Sunita Kasera, who lives in a neighboring community, documents the residents' complaints against the pollution caused by these factories which have caused many of them to fall sick from cancer or respiratory diseases. Those sick need money for medication but at the same time their farms, also affected by the pollution, are yielding less produce. Meanwhile, the factory owners state that the residents benefit from the employment and wages and no complaints have reached them.

From the video's description:

The very air of the village of Asthal in Karuali district, Rajasthan has turned against the inhabitants. Crops wither before harvest and the trees have stopped to bear fruits. One in ten villagers suffers from cancer or falls victim to a serious strain of tuberculosis. All fingers are pointing at the 5 asphalt factories that have been churning out toxic fumes and black dust almost every single day for the last ten years.

Community efforts are being undertaken to prove the illegality of these factories and move them away from the village.

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Screenshot from the Trailer of It's a Girl

With the tagline of “The three deadliest words in the world”, the “It's a Girl” documentary is one which through interviews and on-location filming is figuring out why 200 million girls are “missing” in India and China, and why there has been no effective actions to this problem.

Born to Die is another film investigating the rise in female feticide and infanticide in modern India.

Poh Si Teng for Global Post also has a video on the relationship between ultrasound devices, gender screening and female feticide, and whether the laws banning portable ultrasound will help stop the selective abortions in India:

The BBC's 2007 investigatory documentary on India's Missing Girls and people who are trying to turn the tide on a cultural phenomenon that affects all of India's socio-economic levels: the cult of boys, and the belief that girls are not worth the trouble to raise them. The documentary, split in 3 parts can be found online (1, 2, 3).

One of the organizations trying to make the difference is the Aarti Home in Kadapa, who take in abandoned children, most of whom are girls abandoned because they are girls, and also talking to expectant mothers of female children to encourage them to have and cherish them.

Aarti House hopes to be a home for girls who were already rejected once for being girls and make sure they have a safe haven. At the very beginning of this next video, a young girl talks about the disadvantages and hardships she went through just because she was a female:

World renowned Chinese-American novelist Anchee Min, who writes strong female characters admits in this next video how she didn't want to have a daughter, and all through her pregnancy, secretly hoped that it would turn out to be a boy, despite ultrasounds and tests because “Who wants to be a girl in China?”

Taiwanese Next Media Animation explores the consequences of the gender imbalance in China brought on by the One Child Policy and a society which values males more than females with the video and song No Girls Born (In China Anymore)

So there are no girls born, in China anymore
I feel so forlorn, with nobody to keep me warm
Confucian culture scorns daughters in favor of sons
So there are no girls born and I'm doomed to be just one

My parents chose me in utero to carry on the family name
But if I can't find a bride I'll be carrying nothing but shame
You gotta be tall, educated, and own your own house
miss one out of three, you won't find a spouse

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Namita Singh, who is doing her PhD research on participatory video had a double function in this process. An experienced trainer in video production for grassroots communities as well as a writer of toolkits and guides for media training directed to girls and children, she was also studying these girls learning process.

While producing the video documenting the girls progress, they asked her to please train them further while they made the film. She comments on this experience in her blog post ‘Namita Singh, the Trainer Vs. Namita Singh, the Researcher : Things I taught and things I learnt!‘:

Young girls from the Hderabad Slums in India learn filmmaking

Tricky! How could I say no? They are giving me their time for my research. They are participating in it. They just want to learn a bit more, while being a part of it. On the other hand, it is a research, I did not want to compromise on my data-collection, while trying to train them and mixing up two very different things.Would research be research, if things did not complicate themselves?
So I put my dilemma aside, and thought, ‘Well, I could probably design the video-making in a workshop-format. I have done this as a trainer, as it is an extremely participatory process. I can do the same, as a researcher too.
It was not as easy as it seemed. There are things I did as a trainer, which I could not as a researcher, and vice-versa…..

Following is the video, subtitled in English:

Ms. Singh mentions in her article one example of how the young girls understand the power of the videos they are making and take into account many aspects in their production. It had to do with deciding on the language for the video. When it was suggested that they could make the video in English, as a way to reach funders and other NGOs, they countered:

But the girls pointed out, ‘Our communities don’t know English. They’ll not understand what we are saying. Even if we put subtitles, they don’t know how to read. Those who know English can read. So let only the subtitles be in English’. The girls were sensitive about their community, and vocal about it too. As a trainer, the focus was always to respond to such needs of the community. In fact, use of local words, encouraging local songs, etc. was an integral part of the process. After all, for them, it was for the local community that was to engage with the video more.

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The Editor.net reports:

The 7 billionth child of the world is here in Dhaka. The lucky parents of the child are Mohsin Hossain and Tonni Hossain. They had hoped for a boy child as their third child. And this 3rd child is the 7 billionth child (symbolic) of the world.

The beautiful girl child was born on 12:01 AM at the early hours in Azimpur Maternity and Child Care Hospital.

It is difficult to identify exactly which child is the 7 billionth one, so a symbolic celebration is happening around the world. UNFPA selected Oishi to carry the honor in Bangladesh.

The website adds:

This birth was celebrated publicly - with cake and candles. The hospital was crowded with people who gathered to catch a glimpse of the child. Sponsored by the 7 billion action program, this program was a publicity event.

Posha Pakhi at group blog Somewhereinblog.net carried the news with a post titled “The 7 billionth child was born in Dhaka“. The post attracted many comments:

Journo opined [bn]:

Welcome the the 7 billionth child from Bangladesh. Hope she will live as an enlightened person.

Mithapur wished the child and questioned the justification of selecting her and mentioned jokingly [bn]:

One question: How did they calculate that she is the 7 billionth

If the line would read -

The world's 7 billion (instead of billionth) children born in Dhaka

It can happen one day, isn't it?

Atiq cannot tell the difference between 7 billion and 7 billion plus one:

I don't understand all the fuss between 7 billion and 7 billion plus one numbers. Why so much discussion on this? Everybody is born with a number everyday.

My prayers for every one of them.

Although the world cheers at Oishi's birth, it did not cheer her parents much. Because Oishi is a girl child. Her parents wanted a boy this time [bn] (the first two are girls).

Sri lankan mother Danushika Perera cuddling her newly born baby. Image by Rohan Karunarathne. Copyright Demotix (31/10/2011)

Not only in Bangladesh, similar celebrations took place in many countries of the world. In Sri Lanka UNFPA celebrated the birth of Muthumani, the girl child of Ishara Madushanka and Danushika Dilani Perera.

Similarly in India Plan International celebrated the birth of Nargis as the 7 billionth child of the world.

LiveIndia.Com reports [Hi]:

In Lucknow, the capital of Uttarpradesh state in India, a baby girl named Nargis was the symbolic seven billionth child to be born during the early ours of Monday. She was named as Nargis.

Although the growing number of world population has been seen as a wake up call for the world, Muthumani, Oishi and Nargis give us the message that the girl-children should not be neglected in the future.

Written by বিজয় · Translated by Rezwan · View original post [bn] · comments (0)
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Woman selling food Some rights reserved by #Eelco

According to the World Bank, nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry around the world, and the rising food prices will make that number grow. Today, for the World Food Day, we put faces on those hungry families and hear their stories.

Video Volunteers from India have gone to the communities to bring to you the Hunger Video Project, focusing on how in spite of the growing economy, people are still going to bed hungry throughout their country.

The videos were produced for the launch of The World Disaster Report 2011, a joint collaboration between the World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC.)The report aims to answer the fundamental question: “Why do one billion people across the world go to sleep hungry each night when the world is producing enough food for everyone?”

What makes these 12 videos more touching is the fact that they were made by people who are from the affected communities and not outsiders. Video Volunteers is a training program for people in marginalized communities who learn to make news, watch it, take action and make solutions for the problems that affect them and their neighbors.

On their project site, they include all 12 videos with a small description of the community where the video was filmed. This video for example, was filmed in Silchar, Assam in North East India, a predominantly rural - agrarian district with tribal marginalized minorities. In it, a father speaks of the hardships and the impotence of going to sleep knowing that his children are hungry.

In Raj Nandgaon, an underdeveloped and predominantly agrarian district in Chhatisgarh a woman is forced to prostitute herself just so she can feed her children.

Medecins Sans Frontieres have faced malnourished children for years of work in different areas of the world, and they noticed that what seemed like help, was actually making the problem worse: food donor organizations were not providing food that was nourishing enough to sustain children under two. So with the  Starved for Attention campaign, they decided to ask the actors in the Food Aid System to stop sending poor quality food aid and instead provide adequate nutritious food for malnourished children.

This year's topic for the World Food Day is Food Prices, from Crisis to Stability. This trailer is for The Hunger Game, a 15 minute film by Félix Álvarez Torres from Perú,  where he establishes that food prices are played with as if they were gambling chips in a game of power.

In the last 10 years the cost of food has increased in the whole world scandalous levels. Multinational companies invest billions of dollars on the purchase of future harvests, creating speculation and shortages at present. The stakes for the food prices are on the rise: the game where you always win.

Outside the poker table, the poor have to pay the gamblers heading of The Hunger Games. [sic]

Today, many people will be posting online about food and food issues thanks to the Blog Action Day initiative, under the #BAD11 and #food tag on microblogging sites and blogs.  Weigh in on the conversation and tell the world what you think about the rising price of food and hunger.

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (3)
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Women Aloud Videoblogging for Empowerment (WAVE) is a platform and program aiming to get women from semi-urban areas of India to voice their opinions on topics that matter to them through online video tools.

WAVE's tagline reads: “30 women, 30 regions, videoblogging every day”, and indeed, there are many different videos on the site covering a wide range of topics from what seems to be every region in India.  The women who participate were chosen by universities or NGO's to be a part of a 9 month mentorship program where they were provided with training, equipment and a stipend in exchange for their videos.

WAVE’s philosophy is that young women in India need to be heard and encouraged to analyze the problems in their communities and go on to become leaders who provide effective solutions in order for society to become socially and economically empowered.

Twenty-four year old Chinju Prakash from Trivandrum, Kerala works for SPACE, an NGO developing and delivering programs in New Media and Information Communication Technology. In one of her videos she shows us the Kalavara, a canteen run exclusively by women and we get to hear what the experience has been like for these women who are now able to make a living for themselves.

Preeti Jain is a 27 year old from Bilaspur, Chattisgarh. Through her videos she aims to focus on an indigenous community of Chattisgarh to raise awareness about their issues. In this next video, she focuses on their odd customs for arranging marriages: departing from the norm in India, the young men of the Baiga tribe meet and choose their wife during social events such as dances, and then let their parents know.

Salam Babina Devi is from Imphal, Manipur and volunteers full time at a grassroots organization dealing with women and child development. Her videos focus on cultural aspects of Manipur, like this next example on dance:

In Manipur every significant social and religious event is celebrated with its special form of dance. Here are glimpses of tribal, folk and classical dances from the hills and valley of an ancient land.

Visit WAVE for more stories and videos from women from different corners of the country.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

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Indial Classical Dance in Kerala by Steve Cox, CC By

In Tribal Festival Celebrates Femininity, Devidas Gaonkar explains how due to the patriarchal structure that still persists in many tribal communities, there are very few occasions where women are allowed to get away from their chores and duties in the home, and this festival is a chance for them to gather together and have fun. He grew up observing his mother and sister enjoying themselves this day and understood the importance of giving women the chance to enjoy festivities in the same manner men are allowed to do so.

The following video by Devidas Gaonkar shows the Dhillo festivities, which take place on the day before Diwali, in Cotigao, Goa:

‘Dhillo’ is the name of the icon made of clay or cow dung that the women make to symbolise their deity; it is placed on the village ‘maand’ (platform or space kept for performances or festivals) where the women proceed to perform folk dances, which are known as ‘khel’ (game).

Another India Unheard Video Volunteer, this one in the Maharashtra region, talks about a similar day when women in her village can dance and have fun:

In rural Mahasrashtra where Rohini, the correspondent of this video lives, women are treated as inferior to men. So while men are free to do whatever they want, women's moves are restricted and they must take need special permission from family members to even move out of their homes. They are especially forbidden to sing, dance or play in public view. Those who do so, are looked down upon as women of loose morality. However, once in a year — on the day of Nagpanchami this bar is lifted and women are expected to dance and play games.

India Unheard is a community news service launched by Video Volunteers; an organization which trains community members into becoming correspondents who tell the unique stories about their minority or marginalized communities through video, SMS reporting and other social media tools.

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Video Volunteers aims to empower the world’s poorest citizens to participate in the community media movement and make their voices heard. On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, Video Volunteers launched IndiaUnheard, an initiative involving a network of Community Correspondents around India who will produce video stories about life in their community, and the issues ignored by mainstream media.

The Community Correspondents represent some of India's most marginalised communities, such as Dalits, tribal people, and members of religious, linguistic and sexual minorities, and they will report on issues that are important to these communities but are not reported by the mainstream media. Brian Conley, Programme Director of IndiaUnheard, explained in an interview with Global Voices:

IndiaUnheard is a program to enable local people to spread the issues of their community to the wider world. Fundamentally we hope that by increasing the reach of local voices in some of the most rural and marginalized areas of India, we can increase the visibility of local problems to the Indian government and the international community. The hope is that by leveraging social media and a variety of new technology, we can build an audience for the type of journalism that has never before existed in India. We also hope to create a space where the audience may interact directly with our correspondents, creating conduits from outside India into some of the least accessible areas.

We have chosen 30 Community Correspondents from all over India; our goal was to select individuals from some of the most marginalized areas of the country, and by and large we have been successful with that. Many of these Community Correspondents have had no formal media training previously to this program and a few had never even held a camera.

This video introduces IndiaUnheard:

Before the project was officially launched the Community Correspondents met in Ahmedabad, Gujarat for two weeks of training in video production and journalism. You can see some photos of the training here. The videos they are now making are available on the IndiaUnheard website, where they are categorised according to topic and region.

Community Correspondent Pratibha Rolta tells the story of children missing out on an education:

Mahima Kaul of IndiaUnheard writes on her blog about what she believes the initiative can achieve:

Along with the basic needs of food, water, infrastructure that communities need, there is a crucial need for creation of a media outlet which can both educate and offer a platform for carrying voices. All too often small communities are fed information from bigger cities, and to that end, this information often has no local resonance. To train local community members to become journalists helps them identity their problems and address them in constructive ways. There is a feeling in the community that ‘someone is listening to us’ which further leads to the confidence that they are too included in the democratic process (beyond election time). For individual members of community media, who are often from the most neglected parts of society – so-called lower castes, women, religious and sexual minorities – it is both a voice and also a paradigm shift in terms of professions available to them. The tag of ‘journalist’ allows their social status to rise and in turn they can help raise the profile of their community.

In another video, Devidas Gaonkar talks about environmental problems in the popular tourist destination of Goa:

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On the occasion of the World Day Against Cyber Censorship being celebrated by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) on the 12th of March, netizens across the world are realizing that even in this age internet is not free from restrictions on freedom of expression - a basic human right, which in many parts of the world is being encroached upon by those in power. RSF intends to “rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all”.

Internet-surveillance trends around the world are both interesting and surprising. According to the Reporters without Borders, Saudi Arabia is definitely a high internet-surveillance zone. This is one of the few issues on which Saudi Arabia stands together with Iran and Tunisia! The 13 countries that control and block the Internet, including North Korea which entirely controls ownership of the internet-connected computers to a selected few, are – Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The RSF call these countries Internet's Black-Holes.

Image Courtesy - Reporters Without Borders/Internet's Black-Holes

The Reporters without Borders not only identify the countries that block Internet, they have devised a rating of the degree of censorship And the trends are surprising:

• Where do you think the Internet access has no censorship?
  No, it’s not in the North America and the Europe, but in large parts of Africa, parts of South America, Mexico and the Caribbean and in Mongolia!
• Is Australia a free Internet-access zone?
  No, it’s under heavy surveillance – the same degree as in Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen and parts of South-East Asia!
• What about the rest of the world, including the democracies of North America, Europe and India? They are under some censorship, but largely people have a free Internet-access.

India doesn't fall in the category of “Internet Black-Holes,” hence Hindi web-writers haven't written much on it because they haven't faced this problem. However, there are some Hindi bloggers who have reflected on press-freedom from different angles. I reproduce some of their thoughts below:

Mr. Mysterious from Jeddah writes on his Hindi blog about bloggers being imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for talking about human rights violation:

समाचार एजेंसी डीपीए ने 32 वर्षीय फौद अल-फरहान के हवाले से बताया कि पेशे से तकनीकी विशेषज्ञ और मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता फौद ब्लाग लिखने के जुर्म में पिछले तीन महीने से कारावास में है।
फौद के अनुसार बिना किसी पुख्ता सबूत के और बिना कारण बताए उन्हे गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया। गिरफ्तारी से ठीक पहले अपने ब्लाग पर उन्होंने सऊदी अरब के उन दबंग व्यक्तित्वों के बारे में लिखा था जो उन्हे बेहद नापसंद है। इनमें अरबपति राजकुमार वालिद बिन तलाल और कई नामी मौलवियों के नाम शामिल थे।
सऊदी अरब में ब्लागर्स की इस गिरफ्तारी के खिलाफ बहुत सी आवाजें उठ रही है। ब्लागर्स पर चलाए जा रहे न्यायिक मामलों के बावजूद उनके परिवार वाले और मानवाधिकार संगठन इस मनमानी का डट कर मुकाबला कर रहे है।

Rachna Verma has commented in her Hindi blog on the freedom of expressions and the behaviour of the mediapersons in India, who misuse their freedom of expression to keep themselves in powerful position:

दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा लोकतंत्र हमारा देश और उससे भी बढ़कर उसके नागरिकों को प्राप्त अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता का अधिकार और इसके साथ ही कार्यपालिका, व्यवस्थापिका और न्यायपालिका पर नजर रखने के लिए बना चौथा स्तम्भ यानि मीडिया॥ अभिव्यक्ति का सशक्त माध्यम , लेकिन अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता का पुरजोर बना यह चौथा स्तम्भ ही इस अधिकार पर पक्षपातपूर्ण रवैया अपना रहा है॥ यहां ये साफ कर देना जरूरी है कि यह केवल मेरा अनुभव और व्यक्तिगत राय है॥ हो सकता है कई लोग मेरी इस बात से इत्तेफाक न रखते हो, लेकिन वहीं है ना अभिव्यक्ति है, इसलिए इस अधिकार का प्रयोग करना एक जागरूक नागरिक होने के नाते मैं जरूरी समझती हूं॥

Another Hindi blog bhadas4media celebrates the lesson taught by the reporters in Gujarat to the Chief Minister Modi's government's attempt to curb the freedom of the press by restricting their entry into government hospitals - a move which was strongly opposed by the reporters and it had to be retracted by the government:

गुजरात के सरकारी अस्पतालों में पत्रकारों के प्रवेश पर लगी पाबंदी जबरदस्त विरोध के बाद सोमवार को हटा ली गई। पत्रकारों ने सरकार के इस आदेश के खिलाफ विधानसभा की कार्यवाही का बहिष्कार किया और सचिवालय में भी हंगामा मचाया। इसके बाद स्वास्थ्य मंत्री जयनारायण व्यास ने इस आदेश को वापस ले लिया और बुधवार को पत्रकारों से चर्चा के बाद ही इस पर कोई फैसला लेने की घोषणा की।

स्वास्थ्य विभाग के उपसचिव आई.एम. कुरैशी ने 2 फरवरी 2010 को एक परिपत्र जारी कर गुजरात के सरकारी अस्पतालों में पत्रकारों के प्रवेश पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया था। उन्होंने बताया कि मीडिया में कई बार तथ्यविहीन व गलत समाचार दिखाए और प्रकाशित किए जाते है जिससे प्रशासन की छवि धूमिल होती है। अहमदाबाद में नाराज पत्रकारों ने सिविल अस्पताल परिसर में धरना दिया और सरकारी आदेश की होली जलाकर अपना विरोध जताया।

This blog-post supports the protest of the press which resulted in the order being taken back by the Gujarat government by titling the post as “Mediapersons Teach a Lesson to the Autocratic Officials of Modi.”

BBC Hindi News service had also reported the Google Debate in China early this year -

इंटरनेट सर्च कंपनी गूगल ने कहा है कि वो चीन में अपना कामकाज समेट सकती है क्योंकि चीनी मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ताओं के ईमेल कथित तौर पर हैक किये जा रहे हैं…

हैकिंग

वेबसाइट पर हमला करने वालों का प्रमुख लक्ष्य था मानवाधिकार कर्मियों के जीमेल अकाउंट को हैक करना

डेविड ड्रमोंड, गूगल के अधिकारी…

कंपनी की तरफ से जारी किये बयान में डेविड ड्रमोंड ने कहा, “वेबसाईट पर हमला करने वालों का प्रमुख लक्ष्य था मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ताओं के जीमेल एकाउंट को हैक करना.”…

कंपनी को जांच के बाद इस बात की जानकारी मिली है कि कम से कम दो जीमेल एकाउंट को हैक किया गया.

गूगल ने कहा है कि अमरीका, चीन और यूरोपीय देशों के उन लोगों के दर्जनों जीमेल एकाउंट को किसी तीसरी पार्टी ने खोलकर देखा, जो ‘चीन में मानवाधिकार' के हिमायती थे…

गूगल का ये भी कहना है कि इस तरह कि हैकिंग कि घटनाएं कम से कम 20 और कंपनियों के साथ भी हुईं हैं.

For a profile of Tunisia and its comparison with Saudi Arabia, please see my blog-post, where I have discussed the issue, apart from its interesting social profile.

The sharp contrast between these two countries does not make them see eye to eye with each other. They are not on the best of terms. However, freedom of expression is one arena where they seem to stand together, though not by design.

As information like these are emerging, people are raising their voice against the censorship and it is important to support these voices. We need to inform, connect and empower these people to defend an Internet without restrictions and make it accessible to everyone.

Written by Archana Verma · comments (10)
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Poster image courtesy Wikipedia

This post is not about the Bollywood film ‘My Name is Khan‘, but the way it is perceived in India and the US and why. A look at the Hindi blog-posts related to this film reveals an interesting fact - that the reactions to this film have more to do with the cultural politics in India than with the aesthetic value of the film itself.

In the US, Shah Rukh Khan's recently released film “My Name is Khan” is doing well because it portrays the scenario in the West after the tragic events of 9/11 and attempts to show how Muslims in the US are perceived by the Americans. This portrayal draws from Khan's own experience at the Newark Airport last year when he was profiled for secondary interrogation by the airport authorities. This incident caused uproar in India and finally, the US Ambassador in New Delhi had to issue a statement to say that the causes of this incident will be investigated. The film narrates a similar story of an autistic Muslim in the US, who is harassed by the police after 9/11. To add an additional autobiographical touch to the film, his character in the film loves a Hindu woman. It's well-known that Shah Rukh Khan's wife in real life is a Hindu woman. Because of the growing unease with the Muslim population amongst the Western people of Europe and North America after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and later, this film has been well-received in the US and has managed to fetch 1 Billion Indian Rupees for its global distribution rights from the Fox Studios.

In India, this film ran into problems on the eve of its first screening in Mumbai with the fundamentalist Hindutva faction Shiv Sena. I reported this in my blog ‘The World Around Me‘ :

As I write this, Maharashtra government has made large-scale security arrangements today afternoon, and some 2000 Shiv Sena members have been arrested as they tried to disrupt the film screening.

Some of the Hindi blog-posts on this topic show several streams of thoughts.

Vijay Prakash Singh from New Delhi opines [hi] after watching this film that this is an ordinary film, but is gaining popularity because of the controversial environment in which it was released. He says that Shah Rukh Khan is influenced by the Western mode of thought and hence, he has dealt with an issue that is of interest to the Western audience. According to Singh, this film has consciously attempted to create sensation and has used all elements for this purpose. Besides, it is to this film's advantage that India has degraded parties such as Shiv Sena, which created a scene on an unimportant issue and provided additional popularity to this film it didn't deserve. Moreover, Khan also has the support of the ruling party, which immediately sent its police forces to arrest the trouble makers. According to Singh, this same police force was nowhere to be seen when the North Indians were being killed by the same Shiv Sena.

In this context, BBC Hindi started a discussion [hi] by asking the readers whether they support the idea that Indians should be friendly towards Pakistan or that Shiv Sena's attitude is right. Out of the many responses, Jamshed Akhtar from Lucknow says that Pakistan has always deceived India but Shah Rukh's attitude is right because a good player should be supported regardless of nationality. Rajiv from Allahabad says that although Muslim players and actors are popular with Hindus, some of them try to play the victim to gain popularity.

Nitish Raj in his blog post published before the release of the film says [hi] that Shiv Sena took this stand to make its presence felt because its' popularity is waning now but their opponents seem stronger than them.

It is important to mention here Tarun Vijay's article which powerfully brings out the pathos of the Kashmiri Hindus who have lived a life of sufferings as refugees in their own country and who can't talk about their victimization because of the partisan politics that exists today. This is another dimension of portrayal of a community in India.

Written by Archana Verma · comments (12)
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Red umbrella logo

December 17th is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, a day which started  in 2003 as a memorial and vigil to the Sex workers killed in Seattle Washington and then evolved to an international day to call attention to the hate crimes committed against sex workers throughout the world.

Some of this violence is related to stigmatization and the immediate association many do between sex-workers and AIDS. Women in SANGRAM, an NGO in India, are working for that association to be a positive one, where sex workers are known for their work in preventing HIV/ AIDS and raising awareness.

The International Woman's Health Coalition recently visited SANGRAM to do media training and documentation and this is the short documentary film they made. You can also see some of the pictures they took during the documentation process here. As producer @AudaciaRay mentioned on Twitter:

The US sex worker movement has a lot to learn from Indian activists. Watch my video to see how they're collectivizing…

In the video, the women of SANGRAM explain how education regarding their human rights has made them take action to ensure that they receive proper medical care, that they are treated equally by law enforcement and government officials, that they protect themselves and so they can educate others regarding the risks of STDs and unprotected sex. From the description:

Based in a rural community in India's Maharashtra State, SANGRAM works to ensure equal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support: Over 6,000 women in rural India have participated in HIV testing as a result of these efforts. Drawing on 15 years of work to empower marginalized communities to claim their rights, SANGRAM is becoming an increasingly strong advocate nationally, and globally for health policies and programs that are responsive to the real-life needs of local communities.

In Australia, Juicy Jessie Abraham who works in a “legal” setting in the Northern Territories makes a vlog entry calling to abolish registration of sex workers. She wishes for stigmatization against sex workers to stop, and she believes registration is a way to identify sex workers and possibly use it to discriminate against them, among other issues.

From Grit TV, a short video explains what is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and its history, as well as the importance of the red umbrella symbolizing resistance to discrimination against sex workers :

There are other organizations for whom sex work itself is equivalent to violence. They wish to combat legalization and decriminalization by eradicating sex work and criminalizing the purchase of sexual services. For example, that is the position that Honour Consulting in Canada holds. Founded by former sex worker Trisha Baptie who also was a founding member for EVE- formerly Exploited Voices now Educating, they have posted a song called Would you Wait where they put out their perspective. In Ms. Baptie's words:

We need to call prostitution what it really is, which is violence against women.
Calling it violence against women, and an attack on women's equality, allows us to name the injustice that we have to fight against.
Supporting the criminalization of the demand of prostitution, which is referred to as the Swedish model of law, or as of late, the Nordic model of law, which calls for an end of the commodification of women's bodies, is pro women and pro equality.

In a contrasting perspective from Macedonia, Witness.org and the Hops organization in Skopje, have produced the following 18 minute documentary about sex work titled You Must Know About Me: Rights Not Violence for Sex Workers in Macedonia. In it, sex workers speak out firsthand about what it is like to live in an environment where they are targeted, their human rights are overlooked and they are abused by the figures of authority who should be protecting them, and where they wish to be recognized as workers, with the same rights as any other consenting adult in employment, where the problem with sex work is not the work itself, but the stigmatization, insecurity and violence they face because of persecution and discrimination.

From the video description:

You Must Know About Me is a first-hand account of sex workers experiences and aspirations off and on the streets. While dealing with harassment and violence from clients, pimps, and the police, sex workers strive to counter hostile public attitudes by speaking out and fighting for their rights. The video calls for zero tolerance of violence against sex workers and the coordinated response of institutions to the actual needs of sex workers.

Do you know of any other activities or initiatives to end violence against sex workers? Please let us know!

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (2)
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Adobe Youth Voices Logo

Thanks to the Adobe Youth Voices program, young people in different parts of the world are having the opportunity to experiment with audiovisual equipment and tell their stories from their perspective. Such is the case in India, where youth from many different schools and slums have been making videos to show the world that surrounds them and their concerns. First, a video showing the difference in treatment between girls and boys in India, another one portraying the difficulties a girl has when she has to do household chores and doesn´t have time to do homework for school, and the story of a boy whose parents punish him for failing a course and then starts smoking due to peer pressure.

This first video, Freedom, is described by Meera Sinha in her blog A Year in India:

An interesting side note: Freedom was spearheaded by 17-year-old Mubeen, whom I’ve previously written about here (and who is the film’s leading lady). Toward the end of the video, you’ll notice an older woman being interviewed about why she loves her son more than her daughter. Keep in mind that the interviewer in that interaction is Mubeen; the interviewee, her mother.

If the previous video gave us a glimpse into the life of a girl who has doubled up duties of work and school, this next video by the Vedic Kanya School in Delhi shows the academic perspective of such a life where girls have doubled responsibilities, and how lack of time to turn in homework could affect their performance:

And this last video from the Noida Public School in Delhi brings us a male perspective of growing up in India, focusing on how teen smoking could be brought on by problems at home and peer pressure.

You can see many other videos made by youngsters at Adobe Youth Voices, where you can search by location and learn not only about life in India, but also about youth in Senegal and South Africa, as well as the US, Canada and England.

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (2)
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Dreaming of Diamonds by Swamibu

On the following videos we can see and hear about the situation the Gujarat diamond polishers in India are facing. As the world recession and economic crisis affects their industry, thousands are laid off. Unable to feed their families, pay bills or send their children to school, they have to adjust to living hand to mouth, many are turning to suicide as their last resort. The following video, in English and Hindi was uploaded by students of the IIM Ahmedabad as part of their Socio Cultural Environment of Business course explains the role the diamond polishers of Surat in Gujarat had in the industry, and how they've now been cut off the process, leaving formerly bustling factories empty of diamond polishers and replaced with embroidery industry, of which they know nothing about. Highly skilled specialized workers find themselves having to find jobs in different industries, earning much less than before. Their children, who used to attend private schools are now finding themselves barred from presenting exams due to lack of payment:

The situation in Surat is quite serious, as approximately 50% of the diamond cutters and polishers have been laid off. The government is trying to get scholarships to the children of the workers so they can continue their studies. In an Hindustani Times blog, an editorial reads:

The impending crisis has another dimension in Surat — while laid-off workers around the world can usually depend on their families to help tide them over, most of the workers here have entire families in diamond polishing, and all risk losing their jobs or having pay cut drastically at the same time.

On Pragoti.org the number of suicides due to the diamond industry crisis is said to be 71:

Even as Modi’s trumpeteers are jumping in joy over the investment figures, at least 71 diamond polishers have committed suicide in Gujarat over the last few months following their laying off due to the global meltdown severely hitting the industry. Modi, who loves to present himself as a ‘common man’, refused to bail out the diamond workers who remained at the mercy of the shrewd traders…

… Apart from the 71 suicides across Gujarat, the situation among the diamond workers has become so grim that there was near stampede outside the Surat Diamond Association where forms for school fees exemption were being distributed.

Diamond polishing is an exact art, on which the rough stone is transformed intro the brilliant gems that grace jewelry all over the world. In the following video, part of the interactive online documentary “The Diamond Road” [caution, it seems the site has a trojan, reason why I'm not including a link], we see a young diamond polishing apprentice polishing his very first diamond after a three month unpaid apprenticeship:

If you would like to know more about the industry, Jobanputra, on the next videos, gives us a tour of the Sanghavi Diamond processing factory where we see and he explains the whole process from rough stone to gem. On the comprehensive four part video tour of the factory he explains how they follow best practices, don't hire children and ensure their diamonds come from reputable sources and are not “blood diamonds“:

Click to view part 2, part 3 and part 4 of the Diamond Manufacturing Process.

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (7)
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On any ordinary afternoon, in most cosmopolitan spaces, it is OK for men and women to go out for a drink and ‘chill out’. Most of us do not live life with the concept of  ‘morale policing’ breathing down our back. However, in India, as liberal and free a woman is, there’s never a guarantee that she will be safe.Recently, some 3 weeks ago on India’ Republic Day, January 26, in Mangalore, South of Mumbai, a bunch of Hindu fundamentalists of the Ram Sena party attacked a group of young college girls who were just chilling out having some drinks at a local pub. The girls were harassed and completely scared off, without any warning… luckily, no one was killed, but I’m sure the emotional trauma level was high.

As a reaction to this event, on February 5th, the Pink Chaddi campaign was kicked off by a few people who posted up a Facebook group online called “Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women”. They decided on a sassy, bold move to send pink colored women’s panties to the Ram Sena party as a ‘Valentine's gift’. More than the actual physical action of couriering underwear to a political party office, it is the concept alone which is buzzing on the minds of everyone in India.

Check out this video of a pile of underwear’s and the ‘love letters’ to the Ram Sena party. This is just a sample of what the campaign is planning, so we will have to wait for Valentines day to find out what really happens in terms of action. They are planning to meet at Pubs on Valentine's day and have a toast (any liquid will do) on behalf of all Indian Women, and these meetings will be recorded and later a video will be made including all of this.

Videos and photographs of the Pink Chaddis are also being collected to be sent to the Ram Sena, as can be seen both on the Facebook group picture page.

On the Pink Chaddi Campaign official blog, it is said that:

We have heard that Mr. Muthalik has decided to send pink saris “with love” in response. We greatly appreciate this and hope he continues to choose similar, non-violent methods to get his point across, just as we have chosen to be non-violent and loving in response to the brutality of the attacks on lovers and women in Mangalore and other parts of Karnataka.

Nevertheless, women from all over India, especially in Bangalore, where the campaign began, are preparing to send their personalized ‘chaddis’, which are underpants, to the Ram Sena party leader, Mr. Muthalik, who has been the man in charge.

The irony is that in a ‘land of Kamasutra’, women all over India have to fight for their rights, for their security, for their freedom and sexuality. One woman, Ree Diwan, posts in the Facebook group an image of pink underpants with “India, the Land of the KamaSutra” overlaid on it, and Patricia Chandrashekar, comments:

can't believe this is happening in the land of KamaSutra. Send these guys on a trip to Khajuraho. Let them see for themselves. The erotic statues are not even wearing chuddies!

We'll have to wait and see how the avalanche of Valentine's Day panties is received by the Ram Sena.

This initiative of female empowerment is not the only one taking place in India right now. Following, on a less dramatic but also effective campaign, women who come from a completely different socio-economic background and region of India give testimony of women’s empowerment. Navsarjan NGO community media group, Apna Malak Maa, present this video proudly profiling a local Women's Village Council in a village in Gujarat, which has taken care of unprecedented development work and solved many of the issues of their village, some issues which had not been solved for more than 20 years, such as sewage draining into their pond and the problem with sand collecting in the river, which meant that water supply lines and wells ran dry.

Thumbnail image used is “The Heart that Sings” by caribbeanfreephoto

Written by Ruchika Muchhala · comments (5)
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Back in October we wrote about the work of Channel 19 in promoting citizen journalism and empowering communities through video training and movie projections:

Video Volunteers is a non-profit organization of media producers from the villages and slums in India, creating content that is relevant to themselves and screening it inside the communities, reaching thousands of people a month with news and events that affect them and call them into action. Channel 19 is the online video channel where this media, created by and for the communities is showcased for the rest of the population.

Ruchika writes:

I am truly surprised at the film that is on everyone’s mind right now and the fact that it happened to be shot just 30 minutes away from my home in Mumbai, India. Slumdog Millionaire is an energetic film with an interesting storyline and was shot entirely in two locations that are close to where I live - the world’s largest slum, Dharavi, and in slum areas of Juhu. These locations are also near the homes of many of Channel 19 community producers, and for some of them like Venkatesh, these locations are their home!

Ruchika also points out an interesting perspective on how her country is being portrayed on film:

…finally here’s a film which does not profile the villages of remote India exotifying ‘the east’ nor does it show-off the glitz and glam which only a small percentile of the upper-crust in India can relate to but everyone dreams of. Instead, this film shows the reality of modern India by portraying life in the slums and speaking with and working with slumdwellers rather than hiring actors and researchers.

Channel 19 has produced a video calling slumdwellers into action:

Here’s an example of that in this video about slum conditions in Ahmedabad, another major city of India. The producers at Samvad CVU have used this video to educate slumdwellers on how to ask the government for their basic amenities such as toilets!

However, it seems not everyone is satisfied with the portrayal of poverty in Slumdog Millionaire. In Patna, India, actor Anil Kapoor and music director A R Rahman have been sued by the General Secretary of Slum Dwellers' Joint Action Committee, Tapeshwar Vishwakarma. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan on his blog had a response towards naysayers of the movie:

On blog, comments for the film ‘SlumDog Millionaire’ and the anger by some on its contents, prompt me to say the above. If SM projects India as Third World dirty under belly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky under belly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations. Its just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not.

This comment however, snowballed out of context into headlines stating that Bachchan was against the movie, and he has been trying to get the media to retract, clearing the misunderstanding on his blog with a letter to a major newspaper where he states:

I was hoping to elicit the views of my readers, hoping to hear their debate, hoping to better inform myself in consequence. The articles published by the Guardian bear absolutely no relation to this endeavour.

Slum life holds a certain fascination with foreigners, who even pay to go tour Dharavi, Asia's largest slum, as we mentioned in India: Poorism, Tourism and the Western Tourist back in 2006. The following video by thegulab shows Dharavi during the Ganesha festival:

This video interview by lpperkins63 helps others understand why a family would choose to live in a slum, as they explain how in their village there was no paper money, and it was the search for a paying job and a better opportunity for their children that has led this family to Mumbai:

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (5)
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