Session on the Growing Racial, Ethnic and Nationalistic Intolerance

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.

Discussion on Secular Humanism

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

A Week of Stories from Nazi Concentration Camps

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

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.

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

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

"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

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

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):

• Company Jasmine
• Shivah for my mother
• Praying in Her Own Voice
• Out for Love, Be Back Shortly
• Marie Balian: An Armenian Artist in Jerusalem