[Reader-list] Fwd: NWMI statement

[A. Mani]

Here is the statement issued by NWMI in support of Meena Kandasamy.

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI), strongly condemns the
violent and sexist abuse unleashed on poet, writer, activist and
translator Meena Kandasamy, presumably in response to her posts on
Twitter about the beef-eating festival at Osmania University,
Hyderabad, on 15 April 2012 and the ensuing clashes between groups of
students.

After her comments on Twitter, she was threatened with various forms
of violence, including gang rape and acid attacks. Some placed a price
on her head. Others threatened her freedom of speech, saying that she
would not be allowed to speak anywhere, and called for her prosecution
for allegedly outraging religious feelings under Section 295-A of the
Indian Penal Code. In over a hundred tweets, she was called a whore,
characterless, a terrorist and a bitch. One of the most objectionable
comments was that she should be raped on live television, this
barbaric idea was put out by one Siddharth Shankar who followed it up
with more vicious filth.

Meena Kandasamy has become the target of a vicious abuse campaign on
twitter and other sites for her support to the festival during which
she and other students had to be escorted to a safe place under police
escort. Protestors even stoned the van they were traveling in. It is
highly condemnable that her support of a food festival should lead to
demands for her prosecution and a bounty on her head.

As a professional network of women journalists, the NWMI is firmly
committed to freedom of expression and, indeed, supports ongoing
efforts to ensure that the Internet remains a free space and is not
subjected to censorship. However, freedom comes with responsibility
and all those who value free speech must, at the very least, censure
hate speech.

Everyone in a democracy has a right to hold and express their opinions
on current events and issues. Similarly, everyone has a right to
disagree with and argue against the opinions of others. Debate – not
abuse and threats – is the democratic means to deal with conflicting
views on contentious topics: in this case, the right to choose what to
eat and not eat.
It appears that Meena Kandasamy has been singled out for abuse at
least partly because she is a bold and outspoken woman who expresses
her opinions freely in the public sphere. The fact that she is a
dalit, especially one whose work focuses on caste annihilation,
linguistic identity and feminism, clearly makes her even more of a
target.

We call upon all those who value freedom of expression to join us in
condemning the online attack on Meena Kandasamy and to explore ways to
ensure that everyone has a right to express their opinion – on the
Internet as well as elsewhere – without being subjected to hateful
abuse.

__________________________________________


Best

A. Mani



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A. Mani
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