a division of votes.

Kunjwal then issued notices to the nine rebel Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law seeking their response to why they should not be disqualified.

Even as news of their alleged disqualification spread, the Union Cabinet met on the night of March 26 to consider Paul’s report, which discussed the breakdown in governance in the state and expressed apprehensions of likely pandemonium in the Assembly during the floor test on March 28.

The Cabinet then recommended to President Pranab Mukherjee to bring the state under his rule by invoking Article 356 of the Constitution, which he signed on Sunday.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley justified the imposition of President’s rule, saying the Congress “plunged the State into a serious constitutional crisis by continuing a Government which should have quit after the failure of the Appropriation Bill”.

Meanwhile, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice T. S. Thakur and Justices R. Banumathi and U. U. Lalit has said it will hear a public interest litigation challenging the imposition of President’s rule in the state next week.

Statements of Solidarity with the University of Hyderabad

The students of UoH have received solidarity from academicians and students around the world, including those from JNUSU.

Around 55 teachers from HCU have gone on a day’s leave en masse – a mark of protest against police violence against students and the return of the Vice chancellor, Appa Rao Podile. An independent fact-finding committee comprising lawyers and human rights activists has corroborated claims that female students were threatened with rape and minority students were called terrorists by the police.

Some 25 students and two faculty members arrested after the protests have been granted bail by a local court. The VC has also appealed to the students and the faculty to not indulge in confrontational and violent behaviour, and work together toward a peaceful resolution instead. Nonetheless, the students have decided to continue their protests until the VC resigns and their demands are met. They have received solidarity from academicians and students across the globe, including from JNUSU, which submitted a memorandum to the NHRC on human rights abuse in HCU. Other statements of solidarity follow.

Contents:

  1. Letter to Chancellor, UoH, signed by 200 academics from around the country
  2. University of Hyderabad alumni teachers protest the brutal police acts on campus
  3. Statement of solidarity by the IIT Bombay community
  4. Anthropologist Talal Asad, in support

1. Letter to Chancellor, UoH, signed by 200 academics from around the country

We have learnt with dismay about the attack by the police on students at the University of Hyderabad on 22 March, 2016. We understand that there may have been acts of destruction by some of the students, and we strongly condemn such acts. It is arguable whether it was necessary to call the police to deal with the students. However, having called the police, the administration of the University should have ensured that the police force did not make a brutal assault on the students. The Vice Chancellor and the administration of the University failed in this respect, as the ensuing heavy-handed police action proves. We strongly condemn the attack by the police, and the failure of the administration of the University to prevent it.

We would like to make the following points about the immediate repercussions of the events of the 22nd:

1. Several students and two members of the faculty of the University have been detained by the police. We request you, and the administration of the University, to take every possible measure to secure their release, and to get them back to the University at the earliest.

2. Some students were injured in the police action, and have been receiving medical treatment at the University’s Health Centre, and in private clinics and hospitals. We urge that all available help be extended to these students, and we request you to ensure their well-being.

3. We understand that some students who have been protesting are worried about their future in the university, and fear retribution from the administration. It is imperative that their fears be assuaged, and that students are not penalised for legitimately voicing their political opinions, or for challenging the University establishment.

4. There was no food or water in the student hostels, and the connection between the Univer- sity campus and the Internet was closed down, for two days after the 22nd. This is a form of collective punishment. We condemn it, and ask the administration of the University to see that such acts of punishment do not recur.

We have the following points to make in the general context of the stormy events at the University:

1. The direct cause of the events on the 22nd was the resumption of office by P. Appa Rao, the Vice Chancellor of the University. A judicial enquiry has been initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, into the events around Rohith Vemula’s suicide, and Prof. Appa Rao is one of the central figures in those events. There is a case against him under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, and another under the laws relating to abetting a suicide. In these circumstances, it is utterly inappropriate for him to occupy the office of the Vice Chancellor of the University, and we demand that he relinquish that office forthwith.

2. There has been almost no progress in the police cases against Prof. Appa Rao, whereas the police have been quick to act on the protesting students. We demand that this imbalance be redressed, and that the cases against Prof. Appa Rao be speedily brought to their logical conclusion.

3. The protest by the students on the 22nd grew out of the events that led to Mr. Vemula’s suicide. Issues of systematic injustice against Dalits, and of attempts by certain groups of students of the University to disrupt the activities of students whose opinions they oppose, have repeatedly surfaced in the discourse following Mr. Vemula’s suicide. We ask the administration of the University to seriously address these issues.

4. A troubling feature of the events at the University is the frequent reliance of the administration of the University on the police apparatus. We feel that the police have no place in an academic campus, and should be called upon only in rare circumstances. We, therefore, request you to have the police removed from the campus of the University.

The University of Hyderabad is one of the important educational centres of the country. For that reason, we hope that you, and the administration of the University, will do every- thing to provide the students of the University the freedom, and the consideration, that are a distinguishing feature of a great academic institution.

Yours sincerely,

1.A. P. Balachandran, Syracuse University, Emeritus faculty

2.Abani K. Bhuyan, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

3.Abha Dev Habib, Miranda House (University of Delhi), Faculty

4.Abhijit Majumder, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

5.Abhishek Atreya, Physical Research Laboratory, Postdoctoral fellow

6.Aditya Nigam, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Fellow

7.Angelie Multani, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Faculty

8.Anindya Sarkar, Bangabasi Morning College (University of Calcutta), Faculty

9.Anirban Kundu, University of Calcutta, Faculty

10.Akavoor Manu, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Research scholar

11.Alka Acharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

12.Alladi Sitaram, Indian Statistical Institute, Retired faculty

13.Alok Laddha, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Faculty

14.Alok Maharana, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, Faculty

15.Amarjit Kundu, Santipur College (University of Kalyani), Faculty

16.Amber Habib, Shiv Nadar University, Faculty

17.Ameet Parameswaran, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

18.Amitabh Joshi, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Faculty

19.Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Faculty

20.Ananthu James, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Research scholar

21.Ananyo Maitra, Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Statistical Models, Paris, Re- searcher

22.Anindita Bera, University of Calcutta, Research scholar

23.Anindita Bidisha Chatterjee, Wildlife Institute of India, Research scholar

24.Anindita Brahma, Indian Institute of Science, Research scholar

25.Anindya Bhattacharya, University of York, Faculty

26.Anindya Datta, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

27.Anirban Kar, Delhi School of Economics, Faculty

28.Ankan Paul, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Faculty

29.Anuj Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Research scholar

30.Anupama Potluri, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

31.Anwesa Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Science, Research associate

32.Apoorva Nagar, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Faculty

33.Archana Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

34.Archana S. Morye, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

35.Aritra Banerjee, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Research scholar

36.Arnab Rai Choudhuri, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

37.Arpan Kundu, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

38.Arya Suman Mishra, Seth G. S. Medical College and KEM Hospital, Specialty Medical O cer

39.Avinash Kumar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

40.Ashoke Sen, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

41.Atul Chokshi, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

42.Aurnab Ghose, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, Faculty

43.Avishek Konar, Observer Research Foundation, Associate fellow

44.Ayesha Kidwai, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

45.B. Ananthanarayan, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

46.Bhanu Pratap Das, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, Faculty

47.Bidisa Das, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Scientist

48.C. M. Chandrashekar, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty

49.C. S. Rajan, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Faculty

50.Chandan Singh Dalawat, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

51.Chandra Kant Mishra, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Postdoctoral fellow

52.D. C. V. Mallik, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Faculty

53.D. Surya Ramana, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

54.Darius Vasco K•oster, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Postdoctoral fellow

55.Debasis Mondal, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Research scholar

56.Debjani Sengupta, Indraprastha College for Women (University of Delhi), Faculty

57.Deepak Kumar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

58.Dileep Jatkar, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

59.Dinesh Mohan, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Retired faculty

60.Dipankar, TREELabs Foundation, Chief scientist

61.E. Arunan, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

62.Enakshi Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Faculty

63.Faraz Ahmed Inam, Aligarh Muslim University, Faculty

64.Fazlay Ahmed, Jamia Millia Islamia, Research Scholar

65.Feroz M. H. Musthafa, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, Technology manager

66.G. Arunima, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

67.G. Vijay, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

68.Garga Chatterjee, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Faculty

69.Gaurav Mendiratta, Indian Institute of Science, Research scholar

70.Gautam Gangopadhyay, University of Calcutta, Faculty

71.Girish Kumar Chakravarty, Physical Research Laboratory, Postdoctoral fellow

72.Gita Chadha, University of Mumbai, Faculty

73.Gopal Guru, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

74.Indra Balachandran, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany, NY, Re- tired faculty

75.Indraneel Dasgupta, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Faculty

76.Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

77.Joby Joseph, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

78.Joseph Samuel, Raman Research Institute, Faculty

79.Jenny Sulfath, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Research scholar

80.Jishnu Dey, Presidency University, Guest faculty

81.Jyoti Dalal, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Research scholar

82.K. Ramakrishnan, TIPS Global, Adviser

83.Kallol Paul, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Research scholar

84.Kannan U. M., Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Research scholar

85.Karan Namdeorao Khirade, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Research scholar

86.Karen Gabriel, St. Stephen’s College (University of Delhi), Faculty

87.Kaushik Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Faculty

88.Kishor V. Salunkhe, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Research scholar

89.Koel Das, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Faculty

90.Krishnendu Sengupta, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Faculty

91.Kuntal Ghosh, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Faculty

92.Lalit Shukla, Physical Research Laboratory, Research Scholar

93.Lyla Mehta, Institute of Development Studies, UK, and Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Faculty

94.M. V. Ramana, Princeton University, Faculty

95.Madhusudhan Raman, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

96.Mahan Mj, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Faculty

97.Maitreyee Saha Sarkar, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Faculty

98.Malancha Ta, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Faculty

99.Maneesh Thakur, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, Faculty

100.Md. Shah Alam, Jamia Millia Islamia, Research scholar

101.Md. Wali Hossain, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Postdoctoral Fellow

102.Mihir Pandey, Ramjas College (University of Delhi), Faculty

103.Mrinmoy Mukherjee, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Research Scholar

104.N. Raghavendra, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

105.Nandita Narain, St. Stephen’s College (University of Delhi), Faculty

106.Nandu Gopan, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Research asso- ciate,

107.Narayanan Menon, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad, Faculty

108.Naresh Dadhich, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Emeritus fac- ulty

109.Naveen Gaur, Dyal Singh College (University of Delhi), Faculty

110.Neelima Gupte, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Faculty

111.Neera Singh, University of Toronto, Canada, Faculty

112.Nihav Dhawale, National Centre for Biological Sciences and Yale University, Research scholar

113.Nirmalya Kajuri, IIT Madras, Postdoctoral fellow

114.Nissim Kanekar, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, TIFR, Pune, Faculty

115.Nivedita Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

116.Nur Jaman, Jamia Millia Islamia, Research scholar

117.Oindrila Deb, Indian Institute of Science, Research scholar

118.P. Damani, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

119.Padmini Swaminathan, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, Faculty

120.Parameswaran Sankaran, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty

121.Parasar Mohanty, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Faculty

122.Parswa Nath Student, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Research scholar

123.Partha Pratim Roy, South Point High School, Kolkata, Teacher

124.Partho Sarothi Ray, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Faculty

125.Pinaki Banerjee, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

126.Pinaki Chaudhuri, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty

127.Prabhu Nott, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

128.Pradipta Bandyopadhyay, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

129.Pratik Majumdar, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Faculty

130.Pratiksha Baxi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

131.Procheta Mallik, Innovation and Science Promotion Foundation, Researcher

132.Pradeepkumar P. I., Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

133.Prajval Shastri, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Faculty

134.Pranav P. Manangath, University of Western Ontario, Canada, Research scholar

135.Prasenjit Sen, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

136.Prathyusha K. R., University of Dundee, Postdoctoral fellow

137.Proteep Mallik, Azim Premji University, Faculty

138.Pulak Banerjee, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

139.Qamar Nasir Usmani, Jamia Millia Islamia, Faculty

140.Rahul Pandey, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Visiting faculty

141.Rahul Siddharthan, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty

142.Rahul Varman, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Faculty

143.Rajat Tandon, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

144.Rajesh Gopakumar, International Center for Theoretical Sciences, Faculty

145.Ramesh Bairy T. S., Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

146.Ramesh Sreekantan, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, Faculty

147.Ranjani Mazumdar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

148.Ravi Kunjwal, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

149.Rekha Pappu, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, Faculty

150.Remya Nair, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Postdoctoral fellow

151.Resmi Lekshmi, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Faculty

152.Rita Mazumdar, Ranchi Women’s College, Retired faculty

153.Rohan D’ Souza, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Faculty

154.Rukmini Dey, International Center for Theoretical Sciences, Faculty

155.Rupali Gangopadhyay, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Researcher

156.Rusa Mandal, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

157.S. Akshay, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

158.S. Durga Bhavani, University of Hyderabad, Faculty

159.S. G. Dani, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

160.Sabiha Majumder, Indian Institute of Science, Student

161.Sachindeo Vaidya, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

162.Saikat Ghosh, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Faculty

163.Saman Habib, Central Drug Research Institute, Senior Principal Scientist

164.Sanket Haque, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Trainee

165.Saptarshi Pal, University of Calcutta, Research Scholar

166.Samriddhi Sankar Ray, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Faculty

167.Sandeep Krishna, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Faculty

168.Satadal Ganguly, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Faculty

169.Satyajit Chowdhury, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Research scholar

170.Saumyajit Bhattacharya, Kirori Mal College (University of Delhi), Faculty

171.Seshadri Sridhar, Raman Research Institute, Faculty

172.Shahana Bhattacharya, University of Delhi, Faculty

173.Shambhavi Prakash, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

174.Sharath Jose, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Research scholar

175.Sharmila Purkayastha, Miranda House (University of Delhi), Faculty

176.Sharmila Sreekumar, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

177.Shiva Shankar, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Faculty

178.Shubha Tewari, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Faculty

179.Sibasish Ghosh, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty

180.Siddharth K. J., Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Research scholar

181.Simona Sawhney, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Faculty

182.Sirisha Naidu, Wright State University, Faculty

183.Siva Athreya, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, Faculty

184.Somnath Basu, R. K. M. Vivekananda University, Faculty

185.Soumya Das, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

186.Souvik Mandal, Indian Institute of Science, Research scholar

187.Sridipta Ghatak, Jadavpur University

188.Srikanth Sastry, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Faculty

189.Subhashis Banerjee, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Faculty

190.Subhradip Ghosh, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Faculty

191.Subhro Bhattacharjee, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Faculty

192.Subiman Kundu, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Faculty

193.Sudip Kumar Haldar, Physical Research Laboratory, Postdoctoral fellow

194.Sudipta Bandyopadhyay, University of Calcutta, Faculty

195.Sudipto Muhuri, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Faculty

196.Sugata Ray, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Faculty

197.Suman Ganguli, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Postdoctoral fellow

198.Sumathi Rao, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Faculty

199.Sumati Surya, Raman Research Institute, Faculty

200.Sumilan Banerjee, Weizmann Institute of Science, Postdoctoral fellow

201.Sumit Kumar, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Postdoctoral fellow

202.Sumithra Sankaran, Indian Institute of Science, Research scholar

203.Sundar Sarukkai, Manipal University, Faculty

204.Supratik Chakraborty, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

205.Supratim Sengupta, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Faculty

206.Suramya T. K., Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Research scholar

207.Suresh Devasahayam, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Faculty

208.Suresh Govindarajan, Indian Insitute of Technology Madras, Faculty

209.Susmita Sarkar, University of Calcutta, Faculty

210.Sushmita Venugopalan, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Visiting faculty

211.Sutirtha Dutta, Wildlife Institute of India, Project scientist

212.Suvrat Raju, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Faculty

213.Swagato Sanyal, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Research scholar

214.T. N. C. Vidya, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti c Research, Faculty fellow

215.T. R. Govindarajan, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Faculty

216.Tabish Qureshi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Faculty

217.Tamoghna Das, NIST and University of Maryland, CNST-UM fellow

218.Taniya Mandal Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Research scholar

219.Tanmay Deshpande, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Faculty

220.Tanmay Mitra, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

221.Trisha Nath, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

222.U. K. Anandavardhanan, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Faculty

223.Upayan Baul, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Research scholar

224.V. R. Padmawar, Indian Statistical Institute, Faculty

225.V. S. Sunder, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty

226.Varuni Prabhakar, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Postdoctoral fellow

227.Venu Madhav Govindu, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

228.Vijay Ravikumar, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Faculty

229.Vikas Bajpai, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

230.Vikram Vyas, St. Stephens College (University of Delhi), Faculty

231.Vinay Kumar Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Faculty

232.Vipul Vivek, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Postgraduate student

233.Vishnu T. R., Chennai Mathematical Institute, Research scholar

234.Vishwesha Guttal, Indian Institute of Science, Faculty

235.Yogish I. Holla, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Faculty

236.Zaheer Ahmed Sayeed, Brain Sciences

237.Zoya Hasan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Emeritus faculty

The signatories are listed in the alphabetical order of their names. Institutional affiliations of the signatories are given only for purposes of identification, and do not indicate the official positions of these organisations.

2. University of Hyderabad alumni teachers protest the brutal police acts on campus

We are deeply pained to see the heinous attack by the state police and paramilitary force on students who are protesting the activities of Appa Rao Podile, the controversial Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University. As the alumni of one of India’s premier educational institutions, presently teaching in various universities in India, and abroad, we strongly feel that such high handed actions and state sponsored police violence on students – both young men and women – must be condemned. This is crucial in an age of extensive authoritarian silencing. In this open communication with the higher ups in UoH, we would like to reiterate the fact that your dealing with the students has been miscalculated and has provided no reassurance at all. Blinded by a casteist mindset and a resurgent confidence in the wake of a political regime change, the university has failed miserably to instil much needed assurance in the students whose protests have been intensified since the forced suicide of Rohit Vemula. To our utter dismay, we realise that the failed university administration has begun to work hand in glove with the police in order to silence students’ demands, which should have merited a careful hearing and meaningful resolution. However, the VC and his entourage in the university feel that such sustained efforts have no value in a democracy. The shameful activities of the Police-raj, and the subsequent choreographies of complacency at the university clearly display an abysmal misreading of subaltern issues and concerns about the every day survival of students from marginalised backgrounds.

UoH, where all of us spent considerable numbers of years as students and researchers has been one of the major centres of post-Mandal anti-caste politics in India. It has a pioneering role in exposing and articulating – intellectually and politically – the role of caste atrocities with its multiple physical, sexual, and psychological turmoil in the making every day Dalit life. This role has been relevant not only in Telugu speaking regions, but in the whole of India. Being a major central university where the largest number of Dalit scholars study, it is relevant that the casteist mindset of a section of the administration has always chosen ways of maligning the activities of Dalit and subaltern students on this campus. Having witnessed many such activities even earlier, we are not surprised by the fact that the present university administration which draws a huge support from the current political establishment which hypocritically claims Ambedkar can condemn scholars who teach Ambedkar at UoH, and permit them to be imprisoned.

We also condemn the physical attack and violence on the university property unleashed by a small group of students whose identities have not yet been fully examined. Violence in a democracy cannot be upheld, whether it is part of defensive tactics or ‘spontaneous’ behaviour. Such attacks are highly uncalled for and have no place when there are more creative and powerful methods of expressing dissent and differences. Equally important is the fact that, such violence cannot be ‘corrected’ by unleashing aggression and the spectacle of public punishment. Therefore, we not only demand a full investigation into this massive campus violence in which a large number of women students and scholars were brutally assaulted and traumatised but also an immediate resignation of Professor Appa Rao who failed to carry out the official responsibilities as the VC and an ethical commitment as a teacher.

Signatories

  1. P. K. Yasser Arafath, Assistant Professor, Department of History, DU
  2. P. Kesava Kumar, Professor,  Department of Philosophy, DU
  3. N. Sukumar, Professor, Department of Political Science, DU
  4. Parvathi K. Iyer, Assistant Professor, Central University of Gujarat
  5. Ashley N. P, Assistant Professor, Department of English, St.Stephen’s College, DU
  6. Thameem T. Assistant Professor, Department of English, St. Stephen’s College, DU
  7. Muneer Babu. M, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Adigrat University, Ethiopia
  8. Ajit Kulangara Madam, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka
  9. M.N.Parasuraman, Government College of Women, University of Kerala, TVM
  10. Sujit Parayil, Assistant Professor, Centre for Media Studies, JNU
  11. Itishree Pattnaik, Assistant Professor, GIDR, Ahmedabad
  12. Dinesh Prasad, Official Language Officer, Deputy Head, Publication, NID. Ahmedabad
  13. Kali Chittibabu, Assistant Professor, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, School of Social Sciences, JNU
  14. Rijo M John, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology-Jodhpur, Rajasthan
  15. Abey Philip, Senior Lecture, Department of Economics and Finance, Curtin University, Malaysia
  16. Niveditha Kalarikkal, Assistant Professor, Center for Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, Central University of Gujarat.
  17. Dusi Srinivas, Lecturer in History, JVR College, Telangana

We, the undersigned members of IIT Bombay community, strongly condemn the police repression that has been unleashed on students and faculty of University of Hyderabad who seek justice for Rohith Vemula, with the active connivance of the University administration. The testimonies of the events have been singularly disturbing. We cannot let educational institutions become play fields of state repression.

We urge the University administration to immediately remove the police force present on the campus, withdraw charges on the students and faculty, institute a committee of inquiry to look into the allegations of police violence. We also implore the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Women, the National Minorities Commission and the National Commission for SC and ST to send teams to speak to the students and faculty, and hold a public hearing on the events of 22nd March and thereafter.

[This statement is issued in our individual capacities, and does not represent the institution’s opinion.]

Signatories​:

1.Ramesh Bairy T S, Associate Professor, ​Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

2.Sharmila S, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

3.Maithreyi M R (Senior Editor, BNHS, Mumbai), Resident, IIT Bombay

4.Uddipta Chatterjee, Alumnus, Department of Electrical Enigeering, IIT Bombay.

5.Siby K George, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

6.Anil Phulawale, PhD student, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay.

7.Supratik Chakraborty, Professor, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay

8.Ubaid Mushtaq, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

9.Bindhulakshmi P. (Assoc. Professor, Tata Inst. of Social Sciences), Alumnus IIT Bombay

10.Paankhi Agrawal, PhD student, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

11.Sagar Sharma (Student, IIT Bombay)

12.Prateek Vijayavargia, (M Phil Student, Department of HSS, IIT Bombay)

13.Gautam Ganapathy, PhD Student, CTARA, IIT Bombay

14.Anandavardhanan, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay

15.Sabu K.T. (Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay)

16.Hemant Belsare, PhD student, CTARA, IIT Bombay.

17.Ratheesh Radhakrishnan, Associate Professor, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

18.Rakhahari Saha, PhD student, IIT Bombay

19.Danish, PhD candidate, IIT Bombay

20.Priya Jadhav, Assistant Professor, Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas, IIT Bombay

21.Parth Shrimali, Undergraduate Student, IIT­Bombay

22.S. Akshay, Assistant Professor, Dept of CSE, IIT Bombay

23.Ranjith Kallyani, Ph.D Student, IIT Bombay

24.Dayadeep Monder, Assistant Professor, Dept of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay

25.Naresh K. Chandiramani, Professor, Dept of Civil Engg, IIT Bombay

26.Roopesh OB, Ph.D Student, IIT Bombay

27.Aparna Ros, Ph.D Student, Dept of HSS, IIT Bombay

28.Soma KP, PhD Scholar , HSS Deptt, IIT Bombay

29.Nisar AC. Ph.D Student, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

30.Anindya Datta, Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay

31.Bodhayan Roy, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of CSE, IIT Bombay

32.Sudipt Kumar (Student, HSS, IIT Bombay)

33.Amit Saurabh ( M.Phil, HSS, IIT Bombay)

34.Ravinder Kumar Verma (Student, HSS, IIT Bombay)

35.Paulomi Chakraborty, Assistant Professor, Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

36.Avinash, PhD Student, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

37.Nikhil Balaji, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of CSE, IIT Bombay

38.Harshit Pande, Alumnus 2015 M.Tech Computer Science and Engineering

39.Afsal Najeeb, M.Tech student, CTARA, IIT Bombay

40.Anand Karthikeyan, PhD student, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

41.Yoonus K, PhD student, Dept of HSS, IIT Bombay.

42.Ilyas M. Ph.D student. Dept of HSS, IIT Bombay.

43.Aman Madaan, M.Tech. (CSE) 2015 Batch

44.Punnya Rajendran, PhD student, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

45.Dileesh P. V., PhD Student, ME Dept. IIT Bombay

46.Darshan Yadav, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

47.Sarbani Bandyopadhyay, PhD Student, HSS Dept IIT BOMBAY

48.Pooja Prasad, PhD student, CTARA, IIT Bombay

49.Abhinav Tyagi, PhD Student, Dept of HSS, IIT Bombay.

50.Aneri Taskar ( M.Phil Student, Dept of HSS, IIT Bombay)

51.Ushak Rahaman, PhD student, Dept. of Physics, IIT Bombay

52.Chandradeep Singh PhD student, Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

53.Sandeep Choubey, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

54.Rahul Maganti, Alumnus, Dept. of Metallurgical Engg. and Materials Science, IIT Bombay.

55.Dipjyoti Das, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

56.Chinmay Dharurkar, PhD Student, IIT Bombay.

57.Aditya Gangrade, Alumnus, Dept. of Electrical Engg., IIT Bombay.

58.Niladri Chatterji, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

59.Arpit Agarwal, Alumnus, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay.

60.Bodhi Vani, Alumna, Dept. of Chemistry, IIT Bombay

61.Rushina Shah, Alumna, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay

62.Madhu N. Belur, Professor, Dept of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

63.Sarbani Banerjee Belur, Project Research Scientist, IIT Bombay

64.Kushal Deb, Professor, Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

65.Manisha Rao, (Assistant Professor, Dept of Sociology, University of Bombay) Resident, IIT Bombay

66.Rinzi Lama, Alumnus, Department of HSS, IIT Bombay

67.Shaoni Shabnam, Research Associate, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

68.Byasa Moharana, Assistant Professor, TISS, Tuljapur Campus.

69.A. Sanyal, Professor, Department of CSE, IIT Bombay.

70.Abhish Dev, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

71.Udit Mavinkurve, Undergraduate, Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay.

72.Arpan Saha, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

73.Somesh Yadav, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

74.Esli Kumar, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

75.RamSagar Meena, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

76.Mohammad Qadish, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

77.Suman Sourav, Alumnus, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Bombay

78.Mihir Bhosale, Undergraduate, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

79.Sudipto Biswas, Alumnus, Department of CSE, IIT Bombay

80.Ramandeep Kaur, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

81.Arpita Phukan Biswas, Doctoral Student, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

82.Harshit Sahay, Undergraduate Student, Department of MEMS, IIT Bombay

83.Tejas Srinivasan, Undergraduate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay

84.Sanjeet Kumar, Undergraduate, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

85.Aswathi Raveendran, Doctoral Student, Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay1

86.Adithya Gungi, Student, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

87.Mithila Biniwale, Alumnus, Department of Humanities and Social sciences, IIT Bombay

88.Bhaskaran Raman, Professor, Department of CSE, IIT Bombay

89.Siddhartha Chaudhuri, Assistant Professor, Department of CSE, IIT Bombay

90.Saptarshi Dey, Alumnus, Dept. of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay

91.Jishnu Krishnan,Research assistant , IDC , IIT Bombay

92.Gargi S Kumar , Phd Student, HSS , IIT Bombay

93.Aquib Parvez, M.Phil student, HSS, IIT­Bombay

94.Ado Kehie, Alumnus, HSS, IIT­Bombay

95.Ashutosh Tripathi, Alumnus, Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay

96.Anil Kottantharayil, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

97.Mufsin PP. M Phil Planning and Development, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay.

98.G. Pavan Bharadwaj, Alumnus, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay

99.M. A. Abidini, Alumnus, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

100.R.V.C. Bennabhaktula. Alumnus, Department of Engineering Physics, IIT Bombay

101.Malabika Biswas. Doctoral student. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

102.Anirban Ghatak, Alumnus. Department of IEOR, IIT Bombay

103.Praveen R, Alumnus, Department of Civil Engg,, IIT Bombay

104.Bhuvaneshwari Subramanian, M.Phil student, Dept of HSS, IIT Bombay

105.Abhijit Majumder, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IITB.

106.Jitendra Shah, Project staff, GISE Lab, CSE, IITB

107.Pradeepkumar, P.I., Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay

108.Irfan Ali K C, M Phil research scholar, Planning and Development,Department of HSS, IIT Bombay.

109.Priya Sharma, M.Phil Research scholar, HSS, IIT Bombay

110.Mohon Kumar M.Phil Alumnus, Department of Humanities and Social sciences, IIT Bombay

111.Sagnik Chakraborty, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

112.Tresa Abraham, PhD student, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

113.Abhishek Kashyap, PhD student, Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

114.Om P. Damani, Associate Professor, Department of CSE, IIT Bombay

115.Pranay K Vaidya, Alumnus, Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

116 Ashish Sangle, Alumnus,Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

117.Praveen Patel, Alumnus,Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

118.Sidhant Kumar, Alumnus, Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay 119.Sooraj P,PhD student, Mechanical Engineering Dept., IIT Bombay

120.Deewanshi Rawat, M.Phil Research Scholar, HSS, IIT Bombay

121.Pleasa Serin Abraham, PhD Scholar, IIT Bombay

122.Jayanth Tadinada, Class of 2011, IIT Bombay

123.Surya Prakash Upadhyay, Assistant Professor, IIT Mandi (Alumnus, IIT Bombay)

124.Vinay: Planning & Development IIT Bombay

125.Ved Prakash, M. Phil. (Planning & Development), Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay

126.Mahendra,M Phil,HSS,IIT Bombay.

127 Sagar, M.Phil, H,S,S, IIT Bombay

128.S. G. Dani, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Dept. of Math., IIT Bombay

129.Merin Simi Raj, Asst Professor, IIT Madras, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

130.Anzar Rabbani, Dual Degree Student(B.Tech+M.Tech), IIT Bombay 131.Rashmi Chaudhary, Alumnus, Department of HSS, IIT Bombay

132.Milan Agnani, Alumnus, Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Bombay

133.Priyam Tripathy, Alumna, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

134.Abhijit Dasgupta, Phd student, HSS. IIT Bombay

135.Purushottam Kulkarni, Faculty, CSE, IIT Bombay

136.Supravat Dey, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

137.Sonam Ambe, Alumnus, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT ,Bombay

138.Rashmi Rekha Mech, Alumnus, CSE, IIT Bombay

139.Shreyans Maini, Class of 2010, IIT Bombay

140.Roshni Babu, PhD student, IIT Bombay.

141.Jithin R, PhD Student, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

142.Sandeep S, Research scholar, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

143.Harsh Bhageria, Alumnus, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

144.Neeraja Sahasrabudhe, Postdoctoral fellow, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay.

145.Sayali Zarekar, Alumnus, ChE, IIT Bombay

146.Anurag Misra, Alumnus, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

147.Sushant Raut, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

148.Sneha Sharma, Alumna, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

149.Hemendra Srivastava, Alumnus, CSE, IIT Bombay.

150.Saaz Sakrikar, Alumnus, Department of Chemistry, IIT Bombay. 151.Rama Krishna Banoth, Alumnus, CSE, IIT Bombay.

152.K Kranthi Kumar, Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

153.Tamali Chakraborty, Ph.D. student, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

154.Santosh R Chavan, Staff, Department of HSS, IIT Bombay

155.Shruti Sahay, Ph.D. student, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay

156.Peehu Pardeshi, PhD student, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay

157.Meryl Lewis, Alumna, Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Bombay

158.Anand Manarkattu ( Alumnus, IIT Bombay)

159.Anurag Mehra, Professor, Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

160.Sushil K Mishra, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay

161.Aditya Shankar, Student, Electrical Engineering

162.Soham Khadatare, Student, Civil Engineering

163.Anju Unnikrishnan, Doctoral Student, Department Of Chemistry, IIT Bombay.

164.Ritu Sharma, Student, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences

165.Urbashi Sarkar (Alumnus, IIT Bombay)

166.Chitranshu Mathur (Alumnus, IIT Bombay)

167.Ashok Kumar M, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

168.Ajinkya Pandit, Alumnus, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

169.Ankit Udai, Undergraduate, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

170.Ramchandra Phawade, PDF, Dept of CSE, IIT Bombay

171.M S Raghunathan, Distinguished Guest Professor, Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay

172.Anisha Bajaj, Department of Energy Science and Engineering

173.Kunal Pareek (Alumnus, Chemical Engineering Department)

174.Karthik Shekhar (Alumnus, Chemical Engineering Department)

175.Mandar Gadre (Alumnus, Dept. of Metallurgical Engg. and Materials Science, IIT Bombay)

176.Purushottam Dixit (Alumnus, Chemical Engineering Department)

177.Poonam Argade (Research Assistant, IIT Bombay)

178.Amal Sankar (PhD Scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay)

179.Disha Bhanot, PDF, Tata Centre for Technology and Design, IIT Bombay

180.Neelakantan, PhD student, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay

181.Rahul Sharma, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

182.Ishita Dasgupta, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

183.Siddhartha Ghosh, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

184.Aviral Bhatnagar, Alumnus, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay.

185.Rijin Rajan, Research Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay

186.Kishore Chatterjee, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay

187.N. C. Narayanan, Professor, CTARA, IIT Bombay

188.Ayyaz Siddique, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay

189.Sai Thakur, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tuljapur, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

190.Shubha R, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

191.Rakesh Kumar Ph.D Scholar HSS IIT Bombay

192.Dibyendu Dutta, PhD Scholar, Dept of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay

193.Ratheesh Kumar, Alumnus, IIT Bombay

194.Rowena Robinson, Professor, Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

195.Dani Kalarikalayil Raju, M.Des student, IDC IIT Bombay

196.Douglas Allen, Professor, Philosophy, University of Maine, USA, formerly Distinguished Professor Chair of Gandhian Studies, IITB

197.Varun Kanade, (Alumnus, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay)

198.Dipankar, Faculty / Scientist, TREELabs and IIT­Bombay

199.D. Parthasarathy, Professor, Dept of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay

200.Sudeep K. S., Alumnus, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay

201.Sriram Srinivasan, Adjunct Faculty, CSE, IIT Bombay

202.Maymon Madathingal, (Alumnus, class of 2004, IIT Bombay)

203.Nitish Fatarpekar, Undergraduate, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay

4. Anthropologist Talal Asad, in support

I am sad to hear of this news. In a democracy no one should be brutalised by the police – male or female, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, or Muslim. A university campus is an especially protected place, and there minority students need special protection against physical and psychological mistreatment. In a democracy, it is up to the university authorities to protect students and to try to understand their grievances, not to punish them and certainly not to use police against them. The accounts I hear from you as well as from my Indian friends about police violence in university campuses, whether in JNU or in HCU, is very disturbing. You have my complete sympathy and support. This kind of authoritarian behaviour will definitely damage India’s reputation internationally.

All good wishes to you and your comrades.

Words Fail Me: Virginia Woolf’s Sole Surviving Recording

In a tone that is at once celebratory and wondrous, humble, witty, and serious, she talks about the mutability of words over time and their autonomy in making meaning.

English novelist and critic Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941), 1902. (Photo by George C. Beresford/Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Credit: Wikipedia.org

English novelist and critic Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941), 1902. (Photo by George C. Beresford/Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Credit: Wikipedia.org

“Perhaps that is [the] most striking peculiarity [of words] – their need of change. It is because the truth they try to catch is many-sided, and they convey it by being themselves many-sided, flashing this way, then that. Thus they mean one thing to one person, another thing to another person; they are unintelligible to one generation, plain as a pikestaff to the next. And it is because of this complexity that they survive.”

On the occasion of Virginia Woolf’s 75th death anniversary, the BBC has created an animation using what is believed to be Woolf’s sole surviving recording.

The recording was made on 29 April 1937 for a BBC series called ‘Words Fail Me.’ Only eight minutes of the original remain, and the BBC has used two of those eight in their animation.

The original cover of To The Lighthouse: woodcut print by Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell.

The original cover of To The Lighthouse: woodcut print by Woolf’s sister Vanessa Bell.

The animator Phoebe Halstead was inspired by the woodcuts created by Woolf’s sister Vanessa Bell for the Hogarth Press, which was founded by Woolf and her husband Leonard in 1917, and which published Woolf’s books.

When she made the recording, Woolf was 55 years old and living with Leonard in Bloomsbury, London. A part of the famous Bloomsbury circle, the Woolfs were very much at the heart of London intellectual life. Despite her lively literary life and rising recognition as a writer, however, Woolf continued her lifelong struggle with depression. It was just four years after her BBC broadcast that she committed suicide.

Woolf’s talk, delivered in her posh English accent, of course takes as its premise the “Englishness” of the English language. But Woolf actually questions the idea of English as supreme, stable or authentic. In a tone that is at once celebratory and wondrous, humble, witty, and serious, she talks about the mutability of words over time and their autonomy in making meaning. “They are the wildest, freest, most irresponsible, most unteachable of all things,” she extolls.

Certainly, her attitudes to language and truth are expressed in her associative, free-flowing, exploratory writing style – a style that was celebrated as revolutionary by her peers and made particularly famous by the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To The Lighthouse (1927). And indeed, they are attitudes that writers and thinkers of all kinds, times and places could benefit from, regardless of their own contexts.

Here are some links to whet your Woolf appetite:

Joshua Rothman: Viriginia Woolf’s Idea of Privacy, New Yorker

Vita Sackville-West & Virginia Woolf: A Thing That Wants Virginia, Paris Review

LHC Switches On for Experiments in 2016 – What’s in the Pipeline?

Physicists are eagerly awaiting more data concerning a possible new particle sighted last year. If the LHC confirms its existence, our existing theories of physics will have to be profoundly reshaped.

Physicists are eagerly awaiting more data concerning a possible new particle sighted last year. If the LHC confirms its existence, our existing theories of physics will have to be profoundly reshaped.

A cross-sectional view of the ATLAS particle detector adjacent to the LHC complex. Credit: Image Editor/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

A cross-sectional view of the ATLAS particle detector adjacent to the LHC complex. Credit: Image Editor/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

On March 25, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment switched on for experiments in 2016. Even without physicists eagerly anticipating more information about a possible new fundamental particle first sighted late last year, the LHC has its tasks cut out as the world’s premier particle physics probe.

Its reopening comes at the end of a 13-week maintenance run, during which engineers checked to see if all of its instruments, as well as the four attending detectors, were performing normally. The checks are necessary because, until June 2015, the LHC had been shut for major upgrades that almost doubled the energy at which it performs its experiments and the number of particles it produces in every collision. Then, it ran for a short while in 2015 before shutting for maintenance over the winter.

The LHC accelerates two beams of protons, each containing billions of the particles, to close to the speed of light and then smashes them head on. The accelerated particles contain a large amount of energy (each particle potentially contains about 6,000-times the energy it has when at rest). Right after the collision, the surplus energy manifests as rarely observed particles. What kinds of particles do or don’t manifest, and at what rates, comprise the data logged by detectors. Physicists compare this data against their theoretical models to understand more about the fundamental properties of nature.

Also read: All you need to know to get started on particle physics

The new particle, suspicions of whose existence were announced in December 2015, is a good example. It weighs about 750 GeV/c2, and is not predicted by theory. But if the LHC finds one such particle in its 2016 run, then physicists will have a broken theory on their hands. And their – our – understanding of fundamental physics will have been wrong in some way. This isn’t all bad because physicists are looking for just such a thing.

One dominant theory that has proved remarkably successful in the last four decades is the Standard Model of particle physics. Its predicted suite of fundamental particles have all been found, mostly according to its exact specifications, making it the preeminent model used by physicists to understand new phenomena. But try as they might, some of these new phenomena don’t seem reconcilable within the limits of the model. One famous example is dark matter. There is observational evidence to suggest that such a kind of matter exists and makes up up to 26.8% of all matter in the universe. However, physicists have not yet zeroed in on its particulate constituents.

Some suspect the 750-GeV particle to be that constituent. Others think the particle could be the graviton, the long-sought mediator of the gravitational force. Even others think it could be a particle fitting the predictions of a more expansive yet unproven theory called supersymmetry. Whatever it is, the first shape of the answer will emerge out of the LHC, and hopefully in 2016.

The American Elite’s Political Crisis

The current crisis in the US Right and the insurgency from the Left are shattering the consensus forged over decades and centred on the might of the market. A major political realignment may be in the offing.

The current crisis in the US Right and the insurgency from the Left are shattering the consensus forged over decades and centred on the might of the market. A major political realignment may be in the offing.

The American elite is facing a political crisis. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The American elite is facing a political crisis. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

American sociologist Alvin Gouldner once noted that if there is an iron law of oligarchy, there must also be an iron law of democracy. Power is all too frequently concentrated in fewer hands, corrupting democracy in the process and debasing the broader political culture. But nothing lasts forever and perhaps the most dangerous time for any system is when its guardians are most comfortable, made complacent and even smug by the feeling of “we’ve never had it so good”.

For the American political elite – regardless of their party affliations – 2016 must increasingly feel like 1973: then, the elites complained that the biggest threat facing them came from “a highly educated, mobilised, and participant society”. To many, that’s democracy. To elites, as Bill Domenech noted recently, mass mobilisations look like chaos and disorder. In 2016, just like in 1973, elites want to shepherd the enraged sheep back into their pen to resume their allotted place, voting every couple of years and otherwise enjoying life as consumer-sovereigns. But the sheep don’t appear to be listening at the moment because the market is not delivering.

The current crisis in the US Right and the insurgency from the Left are shattering the consensus forged over decades and centred on the might of the market. But the mental universe of elites has rendered invisible the plight of the many while they’ve been enjoying the spoils of privatisation, the profits of globalisation and the licence of corporate non-regulation, presided over by a political class more or less completely in the grip of Wall Street mentalities. They do not see that the world has moved on, that there are working and middle class people whose living standards and prospects bear no relationship to the classless utopia or American dream of some golden age. In truth, the golden age disappeared around 1973 and, for minorities, its lustre was a mere mirage.

The pent up rage on the Right represents the shrill cry of people in the shadows upon whose psychic and social plight Donald Trump’s demagoguery has shone an energising ray of light. Many of them would hardly shrink, might even celebrate, the subliminal slogan at the heart‎ of Trumpism – white, working class power. It may be a road to nowhere but division by mobilising resentment and pain through irresponsible, but well thought out, knee-jerk bigotry and ethnocentrism. Yet its adherents look to a golden past when America was theirs, as was the world. At home and abroad, they see defeat and humiliation at the hands of lesser peoples, including a supposed Muslim foreigner in the White House. So they want their country back and to make it great again. In this scenario, perhaps Trump is like Benito Mussolini restoring the Roman empire. Racial antipathy among marginal white workers appears to have conjoined two forces that conventionally pull in opposite directions; class matters in America but in usual ways. President Barack Obama has unwittingly proved a prime target for racist anti-elitists.

The frustrations of the many young workers and middle classes rest on the Left with Bernie Sanders’s socialism. The under-thirties don’t care about the Cold war and its constructed ‘Red Scare’ that the over-fifties were force-fed and imbibed for decades after 1947; they want Swedish welfare capitalism in spades, to be relieved of lifelong indebtedness incurred at college and the costs of corporate-controlled healthcare. They would rather divert war spending to building a new America worthy of the American dream, tax the rich, stem the flow of big money into politics, and restore the healthier public political culture of the 1960s – built by a mobilised, educated and participatory populace who had had enough of racial and gender oppression, militarism and war, and a corrupt, arrogant elite.

Sanders talks the politics of class, which actually accords with the cry of white workers backing Trump – but the latter cannot see past their identity politics of ethno-racial loss. So the two groups with so many complaints and demands in common remain divided, one of the reasons sociologist Werner Sombart gave over a century ago in answer to his question: “Why is there no socialism in the United States?”

With Ted Cruz still on the margins of the Republican elite’s affections, only Hillary Clinton stands unequivocally for defence of the existing system, explaining why Republicans – the creators of “Stop Trump” organisations – may end up holding their noses and voting Democratic in November. But they may not get the chance if Sanders continues to surprise by adding more wins to add to his current 11, especially in big states like California and New York.

The short term political prospects are pretty bleak and Americans are prepared for a bumpy ride into the summer nominating conventions. But the discontent is so intense that there’s likely to be a correction. The US system has proved very flexible in the past, including when it was captured by corporate money and then recaptured/recalibrated by more enlightened elements allied with reformist politicians. The Gilded Age of ‘robber barons’ – Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt et al – in the 1880s and 1890s gave way to leftist and conservative progressivism (both state building programmes against the excesses of the market); in turn, progressivism gave way to red scares after 1918 and the free market jamboree of the ‘20s that ended in the Wall Street crash of 1929. The New Deal of the 1930s inaugurated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt just about outlived the second world war but came under the intense scrutiny of the FBI and McCarthyism. And the pendulum swung again with the Great Society programmes under Lyndon Johnson, and again with Reaganomics in the 1980s and 1990s (by then known as the Third Way).

Major party realignments in the US seem to happen every 30 or 40 years – 1896, 1932/6, 1968, possibly 1994. The country may be heading towards another one, although it is early days still. The Republican party’s days look numbered, while the Democratic party is reeling under the Sanders insurgency. That’s the terrain on which a new politics will probably emerge, but only if organised constituencies develop to maintain pressure on their leaders to remind them where their interest lie. Gouldner’s iron law of democracy demands it.

Indian Journalists Respond to ‘Sensationalist’ Charge from Pakistan Media Authority

A press release from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority calls the Indian broadcast media’s terror coverage ‘crass sensationalism’. Senior journalists respond.

A press release from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority calls the Indian broadcast media’s terror coverage ‘crass sensationalism’. Senior Indian journalists respond.

Advisory issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority

Advisory issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority

New Delhi: After the suicide bomb attack in a Lahore park that killed at least 69 people and injured hundreds on March 27, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issued a press release [pdf] on how the broadcast media should cover the incident.

“In the wake of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi incidents, media is expected to cover the events with utmost professional responsibility keeping in mind that any irresponsible or hyper attitude at this stage can jeopardise the ongoing National Action Plan,” the release read. “Pakistani media needs to follow the example of professional handling of Brussels attacks by international media rather than following in the footsteps of Indian media that is driven by crass commercialisation” (emphasis added).

Speaking to The Wire, senior journalists from the broadcast media in India had differing views on the subject. While none disagreed that the media may have a thing or two to learn, several journalists felt PEMRA’s comment was unnecessary and ill-advised.

Rajdeep Sardesai. Credit: Twitter/Rajdeep Sardesai

Rajdeep Sardesai. Credit: Twitter/Rajdeep Sardesai

Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today spoke against the implicated competitiveness of the statement. “It is hard to say why this was done. All I can say is that this kind of one-upmanship on who covered a terrorist attack with more sensitivity, Indian or Pakistani media, isn’t needed. I think we both have a lot to learn and much space for improvement,” Sardesai said. “A terror attack, especially of the kind we saw (in Lahore) is ghastly, senseless and unacceptable. To then say that Indians cover it in a sensationalist manner and Pakistani’s don’t – I haven’t seen any great evidence of that to be honest. As I said, I think both of us need to show greater sensitivity and restraint. Let’s not get into a competition on this.”

Ravish Kumar. Credit: NDTV India screen grab

Ravish Kumar. Credit: NDTV India screen grab

Ravish Kumar of NDTV India called PEMRA’s comment on the Indian and European media “laughable”. “Yes, the European media is very sensitive when there is an attack in Europe. They devote all their time and resources to covering it. But what happens when the attack is somewhere else in the world? Where is their coverage on Yemen, Turkey and other countries that have seen terrorist attacks? Their sensitivity is not visible then. Is this what PEMRA wants the Pakistani media to learn?” he asked, claiming that statements like this put the European media on a pedestal. “Also, are they claiming that none of their media houses are run on profits? Are they all state funded? Of course that isn’t true. What this statement really shows is that authorities like this one are very limited, and need to reinvent themselves if they are to be taken seriously.”

Sonia Singh. Credit: Twitter/Sonia Singh

Sonia Singh. Credit: Twitter/Sonia Singh

Editorial director and president of the ethics committee at NDTV Sonia Singh felt that this statement was a way for the Pakistan government to “disguise censorship”. “Their statement is absolutely ridiculous,” she added. “I don’t think there is any truth in what they have said about the Indian media.”

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, editor designate of the Economic and Political Weekly, said though the Indian media definitely had room to improve, PEMRA’s comment on the Indian media was “a little pot shot” at India. “It’s not that the Indian media has always been responsible while reporting terror incidents. In the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, particular TV channels were even accused of inadvertently helping the terrorists. There was a lot of internal discussion after that, a delegation from the broadcast media even went to meet the then prime minister Manmohan Singh on what could be done differently and whether certain restrictions could be set. But eventually nothing came out of it,” Thakurta remembered.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. Credit: paranjoy.in

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. Credit: paranjoy.in

Thakurta went on to say that media practices may also reflect government and security practices after an attack. “On international standards, people often say look at how the American media reported after 9/11. The area was cordoned off, TV cameras couldn’t go there in the immediate aftermath of the incident. I don’t know what these international standards of reporting are or whether there are any global good practices on how to report a terror incident, but I think it has a lot to with how local authorities enforce law and order.”

Sevanti Ninan. Credit: Centre for the Advanced Study of India

Sevanti Ninan. Credit: Centre for the Advanced Study of India

Sevanti Ninan, founding editor of The Hoot, said that though though their assessment of the Indian media’s coverage of such events was right, it seemed like PEMRA was trying to “score a point”. “Though definitely,” she added, “The fact that the Indian media needs to check how they cover terror attacks is reinforced by PEMRA’s statement.”

Urmilesh Singh, former executive editor of Rajya Sabha TV, was more sympathetic to PEMRA’s statement, though he too agreed with Sardesai’s opinion on the unnecessary competitiveness. “India and Pakistan, both countries have sections of the media that tend to sensationalise terror incidents. These days, I would even say that this phenomenon is growing faster in India than in Pakistan. If I take one example – when Indian security officers caught Ajmal Kasab, Pakistani authorities kept insisting that he was not from there. It was Pakistani media that went to Kasab’s village and found that he was indeed Pakistani. But I never heard any compliments for Pakistani journalists from the Indian press or authorities on this. This is one example, of course it does not mean that all of the Pakistani media is doing an objective and good job,” he told The Wire.

Urmilesh Singh. Credit: Rajya Sabha TV screen grab

Urmilesh Singh. Credit: Rajya Sabha TV screen grab

“I would not say that PEMRA’s suggestion is wrong or that they should not have said this,” Singh continued. “I believe that this is a problem in both countries. There is a long tradition of professionalism in the western media, even though they too make mistakes. Often they have trouble understanding Asian countries, or make mistakes in understanding Islam and Islamic countries and terrorism. But even then, I would say that their coverage is more professional. We should definitely learn from that, there is no problem there.”

“There is no reason for India and Pakistan to get into a ‘my shirt is whiter than yours’ argument,” he concluded. “But if someone says that you shouldn’t learn from India in this matter I would not consider that to be wrong.”

Note: The Wire reached out to a number of senior Pakistani TV journalists for their comments on the PEMRA advisory and will incorporate their responses when we receive them. A query to PEMRA about the reasons behind its assessment of the Indian media has so far gone unanswered.

India to Join Three ‘Gift Baskets’ at Final Nuclear Security Summit

India is looking to become part of the informal ‘contact group’, ‘countering nuclear smuggling’ and ‘training and support centre’ circles.

India is looking to become part of the informal ‘contact group’, ‘countering nuclear smuggling’ and ‘training and support centre’ circles.

The 2014 Nuclear Security Summit. Credit: Voice of America

The 2014 Nuclear Security Summit. Credit: Voice of America

New Delhi: At the last ever Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) from March 31-April 2, India will join three ‘gift baskets’ to disrupt transnational nuclear smuggling networks, as well as to set up an informal structure to sustain the momentum after the NSS process ends.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the two-day NSS in Washington, which will begin with a dinner hosted at the White House for 53 world leaders and heads of four international organisations on the evening of March 31.

‘Gift basket’ diplomacy was devised at the Seoul 2010 summit as a way around the need for universal consensus for any deliverable to be finalised on a multilateral platform. So far, India had refrained from joining any of the fifteen-odd informal groups or ‘gift baskets’ formed over a specific theme. But, at this last summit, New Delhi is ready to take the plunge.

The three informal groups

Given India’s long term plan to expand nuclear power exponentially, there will also be a consequent expansion in nuclear fuel cycle facilities – and therefore, a heightened concern for securing material and technology at all stages is evident.

The eagerness to be more active in the emerging international nuclear security architecture is also part of India’s projection as a responsible nuclear power, especially as it seeks entry to exclusive export control clubs and nuclear trading regimes.

Sources said India had expressed its willingness to join a ‘contact group’ – a smaller subset of the 53 participating countries – that will be instrumental in monitoring the implementation of the various outcomes from the summit. The group, which will meet in Vienna at official level, will also decide if there was any requirement for another summit of the political leadership.

While the contact group will be a new mechanism, India will also join two other ‘gift baskets’ that have been in place for the last four years.

Around 20 countries, including the US and UK, are part of the “countering nuclear smuggling” circle, which aims to stop the illicit trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive materials through an exchange of information, as well as aggressive prosecution through effective domestic legislation.

At the first NSS in 2010, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised to set up the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP). Therefore, the third ‘bloc’ that India intends to join – for Nuclear Security Training and Support Centres and Centres of Excellence (CoE) – is a natural fit.

The CoEs, numbering over a dozen, have been described as the most tangible outcome of the NSS process. Last year in June, Laura Holgate, the US sherpa for the summit, described COEs as a “major component of the effort to carry forward the Summit momentum”.

While several of the CoEs are completed and operational, others are a work in progress – India’s GCNEP is in the latter category.

The Centre has been conducting off-campus short programs and workshops at the national and regional level since 2011, but campus operations at Bahadurgarh, Haryana, are set to begin from April 2017.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the US, Russia, France and the UK have signed pacts to help in the development of and provide technical assistance for modules in GCNEP’s five schools. In the first phase, the School of Nuclear Studies and a guest house are apparently in the advanced stage of construction.

“While short term courses have been organised, there had been some proposals for masters program. But, since sustainability is a concern, we are not contemplating a masters program,” said a senior official from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

With the help of the IAEA, the network of centres aim to promote activities to provide for the “exchange of information and best practice that would strengthen capacity building and nuclear security culture, and maintain a well-trained cadre of technical experts in States” – according to the 2014 joint statement submitted by Italy on behalf of 30 countries.

NSS achievements

Another major achievement touted from the NSS has been the removal of 3.2 metric of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the civilian space in 14 countries, thereby reducing the risk of misuse of the nuclear material.

In its 2014 progress report, India had noted that the enriched uranium based fuel in the Apsara reactor was in a safeguarded facility since 2010. “No research reactor is now using HEU,” asserted a DAE official.

At the same time, the demand for isotopes, earlier produced from HEU, is rising for application in various fields, from health to agriculture. “We are working to set up facilities to produce Molybdenum 99 by irradiating low enriched uranium targets in India’s research reactor,” the DAE official said.

While the latest national progress report will be circulated at the summit, Modi will also “intervene to show some of the important measures that we have taken to strengthen nuclear security” in the first plenary session on April 1, the official said.

The main development during the inter-summit years, which Modi will certainly highlight, has been ratification of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol in July 2014, which commits India to mandatory reporting of exports to non-nuclear weapon states.

During the working lunch at the summit, discussions will be around institutional actions.

The unique outcome of the 2016 summit will be five separate action plans for the IAEA, UN, Interpol, Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) and the G-7 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (Global Partnership).

“In this regard, India places importance on the IAEA’s central role in international cooperation and technical guidance in the nuclear security. India has made significant contribution to the IAEA, both in terms of human resources and financial resources,” said Amandeep Singh Gill, joint secretary (disarmament and internal security), Ministry of External Affairs, at a briefing on Monday.

He added that India expected the NSS to “help bolster legal institutional and enforcement measures to strengthen security of nuclear material, radioactive material and technology”.

The last session of the day will be a scenario-based discussion for leaders to get a taste of the technical complexity on the subject. “This is not a role-play. Basically, a scenario about nuclear security will be put to the leaders and they will be asked to give their views in an interactive way. This has been a useful way to get the political leadership to appreciate the complications, which they sometimes don’t apprehend,” said a senior Indian official.

What’s on the Table for Modi’s Visit to Brussels

The free trade agreement, counterterrorism and other key areas of cooperation will be up for discussion at the India-EU Summit.

The free trade agreement, counterterrorism and other key areas of cooperation will be up for discussion at the India-EU Summit.

Narendra Modi will attend the EU-India Summit in Brussels on March 30. Credit: PTI

Narendra Modi will attend the EU-India Summit in Brussels on March 30. Credit: PTI

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Brussels for a day on Wednesday, March 30, he is unlikely to make headlines in a city still reeling from the terrorist attacks of a week ago. But European Union officials say Modi’s decision to attend the EU-India Summit amid heightened security concerns in the region is a welcome sign that both sides are keen to re-establish a relationship that has been languishing in recent years.

What’s on the agenda

Held after a gap of four years, the 13th EU-India Summit will focus on counterterrorism, more so in the aftermath of the Brussels bombings. Trade and investment will also figure high on the agenda. EU officials hope that the summit will give fresh political impetus to the free trade agreement (FTA) talks, started in 2007 and suspended in 2013.

“We are not expecting a miracle on the FTA, but we do hope for a political impulse and signal from both sides that there is a commitment to work towards an agreement, and that it is still on the cards,” a senior EU official told The Wire.

European officials hope the closed-door summit will yield a joint statement and an agenda that will serve as a road map for EU-India cooperation in what is referred to as Action 2020. This includes concrete priority actions for the strategic partnership between the two sides over the next five years. Declarations on a water partnership, and an energy and climate partnership are also expected to be announced.

“There is a willingness on the EU’s side to support India’s and Modi’s initiatives, especially in the fields of energy, Swachh Bharat (Clean India) and water management, and we are very well-placed to contribute to all these,” an EU official said.

Diplomats on both sides are also hoping to thrash out a common agenda on migration and mobility to cover legal and irregular migration, international protection and migration, and development. Major sticking points include the EU’s demands to reduce duties on cars and car parts, and wines and spirits, while India wants easier visas for skilled professionals and has demanded data security status, which is crucial for its IT sector to do more business with EU firms.

The summit will also discuss cooperation in the fields of research and innovation, the digital market and human rights.

On foreign policy, the two sides will discuss the latest developments in their neighbourhoods. EU officials say that they are particularly happy that India is playing an active role in Afghanistan and hope to discuss areas of cooperation in that country, ahead of an EU summit on Afghanistan in November. Other countries to be discussed include Pakistan, Nepal, North Korea and the Ukraine.

For the India-Belgium bilateral, terrorism and trade will also figure prominently in discussions that Modi will have with his Belgian counterpart, Charles Michel, who will be accompanied by officials from the top 20 Belgian companies currently doing business in India and those hoping to do so.

EU officials also said they are expecting the European Investment Bank (EIB) to announce a significant investment for a mass transit project in India. “This will enhance the current exposure of the EIB in India significantly,” noted an EU official.

Engaging with EU leadership

Hosted by the EU, the European side will be led by Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. Although this is Modi’s maiden visit to the EU headquarters, he has previously met Tusk and Juncker on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey in November last year. Frederica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Commissioner for Trade, will also be present.

According to an EU official, the summit will be “an opportunity for Modi to really engage with the EU leadership. Modi has a very personalised approach to foreign policy, and it is important for EU leaders that there is some visibility of their engagement with him, and hopefully, some concrete results will follow. The EU as an entity has been absent in Modi’s world, but at the same time he has been engaged with the key member states, including Germany, UK and France. There have also been several bilateral interactions with smaller members, including the Netherlands and Ireland.”

“The Indian side has been actively pushing for a counter-terrorism declaration, which is now expected to take centre stage in light of the recent attacks, but was always on the cards,” an EU official close to the negotiations said. “This is a key challenge for both of us, and an area of cooperation which we would like to see significantly strengthened.”

“Counterterrorism is something that is extremely crucial for us,” Manjeev Singh Puri, India’s ambassador to the EU, said at a recent policymakers’ lunch, organised by Friends of Europe, a Brussels-based think-tank. While India strongly condemns all terrorist attacks, “we believe that while the other guys are plotting (attacks), we, as governments and government institutions have the great ability of large-scale collaboration (to stop them). That’s our asset and we must pool that together,” he added.

The event, which brought together key stakeholders, including senior officials from the EU and international institutions, members of European Parliament, diplomats, academics and business two weeks before the summit, was an attempt to brainstorm on the subject of “moving relations beyond trade”.

“It’s time for a more serious conversation on refugees, peace and security in Asia, Africa and the Middle East,” wrote Shada Islam, director of policy at Friends of Europe, in a paper calling for a fresh start to EU-India relations. “In other areas, the focus must shift to a more practical, pragmatic and operational agenda which seeks to find common ground between Modi’s aspirational modernization drive and EU initiatives to boost growth and jobs.”

While the EU is India’s largest trading partner, largest foreign investor and largest foreign investment destination, India is only the EU’s ninth largest partner, accounting for a paltry 2.1% of the EU’s total trade. “This is an indication that so much more is possible,” a top EU official said at the event. “We would certainly like to build on the convergence of our political and economic agendas.” Referring to the Make in India initiative, the official said it provided a “very large overlap with the EU’s agenda for jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change.”

“There needs to be a readiness to go forward on both sides, and a political push from the top will really help to tap the vastly underdeveloped potential in our relationship,” urged a diplomat at the policymakers’ lunch.  “We don’t have a track record on implementation. Implementation is the key for a new beginning – for a vastly invigorated partnership.”

Meeting the Indian diaspora

Modi’s Brussels visit will include meetings with top Indian businessmen in Europe, including a delegation of diamond traders from Antwerp, where India’s Patel community dominates the diamond trading hub – the largest in the world, with about 84% of the world’s rough diamonds transiting through here. He will also hold separate meetings with members of the European Parliament, and a delegation of Indologists.

The day will end with a jamboree to address the Indian diaspora, in the style of other similar gatherings for Indians in the UK, Germany and the US. Organisers say they expect a crowd of about 5,000 people, who have registered through the Modi in Brussels website.

EU officials, however, are anticipating Modi’s engagements with the Indian diaspora will eclipse the summit. “It’s more likely that the headlines after this summit will be ‘Modi meets 5000 Indians in Brussels’ rather than ‘Modi meets Tusk and Juncker’,” an official said wryly.

Modi in Majuli: In Assam’s Riverine Island, the BJP Hopes to Trump its Rivals

Promises made by the BJP and a shifting vote base in Majuli, Jorhat district, Assam seems to be tilting the balance in favour of the BJP.

Promises made by the BJP and a shifting vote base in Majuli, Assam, are likely to tilt the balance in favour of Sarbananda Sonowal, chief ministerial candidate of the NDA.

Majuli: A supporter wears a mask of Narendra Modi during his election rally at Majuli in Jorhat district of Assam on Saturday. Credit: PTI

A supporter wears a mask of PM Narendra Modi during his election rally at Majuli in Jorhat district of Assam on Saturday. Credit: PTI

Majuli (Assam): It was 2 p.m., the scheduled time for the ferry to depart from Nimati Ghat, which is located 12 km from Jorhat town in upper Assam, to the Afalamukh Ghat in Majuli. That part of Majuli stands at just an hour’s distance from the grey waters of the great Brahmaputra.

With 1200 square km of land, Majuli was once the largest riverine island in the world, a fact that gave Assam a unique place in world geography. However, river erosion over the past four decades has reduced Majuli’s land mass to 500 square kilometres – and thus its status – to merely Asia’s largest riverine island.

But Majuli has been best known as the seat of the Assam’s Vaishnava monasteries. These were set up in the early 16th century to follow the path of Bhakti forged by the celebrated saint Sankardeva against the Brahmanical insistence on caste and idol worship.

Inside the ferry, the rows of benches were beginning to fill up with passengers in their groups of twos and threes, some sporting bright Holi stains on their faces and hair.

“Since it is Holi today, there won’t be too many people on board,” said Bhaben Dutta, chewing on a piece of betel nut in typical Assamese style. Dutta was relieved that he wouldn’t need to jump off the ferry as soon as it touched Afalamukh today. “Otherwise, there are always more people than there are vehicles to take them from the riverside to different parts of the island, which leads to a scramble for space,” he explained, on learning that I am not from Majuli.

Fellow passenger Rajiv Nath added, “The state of the roads is something that you will have to suffer to believe in.” Others let out knowing laughs.

Runa Doley, a middle-aged housewife sitting across Nath, piped up, “Those roads are nothing compared to the Jengraimukh one, even though it leads to the MLA’s house. Whenever I ride down that road in a Magic [a Tata light vehicle used as public transport in Majuli], I get a stomach ache.”

The ferry’s engine started with a sputter. As the ferry slid into the river, the banter about the bad roads of Majuli shifted to more serious conversation about the long cherished dream of the island’s residents for a bridge that can connect Majuli to its district headquarters, Jorhat.

The BJP’s promises

The issue of the bridge is a hot button issue for the April 4 assembly elections in Majuli. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the island and the party’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal has promised to build the bridge if elected. During the 15 years of Congress rule, the local MLA Rajiv Lochan Pegu failed to fulfil this dream of the people.

From Majuli, the only way out is the ferry to Jorhat, or the long link road to Lakhmpur. Credit: Google Maps

From Majuli, the only way out is the ferry to Jorhat, or the long link road to Lakhmpur. Credit: Google Maps

The need for the bridge is real – as the conversation on the ferry that afternoon made clear. Runa gave her reason: “I have been having viral fever for the last two days. Since the hospital in Majuli has no good doctors, we have to travel to Jorhat for even small ailments. I lost nearly the entire day today to see a doctor there. If there was a bridge, I wouldn’t have to leave home at 7 a.m. to catch the 7.30 ferry. And on the way back, we are always in a hurry because the last ferry to Majuli leaves Nimati at 4 p.m.”

During most medical emergencies post 4 p.m., she said, people take the road link to Lakhimpur. “Even that road is back-breaking. Because of its condition, many babies have been born before reaching the hospital in Lakhimpur.”

Reema Das, an ASHA worker in Majuli, related a rather harrowing story: “Last monsoon, a boat carrying a pregnant woman to Jorhat for delivery lost its way because of heavy rains. After getting a distress call from the boat, I contacted the deputy commissioner in Jorhat who sent a rescue boat. Thankfully, the resuce boat could trace the lost one after about an hour.”

However, unlike previous assembly elections, Majuli residents have experienced an opportunity this time around to raise their demands, which include not just the bridge but also other a host of other things. For being the battleground of Sonowal – a former president of the powerful All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) before joining the BJP – the island has drawn the sudden attention of the state’s media. This has raised the people’s hope for a permanent solution to erosion and annual flooding, for becoming a full-fledged district (it is now only a police district), and entering the UNESCO World Heritage list (it has failed to get nominated a few times), to name but a few of their hopes.

For now, however, the biggest cause for excitement that the Union sports minster Sonowal has given the people is the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the first by an Indian prime minister to the island after 68 years of independence.

Two days before the PM’s visit, the enthusiasm of the people in the ferry was palpable. “I heard there will be many free buses from Garamur [the island’s main administrative zone] to Jengraimukh for Modi’s rally. I will get into one. Who knows when Majuli will see a PM again,” passenger Rajiv Payeng told this correspondent.

As promised by Sonowal, on March 26, Modi landed at Lakhimi Pathar in Jengraimukh in an air force helicopter. Many among the thousands that assembled to see a prime minister visit their area for the first time also saw a helicopter for the first time. In fact, a day before his arrival, when an IAF helicopter landed for a recce of the site, hundreds rushed from their homes and fields to spot it.

“Usually, all VVIP events happen around Garamur. That is why most people in Jengraimukh, even though this is the MLA’s area, have not seen a helicopter landing,” justifies a local news reporter.

Most people in Assam are dependent on agriculture, and the inhabitants in Jengraimukh too, who make up the Mishing and Deuri plains tribes, make a living mainly from farming. They primarily grow rice, pulses and mustard. The venue for Modi’s meeting was the largest field for community farming of rice on the island.

Modi’s speech was predictably accusatory. He talked about “Congress’s 60 years of misrule in Assam,” took shots at the state chief minister Tarun Gogoi, accused the Congress of “eating up a beautiful island like Majuli from 1200 sq.km to 500 sq km.” and of neglecting “the national heritage.” With successive state governments failing to tame the annual erosion and floods on the island in spite of spending crores of public money, Modi’s reference to Majuli’s loss of land mass certainly found a lot of takers in the crowd.

The PM, on campaign mode, said that Sonowal was “a diamond” that he would lose from his government after the elections, but that “the people of Assam will benefit.”

Much to the cheer of those present, he reiterated Sonowal’s promise of the bridge to Majuli residents. “Even before we have a government in the state, Union surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari has laid the foundation stone for the bridge… I will do in five years what Congress couldn’t do in 60 years,” he told the public.

After listening to the 30-minute speech, and thereafter gazing awestruck at the PM’s three helicopters as they took to the skies, the people disbursed.

Later talking to The Wire, Sonowal delineated his vision for the island: “For centuries, a beautiful culture has existed in Majuli. It has been a religious centre for centuries. People from all castes and communities have been living together on the island. There is unity in that diversity. My aim will be to preserve that culture of Majuli.”

Shifting political scenario

In Majuli, which is a scheduled tribe constituency, the largest number of votes belong to the Mishings, even though it has Deoris and other Assamese communities like Nath, Koiborto, Kachari, Sonowal, and Koch Rajbonshi. Naturally, then, the Mishings – who once farmed portions of the huge tracts of land that the monasteries owned and gave them as rent – have the main say in these elections. The tribe has been sending Rajiv Lochan Pegu of Congress to the state assembly the last three times.

However, two years ago, in a trend seen across Assamese tribes of late, an ethnically and politically assertive group called Sanmalita Ganasakti reared its head. Ganasakti’s acceptance by the Mishing people could be gauged from the fact that it grabbed 31 of the 34 seats of the Mishing Autonomous Council (MAC) in 2013.

For the first time, in this assembly election, Ganasakti is fielding candidates in four Mishing dominated assembly constituencies, including Majuli. Therefore, also for the first time, Pegu’s vote base is set to be divided. Since the BJP expects the general category to vote for Sonowal, this raises their hope that it may help him, Sonowal, slip through the victory margin.

Vishnu Deuri, a popular grassroots leader of Majuli associated with the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, explained to this correspondent: “The Mishing vote in Majuli is going to get divided this time, not just between the Congress and Ganasakti, but also going partially to the BJP, because Sonowal is a chief ministerial candidate. Many people want a CM to represent Majuli because they feel that, being the state CM, Sonowal will be able to solve their problems.” He added that the Deuri vote will also be divided between the Congress and the BJP for the same reason.

Ganasakti leader Nilo Doley agreed that people are showing an interest in Sonowal because he is a CM candidate, but also asked, “Tarun Gogoi has been a CM from the district [Gogoi’s constituency Titabor is in Jorhat district]. What benefits have the people of Majuli got from him?”

He sounded upbeat when he added,“Looking at our popularity in the last MAC election, we are hopeful of winning Majuli.”

If the rise of Ganasakti in Majuli is striking, the BJP’s growth on the island can be called meteoric.

In the 2011 assembly elections, the party bagged less than 400 votes. There was no party committee or party office on the island before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A local BJP functionary credits the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for his party’s rise in Majuli. “You know that the RSS works in an area for some years and readies the ground for BJP. The same thing happened in Majuli, with support from the satradhikars [the heads of monasteries],” he said. He expressed worry about the more than 30 churches that were established on the island in the last few years and that “Mishings are fast converting to Christianity.”

Deuri stated: “Sonowal has no doubt been invited by the satradhikars to contest from Majuli. For even though Majuli is under the Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency [from where Sonowal won in 2014] he is still an outsider for us when it comes to the assembly elections.”

The “outsider” card is certainly being played by both the Congress and Ganasakti candidates while campaigning. That the tribe may lose an assembly seat because of Sonowal (he belongs to the Sonowal community, also an ST) is highlighted by both.

It is also true that many general voters, apart from seeing Sonowal as a possible CM from the island, are also seeing in him an opportunity to defeat the long-standing Mishing dominance in the assembly elections in Majuli. The local BJP district committee president Karuna Dutta, in his speech welcoming Sonowal the first time he visited Majuli after being declared his party’s CM candidate, reportedly mentioned this. Later, Sonowal distanced himself from this tactic.

That delicate issue apart, the general inexperience of handling canvassing by the local BJP was obvious till recently. A party worker told this correspondent, “We have been able to go to the villages to campaign for Sarba-da only since March 21 because there was a lot of confusion in the local office, even regarding who would fund our petrol bill. And now, since Sarba-da is a CM candidate and the state party president, a team from Guwahati has come down to decide everything, leaving no room for the local cadre to make any decisions.”

Before the state level team took over Sonowal’s campaign, “some local journalists and AASU workers [since BJP and Asom Gana Parishad are fighting for the seat together] took the lead,” according to a local reporter.

Minor heartburns aside, Sonowal’s frequent visits to the island in the last 15 days followed by Modi’s visit have certainly left the local cadre enthused. “It now looks like Sonowal will win from Majuli. Whether he would get a big mandate is doubtful though,” said a party district committee member.

A people’s doubts and hopes

The morning after Modi’s visit, the atmosphere was still charged in Majuli. In the first ferry that left the Kamalabari Ghat, the conversation among the passengers veered from Modi’s fair complexion to his oratory skills to whether Sonowal would really be able to fulfil the island’s aspirations, and also the recent sensational allegation by the United Liberation Front of Asom (Paresh) that Sonowal engineered the killing of Sourab Bora, an AASU leader in Dibrugarh University in 1986. Bora’s family migrated to Titabor in the 1960s after their house was swept away by the Brahmaputra in Ahatguri area of Majuli.

A passenger, Ramen Sarma, commented, “I wonder whether Sonowal will really bring ananda [plucked from the BJP poll slogan “xakalure ananda Sarbananda,” meaning “Sarbananda will bring joy to everyone”]. After all, he is a bit young for the post. Prafulla Mahanta was a bad example as a young CM.”

Passenger Rupali Kotoki added to this observation mirthfully, “Let’s hope he doesn’t become a Lora Roja [the infamous late 18th century Ahom child-king Gaurinath Singha who was controlled by his prime minister Purnananda Burhagohain, leading to the eventual downfall of the dynasty].”

A group of women joined in the laughter. One of the women said, “Let’s not think about extreme situations now. Let’s feel good that a PM visited us for the first time. Let’s dance and sing some Bihu songs. There is still an hour to go before we reach Nimati.”

As the ferry sliced the river waters in its journey towards Jorhat, passengers danced in the narrow aisle between two rows of benches to the sound of clapping and the words, sung loudly:

“Porbote porbote bogabo paru moi, boliya hati ku bolabo paru boi…” (I can climb all the mountains; I can tame a mad elephant….”)

Photo Feature: Molenbeek, the Brussels Neighbourhood that Everyone’s Talking About

Photos of the Brussels borough Molenbeek, which has been stigmatised by the media the world over after evidence was found linking some of its radicalised Muslim residents with the perpetrators of the Paris attacks last November.

Photographs by John Vink of the Brussels borough Molenbeek, stigmatised by the media the world over after evidence was found linking some of its radicalised Muslim residents with the perpetrators of the Paris attacks last November.

A girl plays with her umbrella in front of masked policemen in the Ransfort street who prevent access to the security perimeter set up during an operation around the Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim borough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris.

A girl plays with her umbrella in front of masked policemen in Ransfort street who prevent access to the security perimeter set up during an operation around Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim borough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, Brussels, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris.

Brussels: It was after the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris that Molenbeek suddenly became, in the eyes of the world, a terrorist hotbed.

Molenbeek is one of the 19 boroughs of Brussels. It has a large Muslim population, and high unemployment and petty crime rates.

After the attacks, which were claimed by IS, evidence was found between the perpetrators and radicalised members of the Muslim community from Molenbeek.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 15/11/2015: The Sunday market, next to the city hall of Molenbeek Saint Jean. In connection with the terrorist attacks in Paris on the previous day, several people were arrested and houses searched on the previous night in the commune of Molenbeek Saint Jean, one of the 19 communes of Brussels which counts an important muslim community.

The Sunday market next to the Molenbeek city hall.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 15/11/2015: The Sunday market, next to the city hall of Molenbeek Saint Jean. In connection with the terrorist attacks in Paris on the previous day, several people were arrested and houses searched on the previous night in the commune of Molenbeek Saint Jean, one of the 19 communes of Brussels which counts an important muslim community.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 15/11/2015

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 15/11/2015: The Sunday market, next to the city hall of Molenbeek Saint Jean. In connection with the terrorist attacks in Paris on the previous day, several people were arrested and houses searched on the previous night in the commune of Molenbeek Saint Jean, one of the 19 communes of Brussels which counts an important muslim community.

BELGIUM, Brussels. 21/11/2015: The Place de Brouckère subway station is closed. Following the terrorist attacks in Paris of Friday 13th 2015 and the connection with radicalised Muslims from the borough of Molenbeek, a level 4 alert (the highest) was announced in Brussels, closing the subway, shopping malls, cinemas, and leaving the center of the city empty on a usually busy Saturday night.

The Place de Brouckère subway station, closed. Following the Paris attacks, a level 4 alert (the highest) was announced in Brussels, closing the subway, shopping malls, and cinemas, leaving the centre of the city empty on a usually busy Saturday night.

BELGIUM, Brussels. 21/11/2015: An army truck passes in front of a souvenir shop near the Grand' Place. Following the terrorist attacks in Paris of Friday 13th 2015 and the connection with radicalised Muslims from the borough of Molenbeek, a level 4 alert (the highest) was announced in Brussels, closing the subway, shopping malls, cinemas, and leaving the center of the city empty on a usually busy Saturday night.

An army truck passes in front of a souvenir shop near the central Grand Place market.

After the Paris attacks, hundreds of journalists contributed to creating the image of Molenbeek as a ‘terrorist hotbed.’ The effects were felt by its mostly law-abiding citizens.

Two days after the Paris attack, Ahmed El Khanouss, councilman for social affairs and economic development at Molenbeek. 

Ahmed El Khanouss, councilman for social affairs and economic development at Molenbeek, after the Paris attacks.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 17/11/2015: Inhabitants photograph the media circus stationed in front of the City Hall. Evidence of connections between the perpetrators of the Paris terrorist attacks of November 13th claimed by the IS and the radicalised faction of the Muslim community of this burrough of Brussels has brought international attention, and the media, to this Muslim community which for the largest part has nothing to do with extremism.

Inhabitants photograph the media circus stationed in front of the City Hall. Evidence of connections between the perpetrators of the Paris terrorist attacks of November 13 claimed by the IS and the radicalised faction of the Muslim community of Molenbeek has brought international attention and the media to this Muslim community - the majority of which has nothing to do with extremism.Inhabitants photograph the media circus stationed in front of the Molenbeek city hall. 

One must realise that there are many other Molenbeeks – in Belgium itself, and also in France, and Great Britain. The societal failures leading to the Islamisation of a minority of radicalized citizens who are left to drift away – this scenario is not unique to Molenbeek.

How can a country where self-centred citizens who question the very existence of their own institutions be aware of the needs of other communities, and anticipate the problems they are confronted with now?

Nationalism, exclusion, racism and alienation close doors; they do not open them.

Masked policemen prevent access to Rue Ransfort and the Rue Delaunoy area during an operation at house number 75, Molenbeek.

Masked policemen prevent access to Rue Ransfort and the Rue Delaunoy area in Molenbeek during an operation at house number 75.

A security check in the Rue Ransfort area.

A security check in the Rue Ransfort area.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 16/11/2015: Inhabitants talk to the press during a police operation around the Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim borough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris of the previous Friday.

Residents talk to the press during the police operation in the Rue Delaunoy area.

The press is kept away from the scene during the police operation around the Rue Delaunoy area.

The press is kept away from the scene during the police operation.

Masked policemen prevent residents from going home in the Rue Delaunoy area.

Masked policemen prevent residents from going home.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 16/11/2015: Inhabitants prevented from going home by masked policemen in the Ransfort street who prevent access to the security perimeter set up during an operation at house number 75 and around the Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim burrough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris of the previous Friday.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 16/11/2015: A police operation around the Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim burrough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris of the previous Friday.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 16/11/2015: Inhabitants prevented from going home by masked policemen in the Ransfort street who prevent access to the security perimeter set up during an operation at house number 75 and around the Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim burrough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris of the previous Friday.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 16/11/2015: Inhabitants prevented from going home by masked policemen in the Ransfort street who prevent access to the security perimeter set up during an operation at house number 75 and around the Delaunoy street in the predominantly Muslim borough of Molenbeek Saint Jean, in connection with the terrorists attacks in Paris of the previous Friday.

Terrorists are always targeting the weak spots (Belgium certainly is one). They sow the seeds of fear, instil discord, and whip communities up against each other.

But Belgium has been at the crossroads of so many cultures over the centuries, the battleground for so many armies, the breeding ground for so many artistic geniuses. And it has always used its diversity to nurture its creativity.

Multiculturalism is a strength. It has always been so – why would it be any different today?

Molenbeek is an asset, not a threat.

There will be a price to pay, but in the long run, the terrorists will lose.

In light of the stigmatisation of the Muslim community of Molenbeek after the Paris attacks, a number of local organisations held a demonstration to express solidarity with the victims and stress the fact that the majority of the population of Molenbeek has little to do with its radicalised elements.

Responding to the stigmatisation of the Muslim community of Molenbeek after the Paris attacks, a number of local organisations held a demonstration to express solidarity with the victims and stress the fact that the majority of the population of Molenbeek has little to do with its radicalised elements.

In light of the stigmatisation of the Muslim community of Molenbeek after the Paris attacks, a number of local organisations held a demonstration to express solidarity with the victims and stress the fact the large majority of the population of Molenbeek has little to do with the radicalised elements.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 18/11/2015: Following the terrorist attacks in Paris of November 13th which seemed to have been masterminded by radicalised Muslim inhabitants from this borough of Brussels and the ensuing stigmatisation of the community, a number of local organisations hold a demonstration in solidarity with the victims and stress the fact the large majority of the population has little to do with these radicalised elements.

BELGIUM, Molenbeek Saint Jean (Brussels). 18/11/2015: Following the terrorist attacks in Paris of November 13th which seemed to have been masterminded by radicalized Muslim inhabitants from this borough of Brussels and the ensuing stigmatization of the community, a number of local organisations hold a demonstration in solidarity with the victims and stress the fact the large majority of the population has little to do with these radicalised elements.

All the photographs on this page are the copyright of John Vink.

John Vink is a Magnum photographer. Born in Belgium, his photographs can be seen on Instagram and Tumblr.