Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups

Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups (AIPSG),
Email: aipsg@yahoo.com,

AIPSG publishes a news-blog Charcha (click here for archives of the old monthly edition) of news, news analysis, views and opinions on India, South Asia and South Asians abroad. Archived articles from its antecedent publication, Taraqqi, are listed below by subject heading.

Last Updated: Tuesday 14 April 2009

BUILDING PEOPLE’S UNITY TO SECURE SOUTH ASIA FOR THE PEOPLES OF SOUTH ASIA

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Bennet Lecture Hall, Flavelle House, University of Toronto Law School

78 Queens Park, (Museum Subway Stop)

Jointly organized by the South Asian People’s Forum, the Ghadar Heritage Organization

and the Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups

www.sapf.ca, www.geocities.com/aipsg, Tel: 416-856-7212

Thursday April 23^rd

Friday April 24^th

Saturday April 25^th

Sunday April 26th

9:30AM – 12Noon

IMPERIALISM AND SOUTH ASIA

Location:

Trinity St.Paul Church

427 Bloor Street West

(Spadina subway stop)

9:30AM – 12Noon

NEOLIBERALISM AND RESISTANCE

10AM – 2PM

CONCLUDING PLENARY

2PM – 4:30PM

SPECIAL SESSION

ON SRI LANKA

Location:

Trinity St-Paul Church

427 Bloor Street West

(Spadina subway stop)

2:30PM – 5PM

SOUTH ASIAN STATES: COMMUNAL VIOLENCE, TERRORISM, AND SECTARIANISM

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

JOINT DISCUSSION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE POETRY FESTIVAL

3PM – 6 PM

LITERARY SESSION WITH SOUTH ASIAN WRITERS AND CRITICS

Location: PORT CREDIT SCHOOL

70 Mineola Rd. East MISSISSAUGA

(East of Huron-Ontario between QEW and Lakeshore)

6:30 PM

CONFERENCE OPENING

· WELCOME

· KEYNOTE ADDRESS

· FEATURED SPEAKER Abid Hasan Minto Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan

· RECEPTION

7PM- 9:30PM

LEFT POLITICS IN SOUTH ASIA AND PEOPLE’S UNITY

7:30 PM – 10 PM

FILM SCREENING

AMU

FOLLOWED BY DISCUSSION WITH THE DIRECTOR

SONALI BOSE

AND OTHERS.

7PM - 10PM

2^ND ANNUAL FAIZ PEACE FESTIVAL

Location: PORT CREDIT SCHOOL

70 Mineola Rd. East MISSISSAUGA

Registration: $15.00; One day: $10.00

Faiz Peace Festival Ticket: $15.00

Co-sponsored by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Canada

and the South Asia Programs at York University and the University of Toronto

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

BUILDING PEOPLE’S UNITY TO SECURE SOUTH ASIA FOR THE PEOPLES OF SOUTH ASIA

April 23-26, 2009

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

For more information please visit http://www.sapf.ca, http://geocities.datacellar.net/aipsg, or call 416-856-7212.

The current geopolitics of South Asia threatens a regional and global war that can devastate the countries and peoples of the region. This conference is being organized jointly by the South Asian Peoples Forum, the Ghadar Heritage Foundation and the Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups (AIPSG) to build the unity of the peoples across borders who alone can stop such wars. Speakers and activists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal as well as from Canada, the US and the UK will discuss people’s common struggles in defense of their rights in all the countries and the ways to unite them for stopping the war and war preparations in the region.

The conference will discuss issues such as geopolitics of South Asia, divisions and violence in South Asia as well as the resistance struggles in all the countries. The movements of women in different countries and Canada-South Asia Labor solidarity will be addressed in separate panels. Special Discussions on Sri Lanka and Kashmir will take place during the conference.

Abid Hasan Minto, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan has been invited to be the featured speaker for the Opening.

The conference will conclude on April 26th with the SEcond Annual Faiz Peace Festival held in conjuction with the First International Festival of Poetry of Resistance in Toronto

The conference is being co-sponsored by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Canada, and the South Asia Programs at York University and the University of Toronto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oppose War and War Preparations in South Asia!

Joint statement by the South Asian People’s Forum, Ghadar Heritage Organization and the Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups (AIPSG)

The question in the first decade of the 21^st century has emerged as how to avert the war that the big powers are preparing in South Asia. The new U.S. administration has articulated a militarist agenda for South Asia. Under the pretext of hunting for terrorists, the Americans plan to mobilize NATO and other allies to deepen their occupation of Afghanistan and enter Pakistan. It is up to the people of the world and the people of South Asia in particular to stop such intervention and bring an end to the current occupation. The times require the building of a movement against war and war-aims to also ensure that war does not become the means for the big powers to emerge out of the current economic, political and military crises engulfing the world.

An occupation army in Afghanistan is already killing innocent people; and Pakistan’s territory is being bombed everyday by the US. The secret agencies of the US and allied countries are roaming through South Asia under the pretext of capturing terrorists. Their fore-most aim in these countries is to secure a strategic advantage and lay hands on the resources and markets. War will provide them with the best opportunity to accomplish those aims. People in all the countries of South Asia are already waging resistance struggles against the neoliberal offensive and violation of rights and they can avert the march to war through their united opposition.

India and other countries of South Asia have been building their military machines and linking their military with the U.S. and other big powers for some time. Occupation and aggression from abroad can become the occasion for war amongst the countries of South Asia to settle old scores and pursue their own ambitions. We have a duty to support the people’s struggles being waged in the countries of South Asia through our struggles for the same aims, irrespective of where we live.

Please participate in the conference and help build this movement against war as our contribution to world peace in the 21^st century!

AIPSG NEWS ARCHIVE...

Dec 15, 2005	15th Anniversary of AIPSG
March 21, 2004	Anti-War Governments are the Needs of the Time
March 19, 2004	Elections - Oppose the Rise of an Imperial India on the Backs of the People - IPSG Michigan Statement
Jan 15, 2004	World Social Forum and Mumbai Resistance - How can the Indian People become Beneficiaries?
Sept 27, 2003	Geopolitics and the Indo-Pak Conflict...
Sept 9, 2003	CANCUN 2003 - One Humanity One Struggle - Join the Global Mobilization to Oppose the WTO Agenda
June 17th 2003	New AIPSG booklet on Gujarat - BREAKING THE STALEMATE
April 5th 2003	The Iraq War - a defining event of the 21st century
March 23rd 2003	END THE WAR NOW! - Anti-War Governments are the Demand of the Time
Nov 20th 2002	South Asia at a Turning Point
Oct 2nd 2002	Geopolitics and the Necessity for Anti-War Governments
Aug 24 2002	The Last Reform: Breaking With the Past by Hardial Bains
Aug 15 2002	INDIA AT 55
Jun 20 2002	NO TO WAR: People Must Seize the Initiative on the Indo-Pak Conflict!
Apr 28 2002	AIPSG Message to Rally for Palestine
Apr 7 2002	LRS Conference: "How to Stop the Privatization and Anti-Labour Laws" - Mumbai
Mar 29 2002	It is Our Future - AIPSG at Johns Hopkins
Mar 20 2002	IPSG MI Statement on Gujarat Riots
Mar 08 2002	International Women's Day - It's a Matter of Initiative
Mar 06 2002	War in Afghanistan and the Future of South Asia
Feb 23 2002	AIPSG Sends Message to All India Conference on Rights

BREAKING THE STALEMATE:
The Carnage in Gujarat and the Movement for Justice and Rehabilitation

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE BOOKLET IN:

PDF format HTML format

© 2003, Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups

Introduction: Calling for a Bold New Initiative in Gujarat
A Time for the Utmost Vigilance
Gujarat Riots: Update
The Carnage in Gujarat is an Attack on all the People of India!
People Must Take a Stand on the Gujarat Carnage!
Continued Killings in Gujarat: A Matter of Grave Concern!
Who Will Put an End to the Anarchy?
Gujarat – What is the Question?
The Business of Violence
What Should People Do?
Gujarat Elections – A Self-Serving Debate
Akshardham – Gujarat is Far From “Normal”
A Grudging Acknowledgment is the First Step
Elections – Picking up Where the Carnage Left Off
Gujarat After the Elections
“Punishing the Guilty” is More Important than Ever
Infamous Anniversary, Profound Significance
Documenting the Carnage
An Ominous Assassination
Epilogue – Facts Can’t be Obliterated

BREAKING THE STALEMATE:
The Carnage in Gujarat and the Movement for Justice and Rehabilitation

FOREWORD:
The Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups (AIPSG) is pleased to release this booklet containing a series of articles, statements and speeches relating to the horrific communal carnage in Gujarat in 2002.

All of these items have already appeared in Charcha – the online discussion journal of the AIPSG. Each of the articles is self-contained, capturing the context of these developments, analysing and highlighting their immediate and long-term significance in a timeline running from February 2002 through March 2003. Taken together, they sum up the experiences of the past year and draw out a conclusion that can serve as a guide to action for people concerned about the situation in Gujarat and elsewhere in India.

The meticulous work of journalists, activists, jurists, and ordinary people has exposed the reality of who was responsible for the killings in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and elsewhere. As a result, most people are well aware of the culpability of the organs of the state and various levels of government, and a broad movement seeking the investigation, trial and punishment of those responsible has taken shape. Even the NRIs have drawn this conclusion, and India’s Prime Minister and Home Minister were forced into statements of contrition while visiting New York and London respectively.

But the powers that be in New Delhi or Gandhinagar still refuse to provide for the rehabilitation of the victims or the for any investigative or judicial process. According to them, the assembly elections of December 2002 provided an electoral mandate for this inaction, and they have subsequently sought to paralyse and liquidate any popular demands for further action. A number of eminent jurists and human rights activists in India have prepared detailed documentation of the complicity of the state apparatus in the carnage, and there are strong possibilities of using this evidence to bring charges against the Gujarat government functionaries for genocide and crimes against humanity in the Indian and international courts. This can be an important step in preventing the recurrence of such horrors in the future.

As readers will find in this collection, analyses of the events in Gujarat brought forth the limitations of the existing political mechanisms to prevent or control state-sanctioned or state-organised communal violence. One problem remains that the relief and rehabilitation work remains the charge of wilfully negligent functionaries. Another problem is in the administration of justice, starting with the investigation of the crimes and leading up to the trial and punishment of those responsible. In spite of all the evidence presented in the various investigations and reports, the law enforcement and judicial system showed no enthusiasm to take them up. One important theme that resonates through this booklet is the necessity of creating new political mechanisms that give people a political role in the administration of justice or rehabilitation.

The AIPSG sincerely hopes that this idea is taken up in the months and years ahead. Every Indian has either been a victim or is rendered more vulnerable to become a victim in the future if such officially sanctioned violence and insecurity is further entrenched. The movement against communal violence was unable to prevent the deaths of thousands in Gujarat between February and May 2002. Thus far, it has not succeeded in bringing the main perpetrators to justice.

It is time to sum up these experiences and those of other similar protest movements such as the anti-war or anti-privatisation movement. Those women and men of conscience who stood up in defence of the rights of their fellow citizens have no cause to be disheartened , they are being called upon to take their struggle to a new level.

10 June 2003
Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups

Elaborating the Agenda for Democratic Renewal -
AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT:

On Saturday February 24, 2001, the AIPSG released a new book at a reception held in Cambridge, Massachussetts. Titled Elaborating the Agenda for Democratic Renewal in India and consists of the papers and presentations given during 1999 in two seminar series held on the Indian constitution and on the Indian economy in Los Angeles and Boston respectively.

Introduction, TOC and Preface
The Last Reform: Breaking with the Past, Hardial Bains

Papers on the Indian Economy
Introduction, IPSG Boston
India’s Public Debt, R.Gopalan
The Indian Economy – Lessons From East Asia Financial Crisis, C.Ravi
The 1999 Budget and the Future of Liberalisation in India, AIPSG
The Impact of Liberalisation and Privatisation in India, Raj Mishra
Message from Lok Raj Sangathan
Working Out India’s Economic Agenda During The 13th Lok Sabha Elections, R.Gopalan
Globalisation and the Indian Economy, Raj Mishra
What Vision for the Indian Economy?, AIPSG
War against Poverty, Lok Raj Sangathan
Agrarian Question and the Indian Economy, IPSG Boston