SAJAforum

HUMAN RIGHTS: Prof. Manu Bhagavan's new ideas

Prof. Manu Bhagavan, who teaches history at Hunter College in New York, sent us this:

My article, "A New Hope: India, the United Nations and the Making of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," has just been published by Modern Asian Studies (copyright Cambridge University Press) and is now online at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=643648; the article will also be released in the print version of the journal in 2009.

This piece makes several important new claims, including:

1. calling for a major new interpretation of India's famous foreign policy of "non-alignment."
2. reinterpreting Jawaharlal Nehru's intellectual vision for India and the world.
3. providing new frameworks for understanding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
4. 4. rethinking the hopes and dreams for the UN invested by India and other postcolonial states.

Here is the official abstract:
Abstract: This article explores India's role in the development and design
of the United Nations, refracted through the Commission that drafted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Through an analysis of sovereignty,
citizenship, nationality, and human rights from the 1940s to 1956, the paper
discusses what India hoped the UN to be, and more generally what they
intended for the new world order and for themselves.  The paper challenges
existing interpretations of international affairs in this period.  It seeks
to reform our understanding of Jawaharlal Nehru's intellectual vision, and
in the process attempts to recast the very concept of postcoloniality.

See his full note below, with contact info. Post your comments below.

NEPAL: Maoist-led parliament declares Nepal a republic, king to leave palace

Nepalese no longer have to bow before the king. They could shake his hands...technically.

The world's last Hindu kingdom, then a secular state, has now been declared a republic, after the Maoist-led new parliament decided to abolish the 240-year old monarchy completely.

King Gyanendra and his wife Komal have been given fifteen days to empty the Narayanhiti Royal Palace (in picture), which will be converted into a museum.

But local news outlets in Kathmandu have reported that the king has already left the palace for his summer residence at Nagarjuna palace (about eight kilometres north of Kathmandu) around 9 p.m. Thursday [local time].

From the BBC News:

A constituent assembly meeting in the capital, Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to abolish royal rule.

The Maoists, the largest party after laying down arms and standing in last month's elections, were committed to ousting King Gyanendra.<snip>

The approved proposal states that Nepal is "an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular and an inclusive democratic republic nation".

Only four members of the 601-seat assembly opposed the change.

Thousands of people have come out on the streets nationwide to celebrate the declaration of republic. The government has announced a two-day public holiday in celebration of the republic.

But not everyone is happy. At least three major bomb blasts rocked parts of Kathmandu on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some royalist groups continue to oppose getting rid of the king and warned that abolishing monarchy could take the impoverished country back into conflict.

King Gyanendra came to power in 2001 after the assassination of the entire family of then King Birendra. Gyanendra remained widely unpopular throughout the years, especially after the royal coup in 2005 during which he dissolved the parliament and took the executive power in his hands.

Two years ago, a reinstated House of Representatives removed all the powers and privileges of the king, declaring Nepal a secular state and no longer a Hindu kingdom.

With this declaration of republic, Gyanendra not only becomes the last king of Shah dynasty but also the last king of Nepal. (Interesting tip: Nepal's first king is believed to be Yalambar, who is said to have fought with the Kauravas in the story of Mahabharata).

With Gyanendra gone, many believe that Maoist leader Prachanda, who led a decade-long armed insurgency, is poised to be the next powerhouse of Nepali politics.

I was pretty amazed by the amount of coverage this has been getting worldwide. Here are some links from news websites around the world. (Feel free to post interesting links on the comments section)

• A republic is born: Nepal ends 239-year-old monarchy
• Prachanda achieves ambition, becomes most powerful man in Nepal
• Nepal abolishes centuries-old Hindu monarchy
• Nepal to End 240-Year Monarchy With Vote for Republic
• Nepal reborn as a republic

What do you think of the political transition in Nepal? Please post your comments below.

PRESS FREEDOM: NYT's Barry Bearak held in Zimbabwe; Sivapathasundaram released

[June 27, 2008 UPDATE: Listen to a webcast with Dileepan Sivapathasundaram]

[April 7, 2008 UPDATE: AFP reports Bearak has been released]

Barry Bearak, one of the most respected American journalists working today, has been caught up in the ugly situation in Zimbabwe. He has just spent his second night in a cell in Harare. He was there covering the elections that appear to have thrown out the corrupt government of Robert Mugabe, but the regime is doing all they can to delay the official results. From NYT, Saturday morning NY time:

A journalist for The New York Times  detained by the police in Zimbabwe spent a second night in a jail cell on Friday, after government authorities overruled the attorney general’s decision to set him free.

The journalist, Barry Bearak, and a British citizen who was also arrested, were swept up at a small hotel in the suburbs of the capital, Harare, on Thursday afternoon. The action appeared to be part of a crackdown by government forces after an election that seemed to be turning against President Robert Mugabe and his 28-year grip on the country.

Offices of the main opposition party were also raided, while an American democracy advocate helping local groups monitor the elections was arrested at the airport.

That American democracy advocate has been released. Dileepan Sivapathasundaram is a Sri Lankan-American senior program officer at the National Democratic Institute ("a non-partisan, non-profit, non-governmental organization that aims to support democratic values and practices in more than 60 countries"). He is now in with American officials and we will provide updates as we get them (more on him from a 2004 press release below).

The Times is doing all it can to help secure Bearak's release and several journalism organizations are monitoring the situation (see resources below).

Bearak and his wife, Celia Dugger, are co-bureau chiefs in Johannesburg, South Africa. They also have strong connections to South Asia as they were co-bureau chiefs in New Delhi from 1998 to 2002, just as America's interest in the subcontinent was increasing. The two-person team helped take the NYT's coverage of India and the region to a whole new level. Bearak won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his series of reports on daily life in war-torn Afghanistan (see that series and other work by him on his Times Topics page). He won a 2001 SAJA Journalism Award for "Back to Life in India, Without Reincarnation," an account of how the Association of Dead People fights for the rights of Indian citizens falsely declared dead.

If we learn of anything others can do to help him get released, we will let you know here.

[On a personal note, I want to add that I have had the privilege of working directly with Barry when he joined the Columbia Journalism School faculty for a couple of years after his Delhi posting. I had first met him in 1998 as he was preparing to head to India and was doing his prep work - spending weeks and months learning about the region, the people and the issues  before he headed out. He threw himself into teaching the same way: preparing in a way I had never seen a new prof do before. He sat in on other classes, watched his colleagues and never stopped taking notes. By the end of his first semester he'd emerged as one of our best and most popular teachers, so it was tough to learn that he and Celia were heading back into the field, for this Johannesburg job. We look forward to his safe release from jail, and after his posting, his eventual return to the classroom.]

Resources and more info:

• NYT executive editor Bill Keller's memo on Bearak's arrest
• Keller on Bearak, day two.
• CPJ on the history of press repression in Zimbabwe

Please post your comments below.

DESI SPOTTING: Neil Patel to be Acting Secretary of National Telecommunications and Information Administration

In March, President Bush nominated Neil Suryakant Patel to be Acting Secretary of Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce.

Patel, 38, was formerly the Assistant to the Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy, advising on issues such as the environment, health care, financial services, transportation, international economics and technology.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is responsible for the voucher program that will assist in the transition from analog to digital television in 2009.

Prior to working for the Bush Administration, Patel served as assistant general counsel a UUNET, a commercial Internet service provider.  He is a graduate of Trinity College and Georgetown Law School.

Patel joins Joy Cherian and Gopal Khanna, the former head of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and former Chief Financial Officer of the Executive Office of the President, respectively, as the most senior South Asians who have served in the executive branch.

Additional coverage:
White House press release on Patel's Appointment
Washington Post's Post I.T. blog

Post your comments below.

PAK ELECTIONS: Victories for opposition parties

[ See SAJAforum list of Pakistan sources and resources ]

The U.S. press has been covering the opposition parties' victory in the Pakistani elections yesterday. See coverage here.

Among the stories:

NYT: Musharraf's Party Accepts Defeat
Musharraf's Party Accepts Defeat
By JANE PERLEZ and CARLOTTA GALL

LAHORE, Pakistan--Pakistan appeared to be heading for a transition to an elected civilian government Tuesday after President Pervez Musharraf told visiting United States senators that he accepted the resounding defeat of his party in elections, and would work with a new Parliament.

Many Pakistanis expressed relief that the overwhelming victory of the two major moderate opposition political parties in the Parliamentary elections on Monday marked a change in direction after eight years of military rule under Mr. Musharraf even though in the past the parties have rarely produced models of stable government.

Also see a collection of front pages from the Pakistan press.

Please help us cover this by posting your comments, links, etc, in the comments section below.

Meanwhile, here are the "Blackberry-friendly results" that Asif Alam of the US-based Association of Pakistani Professionals has been sending to his lists (in chrono order):

PAK ELECTIONS: U.S. Congresswoman's call for monitoring

Nita Lowey, a U.S. Congresswoman from New York, has issued a call for monitoring of the Feb. 18 elections in Pakistan. Excerpt here; full item below. Post your comments, please.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), Chairwoman of the Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, today urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to act to ensure adequate monitoring of  Pakistan’s February 18th parliamentary elections and to provide a full and frank report of whether the elections meet standards of freedom and fairness.

“While Pakistan is a critical partner in fighting terrorism, it would not be in our national interest to stand silent should its upcoming parliamentary elections fail to conform to international standards of freedom and fairness,” said Lowey.  “The decision today of the International Republican Institute to withdraw its monitors from Pakistan due to security concerns; the continuing impediments to free access for election observers, including the ability to conduct exit polls; and the prospect of elections complaints being adjudicated by judges loyal to the current government do not bode well for the international community to be able to certify these elections as being free and fair.  The reputation of the United States around the world requires that we stand unflinchingly on the side of democracy.  In the case of Pakistan, I am increasingly uncertain that we are able to do this with the current government.”

DESI SPOTTING: "Losing Mysore is a significant loss"

"Losing Mysore is a significant loss" - not a quote you read in the New York Daily News every day. Or any day. That's a quote, not about the city in India, but about an official in the Metropolitan Transportation Association - a story that's getting a lot of attention in NYC, the resignation of an official. From "MTA projects chief resigns" by Pete Donahue:

The MTA official in charge of mega-construction projects, including the LIRR extension to Grand Central Terminal, is leaving - amid concerns about rising costs and delays.

Mysore Nagaraja, 65, president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Capital Construction Co., is departing at the end of the month to be a private-sector consultant, ending more than two decades with the authority.

His knowledge is unsurpassed when it comes to the MTA's most ambitious construction and system expansion plans, MTA board member Barry Feinstein said. "Losing Mysore is a significant loss."

The MTA's high-profile and controversial projects have been in trouble for some time (see this amNY story by Marlene Naanes) and Nagaraja, as head of these projects, was held responsible for the problems. Here's a commentary in the New York Post by Steve Cuozzo, "You Read it Here First: A Disaster from the Get-Go":

All those who signed off on the Fulton fiasco should be hauled before a tribunal, if not a court of law. That means former Gov. George Pataki, former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow and Executive Director Katherine Lapp, and the MTA's capital construction boss, Mysore Nagaraja - who's conveniently retiring.

To see where Nagaraja fit into the MTA power structure, see the screengrab from MTA's agency presidents page below. Post your comments below.

PAKISTAN: Ayesha Siddiqa's new book, "Military Inc: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy"

[ RESOURCE: Sources, stories and more about the Bhutto assassination ]

Here's a name you should add to your Pakistan source list and someone whose new book might interest you. She is speaking at a SAJA-NY event this week.

Ayesha Siddiqa is a military and political analyst and the author of the recent book, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy. She is currently a visiting faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania and writes columns for various international and Pakistani newspapers. She previously was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and Ford Fellow, and has served as a correspondent for Jane's Defense Weekly. She also has served as a civil servant in Pakistan and is the only woman to have served as the Director of Naval Research. Siddiqa earned a Ph.D. in War Studies from King's College, London.

* * *

 

When: Thu, Jan 24, 2008, 6:00pm

Where: Fordham Law School
140 W. 62nd Street
(Between Amsterdam & Columbus Avs)

Rm 430 B&C

Sponsored by:
Fordham Law School Dean's Office
Fordham South Asian Law Students Association
Leitner Center for International Law & Justice
South Asian Journalists Association

Post your comments below.

US-INDIA AFFAIRS: WSJ edit page on a World Bank scandal

The Wall Street Journal's crusading editorial page has uncovered a World Bank scandal involving loans made to India. From "World Bank Disgrace":

Yet nothing we've seen so far can compare to what has now been uncovered about five health projects in India, involving $569 million in loans. The projects were the subject of a "Detailed Implementation Review," a lengthy forensic examination undertaken by Ms. Folsom's Department of Institutional Integrity, known within the bank as INT. As of this writing the bank has not publicly released the review, though it's been shared with the bank's board. But we've seen a copy and are posting its executive summary on wsj.com/opinion and OpinionJournal.com (click here to see it). We are also posting photographs that show the real price that corruption in bank projects exacts on the poor. Here are some of the lowlights:

• In the $54 million "Food and Drug Capacity Building Project," for which money is still being disbursed, the INT found "questionable procurement practices, some of which indicate fraud and corruption, in contracts representing 87 percent of the number of pieces and 88 percent of the total value of equipment procured." That is nearly $9 of every $10 in aid funds.

• For the $194 million "Second National AIDS Control Project," the INT discovered that "some of the test kits supplied by particular companies often performed poorly by producing erroneous or invalid results, potentially resulting in the further spread of disease."

• In the $114 million "Malaria Control Project," the review found "numerous indicators of poor product quality in the bed nets supplied by the firms." And in the $125 million "Tuberculosis Control Project," the INT discovered "bidders sharing the same address and telephone numbers, unit prices showing a common formula, and indicators of intent to split contract awards among several bidders."
<snip>
The report goes on in this vein for hundreds of pages. With the exception of Paul Volcker's investigation of the U.N. Oil for Food scandal, we can think of no comparable review of an international organization that has brought such damaging facts to light, certainly not one that was internally conducted.

See the rest of the piece, a slideshow showing some terrible conditions at the sites and a copy of the executive summary of the report in question (PDF).

One note: The slideshow says, "these photographs show the real price that corruption in bank projects exacts on the poor." As a reader of the WSJ's editorial page for 15 years now, caring about the poor doesn't strike me as the page's #1 priority.

Post your comments below - along with any links/updates you come across.

CRIME: Two government workers accused of seeking bribes in New York

Two South Asian employees of the New York City Department of Transportation have been charged with seeking $450,000 in bribes from a contractor for the reconstruction of a bridge. From the Daily News:

Balram Chandiramani, 65, director of the Movable Bridges Bureau at the Department of Transportation, and Uday Shah, 46, a DOT civil engineer, were accused of hatching a scheme with an executive for Kiska Construction to help the contractor win an inflated settlement in disputes with the city.

Prosecutors said the Kiska exec was an informant for the feds and recorded incriminating conversations with the greedy civil servants over the past year. The executive was acting on his own and Kiska is not expected to face criminal charges.

More from the New York Post:

"It should not sound like [a] b.s. operation," Chandiramani warned the Kiska exec on the tapes after giving him precise instructions on how to handle the negotiations. "It should not sound like it's staged."

The two men were released on $500,000 bail, posted by their wives. From the New York Times:

Though no formal indictments have been filed, prosecutors said the men could face 10-year prison sentences. Defense lawyers said they would plead not guilty.

A lawyer for Mr. Shah, Jeffrey Granat, declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Chandiramani, Kenneth Paul, said, “He did not initiate the conversations that led up to this investigation.”

Post your comments (and any updates) below.

INDIA: Warnings Issued to U.S. Citizens After Courthouse Bombings

Even as India recovers from the simultaneous courthouse bombings on three cities on Friday, Nov. 23, (see SAJAforum coverage and add updates, links) the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi issued warnings to American citizens about their safety in India.

A SAJA friend in New Delhi wrote to us about this from her BlackBerry: "This is one example of several warning messages that have gone out to U.S. Citizens in india since yesterday....."

From: "CitizenServices, American" <ACSEMBND@state.gov>

Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:33:18
Subject: Warden Message - Bombings in Uttar Pradesh

U.S. Embassy New Delhi
23 November 2007

Given the serial explosions and tragic loss of life today in the Uttar Pradesh towns of Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi, the Embassy urges all Americans in India to maintain vigilance and familiarize themselves with the Safety and Security section of the Consular Information Sheet located on our Embassy website  <http://newdelhi.usemabssy.gov> excerpted below:

See the rest of the note below. Post your comments below.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum:

• Courthouse Bombings in Three Cities

CARTOON: Tom Toles on Natwar Gandhi's Troubles

Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Toles is the popular editorial cartoonist of the Washington Post. Here's his Nov. 13, 2007, take on the controversy surrounding Natwar Gandhi, the chief financial officer of Washington, D.C. (read the SAJAforum coverage). In addition to commenting on Gandhi's troubles, it's a play on all the statutes of Mahatma Gandhi (the one in D.C. is below) Post your comments below.

The Mahatma Gandhi in Washington, D.C., opposite the Indian Embassy:

GOVERNMENT: D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi in Spotlight

Here's a headline from the Washington Post front page on Friday, Nov. 16, that could leave you scratching your head:

D.C. Hearing
On Scandal
Has Gandhi
In Tight Spot

It's nothing to do with the Mahatma, but another Gandhi, the city's celebrated chief financial officer, Natwar Gandhi (see his official bio; and laudatory profiles in Washingtonian magazine in 2005 and 2007 (one of the "Washingtontonians of the Year"  for 2006). It's about the ongoing controversy about his office. Gandhi himself hasn't so far been accused personally of any malfeasance, but it has put him and his actions under scrutiny. From the story by Nikita Stewart:

Pressure mounted on D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi at a lengthy and contentious D.C. Council hearing yesterday, as the city auditor testified that Gandhi's office adopted a dismissive and adversarial attitude to her repeated warnings about potential problems at the city's tax office, now rocked by a major scandal. Gandhi defended his agency, saying that all of the necessary policies and procedures were in place but that they were not followed.

In one of the more explosive exchanges, it was revealed that authorities are investigating whether Harriette Walters, the former tax office official charged with engineering the alleged multimillion-dollar swindle, lent money to some of her superiors.
Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) asked whether Walters, who he said was called "Mother Harriette," gave loans to her superiors.
"That's what I have heard," Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, the Post editorial page is largely-supportive-yet-cautious in "CFO in the Hot Seat," an unsigned editorial:

PAKISTAN: More TV channels taken off the air

Press censorship in Pakistan has struck a new emotional chord as Geo TV and ARY, two popular independent news and opinion channels have been forced to end their Dubai-based satellite broadcasts by the United Arab Emirates Information Ministry. Shortly before midnight Pakistan time, Geo’s anchors choked up as they said the channel would be going dark. Because cable and terrestrial broadcasting in Pakistan is controlled by the government, satellite was the last opportunity to watch the channels, which have been unavailable domestically for about two weeks.

Geo’s website, www.geo.tv, is currently running a single story: “Musharraf Shuts Down Geo TV” (The text of the statement is also available from the Hindu.) It says that “informed sources” have stated that Gen. Pervez Musharraf himself had a role in shutting down Geo’s satellite broadcast and claims that "Geo News was shut down because it had refused to budge." According the statement, the government stopped advertising on Geo and pressured other advertisers to do the same, leading to 1 billion rupees (around 16 million US dollars) in losses for the channel. Despite the tremendous pressure, Geo never compromised its principles, it claims, and so the government had to act by taking it off the air entirely. The Pakistani government apparently asked authorities in Dubai to intervene, which they did.

GOVERNMENT: Monica Shah Desai is Chief of FCC's Media Bureau

Sometimes you learn of South Asians doing big, important things in a casual e-mail, months after the news about their new job has been out. That happened to me today, when I learned about the work of Monica Shah Desai. Turns out she runs one of the most influential offices in the media world, but it's not based in the private sector. She's the chief of the media bureau of the Federal Communication Commission. She was appointed to that job in January 2007 by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who's all over the news these days because of this efforts at deregulation, especially is move to lift the ban on cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers - something Shah Desai is deeply involved with.

Here's an explanation of what the media bureau does:

The Media Bureau develops, recommends and administers the policy and licensing programs relating to electronic media, including cable television, broadcast television, and radio in the United States and its territories. The Media Bureau also handles post-licensing matters regarding Direct Broadcast Satellite service.

Read more about the Media Bureau here. Previous, Shah Desai has served as chief of the FCC's consumer and governmental affairs bureau from April 2005 to Jan. 2007.

A March 2002 press release helps piece together some of her previous work with the commission:

Commissioner Kevin J. Martin today announced that Monica Shah Desai, who served as Legal Advisor for wireless and international matters, is leaving his office to join the Common Carrier Bureau’s Competitive Pricing Division. Ms. Desai’s position in the Bureau will allow for a flexible work schedule, which will enable her to spend more time with her family. Commissioner Martin stated, “We will miss Monica very much. She is a bright and talented lawyer with terrific advocacy skills. While I am disappointed Monica will no longer be working in my office, I understand her desire for a more flexible work schedule. She has been an invaluable member of my team. She will be a great asset to the Bureau.”

Anyone know anything more about her? Post your comments below.

ENVIRONMENT: Bill Clinton on India's Environmental Problems

An alert from SAJA Board member John Laxmi, who runs the SAJA Discussion List (a group of 500+ journalists and non-journalists discussing stories about South Asia and the diaspora; sign up here).

Bill Clinton on global warming’s true global effect

In Sunday's "Meet The Press" show with Tim Russert, former president Bill Clinton (who was being interviewed on the occasion of the Clinton Global Initiative gathering last week) cited the case of a child's death in New Delhi in connection with his position that India and China should be gradually brought into the global environmental reforms.

Clinton said health and environmental conditions in India are very bad and described the case of a 4-year-old who fell into a river south of New Delhi and although the child was rescued within a short time from drowning, the child had consumed so much toxic pollutants that the child died after the accident (anyone recall the particulars of this case?). Incidentally, he said "WE had a kid fall into the river..." instead "they had a kid..." or "a kid fell..."

You can see the full video above and read the transcript below. Post your comments below.

On a sort of related note, I found the following post on the blog of the chief economist for South Asia at the World Bank, Shanta Devarajan (whose blog has an optimistic title and tagline: "End Poverty in South Asia - It can be be done in one generation"). From India is a low-intensity producer of carbon dioxide:

As world leaders meet this week in New York and Washington to discuss climate change and ways to mitigate its effects, the discussion frequently turns to the large, fast-growing economies such as China and India who are, and are likely to be, among the largest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases.  But despite being the world's second most populous country and fourth largest economy, India's CO2 emissions is still only one-fifth that of the U.S. or China.  Furthermore, India is one of the lowest-intensity producers of CO2 among the large countries. India's per-capita emissions of CO2 is about one metric ton per person, compared with 4 as the world average, 9 for the United Kingdom and 20 for the U.S..  In a group of 70 of the world's largest emitters, India ranks in the bottom 10. In terms of carbon emissions per unit of GDP (measured at Purchasing Power Parity, or PPP), too, India is virtually the lowest among comparator countries (see chart).  Finally, unlike in other countries, India's carbon intensity did not rise as economic growth accelerated in the last decade.

Read the full post here.

US-INDIA AFFS: Mira Kamdar on the Rise of the India Lobby

Mira Kamdar, author of "Planet India: How the Fastest-Growing Democracy is Transforming America and the World," has a major op-ed in today's "Outlook" section of The Washington Post. It looks at the rise of the India lobby in the U.S., and how it's been influenced by Jewish and Israeli groups. As you may know, a current book with "the Israel Lobby" in the title has gotten a lot of attention and criticism, including  charges of anti-Semitism. But the India lobby sees no such problem with, well, "the India Lobby."

The fall's most controversial book is almost certainly "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," in which political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt warn that Jewish Americans have built a behemoth that has bullied policymakers into putting Israel's interests in the Middle East  ahead of America's. To Mearsheimer and Walt, AIPAC, the main pro-Israel lobbying group, is insidious. But to more and more Indian Americans, it's downright inspiring.

With growing numbers, clout and self-confidence, the Indian American community is turning its admiration for the Israel lobby and its respect for high-achieving Jewish Americans into a powerful new force of its own. Following consciously in AIPAC's footsteps, the India lobby is getting results in Washington -- and having a profound impact on U.S. policy, with important consequences for the future of Asia  and the world.

"This is huge," enthused Ron Somers, the president of the U.S.-India Business Council, from a posh hotel lobby in Philadelphia. "It's the Berlin Wall coming down. It's Nixon in China."

Read the rest of the essay, "Forget the Israel Lobby. The Hill's Next Big Player Is Made in India," and post your thoughts in the comments section below (we'll make sure she sees them).

DESI SPOTTING: India Billboards Hit Streets of NYC

If you have been in Manhattan lately, it's hard to miss all the "Experience India" billboards all over the streets, as part of the "Incredible India@60 in New York" celebrations. Below is a collection of the billboards in this montage by Jay Mandal/On Assignment (jaymandal at yahoo.com). See the full lineup of events, Sept. 23-Sept 26. If you can't see the slideshow below, see them here.

Ultrabrown & Sepiamutiny have been tracking these and other ads for sometime now, with analysis:
The NYC ads | More on another NYC campaign | Ads at O'Hare - am sure there are others.

Post your comments below.

DESI SPOTTING: NYPD Report on "The Homegrown Threat"

Last week's release of a report by the New York Police Department, "Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat," has received a lot of attention. From Time's "How to Look at Homegrown Terror":

The most sophisticated government analysis of the homegrown terrorism threat to be made public in the United States came out this week, and it didn't come from Washington — not from the FBI, the Director of National Intelligence or the Department of Homeland Security. It came from the New York City Police Department, and with any luck, its release will spur the federal government ostensibly leading the war on terror to show more faith in the general public's ability to digest serious intelligence.

But the report has had it critics, says Time:

The report isn't perfect. The phrase "Jihadization" is problematic, and has already alienated some of the Muslim-American leaders who should be included in this conversation. Nor is it all new. Some of these points have been made before by respected counterterrorism scholars. But the fact that it came from a government organization, not a think tank, and that it struggles mightily not to dumb down its content, makes it exceptional.

Among the critics is the New York Civil Liberties Union:

The NYPD must have the tools it needs to investigate and combat terrorism, but this report lays the foundation for blanket surveillance of the entire Muslim community. The report encourages law enforcement officers to shift their focus away from people engaged in criminal activity to people because of their race or religion. Making all Muslims suspects is ethnic profiling, and it's unconstitutional.

The South Asian connection here - apart from the 50-plus references to Pakistan (including the Pakistani-Britons involved in plots in the U.K.) - is that the co-author of the report, with Mitchell D. Silber, is Arvin Bhatt. Both are senior intelligence analysts with the NYPD Intelligence Division.

Download and read the full report as a PDF here. Post your comments below.

Here's a 2005 New Yorker article by William Finnegan on how the NYPD is dealing with the terrorism threat.

NUKES: A Smalltown American Paper's Perspective

Here's an editorial from Watertown Daily Times in upstate News York (weekday circulation: 29,849) on the US-India nuclear deal -- a sample of a small-town newspaper's perspective.

The Bush administration has made significant concessions to India to clear the way for the sale of U.S. civilian nuclear technology. If approved by Congress, the arrangement will end three decades of U.S. policy aimed at controlling the spread of nuclear technology.

[The editorial is available only subscription on the paper's site. Below is the full text, from Newsday's wesite that features an AP roundup of editorials.]

Post your comments below.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum.org:

• NUKES: US-India Complete Nuclear Deal

HUMOR: Jay Leno on Pratibha Patil, India's New President

Jay Leno, host of "The Tonight Show on NBC," had a joke about India's election of Pratibha Patil as president during his monologue on July 24, 2007.

"India, on Saturday, elected their very first female president. And today, President Bush called India -- not to congratulate her, he had some questions about his computer."

Reax? Post your comments below.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum.org:

• CARTOON: Mother Goose & Grimm on Outsourcing & Gandhi
• INDIA: Pratibha Patel Becomes First Woman President of India

INDIA: Pratibha Patil Becomes First Woman President of India

Pratibha Patil has been elected the first woman president of India on Saturday, July 21, 2007, after several weeks of confusion and controversy. I was in India when her nomination was brought up and the most common reaction among journalists and everyday folks: "Pratibha who?" Well, now we know the answer: Pratibha Patil, Madam President. Yes, the position is largely symbolic (Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, runs the country; and at present, Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and head of the ruling Congress Party, is considered the most influential behind-the-scenes person).

Here's how the story played in the U.S. media, with the lead sentences:

• WP, by Emily Wax: "Lawmakers elected India's first female president, officials announced Saturday, in a vote seen as a step forward for hundreds of millions of Indian women and girls who face bitter discrimination in everyday life."
  
• LAT, by Henry Chu: "India named its first female president Saturday after weeks of acrimonious campaigning that touched on sensitive issues such as political corruption, partisan gamesman ship and women's rights."
• Reuters: India elected its first female president on Saturday, official results showed, in what supporters called a boost for the rights of millions of downtrodden women, despite a bitter campaign marked by scandal.
• AP, by Gavin Rabinowitz: "India chose its first female president Saturday in an election hailed as a victory for women in a country where gender discrimination is deep-rooted and widespread."
• As of Sunday morning, the NYT had only run the AP story in the paper and online.

Over at the SAJA Discussion List, moderator and SAJA Board member John Laxmi says:

For over 24 hours, visitors to Drudge Report's home page, www.drudgereport.com, have been greeted by a colorful photograph of Mrs. Pratibha Patil (waving a "V" sign") with a link to an AP article titled, "India names first female president."  The Drudge Report site visitor count [10 million+ in the last 24 hours] has been controversial with some critics claiming that Matt Drudge manipulates the statistics. Still, it is a very popular site and has been giving lots of publicity to President Patil.

Post your comments below.

SOUTH AFRICA: Durban Renames A Road After Gandhi

The New York Times had a story on May 18 by Michael Wines about a controversy in South Africa about roads being renamed in Durban. Not everyone, apparently, is happy with some of the new names - some because they are tied to the ruling party, the African National Congress; some because they are named for controversial figures such as Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Yasir Arafat, among others. The photo used to illustrate the controversy is the one on the left, by Rogan Ward, which ran with the caption: "In Durban, South Africa, Point Road may be renamed Mahatma Gandhi Road. Some proposed name changes for roads and landmarks have stirred strong political opposition from various factions."

There is no mention of M.K. Gandhi in the text of the story, so some readers might not know why a road is being renamed after him in South Africa. Gandhi, of course, spent 21 years in South Africa and gained his political consciousness and first opportunity to oppose imperialism while there (that's a photo of him there in 1895). You can read about his South Africa connections here, here and here. And if you haven't seen it, get your hands on the DVD of "The Making of The Mahatma," Shyam Benegal's movie based on Fatima Meer's book, "The Apprenticeship of The Mahatma."

Meanwhile, the renaming of colonial place names is all the rage in India. Mumbai, Kolkata, etc, are just the most famous examples. See a large list at Wikipedia.

Reax? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum:

• Postings on U.S. place names with desi connections

CIVIL LIBERTIES: NYPD settles suit with Indian film maker Rakesh Sharma

New York City has agreed to change how it issues permits to film makers and photographers, as part of a settlement to a lawsuit filed by Indian documentary maker Rakesh Sharma and the New York Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit came about because Sharma ("Final Solution") was detained after taking photos of buildings in New York two years ago. Here's today's press release, from the NYCLU...

May 23, 2007 -- In a settlement released today New York City has agreed to create, for the first time, written rules governing the issuance of permits for film makers and photographers. Under the new rules, which are to be published Friday in the City Record, film makers and photographers using hand-held equipment no longer will be required to obtain city permits or to have $1 million of insurance.

The settlement comes in response to a federal lawsuit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Rakesh Sharma, an Indian documentary film maker who NYPD officers detained for several hours in May 2005 for filming on a city sidewalk in midtown Manhattan with a handheld video camera. During his detention Sharma was told he had to have a film permit, but when he subsequently applied to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcast (MOFTB) for a permit to film with a handheld camera, his application was denied.

US-SA AFFAIRS: US Official Writes About "Heady Times"

Nicholas Burns, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs (see official bio), has a piece in today's Washington Post entitled "Heady Times for India and the U.S." Excerpts:

• While Iraq and Iran have dominated recent headlines, the United States and India have quietly forged the strongest relationship the two countries have enjoyed since India's independence in 1947.

• The pace of progress between Washington and Delhi has been so rapid, and the potential benefits to American interests so substantial, that I believe within a generation Americans may view India as one of our two or three most important strategic partners.

• While the civilian nuclear initiative has garnered the most attention, the U.S. and Indian governments have launched joint ventures in agriculture, space exploration, global pollution reduction, science and technology development, and efforts to combat HIV-AIDS. And there is more we should do together.