Global Voices » Ayesha Saldanha

Are Indian Companies “Land Grabbing” in Africa?

Ayesha Saldanha — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:42:44 +0000

As foreign companies and governments buy or lease land in countries across Africa, the debate continues as to whether this will encourage development or is simply land grabbing, which displaces local populations and threatens food security.

The Hindu's Addis Ababa correspondent Aman Sethi (@Amannama) has recently written about Indian companies’ involvement in Ethiopia and Mali, and on 19 May he took part in a Q&A session on Facebook on the issue of so-called Indian land grabs in African countries.

Susanna Myrtle Lazarus asked:

What is the purpose of land grabs in Africa? Is it for the property value or just for resources like water etc?

Aman Sethi noted that the term “land grab” is disputed:

Well that's an interesting question: the jury is still out on the whole question of “land grab”. The UN, for instance, has come up with a set of guidelines on land investment. Host countries tend to lease out land, rather than sell it, so it isn't usually about property value because the lessor company cannot sell the land. Investments are invariably for the resources then – so it could be minerals, it could be timber, it could be soil and water to grow crops. The big question of course is – are host countries getting enough back in return for leasing out land and (often) displacing people?

Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, Managing Director of Karuturi Global Ltd., Gambella, Ethiopia. Photo by Flickr user Planète à vendre (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Jayakarthik Sabarathnam's question was:

Don't you think Africa's land problems are a result of confusion over who owns the land, whether it is an individual or the government, since individuals have been staying on government land under the assumption that they are the owners whereas the government considers the land as its own?

Sethi answered:

I think this is a key and crucial point – that in at least two countries that I wrote about – Ethiopia and Mali – there is significant confusion over land titles. In Ethiopia for instance, all land is owned by the state and is leased out to private individuals and companies. In places like Gambella – as I mention in the second part of the story – communities often have pre-existing communal claims on the land, which are not acknowledged by the state. This creates a serious problem. The Ethiopian government believes that the Commune Development programme – or villagization – will actually streamline the process of land use by giving land titles to the people who are resettled under the scheme. However, this will of course involve a radical change in the way the community conceives of land.

Roybath Mylaks wanted to know if Indian investment actually helped to increase local skills:

Are Indian companies adding to capacity building of locals there? Do they hire locally or bring in workers from India?

Aman Sethi replied:

On labour – the Ethiopian government is very clear that they want companies to train local workers. Last year, I wrote about how liquor Baron Ponty Chadha had come up with a plan to bring farmers from Punjab to Ethiopia – but the plan was shot down by the government. Most governments allow companies to bring in highly skilled technicians and managers, but try to get companies to train people to become machine operators etc.

Samiksha Srivastava's question was along the same lines:

Don't you think Indian-owned companies are enhancing the development there?

Sethi didn't think there was a simple answer to that, and referred to the controversy surrounding Indian company Karuturi Global, which has been heavily criticised for its operations in Ethiopia:

Well, I think that a lot of developing countries are still figuring out what development really means to them – what path should they take, what resources should they allocate, what should be the role of the state and the market? Thus, I think that Indian companies have become a part of this debate by participating in these developing economies. Many in Ethiopia are unhappy with the fact that a foreign company has acquired such large amounts of land – while others believe that companies like Karuturi will help the country earn foreign exchange – so the debate is wide open right now.

Pranay Sinha asked:

Do you think the government needs to put in place some minimum standards for corporates operating abroad so that locals are not abused in the process of these investments, or should it be a self-restricting corporate code of conduct?

Referring again to Karuturi Global, Aman Sethi responded:

Well, I think most governments have legal frameworks to safeguard the rights of project-affected communities – however, many (much like in India) cannot effectively monitor these companies. In Karuturi's case for instance, no laws have been broken – but there seems to be a structural problem with the way the project was conceived – so I think we probably need to think beyond a legal regime and perhaps begin by trying to understand these processes as best we can. It's easy to say “neocolonial land grab” and end the discussion – but that doesn't help our understanding of the world – rather it restricts engagement because the discussion is effectively over.

Mauritania Through a Portuguese Artist's Eyes

Ayesha Saldanha — Mon, 20 May 2013 01:35:10 +0000

Portuguese artist Isabel Fiadeiro (@Isabelfiadeiro) lives in Nouakchott, Mauritania, where she paints and runs an art gallery. Fiadeiro also sketches from observation, filling her blog Sketching in Mauritania with images of daily life in the West African nation.

Global Voices spoke to Fiadeiro about her art and how sketching has helped her get to know Mauritania.

Global Voices (GV): Where are you from originally? How long have you lived in Mauritania and what took you there in the first place?

Isabel Fiadeiro (IF): My father is Portuguese and my mother Spanish. I grew up in Portugal and I feel Portuguese. I also lived in England for almost 15 years (on and off). Actually I left London in March 2003 to go back and settle in Portugal; I had finished a BA in Fine Arts at the Wimbledon School of Arts in 2000, and I stopped painting for the next three years, so I decided it was time to go.

In November 2003, a Portuguese friend and I decided to travel to Guinea-Bissau in a Renault 4L. The car broke down in the Parc National du Banc d'Arguin on the Mauritanian coast. My friend stayed in Nouakchott and I went off with a group of French people to discover the Adrar Region.

We went on off-road tracks and through the desert stopping occasionally in small villages to buy bread or repair the tyres. I had a sketch book with me and for the first time I started drawing from observation. It was this curiosity of knowing more about the people that lived in the middle of these vast empty spaces that made me come back in January 2004, and in September 2004 I moved to Nouakchott and I'm still here.

Diallo and Mamadou, tailors in Nouakchott. Sketch by Isabel Fiadeiro.

GV: How does sketching help you understand a place?

IF: Drawing and the observation that comes with it makes you see the world in a different way. You slow down, you look and you discover things. For me this act of drawing is also a sort of memory and questioning.

People around you come to see what you're doing so it works in two ways. You're recording what attracted your attention, but by your action communication becomes possible, even if you don't speak the language.

Police at demonstration, Nouakchott. Sketch by Isabel Fiadeiro.

For years I would go to a remote village for a month and stay with a local family, drawing their daily life. I did that in two fishing villages in the Banc d'Arguin but also in Oualata, Goungel and Ouadane. My last long stay was in Tindouf in the Western Sahara refugee camps where I went to sketch the women and their work in the camps. All those people became friends and we still exchange mails and phone calls and meet if they happen to come to Nouakchott.

Also in each area I discovered a new vocabulary to do with the sea or the land and the cattle or the revolution.

Griots at the Fondation Malouma. Sketch by Isabel Fiadeiro.

GV: You are also a member of the online community Urban Sketchers. Can you tell us about them?

IF: Urban Sketchers is a non-profitmaking, international organisation, dedicated to fostering the art of on-location drawing and painting. I am one of 100 correspondents invited from around the globe. Our aim is to inspire others to sketch daily, this way improving their skills and observation capacities.

I discovered them in 2008, and it was a great discovery because until then I was isolated, and finding this community suddenly made me want to sketch more and better. The founder of Urban Sketchers, Gabi Campanario, uses sketches as a reportage tool; his work is published in the Seattle Times. This way of using sketches made a strong impression on me.

Discussing The Great Gatsby at a reading club. Sketch by Isabel Fiadeiro.

I have participated in a number of Urban Sketchers symposiums. The next one is in Barcelona. We now have another correspondent from Mauritania, Oumar Ball, who started sketching from observation a few years ago and publishes his work on Flickr. Later this year I would like to hold some talks and workshops to encourage more people in Mauritania to sketch from observation. Citymag, a free magazine distributed monthly in Nouakchott has started to publish my drawings. Maybe that will inspire more people to pick up a pen or pencil and start sketching.

Fixing Water Taps to Save Water In India

Ayesha Saldanha — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:45:04 +0000

Author and painter Aabid Surti may have won awards for his writing and art, but he has also made a mark in another field: water conservation. For the last seven years, the 77-year-old has spent his Sundays going to apartments in Mumbai, and volunteering to fix leaking taps.

The Alternative, a Bangalore-based website seeking to chronicle and support social development in India, is currently running a campaign on sustainable water conservation called Catch Every Drop (#catcheverydrop). At The Alternative, Kirti introduces us to Aabid Surti's work:

The 77-year-old celebrates Sunday like none else, picking a building in Mumbai’s far-flung suburb Mira Road and, with his plumber and a volunteer in tow, searching it for leaking taps to plug. Free of charge. His reward? “A lot of water saved. And sometimes, an offer for lunch,” he says simply. Surti’s non-governmental organisation, Drop Dead, has just one employee – him.

Aabid Surti, from Aalif Surti's blog (CC BY-NC 3.0).

Aabid Surti's son Aalif Surti (@SuperAalif) has told the story of how it all began:

“I read an interview of the former UN chief Boutros Boutros Ghali,” Aabid recalls, “who said that by 2025 more than 40 countries are expected to experience water crisis. I remembered my childhood in a ghetto fighting for each bucket of water. I knew that shortage of water is the end of civilized life.” Around the same time, in 2007, he was sitting in a friend’s house and noticed a leaky tap. It bothered him. When he pointed it out, his friend, like others, dismissed it casually: it was too expensive and inconvenient to call a plumber for such a minor job – even plumbers resisted coming to only replace old gaskets. A few days later, he came across a statistic in the newspaper: a tap that drips once every second wastes a thousand litres of water in a month. That triggered an idea. He would take a plumber from door to door and fix taps for free – one apartment complex every weekend.

Of course there was the issue of covering costs:

As a creative artist, he had earned more goodwill than money and the first challenge was funding. “But,” he says, “if you have a noble thought, nature takes care of it.” Within a few days, he got a message that he was unexpectedly being awarded Rs.1,00,000 ($2,000) by the Hindi Sahitya Sansthan for his contribution to Hindi literature [an award from the government of Uttar Pradesh]. And one Sunday morning in 2007, the International Year of Water, he set out with a plumber to fix the problem for his neighbors. He began by simply replacing old O-ring rubber gaskets with new ones, buying new fixtures from the wholesale market. He named his one-man NGO ‘Drop Dead’ and created a tagline: save every drop… or drop dead. Every Sunday, the Drop Dead team – which consisted of Aabid himself, Riyaaz the plumber and a female volunteer Tejal – picked the apartment blocks, got permission from the housing societies, and got to work. A day before, Tejal would hand out pamphlets explaining their mission and paste posters in elevators and apartment lobbies spreading awareness on the looming water crisis. And by Sunday afternoon, they would ensure the buildings were drip-dry. By the end of the first year, they had visited 1533 homes and fixed around 400 taps. Slowly, the news began to spread.

Not only does the project help save water, it empowers the community:

As Aabid rings another door-bell on yet another Sunday in Mira Road, seven years into his one-man mission, he says: “Anyone can launch a water conservation project in his or her area. That’s the beauty of this concept. It doesn’t require much funding or even an office. And most importantly, it puts the power back in our own hands.”

Pappu (@bhanchik) praises Abid's efforts on Twitter:

@bhanchik: Heads bow down for Mr Aabid Surti for his one man mission to preserve water in these trying times when 11 districts are drought hit.Wakeup.

Now Aabid Surti would like similar initiatives to be started in others parts of India, so that as much water as possible is saved.

India: Playwright Girish Karnad Slams Award for V.S. Naipaul

Ayesha Saldanha — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 21:25:14 +0000

The audience at the Tata Literature Live! festival held in Mumbai on November 2 was surprised, when playwright, actor and director Girish Karnad spoke angrily about the presentation of an award to Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul.

Karnad was supposed to talk about his own work, but used the time instead to criticise the festival's giving of a Lifetime Achievement Award to Trinidadian-British author Naipaul, who Karnad accused of being anti-Muslim.

Deepanjana Pal was at the event, and wrote a post entitled “And Girish Karnad went Boom!”:

It was supposed to be an hour-long “masterclass” by playwright Girish Karnad and ended up being 45 minutes of fireworks at the end of which Tata Literature Live!’s festival director Anil Dharker was fuming and author Farrukh Dhondy’s red face made it clear that he was not amused. Instead of speaking about his plays, Karnad presented a lecture that attacked Nobel laureate VS Naipaul for being anti-Muslim, tone deaf and unreliable writer of non-fiction as far as India is concerned. Karnad asserted that Naipaul “has no idea of how Muslims contributed to Indian history.” He questioned the authenticity of Naipaul’s non-fiction writing in India and said Naipaul’s ideas are simplistic.

In his talk, Karnad said:

Apart from his novels, only two of which take place in India and are abysmal, Naipaul has written three books on India and the books are brilliantly written – he is certainly among the great English writers of our generation. They have been hailed as a continued exploration of India’s journey into modernity, but what strikes one from the very first book, A Wounded Civilization, is their rabid antipathy to the Indian Muslim. The “wound” in the title is the one inflicted on India by Babar’s invasion. Since then, Naipaul has never missed a chance to accuse them of having savaged India for five centuries, brought, among other dreadful things, poverty into it, and destroyed glorious Indian culture. [...] To Naipaul, the Indian Muslim remains an invader forever, forever condemned to be condemned, because some of them had invaders for their ancestors.

V. S. Naipaul reading. Image by Flickr user caribbeanfreephoto (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Deepanjana Pal commented:

The fact that Naipaul can indeed write exquisite sentences – sharp, precise and filled with images – is well-known and endlessly repeated. No one is debating that. The question that, to my mind, is worth asking is whether his “contrary” opinions are provocative or offensive. Contrary to popular usage, the two are not interchangeable. They have very different meanings. To be provocative is to provoke, which means to stimulate a strong reaction. It’s the basis of most great art (novels, films, paintings; the jing-bang lot of them) – they seek to engage the audience in a debate and leave them wondering. To offend, on the other hand, is a far blunter, cruder act. You’re simply annoying or hurting someone. If Tata Literature Live!’s powers that be believe Naipaul’s “contrary” views are provocative, then bravo, because Naipaul has (as usual) sparked a debate. Whether by design or accident, this festival deserves a big cheer for giving space to conflicting opinions. Karnad, however, is of the camp that believes that Naipaul is simply offensive.

On Twitter, feelings were mixed. Jaaved Jaaferi sided with Karnad:

@jaavedjaaferi: BRAVO Mr. Girish Karnad for being analytically vociferous about the blatantly communal V.S.Naipaul at the Lit Fest in Mumbai

Oldtimer felt Karnad had behaved badly:

@auldtimer: Ethics of Girish Karnad: At a felicitation function he was invited to, he attacks the person being felicitated to grab attention for himself

The Bad Doctor joked that Karnad spoke so poorly, he could be a politician:

@doctoratlarge: Girish Karnad was so illogical and ribald in his speech that he can make a brilliant Congress spokesperson.

Shiv Mishra pointed out that Karnad had been silent when Salman Rushdie was forced to withdraw from the Jaipur Literature Festival in January, after protests from some Muslim groups and an apparent threat to Rushdie's life:

@mishrashiv: Was Girish Karnad suffering from bad throat when Rushdie was not allowed to enter Jaipur?

But Naresh Fernandes suspected that all those on Twitter defending Naipaul had never read his work:

@tajmahalfoxtrot: Astonished to find how many twitfenders Naipaul has. I wonder how many of them have actually read him.

@tajmahalfoxtrot: They should be forced to read A Million Mutinies. They'll learn how mean-spirited he is about India.

India: Online Video Archive for Performing Arts

Ayesha Saldanha — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:27:59 +0000

“Shabda” means “sound” or “speech” in Sanskrit, and it is the name given to a unique online archive of videos presenting lecture demonstrations on various Indian art forms.

Started by three musicians, T.M. Krishna, H.K. Venkatram and Shriram Kumar, Shabda aims to bring Indian arts and culture to a wider audience.

Inspired by the TED talk format, Shabda's creators invite experts in music, dance or theatre to give a lecture on the topic of their choice for twenty minutes.

A Shabda event has six to eight speakers, including talks for both scholars and those less knowledgeable about Indian arts. The founders hope that as well as being a source of information, the site will become a constructive, interactive community.

The lectures, which are all in English, cover a wide range of subjects. In the first Shabda talk, Lakshmi Vishwanathan demonstrated how a Bharatanatyam dancer can effectively use music to enhance and elevate a dance performance.

Professor V.V. Subramaniam presented a lecture demonstration on how the essence of music is interpreted and performed on the violin.

Brigha Bessel showed how expressive techniques are used by a Bharatanatyam dancer.

Thumbnail and featured image show Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidyanathan. Image by Flickr user Dalbera (CC BY 2.0).

Saudi Arabia: The “Faceless” Experiment

Ayesha Saldanha — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:56:46 +0000

Rana Jarbou (@rjarbou) is a Saudi blogger who has decided to carry out an experiment. For a week she is wearing the niqab or face veil, to see how she feels, and to see if she is treated differently.

Rana, who is currently working on a book documenting graffiti in twelve Arab countries, lived in Saudi Arabia until she was a teenager, then lived in the US, Bahrain and Lebanon. These days she divides her time between Riyadh and Beirut.

On July 20 Rana introduced her experiment:

For the next week, starting today, I'm doing a little experiment. [...] I'm going to wear the niqab whenever I'm out in the city of Riyadh.

Rana wearing niqab. Photo used with permission.

The first step was to buy a niqab:

When I went to purchase the new abaya, scarf and niqab, I had to tell the salesman a white lie. I told him it's for my sister because it would just seem odd for me to walk in with my ordinary look and walk out with a completely different look (whether on me or in a bag). […] I go to the nearest women's toilet in that mall, to do the swap. I walk out and start heading towards the gate where I was to be picked up by [the driver] Eric. So far, I can see perfectly fine. This niqab does not affect my vision. But I noticed something immediately. No one stares, let alone looks. It felt very, very liberating. I walked towards an escalator to which a man was also approaching. He stopped to let me go before him, and even waited a few moments after I got on to give me ‘space'. Until I made my way out, seriously, no one stared! Yes, I'm otherwise accustomed to staring pairs of eyes without my niqab. […] I failed to mention that on my way out, I stopped by a couple of stores to start testing out interacting with salesmen. They barely look into my eyes. That was not so cool.

Rana tweeted:

@rjarbou: Wearing a niqab in Riyadh is like wearing a tank top & mini skirt in NYC. NO one stares. #faceless

She compared it to her experience of Lebanon:

@rjarbou: I just got tired of Lebanese pretending to be ‘open-minded’ & all. #Fail… I'm still a walking sex object everywhere in Lebanon. Everywhere.

On the third day of the experiment she wrote:

This ‘experiment’ gets confusing at times. Because though the purpose of wearing the niqab is in the presence of men, I have noticed that I see niqab-wearing women in many ladies sections in public places, let alone all-women buildings. It only takes a few moments to put it on, so I can't imagine keeping it on is to avoid the hassle of putting it back on. This has puzzled me, but now what is more puzzling is what I'm supposed to do for the experiment. Should I be Rana, who would find no logic behind wearing the niqab in all-women’s rooms and buildings, or should I follow the niqab ‘norm'? What is the norm?

By the fifth day, however, Rana discovered that wearing niqab doesn't make a woman immune to stares and whispers from men.

Global Voices asked Rana more about her “Faceless” experiment.

Global Voices (GV): What do you normally wear when you're in Riyadh?

Rana Jarbou (RJ): I normally wear an abaya and have a scarf on loosely or not at all… It depends on where I go. Wearing the scarf is mainly due (if not for religious reasons) to culture, tradition, or fear – all of which I am capable of defying. But I did notice there is a difference even between having the scarf on loosely or not at all.

GV: What gave you the idea to do this experiment? You have mentioned “incidents in public places with my fellow niqab-wearing comrades” – can you tell us more?

RJ: I have been reflecting on how and where the scarf and veil are worn for a while. But I decided to do this experiment in order to fully grasp, live and feel life behind the niqab. I have been in many situations in which a lady wearing the niqab would cut in line in front of me or interrupt while I was talking to a salesman, teller, or whoever. I have also observed how some women wearing the niqab treat their domestic workers in public. It seemed as though the niqab was a license for them to behave as they wanted.

And then an incident happened last week. A man had parked his car with three wheels on the sidewalk in a cul-de-sac where cars drop off and pick up shoppers. I said something to him, and he responded, ‘This is none of your business so why don't you SHUT UP!’ The security guard was not doing anything. I went into the mall, and when I came out again shortly after, the car was still there. There was a woman – wearing the niqab – in the passenger seat with her children in the backseat. I decided that maybe, just maybe, woman to woman I could try to communicate what I had failed to earlier on (because her husband refused to listen).

I told her, ‘If we all did the same thing, the place would be so chaotic and everyone would get angry, and…’ before I could even finish my comment, she interrupted me and said, ‘It's none of your business!’ in English. I responded ‘I speak Arabic, and it sure is my business – this is my country and I'd like us to respect each other and the public space.’ She responded, ‘You call this your country and you look like that? No, this is not your country…’ and carried on attacking me. Our conversation was no longer about the car parked where pedestrians walk in and out of the mall; it turned into her insulting me for not wearing the niqab.

I am generally saddened by the fact that something like a piece of cloth – and how I wear it – can strip me of my humanness, or rights as a citizen.

GV: Some would argue that the real problem is the obsession in every society with how women dress (whether equating covering up with “decency” or bare skin with “liberation”) – the use of women’s bodies and appearance as an ideological battleground. By doing this experiment aren’t you playing into that obsession?

RJ: We need to face it. This is not about right-wing French politics. It is not about ideology or religion. It is about a culture with a growing and deepening sexual frustration. My face and hair have become victims of that frustration.

In addition, that obsession seems to have been contagious, making my fellow niqab-wearing citizens make a surface judgment about whether or not I'm ‘Saudi enough'.

I was around during the 80s, and have been told about the 70s. Throughout the years, as more and more malls are built, and as we advance in technology, we seem to have hit stagnation in this debate.

Mauritania: A Rich Culture of Games, Dance and Music

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 19:51:51 +0000

Mauritania lies at the point where Arab and African cultures meet; it is the link between the countries of North and West Africa. This has given it a special character, with its wonderful ethnic diversity reflected in its unique culture. This is evident in Mauritania's rich tradition of games, dances and music, encapsulating the marriage between Arab and African cultures. In this post we will show you some examples.

The game of “Anigur”

The game of “Anigur” or “pin play” is one of the best-known traditional Mauritanian games, which simulates a duel with swords, but using sticks. There are no victims; the game ends with no winners or losers, as the point is solely to entertain. While the “competitors” duel, women play drums and ululate to encourage them.

Usually the game is set up between two competitors with sticks, but one may duel with two or three according to his experience and strength. The “Anigur” player is considered to be an important person that people flock to invite to special occasions, although he does not earn money from this.

This game is also part of Mauritanian wedding celebrations and official ceremonies; it's a part of the people's psyche and takes an important place amongst popular Mauritanian games.

The following video shows two men playing “Anigur”, while women around them clap to encourage them:

Dancing to the “Nifara”

The “nifara” – the Mauritanian flute – is a musical instrument close to people's hearts; dancing to it is popular amongst young Mauritanians. The dancers use their skills to match its melodies, and dance expressively in a theatrical style. As the enthusiasm in the audience grows, they ululate and clap.

In this video you can see some young Mauritanians dancing to nifara tunes:

Dimi Mint Abba

Finally we come to the legend of Mauritanian music, Dimi Mint Abba; in the following video she sings a traditional song accompanied by the beautiful instrument, the “ardin” [similar to the "kora"].

Dimi was a traditional Mauritanian singer, who was born in the Tagant Region and rose to fame in the 1970s. Her voice was able to transcend the borders of her country to reach the rest of Africa and some Arab countries. It was a source of enjoyment for millions of Mauritanians for decades.

She began her career at the beginning of the 1970s, and represented her country in an Arab singing competition in Tunis in 1976.

Dimi Mint Abba died on June 4, 2011, and the news was a thunderbolt for Mauritanians. There was an outpouring of grief all over the country.

Thumbnail and featured image show Dimi Mint Abba at the Festival au Desert 2004 in Essakane, Mali. Image by CultrVultr on Flickr.

Mauritania: Remembering the Country's First Military Coup

Ayesha Saldanha — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:07:18 +0000

July 10, 2012, marked the 34th anniversary of the first military coup in Mauritania. In 1978, the military overthrew president Moktar Ould Daddah, Mauritania's first president after achieving independence from France in 1960.

Since then the country has experienced a succession of military coups, the latest of which was carried out by Brigadier General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Mauritania's first elected civilian president, on August 6, 2008.

Mauritanian activists remembered the anniversary by blogging and tweeting about it, and criticising military rule in Mauritania.

Moktar Ould Daddah, 1977. Image from Romanian Communism Online Photo Collection, via Wikimedia Commons.

The blogger at the Boutilimit Today blog (which takes its name from the hometown of the president overthrown in 1978) recalled what happened after the coup [ar]:

بدأت السلطات سياسة الإقصاء الممنهجة ضد ولاية الترارزة بشكل خاص، وضد مدينة بوتلميت بشكل أخص فقد قررت النخبة العسكرية الجديدة، تحويل تلك المدينة إلى ” معتقل لأبنائهما كان إخوة الرئيس ولد داداه، وأقاربه إضافة إلى الأطر والمثقفين المنحدرين من ولايته أول المستهدفين، وتواصلت الاعتقالات لتشمل كثيرا من الموريتانيين، فيما كان الأستاذ أحمد ولد داداه يقضي إقامته الجبرية في بوتلميت والتي مكنته من حفظ القرآن الكريم، كان الأمير احبيب ولد أحمد سالم يعلك لجام الأسى وهو سجين محمول في مؤخرة 404 تشق به وهاد المذرذرة إلى نواكشوط.

The political authorities began to systematically exclude the Trarza Region, and Boutilimit, in particular. The new military elite decided to turn the town into a prison for its sons, who were the brothers and relatives of President Ould Daddah. Intellectuals who came from the region were also amongst the first targets. Ahmed Ould Daddah [half-brother of Moktar Ould Daddah] was under house arrest in Boutilimit, which allowed him to memorise the Holy Qur'an. The Emir Habib Ould Ahmed Salem [emir of Trarza] brewed in his sorrow as he was carried in the back of a truck on the way to Nouakchott through the Mederdra plains.

The activist Baba Ould Brahim wrote about the anniversary on his blog Surakh Al Watan (“The Scream of The Nation”):

إن الحديث عن الانقلابات في موريتانيا يعني الحديث عن خمسة عشر انقلاب وجد البعض منها سبيله في الاستيلاء على السلطة بينما فشل الآخر في ذلك ,بدأت بانقلاب 1978م وظلت مستمرة ومحكوم بها كقدر محتوم أعناق الشعب الموريتاني حتى اليوم.ويمكن اختزالها عموما ,و تقسيما إلى ثلاث مراحل أساسية تبدأ أولاها من 1978م حتى 1991م حيث بداية المرحلة الثانية التي انتهت بانقلاب 2005 الذي شكل هو الآخر بداية للمرحلة الثالثة التي لم تنتهي بعد.لولا الاختلاف في الأشخاص والأسماء لقيل أن موريتانيا عرفت انقلابا واحدا ,وذلك لاتحاد جميع الانقلابات في الأسباب , والتشابه في المسار ,والوصول إلى نفس النتائج.
كان العاشر من يوليو 1978 موعد موريتانيا مع أول انقلاب من طرف مجموعة من ضباط جيشها , دوافعهم في ذلك كما قالوا الحرب التي يخوضها الجيش ضد البوليساريو في ظروف وصفوها بالصعبة , فهو غير مؤهل لذلك من حيث السلاح والمئونة والتدريب…
لقد تلازم مع هذا الانقلاب ,القضاء على جميع المظاهر المدنية في الدولة , وهو ما اتضح جليا من خلال الميثاق الذي يمنع التعددية السياسية , ويحرم على المدنيين ممارسة السياسة.

To talk about coups in Mauritania is to talk about fifteen coups, some of which found a way to seize power, while others failed. It began with the coup in 1978 and continued, and it remains a fate governing the lives of Mauritanians until today. They can be summarised, and divided into three basic phases. The first was from 1978-1991, the second phase lasted until the coup in 2005, and third has still not finished. If not for the difference in people and names, we could say that Mauritania has seen a single coup, as all the coups have had the same reason, and have been similar in the way they were carried out, and have achieved the same results.
July 10, 1978 was Mauritania's appointment with the first coup by a group of army officers, who claimed that their motive was the war waged by the army against Polisario in conditions they described as difficult, with no chance of more weapons, supplies, or training.
Something inherent to each coup has been the elimination of all aspects of the civil state, made clear in the constitutional charter, which prohibits political pluralism and stops civilians from participating in politics.

Arrest of activists of 25 February movement. From Mouvement du 25 Février Facebook page.

The 25 February movement activist Med Lemine Echvagha tweeted about the anniversary:

@eddennine: بعد ايام تكمل ‎‫#موريتانيا‬ سنتها الرابعة والثلاثين تحت حكم العسكر، يسقط…يسقط حكم العسكر ‎‫#ارحل_عزيز‬

In a few days’ time Mauritania will complete its thirty-fourth year under military rule. Down with military rule, [General] Aziz get out

The blogger Sidi Al Tib Ould Mojteba wrote:

@mojteba: تؤلمني ذكرى هذا اليوم المشؤوم، ويحز في النفس أن نخبة بلادي لا تدرك جسامة الخطب وهول الكارثة.. يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر ‎‫#موريتاني‬

The anniversary of this fateful day hurts me, and it's painful to see that the elite of my country are unaware of the gravity of the matter and the horror of this disaster… Down with Mauritanian military rule

The activist Baba Ould Hourma commented on the revival of the July 10 anniversary by the 25 February movement:

@hourmababa: وقفة حركة ٢٥ فبراير في ذكرى أول انقلاب عسكري يعكس وعيا شموليا بجذور المعضلة السياسية في ‎‫#موريتانيا‬ وتجاوزا لأطروحات القوى التقليدية في البلد

The position of the 25 February movement on the anniversary of the first military coup reflects the comprehensive awareness of the roots of the political dilemma in Mauritania and a disregard for the traditional powers in the country

Mauritania: Anger at Foreign Minister's Support for Assad

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:26:00 +0000

A speech that the Mauritanian foreign minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi [fr] made at the latest Friends of Syria conference has angered Mauritanian activists. In his speech at the conference, which took place in Paris on July 6, the minister said that what was happening in Syria was “violence and counterviolence”.

This was considered by many to express support for Bashar Al Assad's regime, and tweets as well as angry, satirical videos circulated, criticising the minister and apologising to the Syrian people and the Syrian revolution.

It should be noted that this stance of the Mauritanian regime, in support of other regimes facing demands for their fall, is not new. The Mauritanian regime has previously supported the regime of Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo and the deposed Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi, in addition to the regimes of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak.

A number of rallies have already taken place in Mauritania demanding that the regime expel the Syrian ambassador from Nouakchott and cut diplomatic relations with Bashar Al Assad's regime.

“I am Mauritanian and this person does not represent me.” Photoshopped image of Mauritanian foreign minister, posted by Twitter user @moctarmm.

The page Mauritanie Demain made a satirical video using the minister's speech, altering the original footage and distorting the minister's words. In it the minister says that the reason for Mauritania's support for the Syrian regime is that Iran paid Mauritanian president Brigadier General Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz to support Bashar Al Assad.

The Mauritanian activist Tah Ould Habib criticised the foreign minister's speech:

‏@tahabib حمادي ولد حمادي لا يمثل حتى نفسه،‏ لا يمثل إلا الجنرال عزيز.‏ ‏‎‫‎‫‬

Hamadi Ould Hamadi doesn't even represent himself, he only represents General Aziz.

Activist Ahmed Abdallah commented in the same vein:

@ahmedbah أنا موريتاني وأدعم الثورة السورية العظيمة.. وهذا القبيح لايمثلني.. لايمثل إلا جنراله المستبد

I am a Mauritanian and I support the great Syrian revolution… This ugly person does not represent me… He only represents the tyrant general

And Elghoutoub Ould Mohammed Moloud wrote:

‏@Elghoutoub اللهم إني أبرأ إليك مما قاله وزير الخارجية..الإستبداد ملة واحدة..يسقط الجنرال.. يسقط بشار

May I have nothing to do with what the foreign minister said… Tyrants are one community… Down with the general… Down with Bashar…

In his turn, the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi commented:

@JKhashoggi موريتانيا بلد غريب، في زمن ما قبل الربيع العربي تفتح مكتب ارتباط لإسرائيل، ما بعد الربيع تنحاز و”تتفهم ” موقف النظام السوري!

Mauritania is a strange country. In the period preceding the Arab Spring it opened an office to liaise with Israel, and after the Arab Spring it takes a side and “understands” the position of the Syrian regime!

Egypt: First Free Presidential Election Underway

Ayesha Saldanha — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:13:27 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/2012.

Egyptians are voting in the country's first free presidential election. The voting will take place on May 23 and 24, with a runoff on June 16 and 17 if necessary.

Fifty million people are eligible to vote. While large queues have formed at some polling stations, the turnout seems to be lower than for the parliamentary elections in November 2011. This may reflect a disillusionment with the candidates felt by many.

Tarek Shalaby commented on the low turnout:

@tarekshalaby: On March 19th [the constitutional referendum], I was in the queue wrapping around this school. Right now it's deserted. Maybe later…

No queue. Image posted by @tarekshalaby

Journalist Erin Cunningham commented on the turnout in Ismailia in north-east Egypt:

@erinmcunningham: Bakery in Ismailia central has longer, more enthusiastic line than polling stations I saw. ‪#Egyelex‬ ‪#breadpolitics

Nadine Sabry gave one explanation as to why turnout was low:

@nsabry: major differentiating factor is the weather. I went around 2 pm last time but wont go today til 6:30-7 when it is emptier & cooler

Emirati Sultan Al Qassemi is visiting Cairo, and took this picture:

Long queue for all-male voting station at Orman school in Dokki. Image posted by @SultanAlQassemi.

Kareem Hosem in Cairo commented:

@akaHoezy: I dream of a day when men & women can stand in one line to vote without trouble. Gender segregation should be a thing of the past. ‪#EgyElex

Journalist Adam Makary in Suez took us through the voting process:

@adamakary: First, you show your national ID card to match your number with those registered to vote. Then, you sign ‪#Suez‬ ‪#EgyElex

Image posted by @adamakary.

@adamakary: Second step, pick up your voting card. ‪#Suez‬ ‪#EgyElex

Image posted by @adamakary.

@adamakary: And you wait… with ballot and pen in hand. ‪#Suez‬ ‪#EgyElex‬

Image posted by @adamakary.

@adamakary: After you tick off the box selecting your preferred candidate, you drop your ballot into a sealed box. ‪#Suez‬ ‪#EgyElex

Image posted by @adamakary.

@adamakary: Finally, you collect your ID card, dip your finger in purple, permanent ink and off you go. ‪#Suez‬ ‪#EgyElex

Image posted by @adamakary.

Lilz voted, and commented:

@Booky_Lillz: Is anyone else's skin reacting to the dye? I think Im getting hives! ‪#EgyElex‬ ‪#EgyPresElection

Nadeen Hafez in Cairo voted with pride:

@NadeenHafez: Took me 3 hours and a half to vote. Totally worth it. All for you, Egypt! ‪#EgyElex‬ ‪#PresidentialElections

Omar Elimam could not believe the change in Egypt:

@elimam_o: Simply put, I still cannot comprehend that I'm going to vote for ‪#Egypt‬'s president. ‪#egyelex

BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen spoke to a voter:

@jfjbowen: I asked one woman in the queue to vote how long she'd been waiting. 30 years she said with a big laugh ‪#EgyPresElection

For more on the presidential elections see this Storify by Asteris Masouras.

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/2012.

Featured image shows woman proudly showing off her inked finger outside a Zamalek polling station after voting in Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential election, by Sallie Pisch, copyright Demotix (23/05/2012).

Lebanon: UK Ambassador to Chat on Twitter with Haifa Wehbe

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:46:32 +0000

The British Embassy in Lebanon has announced an online discussion between the UK ambassador (@HMATomFletcher) and Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbe (@HaifaWehbe), to take place on May 18 at 6pm (Lebanese time), tweeting under the hashtag #HaifaHMA.

Mauritania: Opposition Sit-in Attacked by Security Forces

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:29:48 +0000

A sit-in in Nouakchott by opposition groups was violently dispersed by security forces in the early hours of May 3. It was the latest of a series of protests that have taken place in Mauritania.

Protestors, who were calling for the downfall of the military government, had erected tents and brought supplies and a water truck, intending to stay. This was the first mass sit-in organised by all opposition parties and activist and community groups.

Mauritanians have been protesting for political and economic reforms, and the end to military rule, for more than a year. The country has been described as being at boiling point.

Opposition sit-in in Nouakchott on May 2. Image by Twitter user @ahmedj85.

Online activist Anita Hunt described what happened on the morning of May 3:

After cutting off electricity and barricading the area around the sit-in with road blocks and a convoy of about 30 vehicles, a barrage of tear gas, sound grenades and water cannon rained down on the camp. Police then attacked and beat protesters as they tried to escape. Scores of people were injured and dozens arrested in clashes that continued for over two hours. The injured included the leader of one of the opposition parties; the director of another opposition leader, Ould Daddah’s office; independent radio journalists; a pregnant woman who was overcome by tear gas and developed severe breathing diffculties; and a youth with internal bleeding. The police confiscated bedding, electronics, and provisions from the camp site, and were later seen dividing up the food and drink between themselves. Whatever police couldn’t remove easily – such as tables, chairs and toilet facilities – they destroyed. There are reports that president Aziz and a security detail of the presidential guard were spotted in the vicinity while the attacks were in progress, indicating that he was personally supervising the raid. The Council of Ministers met at the presidential palace later that morning, while police launched a fresh attack on the university, arresting several students. After the Council meeting, there was no mention in the official statement regarding the massive protest or the attack.

Mauritanian blogger Ahmed Jedou wrote:

هذا الاعتصام شاركت فيه جميع أطياف المعارضة الموريتانية
من أحزاب وقوى سياسية وحركات شبابية مثل حركة 25 فبراير التي دخلت في سمر ليلي صاخب .
حيث قرضوا الشعر ورددوا شعارهم الاشهر “يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر “الذي رفعوه من أكثر من عام مع بداية الربيع العربي.

The whole spectrum of the Mauritanian opposition took part in this sit-in: all parties, political forces, youth movements such as the 25 February movement [ar] that organised a night vigil during which they recited poems and repeated their slogan of months “Down, down with military rule”, which they have been saying for more than a year since the beginning of the Arab Spring.

US-based Mauritanian activist Nasser Weddady commented:

@weddady:#موريتانيا‬‏ على الرغم من قلة عدد سكانها قطعت أشواطاً بعيدة في الحراك الشعبي إذ أنها شهدت ميلاد حركات إحتجاجية في سنة.إنجاز قياسي بكل المعايير

@weddady:#Mauritania ‬despite its small population has made great strides in popular mobilisation, as it has witnessed the birth of protest movements in a year. Record achievement by any standard

He added:

@weddady: Now, we will see how the opposition will react to the mass beating. As usual, don't expect much on any of this in world media.

This video [ar], uploaded by ahmedj85, shows the sit-in on May 2:

The following video [ar], uploaded by alaakhbarinfo, shows the sit-in being attacked in the early morning of May 3:

May Day Marked Around the Arab World

Ayesha Saldanha — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:25:02 +0000

May Day, or Labour Day, or International Workers’ Day is recognised as a public holiday in many Arab countries, and demonstrations and rallies are held by unions and political parties to pay tribute to the role of workers and to call for workers’ rights.

The National Transitional Council of Libya has declared [ar] International Workers’ Day to be a national public holiday starting this year. Hamid tweeted from Tripoli:

@2011feb17: #Libya's first #MayDay (Worker's Day) holiday since 42 years ago! HAPPY HOLIDAY EVERYONE Yup #Libya has changed ;)

Demonstration on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, Tunis. Image by Amine Ghrabi on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Bahraini activist Maryam Alkhawaja remembered the migrant workers of the Gulf:

@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: On labor day we pay tribute to all the migrant workers who r treated like modern day slaves in #gulf countries

Demonstration in Barbar, Bahrain. Image by Twitter user @bahrainiac14.

Demonstrations were held all over Bahrain demanding the reinstatement of the hundreds of workers who were fired last year for taking part in protests. Many of the demonstrations were attacked by riot police with tear gas. Journalist Mazen Mahdi reported from Manama's souq (market):

@MazenMahdi: Despite tear-gasing #Manama souq labor day protest still on-going #Bahrain

Demonstration in Khouribga, Morocco. Image by Twitter user @__Hisham.

Imad Bazzi tweeted about the hacking of the Lebanese Ministry of Labour's website:

@TrellaLB: special delivery for the Ministry of Labor in #Lebanon on Labor day, a total makeover :D loooool http://www.labor.gov.lb/ thanks to #RYV

The website was changed to say the following:

We are RYV, short for Raise Your Voice, and we are simply a group of people who could not bare sitting in silence, watching all the crimes and injustice going on in Lebanon. We will not be silenced and brainwashed by your media. We will not stop until the Lebanese people mobilize, demand their rights, and earn them. We will not stop until the standards of living are raised to where they should be in Lebanon. We will not stop until this government's self-made problems are solved, like the power shortage, water shortage, rise in gas prices and rise in food product prices. We are RYV, expect us to break the silence, whether in the streets or on the Internet.
Silence is a crime

Demonstration in Cairo. Image by Hossam el-Hamalawy on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Jordan: New Website for Short Stories

Ayesha Saldanha — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:38:33 +0000

Project Pen is an initiative to promote short story writing by Arabs and “encourage a new generation of writers, creating new kinds of stories, for a new kind of readership”. By sharing stories across social media, and by connecting writers with each other, Project Pen intends to bypass traditional publishing and take storytelling “back to a future when stories were carved out on cave walls, and spoken out over the camp fire”. You can find out more at the project's website (in Arabic and English), and on Facebook and Twitter.

Syria: Appeal by Diplomats’ Wives to Asma Al Assad

Ayesha Saldanha — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:53:29 +0000

“Women from around the world, urge you, Asma Al-Assad, to take up your responsibility as wife of the Syrian leader. Hundreds of children in your country have already died, tens of thousands have been injured and displaced, all of them have been traumatized. We expect you to speak out for peace, to stop the bloodshed. Make your voice heard!” On April 16 the wives of the British and German ambassadors to the UN released a video urging Asma Al Assad, the wife of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, to act to stop the violence in Syria. They also started a petition calling for peace.