[Reader-list] URGENT: protest letter against vajpayee visit at columbia

Wed Sep 24 08:57:16 IST 2003

hi people,

the following is a last-minute letter/petition being 
initiated by some people on the 'foil' list.

it is to be submitted to the president of columbia
university, new york in order to register a protest
against his/their inviting the indian prime mininter
shri atal behari vajpayee to come and deliver the
world leader's forum address tomorrow (9/24, wed) at
4:45 pm (EST) at the university.

endorsment by attaching and e-mailing your names to
the letter needs to be completed by 10:30 am (EST) on
wed day.

it'll be great if you could pls circulate/turn
up/simply sign the letter!

cheers!
avishek

_________________________________________

Folks:
We heard late yesterday that Prime Minister Vajpayee
is giving a talk at the Earth Institute at Columbia
University on September 24th at 4:45pm as part of a
World Leaders Forum Lecture. The event is by
invitation only. In the past few hours, some of us
have been organizing to respond to this legitimization
of Vajpayee by Columbia University.

Here are a few suggested actions:
1. Any Columbia students and faculty that would be
available to flyer at the event (between
4:30pm-6:30pm), please show up at Roone Arledge
Auditorium, Alfred Lerner Hall located at Broadway at
115th street. Look for Sekhar (917-692-5261).

2. Since we are really short of time, we have drafted
a letter to be sent to Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, the director
of the Earth Institute (which is hosting the event)
and to Dr. Lee Bollinger, the President of the
University (who invited Vajpayee). The letter appears
below. Please let us know if you wish to add your name
to the letter latest by 10:30 am tomorrow morning.

If you can, please email your endorsement to
jimmyjib at rediffmail.com.

If you prefer to call, please contact either Biju
(this evening until 4am) at 917-232-8437 or me (ash)
tomorrow morning between 7:30-10:30 am at
917-279-4923.

It will be great if you can speak with a few folks in
your area and can get their endorsements as well.

3. We plan to send the letter to Jeffrey Sachs by
11am, so please send in your endorsements by 10:30am.
If you can, please modify the letter and send it to
1. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (fax: 212 854-8702; e-mail:
sachs at columbia.edu)
2. Dr. Lee Bollinger (fax: 212.854.9973; email:
bollinger at columbia.edu)

Thanks,
Ash
************************
September 24, 2003

To
Dr. Lee Bollinger
President, Columbia University

or
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University

We are writing to protest the invitation of Mr. Atal
Behari Vajpayee to the World Leaders Forum Lecture at
the Earth Institute at Columbia University on
September 24, 2003. The undersigned represent a range
of liberal and progressive South Asian organizations
in North America.

As you may know, Mr. Vajpayee, by his own admission,
is a member of The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,
or the Sangh, literally, the National Volunteers
Corps) which is the core organization of the
neo-fascist Hindutva movement. The Hindutva movement
is a violent sectarian movement seeking to create an
ethnically 'pure' Hindu Nation in India. The ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of which Mr. Vajpayee is
a leader, is the parliamentary wing of the RSS. The
neo-fascist Hindu Nationalist movement that Mr.
Vajpayee belongs to is the most fundamental threat to
secular, democratic, and judicial institutions in
India today.

Systematic Violence against Minority Populations
The RSS and its affiliate organizations have been
implicated in the systematic pogrom unleashed on the
minority Muslim population in the western state of
Gujarat in March-April 2002. The pogrom was well
planned with extensive participation and support of
the BJP-led state apparatus (Human Rights Watch
reports Vol.14, No.3, April 2002 and Vol. 15, No.3,
July 2003) resulting in the massacre of more than 2000
Muslim citizens. None of the criminals belonging to
the RSS and its affiliate organizations, including the
BJP Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat (Narendra
Modi), have been charged with any crime. On the
contrary, Mr. Vajpayee has distinguished himself with
consistent and unrelenting support to those
responsible for the pogrom. Most recently, Mr.
Vajpayee continues to support the BJP led government
in Gujarat despite a Supreme Court censure that noted
that the state government was doing everything in its
might to scuttle justice. The genocidal violence left
more than one hundred thousand Muslims in makeshift
rehabilitation camps while the government failed to
provide adequate humanitarian assistance.

Since the BJP assumed power in 1998, violence against
the Christian minorities has also escalated. The
violence has specifically targeted Christian
missionaries, priests, nuns, schools, churches
including the brutal murder of Graham Staines and his
two children by an RSS mob (South Asia Human Rights
Documentation Center Report, Aug 28, 2000).

Policy of Non-sustainable Development
·         Soon after assuming power, the government,
lead by Mr. Vajpayee, conducted nuclear tests and
declared itself a nuclear state thus committing the
entire subcontinent down the nuclear path. With a
large percentage of the population below the poverty
line, the government's nuclear policy flies in the
face of any notion of sustainable humanitarian
development.
·         The Vajpayee government (like other
predessesor governments) has consistently spearheaded
non-sustainable development policies. The Enron
contract and the Sardar Sarovar Project are two of the
most well known examples of the government's policies.

Against Legitimizing Political Criminals
As a leader in the neo-fascist movement that has
committed several crimes against humanity, Mr.
Vajpayee should not be given the honor of speaking at
a World Leaders meeting. We are unable to understand
how institutions such as Columbia University, and in
particular, institutes such as the Earth Institute,
can participate in such a process of legitimization.
As concerned citizens and organizations that have been
working for justice in Gujarat, we demand an
explanation from you, cancellation of the program
itself or at a minimum, an intervention during the
program that highlights these crimes.

Sincerely,

=====
_________________________________________________________________ 

"In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and the police take the place of pirates." - Foucault 

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