Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi's Social Activism

Poetry Recitation against Racial Discrimination: चलो नफरतों को मिटा कर चलें

2010-03-05T03:12:00.000-08:00

Devki Nandan "Shaant"

From the left: Sanjay Mishra "Shauq", Virendra Prakash Srivastava "Bekhud" and Dr. Zafar Muhammad Khan

Devki Nandan "Shaant"

Tashna Azmi

Dr. Tuka Ram Varma

नस्लवाद को दूर भगाओ
शिक्षित बन गुत्थी सुलझाओ
सभी रास्ते खुल जाएंगे
अपना दीप स्वम बन जाओ!!

डॉ तुका राम वर्मा

Dr. Tuka Ram Varma

Sanjay Mishra "Shauq" compering the poetry recitation

Bashar Firdousi

कलम उठाएगा तो इंक़लाब आयेगा
हमारे दौर के शाइर को बेक़रार ना कर!

बशर फिरदौसी

Bashar Firdousi

Umar Ashk Jhansvi

Salma Hejab

बे रिदा फिरने लगी कूचा-ए-इसयाँ में खिरद
दिल गुनहगार मगर चादर-ए-तहतीर में है!

सलमा हिजाब

Salma Hejab

Suresh Ujala

Ghazala Anwar

जिस सिम्त नज़र डालो इक आग लगा दी है
इंसान की इन्सां ने तौकीर घटा दी है !

गजाला अनवर

Ghazala Anwar

Dr. Tashna Aalami

तरक्की खूब की है गाँव से इस शहर में आकर
वहां हम हल चलाते थे, यहाँ रिक्शा चलाते हैं !

डॉ तशना आलमी

Dr. Tashna Aalami

Sanjay Mishra "Shauq"

रंग और नस्ल की तफरीक से बचकर ऐ "शौक़"
हम ने दुन्या की हर इक शै से महब्बत की है !

संजय मिश्र "शौक़"

Sanjay Mishra "Shauq"

Anwar Nadeem

मुमकिन है ज़िन्दगी भी कभी अजनबी लगे
ऐसा ना हो की हम को महब्बत बुरी लगे !

अनवर नदीम

Anwar Nadeem

Dr. Zafar Muhammad Khan

Virendra Prakash Srivastava "Bekhud", who presided the poetry recitation

Dr. Virendra Prakash Srivastava "Bekhud"

Open Space
organised
a Hindi & Urdu Poetry Recitation
against racial discrimination
चलो नफरतों को मिटा कर चलें
on Saturday, 6th March, 2010
at the
Academy of Mass Communication, Lucknow,
in the run up to the
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and World Poetry Day

The Marginalisation of Mother Tongues and the Linguistic Apartheid in India

2010-02-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

Open Space
organised a discussion on
"The Marginalisation of Mother Tongues and the Linguistic Apartheid in India"
and screened Ismail Merchant's celluloid adaptation of Anita Desai's novel
In Custody

on
International Mother Language Day

21st February, 2010
Open Space - Lucknow Office

It is estimated that half of the world's 6,500 languages will go into extinction during the twenty-first century with around one language dying every two weeks.

Over the years a generation of English-medium educated urban Indians has emerged that is ashamed to use their mother tongue. And this attitude of theirs gets reflected in various spheres of life.

Undoubtedly, marriage is the most important ocassion of one's life, yet urban Indians today increasingly prefer English over their mother tongue in which to print the invitations to the greatest occasion of their life. This is also very stupid, as the people the invitation cards are generally distributed amongst, speak English only as their second language.

If a foreigner today watches Hindi cinema and television, the person will probably get the impression that Hindi is a mere dialect with no alphabet of it own, as the credits are almost always in English or in the Roman alphabet. The Devanagari alphabet is completely absent. Same is the case with the shop names and billboards in the rapidly emerging shopping malls in urban India.

Any English medium educated urban Indian from the Hindi belt would find it easy to name at least five English authors, if not more. But if asked to name a few of the Hindi language, I doubt if he/she would be able to name even one.

Personally, I love English, and endlessly try to better my skills in it, but I also respect my mother tongue, which is cetainly not English. My love for English has not blinded me to the beauty of my mother tongue and its literature, unlike a number of my fellow urban Indians. In a survey conducted in sixteen cities - metros and large and small towns - spread across the four zones of India, by CNN-IBN-Hindustan Times, it was found that fifty-seven per cent or six out of ten feel that English is making us forget our mother tongue. I believe it is important to learn English for international communication, but it is equally important to retain our respect and love for our mother tongue, Hindi or whatever it may be, and interest in its literature and music.

It is worth quoting Pavan K. Verma here, from his book Being Indian, pp. 121-124:

The British did not propagate English in India to add to the IT skills of Indians in the new millennium. For them language was a means to consolidate their colonial rule. Lord Macaulay had stated the colonial agenda with complete clarity as far back as 1835: 'We must at present do our best to form a class of persons who may be interpreters between us and the millions we govern; a class of persons, Indians in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.' In a country whose culture and civilization was thousands of years old this was an audacious statement of policy. But Macaulay could not, even in his wildest dreams, have predicted how successful his policy would be. Educated Indians persevered to master the alein language; they saw it as a tool for higher employment, and as a means to get closer to the rulers. Even today the Webster's dictionary defines a 'baboo' as a native clerk who writes English. Of course, it was not unusual for a colonial power to succeed in moulding that attitude and lifestyle of the native elite. But what makes India unique is the ease with which this objective was achieved, and the enduring ideological hegemony of the colonial power long after its defeat. The pursuit of English was the most visible symbol of this cultural emasculation, for it was entwined with a deep sense of racial inferiority in the presence of the white-skinned rulers. Thus, while many other subject nations made the attempt to reverse the cultural colonization after Independence, or at least to reassert the relevance and priority of indigenous cultural roots, Indians flocked to English medium schools with greater vengeance after the British left, and drifted away from their cultural roots in direct proportion to the extent of their 'education'. In time, the knowledge of English became a status symbol. People were judged on the hierarchical scale by their ability to speak English with the right accent and fluency. The British aim to not only physically subjugate the natives but also to colonize their minds was a spectacular success.

This is not an indictment of English. On the contrary, there can be little doubt of the international reach of the language, and its utility as a second language or a link language. It is, though, a comment on the Indian elite, and the ease with which they made the language meant to rule them their first language. It is a comment too on the neglect of Indian languages, many of which have languished in the shadow cast by the pursuit of English. A language is not only a utility; it is a symbol of a culture, the repository of the heritage of a people, an indespensable mark of identity...

...The truth is that for most Indians English has been largely an instrument of social exclusion; the upper crust of India has presided over this linguistic apartheid, while the rest of India has consisted of victims or aspirants. Such a state of affairs has fostered a deep sense of inferiority in many talented people who, while excelling in their studies in spite of the burden of education in a foreign language, were unable to acquire the fluency in English of their social 'superiors'. The father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was aware of this. 'Our love of the English language in preferance to our own mother tongue', he wrote in 1944, 'has caused a deep chasm between the educated and...the masses...The result has been disastrous. We are too near our times correctly to measure the disservice caused to India by the neglect of its own languages.'

Discrimination against Women in the Religious Sphere

2010-02-06T04:34:00.001-08:00

Open Space
in collaboration with Saajhi Duniya
organised a session on
"Discrimination Against Women in the Religious Sphere"
and screened Yael Katzir's documentary-film
Praying In Her Own Voice
(60 minutes)
on
Thursday, 18th February, 2010
at the Saajhi Duniya Office, Lucknow

Session on the Growing Racial, Ethnic and Nationalistic Intolerance

2010-02-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

Katherine Kressman Taylor (1903-1996)

Open Space held a session on the growing racial, ethnic and nationalistic intolerance on Wednesday, 3rd February at the Academy of Mass Communication, during which Katherine Kressman Taylor's story Address Unknown (1938) was read out. The reading was followed by a discussion around it and on the theme of the session.

When it first appeared in Story magazine in 1938, Address Unknown became an immediate social phenomenon and literary sensation. Published in book form a year later and banned in Nazi Germany, it garnered high praise in the United States and much of Europe.

A series of fictional letters between a Jewish art dealer living in San Francisco and his former business partner, who has returned to Germany, Address Unknown is a haunting tale of enormous power and enduring impact.

As Published Weekly rightly reviewed, "Address Unknown serves not only as a reminder of Nazi horrors but as a cautionary tale in light of current racial, ethnic, and nationalistic intolerance."

The story's review that appeared in Time on 30th September, 2002 can be read over here.

Homage to Mahatma Gandhi

2010-01-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

Open Space screened at its Lucknow office Sir Richard Attenborough's eponymous biographical epic Gandhi (1982) on Saturday, 30th January, 2010, the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi, as a tribute to the apostle of peace, at a time when the world faces terrorism, war and violence like it never did before. The screening was also aimed to remind the people of what he said and to promote non-violence:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall - think of it, always."

Discussion on Secular Humanism

2010-01-23T11:29:00.000-08:00

Dr. Khalid Sohail

Open Space - Lucknow organised a discussion on Secular Humanism on Saturday, 23rd January, 2010 at the Academy of Mass Communication, during which excerpts from Dr. Khalid Sohail's From Islam to Secular Humanism: A Philosophical Journey, 2001, were read out and discussed. Some of Dr. Sohail's poems were also read out on the occassion:

My story
Is the story of an ordinary child
Who wanted to do extraordinary things in life

My story
Is the story of an ambitious teenager
Who had low socio-economic status
But high ideals

My story
Is the story of a caring adult
Who witnessed human suffering all around him
But dreamt of becoming a healer

My story
Is the story of a third world citizen
Who was brought up in ignorance and prejudice
But wanted to learn knowledge and wisdom
And raise people's social consciousness

My story
Is the story of a Muslim
Born in an unjust and violent world
Hoping to become part of creating
A just and peaceful world as a Humanist

My story
Is the story of a 20th century man
Living when humanity is at a crossroads
And has to decide sooner rather than later
To evolve or to die

Screening of WAR & PEACE "जंग और अमन" का प्रदर्शन

2010-01-18T02:09:00.000-08:00

Open Space - Lucknow
screened Anand Patwardhan's War & Peace, 2002 (130 minutes)
on
Wednesday, 20th January, 2010
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office
as its first event of 2010, declared by the United Nations as the International Year of the Rapprochement of Cultures

Screening of BEING OSAMA on International Migrants Day

2009-12-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Open Space
screened the documentary
Being Osama
on
International Migrants Day

Friday, 18th December, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office

It was on 18th December in 1774 when Jews were expelled from Prague, Bohemia, and Moravia.

Jointly made by a Jew and a Muslim and recipient of a number of international awards, Being Osama details the lives of six Montreal men, all with the first name Osama, in the wake of 9/11.

Screening of THE ROMANY TRAIL on International Human Rights Day

2009-12-10T00:36:00.000-08:00

Open Space
drew attention to the plight of the Romani,
who have Indian origin,
by screening the documentary
The Romany Trail - Part I
on
International Human Rights Day
Thursday, 10th December, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office

The people popularly known as gypsies are shrouded in mystery : migratory tribes of Indian origin, with their own language and a lifestyle that has kept them apart from tha mainstream of most the societies in which they have settled. To the Romani people, music is a life force and a medium to tell of their history and suffering. They are the victims of ignorance and prejudice, who have suffered much, and their experiences are expressed in their music and dance across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The Romany Trail - Part One takes us on a search for the lost Romani tribes of Egypt, up to the Nile to the ancient town of Luxor in the shadw of the great Pharaoh's tomb. Along the way, from the markets of Cairo to the temple of Karnak, we meet dancing girls and acrobats, magicians, fortune-tellers and even mystics performing an exorcism. The programme culminates in the rythms of Flamenco, in the gypsy caves of the Alhambra, where some of Spain's foremost gypsy families celebrate their history.

A Week of Stories from Nazi Concentration Camps

2009-12-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Tadeusz Borowski (1922-1951)

Yogendra Krishna

Open Space
organised
"A Week of Stories from Nazi Concentration Camps"
from 7th to 12th December, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office,
during which
Yogendra Krishna's Hindi translations of
Tadeusz Borowski's Polish stories
from his collection
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
(गैस चेंबर के लिए कृप्या इस तरफ़)
were read out.

Homage to the Victims of the post-Babri Mosque demolition riots

2009-12-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

Open Space
paid homage to those who lost their lives in the communal riots that followed the demolition of the Babri Mosque by screening at its office Saba Dewan and Rahul Roy directed 1989 documentary
Dharmayudh (The Holy War)
on
6th December, 2009.

The first documentary to come out on the Ram Janm Bhoomi/Babri Masjid controversy, Dharmayudh follows the leadership of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Babri Masjid Action Committee on their campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh. The documentary captures the communal campaign unleashed by the leadership of the two movements.

Saba Dewan and Rahul Roy, founder trustees of Aakar, studied film-making at the Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi from 1985 to 87 and have been making documentaries on various themes since then.

Saba Dewan's films have focussed on communalism, gender and sexuality. She is at present working on an India Foundation for the Arts supported research project on tawaif (courtesan) art and sexuality.

Rahul Roy has worked in the areas of labour, masculinity and communalism. Besides making films he has been working on the issues of masculinity with national and international non-governmental groups.

Indo-Israel Relations

2009-11-25T04:03:00.000-08:00

Open Space
organised
a lecture
by
Ms. Sharon Rappaport,
Second Secretary - Political Affairs,
Embassy of Israel, New Delhi
on
Indo-Israel Relations
on
Wednesday, 2nd December, 2009
at the
Department of Ancient Indian History & Archaeology,
University of Lucknow

Homage to the Victims of the Anti-Sikh Pogrom in Delhi in 1984

2009-11-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

On the birthday of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak
and
on the completion of 25 years since the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom of Delhi
Open Space
paid homage to those who perished in it
by screening
Ranjana Mazumdar directed documentary-film,
Delhi Diary 2001
on
Monday, 2nd November, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office

Delhi Diary 2001 attempts to understand how the anti-Sikh pogrom impacted the lives of the people in Delhi, scarring them with the memory of terror.

The Role of Religion in Society

2009-10-30T02:38:00.000-07:00

"Humankind have to contend with the vagaries of nature, which remains inscrutable, making life unpredictable. Questions relating to life and death, suffering and the caprice of fate, and common conduct, always exercise the human mind. Society comes into being in response to the needs of human life dictating interdependence. Codes of conduct become necessary to curb and control greed and selfishness. Religion rises in a bid to understand the origin and end of life, to propitiate the supernatural power that seems to control, command and kill at will. It seeks a way of life embracing the individual and society, groping for communion with the True Reality inhering all existence," said Professor Sarva-Daman Singh, the Honorary Consul of India for Queensland, Australia, while giving a lecture under the auspices of Open Space - Lucknow on "The Role of Religion in Society" at the Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, University of Lucknow on 1st December, 2009.

He added, "Morality takes its birth out of the constantly felt need to control and channel the human will towards the greatest good of the greatest number. Religion and morality combine to please and placate Providence; to discipline human conduct for the greatest good of humanity."

Professor Singh, who is also the Director of the Institute of Asian Studies, Brisbane, Australia, went on to say, "Religions broadly agree on a supernatural source and cause of creation, which presupposes the fraternity of all humanity, leaving no room, despite doctrinal diversity, for discord, intolerance and violence. If life is sacred, as our religions and secular laws alike uphold, it behoves us to preach and practise tolerance and engage in inter-religious dialogue to bring out the similarities of ethical values, instead of constantly harping on differences. Wars and violence, intolerance and unholy terrorism are a travesty of true religion, whatever its name. The ethical precept of religion evokes the best in human nature, sanctifying it with religious prescription.

"Monopolistic, exclusive, narrow formulations of the Truth consigning unbelievers to hell will not deliver the world from violent conflict. The ultimate Truth admits of many manifestations and many modes of worship. We must defeat the purveyors of intolerance with deliberate purpose, and do better than submitting to the tyranny of texts without weighing them in the scales of justice and fair-play. Religion must continually evolve to answer the needs of an ever evolving society. The search for ever greater truth must ceaselessly go on. Let us understand, live and let live.

"Life is full of suffering. Religion helps us cope. All religions must emphasize the indivisibility of humanity, enabling us to identify with one another. There can be no peace without peace among religions. There can be no peace among them without dialogue. No dialogue is possible without respectful tolerance. Religious peace is a pre-requisite to world peace. And peace, like humanity, must always remain indivisible: sarvam shantih."

Remembering Gujarat 2002

2009-10-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

Photo: Arko Datta, Reuters

Robin David

Open Space
presents
"Remembering Gujarat 2002"
Reading of excerpts from the Indian Jewish writer and journalist Robin David's account of the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002, City of Fear,
and the
Screening of Nooh Nizami & Akanksha Joshi directed documentary-film Passengers: A Video Journey in Gujarat

Sunday, 1st November, 2009
at
Open Space - Lucknow Office

The event also commemorated the publication of the first Hebrew daily newspaper, Hadoar, which began publication on 1st November, 1921.

An Assistant Editor with the Times of India and a member of the tiny Bene Israel Jewish community, Robin David's memoir of the anti-Muslim pogrom in the western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002 is City of Fear, Penguin, 2007, shortlisted in the top five of the Vodafone Crossword Book Awards in the Non-Fiction Category.

Passengers: A Video Journey in Gujarat (52 minutes): The genocide in Gujarat is documented through the lives of a Hindu and a Muslim family. Filmed over a year and a half, it follows the echoes of violence, intense pain and betrayal. The politics of division is experienced through the two families that form the micro unit of the Indian society.

A Retrospective of the Israeli Filmmaker Yael Katzir's films and Workshops by her

2009-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Professor Yael Katzir being felicitated by Professor B. Hanumaiah, Vice Chancellor, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir speaking at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

A view of the audience at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

Professor Govind Ji Pandey of the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication introducing Professor Yael Katzir

The Vice Chancellor of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Professor B. Hanumaiah speaking at the workshop

Professor Yael Katzir at the University of Lucknow

The audience at the University of Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

Professor R. C. Tripathi, Head, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Lucknow, speaking at the workshop

Professor Yael Katzir at the City Montessori School, Lucknow

Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, the organiser of the workshop and film retrospective and Professor Yael Katzir

Professor Yael Katzir at the City Montessori School, Lucknow

Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, founder and manager of the City Montessori School (left) speaking to Ms. Ruth Amit, Consul of Paraguay for Israel (centre) and Professor Yael Katzir (right)

Bagpipers giving welcome salute to Professor Yael Katzir at the City Montessori School, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir

Open Space
organised
A Retrospective of the Israeli Filmmaker Yael Katzir's films and Workshops by her
on

Monday, 9th November, 2009,
in memory of the victims of Kristallnacht (1938),
at the
Department of Mass Communication & Journalism,
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

and

Wednesday, 11th November, 2009
in commemoration of the cease-fire agreement signed between Israel and Egypt on 11th November, 1973,
at the
Department of Mass Communication & Journalism,
University of Lucknow, Lucknow

City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow

Professor Yael Katzir's films (please click on the title to read about the film):

"An Evening of Jewish Music" dedicated to World Peace in memory of Daniel Pearl

2009-10-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

The Chief Guest, Urdu Journalist Husain Amin and General Secretary of Sarvajanik Shikshonnayan Sansthan, Dr. Sushil Chandra Trivedi paying their homage to Daniel Pearl by lighting candles

The chief guest, Urdu journalist Husain Amin and General Secretary of Sarvajanik Shikshonnayan Sansthan, Dr. Susheel Chandra Trivedi garlanding a photograph of Daniel Pearl

Chief Guest, Husain Amin, Urdu journalist

Social Activist, Mr. K. C. Tripathi

Dr. Sushil Chandra Trivedi, General Secretary, Sarvajanik Shikshonnayan Sansthan

Social Activist. Mr. Shukla

Social Activist. Mr. Khazzan Singh

From the left: Social Activist. Mr. Gaurav Pandey, Mr. Husain Amin and Mr. Sushil Chandra Trivedi

From the left: Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, Mr. Husain Amin and Dr. Sushil Chandra Trivedi

Open Space - Lucknow
in association with
Sarvajanik Shikshonnayan Sansthan (SSS)
organised
"An Evening of Jewish Music"
dedicated to world peace
in memory of Daniel Pearl
on his 45th birth anniversary
as part of the
8th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days,
a global network of events to promote peace and understanding through the language of music

This music evening was one of the four music concerts organised in India as part of the movement called Daniel Pearl World Music Days, during which 1,180 music events will take place in 63 countries in October 2009. The other three events that took place in India under this movement were held in Goa and Kerala.

The South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl, who got abducted and killed by terrorists in Pakistan, was a talented musician who joined musical groups in every community he visited, leaving behind a long trail of musician friends that spans the entire globe. He firmly believed in the power of music to unite people.

The chief guest of the evening was the Urdu journalist, Husain Amin, who paid an emotional tribute to Daniel Pearl and spoke against the growing number of attacks on journalists the world over, one of which took Daniel Pearl's life.

Professor Judea Pearl and Ruth Pearl, parents of Daniel Pearl

Statement from Daniel Pearl's parents, Prof. Judea Pearl and Ruth Pearl:

Thank you for being part of the 8th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days and for dedicating your concert in honor of our son, Daniel Pearl. We would have loved to be with you in person tonight, but circumstances dictate that we send you this blessing from a distance, although we are with you in spirit.

Our deepest appreciation goes to the organizers and the musicians who helped put this evening together.

Pablo Casals once said:
"Music must serve a purpose; it must be part of something larger than itself, a part of humanity."

The music that will soon emerge from your stage will serve a purpose - for it will blend with the sounds of hundreds, perhaps thousands of other concerts, from Singapore to New York, Lahore to Los Angeles, which will be ringing the earth this month for sanity and humanity.

By dedicating your concert to Danny, you elevate your music from the acoustics of one concert hall onto to the balcony of the 21st century and transform it into a potent statement of purpose, unity and empowerment.

Your music will resonate today in sharp defiance of the forces of hatred that took our son's life, and will reinforce our unshaken conviction that, at the end of the day, music will triumph and humanity will prevail.

United, we will make a difference.

Ruth and Judea Pearl
Los Angeles, California

2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Barak Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America

Obama's Presidential Statement:

I send my warmest greetings to all who are gathered for the 8th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days.

Music has been called a universal language that transcends cultures and borders. Its power to move us, touch our hearts, and speak to our souls enriches our lives. Through artistic creativity and expression, musicians build bridges between individuals and communities thousands of miles apart.

This month-long event to celebrate music and honour the legacy of Daniel Pearl is a fitting tribute to a man who promoted respect and dialogue throughout the world. On this occasion, we recommit ourselves to tolerance, compassion, and "Harmony for Humanity".

I wish you all the best for an enjoyable event.

Barak Obama
The White House
Washington
September 30, 2009

Cantor Alberto Mizrahi

Cantor Kathy Robbins

Songs composed and sung by the great cantors,
Alberto Mizrahi and Kathy Robbins
were played from their respective albums,
My World
and
Shavat Vayinafash: An Island in Time
on
Saturday, 10th October, 2009
at
Nilyam, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow

Message from Cantor Kathy Robbins:

I am deeply honored and humbled to have been invited to share the stage in Lucknow with my esteemed colleague, Cantor Alberto Mizrahi in 'An Evening of Jewish Music' as part of the 8th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days.

Reb Nachman of Bretslav taught, "Kol ha-olam kulo, gesher tzar m-od. V'ha-ikar lo l'facheid klal. - The world is a very narrow bridge and the most important part is not to be afraid."

Danny fearlessly, built bridges with his music wherever he went in the world. His legacy , 'Harmony for Humanity' will continue to inspire us all to do the same in our on-going quest for world peace.

L'shalom,

Cantor Kathy Robbins
Encinitas, California

Greek-born tenor, Alberto Mizrahi, one of the world's leading interpreters of Jewish music, is Hazzan of the historic Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago. He has thrilled audiences worldwide in recitals, symphony concerts, and opera. Affectionately known as "the Jewish Pavarotti," Mizrahi's repertoire, spanning nine languages, makes his performances unique in the field.

He is featured on PBS television in Cantors: A Faith in Song and in the PBS Hanukkah Special. He has performed and recorded with the legendary jazz pianist, Dave Brubeck and his quartet ("Gates of Justice") for the Milken Archive on the Naxos label, and with the great Theodore Bikel ("Our Song"). He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, NDR Symphony, Lithuanian National Symphony, Radio Television Orchestra of Spain and the Sinfonia Krakowia.

Having just performed at the White House Hanukkah celebration and with Genesis at the Crossroads in Casablanca, he also recently appeared with Cantors: A Faith in Song in Sao Paolo and Rio De Janeiro, in Carnegie Hall for the Zamir Chorale celebration of Israel at 60, and Kavanah: Tradition and Transformation, a modern music tour thoroughout the Netherlands. The 2008-2009 season finds him recording and premiering the highly reviewed Yizkor: Music of Remembrance with the Afro-Semitic Experience. dueting with Theodore Bikel in the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, Craig Taubman in the Hallelu Festival, and singing concerts in Athens, Mexico City, and throughout the US. Hazzan Mizrahi returns to chant at Days of Remembrance, the national commemoration of the Holocaust, in April 2009 (Capitol Rotunda), tour with the Safron Caravan Ensemble in Egypt, Jordon, Israel and Australia, and with the Cantors Assembly in Warsaw, Krakow and Jerusalem. Mizrahi's extensive discography numbers over twenty-five CDs.

Cantor Kathy Robbins' creative contributions include a unique Freilich Friday Shabbat Evening Service with her seven-piece band, a Mind-Boby-Spirit, Adult Education Wellness Wheel and her CD Shavat Vayinafash - An Island in Time: Contemporary Music for the Eve of Shabbat".

Cantor Robbins has served as Cantor and Music Director of Temple Solel, Cardiff by the Sea, California, since 1984. She is a regular member of the American Conference of Cantors.

The First Ever Holocaust Films Retrospective in South Asia המצגת הראשונה של סרטי שואה בדרום הודו

2009-09-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

Open Space organised THE FIRST EVER HOLOCAUST FILMS RETROSPECTIVE IN SOUTH ASIA, during which forty-six film screenings took place in fourteen days in three phases at five venues, two universities, offices of two non-profit organisations and the world's largest school, over a period of two months, September and October 2009. The films screened during the retrospective absolutely free of charge were seen by four thousand people. It was an event driven completely by philanthropy. All the films at the retrospective had either been lent free of charge or donated. Almost all the films screened at the retrospective had never been seen in South Asia before and large number of them had won awards. The films retrospective was accompanied by an exhibition of twenty posters, donated by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. During the event a trilingual brochure containing the synopses of the films in English, Hindi, India's national language, and Urdu, the lingua franca of almost all South Asian Muslims, and a poem written exclusively for the event by the great Urdu poet, Anwar Nadeem, was distributed among the audiences, which consisted of noted intellectuals besides academics and students. All film screenings were followed by discussions, which were attended by celebrities like the acclaimed filmmaker, M. S. Sathyu, theatre personalities, Dr. Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, Jugal Kishor, Salim Arif and Professor Thontadarya, Urdu litterateurs, Professor Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqui and Anwar Nadeem, educationists and social activists, Professor Roop Rekha Verma, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lucknow and Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, founder and manager of the world's largest school, the City Montessori School, religious leaders of almost all communities and a number of academics and university students. It was also perhaps the first event dedicated to the Holocaust to have been attended by Muslims in such large numbers.

While the event was in progress, the two largest circulated Urdu newspapers of Lucknow, Rashtriya Sahara and Aag, carried a story each denying the Holocaust and calling it "The Biggest Hoax of the Twentieth Century", which only goes on to testify the event's importance.

The Holocaust Films Retrospective was inaugurated by the Mayor of Lucknow, Dr. Dinesh Sharma, and during the first phase films wre screened at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University from 14th till 18th September, 2009. The second phase took place at the University of Lucknow from 12th till 15th October, 2009. During the third phase films were screened at the Open Space - Lucknow Office from 22nd till 26th October, while the concluding day's screenings took place at the office of the non-profit organisation, Saajhi Duniya, on 27th October, 2009.

Dr. Manoj Dixit,
Head, Department of Public Administration, University of Lucknow
Director, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Institute of Democracy
Secretary, Lucknow University Alumni Foundation

Prof. A. K. Sengupta, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Lucknow

Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, the Open Space Fellow in Lucknow

On Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, 2nd October, observed across the world as the International Day of Non Violence according to a UN resolution, Open Space, in collaboration with the City Montessori School, screened Night and Fog before an audience of 3,500 people at the CMS's World Convention Centre. Mahatma Gandhi, who staunchly believed in non-violence, said that if a war could be justified, it would be war against Germany to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race, the Jews.

13-year-old Yugratna Srivastava who addressed the United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York on 22nd September 2009, talking to a journalist while seeing the Holocaust posters displayed at the venue.

A story titled, "Holocaust: The Biggest Hoax of the Twentieth Century", that the largest circulated Urdu daily newspaper in Lucknow, the Rashtriya Sahara, carried on 16th September, 2009, with particular reference to our ongoing Holocaust Films Retrospective. This article itself is a good proof of the widespread Holocaust denial among the Muslims in South Asia, who form the largest Muslim population of the world. One of the primary aims of this Holocaust Films Retrospective was to counter this Holocaust Denial. Besides a large number of Muslim students, the event was attended by well known Muslim personalities like the eminent Urdu poet Professor Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad, acclaimed Urdu writer Dr. Ayesha Siddiqui and noted theatre/TV/Film personality Salim Arif, all of whom spoke against Holocaust Denial.

Mr. B. B. Nagpal, Film Critic and Media Consultant

Mr. Jagdish Gandhi, Educationist

Mr. Jagdish Gandhi seeing an exhibition of the Holocaust posters donated by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Mr. Jugal Kishor, Bharatendu Natya Akademi (Bharatendu Academy of Dramatics)

Dr. Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, Director, Bharatendu Natya Akademi (Bharatendu Academy of Dramatics)

Prof. Roop Rekha Verma, Social Activist and Former Vice Chancellor, University of Lucknow

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqui, Urdu Fiction Writer

Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad, Urdu Poet

Prof. Thontadrya, Theatre Personality

Mr. Salim Arif, Theatre/Film/TV Personality

Mr. M. S. Sathyu, Filmmaker

From the left: Dr. Gopal Singh, Head, Department of Mass Communication & Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Prof. B. B. Hanumaiah, Vice Chancellor, B. B. Ambedkar University, Prof. Thontadrya, Theatre Personality and Mr. M. S. Sathyu, Filmmaker

Dr. Govind Ji Pandey, Reader, Department of Mass Communication & Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow and Coordinator of the film screenings at the university

Dr. Dinesh Sharma, the Mayor of Lucknow

Prof. B. B. Hanumaiah, Vice Chancellor, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

Dr. Govind Ji Pandey

OPEN SPACE - LUCKNOW is greatly indebted to a number of people and organisations (in alphabetical order):

Mr. Alessandro Matta, Italy

Mr. Anwar Nadeem, India (http://anwarnadeem.blogspot.com)

Mr. Asher Tarmon, Israel (picture not available)

Prof. Deepika Marya, USA

Ms. Ellen Friedland, USA (www.jemglo.org)

Mr. Eyal Boers, Theora Design, Israel

Mr. Fazl-ur-Rehman, India

Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Conteporanea (CDEC), Onlus, Milan, Italy

Mr. Georg Gruber and Mr. Jochen Freydank, Magnet Film, Germany (www.magnetfilm.de)

Dr. Govind Ji Pandey, Department of Mass Communication & Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, India

Ms. Harriet Bograd, USA (www.kulanu.org)

Ms. Kamayani Sharma, India

Ms. Karen Cantor, Singing Wolf Documentaries, Inc., USA

Prof. Leah Wing, USA

Ms. Limor Pinhasov Ben Yosef, Israel
and
Mr. Yaron Kaftori Ben Yosef (picture not available)
Cicero Film Productions, Tel Aviv

Ms. Lina Caneva, Caneva Media Productions, Australia

Dr. Manju Sikarwar, India

Ms. Ornit Barkai, USA (www.tinro.com)

www.pov.org

Ms. Pearl Goldberg, Ms. Andria Spindel and Dr. Stuart Kamenetsky, Congregation Darchei Noam, Toronto, Canada (picture not available)

Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, USA

Prof. Sarva-Daman Singh, Australia

Ms. Shana Weinberg, USA

www.sisuent.com

http://college.usc.edu/vhi

www.yadvashem.org

Screening of FINAL SOLUTION

2009-08-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

Open Space
screened Rakesh Sharma's documentary
Final Solution
on
Sunday, 23rd August, 2009
at the
Open Space - Lucknow Office

Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat, India, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. The film examines the aftermath of the deadly violence that followed the burning of 58 Hindus on the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra on 27th February, 2002. In reaction to that incident, some 2,500 Muslims were brutally murdered, hundreds of women raped, and more than 200,000 families driven from their homes. Borrowing its reference from the history of Nazism, the title of the film exposes what the director calls 'Indian Fascism' and seeks to remind that "those who forget history are condemned to relive it."

A dialogue that ensued after the screening with a member of the audience is as follows:

Do you think films should not have been made on the genocide of Muslims that took place in Gujarat in 2002?
Yes, I do think such films should not have been made, because they promote anger, enmity and hatred.

Since films made on the Gujarat 2002 genocide of Muslims promote hatred, so the students in schools and colleges should should also not be taught about it?
Yes, of course!

So, the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 should never be mentioned at any forum whatsover?
Why do you only take Gujarat? Start right from the beginning. Also talk about Muslim atrocities. It is always better not to talk of things that provoke hatred and fury, in my opinion.

Do you mean that once a genocide has taken place, no matter what the community, it should never be talked about?
No its mention should be confined to reference books, history books, etc., and should not be publicised in the general public. Only the educated and the intelligent should read about such genocides, not the common man. When such things are shown to the general public, it gets agitated and turns violent.

So, according to you, it is okay if books are written on genocides, provided those are kept in libraries accessible only to academics and scholars and not to the common man. There should be no mention of genocides in the sources of information accessible to the general public. Is this what you are saying?
Yes, if it spreads hatred. If the two conflicting communities live together and want to continue to do so, only those things should be shown that promote communal harmony. When such genocides happen, they do get reported in the press. That is enough. There is no need to remind people of suh incidents at every opportunity. The effort should be that such incidents do not occur again. Such terrible incidents should be mentioned only in a positive way with solutions to the problems. It is the responsibility of the press and media to promote communal harmony, and not instigate people by showing such provocative things or by writing about them.

Don't you see these documentary films as part of that effort?
No, I don't, because I believe that those who make such films are only looking for cheap publicity and that these films are their endeavours to establish their film careers.

Are you against the screening of Final Solution?
Yes, I am. It hurts Muslims and puts Hindus to shame.

Is it wrong to put Hindus to shame if they are at fault?
No, I am not saying that. What I am saying is why should those who are not guilty, be put to shame. The perpetrators are not seeing it. And, why do you show films only on Hindu atrocities on Muslims. Why don't you ever show a film on the plight of displaced Hindu Pandits of Kashmir or on the ill-treatment of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh?

So, according to you, films like Final Solution have no place in society?
Films should be made for the promotion of communal harmony.

Do you think it was justified to ban Final Solution?
I don't know that. I am not intelligent enough to be able to answer your tricky questions.

The respondent, a seventy-year-old academic, does not want her identity to be revealed.

A noteworthy response to the film came from the Urdu poet Anwar Nadeem:

वक़्त, हालत और सियासत के नापाक गठजोड़ ने तहजीब के रौशन फानूस को कुछ इस तरह तोडा कि उसकी किरचें आँख, दिल, दिमाग और एहसास में शायद हमेशा के लिए पेबस्त हो गयीं।
बहुत ही मकरूह मंज़रों के पीछे साँस लेते सियासी इरादों को उजागर करना आसान काम नहीं था, मगर मुबारकबाद के हक़दार हैं राकेश शर्मा कि उन्होंने नेहायत बेलाग ज़हन के साथ हिन्दुस्तानी तारीख के एक दर्दनाक दौर की मंज़रकशी में film editing की राह से अपनी बेहतरीन सलाहियतों को दर्शाया है।

Indo-Pak Dialogue: 5th Session of the OS-Lucknow Series "Diversity Dialogue"

2009-08-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

Anwar Nadeem reciting his poem

Pakistani Delegate, Ashfaq Fateh

Senior Journalist, Husain Amin; Hindi Writer, Shakeel Siddiqui; Academic, Dr. Manju Sikarwar and Urdu Poet, Anwar Nadeem

Pakistani Delegate, Ashfaq Fatah

Peace Activist, Shahla Ghanim speaking at the dialogue

Pakistani Delgate, Rashid Jalal

Hindi writer, Shakeel Siddiqui

Magsaysay Award winning Social Activist, Dr. Sandeep Pandey

Pakistani Delegate, Mian Muhammad Rafiq, Member, Provincial Assembly, PP-90 Toba Tek Singh

Pakistani Delegate, Mian Muhammad Rafiq, Member, Provincial Assembly, PP-90 Toba Tek Singh

تم ہمارے تھے. ہمارے ہی رہو

تم ہمارے دیش کی اولاد ہو
تم ہمارے پاس ہی آباد ہو
اپنے کرموں سے مگر ناشاد ہو

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

یہ قیامت کی غدے ہے، دوستو
جنگ پھر گھیرے کھڈے ہے، دوستو
فکر کی کیسے جہادی ہے، دوستو

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

کتنے صدیاں کل ہمارے دس میں
تھمنے کاٹیں دوستی کے بھس میں
زندانگے کی سرخشے کی رس میں

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

تم کو شیطان ہر نفس مارا کیا
تھمنے اس دھرتے کا بٹوارا کیا
روح نے جسکو جگر-پارا کیا

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائی ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

جو تھمنے کیا، چلو اچچھا کیا
کیوں مگر اخلاص سے پردہ کیا
دوستی کی موت کا چرچا کیا

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

یہ بتاؤ دھرم کو سمھجا ہے کیا
اور پھر تاریخ سے سیکھا ہے کیا
بھائی میرے! جنگ سے ملتا ہے کیا

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائی ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

کیوں لادوگے تم خدا کے نام پر
کچھ عقیدوں کے اچھوتے کام پر
پاک جذبوں کے سنہرے دھام پر

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

خون کے چہیتے اور اس گلزار میں
جان دینے کا جنوں کردار میں
سرفروشے کس لئے سنسار میں

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

چاہتے کیا ہو، ذرہ ہم بھی سنی
تم اگر تھودا جھکو، ہم بھی جھکیں
اور پھر دنیا میں دونوں اٹھائیں

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

اشیا پر ہے نظر سنسار کی
ہیں خبر سبکو برے اتوار کی
بات ہونا چاہئے کردار کی

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

اور وو دیں بھی تو آنا چاہئے
پیار کا پرچم اٹھانا چاہئے
نفرتوں کا دور جانا چاہئے
ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

سارے دنیا، دین کی، ایمان کی
دے مثالیں ہند-و-پاکستان کی
آدمیت کی نرالے شان کی

ہر زمانے کی ہے سچچائ ہے
تم ہمارے تھے، ہمارے ہی رہو

انوار ندیم

तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

तुम हमारे देश की औलाद हो
तुम हमारे पास ही आबाद हो
अपने कर्मों से मगर नाशाद हो

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

ये क़यामत की घड़ी है, दोस्तो
जंग फिर घेरे खड़ी है, दोस्तो
फ़िक्र की कैसी झडी है, दोस्तो

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

कितनी सदियाँ कल हमारे देस में
तुमने काटीं दोस्ती के भेस में
ज़िंदगी की सरखुशी की रेस में

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

तुम को शैतां हर नफस मरा किया
तुमने उस धरती का बटवारा किया
रूह ने जिसको जिगर-पारा किया

हर ज़माने की सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

जो किया तुमने, चलो अच्छा किया
क्यों मगर इखलास से परदा किया
दोस्ती की मौत का चर्चा किया

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

ये बताओ धर्म को समझा है क्या
और फिर तारिख से समझा है क्या
भी मेरे! जंग से मिलता है क्या

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

क्यों लडोगे तुम खुदा के नाम पर
कुछ अकीदों के अछूते काम पर
पाक जज्बों के सुनहरे धाम पर

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

खूं के छींटे और इस गुलज़ार में
जान देने का जूनून किरदार में
सरफरोशी किस लिए संसार में

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

चाहते क्या हो, ज़रा हम भी सुनें
तुम अगर थोडा झुको, हम भी झुकें
और फिर दुन्या में हम दोनों उठें

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

एशिया पर है नज़र संसार की
है ख़बर सबको बुरे अतवार की
बात होना चाहिए किरदार की

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

और वो दिन भी तो आना चाहिए
प्यार का परचम उठाना चाहिए
नफरतों का दौर जाना चाहिए

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

सारी दुन्या, दीं की, ईमान की
दें मिसालें हिन्द-ओ-पाकिस्तान की
आदमियत की निराली शान की

हर ज़माने की यही सच्चाई है
तुम हमारे थे, हमारे ही रहो

(अनवर नदीम)

The poem above was recited by the eminent Urdu poet Anwar Nadeem at the Indo-Pak dialogue organised between a ten-member-Pakistani-peace-delegation and Lucknowites by Open Space under its series of cross-cultural and international dialogues, titled "Diversity Dialogue", at the Academy of Mass Communication, Lucknow, on Friday, 21st August, 2009. The poem captured the mood of the session, which was attended by the Magsaysay Award Winner Sandeep Pandey, social activists Urvashi Sharma and Bobby Ramakant, prominent academic Dr. Manju Sikarwar, senior journalist Husain Amin and Hindi writer Shakeel Siddiqui among others. The Pakistani Peace delegation was on a visit to India, facilitated by the Pakistan Chapter of the India-Pakistan People's Forum for Peace and Democracy. The delegation consisted of Mian Muhammad Rafiq, Member of Provincial Assembly; Ashfaq Fatah, Principal, St. Peter's High School; three students, viz., Memoona, Sara Anam and Pashmina, and peace activists, viz., Rafiya Begum of Society for Human Development, Shakeel, Rashid Jamal, Clement and Johnson Gill.

The Chronology of Open Space - Lucknow Events

2009-07-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

The Misinterpretation of Islam by Non-Muslims as well as Muslims

2009-07-20T12:33:00.001-07:00

Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi

Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi and Prof. Arif Ayyubi

Dr. Rukhsana Nik'hat Lari, Reader, Department of Arabic, University of Lucknow, asking a question

Dr. Rukhsana Nik'hat Lari, Reader, Department of Arabic, University of Lucknow, asking a question

From the left: Marialusia Sales, Kaur, Isabella, Jane (back row), Brother Chris Mauger (front)

Sheikh Professor Palazzi, Prof. Arif Ayyubi and Dr. Zafar Muhammad Khan asking a question

Prof. Shams Tabrez Khan, Dr. Zafar Muhammad Khan and Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad

"The forced Wahabization of al-Harmayn (Mecca and Medina) and the oil wealth of the world's only Wahabi state, Saudi Arabia, has completely changed the face of the Islamic world and the way Islam is perceived by non-Muslims and even by some Muslims. Although the Saudi funded propaganda has failed to convert the majority of Sunnis to Wahabism, yet it has succeeded in creating small Wahabi oriented sectarian groups, like Ikhwan al-Muslimin, the so called Ahl-e-Hadith, and the pseudo Salafis. Some contents of that propaganda have strongly influenced the non-Wahabi Muslim perceptions of modernity and of the Judeo-Christian West, " said Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi, the Secretary General of the Italian Muslim Assembly , the Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, Rome, and the Co-Founder & Co-Chairman of the Islam-Israel Fellowship, Jerusalem, while delivering a lecture on "The Misinterpretation of Islam by Non-Muslims as well as Muslims", at the Persian Department of the University of Lucknow, under the joint auspices of the department and Open Space, on 28th July, 2009. With a doctorate in Islamic Sciences from the Institute for Islamic Studies and Research in Naples (by the authorization of the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia), and ijazzah, authorization to teach, both the Qur'anic exegesis and the Islamic Law, from the prestigious Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Prof. Palazzi backed his somewhat surprising positions with citations from the Qur'an and the traditional Muslim sources.

Prof. Palazzi has taught at universities and academic institutions across Europe, North America and the Middle East, and has been active in the promotion of inter-faith dialogue.

Born in Rome, after completing his secular and religious education in Rome and Cairo, he served as the Imam of the Italian Muslim Community. In addition to numerous Masters degrees, Prof. Palazzi holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Sciences by decree of the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Baz. He holds a a doctorate in Islamic Sciences from the Institute for Islamic Studies and Research in Naples, Italy, by authorization from the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, and ijazah (authorization to teach) for both, Qur'anic exegesis and the Islamic law from the Al Azhar University, Cairo. He has been a lecturer in the Department of the History of Religion, Universita della Terza Eta, Velletri (near Rome). Prof. Palazzi was appointed a Member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Muslim Association in 1989, and is now its Secretary General. Prof. Palazzi is also in the international advisary councils of the International Intelligence Summit and of the Jewish Legal Heritage Society. Prominent among the universities at which he has given lectures, are the following:

Princeton University
University of Texas
University of Chicago
University of Maryland
University of Ottawa
University of California - Santa Barbara
Rutgers University
Brandeis University
McMaster University
Kent Law

26/11 Mumbai and the Radical Project of Secularism

2009-07-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and Mrs. Rivka Holtzberg, who were killed in the 26/11/2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attack on the Chabad House there. The lecture was organised in their memory and also in memory of everybody else killed in the attacks.

From the left: Prof. A. K. Singh, Director, Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow, Prof. Roop Rekha Varma, Secretary, Saajhi Duniya (NGO) and Prof. Deepika Marya, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, USA

Prof. A. K. Singh, Director, Giri Institute, introducing the speaker, Prof. Deepika Marya, Univ. of Southern Maine

Prof. A. K. Singh addressing the gathering

Prof. Marya being felicitated by a Research Fellow of the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow

Prof. Deepika Marya giving the lecture

Prof. Deepika Marya on the mike

Prof. Deepika Marya

Two-year-old Moshe who lost his parents, Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg & Mrs. Rivka Holtzberg, to the 26/11/2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

Hotel Taj, Mumbai, under attack on 26/11/2008

Prof. Deepika Marya

"The crises experienced by the people of Mumbai during and after the terrorist attacks on 26/11 have taught us that we can no longer rely on the state to respond to take control and provide safety for the general population. When the state fails to act responsibly it is left to the citizens to come forward with strategies to understand and handle the crisis; where did it emerge from, what were the factors that inflamed it and what will it take to eradicate it in the most constructive way," said Prof. Deepika Marya on Thursday, 16th July, 2009, in a lecture she gave on "26/11 Mumbai and the Radical Project of Secularism", jointly organised by Open Space - Lucknow and the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow, at the institute's main auditorium, in memory of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Mrs. Holtzberg and everybody else killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Prof. Marya teaches Postcolonial Theory in the English Department at the University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, USA. She has been active in the field of Conflict Resolution since 1994 and has consulted at numerous colleges, universities, and public and private schools across the US, leading trainings and workshops on Conflict Resolution and Social Justice. She has originated the use of critical theory in mediation training and intervention.

Prof. Marya said, "Based on the work of Rohana and Karper, who have worked in societies that are perpetually torn apart, one could suggest that in cases of sudden, unexpected terrorist attacks on the scale of 26/11, conflict reduction remains out of reach if we keep blaming the 'perpetrators' for all the ills of society and keep them out of the reconciliation process. In other words, to design justice and reconciliation after an an event such as 26/11, the community/nation needs to pay close attention to the group that is being held responsible for the crime. When reconciliation is designed 'at the top', which is to say responding to the needs of those with more power in society and does not dialogue with the group that is most interested in gaining that attention of the media, society and the world, it fails in its purpose." Prof. Marya also added, It is also a moot point that who should design what the process should be and who should carry it out. Holding a person in custody and hanging them is only one form of 'justice'. When that happens the state becomes part of the problem and we get even further from the solution. The state can become a Trojan horse where large scale inquiries that are mandated lead to wrong people being accused or not enough evidence being produced that all parties are convinced. If resolving a deep rooted malaise, whether it be communal disharmony or related to any other societal inequity requires we ask the state to be accountable for its role in perpetuation of the problem, it needs to involve the lower powered group, the one that feels targeted, and step back to ask ourselves as a community what do we mean by justice. Do we feel justice has been done by punishing the lone surviving attacker and pointing fingers at another country for harboring terrorists?"

The programme was presided over by eminent social activist Prof. Roop Rekha Varma, while the speaker was introduced by Prof. A. K. Singh, Director, Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow. The vote of thanks was given by Open Space Fellow Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi.

Session on Multiculturalism and the Screening of the Documentary "Impressions from Luton" in the presence of its maker Mekhela Deva

2009-07-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

Luton, United Kingdom

Poet Robert Gurney

Mekhela Deva, the Maker of Impressions from Luton

A session on multiculturalism was organised at the Heritage Institute of Languages , Lucknow, under the joint auspices of Open Space - Lucknow and the institute under the Open Space - Lucknow series of cross-cultural dialogues, titled Diversity Dialogue, on Friday, 10th July, 2009, at which a documentary Impressions from Luton was screened in the presence of its maker Mekhela Deva. The film was about the changing face of a British town called Luton, seen through the eyes of two local Englishmen, poet Robert Gurney and journalist Andy Gayler. It is their impression that the student director Mekhela Deva brought back with her after a year's sabbatical at the University of Bedfordshire, where she did a Masters in Media Production (Documentary). Curious about the British multicultural experiment, she explores it through both their narratives that reflect the town's diversity in a very subtle way. The film is split in five different sections. It begins with one of Bob Gurney's poems and is followed by the journalist's narrative, to come back to another poem and so on. However, there is a thread that links all the sections to also tell the story of the town. Robert Gurney's poems are like an elegy to the past, whilst the journalist celebrates the survivor spirit of Luton with its "let's live with it" pragmatism. By the end of the film one gets a sense of the town's history as well as its evolution from a very English town to one with a multicultural face. The screening was preceded and followed by discussions on multiculturalism, in which students from thirteen countries enrolled at the Heritage Institute took part along with the institute's directors Rauni and Rebecca Da Mota and teachers. On the occassion a treatise written by Mekhela Deva on her film was also distributed.

An Evening dedicated to Jewish-Muslim Relations in memory of Daniel Pearl

2009-06-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

"An Evening dedicated to Jewish-Muslim Relations in Memory of Daniel Pearl" was organised by Open Space - Lucknow on Saturday, 27th June, 2009, (the event also commemorated the publication of the Yiddish newspaper Die Yidishe Velt, which began publication in New York on 27th June, 1902) at the Academy of Mass Communication, Lucknow, among Muslim youth. On the occassion Brad Pitt produced film A Mighty Heart (2007), based on Pearl's widow Mariane's memoir, A Mighty Heart - The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl, was screened, and a bilingual publication (English and Urdu) of the Centre for Interfaith Studies, Faislabad, Pakistan, was distributed among the audience, who took part in a lively discussion after the screening. American Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, who served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and beheaded in Karachi in 2002. The killing of Pearl led his parents, Professor Judea Pearl and Ruth Pearl, to establish an organisation in his memory, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, dedicated to world peace and to the beterment of Jewish-Muslim relations. Below is the message from Daniel's parents, received on the ocassion of this event:

Mrs. Ruth Pearl and Professor Judea Pearl, parents of Daniel Pearl (courtesy: Daily Life)

On behalf of the family of Daniel Pearl we would like to express our gratitude to Navras Jaat Aafreedi and the organizer of this event, for honouring our son Daniel by dedicating this evening in his memory.
It has been heart-warming for us to see people from all walks of life reaffirming their commitments to the ideals for which Danny stood: truth, fairness and respect for all people.
But it is especially significant for us, and for Danny's son, Adam, to see Danny's legacy supported by people from the Muslim religion, the religion of the country where Danny's journey came to a sudden halt.
We live in an era where hate propagates with Internet speeds, and one can easily get the impression that humanity is losing ground to a rising tide of savagery. Adam's generation must understand that this is a misleading metaphor; that underneath the surface we have an ocean of decency and goodwill, and that hatred and ignorance are merely islands that can be conquered.
We witnessed this undercurrent of decency when so many Muslims offered us help and sympathy when Danny's death was made public.
We witnessed this undercurrent of decency throughout our journey with Professor Akbar Ahmad along the Daniel Pearl Muslim-Jewish dialogue trail.
We witnessed this undercurrent of decency when we celebrated Danny's would-be 45th birthday, on October 10, 2008. 1,100 concerts in 60 countries participated in this global event, including dozens of groups from Muslim countries, all united by the ideals for which Danny's stood, and all taking a stand for tolerance and humanity.
And we are witnessing this undercurrent here, tonight, through your inititative to establish this evening of Jewish-Muslim relations in Memory of Daniel Pearl.
We know that the people who attend this evening will continue Danny's quest for truth and understanding, and will venture to eradicate the ignorance and hatred that took Danny's life.
Thank you all for helping us uncover and activate this ocean of decency for Adam's generation.
Salam Aleikum!
Shalom Aleichem!

- Judea and Ruth Pearl

Los Angeles, California

Reports on the event can be read on the following websites:

The Times of India

Daniel Pearl Foundation

New Muslim Cool

2009-06-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

The youth of Lucknow came together for an exclusive sneak preview screening of the American documentary-film New Muslim Cool at the University Grants Commission Academic Staf College, University of Lucknow, on Monday, 22nd June, 2009, a day before its world premiere on the American channel PBS, thanks to Open Space - Lucknow, which won the exclusive right to screen the film in Lucknow even before it got released in the US., through a competition held by the makers of the film, non-profit media strategy company Active Voice and POV, as part of their worldwide community engagement campaign aimed at promoting dialogue and discussion among diverse groups the world over. The film was screened by Open Space in collaboration with the Lucknow chapter of the student organisation AIESEC, which is active in 107 countries.

A new documentary by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, New Muslim Cool tells the true life story of Hamza Perez, a Puerto Rican American hip hop artist who converted to Islam at age 21, pulling himself off the streets to become a community activist and rising star. Forging unlikely friendships with a Jewish poet, a prison chaplain, and many others along his surprising spiritual journey, Hamza faces challenges with a message of hope, finding his balance in a world that never stops changing.

The broadcast premiere of New Muslim Cool took place on 23rd June , 2009, on the American channel PBS, a day after its preview screening in Lucknow, India.

The film was presented in partnership with Active Voice and Specific Pictures
For more information about the New Muslim Cool community engagement campaign, visit www.activevoice.net

EARLY PRAISE FOR NEW MUSLIM COOL

Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle reporter and author, Al' America
New Muslim Cool is a spellbinding documentary - a film that gives us the full dimension of a Muslim American man who's a rapper, educator, father, husband, and reformed idealist. His gang days behind him, Hamza Perez now tries to steer people away from that life. Perez's own life - hectic, challenging, full of love of his faith and his growing family - takes him on a circutous path that Jennifer Taylor captures with a sensitive and unblinking eye.

Salman Ahmad, UN Goodwill Ambassador and acclaimed rock musician with Junoon
New Muslim Cool moved me deeply both on a visceral and spiritual level. Like me, Hamza's Muslim-American identity envelopes religious, racial, cultural, and nationalistic frontiers. It weaves the complex threads of his American story in a beautiful and sensitive way.

Ambassador Akbar Ahmad, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University
Almost single-handedly, New Muslim Cool challenges the distortions, stereotypes, and misunderstandings around Islam. See it for pleasure and a new outlook on Islam in America.

Dr. Ben Chavis, CEO and Co-Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
The temperature and resounding impact of New Muslim Cool is both hot and cool. While the film transcends race, ethnicity, class and religion, the settings, scenes and scope all reaffirm the universality of one humanity. New Muslim Cool, like hip hop culture, is all about irrepressible social transformation and empowerment.

Sylivia Chan-Malik, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkley
As a scholar, I am so excited to see a film about Islam in the US that demonstrates all the complexity and nuances of the Muslim American experience. I look forward to showing the film in my classroom in years to come and can hardly wait to hear what students might say about the intersections of race, gender, and religion that are highlighted in every frame of the piece.

Larry Kirkman, Dean, School of Communication, American University
What a show! Authentic, intimate, a true POV experience, a window on a culture that most viewers cannot imagine, and a powerful trigger for discussion and reflection by young people - asking what is family, religion, art, service, jobs, politics, freedom, interfaith.

The Rural-Urban Divide in India

2009-06-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

Untitled

I drew a plan of the city -
tall housing
quarters,
narrow offices,
roads for two-wheelers, four-wheelers,
footpaths,
space allocated for trees to stand,
gardens,
statues.

I marked them all in the city,
not knowing how
to make space for me.

Carefully I created the city,
leaving myself out.

(Poem by A. Vennila, Translated by C. S. Lakshmi and Arundhati Subramaniam, Taken from the Open Space pamphlet titled, Coming to the City)

A Picture of an Indian Metropolitan

A Picture of an Indian Village

Indian Urban Women

Indian Rural Women

Indian Urban Women

Indian Rural Women

Padmashri Prof. Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004)

Urban

The hills are always far away.
He knows the broken roads, and moves
In circles tracked within his head.
Before he wakes and has his say,
The river which he claims he loves
Is dry, and all the winds lie dead.

At dawn he never sees the skies
Which, silently, are born again.
Nor feels the shadows of the night
Recline their fingers on his eyes.
He welcomes neither sun nor rain.
His landscape has no depth or height.

The city like a passion burns.
He dreams of morning walks, alone,
And floating on a wave of sand.
But still his mind its traffic turns
Away from beach and tree and stone
To kindred clamour close at hand.

- Nissim Ezekiel

Inequalities in income, lack of employment opportunities, lack of infrastructure and civic amenities, inadequate access to education, healthcare and other basic services are some of the major areas where rural areas lag behind.
Over 70% of the population resides in rural areas, and agriculture which is its main occupation now, accounts for only a quarter of the country's GDP.
Rural India encompasses a little less than three-fourths of the country's poulation and is characterised by low income levels, poor quality of life and a weak base of human development.
The agriculture sector has been growing at less than half the pace of the other sectors. During the Seventh Plan, agriculture and allied sectors grew at a rate of 3.4 per cent, while the national economy grew at 6 per cent. In 1997-98, there was negative growth of 2 per cent in the agricultural sector, although the national economy grew by 5 per cent.
Agricultural investments account for 10 per cent of the total investments in the country.
According to one estimate, the average income of an urban dweller is four times higher than that of a rural dweller. Rural deprivation becomes crystal clear if we look at the data on rural India's contribution to the GDP and what the rural areas get back. Rural contribution is 27% but the return is 5%.
The gap between the average for urban and rural areas widened by over 8% between 1987-88 and 2000-01.
In 2001, the urban literacy rate was 80.6% but the rural literacy rate was 59.21%.
Of the illiterate people who are 15 years and above but not beyond 60 years, rural areas have 55.8% and the urban areas 25.1%.
Of the school-going children in the age group of 5-14 years, 82.4 per cent live in urban areas.
Data collected from the sample registration show that life expectancy at birth in rural areas is 58 years, in the case of urban India it is 64.9 years.
84.4% of rural households are devoid of toilet facilities, in the case of urban areas it is 23%.
The all-India average monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) was Rs. 495 in rural areas and Rs. 914 in the urban ones.

Sources:

S. Rajagopalan, "The Rural-Urban Divide in India", ICFAI Journal of Urban Policy, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 2007
Prabhat Datta, "The Great Indian Divide", Frontline, Vol. 21, Issue 14, July 3 -16, 2004
Dileep Rangachari, "The Wide Rural-Urban Divide", The Times of India, March 24, 2003

Open Space organised a discussion on the Rural-Urban Divide in India on Sunday, 14th June, 2009, at its premises in Lucknow. On the occasion a few of Nissim Ezekiel's poems were also recited. The great Indian Jewish poet Prof. Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004), who was decorated with India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padmashri, is widely known as an Urban Poet.

Lecture on the Right to Information

2009-04-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Dr. Govind Pandey, Reader, Dept. of Mass Communication & Journalism. Ambedkar Univ., introducing the speaker, Mr. Izhar Ahmad, Secretary, Action Group for the Right to Information

Mr. Izhar Ahmad, Secretary, Action Group for the Right to Information, delivering his lecture

Dr. Govind Pandey, Reader (left) and Dr. Gopal Singh, Head, Dept. of Mass Communication & Journalism, Ambedkar University

Advocate Rawal explaining the nuances of the Act "Right to Information"

Open Space
in collaboration with
the Department of Mass Communication & Journalism,
School of Information Science & Technology,
Babasahab Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University)
organised a lecture on the
Right to Information
by
Izhar Ahmad
Secretary, Action Group for the Right to Information
on
Wednesday, 29th April, 2009
at
Babasahab Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow

In Dark Times

2009-04-16T12:48:00.001-07:00

The Holocaust

Babri Mosque Demolition, 1992

Gujarat, 2002

Kandhmal, 2008

Bertolt Brecht

Gauhar Raza

Open Space
screened Gauhar Raza directed documentary-film
ज़ुल्मतों के दौर में (In Dark Times)
on Sunday, 19th April, 2009 at its premises in Lucknow.

Using Bertolt Brecht's poetry and footage from Nazi Germany and contemporary India the film puts together a persuasive argument about the ways in which Fascism grows and takes over society. It shows Hitler's rise to power through electoral process as an example, and subtly draws parallels between the conditions in Germany then and in India currently.

The screening was preceded and followed by discussions.

A Message of Communal Harmony and a Muslim's Search for his Jewish Mother

2009-04-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Soz Malihabadi, a devout Muslim, with his Jewish aunts, Katty alias Khatoon (left) and Ghazala (right) in 1995

From the left in the front row: Maqbool Ahmad Khan, Mahfooz Ahmad Khan 'Soz Malihabadi', Rehana (nee Rahama), Manzoor Ahmad Khan (Soz's elder brother), Katty alias Khatoon and Ghazala

On Friday, 17th April, 2009, Open Space organised a poetry session dedicated to communal harmony, particulary peace between Jews and Muslims, with the Urdu poet Soz Malihabadi , who has been in search of his Jewish mother for fifteen years, at the Academy of Mass Communication, Lucknow. At the session Soz Malihabadi recited his poems and narrated the story of his unceasing search for his Jewish mother, a story that connects three continents (Asia, Europe and North America), five countries (India, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom and Pakistan) and the two communities that are sadly seen as natural adversaries today, viz., Jews and Muslims.

Urdu poet and Hafiz-e-Qur'an (one who has memorised the entire Qur'an), Mahfooz Ahmad Khan 'Soz Malihabadi' was absolutely ignorant of his Jewish maternal side until he received a letter from his London-based Jewish aunt one day at his modest dwelling in Kakori in Lucknow district. Soz had grown up hearing that his mother passed away when he was very small. The next letter from his aunt proved to be the catalyst that set him on the the search for his mother, Rehana (nee Rahmah), about whom he discovered from the letter that she was still alive and lived in the neighbouring country Pakistan.

Born in a Baghdadi Jewish family resident in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Rehana (nee Rahmah) married a young handsome Pathan, Maqbool Ahmad Khan, in 1947. In 1950, their second child, Mahfooz Ahmad Khan, who later came to be known as Soz Malihabadi, was born to the couple. Soon Maqbool's thriving business failed, reducing him to penny pinching and souring his relations with his wife, who aspired to be a film actor. In 1955 they got divorced and Rehana married a Pakistani Airforce officer and moved to Pakistan, leaving behind her two little sons and two orphan young sisters in her former husband Maqbool's custody. In 1956 Soz Malihabadi's young orphan aunts, Khatoon and Ghazala reached Israel under the Zionist programme of Youth Aliyah (emigration to Israel aimed at the ingathering of Jewish exiles from around the world), while Soz with his father moved to his ancestral village, midway betwen Malihabad and Kakori in Lucknow district.

When Soz met his aunts in Mumbai after an epoch of forty years, he enquired about his mother's whereabouts, but strangely enough they refused to divulge it to him. Not losing hope, Soz made a trip to Karachi, Pakistan, in search of his mother, but to no avail. The posture taken by his aunts absolutely disillusioned him, and he severed all ties with them. The Muslim son is still in search of his Jewish mother.

Religious Harmony

2009-03-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

University of Lucknow

American Institute of Indian Studies, Lucknow

Open Space
organised a couple of presentations dedicated to
Religious Harmony,
at which
the New York-based Documentary Filmmaker and Writer
Sadia Shepard
read out from her book,
The Girl from Foreign (Penguin 2008),
which is an account of her childhood spent with an American Christian father, Pakistani Muslim mother and Indian Jewish maternal grandmother, and of her quest for her Indian Jewish roots.
She also screened her documentary film based on these experiences of hers,
In Search of the Bene Israel, and spoke about Religious Harmony.
The American Cinematographer and Film-Editor Andreas Burgess was the Chief Guest at the presentations.

Monday, 30th March, 2009
American Institute of Indian Studies,
46/3 Wazir Hasan Road, Lucknow

Tuesday, 31st March, 2009
Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology,
University of Lucknow

Human Rights in South Asia and the Fight Against Terrorism and Communalism

2009-03-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

The greatest challenge facing any free society in a time of war - which is what this is - always has been remaining a free society while effectively fighting that war. Too often, today's free societies seem hopelessly split between the extremes of craven appeasement and blatant communalism. Neither option is anything other than a prescription for disaster," said Dr. Richard L. Benkin, a Jewish Human Rights Activist, while delivering a lecture on "The Fight Against Terrorism and Communalism" on Friday, 13th March, 2009, at the Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, University of Lucknow, under the auspices of Open Space - Lucknow.

Owner and Founder of Inter-Faith Strength and Member of Islam-Israel Fellowship Council, Dr. Benkin said, "Free societies have a difficult time demonizing any faith, and rightly so. But this also casts those who are ready to fight the radicals as extremists and communalists. Extremists cannot win this war; those who are too timid even to name our foe cannot even fight it. That must change and change quickly."

Dr. Benkin concluded by saying,"The good news is that it can. It is not even that difficult, but it will take a core group of committed activists from all communities who agree to take the necessary actions together."

A report on the event can be read on The Pioneer website.

"From the perspective of a knowledgeable outsider, South Asia presents a picture of a region with nations that use the language of human rights extensively but remain silent at arguably the most extensive record of accepted major human rights abuses in the world. We have numerous examples of inter-communal violence perpetrated against Muslims in Gujarat, Hindus in Kashmir and Ahmadiya in Bangladesh, just to name three. Radical Islamist terrorism has been targeting non-Muslims with growing frequency in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and elsewhere. Ethnic cleansing is being practised against Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh with government complicity; and in Bhutan by the government. Even the region's tiny Jewish population has been victimized with Christians in Northeast India preventing the B'nei Menashe from emigrating to Israel.

"Because South Asia is home to the world's second, third, and fourth largest Muslim populations, more than 95 per cent of the world's Hindus, and close to one in four people on the planet; this phenomenon is frightening not only for South Asia but for the entire world, " said Dr. Richard L. Benkin the next day, i.e. Saturday, 14th March, 2009, while giving a talk on "The Frightening Phenomenon of Human Rights Violations in South Asia", jointly organised by Open Space - Lucknow and Circle for Child and Youth Research Cooperation in India, at the Academic Staff College, University of Lucknow.

Author of a monograph on Bangladeshi Hindus, titled A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing, Dr. Benkin drew attention particularly to the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. He said, "Governments and populations alike seem paralysed to take effective action. The thing most likely to galvanize both is a specific issue behind which every moral individual and entity can get. The wanton destruction of Bangladeshi Hindus is one such issue. From almost one in five Bangladeshis to less than one in ten today; Bangladeshi Hindus have been murdered and raped in ritual fashion and had their property legally plundered, while lower level official participated in the carnage and successive governments remained passive. Moreover, the world remained silent. Where was the government of the United States? The UN or the Human Rights NGOs such as Amnesty International? When we talk to leaders about it, they either plead ignorance or offer some excuse about why inaction was better than action. If one objects that it should not matter that the victims are Hindu; realize that it matters only because the perpetrators have made it matter. These atrocities occured because the victims were Hindu. And perhaps the world is silent for the same reason." Dr. Benkin received "Special US Congressional Recognition in 2005 and was nominated for Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism in 2006.