[Reader-list] Protest Demonstration against Fascist Vandalism in Baroda

shaina a kalakamra at gmail.com
Mon May 14 15:33:03 IST 2007 

At 3:pm today, police have arrested and carted away two bus loads of
students and artists mostly students from MSU and some artists/activists
from Bombay.

Several present have been verbally threatened and pushed around.

There is a 100 strong crowd of right wing supporters who have not been
arrested.

Kindly alert press ASAP and inform all at nationwide demonstrations today.
will keep updated.

Baroda Peaceful Demonstration began at 2 pm. ChandraMohan was freed at noon
today.

On 5/12/07, lalit batra <lalitbatra77 at yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
>
> Dear friends,   The fascist goons of BJP-VHP have let loose a reign of
> terror in the prestigious Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University Baroda. Please
> go through the details of the incident given below. The latest development
> is that the Dean of Fine Arts Faculty, Shivji Pannicker, has been suspended
> and the Department of Art History has been sealed. The campus has virtually
> been taken over by VHP goons who are threatning students and vandalising
> their work. We call upon all the democtratic and progressive people of Delhi
> to come forward and protest against the fascist attempt to stifle voices of
> creativity and dissent.  *Please join us for a protest demonstration
> tomorrow, 12th of May, at 3 p.m. at Gujarat Bhawan, Chanakya Puri, Near
> Ashoka Hotel* .   In Solidarity,   Lalit Batra                 9899091413
>           Dear All,
>
> You are all aware of the latest Sangh Parivar
> offensive against the
> democratic rights of the students and Faculty members
> of the well known Fine
> Arts Faculty of Baroda, M.S.University.  The Fine Arts
> Faculty is one of the
> best institutions within the M.S.University, which has
> managed to retain
> high academic standards, in the face of the general
> academic deterioration
> within the University.
>
> The recent incident of hooliganism and blatant
> bullying unleashed by the
> Sangh Parivar has sent shock waves all over the
> country.  It took place on
> Wednesday, 9th May 2007, at around 3 p.m. As part of
> the examination
> procedure underway in the Faculty, students are
> supposed to put up their
> works which are to be assessed by external examiners
> who come in from
> outside the city for this purpose.  Accordingly,
> students had put up their
> installations around the Faculty campus.  Some of
> these installations,
> (graphic prints) by Chandra Mohan attracted the wrath
> of the BJP leader
> Neeraj Jain, who barged into the campus with a bunch
> of goons and started
> disrupting the atmosphere, using abusive language and
> mouthing threats.
> They roughed up the Chandra Mohan and accused him of
> offending their
> religious sentiments, saying that he had portrayed
> Durga Mata in an obscene
> way.  Not by any stretch of imagination did the prints
> actually portray any
> goddess.  Under the leadership of Neeraj Jain (who had
> incidentally played a
> very dubious role in the May 2006 riots that followed
> the demolition of a
> 200 year old dargah in the heart of the city), and
> with the police in tow,
> they took Chandra Mohan and a friend of his away to
> the Sayajiganj police
> station.  Shivji Panickkar, the acting Dean of the
> Fine Arts Faculty, was
> also threatened with dire consequences by Neeraj Jain
> and his goons.
> Chandra Mohan's friend was released later, but he was
> himself charged under
> sections 153 and 114.  Later, on 10th May, when the
> bail application came up
> for hearing, two more charges were slapped on him,
> namely, Section 295 A and
> 295 B, and he was taken under judicial custody, and
> moved to the Central
> Jail.  By now, Christian fundamentalists had joined
> hands with the
> Hindutvavadis.  Alongwith the VHP and BJP crowds,
> reportedly, there were at
> least 40 priests in the court when Chandra Mohan's
> bail application came up
> for hearing.  The priests were objecting to some
> painting to do with a
> cross - which, they thought offended their religious
> feelings.
>
> In the meantime, Shivji Panickkar met the Vice
> Chancellor, who basically,
> wanted him to make a statement that was nothing short
> of an apology for
> putting up offensive installations.  Panickkar refused
> to do so.  After
> this, the students submitted a statement expressing
> thier concern over such
> tactics, and with a set of their demands, which
> included police bandobast
> for the Faculty.  Reportedly, Neeraj Jain barged into
> the Vice Chancellor's
> office on the same day, and threatened that he would
> make sure that the
> entire city would shut down if a single case is
> registered against him.
>
> As of now, all efforts are on to get Chandra Mohan
> released.
>
> However, what is of grave concern in this entire
> unfolding of events is the
> fascist agendas that underly the actions of the likes
> of Neeraj Jain.
> Citizenship and democratic rights face a grave crisis
> in the State of
> Gujarat and elsewhere.  The nexus between the police
> and elements of the
> Sangh Parivar is so clearly established (it has been
> so since 2002) and it
> is also clear that fascist tactics affect everybody.
> In this instance, it
> is not only a matter for the artist community to
> agitate about.  It is for
> ALL of us to sit up and take notice of what is going
> on in the name of
> religion.  If we do not counter these tactics NOW, we
> are all going to be
> crushed sooner or later, either in our work arenas or
> within the confines of
> our homes.  The dangers of giving in to or being cowed
> down by these forces
> cannot be underestimated.
>
> THE FACULTY OF FINE ARTS HAS PLANNED A LARGE
> DEMONSTRATION FOR 14TH MAY
> 2007, MONDAY WHERE ARTISTS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, ORDINARY
> CITIZENS FROM ALL
> OVER THE COUNTRY WILL GET TOGETHER IN PROTEST AGAINST
> SUCH GAGGING OF
> EXPRESSION AND VIOLATION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS.  PLEASE
> DO COME FOR THE
> DEMONSTRATION, AND MOTIVATE OTHERS TO JOIN IT.  THE
> TIME TO ACT IS UPON US,
> WE CANNOT ABDICATE OUR RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SOCIETY,
> OURSELVES AND THE
> YOUNGER GENERATIONS.
>
> VENUE: FINE ARTS FACULTY, M.S.UNIVERSITY , FATEHGANJ,
> BARODA
> TIME: 2 PM ONWARDS
>
> CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS:
> BINA SRINIVASAN: 9879377280
> SHIVJI PANICKKAR: 9898403097
>
> Best
> Bina
>
> PS: pls. circulate this email to as many people as
> possible.  Thanks.
>
>
>
>      ___________________________________________________________
> Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try
> it
> now.
> http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foil-l mailing list
> Foil-l at insaf.net
> http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/foil-l_insaf.net
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Office firewalls, cyber cafes, college labs, don't allow you to download
> CHAT? Here's a solution!<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/in/ymessenger/*http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php>
>
>
>
> Dear friends,   The fascist goons of BJP-VHP have let loose a reign of
> terror in the prestigious Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University Baroda. Please
> go through the details of the incident given below. The latest development
> is that the Dean of Fine Arts Faculty, Shivji Pannicker, has been suspended
> and the Department of Art History has been sealed. The campus has virtually
> been taken over by VHP goons who are threatning students and vandalising
> their work. We call upon all the democtratic and progressive people of Delhi
> to come forward and protest against the fascist attempt to stifle voices of
> creativity and dissent.  *Please joing us for a protest demonstration
> tomorrow, 12th of May, at 3 p.m. at Gujarat Bhawan, Chanakya Puri, Near
> Ashoka Hotel* .   In Solidarity,   Lalit Batra                 9899091413
>     Dear All,
>
> You are all aware of the latest Sangh Parivar
> offensive against the
> democratic rights of the students and Faculty members
> of the well known Fine
> Arts Faculty of Baroda, M.S.University.  The Fine Arts
> Faculty is one of the
> best institutions within the M.S.University, which has
> managed to retain
> high academic standards, in the face of the general
> academic deterioration
> within the University.
>
> The recent incident of hooliganism and blatant
> bullying unleashed by the
> Sangh Parivar has sent shock waves all over the
> country.  It took place on
> Wednesday, 9th May 2007, at around 3 p.m. As part of
> the examination
> procedure underway in the Faculty, students are
> supposed to put up their
> works which are to be assessed by external examiners
> who come in from
> outside the city for this purpose.  Accordingly,
> students had put up their
> installations around the Faculty campus.  Some of
> these installations,
> (graphic prints) by Chandra Mohan attracted the wrath
> of the BJP leader
> Neeraj Jain, who barged into the campus with a bunch
> of goons and started
> disrupting the atmosphere, using abusive language and
> mouthing threats.
> They roughed up the Chandra Mohan and accused him of
> offending their
> religious sentiments, saying that he had portrayed
> Durga Mata in an obscene
> way.  Not by any stretch of imagination did the prints
> actually portray any
> goddess.  Under the leadership of Neeraj Jain (who had
> incidentally played a
> very dubious role in the May 2006 riots that followed
> the demolition of a
> 200 year old dargah in the heart of the city), and
> with the police in tow,
> they took Chandra Mohan and a friend of his away to
> the Sayajiganj police
> station.  Shivji Panickkar, the acting Dean of the
> Fine Arts Faculty, was
> also threatened with dire consequences by Neeraj Jain
> and his goons.
> Chandra Mohan's friend was released later, but he was
> himself charged under
> sections 153 and 114.  Later, on 10th May, when the
> bail application came up
> for hearing, two more charges were slapped on him,
> namely, Section 295 A and
> 295 B, and he was taken under judicial custody, and
> moved to the Central
> Jail.  By now, Christian fundamentalists had joined
> hands with the
> Hindutvavadis.  Alongwith the VHP and BJP crowds,
> reportedly, there were at
> least 40 priests in the court when Chandra Mohan's
> bail application came up
> for hearing.  The priests were objecting to some
> painting to do with a
> cross - which, they thought offended their religious
> feelings.
>
> In the meantime, Shivji Panickkar met the Vice
> Chancellor, who basically,
> wanted him to make a statement that was nothing short
> of an apology for
> putting up offensive installations.  Panickkar refused
> to do so.  After
> this, the students submitted a statement expressing
> thier concern over such
> tactics, and with a set of their demands, which
> included police bandobast
> for the Faculty.  Reportedly, Neeraj Jain barged into
> the Vice Chancellor's
> office on the same day, and threatened that he would
> make sure that the
> entire city would shut down if a single case is
> registered against him.
>
> As of now, all efforts are on to get Chandra Mohan
> released.
>
> However, what is of grave concern in this entire
> unfolding of events is the
> fascist agendas that underly the actions of the likes
> of Neeraj Jain.
> Citizenship and democratic rights face a grave crisis
> in the State of
> Gujarat and elsewhere.  The nexus between the police
> and elements of the
> Sangh Parivar is so clearly established (it has been
> so since 2002) and it
> is also clear that fascist tactics affect everybody.
> In this instance, it
> is not only a matter for the artist community to
> agitate about.  It is for
> ALL of us to sit up and take notice of what is going
> on in the name of
> religion.  If we do not counter these tactics NOW, we
> are all going to be
> crushed sooner or later, either in our work arenas or
> within the confines of
> our homes.  The dangers of giving in to or being cowed
> down by these forces
> cannot be underestimated.
>
> THE FACULTY OF FINE ARTS HAS PLANNED A LARGE
> DEMONSTRATION FOR 14TH MAY
> 2007, MONDAY WHERE ARTISTS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, ORDINARY
> CITIZENS FROM ALL
> OVER THE COUNTRY WILL GET TOGETHER IN PROTEST AGAINST
> SUCH GAGGING OF
> EXPRESSION AND VIOLATION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS.  PLEASE
> DO COME FOR THE
> DEMONSTRATION, AND MOTIVATE OTHERS TO JOIN IT.  THE
> TIME TO ACT IS UPON US,
> WE CANNOT ABDICATE OUR RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SOCIETY,
> OURSELVES AND THE
> YOUNGER GENERATIONS.
>
> VENUE: FINE ARTS FACULTY, M.S.UNIVERSITY , FATEHGANJ,
> BARODA
> TIME: 2 PM ONWARDS
>
> CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS:
> BINA SRINIVASAN: 9879377280
> SHIVJI PANICKKAR: 9898403097
>
> Best
> Bina
>
> PS: pls. circulate this email to as many people as
> possible.  Thanks.
>
>
>
>      ___________________________________________________________
> Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try
> it
> now.
> http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foil-l mailing list
> Foil-l at insaf.net
> http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/foil-l_insaf.net
>
> _________________________________________
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-- 
shaina
chitrakarkhana.net
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