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

[lalit batra]

Dear friends,
 
The fascist goons of BJP-VHP have let loose a reign of terror in the prestigious Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University Baroda. Please go through the details of the incident given below. The latest development is that the Dean of Fine Arts Faculty, Shivji Pannicker, has been suspended and the Department of Art History has been sealed. The campus has virtually been taken over by VHP goons who are threatning students and vandalising their work. 
We call upon all the democtratic and progressive people of Delhi to come forward and protest against the fascist attempt to stifle voices of creativity and dissent. 
Please join us for a protest demonstration tomorrow, 12th of May, at 3 p.m. at Gujarat Bhawan, Chanakya Puri, Near Ashoka Hotel . 
 
In Solidarity,
 
Lalit Batra                
9899091413
 
 



Dear All,

You are all aware of the latest Sangh Parivar
offensive against the
democratic rights of the students and Faculty members
of the well known Fine
Arts Faculty of Baroda, M.S.University.  The Fine Arts 
Faculty is one of the
best institutions within the M.S.University, which has
managed to retain
high academic standards, in the face of the general
academic deterioration
within the University.

The recent incident of hooliganism and blatant 
bullying unleashed by the
Sangh Parivar has sent shock waves all over the
country.  It took place on
Wednesday, 9th May 2007, at around 3 p.m. As part of
the examination
procedure underway in the Faculty, students are 
supposed to put up their
works which are to be assessed by external examiners
who come in from
outside the city for this purpose.  Accordingly,
students had put up their
installations around the Faculty campus.  Some of 
these installations,
(graphic prints) by Chandra Mohan attracted the wrath
of the BJP leader
Neeraj Jain, who barged into the campus with a bunch
of goons and started
disrupting the atmosphere, using abusive language and 
mouthing threats.
They roughed up the Chandra Mohan and accused him of
offending their
religious sentiments, saying that he had portrayed
Durga Mata in an obscene
way.  Not by any stretch of imagination did the prints 
actually portray any
goddess.  Under the leadership of Neeraj Jain (who had
incidentally played a
very dubious role in the May 2006 riots that followed
the demolition of a
200 year old dargah in the heart of the city), and 
with the police in tow,
they took Chandra Mohan and a friend of his away to
the Sayajiganj police
station.  Shivji Panickkar, the acting Dean of the
Fine Arts Faculty, was
also threatened with dire consequences by Neeraj Jain 
and his goons.
Chandra Mohan's friend was released later, but he was
himself charged under
sections 153 and 114.  Later, on 10th May, when the
bail application came up
for hearing, two more charges were slapped on him, 
namely, Section 295 A and
295 B, and he was taken under judicial custody, and
moved to the Central
Jail.  By now, Christian fundamentalists had joined
hands with the
Hindutvavadis.  Alongwith the VHP and BJP crowds, 
reportedly, there were at
least 40 priests in the court when Chandra Mohan's
bail application came up
for hearing.  The priests were objecting to some
painting to do with a
cross - which, they thought offended their religious 
feelings.

In the meantime, Shivji Panickkar met the Vice
Chancellor, who basically,
wanted him to make a statement that was nothing short
of an apology for
putting up offensive installations.  Panickkar refused 
to do so.  After
this, the students submitted a statement expressing
thier concern over such
tactics, and with a set of their demands, which
included police bandobast
for the Faculty.  Reportedly, Neeraj Jain barged into 
the Vice Chancellor's
office on the same day, and threatened that he would
make sure that the
entire city would shut down if a single case is
registered against him.

As of now, all efforts are on to get Chandra Mohan 
released.

However, what is of grave concern in this entire
unfolding of events is the
fascist agendas that underly the actions of the likes
of Neeraj Jain.
Citizenship and democratic rights face a grave crisis 
in the State of
Gujarat and elsewhere.  The nexus between the police
and elements of the
Sangh Parivar is so clearly established (it has been
so since 2002) and it
is also clear that fascist tactics affect everybody. 
In this instance, it
is not only a matter for the artist community to
agitate about.  It is for
ALL of us to sit up and take notice of what is going
on in the name of
religion.  If we do not counter these tactics NOW, we 
are all going to be
crushed sooner or later, either in our work arenas or
within the confines of
our homes.  The dangers of giving in to or being cowed
down by these forces
cannot be underestimated.

THE FACULTY OF FINE ARTS HAS PLANNED A LARGE
DEMONSTRATION FOR 14TH MAY
2007, MONDAY WHERE ARTISTS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, ORDINARY
CITIZENS FROM ALL
OVER THE COUNTRY WILL GET TOGETHER IN PROTEST AGAINST
SUCH GAGGING OF 
EXPRESSION AND VIOLATION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS.  PLEASE
DO COME FOR THE
DEMONSTRATION, AND MOTIVATE OTHERS TO JOIN IT.  THE
TIME TO ACT IS UPON US,
WE CANNOT ABDICATE OUR RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SOCIETY,
OURSELVES AND THE
YOUNGER GENERATIONS.

VENUE: FINE ARTS FACULTY, M.S.UNIVERSITY , FATEHGANJ,
BARODA
TIME: 2 PM ONWARDS

CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS:
BINA SRINIVASAN: 9879377280
SHIVJI PANICKKAR: 9898403097 

Best
Bina

PS: pls. circulate this email to as many people as
possible.  Thanks.



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